The Six Sacred Stones

by Matthew Reilly

  Now while it is not impossible that Rameses could have seen all of these stones, it is unlikely. Itis believed, however, that all six of the stones resided at one time in Egypt, even the Stonehenge and Mayan ones. Whatever the case, Rameses does seem to have been in possession of some advanced knowledge about them, and of all the pharaohs, he alone committed that knowledge to writing.

  These guidestones, he said, once “impregnated by the SaBenben” would provide “the necessary wisdom” when “Ra’s Dark Twin returned to wreak his vengeance on the world.”

  As you can imagine, for many years this confounded Egyptologists. Ra was the Sun. Who or what, then, was Ra’s Dark Twin? Another Sun?

  It took the technological wizardry of modern astronomy to find it: the Dark Sun now approaching our solar system.

  So what do the Six Ramesean Stones do? Why did Rameses call them guidestones?

  Simple: they guide us to the Machine.

  And the Machine saves our planet.

  We thought our troubles were over when we erected the Capstone atop the Great Pyramid, but no, we were only completing a necessary precondition for this, the main event: we

  “charged” the SaBenben.

  And so now the SaBenben has been charged by the Sun. As such it is ready to interact with the Six. It is my belief that when the SaBenben comes into contact with each Sacred Stone, that Stone will provide a unique insight into the coming of the Dark Sun and the Earthsaving operation of the Machine.

  The end of all things is near……but it’s not over yet.

  A DOOR SLAMMED somewhere. The assembled delegates looked up from their reading.

  “Ahha! My son!” Sheik Abbas leaped up from his chair and embraced the handsome young man who had entered the room.

  He was Captain Rashid Abbas, commander of the UAE’s elite First Commando Regiment. The sheik’s first son, he was a strikingly handsome man: with a chiseled jaw, dark Arabian skin, and deep blue eyes. His callsign was typically grand:The Scimitar of Allah, or justScimitar for short.

  “Father,” he said, embracing Abbas warmly. “Forgive my lateness, but I was waiting on my friend here.”

  Scimitar indicated his companion—who had entered the room almost invisibly, outshone by Scimitar’s luminous presence. He was a delicate, precise fellow, with a bald head and a long ratlike nose. His shifting eyes swept the room, taking in everything, tense and edgy, suspicious.

  Scimitar said, “Father, allow me to introduce Abdul Rahman al Saud from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from their esteemed Royal Intelligence Service. His call sign:Vulture. ”

  Vulture bowed to Sheik Abbas, low and slow.

  Lily disliked Vulture on sight. His bow was too low, too obsequious, too deliberate.

  As for Scimitar, she had seen him once or twice before—and then, as now, she noticed that Pooh Bear retreated into a corner of the room at the arrival of his handsome older brother. It seemed to Lily that the presence of his dashing brother clearly affected the younger and fatter Pooh Bear.

  It made her dislike Scimitar, too.

  Jack was also disturbed, but for different reasons. While he had expected Scimitar, he had not expected him to bring a Saudi spy along, the first of Sheik Abbas’s uninvited guests.

  “Vulture?” he said. “Not the Blood Vulture of Abu Ghraib prison fame?”

  Vulture visibly stiffened. So did Scimitar.

  During the official investigation into the atrocities at the notorious Iraqi prison, it emerged that Saudi intelligence agents had carried out torture activities that American soldiers were forbidden to do. One such Saudi intelligence agent had performed acts of torture so shockingly brutal that he had earned the nickname “Blood Vulture.”

  “I visited that prison on several occasions, Captain West,” Vulture said in a low voice, his eyes locked on Jack’s, “but not at the times the depravities took place.”

  “I will personally vouch for this man,” Scimitar said irritably. “We have been through much together, over two Gulf Wars and more in between. The rumors of Abu Ghraib are unfounded lies. He is practically my brother.”

  At that, Lily saw Pooh Bear lower his eyes.

  Vulture said, “I bring information that I am sure will be useful to you and your cause. For instance, I know the plans of the Chinese.”

