by Summer Lee
Sam embraced her. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’ve never been in this deep of a relationship before and my ignorance will be coming to the top occasionally. Please forgive me?”
“Eat and all will be forgiven,” she said, with a smile.
Sam sat down and prepared to dig in. She sat beside him, watching.
“Sam.” Her tone was serious. “I am thinking about what happened in Urfa yesterday. If you would have decided not to rest, we might have been caught up in the destruction.”
Sam had just taken a big bite of sunny side up eggs and washed it down with some orange juice. “I’ve been thinking about that too. Everything happens for a reason. Right? That decision may have saved our lives.”
“You are listening to the Holy Spirit,” she replied, with a sparkle in her eyes. “You are being guided, as I have been. We are truly a team now, in every sense of the word.”
He finished his breakfast. But just sat there thinking, with his hand on his chin. She wanted to say that she would give him a penny for his thoughts, but decided it was not the wisest thing to do. So she watched him as he remained deep in thought. He relaxed, as a smile crept across his face.
He yawned and stretched. He said, “Being an adult has a lot of problems.”
“Now that you have rested, are you any closer to making the right decision about where to go next?” Her gaze was intense, yet caring.
“Yes,” he said, while wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I think we should contact Kieleg again. Whatever the reason for the bombing in Urfa, the security there will be extremely tight. I doubt that, even with your abilities, we could get in unnoticed.”
“That makes sense.”
After breakfast, I’m going to email Kieleg. I’m sure he knows by now what happened at the temple.”
“But he may not be willing to share.”
“We’ll see.”
***
Day Five, Late Morning
ACHAVA WANTED A CLEAR PICTURE, but she waited to let Sam come up with the idea.
Sam sat impatiently in front of his computer, waiting for a response to his email to Kieleg.
“What did you tell him?” Achava queried.
He turned to her with a blank expression. “I told him that I know what he’s up to and that we should talk. It would be senseless, to try and trick him. We know where he stands and now he’s going to know where we stand. Everything will be out in the open.”
He turned back to his computer and noticed that he had a new email. It was from Kieleg.
“Meet me where we met last time in an hour. Kieleg.”
“It looks like we’re going back to the convention center,” Sam said, feeling tense.
Achava made no attempt to hide her concern. “It could be a trap, Sam. Since everything is out in the open, he has no need to hide who he truly is anymore.”
“You’re exactly right.” Sam nodded in agreement. “That’s why we need the perfect plan.”
Achava sat down and waited, while Sam opened one site after another. She was glad that he was using his intelligence. “I think I have an idea,” he said. “Are you up for it?”
“Always,” she said, with a smile.
***
ACHAVA FELT the De-ja-vu as she stood in front of the Dallas Convention Center with Sam. He said, “I wonder how things will unfold, since we know that Kieleg isn’t everything he has made himself out to be.”
Achava whispered, “We need to be careful about what we say. I have a feeling that he is close by. It is like I feel chills going up my spine.”
“I feel the same way.”
She looked around and did not see him. “I’m going behind the large pillar of that store right there.”
“Good idea. “I’ll talk loud, so you can hear me.”
Achava walked away.
Sam stood alone, waiting.
“I hope you have not been waiting long,” a familiar voice said behind him.
Sam turned to see Kieleg dressed exactly as he had on their first meeting. Reaching to shake his hand, like a American, Sam avoided the kiss on each cheek. “Hello.”
“Hello.”
Sam said, “You’re not a fan of change. Are you?”
“Change is overrated,” Kieleg said, with a Cheshire grin on his face. “Let us cut through the chase. “We both know that you will probably complete your collection of the Shekels of Tyre. Specifically, the Judas coins. Their condition puts them at an extremely high value, if you look at it from a coin collector’s perspective.” He looked Sam straight in the eyes. “And I don’t think that either of us do.”
Sam nodded that he agreed.
“Mr. Godfrey, let us consider their true value Or should I just tell you.”
“Just tell me.”
“You’re joshing. You know the answer. The appraisal would transcends monetary expectations. Do you not agree, Mr. Godfrey?”
“Are you trying to get me to admit to their real worth, or just their value to me?” Sam answered confidently.
Kieleg ignored the question, as he looked around. “It would be foolish of me to ask where your companion is. She is no doubt, lying in wait, in case I attack you in some fashion.”
Sam had a smirk on his face. “Maybe she’s just making sure that no one gets in the way of our discussion. I don’t need protection, Mr. Kieleg. I’m also not here to find out who has the most testosterone. I want to know what your game is. I already know that you want the Shekels, but don’t want to get your hands dirty.” Sam exuded an extreme amount of confidence as he spoke.
“You impress me, Mr. Godfrey,” Kieleg said, with some sarcasm. “You were a professor, before your adventures began. Isn’t that right? Oh, I’m sorry. You were an assistant to Salinger. I believe that is where you came across your female warrior. Do you really know who it is, you side with?”
“That’s none of your business.” Sam tried to contain his anger. He knew that what Kieleg wanted. He was trying to agitate him and make him lose control. “What do you want, besides the Shekels, Mr. Kieleg?”
