The Gods' Gambit

by David Lee Marriner

  “This was not here before,” Sonam whispered.

  Irina put her index finger to her lips. Quietly, they reached the grating. Behind it was a large chamber illuminated by muted red light. In this twilight, stalactites with whimsical shapes could be seen on the ceiling. Several big fans were built into the opposite wall. A line of bulbs above them dispersed the red illumination.

  “This’s a ventilation station,” Lino commented. “Behind the fans are downcasts. They must be part of net of downcasts. Through them we should be able to reach any point in the base.”

  James shoved his head between the metal bars and looked around with the help of his flashlight. “It’s empty,” he said.

  “Step back,” said Irina. She took a chunk of plastic explosive out of her backpack.

  The grating was made of thick horizontal bars secured in holes drilled into the rocky frame. Irina pinched two pea-grain size pieces of the explosive and put them at each end of the middle bar. On both she placed a miniature digital detonator and then returned to the others who had taken cover behind a protrusion in the tunnel’s wall at a distance of about fifteen meters. Several minutes passed before the fans started spinning and rumbling again. Irina pressed a button on the remote she held in her hand. The blast echo was partially muted by the fan’s noise. The metal bar had come off from its stone grips leaving enough space for a person to get through.

  Apart from the ventilation downcasts, in the chamber’s ceiling there were two wide vertical shafts.

  “When I worked here we bore downcasts like these,” Sonam said.

  “We must find a way to the central part of the base. That is the most sheltered area. Malee and the artifact should be there,” said James.

  The red light couldn’t hide the embarrassment that changed Sonam’s expression. “I don’t know where these tunnels would lead us. None of them was completed when I was here. But I can find the way to the dormitories. They were not far from here. Maybe Malee is there.”

  They discussed his proposal and decided it was worth trying. Although all of them agreed that not everything should be staked on just that one option. They decided to separate into two groups. Sonam, James, and Lao were going to find the dormitories; Irina and Lino were going to enter the cave base through one of the downcasts.

  Irina was giving last instructions on how to set and activate the explosive charges when they heard a loud metallic squeaking. A metal door in the wall not far from the place they were standing began to open. All of them ran from the strip of light that was getting bigger as the door opened. Lino ran last but tripped on his backpack which had been in his way on the floor. He sprawled full length on the ground. Before he’d managed to release his entangled foot from the backpack’s shoulder-straps and get up, two men had entered the chamber. He quickly squatted behind a stone. The two men walked ahead chatting in Russian. They spotted Lino simultaneously and reached for their shouldered machine guns. Distracted by Lino, the two men didn’t see Lao and James rushing at them. Both were knocked down – each by a single precise fist blow.

  “There’s another one,” shouted Lino indicating towards the door.

  Sonam, who was close to it, jumped into the light. In the tunnel ahead a man was running. Sonam pulled his handgun with the silencer and began shooting. On the fourth shot the gun misfired. He threw it and grabbed his Kalashnikov.

  “Don’t shoot! Too much echo!” Irina shouted. She pushed him aside and aimed carefully with her handgun. The bullet hit the runner in the neck and he lay dead just before he was able to get to a sharp turn in the tunnel.

  “They’ve discovered us.” Sonam was looking about, tensely holding the Kalashnikov.

  “No. They’d have sent more people if that were the case,” Irina disagreed.

  “These are workers. Maintenance probably,” said Lao. He was leaning over the fallen bodies scavenging one of the bags they had been carrying. “There are tools and some measuring devices in here,” he announced.

  The two men were dressed in dark green overalls, which confirmed Lao’s thoughts. Sonam and Lao dragged the corpse of the third man into the chamber. Irina asked the three men to take the overalls off the Russians and put them on. That would help them later when they were going to enter the underground compound. Then she tied up the two unconscious men and blocked their mouths with tape.

