The Grecian Manifesto (27 page)

Chapter 48

Northwestern Greece

“You cannot do this, Dimitris.
People will starve to death in the streets. There will be anarchy. Please, I
beg of you, do not do this.”

The man’s voice on the phone
sounded like a hungry cat crying for a scrap of food at the end of a long day.
Hardly becoming for a man of his position. The man on the other line was Petra
Samaris, the prime minister of Greece. He’d been appointed by the president, whose
role in government affairs was considered mostly ceremonial. It was Samaris who
had led the charge during the economic downturn. He’d promised the people that
he would lead them back to prosperity if given the time. Much like any other
politician, it seemed Samaris was full of empty promises.

Now he had no other cards to
play. He’d put everything out on the line and lost. Dimitris Gikas held all the
power, and there wasn’t anything Samaris could do about it, a fact the prime
minister was apparently aware of.

“Thousands of your fellow
countrymen will die, Dimitris. How can you just sit by and let that happen
while your stores are full of the food that can save them?” Samaris was near
the point of sobbing. He must have known that if the people revolted, he would
be the first to hang from the gallows’ noose.

Gikas had let the man talk for
the last few minutes. He had but a moment to spare with the desperate leader.
Ten minutes before, his men had informed Bourdon that they had taken control of
Wyatt’s boat and were bringing it back to rendezvous with the yacht. Everything
was going according to plan. Sure, there’d been a few kinks along the way, but
that’s the way complex plans went. One had to be always willing to adjust, be
flexible to anything that came along. Adaptation was one of Dimitris Gikas’s
finest attributes.

When he spoke, his voice
carried an air of disregard and complete lack of sympathy. “Mr. Prime Minister,
I apologize, but I will not be able to respond to your request. I’m out at sea
at the moment, and I simply cannot reach my distribution facilities until the
end of the week.”

Samaris’s tone turned
threatening. “You release the food, Dimitris, or I will send the army to
release it for you.”

Gikas allowed himself a short
laugh. “Do you really think that wise, Petra?” He said the name with disdain.
It was disrespectful to call the prime minister by his first name, a fact Gikas
knew Samaris took seriously. “Send the army to my facilities, and I will burn
them all to the ground. It would be a shame if there were several explosions at
the distribution centers right when your soldiers showed up. Of course, there
would be many innocent people working there that would die, a fact that the
news reports would claim was your fault, along with the deaths of many
soldiers.”

“You’re bluffing.” Samaris
sounded hopeful.

“Am I? Do you honestly think
that I don’t have a backup plan for every possible contingency you have thought
of or will think of? I have no problem destroying my own plants. They are
insured well beyond what they are worth. I will make more money while your
little reign at the helm continues to unravel.”

Silence pervaded for a moment
before Samaris spoke again. “What is it you want, Dimitris?”

Gikas paced over to the little
bar on the side of his yacht’s living room. Two guards stood next to Adriana
Villa, her hands and ankles bound in thick rope. Her mouth had been gagged with
a hand towel from one of the bathrooms so she wouldn’t say anything during the
phone call that would give away their position. Even though Gikas was in a position
of absolute strength at the moment, one well-placed cruise missile would wipe
him off the planet.

“What do I want?” he asked as
he poured himself a short refill of vodka. He set the decanter back on the bar
and took a quick sip, savoring the warm feel of the liquid. “There is nothing
you have that I need, Petra. You should have planned better. Your
administration has squandered any little bit of money the government had left,
and you have betrayed the people.” Gikas’s tone turned sour. “If any Greek people
die as a result of this famine then their blood is on your hands, not mine.
Justice will be done, Petra, of that you can be sure. Now if you will excuse
me, I have some business to tend to.”

“Dimitris! Don’t you hang up
the…”

Gikas hit the end button on his
phone’s touch screen and tossed the device on the couch. He turned his
attention to the Spaniard tied up in the seat across from him. “Now,” he
motioned with the wave of a hand, telling the nearest guard to unbind the gag
from his prisoner’s mouth. “I’m terribly sorry I had to do that. Couldn’t have
you yelling out our position or something crazy like that while I was on the
phone with the man I’m unseating.”

“Your plan will fail,” Adriana
spat. Fire burned in her eyes like an angry tiger, ready to pounce on its prey.

