Roland Sharpe was stunned to say the least at the discovery and what it would mean for mankind. Three days after he arrived a great Sandstorm swamped the encampment and lasted for six long hours and by the time it was over no one could dig themselves out. Everyone eventually perished in the buried sands of Egypt.

1995. A satellite in orbit about 400 miles above the planet detects the outlines of a riverbed buried deep beneath the sands of Egypt. 10 years pass before an exploration group finds a shallow area where there would be little to dig to get to the riverbed. William Sharpe, the leader of the exploration group is ecstatic that they have found the best site to dig to the riverbed. After several weeks they finally find what is left of the riverbed. Near the edge of the dig an egyptian who was hired for manual labor discovers the remnants of a pyramid and the group then digs into the pyramid and as they come upon one chamber William Sharpe reads the hieroglyphics about a greater site that was built to the west several miles. William Sharpe orders the entire group to relocate to the new site. In one month's time of digging they come upon the remnants of the 1929 explorers and the great pyramid that group had found. William is stunned to find the remains of his grandfather and the man's plane on the site. He finds Roland's diary and reads about what was found in this unknown pyramid. William then has the group excavate the rest of this pyramid and they eventually find the opening. William Sharpe is very happy and announces his discovery to the world about the finding of the Ark of the Covenant.

Along the coast of Senegal the NUMA Ship, Freya of the Seas, captained by Jeffrey Leigh Garland awaits the return of Kurt Austin from the undersea opening beneath the shoreline cliffs. Finally, Kurt returns to the ship and announces he has found an underground river that goes inland many miles. Unfortunately there appears to be a blockage at the end of it. It appears to be man-made Kurt announces.

"From the looks of the obstruction that dams up the underwater river it appears that it was built a long time ago. Naturally once it was dammed up the northern part of Africa changed over time from a green, lush and temperate zone to that of the present Saharan Desert that covers the top half of Africa. My guess is that it was done intentionally so that the land would change. But as to the motivation behind it eludes me" Kurt explains to the project leaders and the captain of the ship. "So, my recommendation for the project is to stop it until we can learn more about this ancient mystery" Kurt recommends.

Greg Sharpe arrived at Cairo International Airport with eagerness to meet his father, William. Greg was 6'4" and with his commanding presence attracted attention wherever he went. He strode through the airport and out to the waiting taxicab. The taxicab took him to the Nile Hilton where he was already registered by his father. He received the key and went to his room. Later, he met with his father in the restaurant and William told his son of the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant and the press announcement of the discovery. Greg was excited to see the Ark.

Despite the large group of guards surrounding the Ark of the Covenant, William and Greg Sharpe shouldered their way to the ancient caisson with chiseled cherubim on the stone box. Next to it was an ancient text that was encased in a glass box. "The text tells of how it was discovered in Jerusalem during the first crusade and then en route to England the Ark was lost in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120 and then salvaged the next year. Count Stephen Blois who fought and died in the First Crusade in 1102 had found it and had it shipped to England but somehow it was delayed for eighteen years. Nobody knows where it was kept during that time. Way back when the Babylonians had destroyed Solomon's Temple it is rumored that something was taken from the Ark and was sent by unknowing messengers to an unkown destination in Africa. It is my hope to find that mysterious object" says William Sharpe.

After returning to NUMA HQ Kurt Austin enters the tenth floor computer lab where Dr. Hiram Yaeger, Jr. works and asks Hiram about the desertification of Northern Africa. Hiram replies, "Well, about 3,000 B.C. The northern part of Africa turned into a desert over a period of about 150 years. Little is known about the details but a number of scientists and others do believe that it was a gradual process after the sudden disappearance of what had been a green and lush area. It fits in that your river, after it was cut off by a manmade dam that it would have a profound change in climate and geology of the area and spread over such a large area of the continent. Do you think there is a dark motive behind the damming of this river, Kurt?" "I'm not sure but it does seem fishy to me because I cannot fathom why someone would do that".

