The Third Temple - An Archeology Thriller

The Third Temple Sam Riley book Seven written by Christopher cartright narrated by David Gilmore prologue part one namibian desert 1655 it was just before midnight when Harper Smith climbed to the final rise of the highest Sand Dune the air smelled richly of salt giving him hope the coast was near by his calculations they should have reached it before nightfall if he'd Made a mistake with his navigation there was no way they would survive long enough to see it corrected he was badly winded the muscles of his calves and thighs were hot with pain he breathed

heavily and peered out into the distance to where the Atlantic Ocean should have been instead beneath the silent Moonlight he saw nothing but the Majestic rolling sand dunes of the namibian desert he swore loudly cursing his Greed it had already claimed the lives of 12 members of his original party he felt no guilt at being responsible for their deaths they knew the risks before they became involved in his treacherous and evil business the rewards would never have been so high if their task had been less dangerous besides his punishment would come in the morning when

the scorching new Sun would send him to his grave that was if his pursuers didn't reach him First Smith remained at the crest until midnight so that he could take a reading of the South Celestial pole using his Cal the device consisted of a small parallelogram made of intricately carved Ivory roughly 1 in by 2 in wide it had a single string inserted through its center with a series of knots evenly spaced along its length it was a simple device but it measured latitude accurately he traded for it 3 years ago With a small Arab

man in Istanbul who said that his people had used the device for Celestial navigation since the 9th century the air was bitterly cold but he didn't feel it as he searched the sky above for the Crux the cross-shaped constellation that would later become known as the Southern Cross he didn't feel much at all above the pain Smith and his remaining party had been traveling west for 7 days now fatigue piled upon the end stages of Dehydration had pushed him long past any sense of pain and left him physically as well as mentally numb it was

time to know the truth even though it would do little good for him now Smith bit the end of the string with his crooked teeth and held the other end of the Cal up toward the Horizon he slowly moved the ivory card along the string until it was positioned so the lower Edge became even with the Horizon and the upper Edge occluded the crust He then calculated the angle by counting the number of knots from his teeth to the card each knot was precisely the same distance along the string and each one represented approximately 1.5°

of latitude he wasn't interested in any of the regular knots instead there was one Mark noted with a single old bronze coin Smith adjusted the card until his hand reached the metal and then stopped his brother shared an identical Cal many weeks earlier before he'd Entered The Wretched desert in search of the Damned Temple and its godforsaken Relic he and his brother both added an additional knot on the string of each of their Cals by tying it around an old bronze coin so that it would be impossible to mistake that way when Smith and his

party set out into the the desert all he needed to do was Head West and maintain the same point along the Kamal the point identified the precise Latitude along the African West Coast where his brother would be waiting for him aboard the emerald star he stared at the result and swore a violent oath he took the sighting again and achieved the same result it had been 3 days since he'd been able to take a on the first he thought he could hear the echo of the pursuers war cry sound he later realized traveled miles across

the open sand dunes of the namibian desert he couldn't rule out the Possibility that he'd imagined it either not that it mattered the fact was it had sent a shiver of fear through his soul which made him unwilling to delay their movement even for a minute on the second night cloud cover had prohibited a sighting of the Crux which meant that tonight was the first night he could get an accurate reading he just hoped it wasn't 24 hours too late the coin had moved downward which meant he and his party had somehow Drifted north of

their intended latitude he mentally recalled the shape of the African Coastline it steered Westward as they traveled North if he'd maintained the correct latitude he would be staring at the Atlantic Ocean by now and the emerald star instead he was staring at more sand dunes it confirmed what he already knew they were a long way off course despite the cold sweat dripped and stung his eyes he took out the Compass from his right breast pocket and carefully took a bearing to the southeast there was no way to know how much longer it would take it

didn't matter without more water they would all be dead long before they reached it he'd gotten it wrong but how he didn't know not that it mattered anymore fact was that he wasn't anywhere near where he was supposed to be he glanced at the remaining men from his party he should have told them but He couldn't face it only two of the original 15 men were left and they had chosen to follow him because their greed had given them the image of a future where they were extremely rich the remaining two members of his party

approached slowly as though each step caused an immense pain and they had to make the conscious decision to either overcome it and keep going or lie down and die Jack Baker who at the age of 20 was Was by far the youngest of the group and Thomas Hammersmith who was nearly 40 and as greedy and selfish a man as he'd ever met Jack Baker stopped next to him his wide dark brown eyes stared imploringly up at him for any good news how much longer do you make it Smith not long now boys Smith lied his

eyes fixed on theirs his face hardened by a lifetime time of exploration softened as he spoke another 12 hours at most and we'll Be on board the emerald star and very rich men Hammer Smith swore 12 hours I may as well lie down here and die Smith Shrugged and said nothing it didn't make any difference to him they could follow him if they wanted or they could give up and die it was their choice there was only one way to survive and that was to grit their teeth and keep walking if they didn't have it

in them to do so they didn't deserve to make It Smith had no intention of letting death win so easily he clenched his teeth glanced at his compass and started to walk again this time he turned from a predominantly Western Direction and headed due south he had to be quick if the other members of his party lost momentum and stopped for more than a few minutes they could never be cajoled into moving again it's a rare thing to see a man so fatigued that he should rather Lie down and rest than keep walking and live

Smith took the first painful step he felt his legs burn they walked on through the night without stopping again Smith knew their movement was slow but they had to keep going if they didn't their pursuers would almost certainly catch up with them he shuddered at the thought of what they would do to him and his men no it was far better to push them hard and die of thirst than to get Captured in the morning the sun crept steadily higher until it reached directly overhead once there it appeared to linger and remain for eternity the

temperature soared a few degrees above 100 F he stopped unable to continue without a rest just before 3:00 Smith cursed another vicious oath and dropped his carry pack in the sand he opened it and looked at his pitiful remaining Inventory he removed each item and placed it next to the bag in the sand carefully making a mental note of the weight and value of each one there was a single leather flask on almost entirely bereft of water one sharp knife his precious journal and his lerino katso wheel loock rifle he glanced up at the sun

it burned with such heat that it would undoubtedly kill them all before it set Jack Baker asked Which Way Smith turned to meet the young man his face remained impassive same direction go on straight ahead I'll catch up Jack nodded and kept walking Smith glanced behind Hammer Smith was still following but slowly if he had to guess he figured the man wasn't going to make it Smith didn't let the thought Linger on his conscience he no longer felt responsible for the safety of every member of his team they'd all resigned that right when they Joined

this evil task it was now up to each of them to dig deep and retrieve whatever strength they had left to survive Smith returned his gaze to the carry pack the animal hide appeared worn he' never had to carry it before it along with his Camel had traveled many miles over the past decade after he and his party left the pyramid with the stolen Relic they had ridden their camels as hard as they dared in the end they had pushed their Noble beasts to Their deaths the creatures had proven their worth and given his party

a significant Gap ahead of their pursuers who were on foot when the last camel went lame they had to make the agonizing decision of what to keep their sleeping bags were the first to go followed by additional bags of shot and powder and cooking equipment each of them had carried a large leather flask containing water but only Smith was strong enough to labor Through the grueling sand while carrying the camel's pack the contents of which were now negligible he quickly consumed the last of the water and then threw away the flask the lazarino katso wheel

loock rifle had cost him a fortune and he hated to part with it but he could quickly see the weapon was no good to him if he died besides it would do little to dissuade the army of sa aves if they caught up with him he dropped it Into the sand and next to it he discarded the final bag of his rifle shot but not his remaining bag of powder that he would still need if he ever reached the Atlantic he looked at the journal a lifetime worth of work and exploration was documented inside the

thought of discarding it was impossible to accept besides without it the artifact effect would be useless he would never locate the buyer again and Even if he could the man would refuse to pay the exorbitant price he'd agreed on and why should he its gold value alone would be all it was worth without the journal no the journal must stay he would rather die than lose it after all these years in fact he'd rather bury it better no man should find the truth if he couldn't reach the place in time Smith placed the journal inside

the bag it made him feel better to see it inside a final reminder there was still Hope albeit a very slim chance but still he hadn't failed entirely his eyes darted toward his knife it was a gift from his father who'd been an Explorer before him an old weapon with an even older Damascus steel blade kept rigorously sharpened to maintain a perfect Edge it had been with him a long time and seen most of the known world but there was nothing it could do to save him Now he left it in the sand with a

slight Pang of loss and then tied the top of the carry pack together to create a seal in one movement Smith lifted the heavy bag and slipped his arms through the straps the weight of it nearly knocked him to the ground it was a burden none of the other men could possibly hope to Bear he looked at the Cal and dropped it unceremoniously in the sand there was no point carrying it if he didn't reach the coast by the End of the day he never would there was one other item concealed at the bottom of

all the items it was the heaviest he knew he should have thrown the ancient Relic away the weight of the gold alone would kill him that is if its curse hadn't already set in motion his death he shook his head it was impossible to discard such an item he pictured the Hideous golden skull with its sweet flavored scent Burning at the center of the pyramid it was more valuable than anything he'd ever seen more valuable than anything he'd ever heard of or even imagined the grotesque device har a certain power he would never have believed

existed if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes it was because of the Relic he'd taken such risks and was now suffering more than at any other time in his life Smith had been an Explorer all his life but this was the Pinnacle of His achievements and only he knew the extent of what he'd done he recalled what the purple-eyed devil who' given him the the map to the damn Temple had told him they won't hurt you they will replenish your supplies and welcome you it will be easy to steal from such trusting people

Smith had asked why the man was willing to pay such a high price for something that he could easily steal Himself because they will recognize me on sight and kill me Thomas Hammersmith interrupted his thoughts when will we reach the emerald star Smith said by Nightfall Hammer Smith stared at the rolling sand dunes ahead are you sure all I see is Desert I bet my life on it Hammer Smith's mouth opened to object they had already bet their lives on it I can't go On Smith said not my problem no my legs are weak my

throat is dry and my tongue is swollen I can't go on any further all right Smith said without looking back at the helpless man it wasn't his fault everyone had a Breaking Point Hammersmith would be dead within a few hours if he was lucky if his body managed to hold on any longer than that they would reach him Smith shuddered at the thought he couldn't imagine what they would do to him after what they had Stolen Hammer Smith screamed out Smith you can't just leave me here you bastard Smith ignored the cry Hammer Smith begged

what about my ration of water Smith ignored him again I had two more rations of water left left Smith continued he alone had the physical and mental strength to carry the remaining parties water every other person in the group would collapse under the weight of a single drop of water and Those who didn't would succumb to the desperate need for rehydration their thirst would have overpowered the strongest among them and they would have drunk it all in one pitiful gulp didn't look back at Thomas Hammersmith there was nothing he could say the man was as

good as dead he just didn't realize it yet it would be pointless to waste any more water on him that's if there was any water Left none of the lies mattered he'd either got the navigation right this time and would see the dark blue of the Atlantic Ocean by dusk or they would all perish he breathed hard and pushed himself to keep going there might just be a chance he would survive that's if my brother's still waiting Thomas Hammersmith was a lean seny man with deep set eyes the same dark brown as his hair they

spoke of a Life filled with hardship and plenty of suffering his face was hard with a heavily defined jawline Hollow cheeks and jutting chin it would never have been considered very handsome but it could have once been a pleasant face too warm and open he drifted In and Out Of Consciousness throughout the day during his intermittent periods of wakefulness he called out for Smith begging him for just one more drop of water before he Died he called to the other members of the party not just to Jack Baker he called out to those who had

already perished too in his Delirious State he struggled to recall who was alive and who was dead at one point he thought he saw his wife who had died 3 years earlier during childbirth she looked at him with pity would you like a drink please he begged she smiled at him silently in her hand she held a flask Out in front of her but just out of his reach he tried to grab it but his arm wasn't long enough he crawled through the burning sand his face dragging through it his mouth opened and he tried

to reach it again but her hands were still out of his grasp Miriam please I need you to come closer he begged I don't have the strength to move she stared at him her hardened face full of symp syy I'm sorry Thomas I can Only help you so much you'll need to take the final step yourself Thomas stared at his wife how could she be so harsh to him at a time like this her hair was light brown and her plump face was coated with the reddish blush of a woman who'd struggled through the cold

hardship of the Northern Ireland Winters all her life no no one would have ever considered her pretty but she had loved him and he had loved her he had strengthened her Resolve and she had softened his anger together they had made a surprisingly good partnership until God had taken her and his unborn child from him open your mouth and drink she coaxed him Hammersmith tried to drink from the flask but found it tasted like poison he spatted out and stared at his dead wife why would you give this to me she shrieked with laughter because

they're coming for you and you don't want to be Alive when they get here Hammersmith opened his eyes in Terror he opened his mouth to scream instead he coughed his mouth was full of hot sand which burned the back of his throat and he wondered how much he'd consumed he'd heard stories of ship wrecked Sailors becoming so desperate they drank seawat only the salty water would inevitably speed up their deaths would sand have the same effect he heard the war cry from his Pursuers it was faint and melodic as though they were repeating the same

series of words over and over again they were still far away but it wouldn't take long for them to close the gap he considered consuming more sand if it would bring about his more IM immediate demise the war cry forced his mind to return to the temple he tried so hard to forget back to the kind people who worshiped there and to those who his party had betrayed so much the temple Was a pyramid and it almost appeared as though it had been constructed by removing all the sand around it instead of building it up

by piling layer upon layer of stone on top of one another Hammersmith recalled the first time he saw it the place looked like the largest stone quarry he'd ever seen like a giant hand had scooped out a massive hole in the earth's Sandy crust but instead of removing everything the giant had left a pyramid of Sandstone at its Center Hammersmith had seen drawings of some of the pyramids found throughout the dry African continent but he'd never imagined just how large they could be he had no way of knowing that this was the largest pyramid ever

built or that great armies from around the world would gladly go to war to steal what it mind inside was the most valuable thing anyone had ever seen the local worshippers had been Quick to show them it was a skull made of gold fashioned so that its teeth appeared to be stuck in some sort of grotesque grin as though it knew just how much each of them had wanted to steal it like the damned thing was encouraging them to take it out of its mouth the strange religious Relic burned with a darkened smoke each of

them was allowed even encouraged to breathe the potent black smoke it sent them into a dreamlike state everything somehow Appeared clear to all of them simultaneously as though every last one of them shared the same common goal they needed to steal the Relic and take it away to where it wanted to go Hammersmith recalled the kind people who had found them nearly starving to death dehydrated and prepared for the sheer intensity of the heat of the namibian desert the darkskinned men and women were Kinder and more generous than any other people he'd ever Encountered they

took them in and healed them with good food water and shelter these were the good people who they'd come to betray because of man's most cruel Master greed and it was that greed that had convinced them to steal their most sacred possession despite the generosity of the native people Hammer Smith and the rest of the men who followed Smith were steadfast in their original goal to Steal a golden Relic so valuable they had at first doubted its existence they had come to the desert in search of it with 18 men and numerous weapons to take

it by force only instead of finding it they had become run down and lost in the desert the golden skull had been laid out at the center of their be beautiful temple on a pedestal the inside of the skull was hollowed and one of the Native men a religious Man by the looks of it Reverently poured a blackened powder inside he lit it and a darkened smoke with a sweet scent enveloped the temple it had made him relax like a strong liquor only unlike alcohol which mellowed him to the point of drowsiness whatever was inside

the skull made him feel good it made him feel strong powerful and like the world was in perfect order it had a similar effect on the rest of the men in the party all 18 of Them they labored for the local people moving large amounts of sand in giant human chains they could work all day without rest and then wake up feeling energized and fully recovered by the morning Hammersmith shook his head it was was the contents of that skull that had made them all so reckless something inside the darkened powder drove them with desire

on the Eighth Day their party had reprovisioned the camels and Smith the Best Navigator among them had determined it would be less than 3 days ride to reach the Atlantic so as humans do they betrayed the very people who'd saved them at 1:00 a.m. they stole the sacred artifact that meant so much to the people who had saved their lives they carefully made their way out of the temple and climbed the giant sand dunes to escape the pyramid while being healed to Good Health they had watched the hundreds if not thousands of men women and

even children work every day to stem the tide of sand which forever fought to drown their Temple from existence they were happy people and said they were privileged to have such a purpose for their God had been very kind to them Hammer Smith climbed the Steep crest of sand until they were out of the Temple's sand pit he watched Smith take a quick Compass bearing and they set off At A hurried Pace riding their camels through most of the night if they were lucky they would have a 5-hour head start on their pursuers their carry

bags were full of water and supplies so they could maintain a good Pace there was little reason to ration anything they'd reached the west coast of Africa days before running out of supplies they might have made it too if their beasts hadn't become lame the sound was excruciatingly loud And appeared to approach from every direction through the Sandy Haze he tried to concentrate on the Dune where the Ang angry horde approached it looked like a black wave in a storm rising up high only to soon crash down again and take him with it to the

next life like a mirage it moved slowly and then it was upon Him Hammersmith knew death had finally caught up a broad smile crossed his cracked and bleeding lips he made a final prayer to his God and now had been Granted his deliverance from this world at least a thousand men women and children cried out they wailed like possessed fiends Demons of the dark underworld their cries tormenting him as they charged past he felt their tough feet and legs brush up against his body as they ran by with each touch he felt the sting of

death upon his skin but somehow that blessed relief never came was this his final torment would they simply let Him die of thirst he was no longer frightened of death no fire in Hell could punish him any more than his Perpetual thirst the Army disappeared and he was left almost entirely on his own once more he watched as one man stopped the the fiend sat down next to him lifting the back of his head the face which had showed so much kindness only days earlier now glowed at him with its whitened teeth and pure Vehement

the monster held him down with his left hand and gripped a large knife in his right he ran the knife over Hammer Smith's face as though he was choosing a momento before killing him an ear a nose his scalp or his dried tongue perhaps he moved slowly as though he was enjoying this Final Act Hammersmith was too weak to resist and let the man move his head freely he no longer had the strength to care if he was to lose any part of his Face after all what use did he have for any of his

body parts but what should the monster decide to take an ear it turned out to be an ear his left one Hammersmith noticed with a numb and morbid curiosity as the monster showed it to him he felt no pain no discomfort not even the loss of a body part he had once found so useful he was about to die and no longer mattered instead he felt relief there was no doubt now the pain Of his past few days was about to end permanently he watched as the fiend lifted his right arm in preparation for the

final stroke the sharp blade made of fragmented obsidian looked like it would perform its task with enviable ease the fiend's arm came down with tremendous speed Hammersmith didn't Flinch his eyes remained glued on the weapon that would take his life but the blade never reached its Target Instead The Wretched man's face Exploded in a gush of broken bone fragments skin tissues and blood Hammersmith heard the report of the rifle a split second later he looked up and saw its owner approach his skin wasn't dark like the rest of the local people instead it was deathly

pale like that of a ghost the Man's eyes were wide and glowed purple as though he was about to see into his soul Hammersmith had never seen anyone With purple eyes the ghost handed him a flask of water here drink this he slowly reached out and took it the liquid sosed inside he stared at it for a moment the water looked clear and there was no talk toxic smell coming from inside he took a small furtive taste it was cool sweet and divine a moment later he gulped the water down until he felt euphoric careful

the stranger advised Him your body's been profoundly dehydrated you'll make yourself sick if you drink too much too fast now Hammersmith took another gulp of water what did he care if he made made himself sick now he had water the ghost handed him another flask of water and a compass keep the bearing due south there's a Portuguese settlement no more than a day's walk from here you should make it easily good luck Hammer Smith stopped drinking and looked up who are You I'm the man trying to retrieve what you stole from my temple the man's

words were spoken calmly without any trace of vehement or reprimand somehow that made them sound even more frightening I'm sorry Hammer Smith mumbled the ghost started to move again he was following the Army who were following the last two remaining members of their original party why did you let me live Hammer Smith shouted the man stopped his voice was was steady clear And held a certain undertone of the danger to come because I want you to go back to my brother and give him a message tell him he'll never get his greedy hands on it

I'd rather destroy it before I let him succeed I've never met you or your brother no the ghost didn't look surprised and he definitely didn't look like he cared he knows you and someone from your party knows him why else did you think You were sent to the temple we didn't know about the temple we were sent to explore the land to the east of the desert the ghost ignored his lies just give him the message but how will I find him don't worry he'll find you Hammer Smith said but it might take years to

find a ship back to civilization and even longer still for your brother to find me that's all right this is a family dispute it's been going For centuries now it can wait Hammer Smith glanced at the man his pale blue eyes weak and pitiful am I dead and are you a god some might see me as that others might call me that my brother would have you believe that the ghost stared at him his intensely purple eyes piercing at his soul the world is approaching the horns of a dilemma my name is death and I

am here to set it on the right path Smith stared out from the crest of The Sand Dune and the dark blue water of the Atlantic stared straight back at him Baker followed him over and screamed in excitement there were a series of sand dunes ahead progressively decreasing in height until the final one became swallowed by the Atlantic he opened his telescope and looked out toward the Atlantic he scanned the area starting from where the Sand Dune entered the water all the way out past the breakers the water looked Like a terrible mixture of white

frothy and turbid waves behind them no more than three or four miles from where he currently stood the emerald star rested at anchor they would reach it within the hour he felt his heart race in anticipation his brother had waited for him he'd played the most dangerous of gambles and it was about to pay off Smith grinned he'd sto stolen what he'd set out to steal he was going to be rich the gold alone was worth a fortune but The man with the purple eyes had offered at least 10 times its weight in gold now

that he'd seen what the Relic could do he didn't doubt for an instant such a tremendous price was achievable he even had wondered whether he wanted to sell it for that price it didn't matter he had plenty of time to make a decision Smith's delir ious sense of Happiness disappeared as quickly as it had arrived with the crack of a rifle shot at first he thought it was coming From the emerald star a signal from his brother perhaps but a second later there could be no doubt about its origins The Sound had come from behind

him his head snapped around to where they'd come it didn't make sense the local people didn't have anything as sophisticated at it as a rifle and he told Hammer Smith to leave his weapon behind days ago he focused his telescope his eyes were wide and his mouth open he stared into the distance where he'd left Thomas Hammersmith 5 hours earlier he made a silent prayer that the poor man had lied about dropping his weapon and had now taken his own life it would be a far better way than to let those angered barbarians reach him

while he was alive he stared at his pursuers as they ran down the Sand Dune like a flooded River Breaking Free of its bank and running wild Smith breathed in deeply it was impossible that anything could coax A human body to run at full speed through a desert even from his distance Smith imagined their powerful muscles straining to propel their muscular frames across the thick sand they were moving much faster than he or Jack could possibly run through the sand my God but they move beautifully Jack asked what do you see Smith said nothing good

that's for sure come on the water's not far now it would seem Preposterous that we're to be butchered so close to our Safety Jack took the telescope and quickly assessed the men in Pursuit they're moving with speed aren't they that they are but they're still five or 6 miles away much too far for them to reach us in time we'll be safe trust me my lad Smith continued to set the pace it was slightly faster than a walk but a long way off from a run he no longer stopped for rests he wasn't quite terrified

yet all he had to do was keep Moving and he'd reached the emerald star with time to spare it wasn't long before he heard the strange Battle Cry of his pursuers it started out softly barely audible yet constant at first he thought it might be the sound of the dangerous surf crashing on the Sandy Beach ahead it was too Relentless to be caused by humans but 20 minutes later the sound resonated louder and by 40 minutes Smith could feel the prickly Fingers of Death teasing at his back Jack asked what is that sound Smith ignored

him unable to accept the only possible answer they're close aren't they Jack persisted without attempting to hide his fear Smith nodded he couldn't believe that humans could make such a persistent and horrifying sound but there was no denying its Origins now it was the sound of the fiends who chased them approaching fast it caused fear to rise in his throat like bile run adrenaline commanded his Muscles to move without hesitation he ran all the way to the beach dusk turned to Nightfall by the time he reached it with Nightfall The Sound of the battlecry had

finally ceased somehow the Eerie silence felt far more terrifying they reached the final sand dun it's stood approximately 60 ft into the air and descended all the way into the cold unfeeling Waters of the Atlantic Ocean he was badly winded the Muscles of his calves and thighs were hot with pain his heart thumped so hard he could barely hear the waves crashing on the shore above it Smith glanced behind him his pursuers were still another hour away even at their fantastic speed he grinned it was close but they were going to make it Jack turned

to face him his eyes were wide and his breathing hard where's the emerald star don't worry Smith grinned shek be Out there somewhere your brothers left us no my brother might be a greedy selfish bastard but he will be there how can you be so sure Smith removed the golden skull and leather shot bag from from his Satchel because he wants this as much as we do but how are we going to contact him with this Smith said as he poured a small amount of the contents of his shot bag onto the ground in three

separate piles the blackened powder mixed with The sand he then struck the first one with his fire Striker Pharaoh serium struck Steel's heated shards and ignited the gunpowder in an instant the first pile ignited followed by the second and third in a rapid staccato like gunshots he stared at the sea the emerald star was now blanketed by the night sky where are you brother nearly 200 ft out he saw the Golden Light begin to flash Smith watched the skiff approach The sailors rode hard against the rough Seas not one of them was chatting they were

all focused on the Cadence and fighting not to be overturned by the waves breaking along the shore Smith looked up as the skiff caught its final wave and slid onto the beach the men pulled her up a few feet until they were confident the swell wasn't going to reclaim the boat before they were ready Smith looked at Oswald his brother and captain of the emerald star Smith Grinned as offered his hand Christ are we glad to see you brother you're welcome Oswald's eyes darted to Jack and back to Smith you took your time what happened

to the rest of your men Smith looked toward the peak of the second sandun behind them small white dots appeared to be moving across its Crest the whites of the eyes of his pursuers were unseen but they were there and they were very close he turned to his brother it's a long story and we're Not on our own so I'll tell you on the way Oswald glanced toward the peak of the Sand Dune and nodded all right gentlemen it looks like Smith and Jack didn't make any friends with the locals so let's get back on

board the emerald star the sailors didn't need to be told twice they worked quickly Smith and Jack climbed on board the wooden SK as the rest of the men pushed it back into the water Smith gripped the leather satchel which contained the ancient Relic holding it close to his chest there was no way he was going to lose it in the dangerous surf so close to the emerald star following Oswald's command the sailors waited until the wave broke onto the shore and then rode hard to meet the following wave now a float and into the

violent Waters Smith realized he wasn't safe safe yet the next few minutes might be the most dangerous of his entire trip his mouth was set hard and his heart raced so much he could Hear blood pounding in his ears where he gripped the Satchel his knuckles turned white the waves came in Endless sets each one capable of flipping the skiff and drowning them all no one he realized with mixed feelings could swim in such violent water it meant if they reached the Emerald star they were safe from the Savages who pursued them if they didn't

reach the ship they would never survive in the water no man no matter how strong a swimmer could stay alive in such a Torrent hold on man Oswald yelled as they reached the second breaker the Skiffs bow lifted High into the air for a moment Smith was certain they were going to flip the two Sailors who rode closest to the bow saw it too they jumped forward moving the weight further toward the bow Smith watched in horror as the seawater from the breaking wave white and frothy rushed through the back half of the skiff helpless

to avoid the unfolding series of events he hung on The edge of the boat water ripped past him sending sea spray over his face the salt water stung at his eyes and filled his mouth with with a bitter taste as two Sailors and Jack Baker were washed overboard the bow crashed down hard ahead a third breaker approached quickly Smith glanced behind him the two Sailors were barely afloat the white wash so full of air that it provided barely any buoyancy at all and he couldn't even see young Jack he wondered how his brother Was possibly

going to rescue the three men before the next wave drowned them all the rest of the sailors paused on their OES for a split moment keep going men Oswald screamed or every one of us will be lost the men rode in silence and none of them had to be told to leave their friends behind it wasn't an option of helping their friends it was save themselves or drown they struck the third wave at speed and the momentum Carried the bow over the top of its crest for a moment the skiff appeared to remain stranded in

the middle of the wave as the flow of water tried to drag them toward the beach heave you bastards Oswald shouted Smith held his breath the skiff remained motionless for another Split Second and then began moving forward he slowly exhaled as the efforts of the men rowing started to be rewarded with movement they cleared the fourth and fifth waves without any trouble After that the deeper water settled and they picked up speed 2 minutes later the skiff came alongside the emerald Stars port side and Smith climbed up the cargo Nets he kissed the deck he

had cheated death Oswald waited until the skiff was pulled up onto the deck and then turned to him you okay little brother fine I'm sorry about your men don't be they knew the risks death is part of the life of a pirate you lost more men than me today by the looks of it Smith nodded he' felt The same about the men he'd lost earlier they'd all chosen this life all the same I'm sorry Oswald shook his arm it's good to see you I was starting to think you weren't coming back you could have picked

a better time though why what's wrong with the timing Smith asked I cut it fine but I made it we were about to set sail there's a storm coming and if you'd waited another hour or two we'd have had no choice but to leave you here either that or the Emerald star would have been smashed to Pieces along this frightful Coast Smith smiled another hour and you'd have been picking up our dismembered pieces in case you haven't noticed we're not alone Oswald looked at him appraising him in a new light my goodness you did it

didn't you you actually stole their damned Relic yes and what's more I know why it's so valuable to them the emerald star was a Spanish gallion sporting four masts and armed With a total of 16 cannons seven to the port and starboard sides and one each in the folkal and after Castle Smith's brother had captured the Spanish gallion while it was heed too making repairs off the coast of jalter 10 years earlier since then Oswald had her refurbished so she would be unrecognizable to her original owners her sale canvas was increased to make her fast

and her load kept light so she could be used as a pirate ship his brother had been Successful in his Endeavors he was an extremely lucky man and it had made him Rich Smith smiled as he saw Oswald admire the ancient Relic neither of them had ever made such an incredible Hall it was the first time he'd gotten away with such deceit his brother appeared calm after all his brother was a pirate Oswald studied the evil looking skull I can't believe you went through with it Smith said there will be plenty of time to admire

it later now let's Bring up the anchor and get away from this godforsaken place soon no now it can't wait we have an angry Army after us don't worry it won't take long we've struck The Sandbar and are trapped for the time being the tide is coming in and she'll float free soon within the hour for sure we don't have an hour what are you worried about we have a crew of 120 men armed with muskets I think we can take a few natives besides you saw how rough the surf was coming out here it's

Impossible to think they'll be able to swim through it and even if a few might get lucky they'll never have the strength to then board us Smith stared out at the darkened Shore there might be a thousand out there they're driven mad like wild beasts my God you really stole it didn't you Smith pulled the golden Gull and handed it to him its Wicked smile stared at him as if to say I told you I could get away with all of this didn't I Oswald undid its leather satchel and admired the ancient Relic a Ry

grin on his face I can't believe you got away with it we haven't yet he glanced up at the darken sky from where he'd come in the night Smith couldn't make out the shape or movement of his pursuers but he knew they were out there driven by rage he shook his head it was going to be one hell of a storm the sudden gust of wind bellowed from the shore sending painful specks of Sand shooting towards them it passed as quickly as it had struck only a teaser of what was soon to come Oswald looked

pleased Smith asked what are you so happy about this wind is going to be perfect it's going to blow us off the shore instead of into it as soon as the tide lifts we'll be blown out to seea he breathed in a sigh of relief it was going to be all right he'd committed a terrible crime and stolen from the very people who'd saved his life not more Than 10 days ago but he was going to get away with it and he was going to be a very wealthy man Smith's heart started to race again

because along the shore the Fearsome and hypnotic battlecry started again over the Roar of the angry sea the port side of the emerald star was quickly lined with men aiming muskets toward the beach Smith noticed the battle Harden Pirates seemed unfazed by the angry war cry resonating from the shore it was amazing to see so many of The Native Warriors preparing to attack despite their massive numbers they were outmatched Oswald's men had Superior weapons and the advantage of being up high on the deck of the ship whereas the Warriors would need to swim through the

impossibly rough surf then climb the hull to reach them Smith forced himself to relax there was nothing the attackers could do the screeching cry from the shore increased pitch until it became deafening he Pressed his hands over his ears the sound was unimaginably loud and like nothing he'd ever imagined and then it stopped completely carrying simple weapons of wood and fractured obsidian the Army Advanced into the deadly sea hold your fire Oswald ordered he walked along the deck making certain that each of his men felt his presence and maintained disa they've a long way to

swim before they can harm us there's nothing they can do So keep calm we might still have to pick off the few stragglers who survived the swim but they'll be easy targets Smith followed his brother you're certain your men can keep hold of the emerald star Oswald grinned you can't tell me you're afraid afraid of course I'm afraid why there's nothing they can do look at them they're Driven Crazy by the need to return this damn Relic Smith cursed how much longer until we're off The Sandbar not long not long now Smith watched in horror

as his pursuers were driven into the deep water by their religious fervor few were capable of swimming terrified and relieved Smith felt his gut wrench at the horrible sight of men women and children drowning to reach them not all of them could swim and those who could were unlikely to make it past the breaking waves it was a pitiful sight and made Smith feel sick to his stomach He watched a young man no more than 20 walk into the water until his head dipped below the surface and then never return followed by an adult warrior

nearly 6 feet tall who simply ran into the the surf and was Swept Away by the first wave that reached him not a single shot was fired and still they came Warriors Advanced into the sea by stepping onto their drowned Brethren with a sort of fanaticism that made them believe that with enough deaths they Could build a bridge with their dead into the sea Smith wanted to vomit as he watched the first hundred or more people become buried neath the waves Oswald glanced at him why don't they stop Smith shook his head they're as powerless

to stop as we are to move off this damn Sandbar they're driven by a higher power to return their precious Relic its loss eats at them and tortures them so much that the pain of death pales by comparison and now it's going to drown Them Smith nodded solemnly he may be a selfish bastard but he wasn't completely devoid of human feelings these were good people and had treated him and his party kindly he'd stolen something of immense value from them but that didn't mean he wanted to watch them all die Smith spotted one man who

had dropped his weapon and concentrated on swimming make it past the breakers the man appeared to have gotten lucky and swam hard during a slight pause in the set of waves he was Now swimming easily toward them Oswald Smith shouted as he pointed at the man I see him Oswald shook his head in disbelief there had to be one I suppose the warrior swam quickly until he reached the side of the emerald star Smith watched as the poor wretch stared up at the massive freeboard the distance between the water and the deck and suddenly realized

there was nothing to climb the warrior then quickly swam toward the front of the ship where the Bow sprit nting was tethered from the bows sprit to the hull just above the waterline Oswald drew his pistol and waited as the Savage climbed onto the bow sprit the instant the man's foot touched the deck Oswald squeezed the trigger and the shot ball fired it struck the Border directly in the middle of his forehead the ball lodged inside the man's skull and never left again the Warrior's eyes stared vacantly up at him and he fell backwards into

the water Where he floated lifelessly Oswald turned to Smith well I stand corrected one of them managed to reach my deck Smith said more are on the way my God so there are they are persistent I'll give them that but don't worry my men will take care of them Oswald grinned and then his eyes narrowed with curiosity but what in the world are they making the human chain involved more than 200 men and stretched from the Shore to well past the breaking waves the tallest and the strongest men gripped each other's arms to form an

intricate structure like ants forming a bridge the line was roughly 8 men wide and each man had a second person on their shoulders individually the waves would have broken them but together they appeared to be holding their position no other civilization in the world had achieved the same amount of human Unity they were working together As a single defining object without any consideration for the individual men women and children who formed the bridge Smith's eyes dark Ed to the deeper end of the bridge where some of the men were sacrificing their lives to form a

platform beneath the waves Oswald opened his mouth to speak paused and then said they're killing themselves to build the foundations of the human bridge and the Deep Waters Smith nodded without saying Anything I've never seen anything like it I thought my men were disciplined in battle but this is a whole new level have you ever seen anything like it no Smith lied how could he tell his brother he'd seen something exactly like this back at the pyramid where the entire civilization worked as one machine and what's worse he knew exactly how they were achieving it

Smith watched mesmerized by the sight it was a phenomenal achievement of engineering And bravery but would it work a moment later he witnessed the answer crawling on their knees four at a time the Warriors who were still on the shore made their way along the top of the human bridge once they reached the end past the breaking waves and into the deeper waters they were able to swim toward the emerald star my God Smith said they're going to Reach us Oswald turned to his men save your shots wait until they're right below us and then

shoot on my command make every musket ball count there was a loud roar of I I captain Smith watched as the first set of men swam toward the ship he looked at his brother I'll need a weapon go down below Marcus will find you one from the Armory not that I think you'll need it we'll be off this Sand Bar any minute now Smith nodded wishing he shared his brother's confidence he Placed his leather satchel over his shoulder again there was no way he would let the ancient Relic out of his sight while on board

a ship full of pirates his brothers men or not they couldn't be trusted with such a fortune in Gold he moved quickly toward the open hatchway to the AFT he wished he felt more confident about his brother's sentiment the men and women who were attacking them might be little more than Savages but they were focused with religious Fervor and would fight ruthlessly to the end he definitely felt much less confident now than he had 20 minutes earlier when he assumed they held the infinite advantage of musket shots against their attacker's much larger Force he would

feel a lot better once they were off The Sandbar and sailing out to sea he climbed climbed down the steps and into the ship's hold he hadn't made it any further before Marcus the ship's armorer met him the man was short With broad shoulders multiple scars lined his bearded face like metals from previous conquests Marcus grinned and handed him a musket with a bag of powder and shot I heard the captain you'll be needing this then Smith nodded and took the weapon thanks make every shot count Marcus had the hardened face of a man who'd

seen enough battles to realize that they were never won until they were over he simply nodded at the man I will He then returned to the deck where the first wave of 40 or so Warriors approached the emerald star the men on Deck were already aiming their muskets at the first wave of attackers the ship rested on The Sandbar while the men silently prepared for battle the weapons had been primed and loaded and there was no more for the men to check their muskets would either fire or not some kissed Lucky Charms While others closed

their eyes and made Promises to their gods Smith could hear their heavy breathing and feel their uncertainty and eagerness to fire wait for it men wait until they're just below us Oswald commanded a moment later the first attacker's hand touched the chain that supported the bowsprit Oswald pointed his pistol and squeezed the trigger the warrior fell back into the water that's close enough fire a series of shots fired the deck Became blurred by powder smoke and the scent of burned sulfur and salt peter wafted through the battlefield the men worked in three groups of shooters

Group B loaded their weapons while group a fired and Group C prepared to take the next shot that way the pirates of the emerald star were constantly capable of firing at their attackers only group A and B fired before the first wave of attackers were killed Smith studied the sea which Quickly turned pink as blood intermingled with the salt water in a multitude of deathly swirls silence filled the air and for a moment he thought every single one of the attackers had been killed then he heard the ghastly scream Smith's eyes shot toward the sound

in the water it came from just aft of the emerald star where one man desperately tried to keep his head above the water he'd been shot in both Shoulders and was now struggling to stay afloat his head would dip below the water and Smith assumed it would be all over but then somehow he'd find the strength to kick his legs and reach the surface again drowning was the worst imaginable death to any sailor and it made him feel sick just to watch yet no one was willing to put the poor wretch out of his misery

Smith quickly examined his own weapon it was an old flint lock musket his lazzarino catso wheel loock Rifle would have been much more accurate he gritted his teeth for this distance it didn't matter it would be hard to miss with anything he pulled the hammer back to the half coock position and carefully set the Flint he poured the black powder charge into the measuring flask until it reached the firing Mark and then poured that into the muzzle he carefully tapped the sides of the musket Barrel to settle the powder Smith opened the bag of shot

and removed a lead ball He slid it into the muzzle and gently used the ramrod to seat the bullet securely on the powder charge resting the musket horizontally he opened the frisen the L-shaped piece of hinged steel used to enclose a small priming charge and filled the shallow flash pan with powder confident the weapon was ready to fire he closed the cover tightly his jaw was set hard as he took aim Oswald yelled don't waste your shot Smith carefully leveled the musket At the only Survivor and squeezed the trigger the ball struck the man in

the back of his head his arms stopped thrashing in the water and the water settled once more it was the only gift he could give to the poor man you shouldn't have done that Oswald said he looked up ready to argue but stopped because the second wave of 40 Warriors attacked Smith watched as the second wave of attackers fell as quickly as the first And the third followed immediately after the third focused its attack on the bow of the emerald star it was the only place where they had any chance of climbing onto the vessel

it should have made it easy to defend instead it made it exceptionally hard because there were only so many spaces for the men to load and fire their muskets while their attackers were spread out around the ship it was easy to pick out individual targets and take them out now the same Attacker was being hit by multiple shots while the person behind was able to continue the advance when the fourth wave of attackers reached the bow they did so with the same Unity as the human bridge they locked arms and gripped the bow sprit and

chain to form a semi- rigid platform the attackers quickly scrambled over their backs and up onto the deck of the emerald star muskets fired and the deck was filled once more with a familiar cloud of smoke Of burnt Gunpowder the men rotated through the process of priming loading and firing so that they could keep a constant barrage of shots at the borders Smith noticed for the time the method worked but how long could the muskets keep firing his eyes glanced at the army of Warriors impatiently waiting on the shore to join the fight he knew

the answer not very long their only hope was that the tide would rise sufficiently so they could Flee before being overcome by the superior numbers he turned to check with his brother and stopped a small party of attackers had managed to form a small human chain and climbed up the port side to the no longer guarded aft section of the emerald star orders AF he said Smith aimed his musket and fired at the first attacker to step foot on the deck he then dropped the weapon and replaced it with a pike the sudden success of

the borders attack sent a surge of Adrenaline to his system and his fear turned to bloodlust he charged at the man trying to scale the railing he stabbed at their fingers as they gripped the gunnel before they had a chance to overcome the railing behind him he heard his brother shout you five help Smith the rest of you stay at your posts if the borders breach the bow we're done for I I captain the five reinforcements joined Smith and quickly killed the remaining borders Smith felt his heart Pounding in his ears he paused on the

edge of the ship struggling to catch his breath he glanced as the growing number of attackers surrounding the ship was swelling again it was hard to tell the living from the dead he stared at them stunned with their own Superior Weaponry how could they possibly lose but it was clear their dominance was beginning to wne and struggle to keep up with the endless number of asants willing to sacrifice their lives to win soon he Knew the muskets would start to fail they would misfire the powder would fail and their shot balls would run out then

what would happen Smith knew the answer with the simple certainty of a man who knows that he cannot fly like a bird or breathe water like a fish their attackers would overcome them and the crew of The Emerald star would be slaughtered unless they changed their tactics now Smith stared at a row of dead men floating in The water below despite the gruesome sight he suddenly grinned the solution had presented itself to him he couldn't believe his brother hadn't thought of it already he turned to tell his brother but a hand stretched through the railing

and clasped his leg he looked down and saw a fiend from the dead suddenly rise out of the sea Smith stabbed his Pike at the man but the attacker gripped the head of the weapon and used it to pull himself up Smith let Go but he was too late the fast moving border had already cleared the railing the man appeared Young no more than 15 or 16 he wore nothing but a small animal hide loin cloth his muscles were lithe and he moved about with the agility of a circus performer he used a small Dagger

of fragmented obsidian and sliced one of the men in the process of priming his musket someone else fired a shot but the lead ball went wide another pirate threw his dagger but it missed the attacker Slipped past three men who were reloading their muskets and ran forward Oswald stood toward the bow of the ship where most of the crew still fought off the main boarding assault he noticed the unfolding disaster and ran toward the assailant with his cutless drawn ready to slice the small man the Border glanced at the large man and turned he was

now trapped between Smith and his brother Smith reached for his musket and quickly began the tedious task of Priming it to fire the attacker stared at him the as salant eyes darted back toward Oswald who stared back with the vment of a seasoned pirate with blood on his drawn cutless it was enough for the attacker to make a decision the attacker turned to run away directly toward him Smith quickly filled the muzzle with gunpowder he didn't measure the amount and then shoved a round shot ball into the barrel he dropped his ram rod and opened

the frisen to fill it with an Unmeasured priming charge the attacker jabbed at him with his small dagger Smith parried the attack with the barrel of his musket and stepped back he closed the frisen and squeezed the trigger the shot ball fired and struck the man's belly the soft lead flattened on impact unlike a modern Spitzer type bullet which enters and exits tissue quickly the deformed ball doesn't travel through tissue very efficiently instead it transfers most of its kinetic energy to The tissues organs and bones of the victim causing unimaginable damage the boy gripped his

abdomen with his right hand abject Horror in his eyes as blood started to gush out it was a mortal shot but the man still moved the Border howled with rage driven by some unearthly Force he pushed past Smith and clambered up the rat lines to the main Mast he reached the main top and continued to climb up to the top Gallant once there he started to cut the Rigging Smith cursed and swiftly started the process of reloading his musket forget about him Oswald said as he glanced up into the rigging he won't live long and

if I don't do something to change their attack we won't have a ship left to protect Smith nodded I'll take care of him it took less than 25 seconds to finish priming and loading the musket Smith then climbed the rat lines to the main top he stopped and tried to aim at The dying man the shot was obstructed by the main Mast and the second stage of rat lines if he had his rifle he could have made it but not with the musket the dying man above appeared to be making the most of his last

few minutes of Life by cutting as many rigging lines as possible why doesn't he just lie down and die Smith breathed hard and started to climb again immediately the man above started to move toward the very end of the Cross Tree toward the port side standing on the small platform at the main top Gallant Smith looked at the end of the Cross tree where the man he was chasing had finally stopped running he studied the native's face realizing he was little older than a boy his eyes were focused There Was Fear inside but it wasn't

of losing his own life it was something else something somehow far more frightening whatever it was Smith Intended to put him out of his misery without hesitation he took came they were close and it was an easy shot but he didn't want to get caught out if he missed the boy looked crestfallen like many of the men from the pyramid he learned to speak basic English do you have any idea what you have done I'm sorry Smith muttered silently the boy shook his head not as much as you will be once you discover what the

demon with the purple eye will do with It Smith stopped himself from squeezing the trigger what do you know about the man with the purple eyes the boy stared back at him his eyes were sardonic Smith recognized that look it was the same one the Damned skull had given him it was like a curse a challenge it said do you dare open Pandora's Box what will he do with it Smith persisted the boy cut the end of the main sail sheet and jumped he swung like a Pendulum and landed on the four top gallon platform

toward the bow of the ship Smith immediately took aim and fired but he was too late the boy had already chosen to dive head first with his knife held outward he landed on the deck with a sickening thud which broke his neck in an instant and killed one of the Pirates the defiant act served the attacker's cause more than the death of one musket wielding pirate one glance at the crew And Smith knew exactly why the boy had done it the ACT had simultaneously invigorated his Brethren and demoralized the crew of The Emerald star it

showed them that their attackers would stop at nothing to win Smith clambered down the rat lines he needed to do something otherwise the outcome of the battle was indisputable Oswald's face which was earlier cheerful and confident was Now set hard his jaw was rigid and his eyes Wide they were winning but for how long he knew as well as every one of them that the muskets would fail well before the enemy had depleted its supply of men and women willing to Die to Save The Relic he looked up at Oswald how much longer until we're

off this god-forsaken Sandbar I don't know Oswald said it may be a few more minutes definitely no more than an hour or two an hour or two Oswald Shrugged the ocean can be capricious working out how much time it Wants to take to raise the emerald star to float is not a precise science Smith said the muskets won't fire indefinitely Oswald pointed his pistol at another border and fired the ball struck the man in his neck he gripped it and fell backward into the sea I know I'm still trying to work out what to do

about it what about the four Cannon we're too close Oswald grunted there's no way we could maneuver it to Hit the borders Smith shook his head I wasn't thinking about the borders no no I was thinking about destroying that human bridge Oswald glanced out toward the strange construction of men used to overcome the breaking waves as he thought about it for a moment he turned to one of the shorter men and said Matthews take the rest of the fourward Gunner team down below I want you to start battering that human bridge ay I captain 5

minutes Later Smith watched as the four Cannon was loaded with a standard iron Cannonball no known as Round Shot Matthews struck the light and the cannon fired into the human bridge the heavy ball of Steel missed by several feet a spotter ran down into the forward hold it's short Matthew cursed by how much man be precise 7 ft Matthew nodded and quickly resealed the Cannon's touch hole with a leather thumb sheath to eliminate air from entering all right men you Heard him a small adjustment and we're going to destroy that bridge let's do it again

