The Four Corners of the Earth

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Ooh, ooh,” Alicia said excitedly, acting the part. “Let’s hear the birth date numbers thing. I just love figuring numbers out.”

“Cool. Good to hear it from a field grunt.” The voice went on happily, raising a few eyebrows around the cabin but blissfully unaware, “So, Hannibal was born in 247 BC, died around 183 BC. Genghis Kahn 1162, died 1227—”

“That’s a lot of numbers,” Alicia said.

“Problem is—” Dahl said. “You’ve run out of fingers and toes.”

“Not sure what that means,” the geek continued. “But these wacko cults do love their number games and codes. Bear it in mind.”

“So Hannibal was born 1400 years before Genghis,” Kenzie said. “We get it.”

“You’d be surprised at the number of shitbirds that don’t,” the geek said conversationally. “Anyway—”

“Hey, pal?” Drake interrupted quickly. “You ever been punched in the face?”

“Well, as a matter fact, yes. Yes, I have.”

Drake settled back. “Good,” he said. “Now you can carry the fuck on.”

“We sure can’t work with these figures yet since we don’t know the other Horsemen. Though, I’m guessing even you guys can figure out the fourth? No? No takers? Oh, well. Now, there sure is an awful lot of firepower heading for the Mongolian Republic at this point, folks. Seven, or is it six? Yeah, six teams of elite soldiers representing six countries chasing down the Horseman of Conquest. Am I right? Ooo-rah!”

Drake stared over at Hayden. “This guy’s the best spokesperson in DC?”

Hayden shrugged. “Well, at least he wears his emotions on his sleeve. Not hidden beneath the many folds of a deceitful cloak like most of Washington.”

“On to the Horseman of Conquest. Clearly the Order have their own agenda, so conquest could be anything from a kid’s toy to a video game… ha ha. World domination can come in many forms, am I right?”

“Just get on with the briefing,” Hayden said.

“Sure, sure. So let’s get straight to the Order, shall we? Though the Israelis were oddly reluctant to furnish us with any information on the Nazi war criminal cult they wiped out in Cuba, we found out what we needed to know. Once the dust settled, the Nazis clearly decided they were the ones hard done by, and came up with this elaborate idea to control the world. They created an Order, along with a crest of arms, secret codes, symbols and more. They worked out a plan — quite probably one they’d been working on for years under the Reich. They buried the four weapons and came up with this puzzle. Maybe they meant to make it more obscure, who knows? But Mossad took ’em out without a trace and a little too quickly, I think. The hidden bunker lay undiscovered for thirty years.”

“Fifteen minutes,” the pilot said laconically.

“And these weapons?” Hayden asked. “Where did they get them from?”

“Well, the Nazis were about as well connected as anyone is ever going to get. The big gun is an old design, updated for space and accuracy. They could absolutely get their hands on anything from the forties to the eighties. Money was never an impediment, but movement was. And trust. They wouldn’t trust a soul to do this for them. Probably took the little weasels years to hide all four weapons and a few dozen favors. Trust factors in also as one of the reasons they hid the weapons in the first place. Couldn’t keep them in Cuba now, could they?” The DC man burst into laughter, then somehow managed to sober.

Alicia rolled her eyes and grasped both hands together as if they might be around somebody’s scrawny neck.

“Anyhoo, you guys still with me? I realize time is short and you’re itchy to get into the muddy field and shoot something, but I do have a little more information. Just came in…”

A pause.

“Now that’s interesting.”

More silence.

“Care to share?” Hayden prodded the man, staring toward the solid side of the chopper as if she could see their landing point approaching.

“Well, I was gonna get into the four corners of the earth — or at least the way we see it — but I see we’re running out of time. Look, give me five, but whatever you do—” he paused “—do not land!”

The connection was severed abruptly. Hayden glared first at the floor and then around the chopper’s interior.

Drake held both hands up. “Don’t look at me. I’m innocent!”

Alicia laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

“Don’t land?” Dahl reiterated. “What on earth does that mean?”

Alicia cleared her throat as if to explain, but then the pilot’s voice barked over the speakers. “Two minutes, folks.”

Hayden turned to the old faithful for help. “Mano?”

“He’s an ass, but still on our side,” the big Hawaiian rumbled. “I’d say take him at his word.”

“Best decide quick,” Smyth put in. “We’re descending.”

Instantly, the comms blared into life. “What did I say? Do not land!”

Drake rose and keyed the chopper’s internal comms to life. “Back off, pal,” he said. “New intel on the way.”

“But we’re inside Chinese airspace. No telling how long before they spot us.”

“Do what you can but don’t land.”

“Hey bud, I was told this was going to be a quick in and out mission. No bullshit. You can be sure if we hang around for more than a few minutes we’re gonna have a couple-a J-20s up our ass.”

