Gods and Men- The Hank Boyd Omnibus, page 9
part #1 of Gods and Men Series
“Now!” Kane yells.
Suddenly, I’m jerked up and out of this horribly close call with death, landing right on top of Kane. I grunt and moan in pain as my shoulder was just seconds away from dislocating, and boy do I know what that feels like. Reliving the pain I felt when I busted my other shoulder ten years ago is not something I want to go through ever again, especially out here with no hospital close by.
Do we even have a medic around?
Clutching my shoulder, I roll off Kane and try to catch my breath. As I hit the gleaming platform, I see that he not only landed on my dad but on top of Nicole as well. She slides out from under the two men and stands, staring at me. I’m not sure if it’s a heated stare like it was my fault I almost fell into an ancient death trap.
“You okay?” she finally asks, the glare instantly switching to one of concern.
I nod my head still unable to speak. The pain is radiating down from my shoulder, all the way to my fingers. I flex the joint, massaging it, trying to ease back some of the stress in the appendage. With every knead the pressure slowly starts to lessen. So does the ache.
Thank God…
Nicole checks with the others and then turns to leave, back towards the incline.
“Wait,” I say, dragging myself to my feet. I cross the base of the orichalcum slab to where Nicole is standing, her back still to me. I put my hand on her shoulder, and she glances back over it, so we meet, eye to eye.
“Thank you.” It’s all I can say, but it’s a hundred percent genuine.
Her eyes dart back to the square hole in the orichalcum, where the omega symbol used to be, and then back up to me.
“What happened?” Her question is sincere and in no way directed towards me. She gets that I did nothing wrong and everyone else involved—myself included—she’s curious as to what exactly just transpired.
“Some kind of trap door,” I reply, running the possibilities through my head. “Or perhaps some sort of hidden entrance.” She nods in agreement. Which of my answers she agrees with, I don’t know, but I’ve already lost interest in that conversation, my mind has struck something else.
“Do we have climbing gear and a heavy-duty winch on hand?” I ask.
She nods. “Why?”
Seeing the twinkle of mischief in my eye, Nicole just nods again and sprints away, back towards one of the many tents. I can already hear her again shouting orders to a few of the men as well, but this time with more gusto…if that’s even possible.
“What are you up to, son?”
I turn and find Kane helping my father up. He dusts himself off and rolls his neck side-to-side, clearly sore from the dog pile.
“Why do you want a winch?” Kane’s eyes go wide as he asks the question. He had what looks like both fear and wonder etched into it.
Dad sees his reaction but still hasn’t figured out my plan yet. “What do you need it for?”
Kane looks to my dad and then back down towards my near grave. “He’s going back in.”
19
“Absolutely not! You almost died, and you now want to climb back in?”
I’m stepping into a climbing harness provided by Nicole, doing my best to ignore my father’s rant. He’s none-to-pleased about me wanting to explore the newly found space.
“I want to know why I almost died and who is responsible,” I say, calmly. “Plus, it’s kind of why we’re here isn’t it?”
Dad isn’t even trying to listen to me, so Nicole, who is already in a second harness, looks up at him. “Dr. Boyd, we are here to find out what exactly we have, yes?” She snaps the last of the buckles on my left leg’s support and stands. “You are correct to be nervous, Hank almost fell, but we still have a job to do. We have all the necessary equipment and manpower. There is nothing else we can learn from up here.” Her crisp tone deflates Dad’s outburst. He relents and closes his eyes, dropping his chin to his chest, defeated.
“Dad?” I say in a solemn tone. He looks up and sees me face-to-face with him. “I wouldn’t do this if I thought it would end badly. Either way, someone has to go down there, right? Why not me? Isn’t that why I’m here?”
He slowly nods. His body language looks tired and beaten.
“Look, you and Omar stay topside for now and figure out what all this says.” I wave my hand at the engraved relief. “We only have a small portion of it recorded, and barely any of it translated. Nicole, Kane, and I will take a little spelunking tour below and be as careful as possible.” I give his shoulders a squeeze, but he grabs me and pulls me in, hugging me. I just stand there, not returning the embrace. This isn’t exactly in character for him.
“Just come back to me, okay?” he lifts his now tear-filled eyes, and for the first time in years, I see genuine emotion from the man.
“Dad, I’m fine. You saved me just now.”
“I was about to drop you, Hank. If Kane hadn’t arrived when he did…”
Wait a sec... Hank? Did he just call me Hank? I’m honestly thrown off. I’m not even sure he knows he called me that. I’m about to comment on it, but decide now isn’t the time.
“The point is…” I pat his face. “I’m alive because you hung on for as long as you did. Imagine if you weren’t there…” I let the last part hang in the air for a moment.
He nods and stands up straighter getting some of his determination back.
“Why don’t you get some rest and go check on Omar. I think Kane may have hurt his feelings a little.”
This actually gets a chuckle out of him.
“What can I say? Omar is a little thin-skinned for you boys.” He smiles at me and then reaches out for Kane’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Kane. I’m in your debt.” Then looks to Nicole. “And yours.” He gives me a curt nod and heads back up the ramp and into the main examination tent.
