Atlantis Stolen (Sam Reilly Book 3) (18 page)

Billie tested her
theory and attempted to walk through the pygmy warriors. Instantly, her hopes
were dashed by several spear heads pointing at her throat, close enough that if
she made another step forward they would pierce her.

She stopped at
looked directly at her attackers. They were short. The tallest was less than
four feet. Their skin was pale, but where some darker skin remained, the
warriors had covered themselves with what appeared to be white clay. Otherwise,
they were entirely naked. Their eyes were dark and their teeth glowed wickedly
in the darkness.

“What do you want
from me?” she asked.

One man, his skin
covered with thick white clay, approached. He was naked like the others, but
this one wore a single ornament of orichalcum on his head. “Ah, so you are one
of the great ones.” He looked at the other pygmies and speaking in his own
language, caused them to return to their previous position of adoration and
bowing.

Billie was unsure
how she was supposed to answer the little man, whom she perceived to be the
tribal leader. And then she noticed him staring in awe at her necklace – the
glow of the orichalcum catching his attention.

“Yes,” she
answered him, surprised. “You speak English?”

“Yes, I have
learned your language. You are not the first one to have come here – trying to
take it!” he accused her.

She smiled warmly
at him. “We have come only to find answers. There is nothing that we seek to
take. This is an expedition of knowledge, not destruction. That I can promise.”

Edward attempted
to step forward, but a number of spears stopped him.

“That’s not
entirely true. You have come to collect it, haven’t you? As was prophesied all
those years ago. You have come to collect the code to Atlantis.”

She almost cried
out in surprise.

How could this
little pygmy know about the code to Atlantis?

Uncertain what he
expected of her, Billie answered as best she could. “Yes, I have come to
collect the code to Atlantis.”

The little pygmy
bowed his head her, holding it there for a full minute and then standing up at
his proud four feet, with a grinning white smile, “Then you should have it.”

They’re just
going to give it to me?
It all seemed too easy,
after all they had been through. She noted that none of his warriors had lowered
their spears, despite his friendliness.

“Thank you,”
Billie said, looking back to the dome of Poseidon.

The tribal leader
smiled maliciously at her. “But first, you must prove that you are one of the
ancient Gods.”

Billie paused.
Uncertain what path to take next, she replied, “Of course. How would you like
me to prove it to you?”

“The temple was
built by your people. Only if you truly are one of them would you be equally
wise, strong, and brave enough to enter.”

She took a deep
breath in. “You want me to perform a challenge?”

“Of course. But
for you, it is merely a formality. As a God, it is simple. Do you dispute that
you are indeed an Atlantean God?”

Billie had no
idea what she was going to do, but judging by the spears pointing right at her
friends and her, there was no doubt about the alternative. “Yes, of course I
know how to retrieve it. I will go in and retrieve the code to Atlantis, and
then I will tell you what you will do for me. Do I have your word that your
people will obey me once I return?”

“Of course. My
name is Zanzibe, and I am the leader of the Makan tribe. We have lived here for
thousands of years, only to serve you.”

Billie looked at
the other two men in her party. “Can I bring my companions?”

“You may take
only one of them. Choose wisely, for once you’re inside the temple, there is
only one way out, and that is through the other side. We hope that you are the
true chosen one, and that you don’t fail where the many others have. Once
you’re inside, even if we wanted to, we cannot allow you to leave the way you
entered. Do you understand?”

Billie nodded her
head. She understood perfectly well. She was playing Russian roulette with her
life, and with the lives of Mark and Edward. One of the two men left may have
the ability to save all three of their lives. The only question was, which one?
Edward was the only person on the planet who knew as much as she did about
Atlantis. But then, Mark was a career soldier – a mercenary who had trained
every day of his life. He would be by far a better choice for overcoming the
strength obstacle.

“You will have
three tests. One to prove your strength, another your wisdom, and finally that
you are brave.”

She smiled
honestly for the first time since meeting the pygmies – because she’d been to
Atlantis, and had already overcome the all three tests.

After careful
consideration Billie made her choice.

The chief seemed
pleased. “Very good Dr. Swan. So you’ve chosen the older man. I wonder how you
plan to overcome the strength obstacle.”

