“Yeah, I’d say so – if I believed in them.”
“What about Elise? Did she find anything in the Dark Net?”
“According to Elise the CIA went to great effort to cover up whatever it was the Russians found back in 1908. In fact, the CIA and the Russians signed an agreement to cover up whatever they found there. If you look closely at the images online, they don’t match the ones taken in 1908. But the reason for the cover up was sealed – not to be released until…” Sam scrolled through Elise’s secret files a little further, and then swore.
“Not to be released until when?”
Sam looked up at him, the slightest hint of fear in his eyes. “Not to be released until next month. Just under three weeks to be exact.”
“Now, that is a coincidence, isn’t it?” Tom said cheerfully.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Edward looked at Jason. “Are you coming with us, or staying on the boat?”
“Are you kidding me? There’s no amount you can pay me to enter that place. No thank you. I’ll stay aboard my fortress, and provide aerial firepower if you need it.”
“All right. We’ll see you in a few days.” Edward climbed on board the rubber Zodiac. He wore a bullet proof, and more importantly, spear-proof vest. With a handgun holstered to his side and a Mills 12-gauge shotgun in his arms, he looked back at Jason. His voice was slow, and brutally honest. “If you leave us here, I will personally drag you back here to let these local pygmies deal with you. Do you understand me?”
“I certainly do Mr. Worthington. You’ve paid very well for an exceptional experience. I can assure you that money was well spent, and I will remain to provide those services.”
“Good man.” Edward tapped one of the mercenaries on his shoulder. The man turned the throttle of the outboard and the Zodiac jumped into life, moving toward the bank of the river.
There was no bank to the river on which to drag the two rubber boats. Definitely no visible one anyway. Mark, who’d been his bodyguard for nearly ten years now, and now acting as the team’s official leader, made the decision to tie the boats to the branch of one of the million trees that blurred the line of the river’s bank.
It was difficult to even enter the jungle.
With no documented exploration by Westerners, there were no roads, paths, or maps to suggest what they should expect to find. No way to have known they had entered a giant swampland. A mesh of water and jungle – its vegetation was so dense that each of his team were soon forced to sling their M60 machine guns in exchange for a machete.
Their movement inside the jungle was slow. And no sooner had they entered it, than the thick jungle coverings seemed to swallow them, removing all view of the outside world from which they came. As though the jungle itself had a desire to keep them.
Edward could immediately see why this was one of the most unexplored regions on earth. The impenetrable rainforest canopy made satellite imaging useless, while the watery ground below rendered an armored vehicle useless.
His mind returned to the three ruined T72 Tanks blocking the river. They must have been driven up the river when it was shallow. If this place was still inhabited by the ancient pygmies, he could only imagine what they had done to the previous owners of those battle tanks.
Ahead of him, Dr. Swan jumped from one branch to another with the agility of a gymnast. She alone, he noticed, kept her finger confidently fixed next to the trigger of the M60.
He admired her fondly. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. By far the most intelligent person he’d ever met, and had an attractive smile with an exotic and sporty figure to match. Although he could hardly fail to recognize her physical attributes, he cared little for them. Instead he looked at her with the fond pleasure a father might his daughter.
Billie looked up, her intelligent, almond shaped eyes, actively avoiding his stare, before her smile broke the awkward tension. Edward smiled warmly in response, and wished he’d found her years earlier – before their time had nearly run out completely. That was, unless they found the temple, and the second half of the code to Atlantis.
“Are you still confident it’s here, Dr. Swan?”
“You saw the image as well as I did. The river must have changed unrecognizably over the last 11,000 years, but there was no mistaking it – that was The Congo River. And it was about a thousand miles inland. Obviously the jungle has engulfed more of the river, and the river, in turn, has drowned some of the jungle, but I’m certain we’re heading in the right direction.”
He smiled warmly. She was right – he knew it. He didn’t even know how he knew it. But somehow Edward was certain.
Billie stopped and removed her pendant from her neck. It was made of orichalcum she’d found at Atlantis. When she entered the Atlantean Archive in Tibet, she discovered an interesting fact about orichalcum – the alloy was attracted to itself. Therefore, you could take a piece of orichalcum and place it in water, and like a compass, it would guide you to more orichalcum.
He watched her study her pendant again.
Its needle remained motionless. There was no sign they were on the right track at all.
She tapped it several times, but still the needle remained motionless.
“Any idea what the range of that thing is?”
“How the hell should I know? All I know is that the orichalcum has a high affinity with itself. It was strong enough that it got us this far, but now it doesn’t seem to be showing us much.” Frustrated, Billie replaced the device around her neck like a necklace, for safe keeping.
“Well, I believe you’re heading in the right direction. I don’t know why. I just feel it for some reason that I can’t explain.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Billie said, before jumping to another branch. “Now, it’s my turn to ask some questions.”
“Go ahead. What do you want to know?”
“If we find the symbols that we’re looking for – the code to Atlantis, do you have any idea what we’re going to do with them?”
“I have my ideas.”
