Book of JUDAS

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Bangkok

The flight across Iran and the northern part of India to Delhi had been calm but for some reason the second leg across the Bay of Bengal towards Malaysia had been excessively turbulent. Philip had flown the route on several business trips in the past and had noticed how the same area always seemed to be the worst affected. Must be something to do with the changing temperatures over the sea, he considered. Anna was not a good flyer and genuinely looked terrified as the plane bumped along with passengers and cabin crew alike strapped to their seats. The experience made her contemplate how fragile life was really. It’s fate, she thought. You have to live your life for the moment because who knows what’s around the corner. She looked around at the other passengers. It amazed and comforted her to see how some of them were managing to sleep through the constant jolts shuddering through the plane. Smiling she looked down at Simon’s head as it slipped onto her shoulder. He was sound asleep, oblivious to the commotion around them. She pulled the flashlight attached to the head rest and re-immersed herself in the contents of the notebook and Bairstow’s folder, which Phillip had given to her on take-off. They were nearly at their destination.

It was mid-afternoon and the sun was shining brightly as the plane landed, half an hour behind schedule. They cleared the airport quickly and jumped into a taxi, which clattered and hooted its way through streets that were teeming with life in the smog and haze. The journey to the Century Hotel took forty minutes through the congestion as the yellow “tuk-tuk” three-wheelers weaved noisily in and out of the traffic.

The hotel itself was nothing exceptional, a typical middle of the road – and suitably anonymous – European tourist selection that found in a travel guide in Basle. They checked into two rooms.

Simon dumped his bags on one of the single beds in the room he was sharing with his brother and unbolted the interconnecting door. Seconds later he heard the lock clicking on the other side and Anna pulled it open.

“Well it looks like you’ve got the master suite,” said Simon, looking enviously over her shoulder at the double bed.

“Yes, thank you,” she smiled, “and with you two here to protect me I should get a decent night’s sleep after that ghastly flight!”

Simon looked at Phillip who was lying on the bed, hands behind his head, looking at the ceiling.

“What’s the plan?”

“It’s four-thirty now – let’s grab some rest and then go down and get something to eat about seven. We can discuss our plans for tomorrow.”

“Ok − that sounds good,” said Anna, “I’ve still got some reading to finish off. Your grandfather’s notebook is captivating − such attention to detail. I should be able to brief you on the contents over dinner − see you in a couple of hours.”

And with that she went back into her room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

The sun was beginning to fade outside their window as Simon reached over to check the time on his watch on the bedside table. He still felt tired but forced himself up and walked out onto the balcony, stretching his arms. They were on the sixth floor overlooking the swimming pool and he looked down at the figure gracefully swimming up and down. Once she stepped out of the water, he recognised the deeply tanned figure immediately. Anna reached for a towel and started drying her shoulder length black hair.

“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?” the voice came from behind him.

Simon twisted round and grinned at his brother.

“Yes, I think you could be right for once.”

He waved down to Anna below after she spotted him on the balcony. Thirty minutes later, they were all dressed and showered, and ready to go down to one of the hotel restaurants. They had debated whether to eat out but on closer inspection, Anna had persuaded them that the local Thai menu looked good and the alcoves in the dining room gave them a decent amount of privacy.

The smartly dressed waiter took them to the table below the cave-like recess at the far end of the room. They were eating early by normal Thai standards so the remainder of the tables were deserted.

“The service should be good,” joked Simon as they were seated and as if to reinforce the point another waiter sprang towards them clutching three menus.

They ordered a bottle of wine and selected items from the à la carte menu that they could share in the middle of the table.

Phillip pulled a piece of newspaper out of his pocket, unfolded it and smoothed it out on the table in front of them. It was the cutting from the South China Morning Post that had first alerted Sir Lawrence to the whereabouts of the missing third arkheynia. The article had several photographs of divers on the deck of a boat crouching down around some of the relics they pulled up from sea floor. There in the middle picture, was a large bearded man, smiling as he held up the third fragment of the bone necklace across the palms of his hands. He has absolutely no idea what he’s discovered, thought Simon, staring at the crooked piece of bone. It was about twelve inches long and the tip was unmistakeable – it was round and bright “blood” red.

