The Last Chamber (11 page)

Egyptian Desert

Sean had been on his share of airplanes. From small, one-prop puddle
jumpers, to jet fighters, he’d pretty much seen it all. He had never traveled
in the back of an old cargo plane before, but it didn’t seem to bother him
much. Professor Firth, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable.

Jabez and his men had hurried them over to a local airstrip, if it
could be called that. The airport was little more than a flattened out field of
dirt and sand. Their new acquaintance had a pilot in their group, along with an
old twin-prop plane, a DC-3 if Sean hadn’t missed his guess. Sean had seen lots
of those kinds of planes in the movies, but he had never had the chance to get
up close to one in real life. Now he was flying in one.

Despite the plane’s age, it flew fairly steadily, though the few times
they hit pockets of turbulence, the metal body creaked and moaned as if it
might bend, and eventually snap in two. Sean was unconcerned about that. The
professor was an entirely different story. The older man leaned over with
elbows on knees, trying not to get sick.

Adriana seemed unaffected, completely absorbed in worn, leather-bound
book. It carried a similar appearance to the diary they’d used to help find the
chamber of gold in Ecuador. But it wasn’t the same book. This one displayed Greek
lettering on the outside, and had a strange marking in the center of the cover.
The symbol looked like an ancient clock, or maybe a compass. It was hard to
tell.

“We should arrive in Istanbul within a few hours,” Jabez interrupted
Sean’s thoughts suddenly, approaching from the cockpit. “From there it is only
a few hours drive to the Valley of the Eight.”

Sean thought about the city.
Istanbul.
It was an odd mix of cosmopolitan
life and old world tradition, thrown into a blender and set on puree. Very few
places in the world had people’s lives on display the way that town did. The
poor, the wealthy, and the huge middle were all out for everyone to see.

He hadn’t been there for pleasure or people watching though. Sean had
been there on a mission with Axis. Those were memories he’d rather not relive.
But as the plane cruised through the sky, he knew it was a distinct
possibility.

“Have you ever been to Istanbul,” Jabez sat down and looked over at
him.

“Only once,” Sean nodded.

“It is fascinating place.”

“I didn’t really get a chance to look around. I was trying to not get
killed.”

“Oh?” Jabez asked, puzzled.

“Yeah. I was there on a mission. Not as a tourist or a treasure
hunter.” He added air quotes to the last few words, remembering what had been
said about his current agency.

Sean’s middle-eastern companion smirked at the comment. Six of Jabez’s
men had come with them on the plane. Each one of them stared straight ahead,
like the guards outside Buckingham Palace.

“How did you, and all these other guys come to be in this order of
guardians?” Sean waved a finger at the men on the other side of the plane.

“One does not choose to become a member. We were each chosen, picked
by former members.” As he spoke, Jabez stared across at his men with reverence.

“How did the Brethren come about? I think it’s a little weird that you
guys are the protectors of the ark, but you don’t know its true location.” Sean
didn’t try to hide his skepticism.

“We are direct descendants of Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah.
When Canaan, Noah’s grandson, left the Valley of the Eight, he swore that,
someday his children would return and claim their rightful inheritance. Japheth
made his sons take an oath to never let that happen. We are to keep the
children of Canaan from finding the ark. The safest way to do that was to keep
the true location Noah’s ship in total secrecy.”

Sean frowned, clearly lost. Adriana had closed her book and scooted
closer to listen in on the conversation. Seeing Sean to be a little confused,
she spoke up.

“You are referring to the curse, aren’t you?” The question seemed
random, but Jabez’s eyes widened slightly, telling her she’d hit the mark.

“What do you know about it?” His eyes continued to pierce hers.

She merely shrugged. “I have heard things.”

“In your line of work, I am sure you hear many things. Don’t you?”

She cocked her head sideways but never gave in to his stare, holding
it firmly in her own. “It is advantageous to keep aware of whisperings in the
shadows. That is where I get most of my information.”

Sean listened intently to the conversation, wondering where it would
lead.

Adriana went on. “The legend of the curse comes from the Bible, in the
book of Genesis, to be precise.” Jabez nodded, so she kept talking. “As the
story goes, Noah became drunk one night. When his son, Ham, came into his tent,
the scriptures say Ham laughed at his father. The other two brothers, Shem and
Japheth, heard a commotion and came to see what was going on. Upon entering the
tent, they saw their naked father and Ham, apparently shaming him. The other
two boys clothed their father and took care of him.”

