"Set some charges. Be careful. All we want to do is get this wall out of the way."

  "No problemo," Lamont said.

  They set the charges and backed out of the antechamber.

  "Fire in the hole," Ronnie said.

  This time the explosion was less intense. Dust and debris shot out of the opening in a billowing brown cloud. When the dust settled, they went back inside. Most of the wall was gone.

  Their lights showed a corridor stretching away into darkness. Two towering statues holding staffs in their right hands guarded the passage. They were part animal, part human. The one on the left had the body of a man with the head of a wolf.

  "That's Anubis," Selena said as she shone her light on the statue. "The Guardian of the Dead."

  "That one looks like a crocodile," Lamont said. "Creeps me out."

  "That's Sobek. Or it could be Horus. He symbolized the power of the pharaoh, among other things. Those two are protectors of whatever is in here. We're in the right place."

  "Shouldn't there be a sarcophagus?" Nick said. "I don't see one."

  "Someone went to a lot of trouble to do this," Selena said. "If there's a sarcophagus, it's going to be at the end of that passage."

  "I don't like the looks of it," Ronnie said.

  "Remember what the scroll said? Anyone who violated the tomb would be cursed by the gods and die. Or something like that."

  "Great," Lamont said. "A curse is what I needed to make my day."

  "We've proved the tomb exists," Ronnie said. "That's enough. Why don't we let somebody else find out what's at the other end of that passage?"

  "You know we can't do that," Nick said.

  "Where's your sense of adventure, Ronnie? Don't you want to know what's there?" Selena said.

  "I already know what's there. Old bones and trouble."

  "The satellite should be up by now," Nick said. "I'm going to see if I can raise Harker."

  Nick went outside and activated the comm link.

  Nothing but static. He tried again.

  "Base, this is Bravo One. Do you read? Come in, please."

  There was no response. Ronnie and the others emerged from the antechamber.

  "What did she say?" Lamont asked.

  "She didn't say anything. I'm not getting a response."

  "Something wrong with the gear?"

  "Negative. Must be a problem with the satellite."

  "How about a chow break before we go in?" Ronnie asked.

  "Good idea."

  Ronnie sat down on a rock and took an MRE from his pack. He held it up and examined it.

  "Spaghetti and mystery meat sauce. Time for a fine gourmet meal," he said.

  29

  Elizabeth had just gotten off the phone with Hood. There had been no communication with Nick and the others since they'd gone in country.

  "What's the story on the comm links?" Stephanie asked. "You look angry."

  "Some idiot in the Pentagon decided to re-task the satellite without bothering to find out why it was supposed to be over Egypt. Clarence will get it back, but it's going to take some time. Until then, we're blind. We've got no comms with the team."

  "Well, it's not like it's the first time."

  "No, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. This never would have happened if Rice was still the president."

  "They'll be all right."

  "They're in harm's way and I don't know what's happening."

  "When will the satellite be back on station?"

  "With luck, twelve hours."

  Valentina came into the office. She was staying in one of the rooms on the first floor until her leg healed enough to handle stairs. She was out of the wheelchair, wearing a soft brace around her leg and walking with crutches.

  "What is twelve hours?" she asked.

  "Twelve hours until we have communications with the team."

  "They will be all right, Elizabeth."

  Elizabeth nodded. "That's what Stephanie said. How's the leg?"

  "It is fine," Valentina said. "I do exercises. Soon it will be healed."

  "Do you think they'll come after you again?" Stephanie asked.

  "I am certain of it," Valentina said. "It is as I said. Failure is not acceptable on this kind of mission. Whoever it is, he must complete his assignment."

  "You don't think it's a woman?"

  "No. There are no women active at this time. Or at least not when I left."

  "Do you have any ideas about who it might be?" Elizabeth said. "The reason I ask is that if we knew who it was, we could be looking for him."

  "Naturally, I have been thinking about this. Because it is Orlov who wishes me dead, only someone with much experience would be sent to kill me."

