Celtic Empire (Dirk Pitt 25)

Giordino took support of Brophy and led him down the steps and along the basin. Their flickering lights appeared on the boat’s deck a moment later.

Dirk approached his father, eyeing the vessel from above.

“It looks similar to the one buried by the pyramids in Egypt.”

“It’s a funerary barge,” Pitt replied, “with Celtic and Egyptian markings.”

“Is she aboard?”

Pitt nodded. “Just as you and Summer predicted. Meritaten’s in a royal tomb set up inside the cabin. The monks never touched it. They must have deemed it a sign from Saint Anthony when they found it.”

Dirk stared at the boat a long while, Summer and Riki weighed on his mind. The question he was afraid to ask finally crossed his lips. “The Apium of Faras?”

Pitt opened the fold of his bullet-riddled jacket, exposing a bulging skin sack beside his waist. He gave his son a proud pat on the back.

“It would seem, son, that our days aren’t numbered just yet.”

EPILOGUE

QUEEN OF THE AGES

73

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Two years later

Prominently displayed on a raised platform, with bright overhead lights accentuating its every detail, the funerary boat of Princess Meritaten captured the eye like no other artifact in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. With its long oars and elegantly carved prow, the ancient ceremonial boat represented one of the oldest intact vessels ever discovered.

Only Meritaten’s coffin and the mummy of the Egyptian princess herself, both in Plexiglas cases, could compete for the attention of the small group in the museum’s first-floor special exhibition hall.

The Meritaten exhibit presented the full life of the princess, including her travels from Egypt to Spain to Ireland, and her ultimate burial on Skellig Michael. Cases displayed her sword, jewelry, and canopic jars found with her on the funerary barge. Evanna McKee’s Egyptian gold scarab necklace found a place in the gallery as well.

Yet the most priceless article among Meritaten’s possessions was exhibited in a small case off to the side, attracting minimal attention. It was a small gray goatskin bag, displayed with a few samples of the dried plants it had contained inside.

Pitt and Loren passed through a security station at the museum’s entrance and joined the small group of dignitaries gathered for an exclusive preview of the exhibit. Museum officials mixed with politicians and international archeologists in admiring the rare artifacts.

A short, spry man with a trimmed red beard and an unlit cigar noticed Pitt and Loren’s arrival and marched over, a security contingent on his tail. Vice President James Sandecker bowed to Loren and kissed her hand, then turned to Pitt.

“Outstanding discovery, my boy, simply outstanding,” said the Vice President, who had once been Pitt’s boss at NUMA.

“We’re lucky to have the temporary exhibit,” Pitt said. “Dirk and Summer worked closely with a Dr. Eamon Brophy in Ireland to track down Meritaten. Once Brophy recovered from his injuries, he was the one responsible for overseeing the funerary boat’s recovery and conservation. It will ultimately remain on permanent display at the National Museum in Dublin. The museum wasn’t keen to let Meritaten do any more traveling, yet Dr. Brophy insisted on a temporary exhibit here.”

“The least they could do for your help in finding her,” Sandecker said. “And, more importantly, putting Evanna McKee out of business.”

“A truly evil woman, responsible for untold deaths,” Loren said, shaking her head.

“It could have been much worse,” Sandecker said. “Speaking of evil, I hear Senator Bradshaw has admitted under FBI questioning that he accepted large, unreported ‘campaign donations’ from McKee.”

“Influence peddling at its worst,” Loren said. “Senate ethics investigators have just scratched the surface, but they’ve found enough to send him packing. I understand he’ll be tendering his resignation this evening.”

“At least he realized he was finished,” Sandecker said.

Sandecker pointed to the display case with Meritaten’s leather pouch. “That bag contained the extinct plant that will save our species?”

“So it would seem,” Pitt said. He noticed Elise Aguilar entering the exhibit hall and he waved her over. “Here’s the young lady we have to thank.”

Pitt introduced the agricultural scientist to Loren and Sandecker, noting with amusement she was visibly nervous at meeting them both.