The Seven Seals of Egypt

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Drake always imagined an Egyptian tomb would come with a sense of awe, of wonder and majesty; just like the first they’d visited, but the tomb of Meritamun was a narrow opening close to the ground. High pillars stood outside, adorning the entrance, but Drake got the sense that nobody really cared anymore.

The day was stifling, a hot, dry wind blowing across the desert. The vista was open to the right, broken by a series of low hills to the left. Their jeeps had left long, conspicuous tire tracks in the relatively short stretch of sand they’d covered since leaving the road. The team wore hiking gear, with as few clothes as possible, but carried all the weapons and tech they had. Nobody expected this to be easy today and a confrontation was all but certain. Everyone wore a hat except Kenzie, the ex-Mossad agent well-used to heat and even complaining that the odd gust of wind raised gooseflesh.

Drake, sweating enough to fill a pint-pot, took the GPS and marked the coordinates. “Well, this is the place. The tomb of Meritamun. Looks peaceful.”

Dahl bared his teeth. “Now that’s a proper dumb thing to say.”

Crouch sized up the entrance. “Let’s get this done quickly. Maybe we can be in and out before company arrives.”

“There again,” Dahl complained. “Inviting disaster.”

“Well personally,” Alicia said. “I’m more worried about heading down a mummy’s black hole. Who knows what we’ll find down there?”

Drake broke out the flashlights and other equipment they might need. The Jeeps stayed where they were, parked behind a series of low mounds but almost impossible to hide. Crouch, unable to conceal his excitement, muscled to the front and headed in first.

Alicia shook her head and followed. The rest filed in after. Kinimaka and Smyth stayed back to guard the entrance and the surrounding area. Kenzie ranged further afield, finding a position to watch the road and the desert.

“Something tells me that girl’s as at home in the desert as a scorpion,” Alicia said. “And still as nasty.”

“I think she likes that,” Dahl said wistfully.

“Being nasty?”

“Yeah.” He paused. “I mean there’s being nasty and then there’s being nasty.” He enunciated both words, one with more feeling than the other.

Alicia sighed. “I remember those days.”

“Until Drake tamed you?” Dahl asked innocently.

“Torstyyyyy…” Alicia said in a warning tone. “Any more of that and you’ll be wearing your wedding tackle for earrings.”

Even Drake winced. The tunnel continued at a steady decline, burrowing into the earth, leading them away from the baking heat. Drake felt the sweat turn cool and breathed a little easier. He wondered briefly about the curse and the seven seals. If all this really was leading to some kind of incredible weapon how had it stayed hidden all these years? If it was ancient and apocalyptic, shouldn’t it also be large? Nobody had invented a miniature doomsday device yet. His thoughts drifted directly from there to the splinter cell operating within the American government. It was truly incredible how fast and how completely people’s lives could be destroyed by those in power. Criminal, really. Those that cast aside ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and took the law into their own hands were surely just exacerbating the problem. But he was a soldier through and through; never having many aspirations other than living a good, positive life…

And becoming world table tennis champion.

That reminded him — Dahl and he still hadn’t properly concluded their rivalry there. Who was Team SPEAR’s premier ping pong player?

The comms burst into life. “All clear up here,” Kenzie said. “Great day. I can see for miles around.”

Alicia, confronted with a pinprick of light in utter darkness, grunted. “Bitch.”

Soon, the tunnel ended and they reached flat ground. The earth was solid and dry, the walls of the tomb strong. Crouch flicked his flashlight around and so did the others, everyone highlighting something different. Drake saw colorful wall paintings and a place where the sarcophagus had been; recesses in the walls for jars and treasures. He saw empty ledges and vacant spaces and concluded they were standing in one medium-sized hollow void.

“Nothing here,” he said.

“That’s the good thing about murals and hieroglyphics,” Crouch said. “For the most part, they stay in place.”

He moved over to the nearest wall, directing the rest of the team to carefully scan the others, not forgetting the ceiling. Dahl got straight to business, finding the furthest, darkest corner, hoping for a repeat of Amenhotep’s tomb. Within moments the entire team was peering at the wall space and into corners, craning their necks high, all searching for anything that might resemble a capstone.

“You mentioned that you might be able to find photos of this tomb on the Internet,” Alicia grumbled, rising and brushing her knees off. “Next time, Crouchy, let’s do that.”

“I prefer my archaeology first hand,” the ex-Ninth Division boss said distractedly.

“Any agencies are most likely doing just that,” Hayden told Alicia. “I’m pretty sure we would have.”

“And we still can’t be sure who knows what,” Yorgi said.

Hayden and then Mai shouted out a couple of false alarms and then, again, it was Crouch that spotted the motherlode.

“I think I have it.”

Drake was close and inched over. “I can barely see that, mate.”

“Glasses,” Dahl said, then squinted himself. “Whoa, that’s nicely hidden away.”

The capstone depiction sat at the base of a man’s foot, just below the sole and a few millimeters above the earth. Anyone not looking for the symbol would never have noticed it, and even those cataloguing the tomb would barely have given it a second glance.

“The second seal,” Crouch breathed. “The capstone and the ancient doomsday weapon.”

“What the hell is that?” Drake leaned in even closer.

Alicia leant on his back. “You haven’t see one before? That’s an impressive erection, Drake.”

“It’s an obelisk,” Crouch said. “Built by the Egyptians and a hundred other cultures. Only half of the world’s Egyptian obelisks remain here in Egypt; the rest are scattered from Paris to London and America. This one—” he took several photos with his phone “—I have to assume remains in the country.”

Dahl also took pictures as back up. “Let’s hope so.”

“Can we go now?” Alicia asked.

“Yes. We can identify the obelisk up top.”

“Cool, and look at that: no trouble whatsoever. You know, this freelance game seems easier than working for the government. Less dangerous.”

“Watch her,” Mai said. “She’ll be wanting to bring a picnic along next.”

“Domesticated,” Dahl added, sliding his phone away.

Alicia ignored them, heading now toward the exit and dragging Drake along. It was at that moment, as they all started back, that Kenzie’s voice broke over the comms.

“Oh, no. That’s not good.”

Drake immediately started walking faster and keyed the comms. “What? Say again?”

“Choppers,” Kenzie said bluntly. “Two headed this way and at speed. You have less than three minutes.”

Without a word, they ran.