“Well, what about Route 64? We could turn off on this before the Pecos Bridge. That also takes us to State Route 60.”
“But then we’re backtracking, wasting time, and fuel. We should just take the shortest route and do a night recon to check out the bridge on Route 54. We’ll find out what kind of forces are there.”
“I don’t care for that idea.”
“Why not, Jack? If there’s only ten or twenty guards we’ll blast our way through their roadblock, if there is one. That’s why we need to do a recon.”
“George, I see your point, but I don’t think we should take any chances. Getting into a gun battle is the last thing we need. One of our people could get killed by a stray bullet or lucky shot. That could screw up our whole expedition.”
“Jack, the way I see it, we have no choice. You and I can recon the bridge. If we don’t like what we see then we’ll backtrack on Route 64.”
“Ok, I agree. What’s your plan?”
“From here to Santa Rosa is about 120 miles. I suggest we leave here tonight at 11 pm. Remember, we have to go past the little town of Tucumcari. Interstate 40 runs right by it and my guess is ISIS will have some spotters there who will radio ahead that cars are headed their way. If we’re lucky they’ll be asleep when we roll past the town around 2 am.”
“George, there’s still the small towns of Montoya, Newkirk, and Cuervo.”
“That’s right, but we don’t pass directly through them. They’re off of the Interstate, on old Route 66, so we’ll zoom right by them. Once we get past Cuervo, we’ll conceal the convoy, on the side of the road, while we do the recon.”
“Ok, sounds good so far.”
“We’ll proceed to within two miles of the bridge, dismount, and go on foot from there. Bring your sniper rifle. My idea is Pete and I will move forward and snipe anyone we see with an RPG first. Then we’ll terminate the rest of them so we can cross the bridge. You’ll set up about 600 yards away and cover us.”
“You want me to play God.”
‘God’ is the expression used to name snipers doing over watch duty. He watches over the troops from a high point and terminates any possible threat using a long range fifty caliber rifle.
“Right, you cover our backs. So the team will be you, me, and Pete. We need one more man to team up with you. Once we secure the bridge, we’ll radio the convoy to move up.”
“I’ll bring Maggie.” I figured Maggie was the best choice to watch my back. We had been through a lot together over the last few years. She knew what to do, and in a bind, she would not let me down.
“Alright, that sounds good. Let’s get ready to move out. It’s already 9 pm.”
Baldwin called a meeting and advised everyone of the plan. We would roll out at 11 pm with Baldwin’s Hummer taking point. The convoy would run with lights off at 45 mph and keep a 100 foot spread between trucks. At 45 mph it would take us about three to four hours to reach our turn off to Route 54. That’s assuming we have no problems along the way such as a flat tire, or a gun battle with any bad guys.
It was a chilly cloudless night, with half a moon shining in the starlit sky, and the wind was blowing out of the west at 20 mph. I could smell the sage brush, dirt, or sand in the air. Little particles were stinging my face every now and then.
Billy Black Horse would ride with Jeff in the bulletproof Hummer, along with his Dad and White Feather. Jeff is third in command of the Templar Warriors and he has my utmost trust. My grandson, Adam, would ride with me, Maggie, and the dogs.
As we were packing up, Adam advised me of some new information he had found on the ACWWW. “I was reading about the Kensington Stone. You ever heard of it?”
“Yeah, a long time ago. Refresh my memory,” I said.
“A big stone was found in 1898 by a farmer in Minnesota, near the town of Kensington, hence the name. Anyway, the 200 pound stone had writing carved into it. The theory is, it was carved by the Knights Templar because it had hooked X’s in the writing. It’s a known fact the Templar Order used the hooked X.”
“That’s interesting. What did the writing say?”
“This article says the writing translates as follows: ‘Eight Swedes and twenty-two Norwegians on an exploration from Vinland to the west. We had camp one day's journey north from this stone. We were out to fish one day. After we came home found ten men red of blood and dead. Ave Virgin Maria save us from evil.’ That was the main text.”
I asked, “Is there more?”