The plane hit some turbulence, and dipped down quickly for a few
seconds. The professor leaned over even further. His face was bright red,
clearly on the brink of vomiting. He reached over and grabbed a small paper bag
from a nearby rack then held it in front of his mouth, just in case.

Adriana ignored Firth, continuing her tale. “The texts said that God
placed a cursed on Ham, and his descendants. In particular, his son Canaan
would be the first to feel the curse, and all of his generations after.”

“Very good,” Jabez nodded. His eyes were slits, studying the Spanish
woman. “I am impressed. You have learned your Bible stories. But what do you
know of the stories not in the old books?”

Sean was basically on top of the two of them, as he pressed in further
to better hear what she knew.

Adriana rolled her shoulders. “Just myths and legends.”

Jabez continued his stare, as if willing the words to come from her
mouth.

She finally submitted. “It is said that Canaan left the sacred
mountain and the Valley of the Eight. He took his wife and children, moving
southwest.” The Arab nodded as she went on. “Canaan’s family traveled far,
going through what is now Jordan and Israel, to settle in Egypt.”

Sean finally interrupted. “So, the first settlers of Egypt were the
grandchildren of Noah from the Bible?” He sounded skeptical, though based on
the things he’d seen over the past few months, anything was possible at this
point.

“That’s the legend,” Adriana agreed.

Jabez cut in. “It is more than a legend, my friends. It is a
historical fact.”

The plane surged again. This time was the straw that broke the camel’s
back for Firth. He stumbled towards the back of the plane and heaved into the
bag. Jabez raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“It seems the professor does not enjoy flying.”

Firth was doubled over in the rear of the plane, but he heard the
comment and twisted his head over his shoulder to cast an annoyed gaze. “I am
sorry if I am just not used to flying in a cargo bay,” he replied in a barbed
tone.

Sean was intent on finishing the story. “So, Canaan left and came to
Egypt. What does that have to do with the chambers, especially the ones in the
western hemisphere?”

“Do you not see?” Jabez almost seemed sympathetic.

“No,” Sean shook his head, clearly not connecting the dots.

Jabez took another deep breath. “When Canaan reached southern Egypt,
he established a community there, in Nekhen. His ancestors became the first
settlers of the ancient land.”

Sean interrupted. “That would explain the old age of the site.”

“Yes. But the ruins at Nekhen are only part of the story,” Jabez apprised.
“By the time they had settled the village, Canaan was a fairly old man. He had
grown tired of running. So, he stayed in southern Egypt, where he died.

“After a generation had passed, many of the people in the area
referred to Canaan as a minor deity. A few even claimed his father, Ham, was a
god of gods. Many of the original Egyptian myths were derived from the stories
of Canaan and his father. There were many, though, who remained true to the one
God. And they remained afraid of the curse that had been placed upon their
family.”

“It all makes sense, now,” Sean cut in again.
 

Adriana’s eyes stitched together. “What do you mean?”

“All the stuff we found back in the U.S. down in South America. Tons
of Egyptian artifacts.” Sean could see she still didn’t follow what he was
getting at. “Before we found the first chamber, Mac told us that he believed
the ancient Egyptians had built boats, capable of travelling vast distances.
His theory was that the Egyptians travelled to the Americas in search of a new
life and possibly more resources.”

Jabez grinned slightly at the revelation.

Sean went on. “But what if they weren’t coming over to establish a
colony? What if they were running from something, something that was so
powerful, it would mean the end for their entire existence as a people?” He
thought for a moment, rubbing the right temple of his head to hone his
thoughts. “The pyramids. The symbols. Even the language. All of it made its way
to the Americas. We found pyramids in Georgia for crying out loud. I can’t
believe Mac was right about all that.” The last part came with resignation.

“Yes, Mr. Wyatt. Now you see. Many children of Canaan built boats. It
was easy for them since their ancestors had pioneered the idea.” Jabez gave a
good natured grin as he spoke.

Sean still seemed in a daze of hurried thoughts. “Mac said they found
an ancient navy out in the middle of the desert not too long ago.”

Jabez confirmed with a nod. “They went as far away as possible to
escape the curse, traveling through what is now the United States and South
America. The native cultures that were established are all descendants of the
line of Canaan.”

