 
# DEATH

# World's Divide

# Book 2

# Ryan Hartung

All people in this book are a work of fiction that were birthed within the author's mind. Places, names, and everything in between are a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places and events is purely coincidental.

Published 2014 By Molecularly Primed Publishing at Smashwords

Death: World's Divide Book 2

Copyright © 2014 Ryan Hartung

ISBN 978-1-942123-01-9 Electronic

www.ryanhartung.com

All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission, except in brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews. For more information, contact Molecularly Primed Publishing.

Cover illustration and interior design by Raven Tree Design

www.raventreedesign.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents

Title

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Sample

Acknowledgements

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife Elizabeth.

I hope you enjoy this book. Reviews are always appreciated, and help both authors and readers.

## Chapter

## 1

Russian President Boris Aleksandrov watched the final clip of his state ran news version of CNN, which was currently detailing ad nauseam the Americans' miraculous find of the ancient Peruvian artifact. The piece he noticed, however, was devoid of any mention of England first having the remarkable artifact and then allowing it to slip through their hands. In actuality, it mattered little to Boris who currently possessed the Lightning Staff, as the reporters had dubbed the artifact. What mattered to Boris was the possibility that more relics like it might actually exist.

"Have we taken to napping this early in the morning?" Anatoly Lipov, his aging mentor, questioned from the open door at seeing the Russian President silently staring out his large office window. Anatoly roughly pushed his unkempt greying hair to one side of his head, which meshed well with his rather drab communist styled clothing of dark blues and grey. Only his bright blue ever-watching eyes led credence to the brilliant and calculating mind hidden under the unimpressive exterior.

"Don't be ridiculous. I was only pondering this morning's world news report," Boris replied. Anatoly had taught him much over the years, but his mentor's judgmental character at times was a difficult pill to swallow, such as today where a simple good morning would have sufficed.

"Ahh, I see you've heard about the American's discovery then. Have you any thoughts on the matter?"

Boris studied the aging communist legend, knowing he believed there was only one correct answer to the question. "I was thinking Russia would benefit greatly from a device such as that. To control the lightning, what a weapon," Boris thoughtfully said, while at the same time eyeing his mentor and seeking his approval.

"Yes, powerful indeed, Boris. However, that staff would not necessarily have to serve as just a weapon though. Perhaps as a source of electricity or even more than that," Anatoly returned. "But we shouldn't waste our time deliberating the would haves and could haves. What we should be discussing is that there are potentially five remaining artifacts."

"If they even exist," Boris blurted out, unconvinced.

"Are you really that naïve to believe they don't? The whole world has seen what the Lightning Staff can do. Do you really believe the passage of time has destroyed the other artifacts? Humans used to think the world was flat and that the earth was the center of the universe. Is it really that ridiculous that we might have been wrong about this too?"

"What do you want me to do old man?" Boris demanded, sick of Anatoly's game of questions. "Tell me!"

"You are the Russian president. You must decide for yourself what you must do. I can only offer advice. But, in a situation such as this, as the Americans are fond of saying, it's the early bird that gets the worm. I do not believe it would be wise to wait in the shadows while the rest of the world is hunting for these magnificent treasures."

"You would hunt for the relics then?"

"I would," Anatoly replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, I know you have a plan so spit it out. I'm not a mind reader."

"If I were Russia's president I would send a small reconnaissance team to search for the only artifact whose location was explicitly defined. I'd send them to Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy."

"What type of team, military or scientific?"

"That would be up you to decide, but I believe a team comprised of both trades would be most advantageous. My daughter Natalya has made quite a name for herself in Russian archeological circles. Plus, her views are staunchly in line with The Communist Party. There would be no lingering concerns that she'd use the artifact for personal gain or citizenship to another country. To her Russia comes first."

"Yes, I have watched her grow quite strong in many circles of influence lately, much like her older father," Boris replied to his mentor and saw a brief burst of pride in the old man's eyes. "I believe one scientific mind should be sufficient however for a mission such as this. The other members should all come from our military elite."

"Agreed. And there is one commander above all else who is perfectly suited for the task at hand."

"Vladimir Pavlov?" Boris Aleksandrov asked, certain he already knew the answer.

"Exactly," Anatoly confirmed. "Let him pick his team. Two or three more soldiers along with Natalya will form a small group that can quickly enter and exit Italy without drawing very much attention. They should be able to ascertain if there is any validity to the treasure's existence or if it's a ruse."

"Yes, that is a good plan. I'll send Vladimir his orders. I'll inform him we want him and his team ready to go and out of the country within a day's time. His efficiency is well known. I wouldn't be surprised if within another forty-eight hours after their departure, we will know if the purported treasure of Hades actually exists."

"And with it, whether Russia will once again be able to control its own destiny," Anatoly added with optimism.

***

"Get a move on Dmitry, President Aleksandrov wanted us in the air two hours ago!" Vladimir Pavlov gruffly ordered his subordinate. Two hours earlier their first plane, on attempting to leave the Smolensk North Airport just outside of Moscow, had blown one of its engines. As Vladimir and his crew of three had been boarding the plane, the two pilots were dutifully following their normal checklists before takeoff. Out of nowhere, while the pilots were lastly checking each engine in turn, one of the engines caught fire, where the airport's ground crew quickly extinguished it. The fire had scrapped their flight.

Although an inconvenience, the situation was not out of the ordinary for Russia's aging fleet of military vehicles and aircraft. Vladimir had then quickly radioed his superiors requesting another plane, which was finally ready.

"Alright, on the plane everyone," Vladimir ordered his small team. Natalya and Pavel dutifully boarded the waiting aircraft, but their third companion was nowhere to be seen. Now, two hours later and behind schedule, Dmitry had somehow found a way to unready himself from the boarding process.

"So help me Dmitry, if you don't get your white Russian butt on that plane in the next five minutes I'll shoot you myself!" Vladimir growled, getting no response from Dmitry concerning his previous order. Vladimir's second threat, being much harsher than the first, finally found Dmitry's attention. Within well under five minutes, Dmitry was on the plane strapped in his seat with his military gear stowed underneath.

Having worked for Vladimir in the past, Dmitry was quite aware of his leader's ability to make good on his threats. As Vladimir himself boarded the plane, Dmitry along with Pavel and Natalya Lipov stared back at him with expressionless faces, waiting their orders.

Before addressing his small commando unit, Vladimir stuck his head into the pilot's cockpit and ordered, "Take off now." He didn't elaborate because he didn't need to. As he spoke his words, the tone in his voice let the pilots know he meant now.

Immediately, the pilots hurried the last part of their checklist. Before Vladimir had his seat belt buckled, the plane was already beginning to hurl itself down the cracked runway. He did not smile nor did he feel pleased that they were following his orders with such speed and veracity; he expected them to be.

In his seat with his lap belt secured, he turned in his chair to the three other Russians on the plane. Vladimir had worked with both Dmitry and Pavel on numerous military campaigns. When picking his team of three for this most curious of quests, he had required each person to be as different from the rest as possible to maximize their combined talents.

Dmitry was tall, but not overly muscular. Vladimir had chosen him to serve as the brains of their outfit. Most of the military units he'd previously worked with knew his computer skills and problem solving tactics were virtually unparalleled. For Vladimir however, the most important aspect of Dmitry's character, regardless of how smart he was, was that foremost Dmitry was a soldier first.

Pavel was not so much unlike Dmitry, also quite smart himself, but his talents lied elsewhere than modern electronic machinery. Pavel was a soldier's soldier to the core. There had yet to be an aircraft or military vehicle he couldn't operate or figure out. Radios, explosives, weaponry, Pavel was a master of each. If their small team encountered any resistance on their quest for Hades' treasure Vladimir felt as comfortable counting on Pavel as he did himself.

The only member of their quartet that Vladimir had not encountered before was Nataly Lipov. He knew she was the daughter of the Russian hero Anatoly Lipov, was considered a rising star in the communist party and was the only member of his squad he was not allowed to choose; besides those few facts he knew very little else. Looking her over, Vladimir noticed she was quite attractive, with solid Russian facial features and dark hair. Indeed, she was perfectly proportioned in almost every way. Her build was feminine, yet he could tell her core was fully muscled. Her soft brown eyes were alluring, but underneath he sensed an unyielding resolve and nerves of steel that any woman in Russian politics had to have.

"Listen up, I'm only going to say this once," Vladimir began. "Dmitry, Pavel, we know each other well, and we've worked well together in the past. Natalya, I have yet to work with you, but your reputation speaks volumes. Our task, we've been chosen to undertake, is interesting and not without ambiguity.

"We're flying directly into Naples, Italy. We'll then grab a car and drive to the base of Mount Vesuvius. From there we'll backpack with our gear to the top of the volcano, don our heat resistant suits if needed, and make our way inside the cone. As of now, the volcano is dormant, so we'll have to find a way inside the temple if there is one. Pavel, that's where we're counting on you. At the bottom of the cone, the heat should be bearable, maybe not even noticeable, but we'll need to get through the top layer. Personally, I think we're on a wild goose chase concerning this treasure, but this order has come directly from the president himself.

Natalya, why don't you tell us a little more about what we're after," Vladimir finished and turned his attention to the attractive woman.

"Sure. About twenty-four hours ago, news broke on what an American team of archeologists uncovered in the Amazon. They found a staff that can control lightning and is purportedly to be from or is the Greek god Zeus himself. There were five other treasures mentioned at the base of where they had discovered the Lightning Staff, and Mount Vesuvius was the only location out of the five that had been definitively named.

"Boris Aleksandrov has given permission to proceed to check the validity of this second treasure. I can't tell you if it exists or not. Even if the treasure was buried at the mouth of Vesuvius, the volcano has erupted so many times since then, the treasure and its chamber might have been completely destroyed some time ago. Our mission is to find out if anything is down there and if there is, to retrieve it for Mother Russia."

Vladimir looked at Natalya and nodded in complete agreement. She only enhanced her attractiveness by her military-like directness and description of their task. "Any questions?" he asked. He expected none and no one asked.

He often wondered what his position would be like in the American army. Did they debate every order or were the higher official's orders followed to the letter like his in Russia? Regardless of the Americans' popular democratic style of leadership, Vladimir was completely content in giving orders and knowing no one, if they knew what was good for them, would ever think to disobey.

Vladimir had his doubts about finding anything of value in the volcano's dormant crater, let alone some magical artifact thousands of years old. He shifted his body forward and stared through the cockpit's open door. Miles and miles of clear blue sky dotted with an occasional white wispy cloud formed the horizon. Vladimir didn't know why, but he felt it was an unusually optimistic sky.

## Chapter

## 2

A pair of robins chirping outside Colt Andrews's window was making just enough noise to cause him to stir. His eyes fluttered open and shut, while his body tried to wake. Letting out a long yawn, he stretched out his left arm and felt Hillary lying by his side. Rolling over to his side, he faced her. She was still peacefully sleeping; gathering her strength for maybe their most daring adventure yet.

Her long dark-brown hair flowed along the white pillow. Even now, without wearing any makeup, Colt felt a strong physical attraction to her. He felt he was lucky to be dating a woman as beautiful as her. One who, in reality, didn't even need makeup and some days never even bothered to put it on. Her lips were full and red, and her cheeks still carried a light pinkish hue in the early morning light.

She took in a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. "Are you watching me sleep again?" she asked with a caring smile.

"Who me?" Colt feigned, knowing she had busted him as usual.

"Yes you," she replied and scooted closer to him. He bent over to kiss her just as a pounding sounded on their bedroom door.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP

"Hey, are you guys awake in there?" Dominic yelled through the closed door. "I can hear you breathing. General Radcliff's outside, and he says it's time to get going."

"No rest for the weary, I guess," Colt sighed as he reluctantly released Hillary from his grasp and got out of bed. "Five minutes, Dom," he yelled and started pulling on his clothes he'd laid over one of their hotel room chairs the night before.

Hillary sighed and rolled herself off the other side of the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, Colt drank in her luxurious curves and well-toned female body. He was lucky indeed.

Hillary could sense Colt was eyeing her and sent him a seductive smile before disappearing into the bathroom for a quick shower. Six minutes later, with both Dominic and General Radcliff looking annoyed, Colt and Hillary appeared in the adjoining area between their and Dominic's rooms dressed and ready to go.

Waiting behind Dominic and the General was a man neither of them had ever met.

"Colt, Hilary, this is Colonel Cliff Barns. He'll be your military advisor while in Italy. We have reason to believe the Russians and the Chinese are also sending teams to search for the Hades artifact, so his expertise might be needed."

"Nice to meet you," Colt said, shaking the Colonel's hand. He studied the highly decorated Marine and disliked him almost immediately. Cliff's good looks and somewhat arrogant mannerisms bothered him. Still shaking hands, the men tightened their squeezes, each attempting to assert their dominance over the other.

"Alright boys, that's enough," Hillary protested as the testosterone hand-shaking match dragged on. "I'm Hillary, nice to meet you," she added.

"A pleasure mam," Cliff said with a twinkle in his eye. Colt was positive he hated him.

"Colt, you're in charge for any part of the operation that doesn't need the Colonel's assistance. However, if a situation where Colonel Barns' military expertise is required, he is to take control." General Radcliff paused for a moment looking each of the alpha males in the eye. "Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," the Colonel dutifully replied without hesitation.

"Yes, General Radcliff, I understand," Colt followed.

"Good. Now let's get the four of you to the airport and on your way to Italy."

On their way back to Joint Base Andrews, while eating a rushed breakfast since they were already slightly behind schedule, General Radcliff fully briefed the team of four on Colonel Barns' service record and his main areas of expertise.

"Like I was saying, I've been with the Marines for over fifteen years, and so far I've yet to lose a man. We take our time to plan the mission down to the smallest detail. My mantra is to make sure you're prepared for anything out of the ordinary and always plan for the worst. By following these simple rules I have yet to have led a mission that I would consider a total failure," Colonel Barns finished.

"Do we have to call you Colonel all the time or can we just call you Cliff?" Dominic mumbled, while shoving the last bit of his breakfast burrito into his face.

"Sure, you can call me Cliff, but you should call me Colonel," he said turning to Colt, trying to ruffle his feathers.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen Cliff," Colt snapped back, staring him down. Hillary patted Colt's arm, trying to sooth his battered ego and sighed. It's going to be a long trip she thought to herself. She rolled her eyes as she watched the two idiots who were back to staring each other down again.

After General Radcliff had wished them well and given his final orders, a trio of soldiers whisked them aboard their military transport, heading for Naples, Italy.

"Alright, let's go over our plan a few times since we're going to be in the air for a while," Cliff said after their plane had reached cruising altitude. Colt glared at Cliff assuming control of their mission, but what was he to do? General Radcliff had handed Cliff detailed satellite photos of the area prior to their boarding. He was also the main contact person with the Italian government. For the time being, Colt knew he had the upper hand.

"First of all, we're probably going to have company while we're there. As General Radcliff mentioned, we have reason to believe the Russians and the Chinese are sending teams to the area as well. I'm guessing we're probably the most scientific heavy of the three, which could potentially be a problem if there's an altercation. That means you need to make sure you have the Lightning Staff with you. Truthfully, that thing gives me the creeps, but since we're dealing with potential weapons I've never encountered before, its best you bring it."

"Of course I'm bringing it," Colt snottily replied. He knew he was being a bit of a jerk, but he just couldn't help himself. Cliff Barns simply brought out the worst in him.

"So, do I get to carry a gun?" Dominic pleaded, while shaking a nervous leg in anticipation of the answer. "I've shot handguns lots of times, so I know how to use one. I promise I'm not going to be a liability or anything like that."

"Sorry pal, not even I'm allowed to carry a gun once we step off the plane onto Italian soil. But it's good to know if something needing weaponry comes up that you know how to handle yourself."

Cliff was absolutely telling them the truth that the Italian government would not allow him to bring his trusty sidearm off the plane once they had landed. However, he did not intend to follow the rules. Even now, he had a small handgun strapped to his ankle and a larger semi-automatic pistol shoved down the back of his pants. Since they were arriving on a military plane, the American government had assured their team that the Italian security forces would not subject them to the usual pat downs and metal detecting devices of commercial airports.

