by David Wood
On either side of the room, wide steps led up to high, arching doorways, each opening into a dark tunnel beyond. Above the arch on either side was the carved figure of an angel in flight. Its wings, rendered in painstaking detail, swept downward around either side of the doorway. Each angel, its face an implacable mask of fury, held aloft a fiery sword in its right hand.
High above, small window-like openings, one in each wall, looked down on them. Maddock craned his neck to look at them. He could not make out anything in the darkened recesses behind the windows, but he could tell that there was open space beyond them.
A random thought broadsided him without warning, and he looked at the other three in confusion.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “Where do you think all of this light is coming from?”
“From these.” Kaylin pointed to a diamond-shaped stone protruding from the wall nearby. It was about the size of Maddock’s hand and glowed an opalescent white. A row of them ran at regular intervals around the room about a third of the way up from the floor. Another row circled the room about two-thirds of the way up, and more were set in a grid-like pattern in the ceiling. How had he failed to notice them?
“Watch what happens,” Meriwether said, his voice an excited whisper. He shone his flashlight on one of the stones. When the beam hit the diamond-shaped object, the surface seemed to swirl and flash in an array of colors like mother-of-pearl. The glow that emanated from the stone grew in intensity, and as the light that it generated touched the lights on either side of it, they too shone more brightly. “It absorbs the light and amplifies it.” Meriwether sounded entranced.
“What is this place?” Maddock marveled. Before anyone could answer, footsteps sounded from the other side of the room.
Maddock whirled and drew his pistol, hoping that the water had not treated it too roughly. He had allowed himself to be mesmerized by the magnificence of what he was seeing, and now their pursuers had caught up to them. Four men in dark clothing, armed with automatic rifles burst through the doorway on the far side of the room. They looked around in confusion for a moment, and then caught sight of Maddock’s party.
“Get up the stairs!” Maddock yelled. Bones shouted back, but his words were lost in a raging torrent of gunfire.
Chapter 27
Maddock dropped to one knee, bringing the Walther to bear on the four armed men, all the while expecting to feel hot lead ripping through his flesh. However the roar that filled the room was not the staccato rattle of automatic weaponry, but the sharp report of large caliber rifles. Across the room, two men crumpled to the ground. The remaining pair fired wildly into the air as they backed up, seeking shelter in the passageway from which they had come. The rifle fire continued unabated.
Maddock, now retreating toward the safety of the doorway on his side of the room, looked up to see men leaning out of the upper windows, sending a steady stream of bullets toward their pursuers. What is going on? Not waiting to find out, he turned and ran as fast as his injured legs would allow. Bones waited at the top of the stairs, covering his retreat. The big Indian grabbed Maddock’s upper arm and helped him into the dark hallway where Kaylin and Meriwether waited.
“Who are those guys?” Meriwether asked.
“Which ones?” Bones replied, still watching the room behind them.
Maddock looked back. The two fallen black clad men still lay at the foot of the stairs on the far side of the room. The others had disappeared, and the gunfire had ceased.
“I don’t know who any of them are,” he said. “Let’s stick together and try to find a way out of here. Do you remember which direction you came from?” Meriwether nodded and led the way.
All four had their weapons drawn, and they moved together down the hallway. Bones kept an eye out behind them. About fifty feet down, the passageway ended in a cross-hall. Meriwether paused and peered around the corner, checking in both directions. He turned back to Maddock and the others, and tilted his head to their left. “That way?” he asked softly.
Bones and Kaylin nodded in agreement. Meriwether nodded, turned, and stepped around the corner.
A blistering peal of gunfire shattered the quiet of the hall. The old Navy man was spun half around as bullets ripped into him. Instinctively, Maddock dove forward, hitting the ground and rolling, his gun held out in front of him. Another of their dark-clothed pursuers, rifle in hand, sprinted toward him. The man had obviously been watching at head-level for someone to round the corner. His brown eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at Maddock, and he swung his rifle forward, but too late. Maddock opened fire, catching him full in the chest and knocking him flat on his back. Maddock regained his feet and looked up and down the hall for more attackers. Seeing no one, he turned to check on Meriwether.
