Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly [77]
He spun, aiming his wild eyes at Pooh Bear.
‘Ah, a good Muslim. You are Sheik Anzar Abbas’s son, are you not? The great Captain Rashid Abbas, commander of the elite UAE First Commando Regiment. . . ’
‘I fear I am not,’ Pooh Bear replied. ‘Rashid Abbas is my brother. I am Zahir Abbas, a humble sergeant and the Sheik’s second son.’
‘The Sheik is a noble servant of Allah,’ Zaeed bowed respectfully. ‘I honour you as his kin.’
Finally, Zaeed rounded on West, who sat with Horus on his shoulder.
‘And you. John West Jr. Captain John West Jr of the Australian SAS. The Huntsman. A name that floats around the Middle East like a wraith. Your feats have become the stuff of legend: your escape from Basra angered Hussein for years, you know. Till the day he was captured, he wanted that plane back. But then you vanished for a very long time. Disappeared off the face of the Earth. Most unusual—’
‘Enough,’ West said. ‘The Wonders: Zeus and Artemis. Where are they?’
‘Oh, yes, I am sorry. The Wonders. And Tartarus approaches, too. Mmmm. Forgive me, Captain West, but I haven’t yet grasped the basis of your belief that I will even want to help you in this cause.’
‘The United States of America already has three pieces of the Capstone,’ West said simply. ‘They are well-equipped and well-informed, and well on their way to securing the entire Capstone. How’s that?’
‘Good enough,’ Zaeed said. ‘Who leads the US force? Marshall Judah?’
‘Yes.’
‘A formidable foe. Clever and cunning. And murderous. Although did you know he has a curious weakness?’
‘What?’
‘A fear of heights. But I digress. Brief me on your progress so far. You are using the Callimachus Text, I presume. Which means you found the Colossus first? Was it the rightmost pendant?’
‘Yes . . . it was,’ West said, surprised.
‘Mmmm. And then came the Pieces from the Pharos and the Mausoleum, no?’
‘How did you know they’d be found in that order?’
Zaeed sighed dramatically. ‘This is elementary. The Callimachus Text is written in the Word of Thoth—a most ancient and complicated language. The language itself contains within it seven levels of increasing complexity, dialects, if you will. Your young reader here’—he indicated Lily—‘can only read one entry at a time, can’t she? This is because each entry in the Callimachus Text is written in an increasingly difficult dialect of the Word of Thoth. The Colossus entry is written in “Thoth I”, the easiest dialect of the Word of Thoth. The Pharos Piece is in “Thoth II”, slightly harder. The Oracle will ultimately be able to read all seven dialects, but not instantly.’
‘You can read the Word of Thoth?’ Wizard asked, incredulous.
‘I can decipher its first four dialects, yes.’
‘But how?’
‘I taught myself,’ Zaeed said. ‘With discipline and patience. Oh, I forget, in the decadent West, discipline and patience are no longer talents that warrant respect.’
‘How did you know the Mausoleum Piece would be entombed with the Pharos Piece?’ Zoe asked.
‘I have spent the last 30 years acquiring every scroll, carving and document relating to the Benben that I could find. Some are famous, like the Callimachus Text, of which I possess a 9th-century copy, others less so—written by humble men who merely wanted to record the marvellous deeds they had done, like constructing great roofs over entire ocean inlets, or carrying marble pillars into the hearts of dormant volcanoes. My collection is vast.’
‘The Callimachus Text is unhelpful on the Zeus and Artemis Pieces,’ West said. ‘Zeus is lost. And we believe Artemis is somewhere in St Peter’s Basilica, but we don’t know exactly where. Do you know where they are?’
Zaeed’s eyes narrowed. ‘The passage of time and many wars have scattered these two Pieces, but yes, I believe I do know their resting places.’
Pooh Bear leaned forward. ‘If you know so much, why have you yourself not gone in search of these Pieces before?’
‘I would have if only I had been able, my Muslim friend,’ Zaeed said smoothly. ‘But I fear I was not as nimble then as I am now.’ As he said this, Zaeed rolled up his right