Russian. More threatening and less defensive. I think those words were meant as a warning, not a plea.” Boris glanced at the tall hill just in front of them. He flicked his flashlight over the cave mouth.
The cave was situated so that it was hard to see from any direction. Anyone looking for it had to know exactly where to search. Thanks to the document Boris had bought, he’d been looking for the cave. He’d found it three weeks before Lourds had arrived from Cambridge, done considerable exploring, and had finally given up in disgust.
Lourds shone his flashlight into the cave and felt a little more sober. “You know, now that I think about things with a little more clarity, perhaps going into this cave in the dark isn’t such a good idea.”
Boris laughed. “Seriously? Don’t you think the cave will be dark inside during the day as well?”
“I do, but there might be more people awake that we could ask for help if we needed it.”
“Help? Why should we need help? You and I have been in this cave several times over the past few days. Nothing untoward has yet happened to us.”
“True.” Lourds smiled in anticipation. “And there’s nothing like having a discovery all to yourself, is there?”
“Exactly.” Boris clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on then. Let’s go see if you’ve truly solved this riddle.” He led the way into the cave.
***
Standing in the dark a hundred yards from Lourds and Glukov, Dmitry watched the two men enter the cave and shook his head wearily. These two were idiots. There was no other explanation for their decisions.
“Lieutenant Chizkov, do you have your sidearm?”
“I do, sir.” The younger man seemed nervous. “Do you think I will need it?”
“How would I know? I don’t know why two professors would get up in the middle of the night to go spelunking.”
“It can’t be for any good reason, sir.”
Dmitry sighed at the ignorance of youth. “Lieutenant, if these men were common criminals, I would vouchsafe that, in the middle of the night, they were indeed up to something clandestine. But these are university-trained professors. They’re as curious and as incomprehensible as a child. They do things simply because they are there to be done.”
“Then we have nothing to worry about.”
“No, I did not say that. We will worry because that is our job. But we will be careful because I think we should be.” Dmitry checked the pistol in his waistband. “Do you have extra batteries for your flashlight?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then let us go and hope that this—whatever it is—will not take long.” Making his way by moonlight, Dmitry headed up the incline.
3
32 Miles Southwest of Herat
Herat Province
Afghanistan
June 18, 2012
The cave tunnel was tall enough for Lourds, and it was wide enough for Boris and him to walk side by side. The walls were worn smooth from the passage of time, but probably from lots of human traffic as well. Those caravans that crisscrossed the country had to stop somewhere, and the cave would have been a good campsite. Bandits had probably taken refuge there as well.
Phosphorescent chalk marks stood out on the walls after the flashlight beams passed over them. There were several tunnels throughout the cave system. The majority were natural, but some were man-made.
Lourds and Boris followed one of the natural ones.
“You know, Thomas, the scroll mentioned there was a treasure.”
“I know. I read it. I also noticed that it didn’t mention what the treasure was.”
“So?”
Lourds glanced at his friend. “You and I both know that a document that tells about a hiding place generally also mentions what is being hidden. If it is legitimate.”
“Not always.”
“At least it would mention who hid it.”
“Possibly, but that isn’t an ironclad law.”
Lourds took the next left from memory but confirmed the choice with the chalk mark on the wall. Now that he was moving and they were in the cold cave, he discovered he was sobering up rather quickly.
As ever, the excitement of incipient discovery made his pulse race. If they actually found a treasure, they wouldn’t be leaving the country with it, because anything they found belonged to Afghanistan, but—for a time—they would be royalty among the dig teams.
“How did you get on this dig?” Lourds took another left. “The last I heard, you’d been condemned to teaching at the university. And that’s your description, by the way, not mine. I enjoy teaching.”
“As to what I’m doing out in the field once more instead of spending my time in a classroom,