“We will see.”
Billie said, immediately wishing she had chosen the soldier. “And what about
Mark. What happens to him?”

“Nothing. He will
wait here, and he will be treated like the god that he is. But if you fail to
exit the temple of Poseidon by nightfall, we will kill him.”

She nodded her
head.

Billie watched as
the water that surrounded the dome of what she predicted to be Poseidon’s
Temple, like a moat, disappeared. One of the chief’s men must have removed the
plug. The entire swamp-like moat was gone in a matter of minutes, leaving
several large crocodiles and one small door.

An army of pygmy
men, eager to prove their worth, ran down the stairs and forced the ancient
beasts into a corner. Billie and Edward slowly followed Zanzibe down the
hundred plus stairs until they reached the door.

“Are you going to
follow us inside?” she asked.

The chief spoke
with sincerity but not unkindly. “No, we are but caretakers. It is forbidden
for us to follow you. I do wish you good luck. I know that the time is coming
near when the true Gods must return if any of us are going to survive. So I
pray that it is you.”

My God, he
knows the truth!

Billie examined
the door for a moment. It was made of papyrus reeds bound together, but had obviously
been maintained or installed recently.

The chief walked
down to that door, and in a mixture of wicked laughter and turmoil, he kindly
offered the suggestion, “I would make a start. The sun sets in three hours! And
the entire place becomes automatically flooded at sundown.”

Billie shivered
at the reminder. “Thanks for the advice. Tell your people that we will need to
leave immediately after we have the code to Atlantis. We have a ship waiting
for us on the edge of the Congo River. We need a path cleared so that we can
reach it without any delay.”

“If you live, you
have my word it will be done.”

Billie attached
the second lithium battery to her dwindling shoulder light and Edward did the
same. Then she stepped into the tunnel – to begin her challenge.

She walked
confidently into the tunnel, which was still wet from being drained only
minutes earlier. She felt as though she’d just entered an underground pipeline,
which wasn’t far from the truth. It was dark, but their shoulder-mounted LED
flashlights lit up the place adequately.

Edward looked
back up at the hundreds of white pygmies who guarded the entrance, as though he
were judging if his chances would be better if he tried to escape now. One
look, and he turned and ran to catch up with her.

“Sweet Jesus,
Billie, didn’t you listen to the little pygmy?”

She turned and
smiled at him. “Every word. We’ve got three hours. We probably shouldn’t waste
too much time with chit-chat.”

The door behind
them closed, leaving them silent in the dark. “The three challenges of the
temple of Poseidon involve strength, intellect and an act of bravery.
Now, I’m not doubting the thoughts of the blessed
savior of Atlantis, but wouldn’t Mark have been the better choice for
strength?”

“Relax, I’ve
already been through these challenges.”

Edward’s face
visibly relaxed. “You have? How?”

“When I entered
Atlantis. It too had three challenges: strength, intellect, and bravery. I
bested all three, and I’m betting my life that if this is an identical
recreation of Atlantis, the challenges will be the same.’

“You better hope you’re
right.”

The tunnel
reached an opening. A quick scan of the room revealed it to be a large square, perhaps
fifty or more feet wide. At the far end, the tunnel continued deeper into the
temple. Only the tunnel didn’t continue forever. Instead, its ceiling, hinged
on large hidden bolts, dipped in height in a gradual downward direction until
it touched the floor. The roof space was covered in wooden spikes that gave
Billie a clear indication of what the roof would do to a person who failed the
challenge.

At the center of
the room a steel bar hung from the ceiling above a stone chair and table in
which a person could lock his legs. The mechanism had obviously been maintained
and updated to more current materials, but there was no doubt in Billie’s mind
– the purpose of this device was the same as in Atlantis.

Billie looked up
and said, “The first room is the test of strength. See that steel bar?”

A large crease formed
at the center of Edward’s sweat-covered forehead. His evident fear of being
drowned in the cavern had now been replaced by the more immediate likelihood of
death by crushing spears. “I see it, Dr. Swan.”

“It’s basically a
cantilever that runs through a series of mechanisms hidden in the ceiling in
order to balance the weight of the hinged ceiling that’s blocking our progress
through to the next room.”

“How do we do
that?” Edward interrupted.

