David Golemon - Ancients

Ryan saw the gunner smile as he continued to run. He knew the man had two fingers on the triggers of the machine gun, so he concentrated on running even faster. When he was sure he was done for, Ryan felt something buzz past his left ear. Just when he wondered if the colonel had forgotten about him, he saw the gunner's head snap back, and then the barrel of the .50-caliber slowly rose into the air as the man fell back into the sunroof.

Ryan covered the remaining distance without a rational thought in his head. Just before he reached the Land Rover, he knocked his sunglasses off and then hit the bumper perfectly and bounded up and onto the roof. He actually started shooting before he had aimed into the cab, and several bullets hit the roof with a loud thud. Then he adjusted and fired directly into a man who was rising to take the gunner's place, and then he shot the driver, who was quite shocked at his own death.

Jack stood and along with Everett made a dash for the mosque. At the same moment, the last Cobra completed its turn and saw the two men break from the sand dune. It banked hard and made a run for the sprinting men.

Ryan saw the Cobra, but it had not seen him. He jumped through the sunroof and landed on something soft and wet. He took the handles of the large weapon and hoped he remembered how to fire the thing. He was short enough that he didn't need to lean down to bring the barrel into the air. He aimed at the attacking Cobra and fired. The first five rounds flew out of the barrel and then the weapon jerked out of Ryan's hands, almost breaking his fingers. He cursed and took the .50-caliber again and aimed. He braced himself this time and cut loose a long stream of bullets. He saw the tracers and adjusted his fire until it crossed paths with the slow-moving Cobra just as it started firing its 20-millimeter cannon at Collins and Everett. Ryan's fire hit the cockpit and smashed through the canopy glass and into the pilot and the weapon's man.

Ryan's jaw fell as he watched the Cobra turn over and fall away. The rotors smashed into the scrub and the small helicopter erupted in a fireball.

Fifty yards away, Jack and Carl had stopped and were looking at the downed Cobra and then back at Ryan. The small navy man waved quickly and then ducked as small-caliber rounds struck the Range Rover from the rear. When Ryan turned, he saw ten men running in his direction. It crossed his mind for a split second to turn the machine gun on the charging Coalition men, but he decided that he had pressed his luck just as far as he could for the day. He hopped out and ran to the mosque.

Collins and Everett ran through the opening of the tower base and slammed right into two Coalition men who had entered unseen. Everett slammed the man so hard that he hit the rounded wall, and when he rebounded toward Carl, he shot him three times. The other didn't live quite as long, as Collins in a last-second move raised his 9-millimeter and shot the man twice in the head. Everett almost shot Ryan as he entered the tower base.

Jack didn't wait for the others as he wrapped one of the three ropes around his right boot once and then took up a large loop in his right hand. Then, without hesitation, he pushed off into the shaft. Ryan and Everett followed. Ryan didn't know how to rappel without the proper equipment, so he just grabbed the rope and went hand over hand until it started cutting and burning. As he slid down the rope, he passed Everett and Collins and hit the bottom with a thud.

"Dammit," he cried out as he rolled onto his stomach. Everett and Collins landed softly next to him and removed the ropes from their feet. "I think you forgot to train me on that little trick with the rope," he said as he started to rise, wiping blood from his hands.

"Sorry about that. I Didn't think we had the time to show you," Jack said as he took the 9-millimeter from his belt.

"Damn, it's dark," said Everett as he tried to penetrate the darkness around them beyond the light shining down the shaft.

Above, they heard the sounds of many vehicles approaching the mosque.

Jack's foot struck something and he reached down and saw that it was a field pack. He held it toward the sunlight and saw that it was marked with Leekie's name. He opened it and fished inside until he found what he was looking for. He brought out a phosphorescent flare and struck it. He held it up and the darkness gave way to bright light.

"Whoa, I think this may be the place," Everett said as he took in the statues.

Jack looked down and saw one set of tracks leading away from the antechamber of the cave.

"Looks like another opening there, Jack," Everett said as he pointed his weapon at the large opening.

The three men started forward slowly. They walked along the stone-and-earthen walls carved to resemble pillars. There were strange designs etched into them that depicted bulls, disks of a blazing sun, and women and fighting soldiers in armor. Hieroglyphs identical to those they had seen on the scrolls they had recovered lined the walls.

"Ah, Jesus," Ryan said, disgust edging his voice.

Jack held the flare closer and saw the horrible death that had befallen one of Dutton's men. The two halves of his body lay crumpled side by side as if they were just laundry waiting to be picked up.

"Watch where you step," Jack said as he threw the flare down and struck another. He held it close to the dirt floor and saw the sun designs on the packed earth. "Look," he said as he pointed the flare at the ground. Then he looked up and saw a large slit in the natural rock formation where something was hidden, just waiting for someone to step on the sun designs on the ground.

"I wish Sarah was here, she knows these traps far better than us," Ryan said as he slowly backed away from the dead man.

Collins hopped over the line of pressure plates after making sure that one trap didn't lead directly to another. They slowly and cautiously entered what they had thought was another cave, but as the light struck and dispelled the blackness, they saw that it was a manmade extension of the natural cave. Jack could see where the ledge sloped steeply down in front of them.

"Listen," he said.

"Running water," Carl ventured. "A lot of it."

As they entered the larger excavation, Jack felt the same feeling he'd had earlier in the desert above. Eyes were on them. He tried to see beyond the steep slope, but there was nothing.

"Lieutenant?" he shouted.

"Colonel?"

It was Will Mendenhall, his voice echoing off the walls just below the slope's edge. He stood, lowered his 9-millimeter, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sure glad to see you guys."

"Is Leekie with you?" asked Jack.

"She's right here. I thought we were going to make a last stand. I was going to take as many of those bastards with me as I could."

The professor limped up the slope and joined Will.

"Glad to see you made it, Doc," Collins said as he stepped forward.

"Major Dutton, his team?" Mendenhall asked.

Everett just shook his head.

"Damn."

"What have we got down there?"

"You're not going to believe this," Mendenhall said. "Show 'em, Doc."

Leekie gestured for the men to follow. She veered to the right side of the slope and then asked Jack for the flare. She touched it to a small ledge and the entire slope lit up with a ring of fire. The ledge, as it turned out, was a trough filled with something ancient, the smell of which was horrible. Everett, Ryan, and Collins watched as the ring of fire illuminated a series of ornamental pillars that lined each side of the slope, which led to an underground river that raged in front of them. The cool waters fell from a great waterfall that exited an opening sixty feet above. As the water from above struck below, it misted and then disappeared as it entered a natural cave that had stalactites and stalagmites lining the upper and lower edges, making the cave seem as if it were an open mouth full of very sharp teeth.