The Oracle Code (4 page)

6

32 Miles Southwest of Herat

Herat Province

Afghanistan

June 18, 2012

Anger filled Layla’s body as she surveyed the scene of the executions. That was how she thought of what she saw before her. Even though the men lying on the ground had had weapons in their possession, they hadn’t stood a chance against the man before her.

“Do not move!” Captain Jamshid Fitrat stepped into the cave himself.

In his early forties, the Afghanistan National Policeman was a professional fighting man blooded in many battles. He was short and squat, powerfully built, and always watchful. He never asked questions until he had first spent time figuring out a situation for himself.

Layla liked the captain for his professionalism, attention to detail, and because he had gone to college in the West. He had ultimately disappointed his wealthy parents because he’d chosen to become a soldier instead of the medical doctor they’d wanted him to be. He had served in the army before college and had returned to it a few years later.

During his time in the West, Fitrat had also learned to treat women as equals. Layla had met the captain’s wife and children on occasion. The woman and the two boys seemed very affectionate. Very Western.

Later, after she’d gotten to know him and learned that she would be appointed liaison and director over the dig site, Layla had asked that he be assigned to the security post.

Fitrat himself had never said whether he preferred the assignment one way or the other. He was totally professional.

The captain kept his pistol pointed at the man standing before them. “Put your hands behind your head. Do it now.”

“Of course.” The man spoke with a Russian accent. “I will do everything you say.”

Fitrat kicked the pistol away. “Down on your knees.”

Without a word, the man knelt. He remained calm and kept his eyes forward.

Layla couldn’t believe the man could be so matter-of-fact. He wasn’t even trying to defend himself.

“Don’t hurt him. That’s Major Dolgov.” Chizkov tried to get into the cave.

Two of the men Fitrat had brought with him grabbed the young man by the arms, lifted him bodily, and hoisted him across the outside passageway.

One of the Afghan soldiers pointed at Chizkov. “Do not move.”

“All right. But don’t hurt him. Obviously those men came in here to hurt Professor Glukov and Professor Lourds.”

“Are you alone?” Fitrat stepped around in front of the man, his pistol always pointing at the man’s head.

Dolgov, if that was his name, glanced idly around at the dead bodies scattered across the cave floor. One of the men had ended up falling back onto a cluster of stalagmites and now looked like an Indian fakir on a bed of oversized nails.

“I am now.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to the aid of two professors from the camp. These men were going to kill them.”

Fitrat examined one of the packs on the floor. When he opened it and shined a flashlight beam inside, Layla saw the pile of fist-sized dark bags inside. “This is opium. Black tar.”

Dolgov inspected the revealed contents of the bag. “Yes, I believe it is.”

Opium ran through Afghanistan. In the beginning, it had been grown by the Sumerians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Egyptians. The drug had been used at a lethal dose to kill people. Possibly Socrates himself had drunk hemlock laced with opium. But the drug had also been used as medicine, as a pain reliever and to adjust people with emotional problems.

The Islamic people had picked up the crop, improved upon the strain, and sold it to the Chinese for medicinal purposes. Of course, that wasn’t the entire use. Criminal enterprises had flocked to it, including British, French, and American trading companies.

Even today, opium remained a stable currency in Afghanistan when the economy constantly teetered on the brink of poverty. The American Central Intelligence Agency had used opium as a monetary bargaining chip during their involvement in the country in the 1980s. Now the Taliban used it, but there were warlords who remained solvent selling it to evolving markets as well.

Any pity Layla might have felt for the dead men evaporated immediately.

Fitrat released the pack, and it tumbled onto its side, spilling the dark bags across the rough floor. “You said you were here to aid the two professors.”

“Yes.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. When I was in the passageway outside, I heard the American, Lourds, speaking. I entered when guns were fired. Glukov and Lourds were nowhere to be seen.”

Fitrat gestured his men into the room. Two of the soldiers remained outside to secure the passageway. The rest took up the search for the missing professors.

At a nod from Fitrat, Layla entered the cave as well. She stepped carefully, trying to avoid stepping in any of the slowly spreading pools of blood.

***

Galvanized by the crash and thunder of the gunshots in the cave behind them, Boris Glukov traveled quickly through the passageway. Lourds found himself suddenly hard-pressed to keep up with his friend.

The rough stone bit into Lourds’s palms and knees as he scrabbled along. Somehow, Boris had managed to hang on to his flashlight, and it was the only illumination they had in the tunnel, and even then it bounced around so much as Boris scrambled that it was like a dance floor light show.

“Are they coming after us?” Boris sounded partially out of breath.

“I don’t know. Don’t slow down.”

“We’re coming to a dead end.”

