Tomb of Zeus (Atlantis) (23 page)

“Ok, first, a little background. With Poseidon’s crystal, we were able to find his pyramid using several clues, the most important one coming from the crystal itself. On the surface, when viewed in the right light, one could just make out a tiny trident recessed just below the surface. The trident typically represented Poseidon and his power in all inscriptions about him… except on the face of the crystal. There, it represented the exact location of his burial chamber.”

“D
on’t tell me there’s a symbol for Zeus too, embedded in his crystal?” Jack asked, now visibly anxious.

Javi rotated the crystal globe and placed it under a desk lamp. Suddenly, a small glint flashed from the surface. Taking a magnifying glass, he held it over the spot. All four now instinctively moved closer to see the finding.

“It’s a tiny golden scepter!” Helena shouted excitedly.

“This just keeps getting cooler and cooler,” Jack responded, now grinning ear to ear.

Javi smiled proud, still holding the magnifying glass.

“But it’s not located on Atlantis,” Duni announced, his eyes mesmerized by the sight.

Helena refocused hard. Her heart now skipped a beat at the new revelation.

“What is that?” she asked, now staring at the strange landmass etched into the surface of the globe.

“Not what… but where?” Javi replied. “If my guess is correct, that location, my friends, is Greenland.”

“Greenland? Home to ice, snow and cold? That Greenland?” Helena asked in disappointing tone.

“That’s the one,” Javi smiled.

“How the hell are we ever going to find his chamber in all that ice and snow?”
she asked.

“It’s very simple really. The Atlanteans were water people, so any civilization they personally buil
t was located close to shore. The site of his burial chamber is located at the northern most edge of Greenland… and,” Javi paused for dramatic effect, then continued, “…and, he’s also buried in a great pyramid made of gold.”

“
No freakin’ way! Gold?” Jack blurted in shock.

“
Yup, that’s what it says, according to the data on the hieroglyphics,” Javi said, nodding enthusiastically.

“Ah ha, so that’s what they were talking about,”
Duni responded.

“What do you mean?
” Jack asked.

“I was able to translate some of the hieroglyphics. I saw the symbols that talked about the gold pyramid. I just thought they were referring to th
e one inside the crystal globe,” he explained.

“
That’s what I thought too, Duni, but after further digging, I found an obscure grouping of hieroglyphs that indicated his chamber was at the base of a great structure of gold. That structure was marked by a pyramid symbol,” Javi responded.

“
Voilà, we have our golden pyramid,” Jack said.

Helena’s heart was pounding. Unable to contain her joy, she hugged and kissed Jack.

“Man, we need to find more of these,” he joked, wiping lipstick from his lips. Turning to Javi, he continued, “Any idea how cold it gets in Greenland?”

“From my preliminary research, I believe it gets quite balm
y in the summertime,” Javi said cryptically.

“How cold is balmy?” Jack asked, understanding the hidden meaning.

“Well, in Nord, about fifty miles west of the pyramid, it can climb as high as forty-five degrees.”

“That’s not too bad,” Jack responded.

“The bad news is it’s still winter there,” Javi revealed.

“Well, at least we’ll have time to plan,” Helena said.

“We?” Javi responded, now puzzled. “Helena, I’m sure you may want to come, but I’m quite certain your government won’t approve. This is not only out of your jurisdiction, it’s about three thousand miles out of your country.”

“The heck with my job, I can find another. This is an adventure of a lifetime. You wouldn’t want me to miss out on something like this, would you; especially after all we’ve been through?”
she said in compelling tone.

Jack wrapped his arm around
her shoulder and looked to Javi for approval.

“Welcome aboard,”
Javi said, smiling to both.

Atlantis, Greece

Papyrus Café

Helena sat at an outdoor table. Arriving early for her 10am meeting with Christian Laikos, the director of operations at the Department of Tourism, she ordered a coffee and stared out over the ocean bay with dread. The previous month had not gone well for Javi and Jack, as their plans to search for Zeus’ pyramid in northeastern Greenland encountered one delay after another. With the operation proving very costly and with time running out, there was now a real possibility that everything could be put on hold for another year while the team waited for more favorable conditions to occur. She knew all too well from dealings with Karl Sita, the high priest of the Society of Arae, that he’d view the negative reports with great dismay and would see her as increasingly ineffective. Watching the waves break onto the shoreline, she worried about being replaced.

“That can’t happen,” she said to herself aloud.

“What can’t happen?” Christian asked, startling Helena as he quietly approached her table.

“Christian!” Helena blurted, “You scared me.”

He smiled dryly, then took a seat across from her, placing his cell phone on the table beside him. Helena pointed to a carafe of coffee at the middle of the table.

“Care for some? It’s fresh,” she offered in cordial tone.

“I’ll get to the point,” he responded bluntly. “Give me an overview of the progress.”

Helena shifted nervously in her seat, cleared her throat, then spoke.

“Well, as you know, we entered what we thought was Zeus’ chamber, but it turned out to be just a shrine…”

“We know all about that you idiot. You
are
aware what listening bugs are used for, right?” Christian cut in impatiently.

Helena shot Christian a look of anger, then quickly recovered.

“Yes Christian, I’m well aware of their purpose,” she responded, struggling to sound pleasant. “Anyway, after Jack thwarted our men’s plans, he and Javi began planning for the search for Zeus’ pyramid in Greenland.”

