Duval couldn’t follow the conversation, but he knew that he didn’t like the tone.
“You are lying to save your skin,” said the older soldier.
“I am a Turk and a Muslim like you,” said Sarik, looking over disdainfully to Duval. “I swear to Allah that I am telling the truth, why do you think they came in a flying machine…to help you, or to leave you and your wounded men to die alone up here while they got away?”
Duval had heard enough jabbering. Drawing his pistol, he strode towards Sarik, intending to do the job himself.
A pistol cracked.
Duval’s head snapped back. A hole blasted between his eyes. A second later, his lifeless body fell to the icy ground.
“The man was the son of a whore and a pig. What do you want us to do?” asked the soldier to Sarik.
“First take control of that flying machine and then stand by to give me a hand,” said Sarik grinning.
Scott felt the heat in Kate’s hand. She was angry and confused. Seeing the body of the young boy coming into view, Scott looked down and winked at Kate.
She hesitated.
Scott leaned over and whispered, “When I tell you to, I want you to throw yourself on the ground and don’t get back up until I say so.”
Kate nodded.
They slowly walked past the body of the young boy lying on the cold cave floor. Scott slowed down ever so slightly and then let go of Kate’s hand. Taking a quick look back, he saw both men walking with their overloaded bags slung over their shoulders, not paying any attention to Scott. Viktoria Wollf strolled slightly behind them, a smug, arrogant look on her face.
Scott slowed down even more and then feigned having to stop to tie his bootlaces. The distance between them dropped to mere yards.
Scott felt his pulse quicken; his heart began to pump adrenaline into his veins. Like a tiger, he was getting ready to pounce.
The first man began to walk past the desiccated corpse.
“Now,” yelled Scott.
Kate instantly threw herself onto the ground, her hands clutched over her head.
From out of nowhere, a searing heat erupted from the sacks carried by the thugs. Flames shot out from the sacks, instantly turning them to cinders. Both men yelped in surprise and pain, dropping their loads onto the rocky floor of the cavern.
Seeing his opening, Scott charged at the nearest guard, hitting him hard in the chest. Before the man had hit the ground, Scott grabbed the surprised man’s pistol from his belt. Falling with the thug, Scott pulled the trigger at point-blank range into the man’s chest, before rolling over on his shoulder and up into a crouch with his pistol held out in front of him.
The other stunned guard fumbled with his holster, trying to draw his pistol.
Scott never hesitated, firing twice into the man’s chest, killing him. Without waiting for the man to fall, Scott spun his body over and fired one shot straight into Viktoria’s stomach.
A look of anger on her face faded to disbelief as Viktoria Wollf hesitatingly brought a hand to her stomach. Looking down, she saw the blood on her hand. Her head began to spin. Dropping to her knees, Viktoria knew that everything she had planned and worked for had failed. She had gambled with her life and lost. Yet somehow, hate still burned inside her, pushing her on to the very end.
Scott had had enough. He turned to leave Viktoria to die alone.
Refusing to die, Viktoria Wolff tried to raise her pistol.
A shot blasted through the cavern.
Looking over his shoulder, Scott saw Kate standing there with the other guard’s pistol in her hands.
The sound of Viktoria Wolff dropping face-first onto the cold hard ground made Scott turn back. He looked over at the three dead bodies lying on the ground and then, shaking his head, he turned and walked away.
Kate slowly lowered her pistol and then, with a disgusted look on her face, she dropped it to the ground.
“You ok?” asked Scott.
“She had it coming to her for what she did to my father,” said Kate, fighting back tears.
Scott pulled Kate close to his chest and held her tight. He didn’t say a word for close to a minute. “You have quite the habit of saving me,” said Scott, looking down into Kate’s beautiful green eyes.
“I think I still owe you a bunch more,” said Kate, wiping the tears from her eyes. “How did you know that that was going to happen?” asked Kate, looking over at the artefacts strewn on the cavern floor.