Dominic pouted at Cliff's reply, but didn't say a word. He knew it was a longshot the crusty Marine would let him carry a gun. However, he took solace in the fact that Cliff too would be arriving unarmed. Although on second thought, Dominic wondered if maybe at least one of them should be armed. Luckily, Colt had already made his position clear; the Lightning Staff would be going with him, which was one weapon no one else in the world possessed.

"Back to what we need to be discussing," Hillary said, arching an eyebrow in Dominic's direction. "General Radcliff said you had some aerial photographs of the area."

Cliff nodded and began digging in his backpack. Eventually, he found the manila envelope he'd been searching for and slapped it down on the table in front of him.

"Here's an aerial photo of the cone taken by one of our drones just a few days ago. If you look closely, you can see a few plumes of steam from the base, but really there's not much more activity than that these days.

"Now, here's another picture, but this time it's from NASA's Terra satellite. This is an infrared satellite, so it's not just a picture. Do you see the change in coloring by the side of the crater over here?" he asked, pointing to the side of the picture.

"This change in coloring is where the amount of infrared radiation that has been absorbed by the earth is different than in the rest of the crater, which means that the rock's composition has changed. Here's the same shot, but magnified," he said tossing down another picture. "Does this image resemble anything to you?"

"That looks like a wall of some sort," Colt replied, amazed. The line was uncharacteristically straight; too straight to be from pure happenstance.

"Yeah, it absolutely looks like a wall or a base of where a wall used to stand," Hillary added. "We have to remember Vesuvius has erupted many times since whatever we're looking at was built, so this picture might be drastically different from the original structure."

"But wouldn't all those eruptions have dissolved it or something like that?" Dominic asked from a seat back. "I mean, those volcanoes spit out liquid rock. Wouldn't that be hot enough to melt anything people had built that was in its path?"

"That's what I thought," Cliff replied. "But after seeing this photo, I knew I had to see for myself if there's something there or not, because I agree with Dominic. Anything manmade should have been melted down to nothingness during any of Mount Vesuvius' previous explosions."

"I agree, but I don't think we should be too closed minded in our thinking," Colt added thoughtfully.

"What do you mean boss?" Dominic asked.

"Well, for starters a few weeks ago no one thought the Greek gods and their powers were anything more than a myth. Now we have a staff that can control lightning almost endlessly. I'm just proposing that maybe whatever power that's within this staff and any of the other possible treasures is also powerful enough to keep them safe, no matter what is happening around them," Colt finished. He looked around at his three teammates as they absorbed his rather unconventional idea, a power that could actually protect the artifacts themselves from earthly elements.

"It's just an idea, but we should know one way or another a few days from now," Colt added after a few moments of thoughtful silence.

The sky outside the plane was rapidly darkening, as they flew over the Atlantic Ocean, and although by their biological clocks nighttime was still a few hours away, the setting sun was causing Cliff to feel drowsy.

"Oh, one more item before I catch a quick nap," Cliff interjected into the silent hull. "The Italians know we're coming and have given the four of us permission to only search for the relic. If we find it, we can't keep it. Don't ask me how the President managed to get our team inside Italy when they're turning everyone else away. I guess he has his ways. Anyway, the reason I mention this is that we'll have a little present waiting for us once we reach the inside of the cone."

"What's that?" Colt wondered aloud.

"Suppose we need to dig to get to the temple or chamber or whatever you guys want to call it. Are we supposed to use our hands? No way. We're supposed to be in and out of there. General Radcliff informed me just before we boarded, that a Bobcat was parachuted in along with some dynamite for our use. Of course, we're supposed to use extreme discretion since Mount Vesuvius is in the middle of an Italian national park after all, so we'll only set of explosions if they're absolutely necessary," Cliff paused, trying to fight through his sleepy eyes while remembering if there was any more important information.

"Oh yeah, two more things," he remembered, digging deep into his tired brain. "First is back to what I was saying before, and I'm going to repeat myself here, but we've been explicitly told NOT to take any treasures we find; Colt I'm talking to you here, and we're getting an Italian archeologist added to our party when we arrive, some guy named Leonardo Sava. I guess he was added to make sure the Italian government's interests are persevered. Maybe one of the three of you knows him?"

Cliff stopped talking as he saw Colt's face turning bright red. Hillary squirmed in her seat as Colt shot her a quick uncomfortable glance. He too tried to find a more comfortable position on his padded airplane cushion but was unable to find one.

"Colt, he won't be a problem," Hillary said after a while. She tried to reassure him by placing a hand on his arm, but he recoiled at the touch.

"How can I be sure after what happened last time?" he asked, maybe a little louder than he should have.

Incensed at the question, she responded, "Look, we were on a break. How many times do I have to tell you that? The archeological conference in Rome had just adjourned for the day, and a bunch of us went to one of the local bars to unwind. One thing led to another. That's it. I'm not proud of what happened, and contrary to whatever you believe, I don't spend my days pining about Leonardo Sava and what could have been. For some reason, I'm in love with your stupid butt!" she said with a huff and started staring out of the plane's opposite window as the day's final light disappeared below the horizon.

"Well, you two lovebirds can fight about whatever your deal is for the next six hours. For me, I'm going to sleep," Cliff said as he began shifting his body from resting on his back onto his side. Hillary continued staring into the darkened sky, while Colt had fixed his gaze to the seatback cushion directly in front of him. Dominic, sitting behind the arguing couple, rolled his eyes at their premarital spat and donned his ear buds for some heavy metal as their plane cut through the silent sky toward Naples, Italy.

## Chapter

## 3

A small clear glass paperweight flew across the room and struck the wall, leaving a dent as it fell to the red-carpeted floor. Peru's President could barely control his outrage at his Minister of Defense's constant bungling.

"I said get out! You're finished, you hear me!" President Emilio Basar yelled at the meekly retreating Minister of Defense. Having just stripped the Minister of his title, the President was clearly in no mood for cowardly groveling. The Minister's lack of action at the Chachapoya archeological dig was inexcusable. If Colt Andrews's theft of the priceless artifact wasn't bad enough, the staff was now in the American's possession. Why did the rich always get richer when the poor were struggling?

"But... I...," the late Minister of Defense attempted to reply.

"Your services are no longer required. I have already appointed General Bellido to your position. At least he understands the importance of national security," the President returned without feeling as he tried to calm his nerves. He knew the other diplomats in the building were without a doubt keeping as quite as possible, so they could hear what he was saying to the ex-minister during his tantrum. Even now, as the ousted Minister of Defense slowly backed toward the open door, the President could see his secretary and the waiting Venezuelan President Enrique Ramirez staring agape at his uncontrollable outburst.

"Your bungling of the situation is completely inexcusable. I know you still have friends, so although I'm stripping you of your title of Minister of Defense, I am confident you will still serve this office with all of your love and devotion that you did before," the President demanded threateningly. Fortunately, for the sad groveling individual standing in front of President Basar, he felt he could still be of use to this regime. President Basar didn't have a specific idea where the humiliated man could be of most use, but only a fool would turn away someone loved by the country's people and feed them to the wolves.

He would keep the late Minister of Defense on a short leash and find a way for him to contribute to Peru. The dejected man nodded knowing President Basar had made his decision and turned with his head hanging as low as his aging muscles would allow and left the President's office like a dog with its tail between its legs.

The President took a deep breath, then with as much dignity as he could muster, strode to his open door, and greeted the recently arrived Venezuelan president. After shaking the president's hand, he ushered him into the cluttered office and gently closed the door behind them. Before rounding his desk, President Basar picked up the undamaged glass paperweight, a gift from his lovely wife Beatrice and gently set it back onto his messy desk.

The Venezuelan president, never one to shy away from his opinion, spoke first.

"I'm surprised at you, Emilio," he began.

Emilio Basar raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh and why is that?"

"It sounds as though this man defied you, and you're letting him simply walk out of here. He should be in chains in one of your country's worst prisons as a deterrent to anyone else stupid enough to not listen to your authority," President Ramirez said.

"His fault wasn't that of defiance but stupidity, Enrique. He's the reason our stolen treasure, of which I'm sure you've heard about by now, is currently in American hands. Which means it's gone for good, and it almost certainly has a close to zero percent chance of being returned."

"I'd still have locked him up," the Venezuelan president returned. "Sometimes stupidity can be worse than treason. Take Admiral Chuichi Nagumo for instance. He was the leader of the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbor during World War II. I know he had his reasons, but if he'd followed the advice of his compatriots and ordered a third wave of attacks against the Hawaiian Islands, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation; the whole world would be a different place.

"Just think about it. His decision against attacking a third time was ultimately responsible for Japan's defeat. Because he didn't take out the American's Pacific fuel and torpedo storage facilities and dry docks in a third strike, the Americans were able to quickly regroup, fix their sunken ships, and rout the Japanese armies on Japan's own turf. Now, I'm not saying Admiral Chuichi Nagumo should have been sent to prison, but his decision of inaction was ultimately responsible for his country's defeat," President Ramirez finished.

"You know, it always seems to come down to America doesn't it? If this event had happened or if some country had done this instead of that, then everything in the world would be different. Well, it's time we take the future into our own hands. I've been giving your question a lot of thought, and my answer is this; if you can convince Russia to join our coalition, then you can count on Peru."

"I'm extremely pleased to hear that, Emilio. I've already had conversations with most of our other South American brethren, with Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay each agreeing to add their numbers to our ranks, if war is to happen. Oh, and I can't forget Columbia. President Felipe was almost giddy, when I pressed him for an answer."

"Maybe he was high on his country's highest grossing product," Emilio said with a laugh.

"Cocaine? Maybe. I just think he's tired of seeing his country torn apart from America's never ending thirst for drugs. I think Señor Felipe is simply looking for a chance to get even," President Ramirez thoughtfully responded.

"I guess in essence so are we," President Basar replied. He swiveled in his chair to an open cabinet. He lifted the lid off an aging Peruvian cigar box and withdrew two long hand rolled cigars. Handing one to President Ramirez he said, "Here's to us not making one of the most stupid decisions ever." Emilio grabbed his cigar cutter, snipped off the closed end, and lit it with an elegantly engraved Zippo lighter. Through the puffs of smoke, he feared they were making a terrible mistake.

***

A little past ten o'clock Italian time, in the middle of the night, the Russians' plane landed in Naples, Italy. Although weary from the flight, Vladimir pushed his crew to remain vigilant and ready to leave in a moment's notice. Vladimir Pavlov's many years in the Russian military had ingrained in him a sense of timeliness and duty. For Vladimir it was simple, President Aleksandrov had given him an order of an extremely urgent nature, which meant the order was to be carried out regardless of the hour or the amount of sleep he might of wished he had found.

"Come on, let's get a move on," he ordered his slow moving compatriots. "We've got to get our gear off the plane and find out where we're spending the night."

Pavel being the most similar to Vladimir in terms of military readiness and drive had already exited the plane with his gear before Natalya and Dmitry were even close to gathering theirs. Natalya was the next one off the plane, struggling with her heavy pack, but moving forward nonetheless. She was determined to show her rugged military companions that, although she was a woman, she was as capable as the rest of them.

Vladimir waited outside of the aircraft tapping his foot in initiation. Both Pavel and Natalya were finishing stowing their gear in the waiting SUV, while Dmitry had yet to de-board the plane.

"Dmitry, get a move on!" Vladimir bellowed into the plane's hollow hull.

"Give me a sec, I've finally got a connection," Dmitry said back from his seat. Hours of flight time without an internet connection felt like an eternity of wasted time to Dmitry. Although, like Pavel and Vladimir, the expectation was that Dmitry was to be a soldier first; all things electronic were his true love. With the internet not being available on the plane for the entire flight's duration, his new connection to the information highway was now seductively beckoning him with all her might.

Annoyed and ready to get moving, Vladimir re-boarded the plane ready to rip Dmitry's throat out given the chance. Dmitry looked up, saw the lumbering behemoth of man thumping toward his seat, and readied himself for the punishing blow that was sure to come.

"Vladimir, wait this is important," he cried as Vladimir grabbed hold of his shirt and started pulling. "Look, see," he said pointing to the screen.

"What?" Vladimir growled and let Dmitry drop back into his lumpy padded seat.

"Here. I just got an email telling us that the Italian government is not allowing us access to Mount Vesuvius."

"Why not?" Vladimir growled even deeper and more menacing than before.

"The message says the government has given Colt Andrews and his American crew first crack at the volcano. It says they've been inundated with requests by explorers to enter the crater, and they've worked out some sort of agreement with the American government," Dmitry stated with authority.

"So, does the communication say what we're supposed to do?"

"Yep, we're supposed to avoid the Italians and find a way up the mountain. The message is very clear, the Americans are NOT to get their hands on the artifact," Dmitry answered.

"Can you find out if the Americans have landed yet? I need to figure out what we're going to do."

Dmitry began typing and clicking on various links as Vladimir impatiently stood by, waiting for an answer.

"There, got it. I've hacked into the control tower's log." Dmitry paused as he searched the records for their American counterparts. "Ah there it is. Nope, they aren't here yet. It looks like their plane is scheduled to arrive a few hours from now."

Vladimir turned and paced along the carpeted aisle. He scratched his rough chin while thinking and then turned back to Dmitry. "Alright, get your gear off the plane and meet the rest of us outside," he ordered.

Dmitry shuffled in his seat and started closing his open browser windows. "See, I wasn't just wasting time. Someone has to be in charge of these communications," Dmitry said before closing his laptop. He then meekly scurried away to the rear of the plane for his belongings before Vladimir punched him for his insubordination.

After Dmitry had finally joined the others outside of the Russian plane, Vladimir was ready to give them their orders.

"Here's what we're going to do," he began. "Through Dmitry, I have learned the Italians denied our request to look for the artifact while we were airborne. This however doesn't change our mission. We still have standing orders to retrieve the artifact, if it's here, and return with it to Russia.

"The Italians have given the American team dibs on being the first to search Mount Vesuvius, probably because this Colt Andrews is the same archeologist who found the original artifact. However, none of that matters, because this unfortunate turn of events might actually play into our favor.

"The Americans are lazy. They aren't going to the top of the volcano tonight; I'd bet on it. Dmitry says, they're arriving in a couple of hours, where they'll probably head toward their lodging and try tackling the volcano tomorrow morning. We're going to do exactly the same. For now, we're going to find a place to sleep, and then tomorrow, we'll follow the Americans up the mountain.

"Let them do all of the hard work and find wherever this artifact is. Once they do, we'll take it by force. Pavel, tomorrow morning I want you in charge of the plane. Make sure it's ready to take off at a moment's notice. If we manage to get our hands on the artifact, we're going to need to get out of here fast.

"Dmitry, I want you to find out where the Americans are staying. Get us an address. Natalya and I'll get up early and wait outside their hotel to find out when they leave. That means it's up to you and Pavel to make sure we're ready to go.

"Alright, any questions?" Vladimir asked. He looked from one pair of hardened Russian eyes to the next. Everyone knew their orders and was ready to play their part. Tomorrow would be the day.

## Chapter

## 4

Algerian's president Mehdi Kateb rode in his armored jeep through the streets of Algiers, his nation's capital. Nestled against the Mediterranean Sea with a population approaching four million, the needs of his people were evident. While some parts of the city had recently been renovated by Algier's past presidents, to give a newly modernized feel, others were severely lacking.

The capital city's newest, most modern section overlooked the ancient sea as a mixture of contemporary architecture, and large white stone buildings arose from sea level against a backdrop of deep blue waters and golden sand. At one point in history, the Ottoman Empire had ruled his capitol city, followed by the French. In 1962, they finally granted Algiers their independence.

Unfortunately, like most of its other African brethren, Algeria and Algiers had been in varying states of turmoil ever since, due to overzealous Islamic extremists waging their jihadist civil wars throughout the region.

As Mehdi Kateb's jeep continued through the streets, he was proud of what Algiers had become over the past twentieth century. His nation's capital was now one of the economic hubs of the African continent. However, in addition to the growing metropolis' heightened economy also came the highest cost of living per capita of any city throughout the continent.

