Ark

Chapter 24

The tour van bounced along the rough dirt road. Up ahead the snow-capped peak of Mount Ararat towered above them. The higher peak of the dormant compound volcano stood nearly seventeen thousand feet, dwarfing the four-thousand-foot high cone of Lesser Ararat. Maddock felt a sudden surge of adrenaline as he looked up at the fabled mountain. He couldn’t believe he was here.

Dima had immediately recognized the name Dogubeyazit as a small city in eastern Turkey, near the borders of Iran and Armenia. It was, she said, a place name any true Noah’s Ark aficionado would know, as it was the closest town to Mount Ararat.

“I’m a little confused,” Bones said. “Haven’t researchers pretty much debunked the theory that the Ararat anomaly is Noah’s Ark?”

The Ararat Anomaly was a vaguely boat-shaped formation located on the northwestern corner of Ararat’s Western plateau. First photographed in 1949 by a United States Air Force reconnaissance mission, the locale had gained fame through various television shows and other media that focused on the search for the ark. The presence of another reputed ark location close by, the Durupinar Structure, only added to the region’s notoriety.

“It has been dismissed as the ark. At least, for the most part,” Dima said. “It’s not easily studied. It’s pretty much buried in ice and the government restricts access to it, but the size of it alone makes it a poor candidate for Noah’s Ark. It’s about as big as a modern aircraft carrier. Still, people persist in believing the legends.”

“Well, the Bible does say it came to rest on Mount Ararat, doesn’t it?” Maddock asked.

“Technically, it was the ‘mountains’ of Ararat, but the translation is far from certain. It could be another place with a similar name. Ancient Hebrew contained no vowels so many of the words in the older portions of the Bible, particularly proper nouns, require a certain amount of guesswork. That’s why God’s name, for example, isn’t certain.”

“His name isn’t God?” Bones asked.

“Some say it’s Yahweh, others say it’s Jehovah.”

“Actually, I knew that. I just like listening to you lecture. You do this tilt of your head that’s kind of hot. I’ll bet you have a lot of male students in your courses, don’t you?” Bones winked at her.

“You are a mess.” Dima smiled shyly. “But yes, I do.” She was obviously warming up to Bones.

“So why do so many people persist in believing the ark is here if the site is such a bad match?” Maddock asked.

“Like Bones said, part of it is the name Ararat. That’s a strong connection to Scripture. Also, the rumors of the ark being located here are quite old. Marco Polo even wrote about it in his travels. He spoke of a mountain in the heart of Armenia where the summit is perpetually covered in snow, and said that this was the place where the ark was reputed to have come to rest. The ark is so imbued in local legend that it’s hard to shake it. Plus, I imagine it’s good for tourism. You know, like the Loch Ness Monster.”

“Hey! That thing is real,” Bones said.

“If you say so.” Dima gave him a patronizing pat on the thigh.

“What do you think Robert was doing here if this probably isn’t the location of the ark?” Bones asked.

“Obviously he was doing related research. And there just happens to be a well-known ark researcher working the mountain right now. I think it likely that Robert spoke to him.”

“Crap. And here I thought we were going to get to do some climbing.” Bones turned an accusing frown at Maddock. “Why did you let me think we were going to climb the mountain to look at the anomaly?”

“Because I knew that, if I told you the truth, you’d complain the whole way over, just like you’re doing now.”

“Fair enough. But I still say we should sneak up there and take a look around. If the third stone is up there, maybe the other two will react to it.” He put a hand to his pocket, where he carried Esau’s stone, and then eyed the small backpack where Maddock carried the Templar’s stone.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Maddock said. “That would be one heck of an undertaking, but we will do it if we have to.”

The Jeep slowed and came to a halt.

“We are here,” their guide announced. Faruk was a slightly built man in his late twenties with sharp brown eyes and a mustache which he had allowed to grow wild, perhaps to compensate for his receding hairline. “This is not one of the usual stops. I can take you to places with better views of the mountain if you like.”

“Not right now,” Dima said. “We are meeting someone at the camp. If you wouldn’t mind waiting here?”