  James bent over and picked up a tablet PC that lay where the two men had fallen. It was on and some software was running. One of the Russians must have been carrying it when Lao and James had attacked them. It displayed some sort of schema – probably electrical wiring – digits and a short list written in Russian.

  James clicked on a few icons. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “That must be the schema of the whole base.”

  The rest gathered around him. A 3D blueprint of a multi-level structure had appeared on the display.

  “Lino, I need your help,” said James.

  Linguistics was a big interest of Lino’s. He could speak eight languages, to varying degrees, and could read in about twice as many more. Slavic languages, and especially Russian, were some of his favorites.

  They examined the blueprint for few minutes. In the centre of the structure, there was enormous chamber and everything else was built above and around it. Judging by the shape of the chamber it must have been a natural formation, like where they were now, although much bigger.

  “The Divine Eye must be in that chamber. It’s the lowest zone in the compound,” said Lino. He continued touching the display to zoom into different parts of the plan.

  “Hold on. What’s this?” Irina focused his attention on several smaller chambers right above the main chamber. In them were drawings of some large cylindrical objects which had pipes going out and spreading through the whole underground structure.

  “It’s written here … propane gas containers … petrol, diesel … hydrogen …,” Lino said.

  Irina reached over and with several quick touches on the screen produced different perspectives of the chambers. “These are for fuel and chemical storage. The containers are huge. If we blow them up, the cave structure in that zone will collapse. The artifact would be buried under millions of tons of rock. With a bit of luck, most of the base could be destroyed,” she said.

  “That’s our chance,” said Lino.

  “The question is how to get to the containers,” said Sonam.

  “Through the ventilation downcasts, of course. They reach practically everywhere in the base,” said Irina.

  “Our first priority is Malee. There might be other innocent people with her there. We must take them to a safe place before detonating the charges,” said James.

  For few moments, there was silence. Nobody thought that they could do all this and get out alive from there.

  “Yes. That’s what we should do,” said Lao.

  “Look,” Lino zoomed in on a part of the blueprint. Its detailed view showed that in that tunnel were many cells. He pointed to the writing overlapping the schema. “In translation it means, ‘House of the Seers’,” he said.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Irina and Sonam took most of the plastic explosive and set out through a downcast to the fuel storage sector. Lino had drawn a map of the way for them because the two other tablets they found in the bags of the Russian maintenance team required passwords.

  James, Lao and Lino went into a different downcast in the direction of the ‘House of the Seers’ dressed in the maintenance overalls. In contrast to Irina and Sonam they couldn’t afford going all the way through the ventilation downcast system because it would take too long. As a result, soon after leaving the chamber, they moved into the tunnel system.

  For quite a while, they didn’t encounter anyone. Just once, two armed men appeared further ahead in the tunnel but they managed to turn into the closest side tunnel. Lino then used the tablet to re-adjust the route and they continued ahead. Fortunately, that was the only time they stumbled upon the enemy.

  On the la
st stage, they had to enter a ventilation pipe that led right into the ‘House of the Seers’.

  Using a wireless screwdriver from the toolset in the maintenance bag that James had taken with him, he removed the protective grating from the pipe’s end and put it back again once they got in. Five minutes walking on all-fours brought them to their intended destination. The pipe came out in a well-lit tunnel where they could see doors through another grating. James removed the grating and the three jumped to the ground. The zone indicated on the tablet as the ‘House of the Seers’ was an area of about thirty meters in length in-between two grill-doors.

  James drew his gun, stepped to the closest door and slowly pushed down the handle. The door wasn’t locked. He opened it and squeezed inside, gun pointed, followed by Lao and Lino. The room was barely furnished: two beds, a small table with two chairs, and a cupboard. A man in a brown robe stood in the middle of the room; another man lay on one of the beds facing the wall. The standing man was of mid-stature, thin, just skin and bones. Although he was facing the door, he didn’t look at them. His eyes were aimed somewhere above James’ head. A smile twisted his lips. “Ooo …” he exclaimed faintly. He said several words in Russian, then stopped, and then said in English, “The light … I’ve lived to see it. Now I can die in peace.” He dropped on his knees, tottered towards James and made a move as if to embrace his legs. James stepped back and held the man who, due to his weakness, was going to fall flat on the floor. James helped him get on his feet.

