The Last Chamber (15 page)

North Eastern Turkey

The enormous, snow-capped peak of Ararat loomed ominously up ahead. It
hadn’t taken long for Lindsey’s rented helicopters to take his team and
equipment out to the eastern edge of the country, near the border with Armenia.

The land was a hodgepodge of contrasting scenes. Much of it appeared
to be desert, but was mingled with rich, fertile farmland, vineyards, and
hillsides dotted with olive and fig trees. The plains leading up to the
mountain were a picture of desolation. At least, that’s the way Lindsey saw
them. He wondered how anyone made a living off the land in certain places of
the world. This was certainly one of them.

There were several small shanty dwellings here and there, most likely
homes of shepherds, considering one of the few signs of civilization they’d
seen were the flocks of sheep and goats milling around in large groups.

DeGard pointed to an area where a small church had been erected on a
hillside. It was built out of stones from a nearby hillside and topped with a
tin roof. The pilot took it down in a flat area a few hundred feet away from
the little structure. The second chopper followed suit and landed nearby.

A few moments later, Lindsey, DeGard, Will, and Kaba were moving
across the dirt field towards the church and several large stones that appeared
to some kind of monoliths. The other four mercenaries stayed back with the
other chopper.

The helicopter engines had quieted down somewhat, and the group was
far enough away that they could hear each other without having to yell.

“What are these?” Will asked DeGard, pointing at the odd stone that
jutted up from the earth.

DeGard had done a small amount of vague research concerning the Valley
of the Eight. He knew about what many called “the anchor stones.” But he wasn’t
completely convinced. Supposedly, there were several large stones in the area,
much like the one he was staring at currently. In ancient times, it was
purported that boats used giant stones to keep them balanced in rough seas. The
stones would be attached to long rods underneath the bow and would serve as a
stabilizer. While DeGard had seen several such counter weights before, the fact
that there were several in an area so far away from a major body of water
caused him both skepticism and curiosity.

“They are anchor stones,” he answered. “At least, that is what they
are said to be. I have a difficult time believing that for certain since there
is no sea near this location. Nor have any ancient boats been discovered here.”

A dirty boy in shepherd’s clothes and a ragged turban stood near a
wooden fence about twenty feet away. He watched the newcomers with wide eyes
and mouth agape, as if they were some kind of aliens come down from the
heavens.

Lindsey moved closer to the monolith. The object towered over him at
seven feet high. It featured several crosses engraved on the surface.

“Who put these here?” the old man asked, pointing at the carvings.

DeGard shrugged. “No one is certain. But they are done in the style of
the Templars. Many believe that this location was important to early Christians
because a significant Biblical event occurred near here. Of course, it could
just be superstition.”

Lindsey cast him a warning glance for a brief second. Then ran his
hand across the smooth stone. He traced the outline of the largest cross
reverently.

“There are several more of these anchor stones in the area,” DeGard
added. “However, this one is the most prominent. Some of the others are near
the town cemetery,” he pointed off to the east, “over there. And I believe
there are a few more just on the other side of that hill. If the clue we
discovered in Luxor was referring to a single anchor stone, this would be the
one.”

“You’re sure?”

The Frenchman’s shoulders rose slightly at the question. “Monsieur, I
do not know anything about this for certain. It is speculation. But if the clue
from the Nekhen ruins is pointing to something in this region, I believe it is
this stone.”

Lindsey examined the object for a moment then stepped around to the
other side, scanning every inch of it. Will and Kaba stood back as their
employer circled the monolith and returned to his original place.

He let out an exasperated sigh, and put his hands on his hips. “So,
what are we supposed to look for?” DeGard shook his head and threw his hands up
as if to say he was clueless.

“Do you have the stone?” Will asked, finally speaking up after
watching in silent frustration for a few minutes as the other two men spun
their wheels.

Both men turned around simultaneously. Lindsey spoke up. “Yes, Will. I
have it right here.” He fished it out of the navy blue blazer he was wearing
and held it out.

“What does it say, Professor?” Will had been absent during the
discovery of the round disc in the ruins of Nekhen. And he couldn’t read
Ancient Hebrew, like most of the normal world.

DeGard chimed in from memory. “Where the mountain rises through the
eye of the needle the—”

“What?” Will cut him off in mid-sentence. “The eye of the needle?”

“Yes. That’s what the man said, Will. What are you getting at?”
Lindsey’s voice was gruff as he spoke.

Will spun around and faced Kaba. “Come here for a second. I want you
to look at something.” She raised a suspicious eyebrow, but did as he requested
and followed him over to the stone.

There was a hole in the top of it that immediately caught Will’s
attention. It had been drilled through all the way to the other side of the
stone and was almost perfectly smooth. He thought it interesting that something
so old could have been done with such precision. More than just being a point
of curiosity, it gave him an idea.

“Here,” he said to Kaba and cupped his hands near his thighs. “I’ll
give you a boost. I want you to look through that hole at the top and tell me
what you see.” She gave a quick nod, understanding what he was getting at, and
a second later she was peering through opening.

“I just see a spot on the mountain,” she reported, unimpressed. Will
let her back down for a moment and stepped over to one of the black duffle bags
they’d brought from the helicopter.

He fished out a pair of binoculars and handed them to Kaba. “Try it
again, this time looking through one of those lenses.”

They repeated the procedure, but this time she peered through the
cavity with one eyepiece of the binoculars. She breathed slowly to try and keep
steady as she peered through the stone at the mountain. She made a few
adjustments of the lens to clarify what she was seeing.

