Curse of Atlantis Read online

  “It’s got to be here. Please God, help me find it,” he cried out in desperation.

  “Find what?” a voice called from behind him.

  Javier spun around and faced the two men in dark suits. Although they had visited him every day for the previous month, each visit felt as disturbing as the last.

  “You’ll be happy to know we’re just about done. I believe we’ll finish the complete excavation by tomorrow,” Javier replied, ignoring the question and second guessing Dimitri’s next question.

  “That is encouraging, but what are you looking for?” Dimitri persisted.

  “I’m still looking for a way into the pyramid. As we’ve talked about before, we found the door in front, but it’s featureless. Now that the pyramid is fully excavated, I’m sure we’ll find the mechanism that opens it,” he said. “We should find a way in very shortly.”

  “I must congratulate you on your efforts. The Boss has been watching the progress from the news reports on TV and has grown eager for the moment he can enter the King’s tomb,” Dimitri said, now showing uncharacteristic respect.

  “I’m sure once he sees what’s inside, he’ll be more than happy to release my daughter,” Javier responded, testing Dimitri for a response.

  “Yes, I’m sure once he is satisfied with his gains, he’ll release her,” Dimitri replied.

  Javier thought about his response. Something seemed peculiar about it.

  “Satisfied with his gains…” Javier repeated. “I’m not sure what you mean by that,” he asked.

  “It’s simple. If The Boss is satisfied with what he finds, he’ll return your daughter,” Dimitri responded coldly.

  “That wasn’t part of the deal,” Javier shouted, now enraged. “All I was supposed to do is get you inside. That’s it. Now somehow I have to ensure he likes what he sees? That’s ridiculous. I don’t have any control over what he like and dislikes or what’s inside that chamber, for that matter. There could be nothing of value inside there.”

  “You told me your analysis showed images of gold inside the chamber. As long as it’s still there when we get there, I’m sure he’ll be accommodating,” Dimitri said, callously.

  “I only speculated about the gold. We won’t know what’s in there until we open the chamber and look inside,” Javier defended.

  “For Serena’s sake, it better be gold,” Dimitri said coldly.

  Javier shook his head in disgust. Having dealt with the Russians for the past two months, he knew there was no arguing with their irrational logic.

  Suddenly, Javier saw a shift in Dimitri’s eyes. Spinning around, he watched men running past the far corner of the pyramid and disappearing from view. Loud shouts in Greek could be heard as more men ran up the hill and disappeared as they ran to the other side of the pyramid.

  “What the…” Javier started to say, but was cut off by the shock of the commotion.

  He looked over his shoulder to the two men in dark suits, then turned back toward the faded shouts from the opposite side of the pyramid. Instinctively, he ran to investigate, leaving the Russians in the middle of their unfinished business.

  Rounding the corner of the pyramid, Javier watched as men anxiously huddled near the center region of the blank face. As the shouts grew louder, he ran quickly toward the crowd of men. Breaking through, he stopped short at a gaping hole in the ground at the base of the pyramid. Staring into the nine foot long by six foot wide rectangular hole, three feet down was a large stone block that nearly covered the bottom of the hole. Looking at the face above, a doorway into the pyramid was now visible, the size measuring nearly the same size as the block in the hole in the ground.

  “Javi, over here,” Jack shouted from the side of the hole.

  As quickly as he could, Javier moved around its perimeter, pushing through the shouting men.

  “Jack, what happened?” Javier said nearly out of breath.

  “We found this other door while digging out the wall of dirt,” Jack pointed as he talked. “There wasn’t any way in, just like the door in the front of the pyramid. One of the workers spotted a small hole just beneath the doorway, about four inches in diameter. From what I can make out by a couple of the other workers, he inserted the handle of his shovel into the hole and the ground beneath him gave way. The door then moved out from the face of the pyramid and fell on him.”

  Javier stared at the hole that was now a grave, speechless by the death of the crushed worker.

  “Awful… just awful,” he finally said.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s so sad,” Jack said, his voice low and sympathetic.

