No one was to touch his possessions. The only one even allowed to look and halfway enjoy the stable full of women was Sharouf, and he remained cautious about it.
When Sharouf spoke again, it was with clinical certainty. “I will make sure he cooperates.”
4
Sean peered through the huge window’s blinds. He surveyed the parking lot, making sure no one was coming or going.
It was late at night, technically early morning, and the only cars in the lot belonged to Tommy’s research team he affectionately referred to as the kids. Tara Watson and Alex Simms spent more time at the IAA labs than they did at home; at least that was the joke around the offices of the International Archaeological Agency. The two twentysomethings loved their work, and when Tommy had called them after the fire at his home to see if they were still around the lab, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to find they were still busily working the night away.
While the motorcycle ride to IAA headquarters had been awkward, it was at least fast, taking Sean and Tommy less than twenty minutes to reach the secure building. It wasn’t until they were inside, safely behind locked doors and a slew of security measures, that they began to relax. That respite was tempered by the fact that someone had tried to kill both of them earlier, and questions remained as to why.
Sean backed away from the three-inch-thick glass and let go of the blinds. “Still no signs of anyone that might have followed us.” His report was barely acknowledged by Tommy, who was deep into a stack of papers he’d printed earlier.
Tara and Alex were at separate computer stations nearby, working across from each other at an open table. They preferred to operate like that in case they needed to bounce ideas off each other.
Both of them had been working on Tommy’s newest project for the entirety of the day, and for the last couple of days, which caused him concern for their safety. Fortunately, they each had an empty office that doubled as dorm rooms in case they ever wanted to stay at the labs overnight. That happened more than he’d anticipated. Tommy was lucky to have such dedicated researchers. Once they started on something, both Tara and Alex had trouble walking away from it until the job was done.
Such was the research they were doing at the moment.
Tommy had received an email from a friend in Israel by the name of Nehem Ben Asher. Nehem was a colleague, a student of ancient Israeli history by profession. He’d been working in the field of archaeology for nearly three decades and was considered one of the foremost experts on the late kingdoms of Judah and Israel. One of his preferred areas of study was the many prophets of the old kingdoms. His knowledge of the Biblical prophets was greater than most historians on the planet. Tommy had often wondered what his friend’s fascination was with that particular area of Israeli history. He attributed it to the man growing up in that culture, and likely to religious teachings as a boy. After all, a researcher had to pick a niche. Prophetic history was Nehem’s.
The correspondence from Nehem had been somewhat of a surprise. Tommy hadn’t spoken to the man in almost a year, and even then it had been only a short phone call about a question Tommy had regarding a translation of Old Hebrew. There’d been few pleasantries exchanged between the two other than the usual chitchat. Both men’s time was highly valuable, especially Nehem’s, so when they talked, Tommy didn’t like to beat around the bush too much.
Tommy sat at his computer station, off to the side at a different worktable from the kids. He was shuffling through the papers, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. They’d been at it for the better part of two hours now. Sean had been given a desk of his own but was still being brought up to speed with what the other three were trying to do.
A few days ago, Nehem sent Tommy an email containing images of a peculiar object, the likes of which the latter had never come across. It was a stone tablet in the shape of a wide rectangle, almost a square. Cut into the surface were twelve smaller sections, each a rectangle as well. Above the grid were two additional sections, separate from the others. What was most perplexing, though, were the symbols at the bottom of the tablet. The symbols were the reason Nehem requested Tommy’s assistance. He claimed that he’d been unable to decipher them, and as he knew Tommy had software that Nehem did not have access to, he hoped his old friend could lend a hand and save him some time. The last words in Nehem’s email had been cryptic, though. “They’re coming.”
The line had frozen Tommy and sent chills up his spine. When he tried to reach out by phone to clarify the task Nehem had requested of him, there’d been no answer. Tommy replied to the email, but still nothing. It was as if Nehem had disappeared as soon as he sent the message.
The man’s lack of availability could have been attributed to him being in the field, working on another dig site. There were times when Tommy had been on a dig and didn’t have cell service other than his sat phone. If that was the case, he completely understood. Nonetheless, he found it odd that Nehem would make the request and then vanish like that. He should have expected Tommy to reach out with questions.
That reasoning caused Tommy to worry. Coupled with the recent events surrounding his and Sean’s homes, there was little room left for doubt. Nehem might have been the victim of an abduction, or worse. The question was why. And that question was the reason the four of them were working to unravel the meaning of the symbols on the tablet.
Maybe it was a huge conclusion to jump to, but given the circumstances, it was the only explanation they had.
Sean sat back down at his temporary desk and flipped through the copies Tommy had given him. The symbols were different from any hieroglyphs he’d ever seen. Some of them were repetitive, which he and the others took to mean they stood for letters.
The computer screen flashed quickly in front of Tara, bouncing light off her black-framed glasses as she took another sip of her second cup of coffee. Her blonde, curly hair looked almost yellowish in the dimly lit lab. Tommy suggested keeping the lights low to make it look like no one was there, just in case they’d been followed.
Across from Tara, Alex clicked his computer mouse busily, letting the software do its thing by running an analysis of the different possibilities the symbols could represent. The computers had been running for the last couple of days, pretty much nonstop. Even with the incredible power and speed of the latest technology, deciphering something so vague and ancient could take a long time.
Their two computers beeped simultaneously, and the screens froze in place. The noise caused both Tommy and Sean to peer up from having their noses in paperwork.
Tara clicked the screen a few times, zooming in on something. “I think we’ve got it,” she exclaimed. She wasn’t typically the excitable type, not like Alex, but when it came to deciphering codes, it was her guilty pleasure.
Tommy and Sean popped out of their seats and hurried over to the two wide computer screens. IAA had provided nothing but the best as far as technology went, and Tommy made sure that everything was updated on a yearly basis. Their processors were some of the fastest in the world, and the monitors were state of the art.