The Third Day (40 page)

For a moment, I didn’t move – mostly because I was still bewildered at how I had managed to stay alive. 

Then, Naomi came scampering through the scrub, followed by Lavon and Markowitz.  Each man held the
gladius
he had taken from their attackers. 

“Damn,” said Markowitz as he surveyed the scene.  “I didn’t realize you were so handy with a sword.” 

I wasn’t.  I had just proven that. 

“I didn’t do it,” I said. 

“
She
killed him?” he said incredulously. 

“Them,” I corrected.  “She killed
them
.  Plural.” 

We left Sharon alone for a moment; but when the time seemed right, I reached down and helped her to her feet. 

“
You
saved my life
,” I said.  “I don’t know how to thank you.” 

And I
was
truly grateful; though at that instant, I was more concerned about diverting her attention from the full realization of what she had done. 

I needn’t have worried.  Sharon proved resilient, and none of the others displayed the slightest unease over the fate of our adversaries. 

For her part, Naomi viewed the spectacle with wholesale approval; and to my surprise, Markowitz appeared almost giddy – a complete reversal of his reaction after the contest in the Antonia. 

Lavon reminded us that we still had a few loose ends to tidy up as well. 

“We need to get these bodies hidden,” he said.  “If we don’t, the vultures will start circling and somebody will wander over to check out why.” 

After a brief search, I located a crevice where we could stuff the corpses before we sealed the entrance with rocks.  With luck, the wild dogs wouldn’t dig them out for a couple of days, although passers-by would most likely notice the smell before then. 

Naomi helped me manhandle the first three into the gap while Lavon and Markowitz ambled back down the hill, returning a few minutes later with their respective victims in tow. 

As we wedged them into the fissure, Lavon explained that Naomi’s plan had worked to perfection.  Just as she had done with the guards in the palace, this ostensibly demure, timid creature had led these men to their doom. 

This time, she had “panicked” and set off on a dead run.  Lavon and Markowitz had hidden to one side and bludgeoned their targets with stout olive branches as they rushed by in hot pursuit.  Ray then crushed what was left of his opponent’s skull to ensure he would remain silent, which accounted for the third thump I had heard. 

Topping off her Academy Award-winning performance, Naomi had then fallen to her knees, begging and whimpering for her life so that the soldiers chasing Sharon and me would not become alarmed. 

“Remind me to stay on her good side,” I said to Lavon. 

He laughed.  “Yeah, I think we all should.” 

It was only as we completed our macabre task that I realized we had one additional problem. 

“Where’s Bryson?” I asked. 

Lavon hadn’t noticed until then, either. 

He shot Naomi a dirty look.  She and the Professor were supposed to stand watch together, while the archaeologist and I rested. 

“I couldn’t stop him,” she said.  “I couldn’t understand him.  You know that.  He started going north.” 

Lavon rolled his eyes, as did I.  The damned fool. 

She began to babble more urgently, “You told me to stay in one spot.  You told me – ”

Lavon sighed and held his finger up to her lips.  “Don’t worry about it. 
You
did the right thing.” 

Naomi, though, wasn’t yet convinced of that. 

“I should have woken you,” she repeated, “but you said to stand and watch.  You said not to disturb you unless we saw soldiers.  You said …” 

We both realized that the poor girl had probably been beaten for less. 

Lavon let her ramble on for a moment; then reiterated what he had said before.  He emphasized once again that we did not blame her for Bryson’s disappearance, and finally the message began to sink in. 

As she recovered her composure, she also recognized that we didn’t consider the event a complete surprise. 

“Do you know where he’s going?” she asked.  

Lavon sighed.  “Yes.” 

“Where
is
he going?” asked Markowitz, after Lavon had translated. 

“Where do you think?” I said. 

“The tomb?” said Sharon.  

Lavon nodded.  

“I didn’t think he knew where it was,” she replied. 

“He might not know the absolute exact spot, but we now have a pretty good picture of its general location.” 

“How?” she asked.  “Who figured that out?” 

Given Sharon’s fragile mental state, I had hoped to avoid this distraction; but there was no getting around it now. 

Lavon laughed.  “You did.” 

The implications took a moment to sink in. 

“Oh my God!” she finally said. 

“As it turned out, you kicked off a bit of a fuss among the Temple authorities.  From what Publius told us, Joseph was not pleased.” 

She didn’t answer.  She just kept repeating to herself, “Oh my God.” 

I let her go on until her breathing came back close to normal.  Then I reached over and took both of her hands. 

“Sharon, we’re not home yet.” 

“I
saw
him,” she exclaimed.  “I can’t believe I
slept
in his tomb.” 

I didn’t think that could be any more sacrilegious than what modern gawkers did every day, but in her current frame of mind, she didn’t seem like she’d be open to that particular point of view. 

Still …

“Listen to me, Sharon,” I said.  “We need you with us, in the present, right now.  Whatever you saw; whatever you want to do as a result; you have to
live
to make that happen.  You can do nothing for him as a corpse; certainly not here.” 

She nodded weakly. 

“Sharon, do you understand?  We
need
you.” 

After a moment, she nodded again, and this time I could see that she meant it. 

“Can you find it again?” asked Lavon.  “Can you locate the tomb if we go back?” 

Sharon briefly hesitated and looked up toward the rapidly clearing late-afternoon sky. 

“I think so,” she finally said. 

Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  When she opened them again, her voice carried the ring of authority. 