“What?” Lourds tried to estimate how far they’d come.

“A dead end. Here.” Boris flattened as much as he could in the passageway and shined the flashlight beam steadily at the wall ahead of them.

Lourds groaned.

Boris crawled forward a few more feet until he was pressed up against the wall. He trailed the light across the carved message. “This is the same language as that on the wall, yes?”

“Yes.” Lourds reached around his friend and brushed dust from the symbols. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered the men with guns and all the shooting, but at the moment, that didn’t matter.

They’d found the hidden secret.

“It is, Boris.” Lourds clapped the other man on the back. “You have indeed discovered a prize. Now we just need to see what it is you’ve found.” He squinted at the writing. “I need to be closer.”

Boris tried to back up and discovered that he couldn’t. “I fear I am too large for such gymnastics.”

“I don’t really like our chances of crawling back out.”

“Neither do I. We survived once. I do not care to press our luck.”

“Agreed.” Carefully, Lourds slithered up beside the Russian. He brushed at the dust again, uncovering more of the symbols, then blew on them and nearly choked in the dry backdraft. He took Boris’s flashlight and shined it on the wall.

Boris’s labored breathing was practically in his ear. The cramped position was uncomfortable for both of them.

The symbols translated easily.

“‘For the treasure you seek, you only have to look to Heaven.’”

Boris looked at the ceiling of the passageway. “There is nothing there.”

“You have to think of Islamic customs. Heaven isn’t up. It lies to the east.” Lourds flicked the light around the walls and discovered a small indentation on the wall beside Boris. “Can you reach that?”

“I don’t know. Let me try.” Boris rolled and twisted. His finger hovered over the indentation less than an inch beyond his reach.

Suddenly light flared at the other end of the passageway.

For a moment, Lourds thought the light might be a muzzle flash. Rigid, he waited for a bullet to tear through his body and to hear the sound of the shot roll over him. Instead, he heard a woman’s voice speaking in Russian.

“Professor Glukov? Professor Lourds? Are you all right?” The questions were repeated in English.

Lourds thought he recognized the voice. “Professor Teneen? Layla?”

“Yes. Are you all right?”

“Yes. There are men with guns–”

“They have been dealt with, Professor Lourds. The two of you need to come out here at once.”

For a moment, Lourds felt like a schoolboy about to get scolded for improper behavior. “Boris and I think we have found something.”

“If you have, there will be time to come back in the morning and have a better look at it. At the moment, I’ve got quite the mess to clean up here, and to find out what is going on with some of our fellow dig personnel.”

“Thomas, I can almost reach it.” Boris sounded strained. “Perhaps if you could give my arm a shove.”

“Professor Lourds.”

“We’re on our way.” Lourds turned to Boris and placed his hand on the man’s elbow. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t want to break or tear anything.”

“And I don’t want to wait till morning—or possibly later—to find out where this trail has led us.
Push
.”

Lourds pushed. Boris’s middle finger made contact with the indentation.

“Push again.”

Lourds did as he was requested.

This time something
clicked
. At first, he thought the sound might have been made by cartilage tearing in Boris’s arm.

Then a spear point came out of the ceiling and smashed into the stone below, sliding between the two men and missing them by less than an inch.

“My god.” Boris stared at the weapon in wide-eyed wonder. “If we’d been in the middle of the passageway instead of plastered on the sides, that thing would have skewered us.”

“But it didn’t.”

“That was meant to kill whomever was here.”

Before Lourds could reply, a series of clicks sounded. Without any warning at all, the section of the passageway they lay on yawned open, and they slid forward.

Frantically, Lourds tried to grab any purchase he could find, even closing his hand on the spear for a moment. But it snapped even as he reached for Boris, and he slid off into the abyss with the other man.

One of them—Lourds wasn’t sure which—screamed.

7

32 Miles Southwest of Herat

Herat Province

Afghanistan

June 18, 2012

Squatting in front of the passageway and holding a high-intensity lantern, Layla Teneen watched in disbelief as the bottom dropped out from under Lourds and Boris. The two screamed, but their cries didn’t last very long, indicating that the fall probably wasn’t high enough to break their necks but was sufficient to knock the air from their lungs. Layla had almost cried out herself, but she’d simply been too stunned, and the moment was gone before she knew it.

An instant later, she heard Boris speaking painfully. “Thomas, I think my leg is broken.”

“Hang on, Boris. Let me get the flashlight.”

Layla sighed. “Idiots.” Since she’d taken over the directorship, she’d learned she could count on some archeologist—or master’s student—being too brave or not resourceful enough. It was maddening. She looked over her shoulder at Fitrat. “Captain, we’re going to need some rope.”

