Greek Fire
Ghosts and ruins… There was a time – millennia ago – when tiny Sarpolis was the Island of the Gods. Studded with temples no more than a stone's throw from each other, the island came alive during the festival season. Gaily bedecked boats ferried priests and celebrants out to the island. The temples glittered in the sun, and shone at night with the light of myriad lanterns. Worshippers wound their way from temple to temple, and excitement flared in the air. Offerings adorned the altars and priests led sacred and secret rituals.
Commander Lee Crane, captain of the submarine Seaview, shook his head at the faintly purple prose of the guidebook. The dramatic description of long ago festivals didn't exactly match the deserted, crumbling ruins that met his eyes now. He sighed and continued reading.
The rest of the year, Sarpolis was quiet, tended only by a priestly caretaker who watched over the sacred temples. He kept them in good order, and in return, the citizens of the Republic took care of him. Sarpolis was revered and holy; only the caretaker dwelt on its sacred soil.
Probably because there wasn't room for anyone else. The island was tiny, encompassing only a few square miles. The ruins lay everywhere he looked, so close to each other that it was difficult to separate the remains of one temple from another. Lee had to wonder where there would have been room for a caretaker's humble abode.
But then the city-states fell to the Romans, and Sarpolis was forgotten. The caretaker left the island. One by one the temples crumbled to ruin. Tiny and barren, Sarpolis had nothing to offer. She became the province of ghosts and ruins.
Lee snapped the guidebook shut. Honestly, where did publishers dig up the people that wrote these things? He swept the crown of the island with an appraising gaze and grimaced. "Well, they weren't kidding, were they?"
Lieutenant Commander Chip Morton, his friend and XO, shot him a questioning glance, but didn't say anything. Lee shrugged and stuffed the guidebook in his pocket. "Ghosts and ruins. And there is something creepy about this place." The marble that had weathered and discolored over a thousand years or more; the snaky cracks running through columns and pediments, the decay of centuries, and the vines and weeds growing up where the temple floors had once been. These ruins could definitely attract ghosts… If there were such things.
Chip arched a skeptical eyebrow at him; but then the XO didn't have a romantic bone in his body. He was strictly down-to-earth and by the book. "It's called an air of mystery. Or a sense of history. Whichever you prefer." A vague hint of derision lingered under the words. Nope, not a romantic, at all.
Lee shook his head with a smile. The ruins were impressive in their ubiquity. The island was about the size of a postage stamp, but almost every square inch of land was packed with the crumbling remains of temples. The sparkling crescent of beach where the ferry had landed them lay at the foot of the thirty or more stone steps they'd just climbed to get here. Fortunately, they were both in good shape, and apparently the only other two ferry passengers were too. Despite the multitude of ancient ruins, Sarpolis evidently didn't bring in a lot of tourist dollars.
Chip abandoned Lee to check out a set of columns that jutted into the sky, the sole, stark remainder of a building that must have once been pretty impressive. Lee watched him go, forcing down his own boredom. For all his skepticism and practicality, Chip was the real history buff, here. When Admiral Nelson had insisted they both take a few hours shore leave – something neither of them was keen to do when Seaview was on a mission – Lee had let Chip plan their day's itinerary, hence the reason they'd ended up on Sarpolis. Clearly no real night life to be found here…
The XO prowled around the columns, politely pointing out something here and there to one of the other ferry passengers who had followed him. Chip carried no guidebook. He had no real need of one; not only did he read and speak Greek fluently, but he was completely steeped in the history of both ancient Greece and Byzantine Greece. He could undoubtedly tell Lee everything there was to know about those three lonely columns joined together by a crumbling pediment.
Problem was, Lee was no real fan of history. Yes, he considered history an important study. How else could he learn from past mistakes? But he didn't really care about the history of Greece beyond the essentials. What difference did it make which mythical gods all these desolate ruins had belonged to? He just wanted to explore modern day Corfu and get in some pub-crawling before they had to return to Seaview.
