"She says she is a geologist, looking for rare earth elements."

  Masuda smiled at her. It was not a nice smile.

  "A geologist? With this?"

  He held up the MP7.

  "There are snakes," she said. "Thieves. People like you."

  Ahmed slapped her on the back of the head, sending a jolt of pain through her.

  "Show respect."

  Masuda frowned as Ahmed translated what Selena had said.

  "How many were with you?"

  "I was working alone. I told you. I'm a geologist. Looking for a new source of rare earth elements."

  Ahmed translated.

  "You are an insolent whore and an infidel," Masuda said. "Out of the goodness of my heart I gave you a chance to tell the truth. You lied. You have rejected my mercy. Now you will suffer my wrath."

  Outside, Ronnie had quietly opened a long slit in back of the tent. With all eyes focused on Selena and Masuda, no one had noticed. Nick had been listening to the exchange. He didn't understand the Arabic, but he could sense the change in tone and the hostility in Masuda's voice. He looked at the others and held up three fingers. He began folding them back.

  Three. Two. One.

  They came through the back of the tent, behind Masuda where he sat on his pile of rugs. Selena saw Nick come through. She reached down into her pants and slipped out the knife, turned and stabbed Ahmed in the stomach. He screamed and went down. The two guards ran in from outside.

  Nick jammed the barrel of his MP7 into Masuda's neck at the base of his skull. Everyone froze.

  "Nobody move. He's dead if you do. Selena, tell them."

  Selena let off a rapid stream of Arabic. She climbed to her feet and walked past Masuda to stand next to Nick.

  "Teacher," Jabari said.

  "Do as they say," Masuda said. "They will never leave here alive."

  "Selena, tell him to put his hands behind his back."

  Slowly, Masuda complied. Ronnie tied his hands with zip ties. He made them tight, cutting into the flesh. It wouldn't be long until Masuda had no feeling in his hands. Nick reached down and hauled the terrorist to his feet.

  "Now we're going to go back out the way we came. If anyone does anything funny, your boy dies. Selena?"

  She translated what Nick had said.

  "Have this joker tell them to back off and keep their distance or I'll blow his head off. Make sure he understands I mean what I say."

  "I understand," Masuda said.

  "It speaks," Lamont said.

  "Tell them, asshole," Nick said.

  Masuda rattled off a stream of Arabic.

  "He told them," Selena said.

  "Now we go," Nick said to Masuda. "Anyone gets close, I kill you. Tell them."

  More Arabic. The men in the tent stared at Nick and Selena, their eyes filled with hate.

  "I don't think they like us," Lamont said.

  "Winning hearts and minds," Ronnie said.

  "Let's go. Out the back."

  Selena picked up her MP7 from the dais. They backed out through the cut in the tent wall. Nick kept his gun jammed into Masuda's neck. Selena walked beside Nick, feeling her strength coming back. Ronnie and Lamont formed a perimeter, looking each way.

  They moved back toward the wadi, the way they had come. Word had spread through the camp. Terrorists were everywhere, watching them, edging closer, waiting for Nick to make a mistake.

  "Tell them to keep their distance," Nick said to Masuda. He jabbed the gun into Masuda's neck for emphasis.

  Masuda called out to his followers.

  Nick activated the comm link.

  "Base, this is Bravo One."

  "Nick. What's happening? There's a lot of activity in the camp."

  "I have Masuda. Selena is all right. I'm going to need that Reaper."

  "Nick..."

  "Director. Right now there are about a hundred pissed off terrorists waiting for a chance to tear us apart. I need you to call in a strike or we won't make it out of here."

  "You say you have Masuda?"

  "That's affirmative."

  They had climbed to the spot where the wadi ended, the ridge that marked the boundary between the draw and the camp. The crowd in front of them was muttering and angry. Off to the side, Ronnie saw a man lift his rifle.

  "Nick, on the right. "

  The man fired. The bullet hissed by Nick's head, close enough that he felt the wind of its passing.