April 2005, in Austria the Archaeologist, Konrad Spindler passes away from ALS. A letter left behind in his script states that he believes that Otzi the Iceman that had been discovered in the Austrian Alps back in September of 1991 was definitely from Egypt and from the 34th Century BC. Konrad goes on to state that after some investigation he has reason to believe that Otzi was in the area of Africa near the Senegal-Mauritania border and involved in some heavy construction of some sort. With Konrad's passing, he is the seventh person involved in the finding of Otzi back in September 19, 1991, who has passed away and never believed in the curse that had taken the lives of the six other men involved in Otzi's finding. Unbeknownst to him some of them had been killed and made to look like accidents. The letter is sent to an American friend named James Sandecker.

Admiral Sandecker calls Kurt Austin into his office. "Sit down, Kurt. I just read your report about the underground river in Africa you wrote and have one question for you. In your opinion Kurt, do you think this river was long enough to have been in what is now the Saharan Desert?". "Yes, I do believe that, Admiral". "Recently, I received a letter from an old friend who passed away and told me a story in his letter about a man that was discovered frozen in the mountains of Austria that he believes was involved in some heavy construction in the Senegal-Mauritania border area of Africa. Now it comes to my mind that this may not be just a coincidence that a dam was built in an out of the way part of Africa and this letter that a friend of mine wrote to me about some deaths that could turn out not to be accidents after all". "Admiral, are you saying that there's something going on about an old dam and some deaths that do not add up?". "Kurt, have you heard the news about a major company that is involved in some heavy industrialization of that part of Africa and there's no obvious source of water anywhere near that area?". "No. I have not Admiral" replies Kurt. "Well there's some pollution that appears to be popping up along that part of the African coast and some ships have disappeared in the area and there's some concern that this major company is involved". "What's the name of the company, Admiral?". "The Adelin Corporation" replies Admiral James Sandecker.

After conferring with the Admiral and Dirk Pitt on how to take on the Blois family and their Adelin Corporation, Kurt heads back to his office and calls Joe Zavala. Later, at his home on the Potomac Kurt takes out his scull and heads downstream sculling along with the current. Kurt relaxes and thinks about the plan to take on a rich and powerful family and their interests. It will not be easy, Kurt thinks. So many things could go wrong.

Arthur Blois learned that Alhena was not among the dead when he received the call from Egypt. Sitting back in his chair and staring out on the Champs D''Elysee he was bemused that he had manipulated the poor young woman by recommending her as the chaperon for the young American. Now that it looked like NUMA and the authorities were on to him and his family. At least he can keep tabs on the flow of information inside the French intelligence agency, the SDECE through his contact there. Using Alhena was a stroke of genius by keeping the friendly but rival businessman father of Alhena off guard. Isaac Bonham was no fool though. But with his daughter being used should keep him in an emotional check. It did seem obvious that the authorities would want to use Isaac Bonham's resources to take on the Blois family.

Alhena found a small shop where an older woman sold many candles that are used for religious family. Having met the young Nathan Blois while in France seems to be haunting her since she only knew the young man for less than a month and gotten to know his father, Arthur who was a strong man in character and had given her advice. She knew it was a mistake to sleep with the man and thereupon called it quits with Nathan out of guilt. Now she was afraid of what Arthur might have realized by now about her slipping some software program that had her father's company name on and had taken it from Arthur's office.

Upon arrival at the El Marat-Saqarra Pyramid where the Ark of the Covenant had been found by William Sharpe and his group, Alhena found Greg Sharpe alive and well, who showed her where she could wash the sands of Egypt off her body. Afterwards one of the arab men took her to the Mess tent where she had a meal. Later she met Greg and his father, William and the other leaders of the Discovery Corps and she found herself telling William Sharpe the whole story of finding the software program of her father's next to Arthur Blois' computer. He was stunned but understood the consequences for her and everyone in the camp should the Blois interests encompass the Discovery Corps. Having been informed by NUMA recently about the recent findings of the Blois Industrial site along the Senegal-Mauritania border, William knew it would only be a matter of time before the enemy arrives at the El-Marat-Saqarra Pyramid. It was now time to prepare to put up some kind of defense. Then it struck him about a possible passage beneath the pyramid to the riverbed as a possible means of escape. He immediately ordered the men to find and dig out the passage before they are attacked.

