King Solomon's Diamonds (Order of the Black Sun Series Book 18)

by P. W. Child

  “Can we refuse?” Nina asked.

  “You can,” Patrick replied. “And Sam can, but Mr. Kira and David are pretty much in the vice grip of the Archaeological Crimes people, and Prof. Imru is one of the heads of the organization.”

  “So we have no choice but to assist him,” Purdue sighed, looking uncharacteristically frazzled by the twist in the plan. Patrick sat down opposite Purdue and Nina, with Sam and Adjo beside him.

  “Let me explain. This is an impromptu detour, guys. From what I was told, I can pretty much assure you that it will interest you.”

  “Sounds like you want us to eat all our veggies, Mom,” Sam teased, although his meaning was very sincere.

  “Look, I’m not trying to sugar coat a fucking death game here, Sam,” Patrick snapped. “Don’t think I’m just accepting orders blindly or that I think you’re naïve enough for me to have to lie you into cooperating with the Archaeological Crimes Unit.” After asserting himself, the MI6 agent took a moment to calm down. “Apparently this has nothing to do with the Holy Box, or David’s plea bargain. Nothing. Prof. Imru asked if you lot could assist him in a very secretive matter that could have catastrophic repercussions on the whole world.”

  Purdue decided to abandon all suspicion for now. Perhaps, he thought, he was just too curious not to. “And did he say what it is about, this secretive matter?”

  Patrick shrugged. “Nothing specific I would know how to explain. He asked if we could touch down in Cairo and meet with him at the Masonic Temple in Giza. There he will explain what he called ‘an absurd request’ to see if you would be willing to help.”

  “Meaning ‘have to help’, I suppose?” Purdue rectified the phrasing Patrick had so carefully woven.

  “I reckon,” Patrick agreed. “But honestly, I think he is sincere about this. I mean, he would not alter the delivery of this very important religious relic just to get some attention, right?”

  “Patrick, are you sure this is not some kind of ambush?” Nina asked in a low tone. Sam and Purdue looked just as worried as she did. “I would not put anything above the Black Sun or these African diplomats, you know? Stealing this relic from them seems to have ruptured a very big hemorrhoid with these lads. How do we know they do not just land us in Cairo, kill us all, and pretend we never flew to Ethiopia or something?”

  “I thought I was the special agent, Dr. Gould. You exhibit more trust issues than a rat in a snake pit,” Patrick observed.

  “Believe me,” Purdue jumped in, “she has reason. And so do the rest of us. Patrick, we’re trusting you to see through this if it is an ambush of sorts. We are going anyway, right? Just know that the rest of us need you to smell smoke before we get trapped in a burning house, understand?”

  “I do,” Patrick replied. “And that’s why I made arrangements for some people I know from Yemen to accompany us to Cairo. They will be discreet and trail us just to make sure.”

  “That sounds better,” Adjo sighed in relief.

  “I agree,” Sam said. “As long as we know that external units have our whereabouts we’ll be more at ease with this.”

  “Come now, Sammo,” Patrick smiled. “You didn’t think I would just buy into commands if I don’t have a back door open?”

  “Will we be long, though?” Purdue asked. “I must concede that I am not too keen on taking long about this Holy Box matter. This is a chapter I would like to conclude and get back to my life, see?”

  “I understand,” Patrick said. “I am taking full responsibility for the safety of this expedition. We will be back on track as soon as we have met with Prof. Imru.”

  It was dark when they touched down in Cairo. Not only was it dark because it was nighttime, but it was dark all over the cities in the vicinity, making it extremely difficult to land the Super Hercules successfully on a runway lit by fire pots. Peering from the small window, Nina felt an ominous hand lock onto her, much like the onset of claustrophobia when she entered confined spaces. A choking, terrifying feeling overcame her.

  “I feel like I am locked in a coffin,” she said to Sam.

  He was as astonished as she was with what confronted them over Cairo, but Sam tried not to panic. “Don’t worry, love. Only people with a fear of heights should be uncomfortable right now. The power outage is probably because of a power station or something.”

