The Stone of Secrets

by K. L. Nelson

  Vuradech’s eyes filled with rage. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. He tried to stand but Hadrian held him down. “Stop man! The men of Cinaed seek you! They will not stop until you are dead.”

  “I must get to the village!” Vuradech exclaimed, unable to prevail against the hands holding him down.

  “There is nothing you can do for them now,” Hadrian replied. “The men have been there. It is already done. The only thing that is not done is your death. If they find you, they will kill you and your household. By staying hidden, you do not betray Fidach, but you do preserve your children!”

  “We must assemble a rebellion against this treachery,” Vuradech insisted. “Cinaed must pay for this!”

  “Yes, he must,” agreed Hadrian. “But it will not happen tonight. Now we must be glad for what we have. All of your children are spared. You are alive. So far Cinaed does not know where you are. He may think you are already dead. Let us rest together tonight and in the morning we will think more clearly. We will decide then what is to be done.”

  Vuradech looked at Hadrian. “You have had a long day, my friend.” He looked at his children. “You all have had more to think about than anyone should have had in one day. But you must understand this: From this day forward, things will never be as they once were. I vow to you as I live that whatever happens, our line will go on. We will not shrink from this affliction, and we will not become Gaels. We will take the broken pieces of our life and build a great name. We will rise from this tragedy to secure for ourselves a place in history. We will make our ancestors proud of us.”

  No one said a word for the rest of the evening. All had much to think about, but somehow they knew the time for talking was over. The morning would provide time for discussion. Vuradech lay awake and looked up into the stars for many hours through the night. He could not put Fidach out of his mind. What would become of the people he loved? They were his kin. He thought of mounting a rebellion against this treason. It was what he wanted to do, what he instinctively favored. There were advantages to it. But though his heart told him to fight, something inside him told him there was a better way.

  Hours into the night, Vuradech awakened from a nightmare. He was kneeling on the ground, his hands bound behind his back. He lifted his eyes to see Cinaed mac Ailpin swinging his mighty sword to sever his head cleanly from his neck. The dream had caused him to let out an awful shout that he was grateful did not awaken anyone in the camp. He lay breathless on his bed roll, horrified at the thoughts this dream had conjured.

  Suddenly he was aware of a presence. His horror deepened as he realized it was not from his dream; the presence was in this realm! He rose from his bed and looked into the trees. He cursed himself for the shout he let out when he awoke. Surely every creature in the forest knew he was there now. The pale glow of the moon showed nothing in the trees, but he knew there was something there. He couldn’t see anything, but somehow he could feel it. He clenched his sword by his side, knowing he would not be the only creature awake in the forest tonight. Cautiously he made his way through the trees, sure that some beast or perhaps a Gael would spring from hiding at any moment. His mind raced as he pressed onward into the black wilderness. He felt no pain from his illness any longer. All he could feel was his heart pounding in his chest. His senses were sharper than they’d ever been.

  The feeling guided his steps over a high ridge and into the next valley. The forest was dense in this strange valley. The longer he walked, the more difficult his way became. He knew he was hopelessly lost, but he didn’t care. Soon he was barely able to fit his body between the trees. He grew frustrated as he squeezed sideways between each gap, angry at the exertion he had to make to advance so short a distance. The feeling that had driven him here seemed to be fading now as he grew angry, and that made him even angrier. He pressed on until he saw something that startled him: the glow from the moon seemed to be gathered into one point a short distance ahead of him.

  Sword in hand, he pressed toward the light. It grew brighter as he moved through the trees. Somehow he knew this was his destination. Soon he found the source of the glow. Standing in the middle of the forest was a tall shaft hewn from dark grey stone. The way the forest had grown up around it, it looked like this stone had been forgotten for centuries. The inscriptions on the stone Vuradech could not read. He supposed the stone had been put there eons before by the priests of some ancient religion. The glow came from the light of the moon shining down on it perfectly from a gap in the forest canopy above.

  Vuradech sunk to the ground. “Why have you led me here?” he cried into the night sky. “Surely the gods toy with mortals to torment them! I have fallen prey to the follies of the Otherworld!”

  Only black silence answered back for a long time as Vuradech sat sobbing on the ground. Then, the glow above the stone started to grow brighter by degrees. Vuradech looked up into the sky as light began to descend. Soon the light was so bright he had to hold his hand to his eyes to keep from being blinded. When his eyes became accustomed to the brilliance, he slowly lowered his hand.

  Squinting toward the light, he saw a woman standing in the air.

  “Vuradech,” she called in a voice that pierced his soul and dispelled all fear. The sound was both surreal and familiar. Vuradech looked up into the face of this visitor from the Otherworld.

  “Galem!” he cried.

  Chapter Twenty One

  FBI Headquarters

  Washington, D.C.

  11:54 a.m.

