“Sure is,” Alicia said happily. “Same guy that committed infidelity with the king’s wife.”
“Are you saying I should be worried? Or care?”
Alicia stared at Smyth. “Nah. If he loses you the best he’s gonna get is a baboon and there are no red-arsed monkeys in Egypt.” She swept the room with a questing air. “At least, not outside this room.”
Mai was now standing beside Lauren, having drifted over after double-checking the safe house’s security. “Shall we catch up with the op? I’m assuming that’s why Lauren is here?”
“Yeah, yeah.” The New Yorker quickly recaptured her composure. “You all wanna sit down? This might take a while.”
Yorgi found a seat. Drake perched on the arm of a chair, watching the room closely. It was clear to him, seeing from the outside, how Dahl and Kenzie drifted closer, how Hayden glided away from Kinimaka and, thankfully, how Alicia and Mai now seemed more accepting of each other’s presence. Drake felt hugely relieved over that outcome, but the next big thing was about to erupt. Yorgi had been almost completely silent since his revelation of only three days ago.
I am the one who killed my parents in cold blood.
Yeah, it had put a dampener on the celebrations but nobody pressed the Russian. He had come far indeed to confess the act; he needed time now to decipher the memory into real words.
Lauren looked a little uncomfortable standing at the head of the room, but when Smyth backed away she started to speak. “Firstly, we may have a lead as to the whereabouts of Tyler Webb’s secret stash. Remember—he promised more secrets would be unearthed?”
Drake remembered it well. They’d been worrying about the potential fallout ever since. Or at least, two or three have.
“But we have no time for that now. Later, I hope we can all take a trip. But this ... this new threat began when the organization TerraLeaks dropped a whole slew of documents onto the Internet.” She grimaced. “More like a physical bomb dropped onto a digital foundation. The documents were all handwritten, clearly fanatical, and entirely self-aggrandizing. The usual old dross. Employees of TerraLeaks discovered them inside an old bunker in Cuba, something left over from decades ago. It seems the bunker used to be the headquarters of a group of madmen that called themselves the Order of the Last Judgment.”
“Sounds like a bunch of laughs,” Drake said.
“Sure it was. But in truth, it gets much worse. These men were all war criminals, escaped from Nazi Germany and hiding in Cuba. Now, as you all know, it’s easier to make a list of weird shit the Nazis weren’t interested in than a list of the things they were. This Order was created to pass things on to future generations. If they were caught or killed, they wanted some glorious repercussion somewhere down the line.”
“And you’re saying they’ve got it?” Hayden asked.
“Well, not yet. Nothing is proven. The Order were made up of two generals, two powerful government figures and two wealthy businessmen. Together, they would have wielded considerable power and resources.”
“How do we know this?” Mai asked.
“Oh, they’ve kept nothing hidden. Names, events, places. It’s all there in the documents. And TerraLeaks have followed suit,” Lauren shook her head, “as they do.”
“You’re saying everyone knows?” Drake said softly. “Every bloody organization in the world? Shit.” He swung his head toward the window as if beholding the whole world out there, converging.
“The document in question isn’t fully finished—” Lauren began.
Alicia snorted. “If course it isn’t.”
“So we don’t have all of the information. We can only assume these war criminals that vanished from the face of the earth around twenty seven years ago didn’t get chance to finish their work.”
“Vanished?” Dahl murmured, shuffling a little. “That usually means secret police. Or Special Forces. Makes sense since they were war criminals.”
Lauren nodded. “That’s the consensus. But whoever ‘vanished’ them didn’t think to look for a secret bunker.”
“Probably the SAS then.” Dahl glanced over at Drake. “Thick bastards.”
“At least our Special Forces aren’t called ABBA.”
Kinimaka wandered over to the window to take a look. “Sounds like the mother of all mistakes,” he rumbled at the glass. “Letting this info go free. How many governments are going to be hunting it down at the same time?”
“At least six,” Lauren said. “That we know of. Could be more than that by now. The race began whilst you guys were finishing off in Peru.”