“Hmm, that was an unfortunate event, losing our team like that. Frank
Chelmsford was a good man. Bad break that Roberts guy surviving, but I guess no one could’ve predicted that.”

Helena nodded, then said,
“From what I’m hearing, the money to fund all their activities is coming from various organizations, as well as governments, but there’s not enough to cover both the Atlantis pyramid and the new expedition to Greenland. Both Javi and Jack are using some of their own personal money to keep the operation moving forward, but theirs is just a drop in the bucket compared to what they really need. Because Greenland is so remote, the cost to fly there, set up camps for excavation, fly in equipment, fly in extra personnel, and manage a whole assortment of other considerations, is far beyond anything they can afford.”

Helena stopped a moment, then continued:

“To make matters worse, the summer season starts in a couple of months. They had hoped to have everything in place before then, to take advantage of the warmer weather and extended hours of daylight, but it’s looking now like they might not even be able to finalize their arrangements till the end of summer when the weather will grow increasingly unstable and the daylight hours will only shorten by the day. I think the two are considering postponing the search until next year, that way they can obtain more sponsors and plan the timing correctly. Honestly, with all the work that needs to be done, it may not be a bad idea to wait.”

“Out of the question!” Christian roared back,
furiously. “That’s not just a bad idea, it’s a terrible idea. This operation
will
happen on schedule.”

“But Sir, we have only two months to organize. We’re going to need more time…
a lot
more time,” Helena contended.

“I’ve been an archeologist for more than thirty years. Been on countless excavations. Managed thousands of projects as Director of Operations. I know exactly what an expedition like this will need… and more time is not it.”

Helena swallowed hard, then asked, “So what do we do?”

“Most issues can be cured with an infusion of
cash. So, you’ll be telling Mr. Arista and Mr. Roberts that a ‘wealthy and concerned’ citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, has contacted you through me and has made a great donation to insure the expedition’s success in the name of ‘historical preservation’. Next, we’ll be setting up most of the arrangements, that way we can control the work being done from our end. You can tell Arista and Roberts you took some initiative, and planned it all out. They’ll be impressed with your abilities,” Christian said in mocking tone.

Helena felt insult
ed once again, but held her tongue.

“For ‘safety’ reasons, we’ll be hiring a new team to help with the excavation,” he added.

“Safety reasons?” Helena questioned.

“Yes, safety. That’s how you’ll label their presence. For us, we want to insure no one gets in our way. A new team will accomplish that, and assure us that we have complete control at all times.”

Helena nodded, then realized another problem: “I hate to mention this, but there is an issue with permits.”

Christian gave an assuring glance.

“We heard about those issues and have already taken the necessary steps.”

“Which are?”

“My people tell me you’ll be using the Nord Station airstrip to base your operations out of. It’s controlled by the Danish Air Force and is located roughly fifty miles from the excavation site. Right now, it’s currently used for scientific experiments and also a waypoint for occasional military operations. We already contacted the Danes and they’ve ‘approved’ us for its use,” he said, cryptically.

Helena smirked at the ef
ficiency of Arae as Christian continued.

“The site of your expedition is located in the Northeast National Park. Although we needed approvals to operate there, once the park officials learned of the nature of our business, access was granted almost immediately. Again, when you inform Mr. Arista and Mr. Roberts of these new details, you’ll be telling them that you did this on your own initiative. All must seem reasonable and logical. Are we clear on this?”

Helena thought about the details Christian just listed and realized she was responsible for none of it.

“You guys have done a lot of work behind the scenes. I hope this doesn’t make me look incompetent. I hope Karl understands I’m doing my best. When you see him next, can you let him know I’m really trying?”

Christian looked down at his phone, then back to Helena.

“I think you already did,” he responded matter-of-factly.

Across the street, at a small café, Karl Sita sat and read the local paper. In his ear was an earbud synchronized to his phone. Hearing the last comment spoken, he glanced over at Helena with condescension. He merely shook his head in disapproval and continued to read his paper.

----- ----- ----- -----

One month later…

Atlantis, Greece

April

Javi, Jack, Duni and Helena sat in front of the set of three computer screens and studied the plans for their future expedition to Greenland. With a recent infusion of cash and their action items miraculously and mysteriously accomplished in short order, the team had little else to do but pack.

Jack stared at the
monitors and shook his head in amazement.

“This is unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trip come together so quickly. It’s like everyone was just waiting around to satisfy our requirements: from cash and pe
rmits; to flights and equipment; everything just fell into place,” he said with a satisfying grin.

“I’ll say
, and we owe most of it to this little dynamo,” Javi added, flashing Helena a tremendous smile. “You did a remarkable job at finding resources. I used to be afraid of the Department of Tourism, but I think my position has quickly changed. Great job, Helena.”

Helena smiled broadly and said,
“Thanks guys, I’m just glad I could help. I can’t take all the credit though. My contacts at the Department are the ones that made it all happen.”

“You’re just being modest,” Duni responded. “You’re contacts might have provided the leads, but you’re the one that did all the leg work and made all the arrangements.”

Helena sat strangely quiet and smiled uncomfortably.

“Duni’s right. Finding us another sponsor was huge, but then finding us an outfitter who could manage the expedition while we worked on the technical aspects of it, was the difference between us going this year and having to wait a year. Besides, who wants to worry about whether or not we packed enough spoons or toilet paper. It’s so awesome that
you found someone to do that for us,” Jack added.