“The Triarii? You mean you’re part of the lost legion?” asked Laura.
“Yes, Professor, I and my brethren have been guarding the secret of the skulls for almost two millennia,” explained Rodney. “When Professor Acton found the final missing skull, he set into motion a series of events that can no longer be stopped.”
“What do you mean,” asked Acton, “the final missing skull?”
“I don’t have time to explain here, but if you come with me I’ll tell you everything,” said Rodney.
They didn’t budge.
“Your lives are in danger.”
“Is hers?” asked Acton.
“We weren’t aware she was involved until now so she should be safe.”
“James, what are you suggesting?” asked Laura, turning to face him.
“The cops are expecting you,” said Acton as he took her hands in his. “You go in, otherwise they’ll get suspicious of you. I’ll go with him and find out what he knows, and we’ll meet up later where we had Chinese.”
“Are you sure? I don’t feel good about this.”
“Come, now! We don’t have time!” urged Rodney.
“How do I explain where you went?”
“I’ll run away,” said Rodney. “Professor, you chase me. Once we’re on Montague we’re out of camera range. Professor Palmer, you go into the museum and tell them that I ran away and your friend pursued me. Make up a name. I’ll never be coming back here again.” He took one last glance at the museum, then bolted toward the street.
Acton looked at Laura and whispered, “Go, I’ll be okay.” He turned and raced after Rodney.
Laura watched as the two men ran off. She turned back to the door, took a deep breath, then pressed the intercom button again.
Salem, Virginia
Madely’s cellphone rang, waking him out of a deep sleep. Feeling guilty, he looked at his watch. 4 a.m. He knew he shouldn’t be sleeping, but the old lady never, in the six years he’d been observing her, left her house until 9 a.m. unless on a tour. His partner was in the passenger seat, his head cocked backward, leaning against the window. His mouth was wide open, his snoring loud enough to wake the neighborhood. I guess I’m not the only one.
He answered the phone.
“Twelve Twelve Oh Five, Execute Red.”
His pulse raced and adrenaline rushed into his veins. He punched his partner on the shoulder. “Johnson, wake up!” Johnson snorted a couple of times then came to.
“What?” he asked groggily, “What’s going on?”
“We’ve been ordered to execute Plan Red!”
Johnson bolted upright in his seat and straightened himself. The two men exited the car and approached the house they’d had under surveillance just down the road. Walking to the doorstep, they rang the doorbell. Four a.m.!
It took a few minutes, but eventually a light came on deep in the house and footsteps approached then stopped at the door. Someone unlatched the lock and opened it. The ninety-something lady who greeted them was by no means frail. She traveled the world on a regular basis and through observing her for years they knew her to be very independent.
“Ahhh, my shadows,” she said.
Madely and Johnson looked at each other, dumbfounded.
“Come in, come in,” she said as she backed up, opening the door wider. They entered the house and she closed the door behind them. “Can I get you something, some tea perhaps?”
“No thank you, ma’am, I’m afraid—”
She cut him off with a wave of her finger. “You’ve come for my Daddy’s skull, haven’t you?”
Madely looked shocked. “How did you know?”
She chuckled. “Your group, the Triarii, isn’t it? Your group has been following me since I found the skull in that cave in 1927. It’s about time you said hello.”
“I don’t know what to say, ma’am,” said Madely.
“Well, I came to the determination long ago that you people weren’t here to hurt me,” she explained. “I guess I came to feel that you were my protectors.”
“How do you know about the Triarii?” asked Johnson.
“In my over ninety years I’ve picked up a few things along the way,” she smiled. “Now, if you’re here for the skull, I assume something has gone wrong?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Madely. “I’m afraid we must take it, at least temporarily, until the situation is resolved.”
“And will it be resolved?”
“I hope so, ma’am.”
