Pyramid of the Gods (5 page)

Chapter Eight

“My patience is wearing thin, Mr. Caine!” Motumbo warned.

A pair of torches carried by his men made his features, and especially his blood-rimmed eyes, look diabolical
.
“I will ask you one last time, and then the fun will begin. We’ll take the one you call Ishi outside, strap him to one of your metal walkways, and take turns shooting off body parts. Great enjoyment for us all, and it could take hours before he finally dies. So, where is the gold?”

We stood in what seemed like the exact room we visited thirty minutes earlier. I say ‘seemed’ since we came in the same entrance, walked down the same tunnel, climbed over the same debris, and...found ourselves standing in an enormous
empty
room. Barren and clean, as if nothing—including several millenia of dust—had ever been there.

It wasn’t possible...no frigging way does a room spanning a soccer field go from crammed full of an array of gold items to nothing. But it did. Or, somehow we got turned around and ended up in a different entrance, tunnel, etc. Following the pair holding the torches gave a slightly different feel as compared to the more powerful halogens we used earlier. Still, too much evidence said we were in the right location. Besides, while the ancients loved to drive home a point in their pictographs, they weren’t OCD about it. And whatever the translated story turned out to be from the tunnel wall’s images, it was definitely the same one we viewed earlier.

“Well, where is it?”

I glanced at the dozen men who accompanied us inside the dig site. Rifles poised at our heads, the wrong answer could speed up the death sentences for us all.

“It was here...and now it’s gone.”

“
Yes, that’s the same bullshit you’ve been feeding me for the past ten minutes. Take Ishi upstairs!”

“
Wait!”

“
For what reason? Unless you are prepared to tell the truth, we are done here.”

“
Do you believe what you said about Sekhmet, or was
that
a bunch of bullshit?”

Honestly, the question disappointed me. It reeked of desperation as it tripped out of my mouth. But it was based on logic, even if stretched. Motumbo had shown reverence in speaking of Sekhmet outside the dig perimeter, though at the time I dismissed him as being an arrogant dumbass. But, his aversion to getting too close to the half lioness/half human glyphs along both walls in the tunnel gave me an idea, and a sliver of hope.

The look on Motumbo’s suggested that I’d hit a nerve. I tend to do that. “What in the hell does Sekhmet have to do with your deceit, Mr. Caine?”

I glanced at my three companions, whose gazes were locked on me—including Akiiki’s. He seemed to have lost some of his confidence, perhaps realizing the likely execution of my little buddy loomed ahead. Or maybe what happened here was freaking him out. After all, he was the first among us to see and touch the gold.

“Sekhmet might have everything to do with my perceived deceit. Then again, I’m not the one who first brought her up...you did.”

Wrong response, and if I had to do it over, I would’ve turned on the charm instead.

Motumbo nodded thoughtfully, or so it seemed. But the hazel in his bloody eyes suddenly ignited as if on fire. He barked a command to his men in a Sudanese dialect, and the guns trained on our heads drew closer. Akiiki understood what was said, and his expression told me what to prepare for.

Shit!

“If I knew where it disappeared, I swear to God I’d tell you!” I said, as one of the guards flanking me grabbed my arms to drag me to the room’s exit. Ishi and Marie received similar treatment, while the bandits to either side of Akiiki wrapped a rope around his neck. “You don’t need to hurt anyone! We’d tell you if we knew where it was!”

“
You, Nick Caine,
don’t
get to call the shots!” Motumbo crowed. “We will conduct our business the Darfur way.”

A blow to the side of my head announced the end of our conversation. Before I could muster anything else, the four of us were dragged out of the chamber, up the tunnel, and out into daylight. The sun’s searing heat bore down upon us, and the bandits stationed around the dig site pulled us up by our shirts, nearly tearing Marie’s and Ishi’s off their backs.

Never before could I recall feeling as helpless as I did then...I couldn’t come to anyone’s rescue, and the anguish I felt toward Ishi was majorly compounded for Marie. The rage and despair I felt was unlike any emotion I had ever experienced, and when our adversaries brought us to our camp I knew we were out of time. It was now or never, and I swung a leg to trip the bandit on my right, and rammed myself into the guy to my left, driving him into the sand. If I could only free my hands...

I went for the dude’s knife with my mouth after kicking him in the face.

A scarab knife to my neck ended that futility.

“
I must admit to admiring your spunk, Mr. Caine. At least to some small degree,” said Motumbo, dragging me up by my collar and bringing his shit-house breath up to my face. The scarab etched my skin along my throat, with a rivulet of blood following immediately after. “But unless you can find a way to make your treasure reappear, or even better, tell us truthfully where to find it, you and your friends will die.”

He released me, laughing as he pointed to the fire pit we had used to cook the past two days. A large pot had replaced the rack that held our kettles and pans over the pit, and two of the men were tending to a fire. It seemed a bit early to be cooking supper...lunch, perhaps?

