Wolf had been using them to dig for - the Twin Tablets of Thutmosis, which contain the final incantation to activate the Machine when all the pillars are placed. Jack and Pooh travel to their old farm in Kenya, finding Horus (Jack's falcon) and the Adamson twins waiting; they'd come to the farm because it seemed like the best isolated safe place. They share with Jack the news that the Brotherhood has a mole in Wolf's unit, a marine code-named Switchblade, who plans to sabotage Wolf's effort to place the Second Pillar. Jack and the Adamsons head to Zanzibar, where an old friend of Jack's is hiding out, making a career after deserting the US army to attack gun-runners in Africa. Pooh leaves them at the airport to go north and rescue Stretch from the Mossad's torture chambers. Before he leaves, Jack gives him a GPS locator with which to signal Jack if he needs help. Jack's old friend is J.J. Wickham, known as the 'Sea Ranger' due to his use of an old Russian submarine. After a lengthy explanation he takes Jack to the Second Vertex, arriving just as Wolf does. Switchblade attempts to sabotage the mission by dropping the Second pillar into the bottomless abyss beneath the Vertex before it is inlaid, dooming the world and depriving the Americans of its reward, 'Heat' (believed to be a limitless power-source). However, Jack swings across the pit at the last moment, catches the pillar, and manages to place it in the Vertex just before Switchblade drops himself and Jack into the abyss. Wickham and the Adamsons escape, with Horus diving into the abyss after Jack. Wolf leaves with the Second Pillar, leaving Alby, who was brought with them, alone at the Vertex. Zoe, Sky Monster, Lily and Wizard, on board the Halicarnassus on an airfield in Botswana, had been in phone contact with Jack to help him avoid the traps at the Vertex and see the whole thing happen on the videophone. The surviving team members realize they must face the placing of the last four pillars and the arrival of the Dark Sun, three months away, without Jack. Characters Returning from Seven Ancient Wonders Jack 'Huntsman' West Jr, protagonist (last seen falling into an abyss along with Switchblade) - Former SASR Horus, The Falcon (last seen following Jack) Lily 'Eowyn' West. Professor Max 'Wizard' Epper. Zoe 'Princess' Kissane -