Alicia sighed. “I remember those days.”
“Until Drake tamed you?” Dahl asked innocently.
“Torstyyyyy…” Alicia said in a warning tone. “Any more of that and you’ll be wearing your wedding tackle for earrings.”
Even Drake winced. The tunnel continued at a steady decline, burrowing into the earth, leading them away from the baking heat. Drake felt the sweat turn cool and breathed a little easier. He wondered briefly about the curse and the seven seals. If all this really was leading to some kind of incredible weapon how had it stayed hidden all these years? If it was ancient and apocalyptic, shouldn’t it also be large? Nobody had invented a miniature doomsday device yet. His thoughts drifted directly from there to the splinter cell operating within the American government. It was truly incredible how fast and how completely people’s lives could be destroyed by those in power. Criminal, really. Those that cast aside ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and took the law into their own hands were surely just exacerbating the problem. But he was a soldier through and through; never having many aspirations other than living a good, positive life…
And becoming world table tennis champion.
That reminded him — Dahl and he still hadn’t properly concluded their rivalry there. Who was Team SPEAR’s premier ping pong player?
The comms burst into life. “All clear up here,” Kenzie said. “Great day. I can see for miles around.”
Alicia, confronted with a pinprick of light in utter darkness, grunted. “Bitch.”
Soon, the tunnel ended and they reached flat ground. The earth was solid and dry, the walls of the tomb strong. Crouch flicked his flashlight around and so did the others, everyone highlighting something different. Drake saw colorful wall paintings and a place where the sarcophagus had been; recesses in the walls for jars and treasures. He saw empty ledges and vacant spaces and concluded they were standing in one medium-sized hollow void.
“Nothing here,” he said.
“That’s the good thing about murals and hieroglyphics,” Crouch said. “For the most part, they stay in place.”
He moved over to the nearest wall, directing the rest of the team to carefully scan the others, not forgetting the ceiling. Dahl got straight to business, finding the furthest, darkest corner, hoping for a repeat of Amenhotep’s tomb. Within moments the entire team was peering at the wall space and into corners, craning their necks high, all searching for anything that might resemble a capstone.
“You mentioned that you might be able to find photos of this tomb on the Internet,” Alicia grumbled, rising and brushing her knees off. “Next time, Crouchy, let’s do that.”
“I prefer my archaeology first hand,” the ex-Ninth Division boss said distractedly.
“Any agencies are most likely doing just that,” Hayden told Alicia. “I’m pretty sure we would have.”
“And we still can’t be sure who knows what,” Yorgi said.
Hayden and then Mai shouted out a couple of false alarms and then, again, it was Crouch that spotted the motherlode.
“I think I have it.”
Drake was close and inched over. “I can barely see that, mate.”
“Glasses,” Dahl said, then squinted himself. “Whoa, that’s nicely hidden away.”
The capstone depiction sat at the base of a man’s foot, just below the sole and a few millimeters above the earth. Anyone not looking for the symbol would never have noticed it, and even those cataloguing the tomb would barely have given it a second glance.
“The second seal,” Crouch breathed. “The capstone and the ancient doomsday weapon.”
“What the hell is that?” Drake leaned in even closer.
Alicia leant on his back. “You haven’t see one before? That’s an impressive erection, Drake.”
“It’s an obelisk,” Crouch said. “Built by the Egyptians and a hundred other cultures. Only half of the world’s Egyptian obelisks remain here in Egypt; the rest are scattered from Paris to London and America. This one—” he took several photos with his phone “—I have to assume remains in the country.”
Dahl also took pictures as back up. “Let’s hope so.”
“Can we go now?” Alicia asked.
“Yes. We can identify the obelisk up top.”
“Cool, and look at that: no trouble whatsoever. You know, this freelance game seems easier than working for the government. Less dangerous.”
“Watch her,” Mai said. “She’ll be wanting to bring a picnic along next.”
“Domesticated,” Dahl added, sliding his phone away.
Alicia ignored them, heading now toward the exit and dragging Drake along. It was at that moment, as they all started back, that Kenzie’s voice broke over the comms.
“Oh, no. That’s not good.”
Drake immediately started walking faster and keyed the comms. “What? Say again?”
“Choppers,” Kenzie said bluntly. “Two headed this way and at speed. You have less than three minutes.”
Without a word, they ran.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Drake slipped his Maglite into his mouth and pounded back up the tunnel. The way was worn and strewn with debris; mostly piles of sand. The close-set walls impeded him at every step. Twice he rebounded from left to right. At his back the grunts and groans attested to almost everyone else having a similar problem.
“Have you stopped for takeaway?” Mai asked from the back.
“Shut it.” Drake ran hard, feeling the heat increase with each step. Every instinct screamed at him to pull out a weapon and make it ready but the way up was just too unpredictable, treacherous. He counted a minute of running and then the temperature rose sharply. The tunnel walls lightened.
“Heads up!” he cried and pulled up hard close to the exit.
Kenzie came over the comms. “They’ve seen the Jeeps. Kinimaka and Smyth are already there. Where are you people?”
“Here.” Drake stepped out into the glaring daylight and headed straight for the transport. He could see two helicopters now, diving out of the sky, men hanging out of the sides.
“Taking fire!”
He rolled to the side as the choppers swooped. A burst of gunfire sounded and then a blast of raucous laughter. The second chopper targeted the Jeeps, raking the area with bullets. Kenzie was returning fire from her perch atop a sandy mound, giving both helicopters something to think about. The first veered away sharply, one of its gunners shouting a protest. The second dove even lower behind the mound, slipping lightly over the desert sands, throwing up mini dust-tails in its wake.
Again, the team ran for the Jeeps, everyone firing and giving the choppers full warning of their firepower and how they intended to use it. Bullets pinged off metal and broke windows, some even thudding into seatbacks. Both choppers were in some disarray, probably full of ego-laden mercs and not expecting the retaliation.
Kinimaka and Smyth climbed behind the steering wheels of the Jeeps and started them up, trusting their comrades to keep the gunfire off them. Drake saw the first chopper swinging back around, this time with some serious weapons poking out of it.
He stopped, fell to one knee, and lined the aggressors up.
A line of bullets stitched the ground near his right knee, traveling well past. Alicia dropped to the other side of it, weapon aimed.
“Make ’em count,” she said.
Drake fired without stopping, targeting every face and window he could see. Glass exploded and metal ripped away. Alicia’s bullets hit the mark too, and one man fell out of the chopper and tumbled to the floor. The bird thundered overhead, rotors whirling, a nightmare sound under fire. Drake turned with it, tracking it toward the nearby mounds.