Mr Matthews Smith watched as two men hastily sponged the barrel to prevent any leftover Embers from prematurely sparking the next round of gunpowder the third man wormed the cannon a process of running a piece of coiled iron called a worm through the barrel to remove any remnants from the previous firing and the barel barel was then sponged again Matthews examined the Barrel carefully he nodded satisfied the barrel was clean of any Embers okay she's ready let's do this right this time the powder monkey said I Mr Matthews and passed the heavy powder charge to the

powder Handler at the front of the gun Matthews gave the order lo I Mr Matthews the powder Handler acknowledged as he placed the charge in front of the bore of the gun and the rammer slid it in until it bottomed out at the back of the barrel Matthews Removed the leather thumb sheath from the touch hole and used the prick to test the charge was seated properly by pushing the powder prick into the touch hole and into the charge satisfied with the result he yelled home the powder monkey passed the second Cannonball to the powder

Handler who placed the ball in the front of the barrel Bo with his hand below the barrel he glanced at the Gunner Matthew yelled load the rammer said I Mr Matthews and rammed the ball With a wad of Rags down the barrel until it was seated against the charge Matthews carefully cited the gun He adjusted the Telemetry and height so the iron ball would fall past its previous location confident of the new position he primed the gun by pouring black powder into the touch hole ready the gun crew covered their ears and stepped clear of

the gun smith took an additional step backward and blocked his ears he watched as Mr Matthews lit The fuse the wooden rod with a piece of lit salt peter glowed orange fire Matthews yelled as he touched the salt peter to the powder in the touch hole this time the Cannonball sliced straight through its human recipients severing one head and multiple limbs in the process the human bridge swayed for a moment and then the surviving members closed the Gap and a new wave of attackers started to crawl along its top Oswald came down the gang way

into the Forward Gunner's hold great shot Matthews let's hit them again Smith glanced at his brother he was grinning and covered in blood as he gripped the handle of his cutless with enthusiasm Smith gritted his teeth as he watched the horrific sight he'd never had the stomach for the battles but it was obvious this was what his brother lived for still if someone was going to die he'd rather it be them instead of him Smith Oswald looked at him you'd better Follow me onto the deck some of the muskets are starting to foul we need

every hand we can get to stop them from overrunning us of course Smith said he raced up onto the deck with his loaded musket and joined the fight Smith looked around his eyes darting between the bow and Stern where the greatest number of attackers congregated and pushed forward around him his brother's men were beginning to show signs of fatigue muskets were being Loaded with the careless disregard of soldiers overwhelmed by their attackers as a consequence the muskets were starting to foul and fail they were still winning but not for much longer an attacker somehow reached

the gunnel to the port side of the ship Smith aimed his musket at the man's head and squeezed the trigger the attacker fell back into the water but more people continued to climb the railing he grabbed a cutless from the rack and Sliced through their wrists forcing them to fall back into the water he heard the Third cannon fire its steel ball made a sharp whine As It sped through the air Smith took a deep breath and held it if the shot didn't destroy the bridge they would struggle to keep command of the emerald star

for a fourth one his eyes followed the shot it was directly on target this time the human bridge parted moments before the ball Struck it dipped into the ocean without injuring a single Warrior and sent a small plume of seawater into the air immediately afterwards the human bridge closed the Gap and held firm while another wave of Warriors quickly climbed over the top and passed the breakers prologue part two Smith swallowed hard and reloaded his musket behind him Oswald stormed down below into the Gunner's hold same Target this time load the grape shot grape shot

consisted of small iron balls About 3/4 of an inch in diameter which were then packed into bags the bags disintegrated when the powder ignited releasing a cluster of balls in a wide shot pattern this load was very deadly against crewman at extremely close range and often used to repel borders it was rarely used to hit a Target tet 50 ft away Smith heard the loud boom of the fourth Cannon shot his eyes traced the grape shot's trajectory as it wind through the air this time the lethal Concoction of deadly projectiles struck the middle of the

human bridge at a guess it killed at least 30 of the Warriors in the process it would take much longer to reestablish the human bridge this time but Smith wasn't so certain they'd won and neither was his brother the disconnected outer section of the human bridge floundered in the water no longer able to stabilize itself amongst the men whose feet were planted firmly in the shallow Waters the outer Men started to float Oswald met his eyes one more shot and the bridge will be washed away in the breaking seas and this will all be over

Smith nodded as he shot a man who started to climb the stern I hope that shot comes soon because we're not going to last last much longer don't doubt my men Oswald grinned as he hacked at another border they'll hold as long as we need them to behind him a second border climbed Smith looked at his shot pouch it was empty he Was out of musket balls he dropped the musket and picked up the cutless instead he hacked at the attacker slicing him across his chest he turned and yelled Marcus we need more musket shots

Smith didn't hear the response instead he heard a loud explosion coming from the bow smoke erupted from the folkal where the cannon were housed he looked at his brother what the hell was that Oswald Shrugged the for Cannon just exploded some fool must not have sponged The Embers well enough can we get the other Cannon no not fast enough to make it do us any good Smith glanced aned back at the shore the human bridge was starting to form again now what Oswald growled now we fight for our lives it would take a miracle to

hold them off much longer Oswald looked up at the sky behind a massive storm was moving in toward them whipping sand from the namibian desert at them like tiny shrapnel the once unified human bridge Appeared to disintegrate under the barrage see Smith the gods haven't forsaken us Oswald was grinning with delight that wind storm is going to blow us right out to sea the easterly wind screamed along the namibian desert picking up sand along with it and sending it out to sea the human bridge failed to form and the warriors were scattered throughout the surf

which had been whipped into a turbid Boiling Pot of angry sea Smith Watched their arms flailing beneath the light of the Crescent Moon as they struggled to keep their heads above the seawater the few who were close to Emerald star were now being blown further out to sea despite their best efforts to reach the ship Smith carefully found another bag of shot balls reloaded his musket and smiled he' beaten the odds and survived he searched the ship for any signs of borders the last thing he wanted now was to risk Being killed by complacency his

brother grinned I told you we'd be all right you did Smith embraced his brother his eyes darted to the shore where a dark amorphous Shadow stared back at him I'll feel a lot better when we're off this damn Sandbar any minute now I can already feel her lifting in the swell we got lucky yes we did but God knows I've made enough luck for myself over the years it was time she paid me back some Smith nodded he Wasn't sure how much he deserved to be lucky but he was nonetheless thankful for it he climbed

down below to avoid the tiny sand particles which were cutting at him once there he carefully opened the leather satchel he'd been carrying and admired the cause of all this death of his entire party only he had survived the Hideous Relic stared back at him with hollowed eyes they teased at his conscience was it all worth It Smith covered The Relic with its protective cloth and placed it back inside the leather satchel as though he could hide its accusatory eyes a gust of wind howled as it screamed toward the emerald star he felt the ship

slowly list to her starboard side under the sudden pressure he waited for it to write itself but instead she remained slightly on her side the wind shrieked as it continued to thrash the port side of the ship Smith slipped his arms through the straps of the satchel and stood up bracing on the side of the hull he closed his eyes and made a silent prayer please let me survive and I promise the man with the purple eyes won't ever have you the ancient Relic wasn't in the mood for listening to his prayers instead Oswald opened

the deck hatch and said all hands on deck Smith climbed up top what's wrong we have an easterly wind why aren't we being blown out to sea It's the sand Oswald yelled his voice barely audible above the Cry Of The Wind his skin was speckled with his own blood where the sand had sliced at him this wind is dumping the dunes of the iian desert onto our deck Smith felt his heart drum faster no it can't be the curse can't be true what can we do we need every man to do his part to lighten

the ship's load there are some shovels and buckets in the BGE those who aren't getting rid of this damn sand need to go Below and make a human chain to remove the cannonballs and anything else that can be thrown overboard I I captain captain Smith shoveled the sand from the deck it lined the deck thinly but the combined weight was enough to keep the emerald star well stuck where she lay he struggled to breathe through the dense barrage of sand pellets he covered his mouth with part of a small piece of cloth and kept working

sweat dripped from his arms as he shoveled quickly his Head pounded hard and the muscles of his arms and chest burned from The Strain he continued for as long as his body would allow and then stopped his feet had already become buried in the new sand sections of the deck which hadn't been attacked with shovels were now kneed deep in grit and the weight of it All Began crushing the ship deep into the sandb below despondent with the certainty his battle was hopeless Smith glanced at the deadly weather formation That would kill them all it

looked dark ominous and evil to its core Smith had spent nearly 30 years venturing into unexplored regions of the world he'd seen every type of weather pattern known to man but he'd never seen this it was a once in a generation meteorological event the Ferocious winds were leveling the Monstrous sand dunes of the namibian desert and dumping them out to sea his eyes turned to the Warriors who lined the coast they were going to win He was going to die but he doubted any of them would live long enough to Revel in the knowledge the

storm was indiscriminate it would kill all of them Smith blinked trying to see through the sand when he opened them again he saw an even more ghastly sight the fiends had started to walk on water it was proof they were unearthly creatures for a moment he questioned whether or not he was still alive and if he was now being punished in hell he'd Already accepted his fate as impossible as it had seemed only a few hours earlier he was going to die but this was different this was something evil from the darkest unknown because no

one walks on water a gust of wind knocked him onto his back nearby one of the crew fell overboard and Oswald screamed for the remaining men to keep working Smith glanced at the fiends of his nightmare there was something eerie and unnatural About the way they moved across the surface of the water like some sort of ethereal wraith they glided above the water and slowly stalked him Smith heard a man cry out for help from the sea it was the man who'd Fallen overboard Smith clambered to the starboard railing the crewman was standing in ankled

deep water my God the ocean's being swallowed by the sand he reached down and helped pull the man back onto the deck Oswald had seen It too forget shoveling the sand men prepare to repel borders Smith stared in horror as the Warriors from the sand temple slowly approached their original numbers had been decimated but they were still much greater than Oswald's men and they looked terrifying as they approached the emerald star Smith followed the rest of the crew and fired his musket at the onslaught of Warriors his replenished supply of shot would Outlast the weapon's

ability to continue To fire the first set of shots was fired and the smell of burnt sulfur and salt peter filled the deck once more sand tore at their fragile skin while the storm buried the meager light from the Crescent Moon their attackers advanced in an eerie Sil and the howling wind mocked them visibility was quickly reduced to nothing the muskets rapidly failed under the Sandy conditions flints broke powder was spilled and barrels became jammed With sand cutes and Pikes out Oswald yelled this is it Lads Do or Die Smith rammed the butt of the

musket into a border the man fell backward and Smith dropped the weapon he picked up a Cutlass and swung it at the next man he saw in the darkness only the cries of the crew of The Emerald star could be heard above the cold wind he had no way of telling how many of the Pirates were still alive it no longer mattered they had been overrun by borders whose Numbers and savagery would inevitably Slaughter every last man he heard his brother growl like a wounded Beast it could have been his blood lust door he could

have been killed Smith had no way of knowing what he did know was there was only one place left where they might survive into the hold Smith yelled Retreat into the ship he ran forward along the deck through the darkness one man stabbed at him with his dagger reflexively Smith sliced back with his Cutless the attacker's gut opened up and Smith kept running he climbed into the open hatch once inside he grabbed a pike off the rack and pointed it upwards if one of the borders were to try to advance inside he would pierce the

man with a blade he waited a few seconds for the other members of the crew one of the attackers tried to drop down into the hole Smith lifted the pike so it stood upwards and the man was killed as his own weight drove the weapon through him When he landed on top of it Smith grabbed another Pike off the rack and waited 10 seconds for more survivors but none of the crew came he knew he should wait longer but how long could he keep fighting off the rest of the attackers sweat filled the palms of

his trembling hands and made the pike slippery he climbed the ladder and looked out into the darkness three of the attackers ran toward him Smith closed the hatch and locked it shut he wondered if their Daggers of fragmented obsidian would be capable of penetrating the hard wood latch Smith dismissed the thought there was nothing he could do about it he quickly slid down the ladder and lit a lantern is there anyone else down here he asked only silence returned above the cries of men being slaughtered had finally dwindled to nothing Smith carried the Lantern and

continued to search the bowels of the emerald star he was on his own he recalled the words the Man with the purple eyes had said to him about the ancient Relic he who possesses it shall rule in solitude for that is the price of unimaginable power he quickly opened the leather satchel and unwrapped the protective cloth that surrounded the golden skull he stared at The Wretched artifact its hollowed eyes were tormenting him aren't you glad you stole me he wanted to throw it overboard get rid of the cursed thing but the outward opening hatch was

now Filled with sand and unable to be opened from the inside even if he wanted to his eyes darted to the port hole maybe there was still time to open it and Escape but even if he could where would he go the answer came to him immediately to his death anything would be better than being buried alive Smith kept staring out the port hole in horror it was pitch dark outside and the light of the Lantern flickered and reflected back at him on its Glass the port hole was too small to escape through it was

barely large enough to squeeze his arm through if he tried and nowhere near large enough to expel the golden skull above he heard the unnerving sound of fingers scratching at the deck the people from The Pyramid were trying to dig their way through the sand and the hardwood to reach him not him they didn't really care about him he glanced at the skull its Sinister hollowed out Eyes were mocking him you know why they're really here don't you they had come for it and the sweet smell of its burned blackened powder he would gladly give

it to them if he could his eyes focused on the port hole as he watched the last remnants of the outside world being taken from him suddenly a man's face peered through it staring back in at him it was one of the Warriors the man was silent his eyes wide longing for one last glimpse of it Smith was no longer frightened of the creature to him the poor devil outside looked just as pained and tormented as himself the man pressed his eyes hard against the port hole as though he was was trying to squeeze his

head through the much smaller brass hole in an attempt to get a better look at the golden skull Smith grabbed the ancient Relic and picked it up and brought it to the port hole Window the warrior smiled as though its sight had somehow relieved his pain and given him some sort of Peace in his death the two men were locked their eyes staring into each other's Souls as the sand continued to rise around them time came and went but still the sand rose until long after the warrior outside was buried alive and his now lifeless

eyes stared at him with accusation the storm lasted two whole days when it finally stopped Smith Fought to open the hatch but there was nothing he could do the hatches opened outward and now unimaginable amounts of sand weighed heavily above he tried the other hatches but each of them opened outward he felt his way around the bowels of the ship searching for an axe or anything to help free himself from his curse he struck a match and lit the lantern again he studied the artifact under the poor light of the oil lamp the skull stared

Back at him its white teeth grinned hide ious LLY at him as though it had known all along what the outcome of its theft would be Smith spun the skull upside down and stared at it from below solid gold had been flattened to make space for a unique image delicately etched inside it depicted two mountain peaks leading together with a small lake or possibly snow in the middle he'd never seen the place but there was no doubt in his mind of the image's purpose it was a Map as fear took over he could no longer

resist the urge to scream he cried out to anyone who could help him to his brother to the other members of his party all of whom were now dead and finally when fear and hysteria had taken over his rational mind he cried out to God and asked for forgiveness he then held the ancient Relic close to his chest and laughed hysterically because his final Act of redemption was to ensure the man with The purple eyes would never achieve his goal that he would never get a hold of the artifact because it had been ENT tuned

forever core verra Armenia 205 it was still dark outside the defensive walls of the monastery Billy Swan stared over the stone parit to the north past the closed turkey Armenian border where the snowcapped Twin Peaks of Mount Ararat glowed orange Under the light of the Crescent Moon the Mountain stood at a near quadr point between turkey Armenia azerbajan and Iran her eyes were almond shaped and Hazel colored with tiny Speckles of gold that glittered in in the light they were luminous and intense befitting her intelligence as she stared at the Holy Mountain she had regular

features that betrayed her Eurasian ancestry and a sensual flipped mouth she breathed deeply and watched her breath crystallize in the night in two hours The first light of Winter's solstice would shine through the Twin Peaks turning them a golden red and if her grandfather's notes were to be believed that first light would show her the precise location of the opening to the Ancient Temple Billy had been following her grandfather's notes since he died years ago every lead she'd taken led to a tangent and she had nearly given up hope of finding her Grandfather this time

felt different this was the closest she'd ever come to finding the temple this lead had taken her to Mount Ararat which was enshrined in mystery and biblical myths the most predominant of course being that the top of the mountain was where Noah had first stepped off his ark in the seventh month the ark rests on the Mountains of Ararat and in the 10th month the tops of the mountain are seen Genesis 8:4 she smiled the place was mysterious is all right and the Armenians were right to worship the sacred Mountain but it had nothing to

do with Noah and his Arc and everything to do with an ancient civilization who were genetically and mentally predisposed to Greatness in the silence she allowed her mind to drift and she imagined what she might find inside an ancient database of information by one of the greatest Civilizations who ever lived or nothing more than a Neolithic Cavern and further Evidence the Master Builders never existed she thought about the last person to enter the Ancient Temple before it was permanently sealed because the information stored inside was deemed too dangerous to humanity the forbidden fruit gregori the

Illuminator had seen that knowledge he then spent the next 14 years of his life in imprisoned inside cor Verra she lowered her gaze from Mount Ararat to the walled Monastery her expressive eyes were pensive as they examined the grounds the Old Stone fortifications provided a Meek wall surrounding a modest Stone Church nothing about its appearance suggested such a rich and fanciful history that the birth of modern Christianity once originated on the very same ground seemed Preposterous but that didn't make it any Less true The Armenian name for the monastery core of arap translated to deep

dungeon until the start of the 4th Century that was all it was a 200t pit dug into the hilic at the base of the Ararat plain it was said that when King trodes III ruled over Armenia his assistant was gregori lusavorich who preached the Christian religion tiaes a follower of the Pagan religion became displeased with his Assistant for having another religion and ordered that Gregor's hands and legs be tied and that he be thrown into the core of Arab to die in the dark dungeon located in arat the king waged Wars and persecution against the

Christian minorities however gregori did not die die during his 14 years of imprisonment his survival was attributed to a Christian Widow from the local Town who under the influence of a strange dream Vision regularly fed gregori by dropping a loaf of freshly baked bread into the pit while gregori was imprisoned in corap King titis III was said to have gone mad titi's sister coas ridu had a vision in the night where an angel told her about the prisoner gregori in the city of arat who could end the torments few people believed her Visions as most

thought that gregori had died within days of his being cast into the pit but cois reduct had the same dream Repeatedly eventually threatened that if the dreams instructions were not followed there would be dire consequences gregori was brought out of corap in a miserable State he was taken to the king who had gone mad tearing at his own skin gregori cured the king and brought him back to his senses gregori knew of all the atrocities committed and saw the bodies of the martyrs who were later cremated the king accompanied by his Court approached gregori seeking

forgiveness for all the sins they committed King tiod daes iiii embraced Christianity as his religion following the miraculous cure affected by Gregor's divine intervention and proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 ad Billy had spent hundreds of hours reading through the stories of gregori the Illuminator for the most part she believed they were based on fact all except for the reason Why he'd been imprisoned in the pit in the first place that was the part she was most interested in it was the early section of the myth that brought her here today

in the year 286 ad gregori made a pilgrimage to Mount Ararat in search of his God where high up in the larger of the two volcanic Peaks he had seen a vision of God at work when he reached the place where he'd often seen a Halo of light in the night He was met by a cavern filled with information so far Advanced from his own that he believed the owners to be Gods what those Gods had told him was so remarkable that he quickly returned to King terides III to tell him the truth when King

trodes III heard Gregor's story he found it so impossible to believe and yet so damaging that he ordered a second team to seal the Ancient Temple so that no one else would ever find it When gregori confirmed to the king that his wishes had been carried out king tyrodes ordered him taken to the Deep dungeon and left to die in solitude tiaes II knew he needed to send him to a place where no one would ever hear him speak the truth but just as importantly he knew that he couldn't kill the man either according to

Billy's grandfather the entrance shined golden red just once a year on the morning of the winter Solstice Billy's eyes returned to the monastery's stone fortification Jeremy followed carefully climbed the wooden ladder carrying a lit Monk's candle good morning he said morning she replied you couldn't sleep either no I didn't trust my alarm with something like this he smiled at at her as though he understood what she was thinking we getting close to reaching it aren't we she smiled and nodded closer than I've ever been his eyes narrowed You're confident you have the right Temple this

time yes she watched him smile deep creases formed in his face giving him an older but rugged handsomeness he had intelligent dark brown eyes they were kindly and full of love and admiration he was her father's best friend and her Godfather he had a shallow clefted chin that some women found attractive she imagined he would have been considered quite a handsome man in his youth she Looked up at him what is it Jeremy said it's an amazing achievement to get this close your father would have been so proud no my father would have been furious

with me for taking the risk your grandfather lost his life following that dream she turned her head so that he couldn't meet her eyes you know as well as I do that it's real don't you he nodded in silence Grandpa found it didn't he Jeremy looked at her face but she could tell he was envisioning a Time Long past he nodded and it's what got him killed too some Secrets weren't ever supposed to be discovered maybe but soon I intend to find out exactly what what those secrets were Jeremy sat down on a small Stone

Al Cove I was afraid that's what you were going to say they both sat there in silence until the sun penetrated The Horizon she measured the precise distance from the Sun to the Horizon the bright light reflected on a location 2/3 Of the way up the ancient volcano Dome of Ararat greater she took out a small Gadget that appeared to be nothing more than a handheld GPS with a telescopic lens she focused it on the exact spot where the mountain turned red it was fixed to a tripod and she quickly ran her finger along the

touchs screen surface she clicked the capture button once miles above Mount Ararat 11 separate satellites triangulated the exact Location where the light was set the expedition had been backed by Big Money Professor Jeremy fallet had refused to disclose to her who his backer had been but the money flowed well and that was all she cared about she'd never even thought why someone would spend so much money to provide the means to discover the location of the ancient civilization in the clouds Jeremy asked do you know yet she grinned I've got it but it's going to

be One hell of a climb to reach the Armenia turkey border was less than a mile away from core arap Billy Swan could clearly see the borders fence and Lookout Towers from the monastery she was close to where she needed to go but the Border was closed to everyone the only way to reach Mount Ararat was to go through Georgia and then fly back to Turkey she left cor arap immediately from Armenia they drove to Georgia and Then flew into Istanbul where the rest of the climbing team were preparing the heavier archaological equipment for transport

an Old Bell jet Ranger helicopter was hired to take them to the base of Mount Ararat with a small team of local guides once there they spent three days acclimatizing on the lower outskirts of Mount Ararat and one day climbing the small nearby peak of Mount Haan to an altitude of 10,672 Ft before making the final Ascent They hiked North on the Anatolia Trail toward the sacred Mountain leaving behind the juniper trees and Fields of grass often used for breeding sheep she began her Ascent the remains of a monastery and Village constructed on the mountain

could be seen high above where an avalanche in 18 19 40 had destroyed all but a handful of small buildings which had since been rebuilt the party stopped for a short Rest at a Kurdish Stone Hamlet positioned at a little over 6,000 ft nearby a small boy tended to four goats without making eye contact with any of the party Billy stared up at the mountain peaks ahead a deep thick fog was setting in burying their peaks in obscurity she'd been warned not to climb during the height of winter but what she needed to find couldn't

wait until summer and the safer climbing months as the Twin Peaks of Mount Ararat Disappeared she turned her gaze to where they'd come from she took in the sweeping views of the Plains of Anatolia which stretched all the way to the Black Sea her mind followed the landscape drifting with it all the way back to Istanbul and her recent discovery there when her late father died she had received a digital key and number to a locked box for a bank of Turkey located in Istanbul it had been left there by her grandfather with a single

note if I Don't come back it is imperative that you take this key and finish my research the note had been for her father and not for her it was only when she was going over some of her father's things with her mother that she found the key her mother had warned her that it was likely to be something her grandfather had been involved in and it was best to leave some things alone Billy had nodded with graceful understanding she swiftly took the key And flew to istan buul to find answers instead she found more

questions the locked box contained hundreds of handwritten notes on an ancient race who had been genetically and physically Superior to other people of their time she had spent nearly 3 months sifting through them before she found what she was after this was the first positive lead she'd found in nearly two years of searching for her grandfather it was the first time she Discovered confirmation of where he'd been looking for the temple before he died if he was even dead she recalled his note which had made her heart Grace the golden gates of the Temple of

Illumination high up on Mount Ararat will only be revealed to those who are present at core verra during the sunrise of the winter solstice from there everything had moved quickly her window of opportunity was about to close it hadn't left her with a Lot of time to prepare and if she missed it she would have to wait another year to pick up the Lost Trail a thought entirely abhorent to her the next day Jeremy fallet one of her closest allies in the world of archaeology and lifelong friend of her late father arrived with funding for

the Expedition guides needed to be hired equipment sourced bribes made and passes obtained to climb the mountain she hired AMT He had a sirly disposition and sense of superiority to women that made her instantly disdain the man but he'd been guiding in the region for the better part of 25 years and had an excellent reputation more importantly he could leave immediately five local men were taken on to help carry the heavy equipment she had left AMT in Istanbul while she and Jeremy had traveled to Cor wrap to witness the sunrise of Winter's Solstice they left

the Kurdish Hamlet the slope toward Mount Ararat steepened and Billy returned her attention to the task at hand she maintained a constant speed at first matching the rate of the local guides and then surpassing it to set her own pace she was tall and liome she moved with the assertive gate of an athlete even in shape less mountaineering clothes she had a willowy Elegance about her as she climbed for the most part The Climb was Nothing more than a steep incline of thick snow the team was tethered together with a single rope for safety although

it was not a technically difficult climb any mistake or lack of attention would cause her to commence a slide down the icy precipice which might not be stopped until it reached the ground thousands of feet below she wore crampons and carried an ice pick her thighs burned as they slowly increased Altitude at 12,000 ft she stopped they'd reached the rough altitude of the temple but would now need to Traverse across the southern face until they reached it the guides set up camp and the party rested there for the night Billy stared out as the scattered

lights of capid doia glittered like Starlight the Black Sea appeared dark and forboding with the occasional flickering light from a ship able to be visible her eyes stared out trying to Picture the underlying Landscapes and cities all the way back to the vague glow Illuminating from Beyond the darkened Horizon where the city of Istanbul rested she thought about the Temple of Illumination she was getting close to it her heart raced in anticipation it was an incredible achievement her grandfather had previously told her that he' narrowed the location of the secret Temple down To Turkey most

likely buried underground otherwise it would have undoubtedly been discovered well before now but that was akin to finding a needle in Hast stack inside a country known for its farming turkey was renowned for having upward of 4,000 underground dwellings cities and temples the soft volcanic rock of the capid doia led the frians an Indo-European people in the 8th to 7th centuries BC to build an extensive Network of tunnels and cities if it had been buried she might never have found the Hidden Temple that is assuming tomorrow she'd find it Jeremy came and sat down next

to her and interrupted her thoughts are you excited nervous more like nervous really I've never known you to be afraid of anything since you were a three-year-old girl who discovered a talent for climbing that frightened your parents to death so what are you most afraid of now Billy's piercing brown eyes stared out at the dark outline of the Black Sea what we find tomorrow and what will that be Jeremy persisted answers you don't want to know the truth of course I do I'm just not sure I'm going to like what I find Jeremy glanced at

her his eyes showed a certain amount of Hope as though he could finally persuade her to quit we don't have to go there you know She shook her head and smiled as though the notion was absurd I've spent my whole life wondering about that Temple I don't know if my grandfather was insane or a genius if he was right about the temple it's going to change everything for everyone the whole world is going to need to hear the truth Jeremy took her left hand in his and squeezed it gently it was a gentle show of

almost fatherly affection it's Going to upset a lot of people some might not be very happy for you to hear the news Billy took a deep breath in she watched it turn to mist as she exhaled even so the world has a right to know just be careful some might be willing to kill to protect such a secret she nodded in silence she could think of many who would pay to protect such a secret that was if her grandfather had even been right all Along they sat there silently watching the lights of distant cities flicker

far below Billy was glad Jeremy had decided to join her he had been one of the few constants in her otherwise disjointed Life Born Into A family of archaeologists she had traveled extensively throughout her childhood rarely staying long enough to settle into a school she had often tagged along with whatever Expedition her father and grandfather were involved in often and Her only education came from homeschooling home being the remote tent or Camp their expeditions occupied her father and Jeremy worked together on their first doctorate and so he seemed more like an uncle to her he

had even spent numerous hours trying to teach her geometry at one stage and now he would see the truth with her whatever it might be Jeremy stood up it's late I'm going to get some rest tomorrow we'll see what This was all really about good night she stood up and embraced him giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek Billy's glance turned from the distant lights to those stemming from the camp of a second climbing team 2,000 ft below it was unusual for there to be another team on the mountain this far into the winter

she recalled the warning Jeremy had given her some might be willing to Kill to protect such a secret she dismissed the thought it was impossible for anyone else to have learned about the secret of the Hidden Temple they set out early the next morning lengthening the Rope tether between them Billy's party set out east along the Steep face of the mountain it was nearly 11:00 a.m. by the time she stopped and checked her GPS the ground ground was thick with snow she kept moving and stopped again Billy kicked her crampons into the snow It had

been wind blasted so that it was hard as rock she took another reading of her GPS she watched as three four then five overhead satellites Geo synchronized providing her position within a matter of feet Billy carefully drove a peg into the icy wall and attached her climbing tether to it she sat down and waited for the rest of the team to catch up Jeremy asked what is it my dear she said I Don't know this is definitely the place but I can't see any sign of the temple he glanced around the entire area was full

of snow that had covered the region for centuries there's nothing here how much variance do you think there might be between where the light shined and where you are none the ancient people knew extensively about astrology and would have been able to predict precisely where the sun would have shined during The sunrise of Winter's Solstice then how close are we no you're misunderstanding me Jeremy this is precisely where the sacred entrance must be really yes why do you seem so surprised it just seems unremarkable for the entrance to a temple containing the most important knowledge

of the human race exactly even so that's what it is Billy began chipping away at the icy wall using the back of her ice pick the rest Of the party caught up and together they took it in turns to attack the side of the mountain 2 hours later they had dug a tunnel into the snow nearly 12 ft deep you're certain you have the right place Place Jeremy asked yes but there must be any number of variations in the sunrise since the ancient people set their gate Billy shook her head this is the right place

then why haven't we found any trace of it I don't know we'll have to keep digging she didn't finish Her sentence instead AMT came out of the tunnel I think we just struck something and it's made of metal it took nearly 3 hours to clear away enough of the snow to open the ancient door Billy told AMT and the guides to wait outside and guard the entrance if any other climbers were to approach they were to tell them the tunnel had been used as a snow cave to camp in overnight she examined the ancient door

it looked like it had been made out of Solid iron she tapped on it and the metal resonated loudly meaning that that it was Hollow behind the door her heart raced as she worked quickly with the acetylene blowtorch to melt the snow and ice surrounding it she reached the edge of the door where it met perfectly with ryly the glassy volcanic Stone Billy ran her gloved hands along the edge and stopped at a set of massive iron hinges they were frozen solid she focused the acetylene blow torch gently Over the top of them until the

ice turned turned to liquid she put the blowtorch down and ran her hands along the edge of the door again it started to move she stopped what she was doing and gently applied pressure to the ancient door again it moved freely centuries of ice had protected the iron from oxidizing and turning to rust she stopped pushing as though she needed to savor the moment her eyes dilated and piercing focused on Jeremy it's free I Think I can open it this is it Jeremy said Moment of Truth are you sure you want to know what lies

behind this door Billy switched on her flashlight no but I need to Good Luck he shined his light at the door she pushed hard and the iron door moved inward it slid easier than she expected there was no Creek as it opened a strong scent of Decay teased at her nostrils it was distasteful but not overtly offensive more like opening the Lid to an antique box left sealed for centuries it was the absence of life yet a cold and solemn sense of what there once must have been the only thing close to it she could

remember was the first time she entered a sealed section of the king's chamber inside the the Great Pyramid of kufu near Giza Billy shined her flashlight in horizontal swaths revealing the entrance to a large obsidian Vault she'd never Seen anything like it the ebony colored glassy volcanic Stone had been carefully chipped away with rudimentary tools to form a large vated room the smooth walls reflected the light so powerfully that for an instant she thought thought someone was alive inside shining their own flashlight out at her she took a breath and paused are you all right

Jeremy asked I'm fine she took her first step inside I just got startled by the sight it's not quite what I was Expecting Billy heard the echo of her voice as she walked toward the center of the room she shined the flashlight around until she could gather a clear image of each end of the room and then stopped she turned to face Jeremy and swallowed hard Billy couldn't believe what she was seeing she felt her stomach cramp and wore her heart in her throat as she spoke it's empty the Temple of Illumination been Stripped bare

the place was completely deserted Billy cursed loudly like a teenager who'd only just discovered the length and breadth of the more colorful elements of the English language after all these years of searching and to get so close only to discover it had been raided before she could reach her Legacy made it all more painful than had she never found the Hidden Temple at all someone's moved it she said I Thought it was too easy to open the doors after all these years someone must have more recently discovered we were on the right track and broken

inside to hide the evidence the evidence he asked I wasn't aware we were investigating a crime I'm talking about the truth you said yourself that there were many Among Us who would go to dire lengths to make certain it was never discovered or it was never here to begin Jeremy suggested She breathed out a Sigh No it was here must have been raid years ago there was nearly 20 ft of hardened snow above the Gateway she nodded it could have been stolen at any stage in the past 17 centuries since gregori the Illuminator first sealed

it it was all for nothing some secrets are best left hidden Jeremy said his voice was soft and sympathetic she took a couple steps forward and Stopped wait I see something Jeremy placed his hand firmly on her shoulder his voice suddenly hard as his cold Steely gaze are you sure you want to see it she Shrugged his hand off her shoulder without saying a word and moved to the back of the vaated cavern there was a small ledge near the end of the room carved out of the same piece of pitch black obsidian the two

ledges formed a visual illusion of the Continuation of the floor the closer she got to it she realized with certainty that it formed a small Canyon there was part of a small hand print on the edge it appeared dull making it stand out compared to the gloss of the obsidian floor at a glance she guessed the owner had placed his or her hand into some sort of liquid it was so dull and impossible to accurately determine without equipment She peered over the edge it was pitch dark there was something that felt Sinister about the scarred

opening in the earth like some sort of evil Abyss she felt cold despite her thick mountaineering jacket the dry almost musky smell seemed richer too she shined her flashlight into the chasm at one end the light never reached the bottom the crass simply swallowed the light indefinitely she shined the flashlight in the other Direction this time the light reached the bottom the crack had formed all the way through to the left of her and it appeared to have been unwilling to rip clear through the one to her right the result was a second ledge where

the depth of the chasm was no more than 20 or 30 ft she was close enough that she could clearly see the bottom as she shined the light across CR it at the far end where the chasm ceased sitting with his back against the Wall was the remains of a long since deceased mountain climber the cold weather and high altitude had protected him from bacteria and most of his bloating had been contained within his clothing he almost looked lifelike from that distance Billy had to climb down to see the man she had to be sure

she owed that much to him after all didn't she she felt Jeremy's hand on her shoulder again I'm sorry he said it's all right she said I always Knew in my heart what we'd find she had a fair idea what she would find but she needed confirmation she moved to the right where the edge of the chasm stopped mysteriously at the base of the obsidian wall it was as though the tectonic shift that had caused the scarred crack to form was unable to Splinter the impervious obsidian room it was as though some kind of Higher

power had forbidden it to do so Billy studied the opening the chasm was narrow enough that she could have comfortably stepped over it yet wide enough for her to easily fit through she carefully placed one hand on either side of the opening and slipped her legs inside until they found a foothold to support her she focused the majority of her attention on each hand and leg individually as she progressed confident the dark stone Wouldn't crumble under her weight she started to climb down she glanced at Jeremy with a hardened resolve her brown eyes piercing and

challenging are you coming with me me he shook his head I'm afraid if I climbed down there I would never make it back up again she nodded it wasn't his place he didn't have to see it the truth wasn't his problem to solve it was hers Billy climbed down slowly she made Careful purposeful movements testing each hand hold and foothold as she climbed a few minutes later she reached the first ledge Billy car carefully tested the strength of the ledge with her weight while bracing the walls with her hands confident the ground wasn't going to

fall away from under her she flashed the light along the crass until it reached the remains of the man the body well protected by the cold was still Intact he could have been any other mountain climber taking refuge on a Ledge to catch his strength she stopped right next to the body three small holes were visible in his jacket she didn't need to look closer to realize they were bullet holes she shined the flashlight on his face his swollen eyes protruded hideously from his face like some sort of incarnation of an evil clown that would

have fit well in a Steven King Novel despite the decayed remains she recognized the face of the man staring back at her in instantly what were you involved in Grandpa a heavy golden chain hung from his neck his Frozen hand still clutched at the bottom of it where a pendant or something had been grasped when he died Billy carefully opened his hand to reveal an ivory crucifix inside the upper section of the Cross was carved intricately in the shape of a Horseman Holding a bow and wearing a crown the lower section was smooth and unimpressive

she'd seen the chain before but the pendant that hung from it had always remained hidden beneath his shirt she'd never known her Grandpa to be religious she started to search him for what she was really after without giving the crucifix another thought after all the strength of one's Faith often raises quickly when facing death she checked each of his pockets in his jacket Followed by his trousers there was still nothing she swore how could he have lost it she unzipped the climbing jacket and continued to Rifle through it until she found his pocket-sized journal her

grandfather always kept intricate notes during any Expedition he was on she kissed the journal if he was killed for getting this close to the truth he would have made a note of it Billy shined her flashlight on the last Entry we're getting close soon The Four Horsemen will ride together and the Third Temple shall rise she glanced at her grandfather's crucifix again it had a Horseman made of ivory carrying a sword and wearing a crown the white Horseman aka the Conqueror she bent down and slowly removed the ivory crew crucifix and Horsemen sorry Grandpa she

once saw a painting called Death on a pale horse at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts she recalled it had some sort of biblical ties something about the Lamb of God opening the first four of the Seven Seals which summoned forth four beings that rode out on white red black and pale horses Conquest War famine and death but there was no mention of the Third Temple a moment later she forgot about the four horsemen because the ground beneath her started to vibrate and the obsidian room above Echoed the Roar of Thunder had there been another

movement of the tectonic fault she stared at the ground below it was perfectly still she tried to call out to Jeremy but other sounds drowned out her voice they were the sounds of gunshots the gunshots finally ceased and were replaced with more sound of thunder the shots might have caused an avalanche she hung the crucifix around her neck she placed her grandfather's Journal Into her inside jacket pocket and zipped it shut whatever happened to her from here she needed to know the truth she studied the wall again and prepared to climb out before there was

no longer an obsidian Vault to climb to we've got company Jeremy shouted at her I'm on my way up she took one last look at her grandfather tucked the crucifix into her climbing jacket and started to climb out she reached the top of the crass and inside the obsidian Vault her pulse was Racing and she was breathing so hard that the muscles in her chest burned she took a couple deep breaths in in and exhaled slowly she could feel the lactic acid pounding the muscles of her arms and legs Jeremy glanced at her are you

all right fine what have we got I don't know yet it must be the second climbing team we saw following us last night AMT must have shot at them maybe it caused an avalanche amt's well armed and we have The High Ground they won't reach us Even so we should get out while we still can of course she said thankful that Jeremy had the foresight to arm their climbing team at the time she thought he was being overly dramatic but now it was clear she was lucky to have his Good Counsel to rely on just

let me catch my breath what did you find he asked my grandfather I so sorry my dear child he swallowed hard and held his breath for a moment as you know there was a sudden storm I pleaded with your grandfather to Turn around he refused he was certain we were getting close I came back down the mountain and your grandfather continued it turns out he reached it but he mustn't have had the strength to climb back down again Billy's jaw was set hard it's all right Jeremy I knew long ago he wasn't coming back at

least now I have some sort of closure say what do you know about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse his eyes narrowed what did you Say do you know anything about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse a little not much the Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a Divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the last judgment the world will be purged of its great wickedness and purity of the the new world shall rise why do you ask I found Grandpa's Journal his last note was that the Four Horsemen

of the Apocalypse would soon rise she stood up to leave did he mention anything else yeah he wrote about the rise of something I'd never heard of and what was that dear he spoke casually more like the god parent he'd been but his eyes were studying her scrutinizing her somehow as she spoke she met his eyes and said the Third Temple his breathing paused for a split second she saw instant recognition in his eyes the muscles of his jaw Tightened and then he smiled the Third Temple he confirmed yes have you heard of it he

broke their eye contact and shook his head no it certainly sounds quite mysterious though doesn't it Billy heard heavy breathing coming from the entrance of the obsidian room suddenly reminded of the more pressing Need to Escape she stood up to leave broken snow from the tunnel above the opening fell in through the iron doors a moment later AMT arrived he was Wild with adrenaline his face was covered in sweat and his pupils were massive like an ice addict at the peak of psychosis the man roared as he approached Blood Stained his jacket where a shot

had clipped his right shoulder her eyes darted to Jeremy he looked suddenly terrified but there was something else there too was he surprised to see aht still alive she needed to know what Happened and quick her mind raced was there still time to hide somewhere inside the crass or did they still have the ability to break through their attackers and make it down the mountain she opened her mouth to speak but Jeremy beat her to it for God's sake man Jeremy yelled what happened AMT tried to speak but the words came out garbled he spat

dark red blood evidently one of the shots had penetrated more than his shoulder he had Internal bleeding and would probably die this far away from medical help Jeremy softened his voice but maintained his authority as he spoke sit down tell me who attacked you AMT spat more blood and then began to speak we were ambushed the climbing team who were following yesterday must have split in two in the night some of them left in the darkness of the early hours of the morning and climbed ahead they waited until we reached the Inside of the temple

and then attacked from above and below us who else is alive outside Billy asked no one what happened to the other men Jeremy asked there were six of you and you were well armed they had more men and they came with machine guns you're equipped with Israeli ues Jeremy spat the words out so what the hell happened aht stared at Jeremy but his eyes were distant he was vacantly reled living the moments just Passed they outnumbered us one by one they took out each of our men when I was The Last One Alive I decided

to play the last card I had left to play I opened both of my grenades and destroyed the entrance you caused an avalanche didn't you Jeremy asked did any of the attackers survive I don't know but I doubt it half the Mountainside came down in the Avalanche I only survived by sliding back down into the entrance the edge of Jeremy's lip curled upwards it was more of a smirk than a smile there was something sinister about his reaction his eyes betrayed bewilderment at the turn of events and then he started to laugh without any hesitation

he withdrew a handgun and fired twice the shots hit AMT in the chest and the man fell to the ground as blood quickly filled his lungs Jeremy glanced at the dying man AMT I do believe you just did me a Tremendous favor it appears I no longer have to contend with Conquest for a place in the Third Temple Billy's eyes darted to the uzi lying on the ground next to AMT and then back to to Jeremy it would be impossible for her to reach it before Jeremy got a shot off her eyes fixed on Jeremy

and she spoke with the confidence of a woman who knew she was about to die you killed my grandfather didn't you guilty I'm afraid Jeremy said I'm so so very sorry Billy really I am I Was worried when you saw your grandfather's corpse that the bullet holes would give it away but even that I could have easily justified by telling you it was further proof of the lengths some would go to keep the truth hidden I was happy truly I was that you could finally achieve closure I always did love you and never wanted it

to end like this but you had to bring up the news about the Third Temple didn't you she studied his eyes he looked frightened like he didn't want to kill her but he no longer had a choice in the matter after all he was her Godfather for God's sake what is it what is so damned important about the Third Temple he leveled the barrel of his handgun at her if it was up to me I'd let you live and then hope to hell you never found it But I'm afraid it's not up to me it's

up to the man I work for the man paying for this expedition was quite explicit if we found it there were to be no survivors she held her Palms outward in supplication wait please found what you still don't know do you Jeremy grinned as he aimed directly at her head no what she asked who paid for the Expedition his name is death and he's Been waiting a long time for the Third Temple to rise Billy heard the report of the weapon fire multiple times she held her breath expecting the pain to follow quickly it took

a moment to realize the shots weren't aimed at her they were aimed at Jeremy and they'd gone much too wide she reacted fast and it was a split second before she saw who had fired but Jeremy responded faster he turned to face AMT and fired a further Two Shots into the man's chest and one in his head Killing him instantly amt's Uzi dropped to the floor his failed attempt to save her life had cost him his she didn't wait for Jeremy to turn around and kill her she launched herself at him her speed had caught

