Land of the Gods

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The journey on the luxury tender out to the yacht gave them all a few moments of peace and quiet. Skimming across the warm turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf, Hawke looked back to the impressive skyline of Dubai — the Marriot Marquis, the Princess Tower and the Elite Residence all dwarfed by the monumental Burj Khalifa. The 835 metre building sparkled in the sun as it stretched up into the scorching Arabian sky. It was a far cry from the drizzle and gloom of his London childhood.

The rest of the team sat on the custom boat’s wooden seats and shared the moment with a few laughs. Reaper and Scarlet smoked. Lea and Ryan were talking and Lexi was sitting with her head tipped back, eyes concealed by her mirrored sunglasses. From the look of things, Zeke and Nikolai were exchanging war stories and hand-to-hand combat moves.

It was good to see Kolya had finally ditched the robes and gotten himself some ordinary gear. Maybe he could fit in after all, or maybe he was lying to them. The darker half of the battle worn and weary SBS sergeant wondered if their new Russian friend was a spy — a thousand year-old Athanatoi warrior doing the Oracle’s dirty work and biding his time until ordered to strike. The better half remembered how he had saved Lea’s life and risked his own life fighting alongside them since the battle at the monastery.

If he was a spy, then he was a good one.

The captain of the tender steered the small vessel to starboard to come about to the superyacht’s stern. “We’ll be docking in a few minutes. Get ready to disembark.”

Hawke stretched his arms and yawned. Checked his gun and slid it back into the holster.

Lea walked over to him and slipped her arms around his waist. “It’s beautiful here.”

He smiled and kissed her. The boat rocked as it turned again and slowed down ready to approach the yacht. They clung together to stop from falling over. “You’re beautiful.”

“God, someone pass me a sick bucket,” Scarlet said.

“Why, seasick?” Reaper asked.

“No, just too close to these two revoltingly smug people behind me.”

Lea laughed. “Ah, you’re just jealous, you miserable cow.”

“Hey!”

“True story,” Ryan said, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. He blew out the smoke and grinned mischievously. “She wants me but knows she can never have me.”

Scarlet gave him a doubtful look. “You know where you can blow that smoke, boy.”

“You haven’t even bought me dinner,” he said. “I feel used and dirty.”

“You’ll feel my boot up your arse in a minute.”

Still staring up at the sky, Lexi said, “One kink at a time, Cairo or you’ll frighten him away like a little sparrow.”

“Don’t you start,” Scarlet said.

“Hey, I’m just saying.”

The captain pulled up into the docking bay at the stern of the yacht and sailors on board the main vessel attached the tender to the Seahorse via the davit crane.

A man in a white bisht and keffiyeh was standing in the shade behind the crane, and now he stepped forward with a guarded smile and welcomed them on board. “I am Hafez. Please, Mr Mokrani will receive you on the rear deck.”

They followed the man up a series of staircases and down a polished teak deck stretching along the portside of the vessel before turning right at a shaded swimming pool and crossing over to the other side of the yacht. “Please,” the man said, gently guiding them with his hand. “Mr Mokrani is just through here.”

Hawke turned the corner and saw an enormous man dressed similarly to Hafez, only his keffiyeh headdress was red and white checkers. He did not rise to meet them, but gave a casual nod of his head. His eyes were obscured behind a pair of gold and river diamond Chopard sunglasses.

Ryan lowered his voice and leaned toward Lexi. “Why am I reminded of the sail barge scene in Return of the Jedi?”

“Keep it down, fool,” she snapped. “Unless you want a light sabre up your ass.”

“I certainly do not want that,” he said. “Despite vicious rumors spread by a certain former SAS officer of the female variety.”

Lea turned and scowled, mouthing zip it to both of them, and Hawke approached the man and made the introductions.

“Please, sit. Hafez, mint tea for everyone, at once.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hafez slipped away into the shadows as they took their seats in the shaded deck area, grateful for the cool breeze whipping across the boat’s deck.

“So, Sir Richard tells me he is in the market for a certain ring in my possession?”

“That’s right,” Lea said. “A very specific ring. It looks like this.”

She handed him the one they had secured in Las Vegas from Kozlov. He took it in his chubby hand and twirled it around for a moment, never once lifting his sunglasses. He handed it back a few seconds later. “Yes. I have a ring like this, but the markings on the top are slightly different, I think.”

Lea gave the team a look of hope before returning to Mokrani. “You know we’re in the market to buy the ring, Mr Mokrani, but are you in the market to sell it?”

Mokrani smiled as Hafez returned, hovering just out of sight in the shadows with a silver train his hands. The billionaire clicked his fingers and the servant stepped forward and poured a cup of mint tea for everyone at the table.

“And why would I want to sell it?”

“Because you implied you were interested in selling it.”

“But perhaps I have changed my mind. Now I know there are people who are prepared to pay such a handsome price for it, I ask myself if perhaps I have undervalued it.” His smile revealed a set of expensive, whitened teeth. “You must agree?”