  That got West’s attention. “You do?”

  The phone rang. Zoe got it, turned to West: “Jack. It’s the hotel manager. He says there are a couple of people downstairs who would like an audience with you. He says they’re American.”

  Moments later, the door to the suite opened to reveal two men: one a tall grayhaired gentleman in a suit; the second a younger man dressed in plain clothes that scarcely disguised his military physique. A soldier.

  From his chair, Sheik Abbas recognized the older man. “Why, Attaché Robertson? What are you—?”

  Jack remained standing between the two Americans and the meeting, blocking the way.

  “Names. Now.”

  The older gentleman didn’t flinch an inch. “Captain West, my name is Paul Robertson, special attaché to the US ambassador here in the United Arab Emirates. This is Lieutenant Sean Miller, from the United States Marine Corps, call signAstro. We’re here to express our country’s…concern…at recent Chinese actions, both military and archaeological, and hopefully assist you in some way.”

  Special attaché,Jack thought,meant CIA agent.

  “And how can you help me?” he asked.

  Jack’s relations with the United States of America were somewhat strained. His mission to locate the Seven Ancient Wonders had been in direct opposition to an influential group of Americans known as the Caldwell Group, who at the time had had the ear of the President. There had been some deaths involved, including people dear to Jack.

  Robertson remained impassive, a cool customer. “We know, for instance, where the Chinese are keeping your friend, Professor Epper.”

  West stepped aside immediately. “Come on in. Take a seat.”

  At that very moment a windowless Boeing 767 cargo plane took off from Dubai International Airport.

  On its flanks were emblazoned the words:TRANSATLANTIC AIR FREIGHT.

  Its listed pilot: Captain Earl McShane.

  And so now the representatives of six nations sat arrayed around the Presidential Suite of the Burj al Arab: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America.

  “You’ve all read the briefing document,” West said. “Here is the translation of a carving that I received from Wizard in China just before he was captured by Chinese forces.”

  West distributed a new threepage handout. On the first sheet was Wizard’s translation from China:

  THE COMING OF RA’S DESTROYER

  THE COMING OF RA’S DESTROYER

  SEES THESTARTING*OF THE GREATMACHINE**

  AND WITH IT THE RISE OF THE SABENBEN.

  HONOR THE SABENBEN,

  KEEP IT CLOSE, KEEP IT NEAR,

  FOR IT ALONE GOVERNS THE SIX

  AND ONLY THE EMPOWERED SIX CAN

  PREPARE THE PILLARS AND

  LEAD YOU TO THE SHRINES AND THUS

  COMPLETE THE MACHINE

  BEFORE THESECOND COMING.***

  THE END OF ALL THINGS IS NEAR.

  AMBIGUOUS TERMS:

  MATCH REFERENCE:

  Ref XR:5–12 Partial inscription found at ZhouZu Monastery, Tibet(2001) West said, “As you’ll see, this decryption refers to a Great Machine and the importance of theSaBenben. ‘The Second Coming’ to which it refers is the coming of the Dark Sun.”

  “This Dark Sun, or Star, this bringer of the Apocalypse, why have astronomers not seen it before now?” Sheik Abbas asked.

  “According to Wizard,” West said, “it exists on a light spectrum unknown to humanity, so we can’t see it through any of our telescopes, in any spectra, like infrared or ultraviolet or UVB. Its presence has only been verified by what itblocks from our view.

  “From what I
’ve read, it seems to roam the outer reaches of our solar system in a hyperelongated elliptical orbit. When it comes near, which is not very often, about once every six million years, Jupiter’s movement shields us from it, blocks us from its deadly radiation. But even if this didn’t happen, you couldn’t see this Dark Sun with the naked eye.

  “In any case, it’s close now and this time—apparently—it will emerge from behind Jupiter, and that’s when things get really ugly. That’s when its constant discharge of radiationlike zeropoint energy will wash over our planet, killing every living creature on it—unless we can rebuild this Machine. The Machine, apparently, sends out a balancing response that counters the Dark Sun’s energy stream, saving the Earth. It always comes back to balance, to harmony.”