Jeremy off guard instead of trying to reaffirm his footing he made the mistake of concentrating on shooting her instead Billy swung her left foot into the back of his knee and pushed him hard with every ounce of force her muscular and Lie frame could assemble he pulled at the Glocks trigger the shot went high and he fell backward into the chasm she heard his scream as he fell into the same blackened Abyss that had earlier swallowed the focus of her flashlight indefinitely Jeremy pulled at the trigger as he continued to fall the last thing she

heard was the clicking sound of the Glocks firing pin striking the empty chamber she never heard him hit the Ground Billy shined her flashlight into the chasm the dark and Sinister looking opening toward the Earth had swallowed his body whole there was still something evil about the crass like it had been drawn to the darkness inside her Godfather she shook her head cursing herself for not seeing the darkness before she'd known Jeremy her entire life and yet she'd never predicted his Wicked nature her mind drifted to the past few weeks trying to find a time

When she should have picked up on his real nature she found none Instead The Sound of Thunder roaring from outside the tunnel interrupted her thoughts and returned her to her more pressing concern was there still time to escape from her pursuers she picked up Uzi and climbed out through the ancient iron doors and into the ice tunnel she scanned the new landscape the Avalanche had rendered the previously steep but traversable slope into a vertical Cliff Face no longer covered in snow and ice her crampons would provide little benefit in climbing the volcanic stone wall and

the rest of her ropes and climbing equipment had been lost in the Avalanche to her right a Jagged ledge of volcanic rock ended in a vertical drop of nearly 11,000 ft without climbing equipment or a lot more experience she had no way of descending or even traversing it to her left the ledge was narrow and barely traversable she looked Up there was no way she could climb and down was out of the question she carefully moved along the narrow volcanic rock shelf her heart heart raced as she concentrated on moving quickly along the delicate route

she wasn't afraid of heights but she wasn't all too keen on falling to her death either she made certain of the strength and placement of each footing and handhold as she moved along her eyes continuously scanned the area for signs Of her pursuers she made it probably 300 ft around the face of the Avalanche before she spotted her gold it was an area another 400 ft away where the spur of Mount Ararat met a minor saddle before descending steeply into the nakan exclave of azerbajan her eyes followed the spur toward the Armenian Plains where the

arus and morat rivers ran through the closed turkey Armenian borders she swallowed hard even If she made it she would have trouble crossing the border Billy continued to move along the Route and then stopped she dropped down as low as she could along the rock shelf reducing her visual silhouette as much as possible ahead of her by no more than 10 ft the volcanic rock scattered into aund smaller fragments as a heavy machine gun pummeled large caliber shots at her the sound of machine gun fire echoed Throughout the mountain for a moment she was worried

the damn thing would cause another Avalanche the sound stopped and she struggled to find its original Source she shuffled backward trying to find any form of cover Billy made it 20 ft and then stopped the ledge Rose about a foot and then dipped again it wasn't much but it was better than nothing she stretched out and dipped her head close to the ground lowering herself as much as Possible Billy picked up the uzi and stared through its scope searching for the location of her attacker a few minutes went by and there were no more shots

fired her eyes followed the narrow pathway if it could be called that at all until she reached the spur running down Mount Ararat in an instant she spotted her attacker he was positioned about 200 ft away from her and just up from the path the man was lying down looking straight At her he had some sort of machine gun set up on a tripod why did he stop shooting she wondered if he'd somehow lost her through his sight or simply accepted that she was an impossible shot from that distance it was unlikely her attacker had

already managed to place a close grouping of bullets less than 10 ft from her head proving he could hit her from that distance so why hadn't he could he have intentionally missed her She considered why he hadn't killed her maybe he wanted her alive but why then she recalled the words Jeremy had said to her there could be no survivors once it was found the obsidian Vault was empty they found nothing but maybe her attackers still didn't know that or maybe they needed her grandfather's Journal she shook her head none of that mattered right now

what she needed was way off the Damned Mountain then she could set about working out what this Was all about she tried to shuffle slightly further forward maybe she should fire a burst at him she might get lucky it was unlikely but what other choice did she have Billy carefully lined up her attacker through the fine cross tears and carefully prepared to make the shot she'd been to a shooting range only a couple of times in her life and tried all the tips her instructor had given her she settled into a comfortable shooting position took

in a Deep breath and slowly exhaled her right trigger finger gently squeezed on the trigger but she didn't take the shot falling snow tumbled onto her back she quickly glanced up Upward at least 30 people covered in snow camouflage worn by the military were AB sailing toward her that's why the sniper hadn't taken another shot his purpose was to stop her from retreating they needed her alive she stood up and turned to run toward the entrance to the Temple of Illumination she heard the Roar of the machine gun start to fire but none of the

bullets struck her she raced all the way back to the the entrance of the temple forgetting about any caution over the life-ending drop to her left she reached the opening and backed into the tunnel Billy checked the uzi's magazine it had less than 10 rounds even if she had made every shot count her attackers still outnumbered her her mind raced to find a solution she consider the dark Chasm that ripped its way through the middle of the obsidian Vault could she hide inside she recalled the bullet holes where her grandfather had been killed taking the

same sort of Refuge it certainly wasn't her first choice but what other one did she have she slid back down the tunnel and stopped set against the back of the rock above the iron doors was a bomb its Digital Timer showed a few seconds under 5 minutes she tried to move it the back of the device had been drilled into the the volcanic rock face and glued in position with a rock hard climbing adhesive AMT must have fixed it there while she was down the crass Jeremy had said that some people would kill to make

certain that some truths remain hidden Billy was confronted with the impossible decision of choosing between hiding and possibly becoming inomed after the explosion or taking her Chances on the outside of the mountain it wasn't a choice and it wasn't like she had long to consider her options she climbed back out of the tunnel and into the open again and turned right she knew her options had run out and her only option was to gamble big she ran along the narrow ledge below her the heavy Roar of rotary blades wh they were close to 14,000 ft

few helicopters were capable of reaching such Heights whoever was after her wasn't taking any chances They had spent a fortune to capture her behind her the small group of soldiers was now on the narrow ledge and approaching fast the Clock Was ticking on the timer and the bomb would explode at any moment she ran fast no longer interested in looking back at her pursuers her only chance was to get past the final Edge by the time the explosion destroyed the entrance to the temple if she got really lucky she might just Escape in the Pandemonium

the sound of the helicopter's turbo Jets screamed and the ground began to vibrate she heard the sound of multiple automatic weapons firing Billy kept running a stray bullet was the least of her problems now she glanced at her wristwatch 1 minute and 40 seconds to go she was 300 ft from the end of the ledge and then then she saw it an entirely black helicopter it Rose quickly and hovered less than 20 ft above her she knew Little about helicopters but this one was clearly special even just a fly at this altitude placed it among

some of the most advanced in the world this one was entirely matte black and covered in strange angular radar absorbing materials like those on stealth planes seen in movies it was a deadly predatory machine probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars nowhere were there any lights Colors or identifying markings to be seen aboard the aircraft and it was after her her eyes darted to the men behind her and back to the helicopter above her more pursuers were descending diagonally it made her run faster as though she could outpace the helicopter the strange Predator continued to

follow her matching her speed closely she heard more weapons fire but the bullets scattered nowhere near her the Helicopter banked heavily to the left and dipped suddenly disappearing below the height of the ledge she ran along the edge of the mountain looking for any means of Escape Billy suddenly reached the end of the ledge she glanced at her watch 40 seconds to go she looked at the drop below her and wondered if she could ever survive it if she just let herself go there had been many stories over the years of climbers surviving 100 plus

foot falls as a result of continuing to Slide her pursuers were close less than 50 ft behind her and she had nowhere else to go she closed her eyes and glanced at the snowy slope hundreds of feet below it would take a miracle to survive the fall but it was the last option she had left on the count of three she braced herself to jump and breathed in deeply two she forced herself to breathe out one she stepped forward and stopped the helicopter's rotors whined sharply As the Predator turned and Rose from beneath the ledge

until it was facing directly at her about 3 feet above her head the windshield was covered in some sort of pitch dark tinting that made it impossible to see the pilot inside Billy watched the twin Rockets ignite from its fuselage sending powerful missiles screaming past her she dived onto the ground and covered her head the missiles hadn't even exploded before the helicopter's Gatling style Heavy machine gun started to rotate sending hundreds of large caliber bullets skyrocketing past her she closed her eyes and heard the massive dual explosions as the missiles struck their targets she heard

the screams of the few attackers still alive when she opened her eyes the helicopter was right above her the downward pressure of its rotor blades sent a torrent of air down on her a small opening appeared in its undercarriage and a man in a completely Black flight suit stared out at her Dr Swan a man's voice asked through a loudspeaker yes she nodded you better come with us she looked at the snowy slope hundreds of feet below and the Dozen or more men who were pursuing her in the distance it was probably a trap but

she'd run out of any other options she nodded and the man reached down with one hand Billy reached out and gripped his hand it was firm and locked with hers in A grip that reassured her she would be safe she saw the brief flash of Tracer rounds as the helicopter banked to the north swinging her violently to avoid the shots from below an instant later the man pulled her inside and the door below closed inside the helicopter was lit up with hundreds of instrument displays it looked more like the cockpit of something out of a

sci-fi film than than a helicopter she doubted more than a couple countries in the world Possessed such Technologies a moment later the contents of her gut Rose as the helicopter dropped its altitude and left the side of the mountain are you all right Dr Swan the man asked having just saved my life you can call me Billy she smiled revealing a set of perfectly even white teeth and yes I think I'll live she eyed the man in front of her he pulled up the dark visor of his helmet Revealing the most intensely blue eyes she

had ever seen reminding her of the ocean the man smiled back at her it was a warm and reassuring smile for all Billy knew her troubles were only just about to begin she had no idea who owned the helicopter or why they had gone to the effort of saving her life but the this man's smile seemed to disarm those fears in an instant behind them a large explosion rocked the site where AMT at Jeremy's Request had set a large timed bomb the helicopter now several hundred feet out from the explosion site gave a minor shudder

as the blast wave slipped across its smooth airframe what was that the man asked a bomb was set to go up off at the entrance to the Temple of Illumination that would make sense Dr Swan the man nodded as though he were merely discussing tomorrow's weather forecast by the way my name's Sam Riley and I've been looking for you a long Time chapter 1 underground city of durin kuyu Turkey present day Sam Riley sat down at a small table with three chairs positioned outside an empty Cafe that overlooked the Gated entrance to the underground city

Tom Bower pulled up a seat opposite and sat down in Silence the sky above was a myriad of dark Grays ochre and purple shades of pre-dawn speckled with a few remaining stars to the north nearly a 100 hot air Balloons competed with a Rising Sun for space along the horizon over the fairy chimneys of capid doia a waiter with short dark hair and a thick mustache approached good morning gentlemen you're up early to see the balloons Sam nodded that and we want to beat the crowds at Dean kuu a good idea the waiter replied but

you know they don't open until nine don't you that's okay we're happy to wait until then Sam lied besides it's a Surprisingly warm morning the waiter smiled as he poured water into two empty glasses it's the warmest summer we've had on record I've heard that large amounts of snowy caps of Mount Ararat have started to thaw for the first time in more than 200 years is that so Sam asked genuinely interested we were thinking of doing some climbing over the next few weeks it might be interesting to climb the sacred Mountain good for you the

waiter said what can I get for You Sam said just a coffee please black no sugar and for you sir the waiter turned his gaze to Tom I'll have the same please of course sir the waiter smiled cheerfully and disappeared inside the shop Sam studied the cafe in a glance it had been built into the soft volcanic rock face along with the flock of gift shops restaurants and other tourist tra which had popped up to cater for the ubiquitous tourists who had flocked to The region to see the nearby underground city none of the shops

had existed before 1963 when a resident of the area found a Mysterious Room behind a wall in his home during a renovation that revealed access to the tunnel Network and led to one of the largest underground cities ever discovered next to him Tom bow sat with the same expression Sam had seen fixed to his friend's face for the past 6 Weeks it was set with a hardened stare of a man who knew that definitive action was needed but had no means of determining what that action should be Tom's dark brown eyes were fixed on the

horizon while his mind was a thousand miles away searching silently for answers at a guess Sam assumed Tom was recalling the pyramid they discovered on Infinity Island 6 weeks ago the submerged Island had risen after a large tectonic shift had Disturbed the Base of the Mediterranean Sea inside the pyramid they had discovered a Looking Glass it was the second one that Tom had witnessed and the first Sam had seen the device was built by an ancient race known as The Master Builders who were unrecognized by the history books they used the device as a means

of visual communication between temples that span thousands of miles it was made out of a translucent orb capable of conducting sound and Light hundreds of times faster than any other material found on Earth either natural or synthetic like the first Looking Glass this one displayed the current views of a number of temples as seen from above if the device had been built today s would have accepted it was merely powered by some sort of video calling system such as FaceTime or Skype but it had been constructed thousands of years ago by the Master Builders they

were perhaps the most Intelligent far-reaching and longest surviving group of people in existence at times Sam harbored the possibility that some of them remained scattered throughout the globe of course it was only a theory and there was no proof this time the device showed a series of ancient dilapidated temples and one modern Temple currently under construction inside were hundreds of people primitive in their appearance and quite dark skinned their faces were Painted blue they were almost completely naked with the exception of some kind of loin cloth both women and men were bare breasted and and

all of them were working vigorously to finish building the chamber they all looked focused almost mesmerized by their desire to perform their task without any consideration for their own rest and well-being they were working hard and constantly no one was whipping them There was no one guiding them but like a group of ants they were all simply taking part in completing their individual tasks so that the main project could be completed and then there was one who didn't belong she was slightly shorter than the other women and her complexion was much lighter and smoother her

face shared the same intense Focus as those around her she was mesmerized by what she was doing as though she was performing the work of The Gods she looked like a slave or someone who'd been drugged heavily with amnesic and hypnotic medic ations while all of the men and women there looked muscular her appearance was more lie and athletic she had a different sort of bone structure altogether she wore a pair of tan cargo shorts and a white tanktop above her right shoulder was a Small tattoo of a pyramid she was definitely pretty Sam gritted

his teeth as he thought about the discovery her name was Dr Billy Swan and two years ago before she disappeared Tom Bower had aspirations of one day marrying her it had been six weeks now since they discovered that Dr Billy Swan was still alive and was now working as a slave on the construction of the new Temple the pyramid along with a Looking Glass had sunk back into the ocean and they had no means of tracing where the image had come from with the only direct link to the new temple being destroyed this was their

first lead to anything that might suggest the Master Builders were building again the waiter returned and handed them their coffees Sam thanked the man and took a sip he smiled the coffee was rich and surprisingly good it warmed him from the inside and made him feel confident about the Meeting with the stranger who' contacted him 48 hours ago after the pyramid had sunk back into the Mediterranean Sea and with it any direct connection to where Billy had been taken Sam had sent out a series of requests through a network of antiquity dealers archaeologists and climatologists

around the world the request was simple have you ever seen anything like this and if so where attached was a photograph of the Ancient ient script written by the Master Builders to date the ancient written language had only been discovered in a total of five locations of those three were no longer in existence there was only one positive response and it came two days ago Mr Riley I believe I have seen something written in the same script in the past 3 years since I discovered it I have made more than a 100 inquiries about its

Origins so far no one has been able to identify who wrote it I assumed it was an ancient civilization because there was nothing similar anywhere on any document I've searched the archaeology archives internet and spoken with many archaeologists none has seen this type of script before last year I had a section of the wood it was written on carbon dated to make the mystery greater the results returned with a dating of around 400 Years old which places it somewhere around the early part of the 16th century it definitely doesn't match any form of written language

anywhere within turkey and definitely none from such a recent Century if you're interested please come to Darin kuu I would love to hear from someone who's seen it before and and might be able to explain its Origins attached was a copy of the image The Stranger had found it was indeed written In the language of the Master Builders and if his carbon dating was correct it was by far the youngest known writing by them that he had ever seen the question remained could it be possible a descendant of the Master Builders had survived and was

currently in the process of constructing a new Temple Sam considered the possibility as he sipped his warm coffee Mr Sam Riley a man asked as he entered the cafe Sam Nodded the question came from a short man in his mid-40s he had an olive complexion and a gregarious smile the man offered his hand my name is karaman sadik and I'm so glad you came straight away and this is an associate and good friend of mine Tom Bower Sam to greet the stranger taking his hand can I get you a coffee or tea pleased to meet

you both sadik said his eyes furtively darting between the two of them I'm afraid we must leave right away I'll Tell you what I know along the way and you can fill in what I long to hear but we must leave now we must descend underground before the sun's fully up descend Sam smiled awkwardly where sadik grinned why into the depths of Dean kuyu of course where no tourist has ever been chapter 2 Sam stood up and placed a red 10 L bank note on the table to cover the bill he studied sadique trying to

decide Whether the guy was crazy and had just seen the image of the master builder script on the Internet or something or whether he really had something to offer sadik's eyes were wide and constantly glancing around furtively he was out of breath like he just run half a dozen blocks or something you okay Sam asked looking at sadik I'm fine fine we just need to be below ground before Duren kuyu is open to the public shortly after Sunrise okay we'll follow you Sam looked At Tom he didn't need to say anything it was obvious Tom

shared his instant distrust of the stranger they left the cafe and followed a series of stone walkways and stairways along a shallow Valley where the once Eternal stream that carved its way through the region appeared long Departed the path traversed upward and downward 30 or more feet as they moved in and around a variety of caverns that Formed the local houses and Shop up fronts for the vicinity I thought the entrance to Dean kuyu was back there Sam asked it was sadik confirmed he glanced over his shoulder behind him holding his gaze purposefully for a

few moments as though he was expecting something he smiled briefly and turned to Sam again I'm sorry what did you say Ah that's right the main tourist entrance yes it was back there there are many entran to the ancient Subterranean City I'm taking You to one of the most northern ones it's actually a ventilation shaft very few people know about it tomk lip curled into the slightest of grins at the lie but he remained silent Sam met sadik's eye and asked the question and still we need to be inside before the sun comes up yes

sadik confirmed why because you're not the only person to take interest in this discovery Sam said someone is watching the entrances sadik nodded there are many people watching All of the entrances you said you discovered this piece of wood with the unique writing on it almost 3 years ago have they been interested in this location since then no only for the past six weeks Sam asked why sadik said because you posted your damned query about the ancient script on the internet and suddenly nearly everyone I showed the image to over the past 3 years is

dead and yet you trust me no but what choice do I have if you wanted to Discover something the others hadn't you wouldn't have been posting it so the world could see would you two of my very good friends have died I need to know why and you think I might provide those answers I think you're the only one I've ever met who has an idea who wrote that strange script sadik took a pause to catch his breath and once you've seen where I found it I'm hoping you'll be able to Provide me with some

of those answers I'll do my best Sam regathered his thoughts as he carefully followed sadik in the last 6 weeks has anyone else approached you to see the strange markings yes sadik confirmed there were two other people interested in this information just this week sadik nodded and they were both willing to pay big what did you say I said I'd sent the piece of wood away to Europe to be studied by experts but I'd love their Input when it gets back Sam said good man speaking to sadik Tom asked asked do you have any idea

who's following your movements no sadik crouched down close to a stone wall marking out the edge of a small open field then how do you know you're being followed Sam asked I see them there are people who don't belong here they act as though they have a purpose but they have no other purpose than to watch me I've carefully checked all the entrances over the past few Weeks every single one has been guarded with the exception of this one this one isn't guarded Sam asked no sadik increased his Pace walking straight past the entrance and

going further up the hill Beyond very few people know about its existence so what are you afraid of Sam asked the two men who are following us right now Sam glanced behind him there were two men casually walking along the path about 30 ft apart both looked like Tourists sadik stopped and both men kept walking past them Sam glanced at sadik who Shrugged and kept walking 200 ft along the path sadique stopped again the two men had stopped in a cave to buy something sadik waited and in a few minutes both men walked pass them

again Sam watched until the two men disappeared up ahead you still think they're following you sadik nodded looking less confident they don't belong here of Course they don't they're tourists after another couple of minutes sadik started to walk back toward the entrance to the ventilation shaft he made it less than a 100 feet before stopping again what now Sam asked sadik glanced up ahead to his left look at the Arya cave Hotel up ahead do you recognize the two gentlemen reading the paper the stone chimney had been carved out to make a five-story boutique hotel

at the bottom of the hotel there were Two men reading the paper Sam recognized them at a glance as the two who sadik said were following them they must have bed up and then looped back around a second path so they could get in front of them again Sam breathed in calmly and said I believe you're right we're being stalked chapter 3 Sam kept walking until he was no more than 20 ft from the two men who had been following them and stopped he made no attempt to to appear Inconspicuous they were the ones who

wanted to keep a surreptitious eye on sadik and possibly him not the other way around so Sam didn't see any reason why he should go out of his way to pretend not to be staring directly at them they were seated out the front of a Subterranean hotel called Nexus the lobby of the hotel was built into a large natural stone chimney which stood approximately 30 ft above ground the accommodation and entertainment were all Deep below the surface out the front a large glass revolving door stood unnaturally as a grand entrance moving in a slow and

continuous clockwise Direction he stared directly at the two men they were reading the financial review but they definitely didn't look like any businessmen he'd ever met they wore identical Dark Shades with similar cargo shorts beige v-neck t-shirts and thick climbing fests there was a conspicuous bulge in Both of their cargo Pockets it might have been caused by a weapon maybe a handgun and spare magazines or they might be tourists carrying their wallets and cameras both looked genuinely interested in what they were reading perhaps they knew sadik had to backtrack eventually both men were of a

roughly average height with a slim and athletic build they looked very similar but not Close enough to be brothers their rigid postures and definite movements suggested they had a military or paramilitary background there was also the chance they were in some sort of policing role if he was Stateside Sam couldn't have ruled out FBI or even CIA agents in Turkey they might work for interpole or they might work for whoever it was that didn't want him to find out what secret Darren kuyu held about the Master Builders how long have those two been following you

Sam asked sadik thought about it for a moment I saw them yesterday afternoon when I finished work but didn't think anything of it at the time then again they were there when I left my house they've been with me since then do you have any ideas how we can lose them we could just go ask them directly to leave us alone Tom suggested I mean their covers no good to them if we know they're following us we may as Well confront them head on I was hoping to avoid a direct confrontation sadik said wouldn't it

be easier just to lose them Sam turned to face Tom and sadik no Tom's right let's go have a chat with him Tom smiled as though confrontation was exactly what he needed right now sadique swore and started to walk away whatever Sam and Tom were going to say or do to the two men sadik wanted no part of it Sam Shrugged he didn't care What sadq wanted he walked directly up to the table next to the two men and pulled out a chair for himself he moved the chair so that he faced them directly my

name's Sam Riley what's yours both men shuffled in their seats and pretended to focus more on their newspapers is there something you guys want to know Sam asked one of the men the one closest to him lowered his newspaper and asked I'm sorry were you asking me a question yeah I want to know Who you are and why you're following me I'm sorry Mr Riley was it Sam nodded and the man continued speaking in a heavily Eastern European accented voice we were following your friend Mr sadik Sam shook his head I'm sorry I'm really not

very comfortable with being followed by a couple of badly dressed strangers didn't you hear me the man's tone was suddenly hard like ice I said we're not following you we're following your friend now I suggest you leave if You know what's good for you Tom sat down at the chair next to Sam he was a good seven in taller than either of them and 80 lbs heavier he wore a thick grin as he spoke gentlemen if you will permit I think I might be able to clear up this misunderstanding please be sure you do the

first guy said you see gentlemen Tom began my friend here is currently traveling with Mr sadik and therefore if you're Following Mr sadik you're also following my friend may I suggest you stop following my friend the second guy stood up first all right wise guy I think it's time we all have a talk but not here sure Tom said he stood up so that he had to look down on the man who was trying to intimidate him let's start with why you're following Mr sadik that's between him and my boss let's just say he owes

my boss something And we're here to make sure he doesn't leave town the first guy withdrew a handgun from his right cargo pocket just enough to make it obvious he was carrying a weapon before lowering it so it remained concealed so given I'm the guy with the gun right now I suggest you do as I say and come inside the hotel to answer some questions Sam watched as Tom's eyes swept the two men in a glance trying to decide who he was going to have to take down First he fixed his penetrating Gaze on the

second guy who was slightly taller than the first and hadn't yet revealed where he was carrying a weapon the second guy stared hard back at him and Sam noticed with pleasure the guy was holding his breath it's hard even for a man carrying a gun not to be at least a little intimidated by someone of Tom's side is Sam had no doubt he and Tom would come out on top in a fight his first prediction that the two men had a Military background appeared unfounded No Ex Soldier or professional would try and intimidate a person

while their handgun was still in their pocket if they were ever more than amateurs it was long ago and years of success had left them lazy and unskilled Sam stood up Tom this isn't our country and we're The Outsiders here let's not make a mess for anyone we'll come and have a talk but then we're out of here and neither of you will see us again Okay the first guy met Sam's eye and motioned to his partner to keep the situation hospitable the second guy slowly breathed out and then spoke of course all we want

to do is chat no one needs to get hurt today where Sam asked Inside the Hotel the first guy said Sam said all right lead the way the tension seemed to disappear from the first guy as he walked toward the Revolving door he no longer walked with a rigid gate the man clearly assumed he'd already won the dispute and was feeling the relief at not having to fight Tom he was so confident with his victory that he walked in front of Sam leading the way and why shouldn't he be after all he was the one

with the gun it was their first mistake never turn your back to an enemy Sam and then Tom followed next with the second guy walking directly behind Sam figured he Got the easy one out of the two men to take care of while Tom got the only one with any sense of how to do his job there were five separate partitions that made up the revolving door which was designed to automatically start to move clockwise as you enter it Sam entered the same partition as the first guy while Tom took the next one with the

second guy this was their second mistake never separate when there's going to be a Fight Sam followed the revolving door around until they reached the hotel lobby just before the door door reached the point where it opened up Sam pressed the emergency stop button what the hell did you do that for the first guy asked the guy reached for his handgun it was still in his cargo pocket Sam launched himself at the man pressing him hard against the hard glass partition so that he couldn't remove the weapon from his pocket the confined Space was the

only thing that saved Sam's life the guy's right hand gripped his hand gun inside his pocket and Sam shoved all his weight against that arm so he couldn't withdraw the weapon the first guy glanced at him as though he was trying to say what are you going to do I still have the gun you're going to have to let go sooner or later an instant later Sam drove his right hand into the Man's Pocket the man fumbled trying to maintain control of The weapon Sam squeezed his hand from the outside forcing him to pull the

trigger the semi-automatic weapon fired twice into the man's upper thigh he wailed in pain and Sam removed the weapon the guy dropped to the floor using both hands to stem the heavy bleeding to his leg a moment later the revolving door started to move again Sam pointed the handgun at the guy get out the wounded man shuffled out of the revolving door Into the lobby Sam stepped into the lobby keeping the weapon pointed at the stranger he glanced back at Tom the next partition of the door came round inside an unconscious man laid on the

floor while a much larger man searched him and removed a small backpack Sam glanced at the bloodied Heap on the ground reassured that the man was still breathing he looked up at Tom Jesus what the hell happened Tom Shrugged he made made his first mistake Yeah what was that he picked a fight with me Tom dragged the second guy's unconscious body into the lobby a concierge and security guard approached their eyes darted between Sam and Tom and the two badly injured people on the floor no one spoke for a moment as the hotel staff decided

their next course of action Sam got in first I suggest you call an ambulance this guy looks like he's going to need Some serious help the concierge nodded as though he was happy to be given a task we'll do that right away sir Sam pointed the handgun at the first guy who was still struggling to stem the blood he removed his leather belt and handed it to the man I suggest you wrap that around your leg if you don't want to bleed to death the man quickly took the belt and began trying to fit it

to his upper thigh without saying a word his eyes Focused on his task and he noticeably attempted to avoid making eye contact with Sam Sam said if you ever try to follow me again I promise I won't stop with your legs I won't I swear the man promised Sam and Tom stepped back into the revolving door and outside they walked C casually back toward the main path they'd been using before sadik had pointed out the two men following them poorly hidden behind three Boulders he spotted their Guide come on sadik they've lost interest in following

you but they might have some friends who haven't maybe we should check this place out before they do 10 minutes later they reached the hidden ventilation shaft sadik bent down and quickly unlocked the iron grate that blocked the entrance it was a vertical air shaft but large handholds had been carved into the volcanic rock making it easy to climb Sam and Tom followed him down into the ancient Subterranean System when they were all beneath the iron grate sadik locked it once more and said welcome to Daran kuyu chapter 4 the shaft continued about five stories

down and then stopped there was a total of six horizontal tunnels leading in various directions sadik entered the fourth tunnel and headed toward the South Sam switched on his flashlight the beam illuminated the chalky walls of the tunnel the tunnel itself felt like an Overgrown rabbit Warren made with rudimentary tools the edges were rounded more than sharp Sam and Tom followed sadik a few 100 ft until the tunnel broke into three with two horizontal tunnels and one narrow vertical shaft Which Way Sam asked we'll take it the long tunnel to the right it's a little

under a mile long we've entered from a fair way out of the main city okay Sam said as he and Tom followed him The name Dar in kuyu translates to deep well sadik said returning to his confident role as an informative tour guide it was carved out of the pliable volcanic ash rock that surrounds the entire region called tough inside there is an extensive network of Chambers for various daily activities including temples tombs shops living quarters and even livestock pens it has approximately 15,000 air chefs and enough room to comfortably hold 20,000 people using geophysical

resistivity and seismic tomography it has been determined there are 11 levels with some descending to a depth of 300 ft with a total Subterranean area of over 4 M squared it was a true underground city wasn't it Sam said yes with additional passages that connect it to other local underground networks like the one we're in now sadik spoke reverently what's most unique however is its Ancient security system a security system Sam asked yes it's postulated the place was originally built as a hidden bunker to protect its people from any number of raids throughout the region

the city has many 1,000lb Stone doors that could seal the city from the inside they were on rollers that allowed them to be moved by a single person but only from the inside additionally each level could be Sealed off from the next using the same system impressive technology for its age Sam acknowledged how old is Darren cuyo sadik sighed as though this was a common question with no real answer aging the structure has proved very difficult because it was carved out of stone thus there are no quaries to examine and carbon dating is irrelevant furthermore

there are no records documenting the construction and The peoples who once lived here have long since vanished but there must be theories Sam said of course but without definitive proof that's all they are theories and guesses so what are the theories and what do we know for sure some of the caves were built by the frians and IND European people in the 8th to 7th centuries BC when the frian language died out in Roman times replaced with its close Relative the Greek language the inhabitants now Christian expanded their underground Caverns adding the Chapels and Greek

inscriptions of course there is no evidence that the frians actually built the caves only that they occupied the tunnels during the 8th and 7eventh centuries BC Sam asked what else is known for certain the earliest written mentions of Daran kuyu were found in the writings of Xenophon dated somewhere between 431 to 355 BC from Byzantine times of the 4th Century through to 1923 duryu was known by its capian Greek inhabitants as mopia it was greatly expanded Ed in the middle Byzantine period to serve as a refuge from the constant raids of the umad Arab and

abased armies during the Arab Byzantine Wars that continued between 780 to 1180 interesting Sam flashed his light down an extremely deep ventilation shaft as they walked past the hole swallowed the light well before it reached the shaft's bottom you said before there were some who suggested that Daran kuyu is even older than that yes most of it is entirely speculation and deserves a place in the heart of conspiracy theorists rather than the works of archaeologists and Scholars go on Sam said what are some of the theories some Suggest that the caves were constructed by the

Persian king yima around 400 BC sadik smiled as though it was impossible of course yima may have been a mythological figure rather than an actual King it was said that he enjoyed a lifespan of more than 900 years you may recall that this figure is common in many biblical figures as well the zoroastrian text of vendidad states that yima built an underground city on the orders of the god Aura Mazda to protect His people from a catastrophic winter much like the account of Noah in the Bible yima was instructed to collect pairs of the best

animals and people as well as the best seeds in order to Reed the Earth after the winter cataclysm Sam paused as the tunnel forked into two directions where a single ventilation shaft ran through the middle which way sadik flicked his flashlight across the first rung of a more recent makeshift wooden Ladder we're just going down Sam started to climb followed by Tom what was the disaster aora Mazda said would come what sadik asked the winter cataclysm Aura Mazda said would come what was it oh he said it would come from the sky and cover the

world in a dark cloud for a lifetime before revealing a new world it could have been a reference to a comet Sam suggested some of the ancient Astronomers had extensive knowledge of the movement of the stars and comets above a recent study just released has deciphered the vulture Stone which was found in the gockley teepe in Turkey it appears the ancient stone carvings show a comet swarm hitting Earth around 10,950 BC this correlates with the mini ice age known as the younger dras which lasted for around 1,000 years sadik said of course duryu is nowhere

near that old so If they built it to protect themselves from a coming cataclysm from the sky it never came Sam paused at the bottom of the ventilation shaft thinking about it what if we're looking at this the wrong way how so what if we shouldn't be looking for the disaster that happened in the past if not a previous disaster then what how about considering if the underground city was built to protect us From something that's still to come something in the future chapter 5 sam followed the next horizontal tunnel for about 5 minutes until

they descended another two levels the vertical shaft dropped maybe 25 ft and stopped two new horizontal tunnels broke off sadik took the northern tunnel without hesitation Sam motioned to Tom to keep following while he waited for a moment Sam waited until Tom's light Dimmed and then switched his own flashlight off he was instantly surrounded by Darkness a slight glow glittered to the north a ahead of him Sam turned and faced the South where a light radiated fiercely he stopped waiting for the light to come closer but it remained where he'd first spotted it had their

pursuers found a way inside de and kuyu he switched on his flashlight and quickly caught up with Tom and Sadik I think we have company really sadik asked there's a light behind us Sam said sadik exhaled deeply it's okay that's coming from the tourist section of the dean kuyu they can't get in here without a key I assure you we're quite safe how much of the underground city is accessible Tom asked only about 10% of it sadik said as he kneel down over an iron grate that protected another ventilation shaft he rummaged through a Large

keychain until he found what he was after and unlocked the padlock the rest is locked up for the safety of the tourists or to avoid damage to some of the rooms of more archaeological value as you can appreciate there are a number of wells and air shafts which would swallow an adult hole Sam said fortunately for us you have a key no fortunately for us My Discovery wasn't found in in the tourist Section of the ancient city Sam and Tom followed him through another series of tunnels leading toward the South they climbed down another two

vertical shafts it was a true rabbit Warren with no discernable purpose after about 15 minutes they reached a small opening leading to a larger store room it was oval-shaped and large Stone seats were built into the ground Sam glanced at the stone structures there were drain holes at Their base an old washroom yes sadik confirmed Sam grinned as he studied sadik's eyes they were a dark brown color his face appeared open and honest a certain level of anticipation was evident as though the man was waiting in expectation of being rewarded for his Discovery or had

sadik led tom and him into a trap Sam glanced around the room the entrance consisted of a gigantic rolling stone door that could seal the city from The inside it seemed out of place to go to the effort to build such a defense system in order to protect a washroom and a dead end maybe there was more to this washroom than now meets the eye in his cargo pocket Sam felt for the handgun he'd stolen from the their attackers a Glock 31 the waterproof handgun had no safety and could be fired in an instant if

sadik had led him into a Trap he listened deeply for the sound of pursuers approaching but none came still waiting Sam glanced at the walls for any evidence of the Master Builders being involved he didn't believe for a minute that they had been involved in the construction of dear and kuyu the walls were too simple carved out by using rudimentary tools the edges were rounded as opposed to Sharp purposeful lines his deep blue eyes focused on Sadik I don't see anything where did you find the wooden signpost sadik pointed to the end of the room

where a small well opened into complete darkness it was floating in there Sam focused his flashlight inside the well the light reached an area 10 or so feet below and reflected back from the stilled water where does that lead to Nowhere sadik said looking blankly it's just a Well Sam squinted trying to see how deep the water went sure but where does it draw water from I don't know an ancient Subterranean River I suppose why does the water level ever fluctuate sadik thought about it for a moment rarely once or twice in the past 25

years since I've been working here could it be possible that there were more levels below us Sam asked and that the river below swelled and flooded it Sadik considered it's an unlikely possibility no one's ever tried to find out as far as I know it's clearly just a well like the rest of the city it leads to a Subterranean river that once supplied the city a person can barely fit inside so I don't think it was ever intended to be anything but a well what were you thinking of doing bringing scuba equipment to dive it

Sam smiled actually that's exactly what I was Thinking chapter six it was another 24 hours before Sam managed to get the dive equipment flown into cadosia a further 20 hours passed before he and Tom carted it down into the Daran cuyu washroom during that time they opened the contents of their attacker's backpack it held a flashlight attachment for the Glock along with four additional magazines each loaded with 15 rounds Sam And Tom split the magazines and Sam pocketed the Glocks flashlight at 700 p.m. and 2 hours after the tourist section of Daran cuyu closed Sam

finally laid out the equipment needed to explore the well permanent lighting had been set up so the small Cavern was lit up like an office next to him Tom began constructing a winching tower the sort of aluminum frame used by Rescuers to winch injured people out of canyons and off Clifftops it quickly formed a tripod shaped structure with a series of pulleys on top Sam carefully checked his dive equipment he brought two tanks unlike ordinary twin mounted dive tanks these would fit singly with one in front of his chest and the other behind each tank

had its own regulator and clipped on for easy removal they were the common set he used when cave diving in shallow water where he needed to squeeze through tight Spaces he would take them off and feed them through a tight space in front of his own body if he had to his fins were compact and rigid instead of the typical rubber ankle strap he used a spring heeled strap Sam carefully lowered the dive tanks into the water below and then tied off to the Rope Tom double checked his Scuba equipment as Sam connected his Carabiner

from his harness to the end of a second rope which ran through a pulley system the plan was to remain attached To the Rope throughout the entire dive that way if the Subterranean River's current was stronger than expected he could make two hard pulls on the rope and Tom would winch him back Sam met tomk eyes are you happy with it Tom took up the rope's slack with a Gent downward pressure I'd be a lot happier if I was coming with you we both know how much trouble you get yourself into when I'm not around

