by K. T. Tomb
Alexey’s truck stopped outside the door and he turned to his partner.
“At least it’s open all night,” he laughed. “Sulna, I would think that by now we would be through with hiding things from one another. Would you like to share your good news?”
“Hiding, Alexey?” she rebutted, leaning against the wall beside the mosque door. “How is this for hiding? From now on call me by my given name, Sulina the Fallen. I am the rightful heir to the Garden of Eden and it is mine now. So if anyone truly has the right to destroy it, it’s me.”
Alexey laughed nervously.
“Rightful heir? What the hell are you talking about now, Sulna? Heir to Eden? Oh, stop it please! I can’t take this masquerade anymore.” He moved from the wall and paced in front of the door. “The way you talk now it’s as if we should all be bowing down, saying ‘All hail the Queen of Eden!’ What exactly has changed to make you feel so righteous in your bid to burn Eden to the ground?’
Sulina the Fallen rushed straight at him, grabbed Alexey by the throat with one hand and squeezed. She gritted her teeth as darkness consumed her eyes.
“Mock me no more, mortal!” she screamed.
He was terrified. He had never heard her raise her voice before.
“What you see before you is no masquerade, this is who I am. Remember, I eat men like you for supper, quite literally. The masquerade was Sulna Obvesky! I have given you the pathway to Eden, Alexey Konstantin and even as you busily gathered your little army of men and machines, I had my own devices at work within the Mountain of God. The leader of the Daughters of Eve is no more and my true heritage can now be revealed.”
She loosened her grip on his throat and pulled herself together. She had no intention of killing him, not yet anyway; she still needed him to lead his army to the doors of Eden.
“Once I was one of them, Alexey,” she said, almost tenderly. “But I dared to question the Mother Daughter. I dared to want more. So I ate the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil, the Forbidden Tree, and I was cursed for it. I am neither dead, nor alive.”
She paused and turned to look at him. In the moonlight, Alexey thought she looked remarkably beautiful but then again the scholars all say that Lucifer was the most beautiful of all God’s angels.
“I am the blood sister to the now deceased Mother Daughter,” she continued looking him straight in the eyes. “So yes, as a matter of fact, you son of a bitch, all hail the Queen of Eden!”
***
After a few hours all of the men returned to their respective trucks. The lead truck pulled out toward their destination…Sahand, a stratovolcano that stood over 12,000 feet high and one of the tallest mountains in Iranian Azerbaijan. It lay directly south of Tabriz, but more importantly, it was the key to finding Eden.
Alexey had been silent ever since Sulina had removed her hand from his throat. He could still smell the stench that surrounded his neck from her touch. He gagged a few times while trying to breathe. He couldn’t believe that he had ever shared a bed with her.
He now knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was in charge and he hated her for it. No one had even attempted to belittle Alexey Konstantin and lived; but she had made her position in the game abundantly clear. He would bide his time.
Sulina glared at him in his reverie.
“The defenses of Eden have been disabled. They have no way of telling our position or when we will be arriving. Do you have anything we can send them to warm them up?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Alexey whined.
“You know now, Alexey,” Sulina said, sarcastically. “So what do you have for our situation? It’s better that we attack now, but it will be impossible to get over the mountain walls before the Daughters find weapons and sufficient cover.”
Alexey pulled out his cell phone and made his call. He smiled as the other party picked up. “This is Alexey. Do you have access to the equipment that we talked about earlier? Good. Do you know where Sahand is?” He hands the phone to Sulina who reluctantly takes it.
She listens quietly as the voice on the other end says, “I need the coordinates. There is nothing but landscape in that area.”
“You are mistaken,” she responds. “What exactly are you sending?” Sulina assumed that she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of Alexey, especially after almost strangling him…again.
There was a pause on the other end of the phone and then, “I have several well-manned and well-gunned CH-47 Chinook helicopters.”
Sulina looked confused and pleased at the same time. She gave the coordinates and then handed the phone back to Alexey.
“Did you get that?” Alexey queried, into the phone.
He then smiled and put his phone away. It was Sulina’s turn to let her curiosity get the better of her. “What exactly is a Chin…ook?”
Alexey laughed at her ignorance.
“So there is something that you don’t know after all, Sulina the Fallen? It’s a good thing that I am so knowledgeable in the ways of real war! The United States and Iran had a wonderful relationship in the 70’s; Iranian armed forces utilized many American military aircraft including the Chinook. They were the same aircraft used in Vietnam. I’m sure you’ve seen the dual bladed helicopters in pictures. The Imperial Iranian Army purchased 70 of these American made helicopters. In the latter part of the 70’s, Iran placed an order for 50 more to use them in their 1979 revolution. Some were lost and some were destroyed along the way. Someone was smart. It was just like when American soldiers took artifacts from Saddam Hussein’s palace when he was killed; certain Iranians hid several of these helicopters for personal use.”
“You know a lot of people who hide things, Alexey,” Sulina accused.