“On the side of the stone it said, ‘We have ten men by the sea to look after our ships, fourteen days' travel from this island.’ Here’s the amazing thing, it’s dated 1362.”
“Wow, that’s around the same time period that we thought the Templars came here.”
As Adam packed up the phone and electronics gear, he said, “Maybe they were part of the same group and they split up for some reason.”
“Yeah maybe, but the important thing is the stone proves the Templars did come to America in the thirteen hundred time period.”
“I got some other things to tell you, Grandpa.”
“Ok, shoot.”
“Well … this whole thing is becoming very complicated. I found an article written about Burrows Cave, located near Olney, Illinois. It showed pictures of the artifacts found by Russell Burrows in 1982.”
“What type of the artifacts?”
“Egyptian artifacts, or at least that’s what the article said. It’s really weird because the more I check into a lost treasure, the more stuff I read about Egyptians coming to the United States.”
“Ok, let’s finish packing. It’s almost time to leave. Once we’re on the road, hook up the Sat phone and get on the ACWWW. You can fill me in while I’m driving.”
Maggie slammed the hood of the truck down. “Oil and water are ok. You want me to check the tires?”
“Nope, I think they’re alright.” Just to be sure, I walked around and kicked each one. The toe of my boot bounced off the hard tire, indicating the inflation was about right.
“You want me to drive?” Maggie asked.
“No, I’ll drive tonight and you ride shotgun.” Riding shotgun meant keeping your eyes open and your weapon at the ready. Her eyes are better than mine. With us both watching the road, we’d be a lot safer driving in the dark, without headlights.
Baldwin gave the signal to move out and the convoy started to roll. Adam plugged the Sat phone into the jumper outlet and connected the computer.
Once we were off the dirt road, back on I-40, Adam said, “Listen to this, it’s crazy. The first Egyptian King to visit America was King Zaphnath, or Joseph, as he is mentioned in the Bible. The story goes, Joseph was given the name Zaphnath and the right to rule under King Sesostris because he saved Egypt from a terrible famine. Joseph became the number one advisor to King Sesostris and then he became King on the death of Sesostris.”
Driving along, half listening to the boring story, I said, “So, what about it? The first modern humans were estimated to come to North America 18,000 to 20,000 years ago across the land bridge from Asia. If people came here that long ago, it’s not so hard to believe that Egyptians came here.”
“This article claims that King Zaphnath, or Joseph, came to America in 1744 B.C., by a boat with wings. It says he had a map that showed the new world called Ophir, which is the United States. Joseph came here when he was 26 years old. It says he made twelve trips to the new world. He died when he was 110 years old.”
“It says he came here on a boat with wings?” I asked.
“Yes, the translation clearly says wings and not sails.”
“That’s weird because they knew the difference between wings and sails. Maybe it was some type of flying machine.” Adam and Maggie laughed at my comment.
“Come on Jack, a flying machine back in 1,000 B.C.,” Maggie commented.
“Hey, we don’t know what they had. I do know something about the Great Pyramid. It was built in 2,560 B.C. when Khufu was Pharaoh. How in th
e hell could men in 2,500 B.C. build a Pyramid? How did they even think of a Pyramid? How did they design it? There are no written records or drawings. It was the tallest man made structure on earth until the Eiffel Tower was constructed in 1889.”
“Really? I didn’t know that,” Adam said.
“Most people don’t know that. The pyramid is estimated to have 2.3 million block stones in it and each one weighs anywhere from 2.5 tons to 15 tons each. These are huge blocks of stones the size of cars. Now, why would anyone, even today, build such a thing? When we build homes or buildings they are box-shaped because they’re easier to manufacture.”
Adam replied, “That’s true.”
Taking both hands off the wheel, I lit up a smoke and took drag before continuing. “To me, this is interesting because no one really knows how the Great Pyramid was built by people who just crawled out of the Stone Age. They lived in mud huts. How did they move car-sized stones and lift them into place?”