I wish you were coming too Sam's Eyes darted toward sadik but I still don't trust him not to leave us down there if we both go together I don't either Tom said then I'm good to go Sam rested back into his harness until he felt the Rope take his weight over the top of the well it was narrow but easily wide enough to take his solid frame without risk of becoming stuck inside not enough though that he could have carried the dive tanks on him while he descended not that it mattered to him He could

easily attach them once he was out of the well 2/3 of the way down Sam switched on his flashlight he carried a total of three with him on any cave dive or wreck dive one to use and two for backups he shined below where it penetrated the crystal clear stilled water his thin wet suit felt painfully inadequate against the cold water as his legs touched the water Tom stopped his descent while Sam found the two dive tanks and their Regulators he increased the air in his winged buoyancy control device until he was neutrally buoyant the

benefit of the wing system was that as he breathed air in it drew air out of the winged air seals meaning that the overall displacement of water remained the same while breathing allowing him to remain neutrally buoyant throughout the dive Sam fixed his mask so that it formed a perfect seal placed a regulator in his mouth and placed a hand on his Head to form an all okay signal for Tom a moment later he began and his descent into a world of permanent Darkness the round vertical shaft of the well continued for 15 ft before

opening to an enormous underground sistern he swallowed a couple of times until his ears equalized and then glanced around his new environment Sam guessed the original occupants of Duran cuyu were concerned about the Subterranean River becoming Dry so had constructed a massive system turn to hold enough water to last a prolonged siege for months if not years the only other option was that it wasn't attached to any underground river and instead was simply a large holding cell the second option was unlikely given sadik's reference to the occasional significant change in water levels either way he'd

find out soon enough Sam quickly and efficiently slipped into his dive tanks he moved his Flashlight around in slow clockwise swaths sending out a powerful beam of light in a 30° Arc the flashlight never reached the end of the cavern every 20 or so feet a vertical Stone pillar reached from the ground to the ceiling as though the original Builders knew precisely how much the volcanic Stone could take before it needed to be propped up with structural support Sam corrected his buoyancy until he was completely neutral And then fixed his flashlight against the Stony ceiling

he didn't move at all the water was still or if not very close to it he checked his depth gauge he was in 18 ft of water and was carrying two full tanks of air he would probably start to feel the adverse effects of hypothermia before he ran out of air even so he hoped the sistern wasn't as big as it looked he tugged on the Rope firmly once sending a message to Tom to loosen the Slack so he could commence the exploration he kicked his fins and headed to the South a couple minutes later

he reached the opening of another Well above him it was narrow and impossible to climb without equipment he continued to the South finding a total of four Wells before reaching the end of the room approximately 500 ft away Sam made a note on his dive slate and then returned to the starting point he Followed the same process to the east and west finding the shape of the sistern far narrower than he expected possibly 200 ft wide at most Sam found three more openings to Wells but none he could access without ropes from above Sam checked

his dive time he'd been submerged for nearly 40 minutes the water was cold but he was maintaining his body temperature better than he'd expected he decided to have a quick look to the north before returning to the Bath house to warm up and prepare for another dive roughly 50 ft out he found the opening to a well he ran the beam of his flashlight over it and stopped this one had a vertical staircase dug into its Edge Sam unclipped each of his dive tanks so they were trailing about about 7 ft behind as he ascended

the well there was no light coming from above giving him hope that he discovered a hidden chamber once occupied by a master Builder he broke the surface of the well and removed the regulator from his mouth he climbed the vertical shaft nearly 80 ft before reaching an opening an unlocked cover protected those above from falling into the opening Sam briefly searched the area with his flashlight he was at a crossroad in the underground city behind him the tunnel had been intentionally blocked by the looks of it bricks had been laid with mortar to form a

barrier to the South Which appeared oddly anachronistic with the tunnels carved by hand Sam disconnected his Carabiner and attached it to the iron grate that covered the ventilation shaft where he just climbed up he quickly searched the two tunnels to the east and west they were short and open to large and empty stor rooms he walked a couple hundred ft down to the north where the tunnel appeared to continue unhindered he turned around and returned to the ventilation shaft from What he'd learned about Daran cuyu some of the Escape tunnels went for miles upon miles

as much as he wanted to know where it went Sam decided to return to the water this was the wrong place no matter how much the river had flooded it never would have reached 80 ft where it could wash anything away from the sto rooms Tom would be starting to worry about his dive time if he didn't return soon it was most likely sadik would know about it anyway Sam quickly reattached His harness to the rope and Carabiner he descended the ventilation shaft placed the regulator in his mouth and returned to the Dark World below

he checked his watch he'd been gone for nearly an hour and 30 minutes Tom would be starting to get edgy he should have returned but instead he decided to swim North just a little further it was a bad decision or an extremely good one depending on the way you wanted to look at it he continued swimming for another 200 ft and stopped a set of stairs chiseled into the soft volcanic tough Rose straight out of the water about 30 ft away sadik had already told him that he didn't know where Daran cuyu Drew its water

supply but if any of the known tunnels led to the water through a set of stairs he would have known for certain that meant Sam had found a hidden Grotto he began swimming toward the steps he could see where the water broke the surface but there was Something else in that Direction too he focused the powerful beam of his flashlight at it and stopped because looking right back at him were the vacant eyes of another scuba diver chapter 7 it took a moment for Sam to recognize what he was looking at he felt his pulse

pound in the back of his head he took several quick shot shallow breaths anxiety and panic crept up upon him in An instant his first instinct was to back away and Escape as quick as possible but there was no reason to because The Wraith that was staring at him couldn't harm a soul it was already dead Sam caught his breath and purposefully slowed his breathing he quickly scanned the surrounding area with his flashlight in a 360° Arc there was no one else living nearby Sam studied the diver he was wearing neoprene and twin dive tanks

Leaving no air bubbles visible the diver's eyes were still visible behind his mask and stared vacantly at Sam as though he was trying to warn him of some unknown horror Sam glanced at the man's dive tanks it was impossible to think that even a moderately experienced diver would drown with twin tanks in such shallow water he should have had hours to find an opening and there had been a number of them so what went wrong Sam's eyes stopped at the edge of the multiple Dive lines running off the twin tanks every one of the regulator

lines had been sliced through the poor wretch had his air source taken from him and left to drown the body didn't even look bloated if he had to guess the man had been killed in the last few days at most Sam briefly forgot about the stairs and quickly swam back to the Well from which he'd been lowered he removed his dive tanks and Surfaced Tom you up there I'm here you okay Tom replied in his cheerful voice I'm fine Bring me up Sam reached the top of the well and detached his Carabiner from the end

of the Rope he removed the top half of his wet suit and started to dry himself he felt colder than he was he glanced at sadik who appeared uncomfortable but he said nothing sadik asked is everything okay Sam turned his gaze to focus on the short man with icy steel eyes no nothing's all right you Lied to us and now I want to know why sadik said I don't know what you're talking about Sam looked directly into sadik's eyes there was fear but also a world of confusion you tell me or I swear to you

I'll throw you down the well sadik turned his gaze furtively at the Well's entrance he spoke in barely a whisper what did you see down there I found the remains of another person searching for the rest of the writings You found chapter 8 Sam watched for sadik's response you found someone's remains sadik asked yes and given you told me no one had ever been down the well you can imagine my surprise but but the body could have been there for centuries sadik tried to spit the words out as though they were vile and unfair you

can't Jud judge me for This Sam glanced at Tom who now appeared wide awake he wasn't quite grinning but something about his face gave the impression he was happy to watch someone else suffer for what had been done to Billy Sam returned his Focus to sadik I'm afraid the person who died did so no later than the past day or two the last day or two sadik asked not an hour longer than that s Sam confirmed sadik gritted his teeth he said no one was going to get hurt so long as I Cooperated with him

who did Sam asked I don't know his real name sadik said he was tall he had a thick Cliff Chin and the most intimidating purple eyes I've ever seen he said no one was to find the chamber whatever the heck that is said it was supposed to remain hidden until the rise of the Third Temple the Third Temple Sam asked what's the Third Temple I have no idea you were supposed to come here and tell me all the answers about this strange piece of writing instead All I'm getting is threats and more questions you tell

me what the Third Temple is all right all right Sam said what were you supposed to do sadik swallowed hard I was supposed to bring you here wait until you deciphered the ancient text text inside the hidden chamber once I was convinced I had learned everything there was to know about the writings he said he would return When I told him it would take at least 3 days until you'd have your Equipment to dive then what Sam persisted he didn't say all he said was that he'd be here to take care of it then and

I could go free I'm sorry Sam wasn't sure that he believed him he looked looked at Tom go check out the surrounding tunnels make sure we're still on our own Tom nodded and left the room his face more lively than Sam had seen it since their search for Billy had become dry don't you see sadik said you need to Get out of here now while you still can we came here to find answers and I don't plan to be pushed around by a bully you haven't met this bully your friend looked almost eager to meet

the man but he should be frightened Tom Sam's upper lip curled into the faintest of smiles have you seen the size of him he's 260 lbs of solid muscle he really doesn't frighten very easily he hasn't met this man Sam studied sadik's face there was Genuine fear but there was also relief as though a giant weight had been lifted off of him a burden to betray someone he had no intention of harming with the truth out he was able to speak freely again what name did this man give you he said his name was famine

Sam thought about it and he clue what the name might be in reference to like I said I have no idea and didn't ask he didn't strike me as the sort of person Who liked answering a lot of questions about his past all right Sam listened at the entrance to the washroom for the sound of anyone approaching his eyes met sadik's he scrutinized him once more have there been any major famines in recent or old history are you kiding me sadik asked there's been hundreds over the years my country is rich in history but poor

in agriculture besides our position in the Region has seen us take in more than our Fair share of refugees over the years okay okay could he be referring to one of these famines it's possible but I can't see how any discovery of an ancient historical artifact might allow him to make his point about an old or recent famine can you no but it's the only lead I have so far Tom returned a few minutes later he was breathing fast like he just must Been running Sam asked anything Tom shook his head the tunnels are empty

on this side of De and kuu all the way to the locked grates that block the tourists entering this side of the city to the South I couldn't hear the sound of anyone inside the tourist section either so we should be safe for the time being Good Sam said because I need to get back down there sadik stared at him are you nuts Tom answered for Sam most of the time Why would you want to go back down there sadik persisted don't you understand he's coming back soon does he have a key Sam asked no

but he's expecting you to be here tomorrow Sam pulled his wet suit back over his shoulders then all the more reason we'll have to make sure we're done before then you don't want to just forget about it and leave now sadik asked no few people go to the trouble you've just described To kill a person in an underground water sistern I want to know why and besides I still haven't found what I came here to get sadik walked toward the door well I don't want to stay any longer I need to get out Everything's changed

if he's willing to kill someone Tom blocked his progress I'm afraid we really can't let you leave not now even if I trusted you which I don't I can't risk you notifying whoever this freak is outside that we know he's Going to come for us Sam attached his carabiner to the end of the Rope relax I won't be a minute longer than I need to be what are you afraid of Tom's here to look after everything and I assure you he has enough built up rage to take on even your demon chapter nine Sam descended

into the well again slipped into his new dive tanks and headed north he switched his flashlight Off and waited a couple minutes for any other sign of Life there were none he was all alone with the safety of the darkness he flicked his light on and continu continued swimming it didn't take him long to swim the 250 odd feet to reach it about 30 ft away from the stairwell he spotted the dead diver exactly where he'd left it he switched his flashlight off and searched again for any other source of light his eyes focused on

the base of The stairs and the opening above them searching for evidence someone was inside the last thing he wanted was to be confronted by sadik's demon as he climbed out of the water Sam waited a little over a minute before switching his own light on and swimming toward the steps the steps were formed out of white pmus and ran all the way to the bottom of the water sistern they were most likely used by the original Builders of the underground Structure as a means of access when it was first being dug Sam breathed out

gently as he slowed slly floated to where the steps met the surface he took the regulator out of his mouth and flashed his light across the open space above an entrance roughly 4T wide by 6 ft High led to what appeared to be another Stone chamber he glanced around quickly and listened for any sound coming from above hearing none he removed his dive tanks and Fins he removed the Glock 31 from a velcro pocket on his right thigh it was the same type of weapon the Navy Seals used equipped with a special firing pin known

as a Spring Cup the weapon fired consistently post prolonged submersion in water normal spring cups are solid plastic Maritime Spring Cups have two channels cut into them to allow water to flow past them and empty out of the firing pin chamber so that it can move FAS enough to fire the Handgun the gun can fire submerged the purpose of the maritime cups is that if the gun is submerged it can be retrieved and fired without having to perform maintenance he drew it into a firing position with his right hand and switched on ITS vidiian Tactical

light and green targeting laser with his left Sam switched off his dive flashlight and carefully climbed the stairs His feet felt cold on the poorest steps he moved his weapon around until he had a good vision of the entrance ahead he CED the light at the end of his weapon and searched one last time for any sign of an alternative source of light up ahead finding none he slowly entered through the stone doorway inside was a small Stone chamber that appeared to lead nowhere his eyes swept the room it was possibly 20 ft in length

by roughly 10 Wide its walls looked as though they had been made by digging away at the volcanic Stone using primitive tools there was nothing about its construction that resembled the level of technological refinement and finesse achieved by the ancient Master Builders at the center of the room stood a large desk made with the same porous Stone found through throughout the entire underground city Sam glanced around the room he ran His left hand around the wall searching for any hidden doorways the entire room right down to the stone desk appeared to have come from the

same piece of geology everything was solid and Sam felt confident there were no secret openings he switched on the brighter dive flashlight and holstered his Glock to his right thigh he covered the the weapon with its velcro strap and sat down at the desk to his right were two small alcoves carved into the side of The desk he reached inside and found two wooden placards Sam placed his flashlight on the desk like an ornamental reading lamp and withdrew the two wooden placards the writing on each of them was in the ancient script of the Master

Builders he carefully studied the words first temple failed second temple failed Sam turned each of the wooden placards over there was nothing written on the other side of them he placed them back On the table he ran his fingers across his forehead and through his thick brown hair Sam wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry everything that had happened in the past few days the murder diver the threats to sadik everything pointed to this hidden chamber and it was a hidden chamber designed from its first use to be kept a secret away from

the rest of the inhabitants of De enyu all of it amounted to what Sam glanced around the room a Strange empty chamber a desk and two wooden placards written in an ancient script and referring to two temples which had failed what the hell am I doing here Sam dropped his hands to the table and started to laugh because he suddenly noticed the walls in the front of him weren't blank they had only appeared blank because of the bright LED light from his weapon under the less harsh glow of his dive light the drawings along all

of the walls suddenly Glowed fluorescent Green Chapter 10 Sam stood up his head was only about 10 in from the ceiling his eyes swept the wall in front of him as he moved quickly around the table to get a better view the drawings were faded as though the original artist had long since moved on and his or her fragile lens Scapes had withered away in the same process even so there was no mistaking the outline of the Pictures they formed a primitive outline of the African continent Mediterranean Sea through to the Black Sea an asterisk

was observed in the middle of the Black Sea it was approximately 50 mil out from Istanbul if the drawings were to a correct scale next to this was was the name Mary Rose 1653 first failed Expedition Sam studied it for a few minutes making sure he read each word correctly expedition to what his eyes Glanced around the rest of the painting a small drawing of a ship was marked off the coast of Istanbul the ship was followed by a series of dashes leading to an area about 2/3 of the way down the west coast of

Africa an asterisk had been marked at the end of the line of dashes and next to it were the words Emerald star followed by the date 1655 next to that were the words current location unknown second failed Expedition all hope is lost with the exception of the ship's name everything was written in the ancient script used by the Master Builders Sam took several photos of the image before moving on to the other walls they were sparsely covered in the ancient script with no other images they looked like notes searching for the ship named the emerald

star it was last seen off the southwestern coast of Africa where a large desert met the sea in 1556 Sam continued to decipher the writings apparently the ship possessed the key to the Third Temple whatever the hell that was but despite extensive searches the ship was never located again it was presumed sunk and with its loss all hope for Humanity sunk to the seabed below the Third Temple it was the name that sadik had mentioned although neither of them knew what it was he'd never heard the name before today he recalled the first Temple of

the Master Builders ever discovered it was in kyber pass of Afghanistan they' never found a second temple and had never heard of there being a third Temple Sam stared at the words again key to the Third Temple was it in reference to a place or an event could it be the third cataclysmic die off since Humanity's existence the rise of a third and massive event leading to a widespread Die off he backed away from the wall as though it might provide another perspective and with it some more sense on the next wall was a simple

map of the west coast of Africa most of the image was left unfilled but inside what would now most likely be considered the namibian desert a drawing of a large pyramid was observed he'd never heard of any pyramid ever being found in the region he made a Mental note to have at least do some computer searches for any reference to a pyramid within the region Sam completed taking photos of the other walls and the ceiling he took one last glance around the room searching for signs of any clues he might have missed confident that whatever

Secrets the walls held were now captured on his digital camera Sam returned to the steps he dawned his dive equipment and made the short Journey Back to the well to where Answers might be waiting for him chapter 11 Sam climbed out of the well he quickly disconnected his Carabiner from the end of the rope and started to remove his wet suit he glanced at sadik who appeared to be sweating harder than when Sam had left he seemed to be battling that internal decision to run or wait it out but for what though Sam was wet

cold and hungry and all of these feelings were worsened by his heightened Senses over sadik's betrayal it made him work quickly to remove their equipment he decided he would throw the tanks and climbing gear into the well better to lose them than have sadik's demon know they had finished their project sadik approached quickly tell me did you find anything yeah there's another room below this one what was inside more writing like the one you found what did it say sadik persisted not much Sam said someone was searching for a ship a long Time ago called

the emerald star does that name ring a bell to you Sadi shook his head no sorry me neither Sam said what about the Third Temple we have a lot of temples in capadia is there anything particular that identifies the one you're after no now what sadik asked now we must thank you muchly Tom and I have to go we're going to have to search for this ship if it's still afloat somewhere we'll find it and if it's already sunk sadik Asked then we'll still find it but it might just take a lot longer Tom started

to disconnect the pieces that grouped together to make the winching tripod what do you want to do with the equipment Sam Sam looked at it he'd used much of it over the past decade on various Expeditions and he he had a strange sentimental value to the dive gear but he couldn't have anyone report they were finished with their search Ditch it all of it Sam nodded Tom took apart the last of the winching tripod and threw the pieces into the well where they sunk to the bottom Sam dropped the heavy dive tanks into the well

despite being full of compressed air they were negatively buoyant and dropped like stones what did you find Tom asked there were some old drawings most likely done by one of the Master Builders they looked like notes searching for a ship named the emerald Star it was last seen off the southern coast of Africa where a large desert met the sea in 1655 apparently it held the key to the Third Temple whatever the hell that was but despite extensive searches the ship was never located again it was presumed sunk somewhere what do you want to do

Tom asked let's get back to the Maria Helena and see if Elise can track this ship down for us also see if she can find any Reference to the Third Temple Sam crouched down to exit the washroom he moved quickly with sadik following close behind and Tom casually following they made it to the level above and nearly 150 ft through the tunnel before they were stopped three men approached at a walking pace two were armed with Winchester shotguns with their barrels crudely saw off if either of the two men pulled their triggers the effects of

the short barrel would send a Barrage of pellets down the tunnel with obliterating force a tall man at the center of the small group strolled with his hands in his pockets I'm afraid that's far enough Mr Riley far enough for what exactly Sam asked his tone was curious and nonplused they said you were a confident bastard The Stranger smiled of course they didn't mention you were stupid he gets a lot of that Tom said the stranger Ignored him I'm afraid neither of you is going to the surface who are you Sam asked no one of

significance the man said his face appeared gaunt it was narrow with a patrician nose and high cheekbones it was an aesthetic face like a monk or worshipper of self-sacrifice he wore black robes hanging from his neck was a single pendant of a crucifix at its Center rode a horse of Pure obsidian its Rider carried a pair of weighing scales it gave Sam Riley the slightest of pauses violent criminals are dangerous but the greatest of fear should be reserved for those religious zealots who believe they are acting for a higher cause criminals can be reasoned with

on a human level greed desire need lust these are all things that a criminal can Understand but religious zealots are operating under a divine order that no mere mortal can begin to understand Sam stared at the man's face what are you after the man spoke slowly as though he was giving a sermon or making a prayer I'm looking for the death mask what's that Sam asked a sacred artifact something that will prove invaluable in the days to come the days to come Sam asked what's coming the man Looked pitifully down upon Sam haven't you read

your Bible not lately the end of days is approaching it's time to seek shelter and the death mask is the only way to reach the Third Temple who are you my name is famine and my day of Glory is coming soon chapter 12 Sam glanced at the two men holding saof shotguns and back to the Man in Black robes religious zealot or not the man meant Business what do you want I want you to tell me exactly what you discovered inside the hidden chamber why should I do that if you're going to kill me anyway

Sam asked because if you don't I will torture you first and then kill you Tom said said you must be the one called Skinny Sam said I think he said his name was famine so that's it then Sam asked he glanced at sadik you were always going to kill us weren't you sadik said I'm sorry they Have my family Tom moved on Instinct his movements were quick and sharp Tom held sadik in front of him like a human shield with his arm digging heavily into the man's throat and the Glock pressed hard into the back

of sadik's head yeah I'm sorry but I have a family too chapter 13 Sam took in his situation in a silent glance the two goons held the barrels of their shotguns low as though they had all the Time in the World to lift the Barrels and shoot if they needed to they looked bored relaxed like someone who'd spent their lives serving Ving a master who always won by fighting with Superior numbers the ring leader was the worst he was tall and his face betrayed a hardened confidence of a man whose mere name evoked fear famine

Tom had sadik and he had nothing they both had a pair of Glocks while the enemy had a pair of shotguns they knew now that Tom was armed but they didn't know Sam was Famine laughed and said there are three of us we're armed and you're not duryu is crawling with my men and every one of them is on their way here as we speak so what do you think you're going to do Tom tightened his grip on sadik's neck I could snap his neck famine Shrugged it would save me the trouble of having to

go through the messy process of killing him and his family Tom's brown eyes were wide and focused with Steely Determination his jaw was set hard but at the same time he wore a genuine smile bearing a full compliment of evenly spaced white teeth it made Tom appear insane almost eager for a fight where he held the unfair disadvantage it was the happiest and most alive Sam had seen his friend in a number of weeks the first time in a long time Tom had been given a real enemy to take out his anger and Frustration he'd

almost forgotten how fearsome his friend could become when it was necessary Tom's facade of being a gentle giant dissipated instantly when the need to fight arose and all other options had been ruled out Sam said he doesn't look like he wants to surrender I'll take the guy on the left and you take the one on the right okay that seems fair Sam reached into his right cargo pocket and withdrew his handgun the Glock 31 was an extremely reliable Weapon he fired Two Shots before the first guy with a shotgun even lifted his weapon the loud

report of shots being fired from both clocks echoed simultaneously his eyes darted toward the ring leader in the middle Sam aimed directly at the man's chest he was close enough he was certain he would hit it famine fidgeted with his right hand as though he was contemplating in reaching for the gun it would take extraordinary reflexes for the stranger to get a shot Off let alone two before Sam or Tom killed him I wouldn't Sam said the tunnel echoed with a sound of footsteps running heavily in the distance my men are coming you'll never get

to keep me prisoner you may as well hand yourselves over to me now I don't think so famine Shrugged suit yourself famine fainted resignation and then reached for his gun Sam put two bullets into the man in an instant famine man fell backward landing hard Tom picked up one of the dead guys sonoff shotguns he fired around down the tunnel instantly stopping the progression of more attackers who were following the sound of gunfire Sam placed a firm hand on Tom's should her come on let's go you're not going to win the fight like this Tom

pumped another shell into the gun in his hands and then bent down to pick up the second shotgun his eyes were now wild like a possessed fiend released into the Battlefield you got a better idea Sam nodded he pointed the Glock at sadik's head you're coming with us where sadik asked back to theall washroom Tom fired another round down the tunnel a second later he heard shots being returned Tom moved quickly and followed Sam and sadik back into the washroom now what the hell are you going to do sadik asked Sam looked at the entrance

to the small chamber can you close that stone Door sure but I don't see what you're going to do what are you going to do wait forever Sam pointed the Glock back at sadik's head close it or I'll kill you myself sadik nodded he undid the steel locks more recently installed to prevent The Accidental movement of the gigantic Rolling Stone he tried to shift the heavy Stone but it didn't move hundreds of years fixed in the one position had caused it to sink a Minuscule amount into its Stone cradle hurry up Sam sh shouted I

can't move it shots whipped past him inside the washroom Tom give him a hand Tom fired a blast out the door from each of the shotguns and then ran toward the stone door it was shaped like a giant wheel he placed his shoulder on its Edge while sadik pulled from the front of it it still didn't move an attacker stepped into the room he fired A single shot from his shotgun with without aiming the spray went wild Sam stepped forward and placed two bullets in the man's head before he could reload another man started to

climb down the ventilation shaft up ahead Sam waited watching the man climb down until he was completely visible before firing at him he felt a stabbing pain right through his chest as though he couldn't breathe with whatever breath he had left he swore because it was the man in Black Robes Sam fired another two shots right in the middle of the man's chest and he still kept walking towards him he must have been wearing a Kevlar vest underneath the black robe the man laughed hysterically I told you you can't kill me I am forever I

am above death I am famine Sam turned and retreated inside the chamber Tom close that [ __ ] door he joined Tom and sadik who were pushing the edge of the stone wheel with all Their might Sam's additional weight was just enough to start the movement it rolled slightly don't let them close the door fam said to one of his men Sam saw the man running he' taken the opportunity to move fast while none of them were shooting outward the door kept rolling the attacker dived he was too late the door rolled across his chest

and the weight of the stone sliced him in two from his upper chest downward the Man's eyes stared up at Sam in horror For an instant before rolling into the back of his head sadik quickly wedged a heavy Stone next to the wheel door to make it impossible for someone on the outside to roll the stone back into its cradle Again Sam slowly walked over to the door and tried to move the wheel it didn't budge an inch he breathed out deeply sadik said now we're trapped what are you going to do about it Sam

smiled you can wait here if you want but I think I've seen enough of De and coyu for the time being chapter 14 Sam leaned over the air edge of the well and glanced at the stilled water looking back up at him behind him Tom still gripped the twin shotguns as though he expected someone to break through the Thousand lb stone door at any moment sadique looked into the well and then back up at Sam I bet you wish you Hadn't dropped your diving equipment already Sam Shrugged it doesn't matter we're still getting out how

do you plan to do that sadik's face was covered in sweat as he studied the well as though he was only truly seeing it for the first time there's a ventilation shaft about 50 ft north of here Sam said it's not a particularly difficult swim do you know where it leads no Sam admitted you might be walking straight into them sadik Pointed out Sam checked his Compass making a mental note of the direction where the ventilation shaft ran if we can't get through we'll come back here and start again if you can't get through there's

always the front door Tom said he spoke with indifference as though he was just as happy to open the door and fight his way out as he was to swim through to another exit there can't be more than 20 of them left Sam glanced at sadik and smiled see we have lots of Options chapter 15 Sam dropped like a pin into the well he floated to the surface and looked up the plan was that when they were all ready he would dive down and start swimming toward the ventilation shaft to the north sadik would follow

20 or so seconds later to make sure he didn't land on Sam 20 seconds after that Tom would follow last so long as his navigation was correct he would reach the ventilation shaft in under a minute Sadik would then follow his light and Tom would follow sadik's light he looked up at sadik and Tom you ready sadik ready as I'm going to be sadik replied okay Sam hyperventilated for about 30 seconds before turning and Diving head first down to the ancient water sistern below without a face mask the water was an obtuse blur of refracting

light s squinted and tried to focus on the small Arrow of his Compass he concentrated heavily but his mind Couldn't discern the shapes as an N for North or s for South he closed his eyes and opened them again the image wasn't any better it was a 5050 gamble with death awaiting all of them if he got it wrong Sam had checked the compass before descending into the water so that he started out facing north but it was impossible to know his current direction after spinning around to dive years of free diving and scuba had

given him an uncanny knack for Navigation his additional senses in his gut told him that he was facing north it was good enough for him he knew that he would become more disoriented each time he dived and that his first instinct was usually the right one even if he couldn't explain how he had reached such a conclusion he kicked hard focusing on maintaining a straight line he swallowed gently to equalize his ears and relieve the slightly painful Pressure Sam started to feel heaviness in his chest as he fought the autonomic muscles of his diaphragm from

Contracting and forcing him to take in a deep breath time was running out quickly if he'd made the wrong choice he knew there was no way he could reach the original well more frightening still was the knowledge he had no way of telling sadique and Tom if he'd made a mistake unable to go backward he continued to swim harder he could hear his heart Pounding in the back of his head he normally had no trouble holding his breath for 60 seconds but the situation the cold and the vigorous swimming were taxing his capacity he knew

that if he could make it Tom easily could also they could only hope sadique was fit enough and a good enough swimmer to keep up 30 seconds later he saw a darkened opening ahead his only recognition of the image was that his flashlight no longer stopped at the ceiling instead it Was swallowed by a roundish vacuum Sam kicked harder until his hands gripped the opening and pulled himself inside the ventilation shaft he looked up and kicked harder until he reached the surface gasping for air Sam quickly turned his flashlight downward to highlight the opening for

the others there was just enough room for two people to squeeze into the ventilation shaft he waited another 40 seconds for his breathing to settle and was about to Dip down to make sure sadik had followed his light but instead sadik broke the surface and gasped for air you okay Sam asked sadik nodded unable to speak because he was breathing so hard Sam dipped his head into the water for a moment moment and saw Tom's light approaching he started to climb the ladder to make room for Tom Sam climbed about 10 ft up and then

waited for Tom to surface you okay Sam asked never better Tom said good when you guys catch Your breath come on up he climbed to the top of the ventilation shaft and waited for sadique and Tom to follow by the time the other two men reached the top Sam was waiting at the crossroads about 30 ft feet down the tunnel sadik was breathing hard after the swim and the climb but he studied the room as though he was trying to place some mental image of his location do you know where we are Sam asked sadik

took a deep breath and SLE yeah we're standing in the old Ottoman tunnels the ottoman tunnels Sam asked sadik looked around at the two large stor rooms to the east and west during the ottoman invasion in the 15th century these tunnels were built by the cidian Greeks as a secret means of entering and exiting their underground Refuge Sam shined his flashlight down the northern tunnel where the light eventually trailed off to nothing how long is this tunnel roughly 3 miles and Where does it come out somewhere beneath the fairy chimneys sadik shook his head I'm

not sure where exactly it was closed years ago it might not even be passable anymore Sam turned to the southern Direction what about that way it comes out close to where we entered Daran cuyu to the South the sound of voices speaking rapidly echoed toward them Sam turned to sadik in a whisper he said can they get into here no not unless they have a key sadik said a moment later Almost in response to the question the tunnel echoed with the sound of a small explosion Tom withdrew his Glock looking as though he regretted not

making the effort to carry the shotguns he looked at Sam it appears they found a key Sam said run chapter 16 sadik was the fastest with Sam and Tom following just behind all three of them ran down the northern tunnel it was the quickest 3M Sam had run in a long Time his breathing was hard and his chest burned from the effort they'd run the entire trip without stopping on two occasions Sam had considered resting for a moment only to hear the sound of shotguns being fired at them from behind the spread of shotgun pellets

were still a long way off from h hitting them but it was a good incentive to keep moving Sam turned the corner and the tunnel came to an end the wall in front had been sealed with some sort of mortar Long ago he quickly studied the dead end shining his flashlight in all directions looking for any other ways out there were none sadik looked like he was about to collapse with exhaustion his face was flushed and he was unable to speak because of the effort being used to keep breathing behind them another shotgun fired it

was getting closer Tom took up a firing stance aiming his Glock down the tunnel I guess we're back to square One we're going to have to fight our way out forget it Sam said removing his dive knife and stabbing at the wall give me a hand to break through this wall the soft volcanic rock broke away and crumbled with each movement it had been cemented up using a mixture of mortar made from volcanic rock and lime to make cement likee glue Sam pried at the mortar that held a large Stone in the wall the groundup

pmus and lime made it brittle and weak The stone came free easily enough and Sam pulled it out Tom threw his weight into the wall and tried to pull out another Stone using his bare hands the wall started to move under his strength behind them another shot fired a few pellets embedded themselves on the wall about 10 ft away Sam dropped his knife and started kicking the wall Tom joined in two while sadik fumbled away pulling at the remaining Stones another shot fired loudly it sounded like it was Less than 100 ft away Sam turned

and fired three rounds from his Glock down the tunnel giving his attackers the tiniest of pauses when they fired again Tom ran toward the wall putting all 260 lbs of his weight into it the entire wall Shook and began to fragment he hid it again and more stone and mortar fell to the floor Sam joined him on the third attempt and both men fell through the wall it opened into the dining room of a cave Hotel the walls showed the classic Stone formation found throughout Jerome at least 15 people were eating dinner and stood up

at their intrusion a waiter still held a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice sorry Sam said as he glanced at the waiter the room was suddenly filled with the reports of multiple shotguns being fired Tom fired several shots back into the opening he just created he yelled everybody out pandemonium engulfed the Qui quiet Restaurant as people fled Sam emptied the remaining rounds from his Glock into the opening he looked at sadik and Tom let's go they ran up a series of stone steps passing four levels before reaching the ground floor and entrance to

the hotel two waiters blocked their exit Tom pushed through the two waiters who tried to stop them sending them flying onto their backs he didn't apologize instead he kept running they pushed through the large glass doors and Ran out into a world right out of the mind of Walt Disney when he conjured up Disneyland the fairy chimneys of capid doia appeared magical as they were lit up with thousands of fluorescent lights the ancient stone Towers looked perfectly suited for a fantasy ride in the Magical Kingdom but this was no one's fantasy and the ride they

were on was starting to no longer be any fun Sam heard more shots being fired the shotguns sounded like they had been Replaced by handguns he hoped his pursuers hadn't spotted them yet and were just firing into the air to get his attention a moment later several bullets worred through the air next to his head okay they got it all right Tom fired back while Sam was still trying to work out where the shots were coming from the report of multiple shots went quiet and Sam spotted two men falling down a set of stone stairs

about 40 or 50 ft away he turned to Tom and Smiled nice shooting Tom loaded another magazine thanks Sam swept the landscape in a single glance a series of stone stairs and walkways mingled around the brightly lit and colorful fairy chimneys through Heights ranging from 30 to 12 20 ft fluorescent lights lit up various aspects with deep blues purples greens and reds a tall man with a barreled chest ran out of the Aria cave hotel where they just left holding a shotgun He fired straight toward them Sam and Tom ducked Sam heard the loud click

of the pump action ejecting the spent round and chambering a fresh one over the sound of bystanders and tourists fleeing it was instantly followed by the massive report of the weapon firing again and the soft volcanic rock above their heads was splintered into a thousand pieces Sam and Tom stood up simultaneously and sent two rounds each into the man's chest his vacant eyes looked at his Shotgun unable to accept his fate before rolling down the stairs dead before he struck the pavement below sadik's run off without us Sam said Tom Shrugged can you blame him

we nearly got him killed he's got a better chance of hiding without us you're right let's go they followed the pathway in a Northerly Direction it meandered around several fairy chimneys changing its height by more than 50 ft and crossing the valley multiple times through a Series of small tunnels and caves each time they thought they'd gotten away from their pursuers a new barage of shots would fire at them from the south they took it in turns to fire back doing so only when one of them spotted a clear shot they were both down to

the last few rounds of their magazines Sam had one more magazine left and Tom was completely out they would only risk a shot if they knew they could hit Someone Sam and Tom were extremely fit they were also driven with the Primal will to survive a adrenaline surged through their bodies giving them additional strength and endurance the reports from gunshots were getting further away it took 20 minutes to reach the top of the hill where the gorim yolu road met the end of the jarim national park and more importantly the last of their protective cover

Sam was breathing hard it had been a long time since he'd Been forced to run so hard for so long he studied the landscape it became a mostly leveled plane with minimal camouflage and even less protective cover across the road and about 300 ft away some people were setting up a hot air balloon in a field a shot was fired somewhere behind them and its bullet went so wide they had no idea where it landed the sound was all the encouragement Sam needed to keep moving come on let's see what we Can find over there

he made it several steps onto gorim yolu and a taxi pulled out in front of them its tires screeched as the driver came to a halt just beside them the Yellow Taxi a caran V1 smelled heavily of brake fluid and burnt tires as though its driver had been driving it hard the driver was honking the horn madly at the end of the path behind them two men started to shoot Sam ran around the taxi and ducked down below the driver's door the driver wound the Window down it was sadique get in Sam and Tom didn't

need to be told twice Sam opened the front door and slipped inside Tom climbed into the back seat simultaneously Drive Sam yelled sadik shoved his foot on the pedal and the taxi accelerated hard Sam emptied his rounds into his attackers until the Glocks firing pins struck an empty chamber 30 seconds later the taxi had Disappeared out of their attacker's reach and the shots finally went quiet Sam sat up and looked at sadik and smiled you came back for us sadik nodded against my better judgment Sam loaded the last magazine into his Glock what happened to

the taxi driver I told him to get out much appreciated Tom said sadik reached the T intersection of caseri and nir yolu and stopped where do you want to go queri airport Sam said I have someone waiting to pick us up okay Sadik said and sped off to the north Sam asked what made you come back for us you saved my life I save yours now we're even don't come back I don't want to know what all this was about they reached queri airport 45 minutes later Sam shook sadik's hand good luck with your family

