The Hunt for the Tree of Life (Book One 1)

by Zulu, Arthur

  The undercover agents were actually surprised that the call came late. They had been expecting it.

  The women in the squad were assigned to take turns listening to the bugged cellular and land lines day and night. Yet, there was not a call. Americans must be clever.

  Then a call went out from a land line in Washington to a cell phone in Cambridge. There was no answer. The Cambridge number called back the Washington line. Again there was no answer.

  By this time, Mr. Xin Cheung, head of the Chinese spy team, and the other detectives, had been alerted and were anxiously waiting in an upper room at the Consulate when Cambridge called back and Washington answered the call.

  This was the closest that they had ever got on their hunt for the Methuselah poem and its custodian.

  They had chased it to Stanford and knew Professor Joseph Daniel and others who did the Hebrew-to-English translation. They never knew the poem had symbols and that cryptologists took part in the explanation. Their source did not get this information.

  However, the Chinese needed neither the professors nor the cryptologists. Their prey was a certain professor and Nobel laureate, who had been to UCLA, Emory, and Harvard. This man, they found out, was entrusted with interpreting the much-sought-after poem.

  But he was proving evasive.

  For this purpose, they had enrolled three female Chinese spies to study English in those three universities with the aim of catching this Nobel laureate. But the only information they gathered was that the literary icon had left the ivory tower. His whereabouts remained unknown until now.

  Cheung and the Chinese spies got information that the White House mandated a professor to interpret the poem. It must be a difficult poem needing to be interpreted. It was good after all that they didn’t get the un-interpreted copy. There could be no better time than now to get the poem.

  “We now have facts,” declared Mr. Cheung to his officers. “We know he is Professor Muse. He is in Washington solving a problem that we are aware of. Most importantly, he will be meeting his friend on Saturday night at Citizens in America’s Main Street. First, let’s search the Web for his photos, and which is America’s Main Street?”

  They all searched on their laptops.

  “It is Pennsylvania Avenue, sir,” someone said.

  “Yes, I have seen that too. He was trying to be smart. We will get him there,” Cheung answered. “And can you see the picture of the tall slim man with prominent eyes, pointed nose, and bald head?’ he asked.

  “Yes, we do, sir,” they replied.

  “You can’t miss such a figure even at night. Look for bald heads,” Mr. Cheung told his team. “But there are things we are yet to know about the dialogue between the two professors, which Dr. Know-Little will explain to us.”

  Dr. Know-Little was one of the agents. He was a British-born Chinese educated at Cambridge University, where he got a Doctor of Literature degree. He was included in the team for the purpose of translating English to his less-knowledgeable Chinese secret agents.

  “Dr. Know-Little,” Mr. Cheung said. “What is Hebrew prosody?”

  “Prosody is the study of poetry,” the Cantabrigian doctor replied. “So Hebrew prosody may seem like Hebrew poetry study.”

  “All right. What is meant by Oracular is in omega?” asked Cheung. “I think there is more to that sentence.”

  “It’s somewhat confusing, sir. Oracular pertains to oracle and is used to refer to an authoritative statement. Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet just as alpha is the first. So the sentence can mean, Authority is in the last,” explained Dr. Know-Little.

  “Which authority and what is last?” asked Mr. Cheung.

  “It is so meaningless, sir. I cannot tell.”

  “How do you quote Inquisition Nemesis?” asked his boss again.

  “That is the most perplexing of all. The Inquisition is an official inquiry, often negative, with particular reference to the cruelty of the Roman Catholic Church against heretics or the brutal Spanish Inquisition. Nemesis is anything beyond one’s control, which might also mean punishment. So you see, you cannot quote the cruelty of the Roman Catholic Church, neither can you quote punishment. In fact, the two words, Inquisition and Nemesis, do not go together in a sentence. The professors were speaking a borrowed language, sir,” said Dr. Know-Little.

  “But is it not English?” asked Cheung.

