“Get back!” Hawke yelled, reaching for his gun.
The man dropped the blade and raised his hands. “I am no threat. I surrender.”
“What the hell just happened?” Lexi asked.
“He saved my life is what…” Lea wheezed between breaths.
The man stayed perfectly still, his empty hands still held high above his head. He looked down at the corpse of the man in black robes with contempt. “His name was Konstantin,” the man said. “And I am glad he is dead.”
“Who was he?”
“One of the Oracle’s closest guards, along with his brother Kazimir.” He nudged his chin at the dead man with the slashed wrists.
“And who are you?”
“My name is Nikolai, and I offer you my loyal service. If you want to kill me, then do so now.” He drew a sword from beneath his robes and handed it to Hawke. Kneeling before the Englishman, he pulled his robes forward to expose his neck. “But I beg you, make my execution fast.”
“No one’s getting executed on my watch,” Hawke said. “Least of all an unarmed man who just risked his life to save us. On your feet, Nikolai.”
The man stood, a look of grave confusion on his face. “I don’t understand. The Athanatoi would have executed you if this situation was reversed.”
“Which is exactly why we’re going to win this thing,” Lea said.
Hawke extended his hand. “And you’re welcome to join us, Nikolai.”
They shook hands. “My friends call me Kolya.”
“Then, thank you for saving my fiancée’s life. Kolya, but we have to go. Your Oracle has something that belongs to us and we need to get hold of it in a hurry.”
Nikolai looked concerned. “No, he does not have what you seek.”
Hawke and Lea exchanged a deflated glance. “Then where is it?”
A wise but mischievous smile appeared on Nikolai’s face. He reached into his robes and pulled out the Alexander Codex. “It’s right here, in front of your eyes.”
“Didn’t see that little baby coming!” Zeke said.
“I’ll say.” Ryan stared at the ancient codex. “Hello again, old friend.”
Nikolai handed the book to Lea. Hawke could hardly believe what had happened and got busy calling Eden back at HQ. “We’ve got the Codex,” he said into his mic. “Repeat, we have the Codex.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Royal Navy Wildcat hovered precariously above the warship as the pilot fought a strong crosswind. Regaining level flight he lowered the chopper through the air and touched down on the aft deck of HMS Duncan. The Type 45 air-defense destroyer was in the Aegean Sea on exercises when the Ministry of Defence had taken the call from Sir Richard Eden.
Lieutenant Brian Robinson met them on deck and after a short round of professional introductions Ezekiel and Nikolai were taken to their private quarters while the ECHO team were led into the ship and taken to the wardroom. When they stepped into the comfortable mess cabin, the familiar face of Eden was already waiting for them.
Hawke looked at Eden and laughed, repeating his words back to him. “I’ve got a little boat in the Med, indeed!”
Eden shrugged. “It’s not much, but it does the job.”
After a good-natured chuckle, Eden skipped the small talk and got straight to business. They all knew the value of keeping their humour, but the recent losses of Danny Devlin and Magnus Lund had made that harder than ever. “So, you have the Codex?”
Without speaking, Ryan slung the canvas bag off his shoulder and dumped it on one of the tables in the center of the wardroom.
“Little bastard’s in there,” Scarlet said. “Can you smoke in here?”
Eden shook his head and pointed to the large NO SMOKING sign on the door. Then he opened the bag and pulled the heavy, leather-bound tome from the tattered, dusty bag. Weighing it in his hands, a rare smile crept on his face. “Very good work, team. I am impressed.”
Scarlet sniffed. “Well, I don’t know about anyone else but that’s why I risked my life to get it back.”
Eden gave her a sour look. “It was merely a compliment, Cairo.”
Ryan laughed like a child and pointed his finger in her face. “Ha, you got told off by your boss.”
Scarlet tipped her head and pouted. “Go fuck a hot teapot, boy.”
“Damn!” Ryan said. “I knew you put a pinhole camera in my kitchen.”
Reaper howled with laughter and high-fived Scarlet while Eden shook his head and gave a long, disappointed sigh.
“And we’re the people who are going to save the world?” Lea said to herself.
Eden was sanguine. “Hey, it works, and getting back to the subject — have you had time to look at the Codex, Mr Bale?”
Ryan nodded and slumped down in one of the chairs. Lifting his dirty boots onto the table he crossed his arms behind his head and scanned the room. “But anything to eat around here?”
The Maritime Logistics Chef took one look at the dishevelled young man in the leather jacket and torn Megadeth t-shirt and raised his eyebrow. “Breakfast’s not for another hour.”
“Great.”
Eden cleared his throat. “You were about to tell us what you have derived from the Codex, Mr Bale.”
“Oh yeah, right. Sorry — I was thinking about food. Is it a cooked breakfast or that oatmeal crap?”
“A full range of breakfasts will be served, sir,” the chef said as he left the room.
“Back to work, Ryan,” Hawke said. “Tell the boss what you have so far.”
“First, according to Alexander’s writings in the Codex, King Midas was real and was also hunting the idols. Alexander wrote that Midas managed to secure three of the idols. Ra in Egypt, Brahma in the Indus Valley in north India and Pangu on the Tibetan-Chinese border. He then returned with them to Pavlopetri, but then the city sank into the ocean, taking with them the idols he had looted from Egypt and Asia.”
“Now that is bad luck,” Reaper said.
“It sure is,” Ryan continued. “And it helps clear up a long debate about whether or not Midas was real or a legend, and when he lived. Of those who say he was real, some say he lived in the second millennium BC and others much later. Now we know he was real and the fact he was in Pavlopetri before it sank dates him much earlier than we believed.”
Lexi yawned. “I wish I’d sat at the back now.”
Ryan frowned. “But Alexander knew from Midas that there were eight idols in total, the other four being Tanit, Tinia, Viracocha and Buri, but he never found them.”
“No, we did,” Lea said.
Eden was impressed. “Back in Athens you mentioned something about there being eight rings?”
“The Rings of the Gods,” Ryan said, his voice rising confidence. “I had snatched some info about them before Kruger stole the Codex from me. A longer reading on the journey here today has thrown more light on the subject. The Codex describes how there are eight rings to match the eight idols. There is almost certainly a link here to the eight gates surrounding the ancient city of Babylon and the eight-pointed rosette star of Inanna we see all over cuneiform tablets from ancient Sumer, some of which refer to gods who lived among the people and flew in the skies. Anyway, the number eight was highly significant to the ancient Sumerian culture.”
“The plot thickens!” Scarlet said.
Ryan smiled. “And the Sumerians invented beer, so Cairo should feel right at home here.”
“But I thought the number seven was the big mystical number?” Hawke said.
“Seven also has a great mystical significance to many ancient cultures,” Ryan said, “but today we’re all about the number eight.”
“Oh my God,” Lea said, aghast. “You’re a numbertard! I had no idea.”