The Sage Stone Prophecy (Arkana Archaeology Adventure Series Book 7)

by N. S. Wikarski

  “What’s your point?” Maddie glared at the Pythia with irritation.

  “My point is that I don’t think the Minoans were stupid,” Cassie shot back. “They wouldn’t have gone to the extremes they did just to protect a worthless chunk of rock.”

  “I’m sure its meaning was symbolic,” the Chatelaine retorted.

  “Not according to the accounts I’ve read,” Griffin chimed in. “Ancient sources insisted that the stone possessed unearthly powers.”

  “Fine!” Maddie threw her hands up in the air. “So maybe it can do something to help us but I’m not willing to stake all our lives on a maybe. We need to base our strategy on known facts. We know Metcalf is mentally unbalanced and that we can poke a hole in his destined claim to the Sage Stone. We know it will take him a few minutes to recover from that upset. We know his confusion will buy us enough time to make our move. We blast the reliquary wall with bullets to force a cave-in and then get the hell out of there.”

  “But that’s suicide!” Cassie cried.

  “Maybe not,” the Chatelaine said. “We can position ourselves near the exit tunnel beforehand. At least some of us should make it out alive.”

  “You do realize that the only quick escape from that mountain is by helicopter,” Griffin ventured.

  “The Arkana has its own air support division,” the Chatelaine informed them.

  “We do?” Cassie and Zach both said in unison.

  “We do,” Maddie confirmed.

  “You never let us use company helicopters on our missions,” the Pythia complained. “We had to rent them.”

  “That’s because ours are for emergency airlift only. Like the one we’re planning now. I’ll arrange an armed escort to make sure our chopper gets in and out of that place—assuming there are any survivors.”

  “Say we do get out of there alive,” Zach said. “Metcalf might do the same.”

  “But he won’t have the Sage Stone which means we’ll have averted a global catastrophe,” the Chatelaine pointed out.

  Zach ignored her comment and forged ahead. “But he’ll make it his number one priority to hunt us down and take the artifact back.”

  “So the Arkana will have to go dark after all.” The Pythia frowned. “Griffin and I tried so hard to keep that from happening.”

  “Sorry, kiddo,” Maddie said. “The upside is that we shouldn’t have to stay dark for very long. Metcalf is a frail old man. His crazy scheme to destroy the world should die with him in a few short years.”

  Griffin sighed. “Hiding underground until he snuffs it is hardly an ideal solution.”

  The four lapsed into a glum silence, pondering their limited options.

  “Let me get this straight,” Zach finally said. “We walk into a trap and snag the Sage Stone which will piss off an old geezer with a plague-wielding army. Then we trigger a cave collapse, and, assuming any of us escape, we run for our lives. Is that it? That’s all we’ve got going for us?”

  “That plus maybe a magic rock,” Cassie murmured.

  “Forget about the magic rock already!” Maddie groaned and rubbed her eyes. “The little we’ve got is all we’re gonna get. We have to find a way to make it work!”

  ***

  Leroy Hunt drove up to the gates of the main compound. The guards in the sentry tower knew better than to detain him. They opened the barrier and waved him forward. He parked near the front doors and strode through them like he owned the place. The cowboy reasoned that the glad tidings he was about to deliver had earned him an all-access pass. One of Metcalf’s kids told him the old man was in his prayer closet. Hunt already knew the way to that room too. He knocked briefly and then took the liberty of letting himself in.

  The preacher glanced up from his bible stand by the window. “Hello, Mr. Hunt.”

  The cowboy blinked in surprise at the old man’s decline since their last meeting. Metcalf looked as broken down as ten miles of bad road. Leroy thought it was a good thing the codger was already wearing a funeral suit because it would save the undertaker some time.

  Hunt removed his hat and gave a hopeful smile.

  “I assume from this unseemly interruption that you have something urgent to report?” Metcalf rasped in a reedy voice.

  “Yessir, I do.” The cowboy wavered, glancing around the room suspiciously. “You ain’t got no phones in here, do you?”

