‘Relax. It’s just a copy,’ Sarah said.
Jasmine took the bait. ‘Just a copy? I understand it’s just a copy, but it’s a copy of something that I didn’t know existed until a minute ago, and depending on its authenticity and accuracy, it may give us the inside track to one of the biggest archaeological finds of all time, not to mention millions of dollars for us and billions of dollars to Jean-Marc. So trust me: it’s more than just a copy. It’s everything.’
Sarah smiled. She wasn’t teasing Jasmine to be mean; not that she hadn’t done that in the past. She was pushing buttons because she enjoyed the fire that the new and improved Jasmine exhibited from time to time. Her words weren’t meant to inflict pain; they were a subtle call to action. It was her way of reminding Jasmine that she was a lot tougher than she thought, that she should never be afraid to speak her mind when her views were challenged, and that she was a key member of the team.
Plus, it was a lot of fun to watch her freak out.
Sarah shrugged. ‘Okay, okay. It’s a rare copy. I get it.’
Garcia, who was oblivious to Sarah’s true intentions, refused to make eye contact with her as he continued to assemble information on Alexandria. Ninety percent of his efforts were geared toward preparing research; the other ten percent was just to look busy. He prayed that neither woman would drag him into their argument. He was smart enough to realize that it was a no-win situation, so he kept his head down.
Cobb reentered the room a moment later. He was carrying a large cylinder that was fancier than the cardboard tubes commonly used to ship posters. This one was made of brushed metal, with a heavy leather shoulder strap connected to each end. While Jasmine held her breath, he took his seat and unscrewed the top cap of the case.
‘Hector,’ Cobb said, ‘can you illuminate the tabletop?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Can you make the surface bright like a drafting table?’
Garcia tapped on his keyboard, searching for the right command. When he found it, the top of the table began to glow. It was a clean, almost blinding sheen of white.
‘Perfect,’ Cobb said. With that, he removed the map from the canister and spread it across the table for everyone to see.
Against the gleaming tabletop, the dark lines of the map stood out like ink stains on a wedding dress. The ancient city was presented as a tangled web of intersecting lines and shapes, stretching south from the Mediterranean Sea to the northern edge of the Western Desert. The markings were so dense and overlapping that it was nearly impossible to determine where one stroke ended and the next began.
Despite her eager energy, Jasmine was more confused than captivated — and she wasn’t alone. No one knew what to make of the sprawling mess in front of them.
McNutt furrowed his brow. ‘What are we looking at?’
Cobb had anticipated their confusion because he had felt the exact same way before the document had been explained to him in Switzerland. ‘That, my friends, is the entire history of Alexandria compiled into a single map. Every building that’s ever been built or razed; every footpath, trail, road, and highway that’s ever been laid; every well and every waterway that’s ever snaked its way through the ancient city — all assembled into one map for our plundering pleasure.’
He took a step back and allowed them to get a closer look.
‘Notice,’ he said confidently, ‘the labels were written in accordance with the era. They represent the people who controlled Alexandria during the time of construction. If it was built by the Egyptians, the label was written in Egyptian, and so on.’
Sarah tried to decipher the map, but it was no use. She spotted at least ten distinct languages, none of which was English. ‘Jasmine, please tell me that you can make sense of this. Otherwise, this document is useless.’
‘I can translate some of the map,’ she explained. ‘But I don’t know anyone that could decipher these labels with a single glance. It’s going to take some time.’
McNutt voiced his doubt. ‘Forget the labels. Look at those lines. How is anyone supposed to follow that mess? It looks like Spider-Man took a shit on the table.’
Garcia laughed. ‘I’m with Josh. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.’
‘Me neither,’ Sarah admitted.
‘Nor I,’ Papineau added.
‘Thankfully, I do,’ Cobb said as he walked around the opposite side of the table and subtly moistened the tip of his thumb and index finger with his tongue. Then he grabbed the top corner of the map and gave it a slight twist. ‘Like most problems in life, it’s best to attack them one step at a time.’
The paper separated into multiple layers, revealing that the map was actually a collection of pages. Each sheet of translucent paper had been perfectly stacked on the sheet beneath it. When viewed together, the image was cluttered and difficult to comprehend, but the individual maps were much easier to understand.
Cobb flipped to the last page in the stack. ‘The bottom map predates Alexander’s arrival in Egypt — before the city of Alexandria came to exist.’
McNutt stared at the image. ‘So… we’re looking at a map of nothing?’
‘Not nothing,’ Jasmine assured him. ‘Rhacotis.’
‘Gesundheit.’
Jasmine smiled. ‘I didn’t sneeze, Josh. That was the name of the settlement before it was formalized as a city in 331 BC. Rhacotis dates back at least two thousand years before Alexander.’
McNutt nodded in understanding. ‘Which means we can ignore it because Alexander wasn’t dead yet.’
Sarah clapped sarcastically. ‘Look at that, the monkey’s learning.’
McNutt laughed and beat on his chest like a gorilla. ‘Me smart monkey. Me take rock and beat Sarah in sleep as Pedro watch on fancy box.’
Garcia objected. ‘My name isn’t Pedro, and I don’t watch Sarah when she sleeps! How many times do I have to tell you that?’
‘That depends. When are you going to tell the truth?’
‘I am telling the truth!’ he assured the group.
Earlier, Cobb had cleared his throat to quiet the group. This time he felt the need to go a step further. He put two fingers in his mouth and unleashed a whistle so loud and shrill that Garcia was afraid the hi-tech table was going to shatter. He instinctively flung himself on the glass while the rest of the team covered their ears.
In their limited time together Cobb had never revealed this particular talent, so the team didn’t know what to make of it. They simply stared at him with a combination of shock and awe; as if they had heard the voice of the devil himself.
‘Now that I have your attention,’ he growled as he glared at them in turn, ‘I think it would be best if we stopped screwing around and focused on the mission at hand. We have a unique opportunity here to find something that’s been lost for two thousand years, and I’ll be damned if we’re going to piss it away on my watch. Am I clear?’
The team nodded and lowered their eyes in shame.
‘Good,’ Cobb said with finality. He pointed at Jasmine, the only one who had stayed on task. ‘Sorry about that. What were you saying about Rhacotis?’
She pointed at a section of the document. ‘I’m glad the map starts in this particular era because Rhacotis — this shaded area on the northern coast — served a key function in the eventual design of Alexandria. The architect from Greece who planned the city, a man named Dinocrates, realized the importance of Rhacotis when he surveyed the terrain. Unlike many ports in the Nile Delta, Rhacotis was able to accommodate larger ships because of the depth of the harbor. So instead of tearing down Rhacotis and starting from scratch, he built the city around it. The locals were so appreciative, the area flourished and served as the Egyptian quarter of the city.’