“Supply and demand,” Ryan said. “Simple economics.”

“But what we’re offering you is more than fair, Mr Mokrani,” Lea said. “The price is far more than the value of the gold and takes into account the historical significance of the ring as well.”

“Yes,” Mokrani said. “This is true. After Sir Richard contacted me I had my people research the ring more thoroughly, and what they discovered interested me a great deal, I must say.”

“And what did they discover?” Scarlet asked.

Another sly grin. “My researchers tell me that they found several other rings in existence that very closely resemble the one in my possession. They looked into these rings and found nothing but speculation, but that speculation has piqued my interest very much.” He leaned back and stretched his arms out along the back of the leather couch. “You see, there are rumors about these rings.”

“What rumors?”

“Don’t be coy,” he said. “You know why you’re here. My researchers tell me the rings may be a sort of map that will lead to some sort of ancient site.”

“That’s true,” Lea said. “This is supposed to be confidential but I want to be honest with you. We’re looking for the place you describe. We think it’s called the Land of the Gods, and it was some kind of civilization before Sumer.”

Mokrani sniffed and looked distracted for a few seconds. “This Land of the Gods must be a myth,” Mokrani said. “There was no civilization before Sumer, not in this part of the world anyway.”

“It’s no myth,” Hawke said. “The Land of the Gods was real, and we have to believe that at least some part of it still exists. Only the eight gods’ rings can lead us there.”

“Gods’ rings?”

Lea explained what they knew, but Mokrani was unmoved.

“What you say is fantastic, but impossible to believe. Alexander the Great searching for an antediluvian civilization predating Sumer?” He waved the thought away and raised the cup of mint tea to his lips. Taking a sip, he tasted the fine liquid for a few moments before setting the china cup back down on the table. “Ridiculous.”

“May we see the ring?” Lea said.

“Yeah,” Scarlet piped up. “All this prattling is one thing but we don’t even know you have the thing.”

“Hafez, bring the item.”

Hafez left them and returned with a golden cloche. He laid it on the table on front of Mokrani, who now lifted the lid and revealed the ring. It was sitting on a red velvet cushion in the center of a golden plate. Mokrani leaned forward slightly and lifted it off the tiny display cushion. “Yes, I remember this piece.”

“You remember it?”

“After purchase I rarely look at my jewellery. In fact, many pieces I never see at all. I simply commission one of my people to bid on my behalf and then bring the pieces back to me here on my yacht.”

As Mokrani stared at the golden ring, Ryan squinted at it for a moment and whispered to Hawke. “The Ring of Remus if I’m not mistaken.”

“Good work, mate.”

Lea said, “Will you sell it to us?”

“Very well,” he said. “I am prepared to sell you this piece, but I don’t think you will find the price within your range.”

“Try us.”

“Five million dollars.”

“Five million?” Scarlet said. “That’s ridiculous. The gold’s worth no more than five thousand.”

“But I am not selling you the gold,” Mokrani said patiently. “I am selling you a ticket to your Land of the Gods and I am certain you would pay a much higher price to get there after all your travels and wars.”

The Havoc approached low and fast, barely fifty feet off the surface of the gulf. Hawke saw the sun glinting on the rotor head as the Russian killing machine roared toward the yacht at two hundred miles per hour.

Mokrani rose from the couch and walked to the balcony rail. “What the hell is that?”

Lexi leaped from her seat and shielded her eyes from the day’s glare. “An attack chopper!”

Close enough now for Hawke to see the undernose barbette flash in the sunlight as the chin-mounted Shipunov cannon swiveled in their direction. Hanging from the stub wings either side of the gunship were sixteen Ataka-V anti-tank missiles and ten S-8 rockets.

“It’s death on wings,” Hawke muttered, and we needed to be off this deck two minutes ago… run!”

It was too late. The gunship opened fire, loosing two of the unguided rockets at the port side of the ship and tearing the deck to pieces with the dualfeed auto cannon. Grim Soviet power had arrived with a savage vengeance, the substantial thirty mil rounds from the Shipunov almost tearing Mokrani in two at the waist and blasting his guts all over the ivory white shade cloth above the decking.

“Hafez is taking it off Mokrani’s finger and making a break for it!” Lea yelled.

“Leave it!” Hawke called back. “It’s not worth dying for.”

They ran for their lives across the transom just as the two rockets exploded under the waterline, striking the boat with a massive explosion and punching two car-sized holes in the hull. The entire vessel shook in the water as fire and smoke engulfed everything in sight.

“To the Helipad!” Lea yelled.

“No!” Hawke said. “That’s the next target.”

The chopper roared over the top of them now and spun around in a tight arc off the yacht’s starboard bow.

“Where then?”

“Take cover inside the bridge!” Hawke said.

Now Ryan pointed at the bird of war. Worse than a nightmare, its hideous angular body covered in rockets and guns beared down on them all over again. “They’re coming back for another run!”