Chapter 3

All right, here's chapter three. Enjoy, please.

Hadji slowly became aware of being in a dark room with someone else. Sitting up he expected to see Jonny or perhaps Jessie and learning where they were. Instead he saw Race let out a relieved sigh as he sat up. "Race, where's Dr. Quest. Was he not with you?"

"I've been in here by myself until last night when a zinja carried you in." The man replied.

"So we are now captives of Dr. Zin?" Hadji looked around. "Wait. Where are Jonny and Jessie?"

"Anaya and Melana are here. I don't know about Zin though. And they said that Jonny and Jessie will be fine so long as we don't try anything." The former CIA agent crossed his arms in frustration.

"What do they want with us?"

"Not sure. The most I can do is guess that they need Benton for some reason and know he won't cooperate unless they use us."

~~~~~~~~~~JQ~~~~~~~~~~

Jonny knocked on a cabin door. "Mei, we're almost there."

The door opened to reveal that Mei had changed clothes. Now she wore a pair of jeans and a black tank top. Her thick, black hair was neatly braided down her back. Noticing his stare, she explained, "I wanted to look less suspicious."

The boy nodded as his eyes took in a vicious scar across her throat. Her sisters really …..

As she realized what had Jonny's attention, Mei's hand went involuntarily to her neck. "I can wear a scarf or something to cover it."

He shook his head and looked down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

The girl shrugged. "By now, I'm kinda used to that reaction. Well, that and people who have known me stealing glances when they think I'm not looking or avoiding looking at my throat at all."

Jonny looked away from her as he could easily understand the discomfort being caught staring at that scar could cause. He was relieved to see the dock just ahead. "I guess we should get set to go."

Mei nodded as she followed him onto the deck. Each one shouldered a backpack of supplies before disembarking. Stepping onto the dock, Jonny looked around. I wonder how far from Troy we are.

"Jonny," his companion spoke, "you okay?"

The young man nodded and gave her a friendly grin. Just hoping Hadji, Race and Dad are okay …. "Yeah. No worries."

Upon reaching the ruins of Troy, Jonny and Mei entered the ruins and slowly explored the sad remains of the city. Jonny glanced over at Mei, "So, what are we looking for?"

"The switch to the hidden chamber was located in the king's throne. It'll be a little difficult to locate in the ruins. There should be something that has an Atlantean symbol instead of a Greek one on it."

"I guess we should hurry. We don't want your sisters to get here."

The girl looked away. "Yeah ….. which brings to mind another mystery that's been bothering me." As Jonny met her gaze, Mei spoke, "How did my sisters know about the map to begin with. It's supposed to be a secret. It implies …..."

The boy's eyes widened as he realized the direction of her thoughts. "A spy …."

"Worse. A traitor. I'm the only outsider, other than you and Jessie, to be allowed into the temple in hundreds of years."

Jonny frowned. "How do we find out who it is?"

Shrugging, Mei continued her search. "We need to focus on finding the map piece right now. After we have them, we can look into that. I just wanted to mention my suspicions so we can both be on our guard in the temple."

The young man nodded as he noticed something. "Hey, this looks similar to the writing on that map piece we found."

Coming over, Mei eyed the stone relief that Jonny had spotted. The girl knelt down and turned the stone relief. "Okay, the symbol's right side up. Now …." She pressed on the stone.

A chamber opened at the foot of what would have been the throne. As the sand trickled into the room, stairs were revealed. The two companions carefully descended into the room. "Wow. I can't believe this stayed hidden." Jonny noted as they reached the bottom.

Mei dug through her backpack and took out a flashlight before responding, "The scientists were too busy trying to prove that this location really was the remains of Troy."

"So, think there're any traps in here?"

The girl nodded. "Most likely. Atlantis was never to be uncovered. The survivors of the city felt it was best that way."

They studied the writing on the walls before spotting the map piece on a pedestal in the center of the chamber. Reading the writing, Mei frowned. It doesn't say how to remove the piece without activating the traps. In fact, it doesn't mention the traps at all ….

Jonny watched her curiously. "So, what'd you find out?"

"The writing tells the story of Atlantis and gives a warning to seekers of the city. That their avarice will destroy them."

"Okay, so is it safe to take the map piece?"

"Unfortunately," she tisked, "we won't know until we try it. Jonny, stand close to the stairs. If anything happens, I'm gonna trust you to get help or take the map and continue our mission."

Jonny stared at her and hesitated before complying. "I won't leave you behind, Mei."

"We don't have time to argue." Mei replied as she took the map piece from its resting place.

Before either one could react the entrance closed. Jonny searched the roof quickly for a way to reopen it. "Hey, this symbol was on the throne."

"Try turning it like I did." Mei instructed as she said a quick prayer.

To both of their relief, it worked and the roof opened to allow them out. Sighing in relief, the two of them walked upstairs. "I kinda expected that to be more difficult." Jonny noted.

"I suppose back before the Trojan War it was. They had the Trojan Wall as well as trained soldiers back in those days."

As the teens reached the top of the stairs, Mei's smile faded. There awaiting them stood three zinja. Glancing at Jonny, she sighed. "I suppose this was to be expected."

"Yeah. So, what's the plan?" The boy replied as he took on a defensive stance.

"Try to take out one or two and run for it." As she replied, Mei took a tazer out of her backpack.

"Come prepared, don't ya?" Jonny grinned.

"I believe in being ready for anything. And carrying my sword would've made me stand out way too much."

As the zinja attacked them, Jonny took the lead, throwing one off balance and into the electric current of Mei's taser. The robot was still for a moment before it resumed attacking. "Looks like we'll only have a second for our escape."

"Right. Get to the car, then." The young woman replied as she tazed two of the zinja.

As Jonny reached the car they'd used, Mei threw him the key. "Start the car!"

The boy obeyed and was grateful for the lack of a roof when Mei stunned and kicked the third zinja to the ground and jumped into the passenger seat. The blond boy floored the gas and the sped away. Mei kept looking back, expecting their enemies to be pursuing them soon.

Looking over, Jonny spoke. "They had motorcycles the last time I crossed paths with them."

"I don't see anyone following us. But, that felt too easy."

Stopping the car outside of the port town where the boat waited for them, the young man nodded. "Think they have a trap waiting for us?"

"Probably. I can't imagine any other reason, those zinja would let us escape that easily. That just begs the question of what to do …."

"We can try to reach Knossos on our own. Or we could let them capture one of us with a tracking device on."

Mei shook her head, "Too risky. The device could be discovered."

"Do you think they'd recognize the boat we came here on? Will the crew be okay if we leave from here?"

"No matter what, we have to put our mission first. We can contact Jessie at the temple later to ask for news."

"Jessie? Why not just contact the crew?"

"If my sisters are spying on us, for all we know, the spy could be on board the ship. Or, for that matter, there could be more than one spy. I want to be certain we can trust the person we contact." Mei replied as Jonny turned the car to drive on past the town.

"Okay, so what now? We can't reach Knossos by car."

Mei was quiet as she considered that. It's true. We're in Turkey with no way to know who in the temple to trust and only this car to get around. We certainly can't swim to Crete ….. Finally, the girl responded, "For the time being, let's just find a place to rest. We'll find an inn or something. I've got some cash on me."

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the story so far. Feel free to review and tune in to chapter four to see if there's really a traitor in the temple and who will get that last map piece.