He shrugged and pouted his
lips. “Possibly. But highly unlikely. Your boyfriend and his companion are on
their way to this yacht as we speak. It seems they did not find the relic, but
they did find where it is. The Eye of Zeus will be mine soon enough, and then,
not a single soul on this planet will be able to stop me.”

The door on the other side of
the room swung open, startling everyone inside. Bourdon pulled his weapon, but
lowered it immediately upon seeing it was his men with the two new prisoners.
One of them kicked Wyatt in the kidneys, sending him to the floor just inside
the living room. His hands were tied behind his back, though his feet were
free. Wyatt’s face bore a cut on one cheek and a swollen left eye.

“I see you roughed him up a
little,” Bourdon commented casually.

One of the muscle-bound guards
rolled his shoulders. “I didn’t want him to get any ideas.”

“Now, now,” Gikas interrupted
as he stepped over to Wyatt, putting his feet right in front of the American’s
face. “Is that any way to treat our guests?”

Tommy stood in the doorway with
one of the other guards directly behind him, watching his every move. “We don’t
have the antikythera, Gikas. So you may as well just let us go.” Tommy’s offer
seemed to have no effect on the rich man.

Though Sean did admire him for
the effort, he knew there was no getting out of this. He cursed himself for not
being more aware to the possibility that someone could be on their boat. He
wondered if the men had stowed away onboard before they even left the marina,
but he doubted it. They’d gone through the cabin to check on the supplies they
had ordered. There weren’t that many places to hide on the small boat. A
thought flashed through his mind. “The driver worked for you, huh,” he said,
more as a statement than a question.

Gikas gave an impressed nod and
a quick flick of the eyebrows, or maybe he was just mocking the former agent.
“Yes. Your driver was one of my employees.”

“Was?” Tommy asked.

“Well, you know how things can
get sometimes. He was more of a temporary worker. My associate here had to let
him go.” Gikas motioned at Bourdon by waving his nearly empty tumbler in the
air. He knelt down beside Sean and stared into his eyes with a firm glare.
“Now, you are going to tell me where the device is, and you are going to
retrieve it for me, or I will kill your friend and let my men have their way
with your woman. Is that clear enough for you, Sean Wyatt?”

Sean fought to keep his anger
at bay, but his temper raged inside like a caged lion. “You don’t need them,”
he said, his jaw clenched tight. “Let them go, and I’ll get you the Eye of
Zeus.”

Gikas clicked his tongue a few
times, chastising Sean for even considering such a counter offer. “You are in
no position to make proposals, Sean. I am in total control right now. So you
can do as I say, and bring me the relic, or I start making things very bad for
your friends.” He paused for a moment, and then stood up. He walked over to
Adriana and put his hand behind the back of her head, grabbing her hair hard.
Gikas yanked on it, causing a short squeak to come from her mouth. “Women, you
see, are so easy to manipulate. You can force them to make whatever sounds you
wish. I wonder, Sean, have you ever heard a woman screaming for help, struggling
against a man? How long do you think she would be able to struggle against one
of my men here?” He pointed at the guards in the room.

Sean’s inclination was to say
something about how she could hold her own and those men might be the ones not
lasting very long, but he didn’t want to provoke the madman. If he said
anything remotely reckless, Gikas might hold true to his word. That was
something Sean could not allow.

“No comment?” Gikas asked. He
wandered over to the door where Tommy stood. Anger seeped through Tommy’s pores
as the man came close. “I’m certain your friend here would not make a peep,
right up to the moment I put a bullet through his brain.”

“Enough,” Sean said
confidently. “I’ll get you the device. But you have to give me your word that these
two will not be harmed.”

Gikas smiled for a moment, and
then flashed a perplexed look at Sean. “Usually, men in your position would
think that someone like me is a madman. Would you take a madman’s word for
anything?”

“Like you said before, it doesn’t
seem like I have much of a choice. Just promise me you’ll let them go, and I’ll
get you what you want.” Sean was still on the floor, but he sat up just enough
to stare Gikas in the eye.

The Greek came close and leaned
over. Sean could smell the man’s breath on him along with the expensive, yet
overpowering cologne on his neck. “Good. You will take Teo and two others with
you. If you try anything funny, you know what will happen.”

Sean never flinched. A thin
trickle of blood ran down his cheek. “I need them to help me get the
antikythera,” he said, motioning with his head toward Adriana.

Gikas put his hands behind his
back and shook his head. “No, I do not think so. You may try to escape. And
while I trust my capable assistants here, I don’t want to tilt the odds in your
favor in any way.”