  “Jack, Javi, what going on?” Burt said, as he made his way through the crowd.

  Javier looked at the hole in the ground, then back at Burt. In a low, solemn voice, he replied simply, “Booby trap.”

  “You will clear them away before we enter, won’t you?” a cold voice called out from behind the three.

  Turning around, Jack, Javier and Burt stared nervously at their reflections in a pair of mirrored sunglasses. As the two dark-suited men stared back at them, their stone cold faces sent and eerie chill into the three.

  Filled with contempt, Jack replied simply, “Of course.”

  ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

  Serena heard the familiar pair of Italian leather shoes approach her door. She stiffened in reflex and waited for the knob to turn. Seconds later, Nicolae entered the room. Gone from his face was the disconnected scowl and in its place, he wore new look: a satisfying grin.

  “Well, well, Miss Arista. Just when I think your father and his pathetic servant Jack Roberts, are about to fail, they somehow succeed and pique my interest once more,” Nicolae said, shaking his head in surprise.

  Serena felt a glimmer of hope with Nicolae’s words. “Have they found the pyramid?”

  “Not only have they found it, but today, my number one called to let me know the pyramid is almost completely excavated. No small feat, I’m guessing.”

  Serena sat back on the stale-smelling, uncomfortable couch that was her bed for the previous two months and breathed a sigh of relief. With no one to talk to and little word from the outside world for the previous two months, she could only speculate on their progress. Now hearing the word of their success, she struggled to hold in her emotions.

  With guarded optimism, she asked, “Have you seen it?”

  “Not yet, but I’m certain we’ll be making that trip down to Greece shortly. I’m suspect it should be within the next day or so… just as soon as they insure it’s safe to enter.”

  “Safe? Is the structure unstable?” Serena asked.

  “I’ve heard no reports about its structure. The safety I speak of are the booby traps that have killed one man already,” Nicolae responded in serious tone.

  “Oh my God, no!” Serena called out in shock. Now fearing the worst, she asked, “Who was it?”

  “It was nobody… a common worker, but his death was fortunate. We now know to look for dangers inside the tomb,” he replied, feeling satisfied by the discovery.

  Serena thought about Nicolae’s words, then asked, “You mention ‘we’. Does that include me too?”

  “Of course,” he grinned slyly.

  Nicolae’s odd smile felt disturbing and sent a shudder through her body. From the moment she was kidnapped, she had maintained a positive attitude, forcing herself to believe everything would turn out ok. Now, with Nicolae’s cryptic response, she knew her life and possibly the lives of the others were in jeopardy.

  “You’re not going to let us live, are you?” Serena asked directly, now coming to grips with her fate.

  An evil smile spread across Nicolae’s face as he considered Serena’s question.

  “There’s no profit in it,” Nicolae responded coldly. “Frankly, this whole business of kidnapping has been frustrating… too much waiting involved. When I want something, I usually take it and eliminate any trace of my involvement. Had the crystal been the only artifact of
interest, you would have been killed months ago. Consider yourself lucky there’s also a pyramid.”

  “Funny, I don’t feel lucky,” Serena snarled, unable to hide her contempt.

  Nicolae reached inside his expensive suit jacket and pulled out a handgun. Instantly, he pushed the barrel into Serena’s temple. Recoiling in fear, Serena fell backward on the couch, her eyes clenched tightly as she prepared for the worst.

  “As I said, consider yourself lucky. If I wasn’t worried about staining my favorite suit, you’d be dead right now.”

  With a quick flick of his hand, he struck Serena across the side of her head. She let out a whimper as she clutched her now bleeding wound. As the blood trickled into her hair, hatred raced through her. She wanted to say something in retaliation but forced herself to stay quiet, knowing full well any response would probably end her life.

  In a low, unsympathetic voice, Nicolae said, “I’ll be happy to be rid of you… and the others.”