“At the other end
of that tunnel a lever needs to be pulled from an upwards to a downward
position and then held there, long enough for the pulleys to fully open a
secret part of the wall, thus letting us through to the next level.”

“And I take it
the strongest person needs to pull down on the cantilever long enough to allow
that person to reach the lever?”

“Yes, but it’s
not that simple. You see, for every ten seconds you hold the cantilever, the fulcrum
moves an inch closer, thus increasing the strength required to lift the
opposite ceiling.”

“Okay, so we move
quickly?”

“It’s not about
running to the other side of the tunnel. Once you’re there it takes nearly two
minutes to bring open the secret door.”

Edward looked
frustrated. “Dr. Swan! May I remind you that in less than three hours this
entire place is going to be flooded again, and you and I are going to have a
pretty shitty day, if we don’t work this out! So, how about you just tell me
what I have to do!”

“There’s another
lever. It’s about halfway down the tunnel and almost undetectable unless you know
where to look. If I turn that lever, every time you lift the cantilever in the
main room, the fulcrum moves an inch away from you. By the time you’ve done
that enough, the weight of the bar along with one of our backpacks should be
enough to hold the ceiling upright.”

“Okay, you know
where the secret lever is, so I’ll pull on the main cantilever,” Edward said.

“Sounds like a
plan.”

Edward took grip
of the steel bar and pulled using his body weight predominantly to lower his
side of the cantilever. She watched him relax as the pulleys began moving and
the ceiling started to lift. Slowly he lowered himself to the stone chair. “Go.
I can hold this for a while. You do what has to be done.”  

“Okay, let me
know if you can’t hold it anymore, because we both know what happens if you let
go.”

“I know… I know…
Just go!”  

Billie didn’t
wait any longer. Instead, she moved quickly along the tunnel until she reached the
same place where she found the lever that moved the fulcrum in the same
challenge in Atlantis.

Only it wasn’t
there.

She went back and
forth until she conceded it was missing. She shouted back, “How are you holding
up there, Edward?”

“I’m up to the
third increase in weight, but I think I can still hold it for a while longer.”

“Good, I just
want to a look at something and then I’ll be back.” Billie didn’t wait for his
response. Instead she ran to the very end of the tunnel and pulled on the lever
– but nothing happened. She watched the wall for another thirty seconds, and
then returned to the main room in case Edward should lose the ability to hold
the bar.

The instant she
was inside the room and clear of the ceiling covered in spikes Edward slowly
released the bar, as a weightlifter would in an attempt to avoid jarring the
equipment. A series of sounds rang through the walls and roof. It was like one
of those old coin donation machines in which the donator received the pleasure
of watching the coin roll down each section, triggering a reaction. In this
case, those reactions were slight movements of the fulcrum and pulleys being
returned to their resting state, with the hinged ceiling flat on the surface of
the tunnel.

The tunnel they
needed to pass.

She swore loudly.

“You okay
Billie?”

“I’m all right,
but I think we have a problem.”

“Don’t tell me. It’s
not the same challenge?”

“It would appear
not. It’s actually very similar to the one I overcame in Atlantis, but there’s
no secret lever which changes the position of the fulcrum. It appears this
really is a test of strength.”

“So you should
have chosen Mark, not me!”

“Christ, I didn’t
bloody know that they would change the challenge! I assumed when I heard the
challenges involved a test of strength, intelligence, and braveness that they
were identical!”

“But they
weren’t!”

“No, and now
we’re going to have to pay!”

“Now what?”
Edward still looked to her for solutions.

“We try again.
Only this time, we look at it as a simple test of strength. See how far we get.
I’m quite small. Perhaps I can slide into the opening in the wall before the
weight becomes too much for you?”

“Oh that’s
great!” Edward complained. “Even if I’m successful and you do get through, then
I remain trapped and likely to be killed?”

“No. The
challenges were designed to be beaten by two people. Normally, once reaching
the other side, there is a master lever. The purpose of this one is to set the
entire system to neutral and allow the contestants to simply walk through.”

They tried again
and failed once more. Then twice, but on the third attempt, Billie grinned at
Edward.

“What is it?”

“What if we’re
looking in all the wrong places?”