“I didn’t. I just had a hunch,” replied Scott. “When I came down here, the young boy’s corpse over there,” said Scott, pointing back at the ship. “He looked the same as the day he died. The difference was that he died near the Ark. However, when I moved his body away, he aged centuries in seconds. There is something protecting the Ark, and it seems to have a defined boundary,” Scott said, looking at the still-burning torches ringing the Ark.
“The Ark does not want to be touched by the hand of man,” said Kate. repeating something she had said earlier.
“As far as I can tell, the Ark just wants to be left alone, and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”
“The Grail?”
“I only came after it to use it as a bargaining tool to get you back. Now I don’t need it, nor do I want it. Besides, which one would it be?” Scott said, looking over at the dozen or more cups lying on the ground. “Nothing here belongs to us,” said Scott, looking down at Kate. “None of it ever did. Let’s just go home and leave the Ark and everything inside it in peace.”
Kate wished it could be different. She was a scholar and wanted to study the priceless artefacts inside the Ark, but in her heart, she knew Scott was right. It was better for them just to leave things as they are.
“Hello, Colonel,” called Sarik from behind the collapsed wall. “This hole is too small for me to crawl through.”
Scott smiled. “That’s ok. We’re coming to you.”
A minute later, Sarik helped them through the narrow hole and then told Scott what had happened above. Thomas had remained on the glacier, busy helping the Turkish wounded onto the Aerostat’s gondola.
“What about the Grail? Do you have it?” asked Sarik, looking over at Scott and Kate.
“No, we don’t have it. It’s going to stay down here forever,” said Scott wearily.
“A sound decision Colonel, my son would have applauded your morals,” said Sarik with a lump in his throat.
Scott pulled out a stick of dynamite from his jacket pocket. Kate and Sarik looked down disbelievingly. “It was my backup should all else have failed,” said Scott with a boyish grin. Lighting it, Scott tossed it inside the hole and then ran after his friends, who were already dashing for the safety of the rope at the entrance of the tunnel.
With a loud bang, the tunnel seemed to shake from side to side. Scott could hear the walls coming down behind him. Running as fast as he could, he dove for the rope hanging over the entrance of the tunnel. Grasping it with both hands, Scott felt air and dust rush past him as the tunnel collapsed in on itself. With a sense of overwhelming relief, Scott began to climb towards the light welcoming him from above.
Chapter 44
The Road Home
The Gondola was dangerously overloaded, but Scott could not in good conscience leave any of the Turkish wounded behind to die alone on the icy plateau. They would all leave together, or they would all die together.
Scott took one last look around to make sure all was in order before dashing over to the opening to the crevasse. Removing his medallion, he let it drop into the seemingly bottomless gorge before setting light to a fuse leading down inside the crevasse. All of the remaining dynamite had been bundled together and jammed just under an icy ledge. Scott hoped that it would be enough to seal off the opening for eternity.
“Come on Colonel,” called Thomas, standing guard over what remained of Karl Wolff’s men.
Running back, Scott tapped Thomas on the shoulder. Together they sprinted for the gondola.
&n
bsp; “What about us?” shouted one of the guards.
“Run,” Scott yelled back as he leapt inside the packed gondola.
Sarik sat at the back with his hands on the controls to the steam engine.
“Are you sure you can work this contraption?”
“Not at all,” replied Sarik. “Do you think your plan will work?”
“No, but I don’t want to remain here either.” With that, Scott ordered the tethers holding the Aerostat to the glacier cut. Right away, the Aerostat rose slightly and then began to move sideways towards the edge of the plateau.
“Straighten us out,” yelled Scott to Sarik, who was trying to get more power from the straining steam engine. There were just too many people jammed into the gondola. A moment later, they slid off the plateau and began moving sideways at the mercy of the strong winds swirling around the top of the mountain.
Scott felt the Aerostat lurch violently in the air.
“We’re too heavy,” called out Sarik, trying to turn the craft into the wind, as he fought to control its erratic behavior before they smashed headlong into the side of the mountain.
