Callsign: King II- Underworld

Then a different noise punctuated their desperate flight, the electronic chirp of Pierce’s cell phone.

He dug it out of his pocket automatically, as if he were merely strolling across the campus quad at the university in Athens. The glowing screen displayed the words:



One missed call.



Pierce gasped as the significance of the message hit home. The phone had a signal. That could only mean that they were very close to an opening to the surface. The realization opened a reservoir of strength, and he leaped ahead with renewed urgency, one eye always on the bars indicating the strength of the wireless signal. Fifty steps and a second bar lit up, then a third.

They were close.

With the abruptness of a guillotine slice, the tunnel came to a dead end.

“No!” The denial ripped from Pierce’s lips even as he checked the screen again. Three bars still. There had to be an opening here somewhere.

“Climb!” De Bord shouted from behind him. The soldier directed his light to a spot above his head. Instead of bouncing back from the rough basalt, the light revealed an open space.

That was good enough for Pierce. With the agility of a world-class climber, he scrambled up the chimney-like passage, finding handholds and steps in the jagged rock. De Bord was right below him, shining the light straight up now and revealing the narrow slot of an opening just a few more feet above the archaeologist.

Pierce erupted from the hole and onto the desert floor like a dolphin leaping out of the water. He hastily reversed his position and reached down to help De Bord complete his ascent, and a few moments later they were both free of the underground prison.

Pierce scrambled to his feet, ready to start running again, but then he realized that the creatures had left off their wailing. He glanced at De Bord. “I think we’re okay,” he said, uncertainly. “I think they were just trying to run us off.”

The soldier blinked at him, then cautiously played his light over the hole from which they had emerged. There was no sign of the creatures.

Pierce sat down wearily, resting his head against his knees.

De Bord sat next to him, shaking his head. “I sure as hell didn’t sign up for that,” he said with a forced chuckle. “Any idea where we are?”

Pierce checked his phone again. There was a GPS application that would pinpoint their exact location, but that was the last thing on his mind. King had tried to call, and that meant his friend was still alive. The implications of the discoveries he had made in the underworld lair of the creatures seemed insignificant compared to that.

He touched his finger to the screen, bringing up King’s number, and then tapped it again to send the call.

There was an interminably long delay before a familiar voice said: “George?”

The sound of King’s voice triggered a wave of relief. “Jack! Thank God.”

“What the hell happened to you? Are you all right?”

“Yeah. There was a minute or two where I wasn’t so sure, but…Jack, you’re not going to believe what I’ve found.”

“You can tell me all about it when I get there. Where are you?”





25.


Ivan Sokoloff scanned the hills with his night vision device, watching for his target’s approach.

Always a consummate professional, he had never once treated any hit as easy money, and despite his failure in New York, he had not made that mistake with this one last job. But never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a hunt like this. He almost considered demanding more money for the job, but would his mysterious employer really believe his tale of inhuman monsters?

Probably not.

Sokoloff sighed wearily. At least it was almost over now. He’d picked up the trail of King’s friend, George Pierce, confident that the archaeologist would lead him to his quarry, and his patience was about to be rewarded. Although barely visible against the night sky, he caught a glimpse of a dust cloud rising over the crest of a hill less than half a mile away. A moment later, the silhouette of a military truck rolled into view and then proceeded down the exposed flank.

It seemed to take Pierce a little while longer to make out the approaching Humvee, but as the vehicle drew closer, the man got to his feet, presumably in anticipation of the impending reunion.

Sokoloff smiled, thinking about the ten million dollars he was about to earn. He lowered the night vision device, hefted the weapon he had earlier appropriated, and then, in his best approximation of a Texas accent, said: “Well, I reckon it’s time you introduce me to this buddy of yours.”





26.