Adriana looked confused. Something didn’t add up. “How did Gregory survive that long without any sort of food or water? If he had been forgotten in the dungeon, he would have died within days, a week at most.”
Jabez raised a finger to emphasize his point. “Precisely. He would have surely been dead if they had forgotten him in the dungeon, as the story suggests. Saint Gregory must have been sustained supernaturally to still be alive after all those years.”
Sean was leery of jumping to conclusions. That was how people got their hopes up or found themselves searching for buried treasure in uncharted jungles. He’d seen and heard a lot of crazy stories over the last few years. But this one was different. A priest that lived for thirteen years without sunlight, proper food, and water? It didn’t make sense. Unless he had eaten from the tree. Sean shook off the thought for a moment. Something inside his head told him that was impossible. Even though everything he had seen up to that point pointed to the reality that the tree of life was a real thing, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
A silent moment had taken over the conversation as everyone considered the implications. Sean broke it with a question. “So, the question is, what does this have to do with finding the fourth chamber? I mean, clearly you are suggesting there is a connection between the priest and the last chamber. Aren’t you?” He wanted to be sure he was following the Arab’s line of thought.
“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Jabez nodded. “There can be no other conclusion. Clearly, Gregory found the chamber and the sacred tree. If he ate of it, the power within could have sustained him through those years in the darkness of the pit.”
Lightning flashed outside the windows, illuminating the wing directly behind where Jabez was sitting. He sped up the pace of his tale. “It is no coincidence that Saint Gregory was a missionary to the area around the Armenian and Turkish border. He was an avid researcher and spent countless hours in the scriptures as well as ancient documents. Gregory was convinced that the reason that the tree of life could not be found after the Biblical flood was that it had been moved, not destroyed or covered up. His theory was that Noah removed the tree and placed it in the ark to keep it safe.”
“So, the tree is in the ark?” Sean tried to clarify.
“That is what we believe. And if Gregory found it, he may have left a clue as to its whereabouts.”
Firth had heard enough. “You mean to tell us that you’re dragging us half-way across the Middle East on a hunch? It sounds as if you aren’t even sure there is a clue.”
Jabez was briefly taken aback by the criticism, but he remained calm. “Saint Gregory left behind strange markings on the walls of the pit where he dwelled for those thirteen years. To date, no one has been able to explain them. I believe in those markings, Gregory gave us the location of the ark in case he did not live through the ordeal in the dungeon of Khor Virap.”
It was a huge leap of faith their new friend was taking. Making the assumption that Sean and his colleagues could figure out what the inscriptions meant was a gamble, if there were any markings to begin with. Still, it was worth a try. They’d come too far to let Lindsey just walk away with whatever was to be found at the end of the trail.
Firth was much more resistant. “Are you telling me that through all the centuries, no one has been able to make heads nor tails of the inscriptions you’re taking us to, yet we are supposed to magically come up with some answers as to what they could possibly mean?”
Jabez looked at the gray haired professor for a few seconds then at Sean and Adriana. Both his eyebrows rose as he smiled. “Yes. That is exactly what I’m telling you. It seems to have worked for Mr. Wyatt so far. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Sean couldn’t help himself and burst out into open laughter. “You know he’s right, Professor. We really do seem to be on a pretty good streak right now.” He shoved the professor’s shoulder playfully. Adriana smiled to one side of her face.
“When we get there,” Jabez began again after a few more moments of laughter, “we will meet a friend who has access to the fortress prison. He will allow us to look at the pit without the distractions of other tourists.”
It sounded like a plan or at least some semblance of one. Sean wished Tommy was there, knowing that his friend’s expertise would make things a lot easier. Sean hadn’t received any word on Tommy’s condition from the Greek hospital since before they left Cairo. He would have to check again once the airplane arrived in Istanbul.
Second time in Istanbul. The first time he’d been there, things were different, and similar. Several years prior, Axis assignment had taken him to the city that had long been the crossroads of so many cultures. Sean’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the mission.
Axis had received information on a possible deal involving former Soviet nuclear weapons and a terrorist organization known as Red Circle. The intel had come through as a result of heightened interest in terrorist activity following the September 11 attacks. Word was that Red Circle planned on acquiring an old Russian nuke, and somehow getting into London. Most of the attention was focused on the United States in the months following the attacks on New York and Washington. The terrorists must have figured no one would be monitoring the safety of the UK.
They’d been wrong. Axis was called in to assist British special ops and take down Red Circle before they ever had a chance to get their hands on the device. In Sean’s opinion, there’d been too many moving parts. There were so many people involved; it was a disaster waiting to happen. And it did. Several agents were killed from both agencies. The disaster, however, was averted. And the nuclear device was secured. In Sean’s mind, the lives lost could have been avoided. It was the last mission he’d served for Emily Starks before turning in his resignation.
Sean realized he was staring at the floor and quickly regained his composure. “When we get to Istanbul, is your friend going to set us up with a place to stay? It sounds like he’s taken care of transportation.”
Jabez nodded. “Yes, everything is taken care of. We will be staying at a hotel that is friendly to our cause. Our brother, Omar,” he pointed to one of the men on the other side of the plane towards the tail of the cabin, “his family owns a place. Arrangements have been made. We will stay the night in Istanbul and leave for the Armenian border early in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” Sean said and leaned his head back against the wall near a window.
Firth snorted a quick protest but returned to focusing on not getting sick. Adriana seemed satisfied and was once again reading her book. The conversation was, apparently, over because Jabez got up and went back to the cockpit, closing the door behind.
Sean closed his eyes and went back to where he’d been in his mind only a few moments before.
The deal for the nuke was taking place in an abandoned fabric warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was a logical location for the people making the deal. And it also made intervening a huge tactical problem. Line of sight was covered by men on the roof and in the windows of the old building. That meant a direct approach was nearly impossible. They would see a frontal assault coming from a mile away. Literally.