by Brady, R. D.
Patrick almost tripped over the threshold at Henry's words. Laney reached out an arm to steady him. “A bomb shelter?”
“Dom’s just security conscious, that’s all,” Danny said as he walked through the tunnel.
Patrick smiled at him. “Well, he should feel pretty safe here, then.”
Danny gave him a timid smile before continuing down the long path.
As she stepped into the tunnel, she remembered her uncle's Dorothy comment. And she had to admit, she felt a kinship with the poor girl. And Alice, too, for that matter. Both had been uprooted from their lives and dropped into a new, magical world. Of course, she thought with a smile as she watched the men around her, Dorothy was probably more appropriate, with Jake as the Lion, her uncle the Tinman, Henry the Scarecrow, and Danny as Toto.
The tunnel continued on a downward angle for another hundred yards. At the end, Laney stepped out into a room, almost identical to the one they had first entered.
She stared at the mammoth door across from them. “Another blast door?”
Henry nodded as he input numbers into the security panel next to the door. This time, he placed his right index finger on the glass panel. A green light lit up above the door. It clicked open. Jake stepped up to hold it open for the group.
The whole setting had a surreal quality to it. The long white halls, the eerie green lighting, the faint musty smell. She glanced at Henry, who was walking ahead. He had to almost double over to fit in the tunnels. Why was this place even here? She knew the Chandler Group was involved in complex international issues, but did that really require a bunker? As she continued down, she realized she was both literally and figuratively in over her head.
“You okay?”
She glanced back at Jake, his eyes concerned. A small butterfly flitted across her chest. She barely knew him, and yet for some insane reason she trusted him. And she didn’t trust easy. But something about Jake just put her at ease. She felt as if he would protect her. And for someone as self-reliant as she was, that was pretty unusual. Not to mention a little unsettling.
She smiled. “Just a little amazed at where the last twenty-four hours have taken me.”
He stepped next to her and squeezed her hand. “We’ll get through this, Laney.”
She heard the pledge in those words. Her heart beat a little faster. “Promise?”
He pulled her to a stop, turning her to look at him. “Promise.”
Time seemed to stop for a moment. And Laney had the insane urge to kiss him. His eyes were locked on hers and then shifted down to her lips. She leaned forward just a fraction.
“You two coming?” Patrick called from the end of the tunnel.
Laney jumped away from Jake like a teenager. Jake reached out to grab her before she hit her head on the rounded edge.
Slick, Laney. Real slick.
She could feel the blush beginning to spread across her cheeks. Damn her complexion, which hid nothing. “Be right there.”
After all the security precautions, Laney was expecting to find a mad scientist and a dark, dank lab. But when she stepped through the opening, she was surprised to find herself in a brightly-lit entryway that could be found in any home. There was even a hall closet for coats, an umbrella stand, and crisp white wainscoting halfway up the pale blue walls.
Henry led them into the room just past the entryway. Laney stopped short, stunned by the incredible sight. The room was massive, easily a hundred feet long, fifty across, and the ceilings were at least twenty-five feet high. It contained a living room area with a comfortable-looking leather sectional, and a large flat-screen TV. The kitchen was a mix of dark, sleek wood and stainless steel appliances. And the bedroom section looked right out of an IKEA catalogue.
And there were plants everywhere - hanging from the ceiling, in pots along the ground, and there was even a good size greenhouse in the back corner, lit by ultraviolet lights. Except for the absence of windows, it would have looked right at home in Manhattan.
Jake let out a low whistle. “Now this is a bomb shelter.”
Laney grinned. “I guess Dr. Radcliffe has done a lot with the place. I have to admit, I was picturing something more along the lines of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.”
“Shall we?” Jake extended Laney his arm.
With a smile, she placed her hand around his arm. They joined the others, who had congregated around the large island in the kitchen.
Henry raised a coffee pot as the two walked over. Laney nodded. Danny and Patrick were already pulling sandwiches from the tray onto their plates.
