was known to be over ten minutes and the guards downstairs were presumably neutralized, so they couldn’t win this.
“Two.”
Morgan whispered to Khal. “Have you studied what’s in here already? Can we give it to her without jeopardizing our mission?”
“There are two theories in the notebook, each taking a separate route for where the Ark could be hidden. The African theory follows the Ark into Ethiopia and the Sinai route follows the Egyptians. There is strong evidence for both possibilities, but at the beginning Abasi is sure that the African route is the more likely. It’s only in the last pages that he reveals a new clue about Sinai.”
“Three. I’m getting impatient here,” Natasha called.
Morgan grabbed the notebook from Khal and carefully ripped the last four pages from it, pulling the little pieces of torn paper carefully from between the rings that bound it to hide the deception. She folded them, handing them back to Khal, who put them inside his jacket pocket. The notebook looked as if it hadn’t been touched.
“Good plan,” Khal whispered. “This will give her both options, but the emphasis is on the African research. Abasi doesn’t say exactly what he found in the Sinai desert, but I know where we need to get to and these last few pages give us some clues.”
“Four.”
Natasha’s voice was cold and Julius was looking flustered. “Hurry up,” he hissed. “We can’t survive if they come for us.”
Morgan could see that the pain and shock of his wounded shoulder was affecting him, and she missed Jake in that moment. Together they had been unbeatable but now she felt alone.
“Five.”
Morgan put the notebook on the floor and slid it towards the door, careful not to show her face. It stopped a few feet away.
“That’s it,” Julius called. “That’s the final notebook. Now leave us.”
A burst of gunfire erupted, providing cover as a man slipped out and retrieved the notebook. Then silence. Natasha would be examining the notebook. Morgan knew there was a risk of the missing pages being noticed but as the seconds ticked on, it seemed that perhaps the ruse had worked. Then the sound of running boots echoed down the hall and the team were gone, along with the notebook.
Khal sat on the floor and leaned back against the shattered glass as Morgan rushed over to help Julius, who was slumped on the floor, holding his arm as blood oozed out from beneath his fingertips.
“You need to get going, Morgan,” Julius said through clenched teeth. “You have to find the Ark before Natasha.”
Morgan nodded, looking over at Khal, who had pulled out the notebook pages and was reading them intently.
“I’m going to need some help though. Dr El-Souid, how do you feel about a field trip?”
DAY 3
Aksum, Ethiopia. 8.16AM
As the small plane banked towards the town sitting at the base of the mountains, Natasha caught a glimpse of low-slung buildings, dusty grey-green against the landscape. A land of fable, she thought. Her father had told her stories of when Ethiopia had been a powerful civilization, although most had forgotten that now. He had taken antiquities from the area, with hardly any difficulty since it was a place forever underestimated and misunderstood by the West. Yet Ethiopia was most likely the cradle of civilization.
Here were found the fossilized remains of ‘Lucy’, the earliest upright walking hominid dated at over 3.5 million years old and the earliest known stone tools were also discovered in this area. The West only remembered the images of skeletal children broken by years of famine, but Ethiopia, once known as Abyssinia, had been a great kingdom. It had been a naval and trading power that ruled the region from 400 BC well into the tenth century, the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia.
Aksum was a small city in the Tigray region situated in the north of Ethiopia, towards the border
“Two.”
Morgan whispered to Khal. “Have you studied what’s in here already? Can we give it to her without jeopardizing our mission?”
“There are two theories in the notebook, each taking a separate route for where the Ark could be hidden. The African theory follows the Ark into Ethiopia and the Sinai route follows the Egyptians. There is strong evidence for both possibilities, but at the beginning Abasi is sure that the African route is the more likely. It’s only in the last pages that he reveals a new clue about Sinai.”
“Three. I’m getting impatient here,” Natasha called.
Morgan grabbed the notebook from Khal and carefully ripped the last four pages from it, pulling the little pieces of torn paper carefully from between the rings that bound it to hide the deception. She folded them, handing them back to Khal, who put them inside his jacket pocket. The notebook looked as if it hadn’t been touched.
“Good plan,” Khal whispered. “This will give her both options, but the emphasis is on the African research. Abasi doesn’t say exactly what he found in the Sinai desert, but I know where we need to get to and these last few pages give us some clues.”
“Four.”
Natasha’s voice was cold and Julius was looking flustered. “Hurry up,” he hissed. “We can’t survive if they come for us.”
Morgan could see that the pain and shock of his wounded shoulder was affecting him, and she missed Jake in that moment. Together they had been unbeatable but now she felt alone.
“Five.”
Morgan put the notebook on the floor and slid it towards the door, careful not to show her face. It stopped a few feet away.
“That’s it,” Julius called. “That’s the final notebook. Now leave us.”
A burst of gunfire erupted, providing cover as a man slipped out and retrieved the notebook. Then silence. Natasha would be examining the notebook. Morgan knew there was a risk of the missing pages being noticed but as the seconds ticked on, it seemed that perhaps the ruse had worked. Then the sound of running boots echoed down the hall and the team were gone, along with the notebook.
Khal sat on the floor and leaned back against the shattered glass as Morgan rushed over to help Julius, who was slumped on the floor, holding his arm as blood oozed out from beneath his fingertips.
“You need to get going, Morgan,” Julius said through clenched teeth. “You have to find the Ark before Natasha.”
Morgan nodded, looking over at Khal, who had pulled out the notebook pages and was reading them intently.
“I’m going to need some help though. Dr El-Souid, how do you feel about a field trip?”
DAY 3
Aksum, Ethiopia. 8.16AM
As the small plane banked towards the town sitting at the base of the mountains, Natasha caught a glimpse of low-slung buildings, dusty grey-green against the landscape. A land of fable, she thought. Her father had told her stories of when Ethiopia had been a powerful civilization, although most had forgotten that now. He had taken antiquities from the area, with hardly any difficulty since it was a place forever underestimated and misunderstood by the West. Yet Ethiopia was most likely the cradle of civilization.
Here were found the fossilized remains of ‘Lucy’, the earliest upright walking hominid dated at over 3.5 million years old and the earliest known stone tools were also discovered in this area. The West only remembered the images of skeletal children broken by years of famine, but Ethiopia, once known as Abyssinia, had been a great kingdom. It had been a naval and trading power that ruled the region from 400 BC well into the tenth century, the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia.
Aksum was a small city in the Tigray region situated in the north of Ethiopia, towards the border
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