“It’s safe for you to come down,” she reported in a smooth tone. “Tie off the ropes the men brought down in their packs and lower yourselves down.” Her face cracked with a rare smile, her dark chocolate eyes alive with wonder. “You are going to want to see this.”
The men rigged the ropes and a few minutes later, helped lower their employer into the opening. Kaba grabbed him and eased the older man onto the floor. He shone his flashlight around in the room. In the pale glow of the electric bulb, she could see his face filled with awe. The entire room was paneled in pure gold: the walls, the ceiling, all but the floor, which was stone carved from the earth. He stepped over to the nearest wall and ran his finger along the engravings. Images of people and animals covered nearly every inch. He turned and looked down the expanse. The chamber ran about forty feet in length and was around twenty feet wide.
“What do you see?” the Frenchman asked from above, trying to see into the chamber.
“Lower him down, men,” Lindsey ordered. “Let him see for himself. Words cannot describe it.”
A few moments later, DeGard was touching down on the floor of the golden chamber. His expression was one of disbelief. He stepped quickly over to a gold panel and pressed his hands against it. “I will never be poor again,” he stated in whispered jubilation. If he could have hugged the wall he would have.
Lindsey ignored him. He was focused on something at the other end of the room, in the center of the floor. A stone pillar stood just over three feet high. On the top of it, rested a round stone, four inches in diameter and about one inch thick. He glided over to it and paused a moment then reached down to pick it up.
“Perhaps you would like me to?” Kaba offered. She’d sauntered over to the plinth and was standing a few feet away from him.
“It is alright, my dear.” He gently lifted the stone off of its altar and held it up in the light. On it, was engraved a picture of several mountains, and in the center, between two of the angles, was a man holding his hands up in the air.
“This is impossible,” DeGard was mumbling behind them. “This cannot be real.” Lindsey and Kaba turned around to see the Frenchman shuffling sideways along the wall. “This entire thing,” he waved a hand around, “is talking about the flood story from the Bible. And there,” he pointed at the end wall near the pillar, “is that the ark of Noah?”
The other two turned and looked at the image. Their flashlights gleamed off of the shiny yellow surface. In the center of the end wall, engraved in gold, was a picture of a long, strange looking vessel, resting between to mountain peaks.
Lindsey stared at it for a moment. Kaba looked to him expectantly, curious as to what he would say. The older man stepped away from the stone pillar for a moment and studied the disc in his hand. He turned it over, revealing ancient Hebrew script on the back.
“What does this say?” He spun around and held the object out to DeGard, who accepted it with interest.
“Again, very ancient writing. Difficult to make out. But I believe it says, ‘where the mountain rises through the eye in the valley of eight the path home will be shone and there awaits life eternal.’” DeGard frowned at the last part. “Fountain of youth, Monsieur Lindsey?” He carelessly tossed the disc back to his employer who caught it carefully with both hands.
Lindsey chose not to acknowledge the barb. “The valley of eight? Where is that?”
“Monsieur, please hear what I am about to say to you,” the Frenchman’s birdlike face pleaded and he held his arms out, begging to be heard. “There have been many people who have tried to find these ancient things. They have lived and died searching for sacred relics that would give them immortality. What makes you any different? These things you search for do not exist.”
“Those who went before didn’t have this,” Lindsey held up the disc. “You lack faith, Monsieur DeGard. But you will see. And when you do, you will believe. Now, answer my question, if you would be so kind.” He produced a small pistol from inside his burgundy windbreaker and aimed it at the Frenchman’s chest. “Do you or don’t you know where this valley of eight is?” Kaba took the cue from her boss and produced a weapon of her own, training it on the same target.
DeGard took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. “Oui, Monsieur. I have heard of it. Please, put your weapons away. They are unnecessary. The compensation you offered is more than enough to lead you on this wild goose chase. So long as I get paid, I could not care less what we are looking for.” His voice took on an air of warning. “The area is in eastern Turkey, around Ararat Mountain and the Valley of the Eight has been searched heavily over the decades, for the exact thing you are talking about seeking. No one has found anything except some giant stones and what one researcher claimed was the petrified roof of the ark.”
Lindsey gazed at him through the peripheral illumination of the flashlights. “Good,” he replied after a moment of consideration. “Then we should find little resistance when we arrive.”
Chapter 11
The train whistle blew, signaling that it was arriving at its destination. Sean was already wide-awake, unable to get much sleep after the encounter with Will. He informed Adriana as soon as she had woken up, about thirty minutes outside of Luxor. She was shocked at the revelation, but not as surprised as he had thought.
“There was something not right about him,” She stated after a long yawn. “I never fully trusted him.”
“Well, thanks for the heads up,” Sean said incredulously.
She smiled. “I thought he was dead. We all thought he was.”
“Yes, but before that?” He held his hands out expecting an explanation.
“Look, you’re okay. And he’s probably dead. You said you shot him in the chest and he fell out of the train. I doubt he survived. And if he did, he will be out of commission for a while. That is if he made it to a hospital somewhere. Again, I seriously doubt that happened,” her voice remained calm as she laid out the scenario.
“You’re right. But I just can’t believe I never made the connection. If he was a snake he would have bit me.”
“He almost did,” she quipped.
“To think that I was upset over his death. The city of Atlanta gave him a police funeral. They actually honored the guy,” Sean sounded disgusted.
“You’re going to have to let it go, Sean. We have other things to worry about right now.” Her eyes were kind but determined as she stared intensely at him.
The group busily got their things together to make the exit a little quicker. The three stepped off the train onto the platform amid a flurry of activity. Stone pillars lined the landing, supporting an overhanging roof. People were rushing around everywhere. There were a few disorderly lines of people waiting to board the train that would head back to Cairo within the hour. It was still early in the morning and, the sun was still low on the horizon. Sean imagined in a few hours the place would be packed with travelers.
Sean had made a call over an hour before arrival, arranging for transportation and supplies. Fortunately, Tommy had left his little black book of connections in a Dropbox file the two of them shared. So, getting the contact information of drivers and suppliers hadn’t been too difficult. He hated handling stuff like that. Normally, Tommy took care of all the little details. That wasn’t an option for the time being, so he took matters into his own hands. He was relieved to find a couple of white Land Rovers waiting for them just outside the station. They were greeted by a short, middle-eastern man standing on the sidewalk next to the vehicles.
“You must be Sean Wyatt,” the man said with a broad smile that revealed bright teeth. “I am Sahid, your driver. I just spoke to you on the phone a little while ago.”