The Hunt For Atlantis

earthquake of 2003, earning the gratitude of the Iranian government-they still received plenty of suspicious looks. All of the women Nina saw as they drove out of Esfah?n wore head scarves at the least, and a fair percentage were veiled. While Iran was not as strict as its Islamic neighbors like Saudi Arabia in how its women were forced to dress, overgarments that concealed the female form were mandatory, even for visitors.

Kari’s preparedness had extended to having something suitable for Nina to wear, a pale brown coat that came down to her knees. Though Nina instinctively resented the presence of any system that dictated what she could or couldn’t wear in public, at least she didn’t have to bury herself inside a burka. However, she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of jealousy at the long coat Kari had chosen for herself. While it no doubt adhered to the letter of Iranian law, if anything the flowing, narrow-waisted white garment made her even more striking a figure.

Although she had worn a head scarf at the airport, as soon as the Land Rover started moving Kari pulled it off. Nina did the same-once the vehicle was safely clear of the city.

Driving the Land Rover was a man whom Chase introduced as “an old mate of mine.” A good decade older than either Chase or Castile, Hafez Marradejan was a stocky, dark-skinned man with a graying beard that stretched to an impressive point four inches beyond the tip of his chin. He was also a chain-smoker, to Nina’s dismay-all the more so when she learned they had at least an hour’s drive ahead.

“So,” said Hafez-although Nina spoke a little Arabic, he opted to talk in English-“you’re back in work, eh, Eddie?”

“Yep,” Chase answered. He was in the front passenger seat, Nina sandwiched between Kari and Castile in the back. “Same business, new bosses.” He tipped his head back in Kari’s direction.

“Ah! I’d say welcome to Iran, Miss Frost, but current government? Pah! Doesn’t deserve your respect.” Hafez kept looking back at Kari as he spoke, making Nina wince every time he took his eyes off the worryingly busy road. “Finally get government that at least tries to be progressive, and then what happens? They get voted out of office at next election! Democracy, eh? No use if people are idiots!” He made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a hacking cough. “Still, good to see you again, Eddie.”

“So you have been to Iran before?” Nina asked.

“No, nope, never,” Chase said quickly. Castile adopted an innocent look, gazing out of the window.

Hafez laughed his coughing laugh again. “Westerners and their secrets! What happened was-”

“Absolutely nothing,” cut in Chase. “NATO special forces have never run operations in Iran. Ever.” He glared at Hafez, who just chuckled and drew in another lungful of smoke.

“Eh, then I must have been helping ghosts. By the way, one of the boxes you never brought with you is in the back, like you asked.”

Castile reached over the rear seats and lifted up a dirty metal container the size of a large shoe box. “Buried treasure!” he proclaimed, opening it and taking out a black automatic pistol, some ammunition clips and, to Nina’s horror, a hand grenade. “Here, hold this.”

Nina squeaked as he casually dropped the grenade into her hand. Castile quickly and expertly checked the gun, loaded it, then slipped it into his jacket.

Chase glanced at Nina, who was still staring, petrified, at the grenade. “Nothing to panic about,” he said, taking it from her. “It won’t explode unless you pull out the pin. Like this.”

He pulled out the pin. Nina shrieked.

“This one’s got a five-second fuse,” Chase noted. “But don’t worry, it can’t go off unless you release the spoon here, as well.” He slid the pin back into place, then took his thumb off the curved metal clip protruding from one side of the grenade. “See?” Castile and Hafez chuckled.

“That wasn’t funny!” cried Nina.

“Gentlemen,” Kari added, “I’d prefer it if you didn’t terrorize the most important member of our expedition.” The words were mild, but there was no mistaking the authority in her voice.

“Sorry, boss,” said Chase. He handed the grenade back to Castile, who returned it to the box. “Just thought it’d be a way to pass the time.”

Nina made a face. “Next time, bring an iPod!”

After traveling for an hour, Nina wished she had an iPod.

The mountains were impressive at first, but after a while one brown peak looked much like another. The bumpy highway had been as smooth as a magic carpet ride compared to the potholed, twisting road they were now on, in places little more than a dirt track above a perilously steep slope. A lumbering diesel locomotive on the railway line below belched out fumes as it hauled a long string of grimy tanker trucks. Following the twin steel lines along the valley, she saw sidings alongside them about a mile ahead, another train stationary in one.

“How much farther is it, Hafez?” asked Chase.

“Not far,” Hafez said, pointing into the valley. “Past the train yard.”

“Thank God,” Nina sighed. The thin seats and constant bumping of the old Land Rover were becoming a literal pain in the butt. “Why did this guy want to meet all the way out here anyway? Couldn’t we just have met in the Tehran Hilton?”

“Christ, I wish,” said Chase. “Nah, he’s being cautious. Which means we need to be too.”

“Do you expect trouble?” Kari asked.

“We’re spending ten million dollars to buy an ancient artifact stolen off a maniac from a very dodgy bloke in a remote part of Iran. Don’t you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Once again, you have a point.”

Ten bumpy minutes later, Hafez brought the Land Rover to a halt outside an abandoned farmhouse. The train yard was out of sight behind them around a bend in the valley; even the railway lines had disappeared into a tunnel below. A steep, dusty rise above the house was topped by scrubby trees, while on the other side of the structure the slope dipped sharply down to the valley floor. There was no other trace of human habitation in sight.

“Hugo, check around the back of the house,” Chase said, sharp and businesslike again. “Hafez, stay with Dr. Wilde and Ms. Frost. Any sign of trouble, get them out of here.”

“Where are you going?” Kari asked.

“To make sure the house is empty.” He got out of the Land Rover and took a powerful LED flashlight from a pocket. “If I’m not out in two minutes,” he told Hafez, “that’s a sign of trouble.” The Iranian nodded as the two other men jogged to the farmhouse.

It actually took less than two minutes for Chase to reappear, Castile completing his circle of the building soon after. “It’s clear,” Chase said, returning to the Land Rover. “Only two rooms, and nowhere for anyone to hide.”

“Nobody around the back,” added Castile.

“Okay then,” Chase continued, “this road’s the only way in or out. Anyone comes, we’ll have plenty of warning.”

“I don’t think he’s coming by road,” said Castille, an odd expression of distaste on his face.

“Why?”

“Can’t you hear it?”

Chase tipped his head to the side, then grinned. “Oh yeah,” he said, clapping the Belgian on one shoulder. “It’s the sound of your nightmares! Woo, it’s coming to get you!”

“As you so elegantly say in England… piss off.”

Nina moved to the open door to listen. “What’s the matter?” She could hear it now, an unmistakable clatter echoing from the surrounding mountains.

“Hugo once had a bad experience with a helicopter,” Chase said. “So now he’s got a phobia about them. Chopperphobia! Every time he sees one, he reckons something’s going to go wrong and kill him.”

“They fly with huge whirling blades spinning at insane speeds!” Castille protested. “How can they not be dangerous?”

“Well, you just keep your head down back here and I’ll meet him when he lands, okay?” Chase winked at him, then added in a quieter, more serious voice, “Keep an eye open.” Castille nodded.

The helicopter swept over the rise above the farmhouse. The type was familiar to Nina from hundreds of movies and TV shows, and even a couple of flights as a passenger: a Bell Jet Ranger, a civilian workhorse found all