  “Who are you?” asked James.

  “I am Vitali Sorokin … or what is left of him. I am the one who discovered you, Rainbow Carrier. I know you. Your name is James. You are a writer. I saw all about you.”

  “You are a seer. You discovered James by means of the Divine Eye, didn’t you?” asked Lino, his expression and tone excited.

  Sorokin responded without looking at him. “There was time when I was a man. Now I’m a seer. I saw the Rainbow Carrier.”

  “We’re looking for Malee … the new lady. She was brought here recently. Do you know where she is?” asked James.

  It was written on Sorokin’s face how difficult it was for him to concentrate on the question. His eyes continued to concentrate on the space above James’ head.

  “I don’t know anybody with that name,” he said. “You say she’s new?”

  “She probably arrived several days ago,” James sensed a spasm of fear in his heart. If Malee had not arrived here they would probably never find her.

  “As a rule, the newly arrived seers are lodged in the front rooms. Normally room number one,” said Sorokin.

  “Are there any guards nearby?” asked James.

  “No. The first sentry point is at the beginning of that gallery. It’s a few minutes’ walk.”

  “Lao, let’s go and find Malee,” said James. “You stay here,” he said to Lino. “Nobody goes out until we come back.”

  Sorokin lifted a hand as if to halt him. “The woman you’re looking for … If she’s a true seer, she won’t come with you. She wouldn’t wish to be separated from the Eye.”

  “What are you talking about? What do you mean with ‘true seer’?” James’ tone was tense.

  “A seer has his inner vision. There are not many people on earth like that. Even the Rainbow Carrier can’t be a seer … Ooo, your wondrous light …” Sorokin raised his eyes up again and made a weak gesture as though embracing something invisible.

  James stepped close, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him. “The girl I’m talking about has potential to be a seer. So what?” he asked looking closely into Sorokin’s eyes.

  “The true seers get addicted to the Eye. One glimpse through the Pipe of Five Elements is enough for that to happen,” Sorokin suddenly twisted his lips in a predatory smile.

  “The five elements … The colours and the emptiness. That’s it,” said Lino.

  James looked at him in bewilderment.

  “The pipes used by the priest-seers from Don Federico’s myth. They were made of four types of precious stones. In some esoteric tradition the primordial elements have colours …”

  “Yes. Earth element is yellow, fire – red, air – green, water – blue,” said James.

  “And the pipe’s empty passage represents the space element,” Lino concluded. “This pipe device may have an effect on the brain similar to drugs. If that is the case a process to reverse the effect could be possible.”

  “Ooo.. The shiny rainbow,” drawled Sorokin.

  “We must find Malee. If she is affected, we’ll deal with it later,” said Lao.

  “Try to find out from our friend here exactly where the Eye is. Be vigilant,” said James to Lino and pointed out the man lying on the bed who hadn’t given any sign of life until that moment.

  Room number one was next to the grill-door on their left. Lao reached there first and opened it. James looked over Lao’s shoulder. It was semi-obscure inside due to the muted light of one only lit desk lamp. The space and furnishing were the same as in the other room. The difference here was that there were two women. Both sat together on one bed, their heads stooped, and their hair loose and disheveled. Lao’s sudden entrance startled them and they jumped and stepped back.

  “Dad, James … Oh, God!” Malee dashed towards them and threw herself into Lao’s arms, crying. She was trying to say something but only sobbing and partial sounds came out of her throat.

  “Calm down dear. We’ll get you out of here,” said Lao.

  James entered and embraced her.

  “They came in the shop … I was closing … They attacked me,” Malee only managed to articulate the words in snatches.

