“I know where to take them. I’ll do it later today, Loni do you want to come?” She said with a bright smile.
“No,” Banyon responded. “She is being punished. What are you guys going to do with your shares?”
“Didn’t Loni tell you?” Pramilla asked.
“I have been kind of busy you know, doing domestic things,” Loni said, seeming a little embarrassed.
“Then I’ll tell him,” Previne announced. She turned to Banyon and said, “We’re buying into your detective agency and moving it to a new location in town. We’re all going to have private offices and maybe a sauna. If you don’t want to sell us some of your shares, that’s okay. Loni has already agreed to sell us some of hers.” Previne’s long term plan to capture Colton Banyon had taken another step closer to her goal.
Author’s Notes
This book is, of course, pure fiction. Any resemblance to any person is coincidental, unless they have agreed to let me use their name. You know who you are. Other names are picked at random.
However, many of the events and places described in the book are very real. Of special note are the events that take place on our border with Mexico. The trafficking of human beings into the United States is one of the biggest problems we face in America, both socially and economically. It is also bigger than anyone admits. Last year, in a one hundred and sixty acre stretch of total desert near the border in Arizona, volunteers cleaned up forty-two tons of garbage left by the illegals.
The killings of newscasters, kidnappings of young girls, cartel gang wars, and even bombings are straight out of the headlines of several newspapers. The strangle-hold that the drug cartels are putting on Mexico is also true. Unfortunately, there is no real Danta Lopez, the new Zorro, around to control them.
The Sinarquistas movement mentioned in the Prologue was and is a real organization that still lives today. There are even chapters in the Southwestern United States. They became controlled by the Spanish Falangists and ultimately the Nazis during the period before World War II. The Nazis had something like twenty thousand spies along the Mexican border. When they took control of the Sinarquistas movement, they had the most powerful anti-American force in the western hemisphere. When Mexico entered the war on the side of the Allies, the entire organization was doomed, even though Mexico provided less than fifteen thousand troops to fight. However, about one hundred and fifty thousand workers flooded to the United States, to work in the factories that were now depleted of American men.
There are a number of secret government “Black Ops” groups that have been used around the world to fight injustice. They do much good work and you never hear about them unless there is a problem. But the SEAL team described in the book does not exist.
The Las Vegas part of the novel contains many real facts that are also true. Places such as; the Naked City, the supermarket style adult amusement stores, and of course, The Valley of Fire are real. The Valley of Fire is almost exactly as I have described in the book. It’s a fascinating place to visit and is truly breathtaking. Petroglyph Canyon and the Mouse’s Tank are must stops if you go there. However, I will tell you this: the rock caves do feel haunted.
Author’s Acknowledgements
Ever since I began writing several years ago, my son, Kris, has helped me develop several characters and plots. His view point is different than mine and he offers insight into subjects that I haven’t mastered. He has more knowledge about the internet than anyone I have ever met. I am happy to co-author the continuing Colton Banyon series with him.
My books are turning into a family affair as another of my sons, Jonathan Kubicki, has helped me design the current cover for this book. Jon is a web designer with a long history of artistic successes.
I also want to thank Kathy Mayeda for her continued involvement in making my books successful. She reads, criticizes and pushes me towards better writing.
Brittany Walters-Breaden has edited several of my books, including this one, and it is time that I recognize her for her efforts. She has a long history in the publishing business and is always quick to help when I need it.
I research and qualify all of my own work, so I can’t blame anyone else if I have made any errors. I am constantly amazed at the speed and the depth of data found on the Internet, but offer one word of caution; it was something I learned decades ago when studying history in college. Everything that is written and spoken comes with the slant of the author. Their ideas, beliefs and morale convictions are embedded in their work. Mine too.
Bonus Reading from my next book:
A Dubious Curse
Chapter One
It was early March in Las Vegas which meant spring was already in full bloom. Trees had leaves and bushes were budding with new branches, it was as green as the desert city would get before the hot sun began to dry out everything. UNLV was bustling with activity. Students were hurrying to classes at the main campus, just east of the famous Las Vegas strip. The students carried backpacks, computers, and food. Many clutched term papers, recently completed, to hand in to their professors. Everyone wanted to get their work done and up to date so that they could go on spring break. It started that evening.
One of the last scheduled classes for some students going on break was a history class in one of the main lecture halls. While several underclassmen blew off the class, the hall was still filled to capacity, even though no one took roll call. Attendance was not mandatory. More than two hundred and fifty students crowded the lecture hall. That was because the speaker was not only very entertaining, but her lectures were very thought provoking. It didn’t hurt that she was quite beautiful and spoke in a voice which sent tremors of lust through most of the young men who attended.