To his right was a contingent of troops, used for keeping the peace, but also reminding the public that although their president had been democratically elected to an unprecedented four terms in a row, that their government was in reality authoritarian in nature, not democratic. He reveled in the fact that his nation possessed the second largest army in Africa and that the expansion of their peaceful nuclear program to military uses would take only a matter of months.

However, all of this, every single piece of infrastructure and commerce was now about to come crumbling down. For decades, even before Mehdi Kateb had taken the office of president, Algeria's past leaders had striven to diversify their economy away from abundant hydrocarbons toward more diverse and innovative fields, but with little success.

America and Europe's dwindling appetite for Algeria's black gold would eventually break his country's back and undo decades of growth within a matter of years. What he'd worked tirelessly to build would come crashing down in a quarter of the time it took to build.

"This is why we must join forces," President Kateb said to Nigerian President Abassi Okafor. "Look around you. All of this is going to be blown away like grains of dust in the coming years if we do not act."

"But what you are asking for is complete insanity!" President Abassi Okafor returned. "How can we compete militarily with the United States and Europe? It just can't be done."

"You are correct my friend. Alone we can't. But if the South American nations and the Middle Eastern nations join us, together our populations trump theirs."

"Don't tell me you're basing a war against the West as solely a numbers game. They could have half the population and still rout us with their technology alone. The Americans have thousands of drones in the sky that could send us back into the dark ages with the push of a few buttons. Who knows, they probably even have satellites in space with gigantic lasers like in their James Bond movies that could pick us apart while we sleep," President Okafor said intermixed with wild hand gestures.

"That is all true, but what if a world power was to unite with us? What if I told you that Russia also has an interest in this worldwide changing event?"

"If that were true, I might be forced to reconsider my country's position."

"I thought you might," President Kateb replied. He smiled with the satisfaction that another African country had just fallen into place. Selling his African brethren on war with the West was not an easy task, but each country's president was slowly beginning to see the writing on the walls. Even if they weren't dependent on oil, they were dependent on each other. If one African nation fell, thousands upon thousands of refugees would flood into the neighboring countries, and not one of them had the depth of resources to handle any additional people, let alone their own.

As their exports of oil diminished each day, so did the avenues for a political solution. There simply wasn't the time or available resources to shift their nations' economies toward renewable energy or to ramp up their fledgling local industries to compensate for the lack of oil sales.

"Unfortunately you are right, Mehdi. If Algeria falls due to major economic hardships, it will send a rippling effect throughout Africa. To make matters worse, the dire scenario you have just painted does not apply to only your country. It applies to many others as well," President Okafor said while he gazed out the car's tinted windows.

Finally, the long motorcade of military jeeps and SUVs adorned with tiny green, white and red flags pulled into the capital's airport. The security forces on duty proudly saluted the incoming convoy and let them through seconds later.

"Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it," the Nigerian president said. He wasn't sold on a third world war, but what choice did he have? For the moment, he was content to follow the Algerian president's wishes and to have a foot in the game. Until someone fired the first shot, Nigeria was only watching out for her interests, nothing more.

"Please, talk to the nations closest to you. Tell them our position. Tell them that Russia, South America, and the Middle East are united for the first time in history against the oppressive West. Tell them that if we don't act now, soon it will be too late," President Mehdi Kateb said with a firm seriousness that sent an unwelcome shiver down the Nigerian president's spine.

The Algerian President neglected to mention that Russia had yet to accept their proposal, but he was confident they would soon put that puzzle piece into place.

"Remember, I have not made a commitment one way or another on this topic. I will do as you ask, but until the majority of Africa decides to unite for war or rally against it, Nigeria will remain neutral. Although I must admit I fear our countries' fates have already been decided."

The Nigerian president stepped out of the car's tinted shade and cool air conditioning and into the hot and humid air that smelled of salt. He shook the Algerian president's hand and boarded his waiting plane, worrying more about his country's future as he climbed each step. The coming war was not what he wanted for his country, but at the moment, there seemed to be no other choice.

***

"Time to get up guys," Colt Andrews cheerfully announced. Dominic rolled his eyes at his leader's overflowing amount of energy and tried to hide his face under his bed's fluffy pillow. Whenever they started a new quest, the first day always started out the same. Colt would bounce around their lodgings, annoying him and Hillary with his unwavering exuberance until they had to get on the road just to shut him up. It appeared this time would be no different.

"Come on Colt, just a few more minutes, you said we were the only ones allowed in the volcano. Have a heart man," Dominic whined from under his pillow.

"How are you not more excited?" Hillary scolded Dominic from inside the bathroom. "We're on the verge of another gigantic discovery and all you want to do is sleep?"

"Oh, I'm excited," he yawned. "I was just hoping for a little more shut eye, that's all." Dominic yawned again and began pulling himself out of bed when there came a knocking on the other side of their plush hotel room's front door.

Colt strode to the door and pulled it open, revealing Colonel Barns and their Italian liaison Leonardo Sava. Colt's first thought was to slam the door in the Italian Casanova's face, but he restrained the strong urge.

"Good morning everybody," Cliff said without emotion as any high-ranking marine would. "I guess most of you know Leonardo, but in case you haven't," he said looking at Dominic, "here he is."

Dominic looked at the well-tanned Italian playboy archeologist and feigned a yawn of disinterest. All Dominic needed to know he already knew. Leonardo was a source of friction between two of his closest friends, which meant to him the Italian was not welcome.

Colt and Hillary exchanged glances at seeing Leonardo in person again after so many years, determined not to let him interfere in their relationship. Although having fought on the plane about his relevance in their lives, after their ride landed, they had spent the necessary time needed to work through their issues concerning him. Now on the same page, they were closer than ever.

"Nice to see you guys again," Leonardo said in a manly robust voice. Somewhat of a hotshot in his country and well known to its women as a modern day Casanova, he gave Hillary a wink, assuming what brief relationship they had known in the past could hopefully be rekindled over the coming few days.

Hillary tried not to roll her eyes at his leering glances. Instead, she replaced an annoyed eye roll with a disapproving furrowing of her brow, which of course he failed to notice.

"It would be great to exchange pleasantries, but if you're all ready, we should leave now to maximize our time at the site," Leonardo added. Dominic immediately knew the last statement was meant for him. Without a hint of shyness, he tossed his white linen sheets aside, and in nothing but a pair of baby blue boxers, he reached for yesterday's pants lying on the floor.

Colt smirked at his friend's lack of modesty and shot Hillary an amused look, which she quickly returned. Colt had been friends with Dominic long enough to know the more he acted like someone didn't exist; the more he deeply despised the person. Inside Colt couldn't have been more proud of their friendship at that moment.

In less than a minute, Dominic was fully dressed and ready to go. Outside of the hotel, Leonardo had a rugged looking white van parked outside and ready to take them to the volcano's base.

After stowing their gear into the van's open rear, they loaded into its insides with Leonardo taking the wheel and Colonel Barns riding shotgun. Hillary and Colt sat in bucket seats across from each other in the second row, while Dominic stretched out in the open third row and was happily snoring before they had even driven a mile.

"I understand your flight arrived around midnight last night," Leonardo said, idly chatting, "so let me be the first to welcome you to Naples. Maybe after we finish our work on Vesuvius I can give all of you a proper tour of the city."

"If we're not called back to the United States right away, that would be nice," Cliff replied.

"To be perfectly honest, I was initially quite pessimistic about anything of value being inside our volcano, but after reviewing your country's satellite images, I've grown rather optimistic at our chances. If it weren't for those images, I'd have never believed anything manmade would have been able to withstand the insane amount of heat and pressure a volcano can produce. There's a reason Vesuvius' eruption wiped out Pompey after all.

But, I guess I'm not alone in my thinking because I received a report this morning that my government had to turn away a Russian team of archeologists only a few hours before your plane arrived. Actually, I'm surprised that the Russians even asked permission. For every two or three teams like yours that go through the proper channels, there's another ten that don't."

"So, where are the Russians now?" Colt asked out of curiosity.

"I couldn't tell you. Last I heard they are waiting somewhere in town to see if we find anything. You have to realize that what you three found in Peru isn't just some priceless artifact. It's a weapon of immeasurable power. Every country in the world wants to get their hands on a treasure like yours and probably not for pacifistic reasons.

"That's why my government allowed your team into our country to search for Hades' treasure. Some people would say Colt is the best archeologist in the world, and since it was your team that found the Lightning Staff, what better group of archeologists to help locate our country's treasure before robbers begin infiltrating the site," Leonardo yelled over the van's loud engine.

Colt could tell from the inflection in Leonardo's voice that he was certainly not one of the many people who regarded him as the top archeologist in the world. Colt smiled to himself, knowing Leonardo must have hated saying those words aloud.

As their white van approached Vesuvio National Park, green trees and bushes along the roadway were eventually replaced the city's buildings. The team of five explorers made their way through the densely vegetated road as they approached a military checkpoint up ahead.

"We've been expecting you," the guard said through Leonardo's open window once they had fully stopped. "Here's a walkie talkie, so you can call us if you need assistance. We've already caught seven people just this morning trying to sneak into the area, so keep a lookout for anyone who shouldn't be there. I guess the word's out that there's buried treasure somewhere around here."

"Guess so," Leonardo cordially replied. "Thanks for the radio, and we'll call if we see anyone else around."

The guard saluted their white van before waving them through the unfinished checkpoint. After driving another mile to the base of the volcano, it was time to finish the trek on foot.

"Get your packs on everyone," Colt ordered assuming command of their little contingent. Although Leonardo Sava was the only person native to the country they were in. Due to both his uncanny discovering capabilities and his control over the Lightning Staff's powers, Colt had the lead.

Once everyone was ready to go, Colt began leading the way along a well-worn trail to the top of the peak, while using the Lightning Staff as a makeshift walking stick. Each time he glanced back at his team of four, Hillary and Dominic smiled in return with excitement, while Cliff's face was completely focused and expressionless. Leonardo, on the other hand, was almost always staring at the Lightning Staff, wishing it was his.

After roughly an hour of hiking, with each of them carrying approximately fifty pounds of gear, they arrived at the top of the volcano. Looking down, the Americans were amazed at the sheer depth and size of the crater.

"In case you were wondering, the crater is roughly two thousand feet wide from side to side. That's over half a kilometer or right around a third of a mile for you Yanks," Leonardo said with a smirk.

"Hey, I see our ride," Dominic yelled. Hillary and Cliff turned to view the white van, but it wasn't what he had meant. "Not there, look toward the other end of the crater. It's our little Bobcat."

Sure enough, begging to be used, the Bobcat and its parachute were off to the far side of the crater, exactly where they were supposed to be. Cliff undid his pack and dug inside for the map and satellite images his office had prepared for the team.

"Alright, so we're here," he said pointing to the upper left corner of the map. "And the wall, or whatever it is, is buried over here." He pulled his finger across the map and to the upper left corner. Nobody said a word, but the excitement was palpable.

"What are we waiting for? Let's see what's down there," Dominic exclaimed letting his emotions get the better of him. He swung his backpack back over his shoulder and started racing down the inside of the cone.

"I thought he was still tired," Hillary commented.

"That nap in the back of the van must have been exactly what he needed," Colt returned with a smile.

The rest of the team also repositioned their packs and began steadily trekking down the volcano's edge. While Leonardo and Colt headed directly to where the buried wall was supposed to be, Cliff and Hillary followed Dominic to the waiting Bobcat.

"Who would have ever thought to look for something buried in the middle of a volcanic crater," Colt wondered aloud.

"An excellent question," Leonardo returned. "I was wondering the same thing. It's like innovations leading to better technology. The instant you stop thinking outside of the box you become obsolete. Our profession has been so focused on where we know ancient civilizations used to live I think we sometimes forget to look elsewhere."

"True, but there's no reason to start searching random corners of the globe if there isn't any evidence or clues to suggest something is there in the first place," Colt argued back.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more. Just a casual observation, that's all," Leonardo conceded. Colt was about to add another thought to the conversation when Dominic's whooping and hollering diverted his attention. In the distance, Dominic was bouncing the Bobcat over rocks and tiny hills, with Cliff and Hillary following not far behind.

"This thing's awesome," Dominic cried. "They even parachuted us a box of dynamite and C4 explosives!"  
"Which are only to be used by me," Cliff butted in. "I'm the only one of us who's actually been properly trained to use them." Dominic glared at the rebuke but overall was content to be driving the mini bulldozer. Cliff could keep his stupid explosives.

"Well, I guess it's time to start digging then," Colt announced. Now the fun is really about to begin, he thought to himself.

## Chapter

## 5

Staring out of the penthouse window in one of the tallest skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates President and Prime Minister sipped their tall glasses of French wine while taking in the view of their city below. Down below, cars littered the busy streets, resembling small ants scurrying about. On the horizon, a small dust storm was brewing. Even in the penthouse, atop the building's magnificent structure, the incoming floating particles of dust were already beginning to partially obscure the sun's rays.

Both the President and Prime Minister saw the oncoming dust storm as a microcosm of their world's eventual change. Most of the other OPEC countries had already decided war was unfortunately in their best interest, leaving the UAE alone in its decision to abstain.

Although their country's Supreme Council elected the president and prime minister's positions, their posts were in fact hereditary. Each of them was currently holding the office previously held by their brothers, fathers, or grandfathers. With the hereditary positions of leadership, came the heavy burden of responsibility, as any decision they made for their country reflected on not only them, but their houses as well.

"If war does come to pass our decision to remain neutral could actually be quite advantageous," the President, who was also the Emir of Abu Dhabi, said aloud. "Just think of it, every single one of our closest neighbors will not be able to trade with the West. They will need large amounts of lending. Who will they turn to, each other? No. They will come to us asking for loans for their governments and for weapons for the war. If we play our cards right as a neutral nation, we could become very rich indeed."

"I couldn't agree more," replied the Prime Minister, who like the President was also an Emir. He was the Emir of Dubai as his father had been before him. "However, there is always the chance that the West, regardless if we are not part of the warring East, will still count our country among the aggressors."

"Of course that is a possibility, but I think not. The West will need our country's support in freezing the assets of the Middle East and the Northern African countries, which of course we will help with; all the while secretly lending money under the table to the very countries whose assets we freeze."

"It is a brilliant plan," the Prime Minister concurred. "We will have to pray that it works, otherwise we will be in no better position than any of the other nations going to war."

"Unfortunately that is the game we are playing; it's all or nothing," the President responded. He strolled to the room's open bar and refilled each of their glasses with the dark red liquid. Again, they returned to the massive plate glass window to watch the incoming storm. The tempest was moving fast.

***

"We cannot let the United State go unchallenged on their quest to obtain more of these curious treasures," Chinese President Chen Wang announced to the assembly. "Our intelligence has just informed me the same party that discovered the staff of Zeus is now in Italy searching Mount Vesuvius for the treasure of Hades. I shouldn't have to explain to any of you that, if the United States finds another treasure, it will only increase their egos and make them even harder to deal with."

"We cannot allow this to happen!" one of the president's lackeys shouted from the rear, garnering mumbles of approval.

"That much is clear," President Wang replied. "The United States is already pushing for tariffs on our solar panels and on anything else this government subsidizes to keep our economy growing.

"I have heard rumblings from many of you, both for and against waging an economic war or even escalating to a military war against the United States of America. But let me remind you, that although America obviously does not respect China as its equal, war between our two nations is not on the table. As you know, we are constantly trying to diversify our economy, but as of now America and Europe by at least two-thirds of the products produced in each of our manufacturing sectors.

"We cannot ignore the fact that over the last few decades, we have become fully integrated into the world economy. This has been good and bad. The standard of living for the average Chinese citizen and China's wealth have greatly increased due to our burgeoning economy. However, in this process we have traded some of our ability to be an island unto ourselves and are now dependent on the rest of the world's economies. America and Europe's economic wellbeing must not be threatened, or we will not be able to continue our new found way of life," the President said finishing his speech, hoping it would quell the talk of war.

There was no rational reason for war. President Wang could understand the African and South American nations feeling they had nothing to lose, many of them didn't. However, China was a manufacturing giant, not an oil selling one trick pony. Africa and South America's problems were not China's problems.

