Ark Found

Chapter 24

“So what now?” Phillipo asked his brother, a cold wind whipping his hair. Daedalus threw up his hands. He carried a fixed blade knife in one of them because he no longer had his gun and he hated to be or appear weaponless. He wished he had gotten the chance to use it on Carter Hunt, and maybe even his Asian sidekick, too, but for now it seemed they had eluded him once again.

He levelled an icy gaze at his brother, and his two expedition members in turn. “Now we split up. I will be going back into Dogu. My first order of business will be to have the timbers tested to vouch for their authenticity as to whether they could be from the ark. Assuming they are, I will then begin arranging a clandestine full-scale archaeological salvage operation — the first of its kind — of the true and genuine Noah’s Ark. All of that is a lot of work to do, and so I will be departing shortly.”

Phillipo appeared gut punched. “And the rest of us?”

“Like me, you also have much to do, and in two parts. First, you will hunt down the men who stole our map and get it back. Killing them would be worth an appreciable bonus to all three of you. Conversely, not getting the map would mean a serious demotion within our esteemed organization.”

The two expedition members who were not blood related to Daedalus appeared upset, but said nothing. Phillipo, on the other hand, could not contain his emotions. “But what difference does it make that they have the map, when we have the timbers? We have the ark!” He made a grand sweeping gesture with his arm back down the mountain toward the lake basin.

Daedalus was not swayed. “They know where the timbers and the ark are, you idiot! If they get down off of this godforsaken mountain, they will be able to tell everyone about where it is and what they have seen.”

Phillipo gasped while the other two men flinched at his use of the Lord’s name in conjunction with such a holy site. But Daedalus steamrolled on.

“And the map itself is valuable. It came from the Titanic. Have you already forgotten what we went through to get it?”

“Actually they got it, sir,” one of the team members said. “We took it from them, remember?”

Daedalus shot him a dagger stare. “And was that easy?”

The man shook his head. “I didn’t say that.”

“He also has my gun. Get it back if you can — there will be a handsome bonus for that as well. It is not traceable, but it has killed people before and could be used to match ballistics reports the world over. Let’s get going. You three will hunt down that map, and kill those two thieves if at all possible. I will head back to our campsite, take a small sample from each timber that I can easily carry by myself, and make sure the timber and our gear is still well hidden. Then I will head back to Dogubeyazıt, first, and then Ankara, to do as I said. We can stay in touch by satellite phone. Check in every four hours.”

His three team members stood there, looking dejected at the prospect of traipsing up the snow-covered mountain after two armed and resourceful men.

“Don’t just stand there, let’s move! Your jobs will be easier the sooner you catch up to those thorns in our side. Now go!”

With that, Daedalus turned and stomped down the mountain into the wind.

Carter lost track of how long they’d been trekking. He knew he could find out by looking at his trusty Omega dive watch, but he thought it best at this point to be blissfully unaware. They’d marched straight to the end of the plateau. Looking down from there, it was a rocky slide to another slope. They had opted to take the somewhat perilous route rather than hike back down the mountain toward Daedalus’ outfit. They didn’t know if they were still coming after them, but knowing Daedalus, they wouldn’t give up. The best thing to do, Carter decided, was to take a circuitous route back into town by walking all the way around the mountain and not returning the same way they came.

Jayden pointed up at a sheer rock wall. “I’m pretty sure we’re not going to be able to make it back up to the main slope by going that way.”

Carter actually laughed out loud. “Pretty sure? There’s no way whatsoever we’re going to make it up that, even with the incredibly extensive array of climbing equipment we have at our disposal, which includes all of two ropes and one carabiner.”

“Yeah, my solo free-climbing is a little rusty these days.”

They eyed the craggy, near-vertical ice-covered wall in silence. This style of formation was rare on Mt. Ararat, but they had ventured onto a less-travelled route. At length, Carter spoke. “We’re just going to have to go down this way, then walk around the long way until we can cut back across.”

“Walking sounds good. As opposed to ice-climbing, or running to dodge bullets. I’d kill for a nice stroll in the park right about now.”

“Not the best choice of words, Jayden, because we might just have to. Kill, that is. But let’s take your stroll and hope for the best, shall we?”

