Treasure (Dirk Pitt 9)

The confrontation was momentarily forgotten as the Engineers and SOF men clustered around the rim of the trench. Pitt was on his hands and knees, brushing away loose dirt from a long metallic object.

In a few minutes he pulled it free and very carefully passed it up to Lily.

The flippancy was gone now as she examined the ancient relic.

"Fourth-century sword with definite Roman characteristics," she announced. "Neatly intact with little corrosion."

"May I?" asked Hollis.

She held it out to him and he gently clasped his hand around the hilt and lifted the blade above his head. "Just think," he murmured reverently, "the last man to hold this was a Roman legionary." Then he graciously passed it to Cranston. "How'd you like to fight a battle with this instead of an automatic firearm?"

"I'd prefer a bullet any day," Cranston said thoughtfully, "to being hacked to shreds."

As soon as the Engineers left on the short drive back to their encampment, Pitt turned to Hollis.

"My compliments on your camouflage. I only detected three out of your whole team."

"It was eerie," said Lily, "knowing you were all around us but not visible."

Hollis looked genuinely embarrassed. "We're more used to concealment in jungle or forest. This was a good field exercise for semi-arid terrain."

"An excellent job," added Sandecker, pumping Hollis's hand.

"Let's hope General Chandler buys the good Captain's report," said Giordino.

"If he bothers to hear it," Pitt replied. "The General's most urgent business is to stop half a million aliens from flooding across the border and grabbing the Library's art and knowledge. He doesn't have time to fool with us."

"What about the Roman sword?" asked Hollis, holding it UP "That goes back in Sam's museum collection."

Hollis looked at Pitt. "You didn't find it in the trench?"

"No."

"You get a Turn on digging holes?"

Pitt acted as though he hadn't heard Hollis. He walked a short distance to the summit of the hill and looked down the slope into Mexico. The tent city had swelled to twice what it was the previous day. Tomorrow night, he thought. Topiltzin would unleash the stampede tomorrow night.

He turned to his left and stared up at the slightly higher Gongora Hill.

The Army Engineers were digging exactly where Lily had placed her stakes four days ago. They made two separate excavations. One was at the common tunnel, complete with overhead supports. The other was an open mine, a gouged crater in the side of the hill. Work was going slowly since General Chandler had pulled away most of the Engineers to help in the border defense.

Pitt turned and came back down the trench. He walked up to Hollis.

"Who's your best demolition expert?"

"Major Dillenger is one of the best explosive ordinance men in the army."

"I need about two hundred kilograms of C-six nitroglycerin gel .

Hollis looked at him in genuine surprise. "Two hundred kilograms of C-six? Ten kilos can take out a battleship. Do you know what you're asking? The nitrogel mix is shock-hazardous."

"Also a battery of spotlights," Pitt pressed on. "We can borrow them from a rock-concert group. Spotlights, strobe lights, and eardrum-blasting audio equipment." Then he turned to Lily. "I'll leave it to you to find a carpenter who can knock together a box."

"Why in God's name do you want all that stuff ?" Lily asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"You don't want to know," Giordino moaned.

"I'll explain later," Pitt hedged.