I'll let you know how I go no sadik said don't come back leave me alone I don't want to know what this was about I'm not interested I just want to live my Life chapter 17 Mount Ararat turkey GMP Petro mioli stood on the crest of Greater Ararat the higher of the two volcanic Peaks and studied the snow covered landscape that surrounded him in his search of a hidden secret a place last seen in 1840 when the mountain last erupted melting away the snow and revealing a series of ancient Lava Tubes below since that time

thick snow had permanently covered the upper third of The Sacred Mountain until this year as a result of the hottest summer on record the ubiquitous snow which capped the region all year round had reached its lowest depth since the volcanic eruption of 1840 this year he'd postponed his studies at Italy's prestigious University of bolognia in order to search the sacred Mountain a mountain rich in mystery and Biblical history dating back to ancient searches for any Remnant of Noah's Ark which some believe to have come to rest on the mountain mioli didn't believe for an instant

the ark would be found or any sort of historical treasure for that matter what he was searching for was something altogether very different and yet just as valuable he wore a pair of dark snow goggles that hid his deep set gray eyes he wore a thick mountaineering jacket helmet and crampons so that little could Be seen of his appearance except the broad crest of his smile he felt his heart beat faster and for a moment didn't even realize he was holding his breath as he discovered his first lead in two weeks on the mountain through

a pair of binoculars he studied the snow drift wander aimlessly along the northern Plateau it turned sharply as though it had suddenly been given a purpose and sped along the flat Snow like a mythical Beast with a mind of its own it fought its way against the oncoming wind caused by the natural updraft before losing momentum and slowing to a stop a split second later it spun around and began to move again as though suddenly energized by a secret enthusiasm this time it was turning in a large spiral formation it gained speed as it approached

the center spiraling faster and faster until it disappeared into an imaginary Crass mioli grinned and marked the precise location on his topographical map this was exactly what he was looking for as an avid mountain climber he'd spent previous Summers climbing throughout Europe in 2 weeks it would all be over and he would have to take up his placement at the University of bolognia to resume his studies in previous years he'd successfully climbed the Iger Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn this time he'd come here in Search of something very different virginal spelunking it had become a

craze with cavers around the world the concept was to discover a brand new Cavern never before entered and then map it out before the place had a chance of being overrun by other cavers and tourists one of the tricks was to search for areas where wind shows an abnormal movement for example a sudden downdraft where the wind should be stagnant or Flowing upward might reveal an opening where the cold air below leads to a decreased pressure gradient mioli carefully walked along the plateau stopping about 20 ft short of the place where he'd seen the strange

snow drift formation disappear in inside an invisible crass and downdraft he fixed a climbing pin deep into the snow and attached the 6ot climbing rope to the end of it the other side of the Rope was Tethered to his harness which he Tightened until he was confident the Rope would stop his fall if the ground opened into a massive crass he wrapped the remaining bulk of the Rope over his shoulder and then slowly loosened the tether as he approached the point where the snow drift had disappeared he was able to walk right across the section

he was certain he'd seen the snow drift disappear into the entire place was full of hardened snow he Marked the center of the search grid and then started to examine the area with ever increasing counterclockwise sweeps after 20 minutes he thoroughly examined the entire section mioli stopped and stared at his topographical map and the search GD had he got his navigation wrong somehow it seemed impossible to him but then again the entire area was covered in thick white snow so it would be easy to confuse individual Landmarks he loosened his tether all the way and

then made another series of searches throughout the initial grid using his ice pick to feel for any loose snow 10 minutes later his search confirmed one of two things he hadn't seen snow drift disappear down a crass or he was looking in the completely wrong place mei's mouth was dry he'd been breathing hard in anticipation of his Discovery and it was only now that the Adrenaline had worn off that he realized he hadn't consumed any water for hours he took off his backpack and withdrew a small thermos he opened the lid and eagerly drank some

of the Luke warm water inside he stared at the landscape again what had he missed he was certain he was at least close to the right place a few minutes later he stood up there was a light wind in the area and it was bringing with it an additional Chill factor now that he' stopped moving and allowed his body to cool he glanced at the sun which was dipping Over the Horizon it would be dark in a few hours he contemplated making a note on his handheld GPS and returning tomorrow the thought irked him like

a gambler whose weekly numbers finally came up only to discover he hadn't gotten around to submitting them this week mioli untied the end of his rope from the tethered pin in the snow there Was no point using it if he was in the wrong place instead he would need to start again this time he reached into his bag and withdrew a 40ft piece of string with small pieces of yarn attached on each side every few feet like tell tales on a sailing yacht which indicated the tiny changes in air pressure to either side of a

sail canvas mei's device could pick up any downdraft or sudden updraft he carefully unraveled The Telltale while moving backward until its yarn finally caught a light draft and began to Flap lightly in the wind he began to unravel the string from its reel like a person trying to fly a kite it pulled capriciously to the left and then the right constantly moving slightly to the north mioli watched gently loosening the string to give The Telltale more freedom to move after about 3 minutes the wind died off and the string and yarn settled gently on The

no meoli breathed heavily and waited for a moment he wound it in slightly and stopped The Telltale perked up as though suddenly drawn upward by some mysterious power and it shifted about a foot into the air and then du East The Reel felt firm in mei's hand he held it tight fighting the pull and then like he was fishing he quickly released more yarn to allow The Telltale the freedom to follow its new desire he grinned was it going To be a shared desire the string went taught and mioli instantly placed his second hand on

the reel to keep from losing it all together the little pieces of yarn flapped vigorously and he started to follow the Telltale whatever had caught its attention was powerful despite their only being a light breeze on the plateau his heart raced could this be what he was searching for he'd heard a story from a climber 3 weeks ago who said that A strange downdraft hit him like a hammer nearly knocking him off his feet in the process as he reached the summit the tension slackened for a moment and he released pressure on the string had

he lost it The Telltale fell to the ground and he swore mioli slowly curled the string around the wheel as he moved to where the end of The Telltale had fallen into the snow mioli bent down about to pick the end of it up when it yanked to the side he gripped The Reel With both hands again the mysterious downdraft seemed to be teasing him intermittently pulling hard and then releasing its prey now the string felt taught and he struggled to hold on a moment later despite meoli trying to stop it The Telltale pulled away

and unraveled the rest of the spool and then disappeared into a small hole in the snow this was it an opening to The Hidden World he was looking for his breath felt light with anticipation as He bent down to examine the tiny opening he was breathing hard and his heart raced from the effort of fighting with a Telltale as much as with excitement the opening was too small for him to climb through but it wouldn't take much to widen it and he was certain it was only the tip of a large lava tube nothing smaller

would have such a powerful downdraft mioli sat down and started the process of winding up the spool the string was still taunt as though Something or someone was pulling it downward it made him smile how hard it fought then it became too hard to keep hold of he dug both feet in and his crampons gripped the snow for a moment he thought it was going to hold he should have reacted faster maybe if he had there was a chance he would have made it instead he heard the crack of ice breaking beneath him a moment

later the string tugged hard and the ground beneath him gave way his mind was still In the process of registering what had happened to the solid ground below him when his back struck the first piece of solid ice it was heavily sloped downward and his General momentum kept going which reduced the impact he let go of the string and fumbled to grab the ice pick while at the same time trying to position himself so he was no longer sliding head first his right hand finally latched onto the hilt of the ice pick he swung it

into the ice but Without any force and the blade didn't didn't even begin to take grip meoli swung again and this time the pick dug heavily into the ice the same instant he felt Elation that his ice pick had taken hold his momentum ripped it clear from his hand and kept sliding only he'd stopped sliding because there was no longer ground beneath him chapter 18 mioli must have fallen 20 to 30 ft maybe More he didn't know at some point his rope must have caught hold on something because he felt it Go taut over his

shoulder and break part of his fall before a moment later being ripped away from whatever it had taken perch on above he continued falling and struck the ground a split second later his back struck first then his head and pelvis and his entire body filled with a pain so intense he didn't know where his injuries were because everything hurt Equally next to him he heard the Deep resonant thud of rope falling to the hard icy floor followed by a clanging sound as his ice pick fell less than a foot from his head the fall took

the wind out of his chest and he was certain he'd broken his lower back and possibly even his legs but he was alive mioli realized he was unintentionally holding his breath he forced himself to take a couple shallow breaths they hurt his ribs like hell but he was able to Breathe at least he made a small fist with each hand the fingers worked and like the rest of his body they were sending his brain millions of tiny impulses registering pain he wiggled his toes next the sensation made him want to cry he could still move

his arms and legs that meant there might just be hope that he would still survive he fumbled in the total darkness for his helmet light and switched it on without moving from where he fell he was Inside a large tunnel the walls were jet black and glassy he grinned despite the pain because he'd found his lava tube mioli turned his head to the the left on the wall were a series of old cave paintings one of them depicted a man wearing nothing but a loin cloth writing a woolly mammoth next to that painting was one

of a similarly drawn primitive man fighting off a beast it took me only a moment to realize the creature was a sabertooth Tiger he racked his brain trying to recall what his teacher had said about the two creatures in his ancient history hisory class as a kid they were both extinct that much he knew for sure but when had they died out his eyes darted to the top of the large tunnel where he'd Fallen it was made of ice and was at least 30 ft above him he glanced back at the cave paintings only there

was something different about them there were no Handprints they were unlike any other Neolithic drawings he'd ever seen in previous ancient Cav he'd explored he looked at a third drawing it was of a young woman's face she had intense eyes and strong facial features she wore something golden around her neck like a pendant but the lower part of it had been worn off over time there was no doubt she would have been Splendid in whatever time period She Lived the thought about time jogged his memory he was 12 years old sitting in an ancient history

class in skola gpan droma his teacher was telling him about mythical beasts only they weren't mythical they were merely extinct the saber-tooth tiger and Woolly Mammoth became extinct around 10,000 years ago the thought Jarred at his concussed mind the images were at least 10,000 years old he turned his head to the right he took A deep breath in and held it no longer concerned with the pain he slowly sat without taking his eyes off the image painted on the wall he felt okay he still had pain that's for sure but somehow he could get past

it somehow he had to didn't he he slowly breathed out it was going to be okay he would be all right he would work out a way to climb out he knew it with certainty everything was going to be all right from here it had to be he needed To survive so that he could tell someone what he'd seen he'd have to the world had a right to know no matter what the consequences there in front of him on the jet black wall of obsidian in a cavern not seen by humans since the age when

the woolly man s and saber-tooth tigers roam the Earth was a rendering of a human being a perfect depiction of Jesus Christ nailed to the Crucifix chapter 19 the Gulf Stream G650 flew smoothly in a western Direction at a comfortable 48,000 ft and well above the r aging storm below it flew toward Malta where the Maria Helena was having minor repairs and maintenance completed while her crew was taking vacation leave Sam sat at his desk flicking through the digital photographs taken from the hidden chamber inside Daren kuyu opposite him Tom searched the Internet for any

evidence of a pyramid ever being found anywhere near the namibian desert Sam looked up from his screen you having any luck locating that pyramid Tom closed his laptop if it did exist any record of it has long since been destroyed there's nothing on the internet what about the emerald star there's been a few hits but nothing that matches that time period so we're at a dead end yeah Tom said Sam picked up the phone at the end of the table and dialed A number from memory the phone rang four times before being picked up by

its owner you're getting slower Elise Sam said I remember a time when you used to pick up before it reached its second ring is that so she asked and I remember a time when you didn't interrupt me when I was on vacation Sam smiled in the past 3 years since he'd hired her for her inhuman ability to solve complex puzzles and hack any computer on the planet he hadn't recalled Elise ever taking a Proper vacation that's right you said you were going away while the Maria Helena had her maintenance where are you laying on a

sunny beach in a town whose name most people can't pronounce and where few people will ever go looking to find me not anymore Sam said I need you to get back to civilization and use that incredible mind of yours to locate something for me what two things actually go on she said a pyramid in Namibia and a ship last seen in 1655 bearing the name emerald star sure her voice betrayed her usual Surprise by what Sam wanted from her as though for all her Knowledge and Skills he basically wanted her to use Google for him

you want a pyramid that didn't exist and a pirate ship yeah something like that Sam flicked over to the third photo of the pyramid on his computer it was real he was certain of it how long will it take you To get off the beach and find me some answers oh I'm not planning on leaving the beach today I'm on vacation remember her voice was teasing Alise this is important it's about Billy relax I'm already looking it up for you you take your your laptop to the beach Sam asked what can I say I'm still

a nerd even if I'm on vacation and with the free satellite connection the company so generously provides why shouldn't I Sam smiled as he listened to The sharp staccato of her fingers tapping on a keyboard he waited on the line for her to tell him how long it would take to find something he didn't have to wait long before she spoke okay I'm running two Searchers through a series of databases ranging from African and Portuguese newspapers through to Maritime and archaeology reports it might take a few minutes but it's looking like there's nothing about a

pyramid ever being found there what About the ship the emerald star Sam asked okay there were eight separate ships built between 1600 and 1700 bearing that name can you give me anything else to make it more spefic Pacific no what have you got three were built after 1655 and two were sunk before 1655 she said and the other three Sam persisted there is a Spanish Merchant vessel which sank on the way to South America in 1656 a Portuguese frigate that sank at Trafalgar and a Portuguese barkantine that was stolen by pirates in 16 18 46

after which it caused a world of Havoc for merchant vessels traveling through the Gibralter straight apparently it was one of the most successful pirate ships during that era what happened to it no one knows in 1654 it fired two shots at a Portuguese frigate before evidently realizing it couldn't win and turn to run it was Never seen again that's our ship Sam said where was it last seen causing trouble along the northwest coast of Africa that's it Sam said you can't get any closer port or anything what about where she was sailing to sorry Sam

that's all I've got Sam felt the Gulf Stream ease off its thrust as it commenced descent into Malta still 30 m away what about the pyramid there was a pause on the line Maybe just enough to take a couple breaths all right I think I've got something for you what Sam asked feeling hopeful I don't know if you're going to like it there was never any proof but the story will definitely grab your attention go on a man named Peter Smith 3 years ago when searching for a pyramid his great ancestor once wrote about he

claimed he'd found a journal stored by his late father and written by a guy named Thomas Hammers Smith in the journal Hammer Smith described a journey into an African desert that reached all the way to the Atlantic the purpose of which was to steal a rare golden artifact from an ancient pyramid he goes on to say the strange Relic was a curse that led to the deaths of the rest of their crew how did he survive hammer Smith wrote that he was saved by the generosity of an angel with dark purple eyes who came cloaked

in White robes claiming to be death and told him to spread the word death was going to save the world Sam said I can't imagine why you thought I'd be concerned about the authenticity of this guy's story what did the archaeologist say about it of course he never found a pyramid and the conservatorium of archaeology generally placed the story as Fiction with no credible basis to go off but you think he might have been on to something Sam asked well there's an Interesting note at the end of the article apparently Hammersmith was part of a

crew who had come there specifically to steal a Priceless artifact after doing so they were chased like wild animals by the rightful owners who numbered in the hundreds all the way back to their ship care to guess the name of his ship she asked with a hint of a tease Sam grinned the emerald star quite a coincidence for a completely madeup Story isn't it what happened to the ship he doesn't know but what he does know is that a sandstorm raged that night worse than he'd ever seen and in the process the entire landscape had

had changed forever and he often wondered if the ship still lay buried in the sand Sam took a deep breath in and held it for a moment Elise tell me you have Peter Smith's contact details no he went on another journey Early last year in search of the pyramid and hasn't been seen since can you find him only if he's left a digital footprint somewhere if he walked into the desert and never came back I won't find anything he's definitely not on social media or anywhere else on the internet as far as I can tell

there's a note somewhere here about him being considered a paranoid conspiracy theorist apparently he became concerned That the same people who went after his great descendant were now after him because of what he knew what about facial recognition well what about it Elise asked and he could imagine her grinning at his knif Tay Sam persisted I thought you said there's software out there that can locate any person on the planet based on their face sure but the person would need to have the image of their face recorded somewhere for me to locate it for Example

if he went into a bank or a public library I could find it on their database so can you find it not if he's as Paran as he appears to be a man like that would know to disappear into the woods away from any digital prying eyes what about satellite images she laughed I appreciate the vote of confidence but now you're talking about the Realms of science fiction or poorly described techno Thrillers I'll keep searching to see if I can find him on any photo taken In the past year but it's going to be a

miracle if I find something okay see what you can do I've seen you perform Miracles before okay anything else yeah I need you to tell me the name of the closest airport to the namibian desert a moment later he hung up the phone Tom asked what did she say we're off to vinul Hosea caco International Airport why to find a lost pirate ship and a pyramid that doesn't Exist chapter 20 Namibia Sam stepped out of the Gulf Stream G650 and onto the tarmac at vinto kosea kako International Airport he took a deep breath and was

surprised by the sudden change in temperature having crossed over from the northern summer to the southern winter the temperature dropped to 34° f night he gritted his teeth at the perversity of recent severe weather changes if people didn't know by now that the health of the world was a Global issue they were never going to get it while turkey suffered its hottest summer on record Namibia was struggling through its coldest winter he was greeted by two men one an official Customs officer and the other an aircraft dealer good morning Sam said handing him his and

Tom's passport to the official welcome to Namibia the Customs officer stamped both passports without looking at them and handed the books Back he smiled obsequiously as though he were used to dealing with wealthy businessmen who landed at the airport in private chats if there's anything I can do for you while you're here just let me know and I will arrange it for you I have left my private cell number and and will most certainly be able to find any service that you are after thank you ramelle Sam said glancing at the man's name tag he

turned To the second man you must be beorn pleased to meet you Mr Riley beorn offered his hand Sam took it and then motioned toward Tom this is a good friend of mine Tom Bower pleased to meet you bejor said Sam glanced around the tarmac where several small PR aircraft were stored outside what did you find us I've got a Cessna 172 turbo Skyhawk beorn whistled through crooked teeth and a single gold tooth as Though he'd done them a Monumental favor there's less than 300 hours on the clock too it was only recently purchased to

use as a charter to Ferry the various geologists and other professionals employed for oil exploration currently there's a lot of that going on Sam asked oh yes very much business has never been so good for me they say that Namibia is the El Dorado of oil reserves lot of money coming into the country while Sam expected many Namibians still eagerly anticipate an oil Discovery he figured others were more circumspect oil discoveries particularly in developing countries countries have not always yielded positive results for the people in many instances the majority actually end up losing out while

the minority become exorbitantly wealthy moreover competition for control of resources has been known to lead to bloody and pervasive conflicts in many developing Nations and I bet it's the people of Namibia who are the recipients of this New Wealth Sam said without restraining cynicism beorn ignored the comment people need my planes to fly the short distances to where there are no permanent airfields the Cessna is fully booked after the end of the month but you can have it until then if you like the end of the month was still two weeks away Sam hoped he'd

have some answers by then it should do great I'll take you Over there now and run you through a few things do you have any other luggage no we travel pretty light we buy anything we need while we're here Sam said good is there anything else I can help you with Sam said you spend a lot of time flying around the skeleton coast and Namib Desert beor nodded that's how I've spent the last 30 years of my life so you know the landscape pretty well of course what would you like to know s Sam grinned

have you ever seen a Pyramid chapter 21 the Skyhawk was covered in sand it was painted light blue which poorly disguised the dirt and sand which had lightly coated her aluminum frame Tom walked around the aircraft from wing tip to wing tip looking for any significant faults or damages emanu moved the articulated joints of the ailerons rudder and elevator they moved freely and Tom smiled he could see that despite only 290 hours on her clock she had Already had some rough treatment fing clients into the desert not that it mattered he knew that Cessna built

robust aircraft to take abuse and last there were still a number of Cessna 152s from the early 1950s still in service today a massive Testament of their reliability Tom clambered into the pilot seat he pulled the latch at the side of his chair and slid it all the way to the back until his seat virtually touched the empty one behind at 6'4 his knees Bent awkwardly in the small single propped aircraft but he was remarkably comfortable nonetheless he carefully flicked through the Skyhawk running sheet and spec sheet he paused at the description of the engine

it was powered by a continental motor's CD 135 turbocharged 4 cylinder inline diesel engine he'd heard some companies were experimenting with using diesel instead of aviation fuel but had never flown one Tom worked his way Through the startup check sheet running the engine to maximum and then bringing it back to an idle he ran the flaps through their range and then left them at 0° for takeoff outside Sam paid the charter fee shook beorn's hand and climbed into the co-pilot seat what do you think about the aircraft Sam nodded it's good Tom said she will

serve our purpose handsomely no doubt did you know she's got a diesel engine whose bright idea was it to put a diesel in single Propped aircraft the additional torque makes it an estimated 25% more fuel efficient than her Aviation fuel counterpart bringing a range to just under a th000 mil to the tank besides Diesel's a lot easier to get a hold of around here than aviation fuel interesting Sam said indifferently he then placed a topographical map of the region in front of Tom and circled a small coastal city Named Swant we need to fly here

what's there not much beorn tells me that if I want to know the truth about a rumor I'd heard about some abandoned pyramid that once existed in the Namib Desert then I needed to speak to a man named Leo Dietrich who is he Tom asked he's a registered Master hunting guide in Namibia and a drunkard apparently Sam said he offers Private Tours to Big Game hunters in search of trophy Animals Tom nodded and beorn thinks he might have heard something in his travels it's better than that he says Dietrich is a fifth generation hunter in

the region his family has lived there since Germany founded the city in 1892 as the main Harbor of the German Southwest Africa if anyone knows about an ancient pyramid that was still standing back in 1655 he would chapter 22 the little Skyhawk took off easily in the cold air there Tom reached a cruising altitude of 3,000 ft and settled into a bearing Due West and watched the Arid and inhospitable land below go by it took just over 2 hours to reach the skeleton Coast so aptly named because the combination of violent seas and the regular

setting in of a thick fog that it caused chips and whales to constantly become beached along its Shores where the Atlantic met the Namib Desert he watched as the massive sand dunes below rolled into the ocean where they were met by the violent whitewash of the incoming waves he banked nearly 90° to his left and followed the coast south until he reached Swant Tom landed and they caught a taxi to dietrich's address it was an old German colonial style house a dozen or more unopened newspapers lined the porch Sam banged on the door there was

no Response they backed away from the front door to see if there was any way to see inside a neighbor noticed them snooping around the side of the house what do you two think you're doing she scolded you think it's an easy place to Rob while he's away no ma'am Sam and Tom replied in unison Tom looked at the woman she was probably in her mid to late 80s and still commanded an air of German Authority as she SP spoke you think he hasn't taken precautions while he's away Well he has the rest of the

street look after his house I'm sorry Sam said turning his palms upward in defense we're trying to find Leo Dietrich do you know when he'll be back you came here looking for Leo did you she asked yes she laughed then youd better get comfortable because you'll be waiting a long time why why Sam asked because he's gone to ozna for the hunting season if we fly there now how would we find him Sam asked she paused for a moment as Though she was picturing the place in her mind there's a public house at sum where

he normally stays and drinks at night mention his name around and someone will be able to point him out to you when he comes in from the day's hunt thank you very much ma'am Tom said you're welcome as an afterthought she asked what are you looking to hunt anyway a pyramid in the Namib Desert everyone keeps telling us doesn't Exist chapter 23 it was another 4 hours before the Skyhawk landed on the narrow outcrop of blacktop that lined the road to the south of sum before taxiing to a stop out the front of a small

Roadhouse the town was situated to the southeast of the iosha game Park and to the west of the Kalahari Desert it was known as the gateway to the north of Namibia once a thriving mining town providing some of the rarest precious and semi-precious Gemstones in the world the town now thrived on tourism wealthy Travelers searching for big game to hunt they stepped out of the aircraft and into the Roadhouse a man in his late 50s with a rotund belly and a ruddy face that gave Sam the impression he'd spent an equal portion of his time

serving himself hard liquor as he did his customers glanced at Sam and Tom Sam greeted the man and said we'll need 40 gallons of diesel for the Cessna any chance you got a line Long enough to reach her the man turned his gaze to outside where the Cessna was parked 30 ft away from the single diesel Bowser he nodded and spoke as though it were entirely normal to have light aircraft asking for fuel I'll send a boy there to fill her up right away Sam watched as a tall boy in his early teens came over

with a small ladder and fuel hose Tom opened the fuel cap and he started to fill the tank from The inlet at the top of the wing when the young man finished putting 40 gallons into the tank Sam thanked and paid him before walking back into the road house he and Tom ordered lunch and sat down at the edge of the Road House steak and chips with no choice of salad or vegetables the steak came from Wild Springbok and had that distinct Taste of game meat about it but it was good the beer was some

sort of local brew that Was drinkable but he wouldn't go out of his way to have it again the owner came over shortly and and asked what brings you out this way I'm looking for someone Sam answered perhaps you might know where I could find him he comes out here for the hunting season to offer private tours for people searching for trophy game the man Shrugged we're right next to the game Park I see a lot of people passing through offering hunters from all over the world their wildest streams Who are you looking for Leo

Dietrich the Publican laughed I'm sorry to say it but you won't find him for the rest of the season why is that Sam asked I thought he comes out here for the entire season he does or normally does anyway but this year is different he hasn't been taking anyone game hunting this year why Dietrich left here yesterday the man poured himself another beer straight from the tab do you want another one Sam and Tom both Declined the Publican went on he said he was working for some rich man as a guide into the Kalahari Desert

he didn't say what they were looking for though it wasn't game that much I can tell you because little exists in the Kalahari Desert do you know who his client was Sam asked hopeful not a clue I didn't ask and it wasn't like him to tell me things like that the Publican shook his head I'll tell you one thing though his Client was a strange man not very talkative not interested in a drink and he had the most strikingly intense eyes I've ever seen they were a deep red possibly even purple and his skin was

white like an albino sorry I couldn't be more help to you Sam said don't worry about it say do you have time for one more question the Publican downed the rest of his glass of beer sure it might sound crazy but in all your time out here have you ever heard anyone mention A pyramid like the ones built by the Egyptians being found in the Namib or Kalahari Desert I've never heard of a pyramid around here you'll need to head much further north to find any sign of Egyptian engineering the guide laughed it's funny you

asked though why we primarily cater to tourists who want to see the skeleton Coast or hunt big game and stuff like that you know and just last week we had a French man here another strange man he had no interest In the hunting or visiting the game park or even seeing the skeleton Coast instead he made the journey entirely to do some local cave diving do you want to know what he told me he found what drawings of a pyramid he took a photo of them actually he said maybe I should put them on the

website and start offering tours maybe get some unlucky tourists fancy do you still have the photos the man walked out the back of the bar for a few minutes And returned with a couple printed photographs he handed them to Sam and Tom to look at the Quality was poor and the lighting was terrible but then again he said they were taken by a diver in a cave Sam stared at the photographs two of them were of a single pyramid surrounded by sand as though the desert was about to swallow it whole the third photograph depicted

some sort of dark shape the pyramid looked Egyptian but there was something strange about it Something creepy or Sinister about the way it surrounded the people in the drawing almost like a snake stalking its prey who were little more than stick figures it weaved and crept through their legs as though it were alive he turned over the fourth picture it depicted a threed ship covered with sand he handed the picture back to the Publican any idea what ship this is the man Shrugged it could be any of the 4,000 or more unfortunate vessels that Have

found themselves caught between the Atlantic and the giant sand dunes of the Namib Desert Sam glanced at the pyramid it could have been any ancient pyramid built by the Egyptians he turned his Focus back to the image of the strange smoke creature any idea what this is the manager looked at it looks like smoke to me why I don't know it seems strange this would be here whoever Drew these images placed a lot of emphasis on the Smoke I thought maybe it meant some something particular to the region like what something religiously symbolic perhaps Sam

suggested a local fear or aversion to fire the manager Shrugged it could have the original inhabitants of the region were often superstitious they believed a whole range of things about different spiritual things maybe whoever Drew this one believed the smoke was related to Their ancestors or something who knows I sure as hell don't Sam flicked over the back of the photo in simple handwriting written in pencil were the words found on a rock at the bottom of the lake depth 410 ft at the bottom of the photo was the date of discovery which was 5

days ago you said that Dietrich took a private Hunter out on a tour into the Kalahari Desert didn't you sure but he wasn't a hunter that's for sure he was looking For something but I can tell you now he wasn't looking for game why do you ask I wonder if there was any way dietrich's client knew about these photographs it's possible I put them up on our website just for fun 3 days ago but I doubt it if he was interested in the photographs he didn't ask about them or anything about a pyramid if that's

what you're thinking no that's all right it was just a thought you don't think there's an ancient pyramid buried out There in the Kalahari Desert do you now the man laughed properly no that I can tell you confidently would be impossible I mean think about it for all the journeys that have taken place throughout that harsh and unreasonable environment no one has ever mentioned finding a pyramid I suppose you're right Sam handed the photographs back to the Publican I don't suppose you know the cave in which these photos were taken of Course I do the

same place they all come here to dive a lot of people come to the namibian desert to dive Sam asked surprised yeah it's not our largest tourism drawing card but it's up there we even have a few scuba diving schools in town that focus on Advanced cave diving courses you don't say sam nodded and what exactly do they all come here to dive the Publican grinned that would be the dragon's breath Cave chapter 24 dragon's breath cave the Kalahari de desert is one of the driest places on the planet the wetest areas received a measly

average of 20 in of rain a year while the driest enjoyed less than 4 in but Africa's Kalahari Desert used to be a much wetter place around 10,000 years ago Lake magadii gadii covered most of the region before it went dry leaving behind the massive sand dunes we see today the Region's unique dryness belies that Beneath the Kalahari is dragon's breath cave the largest underground nons subglacial lake in the world one would expect that such a lake would have been possible through distant rainfalls and ancient rivers that seeped through the Sands but such speculation was

wrong geologists believe the entire region once housed a prehistoric Inland Sea as the sea dried up all life that populated the region died off eventually forming a bed of Dolomite throughout the millions of years since the water would eventually seep through the Dolomite which in turn would act as a roof for the underground cave the surface water would eventually dissipate due to the changes in temperature over the eons leaving the underground waters undisturbed for millions of years Sam hired equipment and a guide from the local Technical and Cave Diving school to help him locate the

old cave Drawings the guide drove the old Land Rover Defender one of three in the large dive party who were heading out today South Via the c42 highway into the aoan jupa region before turning East onto the private property of the haras farm after 45 minutes the small Convoy pulled off the blacktop and onto the dirt road of the haras farm the defender entered a shallow Valley and followed the narrow Pock Mark Trail made of a mixture of loose soil And sand that ran through the middle of a shallow Valley sharp rocks edged the trail

and small scrub lined the valley wall the defender fought its way through the rough terrain until a sheer wall of jagged rocks made navigation by vehicle impossible their guide Malcolm pulled up the defender to a stop we here gentlemen Sam stepped out at the defender his feet dug into the soil which was burnt red and ran all the way out to the Horizon the empty sky was a rich Cerulean blue The crisp air was starting to warm up he glanced at the landscape Jagged rocks lined the valley wall along with small SCP rub and a

series of sharp uninviting cacti there was no sign of any caves let alone the entrance to the world's largest known Subterranean Lake he looked at the guide who was opening the back door of the four-wheel drive how far is the entrance from here not far the guide pointed to the West about a 5 minute walk toward that Ridge Great Sam said before you get too excited Malcolm said smiling as though he was taking pleasure in relating the next piece of information just remember the dive party will need to move nearly half a ton of equipment

by hand to the entrance Sam and Tom nodded in unison nice day for it it took the remainder of the day to move the small mountain of equipment that would need to be carried by hand into the cave before any diving could Take place a large AR array of diving tanks went first including separate tanks of helium and oxygen an air compressor followed next they established a surface to Lake phone line to maintain Communications they moved three large inflatable rafts that would serve as the dive platform on the surface of the lake followed by two

inflatable boats guides checked over existing rigging of ropes and wire caving ladders In preparation for tomorrow's Expedition into the Strange World by 8:00 a.m. the next day Sam stared at the entrance barely more than a black hole in the middle of a few Jagged gray rocks of dolomite it would have been innocuous enough that he would have easily walked past it without giving it a second thought but he would have been wrong it was called the dragon's breath cave because the hot humid air that Intermittently arose from it gave the impression that it was being

exhaled by a dragon but today Sam saw no such humid air being exhaled all he saw was a small hole just large enough for a fully grown man to squeeze through but he knew that appearances could be deceptive Sam entered the mouth of the cave he wore a pair of climbing overalls harness and helmet with light he descended a wire caving l ladder approximately 20 ft into the first passage it was a narrow Hallway where a rocky surface ran in a gradual downward slope for approximately 16 ft bats lined the ceiling above Sam slowly made

his way downward until he was forced to stop at a narrow collection of rocks that obstructed his passage known in spelunking as a choke he scrambled over the aply termed choke BR by placing most of his weight on his hands and chest as he slid over the lip of the boulder through the confined space that squeezed him with The stone above he pulled himself through to the other side where a fixed ladder descended another 20 ft onto a small ledge Sam studied the narrow crass into complete darkness below it was small enough that he wondered

how Tom would squeeze through their guide had spoken about the choke during their pre caving and Diving briefing Malcolm had identified the spot on the map and assured Tom that he would fit but it Would be a narrow squeeze now that Sam stared at the place he wasn't quite as confident The only positive fact was that they would descend feet first so if it became narrow for time he could always climb out again he attached his figure8 descender to a fixed rope and descended vertically 38 ft onto another ledge with a large pocket in the

back affectionately called the closet by the guides who used it as a final gear Staging area the narrow passage and pocket were already crammed with climbing gear a guide from one of the other dive teams prepared an additional set of climbing equipment up on the ledge the guide glanced at Sam as he descended how are you you traveling Mr Riley good much further the guide pointed along the edge not much you're about halfway there Malcolm is down on the raft getting your dive equipment set up Sam nodded thanks see you down There he disconnected from

the first rope and attached himself to a new rope with his descender firmly in place he made the 48 ft abale down a steep SL onto a bridge between two walls without changing ropes Sam kicked off the final ledge and ab sailed into the free space 125 ft onto the inflatable rafts on the water four massive flood lights lit up the cavern that protected the nearly two hectares of subterranean Lake while a single submarine light glowed from 50 ft Below the water surface Sam glanced around the ancient world stalactites lined the roof like some sort

of fairy Grotto while stalagmites and Fallen stalactites littered the beach to the east the shallow water near the beach was a bright cobalt blue while the deeper water toward the west of the lake was a rich ultramarine chapter 25 Sam washed as Tom AB sailed down the Final drop from the hole in the ceiling he had apparently made it through the choke the inflatable raft shook under his 260 lb of muscle he smiled through a state of hardened concentration as he landed it was good to see him more like his usual self they still had

no idea where Billy had been taken prisoner but at least now they were able to focus on something that might lead to her Sam said you made it of course I made it tomk face softened into a smile did you Really think I'd get stuck in the narrow slot I did have some doubts Sam admitted Sam and Tom quickly changed into their dry suits lying on the raft next to them in a series of makeshift holding containers were 12 steel dive tanks most were filled with triix a unique combination of oxygen helium and nitr rren

designed to allow a diver to reach extraordinary depths two were white with black on top 100% oxygen if something went wrong and either of them Suffered from any sort of acute decompression sickness they would be too far away from any hyperbaric chamber instead they would have to take the 100% oxygen and then perform in water recompression in the lake the problem with scuba diving at Great depths was that the additional pressure the further down you went turned otherwise harmless gases lethal below 100 feet The increased partial pressure of nitrogen in the blood leads To a

syndrome called nitrogen Narcosis where the person experiences symptoms similar to drunkenness and eventually loss of consciousness below 200 ft oxygen toxicity occurs leading to seizures and death the solution was Tri mix a unique combination of oxygen helium and nitrogen the current world record was held by a diver who reached a depth below 1,000 ft using triix Malcolm glanced at the number of Tanks Sam and Tom would each wear two on their back and one in front of them the remaining tanks would be positioned at pre-arranged decompression stops even so the risk was enormous you still

want to dive to the bottom Sam attached his first regulator we don't have a choice if there are drawings of a hidden pyramid down there we need to see them you realize it might just be a hoax Sam nodded even so we need to find out for Ourselves it's a long way down Malcolm leaned over the edge of the raft to look into the ultramarine blue of the unmapped lake that emphasized its extreme depth apart from the person who left that photograph at the sumab roadhouse no one's ever reached the bottom of this Lake they

did do a deep dive here last week but there's no way to prove whether or not they reach the bottom or even if it's 410 ft Tom slipped into his buoyancy control Device we'll let you know when we reach it Malcolm grinned at his tarity there's something you haven't thought about if you think that photo of hand drawings of a pyramid in the desert is at the bottom of this Lake what's that Sam asked Malcolm smiled sympathetically as though what he was about to reveal would crush their dreams how did they get there Sam paused

that's a good question the drawings if they were true depicted a Ship from 1655 how often does this Lake change CH its depth since its Discovery Malcolm said the water level hasn't changed a foot chapter 26 Sam lowered the additional dive tanks to the staged decompression stops he and Tom completed a final check on each other's scuba equipment and stepped into the lake he sank to roughly 5 feet and checked his dive computer and Equipment everything was working fine how are you Looking Tom good letun go find that picture Sam swallowed to allow his ears

to equalize as he descended he and Tom dropped quickly maintaining visual contact with each other throughout the process the light from above served them adequately until they reached 60 ft Sam switched on his dive flashlight and pointed it below a large gold golden cave catfish glanced at them from blind eyes and swam past I wonder if it tastes any good Tom asked Don't even think about it that fish is unique to this cave only and its numbers are estimated at less than 150 sure but do you think it tastes any good Sam ignored him instead

he concentrated on his depth gauge with no rain or other runoff affecting the lake the visibility was unbelievably good making it difficult to judge their descent the lake started shallow at the beach on the western end of the cavern and headed deeper to the West the tunnel Narrowed the further west it went the subsequent result being that while the Lake's surface measured at nearly 2 hectares the bottom was no more than 50 ft at its widest point it took Sam and Tom just under 10 minutes to reach the Cave's bottom I guess the Bottom's not

so mythical after all Tom said Sam glanced at his depth gaug it read 405 ft it looks like whoever took that photo either was a really good guesser or they actually were the first to ever reach The Lakes floor yeah and if that's true then hopefully they were telling the truth about the pyramid too let's go find out they swam to the closest wall of dolomite the bottom of the Inland Abyss wasn't quite round instead it was more like an uneven oval Sam shined his flashlight against the wall there was relatively little silt built up

on the wall if there were any hand drawings on it they would have seen them he Scratched his hands along the wall removing the little silt until he was confident he would identify the same part of the wall when he reached It Again Sam then started moving in a clockwise Direction constantly keeping his flashlight pointed at the wall along the way directly behind him Tom made a Second Sweep of the same spot they moved quickly the deeper you go the greater the pressure exerted on all gases which means the trimix becomes compressed at a Depth

of 410 ft they were diving at 12 atmospheres which meant they were using their gas 12 times faster than they would if they were on the surface and their bottom time wouldn't be very long at all it took less than 5 minutes to make a complete circuit of the bottom of the lake and returned to the initial spot where Sam had made his Mark Tom looked at him where's the Damned hand drawings Sam shook his head I have no idea did we Miss something like like what maybe it goes deep at the center I don't

think so Sam said but we may as well have a look before we start our Ascent they swam toward the middle of the oval-shaped bottom of the lake the lake definitely didn't descend any further Sam was about to suggest they start making their long Ascent to the surface when he spotted the boulder it was probably originally at least eight or more feet tall but a lot Of it had sunk into the surrounding floor of the lake I just had an idea Sam said what if that Boulder was once well above the lake inside the main

cave in 1655 of course Tom kicked his fins and swam toward the boulder they documented their loss on the stone sometime since then the Dolomite weakened and the rock fell into the lake hiding with it any evidence of a pyramid in the region Sam shined his light on the boulder there was nothing he swam to the Opposite side and there in front of him was a handrawn picture of a pyramid next to it was a ship with three masks fighting a losing battle with a terrible storm wisps of dark smoke ran through the legs of

the stick figures who stared up at the pyramid in between the two pictures was a note in Modern English with some sort of red ink Sam stared at the message don't let the Third Temple rise what the hell does that mean Tom Asked I have no idea it looks like whoever took that first picture was sending us a message or someone else the question is who Sam took several digital photos of the pictures on the Rock famine maybe but I don't see why someone would be trying to leave him a message besides he didn't look

fit enough to make it here Sam put his camera away one thing's for certain there was a Pyramid in Namibia at some time and I pretty confident that's the emerald star being sunk off the namibian coast not sunk Tom said judging by this image it was swallowed by the sand chapter 27 it took more than 4 hours to reach the Surface by the time they had completed the necessary decompression stops along the way Sam thought about the emerald star for a moment the discovery was irrefutable evidence the Ship had been lost along the shallow Waters

of the namibian coast if that was true it was also likely the second part of the note found in the hidden chamber below Duren kuyu was as well inside the ship was the key to the Third Temple and their only chance of finding Billy he also knew that it would likely be impossible to find her after all these years at Malcolm's insistence they completed a mandatory 3-hour sit time on the raft before making their way to the Surface it then took nearly an hour to make the slow climb to the surface one of the guides

had a hot dinner waiting for them Tom studied the photos taken on the digital camera his eyes leveled at the ship and then glanced at Sam you're certain that's the emerald star yes so why don't we head to the skeleton coast and go find her Sam shook his head he knew the constantly changing Coastline would make it impossible to locate we're better off trying to locate The pyramid instead now that we know it was here why we already know the emerald star was carrying the key to the Third Temple because it's been lost for just

over 300 60 years Tom Shrugged indifferently and you think that's too long it is along the namibian coast why Tom asked with the introduction of ground penetrating liar we can survey the area by air it won't take too long we found ships buried in Harder to find places it won't work why not because at last testate the namibian government predicted approximately 4,000 shipwrecks were buried beneath the Sands of the skeleton Coast but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict that number might actually be much higher we've overcome worse odds before besides we have nothing to

go on with the pyramid if that is even the same pyramid where Billy has been taken Sam Said the problem is the namibian and angolan Coast isn't static with its massive sand dunes dropping directly into the Cool Waters of the Atlantic the skeleton Coast has no set lines it's constantly changing shape and location the prevailing Southwest wind is cooled down by the cold benua current to the extent that no cloud formation can take place but instead a thick fog Bank develops and penetrates miles deep into the Namib Desert every so often maybe Once every few

decades a powerful storm causes the winds to change direction when this happens a powerful Eastern wind races across the desert and dumps millions of tons of sand into the Atlantic moving the beach hundreds of feet further Westward the Sands are reclaiming Land from the sea Tom thought about it for a moment the image of the emerald star that we found in inside the dragon's breath cave shows the ship being Swallowed by a sea of sand there must have been a massive storm coming from the East yes then could we calculate backwards you mean work out

the known movement over a decade and then work backwards until we have the shape of the coast in 1655 Tom nodded why not it might work Sam shook his head unfortunately while the Eastern winds like to move the sand further west the powerful and destructive force of the Atlantic Ocean often tried to reclaim its Coast the subsequent tug OFW means there is no way of predicting where the coast was when the emerald star sank what we need is a survey of the coast Sam nodded yes but where are we going to find one taken on

the year of the great storm Tom paused there must be historical archives from the Portuguese Expeditions into Southwest Africa surely they must have some sort of survey of the Coast I'm sure they do but how accurate could they be Tom paused and then nodded in understanding John Harrison wouldn't have completed building his first sea clock until 1730 which means that any reference to the skeleton Coast prior to that that would have been based on a known latitude and visual guesswork without any reference to longitude exactly which means we're back to square one looking for the

Lost Pyramid of the Kalahari Desert yeah without any leads Tom said his voice was hard and despondent as he spoke we could try ground penetrating liar swaths from the air but the Kalahari desert's a big place we might just end up spending the rest of our lives searching before we found any evidence of the pyramid Sam's cell phone rang he answered it spoke briefly and then hung up a small glint of a smile creased his lips change of plans forget the Kalahari For the moment that was aase on the phone I need you to go

to istanbull instead Tom nodded sure what's in istanbull Elise thinks she's Tracked Down Peter Smith and he might have an idea where the merry Rose sank in the Black Sea in 1653 the merry Rose was the first expedition to the Third Temple so theoretically if we find her we might find a link to where she was going great when do we leave not we just you I've Told Elise to recall the rest of the Maria Helena crew from their vacation and send them to the Black Sea to meet you you okay you're not coming to

no I have somewhere else to be really Tom asked where are you going Paris I have to attend an auction an auction what are you going to buy Sam's jaw fixed into a hardened grin finally some answers chapter 28 Dean cuyo Dimitri Vernon pulled up at the house in a rented black sedan out in the front were several police officers making notes and talking animatedly on their cell phones it was late in the evening and they all looked like they'd been there all day a local news crew was filming from 30 ft away just behind

the cordoned off police lines he took a deep breath and stepped out of the car they were already making a circus out of His damned show he wore a tailor fitted black suit with no brand name he was 6'2 but his perfectly proportioned physique gave him the appearance of a more modest stature he wore dark impenetrable aviator sunglasses and the Surly expression of a man accustomed to displeasure he took little interest in no pleasure in his work today it would be yet another false alarm not that it mattered the timing was definitely getting closer he

had waited long enough And soon he would find what he was after he ignored the local Law Enforcement Officers ducked under the police containment line and entered the house a detective quickly approached excuse me who are you and what are you doing here Dimitri acknowledged the man are you in charge here yes my name is harun ismet and this is my scene who are you my name is Dimitri he handed his credentials to the detective they gave His name as Dimitri Vernon Below on the identification card were the words interpole special agent under country of

origin were the letters USA the detective scrutinized the ID and then handed it back to him you're an American yes but I'm based at interpol's headquarters in Leon France are you taking over my case the detective asked Dimitri shook his head and feigned a gracious smile no I'm just here to have a look at something Contrary to popular perception the international policing organization does not have its own prisons or carry out arrests in instead it acts behind the scenes collating masses of intelligence and coordinating police efforts internationally Dimitri liked to think this added to its

Mystique his work generally went unnoticed eclipsed by the national police forces that make the arrests and headlines while interpole rarely Receives more than a line or two in news reports the organization is a ghostly presence informing operations on the ground but never getting its hands dirty a r smile came over the detective's face what interest does interpole have with this case probably very little but the mo triggered something on our database for a previous crime so they sent me to have a look you could have called we could Have faxed you our report no I

need to see the scene with my own eyes ismet nodded follow me through to the back of the house he's on the bottom level Dimitri followed without speaking the house like many of the other ones in the region had been dug into the side of the hill where porest volcanic Stone had been easy to Tunnel how did you get here so fast ismet said as he climbed down the ladder We only got called called to the property 3 hours ago Dimitri turned to climb backwards down the narrow ladder I just happened to be in the

area really I wasn't aware of any operations with interpole currently being run in my jurisdiction Dimitri forced himself to smile no I was here entirely on vacation when they called and asked if I could check it out ismed stared at him He wore his opinion on his open face the man didn't believe a word that Dimitri had said clearly Dimitri was here for a purpose unable to find a reason to challenge him ismet ignored the statement all right he's on the other side of this door but it's not a very nice sight of course you'd

already know that do you know who he is or technically who he was his name's haran sadik he didn't recognize the name is he known to you does he have any priors Ismed asked no he's a good citizen at least on record anyway what did he do he worked as a tour guide in the ancient city below for nearly 25 years Dimitri nodded and opened the door the light switch had been left on and it shined directly on the deceased man's face Dimitri took in the entire scene in a glance the deceased was short he

had been stripped bare and his hands and feet had been nailed onto the wood of a small cross at the center of the Room his stomach appeared unnaturally large a recent surgical incision was noted just above his navl which had been neatly sewn up next to the body was an antique set of brass weighing scales although the nails appeared painful he had no doubt they weren't the cause of the man's death he glanced at the detective do you have a cause of death no only the wounds you can see clearly and none of them is

lethal ismet Chuckled it was the sort of thing only a seasoned detective could find amusing of course we don't know what was done to his insides before being stitched up Dimitri nodded and studied the deceased more carefully a few minutes later he stopped at the man's mouth there was something inside he removed a pair of blue nit trial gloves from his pocket and placed them on his hands do you know what that is no idea I wasn't informed there was Anything Dimitri carefully opened the man's mouth you mind if I have a look see if

it might answer some questions sure ismet said appearing happy to have someone else perform the task Dimitri studied the item more closely it was leathery and had been stuffed deep inside the man's mouth to form a thick seal over his windpipe and esophagus he slowly pulled at it until it came out it was made of Vellum the old animal skin paper Used for parchment writing a moment later about the time it took him to take a single breath the deceased man's mouth started to open on its own like some sort of evil incarnation of the

Dead coming back to life as hundreds of tiny red locusts filled the room Dimitri ignored the insects as they scattered throughout the living room but their symbolism was hardly refutable instead he focused on the words written on the Vellum Scroll a quart of week for a day wages and three quarts of barley for a day's wages and do not damage the oil and the wine ismet glanced over his shoulder and said what the hell does that mean Demitri removed his aviator glasses revealing deep purple eyes that fixed on on the detective's wrapped expression of horror

he swallowed hard it means there's a famine coming chapter 29 Dell's straight turkey at 9:30 a.m. the day was already Shaping up to be pristine there were no clouds and no wind at all the tide was slack and the normally fast flowing entrance to the dardel appeared calm with the dark blue of aquamarine the Maria Helena motored up the aian sea through the dardel the narrow and natural straight that separates Europe and Asia Minor in what was once known in classical Antiquity as helispot or the Sea of heli and into the Sea of marara once

there the ship motored slowly to the other end where the city of Istanbul lay nestled on the edge of the Bosphorus straight and entrance to the Black Sea it was dark before the Maria Helena finally came to rest at her anchor off the coast of Istanbul Tom Bower stared at the seemingly millions of Lights which illuminated the shores of Istanbul his eyes followed the ancient Castles which spread out along the foreshore of the bosphorous strait up to the the ancient walls of Constantinople erected in the fth century by the emperor theodosius II to protect the

city from Invasion and standing strong even today massive domed buildings glowed golden in the lights he was taken in by the city's Rich architecture which came from a Melting Pot of Byzantine genoes ottoman Roman Greek and modern Turkish Sources there was no doubt why the city was known worldwide as one of the greatest cultural and ethnic melting pots hajia Sophia once the largest masonry dome in the world and the top cppi Palace once the main headquarters of the Ottoman Sultans stood proudly near the bosphorous strait while the sultan Ahmed mosque known as the Blue Mosque