I took another drag on my smoke and a sip of water. I glanced at the road sign as we rolled past it. Maggie let out an evil laugh, “Ha-ha. Welcome to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment and … terrorists.”
I continued with my lecture. “Now, ask yourself these questions. Why would you make a pyramid-shaped building? It is one of the most difficult structures to build. Why would you use large stones, weighing tons, and not small ones? Why would you want to build something so difficult and so large when you didn’t have the skill, knowledge, or the tools?”
“Well, they must have had some type of tools we don’t know about,” Adam said.
“Right, I agree. The Egyptians claim it took twenty years using 20,000 men to make the Great Pyramid. Someone, I can’t remember who, calculated if the pyramid has 2.3 million stones, then to build it in 20 years, workers would have to put one block in place every two and a half minutes. That’s impossible unless they had some kind of special tools, or they had some help from Aliens.”
“What kind of Aliens?” Maggie asked.
“Ancient Aliens, you know, little green men.”
“How long do you think it took to build?” Adam asked me.
“Well, using simple math and logic, let’s just say they put one stone block in place every two and a half hours, or every 150 minutes. That’s 60 times longer than two and a half minutes.”
Adam, sitting behind me, touched my shoulder. “That sounds more reasonable.”
“Yeah, but if you use the same time period of 20 years and multiply times 60, it would take over 1,200 years to complete the construction, assuming there are 2.3 million stones. So no one knows for sure how it was built. Myself, I believe they had Alien help. The Aliens designed it and helped them built it for some reason. We don’t know why, but it wasn’t for a tomb.”
“If they aren’t tombs, what are they?” Adam inquired.
“I don’t know but there are theories about it. But this brings us back to the point about the boat with wings. If the translation said wings and not sails then they had a flying boat. They didn’t have a name for a flying object so they called it a boat because it held people. These people certainly knew the difference between wings and sails.”
“That sounds crazy,” Maggie commented.
“Ok, where did Joseph get a map from? How did he know where the United States was located? If he actually used a boat the trip would take years. I say he flew here, crazy as that sounds.”
Maggie turned around in her seat and looked at Adam. “Who wrote this article?”
Adam replied, “It doesn’t say. There is no official author. But the title of the article is ‘Egyptians in America’. It has a lot of pictures.”
“What kind of pictures?” she asked.
The radio buzzed and Baldwin came on. “We’re stopped on the out skirts of Tucumcari. I don’t see anyone. We’re gonna scope the town out. Over.”
The radio hissed again. “Boss, we’re about ten klicks behind you,” Pete, number two in command, advised.
“When you reach the city limits, stop and wait further orders. Over.”
“Roger that.”
We were heading down, off the high plains, or Llano Estacado, into the desert and the temperature dropped. Adam complained he was getting cold so we rolled up our windows a little. That’s the way the desert works. It’s hot as hell in the day and freezing at night.
A short time later, the convoy rolled to a stop at the Tucumcari city limit sign. We sat there in silence, peering out into the darkness, searching for any sign of life, scanning for anyone who could be an ISIS spotter. Everyone had out their FLIR night vision glasses or M4 scopes, scanning the entire road ahead.
Turning off our motors, the night air became dead silent, except for the freaky low howling of the wind, blowing across the desert sands. Maggie said, “That’s sounds spooky.”
I replied, “Yeah, it sounds like coyotes. Just sit, look, and listen.” I rolled the windows down so the dogs could smell the air. If a person was within a hundred yards, they would let us know.
We had been sitting there almost an hour listening to the wind when suddenly the radio crackled and it startled us, making Maggie jump. “We cleared the town. Move out,” Baldwin advised.
Our guard dogs, Adolf and Freda, were sticking their heads out the window and whining. Adam said, “They want out.”
“Ok, let them out to do their business, but hurry up.”
Adam opened the door and both dogs jumped out. They stood there for a minute sniffing the air, and then suddenly took off at a full run, into the darkness of the starlit desert. Adam was running after them, yelling for them to stop.
