Agent with a History (19 page)

Iya’s temper flared. He wasn’t a man that
could tolerate being dictated to, much less being ordered around,
even if he was planning to do what was being ordered of him. He was
prideful to a fault.

“She is my daughter and I will decide her
fate not you! The man is my guest. It is hard to find a good chess
player and he plays chess very well! Better than you I think. They
live until I say otherwise!” Finished Iya, angrily thumbing his
chest with a fist.

The Heinrich fellow wisely retreated nodding
deferentially before moving away. Iya may have thought he won the
test of wills, but everything the slim man did seemed calculated to
some as yet unseen endgame.

I glanced down to see Flint’s eyes open. Two
of my brothers were approaching. We didn’t have long to talk.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.” He
whispered up at me.

More tears came to my eyes. “Yes you did! In
so many ways you have, but now it’s time to let me protect you!
Remember what I said about this place?”

He nodded, “Where’s my case?”

I glanced up in time to see one of my
brothers toss the case into the water.

Flint saw him do it too. “How deep is that
water?”

I looked at him curiously, “I don’t know
exactly, but I’d say it’s pretty deep, why?”

My brothers were getting close.

“Because in” He glanced at his watch,
“Fifteen minutes you’re going to have a diversion worthy event,
when you’ll be able to freely do whatever it is you can do to
destroy this place!” His hand gripped my arm tightly, “You must
destroy this place, even if it means we go up with it! So many will
die if you don’t!”

My hand squeezed over his on my arm and I
whispered back, “I swear it on my love for you.”

My brothers were beside us and one of them
was Marshawn.

“Help me get him up Marshawn and then I’ll
take him from there.”

He looked at me dubiously, but with his
characteristic easy grin he complied with my wishes.

“Way to go backing the old man down like that
sis! I didn’t think anyone could do it.”

I met his eyes boldly, “I didn’t back him
down. He still intends to kill us. All I did was buy us some time
and if you’re as smart as I think you are Marshawn, you’ll do the
same.”

He gave me a curious look as he helped Flint
up to his feet. Flint’s arm came around my shoulders, but I could
tell he was trying to not put too much of his weight on me.

“Stop being a fool and put your weight on me!
I’m strong!”

His face was whitish and I knew he was in
pain, but he smiled anyway, “Yes there’s no doubting that. You’re
strong in more ways than one.”

He settled more of his weight on me and
together we started out across the floor towards the golden pillars
that Iya and Heinrich were already disappearing through.

“What are you planning?” He whispered when we
had gained a little distance on our guards.

“Just trust me.”

He chuckled “How the tables have turned.”

He groaned as we started up the stairs and he
had to lift his leg up. I cringed with every step that he took. Was
it always like this that you felt the pain of the one you
loved?

We made our way through the row of golden
columns to the large cavern beyond. The artfully crafted treasures
of centuries were piled high throughout the room. Gems of
unimaginable proportions and quality were everywhere, but it was
the gold that caught and shown in the crystal refracted light that
took the breath away. It was everywhere.

“Your ancestors managed to pile a few things
away over the years it would seem.” Flint muttered
sardonically.

“This place wasn’t always so littered with
stuff. It was created by one of the first Candace’s as a sort of
haven away from the public’s eye. Much later when the empire was
starting to fade, most of the treasures you see were brought here
for safe keeping.”

“A very interesting tale detective Taranto,
but as amazing as this treasure room is, where is the rest of the
treasure?” Heinrich asked.

I stopped our progress through the room.
“What?” I asked dumbly.

I looked around me, was the man blind or just
insane? There was an incalculable treasure of antiquity to be found
all around him and he was asking for more.

“I must applaud your acting skills, but while
this treasure is indeed marvelous it cannot be the sum and total of
the treasure rumored about over the years. Where is the gold, or
should I better put it, where’s the unrefined raw gold? That is
what I’m most interested in.”

This man wasn’t going to take no for an
answer even if it was the truth. I glanced around again and in the
process caught a glimpse of Flint’s watch. I had just over eight
minutes. An idea crystallized in my brain spurred on by the little
man’s greediness.