Kaylin and Bones knelt over the Admiral, who held both hands clamped over his stomach. Blood soaked his shirt, and his face was ghastly pale. Maddock moved behind Kaylin and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked down at his old friend, a mixture of fear and anger roiling inside.
“We’ve got to get you out of here Meri,” he said hoarsely though his words rang false in his ears. They all knew that Meriwether was not going to make it out of here.
“Leave me here,” Meriwether whispered, grimacing with the pain of speaking. Kaylin started to protest, but he shook his head vigorously. “Sit me up,” he gasped. Maddock and Bones grasped him under each arm, gingerly brought him up to a sitting position, and propped him against the wall. Meriwether’s face twisted as they moved him, but otherwise he made no sound. He was still as tough as old leather, Maddock thought. He could not believe the old sailor might die.
“I am going to be fine,” Meriwether said softly, his face placid. “Don’t you worry about me.”
“You’re not going to be fine unless we get you out of here and to a doctor,” Kaylin said. Her fair skin was flushed, and unshed tears glistened in her emerald eyes. “We’ll find a way. We will.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Meriwether grunted. “You see, I have cancer.” He paused to take a raspy breath. “They give me six months, a year if I’m lucky.”
The words hit Maddock like a sledgehammer. His blood seemed to turn to ice.
“I don’t know what to say,” Maddock said after a long pause. Bones and Kaylin were silent.
“It’s all right,” Meriwether said. “When I first found out about it, I was scared. I realized I was afraid to die. I had too many unanswered questions. But after what I’ve seen tonight, I don’t have any more questions.” He closed his eyes. For a moment, Maddock thought the man might have expired, but then Meriwether opened his eyes again. “So, like I said, I’ll be all right.”
“I wish there was something I could do for you,” Maddock said. A feeling of helplessness swelled up inside of him, all thoughts of their pursuers were forgotten in his pain and frustration. First his parents, then Melissa, and now Meriwether. What good was he? He had not been able to do anything for any of them.
“You’ve already given me a gift that I couldn’t repay if I lived forever. You’ve given me hope.” He coughed, a loud, rasping song that was painful to hear. He winced, and then extended his hand, first to Bones, who shook it regretfully. He next took Kaylin’s hand. She took his in both of hers and kissed him gently on the forehead.
Finally, Meriwether reached out and clasped Maddock’s hand.
“Good luck, Swabbie,” he said hoarsely.
“You too,” Maddock replied. After a moment, he let go of the older man’s hand, but Meriwether held on.
“You need to have hope, son,” he whispered. His eyes had gained a sudden clarity. “It’s nobody’s fault.” The intensity of his expression took Maddock aback.
“What isn’t?” Maddock asked.
Meriwether did not reply. He closed his eyes and let his head rock back against the wall. He sighed deeply. Maddock leaned closer and could hear the man’s shallow breathing. He gave his old friend’s shoulder a squeeze, and then stood.
>
“We need to go,” Bones said. “I hate to leave him as much as you do. We’re too vulnerable here.”
Maddock knew that his friend was right. Someone could come upon them from any of three directions. He stood and addressed the other two.
“All right, let’s get out of here.” Maddock turned and led the way down the passage he hoped would lead them back to the well. Over his left shoulder, he could hear the faint rushing of the river through the main hall. Approaching the end of the hall, he paused to relieve their attacker of his rifle. It was an older model NATO CETME. At .51mm, it carried serious stopping power. He tucked the Walther into his belt and stood, rifle at the ready.
Bones knelt down over the attacker. Reaching under the man’s collar, he grasped something. With a curse, he gave the object a forceful yank. He held up his hand, displaying a silver chain with a familiar pendant.