She nodded and walked over to a cabinet. Taking a key from around her neck, she inserted it into the lock and opened the doors wide. Inside, the skull rested on a small, velvet covered pedestal. She picked it up gently, gave it a small kiss on the forehead, then handed it to Madely. “Be careful with my baby,” she said, tears in her eyes.
“Yes, ma’am, we will.” Madely placed the skull in the case Johnson held. He pulled a card out of his pocket with the Triarii symbol embossed on it, and nothing else. “If anyone comes looking for the skull, give them this. It will protect you.”
She nodded. “Thank you, my dears.”
With that, the two men left, leaving the old lady feeling more alone than she had ever felt.
Hope Trailer Park, New Mexico
Leroy heard a tapping sound from the front of the house. He looked at his wife who slept peacefully beside him. Gently climbing out of bed, he tiptoed out of the room, trying to avoid those floorboards that creaked. The tapping got louder as he neared the front entrance. Opening the door, he saw that the noise was the screen door blowing against the doorframe in the gentle desert breeze. He reattached the latch then closed the front door and locked it, something he normally never did. There was no need to. The only time people came into the house uninvited was if they needed to borrow something.
He started to head back toward the bedroom when something made him stop. He looked at the bookshelf where they had their collection of artifacts. All of the skulls were lined up as they were whenever they were home. The only time they were moved was when he and his wife went to conferences around the world to show off their collection. They had found skulls all over the world, even in markets in New York City. Gripping the crystal that hung on a leather chain around his neck, he closed his eyes, trying to seek wisdom from the skulls. Why do I feel uneasy?
He opened his eyes again and saw it. The last skull, an orange tinted one, was facing the wrong way. It was turned to the right instead of the left. He knew his wife would never have done that. His heart raced and he ran to the safe in the office. He turned on the light and his heart sank. The safe was open. And empty. He dropped to his knees and started to cry.
Those government bastards!
Montague Place, London
Rodney and Acton reached Montague and sprinted for about half a mile. Rodney dodged into an alley and Acton followed. As he turned the corner he was grabbed. In a moment of panic Acton turned to swing at his assailant when he heard Rodney’s voice.
“It’s okay, Professor, it’s me.” Acton relaxed and Rodney let go.
“Okay, time to talk. Tell me everything about the Triarii and the skulls.”
“Fine, but wouldn’t you like to go some place warmer, this could take some time.”
“No. Here’s fine.”
“Very well.” Rodney leaned back against the wall. “Nearly two thousand years ago in ancient Judea the Roman Garrison found a crystal skull. It was thought to be so unique by the Prefect that he sent it to the Emperor, Nero, as a gift to show his loyalty. The Emperor was so fascinated by the skull he placed it at his bedside. He then began to hear voices and have visions. These voices and visions terrified him and he became convinced it was his god, Jupiter, communicating with him through the skull, trying to warn him the Roman Empire was doomed if he did not get the skull as far away from Rome as possible.”
“Probably syphilis,” interjected Acton.
Rodney chose to ignore him. “He ordered his best legion, the Thirteenth
, to take the skull as far north as possible, and to make sure it never came near Rome again. As history shows, he was right. The skull came from Judea where the weak Christian God originated. When Rome converted to Christianity several hundred years later, it signaled the beginning of the end of the greatest empire to ever rule the Earth. The Emperor couldn’t stop the tide of Christianity even though he tried to have all of its followers and preachers killed. With every death they seemed to only grow stronger. In the end, the empire was doomed.”
“But that took half a millennia. What became of the Thirteenth legion? Why did you continue to protect the skull?”
“Our ancestors, the progenitors of the Triarii, were men loyal to their Emperor and their gods. Remember, in those times the Emperor was considered a god. He never actually died. He simply left Earth to join Jupiter and the other gods. These men made it to England and settled there, took wives, had families, and handed down the teachings.