“And they left clues as to where they came from and how to get home,”
Adriana included.

“That is correct.” Jabez wringed his hands for a minute in quiet
contemplation. His fingers were worn, and dark, probably from years in the sun.
The man was visibly concerned. On his face, Sean and Adriana could see the
wheels were turning.

“How does your group fit in to all of this?” Sean voiced what his
thoughts had rolled over for a few hours. “You said you were the descendants
from the other sons of Noah. Then, you said you were chosen. Which is it?”

Jabez’s face creased slightly at the question. “Good question. We
believe every person in the world comes from one of the three sons of Noah. We
are chosen based on that lineage. Though, now it must have surely been diluted.
We consider ourselves descendants based on our creed more than blood at this
point.”

Firth seemed to have gotten over his nausea and was leaning back
against the wall of the plane in an attempt to relax. His chest still heaved
huge breaths, and his face was pale. The paper bag hung loosely in one hand.

He spoke up for the first time in a while, his eyes staring up at the
ceiling as he did. “You still haven’t told us how we will be able to find the
ark. You said you don’t know the location of it. If Lindsey has the clue, and
we get there before he does, it won’t make a difference. What are we going to
do, sit around and watch where they go and simply follow?”

The grin on Jabez’s face grew a little bigger. Wrinkles creased under
his eyes. “Mr. Lindsey may not have the only clue to the Ark’s location.”

Cairo, Egypt

A tin-colored airplane hangar sat off to the side of the main airstrip
to Cairo’s international airport. Inside, Alexander Lindsey’s private jet, a
white G6 Gulfstream, was revving up its twin engines, getting ready to depart.
Lindsey had called ahead for the pilot to make preparations, so they could
depart immediately upon arriving in Cairo.

Kaba whipped the vehicle around on the tarmac and stopped it inside
the cavernous shelter next to a black Yukon Denali. Lindsey didn’t wait for
anyone to open the door for him, even though there were six men in tight, black
outfits standing by when they pulled in. He had a plane to catch, and time was
of the essence.
 

The old man flung open the door and shuffled towards the plane, moving
faster than DeGard expected possible. The Frenchman took his time, allowing one
of the bodyguards to open his door.

“Load everything up immediately,” Lindsey ordered over his shoulder to
Kaba.

She nodded and began issuing orders to the six men standing in a
forward facing line near the other SUV. They simultaneously broke rank and
began opening doors and unloading black plastic cargo boxes. They
systematically carried the units over to the underside of the plane where a
nearly empty storage bin awaited with a door propped open.

DeGard watched as the men busily emptied the vehicle and loaded the
plane with the supplies. He frowned and raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Are you
planning on starting a war? Or starting a colony?”

Lindsey had already begun his ascent of the stairs to board the plane.
He looked back down at DeGard and frowned. “We are already in a war,” he said
loudly over the whine of the jet engines.

DeGard wasn’t sure how to react, and simply stood at the base of the
staircase, watching the older man as he disappeared into the innards of the
plane. After a few moments, he followed reluctantly up the steps and into the
cabin.

Inside, the interior of the G6 was luxurious. Every seat was
upholstered in tan colored leather. The floor was a dark hardwood, contrasting
the color tone of the leather seats. DeGard slipped into one of the backward
facing seats across from his employer and fastened the seatbelt.

Lindsey was deep in thought, staring out the nearby window. His chin
rested on the two middle fingers as his index finger slowly scratched the skin
on his cheek. The white hair on his head was disheveled and scraggily, showing
parts of his freckly skull beneath.

“What are you thinking about?” The Frenchman’s voice was huskier than
usual.

Lindsey snapped from his thoughts suddenly, slightly surprised. “It is
a shame that Will hasn’t reported in. I fear the worst has happened. It isn’t
like him to go more than a few hours without checking in.”

DeGard offered no sympathy. “He is expendable. Just like all the other
grunts who work for you.” He shrugged and played his hands as if he were
throwing away a piece of wadded up paper. “Let it go.”

The old man’s face boiled. His tired, gray eyes filled with fury, and
he leaned over the space between the seats so he was close to level with DeGard’s
knees. “You shut your mouth, Frenchman, or I will shut it for you permanently.
Do you understand? Will is not expendable. He is my most trusted asset.

