David Leadbeater: Weapons of the Gods

“The beds are slept in and unmade,” Mai pointed out.

“Aye, so let’s get you all winched back up and take a short trip.”

They left the Enlargo where it was, abandoned and lonely, and watched out of the windows as the chopper retraced the boat’s itinerant path. Empty blue seas greeted them and what had, at first, been a splendid vista was now humdrum and a little alarming.

“No rafts, no lifeboats, no… nothing,” Hayden said.

“Big storm could’a took ’em?” Kinimaka wondered.

“Nothing on today’s forecast,” the pilot said.

“I’m thinking something more physical,” Alicia said. “And with teeth.”

“Stop thinking.” Mai sighed. “It doesn’t work well for you.”

“Says the frisky Sprite.”

Drake ignored their bickering, watching Luther and Molokai. The two new members of the team rarely spoke to each other, but often communicated in shared looks and gestures. Clearly, they knew each other inside out. Drake got the impression that Luther could fit easily into any team and any situation, whereas Molokai would always be detached and uneasy. The story of their pasts would be a bloody interesting one.

He returned his attention to the window as the pilot told them they’d arrived at an approximate spot. Two minutes later he called out for people to come forward.

Drake crowded into the cockpit. Through the wide glass window, he saw a surprising mass. Surprising because the map on the instrument panel didn’t acknowledge it.

“Is that an island?”

“Aye, mate, it is, an uncharted one.”

“Shit.” Drake shared a glance with Mai, remembering another uncharted island they’d visited and what had happened there.

“Pull up,” Hayden said. “We need to see the size of it and check for others.”

“A few miles in circumference,” the pilot said. “Nothing you couldn’t walk around in a couple of hours, and I see no other land masses to any horizon. We’re pretty much on our own here.”

“Strangely,” Kinimaka said. “That doesn’t help.”

Even Molokai pulled his outer robe more tightly around him.

Dahl pointed the adapted GPR at the island, lowering the chopper’s window as they drifted nearer, now able to make out a small mountain chain, probably volcanic, and several stands of dense, green trees. A valley lay beyond the beach, bristling with shrubbery. Dahl switched the device on and there was no mistaking the sudden red pulse that started blinking in the center of the screen.

“The key,” he breathed softly. “It’s there.”

“Then put us down,” Hayden said. “Right there on the beach.”

Nobody spoke. They all remembered the Enlargo only too well and, with their imaginations fired up, they couldn’t help but wonder exactly what unknown hell they might be about to walk into.

The beach was pale in color, almost white, and belied any sense of wrongdoing. Drake waited, standing in the thick sand, staring at the treeline ahead and wondering what manner of escapade awaited them.

Dahl broke out his GPR and studied the signal. “North.” He aimed his hand in the direction of travel. “Dead north.”

Alicia was studying the treeline. “Got a machete?”

“Oh, hang on.” Kenzie rummaged around her jacket’s various pockets. “Ah, no, must have misplaced it.”

Alicia groaned, but Molokai withdrew his arm from under his thick coat, brandishing a three-foot-long gleaming blade. “Will this do?”

Kenzie practically ran over to hug him. “Oh, wow, what else do you have under those robes, man?”

Alicia tried not to stare at him, but waved at the trees. “Lead the way.”

The day was hot, but Molokai revealed not an ounce of sweat or discomfort as he walked up the beach toward the greenery. The team spread out, careful to watch for any movement and to keep an eye on the sea too. The pilot left his helicopter as securely as he was able and joined the team.

The going was tough at first as Molokai forged a way. It didn’t take long to find the gaps between the trees though, the machete was put away and they were able to walk easily between thick tree trunks, wading through a bed of vegetation. The air was heavy beneath the boughs and the sunlight intermittent. A wave of heat fell over them. They ranged left and right, always alert, but came across nothing untoward and no tracks.

“Could be as uninhabited as it looks,” Kinimaka said, trying to disentangle his bulk from a bush. “Maybe we’re—”

“Barking up the wrong tree?” Drake asked. “Yeah, maybe. But Dahl’s gizmo says not.”

The red pulse beat consistently a few miles ahead of their position, judging by the scale of the island.

“This Key of Hades,” Luther asked as they walked. “What is it, exactly?”

“It’s the key to the underworld,” Hayden said, tying back her hair as the heat grew. “It opens the locked doors that lead to hell.”

“Shit.” Luther shook his head. “Like we need that in our lives.”

“I don’t think it means anything to Tempest,” Drake told them his thoughts. “They’re simply gathering together a list of known weapons.”

“It seems that way,” Hayden agreed. “But I’m reserving judgment for now.”

Gradually, the density of the trees lessened and the ground began to slope. They emerged onto a short field where the earth fell away in a regular gradient, turning into a mile long, mile wide, incredibly green valley. The sides sloped sharply — the far side was almost a cliff face — and there wasn’t a visible structure in sight.

“So,” Hayden mused. “Into the valley? Or around?”

“Bad place.” Molokai stared ahead. “No cover, and raised hills all around. I don’t like it.”

“Gotta agree,” Luther said. “Sitting ducks and all that.”

“No structures of any kind,” Dahl said. “But that doesn’t mean nothing’s there. And the GPR says the key is…” He pointed a hand again, dead north. “Right at the head of the valley.”

“You sure?” Smyth asked. “Or is it at the top of the cliff above the valley? ’Cause, dude, that’s a world of difference when we’re walking.”

Drake saw Smyth made a good point. The cliff could only be accessed by walking around the valley top and negotiating a range of ragged boulders, whereas the end of the valley could be reached simply by continuing along their path.

“Let’s split,” he said. “Any preferences?”

Opinions were voiced but the team soon separated. Drake and Dahl took their time, scanning the whole area for movement, but saw nothing out of place. Soon, they started to descend into the valley.

Alicia gave all their thoughts a voice. “I don’t like it,” she said. “Maybe it’s the drifting boat giving me the creeps but then this uninhabited island? And I can’t help but think…”

“We’re being watched?” Drake finished. “Yeah, I get that too.”

“If that’s the case,” Dahl said. “They’re very good. We have a world of experience here among us.”

With the Swede’s words rattling ominously in their wake, the team continued, watching their step as they approached the valley floor, feeling the soft loam underneath their boots. Drake was the first to see the raw earth ahead and then the great, fresh delve in the ground. He slowed, sensing something horrific.

“Oh, God,” Mai breathed and then stopped in her tracks.

A mass grave lay before them, dug deep and filled with dead bodies. Drake saw roughly a dozen, most shot but at least two with grenade wounds. The sight was as grisly as he’d seen and made him stare rigidly toward the end of the valley. The smell was ripe, almost overpowering, making even the seasoned soldiers breath only through their mouths.