Rose grandly over the skyline Matthew the Skipper of the Maria Helena approached and interrupted his momentary thoughts are you ready yes Tom said good we've been given approval to cross the BOS for a straight at first light tomorrow morning make certain you're back here by then will you of course Tom said Genevie took Tom to the shore on a small Zodiac inflatable tender neither spoke during the short trip she motored the zodiac gently up to the shore Tom shuffled his position so that he could climb out Genevie stopped Him with a firm and affectionate grip

on his left hand Tom whatever happens you know I want to get Billy back as much as you do Tom nodded and smiled there was more than a little relief in his heart too he'd been surreptitiously dating Genevie for nearly six months now but Billy had once been the woman he was going to marry he'd been uncertain how Genevie would take the news that Billy might be back in their lives soon he squeezed her hand affectionately and Kissed her lips thank you a moment later he climbed up onto the foreshore and began walking toward the

Blue Mosque the sultan ahed mosque had five main domes six minettes and eight second secondary domes from what he'd read before arriving Tom knew the design was the culmination of over two centuries of Ottoman mosque development it Incorporated some Byzantine Christian elements of the Neighboring hajia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and was considered to be the last great Mosque of The Classical period its architect aimed for overwhelming size majesty and Splendor at its lower levels and at every Pier the interior of the mosque was lined with more than 20,000 handmade isnic style ceramic tiles in

more than 50 different tulip designs the tiles at lower levels are traditional in design while at Gallery Level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers fruit and cypresses the tiles were made under the supervision of the isnic master the price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the Sultan's decree while tile prices in general increased over time as a result the quality of the tiles used in the building decreased gradually the upper levels of the Interior were dominated by blue paint more than 200 Stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light

today assisted by chandeliers on the chandeliers ostrich eggs are found that were meant to avoid cobwebs inside the mosque by repelling spiders the decorations included verses from the Quran many of them made by S kasim gabari regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time the floors are covered with carpets which are donated by the faithful and are regularly Replaced as they wear out the many vast translucent Windows confer a spacious impression the casements at floor level are decorated with Opus sectile stone mosaic scenes each Exedra curved seating Nooks for the faithful had five Windows some

of which are blind each semi-dome has 14 windows and the central Dome 28 the colored glass for the windows was a gift of the senoria of Venice to the Sultan Tom removed his shoes and entered the building from the Hippodrome in the west side the Blue Mosque was open to the public 24 hours a day and constantly filled with tourists and people in worship making it an easy place to meet Peter Smith who had spent the last two years trying to blend in and disappear from those who hunted him Tom stopped and waited at the

southern end of the mosque where three of the blue traditional tiles had been recently Repaired showing a slightly lighter color he studied the motifs on the tiles which included cypress trees tulips roses and fruits designed to evoke visions of a bountiful Paradise of the three recently repaired the Tulips were of a different shade of red a man next to him spoke quietly they were unable to match the tulip's color with repair they should have used purple Tom said repeating the phrase Alise had told him to Say the man glanced furtively around the room before quietly

completing the secret words no I think they should have used yellow Tom smiled Peter Smith not here where just follow me Tom followed the man out of the mosque leaving a small donation the man in front of him was sweating profusely despite the warmth of The Summer's night he wore a thick jacket with its Hood pulled partially over his Face and his head turned downward Peter's gate was awkward and furtive looking over his shoulder as though someone was watching him ready to take him at any minute it was more than 20 minutes before Peter turned

a final corner and entered a small Stone building it looked like not much more than a dilapidated hubel Tom followed him inside the place looked barely livable it was dark the only window covered with a black sheet Tom asked You've been hiding here Peter Smith placed his finger to his lips to shush him and mouthed the words they're listening to us Tom stared at him silently had he just followed an insane man into his depraved irrational World a moment later the time it takes a person to take a single breath Peter removed a stone tile

from the floor below him it was so narrow that Tom was surprised to watch the man slip down Into it Peter then motioned for Tom to follow Tom shuffled his way through the tiny opening into a room large enough that he could no longer feel the walls in the darkness Peter replaced the stone tile above and the place became devoid of any light Tom felt like he just descended into an old tunnel used by the Viet Kong he switched on a small key light and stared at his new environment the place opened to a large

Almost mod looking living room there were multiple computer monitors set up on the other side of the room were a number of large oil paintings and charcoal drawings his eyes rested on the last of them where a large barkantine with three masts was sinking in violent Seas only it wasn't surrounded by water it was surrounded by sand and at the very bottom of the painting was the day 2 2nd of December 1655 he opened his mouth to speak but instead took a deep breath and smiled Peter grinned at his reaction yes that's the emerald star

Chapter 30 Tom glanced around the room it was something between a high-tech computer lab one would expect to find in the CIA and an ancient History Museum there were high-speed internet cables attached to hard drives stacked on glass cabinets with the flicker of Green lights showing the constant movement of data in direct contrast were the old oil paintings and charcoal drawings which had obviously been studied intensely by their owner Tom looked at Peter what is this place Peter said said solemnly This Is My Sanctuary from what the people who have been searching for the key

to the Third Temple and they will gladly kill me to further their aims Tom considered what he'd said what Makes you so certain others are searching for the temple maybe no one knows about it Peter shot back you are aren't you sure but I'm not willing to kill for it you look terrified what do you know that I don't my great ancestor a man by the name of Hammersmith referred to a man with intensely purple eyes that had paid him and the rest of the crew from the emerald star to retrieve an artifact that was

hidden in plain sight within a Pyramid along the African West Coast Tom nodded Elise had briefed him on Peter's claim go on in the journal Hammer Smith noted there would be four men competing for access to the key to the Third Temple their names were Conquest War famine and death Tom felt the slightest Pang of fear rise in his throat like bile as he recalled what the man who attacked them inside the tunnel of Daran kuyu had said my name is famine and my time is Now so there are four nutcases competing to find the

key to the Third Temple Peter nodded and right now I think death's winning winning what Tom would have laughed at how ridiculously implausible the entire story was if it wasn't for his recent memories of famine and his heavily armed group of devout followers this this is some sort of biblical competition no it's not about religion Really Tom was surprised then why all the references to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse I don't know I've been studying the New Testament of the Bible where the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the Book of Revelation

by St John of Patmos one of the original Apostles the chapter tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with Seven Seals the Lamb of God opens the first four of the Seven Seals which summons four beings that ride out on white red black and pale horses the Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a Divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the last judgment so that only the good shall rise or the Chosen Few Tom said you think the four horsemen are trying to bring

forth the apocalypse so the Third Temple can Rise maybe Peter paused as though he was having difficulty trying to decide how to explain his theory what if they're not trying to bring about the New Order what if they're looking at this all wrong sure Tom said but what way should we be looking at it consider this what if the four horsemen weren't sent to set a Divine apocalypse instead they were merely Messengers sent here to protect those Who could be saved from an imminent disaster some sort of disaster first discovered during the first few centuries

ad when Christianity was taking off in the western world but wouldn't occur for nearly 2,000 years they would need a way of continuing the message throughout many generations without revealing the secret to the masses a covenant of some kind you think the four horsemen are part of an ancient Covenant yes and when the time comes They will reveal the Third Temple and the Chosen Few will take shelter there's an imminent disaster awaiting that will affect the entire world Peter nodded and that's why they need to find the third Temple to seek shelter Tom asked but

what disaster affects the entire planet I can think of any number of catastrophic events a massive meteorite an enormous volcanic eruption and giant tsunami or a deadly virus that's evolving faster than we can Create treatments our existence has always been globally precarious Tom looked at Peter's rapid breathing and the fine Tremors of his hands you've given this some serious thought haven't you it's occupied most of my mind over the past two years Peter admitted Tom changed the direction of the topic all right I know at least one of the four horsemen is still around or

maybe just a guy who Fancies himself as one of them I was attacked by him in the Subterranean city of Duran cuuu in Turkey he said his name was famine and that his time was now do you know of any others I was contacted by two of The Four Horsemen separately one named famine and the other death they both told me I would die if I didn't tell them where the emerald star sank did you ever meet either of them no I learned what I could about both of them I had no Idea how much

danger I was in at the time but I know now what changed I was out of town for 2 weeks and a friend of mine was squatting at my apartment I told him I wasn't allowed to sublet the place out to any one and it if the landlord came by for any reason to Simply tell him his name was Peter Smith okay so what happened Tom asked not quite sure how this related to The Four Horsemen someone with deep purple eyes came by while I was gone he asked my friend what his name was of

course he gave my name thinking the man was my landlord the man then forced his entry into my apartment and repeatedly questioned my friend about the emerald star which your friend knew nothing about exactly what happened in the end when it became obvious that my friend didn't know anything about the emerald Star or an artifact called the death mask The Stranger with the purple eyes killed him with his bare hands how did you you find all this out Tom asked I have a digital security system it records the inside of my apartment constantly I'm able

to remotely access its logs from my smartphone when I started to receive messages from my neighbors asking if I was okay I logged onto my security Account and watched the footage what did you do the only thing I could I withdrew my entire Savings in cash keeping the bulk of my life savings stored in untraceable Bitcoins then I got on a train in London and traveled through to Paris Munich Vienna Budapest Bucharest and finally Istanbul where I've been hiding ever since why Istanbul my great ancestor made a note about Emerald star being the Second expedition

to steal the death mask the first attempt failed in 1653 when the Mary Rose carrying a stone map of the desert was sunk in a storm in the Black Sea I have a map he drew of the two Expeditions Peter handed it to him and Tom scanned the map drawn on well-aged Vellum it formed a primitive outline of the African continent and the Mediterranean Sea through to the Black Sea An asterisk was observed in the middle of the Black Sea approximately 40 mil out from Istanbul if the drawings were to a correct scale next to

this was the name Mary Rose 1653 first failed Expedition Tom studied it for a few minutes making sure he read each word correctly Tom smiled you came here to find it didn't you yes and what did you Find it took nearly a year but I found the wreck it's located about 30 Mi north of Istanbul and was supposed to be carrying a stone map that charted the position of the ancient pyramid of the namibian desert did you find it no Peter said I found the Shipwreck but it may as well have remained lost for all

the good that it does me the ship was moving the stone across the Black Sea struggled with the weight of the stone in a storm and Floundered why didn't you recover the stone I headed over there hired a boat and some dive equipment you see I couldn't go in with a big professional group of divers because the treasure Hunters would then all get involved Tom nodded go on in the end the merry Rose was too deep to reach how deep does she rest nearly 3,000 ft impossible to reach using anything but commercial dive Equipment if

I could reach it would you be willing to give me the precise location sure why do you have some experiened deep sea diving a little Tom grinned there's a chance I might just have a way to reach it chapter 31 Paris France it was a warm Night in Paris and the Eiffel Tower glowed golden as local parisians and tourists walked the Airy and restaurant lined streets of one of the most romantic cities on Earth few of Those out tonight realized that at the time of construction Gustav Eiffel had built a secret apartment for himself at

the very highest level of the tower at a height of 1,63 Ft fewer still knew that tonight a very private arm of the Christy's auction house had managed to secure the apartment for just 3 hours in order to receive bids for one of the most startling auctions in their history Sam Riley sat in the very narrow apartment which was barely large enough To fit the four biders and a single Auctioneer the item in question was being handled by a section of christe's auction house which specialized in extremely rare and esoteric artifacts he doubted the validity

of the claim and had it not been for the reputation of Christies he wouldn't have been interested but as it was the item being sold tonight might just buy him the answers he'd been looking for in his search for Dr Billy Swan bidding was on an invitation only basis he glanced around the room with the exception of the auctioneer he recognized a man called John Wallace who worked for the Swiss guard at the Vatican but two other men he didn't recognize at all they both wore dark suits and looked like professional antiquity buyers people who

purchased items on other people's behalf and they were talking to each other animatedly the auction was held in the Strictest privacy and none of the bidder names would be revealed not that it mattered to Sam he didn't care less who was involved so long as his bid won the auction was set as a first price sealed bid auction known as a blind auction in this type of auction all bidders simultaneously submit their sealed bids so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant the highest bidder pays the price they Submitted in theory it

was the most powerful way to drive up the price particularly with something this valuable and important where the biders were willing to invest heavily to secure the item in an open auction the winning bidder would theoretically still be willing to pay more than what he or she paid whereas in this case everyone will have placed their utmost highest price on the bid the auctioneer waited until he received radio Confirmation that no one else was on the Eiffel Tower privacy was of the utmost concern in this matter for two reasons first the biders all intended to

remain anonymous so that no one else would attempt to follow them to the location when it was time to collect the item and secondly the item on sale tonight was entirely illegal so the auction house needed to distance itself from the transaction having received the Confirmation the auctioner began to describe the item including scientific data to support the claims of validity the man coughed my name is Raymond Hower I'm here on behalf of the current owner of the item as you are all aware the item on sale tonight is the location of what appears to

be an ancient Temple inside which are some very detailed drawings of people most notably A very good depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ Raymond cofed what makes this discovery even more valuable is that inside the mostly Frozen Cavern lies the remain of a woolly mammoth an animal known to become extinct in the region more than 10,000 years ago radio carbon dating shows that it's between 9130 to 8800 BCE there was a slight stir from the four biders they had all heard of the Discovery of course or they wouldn't even be there but hearing someone

from the highly esteemed and reputable Auction House of Christies confirm its authenticity was nevertheless a thrilling confirmation of the auction's value Raymond continued as you are all aware the location of the cavern is not private land and as such we don't have the ability to sell the actual Ancient Temple Ourselves instead what is on offer today is the location of the cavern which we can guarantee that currently no one other than the offer and the employees of Christies no he paused slightly to allow the biders to consider what was actually being sold as a representative

of Christies I would be remiss if I did not remind each of you that an archaeological Treasure Trove such as this would need to be Reported to the local government and after doing so it would be almost certain that you would lose possession of any item or image discover covered inside do I make myself clear there was a quiet sound of acknowledgement throughout the small group of men in the apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower as each tacitly agreed to ignore this advice good then on your chairs you will find an envelope inside

I would like you to write your Final offer for the said item Raymond looked around at the four men you may or may not know the other buyers in this room but I assure you this is an extremely exclusive group of purchasers each of you has been granted the opportunity to bid on this item because Christies believes you have a particular interest in what is on hand and the substantial financial resources at your disposal to purchase it the winner tonight I assure you will have paid a Very high price Raymond glanced around around the room

once confident everyone had written their price and resealed the envelope he retrieved the four offers as you can appreciate because of the unique and legally intangible status of the item I will not be revealing the concluding winner instead I will contact him within the next 24 hours to complete the final transaction then the man who discovered the Ancient Temple will take you to it Sam stood up and glanced out the window the Parisian city was lit up with a Golden Glow with the black ribbon of the San River splitting it into to the east he

spotted the Cathedral of notredam standing proudly his eyes drifted to the north where the Basilica of sakur Rose magnificently above mm it was no wonder Gustav Eiffel had no end of offers to rent the apartment the views were amazing Raymond Interrupted his thoughts I'm afraid it's important that you all leave now so that a decision can be made and the Eiffel Tower can return to the people of France once again I thank you all for making the trip after such short notice Sam walked down the narrow spiral staircase onto the third level of the Eiffel

Tower and what was considered the top by tour s an elevator along with its security guard was waiting for the four Bids Sam stepped in without saying a word to the other biders and the elevator descended in Silence the elevator dropped quickly AAR cry from the original Ado elevator that ran off steam until being replaced by electricity in 1912 the elevator stopped at level two and the biders were ushered to to the waiting elevator on the North pillar to descend finally to the ground Sam stepped out of the elevator The two men he didn't know

immediately walked in separate directions he looked at John Wallace trying to judge if the man would be willing to talk to him now or if he'd been frightened by the auction he held out his hand it's good to see you John ah Mr Riley John Wallace took his hand and shook it firmly with a warm Smile as though he were welcoming an old friend it's good to see you I am however surprised to see You involved here it's an interesting story Sam said do you think there's any truth to it I'm not sure I know

my boss certainly hopes not Sam laughed no I can't imag imagine his Holiness would be very happy to hear that Jesus Christ was a ripoff of a guy who lived around 10,000 years earlier what's the Catholic Church going to do if your bid wins bury the discovery far from it Wallace said his Holiness would like it examined we've offered a large sum for its location and we intend to get something out of it Sam smiled probably too much nothing is too much if this is what it takes to disprove a dangerous lie and if the

cavern is real and the paintings are true then it will be much too important for the church to leave to treasure Hunters Wallace looked at Sam no disrespect to the work you do none taken his Holiness appreciates the work That you do I find that doubtful the only times I've been to church is weddings and funerals that's why he wants you to come along Sam said my goodness you were the winning bid yes but I thought it wasn't going to be announced for 24 hours Wallace smirked you didn't think we'd wait 24 hours to get

started on something as important as this did you no of course Not so are you ready to go to the Charles deal airport you're serious why does he want me to dispute the very basis of his entire religion what better person to examine the data than an atheist are you asking for my help we're offering you a chance to join an expedition and I hope you'll accept chapter 32 Mount Ararat it took 5 days for Sam Wallace and mioli to reach the summit of Mount Ararat during that time John Wallace Spent much of his time

in silent contemplation while Sam got to know Gian Pietro mioli quite well despite the constant time they spent together on the journey to the top of the Sacred Mountain Sam hadn't yet decided what to make of the man at 25 mioli was definitely intelligent and driven that much was fact having completed a major in archaeology he was currently pursuing a doctoral study at Italy's University of bolognia into prehistoric human Origins the University of bolognia is a European equivalent to an Ivy League school what Sam didn't understand was mei's appearance of altruism the kid appeared to

genuinely want to help the world through his research he often spoke about how much we can learn from our ancestors if the world was going to survive he spoke of the corruption of greed and the tyranny of a generation who brought into the ideal of the Worship of money and yet when he made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries he stayed away auctioned it off to a private bidder mioli withdrew his GPS and began studying his location he waited until there were nine satellites overhead giving his GPS an accurate reading down to a single foot

for what he was after Sam knew mioli would need every inch of that accuracy Sam waited as mioli studied his GPS he stopped trying to work out the Man and instead looked down from the snowcapped peak of the mountain to a very old mon Monastery on the plains of Armenia named Cor verra in an instant his mind was taken back to 2005 and the day he first met Billy Swan she was investigating a place called The Temple of Illumination a place gregori lusavorich visited in 286 ad what he had found there LED trodes III his

King to have him locked in cor Verra Billy had never told him what gregori the Illuminator found in that Temple but she did tell him that whatever it was brought Christianity to the region and gave him hope of a new world Sam's mind returned to the present and he heard mioli shout it's over there I'm coming over Sam scanned the plateau it was covered with thick snow mioli started hammering deep climbing anchors into the ice Wallace dropped his backpack on the Ground this is where we need to dig no mioli fed a piece of climbing

rope through the eye of the anchor this is where we'll all tether ourselves while we dig last time I was here I made the mistake of disconnecting from the tether and I fell through the crass I won't make that mistake again Sam and Wallace clipped into the anchor and Then followed mioli to a place 20 ft further along the plateau the sun was above them but there Was enough wind to make it icy cold mioli started to dig in the hardened snow it didn't take long within a few minutes he'd broken the hard surface and

was able to dig through the soft snow below it was obvious the snow had only recently been turned turned most likely when mioli first discovered the cavern below 15 minutes later a wire climbing ladder was fixed to the entrance and Sam AB sailed down into the large Cavern 30 ft below the walls were jet black and Glassy like mioli had told them the place was positioned inside a large lava tube Sam disconnected his descender from the Rope all right I'm off the Rope come on down he watched as mioli AB sailed first followed by Wallace

a couple minutes later Sam stared at the walls the pictures were larger than he' expected and definitely much more detailed than any other cave paintings he'd seen in neolithic Caves the images depicted a man riding a woolly mammoth and another one with a man fighting off a saber-tooth tiger the depictions of their common life events certainly matched the suspected time frame of 10 to 12,000 years ago but the paintings of an era alone did nothing to prove the validity of mei's claims next to him Wallace made a silent prayer to the image above of Jesus

Christ on the crucifix Sam turned to mioli what about the other thing there's a lot of strange Images in here which one are you referring to the Frozen Beast mioli smiled you want to see it Sam nodded without it we have little but your speculation to go on right this way Sam was about to ask Wallace if he wanted to come have a look at it too but decided not to interrupt the pious man's silent prayers he followed mioli along the lava tube until it reached a solid wall of ice it appeared an ancient Glacier

had Forced its way into the tunnel many years ago inside the ice about 5 ft deep a large woolly mammoth stared back at him chapter 33 Sam set up his drill and took two separate core samples from The Woolly Mammoth he placed them in vacuum sealed containers and then placed a liquid sealant into the holes created by the drill if it turned out not to be a hoax someone would one day want to come back and study the find it wouldn't be him And it wouldn't be for a long time but that didn't mean Sam

wanted to damage the discovery by exposing it to the Hostile effects of air he secured the two samples and turned to mioli you said there were other drawings there are more drawings but I want to show you something else first mioli smiled like a magician about to perform his greatest act saved until last Mr Wallace you're going to want to See this too Wallace sauntered over to meet them shining his flashlight along the walls as he went I'll follow you Sam followed mioli deeper into the tunnel the tunnel changed Direction where where the ice Glacier

had once penetrated the lava tube as though it had been pushed further to the left before turning on itself and descending much deeper into the mountain mioli walked with the brisk stride of a Young Man full of Impatience there were more paintings along some of the walls that Sam would have liked to look at but mioli was determined they should go where he suggested first after a few minutes Sam felt his ears equalize under the change of pressure he started to wonder how deep they'd come he glanced behind where he saw Wallace's flashlight keeping up

from behind he began to become concerned after following the ancient tunnel for 30 or more minutes he increased his pace And caught up with mioli how much further not far trust me you're going to want to see this why mioli smiled because I think the rest of the cave drawings at the entrance were mere a sign a hint of the future or the past maybe even a message from the past to the future but the whole purpose of this place is located at the end of this tunnel Sam nodded in silence he was happy to

go along with it for the time being the tunnel rounded another Bend And dipped steeply so that Sam had to grip the edge of the tube to stop him from sliding down into the darkened Abyss about about 40 ft down the tunnel leveled out and the lava tube came to an ending of solid obsidian at the middle of the jet black wall a small Al Cove glared at him well mioli asked what do you think Sam stared at the AL Cove it took a split second to recognize the image because the glossy appearance of the

Obsidian made it difficult to determine the shape now that he' recognized it the IM was obvious it was shaped like a human skull the resting place for a human skull a little maab if you ask me but it's piqued your interest hasn't it you mean why someone all those years ago would have gone to the trouble of creating such a spectacle all the way down here yes I mean it's obvious isn't it the strange Al Cove must serve a purpose S nodded knowing mioli was right such effort must have meant there was indeed a significant

purpose to it all but what that was he had no idea he flashed his light over it again there was space for four small pendants to fit a small recess carved meticulously into the ancient lava rock Sam ran his hand over the elve and the four individual recesses in front they were arranged at the ends of a shallow carving in the shape of a Crucifix but there was something else where the two crossed it was hard to make out exactly what the shape was it could have been an animal or a person whatever it was

it would have taken a master Craftsman a lifetime to achieve the degree of precision for such masonry he ran his hands along the tiny grooves not masonry this quality of work was in the field of lapidary jewelry worked into the natural glass behind him Sam heard Wallace in a Cross between a controlled fall and a slide down the Steep section of the tunnel he was breathing heavily as though the climb had finally shaken his usual resolve but he reached Sam without stopping his eyes were fixed in a Steely gaze as though he'd seen or recognized

something that had affected him to his very spiritual core Sam glanced at Wallace what do you make of this I have no idea Wallace shook his head as though The question was entirely irrelevant but I'd sure like to know what that man's doing here fear is unique it's like wildfire dormant while it's confined but spreads quickly as soon soon as it breaks free and catches right now Sam felt that fear spread through him in an instant his muscles tightened and his chest pounded as his eyes followed the beam of Wallace's flashlight there at the end

of the Obsidian vault in a yellow jacket was the body of a man lying on his back his chest was covered in dried blood evidence of multiple gunshots taken long ago his eyes stared vacantly upward as though permanently fixed with hatred and regret chapter 34 Sam's eyes darted to the deceased man and back to mioli Gian Pietro breathed out gently he looked guilty as hell but not surprised to Sam it looked more like he'd been waiting for this and now it Was just another part of the parcel he'd sold to the Catholic Church Wallace looked

no less concerned now that he realized the man was dead talking to mioli Sam asked was he here last time you were down here who neoli replied Wallace and Riley looked at him as if he were insane both had their flashlights trained upon the dead body then mioli glancing at the body casually said oh the stiff yeah he was here last time Sam knelt down to search the man And you didn't think to mention it when the find went to auction I didn't think it was relevant not relevant Wallace spoke with a quiet Reserve that

somehow had the ability to afflict more fear in a person than had he been yelling you sold a discovery in which you knew someone was murdered mioli Shrugged I didn't realize he was murdered not murdered Sam repeated the word there are 1 2 3 four five shots through his chest what did you think Happened to him he slipped and fell to his death mioli pointed upward there upon the ceiling was a perfectly round opening that potentially LED hundreds of feet above them yeah I just assumed he fell from somewhere up there Sam looked looked at

the ceiling he could almost see how mioli assumed the man had fallen to his death and dismissed it as one of hundreds of tragic climbing accidents where the body is never discovered That's assuming that mioli was like most people and didn't go to the trouble of inspecting the body closely enough to notice the bullet wounds still one would think he might have mentioned the presence of a dead man at his great discovery the opening was dark so wherever it went no longer saw daylight his mind returned 2005 when he first met Billy Swan she had

been searching an ancient Temple what did she call it the Temple of Illumination she said that one Of her fellow archaeologists had turned on her trying to kill her and she had been forced to shoot him she never said why the man had turned on her don't worry about it Sam said he stopped searching the body and forgot about mei's Folly in an instant he removed a Golden Chain from around the dead man's neck it was long enough that the pendant at the end of it would hang below his nipple line at the end of

the chain was a golden crucifix at its Center where The two parts of the Cross joined a pendant made from a solid piece of red garnet was expertly crafted into the shape of a Horse and Rider in the r 's right hand was a broadsword Sam took the pendant and placed it over the first of the four indentations in front of the skull-shaped AL Cove it was close but didn't quite fit Sam swore he was certain that he'd found a purpose for everything try the next one mioli Suggested okay Sam placed it in the second

obsidian indentation the small Al Cove swwa followed the stone sucking it in as though the garnet belonged there embedded in the obsidian it was an identical match it fits that's great but where are the rest of the pieces and what are they supposed to do may I see that Wallace asked sure Sam said he reached for the stone pendant but withdrew his hand the Instant he touched it he shook his hand and nursing the pain Wallace looked at Sam what happened it burned me uh guys Mii said staring at the pendant it's now glowing Sam

and Wallace turned to stare at the red garnet pendant which now glowed brightly like the sun Sam placed his hand in his leather AB sailing glove and carefully pulled the stone free of the small recess it didn't come willingly as though the Obsidian was trying to hang onto it he threw it onto the cold ground all three of them watched it until the red glow faded Wallace stepped forward and tentatively picked it up he studied the carving for a moment and then handed it back to him I suggest you store this somewhere for safekeeping Sam

took it not quite sure he wanted the damn stone you have any idea what it means Wallace Spoke with a warm even voice when the lamb opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say come and see then another horse came out a fiery red one its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other to him was given a large sword Sam nodded okay well I'm going to head back to the surface to see how Tom's progressing because this hasn't led me To anything Sam

I think Wallace is talking about the Book of Revelation really afraid so Wallace confirmed what about it Wallace placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and said tell me how much do you know about about the four horsemen chapter 35 Sam placed the heavy gold chain around his neck and tucked the pendant into his jacket there was no way to know For certain how it worked but it was obvious that the pendant formed one of four Keys used to activate something but what he had no idea he took another photo of the the strange Al Cove

and then glanced at Wallace all right I've seen enough down here let's go I want to take some samples of the paintings to radiocarbon date you can carbon date the paint mioli asked not all of it Sam said the red ochre comes from iron oxide in the earth And the whites come from lime neither of those will tell us when the drawing was completed but the dark paints are most likely derived from charcoal and we can get a reading date off that easily enough we don't need much of a sample Wallace gestured with a flashlight

at the dead body and the skull-shaped AL Cove what about those Sam nodded the dead guy looks to me like he fell from a climbing accident as for the strange Al Cove and its Four Horsemen recesses well You can fill me in with anything I don't already know about the biblical reference as we walk okay Wallace concentrated on climbing the Steep section of the lava tube and then began to tell what he knew about the four horsemen there were seven seals in the Book of Revelation that secured the book or scroll that St John of

Patmos saw in his revelation of Jesus Christ the opening of the seals of the apocalyptic document occurs in Revelation and marks The second coming in John's Vision the only one worthy to open the scroll is referred to as both the lion of Judah and the lamb having seven horns and seven eyes go on Sam said although this much he'd heard before as you know the Seven Seals were said to contain secret information known only to God until the lamb or lion was found worthy to open the scroll and the first four seals opened released The

four horsemen Conquest War famine and death Sam asked yes Wallace confirmed as you know each had their own purpose The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described by John of Patmos in his book of Revelation the last book of the New Testament the chapter tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals the Lamb of God or Lion of Judah most commonly thought to be Jesus Christ opens the first four of the Seven Seals which summons forth four beings that ride out on white red black and pale horses

although some interpretations differ in most accounts the four writers are seen as symbolizing Conquest War famine and death respectively the Christian apocalyptic vision is that the The Four Horsemen are to set a Divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the last judgment so do you think the Four Keys lead to an apocalypse Sam asked I have no idea what to think the point is quite moot at this stage given we only have one of the four keys so far and no idea where the skull is they continued walking in silence as Sam wondered how

everything was connected his mind returned to the strange man inside Duren kuyu who claimed to be famine and the Fateful words the man had said my name is famine and my time is coming he also thought about Billy Swan She had told him that gregori the Illuminator had climbed Mount Ararat to make an offering to God at the end of the 3 Century what he found up there had caused King titis III to lock him up in the dungeon of core verra he paused and looked at Wallace when was the story of the four horsman

first noted in Revelation no not where during what time period oh I believe it was during the end of the 3 Century Wallace thought about it for a moment or possibly the Early fourth Sam felt his heart race as he saw the connection do you know anything about gregori the Illuminator and core verra I read that he was locked in a dungeon for a number of years for preaching Christianity while his Pagan king ruled years later his king became sick and Only gregori Could heal him afterwards the king converted and Christianity took its first foothold

in the region funny you should mention that now though why because I do believe that One of the theories of the Four Horsemen started in Armenia around that time one reading ties The Four Horsemen to the history of the Roman Empire subsequent to the era in which the Book of Revelation was written that is they are a symbolic Prophecy of the subsequent history of the Empire and a lead up to the fall of Rome interesting I wonder if those four horsemen here were based on the biblical reference they must be what else could They be

based upon Wallace asked well if this cave is as old as it looks there's always the possibility it's the other way round Wallace stopped walking you think Revelation was based on a much older story some sort of warning about the coming future Sam nodded and stopped directly in front of a cave painting it depicted four people staring up at the image of Jesus Christ above their bodies were covered in robes but their faces were easy to see and Well defined he studied the faces there were two men and two women he didn't recognize the first

three but the sight of the fourth one took the breath right out of him her face was quite beautiful she had a high jawline and strong features they were almost over the top as though the original artist wanted to glorify her as he or she would their God only she wasn't portrayed as a God if anything she looked Sam thought about it for a Moment like a royal messenger he was quite certain he'd never seen this woman before and yet at the same time 100% confident that he had seen someone very much like her the

more he thought about it the more certain he became he'd never met the woman in the painting but certainly a close descendant he'd never been more certain of anything in his life and at the same time knew that it was Entirely impossible he took a couple steps back and took a couple photos of the painting with his phone his eyes drifted down toward the bottom of the painting a dark wisp of smoke meandered through the legs of the four at the foot of the cross and into their mouths or was it coming out of their

mouths and then sliding through their legs the smoke like a blurry Haze had no Definite form or shape yet there was definitely something Serpentine about the way it wrapped itself around the four people without a doubt he was certain the smoke creature was the same one he'd seen in the dragon's breath cave in Namibia if your theory is correct do you think we're looking at the original Four Horsemen Wallace stared up at the painting and corrected himself or two Horsemen and two horse Women I have no idea what to think yet but you might be

right this could be the first visual depiction of the Four Horsemen Sam stepped forward and carefully scratched a few small pieces of the dark creature painted with charcoal into a few collection canisters Wallace have you ever seen this smoke creature before no but it's full of imagery and hidden meaning isn't it Wallace stared at the painting The serpentine smoke isn't an uncommon metaphor for evil perhaps the artist was trying to represent the evil Tidings of the four horse people maybe Sam stepped back and took one last look at the woman at the end of the

picture anything else you think I ought to see mioli no I think you've seen the lot of it good I'll take one more sample from the painting of Jesus Christ on the ceiling and then I want to get back to a Lab to see some sort of scientific facts 30 minutes later they had climbed the wire ladder and reached the surface of the crass mioli covered the surface with a small wooden board carried specifically for this purpose and then quickly filled the rest of the opening with snow until it was once again completely buried from

view Sam took off his gloves and withdrew his cell phone it was an aridium satellite phone he scrolled down Until he found the name he was after and pressed the call button Tom how did it go with Peter Smith good he knows where the Mary Rose sank she's on the bottom of nearly 3,000 ft of water in the Black Sea what's more he knows she was carrying a map to the pyramid in the Kalahari Desert what we believe might be the third Temple I took the sea witch too down to have a look this morning

found the wreck all right but I'll need to send an ROV in to find the stone Inside her Hull I have a dive planned for tomorrow how did you do with the Lost Tomb of Jesus Christ do you think it's legit we never called it that but yes we found some things can you hang on for a moment Sam didn't wait for a reply instead he started to text the message he'd taken of the Four Horsemen listen I'm going to send you a picture I want to know what your first thought is when you see

it okay Tom said A few moments later he said got it what do you think Sam found himself holding his breath as he waited for Tom's answer I think you took a photo of Alisa's sister or even her mom why where did you get this what would you say if I told you I took it inside the Ancient Temple no way Tom said what the hell does that mean Alisa's great ancestors built the temple or do you think we're being led into one gigantic hoax I don't think it's a Hoax then again if it is

it sure is a good one Sam shook his head are you going to show Elise she's going to want to know of course I will she has a right to know but not yet not until I know a bit more about the scientific facts I've taken a number of samples and I'll run the radiocarbon dating myself on board the Maria Helena but right now I think this is heavily connected to whoever has Billy and the Third Temple what makes you so sure forget the woman in the picture for a moment there's something about the image

that I think you should see look at the bottom what do you see Tom swore loudly it's the same creepy smoke thing we found in the dragon's breath cave exactly and it's looking up and staring at the image of Jesus Christ no I think you've got it all wrong Tom said I don't think that's what the image is meant to represent at all You don't no Tom said I think Jesus Christ is staring down at the black smoke in fear Sam studied the photo again Tom was right the image of Jesus Christ was pleading with

the black smoke below I think you're right Jesus appears worried about the black smoke but what the hell was it chapter 36 maai River Amazon Jun jungo Brazil the maai river is a tributary of the Dos Marios River in the Huma National Forest in Northwest Brazil one of the most isolated and remote jungles on the planet to this day few Europeans have ever penetrated far enough into the Amazon jungle to reach it those who have struggled to survive but but for the Paha tribe who have lived in total isolation from those outside the Amazon it

was home Dr Billy Swan sat on the edge of a large Boulder as she stared at a few of the strange tribal people whose land she' shared for The past 2 years in complete wonderment they were catching fish from the edge of the maai river the children and the adults all smiled constantly while they worked their eyes were wide as though they were taking in the day in a way that made her question whose civilization was the most advanced those from Western Society or these primitive people as an archaeologist she traveled to many remote and

distant regions of the planet for a time she thought she'd Seen it all but then then she met the people of the Paha tribe she was one of five people alive who'd spent enough time with the Paha tribe to learn their language after nearly 2 years she felt no closer to realizing her grandfather's dream of uniting the remaining Master Builders she watched the unique people working by the river they would be considered primitive by Western standards yet out here in the deadly jungle they Were supremely gifted in all the ways necessary to ensure their continued

survival they knew the benefit of various important plants and where they were located they intrinsically understood the behavior of local animals and how to catch them or avoid them and they had The Uncanny ability to walk into the jungle naked with no tools or weapons and walk out again with a basket of fruit nuts and small Game their culture was concerned solely with matters that fall within direct personal experience and thus there is no history Beyond living memory Paha have a simple kinship system that includes their immediate family Daniel Everett an anthropologist who spent more

than 30 years living and working with them noted the strongest of Paha values is no coercion you simply don't tell other people what to Do there appears to be no social hierarchy and the py Raa have no formal leaders their social system can thus be labeled as primitive communism in common with many other hunter gatherer cultures in the world although rare in the Amazon because of a history of Agriculture before Western contact the adult man whistled A melodic tune and his son ran to the edge of the river and began dropping stones into the Water

he made a different sound and the boy stopped a moment later the man threw a spear at a group of fish that were swimming away from the falling Stones the spear connected with a fish the man withdrew the spear and examined his catch he smiled it was a medium-sized fish no other sounds were made and all five of the family came over and quickly ate the fish Raw Billy smiled their language was unique and totally unrelated to any other extent tongue based on just eight consonants and three vowels the Paha had one of the simplest

sound systems known yet it possessed such a complex array of tones stresses and syllable lengths that its speakers can dispense with their vowels and consonants all together and sing hum or whistle conversations they had no name for Numbers or colors although they occasionally joined two words to make the description of a color such as blood Blood Stone or bone powder they used morphological markers that encode aspectual Notions such as whether events were witnessed whether the speaker was certain of its occurrence whether it was desired whether it was proximal or distal and so on yet none

of the markers encode features such as person number tense or Gender one of the other Splendid Fe features of their language which particularly separated it from all other spoken languages in any civilization currently living or not was the fact that it was entirely devoid of any type of grammatical recursion an attribute that every other language in the world shared grammatical recursion basically means that a story may have a subordinate idea or ideas inside for example in English one might Say a simple sentence such as Michael has an earthy spear adding recursion to that sentence might

lead the speaker to include the following Michael whom you know very well has a brown spear the recursion can continue almost indefinitely for example one could say Michael whom you know very well has an earthlike Spear and it's lying there beneath the tree but of the three sentences only the very First could be understood or communicated by the py Raa Billy watched as one of the children now full from the fish patiently handcarved an airplane he'd seen in the sky out of a piece of wood over the course of a number of hours the same

child as with the rest of the tribe was incapable and uninterested in drawing even simple shapes or pictures in the sand yet he was masterful at modeling complex shapes or Designs once he finished making his airplane he played with it for a few minutes before discarding it and walking away she watched the boy disappear into the forest a moment later she stood up and stroe down to the river to quench her thirst she reveled in this time with these strange people because she knew the Beast would return soon and all of them herself included would

once again be cast under its strange spell it would be coming for her for all Of them very soon the thought terrified her while at the same time enthralling her and sending her heart into a flutter it was nothing more than a cheap gimmick designed to enslave the primitive py Raa tribe there was nothing mysterious about the creature they called the black smoke the Thick Smoke which engulfed the jungle like a blanket it was immediately followed by an incredibly distinct and strange sound Which could be heard for miles and like the Sirens of Homer's Odyssey

it drew All Souls who heard it to follow she thought about the creature for a moment the smoke could easily be explained by someone burning damp leaves the voices were those of Mortals and not Gods the persuasiveness of those voices was enhanced by some chemical being burned the smoke of any number of hallucinogenic neurotoxic or Psychotropic plants had the power to enslave the one thing she couldn't understand was the collective power the monster achieved with the Primitive tribe herself included it was as though they were all hypnotized she'd never been reduced to submission by anything

or anyone before in her life no one since the first grade right through to her most recent employer Sam Riley had found a way to make her Obedient but the black smoke rendered her powerless the thought of losing control again terrified her but there was something else there too when she considered fleeing now there was definitely a good chance she'd survive but she couldn't force herself to take the risk it wasn't because she was afraid of dying better to die than become something's slave for an eternity so why didn't she want to run Was it

because she liked the idea of being subservient to the creature again even if she wanted to escape she didn't even know how far she'd have to go to escape its net she was frightened by what it would do when it found her but most of all she didn't want to disappoint the creature she laughed at herself at the thought the creature she was thinking of it as a living breathing thing now was just smoke and there she had it something About the smoke was comforting it was addictive and she needed the generalized warmth Comfort pleasure

and satisfaction it provided she recalled the Euphoria at being able to perform a series of ancient masonry skills which she'd never been taught this she realized was how the Master Builders had achieved the construction of the pyramids not like a heroin addict needed The drug to feel okay but more like she wanted to please it she wanted to prove that she could build the most spectacular temple in the world that she had been honored to be chosen to be part of this great process she could not run from it any more than a child could

run from it it mother when the depth of her situation had become complete she realized why the US military was so concerned about the Master Builders why they had spent so much money funding Sam Riley's research in secret they knew about the Mind controlling drugs the Master Builders had developed they had the power to control the human race turning everyone into puppets that was the final thought which made her decision for her no matter what she wanted Billy needed to escape she needed to get back to civilization someone needed to know of the most terrifying

threat to the human Race she filled her bottles with water and packed her backpack with the last of her food her pleasure and her Joy were irrelevant given the situation she needed to escape she needed to get word to Sam Riley before it was too late Billy took her first step into the jungle and away from the py Raa tribe and then she stopped because the jungle darkened with a thick cloak of smoke through the forest she heard the Strange and Eerie whistling of 400 py Raa it was somewhere between the high pitch scream of

a child and the piercing trill of an exotic bird a voice in her head told her it was time to resume the work the black smoke had returned chapter 37 the helicopter rested its skids on the deck of the Maria Helena Sam opened the door and stepped out while Genevie was still in the process of shutting Down the engine it was another warm day late in the summer a cold breeze suggested a change was coming the sky above was clear but dark clouds were on the horizon suggesting the change would be violent when it arrived

hurried by the weather he entered the ship's main structure spotting Matthew first he asked how was your vacation Skipper good Matthew said what I got to take of it you recalled me a week early Sam Shrugged hey no one said I was easy To work for but the pay is all right and you get to go to some amazing places the pay is modest and the places you take us to usually nearly get us killed hey you're still here Sam was always surprised by how conservative his Skipper was their job was dangerous but so far

he hadn't lost a single one of his crew have you seen Tom down below he's looking at launching the sea witch too within the hour Sam glanced at the dark storm Clouds on the horizon will they have time Matthew handed him the synoptic charts from the communications room the weather report says he's got 24 hours all right that'll have to do Sam walked down the steel stairs into the dive room he spotted Tom and Veyron going over the dive plan next to C Witch 2 the submarine was a bright yellow Triton 36,3 cables were already

secured to its Lifting hooks ready to maneuver the sub into the water for launch it often reminded Sam of a futuristic hovercraft it had twin yellow hulls and a large boros silicate glass dome in the middle that housed up to three divers two pilot seats were located at the front of the bubble and one passenger crammed behind to form the shape of a v the Dome provided 270° visualization the unique glass had been Slowly built over nearly 8 months using Boron instead of sodal lime which gave it the unusual property of compressing upon itself the

deeper it went at the back of the Dome a square box stood out like a small dogghouse inside a very expensive ROV remote operated vehicle or basically an underwater drone was attached to an umbilical tether like a leash hello gentlemen he greeted both men welcome back Veyron said it was an Acknowledgment of his presence and then Veyron immediately returned to his calculations for the dive Sam Tom smiled genuinely pleased to see him he turned to a man who strolled over from the opposite side of the submarine this is Peter Smith he was the first to

locate the merry Rose and is Keen to stay with us while we complete our search for the map to what we think is the Third Temple Sam shook Peter's hand good to Have you on board Tom said Peter and I were about to take the sea witch too down to the merry Rose and then run the ROV out to see if the Stone Tap is in her lower decks there are some interesting things I'd like you to see did you want to join us to dive to 3,000 ft and search an old shipwreck Sam asked

yeah absolutely Sam looked at Veyron who was eager to launch the submarine Alis is Shor side in Istanbul She has my samples from the ancient lava tube I looked at and she's carbon dating them at the marara University if she gets an answer for me before I return have Genevie take the chopper and bring her in I want those answers as soon as possible chapter 38 Tom piloted the sea witch too in a direct line to the bottom on the way down Sam filled him in with what he'd found in the lava tube and Peter

brought Sam up to date with everything he learned about the emerald star and the pyramid inside the Kalahari Desert the entire Journey took 30 minutes he checked the depth gauge at 2800 ft and reduced his descent until 2950 ft once there he leveled the submarine and hovered motionless he turned to Sam all right you ready to look at this thing Sam nodded his eyes were wide and his jaw set firm with a slight glint of a smile That betrayed his wonderment some things Tom realized one never got bored with Tom flicked on the powerful flood

lights which hung out from above the Dome like a pair of giant bug eyes the merry Rose lit up in front of them Sam gasped I'd heard about the salinity but had no idea how much it would preserve the wreck told you that you needed to see some things in person Tom said in front of them the merry Rose stood upright in the silty Seabed the individual planks of wood that made up her Hull were undamaged all four masts of the Spanish gallion were entirely intact and a series of ropes showed how the great vessel

was rigged the intricate wood carvings of the helm flickered in the light as though a Restless ghost was commanding her through the the dark the wood was so well preserved that chisel and Tool marks were still visible on individual planks rigging materials coils of rope Tills Rudders and even carved wooden decorative elements survived it was conceivable the ship might have been sunk a year or two ago but in 1653 the concept was absurd and yet that made it no less true if there was any doubt left in their minds about the age of the ship

it was shattered when the Brass Bell located a midship hanging from the main Mast bore the name Mary Rose Peter spoke with a confidence of a man who'd been studying the Black Sea and her depths for the past 2 years during the last ice age the Black Sea was really the Black Lake as the planet warmed and sea levels Rose saltwater from from the Mediterranean began spilling over a rock formation in the bosphorous strait this meant the Black Sea was now fed by salt water as well as freshwater rivers resulting in two distinct layers of

water an oxygenated Upper level with less salt at a lower level with plenty of salt water and no oxygen Sam said that's amazing in most seawater wood and rope are among the first things to Decay but here they look entirely untouched all right time to get the ROV out and find our Stone map Tom set sewitch 2 to hover automatically locking in a depth alarm something that would alert him the instant their depth substantially increased or decreased and Then turned his Focus to the computer monitor that displayed the image seen from the front of the