  "How would Orlov make the assignment?"

  "This work is only given to SVR. Orlov would tell Kerensky. Kerensky would then assign someone. Because it is Orlov, Kerensky will be very nervous."

  "So who do you think he'd send?" Stephanie asked.

  "I think he would send Reaper."

  "Reaper? Who's that?"

  "Ilya Baranov. He is the one called Reaper. He is, how you say, 'a piece of work.'"

  "You're getting a lot better with our idioms," Stephanie said. "Calling someone 'a piece of work' isn't a compliment."

  "Baranov is bad man," Valentina said. "Not nice."

  "Why do you think it's him?" Elizabeth asked.

  "Because he is efficient. He has never failed to complete his mission. He would be best choice. He prefers to use knife, not gun."

  "Not a bomb?"

  "For him, it is unusual. I think it was because I am always with someone. Also, he fears me, I think. It is risky to come close to me when I am watching for someone like him."

  Stephanie thought about what that meant. Looking at Valentina's intense expression, she was glad they were on the same side.

  "Freddie," Elizabeth said.

  Yes, Elizabeth?

  "Have you been listening to our conversation?"

  I am always listening, Elizabeth.

  "Look through your records on SVR personnel and see if you can find a file on this Ilya Baranov."

  Processing.

  "I know Baranov well," Valentina said. "We went through training together."

  Elizabeth had put Valentina's history as an assassin out of her mind. It was hard to realize that this woman she had come to like and trust had been a professional killer. It was a strange twist that had brought Valentina into her life as an ally and friend, instead of an enemy.

  I have located the file you requested, Elizabeth.

  "Wonderful, Freddie. Please display it on the monitor."

  A black and white photograph of Ilya Baranov was stapled to the first page of the file. Elizabeth couldn't read the Russian details except to make out his date of birth.

  "Doesn't look like much, does he?" Stephanie said.

  "That is one reason he is effective," Valentina said. "He blends in anywhere. Someone who looks like that is forgotten quickly. I can tell you he is much stronger than he looks."

  "Look at the eyes," Elizabeth said. "Weird, having different colors like that. He doesn't look like someone I'd want to meet, in a dark alley or anywhere else."

  "His eyes look empty," Stephanie said. "As if there's no one behind them."

  "He is cruel," Valentina said. "He liked to torture animals. I do not think he has empathy for living things. This is why he is called Reaper."

  Stephanie shuddered.

  "Now that we have a picture of him, we can begin looking," Elizabeth said. "If he's still in the area, sooner or later he's going to show up on CCTV."

  "There are many cameras," Valentina said. "How will you monitor all of them?"

  "Simple," Stephanie said. "We'll ask Freddie to do it."

  "Baranov is likely to be in disguise."

  "Freddie will take that into account. If the camera has caught him, Freddie will find him."

  I already have, Stephanie.

  A new picture appeared on the monitor. It showed a man coming through customs at Dulles International Airport with a hat pulled low over his face. He wore thick framed glasses. The photograph was poor. He had tried to turn his face away from the camera, but hadn't quite made it.

  "That doesn't look like him," Stephanie said.

  Facial identification techniques indicate that it is the subject in question.

  A facial ID interlay with a framework of identifying points appeared over the photograph taken at the airport. A second photograph of Baranov appeared next to it, with a similar overlay. Looking at the two overlays side-by-side, it was obvious the two faces were the same.

  There are 37 matching points. There is a 97% probability that the man in the airport is Ilya Baranov.

  "That is him," Valentina said. "I recognize him. That is Reaper."

  "You're positive?" Elizabeth said.

  "There is no mistaking him. He has done something to make his face look fat, but that is him."

  "Steph, I want you to get this picture out to everyone. Every law enforcement agency within a hundred mile radius. Make sure they know he's armed and extremely dangerous."

  "This will do no good," Valentina said." By now he has changed the way he looks."