“Finishing off?” Smyth repeated. “We were saving lives.”
Lauren shrugged. “Nobody blames you for it.”
Drake distinctly remembered Smyth’s repeated requests to hurry the hell up during the last mission. But this was no time to bring it up. Instead, he quietly caught the New Yorker’s attention.
“So,” he said. “Why don’t you tell us exactly what this Order of the Last Judgment planned and how it’s going to destroy the world?”
Lauren took a deep breath. “All right then. I hope you’re ready for this.”
CHAPTER THREE
“Through spy satellites, hidden agents and cameras, drones, the NSA ... you name it, we know that at least six other countries are rushing to find the four corners of the earth first. The Americans—” she paused, thinking “—well ... being the Americans ... want to get there ahead of the others. Not only for the prestige, but because we simply can’t tell what anyone else will do with what they find. The feeling is ... what if Israel finds a covert country killer? What if China find all four?”
“So these are the confirmed countries involved?” Kenzie asked quietly. “Israel?”
“Yeah. Plus China, France, Sweden, Russia and Britain.”
Drake wondered if he might know some of the people involved. It didn’t sit right that he should be working against them.
“Tricky,” he said. “What are the exact orders?”
Lauren consulted her laptop to be sure. “They contain an awful lot of ‘without fails’ and ‘at all costs.’”
“They’re seeing it as a global threat,” Hayden said. “And why wouldn’t they? The next apocalypse is always just a few days away.”
“Still,” Drake said, “essentially we’re all on the same side.”
Hayden blinked at him. “Whoa. Get off the drugs, dude.”
“No, I meant—”
“Too many knocks have finally addled his head.” Dahl laughed.
Drake stared. “Shut yer gob.” He paused. “Have you been brushing up on yer Yorkshire? Anyway, what I meant was we’re all Special Forces. Cut from the same cloth. We bloody well shouldn’t be racing and fighting each other across the world.”
“Agreed,” Hayden said without emotion. “So who ya gonna take it up with?”
Drake spread his hands. “President Coburn?”
“You’d have to get past the Secretary of Defense first. And others. Cole has more than physical walls surrounding him and some of them aren’t without their battlements.”
“Not all of the teams will be friendlies,” Kenzie added with surety.
“Of course.” Drake gave in and took a seat. “Sorry, Lauren. Go on.”
“Right. So everyone has read the leaked documents. Most are Nazi bullshit, to be honest. And I’m reading that verbatim. A page named after this wretched group, called the Order of the Last Judgment, points firmly to the so-called ‘resting places’ of the Four Horsemen: War, Conquest, Famine and Death.”
“From the Book of Revelation?” Hayden asked. “Those Four Horsemen?”
“Yep.” Lauren nodded, still consulting an abundance of notes proved by some of America’s top geeks. “The Lamb of God opens the first four of seven seals, which summons four creatures that ride out on white, red, black and pale horses. Of course, through the years they have been tied to everything, and reimagined time and again in popular culture. They were even described as a sy
mbol of the Roman Empire, and its subsequent history. But, hey, the Nazis could twist it however they want, right? Now, it might be better if I hand these out.” She dug a sheaf of papers from her briefcase, looking more efficient than Drake had ever seen her. An interesting change for Lauren, and one she looked to be taking to heart. He glanced quickly at the paper.
“This is the thing that’s got everyone fired up? The Order?”
“Yeah, read it.”
Dahl read it aloud as the others took it in.
“At the Four Corners of the Earth we found the Four Horsemen and laid with them the blueprint of the Order of the Last Judgment. Those who survive the Judgment quest and its aftermath will rightly reign supreme. If you are reading this, we are lost, so read and follow with cautious eyes. Our last years were spent assembling the four final weapons, the world revolutions: War, Conquest, Famine and Death. Unleashed together, they will destroy all governments and unveil a new future. Be prepared. Find them. Go to the Four Corners of the Earth. Find the resting places of the Father of Strategy and then the Khagan; the Worst Indian Who Ever Lived and then the Scourge of God. But all is not as it seems. We visited the Khagan in 1960, five years after completion, placing Conquest in his coffin. We found the Scourge who guards the true last judgment. And the only kill code is when the Horsemen arose. The Father’s bones are unmarked. The Indian is surrounded by guns. The Order of the Last Judgment now live through you, and will forever reign supreme.”
