The Last Chamber (17 page)

“If there’s a clue for us to find here, we should get to it quickly.
Lindsey may already be on his way to the ark. We may not have much time.”

The others spread out as much as they could in the tiny area, scouring
the walls and ceiling with their eyes.

Sean spoke under his breath, just to himself. “I just hope Mac can buy
us some time.”

Mount Ararat

“What do you mean it was done in the early fourth century? And how is
it in Latin?” Lindsey’s voice boomed through the tight corridor.

DeGard’s laughter ceased as he sensed the serious nature of the
moment. “Monsieur, I tried to warn you that chasing this treasure was folly.”
His French accent sounded even tinnier in the narrow confines of the cave. “It
is clearly a fool’s treasure. There is nothing here, and probably never was.
You have been chasing a fairy tale. There is no tree of life, Monsieur Lindsey.
I am sorry, but you have wasted your time and money searching for this.”

It was the first time Will had ever seen devastation on the face of
his employer. Alexander Lindsey had been a strong, ruthless man to work for.
He’d ordered kidnappings, executions, and bombings, never once flinching in the
slightest. Most recently, Will had discovered the fate of Lindsey’s betrayers.
The men had been executed in a brazen bull within the confines of Golden Dawn’s
secret council room. Lindsey was certainly not a man of weakness.

Now, though, as Will stared at the old man in the yellow radiance of
the flashlights, Lindsey’s white hair seemed whiter, his wrinkles more
pronounced. The old man appeared defeated.

Lindsey started coughing violently, probably a combination of the damp
air and the sudden realization that he’d been duped on such a grand scale. He
stepped away from the others, covering his mouth and bracing himself on the
rough-hewn wall.

Kaba put her hand on his shoulder for a moment, but he jerked himself
away. After a few more seconds, the coughing finally subsided.

He stared hard at the writing on the wall. “All the money. All the
time. Everything we’ve done. To come this far…all for a hoax.” Lindsey’s voice
was filled with regret and bitter resentment. He shook his head slowly, still
staring at the wall. His breaths were coming quickly in big heaves. “Why would
someone leave this here?”

DeGard looked back at the inscription for a moment. “I do not know,
Monsieur. Why do people create giant rings in corn fields and then claim Aliens
did it?”

The words went in one ear and out the other as the old man shuffled
close to the wall. As he neared it, he felt something shift underneath his
feet. There was a clanking noise deep from within the mountain then silence
again. The four stepped back away from the wall, scanning the walls to see what
was happening. Will’s flashlight fell on the spot where his employer had been
standing only a moment before. Suddenly, the section of the floor dropped away,
sending a gust of warm air up into the space.

Will put his hand against the wall to maintain his balance, and crept
closer to the gaping hole in the floor. He leaned over and shone his light down
into the abyss, but the beam never reached a surface, only deflecting off of
dust and steam.
 

“There’s nothing down there,” Will said in an even tone. “It’s an old
booby trap. Whoever built this place didn’t want anyone coming out of it.”

Lindsey’s face lightened slightly despite the terrifying realization
that he had nearly died. He moved back towards the cavity in the floor,
investigating it carefully from a safe distance. His eyes narrowed as the dust
settled.

“It must have surely been designed to collapse sooner than that,” he
realized out loud.

“But it didn’t,” Will comforted.

The old man nodded and rose back up. “The question is, why someone
would go to the trouble of putting a trap here, if there was not something to
hide elsewhere?”

DeGard let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you suggesting you are going
to continue this ridiculous charade? Because if you are, I am going to ask that
you pay me my fee and let me go.”

Lindsey’s eyebrows raised in surprise at the Frenchman’s bold comment.
He’d had enough of the foreigner’s doubt, his lack of conviction, and his
tedious fear.

“If that is what you wish, Monsieur DeGard, then we will let you go.”
Lindsey gave a quick nod to Will.

Kaba understood the unspoken order and grabbed DeGard from behind as
her partner snagged the suddenly panicked professor. They forced the man toward
the hole then spun him around, each gripping one of his wrists.

“What are you doing?” he screamed, sounding more like a terrified
little girl than a grown man. “We had a deal!”

Lindsey stepped towards him, menace covering his face. The wrinkles on
his skin seemed to frame wicked emotions fueled by anger.

“You said you wanted out, and to be let go. So I will let you go.” The
low voice was rough, and the loose skin beneath his neck shook as he spoke.
“Unless, of course, you wish to continue your employment with me.”