“Fine,” Sean relinquished. “I
know you won’t let me take her. To you, she’s too valuable of a bargaining
chip.” Gikas nodded at the assessment. “But I do need my friend. There could be
a riddle or an ancient language down there that I may not understand. He’s an
expert at those things. Let him go with me, and I promise we will bring the Eye
of Zeus back to you safely. When it’s in your possession, you let them go.”

Gikas leaned his head back and
stared at the ceiling while taking in a long deep breath. He seemed to consider
Sean’s offer for a moment before answering. “Very well, Sean. Take your little
friend with you.”

“We’ll need our scuba gear,”
Sean said almost as Gikas was ending his sentence. “And if your men are coming
with us, they will need some too.”

“Not a problem. Our ship has
enough diving equipment for several people. Since I’m letting you have your
friend along, I’m going to time you. If you aren’t back within two hours, I
will start cutting off your girlfriend’s toes, one for every ten minutes you
are delayed. Once I’m done with those, I will go to fingers. After that, well,
let’s say I won’t be doing any more cutting. I will just let my men do whatever
they want. Understood?”

Sean thought about it for a
second. When he responded, there was a sharp edge to his voice. “Yeah. I
understand.”

Chapter 49

Northwestern Greece

The guards hurriedly loaded the
scuba gear and other necessities onto the boat Sean and Tommy had rented.
They’d earlier tied the cabin cruiser to the yacht to keep the two boats together,
so untying the ropes was the last thing the guards needed to do before setting
off. When everything was ready to go, Tommy and Sean were placed in the back
seat on the aft deck and watched carefully by two guards armed with submachine
guns. Bourdon stood next to the guard who drove the boat, directing him which
way to go as the man pulled the craft away from Gikas’s yacht.

In the pale-blue sky, a few
white clouds danced along in front of the sun, blocking out the warm rays of
light for a few minutes. The sea had whipped up considerably, creating deeper
swells to the waves that had previously been mere ripples.

It was getting late in the
afternoon. Sean glanced down at his watch to check the time. It was definitely
getting late for a dive. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in an
underwater cave at night. He’d been taken on just such an expedition during his
dive certification. Their class was required to do a cave dive at night. He
assumed it was so they would become accustomed to losing their bearings and
having no surface light to guide them. It was one of those rare occasions when
he’d felt extremely uncomfortable. Sean remembered how difficult it had been to
know when they had entered the cave; first realizing they were no longer in
open water when the roof of the underwater cavern scraped against the tank on
his back. It had been a startling experience, but thanks to the class
instructor, everyone did fine and received their certification.

Sean never thought he would
actually have to use that part of his learning in the real world. Now he was
glad he’d done it. The gears in his mind turned with ideas, some fanciful,
others somewhat more practical. He was always looking for an edge in a situation
like this. At present, there were two men with guns aimed at him and Tommy,
plus two others backup thugs. A direct assault on the first two would end
badly. His imagination played out the scenario in a matter of seconds. One move
toward the men, and they would cut him down.

He hoped the driver of the boat
would hit a wave awkwardly, one that would jostle everyone from their positions
and give him a tiny window of opportunity. Unfortunately, even though the seas
had picked up slightly, it was still relatively smooth sailing. Sean’s thoughts
went to a more plausible scenario. When they arrived at the location at the rear
of the island, one of the men would stay behind to watch the boat. That would
level the playing field somewhat, making it three on two. If there was a way to
get the odds even, Sean knew he and Tommy had a chance.

“What happens if we get there
and the artifact is gone, or the cave is closed off inside?” Tommy’s question
interrupted Sean’s thoughts.

Sean hadn’t realized it, but
he’d been staring through the men, toward the island ahead. “I’m sorry?” he
said, angling his head a little toward his friend. His movement was subtle, so
as not to make the jumpy guards do anything stupid, like squeeze a trigger.

“The antikythera device. What
if it isn’t there?” Tommy repeated his question. “I mean, we may not be the
first people to find this place. If someone got there before us, we’re
screwed.”

Sean took in a deep breath and
let out a long sigh. “I hadn’t thought about that.” He shook off the thought.
“No, it’s still there.”

“How do you know?” Tommy’s
eyebrows stitched together.

“Not sure,” Sean shrugged. “I
just do.”

