Curse of Atlantis (9 page)

“Dr. Samuelson and
I
,”
Javier said dryly.

“Exactly. And with the added incentive of saving your daughter, I’m sure you’ll find the pyramid much faster than would be expected,”
he said, his demand obvious in the cryptic message.

Javier shot the shorter man an angry stare.

“Dr. Arista, let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be. My business in not babysitting. This whole ugly mess is quite distasteful to me. The sooner you find the pyramid, the sooner she’ll be release
d
.
”

“And what if we can’t find the pyramid? What if it doesn’t exist?
”

“Hmm, that would be most unfortunate,”
Dimitri
said sternly. His intense expression lighted slightly.
“Let’s just say I have faith you will.”

There was a moment of deliberate silence as the shorter man allowed his last statement to sink into Jack’s and Javier’s minds. With his point made, he continued.

“Dr. Arista, I am a
n im
patient man
by nature, and expect results from those I employ
. You’ll be visited by my men periodically. It would be in your best interest to
inform them of your progress
.
So you understand my demands
?”

Both Jack and Javier shook their head
s
, acknowledging his statement.

“Good, then we have an arrangement,” he said, more of a statement than a question.

Jack and Javier nodded once more.

The shorter man leaned forward and opened the rear door. Motion
ing
with his head, he said
, “It is time for you to leave.” He paused, then added,
“By the way, I know my associate has already instructed you on this matter, but do not
attempt to
contact the police. If I suspect there is any trouble, our arrangement will end abruptly. Is any of this unclear?” he repeated.

Both men
nodded
their head
s
.

The shorter man motioned to the door with the point of his gun. Quickly, Jack and Javier exi
ted. As he closed the door,
Anatoly stepped out and ret
rieved their luggage. Placing them
on the curb, he nodded respectfully, turned
,
and entered the vehicle.

As the limousine pulle
d away, Javier motioned for both
to go back inside.

“I’ll have to talk to Burt about his choice of limo services,” he said, his mind now shutting down.

“Let
’s
get that car and get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

With a simple nod, they both walked inside.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

“I’d say that went quite well. I’m sure we’ll see some results shortly,” Nicolae said
with a disturbing laugh.

Dimitri
nodded simply, then asked, “Boss, there is a possibility that the pyramid does not exist. Will we be returning the girl in that event?

“Don’t be ridiculous. They will all meet with an unfortunate accident whether they find it or not,” Nicolae responded
coldly.

Marriot Hotel,
Athens
,
Greece
:

While Jack and Javier slept, a loud banging echoed through their hotel room. Slowly, with each knock at their door, Jack began to rouse from his deep sleep. Cracking open his eyes, the tiny slits let in light and soon they began to water.

Jack reached up and wiped away the tears from his dry eyes, then sat up. Hearing the banging continue
,
he slid his legs off the bed and tried to stand. He wavered a bit, then sat back down on the bed. One more time, he stood and forced himself to wake. With his eyes fully open, he made his way to the door.

“I’m coming. Keep your panties on,” Jack said in a daze.

Now standing at the door to his hotel room, he heard a muffled voice call out his name.

“Jack? Jack! It’s me,” the voice called out on the other side.

Jack leaned forward and peered through the peep hole. He smiled slightly and unbolted
and opened
the door.

“Still sleeping
,
Jack?” Burt Samuelson asked, standing outside the door holding a tray of coffee.

“Hey
,
Burt. It’s been a long couple of days. If I fall over, just let me sleep,” Jack responded.

“That bad, huh? Maybe this will wake you up,” Burt said, motioning to the tray.

Jack looked at the coffee and back at Burt, his face still filled with uncertainty.

“That wouldn’t even soothe a sore on a gnat’s ass,” he shot back.

“That does sound bad,” Burt replied, not sure if Jack was joking or serious.

Jack motioned for Burt to come in. As they entered the room, Jack replied, “You have no idea. Things have gotten complicated.”

“Really, how so?” Burt asked.

Looking over at Javier still sleeping, Burt continued, “Let me guess, Javi snores?”

“If that were only the problem,” Jack responded in a serious tone. “Remember the Russians that wanted to buy the crystal?”

“Yeah, what about them?” Burt said, now growing suspicious.

“They kidnapped Serena a couple of days ago and now want us to find the pyramid for them,” Jack said in ominous tone.

Burt stared at Jack for a moment, waiting to see a hint of a smile that would allude to a joke. There was none.

“Jack, if this is a joke, it’s not funny,” Burt replied, now in serious tone.

“You’re right… it’s not funny. They met us outside the airport last night after we landed and spelled it out in no uncertain terms,” Jack said, now taking a sip of coffee.

“And what were those terms?” Burt said, now in a state of shock.

“Find the pyramid or Serena dies,” Jack replied bluntly.

Burt glanced over to Javier sympathetically as he slept. Looking back at Jack, he replied, “Are the police working on it?”

Jack only shook his head.

“NO POLICE!? Why?”

“They said if they even suspect the police are involved, they’ll just kill
her
and disappear,” Jack responded.

