“Did you volunteer?” The scientist responded wisely.
“I suppose that you are right,” Gelko said with a laugh. “We go where they tell us, no questions asked, none answered.”
“Now you know why I’m here,” the scientist replied as he smacked a mosquito on his neck. It was big as a small bird.
“Tell me about this traitor? The other scientist,” Gelko inquired.
“He was my best friend,” the scientist replied sadly. “His name is Michael Orlov. He became obsessed by the newspaper article. He spent his time researching news about the event. He soon claimed he believed the rock was one of the weapons that Orion, the mythical Greek character, used in battle. Then he started telling me that it would be worth a fortune. Next thing I knew, he was gone. The government tracked him to Siberia. I’m pretty sure he is out there somewhere. That’s all there is to tell.” the scientist added with a wave of his arms.
“If we run across him, should I kill him?”
“There is nothing left of his reputation back home. He has no family. If he did return, he would be in for some pretty horrific punishment and then he would die. You would be doing him a favor by killing him.”
“I’ll remember that,” Gelko promised.
“Look,” the scientist suddenly pointed excitedly with alarm. “I see a pair of eyes watching us.”
“Relax,” Gelko ordered as he touched the knee of the scientist. “There are probably a hundred animals watching us right now,” the military man told him. “They are wondering whether we are something to eat or something to be afraid of.” Gelko picked up his powerful flashlight and shined it into the wooded swamp. Pairs of red eyes appeared everywhere he pointed the light. Some were near the ground. Some were much higher and bigger. It was unnerving to the scientist.
“This is very creepy.” The scientist said in awe.
“Don’t worry,” Gelko responded. “Most of them won’t come near a fire. We just have to be concerned about bears, but we will hear them coming.”
“But I hear something heading our way right now,” the scientist shouted.
“I do too,” the Special Forces man agreed. “Get down,” he ordered. The big man grabbed his rifle and stood up, looking for a target. His men, all light sleepers, were awake and reached for their guns too. None of them made it.
A red dot suddenly appeared on Gelkos’ chest. “Ambush,” he screamed just as a bullet entered his heart. His men fared no better. An eruption of many machine guns filled the air. All the Special Forces men were dead in seconds. The scientist cowered on the ground next to the log, trying to bury himself in the cool sand. He didn’t know what else to do.
“Ah, Alexei, so nice to see you,” the scientist heard. He looked up. Standing near the fire was his old friend Michael Orlov. There were five other men with him. They all carried lethal looking rifles which were smoking in the cool night air.
“Why did you kill them?” the scientist asked in disbelief.
“It’s very simple, you know. I need your equipment to find the rock,” Orlov replied like he was talking to child.
“The equipment?” the scientist uttered in question.
“Of course, I didn’t have the resources to buy it myself and I knew you would be following my trail.”
“What’s gotten in to you?”
“Money,” his ex-friend replied.
“You’ve done all this killing over a little money?” The scientist was beside himself in horror.
“Alexei, I have been offered three hundred million rubles to find and turn over the rock. That is not a little money.”
“But how did you find us?”
“The captain of your boat is on my payroll,” Orlov said. “He placed a locator on one of your ATVs. It was a simple matter for us to find you.”
“So, what happens to me now?”
“You have a choice, either join us or face the fate of your companions.”
“I…,” it was as far as the scientist got in response. Orlov had put a bullet into his head.
“I’ve decided I don’t need another partner,” Orlov said to the dead body.
Chapter Thirty
Loni had rented a shiny black BMW luxury car with tinted windows and plenty of power. It waited for them at the curb near the entrance to the hotel. It was running and purring like a kitten. A man from the rental agency stood next to it with the paperwork. He appeared only slightly startled when Loni came cheerfully bouncing out the hotel entrance dressed in all black. She was wearing black gloves. Dark sunglasses covered most of her face. Her long black hair trailed behind her in the breeze of the early evening. When she smiled at the man from the rental agency, he realized she reminded him of a cat on the prowl. She went straight to the car.
“He’ll sign for it,” she said as she pointed over her shoulder to Colton Banyon who emerged from the hotel dressed almost like his partner. She quickly slid into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. She beamed when she heard the throaty roar of the motor.
“This will do,” she said to no one.
Banyon walked up to the man and signed the paperwork. “Do we need to drop you someplace?” he asked.
“No need to bother, the office is only a few blocks away,” the man responded in English as he handed a copy of the signed documents to Banyon. Banyon thrust a handful of złoty paper money into his hand. He didn’t actually know how much he had given him. The rental agency man’s eyes lit up. He quickly opened the car door for Banyon. As soon as the door slammed, Loni laid rubber and sped into the darkening city streets. She didn’t head directly to the highway however. She directed the car to a shopping center. They didn’t have any tools for a break in, but figured they needed some.
The goal was for Loni to drive for about four hours. She would then nap while Banyon drove the rest of the way to Hamburg. The plan would allow her a few hours of sleep so she would be fresh for the stealthy break-in of the castle and recovery of the talisman. If everything went according to the plan, they would be back in their suite at the hotel in Warsaw well before their eight o’clock meeting in the morning. Loni, however, wanted to make the round trip in record time. She kept the pedal to the metal as soon as they merged into city traffic upon leaving the shopping mall. By that time, twilight blanketed the city in dark grey.
