Free The Atlantis Stone by Alex Lukeman Page A

Moscow travel agency seeking new destinations for your clients."
    "Weapons?"
    "A package will be waiting for you in your hotel room."
    "Will the Egyptians know I'm there?"
    "No."
    "Good."
    "Do you have any questions?"
    "Do you want me to question my sister if there's an opportunity?"
    "I want you to stay away from her."
    "Something could happen that makes it necessary."
    Vysotsky looked at her. "Make sure it doesn't."
     

CHAPTER 19
     
     
    At the desk of the hotel, the clerk gave them directions to the ruins and assured them it was safe to visit because the government had posted guards for the protection of tourists.
    As they left the lobby Ronnie said, "I sure feel safer now."
    They were doing their best to look like tourists. It wasn't hard. No one would think they were anything but what they appeared to be. Selena wore loose slacks and a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt to protect her skin from the sun. A wide brimmed straw hat and large sunglasses completed the image of a foreign woman on vacation.
    Nick and Ronnie wore jeans, desert boots and loose, short-sleeved shirts. Baseball caps and sunglasses rounded out their outfits. They might have been brothers. No one would mistake them for locals.
    Stalls filled with goods lined the road leading out of town. They petered out after the first kilometer. Except for the potholed highway, there was nothing to see but the Mediterranean off to the right and empty miles of sand to the left. The area was deserted. The roadside stands they saw along the way were shuttered. Faded signs proclaimed souvenirs and guide services in Arabic and tortured English.
    The air conditioner in the Rover didn't work. A hot wind coming through the open windows smelled of dust and heat and provided little relief.
    They passed an abandoned building advertising bottled water, food and souvenirs. Slogans in Arabic had been spray-painted across the front.
    "I wonder where all the people have gone?" Selena asked
    "It's because of ISIS," Nick said. He took one hand off the wheel and wiped sweat away from his forehead. "Out here, you're either with them or against them. If you're with them, you're probably off fighting in Libya. If you're against them, you're either a slave or dead."
    Selena looked at a map she held in her lap. "Libya's not far away. We should reach the ruins soon."
    Ronnie pointed ahead. A low building stuck up from the flat monotony of the coastal plain.
    "That must be it."
    They reached the temple complex ten minutes later. Nick parked in a paved lot big enough for a hundred cars. It was deserted except for a dented Volkswagen camper bus and a military jeep.
    At one time this had been an important temple. The ruin was impressive. A dozen broken columns lined a wide forecourt. Three massive columns carved to represent date palms stood at the entrance, supporting an intact, flat roof. Each column was fifty feet high.
    The sun beat down on the ruin, making it shimmer with golden light. The interior of the temple looked shady and inviting.
    A bored attendant took a small entrance fee from them. Two soldiers sat nearby, playing a desultory board game in the shade of an awning stretched out from the side of the attendant's shack. Their rifles were propped against the wall.
    "Do not wander far," one said as they walked by. "Touching anything inside is forbidden." He gave Selena a lewd look. "Perhaps you would like a private tour of the ruins?"
    "I don't want one, but would you like to show my husband around?"
    The guard looked confused. His companion laughed.
    When they were out of earshot Nick said, "You couldn't resist, could you?"
    "Did you see the way he looked at me? I wanted to slap him."
    They reached the forecourt and stopped. Selena looked up at the temple and the inscriptions along the walls.
    She shook her head. "This can't be the right place."
    "What do you mean?" Nick asked. "This is the spot marked on the map."
    "That mark is only an approximate location. Stephanie scanned the area