Gabriel Hunt - Hunt at World's End

“From the wrath of Ulikummis, you mean,” Vassily said.

“Yes, of course, High Priest.”

“And this ship they will be on, it goes from where to where?”

“From Turkey to Madagascar, High Priest.”

“Madagascar,” Vassily said. “We do not have any brethren there.”

“No, High Priest,” Arkady replied. “But we do have brothers throughout Africa we can mobilize.”

“Contact them. Tell them we are coming.”

“Yes, High Priest,” Arkady said.

The setting sun shed a rippling orange band of light across the waters of the Mediterranean. Gabriel sat alone on the dock behind Veda’s house, letting the waves gently rock him while he dangled his bare feet in the warm water. Years had passed since he’d last sat in that spot. In the distance, past the sailboats and trawlers that dotted the sea, he could make out the blocky, turreted Fortress of Mamure winding along the shoreline. It was an impressive structure, considering its construction had been started by the Romans in the third century and finished some eight hundred years later by Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I. In the catacombs beneath the fortress, he and Veda had found secret storerooms filled with treasures hoarded by the Sultan, including a set of ornate chess pieces, one side made of solid gold, the other of platinum. A Japanese billionaire who called himself Hachiman had sent a hired team of former yakuza to steal it all, and they’d very nearly succeeded. But Hachiman was now serving a life sentence in a prison in Osaka, and the Sultan’s treasure had been divided among several Turkish museums and universities. A happy ending. He wished there were more of them in the world. Something told him things wouldn’t end quite so neatly this time. Hachiman seemed like a model of sanity and pacifism compared to Edgar Grissom.

He heard the back door of Veda’s house open and close, but didn’t turn from the view until Joyce sat down next to him. She kicked off her shoes and let her feet touch the water beside his.

“Are you sure you want to come? You know you don’t have to, right?”

“I don’t think Veda would let me stay here,” Gabriel said.

“You know what I mean. You could fly home from Madagascar. You’ve done everything Michael asked you to. You don’t have to keep helping me.”

“And who would watch your back in the desert—Daniel? Even if he deserves the second chance you’re so keen on giving him, he can’t protect you the way…”

Joyce smiled. “The way you can?”

“The way you need,” Gabriel said.

She watched the sunset with him for a while. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“All this treasure hunting you do, all this exploring…it’s like you can’t sit still, you’re never happy where you are. It’s like you’re always looking for something, but you never find it.”

“And your question is…?”

“What are you really looking for, Gabriel?”

He watched the water lap against the side of the floating dock. He thought of the hospital in Gibraltar, the authorities telling him they had no idea what had happened to the ship his parents were on during the three days it had apparently vanished from the Mediterranean Sea.

“People think it’s all been found,” Gabriel said, “that we live in a world that has no secrets anymore. The modern world, with every inch catalogued and mapped and photographed and recorded. They don’t know how wrong they are. There are still things in the world that no one’s seen in thousands of years or that no one’s ever seen, things no one can explain. Things that could have an enormous impact on people’s lives, for good or bad. Someone’s got to find them. And preferably not men like Grissom.”

Joyce nodded.

“You know,” Gabriel said, “your uncle wanted me to try to talk you out of pursuing a life like mine. He’d like to see you in a safe, comfortable university position, not running around in a jungle getting shot at.”

“He said that to you?” Joyce asked. Gabriel nodded. “Sorry, but my uncle doesn’t get to make my decisions for me. Neither do you.”

“Good,” Gabriel said. “Because you’re going to be great at this someday.” And he leaned over to kiss her.

Chapter 20

The cruise ship African Princess stretched six hundred feet from bow to stern, with three balconied levels rising above the main deck, all filled with restaurants, ballrooms, shops, two casinos, and luxury staterooms for nearly one thousand passengers. These luxury staterooms had all been booked months in advance; what Michael had managed to reserve was a pair of small cabins belowdecks where the white-noise hum of the engines was ever-present.

“Before this, I would’ve guessed you traveled everywhere first class,” Joyce said.

“Actually, I prefer not to,” Gabriel said. “Especially when I’m trying to stay out of sight.” He leaned against the closed connecting door between the cabin he and Joyce were sharing and the one they’d put Daniel in; Gabriel had told him he was confined to quarters for the duration, and he’d accepted this without complaint. He’d seemed to be glad for a way to do penance.

Gabriel watched through the porthole as they made slow progress through the rolling whitecaps. The sun dipped low in the sky, silhouetting the African coastline in the distance. They’d been sailing for two days. Madagascar wouldn’t be far now, he thought. And from there, Botswana.

Behind him, Joyce gathered the rumpled sheets around her on the bunk and propped herself up on one elbow. “You look a thousand miles away.”

“Just thinking about what we’re going to find when we get to the desert,” Gabriel said. “We’ve been chasing after the gemstones so much we haven’t even thought about the Spearhead itself. What it is, what it looks like. How we’ll recognize it. We don’t even know where it is.”

“I doubt Grissom knows either,” Joyce said. “That’s something, at least.”

“It is,” Gabriel said, “but it’s not enough.”

“He also doesn’t know the third Eye is at World’s End.”

“We hope,” Gabriel said. “He found ways to follow us the first two times.”

“Well, even if he has again—hell, even if he’s somehow figured it out for himself and gotten there first—we still have one of the Eyes ourselves. He can’t do anything without it, right?”

Gabriel turned to look out the window again. Could the Spearhead be activated or used with only two of the three Eyes? It seemed unlikely. But if Grissom did find his way to the last Eye before them, all he’d have to do would be wait for them to show up carrying the one they had. They could be walking into an ambush.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it from aboard this ship,” Joyce said. “We may as well enjoy ourselves while we’re here.”

“Low profile, remember?”

“I’m not talking about dancing naked on deck,” Joyce said, “I’m thinking we could have a nice dinner. The three of us.”

“Daniel’s under house arrest,” Gabriel said. “No leaving his cabin.” They’d been bringing him three meals a day and paperbacks from the ship’s convenience store to keep him occupied. He’d asked for nothing more.

“We can let him out for just one night, can’t we?” Joyce asked. “Hasn’t he been punished enough?”

“This isn’t about punishment,” Gabriel said. “This is about keeping us safe. He almost got us killed, for heaven’s sake.”

She nodded. “I know, but he hasn’t tried to contact Grissom again, right?”

“He hasn’t had the opportunity.”

“That’s not true, he could have done it anytime at Veda’s house. She had a phone in every room, and a computer too, but he didn’t.”