“That’s it? We’ve traipsed right around the world to find them, and you’re telling me that you simply have an idea what to do with them once we get them to Atlantis!”
“Yep, that’s it. You’re a pretty bright young lady. If you happen to stumble upon a better idea, be sure to let me know. Until then, let’s first see if we can find them in time.”
“Agreed. Which brings me to the now…” Billie stopped walking, and looked at him.
“Yes?”
“How confident are you that you’ve brought enough people to ensure we don’t end up becoming a warning to others not to trespass? Because frankly, I’d rather not have my head on a spike.”
Edward smiled reassuringly. “These ten men are a team of highly paid mercenaries. Experts in their chosen profession. Strategically recruited from around the world to avoid any concerns about patriotism. I have NAVY Seals from the U.S., Commandos from Australia, SAS from Great Britain, and even a German GSG 9.” He was forced to put his shotgun on his shoulder while he tried to climb across the next swamp. Having made it, he grinned warmly and said, “So, you see Dr. Swan, we are very well equipped to deal with any natives who wish to interfere with our mission.”
“And what about the other person who wants what we know?”
“Andrew Brandt?”
“Yes.”
“Are you kidding me? The man’s a moron. He’ll still be following Sam Reilly to Siberia!”
“And if he already knows that the Russians destroyed everything of value there back in 1908, and comes looking for us instead? Then what?”
“Then I see if the million dollars per head that I’m paying my men to look after us has been well spent.”
He was surprised to see that Billie wasn’t afraid. She was simply finding out more about the men he’d employed to look after them.
She stopped suddenly.
“What is it?”
“My orichalcum c
ompass started to work again.”
She took it off her neck and stood still as she could until the needle stopped again. Taking out his real compass, he noted that her device pointed to the west, on a bearing of 285 degrees.
“So, we’re on the right track,” Edward said. “Okay gentlemen. We have a compass bearing of 285 for our target. We’re on a deadline here, so let’s get a move on.”
The small party of explorers continued on, into the jungle – the pygmies’ jungle. The canopy became thicker if that was possible, and despite the time being 2 p.m. the light disappeared completely, so that each member of the team had to switch on their shoulder lights just to continue.
With the exception of Dr. Swan, all members of the team were grown men, not inclined to be afraid of the dark. And yet, even Edward, who at his age no longer feared death, felt it was a sign of the evil of the jungle itself.
He heard the splash first.
Followed by the loud German words, “Fick mich!”
Chapter Forty
It was the German member of their team and ex-GS9 Officer, who had fallen into the water below. Carrying his heavy equipment, the man sunk so that his head was below the water for a moment until he was able to pull himself back to the surface using a branch.
Mark was the first one to reach him. Immediately climbing down onto the branch directly above Zelig, he stretched his arm down and grabbed his fallen soldier.
“You okay?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, but I’ll be happier to be out of this damn swamp.”
“You and me both.”
Three other members of his team quickly attached a rope to Mark in case he fell in too. Zelig began pulling himself up.
It was the eyes of the creature that got Edward’s attention. They glowed almost golden in the darkness of the forest. Zelig, the poor man in the water, saw them too! And almost climbed out of the water on his own.
But he was too late.
The crocodile reached his leg.
It didn’t need anything else. Zelig was pulled deep under the water by the massive and ancient reptile. The soldier’s large figure looked more like a child compared to the monster that had dragged him under.
“Fucking shoot it!” Mark cried out.
Instantly, every member of the team out of the water aimed their weapons at the two creatures that were now too deep in the water for their weapons to be effective.
Zelig was obviously alive.
Several feet below the water, Edward could see the man using a knife to fight the animal, which thrashed and spun him like a ragdoll in a dryer. The force was so great that Zelig lost his weapon.
Both man and beast seemed to keep thrashing. There was nothing any of them could do.
And then the thrashing stopped.
Zelig lay lifeless in the water. The crocodile let him go for a second and then snapped its huge teeth on the man’s head with a gut-wrenching crunch.
The monster moved toward the surface to eat its meal, unaware or indifferent to the fact it had an audience.
Edward had seen a lot of men die over the years, but this was the first time he’d personally witnessed one being eaten by a monster. It somehow made the reality of what they were doing stick home more significantly. As though until now, he’d been playing a game.
The sound of machine gun fire interrupted his thoughts.
He looked up. Mark had raked the crocodile with the entire contents of his magazine, and then attached a second, only to be stopped by another one of his men.
“It’s dead mate!” The Australian commando said. “I’m really sorry.”
Mark said nothing. Instead, he reached down and dragged the remains of Zelig toward him. By himself, he pulled the man’s corpse up into the tree.
A second crocodile then made its attack.
Snatching Zelig’s leg, it dragged the corpse into the swamp and disappeared for good. Edward had seen enough. “All right gentlemen. No one goes in the water. Let’s keep going, and see if there is any solid ground in this damn jungle!”
