The Swords of Babylon

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

The team were transported to the nearest American base, and then on to Camp Adder in Iraq, a tight hub of military operations and communications. From there, the terrain was rough and dangerous, negotiable only by the onboard computer that led them unerringly to the pre-registered coordinates. Drake stepped out of the big, uncomfortable Army vehicle, seeing the lights of Camp Babylon in the distance. Whoever had decided to place a military base atop one of the world’s greatest ancient ruins had certainly been hitting the monkey juice hard that night.

Unless the Americans were looking for something, he thought. And the base was a smokescreen.

Their own destination was a little way off yet, across the pitch darkness of the desert. The team made ready, donning night-vision goggles, arming up, and checking coordinates. This was to be purely a reconnoiter, thus everyone was going, including Patterson and Akerman. Patterson would have knowledge of the dig site. Akerman was in it for the excitement.

“Stay close,” Dahl warned the energized translator. “And keep quiet, or I’ll have to gag you.”

“You and your wife,” Akerman said. “Both sound just the same.”

Alicia sidled up to the Swede. “You can gag me any time, Torst.”

“And what would your new boyfriend think of that?”

Alicia’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Even Mai sent her a sly smile. Drake pondered the fact that there were no secrets anymore in this team. He looked at Yorgi. “You got any more secrets to tell us, pal, before we move out?”

“About the Russians?” Yorgi shook his head. “No.”

Drake caught the nuance. “What about anything else?”

Yorgi hesitated. “We will talk. Later.”

Drake moved out last, Mai at his side. Hayden and Kinimaka led the way, followed by Alicia and Dahl, the civilians amongst them. Dueling currents of air picked up bits of sand and flung them at the interlopers. Tangles of scrub grabbed at their ankles. A high sandbank rose out of nowhere, making them scramble to the top, and, once down the other side, the distant lights of the American base disappeared altogether.

Still they walked, guided only by the handheld satnav. After what seemed like an hour, Hayden held a fist up and the team came to a stop. Drake heard the click in his ear.

“Target dead ahead. Absolute silence now unless it’s essential.”

Drake peered hard. Even this close, it was hard to make out what they were looking at. A small circular winch, maybe six feet high, rose out of the desert ahead, insignificant amongst the many higher mounds that surrounded it. No doubt in daylight, it would even appear abandoned. There was nothing else. No huts. No vehicles. No Russians. Drake stared.

The Bluetooth connection clicked again. “I see a camouflaged area to the right.” It was Mai, eagle-eyed as ever. Now that she’d said it, Drake discerned the slight swaying of a camouflage net in the steady breeze. Blocky shapes stood underneath it, no doubt vehicles, crates and some kind of shelter. “Got it.”

A faint light emanated from the middle of the gantry, silvery lights shining up from whatever lay within. The glow was swallowed by the night as soon as it cleared the man-made apparatus, carefully regulated.

“I’m guessing that’s a hole,” Drake whispered. “Must be the pit.”

Professor Patterson’s connection clicked several times before he managed to make himself heard. “I can confirm that. It’s where Razin will have found the first of the swords, according to Alexander’s histories.”

“How do you know so much about Alexander?” Mai asked.

Patterson blinked. “What can I say? Of the literally thousands of texts, accounts and histories written of him, I have read about 90 percent in my time. The Pittsburgh University acquired for me a few works written by people who actually knew him, such as Ptolemy and Callisthenes. And of course there are the accounts of Aristotle — his teacher.”

“Aristotle?” Mai’s eyebrows raised. “I did not know that.”

“Oh yes. It’s difficult to question the fact that Alexander became one of the wisest and greatest Kings of all time, if not the greatest, isn’t it? I spent years studying the histories of Macedonia — his homeland. Did you know his empire covered three continents? The story of the swords and seven veils is well-known, but the cross reference that they were buried in the pit and the tower, rather than in his tomb, came from some more personal accounts.”

“You said the other swords are buried at the Tower of Babel?” Hayden interrupted.

“Yes. Over there.”

Eight pairs of goggles turned to see where he was pointing. “Sorry. To the North.”

Even in the murk Drake distinguished a wide knoll, rounded at the top and surrounded by steep slopes. A sudden sense of ancient mystery swept over him. Here was the Babylon of old; resplendent with plundered beauty, wicked sin and eternal pleasure. Here was the capital of the old world, once a city of splendor, but now a crumbled ruin. But under these eternal shifting sands, who knew what unlimited wealth of ancient riches awaited the courageous treasure hunter?

The clatter of metal on metal sounded in front of them, and a swaying bucket rose into sight. A man clambered out of the hole; clothes and face filthy, curses flowing from his mouth, before he wandered off in the direction of the camouflage tent.

“They’re still checking out the pit,” Hayden pointed out.

“Probably searching for more artifacts.” Alicia said. “The few megalomaniacs I’ve known were nothing if not consumed by greed.”

Professor Patterson hadn’t taken his eyes away from the distant mound. “Though the seven swords were made to Alexander the Great’s blueprint, including the inscriptions, he never actually used any of them. Amongst the seven, there was one called the Great Sword, the principal weapon. Its inscription was critical in understanding the rest, so I believe. Unfortunately, we don’t know in what order they were buried.”

Kinimaka shifted uneasily, his odd bulk not exactly suited to lying still for long periods of time. “Feels like there’s a friggin’ scorpion up my ass.”

Alicia grunted. “Try high kicking whilst wearing a G-string. Then you’ll know real pain.”

“Mano,” Hayden whispered. “You’re vibrating.”

“Oh.” Kinimaka reached into his pocket and turned his cell phone off. “Kono again, no doubt.”

“That sister of yours is worse than the scorpion,” Alicia commented before turning back to Patterson. “So, Prof, what’s the lowdown on this dance? The Saber Dance. Sounds kinky.”

“Ah. Performed once only at Alexander’s death bed. Also called the Dance of the Seven Veils. The dancers performed with the swords wearing very little other than diaphanous gowns.

“And that pit?” Drake indicated the dimly lit hole that lay before them. “That’s the site of the original Babylon?”

“Not exactly. That site remains unknown. The pit is where the last remaining dregs and ashes of the city were buried, out of sight of human eyes and minds. The city’s vile waste; from burned humans to charred artifacts to scorched bricks and soil, were all deposited in there, buried forever, never to be seen again.”

“Because it was evil?”

“In the same way as Sodom and Gomorrah were seen as evil in the Bible, yes.”

“I’m just thinking that evil connects well with tomb three at Singen. We were constantly reminded that all the evil gods were buried there.”

Patterson nodded, barely discernible in the dark. “It’s been called everything. Supposedly bottomless, it was described as the lair of Ctulhu. Remember HP Lovecraft and his fantastical demons? The entrance to Purgatory. The source of the Black Death, plague, and every other major disease of the last few thousand years. I would not want to descend into that filth, my friends.”

“It’s just a hole in the ground,” Kinimaka pointed out.

“But it has… something.”

“Earth energy? Is this one of your vortexes?”

“I think so. Yes. Can’t you feel an inexplicable stillness, a marvelous awe?”

Drake frowned. He had visited some of the places Patterson mentioned earlier. It was true that when a person stood and gazed at something wondrous, it felt like more was at work than simply Mother Nature’s plan. Something deeper.

“When we have time, you might want to explain this earth energy theory of yours in more depth, Professor.”

“Be glad to.”

Hayden shuffled back in the sand, dragging at Kinimaka’s belt to give him a start. “We have what we need,” she whispered. “Let’s go and plan how to storm this place.”