Scott steadied himself and then called out. “Sarik, tell the men to throw everything overboard that isn’t nailed down.” Soon weapons, ammunition, Thomas’ prized Gatling gun and anything else they could grab was hefted over the side.
Above them, a sharp ear-splitting explosion filled the air. A plume of ice and rock rose skyward as the charges sealed the entrance to the crevasse under tons of ice and rock.
Sarik cheered and raised his hands in praise to God.
A powerful wind seemed to come out of nowhere, as if an invisible hand grabbed hold of the Aerostat and began to push it back towards the icy cliff. Scott saw the wall of ice grow larger by the second. Kate grabbed his hand and closed her eyes; she did not want to see their doom. Pulling Kate close into him, Scott turned and looked over at Sarik fighting with the controls to the machine. Swearing away in Turkish, Sarik bashed at the engine with his knife. With a guttural explosion, the engine suddenly sputtered loudly and began to chug away. Behind the gondola, the large propeller clawed at the air, trying to push them away from the onrushing cliff.
Slowly, the craft began to respond to Sarik’s touch. The edge of the cliff seemed so close that Scott could reach out and touch it with his hands. He knew in his gut that he had done the right thing trying to save as many people as he could; it was now out of his hands.
Kate held onto Scott with all of her strength, expecting to be smashed against the rock at any second.
Like a boat fighting against the stream, the craft slowly began to turn hard over, and then with mere yards to spare, it began to sail away from the rock face. A loud cheer erupted from every mouth. Men patted each other on the back and hugged one another, praising God for their deliverance. Scott and Kate stood in the middle of the euphoria, oblivious to everyone else.
About fifteen minutes later, after several narrow escapes, Scott and Sarik agreed that it would have been wise to have brought along the Aerostat’s engineer with them. Sailing across the open plains surrounding the mountain, Sarik finally brought the gondola to the ground a few hundred yards away from the train in a farmer’s date field. The instant the craft touched the ground everyone, no matter how injured they were, scrambled to get off the Aerostat before any other mishap could befall them. Sarik fought to keep it straight and level until only he and Scott were left. Together they leapt over the side onto the ground. Scott and Sarik lay there looking up at the sky, never so happy to be lying in the dirt.
Without anyone to guide it, the balloon skimmed along the surface of the earth before crashing into an abandoned stone dwelling, wrapping itself around the building, before catching fire. The Aerostat, made mainly of wood and canvas, was soon consumed in the fire.
Helping the wounded, Scott and Sarik led the survivors to the train.
Waiting there with a grin from ear to ear was Professor O’Sullivan. With him were several Turkish policemen and a detachment of soldiers, who upon seeing their battered comrades ran to help.
Kate walked over, threw her arms around her father, and hugged him like never before. “Father, I told you to leave the instant we took off,” said Kate, admonishing her father.
“I did,” said her father proudly. “I snuck out the back of the train when no one was watching, just like you told me to. I was walking down the road and ran into an old Imam. He asked me what I was doing, so I told him. Before too long an army patrol came along and one thing led to another. They impounded the train so I came back here to wait for you.”
Taking her father’s hand, she walked over to Scott. “Father, I’d like you to meet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Scott, U.S. Army,” said Kate, her face beaming as she made the introduction.
Robert O’Sullivan instantly took a liking to Kate’s protector. “I guess I owe you my thanks, Colonel,” he said, pumping Scott’s hand energetically.
“You owe me nothing, sir,” said Scott honestly. “I was ordered by President Lincoln himself to find you and to bring you home safely to the United States, and I still intend to do so.”
“So old Abraham did all this for me,” said O’Sullivan, shaking his head.
“No, sir, he did this for the good of the nation, and I for one am damn glad he did. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he had not,” Scott said, looking down at Kate.
Kate saw Scott’s stare and blushed. She felt as if she had just crawled out of a mineshaft after being down there for a week. Her clothes were filthy, her deep red hair was askew, but Scot did not see any of it; he only saw the warmth in Kate’s smile.
