Operation Syria

— 4 —

The archaeologists stood in the chamber, watching the open door. Silence had fallen outside after the initial volley of shots. The soldiers had arrived, then left again so suddenly that Maggie wasn’t completely sure she hadn’t imagined them through sheer force of hope.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Kim said. “Do we follow them?”

“It might not be safe to go out yet. I vote we close the door again, to be sure,” Jack Reynolds replied.

“No,” Maggie said. “Leave it be. It might have been luck they got it open the last time. I’ve spent enough time in this tomb as it is. I need some fresher air.”

Before the others could stop her, she stepped out into the hallway. It was full dark outside the chamber but she remembered the way to the main entrance well enough to be able to feel her way along the corridor. A strange odor hung in the air, acrid, like burning plastic, stronger the closer to the entrance she got. She saw a slightly lighter patch ahead and headed for it, arriving at the doorway as two of the soldiers dragged something across the courtyard to drop it at the feet of the others.

She let of a yelp of surprise when she stepped forward and looked down at the broken remains of a spider the size of a large dog.

“What the bloody hell is that?” she said.

The man who’d spoken to her earlier looked over the top of the dead thing and smiled thinly.

“We were kind of hoping you could tell us.”

“I’m Maggie Boyd,” she said once they were back in the chamber, making the introductions.

“Are you in charge, miss?” the obvious leader of the men said.

“No, that would be Jim,” she replied, pointing to the sick man on the makeshift bed. “Can you do anything for him?”

The captain — he’d introduced himself as Banks — sent the tall black private, Davies, to seeing if anything could be done about the sick man, then turned to the other men.

“See what you can do about getting these people fed and watered. Get a brew on. They look like they need it.”

There was food, coffee, and a feeling of safety to be had for the first time in days. The corporal, Wiggins, left with food and drink for the three others who were on watch at the main doorway and the windows of the two rooms in the corridor outside the chamber.

“We need to get Jim to a hospital,” Maggie said. “He’s got a raging fever for one thing.”

“I can see that,” Banks replied. “But first I need to be sure you’re the only four who survived. Do you know what happened to the others?”

She pointed to where Davies was working on the wounded man.

“Jim was the only one who saw anything and he didn’t stay awake long enough to tell us. The rest of the team was out in the city somewhere when it went down. But we heard shots and none of us carried arms. There were definitely rebels around.”

Banks nodded.

“Aye. We found one of them earlier but none of your team. If they’re alive, there’s a possibility they’ve been kidnapped for ransom. I need to call this in, see if they’ve heard anything back home.”

The captain left her in the chamber to make his call. Kim and Reynolds were eating and catching up on their coffee, so Maggie went over to see if she could help Davies with the sick man.

The tall private had finished bandaging up the wounded leg. He looked grave.

“He’ll lose that leg for sure,” he said, his Glaswegian accent coming through strong. “It’s not gangrene though, although it looks like it. Venom at a guess.”

“You think it was a spider, like the one you killed?”

“If you pressed me for an answer that fits, aye, I do think that.”

“But he’ll live?”

Davies didn’t reply at first, then said softly, “I think that’s in the lap of the gods. I’ve given him morphine, so he should at least be comfortable for a while. But you were right, he should be in a hospital.”

Captain Banks returned five minutes later and he too looked grave as he addressed Maggie.

“It’s what I feared. There’s been a video online; a group of rebel insurgents have the rest of your team held hostage. The brass doesn’t know where but can only say it’s somewhere within ten miles of here. And they can’t risk sending a chopper in for us in case the rebels see it as provocation and kill your people.”

“Surely there’s something you can do?”

“There is,” Banks said. “Trouble is dawn’s coming up fast so we might not have enough time to search. I’m leaving two men here with you, Davis to look after your man, and Corporal Wiggins. They’ll keep watch and stop anything getting to you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“There’s a town three miles down the riverbank that’s our best bet as to where they’re holding the hostages. That’s where we’re going. And we’re going right now. If we’re not back by dawn, Corporal Wiggins is in charge. Our helmet radios won’t work at that range, so I’ve given him the sat-phone. He’s a good man. If we don’t make it back, he’ll get you home.”