  Maddox had descended from his office on the sixth floor to crack his whip. His sleeves were rolled up and his face wore a look of determination as he coordinated every aspect of the sting. The office was a blur of activity. Dax was in charge of the D.C. wing, but Maddox had his hands on the whole thing. That meant the massive task of coordinating a global operation involving a dozen foreign governments. But he was undeterred. This reminded him of his days as a field supervisor in the Bronx, only this was much bigger. He hadn’t felt this alive in quite some time.

  Ted burst into the conference room where Maddox, Dax and several other department heads and key agents were developing the plan. “I think you’re going to want to see this...” He knew he was probably interrupting something vital to national security, but he didn’t care.

  “What is it Ted?” Maddox asked, only partially annoyed at the interruption. He knew when Ted burst in like this he always had a game-changer.

  “Two things…” Ted said as he sat down and started typing furiously on his laptop. “Excuse me,” he said, making someone three tiers above him on the FBI chain of command move over. “First, in working on the fake message from the director of The Pact, the professor and I noticed something that might be useful to us in the sting operation. See this little tag beneath each communication? It contains data from the cell towers that transmit PactNet’s signal. What we have here is triangulation data on each and every text sent on PactNet. And the best part is the data can be toggled on every single message from the admin site, which we now have access to. So now we can use it to pinpoint the location of anyone that’s sending texts on PactNet.”

  “Can you set this up to give our agents the locations in real time?” Maddox asked.

  “I can do better than that,” Ted replied. “I can…” Ted suddenly realized Maddox had hit the nail on the head. “Yes,” he replied, “yes, I can.”

  “Good, Ted. Get on it. We’re on a timeclock here,” Maddox said. Ted folded his laptop and hurried out.

  “How do we know the Saudis and Luxembourg will respond to the intel?” Emmett asked from across the table, returning to their previous conversation.

  “That’s a job for the diplomats,” Maddox replied. “All we can do is make sure we have our base covered. We need to give them accurate intelligence as soon as it becomes available. Ultimately, I think everyone will realize it will be in their best interest to act.”

  Things had gone from intense to insane when it was discovered that The Pa
ct was planning their takedown of the world’s stock markets not in a matter of weeks, but days. In addition, it was learned that their plan involved the simultaneous assassinations of dozens of key stock market officials around the world. The Bureau’s analysts all came to the same conclusion: If The Pact pulled this off, they would bring the world to its knees in every way that mattered.

  “We will have things buttoned down on our end,” Maddox continued. “It sounds like the assassins are going to tell us where they are. While they’re texting away their locations, we’ll have boots on the ground to round them up. As soon as we have the operatives in custody, we’ll notify the stock market managers to pull the plug on trading for the day. We’ll tell them to stay shut down until we get this virus figured out. We’ve already notified key people. Everyone’s on board so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

  Skye then spoke. “Who is calling the shots for The Pact?” she asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Maddox replied. “We currently have two avenues to pursue. Number one is PactNet. There is a wealth of intel coming out of that. Number two will be the detainees. Once we have bodies in custody we can begin interrogations.”

  “And what if they don’t talk?” the professor asked flatly. “What happened to the helicopter pilot you arrested? Has he provided any information?”

  Some in the room shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. “Trust me professor. By the time this is over, you’ll have the boss’s name and address. I understand you’re jittery. We’re not going home until we get him.” Maddox paused as they stared at each other across the room. “If you have any ideas, professor, now is the time.”

  For once, Skye didn’t have any ideas. That scared her. She hoped Maddox was right. But it seemed there was one big question that loomed over all their planning and preparation: Where exactly was all this criminal activity being coordinated? She understood the first task was to prevent the financial collapse. But cutting off the head of the snake was surely a close second.

  After the meeting, Emmett caught her alone. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked.

  Skye looked at the floor in thought. Then she raised her eyes. “I guess that depends on how this turns out. Eventually they will figure out I’m not dead, if indeed they haven’t figured it out already. It’s just a matter of time before I’m in the crosshairs again. I would hate to see us waste this opportunity to get out in front of them.”

  “Look around, Skye,” Emmett replied. “The whole agency is working on this. Do these guys look like they’re wasting the opportunity?”

  “They look like they’re stopping a threat to the world’s economy, because that’s what they’re doing. With me it’s a little more personal. I suspect that’s how it is with The Pact too. We may well thwart their plan for world domination, but will that only make them more vengeful, more desperate? I didn’t read to you the whole oath from the stone, Emmett. They are driven. They are truly insidious.” Skye clenched her fists. “They must be stopped!”

  Several nearby glanced at Skye, hearing the intensity in her voice.

  Emmett had never seen Skye like this. After several moments of letting her expression sink in, he spoke.

  “I think I need to show you something.”

  Skye followed Emmett to the elevator, which they rode to the top floor. Up a flight of stairs was a door that opened onto the top of the building. The whole city was in view as they walked across the roof.

  “I get it,” Skye said. “You’re going to push me off.”

  “No,” Emmett replied, “but you might push me.”

  They reached the other end of the roof, where they climbed down a ladder and walked around a large ventilation duct. They were standing at the very corner of the roof, and they could see for miles.