The rest of the article told of the salvage team, headed by Hans Friedel, that had discovered the remains of a ship believed to date back to circa 100BC. The team had been looking for a merchant vessel that had sunk in these parts carrying gold at the turn of the century when their sensitive underwater camera equipment had discovered the ancient wreck under layers of silt and sand. Only the original mast had been protruding from its final resting place.

The journalist writing the piece had done so under the headline “Extraordinary, experts hold no answers”. He was not referring to the discovery of the wreck itself because similar ships had been uncovered before. What he was referring to was the actual location of the find. Here was a ship, previously only found in waters around the Mediterranean and in descriptions and drawings from Biblical times sunk in the sea off Thailand. “How could this be?” asked the author without offering any theories of his own.

The date on the newspaper showed that the article was only a couple of weeks old. The story went on to interview the leader of the salvage team, who dismissed the findings as having negligible monetary value but significant historical interest.

Philip knew the next sentence was critical. It was a quote from Hans Friedel: “Once we’ve completed our search for the Spanish merchant ship ‘El Garrido’ in the waters east of Koh Samui, we’ll donate the historic relics to a recognised national museum for further investigation”.

“How do you plan on getting the arkheynia back?” asked Anna, looking across the table at Philip.

“It’s a good question − I’ve been thinking about nothing else for a while now and I’m still not sure. All I know is that if we were to turn up out of the blue and just ask them for the bone relic they’ve just discovered two weeks earlier their curiosity will be aroused – they’re highly unlikely to give it away to strangers and if we offer money they’ll probably think they have something they can auction to the highest bidder!”

“I agree,” said Simon, taking a sip from his glass of white wine. “Any approaches of friendly nature will only raise their interest in a item that they currently don’t perceive as having any value − the problem is we don’t have time; we have to assume that it won’t take the Satanica long to locate our trail and try to catch up with us.”

“You’re right, we haven’t got time to wait for them to sail back to dry land before we talk to them – we’re going to have to go out there and capture it, steal it, do whatever’s necessary to get it and leave… What do you think?”

Anna nodded her agreement. It was the only way.

“Yes, we’ll need to find out where they are on the high seas − once we’ve found them we’ll need to come up with a plan for how we board their ship and steal the arkheynia…”

“How can we be sure they still have the artefacts on board?” Simon queried.

“Aah, we can thank your grandfather for that,” replied Anna, “I am not sure how he managed it but somehow he contacted the salvage team to register the keenness of the Ashmolean Museum to house their findings − in doing so he discovered that Hans Friedel had decided to keep the remnants aboard their ship until they finally called into the port of Singapore at the end of their project.”

Two waiters arrived with a host of authentic local dishes and placed them in the middle of the table. They helped themselves to the sticky rice, chicken wrapped in banana leaves and hot green curry sauce as they continued pondering the pursuit of the third key.

“I have the beginnings of an idea,” stated Philip calmly, offering one of the dishes to Anna.

“We need to get aboard their salvage ship and secure the arkheynia without arousing too much suspicion − why don’t we get in touch with them and convince them that we’re journalists and tell them we’ve come a long way to do a piece on their discovery? The fact that this Hans Friedel’s done this article shows that he doesn’t mind the limelight − the key is that we have to be a big enough journal to capture his interest.”

“Ok, this sounds good − we could introduce ourselves as journalists from the National Geographic? We could even offer a reasonable financial incentive for their granting us an exclusive?” pitched in Simon.

“You know it could actually work,” said Anna. “Why don’t we buy a camera? I’ve had to become a bit of a photographer over the years − I could join you as the journal’s official photographer.”

