The Seal of Solomon

by Jeffrey Ellis

  “Not really. It's actually quite fascinating,” Facilitator William replied.

  “Only you would think that. You know most men just watch porn,” Lady Chelsea said.

  “That is porn to the Facilitator. He probably left some stains on the screen,” Sir Mason said with a laugh.

  “I've concluded the best way to beat it is to feed Sir Mason to it. Indigestion will kill it immediately,” Facilitator William replied.

  “I refuse. Torture is a violation of our guidelines,” Lady Chelsea replied. “Maybe if we gave him a bath first it might not be considered torture. I think all that cologne would be considered chemical warfare.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up,” Sir Mason said with a feigned offense.

  “Come on people, we need to focus. This thing is in an uninhabited area at the moment, so we have a chance to stop it before anyone gets hurt,” Facilitator William told them.

  “You're right. What can you tell us about it? Any weaknesses? How it got there?” Lady Chelsea asked.

  “No idea on how it got there. We're still trying to figure that out but for now, our focus is on eliminating it. There are numerous reports of weaknesses but all from the days before the Seal. The one that Dr. Frankenstein created was reportedly attacked by a mob of people and burned to death. Fire might be a weakness but there are also a lot of reports of variations. It seems that golems had varying traits based on their creation. This one is more unusual. It shows traits of the fey. We think this golem may be made from one of the brute races, possible an ogre but we can't say for certain,” the Facilitator told them.

  “I don't have a lot for you on this one. The local authorities are doing a sweep of the area for civilians and you're cleared for departure in twenty-four hours to give them time to clear the area. I'll get you an EM analyzer. That will help you track it by its electrical charge. Get some rest. You're gonna need it,” Facilitator William told them.

  As they were leaving, Squire Sebastian stopped.

  “Can I borrow that book? I know it's mostly fiction but maybe there's something in it that was overlooked,” he asked the Facilitator.

  Facilitator William picked up the book and tossed it to him.

  #

  Sebastian was in Chelsea's quarters sitting at a table reading over data files. They spent a lot of nights together, sneaking in and out of each other’s quarters to avoid being caught. It was still against the rules as long as he was in training, but both were beyond caring. Tonight, Chelsea seemed irritated.

  “Are you coming to bed? It's late and you've paid more attention to that computer screen than you have me,” she told him sounding upset.

  “Something isn't right. A golem is an anomaly,” he replied.

  “You being in here this long without coming to bed is an anomaly. The golem is just another monster we have to kill,” she replied.

  “It's more than that. I can't put my finger on it, but something is off. Go on to sleep. I'm going to keep reading the historical files. I finished the book and like William said it wasn't much. The historical data is much better. There's a lot of lore going back thousands of years into both religious lore and folklore. There might be something here I can use,” he said.

  “I'd rather you use me but if you're gonna spend all your time tonight looking at that screen then I guess I will just go to sleep,” she said angrily and turned over.

  “Chelsea, I need to be ready for this. We have plenty of time for each other. This is my chance to prove myself,” he told her.

  She sat up. “You don't have anything to prove. You already got the job,” she told him.

  He didn't reply, and she noticed he was absorbed in reading something.

  “Interesting,” he said.

  “I'm quitting the Wardens,” she told him, but he didn't reply.

  “I'm also joining the ALF,” she said but still no reply.

  “Aliens just attacked UniGov,” she told him, but he didn't even look up.

  “A giant meteor is about to hit the planet and we're all going to die,” she said and still nothing.

  “Would you really rather be playing with that terminal than my tits?” she asked but he was too absorbed in his reading to hear her.

  “Typical man, never listening. I can't believe you'd rather spend time tapping that screen than tapping me,” she said as she went back to bed.

  A moment later he looked up from the screen and said, “I'm sorry, what was that?” but he noticed she was already asleep.

  #

  The shuttle dropped the three of them outside the target zone. They approached slowly and cautiously.

