Summer had led them into a much smaller chamber, empty of any artifacts or murals. Of greater concern, there was no other way out.
She shone her light around the walls. “End of the line,” she whispered.
Dirk helped Stanley to a far corner and set him on the ground. He turned to Zeibig and the two laborers and spoke in a low voice. “Best we can do is try to jump them when they enter.” He tapped the staff against his palm. “Everyone else, get down low along the side walls.”
He and Zeibig took position on opposite sides of the entrance as the others hugged the ground. They extinguished the lights, and the room fell as black as the bottom of a well.
In the eerie darkness, the seven heard only the beating of his or her pounding heart. The spirit of the tomb’s three-thousand-year-old occupant seemed to permeate the interior, chilling the air with a deathly silence.
Then the gunmen entered the burial chamber.
22
Despite the cool underground air, Dirk felt a film of sweat around the ancient staff in his grip. He stood poised by the anteroom’s low doorway, arms raised to strike the first gunman to enter. He suddenly felt a presence next to him and scraped his elbow against a female form. Too short to be Summer, he realized it was Riki. She leaned against him lightly, placing a trembling hand on his shoulder for support.
A light flickered beyond the opening as the two gunmen surveyed the burial chamber. Several times it flicked toward the doorway, but they showed no interest in its interior.
Inside the anteroom, the occupants remained silent, barely breathing.
Then the burial chamber erupted in gunfire. The bursts echoed off the limestone walls and into the anteroom, yet no bullets came with it. After multiple shots, the chamber fell quiet.
Dirk and Zeibig held their position at the doorway. The only thing to enter was gun smoke. The cell light moved again, followed by rustling across the stone floor. The chamber then fell dark and silent.
Dirk and the others remained frozen, their senses heightened, no one saying a word. Dirk finally rose, giving a half hug to Riki, standing next to him. “Stay here,” he whispered to all in the room.
He felt along the top of the doorway and ducked into the burial chamber. Even on dives to the bottom of the ocean, he could not remember being exposed to such total, suffocating blackness. Groping blindly, he stretched his arms in front of him and shuffled across the floor. Shell casings crunched beneath his feet as he moved toward the opposite entrance. Though he couldn’t see it, his lungs felt the heavy smoke.
His hands eventually found the opposite hall and the entrance to the burial chamber. He felt his way through it, catching a faint light to his right. The gunmen had cleared the first corridor and were now in the outer passage, their light reflected around the far bend.
Dirk returned to the chamber and called softly, “It’s safe to come out.”
The cell phone and penlight turned on. Summer guided the group out, with the two Egyptian laborers supporting a semiconscious Stanley.
“You sure they’re gone?” she whispered.
“Yes.” Dirk took his sister’s wrist and aimed the penlight toward the front wall. The pedestal table was now empty of the coffin. “They got what they wanted,” he said.
Riki sighed. “They were indeed tomb robbers.”
“What was all the gunfire about?” Summer asked.
“I guess they didn’t care for the mural.” Zeibig pointed his phone light at the wall. A small section of the lower corner had been targeted, obliterating the image painted there.
“That’s strange,” Summer said. “Why would they shoot up a mural?”
“Here’s something else that’s strange.” Zeibig stepped to the foot of the pedestal, where the clay figurines still stood. The jars and figures, the model boat, and the little gold chariot had been left untouched. “It doesn’t make much sense that grave robbers would steal a plain wooden casket and leave behind a gold artifact.”
Summer shook her head. “Perhaps they didn’t see it.”
“One other thing is odd,” Zeibig said. “I caught a glimpse of one of the men while we were in the anteroom. It appeare
d he had put on a surgical mask and rubber gloves.”
“I can see protecting the artifacts by wearing gloves,” Summer said, “but the mask is extreme.”
Riki brushed against Dirk’s side. “Is it safe to leave now? We need to get medical assistance for Dr. Stanley.”
“Of course. Summer, can you take the point again?”