Professor Lisa Lange stood at the podium. Today she was dressed in a long, flowing, multi-colored, cotton, dress, with a slit on the right side running to mid-thigh. The slit allowed for a considerable view of her long leg as she walked. Buttons on the front of the dress ran the entire length of her five foot seven, lean, athletic, body. She had opened the top buttons of her dress; a hint of cleavage was visible. Her golden blonde hair flowed to the middle of her back and she used it like a weapon, to get and keep attention. She flicked her hair when she attempted to make a point. She always wore five inch high heels, todays were red.
She was not a traditional lecturer and did not stay in one place to speak. She roamed the room, often climbing the stairs between rows. She did it to be near to her students, much to the delight of the young men in the room. She did this on purpose to keep them motivated and interested in her lectures. She often felt like her classes were more theater than lecture. She had a good record of success with her style and students flocked to her lectures.
Professor Lange was in her mid-thirties and had been teaching at the university for two years. She was a military brat raised by her single mother who had served in Iraq, in the first war. Her mother spent most of her time abroad, but Lisa had always lived in Las Vegas. Her mother had instilled in her daughter the importance of education with a love of reading which led Lisa to studying history. She not only loved history, but she was also very good at piecing historical information together to prove her points.
Sometimes, her conclusions were very different from traditional historians. She could put a spin on most subjects. Her lectures sometimes sparked controversy and good discussions. She liked it that way. Today’s lecture was one of those.
When it was time to start her lecture, she cleared her throat to get everyone to quiet down and take their seats. She lowered the lights in the hall from buttons on the podium. She then started.
***
“I’m going to put three pictures up on the screen. I want one of you to tell me how they are connected. You can ask me any questions you need to connect the pictures,” she told her students. She pressed a hand held remote button and three pictures appeared on the big screen. While the students studied the pictures, she moved from behind the podium, gliding up the steps
and stopped halfway to the back of the big hall.
The three pictures were side by side on the big screen at the front of the lecture hall. The first picture was of a book written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It was called The Coming Race. Below the book the date of publication was listed as 1871. There was also a caption that said, “This was the original title”. It was a hint for an observant student.
“It was one of the first science-fiction books written,” she tossed out as an additional hint to the many science fiction buffs in the audience.
The second picture was of a very beautiful woman. She had features which resembled Lisa Lange, high cheek bones, perk nose, blonde hair, and eyes that a man could get lost in. She stood about five foot six and was slender. The real difference in appearance from Lisa was the woman in the picture had very long dark hair. It almost reached her ankles. The date of the photo was written as 1919.
“She was the leader of a secret society,” Lisa offered. “She may have been one of the original hippies, or at least a groupie.”
The third picture was a rough drawing of something which looked like an upside-down tea saucer, with a hump in the middle. It looked like the drawing was made by a child. The date under the picture was also 1919.
“The drawing was not made by a child. The person who drew it was in a trance,” Lisa explained.
After waiting for more than five minutes, Professor Lange threw out. “Can anybody identify any of the pictures?” She searched the crowd. One student raised his hand. She pointed to him to speak.
“The woman in the picture looks like you,” the student observed.
“I assure you, it is not a picture of me,” she quickly replied. “You will note, the picture was taken in 1919. There isn’t enough makeup in the world to correct the lines I would have by now,” Lisa said with a throaty laugh. Several students chuckled. “Come on people,” she clapped her hands, “Think.”
Another student raised his hand, she gave him the floor. “The third picture looks like a flying saucer. That leads me to believe this has something to do with World War II, but the Germans didn’t work on saucers until the nineteen-forties,” he said.
“Very good, Tom,” she replied. Lisa prided herself by knowing the names of many of her students. “It is a crude drawing of a flying saucer, but was actually drawn in 1919. It was drawn by the woman in the second picture. I’ll give you a hint,” she added. “She was a median.”
A murmur quickly rose in the gallery. “That’s science fiction,” a student yelled out. “No one can talk to dead people.”
“Who says they were dead?” Lisa shot back. “And she didn’t speak to them. She would write and draw what she received by telepathy during her sessions.”
“What did she write?” another asked.
“The drawing was one thing,” Lisa confidently answered. She knew she was gaining their attention. “She also wrote long passages in an early German script and even ancient languages which she knew nothing about. Her writings were translated by other members of a highly educated group.”
“But who was she communicating with?” asked a girl right next to Lisa.
“She told people they were the original inhabitants of earth.” The professor let that sink in. “She was the leader of a very secret organization. It still exists today. It is called the ‘Vril Society’,” the professor added as another hint.
“Can you tell us more about the woman?” another student asked as confusion filled her eyes.
“She was the original flower child,” offered Lisa. “She would have fit in nicely in the 1970’s. She sought a society — a utopia — where everyone worked together and life was easy. She believed such a place existed.”
“Can you tell us anything else?” The young girl next to her asked.
“She unfortunately she lived in a devastated post-World War I Germany,” the professor added grimly.
