Curse of Atlantis (8 page)

“I picked up the crystal from the bank and when I stopped at the electronics store, they grabbed her and took the crystal. They told me they’d call here with more details,” Jack said, frantically conveying the details.

“Did they say when?” Javier asked, now on the edge of hysteria.

“I’m sorry Javi, they only said that they would call. I’m sure we’ll hear from them shortly,” Jack replied.

Javier glanced at the phone on his deck. Reaching for it, he said, “I’m calling the police.”

“Hold on, Javi. They said
'
no police.
'
If you call
,
they said they’d kill her,” Jack warned.

Javier sat back down in his chair. He thought about the previous exchange. Shaking his head, he blurted out, “So what… we just sit here and wait? Kidnappers always tell you not to call the police. It’s an old cliché. The fact is they may never call.”

He stood up from his chair and paced the floor. Turning back to Jack, he said, “I’m sure they’re still on the island. If I call the police now, we’ll have a chance to catch them.”

“Javi, these aren’t your stereotypical thugs looking for ca
sh. These guys are professional:
they’re calculating. Think about it. They could have muscled us out of the crystal a week ago, but they didn’t. They patiently waited a week for us to expose the crystal, then they made their move… without violence. When they found out that they also needed the scrolls to find the pyramid, they could have just used Serena and me as hostages in exchanged for the scrolls, but they didn’t do that either. They simply grabbed her and told
'
us
'
to find the pyramid for them. I’m sure as long as we cooperate, Serena will live.”

“That’s assuming we even find the pyramid. It might not even exist
. What happens then?
And what do you think will happen if we do find it? Surely once they have no more use for us or her, they kill her. In fact, they’ll probably kill all of us,” Javi said, his own words sending a shiver through his body.

“I won’t deny there’s a huge risk in not contacting the police, but I really think that if they feel threatened, they’ll just kill Serena, split up
,
and find their way back to Russia,” Jack stated bluntly. “And let’s face it, when they grabbed her, they knew they weren’t going to just stick her on a commercial flight. When they took her, they must have known
how to
get her off the island without being caught.”

Javier’s emotions roiled inside
of
him. He visualized his daughter’s death and its image burned in his mind. Although Jack’s argument sounded logical, the intensity of his fears pushed Jack’s words far from his thoughts. In an instant, he made up his mind to call the police.

Suddenly, the phone rang and broke the eerie silence between them.

Javier quickly reached for the phone and answered.

“Hello, this is Javier Arista,” he said, trying to sound in control.

“Dr. Arista, by now, you must be well aware that we have your daughter, Serena. I will give you my word, if you cooperate with us, no harm will come to her. Shall I continue?” the Russian voice began.

“Of course,
just don’t hurt her. I’ll do whatever you want,” Javier responded desperately.

“Very well… the plan is simple. We will hold your daughter until you find the pyramid. Once the entrance is located, we will quickly move in and extract the antiquities that my employer determines to be the rarest and of most interest to him. What is left will be yours, including your daughter. Do we have an arrangement?” the Russian voice asked.

“What choice do I have?” Javier replied, his voice filled with resignation.

“None. I
f you choose to complicate our arrangement with a call to the police, you will leave us with little choice but to withdraw our offer. Without a need for your daughter, her life could be in jeopardy. Is this unclear in any way?” the Russian voice asked, sternly.

“Yes, it’s very clear. I promise I’ll cooperate. Just don’t hurt my daughter,” Javier replied. “Where do we go from here?”

“Fly to
Greece
. We’
ll contact you after you arrive. Once there, we’ll require status reports of your progress. This is all for now. Further instruction will follow. Is this unclear in any way?” the Russian voice asked once more.

“No,
I understand perfectly
. We fly to
Greece
and someone will contact us. I keep you guys informed of our progress,” Javi paraphrased.

“Yes
, very good. Any questions?” the Russian voice asked.

“Yes, can I speak with her
?
I need to hear her voice,” Javier pleaded.

“Of course, we are not barbarians,” the voice replied.

A moment later, Javier heard Serena’s voice.

“Dad? You there?”

“Honey, are you alright?” Javier asked, feeling some relief with the sound of her voice.

“I’m scared, Dad.”

“It’ll be ok,” Javier replied, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “Jack and I will find that pyramid. Have faith… be strong.”

“I love you, Dad,” Serena said, her voice fading as the kidnappers pulled the phone from her mouth.

“I love you too, honey,” Javier said, his voice cracking as he held back his tears.

“Dr Arista, fly to
Greece
. We’ll be in touch,” the voice said simply and hung up.

With the sickening sound of the
silence from the phone
, Javier placed the handset back on the receiver. Placing his hands to his eyes, he wept, unable to hold back his emotions any
longer
. Jack reached his hand out and gently placed it on Javier’s shoulder.

“Javi, don’t worry. We’ll find that pyramid. What’s more, we’ll find a way to get Serena back. Nothing else matters,” Jack said delicately, hoping to sooth Javier’s pain.

Nodding his head through his tears, he repeated Jack’s words.“Nothing else matters.”

