“Don, this isn’t too bad under the circumstances,” said Kirby as he ate what looked like Salisbury steak.
“Donnie could make a piece of coal taste good if he put his mind to it.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, Gene. Guess what you’re eating?”
Everyone laughed and joked as they ate what they all believed could be their last meal.
“Don, you do seem to have a gift for cooking, which I personally am very grateful for,” said Cait. “I know that’s something I never really had an interest in, and as my father can attest, I’m not very good at it.”
“I’d say it is more a gift of eating,” mumbled Gene.
“Shut up, Gino. I was getting a compliment. Anyway, Miss Cait, I can see you have plenty of other talents. Not to worry. I guess I always used food as a way to comfort myself. My parents divorced when I was really young, and I seemed to find comfort in food from that point on.”
“Tell them about Annie,” said Gene.
Don looked coldly at him as if wounded by his words.
“No, Gene! Why the hell do you have to bring her up?”
“Who’s Annie?” asked Drew.
“I spend a lot of time teasing my buddy over here, but I wanted you all to know the man he is. As I’m sure you all know, Don and I have been best friends for years, since we were kids actually. After I left for the service, my little sister, Annie, became terribly ill and was diagnosed with lymphoma. While I was off playing soldier, guess who stayed with her every day. She wrote me letters and told me how Don would cook her spectacular meals even if she was too sick to eat. He never missed a day. You have no idea what that meant to her and how it comforted her in the end. I never really told you, but I think now is the right time. She loved you, Don, and if she had lived, you would be together. I know it. She told me, and I’m sorry I hadn’t told you up till now.”
Don put down the spoon he was using to stir a small black pot and closed his eyes. Tears welled up as he remembered his feelings for Annie and the love he had for her. He stood and walked away from the others. After a few minutes, Cait walked to where Don was sitting.
“Are you okay?”
“Why the hell did he have to bring her up?” he said, throwing some dirty pots to the ground.
“Because she taught you how to love, and that’s the most important thing in this world.”
“I never really had the chance to love her like she deserved. She was taken away so damn quick,” said Don, sobbing with his hands over his face. Cait knelt down and gently pulled his hands away.
“She hasn’t left you, Don. Don’t you feel that sometimes she’s still with you…inside? That feeling that tells you there is still hope in the world? That’s her keeping your spirit on the right track. We all have people we loved watching over us and keeping the love inside of us alive. She’ll always be with you, and you will see her again.”
“How can you be so sure?” he asked. “I don’t feel a lot of hope right now.”
“I haven’t told the others any of this,” said Cait, putting her arm around Don. “But I had a vision or dream. I’m not exactly sure. Khaheet was there and explained it all to me. I felt the presence of my fiancé, who passed away three years ago. Now that I understand, I feel his presence even now. He’s always been here. I just had to understand. Can you feel her, Don? Look deep into your soul. She’s there with you. I can feel her too.”
Don closed his eyes, and calm came over him. For the first time in his life, he felt nothing from the outside world. He could only hear the vibrations from the energy that was his true being. He did feel her, cradling his fragile soul, filling it with love. Protecting him and caring for him as he once cared for her. She was feeding him that which he needed to go on, pure love. After a few minutes, he wiped the tears from his face and eyes.
“How can that be possible, that I did feel her? For years I looked for some sign that she was okay, wherever she was. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Yes, you do,” said Cait, helping him to his feet. “I’m still hungry, and I smell something good coming from that pot over there.”
He smiled at Cait, and they joined the others by the fire. After they ate, Kirby noticed Gene staring back the way they came, contemplating something.
“What is it, Gene?” asked Kirby.
“With all of the uncertainty about what’s ahead, I’m worried about what’s behind us now too. I know Corrado won’t stop; those mercenaries are coming. I’m not sure how much time we have, and I can’t spare the recon vehicle to go back and take a look. I can handle the earthly threats; it’s the unearthly ones we might need a little advanced notice of.”
“What do you suggest we do to prepare?” asked Kirby.
“I’m going to recon back a few miles and set some traps. I don’t have a whole lot to spare if we are going to be able to blast our way into that tomb, so I’m not sure how much I can really do. Three hours at most, and we have to get moving. Tell the others to get whatever rest they can. Call me on the radio if there is any sign of trouble. One thing’s for sure: we can’t stay here for too much longer. Oh, and Kirby, if those things appear, get your daughter the hell out. Just go balls out the way we came. I’ve seen what they’re capable of.”
“Our answers don’t lie in that direction, Gene. I’m afraid we must see this through. There is no going back, not now.”
“I suppose you’re right. Just be careful.”
“You too, my friend,” said Kirby, shaking Gene’s hand.
Gene grabbed some supplies from his Raptor, threw them on the seat of the undamaged vehicle, and sped off into the dark void.
“Where the hell is he going?” asked Drew.
“To make sure it won’t be easy to follow us. Drew, look here. I wanted to show you something.”
Kirby pulled out the small notebook he kept close to him at all times and turned to the pages that documented Hagiel’s journey out of the Great Pyramid.