"As for the possible treasure buried in Italy, I have just sent a team of experts to report on the activities of the Americans. Our team will watch them, and if we are given the chance, we will retrieve any discovered treasure and bring it back to China. That is all."

The Chinese President rose, as did the rest of the officials in unison, bowing to him as he left. There would be no additional discussions today. The President left the large wooden walled chamber, leaving the rest of the government's higher ups to debate his words without him. He would not go to war over petty squabbles, and he would not waste his time arguing with those who couldn't understand why. In Chen Wang's mind, war was a non-topic. Right now, he only cared about reviving his country's slowing economy and keeping the Americans' hands off another one of those magical treasures.

## Chapter

## 6

"The Americans have left the hotel with their Italian escort," Vladimir phoned to Dmitry and Pavel. "Get our gear ready to go to the site."

"Everything will be packed and ready to go when you arrive," Pavel dutifully replied before hanging up the phone.

Vladimir shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned to Natalya. Their stakeout so far had been an uncomfortable nightmare for Vladimir. He desperately wanted to talk to her, but her beauty and social affluence caused him to be abnormally at a loss for words. Not only did her status seem daunting, but he was also her military leader. His personal code of ethics prevented him from anything more than a professional relationship, no matter what his feelings might be.

"Are you ready to find some treasure?" he asked, trying to drum up some casual conversation. Vladimir figured their ride back to the hotel to pick up Pavel and Dmitry might be his last opportunity to have a chance to be alone with the Russian beauty. But that was the problem; she was so beautiful. Interacting with soldiers was easy for Vladimir. Soldiers listened to his orders and followed them to the letter. However, Natalya was anything but a soldier. She was smart, beautiful, and highly connected within the Russian Communist Party, and that combination scared Vladimir to death.

"Always," she replied straight faced, but with a hint of enthusiasm. Natalya sized up their mission's leader. Yes, his face was rugged, but there were glimmers of handsomeness that were peeking through. She could tell he was uncomfortable being alone with her. Although as of now she only thought of Vladimir as her boss, time had a way of changing opinions. Maybe sometime in the future she would have a drink with him, if he would ever have the courage to ask.

"I'm sure your father would be very proud if we brought back a treasure like the one the Americans found," Vladimir added a few moments later.

"Yes, I think he would like that. Of course, I'm not a boy, so there's only so much I can do to win his respect," Natalya replied, letting her guard down for the moment. Vladimir understood her position. He had a niece who he loved more than anything in the world, but he knew certain avenues in Russian society would be all but closed to her based solely on her gender.

Vladimir wanted to continue their light discussion, as it finally seemed to be heading somewhere, but they arrived back at their hotel before he had the chance to ask anything else. As Pavel had stated, he and Dmitry were out in front of the hotel with their remaining bags packed and ready to go.

Vladimir pulled the car in front of the hotel and left the engine running. He and Natalya remained in the front two seats, while Pavel and Dmitry quickly stowed their gear.

"Where are we going to drop off the car Vlad?" Pavel asked from the rear. Like Dmitry and Vladimir, Pavel knew more than likely the Italians were hard at work keeping the volcano's crater secure from the rush of treasure hunters arriving from around the globe. After the Italian authorities had told them their team was not to be allowed inside the cone, they had no other choice but to sneak in.

A mile from the Italian checkpoint Vladimir pulled the car into an open lot and killed the engine. "We're on foot the rest of the way," he announced. After retrieving their loaded packs, Vladimir and his team of three started hiking through the national park, and then up the lesser visited side of Mount Vesuvius where no trails had been blazed for better seclusion. Like their American counterparts, each member of the Russian unit carried a backpack full of any supplies they might need. Unlike the American party however, Vladimir's team of soldiers were also packing plenty of heat they had deftly snuck into the country.

An hour later after double timing it to the top of the volcano, Vladimir, Pavel, Dmitry, and Natalya found a small alcove consisting of multiple large boulders and angular slabs of rock. From under their secluded hiding place, they watched through four sets of binoculars as the Americans began their digging, waiting for the right moment to attack.

***

"We don't know where to place the C4, and I can't allow you to just start blowing up parts of our national park!" Leonardo complained, irate no one was listening to his opinion.

"I've already explained myself two times," Colt replied, frustrated at the Italian's lack of understanding. Colt glared at the obtuse Italian, who was glaring right back. Still happily sitting in the Bobcat's driver's seat, Dominic looked on as the two alpha males continued squabbling like schoolchildren and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I can explain it better," Hillary said. She placed a warm hand on Colt's shoulder, gently pulling him backward, as she stepped forward to try to talk some sense into their non-American friend.

"Leo, look at the satellite images. There's no doubt that there's some sort of structure somewhere under what we're standing on right now. And what are we standing on the top of, you ask? It's cooled magma. What was once boiling red hot liquid rock is now a surface firm enough to walk and even drive that Bobcat on," she said pointing toward Dominic and his perceived toy.

"We're all assuming and probably correct in doing so, that this volcano's two or three previous eruptions all occurred after whatever structure underneath us was built. If the lava and magma didn't melt or even distort the structure, then I don't think C4 will hurt it either. I agree with Colt on this one."

"But you're talking about two different types of forces," Leonardo argued. "The builders could have chosen a type of stone that needs much higher temperatures to melt than the material magma is made of. However, if there's an explosion, the wall could be damaged," Leonardo said finishing his rebuttal and folded his arms in protest.

"Yeah, but when volcanoes erupt aren't there usually reports of boulders and rocks being thrown into the air? Something like they have the erupting power of, oh, I don't know thirty nuclear bombs?" Cliff interjected into the conversation.

"Good point Cliff," Hillary agreed. "Many times the boulders and rocks you just mentioned are from the growing rim of the volcano, but there are some that are mixed in with the magma underneath the earth's surface. Once the volcano erupts, those rocks underneath are shot out so fast it doesn't matter what they made the wall out of; it would never stand a chance."

"Fine, you Americans just do whatever you want," Leonardo said, feeling defeated. "I disagree, but I guess if we don't try this, then there's nothing else to do but go home. And I would prefer leaving here with something shiny in my hands."

"Great, now that we're all on the same page, Cliff, why don't you help me make sure we're dynamiting the right spot," Colt suggested.

"So, based on our GPS, we're standing directly on top of the coordinates of where the underground wall is buried," Cliff said, while pointing to their location on the map.

"What are you going to use, the C4, or the dynamite?" Colt wondered with genuine curiosity. Like most overgrown boys his age, nothing was more fun than watching someone blowing stuff to bits. Even Dominic had left his perch on the Bobcat to listen to the conversation.

"The C4 is a pliable, moldable explosive. It's much better suited for intricate explosions, especially if there's an exact spot you want to attach it. The dynamite on the other hand will explode in all directions and is much better for making a hole like what we're after. Normally someone would drill a pilot hole to drop a stick of dynamite down, but there are enough deep cracks in this area I'd suggest dropping a stick into one of them and see what happens," Cliff advised.

"Let's do it!" Dominic said with extreme eagerness.

The team of four Americans glanced over to Leonardo for one final confirmation from their Italian representative. He looked back at them, and with a sigh, shrugged his shoulders.

Twenty minutes later, their team along with the Bobcat moved to a safe enough distance away from the blasting area. Cliff dropped a stick of dynamite through a crack a little over three feet deep of his choosing. Attached to the dynamite was a thin wire able to carry an electrical charge to the detonator in Cliff's rock steady hand.

"Is everybody ready?" he asked according to protocol. Hiding behind the Bobcat for additional safety, each of them responded they were, and he began counting down.

"On one. Three, two, one." BAM!

The horrific detonation echoed against the volcano's walls around them, magnifying the deafening sound of the explosion twofold. Bits of rock and debris shot high up into the air. As the tiny shards of rock fell back to earth, they clinked and clicked against the other rocks, while pelting the small band of intruders.

As the dust and raining rocks began to ebb, the team slowly lifted their heads to see if their efforts had been successful. Lo and behold, on the left side of the new large crater, the dynamite's blast had formed, and the corner of the very wall shown in the satellite images was now protruding out of the rocky rubble.

"That's impossible," Leonardo exclaimed in disbelief.

"I would have thought so too last week," Colt commented. He thought about telling Leonardo he had told him so, but the sheer unexpected beauty of the rising wall diverted his attention.

Leaving the refuge from behind the Bobcat, they trekked back to the newly formed hole and began studying the pale white wall. The wall appeared to be made of a white rock similar to marble and was silky smooth to the touch. Examining the few protruding bricks carefully, Colt could see the markings from the tools used to cut them to size centuries ago.

"Wow, there's not a scratch on this wall!" Colt shockingly said, eyeing the white marble.

Leonardo, not about to let his American adversary prove him wrong, rushed over to inspect the wall for himself. Carefully, he traced his finger along the smooth cool edges of the chiseled stone. Only when finally convinced Colt was right did he mumble, "Harrumph." He folded his arms and took a defiant pose a few steps from the newly exposed structure.

"Told you I was right," Colt unnecessarily said, pouring salt in the bronze skinned Italian's wounds. Hillary shot him a quick glare for his boyish attack but was secretly glad he had done it.

"Can I dig any of this dirt out with my beast?" Dominic asked; already back in the Bobcat's cushiony leather upholstered seat and itching to try out the small digger.

Cliff unfolded his military shovel he'd stored in his backpack and sunk it into the ground at the base of the wall. The shovel cut through the rock and pebbles to a depth of about three inches before hitting another layer of thick rock.

"That's a negative everybody," Cliff remarked after his shovel clinked against the hidden layer of rocky crust. The Colonel pulled the shovel out of the broken earth full of black rocky pebbles, revealing another two inches of the immaculately preserved white wall. He stabbed at the hardened layer a couple more times to make perfectly sure he was correct, before standing, knowing that they needed more explosives.

The shovel made the same clinking noise as before drawing a sigh from Dominic, who at the moment desired to drive the Bobcat above all else.

"Looks like we need another round of explosives," Cliff announced to the others. Unlike using an existing crack as they had before, this time Cliff and Colt took turns creating a hole four feet deep for the cylindrical sticks of destruction. Cliff dropped the two sticks of TNT down the hole, while the others again positioned themselves behind the Bobcat for additional safety.

BOOM!

Dust and small pebbles shot into the sky then gradually fell back to earth, pelting them like small pieces of hail. Colt and Hillary held hands during the explosion, creating a mixture of warmth and security between them.

After the rocky rain began to taper off, Colonel Cliff Barns made his way to the now much deeper crater. There, he found a new six-foot section of the white wall the dynamite had exposed with also what appeared to be a singular step or landing of some sort by the wall's side.

"We're going to be here a long time if that's the beginning of stairs," Leonardo speculated.

"Let's see," Colt replied and grabbed Cliff's military shovel. He dug the shovel's triangular tip into the fractured rock at the edge of the step and pushed. The shovel's angular blade easily disappeared five inches into the debris until it hit a hard-unseen surface. Quickly Colt tossed the powdered rocks aside and began digging with the tips of his fingers.

"There's something here," Colt announced. "It's either more rock or a second step," he said while excavating the newly exposed white marble.

Before long, Colt had pushed away enough rock to where a second white step began to appear through the mixture of back dust and small pebbles.

"Whoa, how far do these steps go down you think?" Dominic asked his friend.

"I don't know, but Leonardo's right. We'll be here for weeks, if we tackle this ancient site one explosion at a time. It's amazing the dynamite has no effect on this white rock, but we need to find another way inside. I doubt the dynamite in Cliff's bag is going to be even close to enough to finish the job anyway. But that's okay, because I have an idea," Colt said, turning away from the white wall and two stairs.

"What are you going to do Colt?" Hillary asked as she watched him walk to their pile of supplies.

"I'm thinking outside of the box," he returned with a wry smile. As Colt approached their combined pile of belongings and supplies, he reached for the Lightning Staff, which he had carefully rested against a large rock.

"What are you going to do with that?" Leonardo wondered aloud. As an archeologist, he desperately wanted to see the staff in action, but being somewhat of Colt's nemesis he had been hesitant to ask for a demonstration.

"Before we came to Italy, Dominic, Hillary, and I were discussing about what we humans thought we knew as fact, only to have history prove us wrong," he said while pulling the Lightning Staff toward him. Immediately the staff began glowing, but upon approaching the white marble-like structure the normal golden-white light the staff usually emitted turned orange, then orange red, and then finally to a deep pulsing magenta as Colt stopped and stood on the top white step.

"That's incredible," Leonardo said, barely able to mouth the words at observing the Lightning Staff's powers. Only when Colt carried the staff to the top of the volcano had Leonardo seen its pulsing light, but that was only one constant color, not the changing hues it was radiating now.

"How did you know?" Hillary asked, mesmerized by the staff's brilliant pulsing colors herself.

"About the change of colors? I didn't," he said admiring the beautiful aura. "This is just a hunch, but I think something is protecting the stone wall and stairs. I mean, if you look closely, they both appear to be made of common marble, which is everywhere around this part of the world. But if that's the case, the dynamite should have blown it to smithereens just like the igneous rock we're standing on. Nothing else can explain why this particular set of marble walls and stairs has been able to last through explosions and volcanoes, with heat hotter than any of us can imagine, and come out of it without so much as a scratch. My guess is there's an artifact somewhere below us, and it's protecting this structure."

"So, what are you going to do with the staff?" Cliff asked, wanting a plan of attack. He agreed there was an unknown for keeping the marble wall and stairs safe, but for the moment, he didn't care what it was. General Radcliff had tasked him with finding the treasure and that was what he was going to do.

"Why don't the rest of you get back behind the Bobcat? I want to try striking the area with lightning and see what happens. Obviously there's some sort of connection between the staff and this place, because I've never seen its color change until now."

Cliff led the others back behind the small-parked excavator while Colt took a few steps backward from the two protruding stairs. He held the Lightning Staff away from his body and imagined lightning striking the ground just past the second visible step. A small black cloud formed above and then shot a bolt of pure energy into the spot Colt had envisioned in his mind.

The igneous rock hissed, while instantly turning into molten lava, as the lightning bolt made direct contact with the cone's surface. Colt shielded his face from the lava's searing heat and took another few steps backward. As instantly as the lava formed, the red molten rock began to seep through unseen cracks below, leaving another twenty steps leading further down into the volcano now visible. As the lava receded underground, and its harsh heat with it, Colt walked to the stairs and peered down. Same as with the dynamite, Colt could tell there were still more stairs yet to be uncovered.

"Stay there guys," he ordered as his friends began leaving their place of refuge. "There's another twenty or so stairs visible now, but I need to use the staff again."

Colt held up the staff a second time and asked it to strike just in front of the bottom most visible stair. Again lightning struck, turning the rock back into molten lava. He watched the liquid rock slowly disappear as before, but this time revealing another fifty stairs following the white stone wall. However, this time, maybe ten steps from the bottom, where the wall should have continued, was a doorframe and door constructed out of the same white marble-like material.

"Alright guys, I think I'm at the end of the stairs," he said, giving the all-clear for them to come out of hiding. Before they reached the stairs' beginning, Colt was already halfway down the newly unearthed stairway. At the bottom, the stair there was an inscription on the top of the door with read:

HERE LIES HADES, THE GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD'S FINAL RESTING PLACE. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE HADES

Colt traced the inscription with his finger, feeling the etchings carved thousands of years ago. As he inspected the door, Leonardo followed by the others, descended to the door's landing.

"Your staff has changed color again," Leonardo, pointed out. Colt gazed up at the staff and stared in amazement. He had been so intense on uncovering the covered stairway, curious about volcano's buried treasure; he hadn't noticed his relic's beautiful color change. The deep blue, an indescribably beautiful blue and one that human hands would have had extreme difficulty in producing, had replaced the Lightning Staff's dark magenta.

"Do you think your staff is something like an artifact compass?" Dominic questioned as he brought up the party's rear.

"I don't know," Colt admitted, "but now that you mention it, I think there's a good chance you're exactly right."