Kaba and Will shoved the skinny man out over the abyss, holding his
life by thin wrists. His head went back and forth, trying to look down yet
desperately not wanting to see what waited below.

“Please!” he pleaded. “I’ll do whatever you ask. Just don’t kill me!”
His voice sounded like a whimpering, nasally dog.

Lindsey thought he saw tears welling up in the Frenchman’s eyes.

“So, you will continue to assist us in this charade?” The last word
carried a sarcastic air with it.

DeGard nodded frantically. “Oui! Oui! I’ll do whatever you say.”

Lindsey nodded and his two associates jerked up the trembling
professor, and pulled him to safety. DeGard quickly moved away from the hole
and put his hands on his knees. Bile rose up through his esophagus, and for a
moment, it appeared he might vomit.

“Now,” Lindsey spoke in a commanding tone again. “What are we missing
here? We know that someone set this trap. And we believe based on the good
professor’s earlier assessment that it was probably built around the late third
century. That is what you said, correct Monsieur DeGard?”

The Frenchman was still bent over his knees catching his breath and
trying hard not to throw up. “Yes,” he nodded, breathing heavily. “The Latin
and the style of the engraving would suggest that time frame.”

“That means that the people who built this cave, knew about the ark.
And they also knew about what the ark contained, based on the contents of the
message.”

Will’s eyes opened wider. He could see where his employer was going
with the line of thought. “So, you think the people who carved out this cave
found something. But where is it now?”

“The monastery,” DeGard gasped and leaned back against the craggy rock
wall.

His flashlight had fallen on the floor and was now aimed at his feet.
The other three shone their lights on his face, causing him to shield himself
from the brightness with one hand.

“What did you say?” Lindsey demanded and shuffled over to where the
shaking Frenchman stood. “What monastery? You better start making sense
quickly.”

DeGard began to regain his composure, becoming angry over the fact
that his boss had threatened to drop him into a bottomless pit. When he spoke,
his voice was still shaky. “We flew by a monastery on the way here. Khor Virap.
Your assistant here asked about it.” He pointed a crooked finger at Will.

Lindsey turned his attention to Will then back to DeGard, as if trying
to size up whether or not the man was telling the truth. Will confirmed it with
a nod, but that still didn’t explain what the monastery had to do with the
missing clue to the ark. The old man was irritated, angry, and growing tired of
the search. He had come to the eastern border of Turkey believing he would find
the greatest treasure ever known to man. Only a few people ever even believed
it still existed.

Now, to be so close only to get presented with another obstacle was
almost more than he could bear. Lindsey’s patience was running out. And his
last hope was in a Frenchman who had been ex-communicated by his profession for
unethical behavior. Despite Lindsey’s belief in his own mission, the irony was
not lost on him.

His eyes peered deep into DeGard’s soul. When he spoke, it was nearly
a hiss. “Why are you bringing up this monastery now? What is it about that
place that is so special?”

DeGard took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He bent down and picked
up his flashlight while he spoke. “As I told your associate before, Khor Virap
was initially built around the turn of the same century I believe this passage
was constructed. It would make sense that the people who built it may also have
taken the clue and hidden it somewhere.”

“Go on.”

“Khor Virap was originally a prison. Saint Gregory was kept in the
dungeon there for over a decade. He is the patron saint of Armenia and was
responsible for converting the king, and eventually the entire nation as a
result of his ministry.”

Lindsey was beginning to lose interest in the story about the priest.
“I don’t care about any of that. What is so special about that monastery? And I
warn you, if you are wasting my time, I will not hesitate to drop you in that
hole.”

The Frenchman swallowed hard while trying to convey a look of disdain.
“It was said that Saint Gregory had miraculous healing powers. That he was able
to heal the king. Rumors suggested he had access to some ancient power. To
many, it was evidence that he had the power of God at his disposal. The
healings made it easy to convert tens of thousands of Armenians.”

Lindsey took a step back, lowering his flashlight. He looked over at
Will, whose face was barely illuminated by the whitish-yellow glow of the
beams. Will cast him a glance that basically said they didn’t have any other
play at that point.

“How far away is this place?” Lindsey asked finally.

“Not far,” DeGard shook his head. “But we will have to cross the
border to get there.”

Kaba spoke up. “Not a problem. The border is not heavily patrolled in
an area not far from Khor Virap. We should be able to cross over without any
problems if we fly low.”

