Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Frank E. Peretti is one of American Christianity's best-known authors. His novels have sold over 10 million copies, and he is widely credited with reinventing Christian fiction. He and his wife, Barbara, live in the Pacific Northwest. www.frankperetti.com.

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The Cooper Kids Adventure Series

Thomas Nelson

Chapter One

Field Marshal Idi Nkromo was already awake and strutting about at the front of the camp, watching his army come to life. He was a heavy-set, marble-eyed man with medals and ribbons adorning his chest-most were of his own design, and most he had awarded himself. He scowled; he glared; he growled orders to his lieutenants, his hand always on the gleaming saber that hung at his side.

He nodded approvingly to himself. Yes, this would be the moment, the final engagement, the ultimate display of his power. After this day, his rule over the tiny African nation of Togwana would be complete and absolute. After this campaign across the desert, no one would dare to ... he became distracted by a muttering, a buzzing among the troops. Nkromo was displeased. Why were they not all standing rigid and silent? Hadn't enough soldiers been beaten or shot to enforce discipline? The light of dawn was just now revealing their faces, and they were staring anxiously toward the desert, exchanging worried glances with each other and whispering through the ranks.

Nkromo drew his saber and bellowed, "Order!"

The soldiers stiffened at attention, but there was still a stirring, and their faces held wide-eyed fear.

"Mobutu!"

"Sir!" Mobutu, a younger, thinner man in a khaki uniform, came on the run.

Nkromo pointed his saber at his army. "Find out who's causing this disturbance and drag them out to be shot!"

Mobutu didn't respond.

Nkromo shot a deadly glare his way, but Mobutu wasn't looking at him. The thin lieutenant and chief secretary was looking toward the desert-the same direction the army was looking. He appeared stunned, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide with horror.

"Mobutu!"

Mobutu pointed toward the desert. "Sir ... if you would look ..."

Nkromo never took advice. "Mobutu, maintain order in the ranks." Then, as if it were his idea, he added, "I think I'd like to survey the desert."

Nkromo turned with a deliberate casualness and looked across the barren expanse rimmed on the north and south by towering, rocky crags, just becoming visible in the light of dawn.

The saber fell from his trembling hand and clattered on the stones and sand.

THUNK! Jay Cooper, fourteen, strong, wiry, and sweating in the sun, swung a sledgehammer and drove the last wooden stake into the ground. Then he wound the end of a heavy rope around it and tightened it down with a few more whacks from the hammer. He had driven several stakes to hold the ropes tied around the base of a huge stone pillar etched with ancient relief carvings, hieroglyphics, and, near the top, the faces of Greek gods. The pillar was massive, at least three feet thick and thirty feet tall. It stood in the center of a vast excavation, the unearthing of what used to be an ancient Greek temple on a high bluff over the Mediterranean.

Dangling like an acrobat by a rope and harness, Dr. Jacob Cooper struggled to tighten a loop of cable around the crown of the pillar, being careful not to mar the chiseled face of the Greek god Zeus. "Okay, Lila," he called, "more slack."

Lila Cooper, thirteen, was perched on the ancient temple wall, her eyes alert and her long blond hair tied back for safety. She was operating a sizable gas-powered winch and feeding more cable to her father.

This precarious perch was making her a bit nervous. The excavated floor of the old temple wasn't that far down, only twelve feet or so, but just outside the wall she sat on was a steep cliff dropping several hundred feet to the sea. She could see the barge from the museum floating close to the shore, ready for loading; it was almost eighty feet long, but from up here it was the size of a postage stamp. She tried not to look that direction and pushed the lever to release more cable.

Dr. Cooper edged his way around the face of Zeus like a skilled rock climber, his muscular arms groping for any handhold he could find. When he finally got the cable secure just above Zeus's head, he exhaled a sigh of relief. "Okay, tighten her up."

Lila pulled the lever and the big drum of the winch turned, winding in the cable until it was tight.

Dr. Cooper climbed to the very top of the pillar and sat there like a seagull atop a flagpole. He removed his wide-brimmed hat and brushed back his blond hair, now slick with sweat. Looking thirty feet straight down, he could see his son, Jay, had the bottom of the pillar staked and secured with ropes so it wouldn't kick out when they tipped it over; looking toward the sea he saw his daughter, Lila, on the temple wall, ready to start lowering the pillar with the main winch. On the other side of the temple, Dr. Cooper's two crewmen, Bill and Jeff, were just getting ready to ease a long, flatbed trailer down a dirt ramp to the base of the pillar.

"So far so good," Dr. Cooper said to himself.

The plan was to secure a few more cables to the pillar, carefully lower it onto the trailer, and then haul it down an access road to the sea. A crew was already waiting there to load the pillar onto a barge and transport it to the Museum of Antiquities in Athens. Barring any disasters, Jacob Cooper and his crew might finish this project today.

Dr. Cooper waved at Bill and Jeff and called, "All right, bring the trailer down."

Bill, a big, mustached man with a southern drawl, climbed into the cab of the old diesel truck while Jeff, limber and usually nervous, stood on the dirt ramp below to give hand signals. The starter growled, then the engine rumbled to life, black smoke bursting from the old stacks above the cab.

Jeff waved and called, "Okay, ease her back ..."

Bill ground the old beast into reverse and slowly let out the clutch. The truck and trailer started inching down the steep dirt ramp toward the base of the pillar.

Dr. Cooper watched their progress from his lofty perch. The dirt ramp seemed to be working okay although it might be a little steep for that old rig. "Hey ..." he started to say, "slow up, you're-"

"You're going too fast!" Jeff hollered.

Bill stomped on the brake pedal. Something snapped and the pedal went clear to the floor. The trailer started rolling down the ramp, picking up speed, pulling the truck backward.

"Slow up!" Jeff yelled. He jumped out of the way, rolling in the dirt, as the trailer rumbled and bounced right past him.

Bill tried to pull on the parking brake. It broke off. He killed the ignition. The ramp was too steep, the trailer too heavy. The truck only slid backward down the incline, its rear tires slipping, growling over the dirt.

The flatbed was heading right for the base of the pillar.

Jay ran to get clear and hollered, "Dad!"

Dr. Cooper could see it coming: a...