Alicia goggled her eyes at him. “Dude, that’s some scary blind faith you got there.”
“What are you talking about?”
Drake knew the American soldier was going to prove the hardest nut to crack and held out no illusions that it was even possible. “Y’know,” he said. “We should go there. That’s where we should be. Even if we help only one person or one family it’s the right thing to do.”
They walked away from the ancient tomb, leaving it now for some adventurist or local fisherman to ‘discover’. Who knew what other riches lay down there?
As Hayden came over the top of the slope and Crouch headed for the car a cellphone started to chirp.
Kinimaka tapped her. “That’s you.”
“Yeah, I thought so, but it can’t be.”
Drake heard the incredulity in her tone and hesitated. “Why?”
“Because it’s…” She pulled the cell out and stared at the screen. “Kimberly Crowe.”
If the team had been struck by a missile at that point they couldn’t have been more surprised. Mai summed it up: “This can’t be good.”
Luther latched on to the name immediately. “Secretary Crowe is calling you? Now? Can you prove it?”
“How about this?” Hayden jabbed the answer button and then the speakerphone, holding the cell in the palm of her hand.
“Hello?”
“Hayden Jaye? Is that you?”
“It is. I’m surprised to hear from you, Madam Secretary.”
“I’m surprised you still have this cell, Miss Jaye. Can’t it be traced? Even by your own ex-CIA colleagues?”
“I have a special chip that reroutes my location five times every second. I installed that in case you ever wanted to get back in touch.”
“Oh, well that’s fine. That’s fine then. There are no words for what has been done to you, so I’ll say nothing. My hands have been tied but now I’m starting to find options. Do you know Tempest?”
“It’s an operation, I believe. Something about finding the weapons of the gods.”
“It’s not an operation, Hayden, it’s the codename of the cabal behind your team’s quiet disavowing. And others, I might add. Their goal is to amass all the remaining weapons of the gods.”
“To what end?” Drake asked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet. But they’re influential in all governments. They’re like the worst damn weed in your garden. It has roots everywhere.”
Hayden looked momentarily taken aback by the Secretary’s language. Luther took the opportunity to bob his head toward the phone.
“Is this really Secretary of Defense Crowe?”
“Who is this?”
“Luther. I mean it is Luther, Madam Secretary, sorry.” The soldier looked embarrassed.
“It is Luther,” Dahl mimicked, grinning, and Drake looked away. Luther gave them both a stone-cold glare.
“Luther?” Now Crowe sounded astonished. “The same soldier they sent to kill you? I feel like I’m dreaming here.”
“No dream,” Luther said quickly. “We’ve apprehended the suspects and are bringing them in.”
“That’s not strictly true,” Drake said. “Right now we’re unclear as to who has apprehended who, to be honest. And we’re stuck in a mutually co-operative situation.”
“A what? Wait, it doesn’t matter. Luther was sent by Tempest which somewhat compromises me. Do you hear that, Luther?”
“I do,” Luther said stonily. “My orders came from… a five-star general, Madam Secretary. I know nothing of this Tempest.”
“Look here, son…” Luther’s eyes widened at the title. “I’ve been hoodwinked more times in the last few weeks than in my entire life. I’m facing down men with agendas upon agendas, schemes that would make your hair curl. Not many, mind you, but enough to develop a nasty, deep scourge within this good government. I’m fighting against it… carefully. Because these people — they go after you, your family and your friends. Now you hear my name, you keep your damn mouth shut. And you trust these good people. They’re trying to do right. Got it?”
Luther appeared a little chastised. “Ah, yeah, I guess. Madam.”
“Is this why you called?” Hayden was mindful of the time they were wasting.
“Partly, to reassure you that you have a friend in DC, yes.”
Drake was pleased nobody mentioned Lauren. At this point, they couldn’t properly trust anyone except their own team mates.
“But also… to urge you to get out of Egypt and meet me. There is a great and terrible danger to the world. Tempest have started it and they will not stop until they own every weapon, and the means to destroy or rule it all. They’re evil. Plain evil, in the old-fashioned way. I cannot stress enough how bad it will be if they get their hands on those weapons. Meet me. Soon.”
Drake saw that even worse things than those they had already endured were in their future. But if they didn’t stop it, who would? The entire FrameHub disaster was proof enough.
“How many teams were burned?” he asked. “How many good people?”
“Out there, now? At least a dozen. Probably more, all like you. Look, I can’t come clean. I can’t nip up to the White House and shout in Coburn’s ear. In some way, I was complicit. Nobody will believe that I didn’t know what the hell was going on. And… I have my family to worry about.”
“Are you thinking we might contact them?” Dahl asked Drake.
“Twelve to twenty teams like ours?” Drake’s eyes brightened. “That’d be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. An army to end all wars. I’m excited.”
“Me too,” Dahl agreed. “An incredible spectacle.”
Crowe went on: “I need to speak face to face and we need a plan. Tempest is moving ahead very quickly. The Sword of Mars is being sought as we speak. This doomsday machine in Egypt is also considered a weapon of the gods. Many others that were taken away from the tombs you all discovered. I need your help. Your countries need your help, and your loved ones too. Come to DC now.”
“All right,” Hayden said. “We can do that. We can talk. But right now… we have to go. This needs finishing first.”
“Yeah,” Drake said, watching the spiraling smoke as it drifted among the clouds and studying the ancient Great Pyramid where all the secrets and death quite possibly crouched, waiting.
“Yeah,” he said again. “Just… give us a minute.”
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Cairo has become one of the most famous cities in the world and has the largest metropolitan area in the Middle-East. It lies close to Giza, the ancient city of Memphis and the incredible Nile Delta. Pollution, traffic and overcrowding are just a few of its daily demands.
Drake viewed its environs as they closed in. All the way from the last tomb both he and Dahl had been working their magic on Luther and, at this stage, they’d almost given up.
“Even Secretary Crowe?” Dahl put real disbelief in his voice.
“If that was Secretary Crowe. And my orders come from the general. I can’t go committing treason.”
Drake pressed. “Do we act like evildoers to you?”
“Soldier like you should know they come in all forms and sizes, bud. You never drop your guard.”
“He’s right.” Dahl eyed Drake. “Did they teach you that in the SAS?”
“Piss off, Dancing Queen. I don’t know what to do with you, Luther. You’re a bloody brick wall.”
“I like you all. Even you, Drake. But I gotta say: ord—”
“Don’t say it.” Alicia held up a hand. “Orders are orders, right?”
Luther clicked his fingers at her. “You got it, sunshine.”
“Aww, cheers. Now I gotta think of a nice nickname for you.”