The tunnel was clear.
The whole team crossed it quickly, coming through the far guard house and up against a final door, this one twelve feet high, black and ornate. It looked to Bodie a little like the gate to hell.
“We’re going in,” he said.
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
A ceremonial barrier was all that secured the door. Bodie raised it, feeling the smooth gold against his palms, and rested it on the floor. Cross opened the door, peered inside, and waved them through. Beyond the door there was a wide passageway, the walls covered in red silk. Bodie saw paintings high up, depictions of a being with horns holding sway over a large gathering and addressing a crowd. The artwork gave him pause.
What are we walking into?
The passage ended against another door, this a double, higher than the first. Bodie took a moment to let the team fan out — the nine Rangers, Heidi and his friends, and then pulled at a handle.
The door swung inward.
Beyond, they saw a lavish hall, vaulted ceiling inlaid with countless gold filigree, rows and rows of plush chairs, all fronted by a stage and a podium. Some form of meeting chamber perhaps? Bodie saw it was currently deserted and quelled a faint disquieted sensation.
“Gunn?” he said.
“I’m watching the feed,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ve built up a pretty good picture here. The majority of folk are a level down, occupying a second chamber very similar to the one you’re in right now. It’s darker though, and much worse. I see a man wearing horns on the stage and possibly a victim of some sort strapped down to an altar. Whoa, that’s pretty terrible. They’re chanting, raising hands up. If I didn’t doubt my eyes, people, I’d say that was devil worship.”
Bodie thought back to the painting on the walls, the history of Illuminati and frat houses and a dozen other secret societies.
“Anyone on this level?”
“Yep, the whole gang hasn’t been invited to Satan’s party. Your chamber’s empty, but corridors to the left and right are not. People in offices. A few guards. Some quiet rooms, whatever. But beyond the chamber is where it’s all at. I see the front parts of jail cells and after that, the motherlode.”
Bodie clicked his tongue. “Get on with it, Gunn. We can’t stand here all day.”
“All right, walk straight forward, up the center aisle and keep low, just in case. Take—”
Quickly, they followed Gunn’s instructions, glad there was some kind of meeting going on downstairs but worried about how the size of the chamber might corroborate the number of people.
“Hoods?” Bodie said. “They downstairs too?”
“Yep, a ton of them.”
Shit.
Past the altar and a right turn; through another passage and then they were among the jail cells. It struck Bodie as odd that the cells would be so open, in full view, but then remembered the mindset of the Illuminati. No doubt they enjoyed gazing upon the faces of their captives.
Small cells with clouded vision panels and heavy steel doors sat on either side. This wasn’t the time to check faces, so Bodie walked right past, coming upon the highest, widest curtain he had ever seen. It rose a hundred feet high and disappeared in big folds to the left and right, as impressive and daunting as a brick wall. Bodie watched as Heidi passed by, losing herself in the folds as she tried to find a gap.
“Shit,” came her muffled voice. “I can’t find my way out.”
“She’s in the right area,” Gunn said. “Look at the top. See the red banner? It’s probably a marker of some kind.”
Bodie spotted it and entered the curtain, encountering Heidi on the way. For a moment they were almost cheek-to-cheek, alone and feeling a little awkward, but then Bodie’s questing hand found a thick curtain edge and pulled it apart.
His eyes were drawn by what was on the other side. And not just his eyes — his brain, his body, his blood. His entire concentration, the full scope of his imagination.
Nothing could stop him gasping as the sight took his breath away.
Wonders. Ancient and modern. The miracles of science and architecture, of stonework and clay, marble and brushstroke. The thief in him felt hunger, the man wonder, the person working for the government — great satisfaction.
“Their stash,” he said.
“Stash?” Heidi echoed, her voice cracking. “I’d actually call this a phenomenon.”
The floor ran away to left and right to form a wide balcony, bounded by endless, high bookcases. An ornate rail ran all the way around, disappearing into the distance and the delved out hillside. Alcoves dotted the balcony here and there, all filled with statues and carvings and immense works of art. The floor ahead descended very gradually into an immense pit, rails to both sides to enable those worthy enough to tread its plush planks, the view of a lifetime to both sides.
The pit bristled with wonders.
“I don’t know where to look,” Heidi breathed. I’m seeing tables of Fabergé eggs, more than what was thought lost. Three lost statues and two lost masterpieces that even I know of. I really, really don’t know where to look first.”
Bodie gripped her shoulders. “There,” he said. “Right there.”
He pointed and watched the CIA agent follow his finger.
“Oh, Lord.”
The Statue of Zeus stood resplendent in all its glory, fully built and occupying the back of the pit, an honored and revered resting place. Ivory and gold panels glistened under the spotlights. Zeus’s wreath sparkled atop his huge head, the gilded glass robe he wore burnishing the light and throwing it back like fire. The small Chryselephantine statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, lay in contrast to the scepter and eagle Zeus clasped in his hands. The throne itself shone gloriously, inlaid with precious stones, gold, ebony and ivory.
“Destroyed for over a thousand years,” Bodie breathed.
“Not,” Heidi said, deliberately blunt.
The others crowded round, equally impressed. Gunn commented over the comms whilst keeping a watch on their backs.
“Y’know,” he said. “I’m inspired to say there could be parts of other ancient wonders in there. Parts of the Temple of Artemis and the Museum at Halicarnassus. The head of the Colossus of Rhodes perhaps, and imagine what they might have from the Lighthouse at Alexandria? Oh, I wish I was with you.”
“Me too,” Jeff chimed in.
Bodie couldn’t snatch his eyes away from Zeus. The immensity of it was stunning.
“Shit,” Gunn said and the crude abruptness of it cut through everything.
“What?” Cassidy asked first.
“Satanfest 2017 just ended downstairs. The dudes are filing out fast. Goat-head is shouting and waving his arms, and the Hoods are rising up. Guys and girls—” He went quiet a moment, then said, “I think you got made.”
“Are you saying they’re headed this way?” Heidi asked.
“Umm, not sure. But I do mean all of ’em. A hundred perhaps, with half as many Hoods and the main figures from the stage. They’re running like hell, as if whatever they tried to summon down there actually made an appearance.”
Bodie felt foreboding. “Please tell me they aren’t running toward the exits.”
“No, Guy, and that’s the problem.”
Bodie figured that was a good thing. A break for the exits would have signified a coming event.
“Why is that a problem, Sam?”
“Because they’re all running toward you!”
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
Bodie cast around, but Heidi and the Rangers were already scoping out a battle plan. For this, he would defer to their expertise. Everyone ran down the slight gradient, with the Rangers stopping at various points to cover their backs. They took cover in the pit below, using artifacts and relics to hide behind, drawing weapons and waiting for the assault.