  “Comeon, Jack,” Zoe said. “Listen to yourself. Are you seriously saying that there is some kind of evil celestial orb out there bent on destroying the Earth?”

  “It’s not evil, Zoe. It just is. Call it antimatter, call it a singularity, call it a moving black hole. In the end, it is a netnegative void. A dense moving hole in the air. It’s not evil and it doesn’t hate us. We’re just in its way.”

  Stretch said, “And yet somewhere,sometime,someonebuilt a Machine here on Earth that is somehowconnected to this Dark Sun. Are you talking about advanced technology, Jack?

  Alien technology?”

  Jack bowed his head. “I don’t know. Wizard doesn’t say.”

  Vulture mused aloud: “‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Arthur C. Clarke.”

  “So how do we rebuild this Machine?” Sheik Abbas asked. “And why does China have a such a keen interest in doing so by itself? Surely, even the Chinese would realize that a united global coalition would be the best vehicle to achieve this?”

  “As always, Lord Sheik, you go directly to the heart of the matter,” West said. “Please turn to the second sheet of your handout.”

  They all did so. On it was a photocopy of Wizard’s summarizing page.

  West directed them to the center of the page. “To your first question, Sheik: how do we rebuild the Machine? Observe the six Pillars drawn by Wizard and described as ‘oblong uncut diamonds.’ Elsewhere in his notes, he states that these Pillars are each about the size of a brick. He also says—”

  “A diamond the size of a brick?” Scimitar said in disbelief. “Just one alone would be larger than the Cullinan, the largest diamond ever found, and beyond value. And you claim there aresix of these.”

  “Yes, six. Wizard also says that each Pillar must be ‘cleansed’ by the Philosopher’s Stone before being placed in the Machine, inspiring his exhortation that we ‘musthave both the SaBenben andthe Philosopher’s Stone. They are central to everything .’

  “The way I see it is this: to rebuild the Machine, we must place the six Pillars—cleansed by the Philosopher’s Stone—in position in this mysterious allpowerful Machine.

  “Which leads me to your second question, Abbas, why does China want to do this alone?

  They want to go it alone because it seems that whoever sets each Pillar in place in the Machine receives areward.

  “You can see the rewards listed by Wizard: knowledge, heat, sight, life, death, power.

  What these rewards actually are, I don’t know. I assume Wizard knows, but there’s nothing about their actual nature in his notes. But given what the Chinese have already done—grabbing Wizard in China and trying to steal theSaBenben from me—I imagine the rewards are pretty damn rewarding.”

  West threw a sharp glance at the two Americans, Robertson and Astro.

  Robertson cleared his throat. “I am not privy to my country’s research on this matter, so please don’t even ask me about that. But yes, the United States is unwilling to allow China to obtain the benefits you so describe.”

  “We’ll be wanting to talk to someone about your country’s research soon,” West said pointedly.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Zoe said. “I need to backtrack a bit. The Six Ramesean Stones plus theSaBenben give usinformation about this Machine. The Philosopher’s Stone, once charged by theSaBenben, cleanses the Six Pillars, which then have to be placedin the Machine. So what is this Machine? And how big can it be?”

  West tapped the image that signified the Machine:

  After reading Wizard’s notes these last couple of days, he’d been thinking about the Machine a lot: about this image and Wizard’s scribblings around it.

  At last he said, “Wizard doesn’t say what or how big the Machine is. But I have a theory.”

  “And?”

  West turned to face Zoe. “I think ‘the Machine’ is another name for our planet.” He pointed at the image: “This circle is Earth. And these dark triangles are sites located around the Earth, six sites at which the six Pillars—properly ‘cleansed’ or activated—

  must be set in place, thus restoring the Machine to working order before the Dark Sun emits its fatal burst.”

  “Good God…” someone said.

  “Yes. And if we don’t rebuild this Machine by the appointed time, our planet will be destroyed. People, the end of the world really is nigh.”