  The pilot looked back at them. “Please buckle in and let me concentrate. Thank you!”

  Nina felt her legs buckle. For a hundred-mile radius of land beneath them the only light was that of the Hercules’ controls in the cockpit. All of Egypt was draped in pitch darkness, one of several countries plagued by an inexplicable power failure nobody could locate. Much as she did not want to reveal how petrified she was, she could not help feeling her phobia take hold of her. Not only was she in an old flying soup can with engines, but now she found that the lack of light completely simulated a closed space.

  Purdue sat down next to her, seeing the quiver of her chin and hands. He put his arm around her and said nothing, something Nina found extraordinarily comforting. Adjo Kira and Sam prepared for the landing by gathering up all their gear and reading material before buckling up.

  “I have to admit, Effendi, I am quite curious about this matter Prof. Imru is keen to discuss with you,” Adjo shouted over the deafening engines. Purdue smiled, knowing the excitement of his former guide quite well.

  “Do you know something we don’t, dear Adjo?” Purdue asked.

  “No, just that Prof. Imru is known for being a very wise man, and a king of his community. He loves ancient history and of course, archaeology, but the fact that he wants to see you is very much an honor. I just hope that this meeting is about those things he is known for. He is a very powerful man with a firm hand in history.”

  “Noted,” Purdue replied. “Let us hope for the best then.”

  “Masonic Temple,” Nina said. “Is he a Freemason?”

  “Yes, Madam,” Adjo confirmed. “Grand Master of the Giza Lodge of Isis.”

  Purdue’s eyes gleamed. “Freemasons? And they seek my help?” He looked at Patrick. “Now I am intrigued.”

  Patrick smiled, satisfied that he would not have to take responsibility for a trip Purdue would have no interest in. Nina also sat back, feeling more enticed by the possibilities of the meeting. Although traditionally women were not allowed at Freemasons gatherings, she knew of many historically great men who belonged to the ancient and powerful organization whose origins had always fascinated her. As a historian, she appreciated that much of their ancient rites and secrets were the essence of history and its influence on world events.

  23

  Like a Diamond in the Sky

  Prof. Imru welcomed Purdue amicably as he opened the high gates for the group. “Good to see you again, Mr. Purdue. I hope you have been well?”

  “Well, I have been a bit upset in sleep and meals are still not appealing, but I am healing on, thank you, Professor,” Purdue answered, smiling. “Just the fact that I’m not enjoying the hospitality of a prison population is enough to bring me cheer on a daily basis, actually.”

  “I would think so,” the professor agreed with sympathy. “Personally, a prison sentence was not our aim in the first place. More so, it seemed to be the MI6 people’s aim to lock you up for life than the Ethiopian delegation’s.” The professor’s admittance shed some light on Karsten’s vindictive pursuits, lending even more credence to the fact that he was out to get Purdue, but that was something for another time.

  After the party had joined the Master Mason in the cool beauty of the shade in front of the Temple, an earnest discussion was to begin. Penekal could not stop staring at Nina, but she handled his quiet admiration with grace. Purdue and Sam found his obvious infatuation with her amusing, but they kept their amusement to winks and nudges until the conversation took on an air of formality and seriousness.

  “Master Penekal is of the mind that we are being plagued by what is called in mysticism, a Magician. Now, by no
means should you imagine this character as a man of trickery and sleight of hand by today’s standards,” Prof. Imru began.

  “He is the reason for these power outages, for instance,” Penekal added softly.

  “If you would, Master Penekal, please refrain from jumping ahead before I have explained the esoteric nature of our dilemma,” Prof. Imru requested of the old astronomer. “There is much truth in Penekal’s statement, but you will better understand once I have explained the fundamentals. I do realize you have only a certain amount of time to return the Holy Box, so we shall try to make this as quick as possible.”

  “Thank you,” Purdue said. “I wish to get that done as soon as possible.”

  “Of course,” Prof. Imru nodded, and then proceeded to teach the group what he and the astronomer had put together thus far. While Nina, Purdue, Sam, and Adjo were being informed of the correlation between the falling stars and the wandering sage’s murderous robberies, someone was fiddling with the gate.