“Help yourselves,” Danny said. “Dom and Maggie always like to have something for people to eat when they come visit.”
Laney settled herself into one of the high island chairs and had just pulled a turkey sandwich onto her plate when a female voice spoke.
“Good, good. You’re all eating.”
Henry walked over and hugged the striking woman who had stepped into the kitchen through a door Laney hadn’t noticed. Although her hair dark hair was streaked with white, there wasn’t a line on her face, making her age impossible to estimate. She had a strong, muscular build, was at least six feet tall, and intelligence shone out of her face like a beacon.
“Laney, Patrick, I’d like you to meet Dr. Margaret Shandone. She is Dom’s extraordinary partner.”
Dr. Shandone waved away the words. “Oh, please. Call me Maggie. Dom’s finishing up. He’ll be right out.” Her eyes twinkled as she shook Laney’s hand. “He tells me you have an Atlantis problem.”
“We’re really not sure. But right now, that’s where all the signs are pointing,” Henry replied diplomatically.
Maggie walked over and gave Danny a hug, ruffling his hair as she released him. “So, you’ve come to pick Dom’s brain. I have to tell you, I haven’t seen him this excited since his arguments about the naïveté of a theory of everything were supported.”
“I resent that, Maggie.” Dom bounded into the kitchen, a big smile on his face. “I was not that excited about string theory.”
Dom shook hands with Henry, who, in turn, introduced him to Laney and Patrick. Now, this man was more of what she expected. Dom's salt-and-pepper hair sprung out from his head like it was trying to escape. His dark eyes were magnified by thick lenses. Baggy cargo shorts, an incorrectly buttoned shirt, and a brown sweater vest completed the outfit.
He kept tugging at his collar. He reminded Laney of Max, when Kati had forced him into a dress shirt for Christmas. She liked him already.
“Ah, lunch, excellent.” Dom pulled a sandwich off the tray, and sat next to Danny, who gave him a grin. “Did you have a chance to read that book I sent you?”
Danny nodded. “It was good, although I think the author is off base about all five superstring theories really being a single unitary theory.”
Dom clapped Danny on the shoulder. “I thought the same thing. Maggie here was trying to justify it by saying he was arguing for a paradigmatic shift in our interpretation of transformation duality.”
With matching grins, Dom and Danny rolled their eyes at the end of the statement. Laney couldn’t help but laugh.
Maggie shook her head. “Don’t drag me into this. Besides, I think these good people are here to talk about a different topic. You’ll have to excuse me, though, I need to finish up a few more things in the lab.” With a quick kiss to Dom’s cheek, Maggie disappeared back the way she’d entered.
Dom glanced around the group seated around the island. “Ah, yes. You want to know about Edgar Cayce.”
Henry perched his hip on the counter and crossed his arms. “As I explained on the phone, Dr. Priddle seems to be basing his entire claim on Cayce’s assertions about Atlantis and something called the Belial Stone.”
Dom bounced in his chair as he spoke. Energy radiated out from the man. “Now, Cayce was an interesting character. He was a psychic, born in 1877. A devout Christian, he seemed to have an extraordinary gift, or more accurately, gifts. While in a trance-l
ike state, he could diagnose people’s illnesses. He was reported to have been very accurate. Some of the treatments he recommended are now actually recognized by the medical community. He also did life readings for people about their past lives.”
Patrick interrupted. “He seems an unusual choice for someone to base their academic work on.”
“Not at all, not at all.” Dom waved his hand with his words, sending part of his sandwich flying across the island. Henry sighed, shifting out of the way to avoid the airborne turkey.
“Cayce was an amazing man. He was not a fluke. He was the real deal. He predicted that a sign to Atlantis would appear in 1968 or 1969, and then voilà the Bimini Road appeared.”
“But wasn’t that proven to be naturally-formed beach rock?” Laney asked.
Dom swiped the comment away, his hands flying with his words. “The skeptics are saying that, but who’s to say the Atlanteans didn’t make use of a natural formation?”
