Alex Hunt Box Set, page 35
Alex nodded in agreement. According to the map, their destination should be very close; thirty paces southwest followed by sixty paces north.
Shortly after, they arrived at what the scroll referred to as ’the clay.’ Expecting to see a significant clay pot or statue of some kind, to all of their surprises, it was a pool of quicksand spanning roughly sixteen feet in diameter.
“This is it,” Alex said apprehensively. “This is where the map and the first scroll’s riddle end.”
“So the clay refers to a large puddle of quicksand,” Sam said matter-of-factly as he sat down under a shading tree. “Now what?”
“I don’t know. Honorable Commissioner, now what? There’s no telling whereto from here without the second scroll.” Alex plonked herself down next to Sam.
Mr. Yeng-Pho wiped his brow and squatted in front of the pair.
“Again you underestimate me. Do you honestly think I would be out here in the blazing sun if I didn’t know what I was doing?”
He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and tossed it into Alex’s lap before cocking his gun in her face again.
“Crack it, Miss famous archaeologist,” he added. “We don’t have all day.”
Alex unfolded the paper. It was a copy of the second scroll.
“Where did you get this?” She exclaimed jumping to her feet. “I was told it burned in the fire during the Khmer Rouge attacks.”
“Clearly it hadn’t,” Sam commented. “Who are you really, Mr. Yeng-Pho?”
“Well, look at you? Aren’t you the clever one?” the commissioner answered sarcastically.
“As it happens, Dr. Quinn, my uncle was responsible for the fire that day, but thanks to his immense wisdom, he salvaged the scroll before it could be destroyed.” Mr. Yeng-Pho turned and gripped Alex by the arm. “Now, get on with it! Crack the next riddle and find me that urn!”
“Why is this golden urn so important to you? As far as I know, it contains the Buddha’s body parts and should have no value to you. Unless you want to tell me that you’re actually a monk and need to ask for forgiveness,” Alex mocked.
The scrawny sidekick slapped Alex hard across the face. This time, Alex didn’t hold back and flung a ball of saliva into his face before thrusting her small fist across his cheekbone. Instantly the guy reacted by pinning Alex against the tree and shoving his gun under her chin.
Mr. Yeng-Pho barked a stern warning and gripped his associate by the throat to stand down. Begrudgingly he obeyed and wiped the spit from his face.
“I said, decode the clues and let’s get on with it!”
Alex smoothed out the now crumpled piece of paper and read it out loud.
Weight is your foe, so find its right place
For the moon to cast its shadow
And help you find the face
Watch out for the evil eye that points to the sky
Your goal is to bend low for the truth to bestow
“Now that’s a conundrum if ever you’ve seen one,” Sam commented.
Alex didn’t say a word. In silence, she read the clue several times again.
“Well, don’t just stand there. What are we dealing with here?” An annoyed Mr. Yeng-Pho nudged.
The small group watched impatiently as Alex paced up and down along the quicksand pool, pausing in front of Sam.
“How much do you weigh?”
“Weigh? I have no idea.”
Mr. Yeng-Pho stepped up next to her. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Alex turned to face him. “Everything in fact. The first line reads, ‘weight is your foe, so find the right place.’”
“Yes, and?” The Commissioner-General snapped back.
“And…the clay is quicksand,” Alex explained.
“Indeed!” Sam chipped in excitedly. “The heavier you are in quicksand, the more you agitate the composition. It’s your enemy.”
Alex smiled proudly at Sam for getting it.
“Exactly, so in the case of the ‘clay,’ weight is your enemy, but, if you ‘find the right place,’ somehow the moon will cast a shadow and reveal some sort of a face.”
“Well, I’m certainly the heaviest,” said Sam. “So let’s find the right place.”
“What exactly are we looking for?” Mr. Yeng-Pho asked, it could be anything.”
“Anything, except the quicksand, that is,” Sam said with irony in his voice.
* * *
For the next forty-five minutes, the party scoured the surrounds for anything that might fit the bill.
“I think I found it!” Sam shouted beckoning for Alex to join him.