  Emmett turned to Skye and explained. “If you stand right here, no one can hear you shout. No one can see your tears. You can scream obscenities all day long and you won’t offend anyone but the birds.”

  “You’ve spent some time here, haven’t you?” Skye asked.

  Emmett smiled. “More than you will ever know.”

  Skye leaned on the railing and stared at the skyline. “I had a place like this back home. It was at the top of a mountain. I had to ride my motorcycle for an hour just to reach it. You could see for miles like this, only there was nothing; no people, just me, the rocks and the sky. I used to sit there for hours. I solved a lot of the world’s problems on top of that big rock.

  “A lot has changed since then. The world’s problems seem to have gotten a whole lot bigger lately. Back then I felt like I was in control of my life. I could tackle anything that was thrown at me. I don’t feel that way anymore. This is so much bigger than anything I could have imagined. And to top it off, my life is in danger. I can’t deal with that. I’m just an archaeologist, Emmett. I didn’t think anyone would want to kill me for that.”

  Skye could feel Emmett’s gaze upon her as she stared out at the city. “This has gotten way out of hand,” she heard him say. “Huh,” he chuckled, “it all started when I first met you. I just thought it was you. I thought this was normal Skye McAlister stuff.”

  “I can assure you, Emmett, this is not normal.”

  “I see.” Emmett looked down and thought for a moment. It was a long while until he spoke again. “Can I make an observation?” he asked. Skye turned to meet his eyes.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking how long I’ve known you. What has it been, ten months now?”

  “More or less,” Skye replied.

  “Remember when we met? You were busy fighting city hall, literally. And you won! Remember Chief Hertford? I remember the look on his face one day when someone said your name. The mere mention of your name would almost give him a coronary.” Emmett and Skye both laughed. “Let me see. In the short time I’ve known you I have watched you fight city hall and win, oversee a student summer expedition, make an archaeological discovery that is destined to change the world, translate a lost language, survive a deadly kidnapping, uproot a tree, and make me look like a fool on the dance floor. I never hear so much as a word of complaint fall from your lips, yet you have done more in ten months than most people do in ten years. On top of it all, your work has given the FBI the jump it needs to bring down the largest crime syndicate in the history of the world. Of all people, I think you deserve to feel a bit overwhelmed right now.”

  Skye could feel her eyes well up as she began to let go of the pain inside.

  “As for those guys wanting to kill you,” Emmett continued, “after what I’ve seen, my money is on whatever team you’re playing for.”

  Tears fell fast down Skye’s face. She threw her arms around Emmett and sobbed on his shoulder. Slowly she felt the strength inside her return. It was as if she could feel Emmett’s confidence in her filling her up and becoming her own. She thought it a rare privilege to have a friend like Emmett. After a long cry in his arms she said simply, “Thank you.”

  ***

  The next morning

  Emmett, Angela and Rashad rode in the black SUV with Dax. Dax always liked to drive. No one ever challenged him for the wheel. And on this day, Dax was driving like he’d never driven before. They had to make it to the center of the financial district before rush hour or the NYSE director’s life was at stake. The hit had come through on PactNet only minutes before they would make the attempt on the woman’s life. The office was trying to get a call through to her, but she was not an easy woman to get a hold of when the markets were open for trading.

  “Left here!” Emmett shouted, reading the GPS as it took the location directly from Ted’s program. The SUV’s suspension flexed tightly as Dax pitched it ruthlessly into the turn, narrowly missing another car. This was no ordinary SUV. It was custom designed to fill the needs of the FBI, which included extreme driving such as this. The chassis was designed like no other vehicle in the world. The independent suspension was designed to move the roll center higher,
similar to a Formula One chassis. It made the bulky SUV grip the road like a race car on the high banks. Each agent in the FBI was required to pass a high performance driving course that trained them to take this SUV to its very excessive limit. Dax’s lap time was as good as any agent in the Bureau. His skill just might save a life today.

  Though the g-force from the turns pulled them violently from side to side, Angela and Rashad were all business in the back seat. Angela tightened her body armor as she held the battering ram they would use to breach the door. Rashad checked the clip in his weapon and made sure he had several more in case the situation called for it.

  Emmett reached down and turned off the siren well before they reached the sniper’s location so as not to tip him off. “Up here on the right,” he told Dax. All four doors swung open as the vehicle screeched to a stop, and the four agents were inside the building in moments. Taking three steps at a time, they sprinted up four flights of stairs and approached the designated door. Dax, Rashad and Emmett stood ready to spring inside the moment Angela breached the door. On Dax’s nod, she threw the ram against the latch with all her might. It swung open violently as if it hadn’t been latched at all, and instantly all four of them were inside the room. A very stunned sniper turner as the agents pointed their guns at his head and shouted at him to drop his weapon.

  At once the sniper knew he wasn’t going to accomplish his objective that day. In an instant he weighed his options. Could he take his suicide pill before he was detained? There was one other choice. As he reached for the side arm sitting on the table nearby, bullets riddled his body. He fell lifeless to the floor. He wasn’t able to get even one shot off.