“That’s if he chooses to challenge.”
“He will.”
“But will he win?”
“If we give him the support he needs.”
“What if we don’t find the diamonds?”
“Then the U.S. government will have no choice but to let the entire thing go. We just don’t have the funding to come out publicly with this one. Besides, it’s a two-way street. He needs to prove his ability to partially fund his forces, as well as prove that he has the ability to unite his people.”
“Anyway, we’ll reach the last oasis by tomorrow morning. It’s the last place on the list. If the diamonds aren’t there, the game’s off.”
Sam smiled, confidently. He stopped his camel and climbed down to stretch his legs. Sam brought up a real time satellite image of the last oasis. At this rate they would reach it by tomorrow. “They’ll be there. And we’ll find them.”
Tom looked at the image over Sam’s shoulder. “Hey, what’s that darkened section over there?”
Sam stared at the image for a moment and shook his head. “It looks like we’re not the only fools attempting to travel through the heat — that looks like a massive migration of nomads. At a guess I’d say there are nearly five hundred men heading this way.”
Chapter Three
Zara briskly walked toward the sand pit. She consciously forced herself to slow down as she ducked under the large tarpaulin that protected her dig, and approached the first of a series of ladders. The scorching heat of the Saharan sun dropped by a negligible five degrees. Hand over hand, she climbed down the first of the makeshift ladders, built from wooden rungs tied together with strands of reeds. Taking them two at a time, Dr. Delacroix felt her heart race in anticipation.
Is this it?
Is the search almost over?
There was only one metal box carried by Nostradamus’s party. If it belonged to him at all, it had to be what she was looking for. That is, if they had indeed found the top of a brass container. It had been two years in the making. The outcome of their discovery would either make or break her career, after she’d spent more than a decade looking for it. Her financier was willing to pay big to find it, but even he’d lost interest with the last of her series of failures. The thought had been a relief — no matter what the outcome of the find, the Book of Nostradamus had plagued her family’s life for too long.
More than two hundred people of at least a dozen tribes had flocked from all ends of the Sahara to excavate the pit with the impatient zeal of those who shared the wealth of their very own gold mine. Only, what she was mining would be far more valuable than any amount of gold.
Zara reached the final rung of the sixth ladder. She’d almost given up hope of finding the book. Her scientific mind had already concluded they were in the wrong place again. It seemed fanciful the thing would be buried any deeper in the sand. But she’d run out of places to dig — and so, with the knowledge that this was her last chance, she’d ordered her men to keep digging. Now it looked like she’d made the right decision, and it may have been discovered, finally, below nearly a mountain of sand.
She stepped off the ladder and began walking through the narrow tunnel of sand, hardened by years of compression by the weight of sixty or more feet of sand above. It was noticeably cooler this far below. She followed one of the diggers to the area they had been searching. The tunnel opened up to a wide pit hole.
At least forty people manned the bottom level of the pit like a swarm of black ants, seamlessly working with a combined goal. The men spoke animatedly in their own languages and dialects. They looked happy. They were here because she paid well, but they would have worked for her if she had not — because they were compelled by her story, in which their great land was the center of all existence. Some carefully brushed sand from the surface of the newly discovered structure, while others cleared sand from its sides, and a bucket chain hastily removed the excess sand.
Zara’s presence instantly stopped all banter. Every one of her workers paused and stared at her as though she were their God. She smiled. It was this ability that had driven hundreds of tribal nomads to flock to help her with her goal. Inside, the irony seemed unfair — she had created an army of believers, for a purpose she didn’t believe in, because she needed the money.
“Well done!” she praised them. Zara knelt down on her knees and ran her hand over the top of the hard surface. It glowed golden and confirmed that they had discovered a brass storage box. But would it be the one she was looking for? And, would IT still be inside? There was only one way to find out. “You five!” she said, pointing towards a group of men.
“Yes, Malikat Alssahra?” they replied in unison.
“I want you to lift this out. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
“Yes, Malikat Alssahra.”
Moments later, the five workers levered the large brass container using padded iron pry bars. The strain of their wiry muscles stretched over their dark skin, as the box fought to remain sealed in sand. They worked their levers in unison and on the fourth attempt the box relinquished its fight, breaking free from the sand. The once hardened sand to its side cracked and a moment later the five men pulled the heavy box free.
Zara carefully brushed the loose sand off the covering. It revealed a deep marking on the vault, an emblem that represented the chest’s owner. She ran her fingers into the grooves. Smiled and carefully blew away the remaining sand again.
She took a deep sigh of relief. The emblem matched the family crest of Michel de Nostradame.
Jesus Christ! They’ve actually found it!
One look confirmed all her greatest hopes and fears. She placed two fingers to her lips and made a high pitched, sharp whistle, bringing every worker in the pit to a halt. “All right. I want everybody out.”
The men instantly backed away from their discovery.
Zara turned to her most ardent supporter. “Adebowale!”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“I want you to use your most trusted warriors and take this to my tent. Once inside I need you to guard the door and make certain I’m not disturbed while I examine the book.”
“Understood, Doctor.”
Chapter Four
It took nearly two hours before the massive brass chest reached the surface and another hour to secure it inside Zara’s tent. She stayed with the group, keeping her eyes on the box, making certain nothing had been tampered with before she had the chance to examine its contents.
Adebowale was the last to leave. He looked at her without saying a word. His eyes telling her he needed to know the truth as much as she did.
Zara smiled at him in understanding. “You will be the first to see it once I know what we have found.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Adebowale turned to leave. “I will be right outside if you need me.”
“Thank you, Adebowale.”
Zara began examining the brass chest, alone. It had been secured by an intricate locking mechanism with seven ornamental dials. Words were engraved into the top section next to the seal of Nostradamus. She read the words to herself out loud –
Only the Chosen,
onceived with one faith and born on the day of truth may open;
To see the future, the correct date must be selected, or poison will be the next