“Great idea,” Simon grinned. “I guess that leaves me in charge of the transport and fake IDs! There’s a business centre on the first floor. I could log onto the National Geographic site and see what information I can download − I might be able to pick up some logos and create some passes but I’ll need passport photos.”

“Ok, that’s settled,” said Philip. “We’re going to need to make a very early start in the morning, so do whatever you can tonight − the flight to Koh Samui takes off at seven-thirty so we’ll need to be at the airport an hour or so before that.”

He reached over and topped up Anna’s wine glass.

“Well, here’s to our success!” toasted Philip and held his glass out. As the others c*****d glasses his mobile phone rang. He looked at the screen – it was Heather calling from the east coast of America.

“I’ll see you in a moment,” Philip whispered to them, and he sidled out from behind the table, pressing the connect button to speak to his fiancée.

“Who’s that?” asked Anna and she listened intently as Simon told her their story since they had left university. He told her how he had decided to work for the United Nations helping the third world after his career in the City didn’t work out – and how Philip had made a huge success in investment banking in the city, as evidenced by his palatial houses in London and New York.

“It was in Manhattan where he first met Heather,” he remarked. “In fact I’ve actually only met her a couple of times but they must have been together now for about five years or so − true love I’d say. She’s very attractive and also has a pretty high-profile city career.”

Philip returned to the table.

“Everything Ok?” asked Simon.

“Yes, fine − pretty early her time but all’s Ok.”

Seconds later Philip’s mobile rang again.

“Funny,” he shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting her to call back.”

No name was registered on the flashing digital display. Frowning, he clicked the receive button.

“Hallo!” A couple of seconds skirted past.

“Hallo! Who’s calling?” he repeated, slightly louder.

Anna and Simon sat and watched in anxiety as the colour started to drain from Philip’s cheeks.

“What do you want?” Philip exclaimed hurriedly into the receiver.

He sat there rigid as if in a trance. His arm fell onto the table clutching the mobile.

“What is it?” cried Simon, grabbing the phone from his hand and listening. It was disconnected. Whoever had been there had gone.

Philip took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and deliberately.

“Why have we not thought about this before?” He looked at Simon. Whatever it was it had shaken him, he looked ghostly pale.

“What happened?” blurted Anna, reaching out and touching his hand. She also looked fragile.

“A low voice, a man’s voice, said he knew where we were! He said he was coming to find us − when I asked him what he wanted, he said us, he wanted us!”

Simon was playing with the mobile.

“The only thing I can establish is that it was an international call − whoever it was couldn’t be calling from this country!”

The call had clearly rattled Philip but he also felt cross with himself that he hadn’t considered such a possibility.

“We need to get rid of everything that gives away our movements − that means mobiles, credit cards and any other bank cards.” He paused. “And somehow we need to get new passports.”

The restaurant was approaching capacity and the ambience had changed completely. The waiters were busily rushing between tables and, above the noise and mêlée, they suddenly heard it at the same time.

“Trenchard − Philip Trenchard!”

A bell rang and the Thai voice called out again.

“Trenchard − Philip Trenchard − Room 612?”

Following on from the call, Philip’s heart was in his mouth. Round the corner came a young Thai boy smartly dressed in the attire of the hotel concierge. He carried a bell and rang it again.

“Message for Philip Trenchard − Room 612.”

“Over here,” he beckoned the boy with a wave.

The boy approached and handed over an envelope. Opening it warily, Philip’s expression gradually softened and, smiling at the boy, he place a few Thai baht notes on his silver plate as a tip.

Simon and Anna wondered what it could be this time.

“Please tell them I’ll be along shortly to collect it.”

The boy in the blue uniform nodded and left.

“Our package?” asked Anna.

“I believe so,” he replied. “Why don’t you order some coffee and I’ll sort the delivery out, it shouldn’t take long.”

And with that, Philip got up and made in the direction of the hotel lobby.

“They know we’re here now, so we can’t hide that fact but if we’re quick and everything works out tomorrow we can be on our way before they find us,” Simon said, looking to calm Anna.

