“I guess I do.”
“And you mentioned contacting Alicia,” Russo said warily. “Does that mean we’re actually working with Her Craziness again? ‘Cause I gotta say, the last few weeks have been comparatively sane.”
“Are you saying she’s irrational? I seem to remember thinking you worked well together in the end.”
“I’m not convinced she’s a leader.”
Crouch was surprised but not unhappy to see such a verbose Russo. The man-mountain was usually as quiet as his description made him sound.
“I think she’s about to surprise you. Surprise everyone, actually. It’s been a long time coming, but that girl is about to have a revelation.”
Russo hung his head. “Shit. So long as I’m not on the receiving end.”
“Somebody will be. You can be sure of that.”
Russo nodded at his dripping pancakes. “I know.”
Crouch stared out the window into a bright, fresh dawn. “Destiny awaits, my friends. I must admit, things have been a little quiet since we rounded off the Aztec quest. Are you ready to taste the adventure again?”
Healey’s young, fresh face split into a wide grin. “Always!”
Crouch headed for the door. “Then follow me.”
Russo’s grumble followed him out toward the parking lot. “Whoa, you forgot to pay. Oh, bollocks…”
TWO
Alicia Myles shifted her legs in an attempt to iron out the cramps, feeling the pinch of economy class air travel. She had never understood why the goons who designed airplanes didn’t make them a few feet wider instead of barely wide enough to fit ten across. Every passenger in the world would surely pay an extra few dollars to offset the extra cost, so the airlines would soon earn their money back. Everyone’s happy. Maybe it was all down to the money men, the string-pullers, the ones who always travelled first class.
Ahhhh…
Trying to rein in her bitter outlook, Alicia found her thoughts snapping back to more recent events, but that wouldn’t do. Shit, that wouldn’t do at all. Her latest exhausting escapade had involved returning to the SPEAR team for a few weeks, saving Mai Kitano’s ass and searching out a lost kingdom. She had also gotten to dress up like Jennifer Lawrence at an X-Men premiere. Great for an hour or two, she thought. But it’s nothing but bollocks in the real schemes of honest life. I couldn’t do that more than once. Maybe twice.
Then she remembered how it all ended. The dark alleyway. The lifeless body of their great friend and fellow soldier, and all the warriors seated at his side, sharing their final thoughts and the profound, silent night with him before the last moment was lost to eternity.
Water filled her eyes.
Perhaps it was the airplane’s air conditioning, the recirc system not functioning properly. Alicia fought it off by focusing on where she was going and what might happen next. The Kindle HD on her lap was set to ‘airplane’ mode and she’d just received a message through the plane’s Wi-Fi from her boss, Michael Crouch.
‘Call as soon as you can. New mission in Istanbul. Meet you there?’
Alicia felt a small rush of happiness for the first time in days. A new mission was exactly what she needed right now and yes, the bruises, cuts and sprains from her last battle might not have healed yet, but the mental wounds would never heal. Best to lay them behind her. Best to move on. Flesh would take care of itself. The mind — that was a far larger problem, one she’d been struggling with for the best part of her life.
She thought about where she was headed. And where was that? Oh yeah… anywhere. Alicia had left Hong Kong, her soldier family, her dead colleague and his upcoming funeral. She had left Matt Drake, the only man she believed might one day give her world and her life some kind of stability as he had before.
Leave the heartache behind, and find the horizon. What works today and worked yesterday will always work tomorrow.
Except, when it broke down.
Alicia shrugged it off for now, unhappy living with her own thoughts in her own head. The last thing she needed to hear was counsel from Alicia Myles. Focusing, she recalled that the plane was headed to the Southern US, which was where Crouch and his team had been. She had been planning a surprise visit; secretly hoping to catch Russo out and see his crestfallen face which she knew concealed a growing mutual respect. Now… she could land as planned and be on the next flight out. Maybe arriving not too far behind them.
Quickly she typed a message and hit send: Landing in the US in one hour. Will advise time of arrival in Turkey.
As she sat back, fixing her headphones to her ears and cranking the music up, she found her spirits lifted a little and hoped fervently that this was going to be one of those action-packed rollercoaster rides where the hits kept on coming, the treasure hunt never let up, and the enemies at least tried to put up a fight. The traumas in her head needed an outlet. Yes, she was ready to explode and even the mountain-like Russo would find it hard to withstand her eruption.
Here’s to the adventure, she thought. Never may it end.
THREE
Crouch didn’t relax until his team were on a plane and he’d heard from Alicia. A solid hour into their flight to Istanbul he called Sadler back.
“All right, Rolland. We’re en route and ready to get to work.”
“Good, good. Excellent job, Michael. As I said we’re on the clock. Now, as I explained, many learned archaeologists are currently working night and day to excavate and explore the old docks. Imagine what secrets might be found there. Old crusader ships laden with gold. Spoils of war. Vestiges of medieval history. But even more. Constantinople’s docks were international, of course, one of the busiest in those times. And Constantinople, with its infamous Hippodrome, its commerce and wealth and notoriety, not to mention one of history’s greatest and largest churches — the Hagia Sophia — was the place to go. Ships from every part of the world docked there.”
“And in particular a ship from Alexandria?” Crouch fathomed quickly.
Sadler laughed. “Of course. Are you all listening?”
Crouch looked around. Russo and Healey were busy picking through the airplane food with varying expressions of disgust. Caitlyn was looking introspective, perhaps dwelling on those events that had led her to this point in life. Crouch accepted that her input would be invaluable, but knew he’d hate himself if he interrupted her now.
“All as it should be,” he said. “Carry on.”
“So, after Rhacotis was renamed Alexandria by Alexander the Great in roughly 331 BCE there followed the opening of the library and the lighthouse and then the besieging and the conquering and rebuilding from the likes of none less than Augustus, Julius Caesar and Hadrian. It suffered tsunamis, Persians, Byzantines and earthquakes. What stands today is built on tons of ruins. Imagine the constant peril of the treasures that have resided there. Imagine the dilemmas presented to those who ruled. Many times, it seems during those years, Alexandria’s most important treasures were shipped out.”
Crouch took a long drink from a bottle of water. “Perfectly understandable. With Alexandria’s turbulent history I’d certainly want my valuables transported to a more stable location.”
Sadler’s voice quivered, perhaps with a little irony. “Well, Istanbul’s lost Byzantine port has been discovered in a neighborhood of textile factories and shabby hotels. The docks silted over many years ago, vanishing beneath following civilizations, remembered only in ancient books. A truly stunning discovery, the excavators first found ropes and then entire ships—”