Cibola

Chapter 31

“You’re the Elder?” Jade’s ashen face reflected her stunned disbelief. “But… you had your own son killed.”

“Saul was no longer a true believer,” the man said. His voice was cool and uncaring, as if he was discussing something stuck on the bottom of his shoe. “He was no longer of use to me. Besides, the Lord has shown us that it is noble to sacrifice your son. You, however, might have earned your reprieve. I was going to kill you all, and I still might, but I think perhaps I shall let you live.”

“Why?” Bones eyes burned with fury as he stared at the Elder.

“As Ms. Ihara is well aware, there are a few items of particular interest to me. I cannot remove them alone. I shall carry the staff, keeping my gun hand free, while the four of you carry the other.”

“And what item is that?” Dane asked.

“Oh, forgive me, Mr. Maddock. I have left you lying on the cold floor for too long. Please stand, keeping your hands behind your head of course, and proceed out to the island. If the rest of you would please move to the side and kneel, also with your hands behind your head?” The congenial manner in which he made his requests was chilling. “Please understand that I have no qualms about shooting any of you, and I have the skill to do so.”

Dane complied, moving cautiously toward the island. The others also cooperated with the Elder, moving off to the side and dropping to the ground. Dane joined them, and they knelt there looking up at the Elder who leaned casually against Moses’ sarcophagus. This was Dane’s first good look at the man. He had a distinguished-looking man with intense blue eyes, graying black hair, but his athletic build and confident bearing removed any doubt as to whether or not he could handle himself.

“All of you seem to have forgotten that we have not exhausted the remaining clues. There is one discovery yet to be made, and it hangs above us.”

Their eyes went to the platform suspended from the top of the pyramid. The intense glow that emanated from the walls of the pyramid made the water seem to sparkle and dance as it cascaded down. For the first time, Dane noticed a haze of steam around the platform. He thought about what he had seen when he had first entered the pyramid.

“You know, I don’t think I would mess with that platform,” Dane said. “That water isn’t supposed to be coming down from there. It’s leaking through the seams of the capstone. You try to bring that platform down, you might just bring the whole place down with you.”

“I’m disappointed,” the Elder said. “I thought yours was a more adventurous spirit than that.” He turned to Jade. “Miss Ihara, as you are the last remaining member of my organization who has any knowledge of this quest, I shall permit you to do the honors. If you will please?” He pointed his gun at her. “I am not really asking.”

“I’m not part of your organization,” Jade muttered as she slowly rose to her feet and looked uncertainly from the Elder to Moses’ tomb, and back to the Elder again.

“Details. The next clues read, ‘Under the tomb, in the chain platform.’ I assume there must be a hidden mechanism to lower whatever that is up above us.” She cast uncertain eyes to the platform hanging above them. She moved to Moses’ tomb and circled it, inspecting the floor all around it.

Dane kept his gaze fixed on the Elder, who moved away so that he could keep an eye equally on Jade and the others who remained on the floor. Obviously, they could charge him, but at least one of them would die in the process. He couldn’t risk it… yet.

“It’s not here,” Jade said, her voice uncertain. “It’s either inside, or it’s somewhere there.” She nodded to Nefertiti’s resting place. She looked inside the sarcophagus where Moses lay, inspecting every inch. Her eyes narrowed. “Could that be it?” she whispered. “Bones, give me the Aten disc.” Once again focused on solving the puzzle, her air of command had returned.

Bones removed his backpack and tossed it to Jade, who retrieved the disc and leaned down into the sarcophagus.

“There’s a space just above his head,” she explained, “that looks to be the mirror image of the Aten symbol side of the disc. It might be nothing, but I wonder…”

Jade’s hands were not visible from where he sat, but Dane could see the look of concentration on her face. He watched her lean back down into the sarcophagus, biting her lip. There was an audible click, and then a roar like the grinding of great, invisible gears. He looked up to see the platform descending toward them. He, Bones, and Amanda sprang to their feet almost as one.

“Careful, now,” the Elder cautioned, training his gun on Dane. “I won’t have you crushed underneath the platform. Move slowly toward me.”

Dane took a hesitant step toward the Elder, his heart pounding. He needed an opening and he needed it soon, because he had just understood the final clue, and now he knew what lay on the platform. All the pieces fell into place: the glowing veins in the stone, the increased intensity of light and heat as they moved closer to this place, the decaying capstone, even the deformed creatures. It was all connected.

“Elder, you have the wrong translation of the final clue.” He held out little hope that the man would listen to reason, but he had to try. “It should read ‘…the ten is impure.’ Not the tenth. The ten.”

“Meaningless.” The Elder gave him a dismissive glance. His eyes flitted back to the platform and a beatific smile spread across his face. “The wealth of the treasure is a mere pittance compared to the power the Dominion will now wield.”

“You can’t even touch it!” Dane shouted. “It kills anyone who puts his hands on it! Don’t you remember the stories?”

“You’ve seen too many movies, Mr. Maddock. Besides, I shan’t touch it. The four of you shall.”

The platform was no more than thirty feet above them now. Dane was sure he could feel heat emanating from it. His eyes locked on Jade’s and a look of horrified realization dawned on her face. She understood. Her expression became stern, and she tilted her head ever so slightly toward the Elder. Dane couldn’t say for certain how he knew, but the message was clear— Let’s get him.

“Bones,” he whispered. His friend gave an imperceptible nod and tapped Amanda, who paled visibly and also nodded her assent.

A golden light fell upon the Elder’s face and he looked up toward its source, letting his grip on his gun slacken.

In a flash, Jade snatched the sun disc out of the sarcophagus and sent it hurtling, Frisbee-style, at the Elder. It cracked across the bridge of his nose in a spray of blood, and he cried out in surprise and pain. Dane and Bones were on him before he could recover. Bones ripped the gun out of his hands and Dane wrested the staff away.

“No!” The Elder grabbed futilely for the staff, his eyes filled with tears from the pain of his broken nose. Dane cracked him across the forehead with the staff. Instead of boils, a dark stream of flies erupted from the Elder’s forehead, and engulfed him in a dark, buzzing cloak. The Elder shouted and staggered back, flailing his arms at the swarm that now completely enshrouded him.

“Come on!” Dane cried, taking Jade by the hand and sprinting down the pathway toward the exit. He heard an anguished scream behind him, and he stole a glance over his shoulder. The platform had completed its descent, settling neatly between the tombs of Moses and Nefertiti, and the Elder had not made it out from underneath. His head, arms, and shoulders jutted out from beneath the massive stone block. The swarm of flies was gone. Dane heard Bones gasp, and he realized they had all stopped in the doorway, staring back at what the platform held.

The Ark of the Covenant.

Jade took two steps back toward the island, entranced by the sight. Dane took her by the arm and yanked her back, not bothering to be gentle.

“You can’t,” he said. “Don’t you feel it?” His body tingled as if he was badly sunburned. “We have got to get out of here!” As if to punctuate his statement, the water that had been pouring from the leaking capstone chose that very moment to become a deluge. The movement of whatever mechanism it was that operated the chain had put undue stress on the surrounding rock. Cracks appeared at the pyramid’s peak, creeping down the walls like the claws of a hungry predator. “The ceiling’s going to come down! Let’s go!”