“Are you awake?” Sofia asked.
“Don’t mind him,” Jade said. “He’s a history buff and he sometimes gets weird around very old things.”
“You should have seen him scamming on my grandmother last Christmas.” Bones chuckled.
Dane ignored them. His fingers stopped on a flat hieroglyph that resembled a rowboat.
“This is the symbol for a door or gateway.” He pressed his fingers against the glyph and felt it give way. It slid back, creating a handhold which he gripped and rotated a quarter-turn, then released as the entire wall slid to the side.
“Awesome,” Jade marveled, while Bones hummed the theme to Indiana Jones.
The passageway behind the trapdoor was so steep that they were forced to descend with the aid of handholds on the wall. By the time they reached the bottom, Sofia dripped with sweat and gasped for breath. Jade was in better condition, though she leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
“It’s good thing we’ve got Krueger’s notes, or else we’d be screwed.” Bones shone his light down the corridor. It ran straight ahead, well beyond the Maglite’s glow, and intersected a cross-hall every ten meters. An engraved column stood at each intersection. “There’s something we need to decide right now.”
“What’s that?” Dane consulted Kruger’s notes.
“Which one of us has to fight the Minotaur?”
“Wrong culture.” Sofia laughed and squeezed Bones’ arm.
Jade and Dane exchanged knowing glances.
“Straight ahead, seventh passageway on the left.” Dane headed off down the corridor at a brisk walk, forcing the others to hurry to keep up.
“How did Krueger find his way through here?” Jade tried to walk and take in the scene all at once. She stumbled, and Dane caught her around the waist.
They froze for an instant, gazing into one another’s eyes, the sudden closeness foreign, yet so familiar.
“Get a room,” Bones jibed.
Jade pulled away from Dane and brushed invisible dirt from her knees. “Such tact.” She shot a dirty look Bones’ way. “It’s truly a wonder some woman hasn’t snapped you up.”
“I’m a roller coaster,” Bones replied. “I’m a short ride, but it’s always fun while it lasts.”
“You should try thinking about baseball,” Dane suggested.
“I didn’t mean…” Bones sputtered while the ladies laughed. “Forget it.”
“Krueger found the chamber by looking for places where Anubis and the gateway hieroglyph appeared together. Like this.” They had reached the seventh cross-hall. Here, Anubis faced left, the gateway symbol hovering between the tips of his long ears.
Aided by Krueger’s notes, they followed where the jackal god led, winding through the labyrinth in a dizzying set of twists and turns, until Dane was certain the whole thing was an elaborate ruse and they would spend the rest of their short lives wandering through this dark maze of sand and stone.
“Does Krueger say how long it should take to get there?” Jade’s tone held a hint of nervousness.
“It probably took him quite a while since he didn’t have directions to follow. He would have been forced to inspect every column and make notes along the way.” Dane flipped to the next page in Krueger’s notebook. “If we haven’t made a wrong turn somewhere along the way, it should be around the next corner.”
“Don’t jinx us, Maddock,” Jade said. “I don’t have the energy to go back and start over.”
There was no need to start over. The next turn led them to a dead end, just as Krueger said it would. And to what he claimed was the doorway to the Hall of Records.
“It looks just like the photographs.” Sofia beamed. Krueger’s journal included several snapshots of this wall, where, beneath the now-familiar gateway hieroglyph, an Egyptian carver had rendered the constellation Orion.
“Orion? Here?” Bones gave Maddock a knowing look. This wasn’t the first time Orion had figured into one of their mysteries.
“This definitely seems out of place.” Jade reached out and ran her fingers along the curved line of stars that formed the hunter’s shield. “But if this is a door, where’s the handle?”
“And what makes you think we can get in when Krueger couldn’t?” Bones added.
“Take a close look at his belt.” Dane winked at Sofia while Bones and Jade shone their lights on the carving.
Bones saw it first. “The stars are shaped like the indentations on top the Atlantean weapon we took from Daisuke.”
“Avery and I both recognized the shapes the moment they saw the photographs.” Sofia’s voice trembled with excitement.
“Did anyone bring the crystals?” Jade asked.
Dane drew a small pouch from his pocket. “What? Did you think we were going to scout it out and then fly back for the crystals?”
“Don’t be an ass,” Jade snapped. “I was just asking.”
“Quiet, you two.” Bones hissed.
“He has no call to talk to me like that.”
“I hear it too,” Dane said. “Listen.”
The corridor went dead quiet as they all strained to listen. Dane heard it again — whispered voices somewhere in the labyrinth.
They looked at one another. Jade and Sofia appeared stunned, Bones determined. There was only one logical conclusion.
The Dominion had taken Krueger alive, and they were about to catch up.
Chapter 38
It was a dark day on the Atlantic. A gray blanket of storm clouds cloaked the sky, and a chill wind stirred up waves that battered Sea Foam, sending icy salt spray over her gunwales. Soaked to the bone, Matt stood on the foredeck holding a pair of binoculars. He knew he should get out of the weather, but he felt as though he were doing a penance for his failure in Naica. He wanted his revenge on the Dominion for what they had done to Joel, and right now, this was all he could do to help. He felt impervious to the cold, maybe because he found it a pleasant change from the deadly heat of the crystal caves, or perhaps his anger kept him warm. Either way, he stood fast.
The foul weather kept all but the largest ships ashore, and Willis and Professor took Remora in for a closer look at every craft that plied the waters off the coast of Savannah, but they’d met with no success. He wiped the lenses for what felt like the thousandth time and traced the dark line of the horizon — an inky divide between dark sky and darker water. Nothing.
And then he spotted a white dot. He wiped the lenses again and tightened the focus on the binoculars. Something was there! Feeling a touch of hope for the first time in hours, he turned and waved to get Corey’s attention. A moment later, Corey’s voice sounded in his year.
“Did you forget we can talk to each other?”
“I did. Still not accustomed to this high tech gear. Take us north-northwest. I think I see a boat.”
“Must be a small one. Radar doesn’t show… wait. There it is!”
Sea Foam rolled in the choppy sea as Corey turned her about. A moment later, Greg joined Matt on deck.
“Can I take a look?” The tall, lanky agent, always so unflappable, still seethed with scarcely-contained rage. Matt knew no one blamed him for what happened to Joel, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt around one of Joel’s longtime colleagues. He handed the binoculars to Greg, who took a long look before handing them back. “Keep looking. Let us know when you have a visual.” He turned and stalked back into the cabin.