“I am very sorry. You were not the only one. We had several victims.”
“Do you need medical attention?”
“Strange we checked the entire Pyramid, there was nobody left inside,” a higher-ranking elderly officer lashed out at her.
“I am profoundly sorry, Madame.”
“Can we take you back to your hotel?” the other policeman intervened, asking his superior to let her go as she seemed innocent.
“Actually, I need to go to the Sphinx airport; otherwise, I will miss my flight. Would you mind taking me there?”
Lydia exited at the right moment to catch the first glitter of a spectacular starry sky, understanding why the Egyptians were so fascinated by astrology.
◆◆◆
§CHAPTER 57§
AFTER DESCENDING into the well shaft, the Assassin started to worry that he was misled.
He noticed that the underground passage had the appearance of being unfinished.
Advancing, he reached the subterranean area of the Pyramid. He looked around and did not see anything. Despite his infrared glasses being activated, the space seemed empty and there was no movement.
He went closer to the hole in the ground, a pit completely engulfed in darkness. His XGlass only detected the pit’s bottom—a granite stone with holes similar to the one he stumbled upon when descending into the well shaft.
But what was the noise? This stone collapsed here a long time ago. It could have not made the noise I just heard.
His last chance was a hole in the wall at the end of the chamber, maybe she is hiding there.
I will make your death fast so I can be reunited with my Master, he thought, his lips curling into a grin.
After advancing into the tunnel for sixteen meters, he realized that it had ended abruptly, leading to a dead end.
He pictured in his mind a cornered, frightened Lydia waiting for her life to end.
He refused to accept the bitter reality that he failed his Master again.
His anger generated such suffering that he gave away a scream of pain, which echoed through the pyramid amplified by its acoustics and reverberated through each wall as it happened millennia ago with the first thieves who attempted to discover its secrets.
§CHAPTER 58§
20H14
NEO BOOKED her a private night charter flight to Thessaloniki to avoid extensive border control and to allow her to get some good sleep over the five-hour flight.
A friendly guard asked Lydia if she had anything to declare, and without blinking, she politely said, “no.”
“I am traveling very light tonight,” Lydia said while lifting her new small black crocodile skin Hermes Birkin purse.
“Shall I open my purse?”
The guard blushed and said, “you are good to go, ma’am.”
What he didn’t know was that the bag was just a fake, but still made of real Nile crocodile.
Neo purchased it online on the black market from an exclusivist dealer who was selling similar purses.
The price also included the delivery, and just as she accessed the main entrance to the airport, someone put it directly on her shoulder and left.
“Shukran,” she said calmly, artfully passing as a millionaire who could not hide any ancient artifacts in her tiny bag.
Lydia flashed it with the pride of carrying one of the most expensive bags in the entire world.
She headed towards the limo where a driver was waiting with the door opened, the revolving airport VIP lounge doors closing behind her.
After less than a two-minute drive through the nearly pitch-black airport, the limo stopped in front of the private jet.
Lydia quickly made her way to the neat Airbus Falcon Z300, the pinnacle of private jetting, and locked herself in the luxurious toilet.
She noticed that there were just seven other people on the plane. She could still hear the loud voices of the Greek family with two children. They owned the plane, but to compensate for the expense of flying private, they started to use the share my plane app.
The feeble 5G connection on her XGlass could translate their conversation. She could not help but grin. They were quarreling about whether they should continue to share their plane with other people.
“Honey, I cannot stand this. I cannot enjoy my privacy,” the wife complained.
“Darling, no worries. What privacy? We have two children. It’s not like we can still run naked like in the good old days. On top of that, we should be more worried about the risk of getting COVID-19,” the exasperated husband said.
Lydia also heard someone giggling through the bone conduction headphones.
“Neo, did you listen to their discussion? It’s surreal… the worries of rich people.”
“Ignorance is such bliss,” Lydia said sarcastically.
“No need to answer; let’s get back to real matters.”
She took out the vial from her purse and held it in front of her eyes. Its contents were now purple and moving and changing shades. It seemed so surreal.
Lydia could not think of any explanation as to how the cruciform metal ending was so perfectly fused with the transparent crystal-like vial.
She already tried to remove it without any success. Maybe this was for the best. Perhaps its contents would release another ancient virus, a plague to doom all of humanity.
“Neo, can you identify the composition of this liquid? If only I had my lab here to take a sample and analyze it.”
“Unfortunately, its movement pattern does not match anything known. It’s probably hermetically sealed; hence it should not fluctuate. Maybe the metallic part acts as a sort of catalyst, making it shift its shape,” Neo said, disappointed that he could not offer more help.
“But this is a key to something. I am sure of that.”
“I hope we’ll find more answers in the Thessaloniki Rotunda.”
Lydia buckled up, and after closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.