Chapter Forty-One
Billie was surprised by her own strength. She had seen death before, but somehow the crocodile attack appeared more brutal. Like Edward, she knew there was a lot more at stake than one man’s life. It forced her to increase her awareness of her surroundings and carry on.
Twenty minutes later, the arrow on her necklace began to move. At first she thought her movement was causing the arrow to spin. Then, when she stopped and took it off her neck so that she could look at it level, it pointed constantly in a westerly direction.
“We’re getting close,” she said.
Edward leaned in over her shoulder, so that she could feel his breath as he translated the direction to magnet west. “It didn’t do that last time?”
“No, last time it was a lot more sluggish. Maybe we’re getting close?”
“But even when we were in the Tibetan temple, it didn’t move like that?”
Billie thought about it for a minute.
“I wonder if it responds differently to the amount of orichalcum. You know, like a weak metal will barely interfere with a magnetic compass, whereas a large steel object like a boat will wreak havoc on it.”
“So what you’re saying is that we’re either very close or that the Temple of Poseidon is covered with several million dollars’ worth of orichalcum?”
“That’s my guess.”
At the front of their group, Mark called for both of them. “Mr. Worthington! Dr. Swan! You’re gonna want to see this.”
Billie was the fastest to respond, and Edward followed quickly behind her. The area had become dense with papyrus reeds as much as ten feet high. Their team were literally hacking a tunnel through the stuff.
The place was thick with spider webs the size of which could engulf a house. Billie shook her head. “Great. So we’ve left the Heart of Darkness in exchange for one of Tolkien’s man-eating spider worlds.”
Ben, the American SEAL, gently touched the massive web with his hand. It was thick, sticky and elastic. He failed to rip it with his hand. Then, yanking his hand back he picked up his machete, undeterred and hacked at it. He stepped through the opening and became covered by literally hundreds of small spiders.
He swayed with his machete and hacked away, before pulling his machine gun out and firing a burst of rounds toward the bulk of them, sending them scattering.
Billie laughed. “Wow, Ben. I didn’t know you were afraid of spiders. You know they’re not dangerous, don’t you?”
In the background, there was a constant hum, like the sound of a thousand beetles flapping their wings, or chewing on something clicking. “What the fuck is that?” Mark asked, irritated.
“I have no idea. But it’s starting to grate on my nerves,” Edward replied.
They reached another wall of ten-foot high papyrus reeds.
Mark pulled a large section of the papyrus to the side, revealing the most amazing sight he’d ever seen. He swore.
“What is it?” Billie was the first to ask.
“Unless I’m mistaken, I think we just found the second temple.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Through the papyrus reeds, Billie stared into the opening. A series of circular dams withheld the ever-present water from the swamp. Each one cut deeper into the land, until the final one was more than fifty feet below the height of the crocodile filled water.
At the very center was a giant dome – which glowed orange and red.
Billie smiled. “That’s it! Poseidon’s temple!”
Edward patted her back. “I never doubted you for a minute.” With a warm smile, he said, “Come on, let’s go get the first half of the code to Atlantis.”
There was a strong sense of achievement and success that carried through their team. From Edward, as the financier, through to the mercenaries, all of them felt the joy of discovery. The soldiers quickly made their way down the circular dams until they reached the large dome at its bottom.
The thing glowed orange. “It’s called orichalcum,” Billie advised the men. “And it’s said to be more valuable than gold. If we survive this, you can imagine what sort of monetary share will be yours.”
It was surrounded by a moat.
In between each dam, a thin layer of water, nearly black, formed a natural moat. It was no more than seven feet wide, and the party easily crossed it using a carbon-fiber extendable ladder. Billie slowly walked around the dam until she circled it, without finding any entrance. Any inclination to wade into the murky water was immediately extinguished by the piercing golden eyes of the temple’s protectors – crocodiles, in the hundreds.
“More alligators!” Edward said, frustrated.
“Technically, those are crocodiles, not alligators. You see, the crocodiles have more of a V-shaped jaw, and tend to be more predatory…” Billie began to explain.
Mark interrupted her. “I don’t give a fuck. Just work out a way to get around them!”
She quickly circled the dome, only to be disappointed that there was no entrance.
No matter. It was only a question of time. There were answers inside that dome, and she intended to find them.
The annoying background hum of beetles increased in volume until it sounded more like an earthquake.
Billie looked up. “That can’t be good!”
Surrounding them from above were more than four hundred men no more than four feet tall and wearing nothing whatsoever. The white pygmies stared down at them, the butts of their spears thumping the ground in a continuous and haunting staccato.
Billie cursed.
They had walked straight into a trap.
Chapter Forty-Three
Siberia – One Week Remaining
Sam Reilly’s Gulfstream landed on the Podkamennaya Tunguska Airport – Siberia. His pilot taxied to the outer edge of the southern arm of the airport. He looked out the side windscreen. All he could see was white.
“Welcome to Siberia,” Tom said.
Sam sighed. “Yeah, not my first choice for a diving holiday. But let’s see if we can make it a rewarding one.”
The Sam Reilly Collection Page 61