Drake took it all in. Many clues, many truths. Much labor. Dahl beat him to the first comment though. “Arose? Not arise?”
“Yeah, seems off.” Lauren agreed. “But it ain’t a typo.”
Mai commented, “It does appear to show the order in which to look, albeit subtly.”
Lauren nodded in agreement. “It does. But do you also see why they’re terming it as ‘resting places?’ Not tombs, or graves or whatever?”
“All is not as it seems,” Dahl read aloud.
“Yeah. Obviously there’s a ton more research required.”
“The Indian is surrounded by guns,” Alicia read aloud. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Let’s not get too far ahead,” Hayden said.
“It’s believed the knowledge of all these final resting places died with the Nazi Order.” Lauren said. “Maybe they were planning on writing something down. Maybe coding it. Or passing the knowledge on to other generations. We don’t know for sure, but we do know this is all we have to go on,” she shrugged, “and everyone’s in the same boat.” She stared at Drake. “Dinghy. Survival raft. You get the idea.”
The Yorkshireman nodded proudly. “Sure do. The SAS could make a rock float.”
“Well, whoever we’re up against, they have the same clues we do,” Hayden said. “How about we make a start?”
Kinimaka turned away from the window. “The four corners of the earth?” he asked. “Where are they?”
The room looked blank. “Hard to say,” Dahl said. “When the world’s round.”
“Okay, how about the first Horseman that they referenced. This Father of Strategy.” Kinimaka moved into the room, blocking all light from the window at his back. “What references do we have to him?”
“As you would expect—” Lauren tapped at the screen “—the think tank back home has that covered too ...” She took a moment to read.
Drake took the same moment to reflect. Lauren’s mention of “the think tank back home” only clarified that which was absent.
Karin Blake.
Granted time flew when you were part of the SPEAR team, but they were long past the day and even the week when Karin should have been in touch. Every time he resolved to contact her something stopped him—whether it be a raft of enemies, a world crisis, or his own prerequisite for not being irritating. Karin needed her space, but—
Where the hell is she?
Lauren started to speak and again thoughts of Karin had to be shelved.
“It seems a historical figure was known as the Father of Strategy. Hannibal.”
Smyth looked unsure. “Which one?”
Alicia pursed her lips. “If it’s the Anthony Hopkins dude I ain’t leaving this room.”
“Hannibal Barca was the legendary military commander from Carthage. Born in 247 BC, he was the man that marched a whole army, including war elephants, over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Italy. He had an ability to determine his strengths and the enemies’ weaknesses, and defeated a whole slew of Rome’s allies. The only way he was eventually beaten was when some guy studied his own brilliant tactics and devised a way to use them against him. This was at Carthage.”
“So this guy is the Father of Strategy?” Smyth asked. “This Hannibal?”
“Considered one of the greatest military strategists in history and one of the paramount generals of antiquity along with Alexander the Great and Caesar. He was named the Father of Strategy because his worst enemy, Rome, eventually adopted his military tactics into their own schemes.”
“Now that’s a win,” Dahl said, “if ever there was one.”
Lauren nodded. “Even better. Hannibal was considered such a nightmare to Rome that they adopted a saying whenever any kind of disaster struck. Translated it is, Hannibal is at the gates! The Latin phrase became common and is still used today.”
“Getting back to the Order,” Hayden prompted them. “How does it fit?”
“Well, we can safely say Hannibal is one of the Four Horsemen. Beyond the physical fact that he obviously rode a horse, he’s named throughout history as the Father of Strategy. He then, is War, the first Horseman. He certainly brought war to the Roman empire.”
Drake scanned the text. “So it says the blueprint of the Order of the Last Judgment was laid with the Horsemen. Are we to assume that the Order buried a devastating weapon inside Hannibal’s grave? Leaving it for a future generation?”