  “Let’s leave this for now,” said James. “Malee, did they make you look at the Eye?”

  She looked at him, puzzled. “What eye, James?”

  James felt as though a heavy load had been taken off his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s move out.”

  “Can we take Lena with us? She’s a friend. They brought us here at the same time,” said Malee. She went back to the other girl who was cringing in the corner and held out her hand. “Let’s go, Lena. Don’t be afraid.”

  James left Lao and Malee and the Russian girl next to the ventilation pipe and then entered Sorokin’s room. Upon seeing him Sorokin got up again.

  “Malee?” asked Lino.

  “Outside, with Lao. She hadn’t looked into that thing. She’ll be fine.”

  “Thank God. That’s great,” Lino exclaimed, with relief in his voice. “It’s as we assumed. The Eye is hidden in a separate room next to the main cha—”

  Before he could finish the sentence, a loud piercing sound rang outside. James and Lino quickly went out into the tunnel. The sound was coming from the direction of the closest grill-door. A twinkling red light accompanied it.

  Alarm.

  James looked at Lao.

  “We didn’t do anything,” Lao said.

  “The sound’s coming from different places behind that door. It’s as if this hellish place has suddenly woken up,” said Lino.

  “They may have discovered the three missing workers,” James assumed. On saying that a thought flashed through his mind: Irina and Sonam!

  The doors of the rooms in the ‘House of Seers’ began to open and men and women dressed in long brown robes appeared. There were many – lean, exhausted. They didn’t pay any attention to the strangers. Their eyes were aimed towards the grill-door where the alarm had sounded and the red bulb twinkled.

  “It’s time to get out,” said Lao. He took off the protective grating of the ventilation pipe. “Lino, you go first to show the way,” he said.

  “Hold on,” James stopped them. “We must help these people to escape.”

  “We need to move quickly. They seem too weak to follow us into the pipe,” said Lao.

  “We must save them. They’ll be buried if they stay here,” said James. He addressed Sorokin who had also come out of his room,. “This cavern will be demolished soon. The rock
s will crumble. You must come with us. Otherwise, you’ll die.”

  The hollow-cheeked face of Sorokin changed in a snap. For the first time he stared into James’ eyes. His look was heavy and downhearted. He turned away and started to speak in Russian to the crowd. They froze listening to his words.

  “He repeated everything you said … He says we’re going to destroy the cave … bury the Eye and everything else,” translated Lino.

  Now, people dressed in white robes turned to look at them. Some began to murmur and move towards them.

  “I don’t like this,” said Lino casting furtive glances at the seers drawing near.

  “Neither do I,” said James. “Get into the pipe. Quick.”

  Lino climbed first. Lao lifted Malee into the pipe and after that her friend. Suddenly, Sorokin was next to James and had grabbed his arm. “You can’t destroy the Eye,” he said out loud. Madness glittered in his eyes.

  James shook Sorokin’s hand from his arm . “Come with us. You’ll be free. If you stay here, you’ll die. Do you understand?” asked James.

  “You will die!” Sorokin shouted unexpectedly and grabbed his arm again.

  Some of the seers screamed out menacingly. They stepped towards James, and started tugging at his clothes. Others reached out to Lao.

  James gave a strong push and threw the seers back. Sorokin and another man fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Lao cleared the space around them with a series of quick punches and kicks. He and James ran to the ventilation pipe. Lao jumped in the opening and James followed.

  “Lao, move fast. We don’t have much time. Irina and Sonam should already have placed the charges,” James shouted.

  He stuck out his head, leaned over, and lifted the protection grating. It was solid and could hold those chasing them for some time. He put it in its frame and drove in one of the holding screws.

  “I’m coming to give you a hand,” he heard Lao’s voice behind him.

  James responded without turning around, he didn’t want to lose precious seconds. “Go. There is no space for two here. I’ll catch up.”