“The sword crucifix.” Kaylin’s voice was scarcely a whisper.
“The same guys who came after us before,” Bones said bitterly. He stood and gave Meriwether’s assailant a vicious kick in the ribs. “Too bad he’s dead. I’d like to hurt him a little bit before I kill him for good.”
“I’m sure there are more of them.” Maddock gritted his teeth. He would find out who these people were, and he would make them pay. He stalked angrily to the end of the hallway. He peered around the corner to the right and saw another short hallway, twin to the one in which he stood. To his left, a spiral stone staircase wound upward. He heard a faint sound coming from the stairwell and held up a warning hand to Bones and Kaylin.
Moving to the inside wall, he knelt down, and waited. Bones squatted behind him, gripping his Beretta. The faint sound came again. Someone was coming down the stairs. A brief glimpse of black clothing was all the motivation Maddock needed to open fire, cutting his target down. Bones hastily appropriated the man’s rifle and pointed back down the hallway.
Maddock led them along the featureless passage. The corridor was dimly lit by the same diamond-shaped rocks that illuminated the main hall. They made a sharp right at the end of the hall. Far ahead of them, he could see the pathway leading to the tunnel. He made a mental note that they were now moving parallel to the inside hall where Meriwether lay, and to the river.
He paused where the passageway intersected a hall on the right. A careful look revealed no pursuers, but in the faint light he could just make out a spiral staircase at the far end. Kaylin came up beside him, her gaze following his. “Do you think…”
“It’s a big old circle,” Bones said, pausing between them. “Or a square, I mean. I guarantee you, you go down there and hang a right, you’ll be in the hall where we left Meriwether.”
Bitterness and frustration welled up inside of Maddock as he thought again about being forced to leave the Admiral behind. The rational part of him knew there was nothing they could do for the man. Meriwether was probably already gone.
Kaylin seemed to read his thoughts. She squeezed his arm and then pulled him forward. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” They hurried across the hall and into the tunnel that led back toward the well and, hopefully, safety.
This tunnel differed from the one they just left. There were none of the glowing stones on the wall, and they had to use their flashlights to find their way. Also, this passage gradually curved back to the right.
“Smell that?” Bones asked, raising his head and inhaling deeply. A smile spread across his dark face.
“What?” Maddock asked.
“Water. We’re almost there.” Bones claimed to have heightened senses due to his ancestry, but Maddock suspected that his friend was usually blowing smoke. This time, he hoped Bones was right.
Behind them, shots rang out again. They were muted, sounding far away. First one barrage, then another reverberated down the hall. The sound was unexpectedly drowned by a deep rumbling that seemed to come from within the bowels of the earth.
“Tremor!” Maddock shouted, dropping to the ground. The hallway shook as if some giant hand had grasped it and given it a jiggle. Chunks of rock fell around him. The vibrating lasted several seconds. As the force dissipated, he heard a loud crashing from down the tunnel ahead of them, and a cloud of dust filled the air.
“No way,” Bones said flatly, his voice filled with resignation.
Maddock did not say anything. He stood and trotted down the hall. Just around the next bend, the ceiling had collapsed, blocking their exit. He and Bones climbed onto the pile of rubble, and attempted to dislodge some of the top stones, but to no avail.
“The tremors are getting worse,” Kaylin said, a worried look on her face.
“Maybe they feel bigger because we’re underground,” Bones said. “What do you think, Maddock?”
Maddock took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I think we need to find another way out, and soon.”
Chapter 28
Coming back out of the tunnel, Maddock led the group to the left, moving back toward the main room. When they reached the end where the passage terminated at the spiral staircase, they looked down the hall to the right. Meriwether lay where they had left him, obviously dead. Nearby, another body lay on the ground.
“He got him one,” Bones said. “Good for him.”