“This is crazy! This stuff only happens in movies, not in real life,” Burt blurted out, still in shock.

With voices growing louder and more intense with each sentence, Javier roused from his sleep. Rolling over, he stared at the two men through bloodshot eyes. Wiping the dryness from them, he sat up.

“Javi, I’m so sorry about Serena. Why didn’t you tell me?” Burt asked.

“There was no time and I didn’t want it getting in the way of you negotiating for the permits,” Javier responding, still half asleep. “How are those going by the way?”

“Slow,
but progressing, as we discussed
. You know the laws here in
Greece
… they’re pretty restrictive and my clout only goes so far. I’m working
my
connections
right now and I think I’m close to working out a deal, but
there are
still a lot of details that need to be sorted out,” Burt said, cryptically.
“I thought I’d have them signed by now, but I ran into more
'
road blocks
'
over the past couple of days.”

“That sounds distinctly shady, Burt,” Jack said, too tired to be polite.

“It is, Jack. We’re trying to get a permit FAR outside of channels. I’m working at getting an existing permit I have amended to include our research and future excavation. There’s a lot of graft and payola that’s happening behind the scenes to get this done, otherwise we wouldn’t even have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a permit on its own merit,” Burt explained.

“Huh, interesting. I never would have guessed there was a shady side to archeology,” Jack said.

“If you look deep enough, I’m sure there’s shady side to just about everything,” Burt responded.

“Burt, I know you’re doing your best, but is there any way to speed this up?
"
Javier asked, his voice filled with worry. "
Serena’s life is at stake
.”

“I was hoping to sit and relax with you two today, but with this new development, I’m sure that’s the last thing you’ll be doing. Are you heading down to Kalamos today?”

“As soon as we can. I’ve set up a charter flight to better familiarize ourselves with the area,” Javier replied.

“You know, I was looking at all the data again the other day. While you’re there, you should do a pass-over of the
Palaiopli
area too,” Burt suggested.

“You think you found something?” Javier asked, his anticipation growing.

“I’m not sure. As I was reviewing the topographical maps and local nautical charts for sea depths, it fit our criteria for the possible locations of the pyramid,” Burt said.

“Well, we’ll be in that area anyway. I’ll make sure we snap some photos of it,” Javier responded.

“And I’ll try to make some progress here while you’re gone. I have a few people I can call. A couple of them owe me some favors,” Burt responded with a knowing smile.

“I appreciate that
,
Burt. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but right now, the only thing that matters to me is getting those permits and fin
ding that pyramid,” Javier said.
“If it even does exist.”

“Javi, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now, but try to stay positive. That pyramid does
exist. I’m quite certain of it,
”
Burt responded, confidently.

As Javier’s mind raced with worry, he flashed Burt a positive smile.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Kythira
,
Greece
 

Jack sat in the co-pilot seat of the Cessna 1
8
2 and waited excitedly for the pilot to finish his takeoff checklist. He glanced back at Javier
who was in
the rear seat bus
ying
himself with his data. Turning back to the pilot, he watch
ed
him finish the item
s
on the list, then stow it in his shirt pocket. With his preflight duties complete, the pilot advanced the throttle and headed down the runway.

Looking around, he watched the mountains in the distance pass by as they traveled down the dust
-
covered runway. Seconds later, the pilot pulled back on the control yoke and they were airborn
e
. Instantly, Jack could see the water all around him. A minute later, having reached a thousand feet, the pilot banked toward the
east
as they headed for Kythira’s eastern coastline. In just over two minutes, the small four-seat plane crossed the coastline and headed south.

Looking over to Jack, the pilot announced, “It’s all yours.”

Jack excitedly grabbed the controls and turned as Javier directed him.

“Ok
,
Jack, see the bay below? Drop down to six hundred feet and fly as slow as you can, like we discussed,” Javier shouted over the sound of the engine, while readying his camera.

“Will do,” Jack replied.

Quickly, Jack cut the power and lowered the nose of the plane. In less than a minute, they were skirting the coast line, heading south.

Flying at six hundred feet above the water, the terrain inland was nearly at their altitude. Jack then slowed the plane to
sixty
knots, reducing the speed enough for Javier to photograph the complex terrain.

Starting at the bay north of Avlemonas, they traveled south along the coast. Almost continuously, Javier snapped photos on his digital camera. As he saw points of interest, he switched between lenses for higher resolution. While recording notes feverishly into his audio recorder, he kept an eye on the video recorder mounted from the rear seat. Like a man juggling plates, he kept a continuous balance between the various recording media.

Within
a few
minutes, Jack had flown the entire stretch of coastline and was now passing Kalamos at the southern tip of the island. Calling out to Javier, he said, “Turning inland… heading north.”

“Ok
,
Jack, can you parallel the coast two miles inland?” Javier asked.

“No
problemo
,” Jack shouted back, over the roar of the engine.

As Jack and Javier concentrated on their task, the charter pilot monitored Jack’s piloting and watched for nearby traffic, occasionally pointing out targets on approach to Kythira airport.