  “Of course not. This chamber is for private prayer, not for transacting business.”

  “Good. A feller can’t be too careful. I lost track of how many phones Mr. Big put a tracer on. Best we talk private, man to man.”

  Without being invited, Hunt took a seat below the dour portrait of Metcalf’s predecessor.

  The old man shuffled across the room and lowered himself into the chair opposite, waiting testily for an explanation.

  Hunt immediately obliged. “After I plugged that little foreign doc like you wanted, I went back to tailin’ the kid I told you about. The one who might lead us to Mr. Big.”

  “And?”

  “And I struck pay dirt, boss. I got to the boy’s house with the early bird this mornin’. When he lit out for parts unknown, I followed and caught me a worm. The kid led me straight to their hideout. You’d never guess where it is in a million years.”

  “I have never enjoyed guessing games.” Metcalf tapped an impatient finger on the table top.

  “Well, sir. They’re operatin’ from an old schoolhouse tucked away back in the woods. It’s even farther out in the sticks than this place is.”

  “A schoolhouse?” The preacher’s bushy eyebrows shot upward

  “It ain’t no ordinary schoolhouse neither, boss. Near as I can tell, it’s just a front to cover some big doings underground.” Leroy scratched his head as a new thought struck him. “I always been meanin’ to ask why you all favor burrows so much. You Nephilim got that lab and the shooting range. And Mr. Big’s crew has got Lord knows what stashed in their bunker. Why is that?”

  “I don’t care to speculate about the building habits of my enemies,” the old man protested in exasperation. “Are you quite sure this place is their headquarters?”

  “A hundred per cent, boss.”

  “Very good, Mr. Hunt.” The preacher allowed a tinge of approval to creep into his voice. “I want you to make note of the geographic coordinates of their lair.”

  “What you got in mind to do? You can’t send a team with guns. Mr. Big would lock that place down tighter than bark on a tree.”

  “Nothing as obvious as that, Mr. Hunt. I want you to go back to that den of thieves and find its surface structures.”

  “Come again?’

  “An underground facility must have air ducts that vent to the surface. You will identify the precise locations of these and bring that information back to me.”

  “I get it,” Hun chuckled. “You gonna send some of your boys around to drop some bug spray inside that hornet’s nest?”

  “Yes. I’ll arrange for a few chosen men to handle the task. They will act in concert with the rest of my Argus agents. All will strike on the very day I claim the Sage Stone. As dawn breaks in each far-flung location, my men will go forth to execute their orders.”

  “Ain’t you gonna wait til you got the last doodad in your hands first?” The cowboy registered puzzlement.

  “No, Mr. Hunt. The archangel Phanuel came to me in a vision and counseled me not to hesitate. He reminded me that we walk by faith and not by sight. For me to delay until I possess the Sage Stone would prove that I have no trust in the fulfillment of the prophecy. So to demonstrate my conviction, I have given orders that the first toxins are to be released upon our easternmost targets hours before I hold the artifact in my hands. Phanuel says that this gesture will guarantee divine favor. It is of the utmost importance that the Lord smiles upon our endeavors, Mr. Hunt.”

  “I ain’t a prayin’ man, boss, as you well know. But I’ll say amen to that and a hearty hallelujah.” Hunt gave a wicked grin. “It’s payback tim
e for Mr. Big.”

  Chapter 46 —Suicide Mission

  Joshua paced around the underground training facility as he waited for his confederates to arrive. It had been months since he’d visited this place. The target range was still utilized for practice by the compound security staff but, now that everyone had gone through basic training, the bunker no longer hosted groups of marksmen on a daily basis. Its isolated location and infrequent use made it a convenient place to hatch a conspiracy. Joshua’s abrupt excommunication had left him with limited options.

  On the evening he’d first converted Enoch and Lemuel to his cause, he couldn’t fully explain his plan to them because he didn’t have one. He needed time to map out a strategy and a place to think. To that end, he ordered his acolytes to take him to the nearest ATM. Fortunately, his father hadn’t yet cut off his banking access. Joshua withdrew all the money from his travel account and took cash advances on several credit cards. Then he instructed his followers to drive him to a rental agency where he could hire a car of his own. Afterward, he checked himself into a motel about twenty miles from the compound and started evolving a strategy.

