Lea moved closer to him, but then moved away again, as if frightened of getting too close, physically and emotionally. “No, it’s not that. It’s something else, something about Eden.”
Hawke turned to look into her eyes. He had known all along she and Eden were keeping something back from him. “What is it, Lea?”
Ahead of them, the operation to pump out the water was coming to an end. All that remained in the previously underwater tunnel was a few inches of water. Zaugg ordered his men to remove the pumping equipment and shut down the generator.
Seconds later Baumann threw the switch and the engine sputtered for a few seconds before quitting completely, leaving a new, deafening silence in the cavern complex.
Hawke turned to Lea and held her gently by the shoulders. “What is it?” he asked. “What do you want to tell me about Eden?”
Lea looked up at him, her eyes filled with uncertainty. She glanced at the others and then back to Hawke. “I… I can’t tell you now. I’m sorry.”
She moved out of his grasp and stepped away.
Zaugg began barking orders at Baumann, who in turn shouted at the men, who then scurried about with boxes of equipment, flashlights and glow-sticks. Slowly, they slipped into the tunnel.
“You!” Zaugg shouted, aiming his gun at Hawke and the others. “I hope you will accept my invitation to die in the vault of Poseidon. Get moving!”
Hawke moved forward first, and Lea and the others followed his lead. He knew there would be few chances of survival deep inside the tomb, but they were covered by at least half a dozen submachine guns and Zaugg wasn't about to take any chances after the disaster on the Thalassa. He didn’t look like the kind of man to underestimate the same enemy twice.
As they approached the tunnel entrance, Zaugg stepped up to Hawke, muzzle of the Uzi aimed at his stomach.
“You thought you could save the world,” Zaugg said. “But instead, you have helped me to bring about its total destruction. A glorious new dawn is about to rise over mankind, Mr Hawke, and you are here to witness it!”
Hawke’s heart sank. All he could do was hope to heaven that Hugo Zaugg had badly misjudged the power of whatever he thought was inside the tomb.
Slowly, with guns at their backs, they entered the darkness of the final tunnel and moved towards the vault.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
With the water gone they were able to walk through the tunnel to the vault of Poseidon. Once inside the giant cave they turned the corner by the boulder-door and were instantly speechless when they saw the treasure before them.
It was mostly gold in the form of coins, jugs, flasks and goblets, but there were vast piles of glittering diamonds forming a strange, warm amber in the light of the glow-sticks. Other heaps of gems — rubies, sapphires, emeralds and even opals littered the vault’s floor and left Hawke stunned with awe.
It didn’t seem possible, Hawke considered, that so much wealth had been hidden down here for so many countless centuries, lost to history, lost to mankind. But however awe-inspiring he thought the treasure was, he knew Zaugg was here for another reason.
And Ryan saw it first. “It’s Poseidon’s sarcophagus!”
With his exclamation still echoing in the cavernous space, everyone turned to see the ancient stone sarcophagus in the center of the tomb. It was partially obscured by another great pile of gold coins pushed up against its carved stone sides like a golden snowdrift, but there it stood, formidable, undeniable. The legend turned real.
Hawke found himself moved in a way he hadn’t thought possible until this moment. For the briefest of seconds he thought he knew how Zaugg felt, the obsession with power and immortality coursing through his veins like adrenalin and taking over his rational mind. Was Poseidon really inside that sarcophagus? Where was the trident? And, most intoxicating of all, where was the source of eternal life?
Zaugg was even more captivated by it all, and was now wandering among the heaps of diamonds and golden goblets muttering to himself like a madman. He picked up a simple coin and tossed it casually back down again when he saw something that pleased him even more.
“Finally my destiny will be fulfilled!” Zaugg said. “I will raise the greatest army known to man.”
Hawke smirked. “I’d be surprised if he could raise an erection.”
Baumann struck him hard in between the shoulder blades with the butt of his gun. “Enough!”
The Englishman staggered back to his feet and his mind turned slowly away from the treasure and back to the tactical situation. He noticed that on the wall behind the sarcophagus there was a small trickle of water running through a split in the rock. Baumann saw it too.
Zaugg saw nothing but the glistening gold before him and his eyes crawled over the treasure. He was beginning to look nervous. “Open the sarcophagus!” he screeched.
“Be careful, Zaugg!” Lea shouted. “You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re playing with fire!”
“Silence!” said Zaugg, reddening with rage. “No one tells me what to do! This is a great moment in history. I have waited all my life for this! What my father tried and failed to do, his only son has succeeded in achieving. Inside that sarcophagus Poseidon keeps the greatest secret of all time and now it is rightfully mine to use as I wish.”
Hawke turned to Lea and whispered in her ear. “Now there’s your guy who was smacked too hard as a child.”
Zaugg ran his hands over the smooth, carved edges of Poseidon’s tomb as if he were caressing a lover. His eyes sparkled with a crazed, obsessive look. “With the power of immortality my victory over the world will be final. I will rule in the way that even Hitler was too weak to do.”
“You can’t say he lacks ambition,” Hawke muttered.
Then Zaugg ordered Demetriou to approach the sarcophagus.
The Greek scholar looked anxious, but did as he was told, picking up a crowbar and walking through the piles of gold coins to the sarcophagus. Zaugg barked another command in German and seconds later two more men joined Demetriou.
Demetriou muttered a series of inaudible words — prayers, maybe — and began to jam his crowbar into the gap running around the lid of the ancient sarcophagus. A cloud of dust billowed up into his face and he coughed and wiped his eyes. He seemed to be having trouble getting any further.
“What’s the problem?” Zaugg said.
“It’s not moving,” Demetriou said, his voice wobbling. “Perhaps we should remove the sarcophagus to another location before…”
“Open the sarcophagus!”
“I can’t,” Demetriou said. “I won’t!” He stepped back in fear. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Very well,” Zaugg said. He raised his gun and filled Professor Demetriou full of holes, exploding his chest with the impact of the bullets and knocking him down with a heavy thud in the dust at the base of the sarcophagus.
“You!” Zaugg screamed at the two men. “Remove the lid!”
With startled terror on their faces, the two men tried their best, but they too found the lid unmovable.
“It weighs more than lead!” one said, desperately trying to avoid the same fate as Yannis Demetriou.
A few garbled sentences in German and Zaugg stalked over to them, knocking one out of the way and trying with all his might to force the bar under the stone lid of the sarcophagus.
“The real treasure will be in here,” he said. “It must be opened!”
On the wall behind the sarcophagus the trickle of water had grown larger. Hawke realized it was some kind of booby-trap, activated if anyone tried to tamper with Poseidon’s sarcophagus.