  You may be right," Elizabeth said. "But there isn't much else I can do. We still have to try."

  Valentina took out the Glock .45 Selena had given her.

  "It is good what you do," she said, "but I think I rely on this to stop him."

  30

  The Egyptian sun beat down on the rocks where Nick sat finishing his MRE. He tried again to contact Elizabeth.

  "Any luck?" Lamont asked.

  "Nada. The link is still down. Nothing we can do about it. We won't get anything inside the mountain anyway. Everybody ready?"

  They stood and gathered their gear. Lamont looked up at a brilliant blue sky, clear and cloudless. The sun bathed the entrance to the tomb in golden light.

  "Getting hot out here," he said.

  "It will be cool inside the mountain," Selena said.

  They walked in past the antechamber and stopped between the two statues. The beams from their flashlights played over the stone walls of the passage.

  "I wonder how far it goes?" Ronnie asked.

  "Only one way to find out," Nick said.

  "We need to be careful," Selena said. "There are probably traps."

  "What kind of traps?" Lamont asked.

  "You already know most of them. Simple ones drop a few tons of stone on you. Or the floor gives way, and you fall into a pit filled with poison spikes. Sometimes there are spear or arrow traps that throw sharp things at you."

  "Be careful and watch where you step," Nick said. "Think of it like a minefield. We'll go single file. I'll take point."

  "You know, there's something weird about this place," Ronnie said.

  "Everything's weird about it. You have something specific in mind?"

  "No insects, nothing alive. You notice that? No bugs, no spiders, no scorpions, nothing alive. Like they stay away."

  "It's been sealed up for more than two thousand years. There's no way anything could get in."

  "Sure," Ronnie said. He didn't sound convinced.

  "Selena, Ronnie, you come after me. Lamont, you bring up our six. Selena and Ronnie, give me some light in front."

  They set off in single file down the tunnel, keeping a distance of a few feet between them. The air was still and heavy. The floor was covered with a thin layer of dust that puffed up under their boots as they walked.

  Selena moved her flashlight and stopped.

  "Look at that. On the wall."

  Painted on the wall of the passage was a dark figure, crouched on all fours.

  "That's Nut, the goddess of the night," Selena said. "See the stars painted on her body?"

  "What did she do?" Ronnie asked.

  "She was supposed to swallow the sun at night and give birth to it during the day."

  "So?"

  "Alexander is the Sun God. I think it's telling us he's somewhere ahead."

  "In the direction the image would give birth?"

  "Yes. The way we're going."

  "Not like we've got a lot of choice," Lamont said.

  They moved along the passage.

  "Hold up," Ronnie said.

  Nick stopped in his tracks.

  "What is it?"

  "The floor ahead. It looks different. See how the dust is laying on the stones?"

  "I see it," Selena said.

  "You think it's a trap?" Nick said.

  "It could be. We need to test it."

  "Throw something on it," Ronnie said. "If it is a trap, that should set it off."

  "I'll get a rock," Lamont said. "Plenty of them outside."

  He disappeared back toward the entrance. A few moments later he was back with a heavy rock.

  "Heads up," he called.

  He tossed the rock forward into the passage, where the dust lay strange upon the floor. It landed with a heavy thud.

  A dozen sharp spikes of black iron dropped from the ceiling and slammed into the stone floor, barring the way. Anyone standing under them would have been killed.

  "Whoa," Lamont said.

  "Clever," Ronnie said.

  "Now what," Nick said. "Those spikes are in the way."

  "If we remove those two next to the wall, we can get through," Selena said.

  "We've still got C-4," Ronnie said. "It won't take much."

  "Right. Let's do it," Nick said.

  It didn't take long to rig charges. They retreated back along the passage.

  "Fire in the hole," Ronnie said.

  The sound of the detonation was heavy in the confined space. A thick cloud of dust filled the air and blinded them. Coughing and hacking, they waited for it to settle and went back to the row of spikes. Two of them had been blown free. There was enough room to move past the others toward whatever lay beyond.