Bourdon stepped between the two
armed guards and cut into their conversation. “Hey! Show us where we need to
go.” The order came with the brandishing of his own weapon, a black Beretta .40
caliber. “And no funny business.”

Sean held up both hands to show
his intentions were purely obedient, and then he pointed a finger toward the
approaching shoreline. “You’ll need to go around behind that beach right there.
We believe the entrance to the cave is on the other side.”

Bourdon pivoted around and gave
the instructions to the driver. The man at the control console spun the wheel
to the left, and the boat veered slightly, splashing water and mist into the
air, a little of it over the side of the boat. After the driver guided the boat
around the sandy beach and to the side of the island that was out of the
yacht’s line of sight, he throttled down the engine, slowing the cruiser to an
idle.

“Pull it over a little closer
to that cliff right there,” Sean said, motioning with his hand to the place he
and Tommy had found an hour or so ago.

Again, Bourdon relayed the
message, and the driver eased the boat to a place in the water about twenty yards
from the island wall.

“This is close enough,” Sean
said. “You’ll want to drop anchor here. We’ll have to swim the rest of the
way.”

Bourdon said some things in a
foreign language. Tommy and Sean glanced at each other for a brief moment,
looking for the answer to each other’s question. How were they going to get out
of this?

“He will stay with the boat,”
Bourdon said, snapping at the two Americans. “We will accompany you on the
dive. I don’t think I have to remind you that these weapons are still lethal underwater.
So if you try anything stupid you can expect to never see the surface again.
Understood?”

The two captives nodded.

“Good. Now suit up.” Bourdon
stole a quick glance at the waning sunlight. “I don’t wish to be underwater
after dark. And do not forget, Sean Wyatt, you are on the clock.”

Sean didn’t need the reminder.
He knew he had less than a hundred and five minutes to get back to the yacht
with what Gikas wanted. Had the Greek been bluffing? He doubted it. Dimitris
Gikas didn’t seem like the type. He struck Sean as the kind of guy who would do
everything he said. It was a rare case where being a man of one’s word was a
bad thing.

Bourdon slid the tanks, masks,
regulators, and other items over to Sean and Tommy, keeping his weapon trained
on the two as if they were coiled snakes, ready to strike.

Ten minutes later, all the men
had put on their gear and were hanging over the edge of the boat. Bourdon had
been the last to suit up, but he did so rapidly, causing Sean to think this
wouldn’t be the man’s first time on a dive.

“When we get in the water, we
will head down to the base of the island. You’ll see an opening with a mark
over it. That’s where we go in.” Sean made sure to speak slowly and clearly.
For the moment, he needed to play nice. “Stay close to me on the way down.
Don’t want any of you getting lost.”

Bourdon’s eyes narrowed at the
comment. He slid the scuba mask over his eyes and fell backward into the sea. A
second later, he popped up with his weapon pointed at the Americans. One of the
other guards motioned for Tommy to get in the water. Tommy obeyed and splashed
in, holding his mask to his face. One of the other guards entered right behind
him, and swam over to make sure he didn’t swim off. Sean and the last guard
followed, leaving the driver alone with the boat.

Under the surface of the sea,
Sean pointed down toward the island’s foundation and motioned for the others to
follow. It was much easier to see with the mask on than when he’d explored the
area before. Having access to air was also a huge relief. Holding his breath
for long periods was not one of his strong suits, despite being in good
physical condition.

The five men kicked their legs,
sending them down into the shadowy depths. A school of
Diplodus
fish scurried by, the entire group moving as one
shimmering unit. Their jerky motion startled one of the guards, who eyed the
fish suspiciously.

In less than a minute, Sean
reached the underwater face of the wall where a cavity opened up. The hole
stood at around six feet high and four feet wide, plenty big enough for the men
to get through with their gear, but not more than one at a time. Over the
arching entrance, Sean pointed to a circle that had been cut into the stone.
Engraved in the center was an algae-covered image of Julius Caesar.

Bourdon motioned with his hand
for Sean to go in first. Bourdon would follow, then a guard, then Tommy, then
the last of his mercenaries would bring up the rear. Clearly, Bourdon didn’t
want to leave the fate of this mission in anyone else’s hands but his own.

Sean gave a quick nod amid the
bubbles escaping from his mask and turned to enter the cave. The men
simultaneously turned their lights on as they began to traverse the darkness.
The last guard to enter the cave twisted his head around warily, looking out
into the deep sea before following the others.

