Tomb of Zeus (Atlantis) (6 page)

“No Jack, no stupid interventions… and no tricks or gimmicks either. How would you like another adventure?” he asked with growing excitement.

“No thanks,” Jack said, dryly.

“No seriously, Jack. I’ve made a new discovery, here in Atlantis,” he said.

“Don’t tell… let me guess. You’ve found Poseidon’s toilet.”

“Ha ha, very funny. No, I’m not certain, but I think we’ve found Zeus’ burial chamber.”

Javi listened but heard only silence.

“Jack, you still there? Did you hear what I just said?”

“Sorry Javi, I was taking a sip of my beer. Yeah I heard you.”

He overheard Javi exhale in exasperation.

“So what do you think? Exciting right?”
Javi asked.

“Not really. We already knew there was a possibility of another burial chamber on the right hand side of the pyramid… old news.”

“No Jack, that right hand chamber you’re talking about turned out to be just a shadow we misread on the imaging printout. There’s no chamber on the right hand side.”

“So what chamber
are
you talking about?” Jack asked, now mildly interested.

“Well, it’s not quite confirmed yet, but I think we might have found a chamber deep below the pyramid, at its center.”

“Below the pyramid? As in underground?”

“The pyramid was carved out of solid limestone, so the chamber is somewhere below the base level, carved deeper into the stone. Not really underground per se, just lower in elevation than the base level.”

“Like a vault, then?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, sort of.”

“Hold the phone there professor. I think you’re forgetting something,” Jack started, sarcastically.

“And that is?”
Javi groaned.

“The city of Atlantis was wiped out by an enormous tidal wave. That wave also buried the pyramid. We found a thick layer of silt that had seeped into the corridors and chambers when we entered the pyramid. That was at a relatively high elevation. If you’re talking about a vault deep in the ground, wouldn’t it be chocked full of dirt?”

“I thought of that too, but if they had drainage specifically design to handle that kind of flow, we might see very little sediment buildup after the tidal wave. It’s pretty clear the Atlanteans knew about the underwater rivers that flowed deep beneath the surrounding mountains of limestone. I’m thinking they accounted for the flooding at some point in their calculations and built drains to handle the problem,” Javi explained.

“They were clever little devils, weren’t they?” Jack joked.

“So what do you think? Impressive, huh?”

“I guess so,” he responded dryly.

“You guess so? Jack, if
my hunch is correct, this’ll be the greatest find since… since…”

“Since the last greatest find?”
Jack teased

“Yeah, sort of. Maybe even greater. Who knows where this could all end up? Just think of the possibilities.”

“Sounds exciting,” Jack responded, his voice lacking enthusiasm once more.

“Jack, I want you here for this. After all we’ve been through, it wouldn’t be right to find Zeus without you. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, Javi. I’m kind of busy right now,” he said, realizing the absurdity of his statement. “Well… I plan on being busy shortly.”

“Jack, come on. We both know you don’t have any plans. In fact, I’m betting if I was to hang u
p the phone right now and call back six month later, you’d be doing exactly the same thing you’re doing now… which is nothing,” Javi stated in serious tone. “This is it, Jack. This is the opportunity of a life time.”

“I don’t know, Javi. I just don’t feel up to it,”
Jack said, taking another sip of his beer.

There was a long pause between the two. Javi finally broke the silence.

“Jack, I didn’t want to say this, but I think Serena will be here too.”

Jack sat up straight in his seat. His heart beat faster. He imagined himself holding her hand and the sound of her soft voice.

“I suppose I could put some of my plans here on hold,” Jack joked.

“Thought that might interest you,” Javi shot back, sarcastically.

“So when do you want me out there?”

“You’re booked on the six o
’clock flight tomorrow morning,” Javi shot back quickly.

“Pretty sure of yourself, huh?” Jack teased.

“It was touch and go there for a while, but I was sure you’d make the right choice,” he replied boldly.

Jack laughed at Javier’s confidence.

“Ok Javi, see you in a couple of days,” he responded, ending the conversation.

----- ----- ----- -----

Two days later…

Cythera, Greece: Kithira Island National Airport

Jack stepped from the
last stair leading off the twin engine commuter airliner and onto the hot tarmac. He felt the heat radiating up and into his face, causing him to immediately sweat.

“Welcome to Greece,” he sneered aloud.

From inside the small airport terminal, Javi Arista watched for Jack through the windows. As several people stepped out of Jack’s path, Javi caught a clear shot of his brawny six foot two frame. He smiled as he noticed Jack’s clean shaven face.

Javi
stepped through the rear door of the terminal that lead to the airport parking area. As Jack approached, he flashed a great smile.

Jack spotted the short balding man in his fifties step through the rear door. Instantly, he recognized Javi as he approached.

“Looks like someone has put on a little weight,” Jack teased loudly.

“And looks like someone’s brown hair has gotten lighter. Lounging in the sun are we? And what happened to the goatee?”
Javi teased.

Jack reached up and rubbed his bare chin.

“My mom said I was beginning to look like a gangster,” he joked.

The two stopped just feet from each other. Jack dropped his duffle bag, then leaned in and hugged his friend.

“Good to see you again,” Javi said in jovial tone.

“Back attacha. What’s it been, a year?”

“A little over. And wait till you see the progress on the pyramid,” Javi said enthusiastically.

