What would Sean do if he were in my shoes? The question resonated in his mind over and over again. The answer came to Tommy faster than he expected. It wasn’t profound. He’d wait for an opportunity. Just stay alive until one presents itself.
The one thing he could do to stay alive was the one thing he didn’t want to do. He had to help Dufort.
“The riddle on the tablets said that when we’re here, we have to take the medallions to four specific points,” Tommy said.
“Tommy,” Adriana said in a chastising tone. “Don’t lead them to the lost city.”
“It’s okay, Adriana. I have to do this. It’s my family’s legacy. It’s my legacy. If I’m going to die, I want to die finding the thing my parents gave up on so many years ago.”
“That’s the spirit,” Dufort said. “So, where are these four points?”
Tommy narrowed his eyes against the glare of the searing desert sun. He gave a nod. “I’d start with those rock formations over there,” he said after careful consideration. “They’re the only thing that stands out in this sand ocean.”
“Good idea,” Dufort said. “Glad to see you’re willing to cooperate.” He turned to his men and motioned for them to move.
The group trudged through the sand, making their way to the two overhangs. The ledges looked like twins, both sticking out of the sand and pointing at the other. Underneath were the only spots where shade could be found for hundreds of miles in any direction.
Once the group was underneath the ledge on the right, Dufort turned to Tommy again and put his hands out wide. “Okay,” he said. “What next?”
“You think I just pull all the answers out of thin air?” Tommy asked. “This sort of thing takes a lot of time. We don’t just roll up to a site and immediately figure everything out.”
Dufort pulled a pistol out of his belt—the same one he’d used to kill Sean. He pointed it at Tommy’s head. “Have you ever done this routine, Thomas? The one where someone tells you to do something and imagine you had to do it with a gun to your head? Good news: You don’t have to pretend. What do we do with the medallions? The tablets say a gate will open when the medallions are brought together. Tell me where they go.”
“You figured out as much as I did,” Tommy said. “So, go ahead and kill me if you want to, because frankly, it’s better than listening to you. Besides, if you do shoot me, you won’t find anything. Or at least it will take you longer.”
Dufort nodded. “Okay, okay. I understand.” His French accent grew particularly nasally. “This is the part where I threaten you, you push back, and then I tell you that if you don’t do what I say, I’ll kill your girlfriend. Then I’ll kill the late Sean Wyatt’s girlfriend. Then you decide that you couldn’t bear to see that happen and choose to help me. There, I just saved us at least three minutes. So, now that we have that settled,” his finger tightened on the trigger, “find where we place the medallions.”
“I need my hands,” Tommy said.
“Fine,” Dufort relented. “You have all these eyes and guns on you and your friends.” He turned to Hank. “Cut him loose.”
Hank sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, boss.”
Hank stepped behind Tommy and produced a knife from his pocket. He cut the rope in a few slices and backed away.
Tommy clenched his fingers, finally feeling the circulation flow through them. He shook his hands a few times to speed up the process.
“I don’t pay you for your ideas, Hank,” Dufort said. “Now, Thomas, please. The medallions. How do they open the gate?”
Tommy had no idea. He wasn’t about to tell Dufort that again. Deep down, he knew that the Frenchman stood just as good a chance of finding the way to open the gate to Zerzura as he did. Maybe Dufort already knew that and his reason behind this whole charade was all part of his ego-driven power trip. It wouldn’t be out of character for Dufort to make Tommy do his bidding just for the sake of it.
With a deep breath and a steely resolve, Tommy slowly made his way farther under the overhang, leaving the rest of the group behind. He looked up at the rocky ceiling and traced it to where it ended in a sharp point. Only ten feet across, the other pointy ledge began and recessed back to a nearly identical natural shelter.
Under the overhang was a stone wall, carved out in a sort of half circle. The walls were roughhewn, probably not created by human hands but by thousands of years of nature’s work.
He scanned the jagged surfaces in hopes of finding some kind of clue, a drawing, painting, or carving that would tell him what to do next. There was, however, nothing out of the ordinary.
Tommy sighed. They were in the right place. Dufort and his men pinpointed the location the night before, using several different maps online and offline to double and triple check. Tommy had to hand it to Dufort. The guy wasn’t going to take any chances. If they were going to commandeer two helicopters and fly out into the middle of the Sahara, they’d better be darn sure that was the place they needed to go.
Yet here he was, standing in the exact location referenced by the tablets and stones with nothing to show for it. Tommy looked back over his shoulder at June and Adriana.
Dufort stood near them and put out his hands wide. “Well?”
Tommy averted his eyes and looked down at the sand. Deliberately, he lowered himself to one knee and pressed his fingers into the gritty earth. He scooped up a handful of sand and let it fall through his fingers until his hand was empty again. He frowned and sighed. “This has to be the place,” he muttered. “What am I missing?”
He ran through the script from the tablets once more in his mind. While he didn’t have an eidetic memory, he could paraphrase things closely enough to be accurate. “The tablets said that the amulets were to be placed at the four points. Or was it corners?” Tommy whispered to himself to keep Dufort unaware of his uncertainty. Sometimes, he felt like he thought better when he spoke rather than just keeping things inside his head.
