The Emperor Awakes (58 page)

His body was, though, unharmed, but slightly prickly from too much sun exposure. His skin felt scorched and his palms were red and burning like hell. He tried to get up, but failed at the first hurdle.

But that hazy feeling quickly passed, and he got up with ease, and with a, strangely, complete lack of the pain that bedevilled him only a moment earlier. Relief washed over him. He did not miss that pain. It was as if suddenly he had at once become cured and immune to pain and the elements. He could not explain it.

Then he saw people walking by, looking at him and smiling, some clearly mocking him, others turning red-faced and increasing their pace, some even winking lustily, conspiratorially. He looked down. He was naked and defenceless. He tried to hide his modesty, but then changed his mind.

He reasserted himself and walked defiant with nothing to hide. To hell with it. He quickened his pace, as much as the sand allowed. He had to find out whether he was actually in Limassol of the present day.

He saw a small shop selling beachwear and went in. He decided to buy himself a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and went to pay with the euros he did not have, hoping to prey on the shopkeeper’s generosity and hoping he could accept his promise to come back the next day to settle his bill.

The shopkeeper just smiled, did not ask for payment and waived him away, but not before Vasilis had checked the newspaper stand and was relieved to see that it was indeed the present day. How could that be, he wondered. What on earth was going on with those openings in the tunnels?

On his way out of the shop the security guy at the entrance was about to waive him through without a word, but decided to have some fun. He pretended to ask Vasilis to submit to a body search, but then he seemed to have changed his mind when he saw the look on Vasilis’ face whose eyes were spitting daggers from embarrassment at his situation.

Thankfully, the security guy decided not to challenge and antagonise Vasilis and cause a disturbance on such a lazy day. And there was the small matter of not risking his job over something as trivial as this without any valid suspicion.

He had been watching all the time after all and it was a small shop with nowhere to hide, no blind spots to give the opportunity for theft. He could tell this gentleman was, no doubt, not the thieving kind. He just smiled and winked at Vasilis.

Just before he left the shop, Vasilis passed a fulllength mirror and practically jumped at the person looking back at him. He blinked twice at the frightful sight. He looked ridiculous. He winked at himself. He was relieved to see that he had not lost his sense of humour.

A voice inside his head was mocking him too: “You stick out like a sore thumb. You will definitely have no trouble blending in”. He was ready to smash the mirror in annoyance. But then he controlled himself. He had little choice until something better came along.

It would have to do for now. What was he doing here anyway?

He was moving as if led by an invisible force that took hold of him, pulling him to a destination and a destiny he could not know. Suddenly he saw it clearly and was surprised at his earlier confusion.

What he saw that cleared his mind was a play of the light, but one that was intended for him as a message.

As the sun was setting on a magical landscape, he thought his eyes were deceiving him. He thought it was a trick of the light. But of course it couldn’t be.

The rays bounced off the Ayia Napa Church and then set off past the city’s Western suburbs heading North towards the Troodos mountain range in a mad rush, as if being chased by an invisible enemy only they could see.

They seemed to have stopped at a point at the foot of the Troodos Mountains, still visible despite the distance. He blinked into the light and squinted. Was it meant for him to follow?

He must be out of his mind. But he knew he had to follow immediately. It could not wait. What he was meant to see might not be there tomorrow or even later on. He might be overtaken by his enemy and rival, the Ruinand group he smelled on the plane, even though they surely must have thought they were in the most amazing and deceit-proof disguise.

They were on his tail and he could not allow them to know what he knew, to go where he was going. He had to shake them off. But how? Think hard, Vasilis. Then he had an idea. He got onto a phone and got the people at Valchern Corporation to see if they could get one of their satellites to zoom in and attempt to detect the signal or the heat signature left behind to locate the signal’s final destination.

When they got back to him they confirmed that it was visible. The signal seemed to have stopped at Mount Zalakas in the village of Trimiklini, a twenty-minute drive North of Limassol on the way to the Troodos Mountains. Vasilis had to check it out.

But he had to do something first. He could use the opportunity to follow up on the Mount Zalakas site and get some information. Kill two birds with one stone. Lara was just back from Brazil where she had been excavating a site made all the more intriguing for the discovery of Athenian pottery of the fifth century B.C.

She planned to stay in Cyprus for the next year assisting an excavation on Mount Zalakas. The head of the expedition had specifically asked for her and she jumped at the chance. She accepted on the spot without the slight hesitation.

It sounded like a once in a lifetime opportunity. She would not have missed it for the world. It was also convenient that she could take, at a moment’s notice, a sabbatical from her excavation work in Brazil.

That was because she was not the head of that expedition, but a mere observer attached to the excavation team as a travelling consultant. Vasilis wondered whether it was a coincidence that Lara was working at Mount Zalakas. It was a long time since he had seen her.

CHAPTER 59

Cyprus
Present day

Giorgos and John stood in the tunnel in Limassol wondering what happened to Vasilis. Elli and Katerina were back too, in the tunnel on the other side, wondering about Aristo.

Suddenly Katerina gestured towards the further reaches of the tunnel, a perplexed expression pregnant with worry blackening her face. ‘Elli.’ She called out and paused until she had Elli’s attention. ‘What are those figures appearing to be coming in and out of the openings, but not quite reaching the tunnel as if restricted by an invisible force blocking their way and keeping them in the confines of their own worlds?’

Elli’s face had become white as a sheet. ‘I don’t know, but it’s giving me the creeps.’

* * *

Aristo, when he came to after blacking out, woke up in the tunnel next to his mother and Katerina.

