The flight to Turkey was nice, Sophia thought. She got a good meal and a nice nap. It was her only choice really. She had grown tired of Jack and Maya flirting and talking only about his theory of how all the religions in the world are connected. She was relieved when the trip was over and they were getting gear to climb Mount Ararat. Sophia wasn't sure if she wanted to do this. Then again, someone needed to keep Jack out of trouble. That seemed to be her logic for everything to do with Jack. Her father and Jack were colleagues for many years. She had made a promise to her father to take up responsibility for Jack and to watch over him, because Jack sure enough could not do it for himself.
She remember when she first met him two years ago. The welcome was filled with flirting and bad news of the prior assistant, Emily Baxter, who had died on the job. Of course, remembering all this while escalating a mountain was not the best of times to be doing so, but nevertheless, it was there. Jack was an arrogant bastard, and she still thought so, but he was quite the charmer and quite handsome. She refused to give in, under orders of her father. She had been given all the information on the infamous Jack Canyon she needed to get the job and not fall for him.
Then the argument of the first field job Jack tried to get her on popped into her mind. She refused and pleaded to be left to do her filing. She just wanted to stay at her desk, but Jack needed her talents on the job while he did some "simple" relic hunting. He was notorious for being a grave robber in various countries, and the toll count was rising. Then again, it could have been the competition being angry with him. She and her father were never quite clear on the actual facts of the situations. She sighed heavily and steam came from her mouth.
Jack stood in his harness with a pack on his back and equipment inside to do the climbing. He was used to this kind of adventure. Anything that required him to exert some form of force like swimming, jumping, or climbing, was right up his alley. "Alright," Jack said as they headed up a trail. "Watch your footing and be mindful of your surroundings."
"So, where do we find this ark?" Maya asked. "I mean, we know its here, but where?"
"On one of the peaks," Jack answered. "We'll get up to this one first. We'll make camp when we get back down."
"Camp?" Sophia asked.
"Well, we can't make it up this one and back down to the truck before dark," Jack told her. "We have to make camp."
"What about a bath? A toilet?"
"Don't worry," Jack answered his assistant. "I packed some tissue." He looked at Maya and they laughed.
"Oh, you think this is a joke?" Sophia asked through their laughter. "This isn't funny, Jack Canyon."
"I don't know," he said as they neared the end of the trail. "It seems quite hilarious to me. You'll just have to make the best of it."
Sophia sighed as Jack stopped and started climbing is way up the mountain and securely placing caribiners into the mountain to keep them safe. She was the caboose, since Maya went up before her.
"It has been a while since I've done climbing like this," Jack admitted.
"Are you out of shape?" Maya asked.
"Nah, I can handle it," Jack told her as reached the top of a cliff. He stopped to take a short break.
Maya, and then Sophia, climbed up and joined Jack. They were halfway up the mountain. It was a long way up and a tiring climb.
"How about breaking out some of those PowerBars," Sophia offered, hoping for food and water.
Jack opened up the pack and tossed her one of the bottled waters and a PowerBar. "Maya?"
"I'll just have the water," she stated.
"You sure?" Jack asked. "It's a long way up until our next stop."
"Okay," she replied, and Jack handed her a bar and bottle of water.
As they ate, they continuously examined the area around them. The snowy top of the mountain was a dangerous climb. It was cold, too. Once they finished, they were back to climbing.
Jack wasn't sure how they would find the ark, but when he found it, he would know. Then again, how do you find a two-thousand year old boat on a mountain covered in snow? He sighed heavily as he stood after their short break. "You girls ready to trek the rest of this mountain?"
"You bet," Maya said enthusiastically as she rose to her feet. She was ready for this to be over with.
Sophia didn't share her enthusiasm. "Let's just go," she stated moving past Maya and getting behind Jack, who started up the trail already.
"We're close, I can smell it," Jack announced as he neared the edge of a cliff, but he slipped and fell down.
"Jack!" The girls cried as they rushed to aid him, but he was sliding down the side of the mountain faster than they could move.
He fell off the edge of the slope, but was caught by the rope that tied him to the Sophia and Maya. He groaned as the pain from the harness jerked him.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"Yeah, I'm here," he told her.
"Are you okay?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, I'm hanging in there," he stated, waiting for them to start pulling him up. "Um. Girls?"
"We're trying," Sophia told him as she tugged on the rope, but suddenly, it snapped. She fell backwards into Maya. Then she scurried to the edge to try and find Jack, but he was nowhere in sight. "Jack?"
"Why don't you two come on down!" He yelled at them as he pulled himself into a cave that was inside the mountain.
Sophia and Maya looked at each other for a moment and slid down to the side of the mountain. As they looked down, they didn't see anything but the valley below.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"I'm in some sort of cave in the side of the mountain," he yelled back. "Just come on, you two."
Sophia lowered herself slowly down to the cave opening, where Jack grabbed her by her belt and pulled her near. "You alright?"
"For someone who just thought she lost you? Yeah. Sure." She unbuckled herself and moved away from the ledge.
"So, you care about me, eh?" Jack asked as he waited for Maya to come down.
"I never said that," Sophia argued.
Maya's feet, and then her legs, came into view. Jack grabbed them to pull her near so he could get her down. "It's okay. I have you." He tried to assure her.
"Just don't drop me," she said with a fearful voice. She didn't like the idea of dangling from the side of a mountain. It was a long drop.