As Cliff and Dominic approached the door to try to open it, Colt moved off to the side, careful to keep the Lightning Staff as far away from them as possible. The last thing any of them needed was to be shocked from the staff this close to unearthing another miraculous find. He watched while the two American males heaved and hoed against the massive block of stone. Slowly, inch by inch, the stone door moved, letting the day's light flood into the unsealed chamber. Once they had pushed the door far enough into the unseen room for the largest of them to squeeze through, the party of five entered the ancient chamber hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

## Chapter

## 7

"Follow them," Vladimir commanded as the American archeological party disappeared down the white marble steps. The Russians took their time scanning the area to make sure no one was around to see their prohibited descent into the volcanic crater. Leaving most of their equipment under the rocky alcove, except their flashlights and pistols among a few other key items, the Russian team silently formed a line and trekked down the volcano's decline to the floor below.

Vladimir led the party followed by Natalya then Dmitry with Pavel bringing up the rear. As Pavel was the soldier most trusted by Vladimir, it was his honor to protect the party from any unwanted trouble to their backs. Vladimir kept Natalya close to him for many reasons. First and foremost, she was the most inexperienced in respect to warfare and weaponry, and it was his job to keep her safe. If anything happened to Anatoly Lipov's daughter, there would be hell to pay, and the blame would fall squarely on him for sure.

However, there was a more non-military reason Vladimir was keeping Natalya close and that was because he wanted it that way. Not because of her lack of military training, or her added expertise in archeology, but because he found her intriguing, and for once in his career, he could use his high military ranking to obtain something more rewarding than a pat on the back or a enamel pin; a possible non-military relationship.

Of course, Vladimir hadn't said anything to Natalya to let her know that in the days' time they'd spent together he was starting to find her more interesting than he had originally thought. Initially he had only been attracted to her beauty and position in life, but after spending time alone with her, while staking out the Americans' hotel, Vladimir found it interesting he actually wanted to spend more time alone with her, which wasn't normally the case with him and non-military personnel.

At the top of the stairs, Vladimir whirled his head for a quick check of his party, making sure they were still together as one unit. "Flashlights and guns," he said only loud enough for his party to hear. Vladimir heard the clicking of metal as his compatriots brought them out into the open. After Natalya patted him on the back, signaling the party was ready to resume movement, Vladimir started down the stairs to the open door beckoning him at the bottom.

Shortly after descending the seventy stairs or so, which under the secretive circumstances felt more like two hundred, the Russian contingent was at the bottom landing. Vladimir quickly raised a hand for quiet and peered around the marble doorframe. Inside he could see flickers of light and hear muffled voices further down the corridor.

He pulled his head back and whispered to the others, "They're just around the corner in some sort of short hallway. There's another stone door in their way. We'll hold here until they make it through." So far, the Americans had been doing the Russian's work for them, and Vladimir reasoned there was no reason to stop. For now, they would wait.

***

As they entered the room, undisturbed for over a millennium, the Americans found they weren't actually in a room at all. Instead, they were in a fifteen-foot corridor leading to another massive stone slab door with the same inscription regarding Hades as the one before it. The corridor was unusually warm, but not surprisingly so, as the stairs they had just descended had brought them close to four or five stories underground. Although Mount Vesuvius was dormant on the surface, there was still plenty of lava and steam flowing underneath their feet. Within a few minutes of being inside the long corridor, each of them begun lightly sweating.

As the others followed Colt and the Lightning Staff's deep blue pulsing, the staff's color began changing again. Slowly but steadily, as Colt approached the second sealed doorway, the blue aura turned to an even deeper purple, to where the purple was so dark hardly any useful light was being generated from its glow. With the Lightning Staff's glow practically obsolete, Hillary and the others flipped on their flashlights for additional light.

"Ready to push another slab Dominic?" Cliff asked, handing his flashlight to Hillary.

"Sure, it's not driving the Bobcat, but I'll do what I can to help," Dominic replied. He walked over to Leonardo, who had been noticeably quieter since Colt used his staff to uncover the hidden steps, and handed him his flashlight. With Colt off to the side, and Hillary and Leonardo both shining their two high-powered beams on the second door, Cliff and Dominic pushed with all of their might.

As with the previous door, Cliff and Dominic pushed as hard as their aching muscles would allow. Slowly but methodically, with an eerie sound of rock grating against the floor, the large slab of stone was pushed out of the way. Similar to the Lightning Staff in Peru, as the slab of rock was moved further and further from the door's opening, a new light began to appear. Unlike the bright pure white light that had appeared from the Lightning Staff, this time an eerie almost sinister haze of bright emerald green flooded the corridor.

"Is this what it was like when you found your staff?" Leonardo asked. He sensed an evil in the adjacent room as did the rest of them. Although the green hue of the misty haze in the adjoining room was not an evil color in itself, there was a definite vibe that whatever was in there had something to do with death.

"Yes and no. Yes, we saw the staff glowing through cracks in the wall and even more once, we opened the door, but no in the fact that I didn't feel anything ominous about the unknown. How about you guys?" Colt asked Hillary and Dominic.

"Nope, definitely not the same," Dominic replied.

"Yeah this is different. This time it feels... wrong somehow," Hillary added.

"I can't say I don't agree with the four of you, but our mission is to secure the device, whatever that device might be. Just because something's putting out a bad vibe does not mean our objectives have changed. Remember, there are the Russians and who knows whom else out there, just waiting to get their hands on whatever is emitting that green glow. You all had better know, if we're not man enough to go in there and get the artifact, for sure someone else will be," Cliff interjected into the conversation, adding a brave face.

"You have a point Colonel," Colt replied, watching Hillary and Dominic nod their heads in agreement.

"I'd never forgive myself if I let you Americans have all the glory," Leonardo added. He then handed Cliff's flashlight back to him and shimmied through the door's open crack, disappearing into the newly unsealed room's green haze. One by one, each of them followed Leonardo into the room, leaving the corridor completely empty.

***

Finally, after what seemed like an hour to the Russian team members, Vladimir gave the order to move inside the underground structure. Before disappearing into the first corridor, Vladimir put a solitary finger to his lips indicating complete silence. He left his flashlight off, but drew his pistol as a careful precaution.

Once inside the fifteen-foot long corridor, just as he had outside the white marble structure, Vladimir heard voices coming from the adjoining room. Silently, like a cat stalking its prey, he moved through the long hall and to the next open door. As the corridor's darkness increasingly muted the rays of light from the outside world, he began noticing the green light radiating from the next room.

From behind, he felt a gentle but hurried tap on his shoulder. He stopped and turned to Natalya, who was pointing to the eerie green haze coming from the next room. Without speaking, he nodded and pointed two fingers to his eyes and then to the open door, signaling that he too saw the strange light.

Vladimir quickly patted Natalya's hand, which she had yet to retrieve from his shoulder and began moving again. Again, Vladimir pulled his small contingent into place in front of the newly approached door and raised a finger to wait. He didn't like the feel of the place and could tell his compatriots agreed, but failure wasn't an option.

***

Inside the newly entered room Hillary, Dominic, Cliff, and Leonardo each let their hands and arms holding their individual flashlights go limp, resulting in the artificial beams of light dropping onto the temple floor. Colt still tightly clutched the Lightning Staff, which was now pulsing such a dark purple it almost looked black.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Cliff asked no one in particular as he stared toward the middle of the room. The room was a perfect square, almost ten feet by ten feet. In the absolute middle of the chamber was a pedestal almost exactly like the one they had found in Peru.

The bright green aura was brightest there, where on top of the white marble stand lay Hades' artifact. The relic was completely different from Colt's Lightning Staff in that it wasn't a weapon at all. A large pure black sphere, about the size of a large shooter marble, lay on the stone. Attached to the ebony orb were four long golden prongs. The prongs were then attached to a single point on a chain, all glowing a bright golden yellow. The eerie green light was radiating from deep within the black sphere.

As the party of five inched their way closer to the foreign glowing object, they saw that not only was the green light coming from the orb itself, but that inside of the sphere's pitch black darkness, there appeared to be clouds of the green haze swirling in perpetual motion. It was as if the black orb held a small bright green galaxy where all of the stars were green instead of white, red, yellow, and blue. The eerie green haze was swirling out of the orb and around the chain and clasp, bathing the pure gold with its deathly green tint.

Leonardo, not realizing what he was doing, began reaching out to touch the glowing artifact.

"Stop," Colt yelled as he saw the hand moving forward. Dominic leapt toward the Italian and swatted his hand away with a loud smack.

"You don't want to touch that," Dominic cautioned, after receiving the Italian's look of surprise at Dominic slapping him.

"Why not? Is there something I don't know?" he asked accusatorily.

"When Colt touched the Lightning Staff for the first time, it sent such a large jolt of electricity through him it stopped his heart. We had to beat on him for over a minute before he fully came too. We've all been feeling that this artifact has something sinister about it. Honestly, right now, I'm afraid for any of us to touch it," Dominic said and shuddered.

"He's right. I don't think any of you should touch it," Colt said stepping forward. "The Lightning Staff has protected me before when I was holding it, and I think it'll protect me now."

Colt was convinced something horrible was going to happen to the first person who touched the pulsing orb besides himself. Before anyone could say a word, he reached forward. Colt clasped his one empty hand around the sphere itself while keeping a death grip on the Lightning Staff. The others gasped, but nothing happened.

Unlike before, there was no surge of light or shock or anything else. The orb just continued pulsing its eerie green light like nothing had happened while Colt held it in his hand.

"Hmm, that's definitely not what I expected," Colt said as he turned the sphere over in his hand. The others crept closer and stared at the glowing chain and green hazy clouds swirling inside of the black sphere.

"I have a guess at what's going on," Hillary said. The others turned toward her, their faces bathing in the green haze looked like scary ogres as they waited for her to tell them her observation. "Both this chamber and the one in Peru said there could only be one god. Well, Colt already has the Lightning Staff under his control, so maybe he isn't allowed to wield two artifacts at the same time. Someone else is going to have to grab it."

"I'll do it," Leonardo said. "This is an Italian treasure; it should be an Italian that controls it."

Against his better judgment, Colt replaced the artifact on top of the pedestal and stepped back. As he did, Leonardo stepped forward and reached for the pendant's chain, when out of nowhere three Russians burst into the room with their guns drawn.

## Chapter

## 8

"Hands in the air, nobody move!" Vladimir yelled as he aimed his weapon five feet from Leonardo's head. Pavel and Dmitry with their weapons drawn shimmied through the doorway and fanned out from Vladimir's rear to the right and left. Lastly, behind the others, Natalya entered the room staying behind Vladimir and to his right.

"Just give us the treasure and no one needs to get hurt," Vladimir ordered with a firm commanding voice.

"I'm afraid I can't let you take it," Colt said, feeling emboldened with the Lightning Staff by his side. "All I have to do is think, and you and your friends are going to be like marshmallows roasting on a campfire," he returned with bravado.

"Seriously my American friend, you are outmatched and outgunned. Why make matters worse, just give us the artifact."

"Okay, you asked for it," Colt said as he imagined the three Russians with guns having the living daylights shocked out of them. He waited, but nothing happened. Vladimir stared at the American, wondering what he was thinking, while waiting for an additional response.

Colt tried again, but as before nothing happened. He quizzically looked at the staff and realized the power he normally felt running through his body had all but disappeared. Maybe when two of the artifacts were in close of proximity they canceled each other out, some sort of safety mechanism he wondered.

Regardless of the staff working or not, Colt was determined not to let the Russians have the green glowing orb. With a one fluid movement, he took a swipe at the Russian leader, however not being a trained fighter; Vladimir saw it coming a mile away. Without firing a shot, Vladimir moved to the side as the tip of the Lightning Staff swung harmlessly by. As Colt started to pull the staff back toward him, the Russian daftly flipped the gun in his hand and whacked Colt with its butt squarely on the top of his head. Instantly Colt dropped the staff and crumpled into an unconscious heap on the chamber's warm floor.

"Colt!" Hillary said, dropping to his side. "You monster," she screamed at the large Russian, who seemed not to care. Hillary gently brushed Colt's dark hair off his forehead revealing a large purple and red welt begging to form. Colt mumbled something incoherent in response to her gentle touch, which made her pull him in even closer.

Leonardo began reaching down for Colt's staff, thinking he could try its powers against the Russian intruders. However, he failed to remember that Colt would have to be dead before the staff would work for anybody else.

Irritated by the Americans not listening to his orders, Vladimir deftly flipped his pistol back into position and fired a warning shot at the floor in between Leonardo and the now dulled Lightning Staff. The bullet ricocheted off the floor, delivering a glancing blow to Leonardo's right shoulder before hitting the chamber's back wall, then the ceiling, and finally burying itself in Cliff's flashlight as he dropped it to the floor. On each surface the bullet had ricocheted against was left a layer of lead at the point of impact, but the white marble floor, wall, and ceiling themselves were unscathed.

"I'm not going to say it again. We are taking the artifact, with all of your team either dead or alive. It makes no difference to us," Vladimir bluffed. Pavel could have cared less about whether the Americans lived or died, but Vladimir felt differently. He'd seen enough death and destruction in his lifetime to know that every life was precious. However, just because Vladimir felt that way did not mean he wouldn't use lethal force if necessary.

While Cliff stared at his now dead flashlight lying on the temple floor, he desperately wanted to draw his gun to defend the civilians in his care. Unfortunately, he could sense each of the other two Russians with guns was watching his every move. Being the only military operate on his team, and although he had done nothing to tip the Russians off, he stood out like a sore thumb. Cliff knew if he so much as reached for the gun in his pants, he'd be lying dead on the floor before even having a chance to shoot.

Vladimir warily took a step toward the pedestal. As the Russian approached, Leonardo scooted away across the slick floor, while holding his grazed arm. Only a small amount of blood was flowing through his open fingers as the bullet had just barely grazed the surface of his skin. Another step and Vladimir reached toward the object.

"I wouldn't do that," Dominic muttered, afraid to speak any louder.

Vladimir gave him a scornful look and with one fell swoop grabbed the bright green and gold colored device. The instant he did so, the artifact pulsed with the green light so bright it temporarily blinded everyone. Vladimir screamed in pain, but did not let go of the chain; the treasure was his.

As the light subsided and their visions returned to normal, both the Russians and the Americans were horrified at what they saw. In the middle of the room stood Vladimir, holding the chain connected to Hades' Sphere completely covered in white leprous sores, lesions, and open wounds. He looked like walking death.

Vladimir saw the mixture of disgust and shock on the Americans' faces and turned to his Russian subordinates. Even in Pavel and Dmitry's eyes, which were blue and brown balls of steel, Vladimir could see their concern. Natalya put a hand to her open mouth and muttered, "Oh my," as she took a step backward.

The longer Vladimir stood, the more he felt his energy starting to wane. Quickly he threw the glowing sphere around his neck, then thrust out a hand toward the pedestal, needing its solid surface for immediate support. Although disgusted by the man before her, Natalya rushed to his side and threw one of his arms over her shoulder.

The green swirling haze inside of the black sphere dramatically increased its movement at Natalya's closeness to its master. The chain and clasps pulsed a radiant golden-yellow, while the sphere itself a radiated a brilliant emerald-green. Unlike Dominic, who a week ago had wanted to touch the Lightning Staff, Natalya wanted nothing to do with Hades' Sphere and kept her distance.

"We're leaving," Vladimir hoarsely commanded. Pavel and Dmitry nodded, but remained where they were, watching Dominic and Cliff. Leonardo had since stood, but the Russians did not consider him much of a threat with his injured arm. On the floor, Hillary had brought Colt to a sitting position and was still trying to bring him out of his groggy state.

Vladimir took a step toward the door, as did Natalya carrying the weight of the right side of his body. Vladimir could feel the sphere's power rushing through his veins, yet his body seemed to groan with each movement he made. A few steps further and halfway to the door, in only a matter of seconds, their path was blocked. Six Chinese nationals armed with semi-automatic machine guns rushed through the door's openings on both sides of the marble slab like water leaking through a cracked dam.

"Put down your weapons," their commander said in slurred English. "You are outnumbered and out gunned."

