Solomon's Gold

CHAPTER 31

At the Archaeological Society in Ein Gedi, Nick found a survey of the caves that had been identified and explored in the nearby mountains. What he didn't find was any reference to caves that had not been examined.

"There's no point in looking at caves that have already been gone through," Nick said.

"Be nice if we had a map of every cave up there," Ronnie said.

Selena had been talking to the clerk in charge of the records. She came over and sat down with them.

"This might help. It's an aerial shot. You can see the access road that leads to the area we're interested in. It's not much better than a dirt track. From there we have to climb."

The photograph was marked with numbers at various locations. The terrain was rugged, all sharp peaks and narrow canyons.

"What do the numbers in white mean?" Lamont asked.

"Those are the caves that have been explored," Selena said.

"And these two? The ones marked in black?"

"Those are the ones we have to look at. They're difficult to reach, which is why they haven't been examined. The clerk told me the society ran out of money before they could get to them. Not much of interest has been found in the others, so it hasn't been a priority."

"That's where we have to look," Nick said.

"From the looks of that photograph, you have to be part mountain goat to reach them," Lamont said.

Selena said, "I've done a lot of climbing and this looks difficult."

"Yeah, it does," Ronnie said.

Selena continued. "I'd estimate most of a day to reach the cave. We'll lose time putting together climbing gear. Our forty-eight hours is going to run out before we can get up there."

"Maybe not," Nick said. He studied the photograph. "The top of the mountain has a good-sized flat area. Climbing to those caves would be hard, but going down would be a different story. If we land on top, we can rappel down to the caves. The Israelis could pick us up at the bottom."

"We'd need a helicopter," Ronnie said.

"I think I can get Herzog to provide one. If we don't find anything, he's got the excuse he needs to send us home."

"That would work," Selena said.

"I'll give him a call," Nick said.

The next morning they were in an Israeli chopper heading for the top of the mountain. Herzog had provided them with ropes, gloves, and helmets, courtesy of the IDF.

They had carabiners and friction devices called descenders. The plan was to rappel from the cliff face, using the devices to control the descent. They had climbing harnesses to secure everything. Aside from providing a degree of safety, harnesses made a hard climb or descent a lot easier. They had a bag of nuts and hexes, anchoring devices they could wedge into cracks in the cliff face.

Selena had done a lot of climbing in civilian life. The others had gone through extensive mountain training in the military. Getting down from the cave would be difficult and physically demanding. It had been a long time since Nick had taken on a challenge just because it was difficult. He wasn't looking forward to this one.

The chopper hovered over the flat area. They jumped onto the top of the mountain. The helicopter lifted and banked, throwing up a thick cloud of gray dust. They watched it head back toward Ein Gedi.

The day was clear, the sun pleasantly warm. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular. To the west lay Israel, the settlement of Ein Gedi and the desert stretching beyond. To the east, they looked out over the Dead Sea and Jordan.

"Nice view," Ronnie said.

"Moses would've liked it," Lamont said.

"Yeah," Nick said. "Let's get going. We've only got today."

They walked over to the edge. A fresh rope anchored around a large boulder dropped over the side of the mountain. They were about a hundred feet above the first cave.

"Looks like somebody had the same idea as us," Ronnie said.

"The Iranians," Nick said. "It has to be them."

"How did they get up here without being spotted by the Israelis?" Lamont asked.

"How the hell do I know?"

"They could've used an ultralight," Selena said. "There's enough room to land. You wouldn't need much for takeoff, at this height."

"That would work," Ronnie said. "It would be tough to spot on radar."

Selena said, "If there was anything in those caves, they wouldn't have had time to get it out without being spotted."

"Maybe someone's still here," Ronnie said.

"Only one way to find out," Nick said.

They ignored the hanging rope and anchored their own around the same boulder. They roped together, adjusted their gear, and began the descent. The side of the mountain was almost sheer, a jagged sheet of sharp rock and hard edges. Within a few minutes, Nick felt his legs and arms warming to the physical exertion.

The trick with rappelling was to control the speed of descent and not get greedy about making distance. It wasn't something to try without strong legs and arms. Nick went first, followed by Selena and Lamont. Ronnie brought up the rear. The Iranian rope paralleled their own. After a few minutes, they reached the first cave.

A narrow ledge fronted the cave, big enough to stand on. Nick had to stoop to get inside. He shone his flashlight about. The cave was no more than ten feet deep and empty. Selena crouched and entered the cave after him.

"I don't see a thing," Nick said.

Selena moved her light over the walls and ceiling. "I don't either. No marks, nothing to indicate anybody was ever here."

"Except these," Nick said.

He pointed down. Footprints showed in thick dust on the floor of the cave.

"Looks like one man."

"If there was anything here, he took it with him."

"I don't think there was," Nick said.

They moved back out into the light, where Ronnie and Lamont waited.

"Nothing," Nick said.

Ronnie drove pitons into the cliff face to anchor the rope for the next part of the descent.

He gave the rope an experimental tug. "That ought to hold us."

"Right," Nick said.

He threaded the rope through his descender and started down. He focused on the rock face, concentrating on keeping his speed even and watching where his feet were going to land. Every fifty feet or so he drove in another anchor. Above him, Selena dislodged a rock the size of a baseball that breezed by his helmet.

"Sorry," she called.

They descended another five hundred feet before they reached the level of the second cave. It was off to the right.

"I see the cave. It's got a wide ledge in front of it. We have to traverse right. Hang in there."

"Can't do much else," Lamont yelled.

Nick drove a nut into a crack to his right. The nut was a simple device, a shaped piece of metal attached to a loop of wire. He tugged on it to make sure it was set, attached a carabiner to the loop, and moved to the right. Every few feet he set another nut until he reached the ledge in front of the cave. He drove a final anchor into the rock wall.

"I'm on the ledge," he called up.

Selena reached the level of the cave and moved right as Nick had done, hooking onto the anchors he'd placed in the sheer face of the mountain. Next came Lamont. He swung easily across. The others moved back to give him room.

Ronnie was almost to the ledge when the anchor he'd hooked onto gave way. The sudden strain when he dropped pulled a second nut from the wall, then a third. The next one in line held. Ronnie slammed hard against the cliff.

When Ronnie fell, he pulled Lamont off his feet. He slid across the ledge. Nick and Selena held on to the rope with everything they had.

Lamont was partway over the end of the ledge, chords of muscle standing out on his arms, his hands wrapped around the rope. Ronnie hung limp below, his head down, his arms and legs loose.

"Ronnie," he yelled. "You all right?"

There was no answer.