Finally, Jack pulled her into the cave and to safety. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," she said nervously. "Ten fingers. Two arms. I'll check the rest later, huh?"
"Come on," Jack urged. "Let's scout out this cave." He turned and headed in, while he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter to give them a well lit path.
"So, why are we here?" Sophia asked as she followed Jack slowly down the tunnel.
"Because, Soph, the ark isn't going to be on the top somewhere, is it? I mean, think about it. After thousands of years, it will be buried beneath all the snow, possibly even in the side of the mountain somewhere." Jack turned down another tunnel.
"These walls don't exactly look cavernous," Maya pointed out.
"Well, if miners had come through looking for anything or perhaps geologists trying to find out if this thing is still active, then they would've boarded up the sides to support it from a cave in." Jack stopped for a moment as he entered a large cavern. He shined the light around to see anything out of the ordinary. "I suppose we're at the bottom of this one. We should climb up."
Sophia thought she spotted something as Jack was moving the light. "Wait, go back."
"What?" Jack asked.
"Move the light back to your left," she stated. "I thought I saw something."
"And what might that be?" He asked as he moved the beam of the light to his left and stopped on something.
"That!" Sophia moved closer. "Someone built a staircase in the cavern."
"Maybe some kids built themselves a little clubhouse in here," Jack mentioned.
"Let's check it out," Maya urged as she moved up the first few steps. She was excited about the find.
Jack and Sophia returned glances and followed her up. Something felt wrong between them. Sophia knew what it was, and she knew Jack was oblivious to it.
The staircase was spiral and went around the cavern wall all the way to the top.
Once at the top, the trio scanned the area for a moment. Jack stood scratching his head while Maya and Sophia took a break and knelt down.
"I'm beginning to think this isn't a series of caves," Jack said as he moved forward.
"And just what evidence makes you even think that?" Sophia asked as she glanced at Maya. "Other than our friend her thinking the same thing, huh?"
"Look," Jack said as he motioned toward a wooden door. "This is something you don't see in a cave or a mine."
Sophia got to her feet and moved toward the door at the end of the short tunnel. "There's always that clubhouse theory."
"No, you don't put up a door without some kind of warning," Maya added. "You know, like those 'no girls allowed' warnings."
Jack pulled the door open and stepped inside a smaller room. "This is designed like some kind of office," he stated as he examined the room and spotted an opening, which led into another room that had a series of beds. "What is this place?"
"Jack," Sophia called out as she picked up a small coin from the desk.
"What is that?" He asked as he neared her. It was obvious to him once he shined the light on it. "One of the medallions." then it hit him. His face lit up with as he realized what this place was. "This is the ark. This is Noah's ark."
"Very good, Mr. Canyon," a voice spoke out from behind them.
As Jack and Sophia turned around, they saw Maya being held at gunpoint by a man in a fine brown suit. He was slightly taller than Jack and had a goatee, although his hair was graying.
"I'll be taking that medallion," the man said as he held out his hand. "I'll also take the sundisk and the book."
"I'm guessing you're the Disciples of Origin," Jack assumed as he began pulling off the pack from his back. "I hate that we're so close and you're doing this to me. Could you let us finish our adventure before killing us?"
"I'm sorry, but you already know too much," the man replied. "Our job is to keep this under wraps. If you die here, no one will miss you. They won't look here. We'll make sure."
"Well, I tried," Jack said with a smile to Sophia. He handed over the slowly to the well dressed man. He sighed and shook his head. "It's all there."
The man began to dig through the bag for a moment. "Is this your idea of a joke?"
"I'm not laughing," Jack said.
"Fine, kill the Indian girl," the man ordered.
Jack grabbed the bag from the man and knocked him down. Then he hit the man holding Maya. Quickly, he grabbed Maya and Sophia by the hand, but they were all stopped by men outside with machine guns. Jack laughed slightly as he backed into the room.
"Not a smart move," the Disciple leader said as he punched Jack in the stomach.
As Jack fell, he landed near the downed gunman. He pulled a pin off the grenade belt. Turning back to the man, he got to his feet and shoved him into the men with the machine guns. As quickly as he could, before the grenades detonated, he pushed Sophia and Maya into the bedroom and took cover just in time.
The grenades exploded and shook the mountain.
"Uh-oh," Jack said as he felt the ark begin to move. It was sliding down the side of the mountain.
"This is not good," Maya cried.
"Leave it to Jack to get in over his head," Sophia said as she braced herself against something.
"This is not my fault," Jack argued.
"Can we argue about this if we survive," Maya yelled out.
The ark began to tumble and crack and break as it rolled down the mountain side. The people inside were being tossed around if they weren't secure somewhere. Finally, it hit bottom. Part of it shattered into several pieces.
The Disciples were dead, either from impalement from shards of the ark or the explosion from the grenades.
Sophia slowly rose to her feet, even though she felt off balance. She looked around the broken bedroom for Jack and Maya. They were nowhere in sight. She called out as she made her way out into the snowy valley between the two mountains. She spotted maya lying in the snow unconscious. "Maya?" She slapped the girl lightly. "Wake up. Where's Jack?"
Maya's eyes opened slowly, but she didn't speak.
Sophia got up and moved around searching for her boss. "Jack? Jack?!" then she saw him. He was lying still in the snow. She rushed to him and began checking his pulse. "Oh, god, no! Jack!" She began to administer CPR to revive, but it wasn't working. "Come on. Jack! JACK!"
To Be Continued. . .
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