But then, he'd had his fill of ancient ruins already on this cruise. For a rare change from marine biology, Admiral Nelson had turned to marine archaeology. A permit to dive on an ancient wreck off the Greek island of Corfu had been secured, to the delight of the Institute's lone marine archaeologist, Dr. Martin Ramirez. After the first day of diving, however, Lee had been bored to the point of screaming. He gave his place to Chip, expecting the XO to be bored as well. Instead, Chip's careful suggestions and clear though quiet enthusiasm for the ancient wreck had whipped up Dr. Ramirez's excitement to fever pitch. Finally, a man who appreciated the elegant and simple beauty of ancient history…
In fact, that quiet enthusiasm for a long sunken ship was the real reason that Lee had agreed to death by ruin hopping, instead of insisting on his own agenda. Chip would have given place if Lee had insisted, amenable to changing plans, without ever showing his disappointment, but Lee had seldom seen his XO so engaged in anything… on shore leave, on a cruise… Ever. He held his emotions in check, tidily tucked away behind an impenetrable mask of calm, and very rarely did he allow anything to break through that mask. Numbers and technology could do it; ancient history apparently could as well. Chip was amiable and easy-going, giving way to his superiors both on board and ashore more often than not, unless it was a question of the safety and well-being of the boat and the men. Other than that, he exhibited a willingness to follow orders and fade into the background. He hated to have a fuss made over him or to be the center of attention. But Lee had dedicated himself to drawing the man out from behind that façade. Ruins were one way to do it, so they would look at ruins.
He had to smile as his XO moved on to another group of columns, followed again by one of the men who had come over on the ferry with them. Obviously the man had found a more-than-adequate tour guide and latched onto him. Lee glanced at his watch. Fourteen hundred hours… The sun-drenched landscape was definitely a plus, even if it was dominated by the ominous, moss-encrusted ruins. He strolled over to the three columns and tried to see what Chip apparently saw in them. Was it the majestic temple long gone, or the stark simple beauty of the columns themselves? They were beautiful… The gleaming marble, discolored by centuries of weather and neglect carried an air of dignity, despite the decay. The fine cracks created arabesques and French curves like cobweb tracery over the yellowed surface. The hand of a master stone cutter was obvious in the smooth, curved surfaces. Difficult work all those centuries ago, yet the master's hand had done well, carving with sure, steady fingers. A hundred columns like these grouped together to uphold the roof of the temple would be impressive indeed…
He sighed and turned toward the next groups of columns, carved to look like stately, Junoesque women. Chip had called them the finest caryatids in the Greek isles. Lee had no idea whether they actually were the finest or indeed just how many caryatids there might be in the Greek isles, but Chip probably knew.
Stern-faced and matronly they stared across the centuries with a somber gaze, as if the neglect and decay they saw around them spurred deep and silent thought. Their ample curves were swathed in drapery that seemed to flow like real cloth. Their faces had begun to crumble; here a nose had broken away, there an ear had chipped. Several of the elaborate hairstyles had been damaged. And yet the combined impact of their stony stares was oddly compelling.
Lee had to smile at that. Perhaps Chip's enthusiasm had worn off on him after all. He had to stifle the impulse to reach out and touch, to trace the lines of a caryatid's face, as if by touching he could reach across the centuries.
Not everyone resisted the urge to touch, though. Lee frowned as the man shadowing Chip stooped to pick up a large chunk of marble. Collecting souvenirs was frowned on, according to the guidebook. So what did the guy want with a piece of marble as large as his hand?
The captain felt rather than heard the second ferry passenger rush up behind him at the same moment that Chip turned toward him and shouted a warning. Lee ducked to one side, thrusting out a leg as the guy's speed carried him forward. The assailant crashed to the ground and Lee sat on his legs. A savage pull on one arm, pushing it up behind the man until he groaned with pain was all it took to incapacitate him.
The gunshots jerked Lee's head up in surprise and dismay. Chip had taken shelter behind a column, but he was pinned there by the gunfire with no way to shift to the attack. Lee pushed back and up, dragging his captive with him as a shield, and yelled, "Hey!"
The gunman's attention strayed to Lee, noting his partner's predicament. He snarled and raised the gun, but with no way to hit Lee without hitting his buddy, he was stymied and the gun was useless. "Let him go."
Lee didn't dignify the ridiculous demand with an answer. Instead, he edged toward the steps, keeping his human shield in place. The gunman's body turned to follow him. Lee refused to look at Chip, knowing he would take the first opportunity to move. He reached the top of the steps and glanced down toward the beach. The ferry wasn't due again for another two hours, but these men must have had an escape route planned. Where would they have hidden the boat?
He almost missed Chip's attack. The XO had shifted behind the gunman and now moved quickly and silently, seizing the man from behind in a sleeper hold. Within seconds the man went limp, and Chip wrenched the gun from his hand and stumbled across the ground toward Lee. As he drew closer, Lee saw the blood trickling down the side of his face. "Did he hit you?" he called out, busily rewriting his plan of escape to include an injured XO.
