Curse of Atlantis by Christopher David Petersen Page B

think it will take?”
    “One target per day,” Javier said grimly.
    “Oh My God! Javi, that could take over two weeks.”
    “Yeah, and that’s IF we don’t run into any complications,” he responded, anxiety evident in his voice.
    “What kind of complications are we talking about?”
    “ Weather, equipment, permissions. T here’s always something that ’ll slow you down. Nothing ever goes as planned,” Javier replied, sounding exasperated.
    “So we could be out there fo r at least three weeks or more?” Jack now speculated.
    “Jack, I hate to tell you but that would be great if it ONLY took that long. There are searches that take years and still turn up nothing,” he said, his tone now grave.
    “Wow, this really sucks,” Jack said loudly, “Poor Serena. I wish I could tell her to not give up hope.”
    “I know, ” Javier said, swallowing his emotions, “If I could just talk to her and let her know everything will be alright…”
    Javier stopped himself in mid-sentence. The sound of his own words sickened him. He knew he couldn’t promise anything. He knew the probability of finding the pyramid was less than encouraging . As tears welled in his eyes, he quickly pushed the destructive thoughts out of his mind and refocused his energy on important matters.
    “Let’s make this happen, Jack,” he said, his anger and sadness now driving him to action.
    With a simpl e nod, Jack understood the depth of Javier’s statement. The present day and the days that followed would make the difference between life and death. Serena’s world rested solely in their hands. Nothing short of their all , could save her.
    ~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~
    Jack waited outside the small home with their supplies for the day. Lying on the ground was their equipment: backpacks, water bottles, data collection equipment, reference material s , as well as his homemade radar device. Looking at the packs, Jack laughed out loud at their sizes. Javier’s was very small and light. Jack’s was large and heavy.
    Stepping out of the home, Javier stood next to Jack and waited for the driver to arrive. Looking down at the packs, he smiled at their lopsided proportions.
    “Jack, I think you forgot to pack my backpack,” Javier said jokingly, then added, “You know, I may be old , but I can still pull my own weight.”
    “Javi, we have at least sixteen days of hiking to do. Have you seen how rugged that terrain is out there?” Jack asked rhetorically. “We’d have way more success if you could concentrate on finding clues instead of worrying about collapsing from exhaustion and heat prostration.”
    “Thanks , Jack. To be honest, I’m really not looking forward to crawling around out ther e in ninety - degree temperatures. ”
    “Of course, you could always look on the bright side,” Jack replied.
    “And what’s that?”
     
    “This is the perfect time to get in shape. You can now start that diet and exercise program you’ve always talked about,” Jack teased, hoping to improve Javier’s mental state.
    “ I’ve never talked about one, and by the way, ' round ' is a shape,” Javier joked.
    “Well… how can I argue with that kind of logic?”
    Javier was about to respond, when the two heard the sound of a car coming up the long dirt driveway. As it rounded a corner , and drove into the clear, both men stood in sho c k. Moments later, the dilapidated, fifties vintage Range Rover pulled up next to them. With its top cut off and the doors removed, the young driver jumped out and introduced himself.
    “Hi, I’m Darrien,” the young man said in a heavy Greek accent. “I’ll be your tour guide for the next few weeks,” he added jokingly.
    Darrien stood next to his car and smiled. Standing in at only five feet seven, he was short and thin with black curly hair.
    “I thought we upgraded to the stretch limo,” Jack replied, carrying the joke further.

Looking back affectionately at his vehicle, Darrien said, “She may not look like