“
I think if we shoot Ishi, it would be a waste of meat. And if we eat Ms. Da Vinci, then we miss out on other fun we can have with her,” he said. The soulessness of his tone sent a shiver up my spine. “As delicious as your brain may taste, Mr, Caine, I think we shall start with...” he turned and pointed at Akiiki, “...you.”

Motumbo rushed up to him, and, to our horror, stabbed him in the abdomen. It was beyond cowardly, and he twisted the scarab’s blade while grinning into Akiiki’s surprised face.

Akiiki fell to his knees before collapsing on the sand, a crimson stain spreading fast.

“
Oh, he won’t die yet,” said Motumbo, threatening Ishi with the knife before wiping the blade across my little buddy’s chest. I could tell from Ishi’s expression he was about to lash out at our tormentor. I kicked a small spray of sand at him, and shook my head subtly when he looked at me, his eyes dark with rage. “But Akiiki will die soon. Say what you must to him today, and the wound will bleed out slowly. He should be ready for butchering tonight, and in the morning he will be breakfast. Ishi will provide our midday sustenance, and by nightfall, my men will have tired of your woman, Nick. We will roast what’s left of her...alive.”

He stepped over to me again.

“Then comes you,” he said, almost nonchalantly. “We will slice you like an apple the following day, from morning until dusk. Or...you can tell us where the gold is, and we will let the three of you go, and satisfy our hunger with just the Egyptian.”

“
Like I told you—”

“
Yes, I know,” he interrupted me. “You don’t have any fucking idea where it is. A shame. Really.”

He invaded my personal space once more.

“To show the good will I sometimes have toward my fellow man, I will remove your bonds this night,” he said. “I will also remove the woman’s and your monkey-friend’s bonds. But the sooner you tell me what I want to know, the sooner you may leave. Otherwise, here is your mirror—here is what you all are destined to become.”

He pointed the scarab at Akiiki. The color was fading rapidly from our guide’s countenance, along with his life force. He would certainly die sooner than Motumbo predicted, unless we could stop the bleeding. But all that would do is prolong the inevitable.

I heard the bonds sliced away from Marie and Ishi, though I scarcely acknowledged it. Instead I was drawn to Akiiki’s bravery and his labored breaths.

His death would be the first and surely not the last tragedy in this now-cursed place. We had already lost a treasure beyond anything we would likely see ever again, and now I was faced with losing my best friend and my new love.

Life sucked right about then.

Chapter Nine

I’m not the superstitious type.

In fact, I’ve always prided myself on not giving into superstitious notions like curses, spiritual intervention, or prayers to some benevolent but vaguely defined deity.

Hard work and keeping one’s eyes open for opportunities, when such events present themselves, has been my personal creed. I admit to rarely thinking of anything beyond the next dig or exploratory adventure through some uncharted jungle. So, when I comforted Marie in what I assumed would be our last night together on earth, I felt shamed by my fervent, silent pleas sent heavenward for her and Ishi’s survival.

Marie fell asleep in my arms, since I was reluctant to let her lay by my side. My right arm had fallen numb when I was awakened shortly after midnight. At first, I thought it was another dreamscape featuring my father again, with yet another helping of sage bullshit on how to escape this latest misadventure I had stepped into. But two heavily armed guards stood behind the kid who nudged my feet and legs. Their guns were pointed at my midsection, and in broken English, they told me to get off my ass and follow.

Motumbo, of course, was waiting for me to take a seat in the tent his men had set up for him the previous afternoon. A wooden crate used as a table was all that separated us, and a kerosene light was the lone item gracing the crate’s surface.

“Nicholas, how nice!”

“
What in the hell do you want?” I responded icily.

“
I like that about you, Nick...all business,” he said, chuckling. He took his seat across from me, lighting up a cigarette. After taking a drag he offered the fag to me. I shook my head. “Suit yourself. But, all this suffering can be avoided if you just tell me what I want to know.”

“
Do you think I want to watch a man die? Akiiki may be dead already, and Ishi will be next. All for what? Some asshole’s refusal to comprehend that none of us know where Sekhmet’s goddamned treasure disappeared to!”

He didn’t respond right away, and I waited for him to motion for the bandit in the doorway to put a bullet in my head or bludgeon me with a rifle butt.

“Yes, it is the story you stubbornly maintain—one that cannot be confirmed,” he said, smiling at me, despite the ever-present anger in his eyes. “The problem is you did see the gold, and undoubtedly could give us a detailed description of the legendary items we seek. We are agreed that wherever the gold resides, it is substantial. As for the truth? The light in your eyes this afternoon, when we had our first discussion, told me a great deal. If we had found your hiding place by now, we wouldn’t be bothering to keep you comfortable while waiting for you to come to your senses, Nick. Innocent blood is on
your
hands, and more blood will be shed.”