Banyon held on for dear life as Loni swiftly maneuvered through traffic. He knew she was an excellent driver with lightening reflexes and a love of speed. She was truly in her element now. She craved action, danger, and adventure almost as much as she craved Colton Banyon. Whenever they were in the field under duress, he followed her directions without question. She was his protection, his lethal weapon, and his tactical expert. Soon she had them speeding down the darkening highway. She started to sing an old Linda Ronstadt tune.
“You sound happy,” he commented.
“I am now” she confirmed. “You know I really don’t like playing the part of a trophy wife. I hate it when guys like Wilk ogle me. I’m more geared for action.”
“Sweetie, you are a beautiful woman. You will never be able to hide that fact. Men will always have fantasies about you. I know that I do,” he philosophically replied.
“Aren’t you the charmer” she returned in a sexy voice as she checked the rear view mirror. “I should take time to reward you for that compliment.”
“Not now, Loni,” Banyon warned her, knowing the impulsive nature of his little paramour.
“Well, we don’t have time anyway, but I’m going to pull into the rest area, it’s two kilometers ahead.”
“Why”
“We’re being followed,” she explained. “Grey car about ten car lengths back. He has been with us since we left the hotel.”
***
They pulled into the rest area and sat in the car as she devised a takedown plan. As soon as the grey car settled in a slot five cars away from them, she threw open the car door and headed to the ladies room. Banyon got out of the car to pop open the trunk. He took out
a shovel. He then headed around the back of the now dark rest area.
A man quickly exited the grey car and stealthily followed Banyon into the darkness. He was about twenty feet behind his prey when Banyon entered the woods behind the rest area. He stopped by an old tree. He made like he was digging at the base. As the man crept closer, he was suddenly hit by a jab in his ribs, it took his breath away and he fell to the ground. Loni and Banyon were quickly on him. Banyon took some rope they had bought at the mall from his pocket. They had the spy trussed up like a calf before he could regain his breath. Banyon rolled him over onto his back.
“Who are you? Why are you following us?” Loni shouted in an angry threatening voice.
“I mean… you … no harm,” the man said in small rushes as he tried to regain his breathing.
“Not good enough,” Loni spat back. She raised her clinched fist.
“No wait,” he pleaded. “Don’t you recognize me?” Loni quickly produced a flashlight, and shined it on the man’s face.
“He’s the guard from the Banyon Arcades,” Banyon uttered. “Albin Wilk must have sent him to follow us.”
“Who’s Albin Wilk?” the man answered. “I work for Professor Orlich. He is my uncle.”
“Wilk was the other man in the room this morning,” Loni said after she got over the surprise answer.
“I don’t know him. He started coming around several months ago. He’s had many private meetings with the professor. That’s all I know about him,” the man said.
“Okay, why did the professor tell you to follow us then?” Banyon inquired.
“He said that you may need my help. He said to follow you, and if you got into trouble, I was to come to your rescue. I have a gun.”
“Why would he do that?” Loni asked.
“He has never told me so, but I don’t think that he trusts the little man.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Banyon and Loni were back on the road in a few minutes. Banyon’s first thought was to take the guard with them, but realized he needed to talk to Wolf and the man would hear him addressing the spirit. That was a complication he didn’t need at the moment.
Instead, they untied him, but took his gun and his cell phone. They walked him to his car, and retied him to the steering wheel. Banyon promised to return his gun the next day. Then Loni tossed the car keys into the grassy area near the parking lot. They had no desire to hurt him, but didn’t want him following them either. They figured it would take him several hours to work his way out of the loose knots Loni tied. In the meantime, they would be long gone. Even if the guard reported back to the professor, there wasn’t much that could be done and the Patel clan would be around to help by the morning.
“This mystery just keeps getting stranger and stranger, don’t you think?” Loni commented. She shook her head as she drove down the road. “I mean, there are alliances that may not be alliances, magical weapons, backstabbing, treachery, and even sexual overtones. It has all the earmarks of a Greek mythological tragedy.”
“I believe that you are right. Let’s see if we can get any answers,” Banyon replied. “Wolf, are you there?”
Banyon was unprepared for the roar that came back. “He’s a fraud,” Wolf screamed into his head. “Everything about him is a fraud except for his name.”
“Are you talking about Wilk?” Banyon asked.
“Yes. He’s not the head of the Society of Orion,” Wolf wailed. “He’s a dangerous con man who is trying to take advantage of you. Up until four months ago he was a used car salesman.”
The revelation only confirmed what Banyon already thought. “But he knows about the weapons and he knows you and I can communicate, Wolf. What should we do?” Banyon said as a little bit of panic gripped his chest. Loni turned her head to look at Banyon. Concern was plastered all over her beautiful Asian features.
“The first thing you must do is turn around. Go get the Reflection talisman first. The Time talisman will have to wait until later tonight.