  “It is English used in unusual ways. In short, I can say it is bad English. You can’t quote Inquisition Nemesis. It is not a book.”

  “Now, what is Mother Muse 1:2?” Cheung asked again.

  “That is exactly what I am trying to say. There is nothing like Mother Muse 1:2. The Muses were originally three for various arts: Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory). At later times, it came to be used for the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and their different arts. Now, do we say Mother Muse is the original three or the modern nine daughters? Again, the Muse is not expressed mathematically by a ratio of 1:2. If it were so, the correct ratio would have been 3:9. I think these two men only understand what they are talking about,” concluded Dr. Know-Little.

  “Indeed,” replied Cheung. “But our target is Professor Muse. We know he has the poem in Washington. It all seems he is looking for a key to unlock it.”

  “Yes, I think so too,” Dr. Know-Little replied.

  “We have to move quickly then. This operation has been rehearsed several times. All of you know your roles. So make no mistakes. We have to relocate to our embassy in Washington tonight,” Cheung said finally.

  Then he typed a coded message and sent it to Beijing: “We are close to reaching our goal.”

  The American team of botanists, archaeologists, geologists, engineers, and cartographers headed by Mr. Jim Hunter gathered at the White House building in Washington. This was the moment they had been waiting for and they were ready to go. The president began his address:

  “My dear compatriots. I am proud to announce to you that we now know that Eden is in Eden. No flood took it away.”

  There was a loud applause, and then President Bill Godsend continued:

  “We are grateful to the patriot who helped us interpret the poem, just as we appreciate the labors of our servicemen and women who found it.

  “But the search has only begun. It is now your duty to locate the precise geographical area of the garden and discover this tree of life that will make America the giver of life.

  “It will not be a simple task. Americans and I, however, repose absolute faith in your knowledge and experience to make this happen.”

  There was another applause.

  “This is, therefore, your opportunity to write your name in gold, to be on the side of history forever.

  “Know that our rival, China, can do anything to reach the tree first. We defeated them at sea; we will also win them on land. And you are the ones carrying our dream, this great American quest for eternal life.

  “We will provide you with all the material and moral support that you need in your mission. We will give you the security and comfort you need. And the prayers of all Americans are with you in this epoch-making mission. I wish you great success.

  “God bless you. And God bless the United States of America!”

  The ovation was resounding.

  Mr. Hunter, the head of the expedition, was now to speak.

  “We feel highly privileged to be given this onerous responsibility, Mr. President. And I can assure you that we are equal to the task.”

  There was an applause.

  “I say that because it is this same team that did the research leading to the discovery of the Methuselah stone. We still believe that one stone is missing. This missing stone, we think, is in Eden itself. So finding it means discovering the garden and the tree.

  “We are happy to know that Eden remained in the Middle East even after the Deluge. Since it is there, Mr. President, we will find it!”

  There was a prolonged applause.


  “Our team of archaeologists, geologists, engineers, and cartographers are some of the best that this nation has ever produced. So we want to assure Mr. President and Americans that we will do America proud.

  “We will find Eden. We will discover the tree of life. We will fix death forever.

  “God bless Mr. President. And God bless the United States of America.”

  The hall shook with applause. After that the optimistic company had dinner with the president. Wine followed. And everyone was happy.

  The next day, the team boarded a special aircraft, escorted by an air force jet to Ankara, Turkey, to search for Eden and the tree of life.

  The United States Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, was the permanent base for coordinating the search for Eden. So the Hunter team met there to plan and map out their strategy. The Bible proved to be an indispensable reference book to pinpoint Eden. A verse by verse consideration of Genesis chapter 2 verses 10-14, where the geographical description of the garden was given, was, therefore, necessary.

  Verse 10: “Now there was a river issuing out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it began to be parted and it became, as it were, four heads.”

  The word Eden means beautiful garden. Eden was surrounded by mountains with an opening East of the garden.

