‘All the answers you require are to be found here,’ Amaanat told her, indicating the metal book.
‘All the ones I need, maybe, but what about the ones I want?’ The old man’s face remained an impenetrable blank. Annoyed, Nina read on. The text became less dry, more intriguing, as it returned to the subject of exploration, but still it did not give her any more insight, until—
‘The cave!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s here! Talonor found a cave on the mountain, and it had something to do with this furnace he was looking for. He named it the Midas Cave in honour of Midas’s… sacrifice, this says. His sacrifice in service of the empire. Something very important to him was lost in finding the cave.’ She continued to scan the ancient text. ‘It doesn’t say what, though. They returned to Atlantis — it even says which route they planned to take! — intending to come back with “the Crucible”.’
‘Your mum talked about that,’ he reminded her.
She nodded. ‘And whatever it is, it was incredibly important to them — it was the entire reason Talonor was sent out to search the world in the first place. It seems their own furnace was dying, so they needed a replacement.’
‘Well, if you’ve got a crucible, a furnace is a pretty good place to put it.’
‘But what were they putting in it?’ She faced Amaanat. ‘You know. I can tell.’
It took all Rudra’s self-restraint not to respond with anger at the accusation, but the old man merely bowed his head. ‘You may believe what you wish. But there is nothing more for you to see here.’
‘And what about the Midas Cave itself? You said you’d show it to me.’
‘I said no such thing. All I said was that your questions would be answered. Now they are. You have finished the task your mother set herself, and learned that Talonor of Atlantis did indeed once travel to this place.’ A small smile. ‘Your quest is over.’
His calm denial infuriated Nina. ‘My mother? You’re going to bring up my mother? Okay, let me do the same: she died because of you!’
‘You dare!’ barked Rudra, stepping towards her. Eddie moved to intercede, but Amaanat had already held up a hand. Scowling, the young monk retreated slightly.
The abbot fixed Nina with a level gaze. ‘We cannot be held responsible for the actions of others. Your mother’s loss was tragic, but we had no part in it.’
‘Didn’t you?’ She retrieved an item from a pocket: the letter Laura had received from the monastery, inside a protective plastic envelope. ‘She wrote to you asking about the Midas Cave — not directly, but you knew what she was after. You knew. And you lied to her!’ She held it up in front of Amaanat’s face, pointing out his signature. ‘You, personally, lied to her. You didn’t tell her anything about the cave, or Tobias Garde’s visit, or that Talonor had ever been here.’
The monk’s eyes flicked over the typewritten text. He was again expressionless, but now to cover his surprise at being presented with his own words over four decades on. ‘She did not ask about them,’ he said after a pause, ‘so I could not have replied about them.’
‘Semantic bullshit!’ Even Eddie was startled by her explosion. ‘Everything in this letter was deliberately intended to make her think Detsen monastery was the wrong place. And because of that, she died. If you had told her the truth, and she’d seen this,’ she gestured at Talonor’s record, ‘it would have told her and my father how to find Atlantis. Talonor’s route back would have led them right to it — and they would have found it forty years ago! But instead they spent the rest of their lives searching, until they got too close and were murdered for it. That happened because of you, Amaanat. You may not have pulled the trigger personally, but you put them in front of a firing squad!’
Rudra’s voice was barely above a growl. ‘You will leave. Now.’ He clenched both fists.
Eddie squared up to him. ‘Guess we’ll see how far your whole non-violence thing goes, won’t we?’ Jayesh, who had remained near the door, moved to join him.
‘There will be no violence,’ said Amaanat firmly. He stared at Rudra. ‘There will not.’ The younger man shrank back, ashamed.
‘I don’t want violence,’ Nina insisted. ‘I just want answers. Where is the Midas Cave, and what’s inside it? What did my ancestor see in there?’
Amaanat closed his eyes, drawing in a slow breath before answering. ‘The monks of Detsen monastery have kept the Midas Cave a secret because to reveal it will bring only violence. What it holds will spark the greed of every unenlightened person in the world.’
‘So pretty much everyone,’ said Eddie.
‘This is why we cannot show it to you,’ the abbot went on. ‘It is too dangerous. You cannot be trusted.’
‘I can’t be trusted?’ Nina snapped. ‘You do know what I’ve done for the past ten years, right?’
‘Of course. You discovered archaeological sites — and showed them to the world.’
‘That was only half my job. The other half was keeping them secret. The IHA’s purpose isn’t just to find lost wonders; it’s also to protect them. Sometimes to keep them out of the hands of greedy, unenlightened people, but other times because what we found was too dangerous to be revealed. I’m not going to tell you what they are, for obvious reasons, but I’ve made discoveries that would make the Midas Cave look as big a threat as a wet bath sponge.’
‘You do not know anything,’ snarled Rudra.
‘No? How about you let me decide that?’ She took a breath of her own, trying to calm herself. ‘Look, I may not work for the IHA any more, but I still share the same values. I want to find the hidden treasures of the past, and show them to the world… but only if it’s safe to do so. There are some secrets that have to be kept. I know that for a fact, because I’m keeping them.’
Conflict was clear on the old man’s features. ‘Will you give your word of honour that you will keep this secret?’
‘I will,’ she promised.
‘And your husband?’
The Englishman nodded. ‘If Nina says she’s going to keep quiet about it, then so will I.’ Jayesh tipped his head in agreement.
A long silence followed, the elderly monk gazing intently at the two Westerners as if assessing their souls, then finally he placed his palms together and bowed to them. ‘I believe that I may trust you,’ he said.
‘So you’ll show us the cave?’ Nina asked.
‘I will. But you should be warned that it is not only the cave that is dangerous. The path to it has claimed many lives. You must be prepared, and careful.’
‘We will,’ said Eddie. ‘We’ve both been up mountains before.’
Amaanat appeared almost amused. ‘Not like this, Mr Chase. Dragon Mountain will certainly try to catch you off guard. Are you ready to face it?’
‘We are,’ said Nina firmly. She reached back and gathered her hair into a ponytail.
‘Then,’ he said, ‘let us begin.’
10
The visitors prepared for the journey. Amaanat assured them they would not need the climbing gear Jayesh had brought, but Nina and Eddie still made sure they had survival and emergency equipment — and some extra for the monks, just in case.
They assembled in the courtyard with Amaanat, Rudra and five other monks. The Nepalis had donned outerwear that Nina considered worryingly light for the conditions. The new faces all bore cargo: one had a small haversack and two coils of rope slung from his shoulders, while the others wore larger backpacks. What was in them she couldn’t tell, but it was clearly heavy.