  Something gleamed in the darkness ahead.

  31

  "What the hell is that?" Lamont said.

  His light reflected off a tall figure of an animal. The head was painted black. The eyes were made of gold. The mouth was full of sharp teeth.

  "That's Anubis again," Selena said. "The guardian of the underworld."

  Nick's light played around the chamber and came to rest on a golden sarcophagus set on a raised dais.

  "I think we've found Alexander," he said.

  "We need more light," Selena said.

  "I don't see any torches."

  Selena walked over to a golden dish set on a tall tripod. She reached up, dipped a finger into it, and withdrew her hand. The finger was wet. She sniffed at it.

  "It's oil. Who has a match?"

  Ronnie handed her matches. She lit one and dropped it into the top of the dish. The oil ignited with a dull thump. Light spilled into the chamber.

  "Whoa," Nick said.

  Lamont whistled.

  "Hell of a coffin," Ronnie said.

  There was gold, a lot of it, beginning with the elaborate sarcophagus. Gold statues, gold dishes, gold cups. The walls were painted with pictures and covered with hieroglyphics. A ten foot tall statue of Ra stood next to the sarcophagus, painted to show the colors associated with the god.

  "There's a sword on top of the sarcophagus," Ronnie said.

  He reached up and took the sword, then pulled it from its scabbard. The ancient blade gleamed in the yellow light from the lamp. The hilt was wrapped in leather and gold wire and set with a large, uncut ruby. Ronnie tested the edge with his thumb.

  "Nasty," he said. "Sharp as hell."

  "Short," Lamont said. "Made for stabbing."

  "Yeah. With that edge you could slash with it, too. It would make a really bad cut."

  "Hell of a lot of gold in here," Lamont said.

  "I wonder what Alexander looked like?" Ronnie said.

  "Whatever he looked like, he wouldn't be in good shape now," Lamont said.

  "Actually, he might still look pretty good," Selena said.

  "Sure," Lamont said. "Like something out of a zombie movie."

  "No, really. They filled up his coffin with honey. It's a preservative. I mean, he wouldn't look like he was ready to get up and jump on his horse. But he'd still be recognizable, I think."

  "Like those people they found in the bogs in England," Nick said.

  "Yes," Selena said. "Like that."

  "We need some pictures," Nick said.

  "I'll do it," Selena said. She took out her phone. The flash cast strange shadows dancing among the statues of the gods.

  "The light from that torch is weird," Lamont said. "Makes the statues look like they're alive."

  "I don't see Cleopatra's sarcophagus," Selena said. "The scroll said she was buried with Alexander."

  "Something must have kept it from happening," Nick said.

  "I need to use the ladies room," Selena said. "I'm going back outside for a moment."

  "Use the corner over there," Lamont said. "We won't look."

  "I'd rather go outside, " Selena said. "How would you feel if somebody used your tomb for a toilet?"

  "I don't think I'd feel anything," Lamont said.

  Selena left the tomb and squeezed past the broken spear trap. Their voices faded behind her. Her footsteps echoed in the stone passage. Ahead, the light of day spilled through the opening they'd made in the secondary wall. She emerged into bright sun, squinting against the glare.

  32

  Jabari and his men had found the entrance to the tomb. He was hidden close by, waiting while he decided what to do. Someone had blasted an opening into the mountain. Jabari didn't know how many there were or what they were doing here. They had probably gone inside.

  If he went back without finding out who they were, Masuda would be angry. Bad things happened when Masuda got angry. Jabari was delaying the moment when he'd have to go in, wishing he had more men with him, when a woman came out of the opening. A white foreigner, dressed in camouflage, carrying a weapon. The woman went behind some rocks, out of sight.

  Jabari whispered to the men next to him.

  "We'll take her to the Teacher. He'll want to question her. Keep an eye on that opening."

  They moved toward the rocks where the woman had gone, steps muffled by the sand, and waited for her to reappear.