Matthew Reilly - Hell Island

He told them what had happened at the mine in Ethiopia, including the betrayal of Vulture and Scimitar, his own gruesome crucifixion, his and Pooh Bear’s bloody escape and the parting gift they’d received from the Ethiopian slave force there: the fabled Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis.

Jack pulled the two stone tablets from his backpack, which had been kept on the submarine during the events at the Second Vertex.

Wizard audibly gasped at the sight of them.

“If Thuthmosis was actually Moses,” he said, “then that would make these the Ten Com—”

“Yes,” Jack said.

“Goodness-gracious-Mother-of…”

“As for Stretch,” Jack went on, “Wolf didn’t bring him to the mine. Instead, he took him back to the Mossad in Israel, to claim the sixteen-million-dollar bounty on Stretch’s head.”

“Oh no…” Lily breathed.

Jack said, “After Pooh Bear and I escaped from that mine in Ethiopia, we headed south to the old farm in Kenya. But when I set out for Zanzibar to find the Sea Ranger, Pooh Bear didn’t come with me. He went off to rescue Stretch from the Mossad’s dungeons. That was nine days ago. I haven’t heard from him since.”

A solemn silence descended on the group.

Lily broke it.

“When we were in the Hanging Gardens,” she said, “Stretch defied an Israeli Army squad and saved my life. He chose us over them and now they’re making him pay.”

She recalled the scene vividly: trapped in a filling pool of quicksand, she had stood on Stretch’s shoulders to poke her nose and mouth above the surface, while he had breathed through his sniper rifle’s gun barrel, using it as a snorkel.

Alby asked, “What does the Mossad do to Israeli soldiers who switch sides and fight against them?”

Jack threw a glance at Zoe and Wizard. Zoe nodded silently. Wizard just bowed his head.

When he finally answered, Jack spoke in a low voice, his face serious. “The Mossad isn’t known for showing mercy to its enemies. Traitors like Stretch receive the harshest punishment of all. There are stories of high-security desert prisons, their locations kept strictly secret, where high-grade prisoners are kept under twenty-four-hour guard and… mistreated… for years.”

“Mistreated?” Lily said.

“For years ?” Alby said.

Jack said, “If Pooh Bear even manages to discover where they’re keeping Stretch, getting in and busting him out will be an all-but-impossible task. It’d be like breaking into Guantanamo Bay and running off with a terrorist.”

Lily said, “You did that once, Daddy. Can’t we go and help Pooh Bear?”

Jack looked at her sadly. “Lily. Honey. There are some operations that even I wouldn’t dare attempt, and this is one of them. I’m sorry, I really am, but we have to leave that to Pooh Bear and keep our eyes on the larger mission. It’s a hard decision for me to make, really hard, believe me, but weighing up the possibilities and probabilities of success, I have to make it this way. I’m sorry.”

Jack bowed his head, but not before he saw the look Lily gave him—a look he’d never seen on her face before. It was a look of the most profound disappointment, and at that moment, he hated himself.

“So what are we going to do now then?” Lily asked in a sour tone.

“First of all,” Jack said, “Alby is going back to his mother in Perth; she’ll be beside herself when she sees his arm. And after Christmas, I’ll be sending you to join him. Keep you two out of harm’s way for a while.”

“ What! ” Lily protested. “What about the rest of you?”

“We’re going to try to find the remaining Pillars and Vertices before the world ends in March of next year.”

Matthew Reillyis the international bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Five Greatest Warriors , The Six Sacred Stones , Seven Deadly Wonders , Ice Station , Temple , Contest , Area 7 , Scarecrow , the children’s book Hover Car Racer , and one novella, Hell Island . His books are published in more than twenty languages in twenty countries, and he has sold more than 4.5 million copies worldwide.

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