The light from Sean’s mask
pointed the pale beams straight ahead, into the clear water. The light in his
hand flashed off the sides of the corridor. He marveled at the passageway,
wondering if it was created by human hands or by nature. It would have been an
incredible feat for it to have been done by people. The ancients didn’t have
access to dive equipment like he and the others were using. To accomplish such
a construction project would have required the sea level to be forty feet below
where it was now. The sides of the wall, however, were hewn smooth, as if cut
intentionally. The width of the corridor also remained consistent, which was
something Sean had rarely seen in caves created by time and the elements. The
submerged passage came to a sharp ninety-degree turn then continued for ten
feet before turning sharply back to the left.

Sean continued flicking his
fins, cruising through the underwater labyrinth until he reached a sloping wall
directly ahead. The stone angled up at a gradual angle, much like a ramp. He
aimed his flashlight up, surveying the area to make sure it was clear of any
surprises. Julius Caesar was clever if not cunning. Sean had a feeling that
there would be one more trial before the ancient Roman emperor would give up
his most prized possession. He turned around and motioned to Bourdon, pointing
back at the ramp. The man nodded and followed closely as Sean paddled up
through the shaft.

Sean’s head broke the surface first,
followed closely by Bourdon. The two men looked around to gather in their surroundings
as they planted their feet on the stone. The underwater shaft had opened into a
small pool, housed in a circular chamber cut into the island’s rock. As Sean
stepped forward awkwardly in his fins, Tommy and the other two remaining men
broke through the surface. Their lights played along the walls as the men
glanced around at the scene.

It wasn’t until after he
removed his dive mask that Sean truly realized the gravity of where they’d
arrived. His eyes scanned the perfectly cut, circular room. Above, a domed
ceiling had been carved into the rock. He marveled at how anyone had been able
to accomplish such a task, and with such precision. The dome’s smooth surface must
have taken years to complete with the tools available during the Roman Empire.

Tommy and the other guards
arrived next to Bourdon and Sean, who were now completely out of the water and
standing on a stone platform, masks dangling in their hands. Bourdon still
gripped his dripping weapon, aimed at Sean’s abdomen. As incredible as the
scene was, he wasn’t about to let Wyatt catch him napping.

Tommy took off his mask and
spun slowly around in a circle. He pointed at the objects lining the walls all
the way around the room. “I don’t understand,” he said in a beleaguered tone.
“Wasn’t Caesar a follower of the Roman gods?”

Every eight feet or so, a stone
likeness of every major deity from ancient Greece stood silently against the
wall, all of them staring with lifeless eyes toward one side of the room where
the ramp flattened out and led to an archway. Just beyond the opening was
another, smaller chamber.

“Yep,” Sean nodded slowly. “But
the antikythera was believed to be a gift from the Greek god, Zeus. It would
make sense that Caesar would pay homage to the one he believed created it, even
if he worshipped other gods.”

“Well, I don’t know that I buy
the idea that it was created by Zeus.”

“Gentlemen,” Bourdon
interrupted the discussion that was quickly derailing the speed of their
mission. “Where is the device?”

Sean looked around at the
sculptures and noticed that the head of each was turned to face the arched
entryway at the top of the ramp. “There’s only one deity that’s missing in this
room. My guess is; he’s the one guarding the relic that’s named after him.”

“Zeus,” Bourdon said, realizing
what Sean meant. “Move, up the ramp. Now.”

Tommy and Sean removed their
flippers under the watchful gaze of their wardens. The guards removed theirs
one at a time so that two guns were aimed at the Americans at all times. When
everyone’s feet were bare, Bourdon motioned for the captives to lead the way.

The two friends walked
cautiously up the stone slope, their eyes scanning the walls for any sign of
danger. When they reached the top of the ramp, they stopped and stared upon a
message carved into the stone over the arch.

“What does that say?” Bourdon
asked.

“It’s Latin,” Sean answered.
“You don’t speak Latin?” He fired a diminishing glance at the man.

Bourdon’s eyes narrowed to
slits. “Tell me what it says, or I will cut out your tongue.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “That’s a
bit ironic, don’t you think?” He spun around and gazed at the phrase.

Tommy spoke first. “The worthy
shall release their burdens and tread carefully.”

Sean frowned. He knew there
would be some kind of final test. In this instance, however, he had no idea
what it meant. The other problem was that time wasn’t exactly on his side. He
needed to get the device and take it back to Gikas before he harmed Adriana.