Kaba entered the cabin of the plane and saw Lindsey’s blushing face
hovering close to DeGard. She interrupted their exchange with a rare smile.
“Someone is here I think you will be happy to see.”

Lindsey’s expression turned curious. “Who could I possibly want to…”
Before he could finish, Kaba stepped out of the way and allowed a young man,
probably in his upper twenties, walk by. He was lean and athletic, with
shortish brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in a few days. His
jacket was torn, and the dust on it matched the grime and dirt on his pants.

“Sorry I’m late, Sir. I had to catch a ride out in the desert.” Will
staggered in, but remained standing.

The old man’s face lit up in a fraction of a second, but he squelched
the emotions just as quickly. The brief joy that Lindsey had shown was strange
for DeGard to behold, and he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

Lindsey stood up and offered the younger man a seat next to where he’d
been. Will slouched down, exhausted.

“What happened to you?” Lindsey asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
“I’ve tried calling you but your phone goes straight to—”

“I got shot,” Will interrupted. “Sean Wyatt shot me, and I fell of the
train.”

Lindsey appeared genuinely concerned for the briefest of seconds.
“Shot? Where? Do you need medical attention?”

Will shook his head slowly and pointed to the side of his chest that
the bullet had stopped. “Those phones you gave us, they’re pretty tough. The
thing stopped the bullet. Otherwise I’d have a ripped apart lung, and probably
be dead.”

The realization hit Lindsey. “The phone stopped the bullet?” Again,
Will nodded. He doubted his employer would bother him about the phone calls
anymore. A bullet explained everything.

“You’re quite fortunate,” the old man stated. “We need to get you some
food and water he turned his attention to the young woman still standing at the
front of the plane, “Kaba, could you get something for Will to eat and some
water.”

She gave a quick nod and started to head to the back of the plane, but
Will reached out and grabbed her leg, stopping her in mid stride. The move would
have been one that could have gotten an ordinary man killed, or at least the
arm bent in an awkward and broken direction. For Will, she would allow it.

“Along with that water, could you bring me a scotch on the rocks. I
need a drink in the worst way.” She passed him a sliver of a grin and continued
down the aisle.

Will turned his attention back to the other two who were looking at
him like he was a breathing dead man. “So, where are we going?”

“Turkey,” the Frenchman spoke up. “I believe that the clue we
discovered points the way to the mountains of eastern Turkey. Not that we’ll
find anything of interest there.” The last part he nearly said under his
breath, but both counterparts heard the jab. They also both decided to ignore
it, Lindsey merely casting a snide glare.

Will leaned back in the leather chair and put his head against the
headrest. “So, that’s where this journey will end and a new one will begin.”
Before he could begin to relax, a thought occurred to him and he sat back up
quickly. “What about Wyatt and his little group.”

Lindsey waved a dismissive hand then stuck it into his jacket pocket.
“They will be left far behind. We were able to retrieve this from the third
chamber.” He produced the small, round stone and handed it to Will.

Will cradled it gently as he eyed the piece. He didn’t understand the
writing on it, nor what it could all mean. But the French archaeologist knew
what it meant. At least, he hoped the guy did. DeGard seemed to know his stuff,
so if he said that the place they needed to go was Turkey, Will and his boss
would have to go with what the man said.

He handed the object back to his employer. “So you got the only clue
that could tell Wyatt and his friends where the next chamber was?”

Lindsey gave a quick sideways nod that seemed to say a sarcastic, “Oh
well.”

“I was looking forward to finishing off that self-righteous has been.
Perhaps I will see him again someday.”

Kaba returned carrying a tray with a roast beef hoagie on a French
roll, and a rocks glass with yellowish-brown liquid and three ice cubes. She
cast him a quick smile before heading to a seat a little farther to the rear of
the plane. The six men from outside entered the cabin and closed the door just
before the jet started moving.

Will took a huge bite out of the sandwich, and chewed it slowly like
it was the best thing he’d eaten in his entire life. He put the food down on
the silver platter and reached over for the drink then took a long, slow sip
before letting out an “ahhh.”

“Nothing but the best. That’s one of the things I love about working
for you, sir.” Will set the glass back down and took a less aggressive bite of
the sandwich.

Lindsey crossed one leg over the other and sat back in his chair.
“Speaking of best, I was wondering, how was it that Sean Wyatt got the best of
you?”