Kieleg suppressed a laugh. “How much time do you have? Ha ha! I think the question would be, what don’t I want? I am not a collector, myself.”
“I figured that out already.”
“My business is most profitable.”
“So you’re an artifact bounty hunter?” Sam had a look of disgust.
“Bounty hunter is such an ugly term,” Kieleg answered, calmly. “I prefer to call it a sort of business of supply and demand. I supply what others demand.”
“I don’t really care, who’s interested in the Shekels.” He was interested, but he couldn’t let Kieleg know that. “Were you responsible for what happened in Urfa?”
Kieleg grinned. “Now there is a man who does not beat around the proverbial bush! Hah!”
“Will you answer my question?”
“I don’t need to,” he said. “You will continue your amazing quest to obtain the remaining coins and I will be there, when you have acquired the last one.”
“We’re not collecting them for you, Kieleg.” Sam was tired of Kieleg’s attitude. He felt like punching him on the nose.
Achava watched from behind the pole. When Kieleg turned his back, she caught Sam’s eye. She nodded and smiled.
Kieleg’s grin didn’t fade. “No more respect, Mr. Godfrey? Alright. Play it as you will. One thing that you probably do not know, is that I have had this conversation with many people before you. You have to admire the human spirit. They were as adamant as you are now. You think that I am egotistical. No! It is the same, with any sports team that is undefeated. It is confidence and nothing more. History has a habit of repeating itself. You may prepare for whatever circumstance that you see fit. I guarantee that you will never see me coming.”
Sam glared at the German. “I guarantee that you have never met anyone like us. When a team gets undefeated, they tend to get overconfident. Super Bowl 42. The 18-0 New England Patriots were looking to be the only undefe
ated team, since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. All they had to do was beat the upstart New York Giants, who they already beat on the last game of the regular season. No one gave the Giants a chance. It’s reminiscent of another story involving a giant and a man named David. Anyway, since you used a sports analogy, I thought it appropriate to mention that the Giants beat the Patriots by a score of 17-14. The Patriots were overconfident. I have had that conversation with many people who thought they were unstoppable. Some of them almost got away with it. I can only reply to your obvious threat, by saying one simple thing. Bring it on.”
Kieleg smirked and walked away. Sam felt like he accomplished a lot with their conversation. He watched as Kieleg got into a dark four-door sedan and drove away.
After the car was out of sight, Achava came out into the open. She walked up to Sam. “Well. What do you think?”
Without taking his eyes off of the direction where the car went, he said, “Something was wrong. Do you think he has any help. hiding anywhere?”
“There were two,” Achava responded, with a warm smile. “Were, being the operative word.”
Sam couldn’t contain his laughter. “Ha ha! You sound like a spy, Achava! You really are a woman of many talents.”
“Perhaps, we should get those talents going then,” she said, with a more serious tone. “We supposedly have almost a month to retrieve the rest of the Shekels, but I would suggest that we get all of them sooner, than later.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” he said, as he turned toward her. “Considering that I am the kind of person who doesn’t like to leave any stone unturned, I have a question for you.”
She nodded. “Anything, Sam.”
“When you get a new spiritual gift from God, do you keep the one you had before? Or do you lose it?”
Narrowing her gaze, she said, “I believe they are available for me to use if i should need them.”
He met her gaze. “Are you familiar with everything you can do, since you first got your new abilities?”
“I believe I am finding more abilities almost on a daily basis” she answered, with a look like she was wondering what he was getting at.
“I have a feeling that since Kieleg knows something about you, it might be easy for him to find out where we live.” The wheels in his mind were turning. “I need to know if you can alter or affect mechanical devices. I also need to know if you have a size limitation for those you help. Can you do anything you want if you have to.”
“The Bible says that if I believe, I can move mountains.” She placed her hands on each side of his face. “Is that what you need?” God loves me too much to do it.”
“That’s too beautiful for words.”
“Do you want more spiritual gifts?”
“I think so. How does it work?”
“To start with my power and gifts come from the Lord. He could retract my gifts, so I just take life one situation at a time.”
“The brevity of my life makes me different than you.”
“Then just live your life the best you can, and leave the rest to God.”
Chapter the Eleventh
Day Five, Evening
ACHAVA FINISHED HER SECOND PASS of the bedroom. She was completely surrounded by the golden glow, as she zapped every corner meticulously. She had to stop every once in awhile, because she would start to get a headache. The house was being protected from evil.
“You’re doing great, Achava,” Sam said. He tried to show her as much support as possible. He knew that, what he asked of her, wasn’t an easy thing for her to accomplish. But God had trusted him to protect these precious things.
“I did not even know this was one of my new abilities,” she said, taking a deep breath. “We found only two listening devices, but no cameras or anything else. I was able to adjust the devices, so that Kieleg only hears what we want him to hear. That was very smart of you to figure that out, Sam.”
“I’m glad the thought came to me that the house might be bugged.”
“The bugging devices have been deactivated now,” “No one should hear what we say in the privacy of our home anymore.”