“These are the notes I took on the translation of Hagiel’s journal as well as the information from the locals. It speaks of a sequence of numbers that are the key to his escape. In combination with the basic description of what he did, I still can’t make sense of this. See what you think.”
“You are a thousand times better than me at translation,” said Drew. “I’m not sure how much help I can be here.”
“I’m not looking for translation. Use your instinct. This is the part of you that Cait admires, and I do as well. I’m very happy that my daughter chose to accept the love you’ve had for her all these years,” said Kirby, putting his hand on Drew’s shoulder.
Drew looked surprised at his statement. He’d obviously seen that there was something between Cait and him, but the fact that he knew he had loved her for years was the part that surprised him. He glanced back to the tent where Cait was resting.
“I guess I didn’t hide it very well, did I?” said Drew.
“Unfortunately it was hidden from only one person—Cait. I’ve seen something in her that’s different. It seems she’s accepted Tom’s death and is ready to finally move on. I couldn’t think of a better person for her to move on with, my boy.”
“Thanks, Kirby. I do love her, and I’ll take good care of her if we should live through this. I promise I’ll protect her with my own life if it comes to that.”
“You and I both, Drew.”
Kirby walked over to the Raptor, pulled out a headlamp, and put it on.
“Come, Drew. Look at this. These numbers and words don’t seem to make any sense. See what you think.” Drew examined Kirby’s translation: meghillah-10, savav-90, meghillah-20, mikhona.
“Well, I don’t have to tell you that meghillah means roll, as in a scroll or ancient document. And savav, if I’m not mistaken, is turn. I’m not sure about the last one,” said Drew.
“Mikhona l
iterally means stand—as in the verb. I can’t put together how these random words mean anything.”
Drew now had the intense look that Cait seemed to love so much. Kirby had seen this many times before as well. He was at his best when there was a mystery to solve, and no one matched his sheer determination to solve a problem.
“Okay. Hagiel was an engineer, right? It stands to reason he would be very literal in his notes. We also know that many of the terms we know of had duplicate meanings back in ancient times. Let’s back into this from that perspective. From what you’ve told me, he created an escape that only he knew about. Almost a secret staircase that was formed when the blocks were placed together, right?”
Kirby nodded affirmatively, intrigued at where this was leading.
“Okay then. His entrance had to be in or near her tomb. He would have had to have figured that their final stand would be in the place where the last massive stone was to be put in place. Adrian would have needed the slaves and the engineers for that. Hagiel would have had to have moved quickly and so as not to be seen. He wouldn’t have had time to light a torch or prepare anything. Everything would have had to have been mapped out precisely and most likely done in the dark.”
“Yes, Drew. That all makes sense. Where are you going with this?”
“The word that jumps out at me is mikhona, to stand. That sounds like a simple instruction to me. What if it is that simple, and we’re making it more complicated than it needs to be?”
“Yes, my boy! Roll may have another meaning. He would have had to have stayed low and not be seen, even by the other slaves. Look here,” said Kirby, pointing to the blurred pencil drawing scribbled on the page. “Hagiel documented some of his designs, and they never really made sense to me until now. These stones, when placed together, make a narrow chamber that—if you were lying flat—you could fit into. The next block has a round cylindrical center. When they are put together, it forms almost an S shape on its side. You couldn’t crawl straight through it without breaking your back trying, but you could roll sideways through and over it. That’s it! Unless you knew exactly how to navigate this, it would look like a small airspace to anyone who might have stumbled upon it. Brilliant!”
Drew intensely studied the next page, running his finger across the text. “Now the number must be a measurement or dimension of some kind. Once again, maybe we’re making this too hard. He would have had to have made this something he could do in the dark. What if it means he had to roll ten times to get to the next point?”
“Yes! It has to be. Look at the next step: savav-90 or turn 90. As you correctly stated, Drew, Hagiel was an engineer and a damn good one. He spoke of fear that he would be followed during his escape. If someone were to see his initial method and follow, there had to be a wrinkle thrown in to buy him time to escape. Once again, totally in the dark.”
“It has to be an angle,” said Drew excitedly. “Lying flat, you must have to turn a certain way to then get into position for the next set of rolls. See here. Meghillah-20. These final twenty rolls take you to where you can stand up. From this point, the makeshift stairs must be there.”
“Brilliant, Drew. Just brilliant!”
“Not so fast, Kirby. We could be totally wrong here. This is just a shot in the dark.”
“I don’t believe that, Drew. I think Hagiel’s notes were found by me for a reason. I think I took them to you for a reason. I think all of this serves some greater purpose. I don’t think any of this is by chance.”
Chapter 20
Corrado inspected the rocky entrance to the tunnel as his men showed him the booby traps they’d found and dismantled.
“They weren’t hidden very well, Mr. Valente, but they did take us some time to undo.”
“That was their intention,” said Corrado. “To have us waste precious time. Mobilize your team and start after them as fast as you can.”
“We have to proceed with caution, sir. We can’t risk…”
“I will pay you five times what you asked for if you catch them and kill them. The only way to claim your prize is to move as fast as you can. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure we don’t waste any more time.”