Chip shook his head in denial, but the glare he sent Lee's way was icy indeed. "He hit me, but not with a bullet. With a huge chunk of marble. I think it surprised him when I got back up."
Lee shoved his captive back down on the ground as Chip pulled his belt off, one-handed. "I saw that chunk of marble. I'm surprised you got back up!" He took the offered belt and cinched the assailant's hands together behind him, leaving him face-down on the ground, and going back to the gunman. Pulling off his own belt, he tied that man up as well. "They probably have a boat down on the beach somewhere. Safe bet they had an escape route planned."
Chip frowned at him, as usual coming at the problem from a different angle. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about what they wanted with you?"
Lee shook his head. What they wanted didn't matter, and he wasn't sure it was necessarily him they were after. "Doesn't matter. They didn't get either of us."
"They weren't after me. Or at least they didn't care if they killed me. No one was shooting at you." Chip started down the steps to the beach, and Lee hurried to catch up with him. "In fact, even after you distracted him from me, he was strangely reluctant to shoot at you."
"I was using his buddy as a shield." Lee pointed the fact out, even though he knew it didn't really carry any weight.
"There's no honor among thieves." Chip had no qualms about making the obvious point. "If he'd wanted to kill you, his partner's inevitable demise wouldn't have bothered him much, I suspect. No, I'm pretty sure they were after you." Arriving at the bottom, he looked around. "Not very many places to hide a boat." He started toward a stretch of vegetation right up against the rocks and swayed.
Lee caught his arm to steady him. "Whoa. Maybe you'd better sit down." Now that he could see it more clearly, the captain did not like the look of the jagged cut across his XO's forehead. "You probably have a concussion, you know."
Chip willingly sat on the steps and touched the wound with his fingers. "Ouch… Don't tell Will."
Lee rolled his eyes at that, and moved off to search the beach. The scraggly bushes up against the rocks were the best bet, but there was nothing there. He raked the beach with a glare, looking for anywhere else a boat could be hidden, but found nothing. Still, he poked around in the rocks for a bit before giving up and sitting down beside his friend. "Maybe they didn't have an escape route planned. Of course, that would make them pretty stupid…"
Chip stared out over the ocean, his chilly eyes vague and distant, as they usually were when he was thinking things through. "Maybe not so dumb, after all." He shifted to look back up the steps. From down here, the only thing visible on the hilltop was the set of three columns jutting upwards. "One of the temples up there was dedicated to Hades, god of the underworld…"
So what? But Lee kept the thought to himself and waited patiently for the XO to finish his train of thought. Chip wouldn't have brought up this little bit of trivia if he hadn't thought there was something important about it. Even if he had gotten a nasty knock on the head from a chunk of marble as big as a man's hand.
"Only two of Hades' temples have survived. The other one had catacombs beneath it. A sort of underworld in miniature. Infrared scans show that there is an extensive tunnel system under Sarpolis, but no one has ever found the entrance…" He rose, leaning heavily on the railing. Lee frowned, thinking he looked a bit pale, but refusing to make a fuss about it. At least not yet. Chip hated having a fuss made over him, so it was best to save that for later, if it became necessary. Again, Lee rewrote the plan in his head to reflect their circumstances. "They may have thought they could go underground. Safe bet no one would find them, unless someone knew exactly where to look." He started back up the steps. Lee rose and went after him, trying not to look as if he were worried.
"It doesn't matter," he insisted. "We could just sit here and wait for the ferry…" He grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him to a stop. "If the experts can't find it, what makes you think you can?"
Chip shook his head and winced a little with the movement. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" He pulled away from Lee and started upward again. "Besides, if the experts couldn't find it, what made those goons up there think they could? They had to have some plan to get you off the island. We should try to figure out what it was."
Was he curious about tunnels beneath the temple to Hades? Not really… Mostly Lee was just worried. They had two bad guys tied up at the crown of the island, no ferry due for at least another hour and a half, and no clue as to what the assailants wanted. What he really needed was to get them both off the island before the next act of this drama unfolded, and those hypothetical underground tunnels offered no escape from Sarpolis itself. But Chip was already headed up the steps, and Lee couldn't think of any real reason to stay on the beach and wait for the ferry… So up the steps they went.
At the top, Lee checked over the prisoners carefully, making sure they hadn't managed to worm their way out of their bonds. Chip moved past him to the farthest set of ruins on the acropolis. All that remained were the legs and trunk of a colossus. A head lay half-buried in the ground beside it, the features so worn as to be indistinguishable. Hades, Lee presumed, since Chip had begun examining the area around it, looking for anything that might tell him where to enter the tunnels.
