Dmitri was quick and time had hardened him against fear. But somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice said he had to get out of there. He had no gripe with the two men who were approaching, but he was less confident they would share the sentiment. He wondered if he could outrun the strangers in the dark to the surface of the mine.
The steps grew louder and he knew there was no way to reach the surface before them, and even if he could, there was no telling that once on the surface he could escape before being shot by the two men. No, he was better off hiding.
He stepped into the horizontal passage and started to move quickly and silently toward the queen’s chamber. When he reached it, he found there was nowhere for him to hide. No sarcophagus. No limestone pedestal. It was a rectangular chamber, only just smaller than the king’s above, and it offered him nothing in the form of concealment.
He listened hard. For several minutes there were no sounds at all. Had the ruse worked? Had they continued running to the surface? Even if they did, how long did he have before they worked out he was still inside and decided to backtrack?
Dmitri was about to take the chance and make his way to the king’s chamber, to find what he’d come here to get. He needed to reach the temple on Mount Ararat before the others did and the king’s chamber was the last place he knew which had an ancient map.
He stepped into the horizontal passage and quickly shifted back inside the queen’s chamber — because he heard the sound of footsteps approaching once more. Dmitri shot his back against the stone wall of the queen’s chamber. He stayed about a foot away from where the horizontal passage entered, and there he waited.
A bright light flashed toward the tunnel.
He heard a confident voice shout, “Come on out. There’s two of us and we’re both carrying assault rifles, so you’re trapped.”
Dmitri waited. He breathed silently with the practiced equanimity developed over a very long lifetime and he listened to every step of his attackers.
“We’re going to shoot you if you don’t come out…” the same voice boomed.
Dmitri slowly inhaled and then held his breath.
The queen’s chamber was completely silent. He heard the gentle cadence of his unsettled heart increase its pace slightly. It pounded in the back of his ears.
About three feet away, he heard someone take another step. It was so quiet, the sound was almost imperceptible.
He started counting.
Dmitri had only reached two, when the shadow of a man as big as a small house, stepped into the chamber. It was a fifty-fifty chance the man would look to his left or right. They were bad odds, but they were the ones he was dealt.
His attacker glanced to the left first.
It was a small win, but it was all Dmitri was going to get. He moved with inhuman speed toward his assailant. His hands gripping the monster from his shoulder and pulling him backwards, while simultaneously driving his left foot hard into the soft spot behind the giant’s knee.
He heard the man grunt. It would normally bring the toughest of men to the ground in a wail of agony, but this man remained standing. Dmitri wrapped his left arm around the man’s neck, locking his elbow, so that he could apply pressure on his windpipe. He felt the monster thrash, as though he still believed he could win from that position. Dmitri brought up a small blade to the man’s throat with his right hand so the point gently pierced his skin and then applied more pressure behind his knee so that he was leaning back into him.
“Okay, that will do…” Dmitri whispered, as though he were trying to hush a child. “I think this will end much better for the three of us if you tell your friend to put his weapon down.”
“My name’s Sam Reilly.” A light shined directly at him. “I have a Heckler and Koch assault rifle pointed straight at your head, so I suggest you let my friend go.”
“Sam Reilly?” Dmitri couldn’t believe what he heard. “How the hell did you find this place?”
“I found the remains of the Emerald Star and then from there followed the journal to this place. But of course, you would already know that, wouldn’t you?”
“What do you mean, wouldn’t I?” Dmitri asked. “I wouldn’t have asked if I already knew.”
“I mean you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t already know.” Sam’s voice was calm, but there was a coldness to it that bordered on vehement animosity.
The big guy he’d taken prisoner spoke. “I don’t mean to interrupt your bickering, but you mentioned before that if my friend puts his weapon down, this would go better for all of us. Did you have a plan in mind?”
“It’s quite simple really.”
“Go on,” the giant said. “I’m listening.”
“You remove the magazine from your weapon and eject each of the bullets. Then your friend here does the same. As you already know I only have a knife, so that leaves us all without an instrument that goes bang.”
“How do we know you’re not carrying a gun?” Sam asked.
Dmitri made a big show of sighing, as though he was trying to explain something to a simpleton. “Because if I had, I would have used it by now, wouldn’t I?”
“You’ll still have a knife and we won’t have anything…” Sam pointed out. “The move’s stacked a little heavily in your favor.”
“True. But someone’s going to have to give something here. Alternatively I slit your friend’s throat now, and then we see who gets the first shot off. It’s probably going to be you, but either way, your friend here dies. So, what do you want to do?”
The big guy spoke again. “If we empty our magazines. Then what?”
“Then I run like hell, gambling that I might just be able to run faster than you can reload your bullets.” He sighed again. “Or you could just let me leave here.”
“All right.” The big guy started to eject bullets from his magazine.
Dmitri counted twenty-five bullets hit the ground — a full magazine. After the last bullet fell he heard the assault rifle follow. Dmitri glanced at Sam Reilly. The man’s piercing blue eyes were fixed on him with unreadable glare. “Your turn.”
“Okay,” Sam said.
Dmitri counted twenty-four bullets hit the floor — one short of a full magazine.
Sam never blinked. “Your turn.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to eject the last bullet from your magazine.”
Sam opened his mouth to lie. Then, appearing to think better of it, he said, “You have really good hearing.”
He waited until the last bullet was ejected and dropped on the floor. “Okay, now I want you over there, at the end of the queen’s chamber.”
“Sure.” Sam moved over to the back of the chamber. “Now what are you going to do?”
Dmitri smiled. “I’m going to walk out of here, and you’re both going to let me.”
He pulled the big guy backwards and then stepped out of the way, kicking his leg in the process. The big guy turned with surprising speed, narrowly avoiding hitting the floor and then picking up his assault rifle the man launched at him, gripping the weapon like a baseball bat.
The stranger moved quickly, but he responded faster. Dmitri stepped back and withdrew his handgun from a concealed holster behind his back. He had it pointed straight at the man in an instant.
Dmitri said, “I told you to let me walk out of here!”
Both men backed away. “Okay, okay… go!”
“I suggest you count to a hundred before you come after me. If I catch you following me, I won’t talk to you, I’ll kill you both.”
He bent down and picked up the two MP5 magazines to take with him and started running. He didn’t look back. He just kept running. He was thankful for his decision to carry his handgun. He rarely did anymore. Didn’t have a need. Today was different. He expected to see one of the OTHERS, but instead he found two strangers. His lungs pounded by the time he reached the surface ten minutes later.