  “It's supposed to be in this area. It's trapped between us and the mountain, we just have to find it,” Sir Mason told them.

  “Why don't we just use aerial drones or a recon shuttle to track it?” Squire Sebastian asked.

  “The electrical discharges are random and already shorted out one drone and the tree cover is too thick for shuttles to see through,” Sir Mason told him.

  “We should bring heavy weapons if this is as dangerous as the Facilitator says. Some GloCom spec plasma rifles would be nice,” Squire Sebastian said.

  “Do you have any laying around? GloCom doesn't share their hardware,” Sir Mason replied. “Getting cold feet? It's understandable if you want to bail out. This life isn't for everyone.”

  “I don't give up. We'll be fine,” Squire Sebastian said.

  “You seem confident. Confidence is good, but you need to be ready,” Lady Chelsea told him.

  Sir Mason looked down at the device he was carrying. “Reading something about half a mile northeast. The topo maps show that as relatively level with nothing unusual. Sounds like a good place to engage it. It doesn't seem to be moving. That's odd.”

  “They seem to be idle until they encounter a living creature or are commanded by their creator according to the lore,” Squire Sebastian told them.

  “When did you become an expert on golems?” Sir Mason asked.

  “Last night. He wouldn't stop reading about them,” Lady Chelsea said.

  “I bet you were annoyed at that,” Sir Mason said.

  “More than annoyed. I don't like being ignored. He was sitting at that monitor like William. I really hope he's not rubbing off on Sebastian. One bookworm is enough in our family,” she replied.

  Sebastian looked at the two of them.

  “Yes, I know. Lady Chelsea and I go way back, and she can't keep secrets from me. Your secret is safe though, I have no intention of getting either of you in trouble,” Sir Mason told them.

  “Thanks, Sir Mason,” Squire Sebastian replied, unsure how to handle the revelation.

  “No need for titles. It's just the three of us,” Sir Mason told them. “You're important to Chelsea and she's like a sister to me. That makes you like a brother. You're important to her and that makes you important to me. We're brothers as Wardens but let's call each other friend.”

  “Thanks. I mean that. I haven't made any friends yet. I don't know why but most of the Wardens seem to treat me like an outsider,” Sebastian told him.

  “It's because like this golem, you're an anomaly. Facility 14 is the best. That's not just boasting. We're the highest ranked Facility in the Wardens by far. There are seasoned agents around the world who have been trying for years to get a position with us. Then our Facilitator dies, and William gets promoted leaving an opening and which seasoned agent do they choose? None of them. They chose a rookie straight out of the academy with no experience in combat who's never hunted before and that made a lot of people in our family suspicious. Some think you're connected. Others think it's nepotism. Some think you're a plant from the Directorate to spy on us. Thing is, that makes them not willing to trust you,” Mason told him.

  “I'm none of those things but I do have combat experience. I was in GloCom. I was a Lieutenant in the Elite Corps. I've fought the ALF and Trip-L,” Sebastian told him. “When I left the military, I joined the academy. They tell me my
scores were exceptional and only a few other agents have ever scored that high.

  “Ah, that makes a little more sense now. For the record, I never distrusted you. I have a personal rule of judging people on their merits, not rumor and hearsay. I figure if Anna and William thought you were good enough then that's enough for me. Then you go and win over Chelsea here and that tells me what kind of person you are. If no one has told you this before, welcome to the Wardens,” Mason told him.

  “That means a lot to me. It really does. Other than Chelsea, no one has treated me like part of the team,” Sebastian replied.

  “He said welcome to the Wardens, not welcome to the team. You still have to earn that. You're a good kid and you have a lot of potential, but you're still rough around the edges. You're good enough to be placed at any facility in the world. I know that. I trained you myself and I've seen firsthand how well you handle yourself but if you want the others to see it and accept you, you're going to have to work for that,” Chelsea told him.

  “I plan to. I am good enough and I'll earn my place,” Sebastian told them.