  "Kill them!" Masuda shouted.

  The distinctive tata-tata-tata bark of AKs filled the night. Rounds screamed by.

  Ronnie opened up. Lamont and Selena followed a second later, firing into the front ranks of the crowd. The bullets cut into the terrorists like a scythe slashing through wheat. Masuda struggled and broke free, running toward the camp.

  He cried out and fell to the ground, shot by his own men. His body rolled down into the camp. A cry of rage came from the mob.

  "That tears it," Lamont said.

  "Reaper! Now, Director. Do it now!"

  In Virginia, Elizabeth gave the order.

  The Reaper had been circling above the camp. An Air Force Lieutenant sitting in Nevada was controlling the drone. He'd been watching the scene play out on his screen. He had a choice of several weapons, including hellfire missiles and two 500 pound bombs. Looking at the widespread encampment, he chose one of the bombs. With a touch of a button, five hundred pounds of high explosive dropped away toward the ground.

  Nick, Lamont, Ronnie, and Selena ran behind the ridge and flattened themselves on the ground, firing down into the camp. The terrorists surged toward them. Every time one went down, two more took his place. They had almost reached the top of the ridge when the bomb hit.

  The blast picked Nick up and hurled him through the air. He hit the ground and everything went black.

  The camp ceased to exist. A geyser of earth and flame and light bloomed in the night. Rocks and dirt and bloody bits of bodies came down in a hellish rain that covered everything with a red mist of debris.

  Silence.

  38

  Someone was shaking him.

  "Nick. Nick, wake up."

  He opened his eyes. Selena was bending over him.

  "Come on, Nick. We have to get out of here."

  His body hurt everywhere. He remembered the terrorists coming close, the blast, then nothing. It felt like he was lying on a bed of rocks. Then he realized that he was lying on a bed of rocks.

  Ronnie helped him to his feet.

  "How long was I out?"

  "Not long."

  "Masuda?"

  "Dead. So are most of his men."

  "Everyone's all right? Lamont?"

  "We're all good."

  Nick activated the comm link.

  "Base, this is Bravo One."

  He was rewarded with static.

  "Base, Bravo One. Come in, please."

  More static.

  "Nothing. Comm link's down again. Okay, let's move."

  "Back to the tomb?"

  "Where else?"

  He felt like he'd been hit by a train. They began the long walk back. Nick took the point. Selena walked behind him, followed by Lamont and Ronnie. A sliver of moon and the bright stars cast enough light to see where they were going. They walked through a ghostlike landscape of half light and shadow, a world of grays and blacks. It felt like walking in a dream.

  If any of the terrorists had survived and were looking for revenge, it was a dream that would fast turn into a nightmare.

  Traveling at night made for slow going. After a few hours, Nick called a halt. They were still some distance from the tomb.

  "Ten minute break," he said.

  He tried to call Harker again, with no luck. Selena sat next to him, her face swollen and dark where Jabari had hit her with his rifle.

  "How's your head? You all right?" Nick asked.

  "I've been better. The doctor at the camp said I had a concussion."

  "What happened?"

  "I was coming back from taking a pee when one of those assholes hit me with his rifle. When I woke up, I was in a tent. They must've carried me there."

  "Then you must've been out for several hours."

  "I suppose so. I got hit pretty hard. My vision is still screwed up."

  "We'll be out of here soon. We'll get the ship's doc to check you out."

  "The sooner, the better."

  "You get dizzy?"

  "Sometimes."

  "Can you tough it out for the next day or so?"

  She smiled at him.

  "Don't worry, Nick. I'll be fine."

  Nick looked at her.

  This is the last time she's going on a mission. I don't give a damn what she says or what kind of argument she makes.

  "Okay." He stood. "Saddle up."

  Some hours later they reached the tomb. The sky was beginning to lighten with the new day. The entrance to the tomb gaped in the side of the mountain. They started toward it as a tall woman dressed in a flowing blue robe stepped out of the opening.

  "Who the hell are you?" Lamont said.