“Very well I’ll take you to the rest of the
treasure if you promise that my friend and I can go free and live
comfortably for the rest of our lives.”

“But of course! It is the least that I could
offer. You have my word.”

I hoped my face didn’t show the skepticism I
had at the reality of the unfaithfulness of his words.

“Sheba’s throne will reveal the
treasure.”

Heinrich actually looked excited in a sort of
sick psychotic way, as I started heading on through the treasure
room to an overlooked pillared doorway at the far end of it.

I caught a glimpse of my father’s face. He
looked puzzled, good! I hoped he stayed that way.

“Do you think you could put on a little
speed?” I whispered.

“Will do.” Flint said through gritted
teeth.

We made the doorway and walked on through. I
kept tugging Flint onward an off to the side of the royal throne
room, as everyone else pretty much came to a stop and starred in
wonder at the royal dais situated on the other end of the room.
Even Flint seemed sucked in by the fascination of gazing at it and
the image that dominated the wall beyond the throne.

Flint looked surprised, when I leaned him up
against the pillar of a side doorway. He glanced at the doorway; it
was the only one on this side of the royal chamber room. The other
side had five doorways. His eyes met mine in sudden knowledge that
this was the place I had told him of.

“Remember?” I asked.

“Yes, but I’m not going to be able to
run.”

“I have a plan.”

Marshawn was still gazing distractedly at the
glory of Sheba’s throne and the massive golden image of an earthly
woman’s beautiful face set off against a background setting of
precious stones.

He was surprised, when I abruptly caught him
by the throat and dragged him closer, “What’s it gonna be Marshawn,
pawn or something more?”

“What?” he asked surprised.

“To put it in my father’s vernacular, I’m the
queen and thus the most powerful piece on the board. In father’s
way of thinking your nothing but a disposable pawn Marshawn. I
think you could be something more than that, a bishop or rook
perhaps. A chess piece that has more control over its own future
Marshawn.”

“You forget who moves the pieces dear
sister.”

I shook my head and pointed to Flint, “Not
anymore.”

Marshawn glanced at Flint and then back at me
and tentatively asked, “What’s my move?”

“A bishop or a rook while powerful can only
move in two directions and thus they are vulnerable.” I pointed to
the group still gawking over the throne room and then to the
darkened doorway. “A Queen can cover you from every angle
however.”

Marshawn glanced nervously at Flint guessing
that his purpose was to help him, “How long?”

“Seventeen seconds.” Responded Flint.

Marshawn nodded, “Okay.”

I let go and moved off towards the group. I
moved through them until my back was to them, as I mentally ticked
down the seconds. I reached zero, but nothing happened. What had
gone wrong?

“Well what are we waiting for?” Thundered
Iya.

“Perhaps your daughter can answer that. Tell
me dear have you been waiting for a bang?” Heinrich asked with a
nasty smile, as he held up a device that I guessed was Flint’s
bomb, the timer had been stopped.

“What’s going on here?” Iya bellowed.

“Oh everything is quite under control Mr.
Muatombo, although, I have to say that your services will no longer
be required.”

Heinrich clapped his hands sharply and thirty
or more heavily armored men poured into the room, with guns trained
on Iya and his sons.

“We had a deal Heinrich! Don’t think that I
haven’t taken precautions against something such as this from
happening.” Iya bit out stone faced, as he was relieved of his
pistol.

Heinrich just shook his head. “You actually
think yourself intelligent Iya, don’t you? You’re nothing but a
mindless brute, not that I mind, our organization has been making
good use of individuals like you to do the dirty work for a long
time. You’ve been nothing but a pawn in our game all along.”

Iya completely incensed started for Heinrich,
but Heinrich just smiled, “Unless you’ve discovered a way to walk
through bullets I wouldn’t if I were you. You’re too much of an
arrogant fool to even put a vest on like our smart friend over
there in the corner. Now there Iya, is a smart man, as is the whole
organization behind him. Discovering the treasure is the crowning
achievement of my career, but capturing him is no small
accomplishment either.”