Alicia leaned in to Drake and whispered, “Is that a bad—”

The Yorkshireman cut her off, seeing the urgency of the situation. “Well, clearly the knobend from DC can hear us even when the comms are off,” he said with a meaningful stare at Dahl. “Ya hear that, knobend? We’ve got about sixty seconds.”

“This is gonna take longer,” the man came back. “Be brave, people. We’re on the case.”

Drake felt his fists clench. Such a condescending manner only provoked confrontation. Maybe that was the intent? Ever since they found Hannibal’s gravesite Drake felt that there had been something off about this mission. Something undisclosed. Were they being vetted? Were they under surveillance? Was the US government evaluating their actions? If so, it came down to what happened in Peru. And if so, Drake wasn’t unduly worried about their performance.

He was worried about the plots and intrigues and conspiracies those listening might cook up after the review. Any country governed by politicians was never as it seemed, and only those behind the people in the seats of power knew what was really going on.

“Fifty seconds,” he said aloud. “Then we’re outta here.”

“Trying a trick,” the pilot told them. “We’re already so low you could step out of the door onto a tree, but I’m ducking the bird inside a mountain valley. If you hear anything scraping the bottom it’ll either be rock or a yeti.”

Alicia gulped loudly. “I thought they hung out around Tibet?”

Dahl shrugged. “Vacation. Road trip. Who knows?”

At last, the comms fired into life again. “All right, people. We still alive? Good, good. Well done. Now… remember all the controversy regarding the resting place of Genghis Kahn? He personally wanted an unmarked grave. Everyone who built his tomb was massacred. The gravesite was stampeded by horses, planted with trees. Literally, it is unobtainable, save for chance. One tale, which I find poignant because it so simply undoes all these madcap schemes, is that Kahn was buried with a young camel — and the site was then pinpointed when the camel’s mother was found weeping at the grave of her young.”

The pilot cut through harshly. “We’re almost at the point of no return, bud. Thirty seconds and we either chase our tails outta here like they’re on fire or send the kids in.”

“Oh,” the DC man said. “Forgot about you. Yeah, get out of there. I’ll send you the new location.”

Drake winced, sharing the pilot’s pain, but shot back, “Jesus, man. Are you trying to get us captured or killed?”

He was only part-joking.

“Hey, hey. Calm down. Listen — these Nazis — the Order of the Last Judgment — were looking for the Horsemen — the resting places — between the fifties and the eighties, yeah? Clearly, they found them all. Something tells me they did not find the tomb of Genghis Kahn. I do believe more would have been made of such a find. Then there is the Order itself and the words: ‘But all is not as it seems. We visited the Khagan in 1960, five years after completion, placing Conquest in his coffin.’ For certain, Kahn didn’t have any tomb built in 1955. But, largely because of the lack of a tomb and to assist worshippers and increase the tourist trade — China did build him a mausoleum.”

“Is it in China?” Hayden asked.

“Sure, it’s in China. You’re thinking through the whole four corners thing, aren’t you? Good, keep the gray matter active. There may even be a job here for you one day.”

Hayden swallowed a choking sound. “Just explain your theory.”

“Right, cool. Genghis Kahn’s mausoleum was built in 1954. It’s a large temple built along a river in Ejin Horo, in southwestern Inner Mongolia. Now, the mausoleum is in fact a cenotaph — it contains no body. But it is said to contain a headdress and other items belonging to Genghis. Always associated with this mausoleum idea rather than a known tomb and gravesite, Genghis was initially worshipped from eight white yurts, the tent palaces where he originally lived. These portable mausoleums were protected by the Darkhad, the kings of Jin, and later distinguished as a symbol of the Mongol nation. Eventually, it was decided to abolish the portable mausoleums and move the ancient relics to the new, permanent one. The timeline fits the Order’s to perfection. Whatever weapon they chose as Conquest is inside Genghis’s coffin, in that mausoleum.”

Hayden measured his words. “Dammit, mutt,” she said. “If you’re wrong…”

“Mutt?”

“It’s the best you’re gonna get.”

“The Order had access,” Dahl said. “It explains the line in the text.”

Hayden nodded slowly. “How far out are we?”

“Twenty seven minutes.”

“And the other teams?”

“No way to tell if they’re as clever as yours truly, I’m afraid. It’s probable they have a whizz-tech advising them.” A pause for appreciation.

“Fucking mutt,” Alicia growled.

“No.” Hayden kept her temper. “I meant — what’s the latest on the internal chatter?”

“Oh, right. Chatter is loud and proud. Some teams got their asses handed to ’em by higher-ups. Some were tasked to dig around Hannibal’s site again. I know the Russians and the Swedes were headed to Burkhan Khaldun, as you initially were. Mossad and the Chinese are pretty quiet. The French? Well, who knows, right?”

“You’d better be right on this,” Hayden said in a voice laced with venom. “Because if you’re not… the world will suffer.”

“Just get to that mausoleum, Miss Jaye. But do it fast. The other teams may already be there.”