Nicole steps up beside me. “You okay?”
I choke out my words a little taken back by my dad’s sudden emotional outpouring. “Yeah…I’m fine. Shall we?”
Ever since Mom died, he’s closed himself off a little, not letting conversations get to the point where he’d have to show that side.
“You want my hankie?” Kane asks with a little boyhood teasing infused into the jab.
“Um, no,” I quip, “it’s filled with fat guy sweat remember?” I then give him a pat on the stomach, a smile blooming on my face. He looks as though he’s about to protest my calling him fat, of which he obviously isn’t, but I don’t give him a chance.
“Get the winch up and going, will ya?”
The winch system is attached to a massive dump truck which rumbled into place a few minutes before Dad’s tirade. I whistle with admiration over the sheer size of the thing. It could easily hold a bus on the other end let alone a few people.
“Well, it’s big enough,” I say still staring at the house-sized vehicle.
“Just a little precaution on my end,” Kane replies.
“How much cable do you have?” I ask.
Nicole answers, her knowing everything about the site's equipment. “Each of our three trucks on hand is equipped with five hundred feet of cable, why?”
I step up to the five-by-five opening in the orichalcum slab, taking three glow sticks out of my pocket as I look down. I then crack each of the long slender rods and shake them. The fluorescent orange glow grows brighter with each agitation. Once the chemical mix is at its peak, I hold out my arm and let go, counting the entire time as they fall.
As I get past the desired distance and keep counting, they finally stop, barely visible on the floor of what must be a vast chasm. I look back at the others. “Because we’re going to need more.”
“How much?” Nicole asks, shocked.
“Give or take, another five hundred feet,” I answer a little shocked myself.
“Are you kidding—a thousand feet deep! What the hell is this place?” Kane exclaims. “You do realize that’s a hundred stories down?” He shakes his head. “Has anything ever been discovered that deep that wasn’t a natural formation?”
I shrug. “No idea. I doubt it though.”
I step back away from the drop and clench my teeth. I look down at my hands and see them shaking a little. It’s not much, but it’s enough.
Geez, I think. Get a hold of yourself, we aren’t even in the hole yet.
I turn to Nicole.
“How long before our A-Frame is up and ready?”
“The engineers are finalizing construction now and will install it shortly. So…” She checks her watch, “maybe twenty minutes before we descend—thirty tops.”
“Alright guys, let’s use that time to finish suiting up and get our gear in order.” I look to Nicole. “I assume you have travel packs with food and supplies on hand, ready to rock?”
She nods.
Kane finishes locking everything in place on the truck winch and stands. “I’ll get another spool rigged and get our stuff, Hank.” He then heads back to the examination tent where we left our own packs.
“So, what’s his story?” Nicole asks in a hushed tone, staring at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Him? He’s on loan from the government—most likely the CIA. Haven’t gotten him to cough up that much yet.” I tug on my harness, thoroughly inspecting it. “He’s sort of like our personal one-man army. Met him in the hospital after the attack in Algiers and he’s been glued to us ever since. Hates being referred to as, the muscle, or anything that implies he has bricks for brains. We are his new assignment.”
“Must be nice,” Nicole says, a newfound look of respect for the big guy on her face.
“Yes and no,” I answer. “Yes, because we have some backup just in case something else happens.”
“And no?” she asks.
“No, because…I’m not sure I want to be around when Mt. Kane blows its top.” I give her a smile.
“So, does he?” she asks.
“Does he what?”
“Does he actually have bricks for brains?”
“Funny enough, no. He’s pretty sharp in a clumsy Shrek kind of way, but the guy knows his stuff.”
A beat of silence goes by, just the hum of electricity and the desert breeze.
“What about you?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“What’s your story? Why are you here?”
She looks away, a little uncomfortable with the question.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“No, it’s fine. I thought you knew already.” She looks back to me. “I met your father a few years back on a project in Spain. Nothing special, just a small dig near the coast. My husband was his project leader at the time…”
Husband? I look down at her left hand. No ring…
My eyes go wide. Spain? Dammit… I know this story.
Five years ago, Dad was called to Spain by a colleague in Europe. He said they may have found something of significance, but needed his expertise. His project leader, Tomas Andersson, another Swede, was already there getting everything in order, just like Nicole was doing here. Dad got the call ten minutes after his plane landed.
There was an attack on the site by an unknown party, no one was said to survive, except Nicole, who they found shot and left for dead next to her already murdered husband. The site was ransacked and everything of value stolen, and everything else was torched. I didn’t hear anything about the woman after that. I assumed she recovered and went about putting her life back together. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
She finishes, and I’m about to say something, but she cuts me off. “Before you ask, no, I don’t know who attacked our camp.”
I have my mouth hanging open like a guppy, not having anything to ask now. Then something hits me.
“What did you find in Spain that required my father being flown out on less than no notice to go see?”
“We found a coin,” she says, flatly.
“A coin?” I ask a little surprised. “Ancient coins are found all the—”
“It wasn’t just any coin, Mr. Boyd.”