“The war has now begun,” he replied. “It will only take several hours for our air attack to begin. Since our birds of prey have been stagnant for so long, the helicopters must be prepared for combat.”
Sulina glared at her partner. “I hope this isn’t a stall tactic, Alexey. If you are correct then we will arrive at Sahand far ahead of your helicopters.”
“I have more allies now than I ever have before,” he continued. “Sometimes, we cannot pick and choose who we ally ourselves with, as long as they have something that will benefit us. We have worked as a team to accomplish what we have so far, Sulina. Your connections inside of Eden and my connections everywhere else have made this possible.”
“I’m not sure if that is an attempt to kiss my ass or not,” she replied, as she smirked. “Maybe you should also realize that without my help on the inside, you would have to deal with the weapons and defense of the Daughter’s fortress.”
Alexey was prepared for that statement. He straightened up in his seat and made direct eye contact. “Sulina,” Alexey said, confidently. “From what you informed me about this fortress, I can only assume that it is the only known entrance to Eden. With the electronics shut down, then I would think that we would need some powerful weapons to cut into Sahand. Even the heir of Eden should realize not to bite the hand that supplies the army.”
Chapter Four
Evan Knight mentally searched his notes on Eden as the trio stayed on foot and off the main roads to avoid detection by any armed forces. He knew most of his theory, but without his notes, there were holes. His notes were in the hotel.
Until he remembered something significant, they would continue to head south toward Sahand. Maybe something along the way would jar his memory. He hoped that Jess would recover before that happened, so he didn’t have to carry that load. He was the Chosen One though.
He didn’t ask for the job, but he felt he was up to the task. A task that could end his life. Doubt crept into Evan’s mind as he tried to convince himself that three people added to less than twenty female warriors could ever hope to stop 27 trucks and whatever else might be waiting for them.
What the hell was he doing here?
Jess. He loved Jess.
If he was going out, then it would be by
the side of the woman he loved.
***
Jess was able to walk without incident, but her mind was still caught between Mother Daughter’s telepathic message and her present whereabouts. Visions of the Mountain of God would merge with the current scenery causing confusion for the Daughter of Eve.
She tried using the meditation techniques that Mother Daughter taught her and her sisters, but something happened to prevent Jess from completing her meditation. Something that Mother Daughter warned her would destroy her concentration and could jeopardize everything. Emotions.
Jess had always been able to control her emotions when she was within Eden’s walls. The distractions of the outside world and her feelings for Knight clouded her warrior’s judgment and her instincts. Her only thoughts were on Evan Knight; not as the Chosen One, but as her lover. He was her Chosen One.
She had been warned that being led by her emotions would corrupt her reasoning power. She felt it. She felt the confusion as the battle for importance waged between her feelings for Knight and her duty as a Daughter of Eve. She could not…would not betray her sisters. Knight was the one who was supposed to save Eden. She knew he was the Chosen One. He was also something more. Much more.
When the time came, Jess would have to make the right decision and maybe even have to sacrifice her love for the greater good.
***
Geronimo kept an eye out for any vehicles and anyone who might be on foot. He was more determined than ever not to get caught by the Iranian Army. It was bad enough that they were waltzing into a no-win situation, but being captured before they reached their destination, would end the battle before it ever began.
He wondered how seriously Evan took this mission. Gerry wondered if his emotions would get in the way of his judgment. Geronimo was also concerned about the fact that the bigger this mission became, the more he doubted Jessima IL Eve.
What did Evan really know about her?
With the odds against them, there was no room for mistakes. He watched Knight and Jess closely as they walked. He could see some kind of turmoil within both of them. He was no psychologist, but his training enabled him to determine peoples’ weaknesses by reading their body movements, emotions and, most importantly, their eyes.
He had mastered the ability to match someone’s body language with their words. He made it a point not to pay that much attention to what people said, unless it was someone that he had experience with, like Knight. He would watch the subtle actions and gestures of people he wasn’t familiar with so he could try to determine if they could be trusted.
Words were so easy to say without backing them up. Geronimo had learned that hard lesson all of his life. His parents told him that they would always be there. They were until they decided that having children was too much of a burden. It got in the way of enjoying life.
They had left him with his aunt without so much as a goodbye. He decided from that moment on that he would only surround himself with people that wanted to be in his life. He smiled as he thought about his wife, Molly.
She was his miracle. She saw Geronimo for who he was and loved him anyway. She saw passed his defenses. She didn’t judge him and even understood why he was the way he was. She was his angel. Molly was the reason that he made a promise to himself every day to try to not get killed. He might have been on a suicide mission without her, but no longer.
He had something to live for.
Geronimo looked at Jess and Knight again. He realized that their emotions lead their actions. He had enough of the silence.
“Yo, guys!” His conviction was noted. “I’m sick of this shit, man! Evan, I’ve known you forever and you were always my go-to man for…well everything. You were always able to keep emotions separate from the mission. Now Jess comes along and everything goes to shit! Damn it Evan! Do you realize what the hell we’re getting into? And Jess! I don’t know you from Adam…”
She glared at him. Geronimo realized what he had just said.