Danny had to duck out of the way to avoid being hit. Laney smiled as Patrick pulled Danny’s chair closer to his own to get him out of the danger zone.
“And that can't explain the ancient anchors that have been found all over the Bahamas, indicating a seafaring civilization thrived there,” Dom continued.
Henry gestured with both of his hands for Dom to calm down.
Dom's hands stilled. “Sorry. It’s just such an exciting topic.”
“We understand, Dom.” Patrick smiled. Her uncle took all personalities in stride, even eccentric professors. “But why would Drew think the Belial Stone was buried somewhere? From what he wrote, he seemed to believe that it was intentionally hidden.”
Dom nodded and his face turned serious. “I’m sure it was. According to Cayce, a group of Atlanteans, known as the Sons of Belial, converted the stone into a weapon and began using it to destroy the rest of the Atlanteans, who were called the Children of the Law of One.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “The Children of the Law of One? Really?”
“Horrible name, right? But when Cayce talks about Atlantis, he’s actually talking about the creation of mankind. The Children of the Law of One were the good. They believed in living in harmony with nature and being companions of the creator. Many wouldn’t even fight, not even to defend themselves. Peace and kindness were their primary goals.”
“And the Sons of Belial were the bad.” Laney was struck by the similarity to the Hebrew War scroll. In it, there had been talk of an end-of-times battle between the Sons of Belial and the Children of the Light. Could the Children of the Light been the same as the Children of the Law of One?
Dom nodded. “Unlike the Children, the Belial’s goals were acquiring and maintaining power.” He grinned. “They were the original SOBs.”
Jake shook his head. “Okay, so we’re talking about pre-historic hippies and an ancient weapon of mass destruction. Who could take this seriously? I mean, there’s no evidence of any of this.”
Dom stared back at Jake. “Are you kidding? Ancient tales are littered with stories of powerful crystals. Krishna and Zeus are just two examples of tales of gods with powerful weapons that utilized crystals.”
Jake shook his head. “Yeah, but those are stories. There's no proof.”
“How about the evidence of a nuclear explosion in Rajasthan, India eight thousand years ago? Or vitrified stones found all over the world that date back through antiquity?”
Patrick's tone was thoughtful. “In my homeland of Scotland, there is a tale involving the God of War, Belatucadros. He was said to have used a staff with a crystal at the end that emitted an intense burst of energy. And ancient stone forts in Northern Scotland have vitrified stones that could only be created by an intense, focused heat of temperatures greater than 1000 degrees Celsius.”
Dom smiled at Patrick with a nod and jumped up from his chair. He opened the fridge, his voice now muffled by the door. “And, in modern times, we’re beginning to explore crystals as a potential power source for an array of weapons. Over the last fifteen years, researchers around the globe have been experimenting with diamonds as a source for laser weapons. They’ve been found to transmit heat and light incredibly effectively. And they’ve been successful.”
Jake leaned down to whisper in Laney's ear. "Shouldn't he be wearing a little tinfoil hat while he explains all this?"
Laney pushed him away, trying to hold back her smile.
Dom closed the refrigerator door. Shaking his head, he walked back to the island, a can of soda in his hand. “But you guys haven’t even asked the most important question yet.”
Laney looked around the table at the confused look on everyone’s face, except for Danny’s. “Danny?”
“We haven’t asked where the stones came from. If these stones exist on earth, then there should be another cache somewhere. But being they haven’t been found, the question is where did they go? Or, more likely, where did they come from?”
“Right as usual, my boy.” Dom beamed at Danny. He turned to Patrick. “So Father Patrick, care to tell the group where the stones come from?”
CHAPTER 32
Laney looked from her uncle to Dom. Surprise was written across her uncle’s face. He stared at Dom. “Me? I don't know.”
“You are a Catholic priest, right? And an archaeologist? You just need to think about it. I'll give you a hint: ‘They elevated me aloft to heaven. I proceeded until I arrived at a wall built with stones of crystal.’”