Faruk nodded, turned, and cranked up the radio. Loud music, an odd form of hip-hop with distinct Arabian strains, filled the van.

Maddock and the others climbed out and follow Dima over a low rise. Down below they spotted a small campsite. Several tents were arrayed in a circle around a cold campfire. In the distance, a man pushed a four-wheeled object that resembled a lawn mower.

“Ground penetrating radar,” Maddock said. “We’ve used that a few times.”

“What you mean we, white man?” Bones said. “You make me and Willis push the thing around while you sit back and drink mint juleps.”

Before Maddock could correct him, someone called out from the bottom of the rise.

“Can I help you?”

The speaker was a bear of a man, broad shouldered and even bigger around the middle, with a silver-streaked black beard and mustache that obscured most of his face. He wore a pith helmet pushed down over his flyaway gray hair that seemed to stick out in every direction.

“Are you Henderson Bentley?” Dima asked.

The man might have frowned, but it was hard to tell behind the mass of facial hair. Only a furrowing of his brow afforded any hint to his mood.

“Who’s asking?”

“My name is Dima Zafrini. I’m a professor from the United States.” She hesitated. “I tried to contact you but I was unsuccessful.”

“That’s because I don’t want to be contacted.” Bentley folded his massive arms and glowered. “What do you people want?”

Maddock was quickly losing patience. “Were looking for a missing person. We have reason to believe he visited your camp recently.”

Bentley tilted his head. “We haven’t had many visitors. As you can see, I’m not the sociable type.”

“His name is Robert Crane,” Dima said.

The lines on Bentley’s forehead smoothed and straight white teeth appeared in the gap between mustache and beard. “All right, then. Come on down.”

The made their way down the slope and fell in alongside Bentley as they walked back toward camp. Dima introduced Maddock and Bones. At the mention of Maddock’s name, Bentley stopped.

“Dane Maddock? I’ve heard that name before.” His fingers vanished into his facial hair as he scratched his chin. Then his eyes brightened. “I remember. You know Jade Ihara, don’t you?”

Maddock nodded. Jade was a former girlfriend with whom he was on the outs since he and Angel had gotten engaged.

Bentley threw back his head and laughed. “I tell you what. That girl can’t decide if she loves you or hates you.”

“You two have worked together?” Maddock asked as they resumed the track toward the camp.

“We attended the same seminar last summer. Didn’t take too many drinks before the two of us started swapping stories of the lovers who have done us wrong. I gotta tell you, my ex is a vindictive little thing. Took off and stole my dog. But the memory of her doesn’t raise half the ire in me that the thought of you does for Jade.”

“She has…a bit of a temper.”

“That she does. Anyway, I’m sorry about the way I acted. We get all sorts of crazies here: amateur archaeologists, conspiracy theorists, religious nuts. Try to do any kind of surveying, much less excavating, out here and people start thinking you’ve found Noah’s Ark.”

“Have you?” Bones asked.

“That’s not what we’re looking for. Not exactly. We are searching for signs of an ancient settlement that might have sprung up in the wake of the Great Flood.”

“You believe there was a flood?” Maddock asked.

“I’m open to the possibility. I know the evidence is stacked against me but I still think it’s not out of the question. I’m a true believer and I don’t apologize for that.”

“So, have you found anything promising?” Dima asked as they entered the circle of tents.

“Nothing like what we’re looking for, but we did find something interesting. Remnants of an old monastery. Matter of fact, that’s what your friend Robert came here to ask about.

“That’s surprising,” Dima said.

“He said he was following up on an old story and he just wanted to confirm it could be true. He seemed really pleased to learn that there had been a monastery here. He said it, what was the word, ’dovetailed’ nicely with his research.”

“Did he say if his research pertained to Noah’s Ark?” Dima asked.

“No, he didn’t. He said it was a story about a wandering monk. He also said that he had just come from the Ishak Pasha Palace down the road a ways. That’s all I know. He looked around for a little while, had a cup of coffee, and went on his way.”

“Did he say where he was going next?” Maddock asked.

Bentley looked up at the sky. “I believe he did. Let me think.” He took off his pith helmet and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “I remember. He said he was going to the ice cave.”