The man Chip had taken down was conscious now, writhing against his bonds. He snarled as Lee squatted beside him and pulled on the belt to make sure it hadn't worked loose. "You think you're so smart!" the man hissed angrily. "You haven't escaped us, yet, commander!"
Apparently Chip was right; they had been after Lee. He shrugged. An empty threat at best, since the would-be kidnappers were tied up. He glanced at Chip and watched idly as the XO crouched at the feet of the statue, eyeing the ground with interest. He was no expert, but if anyone who wasn't an archaeologist could find the entrance to the tunnels it would probably be Chip. Intrigued, in spite of himself, Lee rose, and started toward the ruin. As he walked away the prisoner shouted after him, "Finding the tunnels will do you no good! Do you hear? You cannot escape!"
Interesting… Clearly they had expected to hide out in the tunnels until they could get him safely off the island. But how had they planned to do that? Not by boat… By helicopter? Lee spun around slowly, gauging the area. Yes, there was room for a helicopter to land without severely damaging the ruins… But a helicopter would be noticed; Admiral Nelson would get wind of it, and know that's how they had taken Lee away. Unless it came after dark, showing no lights… There were no residents on Sarpolis, nothing but ghosts and ruins, according to the guidebook, and no one within the radius that a helicopter's engine noise would travel… In the dark, they might have been able to manage it…
But Nelson would have searched the island from stem to stern, and would undoubtedly have had a presence there for days; he would immediately have contacted the Greek government and received permission to camp out, if necessary. He would not have been happy to have one officer injured or dead, and the other one missing. These men might have had to wait for days or weeks before they could remove their captive. How had they planned to do that? And what happened when they didn't signal success?
He walked across to Chip, moderating his haste. No need to communicate his unease to his friend. Chip was quite smart enough to work this out for himself. He crouched down beside the XO. "They probably have accomplices coming on the next ferry."
As expected, Chip wasn't at all surprised by the possibility. "Because they failed to radio in. I know." He frowned at the dirt, clearly not seeing any possibility of entrance. "Did you find out what they want?"
"Doesn't matter. They're not going to get it." Lee sighed. "But you were right. They're after me."
Chip's poker face was firmly in place, but his blue eyes sparked with humor. "Never argue with your XO. I'm always right, you know."
Lee captured that elusive gaze, looking hard for evidence of a concussion from the assault. The warm humor held on for a moment, under his scrutiny, then died as the eyes turned cold. "Lee…" The voice held a warning tone; he hated to have a fuss made over him, and his eyes weren't dilated much, he didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects. The jagged wound still bled sluggishly, but other than that outward evidence, there was nothing for Lee to make a fuss over. He raised his hands in surrender with a laugh.
"Don't bite my head off. Just checking, that's all." He turned his eyes to the ground around the presumed god's stone feet. "Why here? Couldn't the entrance be somewhere else?"
Chip, too, returned to his study of the ground. "In the Necromanteion, the ceremonial tunnel for the secret rituals was said to have opened at the feet of Hades." He glanced upward, following the curve of the legs to the truncated torso, then glanced aside into the sharply weathered stone face that lay nearby. "Presumably these are Hades' feet, so it seems logical to look here." He sighed in frustration. "But I'm not finding anything."
Lee began to carefully brush aside the dirt and pebbles left by years of accumulation and weathering. "Do we even know what we're looking for? It's not like there's going to be a sign saying, Open Here."
"Very funny." Chip also brushed at the ground, tracing the outline of the blocks of stone at Hades' feet. As they busied themselves looking, Lee pondered what to do when the ferry arrived in… He glanced at his watch. A little over an hour, now. And there might be a helicopter waiting somewhere; and, of course, if they didn't make it back to the boat, Admiral Nelson would move heaven and earth to find them. He moved back a little and started brushing off the next block. If they could find the entrance, it wouldn't help them much, if the bad guys already knew the tunnel system…
As if reading his mind, Chip said thoughtfully, "It's doubtful they found the entrance, but you could ask…"
He could, Lee reflected. He might get answers, though it was far more likely that he wouldn't. He glanced at his XO, and saw the speculation in those blue eyes. "They probably won't tell me anything."
"I agree." He rose to his feet, and reached down to help Lee up. "But it can't hurt to ask."
That much was true. If they asked and got an answer, they would know a little more than before; if they asked and didn't get an answer, they were no worse off than they were before. Lee went back to his prisoner and squatted down beside him. "So why don't you tell me why you think I can't escape? There's a ferry coming soon, and we can just get on it and be gone." Not true, of course, but if the assailant thought he was a fool, then the guy might be willing to talk.