“You know what I mean! I embraced you as one of my own because of my boy here, but damn it woman! If your love, or lust or whatever for each other, distracts you from what’s going on then you’re going to get us all killed! I don’t know you Jess, until you prove yourself in a situation, I may not trust you. But you’re supposed to be a warrior or some shit from Eden. You’re supposed to have been trained for centuries. I was trained for a couple of decades and I have more control than you do!”
Geronimo had Jess and Knight’s full attention. They remained quiet as they allowed him to the finish.
“Jess, I’m real sorry that something bad happened to the Mother Daughter, but isn’t this what you’ve been prepared for all your life? This is your time to shine. And Evan, you’re my brother, but I have never seen you so crazy over a woman that you forget what’s going on around you. If we’re going to do this, then we all have to be on our “A” game. If one of us gets distracted then it’s game over! I agreed to do this, so the least you can do is give the mission your undivided attention. I don’t want to die because you two are giving each other lovey- dovey eyes!”
“Не перемещать или вам будет снимок!”
Geronimo, Jess, and Knight slowly turn toward the voice. There were seven men, each armed with PK machine guns and dressed in black jumpsuits. All of the guns are pointed at the trio.
Knight raised his hands with his team as he leaned over to Geronimo. “They’re Russian,” he said, softly.
“Yeah,” Geronimo responded. He felt the irony in getting caught for being distracted.
“If it’s any consolation, Geronimo…” Knight added. “…you were right about distractions.”
Chapter Five
East Azerbaijan, Iran. The south face of the stratovolcano known as Sahand. Fortunately Alexey and his army came prepared for the colder temperature at the base of the mountain. Sulina didn’t need the same kind of protection as the mortal did. She was almost immune to the temperature; one of the benefits of being of the Fallen.
Their rogue Iranian military force had set up a temporary camp and were now waiting for air support. Alexey wore a thick Iranian military jacket and gloves, as he searched the skies with his binoculars; looking for any trace of the helicopters.
He was also beginning to lose his patience as he became more curious about the whereabouts of the two Zulfiqar tanks that were supposed to be there waiting for him. He was infuriated as he approached the driver of the lead truck.
“Where are they? Where are my tanks and helicopters? They were supposed to be here by now!”
The driver looked expressionless at Alexey.
“Forgive me, but it has only been a few hours since you called for the helicopters. They will be here. As for the tanks…I do not know.”
“Not knowing isn’t going to win wars, comrade,” Alexey said, with gritted teeth. “Preparation is the key to success!” Alexey was not used to being kept waiting…by anyone.
“Forgive me again,” the driver responded. “Please remember that this is not our war. We are here for the money and the money alone.”
Alexey practically growled at the man.
“Does that mean your loyalty should be questioned?”
The driver appeared to take offense to that statement.
“Our loyalty should never be questioned. We do what we do to take care of our families where the Iran army would not. You are in this for a different reason altogether.”
“You think you know me, grunt?” Alexey snapped. “You think you understand why I am here?”
The driver moved in close to Alexey.
“You represent everything we have fought against. It is funny that we end up working for someone who shares ideals of the people who oppressed us to begin with. Do not doubt our loyalty, Mr. Konstantin.”
“Why shouldn’t I doubt your loyalty?” Alexey huffed back.
“Because…” the driver continued, “…we are being paid and once this is over we will be dead or o
n our own way. Either way, we will be assured of being away from you forever.”
Alexey stormed off and pulled out his phone and made a call. It rang for a while and then was answered by a familiar voice. It was the Iranian in charge of bringing the tanks to Alexey.
“Yes. I know I am late.”
“Why are you late?” Alexey barked. “You are slowing down my mission!”
“I mean no disrespect to your mission,” the Iranian nervously responded. “The tanks…they have some minor problems.”
Alexey’s war seemed to be disintegrating before his eyes. Another problem. Another delay.
“Always problems! There wasn’t a problem with taking my money! Get here now!”
Before the Iranian could respond, Alexey hung up. He was silent with his thoughts for a moment, then he shook himself dramatically and looked up, smiling again. Clearly, these people did not know exactly who they were dealing with. He would have to teach them that lesson.
***
Evan, Jess, and Geronimo had their hands zip tied behind their backs. They were forced to kneel in a clearing in the desert. Dawn started to break and the Russians who surrounded the trio turned off their flashlights. They remained silent as a non-military jeep approached.
Knight realized that it would be in their best interest to find out what they wanted from his team.
A thin and weak looking Russian man exited the vehicle. What he lacked in muscle mass, he made up for in confidence. The man approached Knight’s group. His Russian accent was thick.
“Greetings. I believe we have Evan Knight, Geronimo Bismark, and Jessima IL Eve. You are one of the Daughters of Eve. Sworn protectors of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. Yes?”
No one is more shocked than Jess.
“How? How could you possibly have all of that information?” she asked, holding back her anger and frustration.