The old man hesitated for a moment, deciding the best course of
action. He couldn’t afford any more mistakes. Back in the United States, over
two thousand crates awaited his orders to be shipped all over the world. The
longer it took to find what he was looking for, the riskier the entire mission
became. If the legends about Saint Gregory were true, he may have had access to
the fruit of the tree from Eden. The story description certainly aligned with
every bit of research he’d done through the years.

The ability to heal, energize, and grant immortality were all
components of the tree God had placed in the Garden of Eden. With it, he would
be able to live forever and destroy all the sinful people of the world.

Lindsey raised one eyebrow, but his face remained stern. “Very well.
Let’s investigate the monastery. Perhaps our friend, Saint Gregory, left us
something of interest after all.”

Cartersville, Georgia

“So, tell me again what it is you’re doing?” Joe watched as his wife
scanned through what looked like a complicated spreadsheet.

Helen had accessed the Biosure database using a bunch of terms he’d
not understood. She’d said something about going in through their back door,
but after that, everything had been mumbo jumbo to him. Whatever she did, it
had worked, and now they were staring at hundreds of order manifests for
Biosure influenza vaccines.

“It looks like they’re shipping these all over the world,” Helen
remarked as she scrolled down the list of shipping addresses and orders. “I
wonder why all the dates are open. Wouldn’t they all be queued to leave on
specific days and times?”

Her face expressed the same confusion as Joe’s. It didn’t make sense.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of orders were listed there on the screen. But none
of them had a shipping date. Joe’s mind was turning as his wife continued to
look through the spreadsheet.

“If what Sean said was correct, it sounds like Lindsey is planning to
use Biosure to distribute some kind of super virus out into the world. But he
wouldn’t do that unless he could protect himself from the virus.” Helen could
tell the wheels were turning in Joe’s head.

He rubbed his beard for a few moments before continuing. “So, that is
what he’s looking for. He’s trying to find the tree of life from the Garden of
Eden because he thinks it will make him immune to whatever it is he’s going to
unleash. He must believe it has some kind of medicinal properties that can
override the virus.”

Helen looked up from the computer while Joe finished his thought. She
glanced back at the computer for a second then returned her gaze to him. “These
shipments are all some kind of super bug?” Her face contorted, disturbed at the
idea. “They are ready to be sent to major cities all over the globe. It will be
a pandemic within days.

Joe nodded. “So it would seem. We have to make sure those shipments
don’t go anywhere until we can get a sample to the CDC, and confirm what it is
we’re dealing with.”

Helen acknowledged what Joe had said with a quick nod. She turned her
attention to the computer screen and began typing furiously. Several different
windows popped up while she worked, but before he could see what they were, the
boxes disappeared. He had never seen anyone type as fast as his wife. Come to
think of it, he had never really seen his wife do anything on the computer. Joe
assumed that she used it for browsing the Internet or Pinterest, typical
things. Now he could see there was a layer to his wife he’d never known about.
She was a government trained computer hacker. The thought actually excited him
for a second before he redirected his focus back to task.

She hit the “enter” key and watched as a flurry of numbers and letters
passed across the screen. At last, a window popped up that read, “account
created.”

Joe leaned over and saw the message. “What does that mean?” he asked
over her shoulder.

Helen smiled at his reflection on the monitor. “I just created an all
access pass for us to get into Biosure’s headquarters.”

“Are you serious?” his face was in utter disbelief. “You just broke
into the Biosure computer system and gave us access to the building?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “I figured it would be safer to send it there than
to our house.”

“Honey,” Joe beamed. “Did I ever tell you you’re amazing?”

“Not as often as you should,” she grinned as she looked up at him.

Up until that point in their relationship, Joe had never seen such
guile from his wife. And they had been married for twenty years. He had always
assumed she was overprotective of him out of fear of being alone. Now, he
realized she had probably seen and done things that showed her a world of
trouble. Her way of keeping him out of that trouble was to nag him.

Another thought occurred to Joe, interrupting the ones about his wife
and her mysterious past.

“But will they know we hacked into their system? I guess what I’m
asking is, will someone be able to track where the order came from?”

Her face became slightly more serious.“ Maybe. That is always a
possibility. That is why we need to move fast. I doubt anyone at Biosure will
notice, but I’d rather not chance it. We will have to act quickly and get a
sample of whatever that stuff is over to Jenny.”

“Did I say you were good?” Joe smiled broadly from behind his beard.
“I mean, you are really good.”

“Thank you. Now, we need to think about how to navigate that
building,” she stated in a thick southern drawl.

“Right.”

Her expression turned serious as she switched back to the computer
screen. The huge list of addresses on the manifest stared back at her. “I just
hope we get to this in time.”