  He spun on his heels and walked briskly out the door, locking it after he left. Serena rushed to the bathroom and quickly washed the small cut on the side of her head. Staring at herself in the mirror, she saw the caked blood that had already began to clot in her hair. With intense hatred she said, “You’ll get yours, asshole. You just wait… you’ll get yours.”

  Chapter 18

  Over the next couple of days, the death of the Greek worker was investigated by local authorities. With the extraction of his body, the sight of his sad remains cast a pall that hung heavy over the work site. Those fearing for their lives, left immediately. Those that stayed, continued to work, but now at a greatly reduced pace. All work around the pyramid was viewed with suspicion. Each shovel of dirt, each push of a broom, was moved with extreme caution.

  With the site of the tragedy cleared away and the hole in the ground filled, Javier, Burt, and Jack carefully inspected the new entrance to the pyramid. Standing at the gaping doorway, the three peered in and took notice of the mechanism that caused the heavy door to topple over onto the deceased worker.

  “Just look at the craftsmanship of that levering device. What a marvel of engineering,” Javier said as he pointed to two beams of stone that rested on each side of the chamber toward the top of the ceiling.

  “It looks like those beams ride along stone casters. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a lever behind those stone beams that pushed the door open… simple, yet ingenious,” Burt added.

  “I’m a little confused,” Jack said. “Those beams must be a thousand pounds a piece. It’d take a lot of force to move them, even if they were perfectly balanced and ran freely on those casters.”

  “There must be a lot more to the levering device behind the walls. There has to be. We’re just not seeing it,” Javier replied.

  “So what else aren’t we seeing?” Jack asked, now nervously examining the walls of the chamber.

  “Good question. My gut feeling says a lot. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious,” Burt said, stating the obvious.

  With lights attached to their hard-hats and heavy duty flashlights in hand, they carefully stepped into the chamber. Listening intently for any unusual sounds, they examined the back of the darkened room.

  “I think I see the back of the chamber, about thirty feet ahead,” Jack said quietly.

  “I see it too. There doesn’t seem to be any doorways leading off this room either,” Javier added.

  “Maybe they’re hidden, like the doorway in front of the pyramid,” Burt said.

  “Great,” Jack blurted out in exasperation. “If they’re hidden, they’re probably booby trapped too.”

  All three stopped and looked at each other grimly.

  “This is nuts. We shouldn’t be in here,” Jack said.

  “You’re right. Unfortunately, there’s no time to waste. Every minute counts here,” Javier responded. “Why don’t you guys wait outside and I’ll go alone.”

  “No way. We’ve come this far… we’re staying together,” Jack replied.

  Burt swallowed hard and stepped forward, followed by Javier and Jack. The sound inside the chamber was deathly quiet and each foot step could be heard as the sand crunched beneath their shoes.

  Ten feet in, hieroglyphics began to appear on the walls. Burt scanned them, trying to recall their meanings from memory.

  “Any idea what these things say?” Jack asked in a hushed tone.

  Burt shook his head simply and continued to step forward, each foot carefully placed. Beads of sweat formed on brows of each man as their minds tried to anticipate the next trap.

  Fifteen feet into the chamber, Burt stopped. His face looked perplexed.

  “Burt, what is it?” Javier asked, anxiety building in his voice.

  “I’m not sure. I can’t believe I forgot my translation book,” Burt responded, feeling embarrassed as he stared at the hieroglyphics.

  Jack continued on, listening to the two while scanning the walls of the chamber. As he looked on the top of one wall and then down across the floor, he stopped. Engraved in the middle of the floor was a single tile, its pattern not yet discernable. Moving closer, he could just make out the image of the sun on the three foot square tile.

  Several feet ahead now, Jack stopped and held the beam of light on the engraving.

  “Jack, hold up. I think Burt’s found something,” Javier said.

  “I think I found something too,” Jack responded, now mesmerized by the beauty of the tiled artwork.

  Jack took another step forward and heard the sand crunch beneath his foot. Looking down, he noticed a small line in the sandy floor. Moving his foot back again, the line seemed to fade.