Suddenly she was jolted back to the reality by the captain’s announcement:
“We are approaching our destination Thessaloniki. The approximate local time for our landing will be 7:22a.m. Outside the temperature is pleasant at 220C.We thank you for flying with the Georgiadou family. Your captain Yannis wishes you a pleasant stay.”
Lydia still felt sleepy as the trip to Egypt completely exhausted her.
“Ma’am, we have arrived at our destination. Are you all right?”
Lydia could hear the voice of the flight attendant, but her body did not want to wake up. She was trapped in an almost dream-like state.
Worried, the flight attendant gently touched her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.
His touch worked. And Lydia opened her big beautiful dark exotic eyes. “I am fine, thank you. Just very tired,” Lydia whispered.
“Can I bring you a glass of water with a bit of lemon juice, or would you prefer a coffee?” the flight attendant politely asked, in an attempt to compensate for waking her up. “Thank you, please make it a double espresso,” Lydia said.
◆◆◆
§CHAPTER 59§
VATICAN
“SALVATORE, will you accompany me? I need some fresh air. I cannot stand all the sad news coming from every corner of the world,” the pope whispered.
On his office wall, there was a large plasma screen that presented breaking news.
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide exceeded 182,000, with 7,160 deaths and 80,000 COVID-19 patients recovered.
The number of pandemic deaths in the rest of the world has exceeded that of China. Coronavirus from China had arrived in 161 other countries.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization was holding an emergency press conference.
“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock, and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and its severity. We have, therefore, assessed that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”
“We are being punished S
alvatore for all our sins. We have forgotten the teachings of God, our Church, and failed to protect the most vulnerable people.”
The worried voice of the Director-General continued: “Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”
The sun was at its zenith, and the last sunlight of the day engulfed the magnificent Vatican gardens, where the Pope enjoyed long strolls to replenish his depleted vitamin D levels. Few people knew he had a genetic condition, which made it very difficult to process it, and his doctor recommended to him long walks.
These were also the few moments when he could focus on his plans. His guards were always trying to protect him from the few curious groups of visitors, which were sometimes allowed to visit the gardens.
His head of security, Armand Schiller, a tall Swiss of German origin slightly resembling Arnold Schwarzenegger, was in charge of coordinating the teams protecting his Holiness.
The attack types ranged from cyber to a single intruder, most of whom were religious fanatics or mentally disturbed.
Over the years, he had to adapt to more unpredictable dangers and to use the technological evolution to his advantage.
At all times, the Pope was protected by a set of drones surveying the perimeter of the gardens.
This new generation of drones could spot any intruders and notify his head of security.
“Armand. Good, you are here, with the precision of a Swiss watch. Right on the dot.” The Pope was so fascinated by his punctuality, a quality he respected in a person.
“Let’s head to the fountains, Salvatore,” the Pope said with an exhausted voice.
“Tell me about the latest technological discoveries and their impact on the faithful,” the Pope curiously interrogated.
“Tell me, Holy Father, what is your pulse today?”
“It is 85 bpm,” the Pope answered, reading it from his Apple watch.
Salvatore was happy that this Pope was ready to embrace technology, as the watch not only showed the time, but it allowed him to constantly check on the health status of the Pope and his precise location.
They could spend hours talking about everything from the ethics of artificial intelligence to eugenics.
“Did you know Salvatore that in 1590, the gardens were adorned with cascades and large fountains?”
“Thanks to the Borghese Pope Paul V, who ordered the renovation of the Trajan aqueduct. He commissioned the creation of the impressive fountain of the Eagle or Fontana dell’Aquilone to remind everyone of the arrival of the waters to the gardens.”
“A corner of serenity to forget all the worries of the world, do you agree, Armand?
Armand did not answer.
A bullet just pierced his skull, and he fell in the middle of a flowery patch, with his eyes still open; a grimace of despair encrusted onto his face.
A few more millimeters and it would have been the skull of the Pope. He was just saved by the head of security’s reflex to answer the Pope’s question.
“Your Holiness take cover,” bellowed Salvatore; “your security team will be here at any moment.”
In the shadows, a small drone took off from the cover of darkness inside the cavern. It inconspicuously passed a few bats who didn’t even notice it.
The drone floated above the stone adorning the top of the cascades with just a slight noise generated by its rotative pallets. Muffled by the sound of the cascade’s running water, it vanished into the sky.
A few moments later, the Pope was surrounded by his Swiss guards.
“What about Armand?” asked the Pope. One of the agents bowed his head sadly.
“Your Holiness, who would have attempted to kill you in these times of need?”
“They must have also compromised your drone security.”
“I think I know, Salvatore. We have to go somewhere nobody can hear us.”
◆◆◆
§CHAPTER 60§
07H22, OCTOBER 3RD
GREECE, THESSALONIKI
“DEAR PASSENGERS, our flight will be delayed as the Thessaloniki airport is currently closed due to the use of drones at its perimeter.”