“Yes, I will find it.” 

We headed north as fast as we could travel without giving the appearance of undue haste to passers-by.  Everyone wanted to put as much distance as we could between ourselves and the site of our skirmish, just in case, though otherwise we were in no hurry. 

I calculated that if Bryson had made his departure just after Lavon and I had fallen asleep, he had about a three hour head start on his journey to the tomb.  We’d catch up to him soon enough, unless …

“Do you think he’ll get lost?” I asked Lavon. 

The archaeologist laughed.  Over the past few years, both of us had watched otherwise brilliant and capable technologists become hopelessly disoriented whenever their GPS gadgets had failed.  Old-fashioned orienteering remained a useful skill, despite the ridicule of the “dead tree” crowd. 

However, as we considered the matter, neither of us believed this would be a problem today.  To reach the quarry complex, all the Professor had to do was trace a circle around the city’s main walls.  He knew generally where it was, and as long as he avoided conflict with other travelers, he’d stumble onto it eventually. 

***

As we came closer to the Antonia, I felt brief pangs of worry that we might encounter Roman pursuers as well, but the more I thought about it, the more my concerns diminished. 

In the broad scheme of things, we were small fry – at least today.  Given everything that had happened over the past week, Pilate and the senior officials were undoubtedly breathing deep sighs of relief that they had made it to the Passover without an explosive cataclysm of violence. 

As for the ordinary soldiers, I had been in their shoes long enough to know that they were probably just beginning to knock back their first goblets of wine, thankful to be alive, like their counterparts throughout the ages. 

The others, though, didn’t completely share my assessment.  Sharon, in particular, grew more worried the closer we came to the western side of the city, so we finally decided to conceal ourselves behind a small ridge and take a brief rest. 

“I’m not wild on the idea of going
anywhere
near the palace again,” she said.  “Do you think Herod will send more men after us?” 

I was certain he would – though not of the timing. 

“It depends on when their commanders realize the first batch has gone AWOL,” I said. 

Lavon put the question to Naomi, who explained that the city’s gates would be sealed tight at sunset for the Sabbath and the Passover.  If the soldiers couldn’t make it back by then, they’d just camp out for the night. 

“They’d probably prefer that, anyway,” she added. 

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to guard five prisoners?” asked Sharon. 

Lavon couldn’t help but laugh.  He knew, as I did, that no guarding would be necessary.  If we got caught, the soldiers would pass the time taking turns with the two women, while the remainder of our heads greeted the dawn from the bottom of a sack. 

But these thoughts, ironically, made me feel better about our chances. 

Lavon agreed.  “In all likelihood,” he said, “no one will begin asking questions about the guards until mid-morning, at least.” 

Sharon glanced over to me.  “If that’s the case, why don’t we do what you suggested earlier and put as much distance between ourselves and the city as we can.  We can travel through the night if we have to; the moon is full.” 

This was eminently sensible.  I felt sure that we could find water somewhere.  Moreover, according to Lavon, the most fanatical Zealots refused to fight on the Sabbath, so our odds were at least reasonable that we could avoid any conflicts with the crew who had ambushed us coming in. 

The others rose up and started off to the west, but as they did, a darker thought entered my mind. 

I reached up to touch the comforting Kevlar thread around my neck, which suddenly felt much less reassuring. 

“We may have another problem,” I said.  “Do you all still have your chips?” 

They did not.  Sharon had lost hers when Herod had taken her transmitter, and Markowitz’s had disappeared in the dungeon.  Only Lavon and I had managed to hang on to our precious composites. 

“As long as we stay together, we don’t all need one,” the archaeologist said. 

“OK,” I replied.  “But …” 

Sharon interrupted.  “Then we don’t have to risk it.  Let the Professor take his chances, if he’s so inclined.” 

“Quite frankly, I’d like nothing more than to do just that,” I said.  “But I’m not certain we can any longer; not now.” 

I held out my chip and displayed it to the others. 

“Do you remember when we first got to the fortress, when Bryson showed us his, with the LED warning light?” 

“We didn’t have them,” said Markowitz.  “He said ours were earlier prototypes.” 

“That’s right.” 

The others weren’t slow to catch on. 

“Are you saying they might not work?” asked Sharon.  

“We have to consider the possibility,” I replied. 

“But that doesn’t make sense,” said Sharon.  “When we departed the lab, our whole objective was to conduct a rescue operation and bring Dr. Bryson back home.  Juliet had no incentive to block our return.” 

“That’s also correct,” I said.  “She had no incentive
then
.  But what if they can communicate – for instance, with light signals, like Morse Code?” 

“Why?” gasped Sharon.  “Why would he strand us here now?” 

“It would eliminate an inconvenient obstacle to his plans,” said Lavon. 

The archaeologist explained to Sharon the nature of the arguments we had undertaken while she endured her captivity in Herod’s palace.  To her credit, she found Bryson’s schemes as barmy as we had. 

“Recall also that Juliet had us sneak in the back door at five in the morning,” Lavon added.  “Our cars are still at the hotel.  Sure, someone will eventually ask questions when we never come back, but what’s that phrase the politicians use?” 

“Plausible deniability,” I said.  “When the police show up, as they will at some point, she can give them the run of the place.  Sure, we
were
there, but …” 

“This is still completely illogical,” said Sharon.  “Jesus’s tomb isn’t the only one in the area.  It’s not obvious which one is correct.” 

“I wonder if
he
knows that?” I asked.