Will Adams - The Exodus Quest

Movement caught Knox's eye. He looked up to see Khaled toss the grenade down the centre of the shaft, froze for a moment as he watched its lethal arc. Lily saw it too, screamed and closed her eyes, bracing her body against mutilation and death. Her shriek shocked Knox into action. He dived towards the grenade, arms outstretched, some futile notion in his mind of trying to throw it back up, impossible though he knew it to be.

It slapped the heel of his right palm, heavier than he'd anticipated, like a ball of lead, throwing up a splash as it bounced from his hand. He reached after it, fumbling it with his fingertips, finally grabbing it, but already deep underwater, no time to think, only to kick deeper and thrust it into the talatat hole, then turn and kick for the surface, hope the limestone would protect him from-

The explosion ripped through the water, his world spinning crazily, bell-towers clanging in his head, arms flapping uselessly, mind scrambled, swallowing water, unsure which way was up. His head struck rock, scraped along it. He stabilized himself, kicked upwards, broached the surface, coughing and hacking for air, splashing around with Lily, the plank dislodged by the blast. And then something suddenly gave way. The water all gushed out, leaving him, Lily, Gaille and the planks stranded bewildered on the shaft floor.

He looked up. Khaled was staring down in dismay, fumbling for his handgun, muzzle flashing, bullets ricocheting wildly. Lily recovered first, throwing herself through the gaping hole that the grenade had ripped in the wall into a new chamber, half filled with water. Knox scooped up Gaille and tumbled after, bumping into something bulky and soft: Stafford's body, floating face down. He glanced at Lily, her torch making eerie patterns in the rippling water. She shook her head and turned away, not able to talk about it.

A narrow dark arched passage led off the chamber. Lily said something he couldn't catch, his ears still ringing from the blast. But her meaning was clear enough. He nodded for her to lead the way, then adjusted Gaille in his arms and set off after her.

Khaled reloaded his Walther as he stared down at the hole in the side of the shaft. What the hell had they found down there? Footsteps behind. Faisal was hurrying up, drawn by the blast, the shots. 'Look!' said Khaled, pointing down. 'I told you we just had to keep digging.'

Faisal stared incredulously at him. 'You're worried about that now?'

'We need to get down there. We need to finish this. Go get the rope.'

'Rope? What rope?'

'The one we climbed down on, idiot. Get Nasser to throw it down to you.'

'But we need it to get back out.'

'We'll use the path. The rain has to stop sometime, doesn't it?'

'But-'

He smacked Faisal across the cheek with the barrel of his Walther. 'That wasn't a request. It was an order. Now carry it out.' He watched Faisal stalk away, fretted for him to return with the rope, then anchored the slipknot around the iron peg, tossed the rest down into the shaft. He was about to go first when he realized what a perfect spot it would make for an ambush, so he took Faisal's AK-47 from him. 'You go,' he said. 'I'll cover you.'

'Unarmed?' snorted Faisal.

'Here,' scowled Khaled, giving him his Walther. 'Take this, then.'

'Why can't we just-'

'Don't you want to see what's down there?'

'Yes, but-'

'We're going to be rich,' insisted Khaled. 'The three of us will have more money than you've ever dreamed of. Just do as you're told.'

Faisal looked sullen as a mule, but he tucked the Walther into his waistband, grabbed hold of the rope, tugged it to make sure it was secure, then lowered himself over the edge, climbed without incident down to the foot.

Khaled allowed himself a little smile. The three of us indeed! First Abdullah, then Faisal. What a tragic night for his unit it looked like being.

Gaille's head lolled against Knox's shoulder as he picked his way carefully over treacherous submerged rubble, Lily out in front, her torch playing shadow-theatre on the walls. The corridor sloped gently upwards so that soon the water was only calf-deep, making progress easier, but forcing Knox to concentrate harder on his footing. Maybe that was why Lily noticed the murals first. 'What are they?' she asked, illuminating the gypsum-covered wall with her torch.

He went closer to examine them. Faded paintings of stunted trees. Row upon row of them, column after column; the motif endlessly repeated, like ancient wallpaper. And the same on the right-hand wall, too.

'Well?' asked Lily.

Knox shook his head. He'd never seen anything like it before. At least, trees and other vegetation were common enough in Ancient Egyptian art, but only as part of greater scenes, typically filled with people, livestock, water, birds. Never just one tree endlessly repeated like this. Or was it just one tree? Those to his right looked distinctly different from those to his left. The Egyptians had been meticulous about such things. But this was scarcely the moment for detailed investigation. They continued on, emerged from the water altogether, were able to see that the passage wasn't sloped but rather was cut with long, shallow steps that had been turned into a gentle ramp by the thick covering of sand, rubble and dirt.

Something glinted on the floor where Lily had stepped. He swept it with his foot to reveal a metallic strip running down the centre of the passage. 'Over here,' he said. 'Let's have some light.'

Lily shone down her torch. 'Jesus!' she muttered. 'Is that… gold?'

'Looks like it.'

'What is this place?'

A memory sprang then to Knox's mind: Kostas describing the link between Harpocrates and Akhenaten, the Luxor Temple on which were depicted wise men coming from the east to celebrate his birth, and the gifts they brought with them. These trees on the walls, not trees at all, but shrubs. Specifically, frankincense and myrrh. And suddenly it all started to make a kind of sense to him, this Exodus quest he'd so unwittingly started out on.

'What is it?' asked Lily, reading it on his face. 'Do you know where we are, or something?'

'I think I do,' said Knox slowly. 'I think we're in the Cave of Treasures.'

The storm was finally raining itself out as the truck arrived at the end of the Royal Wadi road and parked next to Khaled's truck. Naguib jumped down. The place was still awash with water; all around them was the sound of it trickling and splashing down the hillsides.

Tarek tapped his arm, pointed up at the cliff-top. 'See that?'

Naguib squinted. The cloud-cover was just beginning to disperse, and one or two stars were peeking through, enough to show the silhouette of the wadi cliffs. He shook his head. 'See what?'

'A man. He ducked down. He's hoping we haven't seen him.'

'Can you get us up there?'

Tarek nodded. He led them close to the base of the cliff to avoid making easy targets of themselves, then east along the wadi. It was Mahmoud who made the grisly discovery of one of Khaled's men lying spread-eagled on the wet rocks. Naguib knelt down. A single glance was all it took to know it was too late for this one. They climbed the side of the wadi, the light growing stronger all the time. 'Spread out,' murmured Tarek as they reached the top.

'And if we meet anyone?' muttered a voice.

'Order them to surrender,' said Naguib.

'And if they won't?'

'You've got a gun, haven't you?' said Tarek.

'The Cave of Treasures?' asked Lily.

'A famous place in Jewish legend,' Knox told her. 'A cave in a desert beside a great river. Adam and Eve were sent there after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. But that was only the start of it. There's a whole literature on it, not least because many of the Hebrew patriarchs were supposedly buried inside. Adam and Eve themselves. Abel, after being murdered by Cain. Noah. Abraham. Jacob. Joseph. Some even say Moses.'