Night had fallen when they arrived at their motel in Selitrennoye, although calling it a motel was a bit generous, Nate thought. The 'motel' was a two-storey, blue-tiled roof brick building with enough rooms for the two of them. The night was clear, and with the lack of any light pollution the stars freckled the sky in a white brilliance that you could only get in the remote areas of the world.
Nate paused at the trunk of the rented Jeep and admired the stars. It was these small moments that he loved about what he did, despite the danger and the risks involved in his chosen profession he could always admire the pure beauty of nature when it deigned to reveal itself to him.
Mia nudged him as she walked past, "You coming?"
"Yeah" he said taking a final look before grabbing Mia's bag and his backpack and headed inside.
The flight from Moscow into Astrakhan's Narimanovo Airport took just over two hours and it was another two by the time they got their rental sorted and drove their way through the unsealed streets of Selitrennoye in the Astrakhan Oblast. Selitrennoye, a few kilometres from the Kazakhstan border, was a ramshackle town made up of brick and timber delipidated houses set in a grid formation, empty of all but a rundown old car or stray dog searching for scraps, the people content being inside. Nate kept a weary, almost paranoid-like eye on their tail through the entire trip and while he would have liked to keep a low profile overnight, he knew it was unlikely this place received many visitors so they would have been noticed anyway. He didn't know if Khanoğlu knew he was alive or if he decided he still wanted to keep an eye on him since he and Spence were ahead of him now, but he decided it wasn't worth the risk. Not with a guy who willingly ordered RPGs in the middle of a busy city and willing to throw money around to achieve his goals, and in a place like this, a couple of hundred bucks would have the citizens singing like a canary.
After organising their room with a middle aged blonde-haired woman who didn't speak a word of English, Nate entered his room to find a bed, a cabinet with an old tube TV and coat hanger antenna on the opposite wall and a sink and shower in the corner.
"Comfy" he muttered, tossing his backpack on to the bed.
From the other side of the wall he could hear Mia's muffled voice talking to someone. Probably updating the Museum on the current situation though a small voice in the back of his mind was telling him that she was talking to Khanoğlu.
Stop it! He chided himself. There was no way she was working with Khanoğlu, it just wasn't possible.
How do you know?
No, it was just an effect of the Crown Jewels. He closed his eyes and took several deep, calming breaths, stopping when there was a knock on his door. He opened it and Mia was standing there, phone in hand.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
Nate stood to the side and waved her in.
"I see your room is about as comfortable as mine," she said with a grimace.
Nate chuckled, "Yeah, the Ritz Selitrennoye was booked out, so this was the next best thing."
Mia gave him a weak smile.
"This is probably the closest place to Sarai Batu we can be. It's only a 30-minute drive from here so first thing tomorrow, I think we should get going, scout out the area and see if Khanoğlu has arrived."
"And if he has?" she asked.
She already knows if he has or hasn't
Nate shrugged, "Then we improvise."
"Do we even know where to look for Sully?" she asked.
Shaking his head, Nate said, "No, but he knew to come here next, so it's the best place to start."
"Do you think the Crown Jewels are in Sarai Batu?"
She wants the treasure for herself!
Nate took a deep breath to quell that voice that seemed to be getting louder and louder. Was this what Sully had been going through since Hawaii? No wonder he went loopy.
"I doubt it," he said. "If they were I am sure they would have been found by now. Sarai Batu has been studied, excavated and is now a tourist attraction. Set up as one of those mock cities to give you an idea of what it looked like back in the 11th century."
"Then Sully and Khanoğlu will be looking for clues on where they took them after Sarai Batu?"
Nate nodded, "The Mongols abandoned the city in the 14th century, moving to a second Sarai Batu, which has also been studied. However, that site was destroyed in the 1550s by Ivan IV."
Mia took a seat on the bed, "So it either was moved from the first Sarai Batu or Ivan IV took possession of it in the 1550s?"
Nodding again, he said, "That would be the two likely options. If it was taken in the 1550s this could be an endless chase and the clues will dry up very quickly. I've been lucky to get this far with what I've found."
"But if there is a clue leading to the Crown Jewels wouldn't it have been discovered when they did the excavation of the site?"
Nate shrugged, "It's possible. Hopefully there is nothing there and we can give it up even if Khanoğlu won't. But if there is something, they will find it eventually. He had Spence spend, what? a decade searching the Wash for the Jewels? He's not going to give up and Khanoğlu won't let him anyway."
Mia frowned but said nothing for a while. Then she held up the phone, "I've updated Stefanie on the current situation."
"How is she?"
"She's pissed."