He had been searching between the leaves in a tree and noticed an odd-looking branch protruding from the tree.
“It seems to be some sort of a lever,” Sam added.
“I’d agree. Let’s hope it’s not booby-trapped. You okay to do this Sam?”
“Never been better.”
Sam placed both hands on the fake branch slightly above his head. The thought of having to hang much in the same way he did in the warehouse twisted his insides in a knot. Sensing his thoughts, Alex flashed him an encouraging smile. It was their only option if they were to complete their mission and get out of this alive. Sam’s bruised muscles and cracked ribs labored his breathing. He stretched up and pulled the lever down with the full force of his weight. A loud rumbling sound echoed from beyond the pool of quicksand as they felt the ground shake beneath their feet.
As the loose wet sand slowly gave way, an upright structure ascended. In the middle of the murky pool, the shape of a stone spear pushed out of the quicksand and towered above the group who stood in awe.
When the ground eventually stopped trembling under their feet, Alex and Sam slowly moved toward the spear. Roughly the height of a two-story building, and with all the mud cleared away, it was a majestic sight. Hundreds of red, yellow and green gemstones sparkled prisms of colorful light as the last of the sun’s intense rays fell on it.
There was no way of getting to the spear for as quickly as the slushy sand gave way, it closed up around its base again. It stood tall in its entire luring splendor.
“What’s next?” Yeng-Pho said impatiently.
“We wait,” Sam said to which Alex agreed and added, “Exactly, we need to wait ‘for the moon to cast its shadow’ and help us find the face.”
Yeng-Pho looked up at the sun. “It will be dark in a couple of hours. We’ll stay here.”
Several hours later, when the moon finally sat high enough to shine through the tall trees, Sam woke Alex up who had fallen asleep against him.
“It’s time Alex. Look,” Sam whispered.
Jumping to their feet, they all watched as the moonlight beamed down on the jeweled spear that sparkled like a million stars all around them. The brightest of sapphire blue light glowed from the tip of the spear and projected across the mud pool.
“Come! Hurry!” Alex shouted as she led them around the pool to where the blue light radiated onto a group of trees. It was a spectacular festival of lights culminating into this one spot between the lush green leaves. And there, as if watching in slow motion, the vines made way for an ancient face carved from stone.
Alex grabbed onto Sam’s arm in awe of what transpired in front of them.
“I bet this is where it gets interesting,” Sam whispered to Alex.
She squeezed Sam’s arm with excitement.
When the face was fully visible, Yeng-Pho pushed Alex and Sam out of the way.
“What’s the next clue?” He urged.
“You might not want to get too close Yeng-Pho. It says to watch out for the evil eye that points to the sky,” Alex cautioned.
They stood back to inspect the face.
“Which is it though? One is looking at us, and the other seems to not exist. Or is it closed?” Sam asked perplexed.
Alex pulled the now crumpled paper from her pocket and started pacing back and forth. Her eyes scanned over the clue.
“And?” Yeng-Pho prompted for her to read it out loud.
“’The goal is to bend low for the truth to bestow’.”
Alex tugged at Sam’s arm as she bent low in front of the face. Expectantly they watched the face but nothing happened.
“This better not be one of your tricks, Miss Hunt. Why are you stalling?” Yeng—Pho warned her by pushing his gun in her back.
“I’m not! We just need to be patient,” Alex told him off. “Trust me. If the clue warns you against something, then you had better believe it. Ask your two dead puppets back at the dragon. They didn’t listen to me either.”
Yeng-Pho cocked his pistol and stood back. “Well, I don’t trust you, but you’re both dead if you’re lying to me.”
Sam nudged with his elbow and pointed his chin at the stone face between the vines. The blue light that shone from the spear had turned to a ruby red as the moonlight hit another gemstone in the javelin behind them. The beam reflected onto the pupil of the open eye.
“Get down!” Alex shouted while her and Sam both fell to the ground.
A series of arrows shot in quick succession from the statued face’s mouth, narrowly missing Yeng-Pho. Behind him, his partner in crime wasn’t so lucky. A dozen arrows pierced his body as he fell dead to his knees.