They walked over to where their friend lay. Maddock knelt and checked Meriwether’s pulse, confirming that their comrade was, indeed, deceased. A lump in his throat, he opened the top button of the Admiral’s shirt and removed his dog tags. “I’ll take care of these,” he whispered, tucking them into his pocket. Then, he reached down and picked up the SIG P-210, and handed it to Kaylin.
The blonde looked down sadly at their fallen friend. She brushed at her eyes with the back of a sleeve and turned away from Maddock and Bones. Regaining her composure, she cleared her throat and turned back to face them. “You were right, Bones,” she said. “We’ve just looped around.”
“That means the only way out of here is up.” Bones looked at the ceiling as if he could see through. “Where the bad guys are.”
“What about the bad guy over here?” Maddock leaned down to inspect the man whom Meriwether had shot. He was surprised to see that this man was not clad in black, like the others. Instead, he was garbed in bulky, loose-fitting brown pants, and a pullover, white cotton shirt. The shirt was of an odd cut, with no collar and blousy sleeves. The man’s features were obviously middle-eastern, but Maddock could tell no more. “He’s definitely not part of the crossed swords group.”
“The guys who were shooting from upstairs, I presume,” Bones said. “We’ve got to get up there and somehow get past them.”
“But who the hell are they?”
“I don’t know but I’d rather avoid them if we can. Can’t we get across the channel that cuts through the main room?” Kaylin asked.
“Too wide to jump,” Maddock said, shaking his head, “and the current’s too strong for us to swim across. We’ll have to chance it upstairs. Bones and I will plow the field, and you can follow along.” He forced a smile, hoping he looked more confident than he felt.
He led them back up the hall to the stairwell. Silently, they crept up the stairs, listening for the sound of approaching footsteps. The turn was so tight that they would be right on top of anyone coming in their direction before seeing them. The narrow staircase, hewn out of the rock, curled up and to the left. The walls were smooth, like those of the lower halls, broken up only by the occasional glowing stone high on the outside wall. Maddock winced as he took each step. The climb made him feel every pain in his feet, knees, and back, in a way that level ground did not. He gritted his teeth and focused on his anger, allowing his bitterness at the loss of Meriwether to overcome his pain. Slowly, he continued the seemingly interminable upward trek.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Maddock peered out cautiously. They were at a corner of the upper hallway. He looked to his left. The hall ran the approximate length of the main chamber, turning left at the end. Halfway down the hall, an arched
window was cut into the inside wall at chest level. This must have been one of the windows from which the snipers had fired down upon their pursuers. Directly across from the window was a high, arching door set in the outside wall. Maddock could not see into the darkness beyond. Looking around the other corner, he could see that this upper hall definitely formed a hollow, walled balcony that wrapped around the big chamber below. This hallway also had a window at the center of the inside wall and a doorway on the outside. He turned and motioned for Bones and Kaylin to follow him.
Stepping out of the stairwell, Bones surveyed the area, just as Maddock had. “Another square up here,” he whispered. “Everything seems to loop back on itself. But where are the bad guys?”
Maddock shrugged and led them down the hallway to the left. Reaching the window at the hall’s midpoint, he glanced through, surveying the courtyard below. The black-clad bodies of their pursuers still lay at the top of the steps on the far side of the room. Nothing moved, save the water flowing through the canal in the center. He turned to see Bones peering into the dimly-lit room on the opposite side of the hall. Bones nodded and tilted his head toward the doorway. Rifle at the ready, Maddock hurried inside, with Bones behind him.
The crystals in this room emitted only the faintest light, but it was enough to see that they were standing in what looked like a quarter of a sphere hewn into the rock with laser-like precision. Carved into the rounded ceiling above, he thought he could just make out familiar constellations.
A whisper of warning from Bones brought Maddock’s head down in time to see that he was staring down into a well like the ones in front of and behind the Goliath carving outside. The thought of the world outside gave him pause. The place in which he and his friends now found themselves was so surreal as to make it strange to think that somewhere up above, the world was going about its business, oblivious to what lay beneath their feet.