“Not a chance. So it’s all on us.” She paused, and began pacing to and fro. Her uncle was a preacher, and he’d taught her a few oratorical tricks to captivate an audience, and the judicious use of silence was one of them. Too little, and you got no effect. Too much and you lost their attention. She watched for the little signs: narrowed eyes, a slight cock of the head, subtle demonstrations of interest. When the time was perfect, she continued. “We’ve got to find this Revelation Machine before the Dominion gets its hands on it. I think it’s pretty clear that they believe it, whatever it might be, will bring about the end of days.” She let that sink in for a long moment.
“I don’t care how much pain we’ve suffered. I don’t care if you’re you don’t approve of the people I’ve brought onto our team. And I really don’t care about your relationships or family issues or your histories together. This is bigger than any of that.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Avery cast an embarrassed glance at Bones, who grinned and winked at her. Jade lowered her head a notch. Only Maddock didn’t react to her words. The man could be hard when he wanted to be, but that wasn’t all bad.
“I need to know right now. Is everyone here still committed to the cause? Because if you’re not, I swear to Jesus I’ll find somebody else who is, and you can put on a skirt and work as my secretary until this is over.”
“Hell yes.” Bones pounded his fist on the table. “I mean, yes we’re committed, not yes to the skirt thing.”
The tension broke. Each person reiterated her or his commitment to bringing down the Dominion and paying them back for Joel and Kasey.
“So, what’s the plan?” Greg asked.
“First of all, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do about Savannah, but we need to try.”
“I think the biggest problem we face is the fact that the Dominion won’t come in a destroyer or any other sort of military vessel,” Maddock said. “They’ll have attached the weapon to an ordinary ship so as not to draw attention.”
“I agree, and that’s both good and bad. Bad because it’s difficult to spot; good because it’s easier to sink.” She looked Maddock in the eye. “Can we use your boat?”
“I won’t be with it?” he asked.
“I need you somewhere else. Besides, it’s Matt and Corey who make her go, right?” When Maddock didn’t argue, Tam turned to Greg. “Take Matt and Corey and Willis. And take Remora. That way, you can patrol above and below the waterline. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
She dismissed the four men with a jerk of her head.
“I want my archaeologists in Egypt. Maddock, Bones, Jade, and Sofia — I want you to take the information Krueger provided and find this Hall of Records, if it exists.”
“I’m going too,” Avery protested. “Sofia and I are the ones who who’ve been working on…”
“You’re not an archaeologist. I want you here. He gave you more information than just the Hall of Records research. Follow up on it. Besides, I need at least a couple of people to watch my back in case something comes up. If I send all of you across the Atlantic, I’ve got no one.”
A touch of the Maddock obstinance flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t argue.
Relieved, Tam dismissed the rest of the team, but grabbed Maddock by the arm as he walked by. He stopped and waited until the others left.
“I want to tell you,” Tam began, “that no matter how much the things I do piss you off, I need you and I’m glad you’re on my team.”
“Same here.” Maddock’s eyes softened. “Like you said, I don’t always love the way you operate, but you’re on the right side.”
Tam gave his shoulders a squeeze.
“Good luck,” she whispered. “And try to bring them all back alive.”
Chapter 37
Standing at the entrance to the Fayyum Oasis, the pyramid of Amenemhet III looked more like an Indian mound than an Egyptian monument. Constructed of mudbrick over a series of chambers and corridors, the pyramid once boasted a limestone facade. Over the years, the exterior stone had been stripped away for use in construction, leaving the mudbrick core exposed to the elements. Now, its original, pyramidal shape was barely evident. The last rays of the setting sun lent a reddish-brown cast to the once-magnificent monument. All in all, it made for an unimpressive sight.
“It looks like a pile of dirt,” Bones observed.
“That’s a good thing,” Jade replied. “It’s not an impressive sight, which means it doesn’t draw tourists like the Giza complex does.”
“Where’s this awesome temple and labyrinth?” Bones sounded affronted.
“All that’s left are stones from the original foundation.” Sofia gazed at the scattered remnants of Egypt’s past glory, a sad smile on her face.
“We don’t care about that. We need the entrance to the underground chambers, which, according to Krueger’s notes, can be accessed through the main pyramid entrance.” Dane had spent the entirety of the flight studying the notes. Sofia was already familiar with the details, but Jade and Bones hadn’t had the chance to study them. Or, more accurately, Bones chose to sleep his way across the Atlantic, while Jade was either too proud, or felt too guilty about the way she’d treated Dane in Japan to ask for a turn. That, of course, did not prevent her from stealing glances over his shoulder whenever she got the chance.
Sand crunched beneath Dane’s feet and a dry breeze ruffled his hair as he approached the pyramid. A hand-lettered sign identified the pyramid as Middle Kingdom, gave its height as fifty-two meters, its base width one hundred, and directed them toward the entrance which lay at the pyramid’s south face.
A narrow walkway led to the spot where three monolithic slabs of limestone formed the entryway. Here, portions of the interior corridors peeked out from the eroded mound of bricks. Taking one last look around for unwelcome visitors, be they local authorities or Dominion agents, Dane led the way into the darkness.
They descended a stone staircase that ended in a small, rectangular chamber. Dane shone his Maglite on the ceiling, revealing an opening.
“Bones, will you do the honors?”
“Sure. I love being your personal stepladder.” One by one, Bones boosted his three companions up to the chamber above them, and then, with a helping hand from Dane, climbed up himself.
This chamber ran at a ninety degree angle to the one below, ending in an alcove, where Anubis, the Egyptian protector of the dead, stood watch. The paint was faded, but the god was easily recognizable. Moving as if in sync, Jade and Sofia took out digital cameras.
“No time for that,” Dane said. “Besides, I’m sure you can find pictures of this chamber online. It’s not exactly a secret.”
“But there is a secret passageway somewhere?” Bones asked.
“There is. This chamber was a decoy. Once upon a time, stout doors guarded that alcove. Grave robbers would waste time breaking them down, only to find themselves cursed by Anubis.” He shone his light on hieroglyphs carved above the god’s jackal head. “The true path lies above.” He pointed to another trapdoor in the ceiling. “You have to pass through three of these dead-end chambers in order to get to the burial chamber. But we don’t need to go quite that far.”
“What do you mean?” Bones asked.
“You’ll see in a minute.”
Like the chamber they’d just exited, this one was also rotated at a ninety degree angle to the one below and ended in an alcove guarded by Horus.
“Do we go up again?” Bones glanced up at the ceiling.
“We would if the burial chamber was our goal. But what Krueger discovered is that this particular chamber isn’t quite the dead end it appears to be.” He made his way to the alcove, stepped up onto the ledge, and ran his fingers across the hieroglyphs, the ancient stone cool and smooth to the touch. A shiver passed through him as he reflected on the fact that someone had stood in this very spot, nearly four thousand years ago, and carved these symbols. For a moment, he felt a brief kinship with that workman. What was life like for him? Could he have imagined how long his work would endure?