“We need to get to a bank and take out enough cash to survive on for a few weeks − no more traceable bank payments!”

The coffee arrived and Anna added some milk and sugar. She sat stirring her cup.

“They know we’re in this hotel?” she moaned.

At that moment Philip returned clutching the cardboard tube that held the scrolls. Anna’s demeanour changed immediately when she saw it – her face lit up in anticipation. Since reading the notebook, she had been coming to terms the enormity of finally seeing and reading the Judas Scroll. This is probably the most significant archaeological find of all time, she thought.

“Here you are − I know you’ve been longing to see it,” said Philip, handing over the long cylinder to Anna. Her face glowed.

“If it’s Ok, I’m going to take it up to the room?”

They nodded and watched as she disappeared excitedly in the direction of the lift.

Philip lifted his cup and took a long drink of coffee.

“We’re leaving tonight,” he said, staring across at Simon.

“I used my credit card to make the reservations − anyone who gets hold of that information will be able to trace us immediately. We’re not safe while we stay here!”

“Ok − what’s the plan?” asked Simon.

“There’s a train that leaves tonight, a sleeper from Bangkok station − it departs at ten-thirty and arrives shortly after seven tomorrow morning.”

Simon looked at his watch.

“Just coming up to nine o’clock, that doesn’t give us very long.”

“I’ve already organised and paid for the tickets through the concierge − they’ve told me the main station will take between ten and fifteen minutes in a taxi at this time of night.”

“Ok, you break the news to Anna − I’m going to see if I can quickly put those passes together in the business centre.”

Simon departed, leaving Philip to sign the bill. Before going up in the lift to see Anna, he stopped at Reception and used his card one final time to settle the entire bill.

Upstairs, he found Anna in her room poring over the scrolls, which were sprawled over the floor and held down by makeshift weights at each end.

“They’re incredible,” she murmured, oblivious to Philip’s entrance through the interconnecting door.

“Aren’t they?”

He startled her for a moment. Apologising for making her jump, he then proceeded to tell her of the new travel plans as she regained her composure.

“If we’re successful tomorrow, where will we go next?” enquired Anna as they both started throwing their few belongings in their carrier bag.

“What do you mean?”

“Well we’ll have to secure all three keys of the bone necklace before this scroll will help us,” she said, pointing at the map on the floor. “The other two keys of arkheynia are going to be much harder to obtain − one’s kept in the sacred relics chamber of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the other, according your grandfather’s notes, is in the hands of a rich, reclusive private collector in New York.”

“I see,” remarked Philip. “I guess you’re right. We’ll head for New York first − does that make sense to you?”

“Yes, that makes perfect sense − our final destination, the entrance to the labyrinth, is somewhere on that map and that’s got to be closer to Cairo!”

Anna rolled up the scrolls and put them back in the tube while Philip packed for his brother. Not long later Simon entered.

“What do you think?” he asked, holding up two laminated passes with photos that depicted Anna and Philip as bone fide reporters for the National Geographic.

“Very good − not sure you got my best side though,” smiled Anna, screwing up her face as she pretended to look a bit closer.

“Good job, Simon − let’s go,” Philip said as he slung his carrier bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door.

“You know, seriously, there’s one thing we need to talk about?” Anna’s voice took on a more stern tone.

Philip stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“What’s the matter, Anna?”

“At some point we have to talk about the consequences of finding the book! What do we do if we do find it first? What does it mean if we find it? We’ve done nothing but discuss the details of getting to the book since we met, which is right but…” she paused and saw both brothers were listening, captivated.

“Look, I’m just saying we need to discuss the bigger picture − right?”

“Yes, you’re right, Anna,” said Philip slowly. “I think we all need to give it some serious thought − we’ll talk it through when we have the first part of the arkheynia in our hands.”

“Ok,” said Anna cheerfully. “Let’s go – we’ve got a train to catch.”