"Where have I heard that before?" Dominic snarkily said to Leonardo, who gave him a questioning look, clearly not understanding the joke.

"Put down your weapons. You're clearly outnumbered," the Chinese officer said again to the two Russians. Four of the six members of the Chinese militia had now spread out against the wall between the room's entrance and exit. Two sets of two Chinese gunmen each flanked one of the singular Russians who still held their firearms.

Pavel and Dmitry looked to their weary and malformed commander for instructions, although they already knew his answer. "Pavel, Dmitry, lay down your weapons," he ordered. Dutifully and without hesitation, they each laid their firearms on the floor. For both Dmitry and Pavel it was two machine guns to one pistol. What else were they supposed to do?

"That was very wise of you," the Chinese commander said with an evil smile. "Now hand over the artifact," he said to Vladimir who was standing directly in front of him.

"Come and take it yourself," Vladimir growled. He had been listening to every word the Americans' had spoken within earshot, and if he'd heard them correctly, trying to take one of these artifacts from its user would have dire consequences for the aggressor.

"So be it," the Chinese commander returned taking the bait. He gave a quick glance to his five fellow citizens, making sure all was in order. Seeing they had the situation in complete control, he approached Vladimir to take the artifact.

As the Chinese commander reached for Hades' Sphere, hanging on the chain around Vladimir's neck, the sphere began to pulse its odd emerald green light even faster and harder than when Natalya had first approached.

"You disgust me," the Chinese commander said as he looked up at Vladimir's disfigured face for a brief second. Vladimir's yellowing eyes met the commander's, showing him that the feeling was mutual.

The Chinese leader grunted a hint of admiration at Vladimir's bravado, as sick as he was, and returned his gaze to the pulsating orb. Carefully he raised his hand and touched the black and green hazy sphere. Instantly the commander's skin bubbled with bright red welts at the point of contact. The welts then spread out across his body, while turning purple in front of everybody's eyes before finally bursting open into pockets of bright red blood and puss.

The Chinese commander gasped for air, trying to breathe, but found none. He grabbed his throat searching for the obstruction he could feel within, only to feel his skin peeling at the very touch. Doubling over, the commander coughed as hard as possible to remove the impediment from his throat and splattered blood over the floor. He dropped to his knees and fell face forward toward the unforgiving white marbled floor, dead before he hit its white marble surface.

The rest of the room gasped in unison at the Chinese commander's death, which came with blinding speed, lasting no more than a few seconds at the most. Beneath the dead Chinese commander's body, a pool of bright red blood started to form.

"Do any of the rest of you want to take this from me?" Vladimir weakly coughed. He felt like utter crap, and from the expressions he saw around him, he knew he looked even worse. Vladimir coughed and looked down at his hands, which were disgusting and without a doubt resembled every other part of his body. Although he had received nowhere enough schooling to be even considered close to a doctor, his military service had brought him in contact with numerous diseases.

Quickly he studied his hands. He knew the white scaly patches of skin were a type of leprosy, which thank God was treatable. The large red bumps appeared to be a rash of some sort. However, the lesions and open sores concerned him the most. Hopefully the skin mutations were only a horrible case of eczema, cellulitis, or dermatitis, something modern medicine could treat, not some new, horrible unknown disease.

"Give me the artifact," the fifth Chinese soldier said in broken English, taking his commander's place. Standing on each of his sides, the pair of soldiers appeared torn as they glanced between watching Pavel and Dmitry and staring at the fallen corpse of their commander. While they looked on, the fifth soldier assumed command by stepping forward. Careful not to touch any of the flesh of his fallen comrade, their new leader pulled a small canvas bag from the dead commander's belt.

"Put in here," he said showing his lack of command over the foreign language. He held the bag out in front of him for Vladimir to drop in the glowing relic. The Chinese soldier smiled a wide malevolent grin showing three teeth plated in gold, hoping to find riches beyond his wildest dreams.

## Chapter

## 9

As Pavel and Dmitry noticed their Chinese captors' attention waning, they stole a quick glance out of the corners of their eyes in each other's direction. They were careful not to move their heads for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Seeing their chance, while the Chinese soldiers were still distracted at the sudden death of their commander, Pavel and Dmitry simultaneously delivered punishing blows to two of their Chinese captors, knocking each of them semi unconscious and to the ground.

The fifth Chinese soldier, who'd now assumed command, whirled around at the sudden commotion, but unarmed at the moment, was unprepared to act. While his back was turned, Natalya kicked him as hard as she could in between his legs, connecting with his family jewels. As she was still holding Vladimir upright, she was unable to do much more than watch as the poor soul threw up on the ground, writhing in agonizing pain. She didn't feel an ounce of sorrow for the man.

"Good kick," Vladimir hoarsely commented, clearly impressed with Natalya's skills. She smiled at his comment, while trying not to look him in the face.

While the new Chinese leader was still rolling on the floor, Pavel and Dmitry were each engaging their second gunmen watching over them. As they tried to wrestle away the Chinese's semi-automatic rifles, the two soldiers knocked to the ground began coming around. Still entangled with the second set of Chinese soldiers, the two knocked down soldiers stood up and reentered the fray. Eventually and through no fault of their own, both Pavel and Dmitry, although having fought valiantly against their odds, were both forced to their knees on the hard marble floor with guns pressing against their heads.

The new Chinese commander looked up from his fetal position on the floor. Seeing his troops were once again in control, he gave them his first orders. "Shoot them!" he yelled as he tried to stand. Stumbling, he moved a few feet further away from the Russian woman whose foot had intimately connected with his manhood, not wanting her to kick him again.

"I said shoot them," he spat again after his initial order had yet to be carried out. Although a distasteful act to the Chinese soldiers, nonetheless they moved the barrels of their semiautomatics against the backs of the two Russian's heads.

"Stop."

Vladimir voice was hoarse, barely louder than a whisper. "Don't do it."

Now back on his feet the new commander said, "It's already done."

Before the two soldiers had a chance to shoot, Hades' Sphere began to throb with the brilliant emerald light for a few seconds before a channel of the bright green haze, stored within the ebony ball, shot out and engulfed the five remaining Chinese soldiers. They screamed out in pain as the mist traveled through and around their bodies. A few seconds later, each of them had fallen to the floor in various states of consciousness, no longer a threat. Each of the five fallen soldiers had dark bluish purple spots covering every part of their body that the Americans and Russians could see.

"What did you do, Vlad?" Pavel asked, while bending down to scoop up one of the Chinese soldier's rifles.

"I imagined them being infected with the Bubonic plague," he thoughtfully responded.

Pavel stopped examining the Chinese rifle in his hands and looked up at his leader. "How'd you know how to do that?" he asked.

"I, I don't know. I just sort of did. It felt natural," Vladimir answered, unsure himself.

During the entire exchange of words between the Russians and Chinese along with the actions leading up to it, Cliff Barns had been waiting for his chance to be of use. With only one Russian holding a weapon, Cliff felt this might be his only possibility. Slick as water on ice, he pulled the gun from the back of his pants and leveled it directly at Pavel.

"Hands up, Russian!" Cliff yelled with bravado. The Colonel caught Pavel off guard, once again engrossed in examining the Chinese manufactured gun, and dropped the rifle as commanded. The gun clicked as its metal barrel bounced on the marble floor and came to a rest less than a foot from Pavel's boot.

"Now kick it away," he commanded. Pavel did as commanded and kicked the gun across the floor. Vladimir and Natalya watched as Cliff then ordered Dmitry to the same corner with Pavel, while kicking the remaining guns closest to them across the room.

"Did you not see what I did to the Chinese, Mr. American hero? Put down your silly weapon, or I will unfortunately have to do the same to you," Vladimir weakly said. If he hadn't been so sick, he would have spoken with a bit more humor in his voice, but simply getting the words out was hard enough.

"You're not going to do anything of the sort," Colt said as he up stood behind him. Natalya turned herself and Vladimir, so they could see the defiant voice to their rear. As they turned, they saw Colt standing with Hillary's aid. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Hillary stared at Natalya while Colt locked eyes with Vladimir. Just like the Russian, Colt had one arm draped around Hillary's neck while the other was clutching the again deeply purple glowing lightning staff.

"So, one ancient weapon against another?" he said, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Nope, I understand you're a little out of it, and you obviously haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings, but you should look at your own artifact," Colt said with a smile.

Curious at the American's words, Vladimir and Natalya both looked down at the artifact hanging around his neck. Sure enough, the ebony sphere was no longer glowing its normal emerald green hue, but was instead throbbing a deep almost black purple just like the Lightning Staff.

"Why?" Vladimir mouthed in between another fit of coughing. His back seized up and down as he searched for air, growing sicker by the minute.

"I'm guessing that for whatever reason when two or more of these artifacts are in the same proximity, there's some sort of mechanism that stops them from being used against each other. I saw the staff changing colors the closer I brought it to the chain you are now wearing. When I'm holding the staff, it's normally a bright golden yellow, but as we marched down the steps outside and into this room the color changed to orange, then red, then blue, and finally this dark purple. I'd guess if we put them within a millimeter of each other, their unnatural coloring would all but disappear," Colt informed the sickly Russian.

"Well, it appears that we are at a standoff then," Vladimir wheezed. "What is it that you propose?"

"Drop the artifact back on the pedestal, and we'll let you walk out of here," Cliff said from the other side of the room, without taking his hands off the Russian prisoners. "Obviously you're in strong need of medical attention, so just give us what we want and be on your way. We won't stop you."

"I believe you, but this artifact is just as important to us as it is you. You will have to take it from me, but I think we both know you won't do that," Vladimir hoarsely scraped and tapped the corpse of the Chinese commander with his foot for emphasis.

Colonel Cliff Barns was about to give a rebuttal to the Russian's uncooperative nature, when he received out of the blue a quick punch to his torso from his Chinese captive, sending him to the floor. The kick drove the gun out of his hands and to the ground by Pavel's feet. Pavel speedily reached for the gun, while at the same time from the floor, Cliff pulled his smaller spare pistol from the holster on his ankle.

Both Cliff and Pavel leveled their weapons and pointed them at the other simultaneously.

"What we have here is what you Americans call a Mexican standoff," Pavel said in thickly Russian accented English.

"It looks like we will be going now," Vladimir said with finality to Colt. He took a small step toward the door with Natalya's help then another and another. Colt could tell from the heaving of the Russian's back that each step was excruciatingly painful and was taking him a tremendous amount of energy and effort.

While the Russians assisted their leader to the massive stone slab door, Cliff and Pavel continued their standoff. Eventually Vladimir and Natalya disappeared around the other side of the white marble door. Dmitry, still unarmed followed after them. Once he knew his countrymen were on the other side of the doorway, Pavel slowly began walking backward, still locked in a visual duel with Cliff.

"Looks like we win this round," Pavel taunted as he reached the marble door.

"Maybe this time, but I guarantee you we'll meet again," Cliff responded.

Pavel grunted a laugh before he too disappeared behind the marble slab. At the other end of the corridor, where the outside's afternoon light was shining down the marble stairs, Dmitry, Natalya, and Vladimir were waiting for him.

"We cannot allow them to follow us," Vladimir rasped. He glanced down at the ancient relic. A brighter aqua blue had now replaced the ancient artifact's dark purple glow, its power returning, as the distance between him and Colt grew. Not wanting to kill the Americans, who had not tried to kill them, Vladimir envisioned Colt covered with painful boils, unable to move.

In the adjoining room, Colt and the others watched the Lightning Staff grow brighter, as the Russians moved further away.

"Aren't you going after them?" Leonardo asked Colt.

"It's two against one," Cliff replied. "In case you failed to notice, all three of those boys were military. I'm not going to stick my head out of here just to get it blown off. You only fight the battles you know you can win." He ignored the Italian's glare and started attending to the deathly ill Chinese soldiers lying on the floor; only if they were all dead would he think about going after the Russians alone.

Before any of them beside Cliff had a chance to move, an emerald green mist raced around the door, heading straight for Colt. While he was in a crouched position over one of the sick Chinese soldiers, Cliff watched as the snake-like trail of bright green vapor covered Colt's body. The vapor curled around his body, but then just as quickly as the vapor had appeared it was gone.

Colt fingered along his clothes and face, and felt relief that nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

"What was that?" Dominic exclaimed.

"I think that Russian was trying to infect me with something," Colt replied.

"Are they trying to get your staff?" Hillary wondered aloud.

"I'd bet not," Cliff interjected. "My guess is they're worried about us trying to follow them, and they're just trying to slow us down. Too bad, they picked Colt as their target though. I think that staff of his just canceled out their attack."

On the other side of the door, Pavel listened for evidence that Vladimir had infected Colt as he'd intended.

"Nothing happened," Pavel whispered to the others. "They think his staff blocked your sphere."

"Fine. One last try and then we have to find help. I feel I'm getting sicker every minute," Vladimir uttered barely above a whisper. He thought again of the boils, but this time he envisioned everybody in the room being infected, both the Americans and the Chinese. As before, within the depths of the black orb hanging from his neck, an emerald green cloudy haze began to swirl before shooting out of the sphere and toward the marble slab.

Inside the room, Colt noticed the green haze before anyone else and yelled, "Grab on to me everyone!" Instinctively and without pause Dominic, Cliff, and Leonardo all jumped at the order toward Colt's body. Hillary, still at his side, clutched his arm even harder as the mist approached and devoured the room.

Immediately, they heard a scream of pain before the green vapor disappeared back into nothingness. They each turned toward the scream and saw Leonardo thrashing on the ground in pain, covered by boils.

"It's boils," Leonardo screamed in agony as large painful red sores began covering his body. "I didn't get to you quick enough," he lamented through clenched teeth.

Seeing Leonardo in such pain, Hillary instinctively left Colt's side to see if she could help. For the moment, Leonardo needed her assistance more than her boyfriend did.

"Is everybody else okay?" Colt asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine I guess," Dominic said and then coughed. "Maybe I feel a little under the weather, but I'll live."

"I've felt better," Cliff sniffed, feeling slightly rundown himself. "Thanks for warning us. I think we would've been like Leonardo if we hadn't been hanging on to you and your staff had helped protected us."

On the other side of the marble slab, the Russians heard Leonardo's painful screams and knew it was time to leave.

## Chapter

## 10

"Dmitry, grab my other side and help me up the stairs," Vladimir ordered, although it sounded more like a plea for help than an actual command. With Natalya holding one side and Dmitry holding the other, they carried Vladimir to the top of the long staircase. Pavel covered their rear with the team's only gun left in his possession, watching with an eagle eye in case the Americans chose to follow.

"Set me down, I need to rest," Vladimir wheezed after reaching the summit of the stairs. Natalya and Dmitry carefully set their leader on the hard ground, where he immediately lay on the solidified volcanic rock to catch his breath. His labored breathing was weak but steady. Vladimir instinctively wanted to roll his head back and forth to survey his surroundings, but his body said no.

"We can't carry him all of the way out of here," Pavel said to Dmitry and Natalya. "One of us needs to go find some help."

Dmitry scanned the area, remembering seeing the American's digging machine before they had initially descended the stairs. Sure enough, about a hundred yards to their left sat the idled Bobcat. Dmitry jogged over to the small vehicle and was pleased to find the key was still in the ignition. He jumped into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. Instantly the Bobcat sprang to life. With a full tank of gas and the vehicle seemingly in brand new condition, Dmitry knew they had found their answer.

Spraying dust and debris behind him, Dmitry sped the small four-wheeled digging machine toward the others. "Put him in the scoop," he said in reference to Vladimir. "We can drive him to the top of the rim and then to our car in this."

"Good work, Dmitry," Vladimir whispered. For all of the times Dmitry had caused him headache after headache, he had made up for it in one fell swoop. Gently, Dmitry and Pavel lifted their disease-ridden commander and set him in the scoop. Dmitry repositioned himself behind the wheel and started speeding the small digger across the bumpy landscape.

Vladimir groaned in pain as the Bobcat hit each bump and divot on the rocky ground but knew the rough ride was the only way out. Eventually the Bobcat found a crude path to the top of the crater, where the terrain was noticeably smoother. As Dmitry drove Vladimir up the volcano's rim, the speed of the Bobcat forced Natalya and Pavel to jog behind it. Each of them knew the quicker they retreated out of the foreign country the better. Between the Americans down below, their intrusion on Italian soil and the declining health of Vladimir, time was not a luxury they could afford to waste.