“But I thought the Time talisman was the most dangerous of all the weapons?” Banyon replied.
“It is, but the Reflection talisman is the most dangerous to us right now. Wilk intends to use it to become invisible. Then he will try to steal the other talisman locations as you write them down on the chart. He wants all the talismans for the wrong reason.”
“Hmm,” thought Banyon. “I did catch him taking a picture of the chart twice. Now I know why. How does he expect to collect them?”
“He has a long list of mercenaries who will do it for him. They are not afraid of using violence. He is brokering a huge deal for all the weapons.”
“Can you tell me about that?”
“I’ll tell you but you must get going to the new site,” the spirit replied.
“Loni stop the car,” Banyon yelled out. She immediately pulled the car over to the dirt shoulder, and turned to him with a questioning look.
“Wilk is a fraud,” Banyon quickly told her. “We need to beat him to the talisman in the desert. Can you get us there in time?”
Loni immediately went into action. She pulled the now crumpled chart from her fanny pack and read the location. She grabbed her phone and began loading the new location on to the GPS app. Soon she commented. “The South area is the quickest way to get near the bunker. It’s a problem though; there could be active bombs along the route.”
“Is it much closer to the talisman?”
“It will cut off about two hours of trekking through the desert. That’s about how much of a lead Wilk has on us if they are going directly to the site.”
“Are they going directly to the talisman?” Banyon asked Wolf.
“The tantrum he threw back at the suite was meant to fool you,” Wolf replied. “They are heading right to the Northern entrance.”
“Wolf, can you find us a path through the bomb area by the time we get there?” Banyon beseeched the spirit.
“I don’t think so, Colt. It happened too long ago to be able to research in a couple of hours.” Banyon considered his few options. Neither option was very good. He decided to take a chance.
“Head to the South area,” Banyon told Loni confidently.
Loni stared at the cell phone for a couple of seconds and then announced. “According to this we could get there with about ten minutes to spare.” She turned the car around in the middle of the road. They roared off in the opposite direction.
Banyon hoped that he could come up with a plan which wouldn’t get them killed when they got there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Darkness was quickly settling on the castle that sat on top of a small hill outside Hamburg. The temperature, as it always did, began to fall. It became decidedly chilly in the castle. The professor got up and donned his suit jacket to fight off the cold. It had been over five hours since he had sent his message asking for help, but he was still breathing and Ludwig Goss was still threatening. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the charade.
The professor sat at the general’s desk. The general stood in front of it, ranting and raving, just like he had done all day. However, during the last couple of hours, General Goss flashed his Luger less and less. All the posturing and anger seemed to have dissipated to a large degree. He mostly just stood at attention, like he was awaiting orders. Professor Crane could see that he didn’t look well. Good, its stress and time taking a toll on the old bastard, Professor Crane realized. I just have to fool him for a little longer.
During the several hours that transpired between sending his message, and waiting for the police to arrive. Professor Crane sent all the information about the chant to his personal email address. He also looked up the newspaper article about the secret weapons, including the talisman. He now understood General Goss had plundered the item many years ago, but had never made it perform. The Professor wondered if it really worked or was General Goss just a fanatical old Nazi with delusional ideas.
The door to the library suddenly opened. A
servant cautiously entered. He began turning on lights in the room.
“What do you want?” Goss roared with great effort. Sweat had formed on his brow. “I told you not to disturb us.”
“I’m just here to turn on the lights and to raise the temperature on the wall gauge,” he answered weakly. He continued with his tasks.
“Very well, but be quick about it,” Goss ordered. “Then do not bother us again. Do you understand?”
“Perfectly, sir,” the servant immediately replied as he turned to the old man standing in a crisp black Nazi uniform.
Professor Crane now noticed that Goss could not move his right arm. No wonder the Luger stayed in its holster, he thought.
“Sir, you don’t look very well,” the servant suddenly observed. The general’s skin had turned a pasty white. His eyes seemed to have sunk into his head.
“Perhaps I need to sit down,” the general acknowledged.
“Here, let me bring you a chair.” The servant moved a large wingback chair to the front of the desk. He helped the old man to sit down. Goss was now rubbing his chest. He was not looking well.
“Leave us,” Goss ordered in a whisper.
Once the servant had gone, Professor Crane stopped pretending to be searching the internet. He now stared at the general with contempt. Goss didn’t move except for some shallow breathing and an occasional moan. His eyes were closed. The asshole is having a heart attack, he now thought. New plans began to fill the professors’ head.
Suddenly, the phone beeped. Professor Crane was sure that the police were finally at the door. Goss didn’t seem to hear the phone, so the professor answered it by pressing the button for the speaker.
“Yes,” Crane said.
“Please inform the general we have unwanted guests gathering at the gate to the estate,” the servant replied clinically.
“Who?” The old man attempted to roar, but it came out as a labored whisper. He tried to rally and sit up.
“Sir, I believe it is the police. There are about ten of them. They are armed with assault rifles,” the servant calmly replied.
The Polish Discovery: The Society of Orion 1-3 (Colton Banyon Mystery Book 17) Page 13
