Sheba. Part 30

'Thank G.o.d we've made the discovery when we have,' Cunningham said. 'Another couple of years and that dam back there would have been down and the river flowing in. Everything would have been ruined.'

'I know,' Kane said calmly.

Cunningham laughed wildly. 'For G.o.d's sake, man, don't you realize what we've found here? The greatest archaeological discovery ever made. We'll be world-famous.'

'That's hardly likely,' Kane said, 'because the way things look, you may never get the chance to tell anybody about it.'

He turned from the sudden shock on the Englishman's face, gave the lamp to Jamal and they waded towards the door. Cunningham stayed there in the middle of the chamber and they were already moving back along the pa.s.sage before he started to follow.

As they ducked through the low entrance and climbed the steep incline to the wall that dammed in the pool, Cunningham caught up with Kane and grabbed him by the shoulder.

His face was white and strained, taut with anxiety. 'We've got to get out of here now, Kane. We must find a way.'

'Finding a way is simple enough,' Kane said. 'I realize that now. The problem for you will be whether you're willing to take it.'

Jamal quickly climbed the wall and then reached down and pulled them up in turn. Kane took the lamp and played the beam down into the pool and Cunningham said, 'You mean the underwater tunnel? But you said it was impossible.'

'It wouldn't be if there was no water in it,' Kane said.

Cunningham frowned. 'I don't understand.'

'It's really quite simple. We go back up-river for the tools we left in the cave. The wall's already in a pretty shaky state. It wouldn't take us long to demolish enough of it to drain the pool and send the river back on its old course.'

Cunningham still had that slight frown on his face. 'But you must be joking. It would flood the pa.s.sage and the main chamber, probably even seep into the tomb. Those wall paintings wouldn't last a day under water. They'd be destroyed for ever.'

'I know,' Kane said patiently. 'On the other hand, I can't see that we have a great deal of choice. I'm a.s.suming, of course, that you still have an interest in your wife's welfare.'

Cunningham flinched as if he had received a physical blow. He turned away as Kane continued, 'There's no need for you to come. Jamal and I can manage, but I'm afraid we'll have to take the lamp. I'll try to be as quick as possible.'

'Don't worry about me,' Cunningham said, without turning round. 'I'll be fine.'

For a moment Kane hesitated, wondering whether the Englishman intended to do something silly, and then he shrugged and turned and explained the situation quickly in Arabic to Jamal.

The Somali took the lamp and led the way back up the rock slide and into the dark mouth of the tunnel through which the river emptied into the pool. The journey was not as bad as Kane had thought it would be, except for one or two deeper places where the gap narrowed and the current seemed to be trying to press him back with an implacable hand.

When they reached the steep bank of shale and scrambled up to the mouth of the tunnel which had granted them their freedom from the cave, it had a strangely unfamiliar look like some place visited once and briefly years before and never again.

Kane carried the three picks, and Jamal the hammers and crowbars and they went down the bank and entered the water again.

The return journey seemed only to take minutes and, as Jamal carefully negotiated the slide down into the pool, the beam of the lamp splashed out across the wall. There was no sign of the Englishman.

They dropped the tools quickly, and Kane took the lamp and called, 'Cunningham!'

The sound of his voice rebounded from the narrow walls of the cave but there was no reply. He was about to call out again when there was the sound of a boot on stone in the darkness below. He shone the beam down into the slot and picked out Cunningham coming up the steep incline.

The Englishman looked up at him calmly, shading his eyes against the light. 'You were quicker than I thought.'

'Where the h.e.l.l have you been?' Kane demanded.

Cunningham turned and looked back down the incline to the entrance to the tunnel. 'I went for another look.'

'Without a light?' Kane said incredulously.

Cunningham smiled and, all at once, the strain seemed to have left his face. 'I couldn't see her, but I knew she was there.' He took a deep breath. 'Down here at the base looks a good place to start. Some of these stones are half-rotten.'

Kane couldn't think of anything to say. He nodded to Jamal and went over the wall, and the Somali pa.s.sed the tools down to them and they started work.

It took them half an hour to lever out the first stone and Jamal's great strength proved invaluable. The pressure of the water pushed the stone the last few inches like a cork from a bottle, and a great foaming jet splashed out into the slot and rushed down into the darkness below.

Once the gap had been made, the rest was easy. Jamal reached in, water cascading over his back and pulled the next stone away by hand.

Within a moment they were knee-deep in water and Kane turned quickly to Cunningham. 'Now we've made the breach, the whole d.a.m.ned lot might come down. We'd better get back on the other side out of harm's way.'

They climbed over the wall and stood on the bank of shale and sand that had been formed by the years in the corner of the wall and the cave, and gradually the level of the pool dropped.

By now, the river, as it emerged from the slide, was finding its new exit and the wall started to vibrate with the shock. After about half an hour, it sagged in the centre and then cascaded outwards into the slot.

Already the top of the tunnel was showing, and within another ten minutes, there was no more than two feet of water in it. The Somali took the lamp and ducked into the tunnel and Kane slipped the sling of his sub-machine gun over his shoulder and followed.

As he plunged forward into the darkness, water swirling around his knees, he thought of the men who had worked here in the bowels of the earth all those years ago; worked in the darkness, patiently, perhaps for years, that their queen might have a secure resting-place in death.

The river emptied into a wide lake with startling suddenness and he found himself swimming again. Jamal held the lamp high above his head, and its rays picked out a row of carved pillars on the far side and a landing stage.

The Somali reached it first and heaved himself up with easy strength in spite of the fact that the water level of the lake had obviously dropped several feet. He then knelt down and pulled up Kane and Cunningham in turn.

Kane took the lamp and moved forward between the pillars and entered a wide pa.s.sage which sloped gently upwards. A few moments later, the beam from the lamp splayed itself against a blank wall.

He dropped to one knee and examined it closely. 'From the look of it, this central block pivots,' he said to Cunningham.

He spoke rapidly in Arabic to Jamal and the Somali dropped to his knee and pushed against the great stone wall with all his strength. It refused to budge. The Somali gave a grunt and his back ridged, muscles standing out like cords. Still the stone remained immobile.

Kane dropped to his knees and leaned a shoulder against the stone, and Cunningham moved in on the other side. For a moment, it was as if they were faced with all the power in the world, as if something supernatural was determined they should not leave, and then the stone turned with a groan.

Kane scrambled to his feet and looked about him. They were standing in the temple, and the stone was one of those set in the base of the high altar.

They pushed it back into place, moved outside and stood on the terrace, the morning sun bright in their eyes. The gorge lay still and calm about them and Cunningham frowned. 'It's d.a.m.ned quiet.'

'Most of the Bedouins pulled out with that caravan yesterday afternoon,' Kane reminded him. The rest have probably made an early start this morning.'

He led the way cautiously towards the encampment, using what cover was available. When he neared the edge of the hollow, he got down on his belly and crawled the rest of the way.

The encampment no longer existed. Tents, trucks -everything had gone. For a moment he lay there, a frown on his face, and then Jamal tapped him on the shoulder and pointed beyond the oasis to where a faint tracer of smoke lifted into the morning air.

Kane led the way down into the hollow, unslinging his sub-machine gun. As they neared the trees, a camel coughed and there was the sound of laughter.

On the other side of the oasis, two Bedouin tents still stood with at least a dozen camels hobbled near by. One man squatted before a small fire on which he was cooking, and three more stood knee-deep in the pool and washed themselves.

Kane turned to Cunningham and said quietly, 'You come in from the rear of the tents. Jamal can work his way round to the other side of the pool and I'll go in from here.'