“Over generations we protected the Oracle of Jupiter, making sure that it was never returned to Rome. It took over one thousand years for the Roman Empire to collapse. By that time, dozens of generations had been raised thinking we had succeeded. Around the time of the Empire’s collapse, however, a second skull was found, this time in Greece. It was found in ruins that we now know predated the collapse of the Greek civilization, therefore it was assumed that this skull had brought the downfall of another empire. A team was dispatched to retrieve the skull and bring it back to the Triarii for safekeeping.”
“Who had the second skull?”
“The Caliphate, the ancient Muslim empire that ruled from the Atlantic Ocean in Spain to the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines, the greatest empire to exist since the collapse of the Roman Empire.”
“How could you possibly expect to take it from them?”
“The Crusades, of course,” said Rodney. “The Crusades were not just to try and take back the Holy Land, they were also a secret mission to retrieve the skull. By this time the Triarii, though secret, were extremely powerful and we had made inroads into all walks of life and power, including royalty. We were able to convince the King to fund a contingent of Triarii during the crusade. We had ulterior motives of course, but simply appealing to his deeply religious beliefs, along with the fact that one of his daughters was married to a senior Triarii member, assured our funding.
“We sent a group of knights with the main force and after years of searching and fighting, finally found and retrieved the skull. Once we brought it back to England, it was hidden away as well. It has become known as the Oracle of Zeus.”
Acton shook his head in disbelief. “That’s quite the story. You’re saying that some of the most important events in history are tied to the skulls?”
“We’ve used events to our advantage. The crusades were not because of the skull. There were legitimate reasons for them at the time that went far beyond the skull. We merely used them as cover to fulfill our needs. It wasn’t until the thirteenth century that we discovered the power of the skulls. That is when the first true disaster struck.”
British Museum, London, England
Laura shivered against the chill and the light drizzle that had started to fall. She stood huddled as close to the building as she could while she waited to be let in. A few minutes passed before a buzzer sounded.
A confused Paul opened the door. “Where’d Rodney go?”
“I don’t know. He did a runner when I asked him if he knew anything about the robbery.” Laura entered the building and started following the guard. “My friend is chasing him now.”
“Really? Should I radio for help?”
Laura thought for a quick second. “Yes, that’s probably a good idea.”
Paul called Clive on the radio. “Clive this is Paul, can you tell the coppers that Professor Palmer’s friend—” He stopped and turned to Laura. “What was his name?”
Laura tried to remember if they had said Acton’s name yet. “Jack—Jackson,” she stammered. “Jim Jackson.”
Paul turned back to the radio as they made their way toward the storage area. “Mr. Jackson left in pursuit of Rodney.” He then lowered his voice. “Rodney ran when they asked him about the robbery. Do you think…?” he trailed off, not wanting to say it over the radio.
“Take her to the Archeological Storage Room, that’s where the police are waiting for her,” replied Clive. “Tell them about, who did you say, Jackson?”
“Yes, Jackson.”
“I thought his name was Acton?”
Paul turned to Laura with a questioning look on his face. Laura shrugged her shoulders. “He must have heard me wrong.”
“No, it’s Jackson, I just confirmed it,” said Paul into the radio. They rounded a corner and ran into Chaney.
“What the bloody hell is taking so long?” he asked. He looked at Paul. “And where’s the other bloke?”
“He did a runner, sir, that’s what took so long. Professor Palmer’s friend, a Mr. Jackson, is chasing him now. Can you send for help?”
“Which way did they go?” asked Chaney, getting out his phone.
“West on Montague,” said Laura. They had actually gone east, but she figured it would buy them a little time to find a place out of sight to talk. She was still extremely worried about him.
She didn’t trust the Triarii.
At all.
“What does your friend look like?”
“About six feet, slim, early forties, brown hair.”
Chaney nodded and turned back to his phone. “This is DI Chaney, I need units in the vicinity of Montague on the lookout for two males, one six feet, slim build, early forties with brown hair, the other six feet, slim build, mid-twenties with black hair wearing a security guard uniform.” After listening on the other end for a moment he hung up. “Your friend was foolish to chase that man,” he said to Laura. “A lot of people have died as a result of this robbery.”