The trio lay face down on the jungle floor until the flying arrows subsided. When Alex finally looked up, her heart skipped several beats when she caught sight of the opening below the ancient face.
“Do you see what I’m seeing?” an equally stunned Sam asked.
“Get up!” Yeng-Pho kicked their legs. “Move!”
With his gun pointed at Sam and Alex, he bullied them away from the opening. Satisfied they were a safe enough distance away from him, he bent down and pulled the golden urn from the small hidden cave between the vines. Staring down the barrel of Yeng-Pho’s gun, Sam and Alex watched his surprised face turn into a smug grin. Distracted by his self-absorbed ego and greed, Yeng-Pho set the urn down on the ground.
“Eleven years!” Yeng-Pho cried out excitedly. “Eleven years I’ve waited for this moment and it’s finally all mine!”
Drowned in pride and self-satisfaction, he lifted the lid off the gold urn and pulled out a gold amulet with a large ruby stone.
Alex gasped as she laid eyes on the dangling stone. Stunned by the unexpected find, she watched as he wrapped it around his fingers and held it up to the light. The ruby sparkled, casting rays of dark red light across the jungle floor.
“So that’s what you’ve been after all along,” Alex said forcing Yeng-Pho’s attention back to them.
“This, my dear Miss Hunt, is worth a small fortune. It has been lost for more than two thousand years! But now I have it! I finally have it!”
He steadied his gun on them. “Now, if the two of you don’t mind, I have some money to make. Money I’m not prepared to share with anyone.”
Yeng-Pho waived his gun at them to get moving.
Ushered by his gun’s barrel, Yeng-Pho forced Alex and Sam toward the quicksand.
“What fools you two are. Did you honestly think I would share this moment with anyone? Buddha’s amulet is one of the biggest ancient treasures known to mankind. My buyers will kill over this, which brings me to the two of you. My identity has remained hidden for years and I’m certainly not intending on getting exposed now. This has to look like an accident, so it seems the two of you are going to take a little swim and allow the entire world to think the famous Alex Hunt and Sam Quinn died in action on an archaeological expedition. It’s perfect! It couldn’t have worked out more in my favor.”
Sam took Alex’s hand as they reached the edge of the quicksand and squeezed it tight. She didn’t cry. Though inside her chest her heart was being crushed, she felt immense pride to have come this far on their expedition.
“This has been quite an adventure, Alex Hunt.”
Chapter Seventeen
Alex and Sam’s parting moment was interrupted as Ollie’s voice cut through the air behind them.
“What on earth…you traitor!” Alex yelled. She had nothing to lose now. If she were to die here today it might as well be after she told Ollie what a lowlife scumbag he was for deceiving them.
Ollie’s hunting rifle had been replaced by a machine gun that casually hung over his shoulder. Yeng-Pho’s audacious laughter was nauseating.
“Another surprise for you tonight Miss Hunt. My dear friend, Oliver is on my payroll, in charge of my infiltration team, in fact. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without his inside track,” he said proudly.
“No surprise there Yeng-Pho. I knew he was up to no good from the moment I lay eyes on him. You two suit each other. You’re despicable,” Alex spat at their feet to which Sam added,
“You were the last person on earth I thought capable of such loathsome acts, Ollie. How could you? You certainly pulled the Aussie wool over my eyes.”
Yeng-Pho laughed out loud again, clutching the Buddha amulet in his greedy paws. “And thanks to him you’re about to meet your maker Dr. Quinn.”
He turned to Ollie, “Finish them off, Oliver. There’s money to be made.”
Ollie swung his firearm from his shoulder and aimed it at Alex and Sam.
Alex didn’t have any fight left in her. This was it. Tears ran down her cheeks as she drew in a deep shuddering breath. Her chest felt heavy under the weight of betrayal and knowing it was the last time she’d ever hunt a treasure with Sam hurt like crazy. This is not how she wanted to die. Staring down the barrel of Ollie’s weapon, her body shook uncontrollably as Sam pulled her into his arms.