Paris, France. The old british spy watched the long column of people marching towards the Blois Tower, being led by a couple of teenage boys. One was Ibrahim Bonham, Alhena's young teenage brother and Frank Sharpe, the young teenage son of William Sharpe. Soon the large mass of people swarmed into the Blois Tower and swamping the workers and executives.The old brit, Brian Shaw, thought it childish but effective in disrupting The Adelin Corporation and it's operations. Meanwhile, Dirk and Al were in a small tunnel boring machine in the desert near the Senegal-Mauritania border and nearing the Industrial Site owned by The Adelin Corporation. It was nearly midnight when they tore into the subbasement of the plant. They got out and made their way slowly through the plant with Dirk holding his Colt and Al holding a Glock as their only means of weapons. They encountered one guard soon as they made the basement level and knocked him out, sparing their ammuntion. When they made the ground level floor they encountered a couple of guards. Al shot the one while Dirk fought the other one, finally managing to knock him out. They made it a main lobby and found a map of the of the plant and committed it to memory and were on their way. They were on a catwalk when they encountered another guard, who managed a shot before Al pounced on him, pummeling the man into unconsciousness. Soon they managed to work themselves towards a connecting walkway to a secondary building and before they got into the second building another guard showed up and Dirk got off a shot that only wounded the man and Al cuffed him over the head. Two minutesinto the second building they came up on the main generator and soon found themselves staring into one large pool of water that obviously was the underground river dammed into one large body of water that the entire industrial site sat atop. The power that was being generated by this mass of water was tremendous and they followed some energy pipes that were each about 45 yards wide. They walked through a connecting passageway into a larger and third building where they stopped and looked at the most massive tanks ever constructed of chemicals that were connected and interacting to form one dangerous mix that gave off a huge energy burst before being carried off into many pipelines that went underground and headed to the Atlantic Ocean where the remaining effluescent was deadly and polluting. They found themselves walking down an obscure walkway that was colored blue and after nearly a mile they came to a chamber where a strange object sat atop an illuminated pedestal. Roberts Blossom walked out of a hidden doorway that whoosed open and introduced himself to Dirk and Al. "It is not by accident that the two of you have managed to get this far, Gentlemen. Though I certainly made sure there was a reasonable number of guards that I put in your way and am grateful that you did not kill them all. Mr. Itt and Mr. Giordino, I have read about some of the tales about the two of you. The two of you have led a very active and dangerous life that most men could not achieve in just one lifetime. So, I can appreciate how the two of you have managed to stay alive and tell the tale. Hopefully I can beat the two you at surviving this last adventure of yours. I have no intention of leaving the two of you alive, because I will make sure the two of you die before my eyes. Gentlemen". The floor opened beneath Dirk and Al and they fell into a pit.

Dalian, China. The Adelin Corporation Tower soared over the Chinese city 95 stories tall and depending upon the time of day a part of the city was in the shadow of it. This summer day seemed like no other with the possible exception of a large column of people marching towards the Adelin Tower. At the head of the marching column of people Joe Zavala and an Vietnamese woman were leading in front. From another road a second column of people being led by Kurt Austin and a short chinaman were in front and hailing the people on towards the tall building that towered above them all. Finally at 11:45 AM local time both columns of people converged at the tower and swarmed inside. Both columns of people were nearly a mile long. The large numbers of people swarmed the building in no time and causing chaos and mayhem. Acts of vandalism began and the shoving of workers among the melee of the people suddenly flared into several fights breaking out on different floors. With the tower nearing it's capacity load of weight it begans to sway one, then two millimeters and soon because of the constant moving of the people insided the building it swayed another millimeter. Despite the attempts of the executives to flee the building they were stopped at every turn. Kurt realized that it was becoming too dangerous to continue this and talked to his new friend, the chinaman to get the people to begin leaving. More and more fights broke out. And then more than one person fell and was crushed by the crowded mob scene inside the tower. Finally after ransacking files and looking on several computers Kurt realized there was nothing important stored in the records of the company and made his way to find Joe Zavala. They met on the forty-third floor and slowly worked their way down to the ground floor and managed to get outside. Eventually everyone soon got bored and began to leave the tower themselves.

London, England. New Scotland Yard issued warrants for the leaders of the Adelin Corporation to be arrested and the police swarmed into the corporate headquartes arresting many executives. Prime Minister Nedra Bennett received a call and was informed that her Home Secretary, Roberts Blossom was also issued a warrant for his arrest as a member of the Blois family but was no where to be found and presumed to have fled the country.