The guy growled at him. "Think I'm going to tell you anything? I know who you are, Crane. I know you think you're some kind of hotshot because you run missions for ONI. But you won't get anything out of me."
"Oh, well then, it won't matter if I kick his teeth in, will it, Lee?" Chip loomed up over them, the toe of his shoe resting just inches from the prisoner's face. "And after all, he did hit me with a great big chunk of marble."
Lee shook his head with a sigh. "Revenge isn't your style, my friend. Besides, how can he talk if you kick his teeth in?" He popped his knuckles and smiled at the assailant. "It's all just bravado, you know. Once I get started on him, he'll talk." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his penknife. "I just need to get a few things together."
"What can I help you with?" Chip looked around, tapping his foot; a menacing gesture, as close as he was to the man. "Unfortunately, I don't carry brass knuckles with me, but the right size stone would do as well."
Lee, watching the man's face, knew it wouldn't work. He didn't even flinch, and his eyes held the steady, stony glare. He wouldn't be intimidated by the most stomach-turning torture they devised, much less the simple threat of it. And if he truly did know Lee well, he would know that there were things Lee drew the line at, and torture was one of them. Even if he were capable of it, Chip would never allow it. For all his ability to play to Lee's lead, he was a true straight arrow; he could threaten with the best of them if it were necessary, but he would never follow through.
So what would it take to make their prisoner talk? He thought about it as he held that sneering gaze. "Your boss isn't going to be happy with you. If you thought you were going to take me without a better plan than that, you messed up, my friend." An understatement if there ever was one. They had screwed up mightily. Whoever was in charge would not be best pleased… "You were supposed to capture me and kill my friend, here, I suppose? What happens when they find out you failed?"
Something flickered at the back of the man's eyes; the emotion was unreadable, but whatever it was, it was at least an indication that Lee had struck a nerve. "I'm guessing whatever they do, it won't be pleasant." He smiled and rose. "This is a no go, Chip. This guy won't talk. We'll leave him to his masters. By the time they're finished with him…" He shrugged and started to walk away. If the prisoner were going to speak, now was the time. If he didn't, well, Lee and Chip would have to come up with a plan to take on the ferry passengers. In just under an hour, now; the plan would be cobbled together from whatever the two of them could think of between now and when the ferry came. Not the sort of plan Lee liked to work with, but the best they could do on short notice. He glared at Hades' feet, and felt Chip join him. "We need a plan."
"No kidding." Chip followed the direction of Lee's glare and smiled that mischievous smile. "It's hardly Hades' fault, Lee."
Lee snarled a bit impatiently, then glanced at his friend, feeling the sudden tension in the air. Chip had seen something… What? He half-turned and watched as Chip crouched down, almost between the feet of the statue, brushing the dirt away. Lee saw the soft dust swirl, then settle into cracks around the stone. This could be something. He squatted beside Chip, and slid his long, slim fingers into the cracks… Yes, there was an opening under here, but the stone was heavy. Unless there were some kind of counterbalancing system, he wasn't sure he could lift it.
A moment later, Chip's own fingers slipped into the cracks, and they glanced at each other, gauging their combined strength. No need of a countdown: at precisely the same moment, they heaved at the stone. It lifted smoothly, swinging upward, and sliding back across the stone behind it.
"At the feet of Hades…" Chip breathed. There was a certain amount of cynicism in his voice, but beneath it, Lee could hear excitement, interest, the intense longing to explore. Chip Morton and Admiral Nelson had far more in common than either of them thought. "Well, I guess it's close enough."
They both turned to look at the bound man lying a little more than twelve yards away. He couldn't see them, but that didn't stop him squirming on the ground, trying to get a glimpse of what they discovered. Lee cocked his head, thinking it out. What if they didn't know about the tunnels? What if they had always planned to take him out by ferry? The ferry service would have to be in on it; but that wasn't a huge leap. They didn't do much business, obviously. If they got a kickback from the kidnappers, they might be swayed… "We should make sure these two can't talk."
Chip gave him a hard glare, then sighed. "We could always hit them with a giant chunk of marble."
Lee laughed, but shook his head. It was tempting, but no. "Let's just carry them down to the beach and leave them there for their buddies." But first, he reached for the stone, planning to slide it back into place. They knew how to open it now. The tunnels would shelter them for a few hours, and when Nelson came looking, they'd be waiting…