He turned and looked over at the edge of the overhang where the wall rose up to the ledge. If there was a point or corner in the area, maybe that was it. He stood up and walked over to the corner where the rock wall came to an end. He knelt down and ran his fingers over the stone. Leaning in closer, he noticed something unusual. It was so small he might have missed it had he not been so near. It was a curve cut into the rock. The indention was no more than an inch long, but it was definitely put there by human hands. It appeared to continue down below where the sand met stone.
Tommy’s hopes rose, albeit cautiously, in his chest. He got down on all fours and started sweeping away the loose sand with his hands like a dog digging for a bone. He worked furiously, pulling away the gritty soil until he could make out a little more of the carving in the rock.
“What is it?” Dufort asked, taking a step closer. His mouth was agape as he stared at Tommy while he toiled.
“I don’t know,” Tommy said between hard breaths. “Something.”
The group collectively moved a few feet closer, curious to see what Tommy found.
Tommy kept digging away the sand, realizing that millennia of sandstorms and shifts in the earth’s crust must have buried any ancient evidence that would have pointed toward the lost city.
After several minutes, he found himself in a shallow hole staring at a carving in the rock. It was a symbol, much like one he’d seen so many times throughout his life and especially of late. An Egyptian ankh had been cut into the wall with incredible precision.
“Whoever put that there must have been quite the craftsman,” Dufort said.
Tommy’d been working so hard he didn’t notice the Frenchman walk up behind him to see what he was doing.
“Yes,” Tommy said without even a glance over his shoulder. “It’s flawless.”
“What does it mean?”
“It’s an ankh,” Tommy answered. “It’s an ancient Egyptian symbol for—”
“I know what it means,” Dufort interrupted. “I’m not stupid.�
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Tommy wanted to debate his last point but kept quiet.
“I want to know why it’s here and what we do next.”
Tommy leaned over again and craned his neck. He stuck out his hand and pulled away a few more scoops of sand. Underneath the base of the ankh was a hole about the size of a nickel.
“Bring me one of the amulets,” Tommy said.
Dufort’s eyes turned to slits, full of suspicion.
Tommy sensed the man’s doubt and turned to face him. “Look, Gerry, you can either trust that I know what I’m doing, which—by the way—you obviously do because you brought me here and set me loose to figure this thing out. Or you can shoot me and my friends and do everything on your own. Now bring me an amulet. The one that has the ankh carved into it.”
Dufort sized up the American and then gave a nod. “Cody. Bring me one of the cases with the relic in it, the one with the ankh.”
A minute later, Cody rushed to his employer’s side and handed him a small metal case.
Dufort noticed Tommy eyeing the case with curiosity.
“It’s lead lined,” Dufort explained. “We experienced a strange phenomenon when we brought the stones together. To keep that from happening while traveling, we put them in these cases.”
Tommy accepted the explanation with a slow nod.
“Set it on the ground,” Dufort ordered Cody.
The younger man did so and stepped back away from the case.
“May I?” Tommy asked with heavy layer of sarcasm to his voice.
“Just be sure you don’t do something stupid like break it.”
Tommy sighed and knelt down by the case. “This was my family’s life work, Gerard. Like I said before, if I’m going to die here, I at least want to see it through to the end.”
He flipped up the two clasps and cautiously lifted the lid. Inside was the amulet with the symbol that matched the one cut into the wall. Tommy swallowed as he lifted the jewel out of its case and held it in his fingers as delicately as possible.
He pivoted around and faced the wall once more, gazing at the symbol on the rock and the hole just below it. Carefully, he slid back into the shallow hole and held the amulet a few inches away. The gem in the center of the jewelry began to radiate with a bizarre glow. For a second, Tommy was afraid he might be doing something wrong. He’d seen his fair share of strange things, but glowing gems were a rarity.
Tommy let out a long breath and aimed the bottom of the amulet’s stem at the hole in the wall. He swallowed again, pushing the lump in his throat down into his chest as the metal tip slid into the stone. The gem glowed brighter until he’d shoved the amulet all the way to its hilt.
The earth trembled beneath their feet, and sand shook from the ledge overhead. Cody’s eyes filled with fear, and he stepped farther away from the recess.
Dufort remained stoic. His eyes darted around to make sure he wasn’t hit by a falling object, but he was oddly comfortable with the occurrence.
Tommy stood up and faced the Frenchman. “Tell your men to find symbols that match the ones on the amulets. They should be located in corners just like this one. If they don’t see them on the walls, tell them to dig. We’re dealing with thousands of years’ worth of sand that has been blown all over this area. I’m actually a bit surprised I was able to find that one.” He motioned with his thumb to the amulet sticking out of the wall. “The others might not be so easy, but they’ll be there.”
Dufort nodded. He had a triumphant, smug grin on his face.
“Men!” he shouted. “Get the shovels. We have work to do.”
The men scattered, some returning to the helicopters, others setting gear bags down on the ground to retrieve their tools. Dufort kept his eyes on Tommy to make sure he didn’t try anything.