Laney noticed Patrick pale, and knew he’d recognized the words. But she also noticed Henry start, although much more subtly. Henry recognized the words as well.
She fixed her uncle with a look. “I think it’s time to share what you know.”
Patrick looked across the table at her and sighed. “The words are from the Book of Enoch.”
Laney struggled to see the connection. “The Book of Enoch? Drew uses that as a reference in his paper.”
Patrick nodded, explaining to the rest of the group. “It was a popular work in the early Catholic church. It’s one of the largest repositories of knowledge on two areas: heaven and angels.”
“Angels? We’re adding in angels now?” Jake mumbled.
Laney shook her head. “I still don’t see the connection.”
Although Laney had been looking at her uncle, Henry was the one who answered. “The Book of Enoch isn’t just about angels. It’s about fallen angels, and it speaks of the stones of great power they brought with them when they fell.”
Laney stared at Henry. It couldn’t be, could it? “Fallen angels? As in beings with superhuman abilities? Such as incredible speed, power, and healing abilities?”
Dom nodded. “Oh, sure.”
Laney sat back, stunned. She knew whatever explanation they came up with for the superhumans would have been incredible. But she still expected it to be more, well, normal. A pharmaceutical experiment gone awry, exposure to some sort of radioactive contaminant, a military experiment. A mutation in the essence of humanity, a la the X-Men. But fallen angels?
Dom bounced out of his chair again. He started to pace around the island. Laney was starting to get dizzy watching him. She finally closed her eyes and just listened to him speak.
“According to Enoch, a group of angels become envious of humans, of their freedom, of their women. Two hundred of them made a pact, and together they fell. They brought with them the knowledge of heaven. Their leader was named Samyaza and Azazyel was his second-in-command. Each of the fallen brought with them some skill that they shared with humanity. Tamiel taught them astronomy. Amazarack and Armers taught them sorcery, and so on.”
Dom paused and looked around the group, his eyes bright. “But it was Azazyel who has done the most to corrupt mankind. Azazyel, as the leader of the guard, taught mankind to fashion weapons, and how to wield them. And most critically, he taught them the use of the stones. Azazyel has had the most influence on mankind’s split into the Sons of Belial and the Children of the Law of One. He tapped into human’s basest
desires – lust, power, greed – and manipulated them towards his own goals. And more importantly, he provided the Sons of Belial with the means to defeat the Children of the Law of One.”
The room descended into silence when Dom finished speaking. Laney stared at each of them in turn. Were they really considering this? Henry and Patrick looked thoughtful. Danny’s face was a mask of concentration. He was undeniably running a myriad of permutations with the information that none of them would ever understand. Her eyes fell on Jake. Disbelief was stamped across his face.
She thought back to all that they had been through, all they had seen. How else to explain Paul’s abilities? And the medical examiner’s results? Was this explanation really so crazy compared with any other possibility? The only other options were super-soldier or alien. They knew he was not a normal human. But still . . .
“Okay,” Laney said, drawing out the word. “So, let’s say for arguments sake, fallen angels did exist. Weren’t they all banished?”
Patrick shook his head. “Not exactly. According to scripture, the fallen angels were a plague on humanity. They introduced greed, vice, and encouraged all sorts of base desires. The world became a cruel and vicious place as a result of their intervention. Humanity cried out to God for help and he sent his archangels to punish the fallen angels. They were exiled to a pit in the desert for seventy generations, which is when God said the world would end.”
Jake grunted. “Right, so all the bad angels got locked up. Can we now move back to reality?”
Henry shook his head. “That may not be entirely true. There was a loophole. According to Enoch, God banished the fallen for seventy generations and until the end of the world. And, according to the Bible, God did attempt to destroy the world by a flood, to rid it of the corruption created by the fallen angels and their offspring.”
“But the world didn’t end.” Laney said.
Patrick nodded. “But the world didn’t end. And God vowed to never try and destroy the world again. Because of that compassion, Azazyel and some of the other angels were allegedly able to escape after the seventy generations passed.”
