A groan of frustration went around the wardroom.
Ryan raised his palms. “This just means that Alexander the Great never knew, that’s all. It’s his Codex remember, and his research. I suspect we’ll find the answer to this question and a whole lot more when we finally locate the Citadel.”
Reaper smacked his hands together. “And it all starts with the rings, mes amis!”
“So where are they?” Lexi asked.
“That’s the interesting bit,” Ryan said. “As we now know, Alexander only found one of the rings, but he moved heaven and earth to locate the other seven.”
“So why did we only find one on him?” Lea asked.
“Because he died before he could secure them for himself, and then he had their location buried with him in this Codex.”
“I ask again,” Lexi said with a sigh. “Where are they?”
“According to Alexander, the seven rings had traveled down through the ages and found their way into the possession of various great rulers — Tutankhamun, Ramesses II, and Akhenaten in Egypt, Cyrus the Great of Persia, Romulus and Remus in Rome and King Sudas in India. Alexander the Great’s ring makes eight.”
“But if I’m not very much mistaken,” Lea said, “all of those people’s tombs have been opened and catalogued.”
Eden shook his head. “Not when Alexander was alive, no. He spent his life searching for them and never found them.”
“But today, yes, they’ve been found and excavated.” Ryan said.
Lexi looked confused. “So the rings could be anywhere?”
Ryan smiled. “These tombs have been discovered and opened and their contents catalogued, but there are problems. First, there’s never been any way to tell if they’d been raided before their official discoveries, and second, many of the relics from these hoards were stolen after their discovery. What we can say is that the rings Alexander described never made it to the official inventories of these hoards.”
Eden tried to control his excitement. “But thanks to the Codex, we’ve been able to ascertain that the rings are all very different in appearance.”
“And Alexander was very specific in describing them,” Ryan said. “So we took the descriptions of the various rings Alexander wrote in the Codex and got busy while you were all sleeping.”
Eden tossed his pen on the wardroom desk and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. “After a somewhat tedious process involving online searches and several telephone calls to various auction houses and security service contacts, I can tell you that the first ring is accounted for, so no groping around in dark tunnels.”
“I’m sorry for you, boy,” Scarlet said. “I know how much you enjoy groping around in dark tunnels.”
“Pack it in, Cairo,” Lea said.
“And pack your bags, too,” Eden said. “Because you’re going to Malaysia.”
“Eh?” said Hawke.
“Malaysia,” Eden repeated. “One of that country’s richest criminals is an avid collector of ancient world relics and we’ve already worked out that he has Tutankhamun’s ring. He’s especially obsessed not only with ancient Egypt but also with anything from Sumer or the Indus Valley, and he’s rumored to have some sort of a god-complex. Thinks he’s descended from a long line of Sumerian gods.”
“That makes even your ego look normal, Cairo,” Ryan said.
“Not even bothering to look at you, boy.”
“Where in Malaysia?” Hawke asked.
“We’re not one hundred percent sure because he has several properties in the country, but he, and more to the point his guards, divide most of their time between his luxury apartment in the Petronas Towers and a large rubber plantation in the Temenggor jungle.” The corner of Eden’s mouth twisted up as paused a beat, and then he said, “So guess what?”
“We’re paying him a visit?” Reaper said.
“You are,” Eden added. “There is no way for us to know in which of the properties he is keeping the ring. However, we think it’s more likely he’s securing it in the diamond safe in his apartment in the towers, so you’re going there first. I’ll stay here on the Duncan and work on the location of the second ring.”
Eden saw the concern on their faces as they learned the Codex would be out of their hands. “We’ve made a copy of the Codex so Mr Bale here can work on it while you’re on the road, so to speak, but it’s worth all of us remembering that this Codex was in the Oracle’s hands for more than long enough for him to make his own copy and work out the location of the rings just as we are doing.”
“In other words,” Lexi said, “this is going to be a race to the finish to secure the rings and find the gateway?”
“And one hell of a battle,” Hawke said.
“And if that weren’t bad enough, there’s more,” Eden said. “In the last hour I received a call from Alex Reeve in the United States. You’re all aware that she’d heard rumors about some kind of plot?”
Lea nodded. “That’s why we sent Kim and Camacho over.”
“Right,” he said firmly. “It appears we’re no longer dealing with simple rumors. Alex had been briefed by US Secret Service Agent Brandon McGee concerning quality intel regarding the plot. It appears it’s real and that the Vice President is behind it, but we’re very short on details.”
“Oh my God!” Lea said.
“Exactly my sentiments,” Eden said. “Kim and Jack Camacho are on their way, but this has the potential to turn into something very nasty indeed. Of course, I’ll be monitoring it and will keep you updated, but for now I want you to focus on the rings.”
Lea could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Thanks, Rich.”
Hawke looked his team in the eye. “It’s time to start that battle.”
CHAPTER NINE
The US Marine Corps Super Stallion raced over the surface of the warm waters of the Malacca Strait on its way to the military airbase at Kuala Lumpur. Crossing the border over the private island resort of Pulau Tengah, Hawke was astonished all over again by the beauty of the Malay Peninsula.
Tropical white-sand beaches lined with coconut palms encircling emerald-green isles were jewels set in a dazzling turquoise sea, but things became less beautiful as they flew at low altitude over Port Klang. He saw jaded, crumbling buildings and pot-holes in the streets, but no one else was looking out the windows. Sitting in the back of the heavy-lift cargo chopper, the rest of the team had prepared for the landing and were sharing a few laughs. Even Zeke and Nikolai, both of whom had begged to come on the mission, were settling in and sharing jokes.
Scarlet was searching through her pockets for a lighter while Reaper was studying Lexi’s new steel fingernails. He called them talons and she nearly slapped him, but then laughed. Lea and Ryan were leaning back in their seats with their eyes closed, trying to get some shut eye before the trouble started. If this was like any other mission, sleep would be hard to come by for the next few days, and something told him it was going to be a hell of a lot worse than just any other mission.
On top of the worries here in South East Asia, he was also thinking about Alex and what his old friend was up against in Washington DC. Sending Kim and Camacho back was a good move by Eden. Both strongly trusted by the President and Alex, either would fight to the death to protect him. He just prayed it wouldn’t come to that, and cursed Faulkner for trying to get Brooke out of the Oval Office. What the hell was going on over there? He had no idea, but at least now it was all starting to make sense. The US black ops guys who attacked Elysium must have been sanctioned by someone near the top, and now that someone had a name: Davis Faulkner.