“How do you know when your father purchased those books?”
“The receipts were still in them. He keeps them to track his expenses for different accounts, and finding them later drives my mother crazy.”
Lourds grinned ruefully. Tina Metcalf used to voice the same complaint when she had been his GA. “All right.”
“My father would not have taken it upon himself to begin reading such a focused subject unless he was ordered to.” Anna paced slightly but appeared to be moving cautiously, as if she were somewhat dizzy. “The only person he answers to these days is President Nevsky. I am certain his newfound interest came from Nevsky.”
Lourds nodded.
Captain Fitrat and the two corporals listened attentively. There were no zombie remarks.
“I have a friend who is very good with computers, yes? He breaks into them on a regular basis. Very dangerous work. He is the one who got these plans on the ‘reunification.’ I had him access my father’s appointment book as well. He had his first face-to-face meeting with Nevsky at around the same time Professor Glukov was investigating the dig out in Afghanistan. He ordered the books that afternoon.”
“I see.” Lourds stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “Boris mentioned that his funding to work at the dig came through Nevsky.”
Anna took out her tablet PC and a stylus. “I did not know that. It will be one more thing I can add to the story at some point. I am certain I can verify that, no problem.” She put the tablet aside. “But I must ask you, Professor: Do you believe there is any merit to the story that Alexander’s weapons and his armor have any supernatural powers?”
Lourds shook his head. “It’s just a story.” Then he remembered how he’d read the words from the scroll to United States Vice President Elliott Webster and the man—or whatever he had truly been—had been defeated.
“It does not matter if it is true or not.” Anna looked at the men in the room. “Nevsky has his man, Linko, an FSB operative, out there looking for it, as we have plainly seen. So anyone connected to the search for the lost tomb of Alexander the Great is going to be in danger. Of this you can be certain.”
Marias tapped his journal with a pen. He’d been taking notes throughout. As Lourds remembered, the man was an excellent listener. “People—political leaders, athletes, common people—all have belief systems. They choose to believe in things outside themselves. That is why the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses is so rich.”
Anna grinned at him and massaged her temple. “Are you so sure all of those things are myths?”
Marias smiled. “I am satisfied that they are myths and nothing more. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the gods and goddesses have manifested before now?” He sat forward in his seat. “Still, the problem remains, as you said, that Nevsky believes in the power of Alexander’s armor and weapons. One of the best ways we might undermine his current position—on a personal level—is to find those things and take custody of them.”
“I agree. I can hit Nevsky on the political front. The story I will be breaking should start an avalanche of investigations. But if that is followed up by the story of your discovery of Alexander the Great’s lost tomb, that should provide the proverbial nail in the coffin. To use a fitting analogy.”
Anna looked more sharply at Lourds and Marias. “How close do you think you are to finding the tomb?”
Lourds sighed. He hated that question, as he’d been asking himself the same thing all day. “According to Callisthenes’s scroll, Aristotle took Alexander to the Oracle of Delphi. Once he received the pronouncement he expected, he took Alexander to get the weapons.”
“Where?”
“It doesn’t say. But there is a symbol we haven’t figured out yet.” Lourds waved to Marias, who promptly brought up the symbol on the computer screen.
Anna looked at the symbol. “Where did you find this?”
“Thomas did, actually. We only just discovered it in the scroll.” Marias pulled out the Oracle scroll, as they’d started calling it, and flipped it over. “If you run your finger along the back of the papyrus, you’ll feel those raised points where Callisthenes talks about Alexander acquiring the weapons.”
Anna ran her hand along the back of the scroll. She shook her head and grimaced, but continued. “I would have thought they were just indentations from the writing.”
“That’s what I thought, until I matched the indentations with the writing.” Lourds looked at the symbol on