Kaba looked up again from cleaning her gun. She had come from the area the old man was mentioning. While there were no fond memories for her there, cutting ties to one’s homeland was something even bitter reminders could not do.
DeGard shook his head dubiously. Narrow eyes peered with suspicion at Lindsey. “Francis Drake went into Arabia? I have never heard this tale. Are you sure your sources are accurate?”
The old man held up the book, wagging it at DeGard. “I’ve had this analyzed by three different experts. Every single one of them has said this was certainly written by Drake. Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story or do you wish to return to the other tent?”
“I apologize. Please, continue.”
Lindsey decided not to question the sincerity of the apology, instead going on with his tale. “While in the city we now call Istanbul, Drake and his men had found an inn to rest for the night, calling themselves traders from the west. The story says that even though the innkeeper was disinclined to harbor Christians, the gold Sir Francis offered far outweighed any misgivings the proprietor may have had.
“During the night, Drake awoke from a frightful dream, in which he had seen a bizarre vision. Fearful any of his men might consider him to have gone insane, he kept it to himself and recorded the contents of the dream in this diary.” Lindsey finished by snapping the book like a whip to emphasize the ending.
“So, it is just a book about Captain Drake’s dream?” the skinny man was unimpressed.
Lindsey gave a smile as one would have given an ignorant child. “That is not all that happened, my dear DeGard. After the dream, Drake was extremely troubled. He believed he had a vision but could not divulge any of the information to his men for fear they would mutiny. So, in the middle of the night, he left the inn and headed into the city for some night air. As he strolled through the streets, he passed a window that flickered with candlelight. He couldn’t read the sign over the door because it was in Arabic, but the door was open despite the fact that it was late at night. For some reason, Drake was compelled to enter the building. Inside, he found an old man sitting on the floor next to a fire. Several candles burned in various places around the room.”
A gust of wind rattled the walls of the inflatable tent, momentarily interrupting Lindsey’s story. DeGard looked around, seeming worried the structure would collapse or blow away. But after several seconds, the wind died down again, returning the room to the steady ripple of the nylon in the breeze.
“As it turns out,” Lindsey continued, “the old man Drake found in the room was actually an alchemist.”
“Alchemy?” DeGard scoffed again.
“I am only telling you the story behind this diary and why it pertains to our journey now.”
“By all means, Monsieur, go on.”
“The Arabic alchemist told Sir Francis of a place where the eternal life could be found, where a substance grew from a tree that could sustain life perpetually.”
Finally, DeGard understood the point of the old man’s story. “Ah. So, the book is a map?”
“No,” Lindsey shook his head. “If it were a map, none of this charade would have taken place. The stones, the clues, all of it would be pointless if I had a map. Don’t you think?”
The Frenchman didn’t react, feeling foolish for probably the first time in his life.
Lindsey held up the book again. “This book contains a warning and instructions to anyone who is brave enough to enter the final chamber.”
“A warning?”
“Yes. Inside the final chamber, those who seek eternal life will face three tests. Those three tests must be conquered in order to gain access to the tree of life.”
A deathly silence fell over the room again as DeGard absorbed the information. If what the old man said was true, it meant that Sir Francis Drake had kept a deep secret for most of his life. While the Frenchman was no expert on the history of the famous privateer, he believed he would have heard such an interesting tale as the one that had just been spun before him.
Still, he had to push a little further. It was part of being a historian and a scientist. “I must ask, Monsieur. Where did you discover this diary of Sir Francis Drake? Surely something like that would have been hidden away or locked in a vault somewhere.”
The old man had a sinister twinkle in his eye. For some reason, he enjoyed toying with his French employee. Perhaps because he had felt like the man had been disrespectful since the moment they had met. It didn’t matter anymore. Soon, DeGard would be dead, and Lindsey would have the key to eternal life.
“Someone found it for me,” he said, trying to keep a mysterious tone in his voice.
Kaba looked over again from the corner but remained silent. Lindsey didn’t acknowledge her glance, not wanting DeGard to know anything else.
When he spoke, the Frenchman turned up his nose in defiance. “Very well. So, tell me, what are these three tests?”
Chapter 39
Helen and Joe crouched next to one of the stacks of vaccination packages. Over the row across from where they crouched, the clicking sound of hard sole shoes clicked on the concrete. The man in the suit was walking down the aisle. Where he was going was a mystery they didn’t want to know the answer to.
The machine in the aisle behind them hummed along before stopping. Joe felt the pallet vibrate suddenly and realized the robotic lift was picking up the stack. Helen had the same realization, and they both leaned forward for a second. A moment later, the entire pallet was a few inches off the ground and was being pulled away from them, creating a gap in the row of shipments.
At the same time the robot had centered the load and started moving back towards the back of the facility, Joe heard the voices of the two people in lab coats. The employees were about to round the corner of the aisle where Joe and Helen were hiding. Thinking fast, Joe grabbed his wife’s shoulder and pulled her into the empty space that had just been vacated by the machine.
He leaned up against the stack of vaccinations with his back towards where the voices had come. They were continuing to move towards the entrance of the warehouse. For the time being, they were safe. But he didn’t want any more close calls.
“We need to get out of here,” he whispered.
She said nothing, but nodded in agreement. Taking his cue, she peeked down the lane in both directions to make sure the cost was clear. Seeing no danger, she slipped across the smooth floor and crouched next to another stack of vaccinations. Helen examined the white shipping label for a second then turned to Joe with a sly grin.
“This is it,” she mouthed silently while jerking her thumb at the product. He gave a quick nod and shuffled over to where she squatted by the wrapped plastic containers.
Joe slipped a knife out of his pocket and in a quick motion had unfolded the blade. A few seconds later, he had opened up a long slit in the plastic wrap. The containers within were small, about the size of a shoebox, and were made from a thick, white plastic. Joe carefully slid one out, terrified that pulling one box out would cause all the others to tumble down onto the floor.
Joe was relieved when that didn’t happen and placed the hard-shell box down on the floor between he and his wife. The company logo was on the top, as well as the description of what was inside. The label said it contained influenza vaccinations, though Joe and Helen feared it was something far more sinister.