  This exquisite garden was rich in vegetation, birds, and animals. Adam named all the birds and animals and every living creature in Eden.

  The extent of Eden is not known. It must have been a very large garden—the only one on earth at the time. Adam and his wife, Eve, were to expand the borders of the garden and in due time, the whole earth was to be like the paradise of Eden.

  Yet, they disobeyed, ate a forbidden fruit, got evicted from the garden, and debarred from eating the fruit of the tree of life. So, man lost Eden and everlasting life.

  But a river once rose from this garden and parted into four thereafter. Knowing this river and its tributaries would help Hunter and his team to locate Eden. Now, what were the four rivers?

  Verses 11 and 12: “The first one’s name is Pishon; it is the one encircling the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. There also are the bdellium gum and the onyx stone.”

  This Pishon River does not exist anymore. That, therefore, was the first challenge of the Hunter expedition. The land of Havilah also is not known.

  Although the land is spoken of as being rich in mineral resources, this cannot be an accurate pointer to Havilah since most Bible lands are described in superlative terms.

  What about the second river?

  Verse 13: “And the name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one encircling the entire land of Cush.”

  This river likewise is beyond trace. Cush, however, is a reference to Upper Egypt. This is, therefore, another hurdle to scale on the road to Eden.

  Yet, the third and fourth rivers seemed to light the way.

  Verse 14a: “And the name of the third is Hiddekel, it is the one going to the east of Assyria.”

  This 1,850-kilometer-long river is known today as the Tigris River in south-west Asia. It flows south-east from south-east Turkey to Iraq, called Mesopotamia in the Bible. The river joins the Euphrates forming the Shatt-al-Arab, close to the Persian Gulf.

  Assyria, mentioned here used to be a mighty ancient empire with capital in Nineveh. It covered south-west stretching from the Mediterranean Sea down to Egypt, north of Africa.

  Verse 14b: “And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”

  The 2,735 kilometer-long Euphrates River is also known today in south-west Asia. It flows from East Turkey passing through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris River.

  The two helpful rivers out of four in this search are Tigris and Euphrates.

  It helped the Hunter team to know that these two rivers took their source from a known country, Turkey, former Ottoman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople.

  It was now the task of the American Eden-hunting team to pinpoint the puzzling garden and tree in a 767,120 square kilometer country with only two rivers as a clue.

  The lost rivers – Pishon and Gihon – are not mentioned anywhere else outside the Bible. What happened to them?

  Noah’s Flood, which occurred in 2370 B.C.E. and covered the earth for about one year, was given as the cause for their disappearance. If so, why didn’t it sweep away the Tigris and Euphrates?

  Chapter 4

  Citizens is a popular restaurant in Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. It attracts all the policy shakers and movers. Here, they come at night, particularly on weekends, to shake off the drudgery of life in Washington.

  One can tell the social status of the patrons from the cars parked in the car park area: Pontiac and Pilot, Prado and Pajero, Rolls Royce and Citroen, Cadillac and Chrysler, Opel and Hummer, Lincoln and Limousine, Chevrolet and Cherokee. It seems like a roll call of who-is-who in the nation’s capital city.

  It is a one-story building with a dance hall on the ground floor and a bar and a restaurant overlooking it from above. One can, therefore, be having drink above and watching a good dance below. It is like enjoying the better of two worlds.

  Mr. Xin Cheung and his Chinese secret agents had visited it thrice since they relocated to Washington. Every corner of the building had been studied and mapped out for the Saturday operation. They even rehearsed it on Friday night at the restaurant.

  The decisive day came. They arrived at 8 P. M. —an hour earlier—with three vehicles bearing the diplomatic plate numbers of North Korea, Iran, and Cuba and took positions with concealed pistols waiting for their target.

  Professor Cramwell was there on time. He looked through the men and women dancing in pairs on his way to the bar and restaurant above. Professor Muse was not there.