  As the details took shape, Joshua realized he would need more manpower than Enoch and Lemuel to carry out his scheme. He considered various members of the Order Of Argus who might be ripe to join his faction. Two stood out—Shem and Paul. Both were squarely-built, stolid men in their late-30s. Their massive physiques and dull expressions projected an utter lack of brain power. It was precisely this quality which attracted Joshua’s notice. Unimaginative men always made the best followers.

  The spymaster instructed Enoch and Lemuel to sound out these two prospects. When asked for their opinions about the spymaster’s hasty excommunication, they both expressed dismay. When they were told of the Diviner’s secret intention to attack the Fallen, their dismay turned to outright horror. They agreed that such a course was utter folly. After that, it was an easy matter for Enoch and Lemuel to persuade them that a better alternative existed. While his two original followers were busy indoctrinating the new recruits, Joshua had been hard at work refining the specifics of his plan. He felt quite confident that the five of them could pull it off.

  He stopped pacing when he heard the hatch doors at the top of the stairs squeal on their hinges and then shut again. Heavy boots marched downward in his direction. His four adherents paused at the bottom of the stairs to regard him silently. All of them looked grim and a trifle nervous.

  Joshua stepped forward to greet them. “Were you followed here?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “We came in separate cars, from separate directions,” Enoch informed him.

  “We also gave different excuses for errands we needed to do,” Lemuel chimed in.

  Joshua smiled approvingly. “That’s good.” He paused, his eyes narrowing as he studied the two new converts. Addressing them specifically, he asked, “Before we begin, are you sure you want to be part of this operation?”

  Shem looked dubiously at Paul who shrugged helplessly. Then both men grunted their assent.

  “There will be no turning back after this moment so I ask you again. Are you quite sure?”

  Paul cleared his throat. “Yes.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shem mumbled a few seconds later.

  “Very well,” the spymaster conceded. “Then let us begin. My brothers, the Blessed Nephilim have reached a crossroads—a dire intersection between salvation and damnation.”

  Lemuel tugged at his collar fretfully.

  “If we continue down our current path, we are doomed. My father’s mad scheme to challenge the Fallen is an act of defiance God will not forgive. We will surely suffer the same punishment as the Diviner even though we are innocent.”

  Shem and Paul anxiously shuffled their feet.

  “But fear not,” Joshua announced. “The Lord has granted me a vision of redemption.”

  “You?” Enoch peered at him. “But the Lord only speaks to the Diviner.”

  The spymaster sighed. “When God’s own prophet would not listen, he sought a new vessel to carry out his will.”

  “What did the Lord command you to do?” Lemuel urged.

  “Not just me, my brothers, all of us. We are charged with the sacred duty of sweeping away the corruption of the old order to make way for the purity of the new. The Brotherhood will be spared if we do this. However, God has hardened his heart against the three people who have offended him most. All three must die: the Diviner, Sister Hannah and the Scion.”

  “Why Brother Daniel?” Paul asked in a troubled tone. “He’s blameless.”

  “Blameless?” Joshua echoed sardonically. “Daniel has been instrumental in helping my father pursue his crusade against the Fallen. Without Daniel’s support, the Diviner would have abandoned his scheme by now.”

  The recruits said nothing.

  “And don’t forget, my brother is the Scion. Even if Father Abraham dies, the leadership of the Blessed Nephilim would pass to a man who facilitated our Diviner’s private war.”

  “That could be a problem,” Paul offered lamely.

  Joshua continued. “The Lord told me that Father Abraham was supposed to appoint me as Scion, not Daniel, but he disobeyed. I was always meant to be the next Diviner and restore the Brotherhood to a state of grace.”

  Enoch regarded the spymaster with a worried air. “We’re with you, sir, but you’re asking us to murder three people. How will you make the Order Of Argus accept that? How will you make the congregation accept that?”