  “Did you guys hear that?” Jack asked, now raising the volume of his voice.

  Without an answer, he took another step. Jack shined his light directly on the engraved tile and for a moment, became mesmerized by the seven thousand year old artwork.

  Watching over Burt’s shoulder, Javier asked, “Hey, do you hear that?”

  “Hear what, your breathing?” Burt responded.

  “I hear a hissing noise, like a tire leak,” Javier said.

  Burt turned around abruptly and stared intensely at Javier. He glanced at Jack, then back at Javier.

  “I wasn’t kidding. I thought that was your breathing.” Quickly, he shouted, “Jack, we have to leave, NOW!”

  Jack spun on his heels and ran toward the exit only a few feet behind the other two.

  Suddenly, a loud crash sounded out behind them… then another. Jack watched in horror as the wall to his right began to fall toward him. Instantly, he sprinted harder toward the exit. Shock and horror flooded his body as he knew he was going to be crushed by the enormous wall. In a last second effort, he dove forward.

  The wall fell over and crashed across the floor, narrowly missing the far side. Protruding from the top of the walls near the ceiling, large blocks extended out that were used to push the walls of stone over. Just outside the entrance to the chamber, workers watched anxiously through the heavy dust for any signs of life.

  “Jack, you alright?” Javier shouted, running to him as he lay on the floor just beyond the fallen wall.

  “Phew, that was just too close. I almost became a statistic,” he said, now finding his footing and standing.

  “We all were,” Burt added, now coughing from the dust. “You’re right Jack. That was too close. We’ve got to be more careful next time.”

  Jack nodded simply, then said, “Now that we sprung the trap, it should be safe to go back in, right?”

  “I’m guessing you’re right, but we better stay alert. It’s possible there’s a secondary trap in here somewhere,” Burt remarked.

  “Any idea what happened in there?” Javier asked.

  “I think the walls were pressure activated. Just before I reached the tile with the sunburst on it, I heard the floor creak beneath my foot. I didn’t feel anything move, just a strange sound,” Jack responded.

  From outside the chambe
r, a voice called to them, “Are you guys ok?”

  “We’re alright. It was another trap,” Javier responded, now able to make out images of men at the entrance. “We’re going back in.”

  “Sir, please be careful,” the voice called back with deep concern.

  Without another word, Javier re-entered the chamber. Walking over the raised floor that was once the walls, he noticed more hieroglyphics.

  “Well, Burt, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Looks like the Altanteans left more messages,” Javier called back to Burt who now followed a few feet behind him.

  “Javi, be careful. I’m pretty sure those are warnings for intruders,” Burt replied.

  As the dust began to clear away, more inscriptions were discovered on the newly exposed walls. Walking deliberately and listening for any unusual sounds that would signal a trap, the three men continued toward the back. With their flashlights piercing the darkness at the back of the chamber, the three suddenly stopped.

  “Wow, you don’t need to be an archeologist to understand that message,” Jack said aloud.

  “Interesting,” Burt said, matter-of-factly.

  On the back wall of the chamber was a nine foot tall painted imagine of a man dressed in a lavish robe standing with his hand outstretched, signaling all to turn back. His white flowing hair and beard suggested an older man, yet his strong Romanesque features and slate-blue piercing eyes confirmed a man far younger in age.

  “Can you make out the inscription under his feet?” Javier asked.

  “I’m not positive but I think it says something to the effect of, Greater death awaits,” Burt replied.

  Looking around the chamber, Javier responded nervously, “In here? Greater death awaits us in here?”

  “I don’t think so,” Jack replied. “Look around us. This is an empty chamber. There’re no doors that lead to the interior of the pyramid. I think this is a decoy and that dude up there is warning us to give up the search, else we’ll suffer even greater tragedies.”

  “You may be right, Jack,” Javier said. “Unfortunately, giving up the search isn’t an option.”

  “Which means there’s more ‘fun’ in store for us ahead,” Jack responded grimly.