The man got on his radio, and several minutes later, four off-road vehicles and four men on dirt bikes appeared at the entrance to the tunnel. The man who was speaking to Corrado jumped into the passenger seat of one of the vehicles, and they sped through the tunnel.
Corrado waved his hand and arrived instantly back in the tent outside the entrance to the catacombs. He smiled as he heard Antonio’s faint moans as he lay on the floor handcuffed and bleeding.
“You may still be of some use to me, Antonio. Your friends still have some compassion for you. I can feel that.”
“Just kill me already,” he sobbed. “I won’t betray them again. You’ll kill me and my family no matter what I do. I know that now.”
“You are quite right; I will kill all of you. And you won’t have to betray them again. I promise you. Well, not on purpose anyway. The guilt they feel over leaving you at my mercy, or lack thereof, will be enough. If given the chance to try and save you, what do you think they will do?”
“You bastard. I hope you burn in hell.”
Corrado’s laughter echoed loudly off the rock walls outside the large tent.
“Hell? Ah yes. You humans and your religious belief that there are places for the bad people to go. I suppose that would make me the Devil, wouldn’t it?”
Corrado changed form into the beastly figure he’d shown Cait in the cemetery.
“Is this what you envision the devil to be?” he asked in a demonic voice.
Antonio looked away since the form Corrado took was more frightening than any image he’d ever seen of the Devil. Corrado’s horrific laughs once again shattered the calm of the warm summer night as he changed back to human form.
“Do you know what my version of hell is, Antonio? Living among your kind, in this place, always under my brother’s thumb. That is the true hell that I face, but not for long, my friend. You are going to sacrifice yourself to help save me. Isn’t that what your religion teaches you, to sacrifice for others?”
“I won’t do it. I won’t help you. Not anymore,” Antonio shouted.
Corrado’s hand changed back to the demonic form while the rest of his body kept his human facade. He grabbed Antonio by the face and squeezed until he screamed in pain.
“You will help me. You’ll do everything I tell you to do, and then you will die like everyone else. You don’t have a choice; don’t you see that your entire race is an abomination? Once you are gone and my brother is put in his place, I will remake the world in my image. I will spare a select few to entertain me and carry out my will. I’ve decided that I enjoy your wife’s company so much that she will be spared to serve me. I thought you might like to know that.”
“Please, no…” he pleaded.
“Are you now begging me to kill her? I thought you wanted her spared. I’m granting your wish. And your children, shall I spare them as well to serve me and do my will? That would be a more suitable end, I think, than killing them quickly. They will suffer for your weakness until the day they die. They’ll watch the end of mankind and the end of you and live to serve their master, in constant pain and suffering, of course. Let me put it in terms I think you can understand. What are the words that your religion associates with hell—abandon all hope? I think those words are somehow suitable in this situation, don’t you? There’s no hope for your family or your friends, and certainly none for you. Now here is what you’re going to do.”
***
Gene eased the Raptor to a stop seven miles from where the others set up camp. He quickly jumped out and surveyed the area, looking for anywhere to hide explosive devices. The smooth floor and walls made it nearly impossible to obscure wires or devices without being seen
. Under the circumstance, he didn’t feel that sacrificing more explosives would get him anywhere, especially if it was just to buy a short amount of time. He reached into a bag and pulled out several small motion sensors, which he positioned on either side of the massive tunnel. An invisible laser cut across the floor, and if anything disrupted the signal, he’d know they’d soon have company. A small handheld device received signals from the sensors as he broke the laser connection with his foot to test it. A beeping noise was quickly silenced as he pressed a button on the small keypad.
“We may not be able to do much about it, but at least we’ll know you’re coming,” he said quietly to himself as he headed back toward the Raptor.
“Gene. Help me! Please help me!” cried the voice he knew as Antonio’s. He quickly grabbed his rifle and peered into the darkness. He snapped the scope light on, but it did little to illuminate any farther than the spotlights atop the Raptor.
“Who is it? Who’s there?” he shouted cautiously as his eye never left the scope of his rifle.
“It’s me. Antonio. Please help me, Gene,” the voice pleaded.
“Where are you?” he shouted, but there was no response. “Antonio, where are you?”
“He has me, Gene. Corrado has me. He’s killing me. Use the box on him now. It’s my only chance.”
Before he could respond, he heard the voice of Don calling in on the radio.
“Gino, come in. Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What is it?” Gene whispered.
“Just checking in to make sure you haven’t been incinerated or shot.”
“Not yet anyway. I have a bit of a problem. I’ll have to get back to you. Be on your guard. Something’s not right.”
As Don began to question the situation, Gene snapped the radio off.
“Now you listen to me, you son of a bitch,” he shouted into the darkness. “You don’t know which of us has the nice shiny silver box you seem to want so bad. I won’t use it until I see the whites of your eyes—or the reds of your eyes, in this case, you shithead. Either way, you’ll have to take a chance and show yourself.”
The Awakening Page 19