  "My name is Nephthys. You are surrounded. Stop where you are and lay down your weapons."

  A dozen men armed with AKs appeared from where they had been concealed. Nick was stunned. He would've sworn there was nothing there but rock and sand.

  All of the guns were pointed at them. The eyes of the men were hard.

  "Lay down your weapons," Nephthys said again.

  "Do as she says," Nick said.

  39

  Nick and the others set their weapons down on the ground.

  "Step away from the guns," Nephthys said.

  They moved away.

  "Nephthys?" Selena said. "Like the Egyptian goddess?"

  "That is correct. You must be the person who translated the scroll."

  "How do you know about that?" Nick asked. "What are you doing here?"

  "I have the right to be here," Nephthys said. "I cannot say the same for you. But I thank you for finding the resting place of the god. The location had been lost for many years."

  "The god?" Selena said. "You worship Alexander?"

  Nephthys nodded. "This seems strange to you?"

  "There was a cult that worshiped Alexander in the time of the Ptolemies."

  "Not a cult. A true religion."

  Her eyes watched him with fierce intensity.

  She's bat shit crazy, Nick thought.

  Nephthys continued. "We have kept the flame burning for all these centuries."

  "Nephthys was a guardian goddess," Selena said. "Is that what you are? The Guardian?"

  "I am High Priestess to the god. It is good that you are familiar with our tradition," Nephthys said. "It bodes well for the ritual."

  "What ritual?" Nick asked.

  "The blood renewal that will lead to the resurrection of the god. Bind them."

  Nick had been doing his best to look defeated and helpless. He moved so suddenly that there was no time for Nephthys to react. He reached her in two long strides and wrapped his arm around her neck. He moved behind her and pulled her close. A knife came out. He held it against her neck.

  "You shoot, she dies," Nick said. "Selena, tell them in Arabic. Tell them to put their guns down."

  She repeated what he said in Arabic. The guns stayed steady. Nobody moved.

  Nick pressed the knife against Nephthys' neck. "Tell them to put their guns down or you die. "

  "I am not important," Nephthys said. "Another will take my place."

  "That may be, but you won't like having your throat cut."

  He pressed the sharp edge of the blade against her skin. A thin trickle of blood ran down her neck. She flinched.

  "Hurts, doesn't it? That's nothing."

  "You wouldn't dare."

  "If you believe that, you don't know me. Tell them to put down their guns."

  He pressed the blade harder, careful to avoid the artery and big vein. The trickle of blood increased, staining her robe.

  "I will not do it," she said.

  A sudden burst of shots came from the wadi. One of Nephthys' men cried out in pain and fell. More shots followed. Three more men crumpled to the ground.

  Confusion.

  Ronnie and Lamont ran to where their guns lay on the ground and picked them up, Selena close behind. Nephthys' men fired toward the wadi.

  "Into the tomb," Nick yelled.

  They ran for the opening, bullets ricocheting off the rocks and around their feet, death passing by with an eerie, keening sound. Nick dragged Nephthys with him. Some of her men turned and began shooting, the bullets flying high and wide. Ronnie and Lamont fired back. Two went down.

  Then they were inside the opening and through the outer room. They paused behind the statues of Anubis and Sobek.

  "Must be whoever's left from Masuda's camp," Lamont said.

  "How many?" Nick asked.

  "Can't be more than eight or ten," Ronnie said.

  Blood soaked his left sleeve.

  "You're hit," Selena said.

  "Flesh wound. It's nothing."

  Bullets ricocheted down the passage, striking the statues, breaking away bits with an odd, dull sound.

  "We're cool as long as we stay behind the statues," Lamont said. "I don't fancy our chances out there."

  A new burst of bullets came from outside, as if to emphasize his point.

  "We can't stay here forever," Nick said.

  "You have desecrated a sacred place," Nephthys said. "You will never leave here. The god will make sure of that."

  "Shut up, lady," Lamont said.

  The shooting stopped.

  "Something's up," Ronnie said.

