“The ark wouldn’t be there?” Will reasoned. “You don’t think the city was built on top of it, do you?” He didn’t sound like he was convinced that was a plausible idea. But anything was possible.
DeGard shook his head on the edge of the opposite seat. “I don’t think that is why they are headed there. It must be because of another clue. What is the name of the town?” His nasally voice was even more grating through the radio than in normal conversation.
“The town of Ararat,” Will answered.
“What?” Lindsey turned back around and stared in disbelief at his chief assassin. “What did you say?”
“The name of the town is Ararat.”
Lindsey faced DeGard again, this time with a glare of righteous indignation. “Did you know that this town existed?”
DeGard’s face was full of confusion as he shook his head. “No, Monsieur. I swear it. I was not aware that there was a city by that name in this region. I only knew of the mountain.”
The old man wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him. But the sincere expression on his face was genuinely confused as to Lindsey’s line of questioning.
“Do you not realize what this means?” he pressed.
The epiphany hit DeGard, and his eyes showed it by growing wider. “Do you think Wyatt found a clue that leads to the city of Ararat instead of the mountain?”
“It makes perfect sense.”
Kaba interjected as she lifted the helicopter off the ground and guided it towards the northeast. “There are series of mountains there that begin just outside the city. There is a legend about those mountains, though.”
Will looked over at her, but she kept her eyes forward as they pulled the darkening sky to the east into view. “What legend? You knew about this place” he pushed.
“I didn’t think there was any connection to what we were looking for. The ancient scriptures suggested that the ark of Noah came to rest on Mount Ararat. It did not say anything about the city or the mountains outside it. Given the current circumstances, it certainly seems like the little town could hold another clue as to the location we seek.” She still kept her eyes straight ahead, never wavering in her voice or her gaze.
Lindsey let out a deep sigh. His irritation at DeGard had left him for now. But he still wanted answers. “What about the legend, Kaba. Leave nothing out.”
“There isn’t much to tell. The locals believe there is some kind of power in the mountains. They generally don’t go there if possible. Some say there are rebels camped there, and when people stray, they are kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers. Others, though, believe there is something more sinister at work.”
The old man’s eyes practically glowed at the new information. “That must be it.”
Her eyebrows lowered. “I’m sorry. I do not follow.”
“Don’t you see? If anyone happened upon the ark, they could have been killed by any traps that had been left by the ancient ones.”
DeGard took a turn at throwing in his two cents. “Or it could have been much worse, if you believe the tale in the Bible.”
Kaba kept her eyes on the horizon while everyone else in the chopper turned to the Frenchman with the long, pointy nose.
When he continued, his tone was lathered in sarcasm. “It says in the book of Genesis that the Lord put an angel at the gates of Eden with a flaming sword to protect the way. Is it possible that the angel still guards the path to Eden and that is what happened to all the victims who disappeared in the mountains?”
Lindsey’s eyes narrowed. “I sense your cynicism, Monsieur, and I understand that you do not believe. But now that you mention it, I think it could be entirely possible.’
DeGard prodded. “And just how do you think you are going to get by an angel, Monsieur? If that is what you think you will find.”
Conviction filled the man’s old eyes, and the wrinkles around them tightened slightly, producing more on other parts of his face. “I don’t believe it is an angel guarding the gates of Eden. I think it could be something else.”
The Frenchman’s eyebrows stitched together, unsure where his employer was going with the line of thought.
“So, if not an angel, what was it?”
Lindsey had a glint in his eyes. “What if the angel was actually some kind of ancient security system?”
DeGard was unconvinced. “You mean something like booby traps?”
“Could be,” Lindsey didn’t disagree. “It is very plausible that the ancients simply decided to call the device or devices an angel to further sway others from seeking the location of the garden and the forbidden tree, as the Bible says, ‘lest they live forever in sin.”
The idea seemed to settle in DeGard’s mind for a few moments. It made sense. He’d seen things throughout history done the same way. Ancient Egyptians had harnessed the power of geological static electricity and made it look like the power of their gods. The Greeks and others, including some from Scandinavia, had claimed lightning and thunder was the result of Zeus or Thor. Over exaggerating things had resulted in a greater amount of control over the populace. People, after all, were ignorant, especially if an expert or a religious leader were telling them what to do and what to believe. Better safe than to incur the wrath of the gods.
“So you think the angel and the sword of fire was an exaggeration, conjured up to keep the people from thinking about sneaking into the garden?” He wanted to make sure he understood what the man called The Prophet was insinuating.
“I think it’s more than plausible, Professor. I am almost certain of it.”
Will interrupted the conversation from the cockpit. “Looks like they have stopped moving, Sir. The other bird should be just outside of town. Either they have ground transportation or they’ll be going on foot to wherever they’re headed.”
“It will be difficult to sneak up on them in the helicopter,” Kaba added. “They will hear this contraption coming from miles away.”
Lindsey went into deep thought at her point. She was right. They would need to hang back if they wanted to make sure Wyatt and his friends were unaware they were being followed. But if Wyatt ditched the helicopter and proceeded in ground vehicles, there would be no way to track them. The old man knew he needed to be on the ground to effectively track Wyatt’s group without being spotted.
“Surely there must be a place we can acquire some ground transportation.” Lindsey said finally.
Will took his employer’s meaning and immediately began searching on a tablet for the necessary information.
They would have to move fast to avoid losing Sean Wyatt and his little band. Something kept tugging at the back of his mind. What were they trying to find in the town of Ararat? It had to be another ancient clue, something that would point the way towards the final destination in this long, crazy journey.
“Sir,” Will interrupted his thoughts. “I think you might want to take a look at this.” He handed the electronic device back to Lindsey.
The old man gripped it with freckled, old hands. His eyes stared at an object in the center of the screen. It was an overhead view of the town of Ararat. And the thing he saw in the middle of it caused hope to arise anew in his heart.
“Triangulate a path from that point,” he ordered Will. “It looks like our problem is solved.”
Chapter 32
The two SUVs bumped along the road heading into the little city. Sean wondered what people did for entertainment around the area or if it was simply like a third world country where survival was all that mattered. They didn’t see many people as the small convoy passed through the first array of buildings.