“You heard the man, Sheila. The night is full of surprises.” Ollie said as he turned his rifle away from Alex and Sam and aimed it at the Commissioner-General. “I think the time has finally come, Yeng-Pho. You’re under arrest.”
“FEDERAL POLICE! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!”
Chaotic shouts by members of the armed forces ripped through the night air as they announced themselves. Sam pulled Alex to the ground and shielded her head. They watched the frenzy of red lasers and torchlights scatter everywhere as the police searched for more of Yeng-Pho’s men. Within seconds they had him in handcuffs and pinned to the ground. A helicopter roared loudly above their heads sending gusts of wind and dirt in their faces. With seasoned precision, Yeng-Pho was hoisted up into the helicopter and flown away.
“What the heck is going on here?” Sam shouted at Ollie who was talking on a sat phone.
“It’s all over, Mate. Operation Buddha was successful.”
Ollie extended his arm to help Sam and Alex up. “We could have never done this without you, Sheila. Thank you.”
“What are you talking about? Who are you and what’s all this ‘Operation Buddha’ business?” Alex shouted at Ollie.
“Calm down, Sheila. Mission accomplished. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matt Taylor, Special Agent Matt Taylor from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, ASIO in short.”
“Matt? ’Special Agent’? What do you mean you’re a special agent?” A gobsmacked Alex tried to make sense of it all.
“Don’t look so surprised, Sheila. I’m not really the low-life you accused me of.” Matt joked. “I’m one of the good guys. Operation Buddha was an undercover sting operation to flush out the head of the snake, or the tail of the scorpion, in actual fact. We’ve been after the Scorpions for years, and I’ve been undercover for the last five trying to catch this bastard in the act.”
Sam scratched his head. “Ollie, Matt or whoever you are, I’m usually a clever bloke, but you’re going to need to start at the beginning. We have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“It’s Matt. Ollie is my cover name, and the two of you were instrumental in helping us. The Scorpions is an international underground syndicate who smuggles stolen artifacts and sells them on the black market for top dollar. FBI, MI5, and ASIO. the list goes on. We’ve all been tracking their corruption all over the world; always only catching the small guys, but we’ve never been able to find out who the mastermind behind the entire Scorpions syndicate was, until we followed Intel here to Cambodia. I went undercover to flush him out, and the golden urn was the perfect bait.”
Alex still couldn’t believe her ears. “So wait, where do Roshi and the monks fit in and how did you know about the amulet?”
“Ah Sheila I told you, the monks and I go way back. They were approached by ASIO to help me infiltrate and protect my cover. In return, I promised to find them the golden urn and return it to its rightful place. That’s when they told me about Buddha’s amulet. Quite a rare find, isn’t it?” Matt stopped and looked the pair up and down, “You both look like you could do with some food, and something tells me you’re not going to say no to my bear stew tonight, hey Sheila?”
The Royal Palace was as majestic as it sounded. Waiting in the large foyer, two security personnel flanked Alex and Sam as they patiently waited for the king and Prime Minister to arrive. When they finally got ushered to a formal sitting room, Sam looked at Alex and said,
“Out of all our expeditions together, this one took the cake. I can’t recall Professor Keating ever saying torture and flushing out international syndicates were part of the job description.”
Alex admired one of the paintings on the wall.
“You’re right. It’s not in the job description, but it seems the world isn’t quite what it used to be either. It certainly has been an adventure, hasn’t it?” She smiled and turned to face him. “ I’m just glad you’re okay. I don’t think I could have survived this without you.”
Moments later a small party of security personnel entered the room followed by His Royal Majesty of Cambodia, the Prime Minister and none other than Roshi and the Great Senior Patriarch.
The king spoke in a gentle, warm voice as he stood before Sam and Alex.
“What an incredible honor to meet you both, Miss Hunt and Dr. Quinn. The Cambodian government owes you a great amount of gratitude for finding the Golden Urn, not to mention our venerable Buddha’s amulet. To be honest, we all thought the amulet was a legend. But to find it here on Cambodian soil is the greatest gift, thank you.”