The tunnels had a strange effect on people. Aristo had already forgotten about the room and the strange man, and the memory of being surrounded by something or someone before he blacked out could not be further from his mind.

He searched his brain frantically for the last thing he could remember, but came out wanting. He seemed anxious and obsessed about something.

‘I thought I caught a glimpse of Vasilis through one of the openings. Come on, we need to find him.’ Elli decided to stay behind. Katerina and Aristo stood in front of the opening where Aristo thought he had seen Vasilis and took the plunge.

* * *

They landed on a beach at the same time as the naked Vasilis was getting up. But they were too far away to call to him. They walked as fast as they could to catch up with him. They watched him go through the admiring glances and winks of a multitude of people on the beach.

They then saw him go into the beachgear shop, and after a while come out dressed in what could be generously described as fashionable beach tosh. They were grateful that particular fashion passed them by.

‘Now let’s see what this brother of mine is up to.’ Aristo said.

‘He’s calling for a taxi. Come on.’ Katerina grabbed Aristo’s arm and, starting to move, dragged him forward oblivious to the consequences of her act. Aristo was not expecting the gesture, and the force she employed, and almost tripped in her wake nearly toppling on top of her.

A few seconds behind Vasilis’ departure at high speed, Katerina hailed a taxi and they were on Vasilis’ tail.

The day was hot and humid and sweat was dripping down their foreheads and exiting their pores in spades. Vasilis’ taxi stopped abruptly outside the Limassol Palace Hotel.

Katerina and Aristo’s taxi left them at the spot Vasilis had occupied a few seconds earlier. Aristo gave the driver a generous tip and they entered the lobby of the hotel just a few paces behind his brother.

‘Aristo, why don’t we just go and talk to him?’

‘No, not yet. I want to see what he does. And he may be followed in which case we could be his rear guard security detail.’

They waited in the lobby and wandered around the shops browsing and pretending to have a keen interest in buying an engagement ring.

When they next saw Vasilis, he was coming out of the lift, dressed in a very smart suit and strutting across the lobby with his trademark dark good looks and air of self-assurance.

One could not ignore Vasilis. He never failed to cut quite a swathe and to turn heads. People crowding the lobby turned and paid attention, spellbound.

The glory of youth, Aristo thought to himself. Katerina broke the spell.

‘I think he may be on a date. He has that look and he appears to have switched on the charm ready to go out on the offensive all guns blazing. Come on, let’s follow.’

A few moments later they were standing outside the “La Marassant”, the queen of dining experiences and the toast of Limassol high society and high-roller fast life.

Inside, in a quiet corner, delicately pinching at an exquisite dinner, were Vasilis and Lara, appearing to be in their own bubble, flirting with and teasing each other, and laughing, totally at ease in each other’s company, obviously having a very good time indeed.

Aristo smiled to himself at Vasilis’ selection of a table. Typical cautious Vasilis always covering his back, but presenting it as seeking privacy.

Vasilis had not seen Lara for what felt like ages. Lara was born and grew up in Greece, but could never settle in any one place. She was an archaeologist who travelled the world searching for challenges and never did things by the book.

She and Vasilis had known each other for many years and they had a child together. The child was being raised by Lara, but Vasilis was a regular visitor and financial contributor to the lives of mother and child. For the last three years she had lived in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, partly because of her work, partly because she loved the place and partly to create a home for their child. That was why she had become resistant to constant moves around the world to quell her curiosity and ambition.

Vasilis had tried, repeatedly, to persuade Lara to move to Cyprus, so that he could see her and their child more often, but she refused. Her home and her career were currently based in South America. The Mediterranean with all its archaeological and historical fascination and wealth could not replace it. At least for the time being.

Vasilis knew she could not be moved once she had made up her mind and planted her feet firmly on the ground and he, reluctantly, accepted her decision. That was how they ended up living apart with an ocean and a continent separating them.

Suddenly Vasilis’ voice betrayed a surprising urgency. ‘I want to ask you for a favour. I was intrigued when you told me about that small icon you found inside that cave on Mount Zalakas. That’s the main reason I’m here. From the picture you sent me it looks to be surprisingly well preserved. I would like to have a look at the cave myself. Could you get me inside?’

‘Vasilis, you know I cannot do that. I’ll be putting my job on the line. No unauthorised access is allowed and I am not the person to give that authority. The bureaucracy in this place is astounding, beyond comprehension. I really don’t know how people do anything here, as it makes things so expensive and time-consuming.

‘I actually admire them for persevering and achieving so much. It challenges my patience every single hour of every single minute of every single day. Well, I am exaggerating a bit, but you get the picture. If I let you in and they find out, I’ll be in big trouble. They’ll have my guts for garters. They’ll no doubt deport me and put me on a black list, never to allow me to enter the country ever again.’

Vasilis said nothing, but gave her that look she could never resist. She looked at him for a while, lost in her own thoughts.

Lara was debating with herself. She felt it was a mistake to think that this place, this setting, was the set of her dreams. Maybe she had to change it. Was Vasilis the answer? Was what Vasilis wanted the answer? Was Cyprus the answer?

But then again it didn’t have to be like that. They both had compromised in the past and she was sure they could do it again. There had never been any regrets. She was sure they would both do it all over again the same way, not changing a thing, if they had to.

But her mind had gone into overdrive. Both sides of her brain were fighting a battle with her heart. The jury, selected and approved, was growing impatient. It was split down the middle, still not ready to deliver a verdict.