“I’m glad you covered all the bases.” Sam had followed her closely. She circled the house again, just in case she found anything else.
“We found one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.”
“You scanned the entire house, in what I would have guessed to be record time! Excellent job, Achava! Thank you. I know it’s not the easiest thing you’ve ever done.”
The glow faded, as she let out a sigh of relief. “That is not a problem, since we are a team. We went over the entire house…twice. I assume that Kieleg thought two would be enough.”
“He also had no idea what you are capable of,” he replied. “We have the protection over the room and the listening devices reprogrammed, so to speak.
“That is the last of it.”
“How do you suppose he knew when to come in?”
“He had to be watching the house to see when we came and left.”
“I believe that it’s time to get going to the next location.”
Achava was excited that Sam already plotted out the next locale. “Where to?”
“The place where Professor Klaus Schmidt was actually buried.” Sam smiled a knowing smile. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since we got back from the temple. Now I don’t know whether his death had anything to do with Kieleg, but they’re both German. Schmidt supposedly died of a heart attack while in a swimming pool in Germany this year. It seemed to come as a shock to everyone around him. He was a great scientist and archeologist. I also know that they were quiet about where he would be buried and even the location where they said his body would be, isn’t where I think he is.”
“The wheels are turning in your head.”
“I believe so,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“Sure. I am always ready, Sam.” She looked around with some trepidation. “Would it not be better, if we Soul merged in a less public place?”
Sam looked deep into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded.
He grabbed her hand. “Read my mind as to the location. Please Soul Merge…” he waited, as he looked around. He waited for the perfect time. There were still a number of people around. But then,! “…Now!”
She immediately Soul Merged both Sam and herself away.
Across the street, a figure leaning against a building looked at the area, where the two adventurers were standing a moment before.
“Interesting.”
Chapter the Twelfth
Dave Five, Nighttime
SAM AND ACHAVA APPEARED in the cemetery in Feuchtwangen, Germany. They stood before the headstone of Klaus Schmidt.
Achava was agitated. “Sam. I do not like the idea of desecrating anyone’s grave. Especially one of someone of his significance and so close to when he died.”
He smiled, as he looked at the grave. “It’s kind of ironic to actually consider excavating the grave of an amazing archeologist, but no. We’re not going to dig him up. I need your strength. If you would be so kind, as to push the head stone forward just a bit. If it starts to break, we’ll have to think of something else.”
Achava gave Sam a puzzled look, but got behind the stone and planted her feet. She placed her hands on top of the headstone, and as gently as she could, nudged it forward. It tilted almost effortlessly forward.
“Right there, should be perfect,” Sam added with a smile. He crouched down to the earth where the stone was off of the ground. Underneath the head stone, someone had placed a leather pouch. He grabbed the pouch and checked the area for anything else, out of the ordinary. “Alright, Achava. You may return the stone to its original position.” He stood up and stepped back, as she gently replaced the gravestone.
She wiped her hands off on the seat of her pants, and then stepped over by Sam and studied the pouch that he proudly held in his hand. Opening his hand, it lay in his open palm. Looking into his
face, she asked, “How did you know?”
“I didn’t,” he replied. “Like everything else I do, it was an educated guess.” He opened the pouch in front of her. There were three Shekels of Tyre in the exact same condition as the others. “Somebody’s messing with us.”
“Amazing. I don’t understand.”
“They are playing with my mind, for sure.”
“What is going on?” Achava shook her head in disbelief. “You told me that Professor Schmidt died earlier this year. Someone had to have known that we, or someone else would have looked and found these Shekels here.”
“I can’t believe this!” Sam exclaimed in anger. “On one hand, we have Artemis Kieleg who knows more about us than we do about him. He also knows that we’re looking for the Shekels. Then we have someone else, obviously planting the Shekels, where they somehow know that we’ll be looking. The mysterious other party seems to be two steps ahead of us.”
Achava grabbed Sam’s hand. “Could it be someone from the possible future? If we had not traveled back in time, I would not think it was possible, but now…”
“I don’t know what to believe, Achava.” Sam pocketed the pouch with the three Shekels in it. “The head stone doesn’t look as if it has been moved since they buried Professor Schmidt. That means that the pouch had to be put there, right before they added the stone. None of this makes any sense! Unfortunately, your theory about a future time traveler is the only thing we have to go on. Maybe the one who called himself MAN was from the future. To be honest, my gut tells me that we’ve hit a dead end.”
“What about the count?” Achava’s enthusiasm increased, when she thought about something they had discussed before. “We have been finding different numbers of Shekels at each location. Perhaps, that is pertinent now?”
Sam thought about it for a moment, as he tried to remember all of the places that they had found the Shekels. “Well, it won’t hurt to go over it. We found two Shekels in the robe. One in the Judas Cradle. Five at the Göbekli Tepe Temple and three under the head stone of Professor Klaus Schmidt. I don’t know. I’m sure it means something, but I just don’t see it right now. I’m afraid that the only way we’re going to figure this entire thing out, is if we let it all play out naturally.”
