Order of the Black Sun Box Set 11

by Preston William Child

  The first of the three, Marcus Crassus, was a decorated general and powerful politician but also the richest man in Rome at the time. He had it all; wealth, political pull, and a very successful military career. He had made quite the name for himself when he helped snuff out the slave rebellion led by Spartacus. Anyone would have been lucky to become allies with him, let alone close enough that Crassus was willing to bolster their importance with his connections.

  The second member, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus—more commonly known as Pompey—was younger than Crassus and not quite as rich but had made a name for his military achievements. He was from a powerful family and was quickly being seen as someone who would be shaping where Rome was heading.

  The last of the three was Julius Caesar, long before he was the legendary figure that he’d one day become. However, he was already an up and coming figure who was popular with most of Rome.

  These three men combined their skill sets, their resources, and their knowledge to ascend to even more power. The secret alliance of theirs played a role in helping set Caesar and Pompey up to be the next leaders of Rome, with one of them getting absolute power. However, after Crassus' death, the First Triumvirate crumbled apart, with Caesar and Pompey clashing, becoming bitter rivals and eventually mortal enemies. Caesar ended up as the dictator and undisputed leader of Rome while Pompey was assassinated in Egypt.

  The Second Triumvirate was a much more official conglomerate brought together after Caesar's death. Caesar's chosen successor, Octavian, joined together with Caesar's best friend, Mark Antony, and another close ally of Caesar, Marcus Lepidus to form the new alliance. Unlike the First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was a recognized institution within Rome, existing for two terms of five years with the three men ruling Rome together, and dividing it among themselves.

  At first, the Second Triumvirate's goals focused on exacting vengeance on the senators and politicians that had betrayed Caesar and played a part in his assassination. The Second Triumvirate systematically vanquished those enemies and got the retribution that they wanted. However, things weren't going well for them for very long. Jealousy and feuds, especially between Octavian and Mark Antony, led to the implosion of the Second Triumvirate. Octavian and Antony fought each other in a vicious civil war, which led to the end of the Roman Republic, and Octavian becoming Augustus Caesar, the first official emperor of Rome.

  If the first two triumvirates were any indication, then this Third Triumvirate wouldn't last very long either. Hopefully, these buffoons stealing from museums would fall apart sooner rather than later. Each day that they called themselves a triumvirate, was a day that the importance of the first two triumvirates was dishonored.

  “Enough about these miscreants,” Santino said, clapping his hands together and trying to steer the conversation back to why he brought them there. “They can stir up as much trouble as they like. They won't be where you're going.”

  “So, we'll go to Egypt,” Nina said. “If that's where Mark Antony sent the sword back then, then that's where we need to go.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Santino said happily, thrilled that she was willing to help him. “I knew that you’d be the right person for this job. I’ll make it worth your while once the sword is brought back here to the museum.”

  Nina froze and she immediately looked at Elijah, who looked more angry than shocked.

  “What do you mean?” Nina asked.

  “I requested you to help me find the sword of Caesar...I want the sword to be displayed here at the museum with all of the other relics from that era. It's not my own personal gain and it's certainly not for you to keep. It's the whole reason I implored you to help me. I needed someone to find it for the Palazza Nuovo. Surely you didn't think you’d just get to hang onto the sword for that group you’ve concocted? The sword of Caesar belongs here in Rome, for all of its citizens to be able to see and admire. It deserves better than to be tossed into some hole for safekeeping.”

  “It's not just some hole,” Elijah said defensively. “Our deep vault is probably the safest place on the planet. As for artifacts being left out in the open...do you want to risk losing Caesar's sword if those thieves come back here? Does that really seem like the best thing for it? To be out where anyone can sneak in and snatch out from under you? It should be locked away safely, by people who understand its importance.”

  Santino was shaking his head firmly. “You’re wrong. Had I known you intended to keep the sword for yourselves, I never would've contacted you. Is that how you feel about it, Dr. Gould? You plan on taking it home with you rather than bringing it back here?”

  Nina stood in between the two men and each looked to her for validation. She understood why Elijah was being so defensive. She’d made the same assumptions that he did; that they would be finding the sword and bringing it back to the Black Sun for storage, just like the order did with any relics they found. But at the same time, she had to admit that Santino had a point. She wouldn't even know that finding the sword was even a possibility without Santino notifying them. He’d asked her to help find it, but he never said anything about giving it to her. Of course a man who ran a museum would want it on display. It’d attract new guests and visitors, but she also knew Santino well enough to know that he really wanted the sword to share with the rest of the world. He was all about putting on a good show...naturally, he wouldn't want the sword to be sealed away in the Order of the Black Sun's vaults. It was a stupid assumption to make, but at least she wasn't alone in inferring it.

  Nina relented and nodded to Santino. “You're right. We'll bring the sword back here once we've found it.”

  “I have your word on that, Dr. Gould?”

  She didn't take making deals lightly. She always did her best to follow through with whatever promises she made. Still, it was a hard decision, and she was more than a little torn in conceding. She had a responsibility to Santino after he’d sought her out specifically to help, but she also had an obligation to the Order of the Black Sun and to the safety of priceless relics like Caesar's sword.

  “You do,” she said, but wasn't so certain.

  Elijah threw his arms in the air. He only ever became so animated when he was furious so she knew that she had set him off. Elijah wrapped an arm behind Nina's back and led her a few steps away so they could speak privately. He was very clearly fuming, but he was just going to have to appease his anger aside for now...at least until she completely made up her mind.

  “This isn't your decision to make,” Elijah said. “What we collect and what goes into the deep vaults is far too important to just set aside so nonchalantly. If anything, this should be up to Purdue.”

  “It was up to Purdue,” Nina said forcefully. “When he put me in charge of this search, he trusted me to make the best decisions on this expedition, and right now, I'm making the best one that I can.”

  Elijah didn't look thrilled by her answer, but she wasn't trying to please him. This was her call to make and she was going to do it. Nina walked back to the group, making sure her shoulder clipped Elijah's as she went back. Santino was waiting, looking uneasy about the private conversation she had just had.

  Nina offered a comforting smile to show him that everything was okay. “We'll go to Egypt. We'll figure out where the sword of Caesar is. Once we have it, I'll bring the sword back here.”

  Nina spent the flight to Egypt going over everything she knew about Mark Antony and Cleopatra and their connection to Caesar in her mind. Unfortunately, she wasn't given a lot of time to mull things over critically. Elijah took a seat beside her, and she could tell that he wasn't very happy.

  “You're not really going to give it to the museum. You can't.”

  “I haven't decided,” Nina said. “But I'm leading this expedition so I have every right to decide what happens to the artifacts, understand?”

  “We both know that the sword of Caesar is too valuable to just leave hanging out, with nothing but a pane of glass protecting i
t. It belongs in the deep vaults with all of the other things the Order of the Black Sun has found. That’s where it’d be most secure. It's where it belongs. We have far less valuable things in our vaults. If we can go through the trouble of making sure those aren't vulnerable, then we can certainly do the same for something like Caesar's sword.”

  “Like I said,” Nina said again, with more authority this time. “I'm in charge of this search, Elijah. I'm sorry you have a problem with that, but I don't need you in my ear trying to convince me of anything. I’ll contemplate my options on my own, and I’ll make my decision on my own. That's that.”

  Elijah adjusted his glasses and sat back in his seat, looking more than a little irritated. He folded his arms. “How well do you even know Santino? How do we know we can just hand the sword over to him? Because he's your friend?”

  “We're not friends,” Nina said. “We’ve never been pals. We just ran in the same circles and were always friendly enough to each other. That's all. He's a colleague. But he had a point. He brought this to our attention, gave us the clue to help find it, so shouldn't he have some say in where the sword goes? Without him, we would never even have been close to finding it.”

  “I don't like it,” Elijah said, as if she didn't know that already.

  “Listen, Santino Rossi is a good man and is one of the best minds in the world when it comes to Ancient Rome. I can't think of many people as deserving of having possession of that sword than he is, except maybe for Caesar himself...and that's not exactly going to happen anytime soon, is it? No one probably even cares about that sword more than he does. I know you’re so meticulous with all of your artifacts but how many of them do you actually care about once you're done with your curating? Santino will make sure it's safe, believe me.”

  “Like he made sure those other items were safe? The ones that Third Triumvirate stole?”

  “We all have our moments of weakness,” Nina said. “As I recall, you allowed Julian Corvus to abuse his access to the deep vaults and let him take whatever he wanted from under your protection.”

  “That was different.”

  “No, it wasn't,” Nina said. “And if you really must know, Santino Rossi was personally invited by Purdue when he took over leadership of the order. He was a potential recruit for the Black Sun, for us...but he declined our invitation.”

  Elijah pursed his lips in thought, and he looked questioningly at the seat in front of him. “Why did he do that? Why would anyone?”

  “Santino didn't want to leave his precious museum.”

  Elijah grew quiet and didn't bring it up again. Nina hoped that he finally understood that Santino could be trusted. He wasn't going to stab them in the back and he wasn't going to be careless with the sword. She hadn't made up her mind on if she was going to give it to the museum or the order—it was impossible to decide, when she wasn't even sure if she would find the sword.

  Right now, she had to get the sword first, and then she could actually worry about what to do with it.

  6

  THE DEAD END

  Alexandria was a city that was so rich with history, like the rest of Egypt. It had been founded by Alexander the Great and was meant to be a hub that connected Egypt with the outside world. For a long time, it served as just that. Many of its rulers were descendants of one of Alexander's best friends, Ptolomey, until that dynasty eventually ended. It wasn't all positive for Alexandria, either. Famously—and much to Nina's infinite sorrow—the city had once housed the largest and most expansive libraries the world had ever seen at the time. It was a collection of so much written knowledge. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground and all of that information it contained burned along with it. There were some things inside of that library that would forever be lost, secrets from all that time ago, that could never be recovered.

  They were going to Alexandria now because it was the home of Cleopatra for quite some time and was even the place of her death. Nina always had a great deal of respect for Cleopatra. She was an extremely powerful woman in a time when men so often held all of the power. Nina only wished that Cleopatra hadn't let herself get caught in the middle of two men at war. Her relationship with Rome, with Caesar, Mark Antony, and their allies in particular, had led to immense success in her life; Rome had put her into a place of power, but it was those same ties to Rome that also led to her downfall and eventual death.

  The letter back at the Palzazza Nuovo was between her and Mark Antony; and if Mark Antony really did send the sword to her, then they needed to focus on Cleopatra if they wanted to track down the sword.

  Nina had been to Egypt a few times before, but it never felt quite like this. Now that she was following Caesar's trail, every step she took was stepping in the legendary man's own footsteps. She was treading in places that he’d been, though she was there for much less militaristic reasons. She imagined Caesar standing in the exact same spot that she was standing in, seeing the same places, even if most of the buildings she saw weren't there thousands of years ago. A great many things could change in over two thousand years.

  They managed to find a landing strip on the outskirts of the city. Using a few of the Order of the Black Sun's connections, they secured it as a place to land. It was a convenient spot that Nina was thankful to have. It was yet another example of why the Order of the Black Sun had become such a benefit to her instead of a pain in the ass like it used to be.

  “I just got to this part in my book,” August said, looking around with some surprising awe. “When Caesar got to Egypt.”

  “Pretty amazing, wasn't it?”

  “Yeah,” August said. “He's about ready to kick some ass to make Cleopatra queen.”

  “So what's the plan?” Riley asked. “We can't search the whole country.”

  “We're not going to search all of it, just the places Cleopatra and Mark Antony were most likely to have been in their time. If Antony really did send the sword to Cleopatra, or took the sword to Egypt with him, then those would be the best places to look.”

  “But after all of this time, would it really even still be around here?”

  “If it was never found, then it's possible, yes,” Elijah interjected. “You would be surprised by how many treasures are hidden in populated places all over the planet, right under people's noses. And for something that valuable...I imagine Mark Antony didn't want it falling into the wrong hands.”

  “Like Octavian's hands,” August said, putting it together.

  “Especially Octavian's, yes. It is important to make sure that priceless remnants of the past are put into the right place, wouldn't you agree, Nina?”

  Elijah asked the question with some sharpness. He was clearly still feeling somewhat bitter about her decision to give the sword to the museum. She just ignored him. She could deal with some passive aggressive animosity. It wasn't that much different than Elijah usually was. He wasn't a passionate enough person to display extreme anger. His frustration—probably even his rage—was a quiet, constant simmer.

  “The blades that were used to assassinate Caesar for instance...we’ve a few of them stored away in the deep vaults and they weren't easy to track down. One of them was hidden away in a slot in the forum's walls. Another was kept within one of the treasonous senators' families and passed down from generation to generation. A morbid heirloom but their ancestor's betrayal did alter the course of history, so I can see why they would hold onto it, I suppose. And from my understanding, they had no intention of giving it away willingly...”

  “They didn't,” August muttered. “I was one of the enforcers Julian sent to get that knife. I just knew it was some old knife at the time. And he took a beating before he gave it up...” August looked a bit ashamed, or at least uncomfortable.

  Nina was just glad that the Order of the Black Sun wasn't like that anymore. They wouldn't handle a challenge by just punching their way through it or hurt anyone who was inconveniencing them. If Julian Corvus was still running things, he’d burn all of Egypt to th
e ground if it meant getting him closer to Caesar's sword. Nina and her team would try their hardest, but they wouldn't go anywhere close to that far. There were lines that they wouldn't cross and limitations that they would adhere to. Getting Caesar's sword was going to be a challenge, but they wouldn't spill any innocent blood just to make it easier to find.

  August scratched his bald head. “So let me get this straight, Mark Antony was here with Caesar when Caesar was helping Cleopatra become queen of Egypt. I read that last night...but after Caesar's death, Mark Antony and Cleopatra started hooking up. So she kind of had a fling with Caesar and then went straight to his best friend...seems a bit...”

  “Oh, come on!” Riley giggled. “Scandalous? Sure. Romantic? Yes! Two mourning power players, bonding over their grief for a mutual loved one. It happens all the time. It's just a shame that their little love affair ended up biting both of them in their butts in the end...but hey, that's love sometimes. It doesn't always end in happily ever after.”

  “What do you mean? What happened to them?” August's limited knowledge of history was sometimes very obvious.

  Nina stepped in. “Well, Antony's closeness with Cleopatra and Egypt gave Octavian the perfect ammunition to use against him. They both believed that they were Caesar's true successors but Octavian was able to paint Antony as a traitor, who turned his back on Rome for some foreign queen. He turned all of Rome against Antony and a civil war took place...Antony and Cleopatra were defeated. Like Riley was saying...love conquers all, except when it doesn't.”

  “Such a tragedy,” Riley said. “Shakespeare wrote a whole play about it. I highly recommend it.”

  “So Octavian wiped the floor with his biggest rival when he came here. So couldn't Octavian have taken the sword when he beat Mark Antony? He probably considered it his, being Caesar's successor and all that...”