They headed down the relatively gentle slope that led away from Doğubayazıt, taking the path of least resistance, knowing it also led farther away from where Daedalus’ team was last sighted. They took turns shouldering the backpack with the single remaining strap, since it was their only bag. “I guess there’s no need for you to literally shoulder that burden alone,” Jayden quipped. But Carter was thankful that he had offered without being asked. He was a good friend to have and hoped that the two of them would make it out of this okay, although right now he wouldn’t have put much of a bet on that.

They settled into a monotonous rhythm, hiking downhill overall, but encountering flat or even slightly uphill stretches here and there before leading down again. He would gladly take the physical drudgery over the excitement of being shot at, that was for sure, and he knew Jayden, as just about any rational human, would as well. As the day wore on into late afternoon, their elevation gradually decreased. Even so, snow and even patches of ice still coated the ground here and there, requiring them to maintain a good watch on the ground ahead or risk a slip-and-fall or maybe twisting an ankle.

When they reached a ledge overhanging a dry patch of flat, smooth rock, Carter suggested they make camp for the night, since they wouldn’t be making it all the way back to town before nightfall anyway. Hiking at night was unsafe, and even if they used lights, that could attract a lot of attention.

“Well if it wasn’t for that, I’d be ready to go all night,” Jayden joked. And that was the other thing, Carter said. “We need to rest, so we might as well pick a decent spot for it, get a good night’s sleep and be on the trail before daybreak.”

“Yeah, okay, I guess I can go along with that,” Jayden said, persisting with the humor as he shrugged off the backpack and shone a flashlight around the campsite, checking it out. “Might even be enough dry wood around here to start a fire, if we get lucky. How about you set up the tent and I’ll see if I can get a fire going.”

“Sure, but we’re going to have to make do with no ground cover since we put it to good use already.”

“Yeah, it’s probably been blown halfway to Istanbul by now. ‘Put it go good use’ is an understatement if there ever was one, though. Thing saved our life!”

They set about the work of establishing a workable campsite, with Carter putting up the tent beneath the overhang, which would keep most of the direct wind off of it as well as any precipitation, while Jayden gathered rocks for a firepit outside the overhang, including a couple of small boulders suitable for sitting on. With most of his extra clothing lost with his pack in the snow tunnel, Jayden did his utmost to get a fire going, gathering wood, using his Swiss Army Knife to shave off bark to use for kindling, and his hand to shield his lighter from the wind. After multiple failed attempts, he let out a whoop of joy as a lick of orange sprang from the bottom of the pit.

“Fire!” he fake-roared in a low voice, since he knew a full-voice yell could carry a long way from their elevated, shielded position. Since he didn’t know where the Treasure, Inc. team was, he didn’t want to take any chances on giving them a clue as to their position.

“Good work. Got the tent set up.” Carter exited the small shelter and brought the mess kit over to the fire. “Hungry?”

“Yeah, what’s on the menu tonight, maybe a rack of lamb with a side of potatoes and some red wine to wash it down?”

Carter laughed. “Unless you see a mountain goat and you’re a pretty good shot with that pistol, we’re looking at freeze-dried beef stew and water.”

Jayden gave a slow nod as he watched his budding cook fire. “You know me, I never met an MRE I didn’t like.” Carter recalled that it was true. While most enlisted men had their favorites, Jayden had been known for being willing to eat any of them, and would even trade the more popular ones for two or more of the least popular so as to build up a stockpile of extra rations.

“I figured it would. Let’s not get complacent. There’s still a little daylight left. You act as lookout while I prepare the food, so we don’t have any surprises from uninvited guests.”

Jayden agreed and walked to the edge of their cleared area, which afforded an excellent view of an extensive, brown, sandy desert in the distance. Scanning the area from left to right, up and down, then back again right to left, he spotted no threats.

It wasn’t long before Carter called out that it was chow time, and the two ate their no-frills dinner over the fire as night blanketed Mount Ararat. After they had eaten, Carter rummaged through his pack. He produced a small bottle of liquor. “Got it in the airport in Ankara. I was saving it as a souvenir gift for someone back home, but I think we could use our spirits lifted.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. What is it, not that it matters?”

“Raki.” The brandy-like liquor was a Turkish staple made from grapes.

