Curse of Atlantis (12 page)

“And a bed… I’m pretty sure by the time night falls, we’re going to be dragging,” Jack said.

“How many of these locations did you say we have?” Darrien asked.

“Sixteen,” Javier replied flatly.

“I’ll bet now you wish you hadn’t signed up for this job, huh?” Jack teased.

“Mr. Arista pays me well. I will gladly work for him. I have worked much harder for less,” Darrien said, proudly.

Jack placed his hand on Darrien’s shoulder. Looking over to Javier, he smiled and said, “I’m really beginning to like this guy too.”

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

While Javier set up the electronic equipment, Jack and Darrien dug holes and collected soil data at locations
Javier
had marked on a topographical map. Alone with his memories, Javier stood for a moment and thought about Serena. He wondered if she was eating or sleeping. Thinking of her in the hands of evil men tore through his heart, his body nearly collapsing with overwhelming grief. Staring down at his ground radar equipment, he stood stoically as his eyes began to water.

Deep in his mind, the magnitude of his undertaking ate away at his psyche. He began to question his competency. Looking from one barren mountain top to the next, he rationalized the absurdity of an ancient pyramid buried somewhere beneath them.

Suddenly, he shook his head in anger. Standing tall, he forced the negativity from his mine.

“It’s here. It has to be here,” he said resolutely.

Javier looked down at the three-wheeled radar device in his hand. With a flick of a switch, he turned on the power and began to push the unit along the ground. Confident now and determined, he focused his concentration on the digital readout. If the pyramid existed, he would find it.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Jack swung the pick into the ground with heavy force, breaking the surface and driving the ax deep into the ground. With a quick flick of his wrist, he pulled a large clump of dirt from
the
hole and deposited it to one side. Again, he repeated the action, now sweating profusely as he worked. He wiped away the sweat with his shirt sleeve and continued on. Within minutes, he laid the pick on the ground and reached for the shovel.

Digging the loose dirt from the hole, he scooped it out and through the sandy soil on the growing pile. Minutes later, with the hole at the correct depth, he dropped the shovel and grabbed the small trowel.

“Well
,
Darrien, let’s see if we have a match
.
Can you hand me the Munsell Color Chart?”
Jack
asked.

“Absolutely,” Darrien responded
,
only too happy to help.

Jack reached into the hole and stuck the point of the trowel into the soil. Carefully, he lifted the tool back and pulled the sample out from the hole. Taking the notebook from Darrien, he opened it and began to match the soil to the pictures on the charts.

“Bingo, we have match,” Jack said, pleased with himself.

“Same as the soil on the summit?” Darrien asked.

“I’m not an expert, but it sure looks that way to me,” Jack responded, now showing the chart to Darrien.

“This is exciting, wouldn’t you say, Jack?” Darrien asked, his enthusiasm now showing through.

Jack’s mind immediately drifted off to Serena. Staring into the valley below, his emotions tugged at his heart as he thought about her gentle smile and their warm kiss the day she was taken. He felt a sense of loss and deep sadness as he thought about the love that almost was. Feeling cheated, feeling angry, he hurriedly stood and grabbed the shovel and ax.

“Let
's
go,” he said roughly.

“Did I say something wrong?” Darrien replied, in surprise.

“No Darrien, you said something right.”

Jack turned and headed down the hill toward their next location, his focus now sharp and determined.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Many hours later, as the sun touched the distant horizon, the light finally began to fade. With their last task complete, Jack and Darrien hurried back up the hill to Javier’s location. Rounding a bluff,
Jack
spotted movement on the other side. Moving slowly, step by step, Javier struggled to haul the enormous pack down the mountain.

“Javi, what the hell are you doing?” Jack called out, as he rushed to meet him.

Javier slowed to a stop. Immediately, he dropped the heavy pack and panted uncontrollably. Completely drenched in sweat, his face blazed red from heat and exhaustion.

“Javi, you don’t look well. Drink some of this,” Jack said, now handing him his water bottle.

Without a word, Javier took the bottle and gulped the warm stale water. Racing to hydrate his overexerted body, excess water poured from his mouth
and drained down the front of
his shirt and pants. Moments later, the bottle was empty.

“More… do you have any more?” he asked, still out of breath.

Darrien stepped forward and handed his bottle to Javier. Instantly, he gulped the contents between breaths. Feeling some relief, his breathing slowed and
he
felt rested enough to speak.

“Did you get the data?” he asked, ignoring his dangerous heath state.

“Javi, you can’t push yourself like this
.
Y
ou could easily have had heatstroke or worse, a heart attack,” Jack scolded. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“Sorry, I finished my work and
didn’t want to interrupt yours
just to come back up and collect the equipment, so I decided to haul it down myself,” Javier explained. “I guess I didn’t realize how strained I was until I saw you.”

“For a minute there, I thought we were going to have to carry you out on a stretcher,” Jack continued.

“For a minute there, I thought the same thing.”

“So did you get the data?” Javier asked once more.

“Yes… I did,” Jack said, his voice now turning dark.

“What did you find?” Javier asked.

“I’m sorry Javi, the lower we went on the mountain, the more the soil changed in color. I don’t think the tsunami reached this height in elevation,” Jack said, sadly.

Javier nodded and replied, “I don’t think so either, Jack. I spent all day analyzing the sites up there using every piece of equipment in your pack. I even tried using your homemade
radar platform. B
y the way, I’m sorry
,
Jack
,
but I don’t think it’s working,” Javier added, trying to let down Jack delicately, then continued, “all I found was a lot of dirt and a few really big boulders… certainly nothing that would convince me there’s a
pyramid beneath it all.
”

“I’m sorry, Javi,” Jack said, with deep sympathy.

