The train maintained a straight line along the ridge. The sun appeared huge and full and massive along the horizon, the globe framing the caravan as they navigated their way with the aid of Alyssa’s GPS attached to her wrist. According to her father’s coordinates, they were within five kilometers of the site. But Alyssa saw nothing but flatlands.
“Ms. Moore!” Hall shouted, having slid to one side of his transport, “how much longer?”
“Soon,” she said.
The train moved over the rocky terrain at such a slow pace that Hall decided to dismount and walk the rest of the way leading the camel by its tether. When Alyssa stopped, so did the rest of the team.
Obsidian Hall dropped the line and stood with paralytic awe, his eyes fixed on something in the distance. “Is that it?’ he finally asked. “Is that Eden?” According to her GPS, it was. She didn’t answer him but kicked her heels against the camel’s sides and moved on. When Hall went to grab the tether he had dropped, he noted that his camel was trotting westbound.
His teammates were laughing. “What bloody difference does it make anyway, Captain? You couldn’t keep your arse on the damn thing anyway.” They moved forward with Obsidian Hall trying to keep up, often stumbling over stones.
As they got closer, they noticed that the earth was lifted and the rise linear. That’s it! she thought. That’s the cap! When she dismounted, everyone followed her lead and gathered around her. “This is it,” she said softly and incredulously as if the moment was surreal.
Aussie moved next to her. His eyes were locked forward, and his weapon un-slung from his shoulder and firmly in his grasp. “Looks nothing but a bloody mound of dirt to me,” he said.
“You would say that,” she said, and purposely moved away from him. The walls of the rise were long with each side at least a half-kilometer in length, and its height about seven to ten meters high. From an aerial view, the entire structure was perfectly square. “It’s the cap,” she said. “This is the way in.”
Obsidian Hall finally joined the group, tired and winded from his walk. His clothes were filthy. His face bathed with sweat and his shirt held the blotted designs of sweat stains.
“Nice of you to join us, Cap,” said Butcher Boy, who didn’t bother to acknowledge Hall with so much as a look, but sensed him as he kept his eyes on the mound.
“How to wait up,” said Hall, winded. But when he realized he was standing on Eden’s threshold, he seemed to have caught his second wind.
“Hardly looks like a garden to me,” said Aussie. “Dead land is what it is.”
“It wasn’t always,” said Noah. “A river used to run through here, nourishing the landscape.”
“Whatever, mate.” And then: “So let’s get the bloody show on the road already.”
Alyssa thought the man was finally right about something. “Look for an opening halfway up the rise,” she said. “It may be obscured by rocks and boulders.” For hours they checked the east and northern walls, afraid they might have missed it, and then double checked before moving on. The day had grown hot, the sun blistering, yet the camels took it in stride as they lay on all fours on the desert landscaping.
“I found something!” Eser and Harika stood together because they always found comfort with their own kind, speaking Turkish when they could. They were halfway up the rise with boulders all around, but Eser was waving something over his head.
With Noah never being too far from them at any given moment, he grabbed the item, examined it briefly, and lifted it over his head. “It’s Montario’s flashlight!” he shouted.
Everyone converged to the location from all points. Alyssa took the lamp. It was faded and bleached. But Montario’s name was etched on it. “Then it’s here,” she said. “The opening’s here. Find it!”
Everyone scrambled like locusts, searching, finding new energy. But it was John Savage who found the opening behind a series of boulders. “Here!” he waved frantically in invitation.
As the entire team gathered around the hole, no one spoke, no one breathed. They just stood there as their minds tried to process the reality of the moment. The hole was amoeba-like in shape, about the size of three manhole covers positioned side by side, the darkness within as black as pitch.
Savage leaned back, allowing Alyssa a wide berth to pass and stand at the point of the entryway. She could feel a soft breeze eclipse her hot skin, cooling her. When she closed her eyes she thought of her father. She could see his face and envision his smile.
“Ms. Moore, we’re not getting any younger,” said Hall.
She opened her eyes, removed a flashlight from her backpack, and flashed the beam in the hole. From what she could tell, the surfaces were shiny and reflected light. However, the beam of light could not penetrate beyond several meters, flashing upon nothing but dense shadows. When she lifted a foot to take the initial step inside, Noah called after her.
“Wait!” Noah moved to the front of the pack. “Alyssa dear, please wait.”
“Why?”
“There are things in the dark… Remember?” They both looked into the maw. “How do we know there isn’t one watching us now?” he added.
“Oh, for chrissakes, Yanks; get out of my way.” Aussie bulled his way forward, stood before the opening, pointed his weapon, and strafed the hole with gunfire. When he was finished he shot a thumbs-up and said, “Ain’t anything there now.”
Alyssa was livid. “You idiot!” she screamed, shoving Aussie back. When he slipped on the sand and fell on his backside, he took it as a personal affront and pointed his weapon at her with two of the three pounds necessary, to pull the trigger. His face was a mask of pure anger. And when Alyssa saw this, her face dropped.
He stood, the MP-7 leveled. “I ought to shoot your arse right here, right now,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Aussie!” Obsidian Hall worked his way forward. “You are being paid a great deal of money to provide protection, not to shoot up the place! Now lower your weapon.”
Aussie didn’t even flinch at the command.
“Aussie, I’m telling you to lower your weapon.” There was a measure of frustration on Hall’s voice. He then turned to Butcher Boy. “Tell him to lower his weapon.”
Butcher Boy stood for a moment as if deliberating. The air was thick with tension.
“Tell him to lower his weapon!”
Butcher Boy took a step forward, a weapon also in his grasp, and laid a gloved hand on Aussie’s shoulder. “Lower your weapon, soldier. Now!”
Aussie did, but very, very slowly. “Don’t you ever put your bloody hands on me again, Missy.”
When Aussie stood back, there was a concerted sigh. Nobody at that point realized that they had been holding their breath.
“We’re not even inside and already you’re compromising the location,” she said to him, albeit more calmly. “You just can’t walk up and start shooting. Do you have any idea of the damage you may have just done?”
“Look, Missy—”
“First of all, my name isn’t Missy. It’s Alyssa. But you can call me Ms. Moore.”
“Now you listen to me, Missy. We’re ‘ere for protection. And the skinny bloke ‘ere was worried that something was inside, so I took care of it. If something was there, then it ain’t there now.”
“Aussie.” The voice of Obsidian Hall was even and controlled. “You listen carefully,” he said. “Either you control your reckless behavior or leave the party. You’re becoming more of a detriment than an asset.” And then: “I’m serious.”
Aussie looked at those surrounding him. Anyone not carrying an assault weapon with the exception of the emissary, carried the worried looks of aging old men, their faces seamed.