'As a Knight of Templar, I beseech my forefathers in the name of the holy kingdom and seek an act of execution with thy rod I hold in my hand" Roberts Blossom, the direct descendant of King Henry of England intones in a monotone and lays the Rod of Aaron upon the edge of the pit and in moments snakes appear magically falling into the pit where Dirk and Al watch in horror. Al pulls his gun shooting the snakes and runs out of bullets in no time. Dirk resisted the urge and just stood still, thinking of how to get out of this predicament.

After Roberts Blossom left, saying "I will be back to to make sure the two of you are dead soon". Dirk thinks hard and then looks at the 18 foot tall walls. "Al, take your pants off". Al looks at Dirk dumbfounded for a moment and see's the gleam in his friend's eye. "Your nuts, you know that? These are poisonous snakes but I am dumb enough to follow you to hell and back". Dirk takes his pants off too and ties one leg from both pairs of jeans together and asks Al to stand on his shoulders. Dirk slowly makes his way to the wall and then asks Al to toss the leg of one pants over the edge of the pit and sweep it about to find an object or something the pants to snag onto. Al does that and after a few minutes sweeps the pant leg over the rod that Roberts Blossom used. The rod falls into Al's hands and Dirk lowers himself slowly so Al can get off. Then Dirk takes the rod and tries several incantations until he says, "With thy Rod of Aaron I beseech the holy Kingdom to banish these snakes of hades into the pit of fire from whence they have come and lift me and my brother to our fatherly heaven". The snakes disappear and Dirk & Al find themselves out of the pit and standing on the floor of the chamber again. Al unties the pants and the two put their pants on. Roberts Blossom steps out of a door and is stunned to see the two out of the pit. Dirk intones "Thy rod of Aaron I beseech you to banish this unholy brother to the fires of hell". Roberts Blossom yells as he feels himself turn to fire and disappears.

By the time Dirk and Al got back to the front of the Industrial Complex they found law authorities and Kurt Austin in control of the plant. They followed Kurt to a helicopter and then flew to Egypt. After arriving in Cairo they took a taxi to the outskirts of town where they stopped at an open market where they met an Egyptian man who took them by jeep into the desert towards Saqarra. Halfway there they stopped and had to travel by camel to the El Marat-Saqarra Pyramid. Upon arrival they rested before showering and then had a meal at the mess tent. After eating they met William and Greg Sharpe, and Alhena Bonham.

Dirk handed over the Rod of Aaron to William Sharpe, who replied "Thank you very much for bringing the second item of the Ark of the Covenant, if it had not been for you finding this, it could have taken me years to even find it. This is the Rod of Aaron that has many powers for those who have a good heart, as Aaron, the brother of Moses did. This was stolen from the caisson where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The Tablets and the Rod comprise the Ark of the Covenant and had been forcibly separated. Now the two shall be together again". Dirk, Al and Kurt rode by Camel back to El Marat and from there to Cairo rode in a jeep. Kurt saw Dirk and Al off at Cairo International Airport and then took a helicopter back to Blois Industrial Site along the Senegal-Mauritania border where he would begin the process of cleaning the polluted coastline of Africa. The old dam that had been built nearly 5,000 years ago was blown up and allowed the natural course of the river to flow again after much work by the engineering corps had dug through the Sahara Desert. It would be awhile but hopes were high that with the freedom of the river to flow in it's old banks again that northern Africa could return to a lush and green state again. However, the law of unintended consequences would rear it's ugly head the next year on August 15, 2006 a large hurricane would brew off the coast of Africa and would sweep west towards the United States causing havoc.THE END.

Nice story guys!! You have a talent for writing tonym5!! Um...Tony...do you just want to jinx me here in Florida?!?! Hasn't the US had it's share in destructive hurricanes?? :unsure: Well, everyone expects a huge change in hurricanes for the next few years anyways... If people would just leave well enough alone! We have people all over the state who are destroying our dune system and building on barrier islands (why do they think they are called BARRIER islands!) Sorry...not trying to go off on you guys because most of y'all agree...but then everyone freaks out when a hurricane hits and does so much damage...if they hadn't messed up some of Floridas natural defenses then there wouldn't be so much damage...same goes for all the states that get hit by hurricanes... This probably isn't the place for al of these comments though, huh? :lol:

It's okay to post here Shark. :lol: w: