In the front of the bus, they saw Abbas holding his cell phone and speaking to the driver just before the bus turned off the main highway and headed down a paved side road.

"Did anyone follow us, Professor?" Abbas shouted.

Lev peered through the rear window at the darkened road behind them. "Nothing yet. Mind if I ask what you're up to?"

"I just called my headquarters. There's a Turkish military barracks at the end of this road. We'll stay there tonight, and in the morning a detachment of Turkish Special Forces will escort us to Orencik. Tomorrow we go see what's in those hills."

CHAPTER 13.

With the rising sun in their eyes, a long line of brown military trucks was greeted by hostile stares from the villagers as they pulled off the highway and began rolling through the narrow dusty streets of Orencik. While some nervous townspeople began shuttering their windows against the rising dust kicked up by the military convoy, others, mostly children, ran outside to look skyward at a V-shaped formation of helicopters that was swooping in from the south, skimming over the city at rooftop level and shaking even more dust from the ancient hand-hewn timbers that supported the village's leaning mud houses.

Many in the village began to flee into the fields, because along with the dust and the noise from the rumbling trucks came great suspicion. The Kurdish people who lived in this village had never seen so many soldiers before, and their sudden arrival reminded them of a time when Saddam's army had swooped in and sprayed an entire Kurdish village in Iraq with a biological weapon that had killed everyone in its path.

Squeezed between Abbas and Lev Wasserman in one of the lead trucks, Leo looked out at all the fearful faces staring back at him through mud-streaked windows. "We need to pay another visit to the village elder. If we could somehow gain his trust, his help could prove invaluable. Besides, no one else knows this area the same way these people do, and right now they look scared to death."

"You think he's going to be more cooperative just because the army is with us?" Lev asked.

"Maybe. At least he'll know we're serious and that we're not going away."

"It's worth a try, Cardinal," Abbas said, "but personally I think the most you'll hear from him is have a nice day before he slams the door in your face."

The Turkish sergeant driving the big truck suddenly slammed on the brakes, throwing the vehicle into a sliding stop. An old man wearing a turban and dressed in flowing, multi-colored robes had just stepped into the middle of the road followed by a group of stoic-looking men who stood with their arms folded in defiance only inches from the front bumper.

Abbas peered through the window at the approaching group. "It seems the elder has decided to come to us, Cardinal."

"Good. Let's see what he has to say." Leo and Lev jumped from the truck, followed by Abbas and the driver, who was less than pleased at the men who had just blocked their path. The crackle of military radio chatter accompanied the quick arrival of a Turkish Army Special Forces colonel accompanied by a large contingent of well-armed soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues.

Facing the old man, the colonel's face was contorted with rage. "What's the meaning of this? You could have been killed! Clear this street immediately or I'll have my men clear it for you."

The old man blinked back at the short officer, apparently unfazed by the man's outrage. "I am sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but I knew of no other way to warn you of the danger ahead."

"Danger? What danger? What are you talking about, old man?"

"This man is the village elder," Leo said, stepping forward. "We spoke with him a few days ago, and I believe he could be of great help to us. Would you mind if I had a few words with him?"

The Turkish colonel swatted the end of a thin riding crop against the side of one of his high leather boots as he looked up at the tall cardinal. "Of course, sir. My orders are to assist you, but please keep in mind that we are in this dusty hell hole to make sure nothing happens to you." The colonel looked up at the buildings lining both sides of the narrow street ahead. "I don't like this position. My men are sitting ducks here. Keep your discussion brief."

With that, the officer turned and tromped back to his vehicle, leaving a circle of armed soldiers standing around Leo and Abbas with their weapons pointing outward.

Leo smiled down at the village elder. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. We were actually on our way to see you."

"I knew you would return, Cardinal, but you must believe me when I tell you that all of these soldiers will be useless to you when you come face-to-face with what you seek out there in those hills."

Leo's calm demeanor was beginning to crack as he frowned down at the man. "And just what exactly am I seeking, sir, because to be honest, I have no idea why we are here other than the fact that certain signs have led us to this location. You, on the other hand, seem to have great knowledge of what may be lying in wait for us, and as much as my gut tells me to turn around right now, we are not going away. Regardless of the outcome, we are compelled to see what's out there, and right now you are our best chance for coming out of this alive."

The old man stood erect, his eyes narrowing with an expression of resignation mixed with fierce determination. "I have no influence with what lies beyond, Cardinal, but I see that you are an honorable man. We will take you to the area and point you and your people in the right direction, but that is as far as we will go. From that point on, you and those who are foolish enough to accompany you will be on your own."

"That's good enough for us," Abbas said, his face a mask of grim determination. "Would you care to ride with us?"

"No. We will meet you at the western edge of town in fifteen minutes. From there we will walk." The old man then turned and led his group of bearded followers back into the hodgepodge warren of narrow streets before disappearing from sight.

"What's the verdict?"

Leo looked back to see the Turkish colonel standing behind them. "He'll meet us in fifteen minutes at the western edge of the village. From there he'll walk us in."

"Walk us in to where, Cardinal?"

"I have no idea, but it can't be far. You and your men can remain behind if you'd like. I don't see any need for you to risk your men by accompanying us any farther."

"I have my orders, Cardinal. Where you go, I go. Just what kind of danger are you expecting?"

"The danger we face in the hills is spiritual, Colonel. Unless we encounter some kind of human resistance, I'm afraid your weapons will be useless."

Leo could see the colonel's face grow pale before he turned and motioned for his men to get back into their trucks.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the village elder and his Kurdish entourage were waiting for Leo at the base of a grassy hill. After a few perfunctory greetings, the mixed group set off over the hill, followed by a flanking platoon of Turkish Special Forces troops who looked less than enthusiastic about escorting a Catholic cardinal and a group of academics into a barren wilderness.

As soon as they reached the top of the hill, Leo waited for Morelli to catch up before pointing out the endless rows of similar undulating hills reaching as far as the eye could see in every direction. "Where have you been, Bishop?"

"I got stuck riding in the last truck. You guys almost forgot me this morning."

"Sorry about that, Anthony. I'm feeling a little distracted today for some reason."

"Join the club. Looks like the village elder there is getting ahead of us."

Looking back over his shoulder at Leo, the old man motioned them forward with a gnarled walking stick as he and his followers headed for the next hill in line.

Walking beside Leo, the Turkish colonel signaled for his men to spread out. "You know, Cardinal, if these people are so afraid of something out here in these hills, don't you find it a little strange that they didn't just draw you a map and stay home?"

"I'm beginning to find everything about this place strange, Colonel."

For the first time since they had met, Leo saw the tough-acting officer smile. Reaching out, the colonel extended his hand. "My name is Bartu ... Bartu Demir. I'm very pleased to meet you, Cardinal Amodeo. I apologize for coming off so strong back in the village. Getting all warm and fuzzy with newcomers doesn't exactly come easily to someone in my profession, especially when you've been tasked with keeping them alive at all costs, which means that in the process I could lose men who have become like brothers to me over the years."

"I understand, Colonel. Unfortunately, acting warm and fuzzy toward newcomers happens to be a big part of my job description ... one I don't always relish. Wearing this Roman collar can sometimes be a magnet for some very strange people." Leo paused as he looked at the colonel's pencil-thin moustache. "You remind me of another colonel I once knew ... an American chopper pilot."

"Does he still fly, or do the higher-ups have him chained to a desk?"

The expression that crossed Leo's face answered the colonel's question.

"Oh ... I see." Demir nodded. "My condolences, Your Eminence."

"I was flying in the chopper next to his when it was hit," Leo said, looking straight ahead.

"You have the eyes of a soldier, Cardinal."

"A soldier of the cross, Colonel. However, lately I find myself spending more and more time with real soldiers."

Demir's first impression of Leo had just taken a swift 180 degree turn. Instead of feeling resentment at having to babysit yet another pompous official with high-placed connections, he was beginning to sense that he was in the presence of a very different sort of man-a man who not only respected the beliefs of others, but looked like he would also fight ceaselessly in their defense.

Up ahead, at the top of the next hill, the old man and the small group of villagers stopped. "This is as far as we go," the old man said. "From here you're on your own."

Looking out over the surrounding countryside, Leo and the others could see nothing but wavering brown grass covering a rounded treeless vista. Not a single bird could be seen circling overhead, and even a whisper could be carried by the breeze to the next hilltop.

"There's nothing here," Leo replied. "Nothing but rolling hills as far as the eye can see."

The old man began moving back down the hillside in the direction of the village before stopping and pointing toward the horizon. "It's there, Cardinal ... just over the next hill. There's a slight depression on the other side that would go unnoticed to the untrained eye, but the archaeologists with you will recognize the signs."

"Signs? What kinds of signs?"

Planting his twisted walking stick in the soft earth, the old man frowned. "You'll see, Cardinal ... you'll see." A few minutes later, he and his followers were gone after disappearing through the tall grass at the base of the hill.

Morelli placed his hands on his hips and stared out at the bleak, windswept landscape. "Well, he was a lot of help. He might as well have just stayed in town and pointed in this direction.

"I think he was still holding out hope we would change our minds," Leo said, "because he said that once we were in the area of the ruin there would be no turning back."

"I thought he said no one knew where this so-called dark ruin was located."

"Obviously he was lying to protect us. I have a feeling the village elders have been guarding a secret in these hills for a very long time now. It's almost like they've made a pact with whatever's out here in order to keep it away from them."

Alon clicked the safety off his new 9mm Sig pistol and looked across the space that separated them from the next hill. "Why don't we go see what's got everyone so scared?"

Cautiously, the group climbed up the next hill and stopped. To their amazement, they found themselves staring at a crater that resembled a small volcanic vent usually found scattered near extinct volcanoes-but the geologic maps they were using showed no evidence of any ancient volcanoes in this region of Turkey. This surprising feature created a natural walled-off area inside the hill that would have been virtually invisible to anyone walking around the outside of the hill.

Jagged black rock could be seen poking up through the tall brown grass that covered the edges of the crater-another marker for volcanic activity in an area where no such activity was said to have occurred. Exchanging glances, they gingerly stepped closer and peered down into the bottom of the crater, and there, lying in plain view, was the thing they had all come to see.

Rising toward the sky they saw a circle of dark shapes standing on a raised area that was strangely devoid of any vegetation. The shapes were huge, and they reminded Leo of the megalithic stone circles they had seen at the other site, only these stone giants were at least twice as high.

Demir let out a low whistle. "What is that?"

"I have no idea, Colonel," Leo said. "Why don't we go have a look?"

Feeling like a sky diver preparing to jump from a perfectly good airplane, Leo led the others as they began their sliding descent down the rocky sides to the bottom of the crater. Grabbing loose tufts of brown grass, they tried to slow their descent as loose rocks tumbled down beside them, until finally they found themselves standing on level terrain in the seemingly airless and stagnant world at the bottom of the crater. Before them, a raised stone platform supported a ring of carved blocks of stone that towered above their heads, and they were black, as if they had been burned.

"This is fantastic!" Morelli exclaimed. "These columns must be thousands of years old, but it looks like there's been a very hot fire here sometime in the past. This has to be the Dark Ruin. I mean ... look at the charred surfaces ... and there are carvings of animals I've never seen before." Morelli was already scrambling up onto the stone platform surrounding the pillars when suddenly a red mist began to form across the bottom of the crater.

Looking back at Demir and the Turkish soldiers, Leo held up his hand. "Uh ... Anthony ... I think you need to back away from there."

In his haste to explore, Morelli had barely noticed the reddish haze now surrounding him. "What's happening?"

"I don't know ... but ... The satellite phone attached to Leo's belt began to buzz. Now what? Keeping his eyes on Morelli, Leo lifted the phone and placed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Get out of there! Get out of there right now!"

The static on the other end was making it difficult for Leo to hear as he held the phone to his ear. "Who is this?"

"This is Eduardo Acerbi, Cardinal, and you and your friends have only a few minutes to live unless you get out of there right now!"

"Where are you?"

"We don't have time to talk. I'll call you back in a few minutes ... now run!" The line suddenly went dead.

Looking back toward the raised area, Leo saw that Morelli's next few steps would place him right in the center of the space. "Anthony! Stop! Don't go any farther."

Morelli froze as he jerked his head back toward Leo. "What is it?"

"We've got to get out of here!"

"Now?"

"Yes ... right now!"

"Who was that on the phone?"

"Eduardo Acerbi ... and he knows where we are."

"Acerbi? That's impossible! The man just had a stroke."

"Apparently he's recovered enough to talk. I recognized the voice. We need to move away from here ... now!"

Turning away from the towering blocks of stone, Morelli's eyes grew wide as he ran through the reddish haze. Looking at Leo, he jumped from the platform and began to run just as everyone else started clambering back up the sloping sides of the mist-covered crater.

Most soldiers who have seen combat will all agree that time seems to bend in strange ways when an individual is suddenly faced with his or her own mortality, and this was just what Leo and Morelli were experiencing in their slow-motion race up the sides of the crater. Half-way up, they felt a series of tremors in the earth which caused them to look back down over their shoulders. The Dark Ruin was now completely covered in the thick red mist, and as they continued to scramble up the steep rocky sides of the crater, they saw several large boulders break loose from the rim in a heaving cloud of dust before beginning a downward plunge straight for them.

Moving sideways in a frantic, crab-like motion, Leo ducked as one of the tumbling giants flew over his head and crashed down behind him with a thud that rippled the ground in all directions. The Earth heaved once again before suddenly growing quiet, but in the abrupt silence they heard a sound that made the hair stand out on the back of their necks. Growing steadily, they could all hear the muffled sound of laughter. It seemed to be echoing all around them and came from everywhere and nowhere all at once, as if it were trying to pass from one dimension into another like a stranger's shadowy finger pushing against a gossamer curtain late at night, looking for someone inside. No one present had ever experienced anything like it before, even when they had all battled demons in the Negev Desert. This was something new, and for the first time since they had set out for this place, Leo felt real fear. "Run!"

Reaching the overhanging edge of the crater, the Turkish soldiers swirled around to aim their guns down toward the red mist and whatever lay inside as everyone rolled over the lip of the crater and half ran and half fell down the grassy incline, until finally they came to an out-of-breath stop at the top of the next hill. The sound of laughter had disappeared, replaced instead by the sound of flapping wings.

Leo cocked his head and listened. The sound reminded him of a flock of large birds flying just overhead, but there were no birds anywhere to be seen. Frozen with fear, they continued to listen and watch, spellbound, until finally the flapping stopped and the Earth heaved one last time before all was quiet again. Like steam from a kettle meeting cooler air, the strange happenings of the past few minutes had evaporated just as suddenly as they had begun, and in the quiet aftermath no one had any doubt that a sudden phone call had just saved all of their lives.

For some reason, Leo's fear also seemed to evaporate. He felt like a twenty-year-old again, energized by what he had just experienced. Whatever lay buried beneath that hill possessed a cosmic malevolence so violent that its presence had triggered an equal and opposite force within him, making him more acutely aware of the forces at play in a celestial realm that was invisible to those who haven't been invited. Whatever it was, the mere presence of two men of God had set it off before they had even had a chance to make real contact. This was nothing like the entity they had encountered in the Negev Desert or in the Chapel under the Vatican, and Leo knew that whatever it was, it was much, much worse- if there could be such a thing.

Leo's satellite phone rang once again, jarring everyone's already frazzled nerves. "Hello?"

"I see you made it out alive, Cardinal. It's good to hear your voice."

"Is this really you, Eduardo?"

Leo heard a faint chuckle on the other end of the line. "Yes, Cardinal. I guess you could say I've made a miraculous recovery. I'll explain everything to you when we meet."