Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly [57]
Beyond the grisly skeletons, however, was the main feature of the holy chamber.
Rising up in the chamber’s exact centre, 10 feet above the floor of the perfectly round room, was an elevated platform, fitted with a single flight of wide rising steps, and on it—to West’s surprise— lay not one but two Ancient Wonders.
Mounted atop the island-like platform, aimed upwards like a satellite dish, stood the fabled Mirror of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
It was completely covered in grey volcanic ash, but its outline was unmistakable. With its wide 15-foot dish, it was simply astonishing in its beauty.
West’s eyes, however, fell immediately to its base.
Its solid trapezoidal base, also covered in a layer of grey ash.
Suddenly something made sense: the continual use of the word ‘base’ in the texts he had followed to get here. He recalled the original clue to the location of the Pharos Piece:
Look for the base that was once the peak of the Great Tower
And Euclid’s Instructions:
Base removed before the Roman invasion,
Taken to Hamilcar’s Forgotten Refuge.
The Mirror of the Lighthouse was a wonder unto itself, but its base—its plain trapezoidal base—was of immensely greater value.
Its base was the Seventh Piece of the Golden Capstone.
But there was a second monument standing proudly atop the platform—next to the Mirror, on the right-hand side.
It was a huge octagonal marble pillar, standing upright, perhaps eight feet in height and seven feet in circumference. Its upper portions had long since been hacked away, but its lower section was perfectly intact.
And just like the Mirror, its base was trapezoidal.
It was another Piece of the Capstone.
‘Oversized octagonal pillar. . . ’ Zoe said, her mind racing. ‘Only one ancient structure was known to possess oversized octagonal pillars—’
‘The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus,’ West said. ‘Lily hasn’t been able to read its entry yet, but I bet when she does, the Callimachus Text will say that its Piece is with the Pharos Piece. When you find one, you find the other. Zoe, we just hit the jackpot. We just found two Pieces of the Capstone.’
‘We have to do something!’ Pooh Bear growled.
‘What can we do?’ Stretch sighed. ‘They’re done for. This mission is over. I say we save ourselves.’
They were still in their sentry tower, having watched Judah’s force enter the Refuge.
‘Typical of you, Israeli,’ Pooh said. ‘Your first instinct is always self-preservation. I don’t give up so easily, or give up on my friends so easi—’
‘Then what do you suggest, you stupid stubborn Arab?’
But Pooh Bear had gone silent.
He was staring out to the left of the fortress, out towards the high multi-arched aqueduct that spanned the channel on that side of the Y-junction.
‘We cross that,’ he said determinedly.
In the holy chamber, West approached the central island.
In addition to the two priceless treasures standing on it, one other thing was visible atop the raised island: a seventh Nazi skeleton, lying all on its own, curled in the foetal position on the topmost step.
Unlike the others, this skeleton was not deformed in any way. It was whole and intact, still wearing its black SS uniform. Indeed, its bones were still covered in decaying flesh.
West approached the island and its flight of steps cautiously— the whole flight was probably just one great big trigger stone.
He scanned the skeleton.
Saw a pair of spindly wire-framed glasses still sitting on its nose, saw the red swastika armband, saw the purple amethyst ring on its bony right hand, the ring of a Nazi Party founding member.
‘Hessler. . . ’ he gasped in recognition. It was Hermann Hessler, the Nazi archaeologist, one-half of the famed Hessler–Koenig team.
Oddly, the skeleton’s right hand was outstretched, seemingly reaching down the steps, as if it had been Hessler’s last earthly movement, grasping for. . .
. . . a battered leatherbound notebook that lay on the bottom step.
West grabbed the notebook, flipped it open.
Pages of diagrams,