Unquenchable wickedness in the eyes, death in the menacing tone. A true sweetheart in every sense of the word.

“Yeah...you’re right. I hid it,” I said, feeling my blood boil. “I found myself a fleet of semi’s and loaded everything up while you were taking a piss!
Of course,
I didn’t hide
anything!”

“
I could gut you like a pig myself, and serve your sides as bacon at sunrise!” he sneered, rising from his chair and leaning over the table. I sensed the guard behind me moving closer.

“
Maybe,” I countered bravely. “But you still won’t have your loot!”

“
Maybe I should awaken Ishi, or better yet, the whore you seem most fond of,” he said, blowing a stream of smoke in my face. Insult to injury. “We don’t have to wait until morning.”

“
Harm them and I’ll close down harder than an old oyster,” I said, giving him the same menacing tone. “Like I said, I have no fucking idea where the gold disappeared to. But, if you harm Ishi and Marie in
any
way, even if I do happen to think of a handy clue, I’ll take it with me to the grave! You got that, asshole?!”

Hard to say how much English the guard understood, but apparently my heated enunciation was enough to piss him off. He brought a machete over and cupped it under my left ear, against my carotid. I leaned into it while never removing my angry gaze from Motumbo. A bloody stream flowed down my neck. I began to smile as Motumbo looked taken aback. Furious, he waved the guard off.

“Ghafur will take you back to your tent,” said Motumbo. “I need time to think, and so do you, Nick Caine.”

“
Like you, I’m not exactly doing cartwheels knowing the gold is missing,” I said, as the guard forcibly removed my ass from his boss’s presence. “If I figure it out, you’ll be among the first to know.”

* * *

Another guard joined Ghafur as he escorted me back to my tent. All the while, my heart thudded mightily. Not fearing death at the hands of either miscreant, I worried about the fate of Marie and Ishi. It was a foregone conclusion Akiiki would die during the night...if he hadn’t already expired.

I doubted I’d sleep any more that night, and planned to scheme some way out of our unfortunate predicament. The three of us needed a way of escape, although a plan was not yet apparent.

The glow from a moon two days past its fullness bathed the desert, and the light crept in under the ledge above our camp. I wondered if Akiiki had died, and if Ishi shared his tent with a corpse. As we approached the tent on the way to mine, it seemed unnaturally still. Empty. I entertained the fantasy that Ishi had escaped, as his light snores I’d become accustomed to were absent. While it was possible he slept deeply that night, it was just as likely he lay awake, listening to me slow down as we reached his tent. I wanted to send a message for him to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, but had no means to safely convey it.

A gun barrel jabbed my ribs from behind when my pace slowed to a shuffle. No longer restrained by bonds, I could take my chances with the pair. But both were armed with assault rifles and swords. I might beat one, but the odds of beating two were not worth the gamble.

We arrived at my tent, where I prayed Marie slept in peace, I glanced toward the dig site. Not sure why, or what it was that drew my attention to it. Maybe it was the man standing at the mouth of the hole my companions and I dug into the sand two days prior. The man wore a sly grin, and I was surprised to discern it from that distance. It made sense once I recognized the figure.

Dad?

Almost solid in the moonlight, the apparition reached up and tipped its hat, and the smile widened. Garish since the pallid face bore empty sockets. Nonetheless, I drew hope from seeing it. Especially, when neither of my escorts seemed to notice, their carefree strides through the sand not slowing as they hurried to deliver me to my temporary haven. Knowing how skittish most native peoples are of nightly specters, they might’ve left me standing in meaningless freedom while they ran for cover. Then again, they were bandits...and bad people generally fear nothing other than the end of their own lives.

The pair waited for me to step inside the tent. For a moment, I feared they might follow me in. Hell, it would be easy enough to club me over the head and have their way with my unsuspecting sweetheart. I guess I could call her that, since it sounded less restrictive than the usual possessive terms we both loathed like ‘girlfriend’ or ‘my woman.’

Thankfully, neither one stepped beyond the threshold, although both peered into the tent, surely trying to catch a glimpse of her prone loveliness. I glared at them and pulled the entrance flap shut, securing it tightly in obvious contempt for their prying eyes.

I could hear Marie’s steady breaths. She was at peace for now. Stirring as I climbed under the covers, I kissed her cheek. I detected the faint outline of her smile, and pulled away before she could discern my worried frown.

Prepared to fight to the death for her and Ishi, I let her snuggle against my chest. When she fell into deeper sleep, I let my thoughts run free, considering every event since we’d left Cairo. I needed to find something overlooked. Something to give me an angle to play against Motumbo and his cronies. Something known to my father’s ghost, perhaps?

Whatever the case, there had to be an edge too obvious to see at first glance.

There just had to be.