Iya looked confused, “You’re not a
banker?”

Heinrich threw back his head and laughed
unpleasantly. “Flint tell him. Educate the mindless Jewish brute,
if you can.”

“I’m not Jewish!” Growled Iya.

“Oh yes you are! Their blood runs thick
within your veins!”

Something seemed to dawn within Iya’s eyes,
as he glanced at Flint.

“Yeah that’s right Iya; you hopped into bed
with a bunch of Nazis’ this time, bum move on your part.” Flint
responded to the unasked question.

Heinrich looked displeasingly at Flint, “I
don’t care for your vernacular much Flint! I’ll see you suffer for
that comment especially. We do not associate in any way with filthy
Jews!”

“You collaborate with them to steal their own
gold don’t you?”

Heinrich smiled and shrugged, “I have to
admit the legitimacy of that point I suppose. I take comfort in the
fact that all this stolen wealth will single handedly usher in the
dawning of a new Reich. This time we will succeed not only in our
conquest of any and all that oppose us, but also in the complete
annihilation of your filthy kind!” He finished, fairly spitting out
the last few words, with caustic venom lacing his tone, even as
hatred shown from his eyes.

Iya had regained control and his face was a
mask as he asked, “If you feel so strongly against me, then why am
I still alive?”

“Perhaps because I wish to relish watching
you suffer, as the treasure you have spent your whole life
coveting, is taken away piece by piece. Now for a man like you that
will be torture. There is also the matter of your wealth. You are a
very wealthy man in your own right and even with this fabulous
treasure we, just like you, can never have enough money to satisfy
us. Once we have all your wealth we’ll let you die, painfully that
is. A man of your size will take some time to starve away I would
imagine. Now while this is all amusing it’s distracting me from my
main goal!”

Heinrich wheeled around to face me. “You will
show me the gold now and as a favor I’ll let you have a bullet
between the eyes and thus let you avoid having to witness your
lover’s torture, as well as experience your own.”

The depth of this man’s darkness was beyond
anything I had ever encountered. The cold look of his eyes left me
chilled and I turned away toward the distant throne determined to
end this monster’s reign, before it ever got started. The cold
grasp of his hand on my arm stopped me and I glanced back into his
snake eyes.

“Do you take me for a fool, make believe
queen? Tell us where it is and my men will go on an attest to your
honesty, while you stay here.”

I coolly gestured toward the throne. “The
gold chambers lie beyond the throne, but only a Candace may go near
the throne, any others attempting it will find their way into an
early grave.”

“We’ll see about that. You, you and you go
check out her story.” Three of the armed men stepped over the gold
link chain that divided the room and started out across the large
square marble slab floor.

A slab flipped vertical on one of the men and
the man’s cries faded, as he fell headlong down into an uncharted
dark void below the floor. The other two men paralyzed in fear
stood where they were. Heinrich practically screamed,

“Well, go on!”

The farthest man took a step and the tile
held for a moment and then abruptly flipped. The man fell through
it as he tried to catch himself, but his head banged off a floor
slab.

He fell unconscious into the depths below the
floor. The last man, with a panicked cry ran back toward us and on
his third step a floor slab he’d already walked on before,
unexpectedly flipped and he fell. He tried grabbing onto the slick
marble but it was too slippery and with one last horror stricken
glance at us, he fell screaming into the abyss.

Heinrich turned to me and backhanded me
across the face. “Why didn’t you tell me the floor was rigged?”

“Because I was hoping you would be fool
enough to step out on it!” I fired back. “Only a Candace may
approach the throne of Sheba!” I reiterated.

He pulled a pistol and pressed the muzzle to
my temple. He was furious, any angrier and he’d be frothing at the
mouth. He moved the pistol away to take aim on Flint.

“Can the floor be fixed?”

“Yes, it can but only from the other
side.”

“Then go fix it and if you betray me again,
your lover will pay the penalty most severally!”