  "Either her men are dead, or the terrorists are," Selena said.

  "Or they're taking a breather."

  A voice called out in Arabic.

  "What did he say?" Nick asked.

  "It's one of her men," Selena said. "He told us to come out, or they'll seal us in," Selena said.

  "With her in here?" Lamont said. "I don't think so."

  The voice called out again. Nephthys twisted out of Nick's grasp. Instead of running for the entrance, she grabbed the staff held by Anubis and pulled it away from the statue, shouting.

  She started to run toward the entrance and tripped, falling to the floor of the passage. She looked up and screamed as an enormous block of stone dropped from the ceiling and crushed her. It sounded as though someone had stepped on a large cockroach.

  The passage went dark, sealed by the stone.

  They were trapped.

  40

  In Virginia, Elizabeth and Stephanie had been watching events unfold on live satellite. They'd seen a dozen terrorists coming down the wadi from the ruins of the camp. Earlier, they'd spied a new, unidentified group, milling about the tomb. The comm link had failed after the strike from the Reaper. Elizabeth had been unable to warn Nick and the others.

  They watched the firefight and saw the team run for the opening to the tomb. When the shooting was done, the unidentified group had won out over the terrorists. They watched one of those men stand before the opening into the mountain and cup his hands to his mouth.

  "What's he doing?" Stephanie asked.

  "He's saying something. Probably telling them to come out."

  "Knowing Nick, I don't think that's going to happen."

  "Now he's doing it again."

  A thick cloud of dust billowed out of the entrance, engulfing the man and his companions.

  "Oh, oh," Elizabeth said.

  "What was that? What happened?"

  "I don't know, but it can't be good."

  "An explosion?" Stephanie asked.

  "I don't think Nick would risk it."

  The two women looked at each other.

  "What if the tunnel collapsed?" Stephanie said.

  "We better hope not. If it did, they're dead."

  "I can't believe that," Stephanie said. "I won't believe it."

  "Look what they're doing."

  Elizabeth pointed at the monitor. The men left outside were all facing the passage and prostrating themselves. After several minutes they rose, gathered their dead and left the area, heading south.

  The image began to degrade as the satellite moved out of range. The screen went gray.

  Elizabeth turned it off.

  "What do we do now?" Stephanie asked.

  "I'll call Clarence. He can send a drone and take a look inside that opening. We'll get the comm link working again and wait for the satellite to come back in range."

  "What if the tunnel is blocked?"

  "Then we'll find a way to open it," Elizabeth said.

  She picked up her phone to call Hood.

  41

  In the total darkness of the passage, the sudden glare from Nick's flashlight was blinding. He played the light over the stone blocking the way to freedom. Blood seeped out from under the edge. The others took out their lights. They looked at the blood.

  "Hell of a way to go," Lamont said.

  Ronnie shone his light on the massive block of stone.

  "Not going to be easy to get through that."

  "I don't think we can," Nick said. "We already used most of our C4. Even if we hadn't, I don't think it would be enough. Besides, the explosion would kill us."

  "At least there's no bugs in here," Lamont said.

  "I guess that makes you an optimist," Ronnie said.

  "Hey. Sometimes you got to look on the bright side."

  "Let me see that arm, Ronnie," Selena said.

  She cut away Ronnie's sleeve. The bullet had creased the upper part of his arm, missing the bone. She opened a med pack, sprinkled antibiotic powder, and bandaged the wound.

  "That'll keep for now."

  "Thanks."

  "We have to look for another way out," Nick said.

  There was only one way to go. They made their way back through the broken spear trap to the burial chamber where Alexander lay in his golden sarcophagus. The oil lamp had gone out. Selena was about to light it again, when Nick stopped her.

  "No flame," he said. "It uses oxygen."

  "Oh. I didn't think of that."

  "How long you think we've got before we run out of air?" Ronnie asked.

  "Hard to say," Nick said. "A while. But we'd better find a way out of here soon or we're going to be keeping our pal Alex company for the next few thousand years."