Will nearly choked on his food, but managed to gulp it down before
speaking. The few seconds it took him to get the bite down gave him enough time
to gain his composure. No one ever questioned him about his methods or his effectiveness.
To be fair, he’d never screwed up before, so there’d never been reason to. That
was probably one of the biggest reasons he hoped to meet up with Sean Wyatt
again someday. From the sound of it, that rendezvous wouldn’t be soon. But it
would happen eventually. Of that he was certain, even if it took him out of his
way to make it happen, he would see Sean Wyatt again.

“I was going to take them all out while they slept. It was three in
the morning when I approached their car where they were sleeping. For some
reason, Wyatt was awake and moving through the train cars. I don’t know. Maybe
he couldn’t sleep or something. I took some shots at him when he realized who I
was. He got lucky. It won’t happen again.” Will stopped talking for a minute
and stared down at the floor. Then, he reached over suddenly and grabbed his
glass of Scotch, downing the thing in one swallow.

Lindsey remained calm, but concerned. “I don’t think we will be having
any more problems with Mr. Wyatt. As stated, we have the only link to the
location of the final chamber. I fail to see how Wyatt and his companions could
ever conclude as to where its location could be without this stone.” He held it
up proudly for a moment before placing it back in his pocket.

Will was somewhat surprised by Lindsey’s reaction. The Prophet had
been ruthless to people who failed him. He recalled the man Lindsey had thrown
out of a helicopter into Lake Mead, and the two men on his council that had
been placed into the brazen bull. He’d seen the contraption once when he was
visiting Lindsey’s mountaintop mansion. Will had never heard of anything like
that before that day. He imagined it to be an excruciating way to go. Such was
the price of betrayal.

Lindsey’s two right hand men had gone behind his back and sought to
override his power. It was a move that had cost them their lives. Despite
getting tired of being ordered around, Will had become a strong believer in
what The prophet was trying to do. He had seen too much evil in his lifetime.
Criminals roamed free to rob and murder as they pleased, almost unchecked by
inept police departments. Prisons were overcrowded, and the prisoner population
continued to grow every year. It seemed every time will turned on the news,
there was some story about rape, murder, theft, something.

But his employer had a plan for all of that. And it started with
finding the last golden chamber. If the old man was right, and he usually was,
the ancient Biblical source of immortality was hidden somewhere in eastern
Turkey. It was gamble, but only one of money and time. The old man had plenty
of the first, much less of the second. Will had bought into his grand plan and
believed it could be achieved. But he also thought there must certainly have
been some personal reasons Lindsey was searching for the lost tree of Eden and
its mysterious power.

It was a story Will knew well. He’d read all the books about men who
had searched for the Fountain of Youth or a magical pool that could restore a
human’s vitality. Those explorers searched only for a way to live forever.
Lindsey was the first person he’d heard of who considered using it for other
purposes. The world had become sick. And Alexander Lindsey had stumbled on an
idea that could cure it.

Will had grown up in an environment without love or compassion. He’d
grown callus to the way the world had become. For most of his teenage and adult
life, he’d lived a life of self-serving pleasure seeking. He’d had no purpose,
no direction. Then, he met The Prophet. Alexander Lindsey had given Will
something he’d never had before. He showed him the error of his ways, and a way
to make the world a better place.

That sentimental stuff hadn’t really resonated with Will. But he
played along. He told Lindsey what he wanted to hear. The fact was, Will
enjoyed killing. He enjoyed being given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted,
with nearly unlimited resources. The old man paid well. Will got to travel all
over the world, meet exotic women, and kill anyone Lindsey wanted dead.

From time to time, Will hated being bossed around. Lindsey was a
persistent manager of things and resources, always prying his controlling
fingers into whatever was going on. The man expected constant reports on nearly
every situation. The Prophet was the only person, though, who had ever been a
father figure to Will. Lindsey had taken good care of him, and always would.
Occasionally, he wondered if he would be included in the old man’s inheritance.
Wild thoughts about beaches, women in bikinis, mansions, fast cars, and drinks
that never ran out, would run rampant through his mind. While he had to play by
Lindsey’s rules at the moment, that wouldn’t last forever. If his employer left
Will enough money when he kicked off, he would live the life he’d always
wanted: one of hedonism and leisure.