  “Excuse me, please,” Penekal apologized. “I know who that is. Apologies for his tardiness.”

  “By all means. Here are the keys, Master Penekal,” the professor said, handing Penekal the gate key to let the frantic Ofar in while he continued to help the Scottish expedition party catch up. Ofar looked labored, his eyes wide in panic and apprehension when his friend unlocked the gates. “Do they understand yet?” he panted.

  “We are informing them now, my friend,” Penekal assured Ofar.

  “Make haste,” Ofar implored. “Another star has fallen not more than twenty minutes ago!”

  “What?” Penekal raved. “Which one?”

  “The first of the Seven Sisters!” Ofar revealed, his words like the nails in a coffin lid. “We must hurry, Penekal! We must make a stand now or all will be lost!” His lips quivered like that of a dying man. “We have to stop the Magician, Penekal, or our children will not live to see old age!”

  “I am very aware of that, my old friend,” Penekal soothed Ofar, keeping him steady with a firm hand on the back as they approached the warm, hearty fire in the garden. The flames were welcoming, lighting up the façade of the great old Temple with great announcement where the walls featured the shadows of the present participants and animated their every move.

  “Welcome, Master Ofar,” Prof. Imru said as the old man sat down, nodding to the other members of the congregation. “I have now brought Mr. Purdue and his colleagues up to speed about our speculation. They know that the Magician is indeed busy weaving a terrible prophecy,” the professor announced. “I will leave it to the astronomers of the Dragon Watchers of Hermopolis, men who spring from the bloodlines of Thoth’s priests, to tell you what this murderer could be trying to do.”

  Penekal rose from his chair, unrolling the scrolls in the bright lantern light from the containers hung from the tree branches. Purdue and his friends instantly gathered closer to peruse the codex and charts.

  “This is a star chart of antiquity, covering the immediate heavens above Egypt, Tunisia…basically the entire Middle East as we know it,” Penekal explained. “In the past two weeks my colleague, Ofar, and I, have noticed several disturbing celestial occurrences.”

  “Such as?” Sam asked, scrutinizing the old brown parchment and its mind-numbing information in numbers and unknown script.

  “Such as stars falling,” he stopped Sam with an objective open hand before the journalist could speak, “but…not those we can afford to have falling. I would venture as far as to say that these heavenly bodies are not just gasses consuming themselves, but planets, small at a distance. When these types of stars fall, it means that they were dislodged from their orbits.” Ofar looked quite horrified at his own words. “It means that their demise could have a chain reaction effect on their surrounding constellations.”

  Nina gasped. “That sounds like trouble.”

  “The lady is correct,” Ofar acknowledged. “And these particular bodies are all important, so important that they have names by which they are identified.”

  “Not numbers after mundane scientists’ surnames, like many of today’s notable stars,” Penekal informed the audience around the table. “Their names are so important, as are their positions in the heavens above the earth, that they were known even to the men of God.”

  Sam was fascinated. Although he had spent his life dealing with criminal organizations and clandestine evildoers, he had to concede to the charm the mystic reputation of the starry sky held for him. “How so, Mr. Ofar?” Sam asked with consummate interest, jotting down some notes for himself to remember the terminology and chart position names.

  “In the Testament of Solomon, the wise king from the Bible,” Ofar recounted like an old bard, “it is said that King Solomon bound seventy-two demons and made them build the Temple of Jerusalem.”

  His statement was naturally met with cynicism from the group, disguised as silent contemplation. Only Adjo sat motionless, looking up at the stars above. With the power out all over the immediate country and other regions not akin to Egypt, the glamor of the stars excelled in the pitch dark space that lurked perpetually over all.

  “I know how this must sound,” Penekal explained, “but you have to think in terms of sicknesses and ill emotions, not horned imps, to impress the nature of ‘demons’. It will sound absurd at first, until we tell you what we’ve been observing, what has been happening. Only then will you begin to shed disbelief in favor of warning.”