“See?” Dufort said. “Helping me isn’t so bad.”
“Yes it is, Dufort. Yes it is.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t have to much longer.”
“Good, because if I did I think I’d probably vomit.”
The Frenchman shook his head. “Always so dramatic.”
“Listen, Gerry,” Tommy made sure to say the name with as much disdain as possible. He could tell it got under Dufort’s skin. “Just make sure your goons don’t damage the artifacts, okay? When we get out of here, and we will get out of here, I want to make sure those things are taken to a lab where they can be studied.”
Dufort snorted in derision at Tommy’s remark. “Your confidence is admirable, Thomas. I’ll give you that. But I assure you that you and your friends will never leave this place.”
Chapter 33
Sahara Desert, Egypt
Tommy nodded at Dufort, who in turn gave a nod to the rest of his men positioned at the corners of the rock formations.
Some of his henchmen had been digging for the better part of an hour in search of the symbols carved into the rocks. Tommy was glad he’d started with the easiest one. The mercenaries dug in shifts, stripping away large piles of sand until they located the ancient markers.
Now, three of Dufort’s men were kneeling in front of the holes with amulets ready to be inserted. All they needed was his go-ahead. With the nod, the men simultaneously pushed the metal stems into the respective holes.
The earth trembled again, this time more violently than the first. Tommy kept his eyes on June and Adriana. They stood in the shade under the ledge, just ten feet away under the watchful eyes of Dufort’s men.
Two of the mercenaries stood in the middle of the basin to keep an eye out—just in case someone happened to stumble upon their little project. It was a one in a million chance that would happen, but Dufort wasn’t about to leave anything to chance.
“What’s happening?” June asked. The fear in her voice had disappeared, and now all that was left was fierce determination.
Tommy knew Dufort’s men were handling venomous snakes when it came to the two women. He’d seen June in action, and while she wasn’t as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as Adriana, she could still hold her own. One misstep, and the mercenaries would end up dead.
“I don’t know,” Tommy said as he shuffled his feet back a few inches, deeper into the shade.
Dufort turned his head and looked out into the basin. “This is it,” he said in a booming voice. “The gateway to Zerzura!”
The air suddenly filled with a high-pitched whine. Everyone immediately covered their ears to protect themselves from the painful sound.
The ground continued to shake under their feet. The two men in the middle of the basin looked around, confused as to what was happening. They kept their weapons at their hips, ready to fire if any danger appeared. There was no way they could have anticipated what happened next.
The earth opened up beneath them, and the men vanished in the blink of an eye. Their screams were drowned out by the whine. Dufort watched with wide-eyed wonder as the ground continued to open. A massive hole appeared and kept growing wider and wider until it nearly reached the shelter of the ledge.
Tommy looked up and noticed a strange glowing orb between the two rock points.
Then as suddenly as the bizarre event began, it came to an end. The ground shook no more, and the glowing orb disappeared. Some of the men had crouched low to the ground to gain stability. Others braced themselves against the rocks. Now everyone stood up straight and looked out into the opening in the earth. A warm gust of wind blew through the basin, carrying away the loose dust and debris that lingered after.
“What in the name of—” Cody said.
“The entrance to the lost city,” Dufort cut him off.
The Frenchman moved instinctively toward the edge of the giant hole in the ground. He leaned over with only the slightest hint of caution and stared down into the abyss.
He laughed—quietly at first—and then louder.
Tommy risked taking a step forward. “What is it?” he asked.
Dufort turned around and grinned from ear to ear. “Zerzura.”
He ord
ered his men to grab as much rope as they could and tie it to the overhangs above. The mercenaries on both sides of the opening did as instructed, and soon they’d fastened hundreds of feet of rope to the rocks above.
Tommy gazed down into the hole with the two women standing close by. Below, the light of the sun illuminated a narrow river running through a canyon. There were paths about sixty to eighty feet down inside the perimeter of the opening. Dufort’s plan was to climb down to the paths and then find their way to the bottom.
Tommy tried to see the bodies of the men who’d fallen in, but there was no trace of them. Based on where they’d been standing, it was likely they fell into the river.
Then another sobering thought hit him. “No way Sean could stand here,” he said to the women. “He’d have been terrified.”
Neither Adriana nor June said anything.
“Cody,” Dufort said from nearby, “have two of your men go down to that first path and make sure everything is safe.”
“Yes, sir.” Cody shouted orders at one of the men across the way and then relayed the same message to one of the mercenaries standing nearby.
These guys had been hardened soldiers, their steel nerves forged in the fire of intense training and combat. A drop of a few hundred feet to the bottom of a desert canyon wasn’t enough to scare them. Most of them had faced more frightening scenarios.
The men worked their way around to the top of the overhangs and began their descent while everyone watched with bated breath. Hand over hand, the men lowered themselves into the giant cavity until they reached the ledges below. The one closest to Dufort landed first. He flipped on the flashlight attached to his weapon and swept the area. The second guy to touch down did the same. After a quick check, they waved up to the rest of the group that it was all clear.
The Sahara Legacy Page 26