Suddenly, another student raised her hand. The professor acknowledged her.
“If she was head of the Vril Society, then the book must have something to do with the flying saucer.”
“Very good Stefanie,” Lisa said. “Now connect them.”
“So, the book was written about the Vril and the median followed the principles in the book, right?”
“Now we are getting somewhere,” Lisa Lange announced. She paused for a second before she continued. “But Vril is not a person or even a people. It is an alternative energy source. It’s an energy source unlike any known to man. It combines electricity, gravity, and several other energies to create the ultimate weapon. It was a tool for maintaining a utopia. The Vril was the alternative science which led to a Utopia. It allowed for space travel, time travel and eliminated the cost of producing energy.”
“But isn’t the book in the picture a work of fiction? You already told us that.” A student asked.
“It was more like a bible to the Vril Society,” Lisa responded quickly. “Many things in the bible have not been proven, yet people still believe,” she reasoned. “Star Wars is complete science fiction, yet many people follow the series like a cult.”
“Does this have something to do with the Third Reich in Germany?” one of the smarter students asked.
“It most certainly does,” Professor Lange replied enthusiastically. Before she could continue another student asked a question.
“Why did Hitler call his regime the Third Reich?”
“That’s a very good question,” she replied. “Hitler believed Germany had three golden ages. The first was the Holy Roman Empire. It ran from 962 AD to 1802 AD. The second Reich ran from 1871 to 1918, when Germany was defeated after World War I. The Third Reich was expected to last for a thousand years, but only lasted twelve, monstrous, years. Some believe a Fourth Reich is coming, but may not be in Germany. It will however, be as oppressive as the Third Reich.
Another student blurted out a question. “So, are you saying the Third Reich was based on a fictional book?”
“Well, yes and no. Part of Hitler’s ultimate plan for the world was based on the book,” She quickly replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” someone said.
“No it’s not,” responded an angry Lisa Lange. “Think about it. Hitler believed he was an Aryan, a superior race. He also believed in the occult. He sent out many expeditions to find objects with supernatural powers. He believed in wonder-weapons that were undefeatable and he believed, one of those weapons, was saucer shaped. In a way, he searched for the power of Vril.”
“Are you telling us, Hitler was so crazy, he based his regime on a book of science fiction?”
“You need to decide that,” she quickly replied. “And your assignment during the holidays is to make the connection with Hitler, the Third Reich, and with each of the photos. In a paper to be submitted, two weeks from today, I want you to explain what he expected to discover from the Vril Society and the effects on his war efforts. You will have to read the book and study up on the Vril Society.”
“Another hint please,” a girl yelled out.
“The name of the medium was Maria Orsic.”
Several large groans came from the student crowd. “But it is spring break,” someone yelled out.
“All right, I’ll give you three weeks and I am always available for consultation. My schedule is on my office door.”
“Thanks for being reasonable,” the girl next to her said.
“If there are no further question, class is dismissed,” Professor Lange said officially.
***
Lisa Lange made her way back to the podium and began to pack her small briefcase with her notes as the students filed out of the lecture hall. When she looked up, she spied an older man slowly heading down the steps towards her. She didn’t recognize him. When he reached her he spoke.
“I would like to know more about your premise concerning the mediums,” he said in a mid-west accent. He was well dressed and handsome for his age, which Lisa judged to be well over forty years old.
“Are you a student here?” she quickly asked.
“No,” he simply replied.
“Did you attend today’s lecture?” She inquired as she flicked her hair.
“I did.”
“Then you know as much as any of my students. You can find the answers on your own,” she said, thinking this was some kind of a ploy to get more information out of her. If only her students worked as hard at doing the assignments as they did at avoiding the work, most would be very successful, she thought.
“I know much more than your students,” he replied.
“Like what?” Lisa’s interest was now growing. She cocked her head and took a half step forward with her right leg, causing the split to reveal her toned bare leg. She noticed when he took a quick look.
“I know you are a member of the Vril Society, your real hair reaches your ankles, and you still are searching for the book of The Vril,” he replied.
Shock registered on her pretty face. She began to turn red, telling the man that what he said was true. “That’s absurd,” she said forcefully. “Please leave,” she continued nervously, “before I call security and have you thrown out of the building.”
“I mean you no harm. In fact, I may be able to help you,” he calmly replied. “You are in imminent danger. Your life will soon be threatened because of what you know. My team can protect you. But you will have to come with me.”
“Wow, that’s one hell of a pickup line,” she laughed as she threw back her head in defiance. “What do you want from me, for all your protection?”
“I just want to discuss a few things with you. I need to get up to speed quickly on the Vril Society.”
“Why do you even care?” Lisa Lange asked suspiciously.
“This isn’t about you, it is about the future of the world,” he replied. “But you are the medium.”
A Dubious Position (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 7) Page 26
