all find a nondisclosure contract in front of you, which I will require you to sign if you want to attend the rest of this meeting. If you don’t wish to sign, I’ll have to ask you to leave immediately.”
This was met by some muttering but Eckhart waved it away dismissively. “However, your rent here at the Stafford is paid ’til the end of the week, you have an open tab at the bar and your return tickets are open-ended. Thank you for coming.”
The soldiers made mollified noises.
Eckhart’s face became serious. “If you sign, stay and afterward do not wish to participate, you may leave. However, if you sign and then break the nondisclosure contract and talk about what is discussed in this room outside of the Endeavor Team here assembled, you will be subject to the kind of lawyers and lawsuits only a billionaire can bring on. And, short of hiring hit men, I will use every legal, political and business contact I have to shit on you for the rest of your lives. I strongly urge you to think about that before you sign.”
No one had to think about it. A couple of the men made a pretense of flipping through the pages of legalese but everyone quickly signed. Rai collected the contracts and put them in a folder.
“Good.” Eckhart rapped his knuckles on the table and on cue two of the hotel staff staggered in carrying buckets of beers from around the world on ice. The arrival was met with cheers. Bolan smiled inwardly. Alcohol had been part of successful soldier recruitment since the Renaissance. Beers were passed around the table and Bolan picked himself out a Guinness.
“Gentlemen, may I introduce Nancy Rhynman,” Eckhart continued. “She’ll be part of our team.”
A chorus of whistles and catcalls greeted the news. Bolan noted Rhynman blushed slightly and smiled at the barrage of lewd suggestions but she didn’t seem intimidated.
“Most of you have probably heard of me,” Eckhart said.
This was met with some pointed comments that Eckhart ignored. “And as you may have heard every once in a while I go off on an endeavor in the name of science. Africa, the Amazon, Southeast Asia, I’ve had a few adventures around the globe and been on a few boondoggles.” Eckhart eyed the assembled soldiers wryly. “As I suspect have most of you.”
The comment was met by grunts of agreement.
Eckhart spread his hands in mock helplessness. “Well, I’m off on another one! And it’s going to require stepped-up security. That’s where you men come in.”
Waqa leaned back and frowned impatiently. The chair creaked ominously beneath his massive frame. “What’s the job, brah?”
Eckhart nodded to Rhynman. “Nancy?”
The soldiers sighed as she rose and they approved of the way her lightweight wool pants clung to her curves. She clicked a remote control and a projector showed a map on the wall that stretched from Spain to Hong Kong. “This is the modern world.” She clicked the remote again and nearly all the cities disappeared. “This is the ancient world.” Nancy clicked her remote again. “And this was the world of Alexander the Great.”
The map lit up in highlight from Mount Olympus in Western Greece to the Himalayas.
“As you may or may not remember from your school days, Alexander and his army conquered all the way across what is today modern Turkey, Iraq and Iran. His conquests spread from—”
“Jesus, here comes the History Channel.” Blair’s boots thudded on top of the table as he rocked back in his chair. “Can’t you make this more entertaining?”
“Take off your clothes!” Waqa suggested.
Eckhart held up his hand. “Guys…”
“Da!” Yuli produced a one-hundred-pound note. “Dance! Dance on table!”
Blair spread his feet on the table. “Lap dance!”
Eckhart might have been a billionaire and a captain of industry but he suddenly found himself in a room full of rowdy soldiers whose respect he hadn’t earned. “Gentlemen, I—” he stammered.
“Show us your tits!” Waqa shouted.
Again Bolan noticed that Nancy wasn’t scared, embarrassed or intimidated. She was quietly and coldly becoming furious. He saw an opportunity to get on her good side. He picked his victim. His voice cut through the cacophony of sexual harassment and hilarity.
“Yo, Waqa.”
Waqa grinned and cracked himself another beer. “Yeah, brah?”
“I’ve got no money in my pocket, a bucket of beer I haven’t finished and I need this job.” The room went dead silent as Bolan’s arctic blue eyes bored into Waqa’s. His voice was as serious as the grave. “Don’t screw this up.”
The Fijian was clearly not used to being challenged but he found himself taken aback and blinking at Bolan’s glacial gaze. “Shit, I’m just having some fun,” he said.
Pieter Van spoke like the elder statesman of the group. “Enough of this kak. I too need a job, and I would like to hear what Miss Rhynman and Mr. Eckhart have to say.” He spoke with the authority of a veteran commander. “I believe those who do not need the work already know the location of the door.”
An awkward silence fell across the table.
Bolan noticed Rhynman staring at him. She wasn’t beaming in gratitude. She was taking mental notes. Bolan reminded himself that she was a body language expert as well as an archaeologist. He suspected she would be writing assessments of every soldier around the table to add to Eckhart’s personnel files.
“So, Miss Rhynman,” Pieter said. “Alexander the Great?”
“Let me summarize,” Rhynman said. “Alexander the Great conquered a big chunk of real estate. Wherever he went he built Alexandrias, cities that bore his name, and he left generals and trusted companions to command and rule from them. To this day ancient Greek artifacts and even ruins turn up all over this territory from Egypt to India.”
The men were beginning to roll their eyes and look at one another in disbelief. The blonde scholar looked around the room and could tell she was losing her audience. “What we are looking for is the Citadel of Hades,” she announced.
That got everyone’s attention.
“What the fuck?” Blair asked.
“We’re looking for a hidden fortress. Farther east than any historian believes Alexander ever got. A lost citadel gentlemen, perhaps the last great classical archaeological find that remains undiscovered. Right on par with the pyramids of Egypt and the Coliseum of Rome.”
The soldiers looked at one another and didn’t know what to think.
Eckhart began his pitch. “Men, I’ve recently been doing some investing in western Asia. Wherever I am I’m always looking into the local antiquities market. I was in Tajikistan when some Greek writings literally fell into my hands. The seller was a local tribesman who had no idea what he had. When I began to suspect what I’d found I contacted Nancy, and she contacted scholars she knew in the field, and it appears to be genuine.”
Giddy peered at