  “I did assure Masters Ofar and Penekal that very few wise enough to grasp this arcane chapter would actually have the means to do something about it,” Prof. Imru told the visitors from Scotland. “And this is why I deemed you, Mr. Purdue, and your friends, the right people to approach in this regard. I have read much of your works too, Mr. Cleave,” he told Sam. “I have learned much of your sometimes unbelievable ordeals and adventures along with Dr. Gould and Mr. Purdue. This made me certain that you were not people who would blindly dismiss the strange and perplexing matters we deal with on a daily basis here within our respective orders.”

  Nicely done, Professor, Nina thought. Good of you to butter us up with that charming, albeit patronizing, summary of exaltation. Perhaps it was her power as a female that allowed Nina to pick up on the sweet-smearing psychology of praise, but she was not about to remark on it aloud. She had already caused tension between Purdue and Col. Yimenu, just one of his legal adversaries. It would be redundant to repeat the counter-productive practice with Prof. Imru and obliterate Purdue’s reputation for good, just to assert her intuition on the Master Freemason.

  And so Dr. Gould held her tongue while she listened to the astronomer’s lovely narration, his voice as soothing as an old wizard from a fantasy film.

  24

  The Accord

  Soon after, they were served by Prof. Imru’s housekeepers. Trays carrying a feast of Baladi breads and ta’meya (falafel) were followed by two more bearing spicy Hawawshi. The ground beef and spice filled their nostrils with intoxicating odors. The trays were set on the large table, and the professor’s people left as suddenly and as quietly as they had appeared.

  The visitors eagerly accepted the Freemason’s feast and dished it up with a chorus of approval that pleased their host greatly. When they had all had some nourishment, it was time for more information, as the Purdue party did not have much time to spare.

  “Please, Master Ofar, continue,” Prof. Imru invited.

  “We, my order, have in our possession a set of parchments entitled Solomon’s Codex,” Ofar elucidated. “Within these texts it is told that King Solomon and his magicians – what we might see as alchemists today – had somehow contained each of the bound demons within the confines of the seeing stone - diamonds.” His dark eyes shimmered with mystery as he lowered his voice to address each of those listening. “And for every diamond, a specific star was baptized to mark the fallen spirits.”

  “The star map,” Purdue remarked, pointing at the mad celestial scribblings on the one sheet of
parchment. Both Ofar and Penekal nodded mysteriously, both men appearing much more serene for having relayed the predicament to modern ears.

  “Now, as Prof. Imru may have explained to you in our absence, we have reason to believe that the sage is walking among us once more,” Ofar said. “And every star that has fallen thus far has been significant on Solomon’s map.”

  Penekal added, “And so has the specific power of each dawned in some form only recognizable by those who know what to look for, you see?”

  “The housekeeper of the late Madame Chantal, hung by a rope of hemp in the mansion in Nice a few days ago?” Ofar announced, waiting for his colleague to fill in the blanks.

  “The demon Onoskelis, in the Codex, is said to have spun ropes of hemp to serve in building the Temple of Jerusalem,” Penekal revealed.

  Ofar continued, “The seventh star in the constellation of Leo had also fallen, one dubbed Rabdos.”

  “The lamp lighter of the Temple during its construction,” Penekal explained in turn. He lifted his open hands up and looked about into the darkness draped over the city. “The lamps had gone out everywhere in the immediate lands. Only fire will make light, as you have seen. Lamps, lights of electricity, will not.”

  Nina and Sam exchanged glances, looking spooked but hopeful. Purdue and Adjo both shared a reaction of interest and mild excitement for the strange dealings. Purdue nodded slowly, grasping the patterns presented by the watchers. “Masters Penekal and Ofar, what do you need us to do, in effect? I understand what you say is happening. However, I need some clarification on what my colleagues and I were called in for exactly.”

  “I have heard something unsettling about the latest fallen star, sir, in the taxi on my way here before. Apparently, the seas are rising, but against any natural reason. According to the star on the map that my friend pointed out to me last, it is a terrible fate,” Penekal bemoaned. “Mr. Purdue, we need your help in obtaining the remaining diamonds of King Solomon. The Magician is collecting them, and as he does, another star falls; another plague is due.”