“There is an indention. It might be a cave.” Her voice was audibly
excited. “It is up near the snow line, but there is definitely something there.
Seems like there might be a place to land the helicopter near the anomaly.” She
looked down at Lindsey with a jubilant expression. He smiled up at her. Will’s
arms were shaking, so he let her down to the ground once more.

“Good thinking, Will,” Lindsey said proudly. The old man beamed,
actually looking happy for the briefest of seconds. “Can you remember where
that spot is on the mountain?” He turned his attention to Kaba.

“No. But with this we won’t need to,” she pulled another device out of
one of the bags. It was a small, black box with what appeared to be a lens on
one end and a viewfinder on the other. “This will tag the location with a laser
and guide us to exactly where we need to go.”

Kaba motioned with a quick nod of the head for Will to boost her up
one more time. He obeyed, and hoisted her up to the hole in the rock. She
placed the device in position then pressed a few of the buttons before looking
through the viewfinder. Holding the thing steady, she pressed another one of
the buttons then hopped down. She looked at a small LCD screen on the top of
the object. A small red dot appeared in the center of it with a green dot off
to the right.

“That is where we are going. When we get there, this dot will be right
on top of the other. I suspect we won’t have to wait until we are that close
before seeing what we are looking for.” At her explanation, a corner of
Lindsey’s mouth curled into a smile.

DeGard stared at the mountain, dumbfounded. He was in nearly complete
disbelief that a non-scholar had been able to so quickly figure out the meaning
of the riddle. The rest had already started back to the helicopter, so he fell
in line behind them, trying to maintain his dignity by walking upright and
taking huge strides.

Lindsey made a twirling motion with his finger for the helicopter
pilot to start up the engine again. Moments later they were lifting off the
ground and moving towards the mountain. The dusty village passed below them, a
patchwork of stone homes, muddy roads, and old wooden fences. There were a few
antennas and telephone poles, evidence that the people at least had some form
of electricity, however unreliable it might have been.

Up ahead, the mountain grew larger in the windshield as they came
closer to the rocky slopes of Ararat.

“Head up that way,” Kaba said, now in the front seat next to the
pilot. Will, Lindsey, and DeGard had assumed positions in the back.

Off to the right of the helicopter, Will noticed a stone structure on
a hill in the distance. It resembled a fortress or a castle. He couldn’t tell for
sure.

“What is that?” he pointed out the window.

DeGard was sitting across from him. He leaned forward to see what Will
was asking about. It only took a second to recognize the old building.

“That is Khor Virap, just on the other side of the Armenian border. It
is a monastery for the apostolic church of Armenia.” He leaned back in his seat
as he answered.

“It looks old,” Will commented, still intrigued by the building. He
could make out the outline of a central facility encircled by a high rock wall.

DeGard let out a deep breath. “That’s because it is old. Khor Virap
was originally built at the time of Constantine, somewhere around 300 AD. It
was a castle and a prison, if I remember correctly. And I usually do.”

“Oh.” Will sat back and relaxed, letting the ancient church fade from
his memory.

The helicopter covered the expanse from the tiny village to the foot
of the mountain in a short amount of time. Then, it began the ascent up the
side. Kaba kept a close eye on the device, making sure they kept aimed in the
right direction. Random gusts of wind rolled down the slopes, causing the pilot
to have to work a little harder at his task. He made it look easy, moving his
feet and hands only a little faster to keep the machine flying level as it
zipped up the mountainside.

They passed 8,000 feet, and the wind picked up again, pushing the
helicopter sideways. But it kept pushing on.

“It’s just up ahead,” Kaba said and pointed out the windshield.

Snow was blowing down on them from above and decreased visibility. As
they reached 8,200 feet, a ledge cut deep into the side of the rock and opened
up a large, flat area.

Kaba tapped the screen on her device. “This is it.”

The pilot held the flying machine steady for a second before deciding
on a place to set down. There was plenty of space for them, but not the other
chopper. As the runners touched down on the rocky plateau, he radioed the other
pilot to turn back.

The rock landing ran to where the mountain sloped up dramatically.
There was, however, a huge chunk of rock that appeared to have been ripped out,
providing for a deep recess into the face of the mountain.

Lindsey and the others exited the helicopter and were immediately
greeted with bone-chilling winds that cut through their lightweight jackets and
coats. The pilot stayed with the chopper as the rest of the group quickly
scurried across the landing and into the cavity in the stone. As they neared,
the wind died down, blocked off by the overhang in the rock.

Kaba and Will both had bags with them and produced flashlights after
seeing how dark the inside of the cavern was. They continued deeper inside with
DeGard and Lindsey close behind. Once out of the blustery cold of the cliff,
they let go of their coats they’d been holding tight against their bodies.

“What is this place?” Lindsey wondered aloud. No one answered.
Instead, they pressed slowly on into the darkness.

Kaba handed him a flashlight so he could look on his own. Will did the
same for DeGard.

The four beams flashed around on the walls of the cavern as the group
continued to move further into the mountain. The walls were cut roughly into
the ancient stone. DeGard noted the extraordinary difference between the
carving here and at the ruins of Nekhen.

“It almost seems as if this place was created in a hurry,” he scanned
the jagged walls with analytic eyes. “It is nothing like what we saw before.”

“Maybe it was done with cheaper tools,” Will offered jokingly.

The humor was lost on DeGard as he ran his hand along the rough
surface. The room was twenty feet wide at its opening and maintained that width
for fifty feet, at which point it began to narrow towards the center. By the
time the group had reached the back of the cavern, it had slimmed to a
five-foot wide passage.