The Key

107

They had almost reached the dig site when they heard the sound of chopper blades in the distance. They had been riding hard for the last ten or so kilometres, putting distance between themselves and the armed force that was now stepping up the search for them.

When they got within a couple of hundred metres John Mann reined in his horse and slipped from the saddle. Gabriel did the same, following him up a low berm to get a better view.

The compound had beefed up its security considerably in the twenty-four hours since John Mann had last seen it. It now resembled a mini version of the main one: same double perimeter wire, same guard positions, same guards leaning on the same heavy-duty automatic weapons.

‘And how do you know this is the right place?’

‘They’ve been digging all over this area of desert for weeks and this is the first spot they’ve got really excited about. Just look at the security.’

Gabriel was doing exactly that. He realized trying to muscle their way in was out of the question.

‘If I create a diversion, you could possibly get closer,’ John said. ‘We’re only looking for a general location, not a specific spot. I’ve spent the last twelve years reading everything ever written or discovered on the legends of Eden. I told you I sold the useless relics to the Citadel and kept the best pieces for myself. The Sacrament will be reunited with the earth the moment the flesh of the host makes contact with the hallowed dust of home. Getting her close might be good enough. It’s probably our only chance.’

Gabriel nodded. ‘Attacking it would be suicide. But we need to get inside the perimeter and as close to that hole as possible.’ He turned to his father. ‘I think we need to give ourselves up.’

The guard had only just received the message about the missing fugitives when he spotted two horses walking towards him out of the desert. He could see a white man and woman on one of them and the other rider looked Arabic. He was waving his keffiyeh above his head in a sign of surrender.

The guard got straight back on the radio and hailed Major Hyde.

‘They’re here, boss,’ he said. ‘Riding out of the desert with their hands in the air.’

He listened to his instructions then waved at the sentry on the gate. ‘Let them through,’ he said. ‘Take their weapons and hold them until I get there.’

John Mann had loosely tied Liv and Gabriel’s hands behind their backs and taken off Liv’s shoes so she was barefoot. All she had to do was step off the horse and on to the ground to fulfil the prophecy.

The guards came to meet them, relieving them of their weapons before leading them in through the gates and into the main compound. Work lights glared all around the large hole, turning the ground daylight bright, but whatever was in the hole was below ground level and not visible from where they were standing.

From somewhere out in the desert, the angry chop of helicopter blades started to build. One of the guards signalled for them to dismount. Gabriel slipped from the saddle and held his arms up to help Liv down.

She fell into Gabriel’s embrace and he began to lower her, the point of her bare foot moving towards the earth like an arrow. She could feel the coolness of the night radiating off the ground, then she touched it and her foot settled on the dust.

Nothing happened.

Her other foot joined it. The night remained unaltered. As did everything in it.

The chopper noise grew louder and the guard pointed to a patch of bare ground by one of the temporary huts. They moved across the compound, passing close to the edge of the excavation site. When they were almost upon it John Mann looked down and realized his mistake and the enormity of its consequences. This was not the right place. The thing that had been uncovered, buried in the desert, was not some ancient treasure stored by the great potentates of history, nor was it evidence of a primordial forest, it was the wreckage of the Sikorsky Sea Dragon. A side section had been cut open so it now resembled a disembowelled beast. White-overalled workmen congregated around it like fat maggots, removing relics from the smashed crates inside. As John gazed down at his ruined past, the man in charge looked up and their eyes met. It was the same man he had watched through the binoculars when they had first found the helicopter. Only this time he was closer and he recognized him.

‘Harzan.’

The man smiled and rose up the side of the pit to join them. ‘John Mann,’ he said. ‘I have often wondered if the Ghost might be you. You are a hard man to kill, it seems.’

John nodded at the white-overalled people down in the pit. ‘Do these people know how well you treat your co-workers?’

Harzan smiled. ‘These people do not seek to use the past to threaten the Church’s future.’

‘Neither did any of my men, but you killed them anyway.’

Harzan shrugged. ‘Oh, come, come, you know as well as I do that history is full of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some make a positive habit of it.’ He looked at Gabriel. ‘Your son looks just like you. It’s a pity he takes after you in other ways too. Enjoy your time together. Father-and-son time is so important, don’t you think? No matter how brief.’