The Call of Eternity

71 | RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Urhi-Teshub fell back, panting, his shoulders bruised, bloody and aching. He glared at what was left of the door. He had managed to break sections of it apart, but between them he had found another barrier: horizontal rows of metal bars. They burrowed through the wood from the depths of the door's frame on one side to its opposite. So this was the locking mechanism--what made the scraping sound each time the door unlocked and locked again. He hauled on the bars, his hands bloody with splinters. Nothing happened. He stormed away, cursing. They would never succumb to brute force.

Another tremor ricocheted through the Etemen'anki. At the far side of the suite, another pillar toppled over, the floor vibrating from its impact. A cloud of dust washed over him. He tightened the piece of cloth over his mouth and nose as Teshub roused, puking where he lay, the stink of his vomit permeating the thick haze of choking dust.

Arinna came to Urhi-Teshub and lay her hand on his arm. "We cannot remain in here," she said through the material over her mouth. "There are only two pillars left." She glanced up. Urhi-Teshub followed her look. Above, a long line of unsupported ashlars sagged, a few more tremors and they would succumb whether or not the remaining pillars still stood.

"And where should we go?" Urhi-Teshub asked, sour. "Nowhere is safe."

"Follow me," Arinna said, moving toward Baalat's room. "There is something you should see."

Casting one last withering look at the bars blocking their way out, Urhi-Teshub went after Arinna. Inside Baalat's room, she waited by the wall furthest from the door. As he approached, she pointed at several of the ashlars stacked on top of each other. He moved closer, his eyes watering in the dense haze of dust, and looked at them, seeing nothing. He shook his head, wondering what she was trying to show him.

"What am I--" he stopped. He saw it. They weren't ashlars at all. Cracks permeated their surfaces. Cracks just like one would see on a plastered wall, heavy with age. He kicked the lowest one, and the outer layer of painted plaster caved in under his foot. He roared, triumphant, yelling for the others to aid him. Ahmen arrived first, his face, chest and kilt streaked in white dust.

"Find something. Anything," Urhi-Teshub said, picking up a chair and snapping one of its legs off, "and dig through this. It's plaster. We'll work to make a hole big enough to crawl through."

Teshub came next, rubbing a massive bruise on his neck, followed by the old Egyptian, the one called Imhotep, and Thoth. The elder men left to fetch more chair legs while Teshub, Ahmen and Urhi-Teshub worked to break their way through the dense layer of plaster. The going was slow. Too slow. A faint thundering came from somewhere high above. The Etemen'anki was collapsing, Urhi-Teshub was certain of it. They were running out of time.

He shoved his chair leg into the opening, it met with the usual resistance, then slammed through, making him lose his balance. Behind, nothing. Open air.

"I'm through," he shouted. He pulled the leg back, estimating the distance. "The remaining plaster is only a handspan deep. We can kick the rest of it in." He stood up, and tossed the chair leg aside, waiting while Ahmen and Teshub took their turns kicking the remains of the hole away. It collapsed after their third try, a dense blanket of dust billowing outward. Urhi-Teshub knelt and dragged the rubble out, clearing the way. He peered in, blinking through the haze. The glint of silver metal winked back. Rows and rows of weapons, some still hanging on their racks on the wall, others fallen to the floor.

"The weapons room," Urhi-Teshub said, coughing, pulling back, his lungs aching for clean air. "So this wasn't always a prison."

"Clever woman," Teshub said, pressing his lips to Arinna's dusty brow. He got down on his hands and knees. "I'll go first and open the way out into the corridor, the rest of you take as much as you can carry, both weapons and devices. Thoth, you better still know how to fly one of Marduk's ships."

"Just do your job," Thoth retorted, clutching a makeshift satchel stuffed with scrolls and loose pieces of papyrus against his chest, protective. "And let me do mine. Except," he paused, a shear of panic slicing through his eyes, "Marduk blindfolded us when he brought us from his ship. I don't know the way out."

"I do," Urhi-Teshub muttered. "I can get us there, so long as the way hasn't become blocked."

"We'll get through," Teshub said, "Marduk's weapons can disintegrate anything." He shoved his way through the narrow opening, his shoulders scraping against the rough edges of the broken plaster, bits of it tumbling down his back into the room. "The air is cleaner in here," he called back. "Apart from some fallen devices, the way out is clear." Another thundering, from above, louder this time. "Come on," he shouted. "Arinna first."