‘Quickly! Drain the far chamber!’ Evidently Davari had seen and figured out the significance of the bronze disk as well.
Lourds silently cursed himself for being so drawn into the mystery. But in his heart, he knew he hadn’t had a choice. If Davari was going to kill him, if he was going to die, Lourds couldn’t resist solving the puzzle first.
And his hubris might have damned the world. Always the puzzle solver, never the voice of salvation. Ah, Thomas, at least the planet will soon be saved from any more of your selfish predilections.
Lourds started to rise as two of the men leaped down into the far chamber and yanked at the plug. The gurgling of the water increased in speed and intensity.
‘Not you, Professor Lourds. I think you are fine where you are.’ Davari kept his weapon directed at him. ‘I would like very much for you to stay alive a while longer. In case you are needed.’ The colonel smiled a little. ‘Who knows? Perhaps the Ayatollah won’t mind very much if I leave you here alive.’
Lourds didn’t believe him, not after what Davari had done to Professor Namati in Evin Prison. Around him, the guards were distracted enough by the recovery operation that he thought he had a good chance at escape, but he couldn’t leave. He was stuck fast. He was also struck by the incongruity that Davari now had six followers instead of five.
The first cistern chamber hadn’t quite emptied when the partition on the second one was released. Water rushed from the second chamber into the first with thunderous gurgling, and the drain flow increased dramatically. The two other cistern chambers, including the one with the flying beast marking it and the bronze disk at the bottom, were quickly emptied as well.
Davari waved Lourds toward the empty cistern. ‘Get down there. Find out what is there.’
Knowing that Davari expected the disk to be booby-trapped in some way, Lourds dropped into the chamber. Even without the gun pointed at him, even without the notion of traps, he was going. He couldn’t stay away now if he tried. His boots splashed through the shallow water puddles on the uneven floor.
Reaching for the bronze disk, Lourds felt through the silt that had drifted down over the area. They were lucky that the last thirteen hundred years hadn’t filled the cistern entirely with silt, but it meant that the source — whatever it was — was mostly clean. Or perhaps it was filtered through an aquifer at the other end.
‘Stop right there.’
Lourds couldn’t believe it. One hand held his flashlight and the other hovered only inches from the surface of the bronze disk. He was pinned in the glare of Davari’s flashlight and at least three of the others.
‘What?’
‘There are no traps. I will not have the hands of an infidel on the holy words of God and Mohammad. You will touch the disk and go no farther.’
Helplessly, Lourds watched as one of the men clambered down into the chamber at Davari’s direction. The man seized the disk, twisted, then shook his head at the colonel.
‘Help him.’
Lourds put his flashlight to one side, then gripped the disk as well and heaved. Grudgingly, the disk turned, the bronze metal grating against the stone. After a few more coordinated heaves, the disk slid from the opening.
The Revolutionary Guardsman pointed his flashlight into the hole. Lourds grabbed his own light and added its beam.
Below, in the musty darkness, was a small room. A stone writing table held two ceramic oil lamps. In the far corner sat an old stone chest covered in tiles. Even in the weak light, Lourds made out the flying beast on the tiles, blue against the white.
‘Lourds, look out!’
As Lourds glanced up, the Guardsman beside him started to draw his weapon, but his head burst apart, spilling blood, brains, and bone across the wet floor. The dead man rolled bonelessly to one side.
At the top of the cistern chamber, Davari jerked, and blood jumped from the side of his neck. The colonel threw his light down and dodged for the darkness.
Muzzle flashes strobed the inky blackness that suddenly filled the chamber. The attacker’s shots had been silenced, but the Guardsmen’s weren’t. The hollow booms of their weapons filled the cavern space, deafening Lourds, who clapped his hands over his ears.
Filled with adrenaline and a need to flee, but also overcome with the desire to see what lay within, Lourds grabbed his flashlight and dropped through the opening. He landed on his feet and headed for the stone chest. An inscription was chiseled in Arabic across the top: ‘God is great. We shall all meet in Paradise.’
Above, the bullets continued flying, and someone cut loose with an automatic weapon. The gun battle seemed surreal against the solid reality of the chest.
Lourds braced himself and pushed the lid off with a grunt, dropping it gently to the floor. He shined his flashlight inside. A richly decorated book covered in green leather and decorated with gold and silver filigree and precious gems lay beside an ancient roll of parchment.
Unable to stop himself, Lourds opened the parchment. The language was hard to read, but the promises of a global jihad and a supernatural fire claiming the world were prominent.
Then another man dropped into the room.
Lourds whirled to face him and realized only then that he had no means of protecting himself.
The man reached up and removed his keffiyeh. The bloody face was swollen and barely recognizable, but Lourds recognized him as the bearded man from Evin Prison. He held a machine pistol in one hand, the muzzle pointed at Lourds. He had his other wrapped around his middle.
‘Is that Mohammad’s Koran and the Scroll?’
‘I think so.’
‘What does the Scroll say?’
‘That Mohammad’s people should rise up and declare war on the world.’
The bearded man shook his head. ‘That’s unacceptable.’ He coughed and blood spewed from his mouth and down his chin. ‘Your lucky day, Professor. I cannot let that Book and Scroll fall into the hands of the enemies of Saudi Arabia. So I’m going to let you live to steal it from them.’ He took his hand from his middle, and it was covered with blood. ‘I can’t go on. But I can survive long enough to get you out of this place.’
Lourds carefully placed the Book and the Scroll under his robe and tied them into place. He felt fairly confident they would stay put as he moved.
‘How?’
‘Back out the way you came. I’ll give you cover.’ The bearded man coughed more blood and shoved a fresh magazine into his weapon. ‘Now we’ve got to move, or they’ll get brave. If they get their wits about them, they’ll surround this cistern and either shoot us or starve us out. There are only a couple left. I killed the rest.’
Lourds felt terrified, but he knew what the man said was true. ‘All right.’ He started for the ladder built into the wall that led to the opening.
‘I’ll go first, but you’d better be at my heels.’ The man pulled himself up the ladder with flagging strength. Just as he reached the top, a Guardsman shoved his gun and his head into the chamber. The bearded man shot the Guardsman point-blank in the face and waited till the falling body cleared the opening. Then, leading with his machine pistol, he pulled himself through.
Lourds followed, switching off his flashlight first because he knew it made him an instant target.
In the cistern, the bearded man grabbed the wall and heaved himself up. He looked back. ‘Hurry.’ He fired a long burst toward the far end of the cistern cavern.
Lourds climbed up and got his feet under him, instantly focusing on the barely illumined doorway ahead of him. The muzzle flashes, even sustained ones, didn’t provide much light.
‘Go!’ The man removed the magazine from his weapon and inserted a new one. Then he growled as at least one more bullet struck him.