“Now what do we do?” asked Kate.
“We help Sarik bury his son along with Lance Corporal Gray and then make plans to disappear before any more disciples of the Wollfs come along,” replied Scott.
Kate felt a lump in her throat. She had been so busy that she had forgotten about their losses. Gray and Sarik’s son had died to protect the Grail and her. A tear glistened in the corner of her eye.
Prayers rang out over the freshly dug graves for Lance Corporal Dwayne Gray, USMC, and Sarik, son of Sarik.
Scott stood there stoically as Sarik and Thomas covered the bodies with dark soil. He ground his teeth. Two of the best and bravest young men he had ever served with unselfishly lost their lives fighting for what they believed in against an enemy that Scott still did not truly understand yet. As he watched the blood-red sun dip below the horizon, Scott swore that someday he would make whoever was responsible for such pain and misery to pay, and pay dearly.
A week later, Scott, Thomas, Kate and her father stood on the dock at Mersin, on the coast of Turkey. Their boat, a British steamer, waited for them to board.
“My friends, I guess this is goodbye,” said Sarik, his voice full of melancholy.
Kate stepped forward, reached up, and placed a kiss on his stubbly round face. “Thank you, Sarik,” she said. “I will think of you, and your brave son, whenever I see the snow fall from the heavens,” said Kate, feeling sad to be saying her farewells.
“Thank you, Miss Kate, you are too kind,” replied Sarik.
Thomas simply stepped forward and gave Sarik a hug that would have strangled a grizzly bear.
When everyone else was done, Scott stepped forward and offered his hand.
Sarik reached out and clasped it.
“I am sorry about your son. He was a brave man. A man I was proud to know,” Scott said, his voice full of conviction.
Sarik smiled and nodded his head.
“This isn’t goodbye my friend, it is simply until I see you again,” said Scott with a grin.
“Yes, Colonel, until I see you again,” replied Sarik.
Both men stood there, their eyes locked on one another.
The ship’s bell rang, warning Scott to board, or miss the ride.
Scott let go of Sarik’s hand, turned to leave, only to stop and turn about to face his friend. “You never told me ho
w you knew so much about the Grail and why you willingly went along through all of those hardships with me,” said Scott, looking deep into Sarik’s eyes. “It wasn’t for the money…now was it?”
Pulling up on his shirtsleeve, Sarik revealed a tattoo of the Holy Grail etched into his forearm. “The Knights of the True Grail are more than you were led to believe,” said Sarik with a grin. “We transcend nationality, race, and religion. We simply follow the word of God and ensure that his secrets are kept hidden away until man is ready for them,” explained Sarik. “How do you think you came to me? Colonel, you did the right thing back on the mountain. It is a rare man who could have had it all, but decided instead to let it all go. It is I who is proud to know you, Alexander Scott.”
“Well aren’t you full of surprises,” said Scott, shaking his head.
“You had best run or you’ll miss your boat,” Sarik said as the gangplank was hauled in.
With a wave, Scott boarded the steamer. Turning about, Scott was not surprised to see that Sarik had vanished off the near-empty dock.
Shaking his head, Scott turned about and walked to join his compatriots. He had had enough of mysterious societies, ancient relics, and secret chambers for a lifetime.
Chapter 45
Washington, D.C. - December 1864
Scott stood with his hands clasped behind his back while General Clinton sat at his desk, a cigar clenched in his teeth, reading over Scott’s report.
Outside, the capital was blanketed in a fresh layer of snow. The sight of it made Scott’s mind wander back to the Ark and the men they had lost that fateful day. He absentmindedly ran his hands over his newly-pressed blue patrol jacket wishing that Clinton would hurry up, so he could get on with his business.
Their journey back had been thankfully quiet and unremarkable. Travelling as a group of missionaries, they had sailed to Rome onboard the British steamer. From there they boarded another steamer heading to Lisbon, where they eventually transferred to a U.S. warship waiting for them in Lisbon Harbor.
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