“Ah, the after-dinner liqueur to complement our meal,” Jayden said while Carter uncapped the bottle. He poured some into his canteen cup and passed the bottle to Jayden.

Talk soon turned to the map. “Does this mean we’re going to Africa?” Jayden asked. “Seems like we’re going to Africa.”

Carter took out the map from his backpack and smoothed it out in his lap. Holding it up to the fire, he found he could easily see the hidden lines that ran from the Mr. Ararat lake to a location in east Africa. “Africa’s a big place. We’ve got to know where to go.”

Jayden took a swig from his cup. “What part of east Africa is it? Does it have countries labelled?”

Carter shook his head. “It has outlines of what look like countries, but no names. But this map was made before the Titanic sank, so …”

“African countries change names more often than a stripper changes outfits.”

“Right. But if I had to guess—”

“And you do!”

Carter nodded. “And I do, indeed-I’d say it’s about where modern day Ethiopia is, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the name of it way back when.”

“Ethiopia, huh? Never been.”

“Me neither. It’s not exactly a tourist hotspot, I don’t think. Hold on. I downloaded a modern day map of Africa to my phone when we were at the Internet café in Dogu.” Carter retrieved his smartphone from his pack and powered it on. He brought up the modern political map image of the African continent and showed it to Jayden. “That’s Ethiopia.”

“Ethiopia, huh? Never been. There must be some cool stuff there,” Jayden said, savoring the raki while eyeballing the map on the screen.

“There must be. But what? If Noah’s Ark is here on Mount Ararat, then why would the map want us to consider Africa? Why draw those invisible lines that can only be seen under certain backlit conditions, that connect the Ararat lake site to a vague destination in east Africa?”

“Maybe there were really two Noah’s Arks?” Jayden ventured. He looked up at the brilliant display of night stars. There was no moon in the sky which made them stand out all the more.

“Two arks?”

Jayden shrugged. “Yeah, like maybe Noah realized after the first ark was full, ‘Hey, no way are we going to fit all these animals. We’re gonna need a bigger boat!’ But instead of building the first ark bigger, they built a whole second ark.”

“I guess that’s testable. If we found timbers in the Ethiopian location — wherever that may be — and they did happen to be of the exact same stock as the ones here…”

“Two arks!” Jayden beamed.

Carter raised his eyebrows while shifting his gaze from the electronic map to the paper document. “There has to be something to these lines.”

“Well they point to Ethiopia. Which part? Is there a town?”

Carter shook his head. “Not on the old map, but let’s see if the modern one has one where the lines end up.” He held the phone with the map on the screen up over the paper map, next to the Ethiopia region. “Yeah, town of Axum.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Me neither. But I have a feeling we’re going to get to know it a whole lot better.”

Jayden took a deep breath. “What, we’re going to go to this town and wander around looking for a second Noah’s Ark? That doesn’t seem a little weird to you? Kind of wild goose chase-y?”

Carter didn’t answer but stared down at the map some more, before handing the phone over to Jayden. Then he held the map up over the fire light and stared at the “invisible” lines again.

“I agree with you that we need something more specific. There’s also something else I don’t understand.”

“What’s that?”

“Why are there three lines that all converge on the single point in the town of Axum?”

Jayden looked over at the paper map. “Let me see. Okay, so there’s three lines but only two of them actually end up in Axum, isn’t that right? One goes from the Ararat lake to….Israel?”

“Jerusalem, looks like,” Carter said, eyeing the phone map.

Jayden continued. “And then the third line is actually from Israel to Axum, Ethiopia. All very Biblical places — Ararat, Jerusalem, and… well I don’t know about Axum, but Ethiopia, if I recall my Sunday School days correctly… Wasn’t that where King Solomon went? Also, that line — the one from Israel to Ethiopia — crosses through the Red Sea, which is what Moses parted.”

Carter stared at the map in deep thought. “We’re going to have to think on this some more. There’s something missing. I’m sure that Axum, Ethiopia is the place to be, though, but like you said, exactly where is another matter.”

Jayden handed Carter his phone back. “Axum might be the place to be, but we still have the little detail of getting down off of this volcano without being pumped full of lead or freezing to death.”

Carter powered down the phone. “You’re right. We should call it a night, get out here at first light. We’ve got a long hike tomorrow.”