“Hank,” I say.
She nods. “It wasn’t your average coin, Hank…” She pauses, collecting her thoughts, navigating through painful memories of tragedy, death, and loss. “My husband and I thought the coin was Atlantean.”
As soon as the word Atlantean leaves her mouth, a single, shocking thought snaps into my mind.
Zero.
20
“Dad, you and Omar are coming with us. Get yourselves geared up and ready to drop in five.”
My father looks confused, the request punching him in the gut. And, well, Omar… He looks like he’s about to vomit. A lot.
“Harrison, there’s no way I’m going down there. I’m not about to kill myself like you three are—”
“William,” interrupts a small voice from the corner of the tent.
Dad looks over and sees Nicole leaning against a table, staring at the floor. Her eyes are lost in remembrance, no doubt thinking of her murdered husband.
She looks up at Dad, her eyes wet, tears forming. “We think this could be related to Spain.” A look of pain shoots across her face like it hurts to even mention the country.
This gets my father’s full attention considering it was his expedition that was lost and his friends that were killed. He walks over to Nicole and puts a fatherly hand on her shoulder.
“Harrison?” he asks, apparently wanting me to explain instead of making Nicole.
“We think Zero hit the dig site in Spain five years ago. Nicole said that she and Tomas believed the coin that was taken was Atlantean-made.”
Dad looks down at Nicole. “What? Why didn’t you say anything then?”
Nicole shrugs. “Because it was a professional death sentence if we announced it then. I mean Atlantis…really? Who would have believed us? But…in the end, we didn’t get deep enough into our examination to find out anything else.”
Cough.
We look over and see Kane fumbling with his hands.
“Yes, Mr. Kane, would you like to share something?” Dad asks, his tone serious.
“Zero did, in fact, attack your camp in Spain.”
If there were crickets in the desert, you would’ve been able to hear them from a mile away. No one says a word. We all just stare at the big guy, waiting.
“Like I said before, we’ve been monitoring their actions for years and tracking their hits, but we had no idea what was taken from your dig. No one did. That is…until now.” He motions to Nicole. “I didn’t even know that she was a part of that excavation. She wasn’t on any type of roster or dossier that we saw.”
“She wasn’t on payroll,” Dad explained. “Just her husband. She came and helped us when she was on break from her studies in Germany.”
Nicole takes over. “I was twenty-two at the time and studying Maritime Archaeology in Munich—specifically ancient seaside cultures. Atlantis was always a romantic idea of mine, but not now. It’s only brought me death and you…” she tips her chin towards me, “near death.”
Kane continues, “Believe me, if I had known about Nicole and her ties to you guys I would have used that intel earlier and come to the same conclusion. We may have saved some time, and you wouldn’t have even stepped foot in the Algiers airport. We would have put two-and-two together and flown you in ourselves.”
“So that’s why those men were after us?” Dad asks. “They found out that we were spearheading the dig and wanted to intervene.”
“Looks that way.” Kane answers. “Plus, it doesn’t help that this site is being collectively associated with Atlantis. Either way, I’m sorry I—”
“It’s not your fault,” I say. “You’ve done your job to the best of your knowledge. But, back to the mission at hand.”
“Yes, about that…” Omar says. “Why do you need us?”
“I need him,” I say, pointing at my father, “because, he has more brains than any of us combined and we’ll have no way of contacting base camp from below. I want whatever info he has to be by my side at all times.”
“And me?” Omar asks again, his voice cracking.
I look at Kane and Nicole and give them a wink, bringing a smile to Nicole’s somber face. “We need someone of your unique ability to carry our equipment.”
Omar’s face reddens, looking like an overinflated red balloon about to pop.
“Harrison!” Dad grumbles in a voice that reminds me of when my high school principal used to yell at us for skateboarding on school grounds.
“Fine! Sorry! Look, Omar, we’ll probably need you to translate things along the way. Dad and I can handle some of the basic languages, but we may need you to help with some of the trickier ones, okay? Plus, you’re documenting the whole trip, right? We’ll need you to record everything we find.”
Omar’s complexion finally comes back down to a healthy hue, he’s still not thrilled with the idea of rappelling into a hole the depth of the Empire State Building.
Honestly, I don’t think any of us are. But between the incident on the plane, the shooting at the airport, and what just happened here...how on Earth could anything else possibly go wrong?
21
The A-Frame positioned directly over the entrance kind of reminds me of a scene in Ghostbusters 2. The lovable Ray Stantz is hanging on a line, slowly being lowered down a hole in the middle of a busy street. He eventually finds a river of slime in an abandoned train station directly beneath him.
Hopefully, when I’m dangling like a worm on a hook, there won’t be anything down there to make me yell, “Get me out of this hole!” The most noticeable difference in our situation compared to the supernatural eliminators from New York is that our frame is really, really big.
It stands at an impressive twenty feet tall and another twenty feet wide at its base. It’s pyramidal in shape and made of titanium. Nicole had the science team do a thorough scan of the ground below to make sure it was solid enough to hold the frame’s weight. They said there were no more trap doors to fall through, believing we should be safe.