ROV there were two monitors the first one showed the primary view while the second one was split into five barely visible views above below left right and behind any of them could change the primary view so that the larger image was the one they viewed Sam switched the machine on and the sound of its multiple propellers Spinning suddenly word the ROV was stored facing outward in the same way you would park a car in a garage so that the exit was easier than the entry The View on the primary screen was set to the frontal

camera so it even looked as though you were peering through the windshield of a car Tom watched as Sam expertly navigated the ROV toward the Shipwreck his right hand made Minor Adjustments to the joystick like a kid playing a Computer game that was Sam though a kid through and through playing a game the only difference was his toy was worth nearly $2 million and the stakes were life and death the r hovered over the top deck Sam said I don't believe this there isn't even a way inside the Damned hatches are still intact Tom scanned

the deck there the AFT Castle has an entrance hatch I see it Sam Ho the ROV toward the hatch Peter Asked the question is can you open it Sam grinned at the challenge I can open it Sam changed the primary view to the left side he hit a buoyancy maintenance button similar to the one Tom had used to keep the sea witch 2 in an exact position and then turned to a new joystick Sam maneuvered the single robotic claw until it reached the hatch a moment later the claw ripped the handle and pulled the entire

hatch came free from its rotten hinges Tom said That'll work Sam returned the primary monitor to the dashboard View and entered the AFT Castle he then turned to Peter I don't suppose you have any idea where this Stone tablet was stored I don't know for certain but in hammersmith's journal he wrote that the stone map was seen as a gift from the gods it was a map that was supposedly going to take them to Great Treasures where would you keep a treasure map secure from the greedy crew Of a 17th century pirate ship the Captain

Quarters Tom and Sam said in unison the merry Rose had two Decks that ran the length of the ship's Hull plus an additional level in the AF and folkal traditionally the AFT Castle housed the Captain's Quarters but there was no telling that her original Spanish Builder conformed to the normality of her time Tom watched as Sam maneuvered the ROV into the AFT Castle despite the Surprising preservation of the outside Hull and rigging the inside of what might have once been the Captain's Quarters had been reduced to a mass of silt there was no sign of

the stone tablet or any other definable structure Sam took the ROV down into the main deck which ran the length of the ship the ROV was equipped with a low amplitude sonar transducer in its belly which basically meant that she could receive a graphical display of any structure below and in Her immediate vicinity the ROV took two sweeps of the first deck without any sign of a stone structure it then hoed through another opening a midship that led to the second deck Tom took another sweep of the sonar through this level but the only Stones

it located were the broken ones in the BGE used for ballast I don't believe it Tom said we've overcome so much to find this and the damn thing was never here to begin With all right Sam said heavily I'll take her back in and we'll return turn to the surface that storm's coming we might have to postpone another dive for a few days the RV turned and slowly retraced its path back to the open deck it hred loudly as it approached seawitch too Tom glanced at the third monitor where the sonar image provided a simple

view of the terrain below he went to switch the transducer off and then something Stopped him wait he yelled what is it Sam asked Tom pointed at the monitor does that look like something to you Sam and Peter both studied the screen it looked very much like the head of a tombstone only much smaller he watched as Sam descended the ROV until it was hovering just above the stone the primary view was switched to the camera pointing straight down the stone had been chiseled to form a very specific shape but there was nothing written on

It Peter asked can you turn it over Sam nodded Tom found himself unintentionally holding his breath a moment later the rovs grappler tipped the stone over there beneath them was a perfect delineation of the west coast of Africa and a whole bunch of numbers he couldn't read me chapter 39 Sam stepped out of the submarine and onto the Maria Helena he immediately set up a cleaning Trough to wash the stone he used a low press water jet to remove the silt until the image was clearly visible the African Coastline was unmistakable this had to be

the ancient map that ham Smith had written about the one they'd lost when the merry Rose sank in 1653 Veyron climbed down from the control box of the small crane Sam you wanted to know about a lease as soon as you reach the surface yes she called an Hour ago said she needed to see you right away Genevieve's gone to pick her up right now that's great Sam said he felt it too an hour ago he suspected he reached a complete dead end on his search for the Third Temple and for Billy he couldn't find

the stone and he was still waiting for Elise to tell him the truth about the painting in the hidden Cavern inside Mount Ararat within minutes he Tom and Peter were staring at a perfectly restored Stone tablet he wondered what the original Mason who chiseled the markings would think about it being read all these years later the stone had one recognizable image and two sets of numbers the numbers were in base 11 and he could decipher them easily enough but he'd never seen the word after the numbers although he could guess its purpose there were two

numbers most likely two points of reference and where they intercept is the precise location The unfamiliar word Kare most likely represented a measured distance such as a mile or a kilometer only it didn't the purpose of the word was obvious he stared at the numbers converted into base 10 they read 318 and 325 but 318 and 325 what Sam breathed out purposefully slow he ran his hands over his forehead and through his brown wavy hair it appears the Master Builders worked out a similar means of defining Precise locations long before GPS Peter said that even

looks like a latitude and longitude reference Sam swore it was a sudden and Loud Show of frustration and it was unlike him it may as well be the location of a secret treasure hidden on another planet for all the good it's going to do us why Peter asked Sam shook his head they had come so far to find the map and yet it was entirely useless to Them because by the looks of things the Master Builders were using a completely different numerical reference point this map shows us clearly where the Third Temple was located it's

at the point where reference number 318 Kare and 325 Kare intercept but I don't have any clue what a kib is but that doesn't make sense Peter said I know it doesn't I just told you it doesn't no not that Sam asked what then Hammer Smith wasn't a master Builder so how did he know how to follow the map Sam paused as he thought about it for a moment I have no idea maybe there's an easy conversion Tom sighed or there was a master builder on board Sam nodded it was the most likely possibility all

right I'll give it to Elise when she gets here if there's any way of extracting the code she'll work it Out a few moments later the Maria Helena reverberated under the downward whoop whoop of the Sea King Landing Sam looked at Tom and Peter speak of the devil Sam jogged up the steps taking two at a time he stepped out onto the deck and opened the helicopter's front passenger door it was empty he looked up at Genie where is she she wouldn't wait for the blades to stop turning she's gone in inside she said she

had to see You straight away Sam nodded okay thanks for getting her Genevie smiled she knew how much he appreciated her but it was rare for him to voice it every one of his crew worked hard and put 100% into the job 24 hours a day it's what he expected from them and more often than not what he needed Genevie said go find her he found Elise coming back down the stairs from the bridge she spoke before he could speak I've got the results from Each of the samples and you're not going to believe what

they show chapter 40 Vatican City Sam sat down on an old leather armchair opposite John Wallace who sat behind the heavy oak desk of his office a wooden placard read Swiss guard Minister for the Future 8 weeks ago Sam had sat in the very same chair when he'd first been introduced to the man since that day he had no Revelation as to what Wallace's Official title meant Sam had found him because among other things Wallace documented the history of the Master Builders going by a Latin name which meant witness to the Master Builders it was

a very old title and it stretched back to the days of the Great Plague when Nostradamus had accurately predicted a young monk in training Would One Day become the pope Wallace had been instructed to continue to perform the task of witness even Though he had never met one of the great descendants his eyes swept the office it was scattered with unique memorabilia from history an early edition of the Holy Bible strange Mayan weapons given or taken during the spread of Catholicism to the new world an incomplete world map showing the ignorance of the 16th century

conquistadors photos of the various heads of state from around the world on closer inspection Sam saw that Wallace Was in the background of every one of them it was obvious the man provided specialized services to the holy sea above and beyond pontifical security Wallace stared at him in silence his hardened face perched in a permanent question as if to say I'm ready let's hear the truth Sam quickly gave it to him handing out the facts as they had been given to him even he hadn't worked out why someone would do such a thing or how

it Could have been achieved none of it mattered the fact was he was happy to have been invited by the church to find the truth but now that it was out it wouldn't serve him or Tom any benefit in achieving their goal of finding Billy a hoax his eyes narrowed I was there with my own eyes there was a damned woolly mammoth there Frozen in solid ice Sam smiled smiled politely it was all he could do well that part was true I don't understand youd better start from the Beginning The Woolly Mammoth was dated as

roughly 12,000 years old so the strange Temple is at least that old no you have to remember the extinct creature was forced into the cavern by a slow moving Glacier sometime in the past 2,000 years only part of it had dropped into the lava tube while the rest of it continued further into the mountain the only remaining ice was what you saw a few days ago okay what about the paintings they Were done around 300 ad give or take 50 years but I'm willing to bet money that it was in April 286 ad Wallace sat

up in his chair as though his rigid muscles could coax his mind into some sort of understanding you think it was Gregor the Illuminator I do you think he found the frozen woolly mammoth a monster he knew died out long ago and decided to impart some sort of crazy lie so that future Generations might what believe in Christianity Sam answered like a child in trouble who knew that none would be adequate no that Christianity was fake because Jesus Christ was based upon another person who died 10,000 years earlier I don't understand for what purpose could

gregori the Illuminator have possibly performed such a horrible hoax Wallace paused as though his mind was still trying to make some sort of sense of the news even if he went to the tremendous lengths required to achieve It what about the Four Horseman what part do they play in all this Sam closed his eyes waited for for a moment and then spoke I've been thinking about the four horsemen and about gregori and this isn't some sort of juvenile hoax made up to get attention this wasn't for fun it had to serve a purpose and I

think I might just know what it was go on the entire elaborate deception was all designed to make us focus on one Particular thing the time period he wanted us to examine a very specific time he wanted us to look at what happened roughly 12,000 years ago why Sam swallowed I think he was trying to give us some sort of warning what if he was trying to warn us that the disaster that caused the period of mass extinction of 12,000 years ago was hurling toward us again Wallace spoke the words with a quiet Solemnity the

extinction of the human race Sam nodded in silence he'd had the same concern 8 weeks ago he discovered that the final Vision Nostradamus had seen was the extinction of the human race and somehow Sam Riley was the only person on Earth who might have the power to change the outcome it was Wallace who broke the silence first what about the four horsemen Sam said I've been thinking About that too what if the four horsemen were set up to act as a final defense against the imminent disaster like an ancient Covenant to come into effect when

the time was right but how would they know when that was his face was etched with doubt and cynicism Sam nodded it was a hard stretch to believe what if Nostradamus wasn't the first you mean what if someone else knew the future Sure what if that person knew a precise date for a cataclysmic event and how to stop it but no way to be certain that the four horsemen would achieve their goal Sam took a breath and then continued people die stories change over 1700 years the remaining four horsemen may not exist so so maybe

that person saw that we'd have an unusually warm summer this year he or she saw the snow which capped the Upper third of Mount Ararat begin to thin it would lead someone to fall into the cavern maybe they knew the shifting Glacier would bring the frozen woolly mammoth from 12 th000 years ago into the lava tube and our plain sight that the twist about the age of Jesus Christ was so compelling that no matter who found the cavern the message would reach the Vatican where you would contact me to become involved it's a whole lot

of wha ifs for me to believe Wallace took a Deep breath and then slowly breathed out even if I did believe you the fact remains what are we supposed to do about it Sam smiled and withdrew the pendant out from beneath his shirt it was made of solid red garnet and its Rider carried a long sword we need to gather The Four Horsemen chapter 41 Sam stared at Wallace as he took in all that he'd been told Wallace's face was hard and impassive it was impossible To know what to make of it the concept was

impossible yet the man had seen the impossible before do you have any idea where they are Wallace asked no I've been following a lead about a recent Movement by the Master Builders in the hope of finding a temple where our friend Dr Billy Swan is being held prisoner it's led us to search for something called the Third Temple a pyramid we believe is in the Kalahari Desert I wasn't aware there were any pyramids that far south Sam smiled impatiently yes well we haven't been able to find one either that said while we were searching for

it we were attacked by a strange man do you know what he told us his name was no he said his name was famine and his time was now okay so we find the third Temple and we might find the rest of the Four Horsemen the only problem is all of our leads have run Dry if there's anything I could do to help I would but right now I think we're both out of options Wallace stood up to shake his hand it was a courtesy and at the same time a dismissal what will you do

I don't know I'll head back to the Maria Helena to follow up on some other leads Sam turned to face the door and then stopped his eyes caught sight of the old world map hanging up on the wall he'd spotted it before but hadn't taken Any particular interest it was only now that his eyes fixed on the date of production January 1655 do you know when this map was surveyed Wallace seemed surprised by the question not a clue the dat's on there somewhere 16 something then it's not a fake absolutely not why would I have

a fake map hanging on my wall why would you have a map you know nothing about touche Wallace smiled patiently it's not a fake it was taken During a period when the Catholic church was sending missions to all corners of the globe to promote God's will of course God in his Almighty wisdom chose to repeatedly sink a number of our ships in the process that's why his Holiness ordered a complete survey of the African Coastline and that of South and North America why would you think it was a fake Sam apologized it just appears drawn

incorrectly how should I know Wallace Grunted I'm not a cartographer but you certain it's not a forgery no why are you so concerned with it because I've extensively studied maps of the region dating as far back as 1655 and this part here Sam pointed to a large Bay along the west coast of Africa yes in my maps the coastline starts all the way out here John Wallace Shrugged indifferently is that a big difference it's nearly 10 miles so lands change particularly Sandy ones it would appear Why are you so interested because the last visitors to

the Third Temple became Shipwrecked there since then the Sandy Coast has shifted Inward and outward 100 or more times like the Turning of the tide but if we know what the coast looked like during the same year the ship sank while at anchor then I think Tom and I might just have a chance of finding her chapter 42 Istanbul Dimitri waited just inside the dilapidated hubel Peter Smith called home he still wore a dark custommade suit but had removed his sunglasses he didn't carry a handgun contrary to what popular culture and movies what have you

believe interpole agents never did and even if he he had Dimitri wouldn't need it today his hands were strong and his reflexes inhumanly fast if Peter needed more persuasion Dimitri was confident he Knew how to provide it using his hands alone he had been keeping track of Peter for the past 3 years after finding information about the Third Temple the man had become a problem for Demitri but all problems have Solutions he thought about ending this problem 3 years ago in retrospect he probably should have but there was always the concern that maybe just maybe

the man might lead him to what he was after access to the Third Temple so Instead of Killing Him Dimitri kept digital eyes on him the man frightened they were after him had naturally gone to ground and removed all evidence of his life in the past 3 years there were no records of any banking transactions passport hits credit rental applications cell phone use or social media as far as modern society was concerned the man was already dead hell if Dimitri had to kill him now no one would ask questions you can't be Punished for killing

a ghost but Peter hadn't died and Dimitri never stopped watching him or the progress that he made the most recent of which had genuinely surprised him he could have guessed roughly where the merry Rose had sunk but given her location he'd never bothered it would be too difficult for him to reach a depth of 3,000 ft and if he hired a team of professional divers to do so it could cost far more than he Could afford and bring dangerous attention to himself from the others he watched as the tile that hid the entrance moved he

waited until the tile had slid all the way to the side when he was confident the tile couldn't be shifted back into place and latched From Below Dimitri Stepped Out of The Shadow hello Peter it's been a while Peter stepped off the ladder below trying to drop to the ground he was quick but demetry was faster he gripped Peter's wrist and pulled him up into the above ground section of the Hub Peter twisted and wrestled to free himself Dimitri looked at him amused by the man's efforts his fingers were like a vice and would simply

dig deeper into his arm the more he struggled Peter whimpered under the pressure when he caught his breath he redoubled his effort to escape Dimitri shook his head I can do this up here where the others may be Listening or we can do it downstairs and speak where they can't listen Peter looked at him his eyes wide with Terror okay I'm going to let you go so you can climb down all by yourself if you try to do anything at all not to my liking I won't simply catch you again I will extract what I'm

after and then I'm going to give the others the tracking code Peter glanced at the small tattoo on his wrist where Dimitri had embedded A GPS track chip 3 years ago for an instant Dimitri wondered how many times the man had considered lopping off his own wrist simply to get away from it Peter looked up and nodded in acquiescence are you certain Dimitri's voice was firm yes Dimitri let go and Peter hurriedly climbed down the stairs his eyes glanced at the couch and then back to Demitri one glance and Peter stood perfectly still what do

you want Peter Asked you found the map didn't you Peter nodded do you have it or do they I have it Peter said it's over there resting against the wall Dimitri stepped toward the stone tablet at a glance he knew it was authentic the timing couldn't have been better well done Peter it appears it was worth my while keeping you alive these past 3 years Peter was holding his breath you look like you disagree no not At all then what is it Peter said it's just the map won't do you any good why not Dimitri

asked because the map makes reference to a type of measurement never seen anywhere else before so the Stone's useless it provides a grid reference based on measurements that don't exist even GPS doesn't serve a purpose if you don't know what those numbers mean right right Dimitri smiled it was creepy and inhuman almost Serpentine but I remember how to read It chapter 43 skeleton Coast Namibia the sea King's massive rotary blades lifted the huge helicopter and her passengers Skyward as Sam Riley took off from the Maria Helena which had taken Anchorage roughly 3 miles out from

Terrace Bay along the Fatal Coastline next to him Tom studied the copy of the survey map from 1655 which Sam had been given by the Vatican the map identified a large section between Terrace Bay and Cape Cross where the Sandy Coastline had shifted nearly 10 miles further out to sea if the emerald Star had indeed been sunk while anchored during the sandstorm it would most likely be somewhere along the long forgotten Coastline he flew in an easterly Direction out to Terrace Bay and then banked South to follow an invisible line from the past as depicted

by the map in John Wallace's office Tom said all right we're right above the line Good Sam maneuvered the helicopter Into a straight and level flight path approximately 20 ft above the first Sand Dune all right switching it on Tom flicked a few switches and the ground penetrating radar started to work its magic ground penetrating radar was designed to use radar pulses to create images of the Sandy subsurface the nist constructive method used electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band known as UHF and VHF frequencies of the radio spectrum in Order to detect reflected signals from

subsurface structures the plan was to run a grid search along the invisible line of the Forgotten Coast as depicted by the map in John Wallace's office from the same year the emerald star was sunk at anchor to Sam the device felt close to cheating in the world of treasure hunting using technology people could have only dreamt about 20 years ago the state-of-the-art equipment was relatively simple to use It ran a continuous swath it was then decoded by an onboard computer which then spat out the image of any solid shapes within the subsurface Tom studied the

monitor but in reality he didn't have to the computer would identify any objects and provide a list at the end of their search meaning there was little active input during the process Tom turned to Sam still no word from Peter Smith no it seems unlikely That the man would disappear right when we were about to discover the truth I know I don't like it anything could have happened since we left him in this Stull he might have got cold feet and decided to go to ground again or they caught up with him what do you

want to do about it there's not much we can do about it I've left a lease running a continuous online search for his image anywhere near istanbull if he's gone to ground we might still get lucky the Computer pinged loudly they had received their first positive response from the ground penetrating radar Sam glanced at the monitor it looked like a ship but a very small one if it was was along the current Coastline he would have suspected it to be a small motorboat but given its location it was more likely to be a skiff he

made a circular search around the object so that the radar could plot a more precise size and shape of the object a few minutes later Sam Returned the flight too straight and level following the imaginary line from the past he studied the Hostile but fascinating Coast with a mix of all and respect it was no surprise that such a land could be unforgiving the coast was predominantly soft sand with the occasional Rocky outcrop to the South were large gravel Plains while this far north around Terrace Bay the landscape was dominated by some of the largest

sand dunes in the World his mind returned to a recent account of the region he'd read in which the Bushmen of the namibian Interior called the region the land god made in anger while Portuguese Sailors once referred to it as the Gates of Hell on the coast the upwelling of the cold benua current gave rise to a dense ocean fog for nearly 2/3 of the Year there was a constant heavy surf on the beaches here the cold and unpredictable benua current of the Atlantic Ocean clashed with the Dune and desert landscape of Northwestern Namibia numerous

ships have stranded at the skeleton Coast thanks to the thick fog the rough sea unpredictable currents and stormy winds the sailors who were able to make it to the land did not stand a chance of survival at this inhospitable coast and died of thirst strangely it was the same benua effect that allowed the region to team with life although less than 10 in Of rain fell annually throughout Namibia the dense ocean fog extended nearly 100 miles Inland large wild animals adapted to the arid climate and survived surprisingly well including desert adapted elephants rhinos desert Lions

brown hyenas Jackal giraffes seals orics kudus and zebra the riverbeds further Inland were home to baboons giraffes Lions black rhinoceros and spring boach the animals got most of their water from Wells dug By the baboons or elephants by the time they reached Cape cross they'd found a total of five ships in the Sand's subsurface two were much too small to be the emerald star but the other three were in the vague vicinity of the size and shape expected of the 17th century barkantine Sam banked to the right and made a beline for the Maria Helena

chapter 44 the oron Scott Card was an 80ft dredging vessel her futuristic design looked to Sam like a cross between a tank with its massive twin rubber tracks and a conventional battle ship it had a large hydraulic snout and a massive claw attached to an arm off the rotating Bridge the entire ship looked like it was straight out of Science Fiction he guessed her owner was inspired by the ship's strange impression to pay tribute to the classic science fiction writer of The same name its shallow draft and tank tracks gave her an amphibious capability under

power from the tank tracks the vessel drove due east slowly climbing the Monstrous sand dunes of the skeleton Coast before dipping down their backside it had cost a small fortune to hire The Vessel and her operator for an entire month the first day was spent just moving the Damned ship to the first location Sam and Tom rode up high in the Main Bridge with Max heinan the owner and operator of the dredger a solid man of roughly 6 sporting a thick white beard that to Sam looked very becoming a sea captain the rening of his

cheeks and rotund belly suggested he liked his drink perhaps a little too much he seemed knowledgeable and competent at his job more importantly still he was available for hire as the heavy tracks dug deep into the upcoming Sand Dune Sam asked have You had such an unusual request before unusual Max changed into a deep low gear and the vessel slowed to a crawl up the Dune it's not even the first time I've been asked to dig up an old ship long since buried in the sand really yes there's been many a book written about lost

treasure being inside shipwrecks buried in these Sands did you know the desert is slowly moving West reclaiming the land Sam nodded he knew exactly how far the Dunes moved has anyone ever found any real treasure of course they have not that it makes any sense to me why not Max gave him that sort of smile that said he was going to let him in on a secret think about it you spent a small fortune hiring the dredger you might not find anything of real value to show after a week out here even if if you

do it won't cover much of my fees unless you really do strike it rich so the entire thing Seems to me like a giant waste of time and money not that I mind of course it's your money and I'm glad to receive your business Sam and Tom laughed Sam said thanks for your honesty we're not really looking for Treasure so it's okay Max met his eye with the hardened stare really what do you hope to find inside an old shipwreck just history I have a friend whose great ancestor lost his life on this ship we're

hoping to find it for Him a noble cause I wish you luck Sam asked just out of interest if someone was to search for something beneath the Sands of the Kalahari Desert could you move the Orson Scot card there Max shook his head if you were to give me months I might be able to get a permit to travel with her along the highways at nighttime but it would be expensive probably cheaper to have a mining dredge or Digger built on site or even bring in a bulldozzer or two what Are you really looking for

out here Mr Riley Sam smiled ancient history chapter 45 the first dig took a total of two days to reach and then a further day to excavate enough sand to determin the ship was the Alicia May a French merchant ship it took the fourth day to reach the next structure on the fifth day they discovered the ship was actually the remains of a small wailing Cabin discarded at the end of The Wailing era which the coast was named after Sam studied the map Tom had circled three m structures in the Sand's subsurface with a ground

penetrating radar he'd made the decision earlier to search the larger structures and skip the smaller vessels altoe there was only one vessel left to search if that came up with nothing he would have to rethink how he was going to progress with the search there was a Lot of sand and just as many shipwrecks in truth he'd been quite lucky to discover the first two weren't the emerald star early if he hadn't found the name plate of the Alicia may he might have been digging for a week and still not know if it was the

correct ship or not on the 10th day they reached the final shipwreck Sam marked out the location which would hopefully correlate with a section of midships where he Hoped the main opening might still be accessible Max started up the large dredging machine the Orson Scott Card used a 14in pipe connected to a large centrifugal pump to suction the sand its 550 horsepower engine spun two impellers at a rate of 600 RPM in water it moved approximately 8,000 gallons of water and sand per minute in the dry sand Max was forced to reduce the RPM to

300 which shifted Approximately 3 tons of sand an hour it ran at a pressure of Seven bar two below its maximum output for 6 hours before the sand gave way to untarnished Wood stop Sam shouted we've reached something the loud grind of the pump came to a halt leaving a slight residual ringing in Sam's ear behind him Max pulled back on the automated suction arm so that it was out of the way okay Sam she's all yours go have a look at what you Found Sam nodded he climbed down into the large opening in the

sand hey Tom can you please bring a shovel down here we might need to manually shift some of this sand here Tom passed one to him Sam ran the back of the shovel along the thick wood of what appeared to be the remains of an old Mast he felt felt the blade chip away at wood and sand a moment later the sound changed it was something different Something distinctly metallic he used his hands to quickly dig away the rest of the sand breathing hard he pulled at the sand and with each movement he began to

see a new piece of the puzzle the item was brass it made him work harder in 2 minutes he removed enough sand that he was able to dig his fingers under Sam pulled hard whatever it was he'd found held under the suction of sand compressed by hundreds of years but then it started to move Sam pulled harder and In a moment the entire thing broke free and Sam fell backward he scraped the remaining sand free of the brass item it was the ship's Bell there was a small engraving at the top of the Bell Sam

felt his heart Lurch into a gallop he held his breath as he blew the remaining sand that filled the tiny gap of the engraving and then stared at the Bell his lips then curled into a winning smile because the name on the centuries Old engraving was still clearly visible Emerald star chapter 46 Sam switched his flashlight on and climbed down the the wooden ladder creaked under his weight but the wood was otherwise very well preserved at 10 ft down he reached the main entrance cabin it was shaped like a small semicircle with an empty weapons

rack at the end the skeletal remains of a man lay on the ground in front of him Through the hollowed rib cage a steel tipped spear still pointed to the Stars he turned his flashlight away it was obvious how the man had died and he had no morbid desire to study him further to a certain extent he figured the guy who had landed on the spear received a far Kinder death than those who had survived long enough to become inomed by the sand Tom carefully tested his weight on the ladder above do you think it

will hold my weight yeah should Do just watch the spear at the bottom Sam felt the structural beam that supported the deck above they' held the weight of many tons of sand for a little over 3 and a half centuries he ran his hand over the first four he found they were made out of some sort of red hardwood a dendrologist might have told him the wood came from lebanan Cedar the most prolific hardwood used in ship building throughout the Mediterranean Until the 18th century when overcutting reduced it to Extinction and that the Arid environment

had allowed it to maintain its strength after all these years without the Specialists knowledge Sam felt a healthy fear for the stability of the old vessel he took another step the floor creaked and he turned to Tom on second thoughts you might want to wait here there's no way of telling how safe the wood is after all these years No reason to put both our lives in danger Tom nodded I'm here if you need me Sam continued deeper into the main cargo hold he was surprised to see the ship which had been so well preserved

inside didn't seem to have any other skeletons he dropped down to the lower level that housed the now dry BGE he flashed his light around the deck but it was empty of what he was after Sam retraced his steps to the main deck and then headed aft at the very back he Found a step up into the AFT castle and Captain's Quarters he climbed the stairs and entered the room Sam flicked his light across the room his eyes fixed on what he saw in front of him and he inhaled sharply a large navigation [ __

] dining table took up the vast majority of the captain's private quarters it was an aft cabin from The Glory Days of ship building when the privileged class ruled the World it was big enough to have entertained eight or more persons at one time the table had been intricately carved out of mahogany and in the middle of it still sitting at the table were the skeletal remains of one man facing directly at the human skull was a very different one a golden skull the two skulls were facing each other their eyes locked for eternity Sam

fixed the light on the empty skull the void where the eyes once Stared out somehow betrayed the man's profound loss next to him was an empty bottle nothing remained to suggest what was inside but Sam figured if it was him he'd want some pretty hard liquor in a moment Sam realized the significance of the find it meant that this man was the only one alive alive when the ship had become buried beneath the Sand by the look of things the poor wretch had the time to wander the ship In isolation before starvation or dehydration eventually

took his life Sam almost forgot what he was searching for as he wondered who the skeleton once belonged to his eyes swept the room there was something else he hadn't noticed immediately a leatherbound book graced the table next next to the golden skull he hoped he would find the answers he needed inside that journal but now was not the time to read it instead he Studied the golden skull he'd heard Peter Smith refer to it as the death mask or the key to the Third Temple Sam picked up the heavy skull it was hollow inside

but even so he felt the weight in his arms and was thankful he hadn't needed to carry it across a desert he turned the skull to face him its Ivory teeth grinned hideously as though it was begging to tell one hell of a story about its past what do you Know as Sam turned the skull he felt something move inside it wasn't quite as fluid as liquid but more likely fine like a powder he stared into the hollowed eyes or was something inside Sam shine his light into the dark space the entire area behind the

eyes and nose appeared Hollow it was only on the second look that he spotted it not that he knew it was anything at all he inserted his finger deep inside the left eye socket and felt it move but what was It he pressed upward with his index finger and felt it move all the way upward he grinned as he withdrew his finger and shined the flashlight back inside it had been a clever latch and it had caused an intricately carved piece of obsidian to swivel outward allowing access to whatever was stored inside his eyes narrowed

as he tried to interpret what had been stored inside there was a sweet scent to it like a Mixture of hard liquor and chloroform Sam instinctively took a step back and held his breath as he examined the black powder it was so fine and delicate he worried that one whiff and the entire contents would be inhaled the powder shifted in an almost liquidlike State as he tilted the skull Sam made a mental note to have the powder tested in a lab he then used his index finger to reach inside and pulled the latch downward the

piece of obsidian Returned to its resting space and the black powder was once again secured he turned the skull over and stared at it from below where solid gold had been flattened to make space for a unique image delicately etched inside it depicted two mountain peaks leading together with a small lake or possibly snow in the middle he recognized the snowcapped mountain of Mount Ararat and in an instant realized the skull was a Map but not the map he wanted he already knew where the key to the Third Temple was supposed to be taken what

he needed was to locate the pyramid in the Kalahari Desert and find Billy Swan Sam considered his next move wondering whether the man's Journal might shed some light on things when he saw it his heart raced and he felt the Goosebumps prickle over his skin as his eyes fixed directly in front of the Skeleton where the mahogany table had been scarred by the Deep etchings of a knife Sam stared at them for a moment carefully reading the words that struck him like lightning don't let the man with purple eyes have the death mask chapter 47

Sam spent the next 3 days reading and then rereading the Journal of Harbor Smith on board the Maria Helena while The preparations were made the death mask was secured inside the ship's Armory where a state-of-the-art security system would scare off the most seasoned bank robber he sent a sample of the black powder off to a biochemist to study and left a lease in charge of making sense of whatever the scientist discovered on the fourth day the final resources arrived and Sam and Tom set off East into the Namib Desert on Camelback Sam had located Smith's

Kamal And having read the old Explorer's Journal now knew that the early navigation device allowed him to accurately follow a specific latitude defined by the marking of an additional knot into its line per his journal the men had traveled for 3 Days by camel to the east starting out at the emerald star before they located the ancient pyramid the camels were loaded with a similar weight as those used by the crew of The Emerald star the plan was they Would travel east using the Kamal and keeping Pace with the original Expedition as recorded in Smith's

Journal this would get them within a basic vicinity of the pyramid it wouldn't get them to the exact place because the sand dunes would have changed during that time but it was a start once they reached that area then they would contact the Maria Helena and geniv would bring in the sea king and the ground penetrating Radar it would then be a timec consuming process of expanding the search in ever evolving larger circles Sam realized it might take months to locate or he might get lucky either way the camel trip was only the start at

the end of the second day Sam received a call on his satellite phone it was a lease and as per usual she got straight to the point Sam I got a hit on Peter Smith Sam asked where the daily Sabah an Istanbul based newspaper ran a Report on a body that washed up on the shore of the boser straight they killed him didn't they I'm sorry Sam it would appear so Sam thought about the consequences there was nothing he could do to save the man now but there were still consequences to consider what had his

murderers found out how much could Peter have told them were they on their way to the skeleton Coast Already he paused as he considered this possibility if Peter talked before he was murdered it would mean that they would come to the skeleton Coast the entrance to the emerald Star had been intentionally buried again but there was a possibility if they got to Peter they were smart if so they would start asking the right questions to locals in the area who would be quick to talk about two strangers who spent a fortune hiring a Dredging ship

to remove sand covering an Old Ship nearly 10 Mi Inland it was an amazing story and one they' quickly find so what if they dug up the emerald star the death mask was no longer there and Smith's Journal was in his hand so there was no evidence of where the pyramid might be Sam thought about that for a moment were they safe he knew the answer was no it wouldn't take long for their pursuers to make the connection That the pyramid would have to be east of the emerald star it then wouldn't take much for

aerial surveillance to locate two men on camels Sam instinctively touched the pouch on the right hand side of his camel thankful that he and Tom brought Heckler and cotch MP5 assault rifles if they had visitors they were prepared to meet them this time over the course of three and a half days Sam and Tom followed the same route That Harper Smith had taken three and a half C centuries earlier when they stopped after spending the exact same amount of time on camels as their predecessors it turned out to be a little under 200 miles from

the emerald star making the pyramid just inside the cahari desert both men stared down at the rows of sand dunes that continued all the way to the Horizon well we made it as much as I hate traveling by camel Sam stared into the distance the pyramid must be somewhere in this vicinity of course it might take us months to locate it from the air Tom looked over the crest of the Dune squinted and then shook his head I don't think we need to worry about that why Tom swallowed because it appears someone beat us to

it chapter 48 the buried pyramid of the Kalahari the opening looked more like The entrance to a mine shaft than a pyramid buried in sand three Old Railway sleepers formed the framework for the addit it ran at a gradual decline right into the base of the next sandun inside the makeshift Timber set used to support the roof inside mingled with a series of posts Jacks and roof bolts used to prop up the Sandy ceiling they had been placed haphazardly giving Sam the impression of an old gold mine built during the American Gold Rush Era Sam

glanced around at a series of recent vehicle tracks leading toward the entrance there were two distinctly different tracks one looked wide as though it belonged to a large vehicle like a truck or four-wheel drive while the other was narrow but deep and ran all the way inside the M shaft the smaller of the two looked like it possibly had been caused by a small digging machine possibly a back ho or front-end Loader Tom dismounted his camel and removed his Heckler and cotch assault rifle from its pouch he set it to full auto and approached the

entrance to the shaft he glanced back and said you might want to call Genevie and tell her to bring in some reinforcements Sam grinned and followed suit removing his own weapon and setting it to full auto it felt like a final shootout scene from an old western movie where the final standoff occurs inside An old Ghost Mine only in this case the mine wasn't a mine at all it was a tunnel to an ancient pyramid and the good guys were carrying assault rifles he made the call to geneveve who said that she and Veyron would

come with the Sea King armed to the teeth to secure the area Sam stopped at the entrance and listened there were no sounds coming out from the mine and nothing outside it either he scanned The Horizon in each Direction there was nothing but sand no sand clouds or wisps of upturned sand spewing toward the sky indicating a truck might be approaching Genevie says she can be here within an hour he turned to Tom as he filled a small bucket with water for the two beasts to drink what do you reckon Tom attached a light to

his weapon scope I think it's time we find some answers Sam nodded that's what I thought you'd say chapter 49 the tunnel extended a quarter of a mile before it reached the hor horizontal entrance to a pyramid Sam found himself unintentionally holding his breath listening for any signs of other persons inside he heard none he and Tom switched their flashlights off and waited another few minutes the faint glow of the outside world was barely visible Looking Backward and no light surfaced from inside Sam exhaled all right letun go Tom stepped inside first 30 ft inside

the angle of the tunnel changed from horizontal to a steep decline another 400 ft inside and the tunnel separated into two directions the original tunnel continued to descend at the same angle while the second tunnel ran at the exact same angle only an incline instead Sam said it's the same Anatomy as the Pyramid of Giza so which which way do you want to go Tom asked up down probably leads to a Storage chamber we need to reach the king's chamber if we're to find the location we saw from the Looking Glass they continued climbing for

another 400 ft again the tunnel split into two with the main tunnel following the same incline while the second one ran horizontally deeper toward the pyramid's core Sam shined his flashlight into the horiz Al tunnel the Queen's chamber letun keep heading Upward they continued to climb the stairs the ceiling above opened to about 30 ft if the anatomy of the architecture matched the Pyramid of Giza as the sunken pyramid on Infinity Island had it indicated they were now traveling through the Grand Gallery at the top of the incline the tunnel leveled out horizontally and the

they stepped into the king's chamber the room was rectangular with a ceiling just short of 20 ft at the center of the room Where Sam would have expected the sarcophagus to go a single Limestone pedestal stood Sam recognized the recess built into the top of it as being the perfect match for the base of the death mask he shined his flashlight around the rest of the room two pictograms lined the the East and West walls the first was a series of numbers most likely indicating an intersecting point on a map the problem was the distance

was referred to as the Kib that same ancient word they'd found on the stone tablet on board the Shipwreck of the merry rose on the seabed of the Black Sea there was an image next to it which left no doubt in his mind of the location the map was referring to the drawing depicted the two volcanic peaks of Mount Ararat the second consisted of three sets of Roman numerals which appeared highly at odds with their Egyptian Environment the size of each numeral changed dramatically from number to number so that the three sets formed the shape

of a small pyramid Sam took a photo and read the numbers out loud they appeared Vaguely Familiar to him but he couldn't recall where he'd seen them before they certainly didn't sound like any location he'd been to and they were too long to refer to any sort of period of time it irked him that he couldn't recall where he'd seen the Numbers Tom swore and then looked at him it's the wrong place isn't it yes any of this mean anything to you not a thing but my guess is it will Sam finished taking photos of

the chamber when he was done he said all right we're not going to learn anything more from here let's hitch a ride back to the Maria Helena and see what Elise can find out about either of these images and if she can't Tom asked then what then we'll have to take the death Mask to its resting place on top of Mount Ararat Sam gripped his Heckler and cotch assault rifle and started to walk down the descending passage he made it 200 ft and stopped because up ahead he spotted the flicker of someone else's flashlight chapter