The flight from Turks and
Caicos
Island
was long. Nearly twenty-two hours after leaving the small island in the
Caribbean
, the flight crew of the British Airways 747 announced they were now on approach to
Athens
International
Airport
in
Athens
,
Greece
. Anxious and exhausted, Javier stared out the window at the bustling metropolis and noticed the ancient ruins he
had
visited so many years ago. His memory of
them
was vivid. Nearly twenty-five years before, he had visited the ruins while on vacation with
Berta
and Serena. While walking through the Parthenon, he had snapped a photo of Serena standing innocently near a column. The sweet face of his little two-year-old was burn
ed
in
to
his memory forever. Now, as he stared down at the ruin
s
, his heart ached at the thought of that sweet little face in trouble. Bringing his hand
s
to his face, he covered his eyes and quietly wept.

Seated next to Javier, Jack witnessed his suffering and rested his hand on his shoulder.

“We’re almost there. We start ou
r search tomorrow. Don’t worry. W
e’ll
save her
,” he said in
a
consoling tone.

Javier shook his head as he struggle
d
to gain control.

“I’m a mess, Jack. I can barely function right now. My baby is out there somewhere and I feel helpless to save her. The odds seem overwhelmingly against us,” Javier said tearfully, his desperation now evident in his voice.

Jack thought for a moment, then spoke:

“When the odds are against you, you have to dig deep… deeper than you thought was in your power. You have to find that inner strength and use it to focus on what matters. It’s only then that you’ll have clarity. Right now, your mind is racing. Find that inner strength and focus
on what matters most: finding that pyramid. T
hat’s all we can do to save her,” Jack said, his voice soft, yet determined.

Javier wiped the tears from his cheeks. Staring out the window, he thought of Jack’s words. They made sense to him.

Turning to Jack, he replied, “You’re right. Let’s focus and get this done. That pyramid IS all that matters.”

Jack shot Javier an approving smile, then pointed out the window.

“There’s the airport. We’ll be down in five. With any luck at all, we’ll be sleeping in less than an hour. I think we could use a good night
'
s rest,” he said, hoping to take Javier’s mind off the obvious.

With a simple nod of acknowledgment, Javier sat up straight, tightened his lap
belt,
and prepared for landing.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Within ten minutes of landing, they pulled their luggage from the baggage carousel and headed for the rental agency.

“I hope the car’s ready. I’m
wiped out from stress,” Jack said
.

“It’s all reserved and ready to go, so we should be out of here fairly quickly,” Javier responded.

Suddenly, a voice called out for them.

“Dr. Arista? Mr. Roberts?” the voice said from behind them.

Quickly turning around, a tall man in a suit stood holding a small sign with their names hand written across it. With a limousine driver
'
s cap tucked up under his arm, there was no mistaking what he was.

“Sirs, your limo is waiting,” the tall young man said

“Limo? We didn’t order a limo. We have a car waiting at the rental agency. Who sent you?” Javier asked, suspiciously.

“A Dr. Burt Samuelson sent me to pick you up,” the young man replied.

“Huh, Burt sent us a limo… nice,” Javier said, then added, “but what about our car?”

“He’s made other arrangements, Dr. Arista,” the young man replied with a confirming nod.

“Well, lead the way,” Javier said, shooting Jack an accepting smile.

As they exited out the doors of the airport, they instantly felt the blast of hot air from the mid-summer evening temperatures. Registering nearly one hundred degrees, their bodies immediately broke out in a sweat from the shock of leaving the cool air-conditioned airport.

“Phew, I forget it was going to be this hot,” Jack said.

“
It’s not normally this hot. It’s just a fluke
,” Javier responded simply.

“The limo is just up ahead. The A/C’s on and has cool beverages in the bar if you’re interested,” the young limo driver offered.

“Ah, that must be it,” Jack said, pointing to the only limo in sight.

“Yes
,
sir,” the man responded simply.

Moments later, the young man popped the trunk and loaded Javier’s and Jack’s baggage. Coming around the side of the car, he pressed a button to unlock the rear door. With a cordial smile, he opened it and motioned for Javier to get in.

“That’s very kind of you,
” Javier paused, waiting for the young man to offer his name.

“Anatoly,” the young man replied.

Javier shot the young man a worried look, then said, “Your name sounds uniquely…”

“Russian,” a voice called out from inside the limo.

Sliding toward the entrance, a dark-suited man extended his Glock 9mm pistol.

“Please
,
get in,” he ordered, trying to sound firm, yet amicable.

Javier shot Jack an uneasy stare. Jack in turn nodded in acquiescence. As the two entered the limo, two men in dark suits sat stoically across from them, both clutching handguns. Jack immediately recognized the taller of the two men:
Dimitri
.

Jack’s eyes
apprehensively
scanned from one gun to the other.

“Do these frighten you?” the shorter of the two men asked. “Please forgive their unpleasant air, but these are required for obvious reasons.”

Both Javier and Jack nodded nervously.

“Gentlemen, I’ll get straight to the point. The globe is exquisite. It has made a great addition to my collection. Unfortunately, I mistakenly thought it was the only key to the location of the pyramid. Fortunately, your daughter
,
Serena, informed my astute associate of my oversight. After she explained to him that we needed both the crystal and the scrolls to find and unlock the pyramid, he knew we had only one
-
half of the puzzle solved.

“Now, he could have just used Serena to extract the scrolls from you. It would have been a simple matter of swapping one for the other. But, my quick
-
thinking associate realized that having both the crystal and the scrolls would not be enough to find Atlantis. There would be the not
-
so
-
simple chore of deciphering the ancient language. I’m quite certain that my connections would yield a man capable of translating the hieroglyphics, but why would we want to waste months, if not years
,
accomplishing this task when we already know someone who has translated them for us.”