  “You forget that the Order Of Argus is larger than the unit at the main compound. Every agent stationed at every satellite compound around the world is loyal to me, not the current Diviner. As for the local Argus agents and congregation, I have a way to gain their support. I will make it appear as if my brother Daniel killed the other two and then took his own life.”

  A shocked silence followed this revelation.

  Joshua smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry. My plan will all make sense once I walk you through it step-by-step.”

  He moved to a long table positioned against the back wall and switched on a halogen desk lamp. The light revealed a blueprint of the compound spread out on the table. The men clustered around.

  “Three nights from now at two o’clock in the morning, we’ll strike,” the spymaster explained. He glanced briefly at his two original supporters. “Enoch and Lemuel, you’ll volunteer to take the night shift in the guard tower.”

  “Yes, sir,” both men said readily.

  “Make sure no one else is in the tower with you,” Joshua cautioned.

  “We’ve been using a two-man detail lately. It won’t be a problem,” Enoch assured him.

  “Very well. Keep an eye out for my car. When you see me drive up to the gates, open them immediately and let me pass through.”

  Lemuel nodded.

  Focusing on the newcomers, Joshua said, “Shem and Paul, you’ll be waiting on the front steps when I arrive. You’re to act as my armed escorts inside the main building. In the unlikely event that somebody sees us, they’ll be told that the Diviner ordered you to bring me back from the city to meet with him. Understood?” The spymaster paused briefly for confirmation.

  The two men bobbed their heads.

  Joshua traced his finger along the blueprint, and pointed to an intersection where two corridors met. “This is the spot where the three of us will split up. Shem, you’ll proceed to the guest wing. Here is a key to Sister Hannah’s room.”

  He fished into his pocket and gave the key to his follower.

  “Paul, you’ll go to my brother Daniel’s room.” He distributed a second key.

  “But what if he’s with one of his wives,” Paul objected.

  The spymaster gave a short bark of a laugh. “My brother always sleeps alone. You’ll have no trouble.”

  Joshua traced a third route which led down another corridor. “I’ll proceed to my father’s quarters. He, too, sleeps alone these days and I
already have a key.”

  “What do we do when we get inside,” Shem asked nervously.

  The spymaster stared at him wryly. “You’ll be armed. What do you think you’re supposed to do?”

  The man gulped. “But the noise. Surely someone will hear,” he protested.

  “No, they won’t. You’ll be carrying nine-millimeter pistols with sound suppressors. Do I need to remind you that during your initial training you were shown how to modify the spring assembly to render them virtually noiseless?”

  Shem and Paul shook their heads sheepishly.

  “You’ll have to rig two pistols for yourselves and an identical one for me. Can you do that in the next day or so?”

  “Yes, sir,” they repeated in unison.

  “Good.” Joshua withdrew a note from his jacket pocket and handed it to Paul. “This is a suicide note I forged in my brother Daniel’s hand. In the note, he explains that the Diviner’s obsession with Sister Hannah has driven him mad with jealousy. Father Abraham accused Daniel of attempting to seduce Sister Hannah. She refused to speak to clear Daniel’s name. Enraged, Father Abraham revoked Daniel’s title as Scion and named Joshua as his successor instead. Daniel writes that he can’t live with the disgrace and blames both Sister Hannah and Father Abraham for ruining his life. He confesses to killing them and then himself.”

  The spymaster paused to see how his listeners were taking the news. They stirred uncomfortably but raised no objection.

  Joshua pressed on. “I want you to perform your tasks quickly and cleanly. Shem, you’re to dispatch Sister Hannah with a single shot to the head or the heart. Be as quiet as you possibly can. I’ll do likewise with my father. Paul, you must shoot Daniel through the temple and place your gun in his hand afterward. You’ll leave the suicide note next to his body where it can be easily found.”

  Paul and Shem nodded that they understood.

  “After you’ve finished, leave the building and meet back inside my car. We’ll drive to the gates together.” Joshua now transferred his attention to Enoch and Lemuel. “That’s where you two come in.”