  He took his seat at the bar carefully scrutinizing the faces of the cheerful drinking men and their girlfriends. His friend was not in their midst.

  What was happening to the Nobel laureate? After all, was he not the one who had arranged the meeting? He should have informed him if he had cancelled. Or was this not Pennsylvania Avenue, America’s Main Street?

  He had called Professor Muse on Friday night and the laureate had confirmed the appointment. Where was he now? He called and listened to the phone ring. No answer. He tried again. No reply. Then a third time. No dice. He got up, anxious, and began to pace to and fro.

  Two smart Chinese female agents, who had been sitting, smiling, and enjoying their drinks, took note and nodded.

  The target’s friend has come . . .

  When Professor Muse finished preparing to go to Citizens that night, little did he know that he would be needed by the president at the White House. So much secrecy! He had dressed up informally wearing a pant, a shirt, and a baseball cap over his bald head.

  Then he remembered that Cramwell liked to ask questions and would want to know what hard nut he was cracking when he called him up and asked for his help. He would deceive him.

  So he wrote the two-line poem without the symbols on a piece of paper beginning from the last to the first and put it in his pant pocket. He was about to move when he saw the regular car of the American secret agents pull up in his porch. “What again, now?” he asked himself.

  Then they came in and informed him that the president had invited him for dinner that evening in his honor. They had come to drive him straight to the White House!

  Well, who was he to decline and how dare he make a call in their presence to Cramwell? So he went.

  It was while he was away that Cramwell after arriving at Citizens Restaurant without seeing him called his land line thrice.

  The Chinese, however, knew that Professor Muse would show up. They had listened to the two men’s brief discussion on Friday night:

  “Cramwell, calling to confirm Saturday.”

  “Sure, unless I’m kidnapped. Keep yourself company with two women for us if you arrive first.”

  Cramwell had laughed then. Why would anyone think of kidnapping Professo
r Muse? Now that he had made it first, why not find two good-looking ladies for company as his friend had said and kill the time with a bottle of drink.

  He paced back to the bar, sat, and ordered a bottle of cognac.

  The Champagne Summit will come later.

  He poured himself a glass, took a sip, and placed the glass back on the table. Just then, the two Chinese women agents got up, walked across, and sat beside him.

  “Good evening, sir. Can we keep you company?” asked one of them.

  “Oh, it’s just fine. Both of you? You are heaven sent! Just what my friend and I needed—attractive ladies,” replied Professor Cramwell, admiring the sexily dressed women.

  “Thank you, sir. And where is your friend?” she inquired.

  “He will be here sooner or later. Have you heard the expression: Washington changes people?” the professor asked.

  “No,” said the second lady. “We are North Koreans.”

  “I can see that from your looks. We are Americans. Both of us were professors at Harvard before he moved to Washington and changed. Sorry, what would you both like to drink?”

  “We can share with you, sir.”

  “No, ask for whatever you want.”

  “We will share with you,” she insisted. “We are not heavy drinkers in North Korea, professor.”

  “I know that,” he replied, beckoning on the waitress for more glasses.

  “How did you know?” asked the first. “Have you been to our country before?”

  “No, it is in the newspapers. We know a lot about your country from the media and visitors. Full of rules.”

  “We know Americans do not like us,” she continued.

  “No, we love the twenty-four million ordinary people like both of you,” Cramwell said, pouring drinks for the women. “The trouble is with your leaders—always causing trouble. Here is their dirty score card: killings, kidnappings, hijacking, bombing, secret development of nuclear weapons . . .”

  “You seem to know a lot about us, professor,” the second lady said interrupting him.

  “Yes, from the newspapers and television. We read and watch foreign news in America. We have the freest media in the world. They all bombard us daily with foreign reports. America is not like North Korea, your country, where citizens are banned from watching, listening to, or reading, foreign news, and where radios are pre-set to broadcast only local news. That is like living in the Dark Age. You are a caged people.”