Laura’s heart dropped into her stomach. I should never have let him go alone!
They entered the storage room to see an irate Reading. Chaney explained about Rodney and the chase. This calmed Reading down only a little.
“Well, Professor, there appears to be nothing amiss here, yet a guard has run away and we’ve seen footage that clearly shows an armed group of men entering this room and then exiting it a few minutes later,” said Reading. He pointed to the markings on the floor. “These scrapes, with fresh shavings from the floor, seem to indicate that this ladder was moved since the room was cleaned last night. Would anyone have been in here today?”
Laura looked at the floor then scanned the rows of artifacts on shelves. “No, I would have been notified of anyone entering here.” She knew exactly where she wanted to check. This had to do with the skull and she desperately wanted to see if it was still in place, but it would seem too obvious to go directly there. She walked up and down each row, deliberately taking her time, pretending to examine the artifacts.
“Don’t you need some sort of list or something?” asked Chaney who was trailing behind her.
“Detective, I know this room like the back of my hand. Everything in here has been inventoried by me countless times over the years,” said Laura. “If anything is even out of place, I’ll know it.” She arrived at the spot where the box holding the skull was. “Like that!” she said, pointing to the box. “It is on the wrong shelf.”
Chaney looked up at the box she was pointing to. “What’s in it?”
“Just a fake sculpture.” Laura called to the doorway where Paul was still standing. “Paul, can you bring me the ladder?”
“Yes, Professor,” came the reply from several rows over. He unlocked the wheels and pushed it over. Positioning it, she relocked the wheels and climbed up. She took the box and opened it, moving aside the packaging. It took everything she had to not gasp in disbelief.
This is NOT the skull I documented! This is definitely a fake!
The carving was rough, almost amateurish in comparison to
the original. With her bare hands she could feel the slight imperfections caused by the carving wheel. It looked like the skull described by the BBC documentary.
The Triarii must have switched the skull before the documentary and then put it back! Now they’ve switched it again!
A huge weight lifted off her shoulders. The embarrassment of that event washed away as she realized what had happened. She had been right all along. The BBC had tested the wrong skull! She carefully wrapped the skull back up, returned it to the shelf, then descended the ladder.
“Well?” asked Chaney.
“Nothing, I guess I was mistaken,” she said and moved on. After finishing the rest of the aisles she returned to the entrance. “As far as I can tell, nothing has been taken,” she told Reading.
“Okay, let’s go to the control room again and look at that footage,” said Reading, heading to the door.
Outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Faisal stretched out the kinks from a long night’s sleep. He kissed his wife on the forehead and headed to the bathroom. As he relieved himself he looked in the mirror, admiring his moustache, then flushed the toilet, giving little thought to the fact he had just wasted more water than most of his countrymen used in a day, then turning on the gold plated faucets adorning the marble sink, he pushed the plunger down. Leaning in, he carefully washed his face and hands then reached for the towel hanging to his left, pressing his face into it. Once dried he opened his eyes and gasped.
In the mirror were two masked men, both dressed in black, pointing handguns at him.
“What do you want?” he asked as he swung around to face them.
“Open your inner office,” said one of them. Faisal paused. The man pointed the gun directly at Faisal’s forehead. “You have five seconds or he kills your wives, one at a time.” Faisal blanched, thinking of his wife in the next room who had born him three strong sons and was pregnant, he hoped, with a fourth. He knew they would kill her first as she was closest.
Faisal nodded slowly and raised his hands, dropping the towel to the floor. The man led him to a wall lined with hanging silks. Reaching forward, he moved some of the silk sheets aside, revealing a keypad. He entered his code and there was a clicking sound. Pushing with his shoulder, a door, previously hidden, opened. The two men shoved him inside.
The Protocol (A James Acton Thriller, Book #1) Page 19