  “You'll get your chance. There it is,” Mason said.

  The group moved to the area and the golem was there. It stood about nine feet tall and was broader and more muscular than even an ogre. It was crisscrossed with scars making it look like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Its body was covered in tattoos and glyphs and metal things poked out from its body in various places. It looked something out of a mad scientist’s laboratory from the old vids from before the wars. Its body hummed with energy and arcs of electricity passed between the metal points making it look like a walking Tesla coil. As soon as it noticed them it charged without hesitation.

  The group split and moved around the clearing. Initially, it seemed as it couldn't decide on a target, but it eventually focused on Mason and went after him. The three Wardens opened with the pistols cycling through lasers and every type of ammo they had but nothing seemed to hurt it. Mason managed to avoid it using the trees at the edge of the clearing as obstacles between them managing to keep a safe distance.

  “Guns have no effect. We're going to have to use blades,” Mason said as he drew his sword. “You two keep it distracted with the guns and I'll finish this.”

  “Mason, NO!” Chelsea screamed as Mason turned and faced the Golem. He put his blade up in an attack stance and braced for the golem's charge. Chelsea and Sebastian kept firing as the golem reached Mason. He swung, and the golem grabbed the sword, breaking it in half. Electricity flowed through the blade and into Mason. He shook and spasmed violently and fell to the ground.

  “NOOOO!” screamed Chelsea as she started to charge the golem, but Sebastian stopped her.

  “There's nothing we can do. We need a way to fight it,” he said as the golem turned towards them. “Quick, follow me.”

  He ran to a large tree and quickly climbed it with Chelsea right behind him.

  “It killed Mason,” Chelsea said, the rage in her voice pronounced.

  “We'll stop it. I have a plan,” he replied.

  “Mason is dead and all you can is 'I have a plan.' Don't you care?” she asked.

  “Of course, I care but right now I have to bury that. I have to focus on the task at hand. They'll be time to mourn once we make sure that thing is stopped, and we don't end up like Mason,” he told her.

  She seemed to calm a bit at that.

  “You're right. What's your plan?” she asked.

  “I saw a small lake nearby on the topo map. This thing is basically one big electrical capacitor from the looks of it. Water and electricity don't mix. We get it there and take it for a swim,” he told her.

  “Easier said than done. We can't touch it. Our guns don't hurt it and our swords are just conductors,” she replied.

  “Wood. It's non-conductive and we're surrounded by it,” he said as he took his blade and started cutting a long section.

  The golem was at the base of the tree smashing its huge meaty fists against it but wasn't really hurting the old tree.

  Chelsea cut a similar branch and the two of them were armed with what were effectively long, thick staves.

  “That lake is nearly a mile away and we're up a tree with that thing below us. How do we get there?” she asked.

  “That's a good question. Let me think,” he said as he sat looking around then focused on Mason's body. “Mason's comm. We don't use regular comm units much, but we all carry them. If we can activate it remotely and turn on the speaker we might be able to distract it.”

  “I'm on it,” Chelsea said. She took out her own comm, then keyed in a series of commands and music poured out of Mason's comm.

  “Drop down quietly and let it get a good distance away. Then we'll get its attention and run towards the lake. Cut the music when we run so it doesn't remain distracted by it,” Sebastian told her.

  The golem stopped pounding on the tree and turned in the direction of the music and went towards it. While its back was turned, the two quietly dropped from the tree. Once the golem was some distance away, Sebastian threw a rock at it and hit in the back as Chelsea cut the sound. When it turned, they ran at full speed towards the lake. They were a little faster than the lumbering beast but not by much.

  As they ran, the terrain got a little more irregular slowing the golem more than the Wardens, so they slowed their own pace to make sure it didn't lose them. The ground got rocky and uneven as they got closer to the lake. A rock shifted as Chelsea stepped across it and lost her footing, falling and hitting the ground hard. She didn't move but was breathing. The golem was coming so he lured it away from her.

