“Does one reference the portal to Eden?”
“Yes.”
Finally, a break, Curt thought. “Bar, can you please send them to me?”
“Well, you know I would, but you’re on a landline.”
“Hold on,” Curt spoke to Fawn. “Where’s your PC?”
“I’ve got a laptop upstairs. I’ll bring it down.” Fawn took the stairs and disappeared from sight.
“Please email it to me.” He gave Bar his email address.
“Sending now. I’ve placed them all on one page along with their translations. Oh, and I just left Jacksonville International Airport on my way to the hospital. If you need me, just call.”
Curt hung up as Fawn came down the stairs carrying her laptop. She opened it on the coffee table. “It’s all yours. What’s going on?”
“We’ve got the full Scroll of Edict text. If it tells us where the portal to Eden is located, we may still have time to intercept the COTE.”
Curt quickly logged into his email and found Bar’s message. He opened the email and clicked on the attachment. Excitedly, Curt scanned the page. “Father N was right. Once the second seed passes through, Eden is locked down. Also, the COTE’s goal is to destroy the Tree of Life and gain its everlasting powers.” He paused, focused on the screen. “But its description of the location of the portal is too vague.” Curt read the stanza aloud that pertained to the opening:
“A structure of granite slabs,
Inscribed in tongues,
Holds the new opening.
No man can enter once the second seed passes through.”
“It might as well say it’s in a house on a street in some city somewhere. Do you know how many granite slabs there are in the world inscribed in other languages? We could search our entire lifetime and never find it.” Curt rubbed his forehead. “Are you connected to a printer?”
“Yes, it’s upstairs.”
Curt hit the print key. “Do you mind?”
Fawn again scampered upstairs and returned moments later carrying the printed text. “Got it.”
“Hold onto that copy. If we can’t determine the location of the portal, let’s at least see if we can understand the rest of it. Let’s go through it one stanza at a time.”
“Two seeds are designated each era to repopulate.
Their destination is Eden.
They know the entrance;
Inside, the Garden will sustain them.”
“Pretty much what you’d already told me this Father N said,” Fawn commented.
“I’ll skip the next stanza about the portal opening since we’ve already discussed it.” Taking a moment, he read on:
“Freed from their resting place at the same moment,
The three creatures can merge once they touch the river;
Whereby they will instantly arrive at the current opening,
And create a brief trail to follow.”
Curt spoke, “Freed from their resting place at the same moment. That’s the magical July 7th date.”
Fawn nodded.
“Father N told me that the three creatures could open up the portal to Eden. He realized he made a mistake when he allowed the Fish and Serpent to merge. Now it sounds like the COTE is going to merge them with the bird form of the Sword of Michael somewhere on a river. Then the COTE will follow this combined creature through the portal into Eden.”
Curt stood and walked to a nearby window, shaking his head. He gazed out at the street. “This is all so surreal.” This was no time to question reality; he knew damn well it was happening. He returned to the couch and leaned in toward the laptop. “Next stanza.” He began:
“The beastly triad is destined to enter;
Its task is to accompany the seeds.
It will be disabled upon passing through at the south wall,
By the weakness of the Serpent.”
He mused over the words. “Weakness of the Serpent….” Curt repeated. “Father N told me that in order to turn the Serpent back into the Staff, you have to grab it by its tail. Based on this text, it sounds like once the three creatures are merged, they can all be changed back into their Tool form by grabbing the tail. OK, next.” He went on:
“When rendered harmless Tools,
The interlopers of Eden will know;
Eternity exists upon the destruction of humanity,
As the destroyer gains the everlasting powers of the Tree of Life.”
“That’s the most chilling line,” Fawn shuddered.
“I agree. Again, it corresponds to what Father N told me about the Tree of Life supporting the very existence of humanity. He didn’t mention that the person who destroys the Tree of Life gains its everlasting powers, but it makes sense given they’ll be in Eden for a thousand years before exiting. How the COTE plans to destroy the Tree is unknown.”
“Are you familiar with what the Bible says about the two trees in Eden?” Fawn asked.
Curt shook his head. “Somewhat, but I’m no expert.”