“Impressive?” Jack asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “So what do you think? Do you think the vault is Zeus’ burial chamber?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, we found two golden statues inside the pyramid: one of Zeus and one of Poseidon. Most of the hieroglyphics are dedicated to both those men, yet we’ve only found one burial chamber: Poseidon’s. If I had to guess, the chamber I think I’ve found has to be Zeus’.”

“So you haven’t actually broken into the chamber yet?”

“Not yet. Like before, we ran our scans from the surface and straight down from inside Poseidon’s tomb. The void I found appears to be roughly thirty of so feet below the base level of the pyramid. From the initial data, it also appears we’re seeing large metallic objects inside the chamber.”

“Gold,” Jack speculated.

“Yeah, it kind of looks that way,” Javi responded in positive tone.

“So have you found a way in yet?”

“Not quite yet. We think we’ve found a hallway but we’re not sure yet,” Javi responded cryptically.

“It’s not showing up on your scan?”
Jack asked with suspicion.

“No, it’s showing up alright,”
he responded, still evasive.

“So what’s the problem?”

“There’s a huge wall blocking the corridor,” Javi stated with reluctance.

“Perfect! So what you’re telling me is no one has cleared away the booby traps, which means we have our work cut out for us,” Jack responded with apprehension. “Just what I need to get back into the swing of things… a little death defying danger.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Javi teased.

----- ----- ----- -----

Javi drove to his rented stone cottage overlooking the city of Atlantis. Although for centuries the city’s name had been named Palaiopoli, once the discovery was made that their city was the original site of Atlantis, the inhabitants proudly adopted the new name.

Standing on the rear patio to the cottage, Jack stared at the great three hundred foot pyramid of Atlantis, carved from a mountain of limestone. He recalled their frantic search to find it and of the evil Russian thugs that met their demise while holding Serena Arista hostage. He smiled as he reflected on their discovery of Poseidon’s tomb, found high up inside the pyramid’s top and especially of finding Poseidon himself, perfectly preserved in his sealed crystal coffin.

As he looked around, the once quiet city he remembered before their discovery, had now transformed into a bustling tourist destination.

Javi walked up beside him and stared at the pyramid. His stomach churned with anticipation.

“Just like old times, eh?” he said excitedly.

“Not quite. This time we don’t have the Russian mafia breathing down our necks. Kinda takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?” he replied.

“Ugh… don’t remind me. Those were the worst moments of my life,” Javi responded. “Honestly Jack, if it weren’t for you, Serena probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

“I know. Staring at the pyramid, I was just remembering
all of that. Glad we outsmarted them.”

“
YOU
outsmarted them, Jack,” Javi replied proudly.

“I
did
, didn’t I? Put the old smack down on their evil asses, huh?” he joked.

“More like the squash down, if you ask me. I think the cleanup crew ended u
p scooping them up with shovels after they lifted that ceiling off them.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a mor
e deserving bunch of scum bags,” Jack shot back.

The two smiled agreeably.

“Well, you ready to get this show started?” Javi asked.

“No time like the present,”
Jack responded, smiling with anticipation.

As they walked toward Javi’s jeep, Jack asked another question.

“So, what’s Serena’s roll in all of this? Is she at the pyramid now?”

Javi hesitated a moment, the
n responded.

“I’m not quite sure. She was pretty vague about her visit… but I’m sure she’ll be here at some point.”

Jack stopped and stared at Javi. He sensed something unusual about his response.

“Javi, she
is
coming, isn’t she?”

Javi glance over nervously at Jack and nodded.

“As far as I can tell, she is.”

Jack felt uneasy about Javi’s response, but chose to let it go.

----- ----- ----- -----

One hour later…

The drive to the great limestone pyramid took nearly an hour as the road snaked through the hillside, gaining elevation with each hairpin turn they took. As the two pulled into a large parking area, far away from the tourist entrance, Jack noticed an extensive amount of activity since the last time he was there, more than a year ago. Heavy equipment, from a bulldozer and dump truck, to utility trailers and loose buildi
ng supplies, were spread out across a newly leveled work area.

“What a difference a year can make,” he noted aloud.

“This is all just recent activity. If you recall a year ago, we had to share the same parking lot with the tourists. Kind of made working up here difficult. Once I determined that Zeus’ chamber was a probability, the Department of Tourism granted me the permits to expand the area on the opposite side in order to work.”

“Wow, they gave up the permits that fast? Had to pull a few more strings, I’m guessing, huh?” Jack teased.

“You have no idea. I had to fabricate a report indicating that tourists would be in grave danger when the time came to explore the corridor and chamber. Once they heard about the possibility of lost revenue due to tourist deaths, the Department rubber-stamped my requests ASAP.”

“Javi, aren’t you taking this a bit too lightly?”
Jack questioned with serious concern.

“What do you mean?”
Javi responded slightly puzzled.

“You said you had to ‘fabricate’ a report. Have you forgotten about the previous deaths, not to mention
your own near-death experience when we first entered the pyramid? I’m certain anything you put in that report wasn’t a fabrication. I’m betting that new corridor and chamber are well protected against grave robbers… and archeologist.”

“I think we’re better prepared this time around. I know there’s a risk, but I think with all this new equipment and electronics, I’m fairly ce
rtain we’ll be relatively safe,” he said confidently.