“Here, Boris. I’ve got the flashlight. Just a moment and I’ll—” Lourds stopped speaking.

Layla’s imagination played havoc with her. One thing was certain: whoever climbed into the passageway wasn’t supposed to survive. The fall was supposed to take care of a body.

“Boris.” Lourds spoke more quietly, and the faint voice barely reached Layla’s ears. “Do you see that?”

***

Dmitry sat on the other side of the cave beside Chizkov.

The young lieutenant gazed at the dead men. “Did you...did you kill them?”

Dmitry shrugged. “I did. If they had killed me, I would not be here for you to ask me questions, would I?”

In the reflected glow of the flashlights in the hands of the Afghan soldiers, Chizkov looked pale and younger than ever. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.”

Studying his young protégé, Dmitry waved to the dead men. “Does this bother you?”

The Afghan soldiers gave the corpses no more attention. They were attendant upon their commanding officer and the dig director.

Chizkov started to shake his head in reply to Dmitry’s question, then he stopped. “Yes, this bothers me. I am not used to this.”

“In the SVR, you may need to get used to such things. This is a sad revelation, but times in Mother Russia are not very restful. In addition to the Chechen terrorists, we are starting to attract Islamic extremists as well.”

“I know. My father is a politician. He worked to keep me out of the army and to get me someplace safe.” Chizkov looked embarrassed. “I was willing to be in the regular army, and to go to fight in Chechnya if I needed to.”

“Chechnya is no place for you, Lieutenant.”

Chizkov bristled at that. “I am not afraid, Major Dolgov.”

“Perhaps you should address me in such a manner again. In case one of the soldiers did not hear you.”

Face flushing, Chizkov looked away. “I am sorry.”

Dmitry patted the young man’s arm like he would his own son. “It is all right. You did well. You went and got help.”

“You didn’t need it.”

“No, as it turns out, I did not. But those two in that passage, Glukov and Lourds, they may yet need help that I was unprepared to give.” Dmitry looked at Chizkov again. “And when I said that you did not belong in Chechnya, I only meant that no one should have to fight that kind of war. It is a very terrible thing.”

Chizkov was quiet for a moment. “We are found out.”

“As liars? Yes, that is true. But not as spies.”

“What else will these people think of us?”

Dmitry shrugged. “We are not here spying on them. That is something.”

“My father says President Nevsky is very interested in Professor Glukov’s work.”

“This I know. But I do not know why. Did your father happen to tell you that?”

“No.”

“When we get back to Mother Russia, perhaps you might find out.”

“Why? Won’t we be off this assignment by then?”

“Possibly. But it is still a curious matter, Josef. I would not mind knowing the answer so very much, if it is not a problem.”

“I will see what I can do.” Chizkov was silent for a moment as one of the soldiers returned carrying a coil of rope. “What do you suppose they found?”

Dmitry looked at the dead men again. “Tell me, do you believe in omens?”

“You mean like the gypsies talk about when they wish to entertain a crowd?”

“Yes, I mean that. And when the gypsies talk of such things to frighten listeners. I think that is what I mean in this instance.”

Chizkov shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes I listen and I think maybe there is some truth in what they say about cursed things.”

“So do I.” Dmitry gazed at the passageway. “I do not know what our two professors have found in that place, but I think it is one of those things. Having the opium traffickers find them here tonight was an ill omen. I would not want anything to do with what they have found in that place.”

***

Lourds shined the recovered flashlight around the ground where he and Boris had landed after their surprise fall. His left side and arm still throbbed from the impact, but he hardly noticed the pain. He reached down, picked his hat off the ground, beat it against his leg for a moment, then clapped it onto his head.

The flashlight beam played over several skeletons laid out around them. For one insanely creepy moment, no doubt summoned by the potboilers Lourds loved to read when he wasn’t translating documents, he imagined that at any moment the skeletons would jump up from their impromptu resting spots and come at them.

“Thomas, give me a hand.” Boris beckoned for him and Lourds went. “Help me to my feet.”

“Are you certain?”

Boris stared at him. “Are you mad? I took a tremendous fall, I was nearly harpooned by a deadly spear, I braved gunfire–”

“I don’t think either of us braved anything.”

Boris frowned. “You know what I mean.” He nodded at the skeletons. “I want to see what we have uncovered.”

Lourds pulled Boris to his feet and took as much of his friend’s weight as he could. Together, like very weak three-legged race contenders, they limped around the huge cave.

“Look at how the bodies are laid out.” Boris pointed with his free hand. “In a large circle.”

The geometric pattern was hard to make out due to the way the earth had reclaimed many of the skeletons, but the berms of bones defined the circle.