  SHEIK ABBAS breathed, “The end of the world…”

  He glanced around the room—only to see that the American, Robertson, was unmoved by Jack’s conclusion; likewise Scimitar and his Saudi companion, Vulture.

  Jack said, “You’ll recall that in his article, Wizard mentioned the black orb depicted in the Mystery of the Circles. He suggested that it was a Dark Star, a twin of our own Sun, its opposite. He also mentioned that the Mystery of the Circles depicts our solar system with ten planets instead of nine.”

  “Yes…”

  “Today, our solar system possesses nine planets plus an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,” Jack said. “But this may not always have been so. Later in his article, Wizard postulates that that asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiterwas once a very small planet not unlike our own. Now. If a planet were to be somehow destroyed, its pieces would coalesce into a floating belt of asteroids similar to the one found between Mars and Jupiter.”

  There was silence in the room.

  “Yes,” Jack said, reading their thoughts. “This has happened before.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he went on, “we need to pool our resources and fight this menace. We need to restore this Machine before that Dark Star arrives.

  “But at the moment there are too many pieces of this puzzle missing, such aswhen this Dark Star will arrive and thus the time by which the Machine must be rebuilt. Wizard knows many of the answers to these questions, but I imagine your own researchers know some of them, too. And that’s not even mentioning the rewards and China’s interest in this situation and whatever she might know.”

  Jack eyed the group arrayed before him. “I need to know what you all know.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence. It was time for some of them to reveal their secrets.

  Someone coughed, clearing his throat.

  It was the Saudi spy, Vulture.

  “My family, the High House of Saud, possesses one of these Pillars you describe,” he said. “It is indeed a large uncut diamond, oblong in shape, translucent to look at, yet still breathtaking to behold. We have held it for generations, always in a secure place. Other identical diamond Pillars are held by the two great European houses of SaxeCoburg

  Gotha and Oldenburg. I cannot, however, vouch for the whereabouts of the remaining three.”

  “Thank you,” Jack said, nodding.

  The American “attaché” Robertson clearedhis throat. “I am authorized to disclose that the United States of America has in its possession one of the Ramesean Stones you describe: the Killing Stone of the Maya. I am also authorized to make this Stone available to any multinational effort to combat the arrival of the Dark Sun.”

  Other minor pieces of information were offered, but after all was said and done, it appeared that the single greatest source of wisdom o
n the matter of the Machine, the Stones, and the Pillars was Professor Max T. Epper.

  “We have to get Wizard back from the Chinese,” Jack said. “Mr. Robertson. It’s time for you to pay your entry fee.”

  Robertson said, “Professor Epper is being held at Xintan Prison, a remote facility in the mountains of Sichuan Province in central China. He is classified as a Dclass prisoner: high value but subject to vigorous interrogation.”

  “You mean torture,” Pooh Bear said.

  Scimitar added, “Xintan is a fortress. No man who has entered it against his will has ever left it alive.”

  “That’s about to change,” West said.

  Vulture backed up Scimitar. “One does not just walk into the torture wing of Xintan Prison and stroll out again. It is beyond fortified. It is impregnable.”

  Robertson spoke formally: “The United States would have serious reservations about participating in any incursive act against China, especially one that would appear so aggressive. If Lieutenant Miller here were captured on Chinese soil during such a raid, it would be on the front page of every newspaper in the—”

  “Then don’t come,” Stretch said from the side of the room. A veteran of the first mission, Stretch was still seriously wary of these apparently wellmeaning intruders.

  Jack said, “We’ll handle those logistics when we come to them. Is there anything more?

  Anyone else have anything to offer?”

  The room was silent.

  The meeting was over—

  But then a hand went up, timidly, hesitantly. A little hand, in the back of the room.

  Alby.

  Paul Robertson turned and said, “Well, if we’re taking questions from children now, my time here is over. I have things to do.”

  Jack wasn’t so dismissive. In fact, he found it quite courageous of Alby to raise his hand, given the company around him.