The Goddess Legacy

Chapter 45

Spencer and Drake waited while Allie collected her suitcase from a sleepy cloakroom clerk. She paid the nominal fee and wheeled the case to where they were leaning against a wall. The sky was dark, daybreak still an hour away. It had taken Allie and Drake longer than they’d expected to walk to the hotel, and the driver they’d hired had been the slowest in India, treating each curve as though mortal danger lurked beyond the bend. By the time they made it to Delhi, it was five a.m., and early travelers were beginning to arrive for their trains well ahead of the morning rush.

Allie appraised Spencer’s head with a sharp eye and shook her head. “He really clobbered you.”

“You should have seen the other guy.”

She winced. “I have a feeling I’m glad I didn’t. Between that and the beating at the hostel, you’ve really been worked over, haven’t you?”

Spencer shrugged. “That which doesn’t kill you…”

“So, what now?” Drake asked.

“It would be nice to snatch a few hours of rest,” Allie suggested. “Maybe we go to one of the crap hotels around here?”

“Not a terrible idea. What time do you think the grad student gets in?” Spencer asked.

“Probably around nine. We’ve got time.”

They set off on foot for the nearby hotels after Allie swapped the suitcase for her lighter duffel and slung it over her shoulder. Thirty minutes later, they’d rented two rooms and were fast asleep, Allie’s phone alarm set for three hours later to give them time to clean up and make it to the university.

The next morning, the side of Spencer’s face was turning purple at the temple, and he slouched in the booth at breakfast in a questionable restaurant across the street from the hotel, baseball cap pulled low over his brow, his eyes bleary, his face haggard.

“You look like crap, my friend. Go back to sleep. We’ll roust you when we get back from the university,” Drake advised.

“Thanks. I love you too,” Spencer said, chewing cautiously on a roll of unknown pedigree. “Although I do feel like someone worked me over with a board.”

“Seriously. There’s no point to staying awake until we know what the script says — assuming I can increase the brightness sufficiently without washing out the message,” Allie said, toying with her tablet, where she’d downloaded both Spencer’s mural photos and the image of the Kali icon a few minutes earlier.

“You can do anything. I have faith,” Drake said.

“More than I do. This is about as good as it’s going to get,” Allie announced, pushing to her feet. “Go back to the room, Spencer. We’ve got to hit the road.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Pay the bill,” Drake said to him. “Duty calls.”

The trip to the university was as grueling as expected, Delhi rush hour in full effect. They wound up walking the final quarter mile to the campus when their rickshaw stalled in traffic, an accident ahead blocking all lanes where an intrepid pickup truck had misjudged a light and been T-boned by a delivery van.

Divya was at her desk when Allie entered the office, the professor’s possessions boxed up in cardboard cartons all around the room. Divya was more composed this morning and offered a meek smile when she saw Allie.

“Hello. I hope the information about the mosaic was of some help,” Divya said.

“Thanks for nosing around about it.”

“No problem.”

“I did find a photo of the statue where the sword came from, and I was wondering if you could run the script through your engine and translate it for me?”

“You did? That’s a bit of luck, isn’t it? Of course — let me just finish what I’m doing,” Divya said, and closed several files on her screen before looking at Allie expectantly.

“Here you go. It’s a little hard to read, but maybe you can make it out,” Allie said, handing the Indian woman her tablet with the base of the image enlarged.

Divya typed in the characters, pausing as she neared the end, where they became blurrier as the base curved out of sight. She checked her work and then selected the decryption option, and after a pause, another screen opened. She read it with a frown and translated it, and then sat back with a shake of her head.

“It says, ‘Viewed through the eyes of the goddess of time, her lowest hand holds the holiest of holies, beneath which… ’”

“Does that make any sense to you?” Allie asked.

“Let’s look at the prior script to put it into context,” Divya said, tapping a few commands. “Here it is: “Within the blessed cave of the six-headed fair one, the path of the devout can be seen by the righteous. In the temple devoted to the destroyer, the sacred mosaic shows the way. Viewed through the eyes of the goddess of time, her lowest hand holds the holiest of holies, beneath which…”

“The holiest of holies?” Allie asked.

“I don’t know what to tell you. It appears to be referring to the mosaic, but it’s not particularly clear. My hunch is the remainder of the script is required to make sense of it.” She sighed. “Is there any chance of locating a photo of the rear of the base?”

“No. It was like pulling teeth to get this.”

“Do you mind if I ask where you found it?”

“I’m afraid I can’t discuss it. The supplier asked me to keep it confidential.”

Divya’s face clouded and she looked away. “Well, then I’m afraid that’s all I can offer.”

“And it doesn’t mean anything to you? Nothing jumps out?”

Divya handed the tablet back to Allie, her face stony. “No. I’m afraid not.”

Allie had no choice but to take the hint. Divya obviously felt that she had been snubbed after providing so much assistance, and nothing Allie said would change it. She hoped that they wouldn’t need the Indian woman’s help again, because it was clear to Allie that none could be expected.

“Divya, thank you for everything. I’d gladly tell you about the image, but it’s part of a private collection, and I was sworn to secrecy…”

“I understand,” Divya said, in a tone that made it abundantly clear she didn’t.

Allie said her goodbyes and traversed the hall to the stairway, wary of any suspicious characters loitering about after the Helms incident, but saw nothing to cause alarm. Drake was waiting for her in the usual spot, and she filled him in as they retraced their steps to the main campus entrance.

“That’s less than good news,” Drake said when she was finished.

“I know. Maybe we can learn something from studying the mosaic further?”

“Sounds like our only option, doesn’t it?”

Allie’s expression turned pensive. “I would have been surprised if this had been easy, the way everything else has gone.”

Drake nodded. “Maybe our luck’s about to change.”

They exchanged a glance that said neither of them believed a word of it.