50 Dimitri switched off his flashlight in the narrow ascending passage sound traveled quickly he heard the distinct click of a weapon being Switched into a firing position and the labored breaths of two men approaching in the dark having just extinguished their flashlights in an instant he turned and started to slowly feel his way down the passageway after 30 or 40 ft his hand dipped into the horizontal passage that led to the Queen's chamber he heard the sound of heavy footsteps as though someone large was now running toward him only an insane person would try to

run in the dark to greet a hidden Enemy the thought almost made him laugh out loud Dimitri was quick and time had hardened him against fear but somewhere in the back of his mind a voice said he had to get out of there he had no gripe with the two men who were approaching but he was less confident they would share the sentiment he wondered if he could outrun The Strangers in the dark AR to the surface of the mine the steps grew louder and he knew there was no way to reach the surface before

them and Even if he could there was no telling that once on the surface he could Escape before being shot by the two men no he was better off hiding he stepped into the horizontal passage and started to move quickly and silently toward the Queen's chamber when he reached it he found there was nowhere for him to hide no sarcophagus no Lim Stone pedestal it was a rectangular chamber only just smaller than the Kings above and it offered him Nothing in the form of concealment he listened hard for several minutes there were no sounds at

all had the r worked had they continued running to the surface even if they did how long did he have before they worked out he was still inside and decided to backtrack Dimitri was about to take the chance and and make his way to the king's chamber to find what he'd come here to get he needed to reach the temple on Mount Ararat before the others Did and the King's chamber was the last place he knew which had an ancient map he stepped into the horizontal passage and quickly shifted back inside the Queen's chamber because

he heard the sound of footsteps approaching once more Dimitri shot his back against the stone wall of the Queen's chamber he stayed about a foot away from where the horizontal passage entered and there he waited a bright light flashed toward the tunnel he heard a confident voice shout Come on out there's two of us and we're both carrying assault rifles so you're trapped Dimitri waited he breathed silently with the practiced Equanimity developed over a very long Lifetime and he listened to every step of his attackers we're going to shoot you if you don't come out

the same voice boomed Dimitri slowly inhaled and then held his breath the Queen's chamber was completely silent he heard the gentle Cadence of his unsettled heart increased its Pace slightly it pounded in the back of his ears about 3 feet away he heard someone take another step it was so quiet the sound was almost imperceptible he started counting Dimitri had only reached two when the shadow of a man as big as a small house stepped into the chamber it was a 5050 chance the man would look to his left or right they Were bad odds

but they were the ones he was dealt his attacker glanced to the left first it was a small wind but it was all Dimitri was going to get he moved with inhuman speed toward his as salant his hands gripping the monster from his shoulder and pulling him backwards while simultaneously driving his left foot hard into the soft spot behind the Giant's knee he heard the man grunt it would normally bring the toughest of men to the ground in a whale Of Agony but this man remained standing Dimitri wrapped his left arm around the man's neck

locking his elbow so that he could apply pressure on his windpipe he felt the monster crash as though he still believed he could win from that position Dimitri brought up a small blade to the man's throat with his right hand so the point gently pierced his skin and then applied more pressure behind his knee so that he was leaning back into him okay that will do Dimitri Whispered as though he were trying to hush a child I think this will end much better for the three of us if you tell your friend to put his

weapon down my name's Sam Riley a light shined directly at him I have a Heckler and cotch assault rifle pointed straight at your head so I suggest you let my friend go Sam Riley Demitri couldn't believe what he heard how the hell did you find this place I found the remains of the emerald star And then from there followed the journal to this place but of course you would already know that wouldn't you what do you mean wouldn't I Dimitri asked I wouldn't have asked if I already knew I mean you wouldn't be here if

you didn't already know Sam's voice was calm but there was a coldness to it that bordered on vement animosity the big guy he taken prisoner spoke I don't mean to interrupt your bickering but you mentioned before that If my friend puts his weapon down this would go better for all of us did you have a plan in mind it's quite simple really go on the giant said I'm listening you remove the magazine from your weapon and eject each of the bullets then your friend here does the same as you already know I only have a

knife so that leaves us all without an instrument that goes bang how do we know you're not carrying A gun Sam asked Dimitri made a big show of sighing as though he was trying to explain something to a simpleton because if I had I would have used it by now wouldn't I you still have a knife and we won't have anything Sam pointed out the moves stacked a little heavily in your favor true but someone's going to have to give something here alternatively I slit your friend's throat now and then we see who gets the

first shot off it's Probably going to be you but either way your friend here dies so what do you want to do the big guy spoke again if we empty our magazines then what then I run like hell gambling that I might just be able to run faster than you can reload your bullets he sighed again or you could just let me leave here all right the big guy started to eject bullets from his magazine Dimitri counted 25 bullets hit the ground a full magazine after the last bullet Fell he heard the assault rifle follow

Dimitri glanced at Sam Riley the man's piercing blue eyes were fixed on him with unreadable glare your turn okay Sam said Dimitri counted 24 bullets Hit the Floor one short of a full magazine Sam never blinked your turn I'm afraid I'm going to need you to eject check the last bullet from your magazine Sam opened his mouth to lie then appearing to think better of it he said You have really good hearing he waited until the last bullet was ejected and dropped on the floor okay now I want you over there at the end of

the Queen's chamber sure Sam moved over to the back of the chamber now what are you going to do Dimitri smiled I'm going to walk out of here here and you're both going to let me he pulled the big guy backwards and then stepped out of the way kicking his leg In the process the big guy turned with surprising speed narrowly avoiding hitting the floor and then picking up his assault rifle the man launched at him gripping the weapon like a baseball bat The Stranger moved quickly but he responded faster Dimitri stepped back and withdrew

his handgun from a concealed holster behind his back he had it pointed straight at the man in an instant Dimitri said I told you to let me walk out of here both men backed away Okay okay go I suggest you count to a 100 before you come after me if I catch you following me I won't talk to you I'll kill you both he bent down and picked up the two MP5 magazines to take with him and started running he didn't look back he just kept running he was thankful for his decision to carry his

handgun he rarely did anymore didn't have a need today was different he expected to see one of the others but instead he found Two strangers his lungs pounded by the time he reached the surface 10 minutes later Dimitri grinned he was free and for the first time in decades he knew who had the death mask he burst pass the opening of the mine shaft and then stopped and raised his hands above his head because a large helicopter stood on its skids facing him and out the door stood a man pointing a Browning heavy machine gun

at him chapter 51 Billy woke up lying next to the cool stream her lips curved upward in a warm smile it was the same as last time the same as all of the previous times like waking up the day after a long night of drinking where the events after the first drink were a mystery only it was completely different too she felt a sense of accomplishment although of what she couldn't quite remember yet her muscles felt sore but invigorated as though they had been Working hard hard and now she was somehow stronger the Euphoria was

there too she'd never taken illicit drugs not out of righteousness or anything like that simply because she'd never felt the need some people have an addictive personality and she wasn't one of those Billy thought about that while she lay there on the side of the river basking in a sensation of true Bliss she could leave this anytime she wanted couldn't she maybe she did have An addictive personality after all Billy stood up to find some food she always felt incredibly hungry after the black smoke had taken her she glanced at her wristwatch could it really

have been 3 days this time she ignored the nagging question knowing full well she didn't want to know the answer the durations were getting longer as though someone knew the preparations were approaching their Deadline soon she took a deep breath in and smiled she would stay here until the black smoke had completed its task and no longer had a use for her life was good Billy felt into her shirt where her Ivory pendant hung for Comfort she gasped and swallowed the fear that Rose in her throat like bile because her grandfather's ancient pendant was missing

chapter 52 as the helicopter flew du West toward the Maria Helena Sam slowly reassembled His Heckler and cotch MP5 opposite him now with his hands and feet bound by cable ties was the man he'd met inside the Kalahari pyramid the man's VI eyes were fixed in a vacant stare as though Inside the Mind was set in a constant disillusionment about how he lost Sam recalled the warning on the mahogany table inside the emerald star the last thing a dead man ever wrote Don't let the man with the purple eyes have the death skull he kept

his eyes on the man throughout the entire flight but both men remained Silent not that they could have spoken if they hadd wanted to with the engine and rotary Wing drowning out any words when the helicopter finally landed on board the Maria Helena Tom dragged the man out onto the ship's aft deck it was open without anywhere to run or Hide Sam made a show of loading the final bullet into the magazine and then clipped the magazine into the chamber okay let's start with your name the man had a curious look on his face as

he studied those aboard Dimitri Dimitri who just Dimitri the man glanced around the ship where are you taking me to place the death mask into its slot on top of Mount Ararat and turn the key Dimitri Shrugged I have no idea what you're talking about Sam said the key to The Third Temple Dimitri started to laugh oh this is Rich you have no idea what's going on here do you Tom hit him in the gut a good friend of mine is being held prisoner in the Third Temple so we're not in the mood for your

jokes tell us what you know Dimitri breathed gently as though the punch had barely winded him I can tell you one thing for certain go on Tom said your friend isn't being held prisoner in the Third Temple he then smiled it was one of those looks like I know something you don't know and you're not going to like it no one is yet what the hell does that mean Sam asked it means I can't help you find your friend Sam thought about pushing him but guessed Dimitri wasn't the sort of person who caved Under Pressure

all right next question why did you kill Peter Peter who Smith the man who you killed to find the pyramid in the Kalahari Desert Peter's dead there Was surprise in his eyes but no remorse or loss you killed him no it must have been one of the others what others one of the four horsemen Sam considered the possibility he'd already met famine that meant there were three more out there he turned to Dimitri and asked what other name do you go by ah good question Dimitri smiled some call me death if you didn't kill Peter

how did You find the pyramid I paid a guy earlier this year to search for the pyramid a guy called o Dietrich an expert hunter in the region to search the Kalahari for signs of the pyramid once he'd finished building the tunnel in he contacted me and I came to get what I needed what did you need an address I didn't get around to finding it because you and your friend got in my way but not to bother by the sounds of things I don't need it Anymore why not because you're taking me to the

temple on the top of Mount Ararat what is this all about I'm sorry it's not that I don't want to tell you but I've made a promise not to tell anyone not now not even in the end Sam looked up and noticed Elise walk onto the deck as per normal she omitted any pleasantries and jumped straight into business I've had a sample of the black suot analyzed by a leading Neurologist in Boston and you're not going to like what she had to say chapter 53 Sam read the report and then looked at Elise for clarity

he handed it to Tom to read and then turned to Elise you want to explain this to me as though I'm not a chemical engineer or a neurologist Elise smiled as though she'd been expecting just such a response all right I sent the powder to a Toxicologist for a report who said it was something extraordinary he'd never seen before and consequently he sent it on to a leading neurologist to determine what sort of effects such a chemical makeup might have on the human brain Sam asked he'd never seen it at all or hadn't seen it

in combination with whatever was there never seen it before but you'll never guess what its most most similar to okay I probably won't what lysergic Acid diethylamide what Sam asked again didn't you go to university Elise teased LSD the death mask is filled with LSD not exactly what do you mean then LSD was first made by Albert Hoffman in Switzerland in 1938 from otomy a chemical from the Fungus Urgot go on ergotamine is a molecule that shares a structural similarity with neurotransmitters such as serotonin Dopamine and epinephrine and can thus bind to several receptors acting

as an Agonist Sam said in English theise smiled patiently it means the powder has the ability to affect everything the human brain perceives so is the black powder LSD or not no but it does come from a similar fungus new to science something that no biochemist in the world appears to have ever seen AR you happy you discovered a New drug Tom looked up from the report all right so the ancient ones used to sit around tripping on this black smoke is that it not exactly s asked what then does the neurologist think its purpose

was okay I'm going to have to refer back to LSD because it's the closest chemical compound we have to the black smoke and the two share remarkable similarities Elise waited for Sam and Tom to look like they were ready to follow her again having received it in the form of a slight nod she continued the effects of LSD are most noticeable in the cerebral cortex which is responsible for among other things thought development sensory perception and communication LSD appears to blur the lines between each form of incoming sensory information meaning meing Sam and Tom Asked

in unison Elise said you might see the sound hear the color feel the sight with your fingertips or taste the music SD affects all parts of your sensory perception by turning up the intensity like if you took an old television set and turned up the intensity to make the colors brighter okay it still sounds like the black powder was there to give people a trip are you telling me it served some other purpose Sam asked Elise Swallowed I'm not trying to convince you of anything I'm merely passing on what a leading neurologist believes and what

does she believe Sam asked it was once hypothesized that the cerebral cortex was once able to receive a different sort of information something close to high frequency sound waves Sam asked for what purpose theise said if the cerebrum was intensified this part of the brain might be able to transmit and receive information at a Frequency that human ears can no longer perceive are you talking about a form of telepathy she nodded how Elise said through highfrequency wavelengths no longer able to be recognized by the human brain but evolution made it shrink Sam asked without hiding

his skepticism it appears so but why would Evolution remove something that would have obviously been useful it's not telepathy in the same form as what fantasy books or science Fiction would have us believe instead it was more of a rudimentary means of communicating feelings or senses such as danger run hide and feed simple feelings the receiving person would then intrinsically feel the same it would be like a sixth sense they weren't sending and receiving information in the form of words Tom looked at Sam does that sound like something familiar Sam said Christ Billy's being controlled

by this drug chapter 54 the Temple of Illumination it was approaching the end of summer and a thick layer of snow the first major snowfall covered the entrance to the crass on the plateau of Mount Ararat Sam cleared the space and ab sailed down into the lava tube with him were Tom and Dimitri Dimitri of course had grudgingly agreed to join the Expedition he had no other means to find the remaining four horsemen Sam had agreed it was worth the Risk he knew the information that Dimitri had would be critical to discovering the nature of

the Relic and finding Billy he maintained a strong sense of mistrust for the man but also accepted the fact Dimitri didn't kill him or Tom when he had the chance inside the buried pyramid of the Kalahari Desert 20 minutes later they reached the deepest part of the lavat tube where the recess in the wall Perfectly matched the death mask below which were four additional smaller recesses carved into the obsidian wall one for each of the four horsemen Tom glanced at the dead body still lying at the very end of the lava tube who's the stiff

that's War Sam flicked the light of his flashlight across the room where the thick yellow jacket was about all he could make out from the distance he fell to his death a number Of years ago and you left him here you got a better idea Sam asked we're trying to find Billy and this is the last link we have so I wasn't all too keen on letting the authorities come and investigate a murder here suits me fine Tom had a strong moral compass and that included putting the need of his friends who were in trouble

first Sam removed the death mask and stared at Demitri well death are you going to tell Me what's going to happen when I place the mask in the AL Cove Dimitri said no his face was impassive and unreadable his mind trapped in an event from long ago all right Sam placed the golden skull in the AL Cove he waited as nothing happened the skull remained there its hollowed eyes staring out vacantly at him Sam studied the skull nothing had changed he felt it expecting the gold to have turned hot like when War's pendant was placed

inside the Recess yet this time nothing happened Tom shined his flashlight across the skull did you see anything not a thing he turned to Dimitri should we be expecting something to happen Dimitri remained silent and Shrugged it was obvious he either didn't know or if he did wasn't going to share his information Tom fixed his flashlight onto the ceiling above the death mask hey did you see those numbers before numbers Sam shook his head No he glanced above there were a series of Roman numerals like the ones seen inside the king's chamber of the pyramid

within the Kalahari Desert the sizes of each number changed to ensure a visual appearance of a pyramid there were three lines of numbers with the top being the shortest and the bottom being the longest Tom said it looks like it's almost the same set of numbers Sam looked at the photo he'd taken on his phone not just similar these are the Exact same numbers Dmitri said what a coincidence hey what does it mean Tom asked his voice firm as he spoke Dimitri Shrugged again and Sam started to grin Tom said do you know what it

means Sam shook his head not a clue then why are you smiling Tom asked asked without hiding his frustration because I just remembered where I saw those numbers before Sam withdrew his handgun and pointed it at Dimitri the Glock 31 Doesn't have a safety his finger hovered just above the trigger no more games you need to tell us where these numbers lead to why do you suddenly think I know anything about the Damned number Demitri asked besides if I did I've already said I wouldn't tell you because when I clicked on the photo on my

phone the digital recognition software noted three previous images were a close link do you know where I'd previously taken a photo of this number Dmitri Shrugged treating The question as rhetorical the most recent time was inside Harper Smith's Journal where he referred to the number that without it the black smoke would be Irrelevant in the journal there was a second note that death sought this number as much as the death mask Sam looked at Tom who was already in the process of tying Dimitri's wrists together with cable ties but it was the first photo I

ever took of that image that makes it so Valuable to us now he looked at Demitri but the Man's eyes were fixed somewhere else Sam said the first time was in the lost city of Atlantis where Dr Billy Swan was wrapped with a set of numbers she found on a wall of obsidian that served no apparent purpose I questioned her about it afterward but she Shrugged it off as simply being an interesting set of numbers I took a photo 3 days later Billy said she wanted to follow a new Lead and disappeared for good so

now I'll ask you again where did those numbers take her Sam's hand was fixed rock solid as he pointed the Glock at Dimitri where godamn it demitry remained silent his face set in a hard and impassive expression his eyes seemed to be watching something Sam's eyes darted between Dimitri and the death mask something about the skull seemed different the Skull never changed of course it didn't the ancient Relic was an inanimate object right only somehow there was something different about the eyes Sam focused on them they had turned more Sinister somehow were they mocking him

he shook his head knowing the skull hadn't changed shape at all but still the feeling that there was something different about the eyes increased then he realized what it was was it warning him That was it the skull Was preparing him for something terrible and warning him against a tremendous evil he felt his sixth sense go into overdrive his skin was riddled with goosebumps adrenalin surged throughout his body had death tricked him somehow Sam considered shooting the man right away it might be the safest course of action instead he heard a voice from behind tell

him to put the weapon down and turn Around Sam turned slowly and put the Glock down on the floor because the ghost at the end of the tunnel had just risen and was now pointing a shotgun directly at him chapter 55 Sam stared at the ghost it wore the same yellow gortex climbing jacket lined with bullet holes that's where the similarities with the body of the Dead climber ended the man in front of him had a slightly gaunt and aesthetic face With a patrician nose and unusually high cheekbones Sam spotted the crucifix hanging round his

neck and at its Center a horse of pure obsidian Sam recognized the third Horseman famine Mr Riley I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate you rounding up each of the four horsemen for me famine smiled you have no idea how long I've searched for these are you forgetting someone Sam asked I see death standing there and you are already practically emaciated so I'll take your word for it you're famine I'm carrying War but I don't see Conquest do you let's just say Conquest will join us soon famine said now I'll have you

place war in its recess Sam paused for a second and famine shot death in his left kneecap the Bony fragments splintered into more than a dozen shards death LED out a deep guttural Roar it lasted seconds and then was over the practice Silence of a lifetime of pain and Discomfort famine grinned I've wanted to do that to you for a few centuries now death remained silent okay I'm placing the war pendant into its recess Sam said but I happen to know for a fact that Billy Swan wears Conquest so you're still one short Sam quickly

removed the pendant from his neck and placed it in in the obsidian recess good famine pointed the shotgun at Tom I'll have you take death's Pendant and place it in The Recess now Tom glanced at Sam he nodded it was okay there was nothing else they could do yet Tom removed the pendant and death his wrists still restrained with the cables let him Tom then placed the death pendant into its Stone recess famine removed his own pendant and threw it at Tom while you're there I wonder if you'd be kind enough to place this one

too Tom nodded and placed it nothing Happened the death mask remained cold the three Horsemen warmed up inside their placements like horses preparing for battle while the last of their army failed to show Sam asked now what famine stared at him with a glint of conceit he then removed a second pendant this one was made of ivory and depicted a Horseman carrying a broadsword and a crown Conquest you didn't really think I'd Come all this way and as they say play all my cards if I already knew I was one pendant short of winning Dimitri

glanced at Sam how could all of you people have been so stupid to allow all four horsemen to gather at the temple chapter 56 the next few seconds happened Fast Sam was approximately 7 ft from famine and Tom closer to 10 he glanced at Tom no words were spoken their eyes met each other with perfect honesty there were Few options left and none left much chance of survival each accepted the only outcome with magnanimity a simple belief system and Rule they each followed throughout their lives which meant good must overcome evil at all costs sacrifice

was the ultimate litmus test of Honor they dived at famine it would take less than one of those feet for famine to squeeze his shotguns trigger both Sam and Tom were betting that in the process of dying one Of them might reach the murderous creature and kill him before taking their final agonal breaths famine met their attack with unrestrained disbelief he jumped backward adding more distance for them to cover and rounded the shotgun to meet them Sam heard the three loud bangs of gunfire next adrenaline surged through his body he subconsciously tensed his body in

expectation of pain from the shotgun blast ripping through his Earthly flesh And he dived the remaining three feet to close the distance between him and famine the shotgun blast was the next thing he heard the sound of his own death he fell on top of famine his hardened fingers tearing at the man's windpipe a split second later Tom landed on the other side of him the thunderous echo of weapons firing in the small tunnel was suddenly repl placed with total silence death said it's over Sam shifted his position on famine throat The man's entire body

was still his muscles were flaccid and blood ran down his chest and abdomen in an instant Sam took it all in famine distracted by Sam and Tom's Advance had swung his shotgun round to stop them dead at the same time death took the opportunity to die to the ground where Sam had thrown his Glock then instead of shooting Tom and Sam famine had to fire at death a split second before the shot was taken death fired three rounds killing famine Instantly but a shotgun shot was fired Sam turned to Dimitri who was still lying on

the ground where blood ran freely from the spread of shot pellets which littered his lower torso through to his feet chapter 57 Sam and Tom rushed to Dimitri's Aid his eyes swept the man's injuries at a glance the spherical pellets of shot spread out from his lower torso to his feet blood dribbled from each wound There were simply too many to plug if they were right next to a trauma hospital with a team of Surgeons his chance of survival was about 50/50 buried deep inside Mount Ararat where it would take more than 2 hours to

reach a hospital the outcome was foregone thanks for saving Our Lives Sam said is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable Dimitri shook his head nothing will extend my life But there's something I need I'm sorry Sam said I've had a very long life Dimitri said as the result of a unique genetic disorder shared by less than 20 people throughout history I've lived much longer than anyone could imagine time you see blunts all instruments even death Tom applied pressure to the top of Dimitri's abdomen where the greatest Amount of blood Spilled Out

are you immortal Dimitri started to laugh it was halted a moment later as blood came up through his mouth do I look Immortal no we can die just like everyone else we just age very slowly that's all Sam wanted to ask him what genetic disorder the Master Builders all shared and how long had he Lived but a single look at the man's Ashen face made him realize the man wouldn't be conscious much longer so instead he just asked what do you need Dimitri spoke quietly lacking the strength to push his diaphragm any harder you have

the death mask and The Four Horsemen when the time comes as it will soon you must complete the prophecy we might be able to get you to a hospital within the hour death smiled His face Ashen calm and accepting no you and I both know I don't have that much time Sam asked what would it have done if famine had succeeded in joining The Four Horsemen you still don't know do you death was incredulous no it brings the rise of the Third Temple I thought the pyramid in the Kalahari Desert was the Third Temple no

the Third Temple isn't a place it's a new cycle of evolution Come Again Sam asked the Third Temple is the name for the third group of human survivors of what the apocalypse that's coming our way Chapter 58 Sam stared at the dying man in front Of him terrified he would die before revealing the hidden secrets of the death mask he placed a hand on Demitri's shoulder and said please you need to tell me what it's meant to be Dimitri said it was an ancient Covenant designed to protect the death mask there were four Keepers each

living in different parts of the world to keep the keys separate until the right time for them to come together the death mask was about to Bring forth this apocalypse yes it was going to trigger a series of micro changes inside the volcano the subsequent result would cause one of the largest volcanic clouds ever seen on Earth the result would trigger a new Ice Age the those who were worthy of the Third Temple would survive the destruction to rebuild a new Order while the vast population of the human race would succumb but why Dimitri paused

as he let out a deep guttural cry because by saving the few it was the only way to save any so you believe the death mask is vital to the continuation of humanity Dimitri said it's probably the most important device ever built and the great Masters who built it spent Generations perfecting it for this very purpose Sam asked then why did you stop famine because it's not Time yet I don't understand when is the right time soon maybe before the end of this decade I don't know why Sam leaned closer to hear the man's fading

voice what's going to happen Dimitri coughed some more blood have you ever been to the go tie the ancient astronomer temp just north of Syria on the Turkish border yes how familiar are you with the Pillar 43 the vulture Stone Sam opened up his computer tablet and brought up some saved information on the Ancient Temple it was designed to show a snapshot of the sky at the time of the comet impact which is calculated by the authors of a recent archaeology paper to be around 10,000 950 BC that's right in addition some recent archaeologists have

Questioned whether the stone concealed two messages the first being the image of the Comet that struck leading to the mini Ice Age known as the younger dras and the second being that the ball like object is the sun in Sagittarius at the time of the winter solstice between the years 1960 and 2040 meaning Sam Asked that the vulture Stone marked a coded message conveyed Across Time by the gockley Builders of 11,500 years ago the age of enclosure D where the stone was found Sam considered the Revelation could it have really been a warning to humanity

telling us that during this 80-year window the comet responsible for a terrifying impact Event at the commencement of the younger dras event might once again threaten the world it was a dare daring bold and a somewhat disturbing proposition that once made would unlikely be forgotten but was it right was it even appropriate to interpret the carved imagery of gockley Tee's vulture Stone in this way it seems hard to believe samk face was set hard is this what you've heard or are you telling me what the vulture Stone Meant it's one of the theories the current

archaeologists believe Dimitri coughed some more his eyes were heavily glossed over like his internal light had finally succumbed but then his eyes lit up as though another surge of adrenaline gave him the tenacity to finally tell the truth I don't know what the truth is about pillar 43 Sam persisted what do do you Know pillar 43 was a lot less important than pillar 44 Sam watched as Demitri took a pause in his speech either due to his failing strength or for dramatic flare Sam glanced down at his tablet where an image of gockley Tee's enclosure

D stared back at him his eyes met Demetri at the sudden Revelation there was no pillar 44 Dimitri smiled there used to be a pillar 44 within enclosure D it it was slightly taller than the other t-shaped stones and depicted the burning tail of a comet it was aptly named the death Stone the ancient astronomer chart accur accurately identified another major Comet this one having the power to destroy the vast majority of life on Earth in the future a period in time that is rapidly approaching Sam looked at his eyes and Knew Dimitri was speaking

the truth dead men and those near to it rarely find the need to lie it's true isn't it Sam asked there is some forboding disaster approaching Earth yes I'm afraid so when will it hit I don't know somewhere between 1960 and 2040 but the method for knowing for certain has been lost for many years the ancients predicted the exact date of the Collision yes but it's been lost forever now how Demetri said the death Stone mapped the comet's precise movements until it reaches Earth during winter solstice Sam said if a second Stone did in fact

exist and there was a world-ending comet on its way those who discovered it would have brought the knowledge to the world they did how do you know because it was my brother who found The stone he notified a delegate of the UN the next day they came and removed the stone and put it on a ship my brother called me and told me all about it and then was killed in a car accident on his way home what are you saying I'm saying if high ranking members of the world knew that such an event was

Inevitable would they tell anyone what if they knew they had time to save some but not everyone what if instead of alerting the world they turned their efforts to building the world's largest bunker Sam thought about it for a moment and shook his head what about the ship did your brother make a note of the ship that took the stone yes he kept a Record and where did the ship go I tried to follow it up but the ship sank in transit and its entire crew and cargo was lost do you know where no they

wouldn't tell me and if they did I wouldn't believe them you think it's still out there Dimitri nodded someone studied it and knows the truth even as we speak someone in high Ranking government around the world knows the precise date Dimitri's eyes stared vacantly above he was close to death Sam had so many questions to ask but instead he asked just one where's Billy Swan I don't know where could they be keeping her I have no idea but you are right about the pyramid Numbers follow the numbers and they will lead you to her Dimitri

said I don't have much longer I was born in this Temple nearly 400 years ago I want to be alone with the shrine of my ancestors before I die without anything adequate to say sam nodded and stood up death gripped his arm it was weak but there was enough Force to make Sam stop Death looked at him with his purple eyes fixed hard tell Elise there will be others like her she will need to find them one day the picture Sam suddenly recalled the cave painting toward the entrance it was of her no her grandmother

where are the remaining Master Builders scattered around the world Hiding why Dimitri gritted his teeth because someone is actively hunting them chapter 59 Black Sea in the mission room on the Maria Helena Sam enlarged the image of the pyramid numbers on the digital projector they were Roman numerals and displayed three distinctly different sets of numbers the first doubled to form the second and then the first and second Combined to make the Third Sam stared at the numbers on the wall Tom Genevie Matthew Elise and Veyron all stared too he turned to Elise who was well

known for her codebreaking abilities these numbers tell us where Billy is being held prisoner Elise asked is that what Dimitri told you yes but it's more than that I've seen those numbers before where inside Atlantis Sam Said what when we found Atlantis there were a series of numbers on the wall I remember Billy taking a photo of Roman numerals nearly 5T High Matthew asked so what does it represent it's much too long to be a latitude and longitude I have no idea Sam admitted could it be a coordinate Tom asked something other than a latitude

and longitude something older like the Master Builders kib in which they Identified the location of the pyramid in the Kalahari Desert Sam shook his head too many numbers there to match anything we saw about the kib what about the height of a pyramid Genevie asked Sam thought about it I don't know what sort of measurement would achieve such a long number Fon added it could be a different height for each section of the pyramid or something entirely different Sam said Elise smiled Sam recognized That smile he'd seen her make it a few times before just

before she resolved a puzzle that had defeated the rest of them you have a suggestion Elise Elise grinned or the frequency of a sound wave what Sam was surprised by her answer I thought you played piano Sam Elise said don't you know anything about sound Sam ignored the disparagement okay so what sound does that represent it's high pitched probably much higher than most humans Could even produce without significant training there's three numbers here what does that mean Elise Shrugged it's a very simple tune three separate wavelengths I don't know what it does have a guess

for me Sam said is there any way we could trace this back to where billies being held Elise paused as though she was considering the problem sound can propagate through mediums such as air water and solids as longitudinal waves Oh it can travel in transverse waves and solids too the behavior of sound is affected by three things a complex relationship of density temperature and speed Sam nodded it was painful stuff but he knew something about her unique mind that required her to Showcase her knowledge as she worked the problem it didn't reveal her conceit and

she wasn't boasting about her IQ she didn't have to everyone on board knew she was brilliant it was simply how her mind worked the Puzzle Elise continued her voice was sharp and an at as she spoke physically audio is a vibration typically we're talking about vibrations of air between approximately 20 Herz and 20,000 Hertz that means the air is moving back and forth at a rate of 20 to 20,000 times per second go on Sam said if you measure that vibration and convert it into an electrical signal through say a microphone you get an electrical

signal with the voltage varying in the same Waveform as the sound Elise glanced around the room to see if any of them were still following Sam guessed she saw a lot of vacant expression Elise continued now we have an analog signal but not digital because we know voltage varies between minus1 and positive 1 volts now we hook our voltmeter to a computer and instruct the computer to read the meter 44,100 times per second add a second Voltmeter and you get stereo this format is called stereo 44,100 htz and it really is just a bunch of

voltage measurements Sam shook his head at least that's great but just tell us what these numbers mean she typed them into the computer and pressed play a strange high pitched whale resonated from her laptop speakers it was eerie and compelling at the same time Sam said any ideas where that sound Comes from no idea hang on let me do a search for it you can Google a sound Elise nodded cheerfully basically I'm searching a few other databases but in short I'm looking for digital matches of the wavelength of that specific sound the search program stopped

she clicked on the first link and pressed play the whistle was identical to the one they just heard Sam asked what is that sound and Where was it made theise grinned because there was only one place in the world that made that sound the paraha tribe along the maai river of the Amazon jungle chapter 60 maai River Brazil the Sea King landed in a small clearing at the edge of the maai river Alise watched as Sam Genevie and veyon all armed to the teeth stepped out into the Amazon jungle Tom cut the power to the

motor and the massive rotary blades Started to slowly whine until they stopped alt together Elise was the last to climb out she carried an Israeli built Uzi submachine gun the local tribal people fished along the edge of the river they glanced at the helicopter until its rotors finally stopped turning and went silent after which they returned to their fishing as though nothing in their environment had changed the paraha tribe chose to remain Out of the world of Western Civilization but they were far less primitive than expected they had seen PLS and helicopters overhead they simply

had no desire to interact with the strange machines Tom looked at herow that you've gotten us this far any chance you might narrow the location of Billy in the jungle afraid not Elise said if it makes you feel better the paraha tribe number less than 400 so if she's living with them when she's not working on the new Pyramid she should be relatively easy to find Tom's eyes swept the thick Amazonian jungle it's a big jungle there's a lot of area cover she could be anywhere Billy stepped into the clearing or she could be right

here Tom embraced her it was an affectionate hug more like that between brother and sister than ex-lovers Elise glanced at Genevie who appeared to be taking it in with a refined grain of Ambivalence the two had been secret lovers until recently when both had forgotten to conceal their obvious effect for each other most people wondered what would happen to their relationship now that Billy was back Elise wasn't one of those she knew that Tom and Billy broke up before she left on the pretense that she was more interested in finding the Master Builders than her

relationship with him the reality was it was a bit of both Billy couldn't settle down with anyone how did you know where to find us Sam asked Billy laughed it's not like we get a lot of helicopters in the area Tom said let's go before that thing comes back you mean the black smoke Billy asked yeah it shouldn't return for a few more days Billy glanced toward a group of people in the distance you guys should stay and see this place the people of the paraha tribe are Amazing Sam intervened sounds like it but all

the same we should leave leave Billy repeated the word I'm not leaving what do you mean you're not leaving Tom spat the words I like it here Billy shook her head I can't leave yet I haven't finished my work and the black smoke needs me needs you Tom said that thing isn't real we had it chemically analyzed it's basically LSD on on steroids they've been using it to control you yes Billy smiled stupidly I Know and you're okay with that Tom asked yes of course I am you guys don't understand what it's trying to achieve

what it does for you I've never felt more alive in my life that's great Sam gripped his Heckler and cotch MP5 scanning the rest of the Jungle around them some of the Paha tribe who taken little notice of them five minutes earlier were now slowly making their way silently to greet them we've got to go why Billy Asked holding on to Sam's arm please I'd like you all to stay her hand gripped his arm so tight it hurt Sam ripped his arm free what's got into you I said we have to go Billy's ey filled

with confined rage please I just want you all to stay just for a little while longer black smoke seeped out of the lower ground and surrounding valleys like a rising sea that would soon swamp them all Genevie interrupted listen [ __ ] I don't know What the drugs are telling you to do but we've come a long way to get you out of here and it's time to go Billy's head snapped to face geneveve her almond eyes were wide and her mouth opened an instant later her lips thinned and she started to form the lower

notes of a high pitched whistle chapter 61 the high-pitched whistle was relayed across each member of the Paha tribe who were now encircling them Elise gripped Her Uzi and fired a couple short bursts into the air above the men and women who were slowly encroaching on them at a pace no faster than a slow walk to her they appeared more like an animal patiently stalking its prey than humans surrounding their enemy she shouted back in the helicopter Tom grabbed Billy against her will and dragged her into the helicopter Genevie climbed into the pilot seat and

flicked on the engine while Tom tried to Stop Billy from clawing her way out Sam yelled get us out of here Genevie the massive rotor blades above started to turn at a painfully slow pace it takes time to start a helicopter and no amount of coaxing can reduce it Genevie checked a number of controls waiting for the main rotor to reach its minimum takeoff RPM Elise stared out the helicopter's windows the Thick Smoke now filled the outside it surrounded them like a Sinister Weapon trying to smother the life out of them the Paha tribe now

formed a circle around the helicopter so close they were touching one another each person looked straight upon the helicopter mesmerized by the sight when unable to advance any further she could make out every intricate detail of the faces they were set hard with determination as they stared into the helicopter their eyes eyes were open but pupils were rolled back as though they were having a Seizure what the hell get us out of here Genevie she yelled but already the Thick Smoke was starting to seep through the small opening in the SE King's aluminum airf frame

close the vents Sam said shutting the cockpit air vents in the rear cabin Alise and Veyron frantically shoved blankets over the vents where the black smoke still entered her eyes darted toward Billy who was grinning sardonically and like the others her eyes were rolled back inside Her head although she looked awake she had no more control over her cognitive response than an epileptic having a seizure Elise tried to hold her breath we're going to be trapped here Genevie if you don't get us out of here now Genevie turned around we're okay now every muscle in

Alisa's body went taught as she involuntarily recoiled because beneath the waxy replica of Genevieve's fortitude her eyes were fixed upward staring at the back of her skull a Moment later geneveve Switched Off The Sea King's engines and the rotor blades hoed into a silent Idol wait Elise screamed but her words went unheard as Sam Tom V Ron Genevie and Billy all opened the doors and stepped outside to join the black smoke she followed them outside now all the entire piraha tribe was starting to enter the jungle and her team among them no one spoke they

simply followed as though driven by some sort of higher Power a chemical intervention that she still didn't quite understand Elise fired another burst of rounds from her Uzi just above her friend's heads it made no difference she doubted if shooting them would have stopped their inhumane need to follow the others into the jungle in the back of her mind elely felt a strange yearning to follow them there was no voice in her head that told her what should be done simply that it would feel right to join the others She watched as her friends disappeared

into the jungle no this isn't what I want she thought about it for a moment trying to steady herself from joining the others it was like a patient trying to stay awake after being given the anesthetic for surgery convinced they would actually get to count back from a 100 it was impossible and yet she tried the jungle is wrong it's evil we must not follow we want to go Home they weren't quite thoughts as much as feelings she didn't shout the words out instead she simply felt the strong emotions of fear distrust and the need

to escape the sensations became stronger more forceful and uncomfortable she tried to make them stop like a child she wanted to crawl under her blanket and pretend she was somewhere else a place where monsters in the dark didn't exist a few minutes later she spotted Billy she stepped out of the thick jungle and Into the clearing behind her Sam Tom Veyron and Genevie all followed they slowly came and stood next to her each one remained silent standing there staring at the black smoke as it disappeared into the jungle when the black smoke was completely gone

Billy turned to face her now what Elise grinned now we go home chapter 62 Boston Specialist Hospital 2 weeks Later Sam looked at Billy she just finished getting dressed and had signed herself out of the hospital she was back to her normal intelligent cynical self filled with confidence bordering on arrogance it was good good to see her back to normal he said there's one thing I really don't get about all this really Billy said just one okay one thing that's been bothering me and you might happen to know the answer Shoot why did the Master

Builders focus on the biblical reference with the Covenant of the Four Horsemen I've had a lot of thoughts about that I believe they were concerned learned that none of them would be alive when the time came to trigger the death mask you see the Master Builders had a genetic disorder that allowed them to live extremely long lives but they were far from being immortal like all people they could die from traumatic events and Their numbers were lessening what's worse is that the same genetic disorder that extended their lifespan was recessive meaning in most cases their

children didn't possess the same disorder most adults outlive their children Sam asked yes so most ceased to have children of their own Sam said how awful so the Master Builders needed to enlist the help of ordinary people but why focus on Christianity you have to understand that At the time of the early 4th Century Christianity was spreading like wildfire in the region Armenia was the first to adopt it as its country's religion it was the simplest means of maintaining an ongoing Covenant that needed to extend well past any one person's life expectancy Sam nodded and

gregori the Illuminator at the end of the 3r century when gregori made a pilgrimage to the gods he thought he spotted in Mount Ararat he found the Master Builders they Told him of the Four Horsemen and instructed him to keep the pendant of Conquest they told him to return to his King and tell him to renounce his Pagan ways that in the years to come the king would become possessed by a demon and that only he alone would be able to cure him go on King trodes III was angry but so concerned by Gregor's conviction

that he ordered the man locked in the dungeon of Cor verra the rest is history Sam Smiled the Master Builders poisoned King tiati II until Gregor's release there's no proof but it's definitely a high likelihood either that or gregori did perform a miracle and your grandfather how did he become part of the Four Horsemen my grandfather followed a very old story about the day gregori the Illuminator was thrown into core verra it said that he was wearing a pendant of a horse made of ivory but That by the time the man was released he no

longer wore any jewelry at all so your father visited corap yes he found a buried container inside the Deep dungeon and a note from gregori relating the story of The Four Horsemen my grandfather spent most of his life trying trying to locate the Hidden Temple inside Mount Ararat in the end it's what got him killed chapter 63 Sam watched as Dr Elaine crestwell MD Entered the room she was a couple years shy of 60 and one of the Leaning experts in the world on the topic of Neurology she focused specifically on un usual neural Pathways

things like secondary Pathways that sometimes start to grow after a stroke has caused a blockage in the usual pathway or sometimes to circumvent information that is failing to be processed at the sight of a brain tumor the aberant neural Pathways were Uncommon but not unheard of she had spent a life studying them with the hope that such Pathways May One Day lead to a solution for patients with spinal cord injuries good morning Dr Creswell Sam said morning Mr Riley I have something I want to show you she glanced at Billy in private I'm afraid no

problem Billy said I was just leaving Dr crestwell waited until Billy left the room and then closed the door she placed a radiology report in front Of Sam this is the report from Lisa's MRI Sam met her eye what does it say Elise has an enlarged posterior cerebrum she has a large Brain Sam asked hell I could have told you that she's several rungs above genius status on the Mena IQ letter it doesn't quite work like that this isn't normal and at first it quite worried me you think it's a brain tumor at first I

did I ran all the tests there's nothing malignant or concerning About this it appears to be her normal cerebral structure most likely the result of some sort of strange hereditary process what do you think it means you want to know if it could have had anything to do with why everyone was affected by the black smoke except a leas Sam nodded was it Dr Creswell said the the posterior cerebrum is concerned with a number of cerebral functions but communication is up there with its highest Priority the black smoke appeared to heighten the natural excitation of

the neural responses in that region in Ordinary People elevating it to a level where high frequency radio waves can be interpreted but you're saying that aspect of Alisa's brain isn't normal no in Alisa's case that region of the brain is already enlarged Sam asked what does that mean Dr Creswell shook her head I'm not certain but it appears she has the Ability to interpret high frequency sound waves without the chemical enhancement from the black smoke and Sam waited but the doctor appeared uncertain about giving him the next bit of information what and I I think

she's capable of transmitting high frequency radio waves too thank you Dr Creswell for your work Sam thought about the Revelation for a moment it was a reasonable explanation the only possible reason why Elise was unaffected by the black smoke not just unaffected she was able to convince the rest of them to return to the helicopter she said we'll need further tests to know for sure a strong woman's voice interrupted the conversation it both took charge and simultaneously dismissed Dr Creswell I don't think that will be necessary Sam smiled and turned to face her Madam Secretary

I was wondering when You would show up the Secretary of Defense closed the door behind Dr Creswell she looked at Sam with concern heavy in her face well Sam said we'll need to run some more tests but I think she might be genetically descended from the Master Builders you can forget about running tests why because I already know what they're going to say she said really yes she shook her head I wish you'd let me know you were close to Finding their hive Hive Sam asked that's what we've decided to call a group of Master

Builders she bit her lower lip defense has been Keen to learn all there is to know about this black smoke for years you knew about the smoke of course we found drawings and signs of the strange chemical in the first temple I don't need to tell you what such a drug could be used for during war or Worse still if replicated by our enemies Sam smiled that's why I've always been given a Long Leash and an extraordinary budget you're worried about the black smoke she smiled her hardened face was stunning yet patronizing at the same

time we're enthusiastic about the opportunity and terrified of the consequence of losing the race what race she smiled again at his knif Tay why the race to synthetically reproduce the chemical compound didn't the CIA already try that In the 50s with LSD Sam asked how did that work out she turned from his vehement gaze there will always be a war for the good guys to win we need the superior weapons in a world where technology is changing daily an ability to control entire groups through high frequency sound waves is a breakthrough that might just give

us the edge to survive think of the possibilities our soldiers could harmonize their movement as though they Were one single entity the enemies could be manipulated to attack each other or better still relinquish Secrets what about Elise Sam asked she Shrugged what about her what do you know I think it's time to tell you something about Alisa's history before she was taken in by the orphanage what I was leading a team of CIA operatives on a raid on a temple in Afghanistan which we now call the first temple of the master Builder when we broke

into the temple it appeared long deserted but it wasn't completely empty there was a baby girl sitting underneath the middle of a large obsidian Dome she was looking up as though she was studying it that girl was less than one year old and we named her Elise Sam swallowed hard at the Revelation does she know no and I'm not certain it would be wise to tell her yet why not Because we don't know how she'll take it the Secretary of Defense Shrugged more importantly we don't know whose side she'd be on what are you talking

about there are no sides maybe not yet but there might be when the remaining Master Builders gather the Secretary of Defense studied him trying to determine his own value to her what else did you learn I'm not sure yet there might be something then again it might be nothing What is it Sam swallowed have you ever heard of the death Stone of gockley teepe no should I have she answered without hesitation her face remained hard and expressionless Sam thought he saw something else there too was it the unique combination of recognition fear and guilt he

smiled obediently no I was just following a lead but I doubt it will amount to Anything the end this has been the Third Temple Sam Riley book s written by Christopher cartright narrated by David Gilmore copyright 2016 by Christopher cartright production copyright 2018 by Christopher cartright