“It’s ok, Jack. I kind of figured we weren’t going to hit it on the first try anyway,” Javier replied. Staring past Jack, he became suddenly began pensive, adding, “Still… I was hoping.”

“Where to next?” Darrien asked, breaking Javier’s stare.

“Home. I
t’s been very long day. I think we all need some sleep
.
” Jack suggested, now yawning.

“And a bit of luck,” Javier added, his tone turning grave once more.

“We don’t need luck, Javi. We’re smart and we’re determined. We’ll find it,” Jack responded with unshakeable resolve.

Javier smiled a bit, then added, “Smart and determined are great qualities, but I won’t turn my nose up at a bit luck either.”

Jack smiled knowingly as he bent down to load his pack on his back.

Jack heard the pie
r
cing sound of his alarm, abruptly pulling him from his sleep. In reflex, he flung his arm over to the nightstand and pressed the
"
off
"
button on the clock. Bringing his wrist back to his face, he checked the time through the narrow slits between his eyelids.

“Four-thirty… ugh,” Jack moaned, letting his arm flop down on the bed next to him.

He lay for a moment and closed his eyes, his mind drifting to Serena. He felt warm as he remembered her touch on his hand and smiled as he replayed
their kiss over and over. As he
continued think about their memories together, sadness swept his body. Suddenly, he sprang upright.

“Bastards!” he blurted out angrily.

Quickly, he showe
re
d and dressed, trying to get a jump on the start of the day. As he entered the main living area in the small home, all the lights were on and the smell of coffee wafted through the room. Spread out over the old couch and worn coffee table were reams of data, photos
,
and computer equipment and in the center of it all, sat Javier.

“My God, Javi. You’re running yourself into the ground. Did you get any sleep at all last night?”

“Morning Jack,” Javier responded, completely ignoring Jack’s scolding. “After reviewing the data we collected yesterday, I’m thinking we should pick one of the targets closer to Kapsali’s shoreline. Maybe the tsunami wasn’t as big as we thought. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t have traveled as far inland as we predicted.”

“Hmm, sounds logical, although that means the pyramid would have to be a lot smaller than five hundred feet tall.”

“Five hundred feet tall was just the high end of the range, Jack. It could easily be a lot smaller, which would make its location closer to shore more convincing.”

“I suspect it might also rule
out some of the higher mountains in that area, narrowing our search,”
Jack said, encouragingly.

“Absolutely. I’ve crossed three locations off our list in the Kapsali region,”
Javier replied, his tone turn
ing
upbeat.

“What about the Avlemonas area? Have you crossed any of those locations off the list or are you waiting to test the soil first before making any decisions?”

“Well, I’ve tentatively marked a couple for deletion, but like you said, we’ll need to run some tests first be
fore we make any firm decisions.
”

Nodding approvingly, Jack now thought about the plans for the day.

“I wonder if it’s too early to call Darrien. It’d be nice to get an early start this morning,”
Jack pondered aloud.

“Already called him,” Javier responded instantly. “He’ll be here in less than half an hour.”

“That’s fantast…”

Suddenly, a loud knock was heard at the front door. Startled for a moment, Jack spun around on his heels and eyed the entrance.

“Man, that was fast,” Jack said to Javier.

Javier’s face looked white and expressionless. Picking up the visual cue, Jack said, “Javi, you look like you’ve
just
seen a ghost. You ok?”

With another knock at the door, he replied, “That’s not Darrien… he lives on the other side of the island.”

“Maybe he got here faster than you thought,” Jack said, now heading for the door.

“I don’t think so,” Javier called out. “I just called him.”

Jack stopped short at the entrance. Even in the darkness, he could make out the silhouette of two men standing just outside the front door. Nervously, he turned on the outside light and instantly, two men in dark suits stared eerily back at him through their dark sunglasses.

Jack’s heart began to pound. He knew who these men were and he knew they’d show up sooner or later, but their presence at
5am
was very unusual. Looking back to Javier for advice, he received only a look of fearful anxiety.

He turned the handle and slowly opened the door.

“May we come in?” the tall stranger asked in
a
heavy Russian accent.

Jack stepped back from the door, allowing the two to enter. The two walked confidently through the room and took seats on the spare chairs in the living room. The taller of the two reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a small notebook and pen, and placed them on the coffee table in front of him. As they looked around the room, they focused
their
stare
s
on Javier.

Javier sat and fidgeted momentarily, then asked the two men directly, “Are we in trouble?”

“Pardon our early morning intrusion. We will require some information from you,” the taller man responded, ignoring Javier’s question.

“Whatever you need,” Jack cut in, hoping to gain favor by being agreeable.

“What have you found? It’s been a week and the Boss grows anxious,”
the taller man demanded.

“
Keep in mind that we we
re only able to start our search two days ago, so there
haven’t
been any significant breakthroughs just yet. We’ve done a complete search by air, recording and photographing every inch of the island. From there, we’ve determined the most probable locations where the pyramid might be. In total, I’ve come up with sixteen possible sites. Yesterday, we spent the entire day gathering data from one of those sites and
we
’v
e concluded that the tsunami that destroyed Atlantis m
ay
not have reached the height of some of our locations. Because of this, I believe we only have twelve or less mountains to searc
h.
”