  He started to run again, looking back and as he predicted, the golem followed him ignoring her for the still moving target. He got to the lake and stopped running. The golem charged at him and he ducked to the side, but it stopped short of hitting the water.

  The golem charged him again. Its method wasn't elegant, but it didn't need to be. All it had to do was get a hand on him and the electricity would end the fight. He continued to avoid it, using the staff to block its attacks or his agility to keep out of its reach while he formulated a plan.

  The golem rushed him, and he rolled away as it swung and nearly hit him. He noticed a pattern in the arcs. The arcs flowed over the creature's skin but seemed to emanate from the metal protrusions. He swung the staff around and caught one of the metal points on the back. With the momentum, it snapped off. The arcs across the skin still flowed but an area around the broken point remained free of the charges.

  The golem ran towards him again and he jumped to the side, breaking off another of the metal points. He continued to do that for a couple of minutes breaking off most of the points. The golem made another pass and he went for another of the points but overextended himself. The golem caught him with a backhand and knocked him back several feet. The electrical charge pulsed through him, even as weakened as it was from all the points he had broken it still stunned him for a moment and the golem took advantage of it.

  It charged him and hit him again, knocking him backward. He landed hard on his back, trembling slightly from the electrical energy. He staggered to his feet as the golem turned again to charge him. Sebastian shook his head as it ran towards him and he barely managed to roll out of the way. He shook his head a second time and cleared most of the cobwebs.

  He kept moving, running along the edge of the lake while he formed a plan.

  It ran towards him and he managed to knock off another of the points. It only had a few remaining but to his chagrin, the elimination of the external points did not seem to weaken the thing. The monster ran again, and he stood his ground. As it neared him, he struck straight out with the staff, catching it squarely in one of its eyes then jumped away. It chased him again and he once again struck out, catching it in the other eye.

  The creature flailed around, unable to see him and randomly struck out. Sebastian walked quietly away from it until he was a good distance. It continued to strike out at no
thing. It wasn't really moving other than its random attacks and was standing still near the edge of the water.

  He charged at the golem at full speed. As he got about half way, he used the staff as a pole and vaulted towards the golem, catching it in the chest with both feet. It staggered backward and fell into the water. Electricity buzzed and cracked as the metal contacts touched the water. The golem shook violently for about a minute as the energy flowed out and into the water then it didn't move. Smoke wafted up from the body.

  He ran back to Chelsea who was just starting to move.

  “It's over. The golem is done,” he said.

  She stood up and smiled then grabbed him and kissed him. He started to kiss her back, but she stopped him.

  “We should go see to Mason's body and call HQ,” she said.

  “He's not dead, He's probably awake by now. Did I pass?” he asked her.

  “Pass? What do you mean?” she asked.

  “The Prometheus Trial. It was well hidden, but I found enough in the archives to cross reference it. A large budget expenditure years ago to Macedon Machines for something called The Prometheus Project, a listing in the training file for every Warden at Facility 14 for Prom Test with a pass/fail indicator and anyone listed as failed in non-field assignments, that show that William put on...the copy of Frankenstein was a nice touch...you falling on a rock, Mason sacrificing himself with an attack that likely wouldn't work. It was well laid out but there were too many crumbs,” Sebastian said.

  “You knew all this time and still went along with it?” Chelsea asked.

  “I wanted to pass. I told you I don't give up. I wasn't sure I could beat it, but I did,” he said.

  “And broke a very expensive drone in the process,” came Facilitator William's voice over the Warden channel speaking so only Chelsea could hear him. “Coordinator Anna and I will be landing in a few minutes back at the engagement clearing.”

  Chelsea and Sebastian walked together back to the clearing.

  Sebastian looked at her and laughed. “You were way out of character by the way. You didn't chastise me once for the method only for not feeling remorse and falling on some rocky shoreline...you? Are you kidding me?” he asked.