After reaching the crest of the volcano, the Russians drove the Bobcat to where the rocky ledge was hiding their supplies underneath its darkened recesses. They softly laid their packs around Vladimir's wretched looking body in the Bobcat's scoop before driving down the mountain. Unlike before, when they had scaled the volcano's less visible side without a path to follow, this time with the Bobcat and Vladimir unable to walk, they were forced to follow the manmade road with the Italian checkpoint waiting up ahead.

***

Cliff moved back and forth from one Chinese soldier to the next, checking for a pulse or other signs of life. As if the Bubonic plague's infection wasn't horrible enough, the painful boils were covering each plague-ridden Chinese soldier the same as Leonardo.

"This one's dead," Cliff announced as he moved to the next victim. So far, out of the five Chinese soldiers, Cliff had found two who were barely alive and two who were dead. He crawled to the last soldier's side and felt for a pulse, nothing. He then laid his head on the soldier's chest and listened for a heartbeat or shallow breathing, but to his sorrow this soldier was dead too.

"Alright, we've got two Chinese soldiers barely alive and Leonardo who can barely move. We're going to need some medical help in here for all three of them," Cliff said summing up their situation.

"Maybe we can use the walkie-talkie the Italians gave to Leonardo to call for help," Dominic suggested.

Leonardo heard the suggestion and grunted in agreement. He tried reaching into his belt buckle to undo the walkie-talkie's belt clip, but the pain from one extremity rubbing against the other was more than he could bear.

Dominic bent down, seeing the Italian struggling to move, gently removing the device for him. Dominic depressed the button, but there was only static.

"You're going to have to go outside if you want any reception," Cliff advised while checking on one of the still living Chinese soldiers. Dominic took his advice and left the room with Colt following close behind with the Lightning Staff. While the Russians continued their retreat from the area, Colt had watched the staff morph from its unusual darker colors to the lighter shades of pink and orange before resuming its normal pulsating golden-yellow radiance.

Once outside of the dimly lit corridor and even darker rear chamber, Colt and Dominic both inhaled deep breaths of fresh air. Neither of them had realized how much the lower chambers smelled like death until breathing in the refreshing smells of Mother Nature.

"Try it now," Colt advised. They were still only at the landing of the bottom of the long marble staircase, but now outside, Colt was hopeful the radio waves could reach its intended target without them having to trudge up the five story's worth of hard steps.

"Hello, can anyone hear me?" Dominic asked into the radio while depressing the button. The speaker crackled with interference before a clear reply was received.

"Yes, we can year you. Who is this?" someone asked from the other end in Italian accented English.

"This is Dominic. I'm with Leonardo Sava. We need medical attention here. We have two Chinese soldiers that are very sick, and Leonardo is barely able to move. Please send help," Dominic repeated again. He let go of the transmitting button and waited for a response. Hopefully the Italians would be quick in sending aid. If not, Dominic and Colt feared the two Chinese soldiers, who were dangerously close to death, would not last the day.

***

Through a mess of tangled trees and bushes, the Russian contingent was just now able to see the Italian checkpoint. Although forging a path through the trees and other foliage had been discussed, they agreed that time was of the essence. They had to go through the Italians.

Dmitry quietly drove the Bobcat into a secluded opening out of view of the main road.

"Natalya, you stay here with Vladimir. Dmitry and I will take out the guards at the checkpoint. When you hear me call your name, drive the Bobcat down to the checkpoint and we'll meet up there," Pavel ordered the only non-military person in their small team.

Leaving Vladimir and Natalya hidden amongst the leaves, Pavel and Dmitry straddled the roadside, using the plants as coverage as they approached the crude checkpoint. From their vantage point it appeared only three Italian soldiers were on duty. Since there were only three soldiers and the Russians had the element of surprise on their side, Pavel and Dmitry knew they had the upper hand.

In the distance, they could see two of the guards were standing on one side of the road, while the third was talking to someone on a shortwave radio. Pavel motioned for Dmitry to join him on his side of the road, so they could take out the two guards standing next to each other at the same time.

Dmitry waited for the guards to turn toward the direction of the city and then sprinted across the road and into the bushes on the other side. The two Russians moved silently from bush to bush and tree to tree as they snuck up behind the unsuspecting Italians.

The third Italian soldier was still talking on the shortwave radio, his back for the moment turned to the other two. Pavel and Dmitry, without words using only hand gestures, sprang out and grabbed the two soldiers in tight sleeper holds. The veins in their arms bulged as the Italians squirmed in futility, eventually falling asleep in the Russians' thick arms.

They gently set the sleeping Italians on the weathered pavement and approached the only soldier left. Pavel pulled their lone weapon from the side of his belt, aiming at the Italian's head as he approached. From the bits of English the Italian was speaking, Pavel knew he was talking to the Americans, who were no doubt informing the now lone soldier of their wounded and the Russian's involvement in the attack.

Once Pavel was three feet from the back of the Italian's head, he loudly cleared his throat. The Italian slowly turned, assuming it was one of his countrymen. Pavel watched as the soldier's expressionless face morphed into that of shock as he saw the pistol pointed inches from his head. The moment he raised his hands in the air, Dmitry grabbed him from behind and began applying a steely sleeper hold. Soon the last Italian soldier was also fast asleep. As his arms went limp, he dropped the radio to the ground, and his consciousness faded into nothingness.

***

"Hello?" Dominic asked into the walkie-talkie. Moments of silence passed without a response. "What gives?" Dominic asked Colt while waiting for a reply. "They were there just a second ago."

Colt shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe the reception just isn't good enough down here. Maybe we'd have better luck at the top of the stairs." They both looked up the long flight of stairs and sighed as they started climbing.

"Hey, where's the Bobcat?" Dominic breathlessly exclaimed after reaching the top of the stairs a few moments later. He remembered exactly where he'd left the sweet compact ride and had been looking forward to driving it some more once they returned to the surface. "I'll bet those dirty Russians took it," he concluded

"You're probably right. Their leader was in pretty bad shape. There's no way I'd want to carry someone like that all the way back to the main road. I bet they used it to give him a ride and give their backs a break."

Dominic tried calling the Italians on the radio again while Colt was still speaking, but still there was no response. "Hey, do you think they might have attacked the Italian checkpoint?"

"I don't know. Maybe I guess. If they wanted to keep driving the Bobcat then they wouldn't have much of a choice. As far as I know there's only one road around this area."

"So, what do we do then? I guess one of us has to get to the checkpoint and call for help, right?" Dominic said, not volunteering for the job. After the day he'd had an additional mile run on hilly terrain was the last thing he wanted to do.

At that moment, Hillary appeared behind them, marching up the white marble stairs with Leonardo's cell phone in hand. "Did you guys get the soldiers at the Italian checkpoint on the radio?" she asked.

"We had them, but they're not answering anymore," Colt replied.

"I think the Russians got to them," Dominic added, completely convinced the Russians were involved.

"Leonardo suggested we call his superiors on his cell phone. But like you two, I couldn't get any reception down there, so I came up here to try it," Hillary said. She turned the phone on and scrolled through his list of contacts until she found the one Leonardo had told her to call.

She pressed the call button and waited for someone to answer. Finally, a low speaking Italian voice said hello.

"Do you speak English?" she asked into the phone. The unknown person on the other side responded with a yes and asked her who she was.

"I'm with Leonardo Sava's research team. A group of Russians and Chinese has attacked us, and we need medical assistance. Leonardo has been infected with something causing boils to form all over his skin, and there are two Chinese soldiers that are in extremely critical condition."

Over a span of five minutes, she tried to answer the man's questions. The stranger assured her that he had already alerted a helicopter with medical supplies and the appropriate personnel and they were en route to their location. All they could do now was wait.

## Chapter

## 11

Pavel and Dmitry quickly dragged the three passed out Italian soldiers into the woods and yelled for Natalya to drive the Bobcat and Vladimir to their location. With their escape now unimpeded, Pavel and Dmitry jogged alongside the Bobcat the rest of the way to the bottom of the hill.

Once they reached their stashed vehicle, they loaded Vladimir into the back seat and discarded the Bobcat into the woods, out of view of the naked eye.

Pavel was careful to drive their car the speed limit to the airport, or only slightly above the posted speed, for fear of the police pulling him over. As they arrived at the tarmac, Pavel increased the car's speed, driving toward the plane he knew was waiting for them. Once alongside the plane, they rushed to exit their vehicle at hearing sirens growing closer in the distance.

"Do you think those are for us?" Dmitry questioned as he threw their backpacks up the plane's extended staircase.

"I wouldn't bet against it," Pavel replied. Unfortunately, for Vladimir there wasn't any time left to be delicate with his aching body. In one fell swoop, Pavel picked up their ailing commander and carried him up the stairs like a baby. All the while, he was as careful as possible to keep the ancient artifact from touching any part of his skin.

The second they were aboard the Russian airplane, the pilots began jetting down the runway. There was now no doubt the sirens they had been hearing were for them as no less than ten police cars were trailing the accelerating airplane. The pilot pushed the throttle for maximum speed, leaving the police cars in its rear before they had a chance to catch them. Seconds later the Russians' plane was in the air and rocketing for Moscow.

***

WHOMP, WHOMP, WHOMP

"Is that a helicopter?" Dominic questioned at hearing the approaching sound. A little over twenty minutes had passed since Hillary finished her call with Leonardo's superior. Gradually the sound of the helicopter's rotors increased until the three saw a lone copter emerge over the volcano's rim.

Colt could see the pilot peering down at them as he gently lowered his craft into the volcano's center. The craft's swirling blades caused dust and debris to fly into the air, almost blinding them as they tried to watch their newly arrived ride land. Almost before the landing was complete, two medics hopped out of its insides, each carrying a large case full of medical equipment.

"They're down here," Hillary yelled over the swirling dust and deafening sounds of the helicopter's engine and rotors. She jogged across the mix of rock and dirt to the marble stairs followed close behind by the two medical personnel.

Without a railing for support, Hillary descended the stairs as fast as possible without slipping on the slick marble. When she took a quick glance backward, the two medics were even further behind being extra careful due to their large plastic bins of supplies.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs where she flicked on her flashlight before entering the corridor. "They're just in the next room," she directed them once inside. Their pace slowed as each of their eyes slowly adjusted to the chamber's darkness, using only Hillary's small flashlight to guide their way.

Upon entering the actual chamber, which had only an hour ago housed Hades' Sphere, Cliff solemnly stood. "We just lost another one of the Chinese soldiers a few minutes ago. This one is hanging on, but I don't know how much longer he has."

The first medic bent down and started his examination of the sick Asian, while Cliff led the other medic to Leonardo's aching body.

"I've seen a lot of boils in my life, but never anything to this extent," the medic said while digging in his box of medicine. He could see the pain on Leonardo's face. Seconds later, he pulled out a hypodermic needle and a small vial of morphine.

"This will dull the pain," he said. The medic wiped down a section of Leonardo's arm, punctured morphine's bottle with the tip of the needle, and stuck it into his raised vein. Leonardo groaned at being stuck, but within seconds started moving more easily. Hillary nervously watched his eyes glaze over from the shot's narcotic effects but found comfort in knowing his pain was at least temporarily subsiding.

"Can you stand now?" the medic questioned his patient.

Leonardo tried to nod, but instead only moved his head around in a drunken circle.

"How much did you give him?" Hillary asked. She almost wanted to laugh at Leonardo's ridiculous lack of muscle control but knew this wasn't a laughing matter.

"I gave him enough to dull the pain until we can get him to a proper hospital. The pain this man was probably feeling was similar to being set on fire," he responded unapologetic for his actions.

Leonardo, still thinking about standing in his drug-induced stupor, had begun crawling on the marble floor unable to pick his body upright. Gently Hillary and the medic each took a hold under one of his armpits and hoisted his welt covered body upright. Leonardo winced at the initial human contact but relaxed again as soon as they let go. Wavering back and forth, they slowly guided him out of the chamber. Every second or third step, Leonardo would grimace or groan as his body's weight mashed the boils on the soles of his feet against the ground.

As they were just leaving the room, the other medic yelled, "Bring down the portable gurney when you come back. This guy's not going to be able to walk out of here on his own."

"No problem," the other medic replied, already in the adjoining corridor.

After loading Leonardo into the helicopter and strapping him in as loose as possible, the second medic returned with the requested gurney in tow. The first medic on the scene had stabilized the deathly ill Chinese soldier. With the help of the other medic, they carefully lifted the last Chinese soldier onto the large sheet of canvas.

Cliff led the way out of the room with his flashlight, followed by the medics, the sickly Asian, and finally Hillary. As soon as they reached the brightly lit opening leading to the stairs, Hillary remember something she had forgotten to do.

She dashed back inside of the chamber without a word and quickly scanned the lower section of the pedestal with her military grade flashlight. She searched the front and then the side of the marble stand, but there was nothing there. Rounding the side of the pedestal, facing the back of the chamber, she found what she was looking for. In large ancient Greek lettering were the words:

WIFE PERSEPHONE SLUMBERS IN NYSA

HERCULES AND CEREBUS SLEEP TOGETHER IN THE SEA OF LICHAS

She had found the locations of two more treasures! Quickly she snapped a picture on her cell phone and then raced out of the chamber; catching up to the slow procession in the middle of the marble staircase, as if she'd never left.

***

The next twenty-four hours were a sloshy mixture of anxiety and relief for the small American team. Within a few hours of the helicopter transporting them to the hospital, the doctors tested all four of the Americans for the plague. Within minutes, a quick dipstick test cleared them of having the Bubonic plague, for which the doctors were treating the ill Chinese soldier for around the clock.

The hospital's chief of staff assured them that only in rare cases was the Bubonic plague transmitted from person to person, and that normally the illness was the result of an infected flea; although obviously not so this time. The Americans were overly relieved that their chances of contracting the almost eradicated illness were slim to none.

Eventually, the head doctor allowed them into Leonardo's room to visit their Italian friend, but not before two armed guards whisked them to a vacant, windowless room in the hospital's bowels. Inside the solitary area, the Italian version of the CIA asked them to recount the events leading to their medical rescue. Knowing that they had done no wrong and Leonardo Sava himself would be corroborating their truthful story, they cooperated to the fullest extent.

Initially Cliff refused to answer any questions in detail, but as Dominic, Hillary, and Colt revealed every minute aspect of their adventure, he felt compelled at certain points to correct their occasionally misremembered fact.

Once their mild interrogation had met its end, the officers finally allowed them to visit Leonardo Sava's room. They were more than surprised to see that the intravenous medicines and body ointments his doctors had prescribed were already working wonders, as the redness was quickly subsiding from his body.

"How are you feeling?" Hillary asked the Italian while taking his swollen hand in hers. Moist bandages, covered in some sort of proprietary mixture of salve and aloe, littered his body.

"All things considered, not too bad. I guess that tour of the city is going to have to wait though," he said with some of his charm returning. "The best part is when the good looking nurses come in and change my bandages. They rub that ointment into all the right places on my skin, and it feels like heaven. Quite the opposite of where we were yesterday," he said with a snort.

"Yeah, that's right," Dominic said, in a chauvinistic tone agreeing with Leonardo's vision of heaven.

Hillary shot Dominic a disapproving look and released Leonardo's hand. Instinctively she wiped the gooey residue left behind on the side of his bed, slightly disgusted by his whole description. The American team then said their goodbyes and bid Leonardo a quick recovery.

Held in the room adjacent to Leonardo's was the Chinese national, who had tried to kill them. Two armed guards were patrolling the doorway, letting no one enter except select medical staff. Through the small square window, Hillary, Colt, and Dominic could see multiple I.V. lines running into his veins. As they stared at the Chinese soldier, he opened his puffy, bloodshot eyes and smiled. It wasn't an evil smile but that of a thank you.

After grabbing hold of the closest physician, he informed the four Americans that although the Chinese soldier was seriously ill, his condition had now stabilized enough that they expected him to fully recover in a few weeks' time.