Jumping out of the truck, I took off after Adam. “Adam, wait up!” Adam stopped as I caught up to him. “Be careful, there’s something out here because Adolf and Freda never take off like that.” I flicked my M4 safety off and handed Adam my Glock 17.
We slowed down to a walk, being careful where we stepped. I didn’t want to step on any rattlesnakes. Raising the M4 FLIR scope up to my eye, I peered around in the darkness, trying to see the body heat of our dogs.
Sagebrush was growing everywhere, making it difficult to see very far. The terrain was rocky, making it difficult to walk without making any noise. We heard the dogs barking and growling directly in front of us, but they were still out of sight. We started jogging toward the noise.
Freda and Adolf both stood there with the hair on their backs standing straight up, while growling in a low tone. Then we saw what they were growling at. There was a pile of bodies, surrounded by five coyotes, which were there for the dead meat. I quickly estimated there were over a hundred bodies – men, women, and children laying there decomposing. It was a massive killing field. The stench was over whelming.
Adam started to gag and we stopped in our tracks. “We’re close enough,” I said, and shouted in a deep alpha male voice, “Adolf, Freda, come!” They turned, looked at me, ran over, and sat at my feet. “Adam, put their leashes on and let’s get the hell out of here.”
As we walked away, the coyotes went back to their feast. “Who were those dead people?” Adam asked.
“I think that’s the town of Tucumcari. That’s why Baldwin didn’t see anyone. ISIS killed everyone in the little town.”
Adolf started to pull Adam toward some bushes. He couldn’t hold Adolf back, so we followed his lead. I held my M4 in low ready position as we moved slowly forward. Shortly, we found out what Adolf was going after. Under a bush, there was a man who appeared to be dead.
Bending down, I checked his pulse. “He’s alive,” I said. Visually checking his body, it was clear that he had been shot, at least twice, in the gut. Gut shots cause a lot of pain and a slow death.
I placed a bottle of water to his lips, pouring just a small amount in his mouth and on his face. He opened his eyes so I gave him a few more drops of water. He said in a soft whisper, “Gracias.”
Bending close to his face I asked, “Entiendes Ingles?”
“Si señor.”
>
I knew we could not help this man. His wounds were just too severe, but maybe he could still help us. He was an old man, whom I guessed was at least sixty years old, by the wrinkled skin on his face and silver gray hair. “Who did this to you?”
He mumbled out one word. “ISIS.”
“How many are there?”
“Dos hombres.” He coughed up some bright red blood. Taking his bandana, I wiped his mouth and then provided him a little more water.
“Where are they?”
“He raised his hand slightly and pointed. “Hotel.” His hand dropped and he let out a last and final breath. After pushing his eye lids closed with my index finger, I made the sign of the cross.
Adam said, “Now what are we gonna do?”
“We gotta get back to the truck and tell everyone.”
By the time we arrived back at our truck, most of the convoy had already left. Maggie was sitting in the driver’s seat. “Come on guys, what the hell you doing out there?”
I noted that one Hummer stayed behind for security and it was Jeff’s. He walked up to me. “What the hell happened?” I advised Maggie and him what the dogs had found. “Yep, that sounds like ISIS’ work to me.”
I grabbed the radio. “Captain we found a group of people killed by ISIS out in the desert. Maybe it was the whole town. One old man was still alive and told us two ISIS fighters were at the hotel. Did you see any ISIS fighters? Over.”
“Yeah, we found two bastards at the hotel and killed them.”
“Did you get their heads?”
“Yeah, I whacked off their heads. Why?”
“Good. I just wanted to make sure you beheaded the dirty bastards for murdering the whole town.”
“They’re dead and headless, so don’t worry.” I heard Baldwin let out a little chuckle. “Get your butts up here. Over.”
Jeff said, “Hey, we better get going.”
We finally caught up to the convoy which was pulled off the highway about two miles from the Pecos River Bridge, on the eastern side Santa Rosa proper.
Templars Quest Trilogy: The Lost Ark (Books 1-3 The Templars Quest Chronicles) Page 15