“You do not have to worry, we still have plenty of fuel as we added extra in Cairo for our next flight.”
Lydia felt reinvigorated by the strong aromatic coffee, which left a pleasant aftertaste of fruity flavors combined with chocolaty notes.
I think this is all happening because of me. Somebody is trying to detour and delay my flight.
Cyber and drone warfare were the new security challenges of the 21st century.
Reading the Financial Times newspaper’s headlines, the latest news was that the COVID-19 virus was accelerating into the main European transport hubs: from London to Berlin and from Rome to Paris.
Soon the entire continent would be under lockdown; I will have to hurry, there is no more time to waste.
Finally, the plane landed, and at the airport’s VIP arrival area, as an EU citizen, she simply showed her passport, while Neo had already ordered a private cab for her.
“I just checked the blacklisted Interpol database, and you were not in it,” Neo said.
“I think somebody is monitoring every step you take.”
“They still need something from you. Otherwise, your name would have been already on the most wanted list and be locked in for interrogation about Helene’s death,” Neo said with an encouraging voice.
“They must want the vial, but they will have to take it from you directly before you have an opportunity to hand it over to authorities.”
Lydia felt the time ticking into her mind, the ominous:
“you have two sunset cycles before the Grail will be destroyed.”
One sunset had already passed.
They left the VIP arrival area and another limo was waiting there. The driver silently closed the door after her.
“Neo, I see that you like to spoil me. I never hoped to have such an amazing valet. I’ll have to find a way to re-pay you,” Lydia sweetly chuckled.
“The fastest way to avoid the horrendous traffic jams in the Greek city will be the Metro.”
“Can you believe there were plans already before World War I ? However, the authorities only started the work in 2006. It is not yet ready due to the constant discovery of archaeological sites.”
“I see Neo that you are passionate about this subject as well. There is always a dormant ancient city full of wonders to be discovered under any modern one.”
“I always wanted to know my origins, as I am actually of Greek descend, but I’ll tell you that story another time,” Neo said.
“Now we are above a deeply buried Byzantine road, marble-paved and column-lined with shops, and villas. Hagia Sophia station would have been our final destination.”
Lydia tried to ignore the horrible noise of honking horns and old motor cars belonging to the
masses of peoples trying to escape the city before the authorities’ lock-down would be imposed.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine all the people peacefully walking, carrying out their regular business.
§CHAPTER 61§
I ALWAYS wanted to be an archaeological explorer; now I have the chance to fulfill my dream.
I wonder if my parents will be proud of me now.
After all, I had to endure, I need their strength and laughter, which gave me so much energy.
Lydia closed her eyes and for a moment remembered the power of their hugs and the gentle caressing voice of her Mom:
“You can achieve anything you want my darling daughter, never forget that. Never give up. Focus on your inner strength.”
I promise you, mom and dad, I’ll never stop until I find out what happened to you.
While the driver turned right from the once-bustling Tsimiski boulevard, she gazed in wonder at all the ancient sites, popping out here and there in the
middle of a dusty urban landscape.
She read on a rusty panel: The palace of the first Dacian Caesar, Galerius Valerianus Maximianus 250-311 AC, who chose Thessaloniki as the seat of the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Then when the car stopped, another panel indicated The Octagon, a particular room that must have been dedicated to relaxation and adorned with beautiful sculptures.
Apparently, Galerius didn’t manage to enjoy its view as he died before it was finalized.
They even found a mysterious tomb built within the ring of the foundation of the hall.
“I am sure Galerius fell in love with the beautiful unobstructed view of the Aegean Sea,” Lydia said.
“He was one of the four Caesars, a member of the Tetrarchy system to govern the Roman empire to avoid the former bloodshed and attempted murder of the previous rulers.”
“The Rotunda was a part of the Galerius’ Palace complex,” Neo stated, clearly passionate about the history of this place.
“He wanted to rename the Roman Empire, the Dacian Empire, to the Roman patricians’ horror, in honor of his Dacian origins, and to revenge the atrocities committed by Trajan against his ancestors two centuries before,” Neo continued.
Lydia was approaching her final destination. As the limo briefly crossed the Egnatia boulevard; a huge column erupted, a remnant of the Galerius complex.
And there it was, a magnificently preserved circular structure surrounded by a metallic fence. It even had an old Turkish minaret, towering above other ruins.
It was a display of all the different eras this monument had to endure across history under the control of various empires.
She was sure that it had a similar fate as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Under the Ottoman empire, it would have certainly become a Mosque.
“We have arrived ma’am,” her driver announced. I wish you a pleasant stay in Thessaloniki.”
Lydia still felt tired; after all, she barely had a few hours of sleep on the plane.
The Jesus Christ Cypher Page 14