Lauren nodded. “That’s the general feeling. A weapon in every grave. A grave at every corner of the earth.”
Kinimaka raised a brow. “Which again makes as much sense as a grass skirt.”
Hayden waved him down. “Forget that,” she said. “For now. Surely a man such as Hannibal will have a tomb or mausoleum?”
Lauren sat back. “Yeah, that’s where it gets tricky. Poor old Hannibal was exiled and died a poor death, probably from poison. He was buried in an unmarked grave.”
Drake stared. “Bollocks.”
“Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
“Do we have a location?” Mai asked.
“Oh yeah.” Lauren smiled. “Africa.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Alicia walked over to a side cabinet and pulled out a bottle of water from the mini-fridge on top. The start of a new op was always a fraught affair. Her forte was out in the field; this time though they clearly needed a plan. Hayden had already joined Lauren at the laptop and Smyth was attempting to look interested, no doubt because the New Yorker was embracing a different role. Oh yeah, and because she isn’t in prison visiting a mad terrorist.
Alicia kept her own council, but found it hard to see the logic of Lauren’s thinking. Still, it wasn’t her place to judge, not after the life she’d already led. Lauren Fox was worldly wise and shrewd enough to see what was coming.
Hope so. Alicia drank half the bottle, then turned to Drake. The Yorkshireman was currently standing beside Dahl and Kenzie. She was about to move in when there was a movement at her side.
“Oh, hey Yogi. How’s it hanging?”
“Okay.” The Russian thief had been downcast ever since his abrupt revelation. “Do you think they hate me now?”
“Who? Them? Are you kidding? Nobody judges you, especially not me.” She grunted and looked around. “Or Mai. Or Drake. And especially not Kenzie. Bitch probably has a dungeon full of nasty little secrets.”
“Oh.”
“Not that yours is a nasty little secret.” Shit! “Hey I’m still trying to change here. I’m no friggin’ good with the pep talks.�
��
“I see that.”
She reached out, “C’mere!” and lunged for his head as he slipped away, trying to drag him into a headlock. Yorgi skipped toward the end of the room, light on his feet. Alicia saw the futility of pursuit.
“Next time, boy.”
Drake watched her approach. “Y’know he’s scared of you.”
“Didn’t think the kid was afraid of anything. Not after spending time in that Russian prison and running up walls. Then, you find out he’s afraid of this.” She tapped her head.
“Most powerful weapon of all,” Dahl said. “Just ask Hannibal.”
“Ooh, Torsty cracks a witticism. Let’s all mark the calendar. Seriously though,” Alicia added. “Kid needs to talk. I’m not best qualified.”
Kenzie barked. “Really? I am astounded.”
“Were you mentioned in Webb’s statement? Oh yeah, I think so.”
The Israeli shrugged. “I find it hard to sleep at night. So what?”
“It’s why,” Alicia said. “Not what.”
“For the same reason as you, I expect.”
A deep silence fell. Dahl met Drake’s eyes over the top of the women’s heads and made a slight roll. Drake looked away fast, not belittling the women but not wanting to get dragged down a well of misery either. Alicia looked up when Hayden started to speak.
“Okay,” their boss said. “It’s better than what Lauren initially thought. Who’s up for a trip to the Hellespont?”
Alicia sighed. “Sounds perfect for this bloody team. Sign me up.”
*
First in helicopters and then speedboats, the SPEAR team approached the Dardanelles. The sun was already sinking toward the horizon, the light transforming from a bright orb to a panoramic backcloth to a horizontal slash. Drake found the bumpy ride barely changed between modes of transport and found time to wonder how the pilots made it safely through the day. Alicia, at his side aboard the chopper, made her feelings a little clearer.
“Hey, people, do ya think this dude’s trying to kill us?”
Kinimaka, buckled in tight and grasping as many spare straps as he could hold, spoke through gritted teeth. “I’m pretty sure he thinks they bounce.”
The Four Corners of the Earth (Matt Drake Book 16) Page 2