“I bet you a bottle of good vodka that the skeletons on the outside of these will be those of males.” Boris smiled.

Lourds shook his head. “No bet.”

“You know who buried people in circles like this, don’t you?”

“The Zoroastrians.”

“Exactly, and it was the Zoroastrian religion that so defined Persia as it was back in the day of Alexander the Great.” Boris waved at the skeletons. “Do you know how much history we are talking about here?”

“Potentially back to the sixth or seventh century BCE, but I doubt it goes back that far. More likely this dates later than that.”

“Why do you say that?”

Lourds flashed his light onto the ground and picked up a heavily pitted knife. He examined the item briefly, then handed it to Boris, who accepted the blade gratefully. “Greek, don’t you think?”

The knife was nearly ten inches long, single-edged, and had probably been an example of craftsmanship back during its day. The ivory hilt had designs worked into it that showed a beautiful woman archer, a full moon, a cypress tree, and a stag in mid-leap.

Boris traced his fingers over the hilt. “Surely it is Greek. This has to be Artemis, goddess of the wildlands and mistress of animals. See? The stag and the cypress tree are symbols that represent her.”

“I do see. It appears you have found quite the treasure trove. You’ll be buried in research work cataloguing the things that you find here.”

“Only if there’s more of this.” Boris grimaced as he moved his injured leg, but his mood remained ebullient. “Come. We should look more while we are able.”

“While you are able, the two of you should fall to your knees and give thanks that you didn’t get impaled by that spear. I thought you were both dead.”

Drawn by the woman’s voice, Lourds gazed up at Layla Teneen framed in the opening some twenty feet or so above them. “Good evening, Director Teneen.”

“More like good morning. You do realize you’ve probably thrown off everyone’s workday for tomorrow with all the gunfire and excitement.”

Lourds grinned mischievously. “I beg to differ, dear lady. Boris and I are not responsible for the gunfire. We came here unarmed. In fact, all I have to defend myself with now is this dagger, which was probably once very fine but, as you can see, is no longer in good shape.” He held up the ancient dagger for inspection. “As for the excitement, any archeologist worth his or her salt should thank us for that.”

Layla frowned at him as she played her flashlight beam around the circle of skeletons. “You do realize this was probably a Zoroastrian burial site?”

“Of course. We were just discussing that. Once we get a good anatomist in here–”

Boris harrumphed. “I am more than adequately trained in such matters.”

Lourds nodded and continued smoothly. “–like my good friend Boris Glukov here, we should be able to confirm that the skeletons along the outer edge of the circle are male and the skeletons in the center belonged to women in the second circle and children in the final circle.”

“Yes, and with that being the case, you do realize that the two of you are probably traipsing around in lime mortar, don’t you?”

Frowning with irritation, Lourds realized he hadn’t thought about that. Lime was often used by the Zoroastrians to hasten the decomposition of bones. “No. I hadn’t given it a thought.”

“You should. The Zoroastrians believed that the body of a dead person was filled with pollutants and got rid of it as quickly as possible.”

“You know your history.”

“Several histories, in fact, Professor Lourds.” Layla continued to play her light around. She swept the hair from her face. “This is a bit unusual, isn’t it? Didn’t the Zoroastrians bury their dead in
dakhmas
?”

The term translated loosely from Parsig to “tower of silence,” and they were initially loose constructions designed to hold the bodies of the dead until the flesh rotted away—or was taken by animals, birds, and insects—and the bones could be collected and stored for final burial.

“They did, but eventually they gave up the open-air burial practice for pits.”

Layla gestured to the passageway she was in. “This seems a little user unfriendly.”

“When you throw in the spear, it was tremendously unfriendly.”

Layla smiled, and the sight made Lourds smile even broader.

“I would not have expected a sense of humor after being nearly killed twice tonight, Professor Lourds.”

“I should think the fall would count as well, because I didn’t really think Boris and I would survive it when we tumbled out of that.”

“Neither did I.”

Boris sighed. “Please. The two of you will have all the time in the world to speak about these things. For the moment, I would like very much to see what I—Thomas and I—have found.”

“I have a rope coming. We can get you out of here soon.”

“Don’t hurry on my account.”

“What about your leg?”

“I’m not going to think about my leg.” Boris tried to limp away under his own power. Lourds had to catch his friend before he’d gone three steps. He grimaced and looked up at Layla. “Perhaps you could send a physician down.”

“If I can find one curious enough and sober enough to agree to it, I will.” Layla started to crawl away.

Lourds called after her. “Director Teneen.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you very much for the rescue.”

Layla hesitated a moment, then nodded. “You’re very welcome. And you owe me a story.”

“A story?”

“Of what brought you down into this place.”