“Go,” Hayden said finally. “Just go. We’ll sort ourselves out later.”
The Jeeps pealed out, heading for the tarmacked road.
Finally, Crouch answered his phone. “What?”
It was only because Drake was looking straight at his old boss that he noticed the quick variation of expressions. Like changing seasons Crouch’s face went from relieved to surprised to shocked and then, surprisingly, to fearful.
Drake had never seen Michael Crouch looking scared before.
“Are… are you sure?” The voice came out low, just a croak.
Someone spoke for another twenty seconds.
“All… right… oh, my… all right…” Crouch’s voice cracked with almost every word.
Drake sat forward, consumed with worry.
“You okay?”
Crouch ignored him and finished the call. For an entire minute he stared down at the floor and then managed to collect himself. He looked up at those in the Jeep.
“We have big, big trouble,” he said. “I almost wish I’d never started this now.”
“What trouble?” Alicia asked. “What’s wrong, Michael?”
“I really don’t see how any of us can survive this.”
Drake almost gulped, affected by how Crouch was acting. “Tell us, mate.”
“It’s Luther,” Crouch breathed, voice barely a whisper and strained to maximum. “He’s here, in Egypt and locked on to our trail. We’re done.”
Drake frowned at him. “We’re never done. Not this team. Besides, we’re trying to stop an apocalypse here.”
“Luther is the apocalypse,” Crouch said. “With arms and legs. We can’t stop him. Can’t beat him. I’m sorry, my friends, but it’s just a matter of time until he finds and then kills us. All of us.”
Drake looked away from the already beaten gaze, stared at the desert skies and drifting clouds. Somewhere out there was a retro warrior, gunning for them with only one mission on his mind, one goal, removed from all communications, closing in by the minute. He could almost hear the approaching footsteps.
Judgment day was coming.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Crouch had the presence of mind to put them on the road to Thebes.
Drake lounged back in his seat, eyes half-closed, lulled by the gentle rocking and rolling of the vehicle with the air-conditioning set just so. It was an odd thing to be told, after everything he’d accomplished, that a balls-out blood-warrior was coming to kill him and that he’d probably die, but he tried to make the best of it.
“We have a head start on the mercs,” he said brightly.
“A two-hour drive to our obelisk.” Crouch had recovered slightly by now and told them he’d recognized the next clue. “We should still beat them there.”
“What do we know about it?” Alicia asked. Drake guessed she was attempting to settle Crouch by getting him to talk about the stuff he loved.
“Oh, it’s hard to say. This giant monolithic obelisk tops out at twenty meters high, the tip is covered in a gold-silver alloy electrum to catch the first rays of the morning sun. It was fashioned in one piece of red granite from Aswan and has been moved twice since its initial placement in front of a temple gateway, south of Thebes. Luckily this particular obelisk remained in Egypt. Augustus and other early Roman emperors had many removed. The Roman emperors commissioned the first new obelisks since the twenty-sixth dynasty, they were so fanatical about them. But ours… ours is pretty standard fare, I’m afraid. Nothing spectacular about it.”
“But that’s the norm for this quest,” Alicia said. “Clues left where they will remain. Inconspicuous, low-profile.”
“She has a good point,” Drake said. “Even the curse was barely known until Amenhotep’s tomb was found.”
“Does it have a name, this obelisk?” Smyth asked.
“What — like George?” Alicia wise-cracked. “I doubt that.”
“No, no, don’t be a wiseass. Usually these things have titles. The Obelisk of Amun-Ra, or some such.”
“It is believed to be the obelisk of Pharaoh Menes, but as I said it moved around. Most recently, and we’re talking many, many years ago now, it was taken as a symbol of an ancient church.” He smiled. “I’m not quite sure what came first. The church or the obelisk. Most ancient churches in Egypt are Christian and not based around Cairo, as most think. Many of these churches are built on sacred ground, where it was believed the baby Jesus and family stopped. Others, like the one associated with the obelisk, are secluded, out of the way, because they were built when the Christian religion had been forbidden by the Roman Empire.” He shook his head. “Yeah, in those days there was even conflict between eastern and western Christians. Most of the churches are unusual, some even built in caves.” He paused as his phone started to ring again and glanced quickly at the screen.
“A contact,” he said with relief. “I asked for more information regarding this FrameHub fiasco.”
Drake rolled easily with the bumps and the bends, closing his eyes against the glare that filled the windows. He’d lost his sunglasses back in the desert, a calamity to be sure but probably not the last time he’d ever do it.
Crouch sighed and pulled himself upright using the seat back. “Okay, okay, this FrameHub could be a credible threat. They’re threatening a demonstration if the countries don’t reply soon. The demand has been re-sent, re-evaluated. We don’t like the look of what they’re doing. Don’t like the look of it at all.”
“Any clues as to who this FrameHub crew are?” Hayden’s voice came over the comms system loud and clear since all the damaged units had been replaced.
Crouch sighed once more. “Basically, they’re a myth. No, they’re the myth. Half a dozen of the world’s greatest ever hackers joined together, planning mayhem. And not just of the digital kind. They’re looking to change reality.”
Drake shifted position. “Why?”
“Well, that’s the question isn’t it? Clearly, it’s not for the money. They could skim a million bank accounts and we’d never know. It’s not for the recognition. They’re basement gods. Best guess at the moment… it’s because they’re whacko.”
Alicia nodded. “That covers most of our enemies.”
Drake looked over at Crouch. “Is that it? So we know nothing.” It was a statement.
“We’re not dealing with ghosts here,” Crouch said. “We’re dealing with the vaguest impression that a ghost passed by once. Give them some time.”
“Try telling that to Greece, Turkey and Egypt,” Dahl said, “when that deadline approaches.”
“I want to approach the elephant in the… car,” Hayden said. “Luther. Everything I know is hearsay, possibly sensationalized. You know how office rumors go. He’s real, for sure. I saw some basic reports years ago. What I want to know is — what can we expect?”
Crouch looked at Alicia. The Englishwoman looked away. “I remember him,” she said. “From one mission a long time ago. Our unit infiltrated a highly organized, highly dangerous terrorist cell in Eastern Europe, received good Intel on when to take it down, and worked hard to hone a takedown plan. We watched, we waited, we manipulated every member of that cell so they were there, inside, that day. All we needed was our contact to get out. Three minutes before the agreed time an American team hit that place.” She exhaled. “Talk about the fourth of July. They lit not only the terrorists’ apartment up, but the entire building. The block. They ran in there with semi-autos, grenades and even RPGs. It was hell on earth when a sniper would have made do. It was utter havoc when it should have been a quiet assassination. They wanted no remains, not even bones. That—” she looked back at Crouch again “—was the one and only time I met Luther.”