Finally, having had their medical questions answered about Leonardo and the last living Chinese soldier, an Italian escort drove them to the airport for the long flight home.

Colt sullenly boarded the airplane, aggravated that they would be leaving with only what they had brought with them. He found a seat alone, toward the rear of the aircraft, and let the glowing Lightning Staff drop to the floor. As he did so, the staff lost its energy and luster, appearing a dull grayish color on the plane's orange runner as it waited for its master to once again wield its power.

Cliff and Dominic were more than happy to let Colt brood alone. However, as Hillary stepped up the ramp, she noticed his melancholy expression and ventured toward him in the rear of the plane. Stepping over the dormant staff and shimmying between Colt's long legs and the seat in front of them, Hillary plopped down in the open seat to his left.

She knew why he was so blue. Without saying a word, she turned on her phone and scrolled to the picture she had taken of the pedestal's backside. Colt looked at her with a puzzled expression as she handed him the device. As he used his fingers to zoom in, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked her.

"I knew the Italians were probably going to question us about everything that happened, so I decided the less who knew about this the better. And by less I mean only me," she smiled.

Colt couldn't contain his love and admiration for her at that moment. He turned in his seat and kissed her deeply and thoroughly. By the time he was done, her hair was a disheveled mess and her lipstick had smeared across his face. For the duration of their flight, he then thought of nothing but two things.

First and foremost, he was going to ask Hillary to be his wife. He was fairly certain she'd say yes, but what he feared most was the almost nonexistent chance she'd say no. And that scared him half to death. Secondly, thanks to Hillary's quick thinking and her picture, there were now at least six treasures whose locations needed to be puzzled out. Colt loved puzzles.

## Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book.

One of the best ways to increase a fan base is by way of reviews, so if you liked the book please leave me a review; I would really appreciate it.

Thank you again, Ryan

Find out about upcoming stories and new releases from Ryan Hartung at www.ryanhartung.com

##

## Please enjoy the following excerpt from Water, Book 3 in the World's Divide series.

## Available at your favorite E Book retailer

# World's Divide

# Book 3: Water

Displeased at being swindled out of Hades' Sphere, Colt and his team secretly begin searching for the next artifact. Colt wholeheartedly believes the Lightning Staff can lead them to Poseidon's treasure, buried somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean in the lost city of Atlantis. While Vladimir is recovering from touching Hades' Sphere and a conglomerate of Eastern nations begin the hunt for Demeter's treasure, Colt and his American friends must navigate through the crumbling maze of Atlantis to find the treasure they seek.

## Chapter

## 1

"Let's grab a drink since we have a couple of hours to kill," Pavel suggested to Dmitry, feeling the dryness in his mouth. He was glad to be back in Russia, where people drank mainly vodka, not fruity wines. Dmitry shook his head in agreement and left his laptop where it lay on a chair, in Vladimir Pavlov's hospital room.

"Drink one for me boys," Vladimir yelled after them, finally starting to regain some of his lost strength. His breathing and stamina were quickly returning to normal, while many of his other illnesses were recovering more slowly. Regardless of how fast his body was healing, he felt lucky to be alive, lying in a warm bed, and done traveling for the moment.

If having been thrown into the Bobcat's metal scoop and bounced around like a basketball on rocks and cement hadn't been painful enough, Vladimir had found himself wishing for death on the plane ride home. The air had been turbulent, and the plane was hardly equipped with the proper medical supplies to help him begin the recovery process. Without morphine or even a good bottle of vodka, the only recourse he had was to swallow handfuls of aspirin to ease his body's pain during the seven-hour flight back home. Natalya watching over him had been the only redeeming aspect of the flight. Barely able to lift his hand, he had relied on her gentle care, and he would forever be in her debt.

After landing in Moscow, where an ambulance was already waiting for him, two doctors whisked Natalya and he away to the closest hospital. While Vladimir began receiving treatment for his numerous ailments, delivered to him by the very artifact President Aleksandrov had sent him to retrieve, another high-ranking official was debriefing Pavel and Dmitry on their highly successful mission.

Although he had temporarily lost his health, the trip to Italy had been well worth it. The Russian beauty Natalya refused to leave his side. She told everyone involved that Vladimir was the key to unlocking the mysteries of the black and green sphere, which meant for the meantime the two were inseparable. Although Vladimir believed she was truly being protective of the artifact, he found himself hoping she was also staying for a different reason.

Besides the relational aspect of the trip, there was also the artifact's retrieval. Since no one had informed Russia's journalists of the discovery, the news of Vladimir's team finding of the Hades' Sphere was not yet public knowledge. However, some of the highest ranked officials in The Communist Party had already been rewarding Vladimir and the others with words of praise.

"It's time for your bath," the large unattractive Russian nurse informed her patient with a booming deep voice as she entered Vladimir's hospital room. "Take that thing off you neck so we can get started." Vladimir imagined his Italian counterpart Leonardo Sava, whom he had infected with boils while in Italy, being in a similar situation back in Naples. Maybe he was enjoying his hospital-mandated sponge baths, but Vladimir was not. For one part, there was nothing attractive about his Russian nurse. Her large frame and sour demeanor emasculated him each time she was around, especially so when he was forced to be naked, which was too often for his liking.

The large nurse was glaring and tapping her thick foot on the floor's cracked tile, as Vladimir had yet to get moving.

"I don't have all day, and you're not my only patient. Give your girlfriend your shinny trinket, so we can get started," she roared. Vladimir glared back at the hefty woman, while reluctantly following her orders. He pulled the sphere, which was glowing its usual deep emerald green, along with its bright golden chain off his neck. Vladimir marveled at his symbiotic nature with the relic. Where just days ago, when he had first touched it, the artifact had nearly killed him, but now he swore in some ways they were one.

As he readied to drop the ancient artifact, Natalya cupped her hands in anticipation under the large necklace and waited for Vladimir to let go. The instant his fingers released the chain; the entire relic lost its magnificent color and became as dull as though it had been buried in sand for centuries.

Natalya's eyes lit up at receiving the muted ancient relic. She had been thinking about correcting the large nurse for mistaking her as Vladimir's girlfriend, but upon receiving the sphere, the trinket quickly pulled her mind elsewhere.

Natalya fingered the orb in her hands, which now resembled a perfectly round ball of onyx on a dusty old chain. The links were a lackluster greyish brown, while the sphere's eerie green glow had faded to nothingness, as had the flowing emerald clouds normally deep inside the sphere's inner core. The relic's seemingly unreal luster in Vladimir's hands was mesmerizing, while it appeared dull as dirt in hers.

Vladimir slowed in his undressing, watching Natalya with growing admiration as she studied the device.

"Ahem," the nurse snorted and in no mood for his wasting of her time.

Vladimir sighed and removed his shirt. Hundreds of small white flecks of skin fell to the bed from his quickly healing leprosy. On his chest, already areas of healthy skin were emerging through the cracked, white leprous surface, where only a day ago the disease had been raging.

At seeing Vladimir starting to undress, Natalya got up to leave. The nurse had already turned on the water for his bath and was waiting for it to turn warmer.

"Why are you getting up? You are his girlfriend, no? Stay while I give him his bath; he won't mind," she said with a devious smile.

Natalya arched an eyebrow at the older woman, wondering who she thought she was. Maybe she should inform the rude nurse that she was Natalya Lipov, daughter of the well-known Russian politician Anatoly Lipov and advisor to the President. Maybe that would shut her up.

"You can leave. Just leave the artifact on the bed," Vladimir commented to Natalya in opposition to the nurse's overreaching suggestion.

"Just wait outside the door. I'll have the nurse bring you back in when we're done."

In truth, Vladimir wasn't shy about his body, but the artifact was his to guard. If she had been anybody but Anatoly Lipov's daughter, he would not have allowed her to touch his precious treasure in the first place.

Natalya furrowed her brow at the suggestion, now back in Russia, she was still subject to his commands. When they were out in the field, he was her leader, and she would follow any command he gave with obedience, but back in mother Russia, her political standing outweighed his military ranking.

"No, I do believe I'll stay," she said, asserting her authority and stared into his tired blue eyes.

Vladimir sighed again and carefully bent over to push the white sheets off his thin, light blue hospital pants. Although her unwillingness to leave annoyed him at the moment, her stubbornness demonstrated she had a strong will, which for Vladimir was quite appealing.

Vladimir drug his aching legs off the bed, letting them dangle toward the floor. Gingerly, he placed one foot on the cool tiles and followed it with the other. The soles of his feet were as chewed up as the rest of him but were also getting better. Although it was the leprosy that had ravaged most of his body, the open lesions on the soles of his feet hindered his standing. He remembered not so many days ago, even the slightest pressure pushing against the bottoms of his feet made him almost want to pass out from the searing pain. He was healing.

He stood shirtless in front of the two women, not seeing a reason to get fully naked until the water in his bath was warm and ready.

"Well, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?" the nurse chided. "Get those hospital pants and underwear off and get in the tub. It doesn't have to be full for us to start."

Vladimir sighed again and continued to do as the plump nurse directed. A smile briefly washed across his leathered face as he wondered if this was how the men under his command felt most of the time, only receiving his orders, but never giving them.

He remembered arriving at the hospital a few days ago, thoroughly weakened and barely able to move. Seeing the state he was in, the doctors had immediately wanted to insert a catheter, but he refused their orders and through his gritty determination was he able to show them that although close to death that he could still pee on his own. Now, as he dropped his pants and underwear, he was now more grateful for that past decision than he could have ever imagined.

Never in a million years would Vladimir want a woman he might be developing feelings for to see him naked for the first time with a tube sticking out of his penis. Being stuck in the hospital with his skin peeling off his body was bad enough, but seeing a catheter hanging out of him was a line he was not willing to cross.

Trying not to look at Natalya, he used his feet to push his clothes down around his ankles and then stepped out of them and into the warm three inches of bathwater. Initially the warm water stung against his cracked flesh. However, as soon as the nurse began scrubbing with her rough brush and powerful hands, his pain receptors forgot the open wounds, instead howling in discomfort wherever the nurse touched him. With Vladimir looking like a beaten down dog under a hose, Natalya stifled back a giggle. As he finally looked up at her with his soaked hair and water running down his melancholy face, she burst into laughter.

Natalya; however, was pleasantly surprised to see that the more the nurse scrubbed his skin, although turning it bright red, the more flakes of dead flesh disappeared into the water and were replaced with new healthy-growing skin. She tried to think of something to say to pass the time. Since Vladimir wasn't going anywhere for a while, she decided to ask him a few questions about Hades' Sphere.

"So, you never did really explain how you were able to use this," she said, while still examining the artifact.

"Ouch," he cried as the nurse ripped off a piece of dead skin. "Can you at least try to be gentle," he said hotly, to which the large woman only grinned.

"I can't really explain it. All I can tell you is that when I picked it up, after it did this to me, I just knew what to do. It's difficult to describe. You know how to ride a bike, right?" Natalya nodded her head yes.

"So, imagine you haven't ridden your bike in ten years. Then you get a bike. Would you still remember how to ride it? Of course, you would. You might be a little rusty, but you'd still remember how to use it. The same idea pertains to the necklace you're holding. Although I'd never used the necklace before, the second I put it around my neck, I just knew what to do. Honestly, I don't know how else to explain it."

"You actually did a fine job. I think I understand what you're getting at," she truthfully replied.

After the nurse finished toweling off his healing body, she gave Vladimir a new change of clothes to put on. Once dressed and back under the warm covers of his bed, Nataly dropped the ancient artifact back into his lap, where it immediately resumed its glowing green and gold aura.

Natalya walked to the door and before leaving asked, "I'm going to the cafeteria, would you like me to bring us some dinner?"

He smiled. "Yeah, that would be great."

Vladimir watched her lovely figure leave and again thought to himself; it had all been worth it.

***

"I'm sorry we failed you Mr. President," the last living Chinese soldier lamented in a raspy voice. Most of his hair had fallen out, and a few of his back molars were beginning to come lose. The Italian doctors had been adamant that he stay in their hospital until fully healed, but the Chinese government's wishes had prevailed.

"Yes, you're failure is not ideal, but I believe you are paying the price for your commander's stupidity," President Chen Wang said as he looked over the Chinese soldier's body with disgust. True, the soldier was healthier now than when he had arrived from Italy, but the President could see the incompetent soldier would be in the hospital many more weeks. Once the soldier was healthy again, the President would make sure any information about the Russian and American teams and their new indescribable weapons was gleaned from his mind before he was returned to active duty.

"Yes, Mr. President. Again, I'm so very sorry sir," the soldier said as another wave of pain and discomfort ran throughout his body.

"Yes, I'm sure you are. Now I want you to tell me exactly what happened to put you in this state," the President said. President Wang had listened to the report given to him by one of his top generals, but nothing was quite like hearing the story from the mouth of the victim.

"I was guarding one of the Russian prisoners when he knocked me down. I got back up and started fighting with him along with my superior who later died of his wounds. We overpowered the Russians and had placed them on their knees when the Russian's leader, who was the first person in the temple to touch the artifact, looked at me. I knew I was in trouble because the chain and black orb hanging around his neck started growing brighter in color, right before this green wind shot out of its middle and surrounded the five of us. In case I forgot to mention, our commander was already dead at this point, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

"I could feel the green wind passing through me. It felt as though it was sucking the life out of my body. I remember seeing my fellow four comrades falling to the ground about the same time I did. Unfortunately, I don't remember much else until the green mist came back again, maybe ten minutes or ten hours later. I don't know for sure how much time had passed since I was barely conscious. All I know is after it passed through me a second time, I was covered in the boils you see now, first the plague, then the boils. I don't remember anything after being infected with boils until I woke up in the Italian hospital, Mr. President," the soldier said before breaking into another fit of coughing.

"Okay, okay, get some rest, and when you're well we want you to dictate every single fact about the mission that you can recall. Remember you're an officer in the Chinese army, and we're counting on you for information. You're the only one left."

The President shook the ailing soldier's hand, as a grand gesture of respect before leaving his room. He stepped out into the hallway and breathed a deep breath of the fresher air, while searching for the closest bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, the President scrubbed his hands for minutes upon minutes, trying to wash the imagined stink and sickness off.

After his hands were raw from minutes of rough scrubbing, he briskly walked out of the hospital and entered his waiting limo, where the Premier was waiting for him.

"We must show the Russians that acts like this will not be tolerated," the Premier heatedly spoke.

"What would you have us do, go to war? Four dead soldiers is not a reason to go to war," President Wang responded to his colleague's statement.

"Of course, I don't want to go to war. Don't add me to those idiots on the committee. I am just saying that there should be consequences for their actions. We should at least demand the Russian responsible for this heinous crime be turned over to our authority."

"That would be acceptable, but there's no way the Russians would allow that to happen. Remember our soldiers were there illegally. We cannot afford to turn this into an international spectacle. Plus, if our injured soldier is correct, the Russian who touched the artifact first is the only one who can control it. For now, we will wait. If an opportunity should arise where we can ask for compensation, that is when we will strike."

## Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to read my book and excerpt.

One of the best ways to increase a fan base is by way of reviews, so if you liked the book please leave me a review; I would really appreciate it.

Thank you again, Ryan

Find out about upcoming stories and new releases from Ryan Hartung at www.ryanhartung.com

## Acknowledgments

I am extremely grateful for my loving wife Elizabeth, for without her love and support this book would not have been possible.

I would also like to thank Nick Proudlove for his proofreading and always being anxious for the next few chapters.

Finally I would like to thank Zackary Capewell. of Raven Tree Designs for his exquisite covers and unwavering support throughout the publication process.

## About the Author

Dr. Ryan E. Hartung spent most of his life growing up in rural Nebraska. After earning his Ph. D. in organic chemistry from the Ohio State University he then made a quick stop with his family in the garden state before finally settling in Tucson, Arizona. Ryan continues to live in Tucson with his wife Elizabeth, his two daughters Amber and Keira, their dog Ginger and currently untamed hamster Brave.

## Contact Ryan

Ryanhartung1953@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/ryanhartungauthor

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