Nate winced, "How much did you tell her?" The impending jail sentence in multiple countries reared in the back of his mind.
"I told her pretty much what you told me. She thinks it is fanciful, but she trusts me and says if I can return the letter she will consider dropping any police involvement especially if Kelvin Spence is involved like you say he is."
"He is, you'll see" Nate said with certainty.
The next morning, they were up and out of their rooms just as the sun was rising on a crisp but clear day. Though Mia was struggling with the weather, dressed head to toe in thermals and layers she was still shivering as Nate packed the Jeep.
"What?" she said, breath fogging as she spoke.
"You're not in Honolulu anymore, Toto," he said with a smirk, getting into the driver's side.
"That's not even the correct quote!"
The drive to the outskirts of Sarai Batu took half an hour and Nate parked the car off road in a crop of trees hidden from the road. Together they headed across the arid land towards the site of original Sarai Batu and before they even saw the site they knew Khanoğlu and his crew had already arrived. The sound of machinery could be heard in the still air.
"This isn't good," Nate muttered. He led Mia to a small patch of green grass on a slight rise and pulled a pair of binoculars from his pack. Looking through them he saw a number of familiar black SUVs parked haphazardly around the replica city. Sarai Batu sat on a small hump of dusty hill giving it a view of the surrounding area including the Akhtuba River directly behind it and the Volga further back in the distance. The 'city' was a collection of square huts with domed roofs made of clay and square, flat roof buildings and look out towers to see any approaching invaders.
Beyond the SUVs Nate saw a large number of workers with excavating equipment working tirelessly digging through the foundations of the mock city as well as diggers and bobcats digging and moving dirt. There were areas marked out where men and women with archaeological tools were digging around. Some of the buildings had been dismantled and Nate wondered how much Khanoğlu had paid the Russian authorities to turn the other way. Set off to the side of the city were a bunch of black tents where mercenaries and workers were going to and fro, probably where they would spend the night plus a way for Khanoğlu's men to keep an eye on the workers in case they decide to split.
"How are we going to get in there?" Mia asked as she took the binoculars from Nate. "They have the place covered."
Nate pulled a map of Astrakhan that he bought from Narimanovo Airport and studied the surrounding area. The approach to Sarai Batu was an open field devoid of anything but tiny shrubs which meant they had little chance of sneaking in that way. And even if they did, the place was crawling with Khanoğlu's mercs. As he studied the map, considering what to do next, he noticed the shape of the river where it branched off. The Akhtuba river was running almost parallel to the Volga, curving where the Volga curved and Nate realised, he had seen something like it before.
Pulling out his diary, Nate opened it to the page where he copied down the map, he found in the St Peters coffin and compared it to the map he had in front of him.
"We don't have too" he told her. He pointed to the map of Astrakhan. "Look here, notice how these two rivers run parallel?"
She nodded.
"Well, if you compare to this-" he pointed to the map in his diary "-it looks almost identical."
"You think this map leads us to the next location?" she asked.
Nate nodded, "I think so."
"But where does it lead? The map doesn't exactly tell us where to go."
Nate pointed to a point on the map where it showed the telescope on the hill looking out towards the two rivers and the door. "I think I need to look from here in the direction of the door" he said indicating the grassy area near the lake.
"We're looking for this door?" Mia said, pointing to the of the open door with the arrow.
"I think so. It looks like Clerke, for all his grand standing about keeping the Crown Jewels hidden, went out of his way to leave clues on where Cook's expedition went."
"This area is still pretty big," Mia said. "And it looks overgrown. It could take days to find that entrance. If it even exists."
She was right he knew. He looked beyond the site of Sarai Batu to the dense, tree-covered shore and the open fields beyond and he wondered how they would be able to cover such an area so quickly. More to the point if Sully wasn't in Sarai Batu, where the hell was he? Had he already found the bunker? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for the wily old man, especially when he puts his mind to something. But there was also a good chance he was captured when Khanoğlu arrived. He had to check out the site, if not for just making sure Sully wasn't captured...or dead.
He moved the binoculars back to the site and scanned around again looking for a way he could get in unseen. An approach from the front was out of the question, while he could try to use the vehicles as cover, there were mercs positioned outside the main entrance as well as others who patrolled the area in large groups who would spot him in an instant.
As he scanned the site he noticed the conical towers located on the outer edge of the site and an idea popped up in his mind.
"Let's go" he said, standing up and dusting his pants. Then he helped Mia to her feet and hurried back to the Jeep.
"We're leaving?" she asked him, hopping into the passenger's seat. Nate started the car and reversed back onto the road heading towards Selitrennoye.
"I have an idea," he said. "Do you know how to row a boat?"