Clive Cussler - Wrath of Poseidon

Sam and Remi watched the cat a moment, looked at each other, then the photo.

“Of course,” Remi said. “How did we not see it?”

“I’m blaming it on perspective,” Sam said. “The head’s blocking everything behind it. That, and it doesn’t look like any tail I’ve ever seen.”

Nikos walked up at that moment, scaring off the cat as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “What have I missed?”

Zoe turned the sketch toward him. “We think this thing on its head is a tail.”

He leaned in closer. “It’s not Helios?”

“And not a Gorgon,” Dimitris said.

Nikos picked up the paper. “So, it’s not the rays of the sun or snakes circling his face. Maybe it’s a lion’s mane?”

“It could be,” Sam said. “But that’s definitely not a lion’s tail.”

“A scorpion tail?” Remi said.

Sam eyed the barbed end. “What sort of creature has a man’s face, a lion’s mane, and a scorpion tail?”

Remi was already looking it up on her phone. “What if it’s a manticore?”

“A what-icore?” Sam said.

“Manticore. A man’s face on a lion’s body with a venomous tail. More importantly . . .” She read something on the screen, then looked up at them. “I can’t believe it was staring us in the face the whole time!”

“Staring us in the face?” Sam asked. “Very funny, Remi. Your levity is appreciated.”

“I’m serious, Sam,” she answered. “A manticore is a creature that eats its victims whole.”

He eyed the picture on her phone. “I’m clearly missing something.”

“It particularly likes the taste of humans.”

“Of course,” Nikos said, “Tassos’s cave must be on the islet of Anthropofas. In English it translates to man-eater.”

“Does it have a cave there?”

“Yes, it does. The cave holds a natural basin that collects rainwater, which the goat herders use for their animals. Others have explored it in the past. If there had been any treasure, someone would have found it.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Sam said. “We take a look ourselves.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

There were actually two islets that shared the name, both about a mile and a half to the south and southeast of Fourni—Megalos and Mikros Anthropofas—Big and Little Man-eater, supposedly named for the number of sailors who drowned after their ships were smashed upon their rocks. Sam wondered if they shouldn’t be searching both islets, but Nikos assured him that Mikros Anthropofas was barely a rock worthy of being called an islet, and definitely not large enough to hide a cave.

They set out for Big Man-eater the following afternoon. As was the case on all the islands in the Fourni archipelago, the northern exposure was vulnerable to any sudden changes in the weather. The constant barrage of wind and waves left the rocks devoid of any vegetation. As they approached, the desolate cliffs loomed up ahead, a barren wasteland jutting out from the sea. For now, the water was relatively calm, and Nikos steered the Lazy Krab all the way around to the south side of the islet, where a small bay would protect them from the north winds.

While there was no beach, someone had embedded an iron hook in a flat rock, turning it into a makeshift dock. As they neared, Nikos cut the motor, allowing the boat to drift forward toward the rock. Dimitris, holding the mooring rope, tied it around the rusted hook, then pulled himself out, reaching for the bag of climbing gear that Sam lifted out to him.

Once they all had disembarked, the four started the trek up the steep hill through the low, prickly scrub growing on the south exposure of the rocky incline.

They passed a concrete shelter that, according to Nikos, the government had erected for the fishermen and goat herders who occasionally landed on the islet. Just beyond it, the group stopped, seeing two possible routes up. Because Nikos had been told the cave wasn’t necessarily the easiest to find—one could walk past it without knowing—he consulted with some of the goat herders, trying to find the easiest route. After listening to the legends and old fishermen’s tales, the general consensus was that the cave was on the north side of the islet. Unfortunately, no one agreed on the best way to get there. One man told them to follow the goats, since the cave caught fresh rainwater.

Coming from the west, the wind whipped down from the top of the hill, bringing with it the faint bleating of goats. They headed in that direction. After a fifteen-minute hike, picking their way through the rocks and sparse, prickly vegetation, they finally reached the peak, then paused to take stock of their surroundings. To the north, they had a view of the southern end of Fourni, and beyond it, to the northeast, Samos. Fishing boats dotted the calm waters around the islands. Up above, seabirds floated on air currents, bright white against a blue sky.

Remi stood next to Sam. “Can you smell that?” she asked. “Thyme.” She reached down, picked a sprig of the fragrant herb that grew wild on the island. Closing her eyes, she lifted the woody stem to her nose, breathing in the pungent scent, while the wind whipped red strands of hair from her ponytail.

Seeing her like that, it was easy to picture her half a world away, standing on their cliff top at Goldfish Point.

She glanced over at him. “What are you staring at?”

“You . . .”

She smiled. There was no hint of trouble, fear, or worry in that smile, and he wanted to remember it forever.

A moment later, her attention was drawn to the landscape. The island wasn’t all that large, but the rocky terrain made it difficult to see anything that might resemble a cave entrance. Remi took a slow turn around. “Going back to the it’s-a-place-not-a-treasure, that has to mean something. There has to be a reason for the name.”

“Man-eater?” Nikos said. “Given because the sailors drowned.”

“No. If Poseidon’s Ear is a cave facing the water, what makes someone call a place Poseidon’s Trident? A rock formation?”

“Sorry,” Sam said. “There’s nothing remotely close to a trident up here.”

“But in the story, Poseidon shook the ground in anger. So, what if that earthquake knocked his trident to the ground?”

Definitely an idea with merit. Sam examined the rock formations, trying to imagine if any of them appeared as though they might have, at one point in time, been standing up. Near the northwest edge of the islet, he saw one rock formation that angled across another. He pointed at it. “That sort of looks like it could have fallen from an upright position.”

Remi glanced around. “But where’s the cave?”

She was right. From where they stood, there didn’t appear to be one at all. As they started to walk toward it, they heard the tinkling of a bell, then saw a goat’s head pop up from the ground just a few feet from the rocks. The creature scrambled out and ran off.

Nikos laughed. “My friend did say to follow the goats.”

“That he did.” They approached the formation, which very much appeared to be a massive spire of rock that had fallen upon another. And there, in front of it, the gaping mouth of a cave.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Minerva Kyril sat aboard the Mirage , when Ilya finally walked in the stateroom. “Please tell me we finally have word?” she asked.

“They’ve apparently landed on an islet just south of Fourni, Megalos Anthropofas.”

“Why would they be there? More of this Poseidon’s Trident nonsense?”

“That would seem the most likely reason. The islet is a barren piece of rock. My men can pick them off before they ever realize they’re targets. I’ve ordered the helicopter readied.”