“God placed two trees in Eden. The Tree of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. He only forbade Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil. They were not precluded from eating from the Tree of Life. They could have eaten from it and lived there forever, but then they disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil.” Fawn strolled over to a small bookshelf and removed a Bible. She flipped through the first few pages. “Here it is. Genesis 3:24: ‘So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.’ ”
“A Cherubim. If it’s true, at a minimum, it sounds like the Tree is guarded, although I’m sure Nash has a plan to get by it,” Curt said. He continued reading:
“God will not intercede,
But a good one is chosen to serve the seeds.
As fate leads onward,
This Deliverer must die.”
“Father N said that God would not get involved. The situation would be allowed to play out at the hands of man. Yet, he never said anything about a Deliverer.”
Fawn stood and began pacing. “Nash said something about a Deliverer when he put us in that god-awful device in Fort Clinch. He said something like, ‘Let’s test this thing out. If for no other reason, it will ensure the Deliverer is disposed of.’ ”
“Nash thinks one of us is this Deliverer.”
“What exactly is this Deliverer supposed to do?”
Curt shrugged and read the last stanza aloud.
“Retained in Eden for one thousand years,
At millennium’s end.
Those in Eden can return to Earth
And will live forever.”
“Again,” Curt began, “this correlates to what Father N told me. If the COTE successfully destroys the Tree of Life, they return to Earth in a thousand years and are immortal.” After a moment of thought, Curt said, “I’m going back to the hospital.”
“I’m going with you.”
CHAPTER 23
On the drive back to the hospital, Curt could tell something was on Fawn’s mind besides Mike’s death. He waited until she was ready to talk. It didn’t take long.
“Dr. Lohan…Curt, you seem very willing to accept this script as truth. I understand the things you’ve seen and experienced are…well…supernatural, and events appear to be unfolding as this Scroll of Edict suggests, but don’t you have doubts that Eden, the Eden mentioned in the Bible, where the first man and woman came to be, is really a place that’s frozen in time and can be entered via some magical portal?”
“Doubts? Of course I do,” Curt shook his head, battling fatigue, “but I have to believe that Scott and Cody are there and alive. A friend of mine, Professor Marvin Sellon, died as a result of these strange incidents. Now Kay’s dead, Sherri’s in a coma, and I know the truth is that she’ll probably never come out of it. I can’t lose my best friend and his son. I just can’t.”
“Do you question t
he existence of God?”
“Fawn, don’t we all at one point or another in our lives? We were given brains to think, to reason. We’re not meant to be mindless drones, which is the very reason I’m not a fan of organized religions. No offense, in case you’re a regular churchgoer.”
“None taken. I don’t go to mass as often as I should,” Fawn cracked a small smile, but then her expression turned introspective. “Tell me this: you’re an academic, how do you rationalize science and faith?”
Curt leaned back. “That’s the big question. While there’s no tangible proof to support God, have you ever heard of The Theory of the Fine-Tuned Universe?”
Fawn gave him an inquisitive stare. “No.”
“It’s the premise that the conditions in the universe that allow for the building blocks and environment to create life can only occur when physical constants stay within an exceptionally narrow range. If any of a number of physical constants were different, even if only by a miniscule degree, the universe could not have developed life.”
“But can’t that be explained as chance or probability? Aren’t there something like one hundred billion galaxies? Life could have developed on any number of planets by chance also.”
“Actually, there’re more galaxies than that. Even so, the odds of having the perfect physical constraints are infinitesimal. In fact, it could be argued that life shouldn’t exist in any universe. I’m paraphrasing, but Fred Hoyle, in his book, Intelligent Universe, compared the chance of obtaining even a single functioning protein through a chance combination of amino acids as the same as a star system full of blind men solving Rubik’s Cubes simultaneously. Try and wrap your mind around that probability.” Curt paused. “What I’m saying is, we had help. Combine that with a skeleton that turns into a Fish when submerged in water, a Staff that turns into a gigantic Serpent when touched by a human, and if we can believe Nash, a sword that will morph into an exceptionally large bird when struck by sunlight, then let’s just say if I had any doubts about God previously, they’ve been erased.”
****
It was nearly eleven o’clock when Curt and Fawn reached the hospital. Neither had bothered to change clothes, and they got interesting looks as they entered the main doors. Between the narrow corridor underneath Fort Clinch and nearly being crushed to death in the sacrificial device, their clothes were dirty and riddled with rips and tears.
They rode the elevator to the fourth floor. Curt was anxious to check on Sherri’s condition. As they stepped out of the car, Curt spotted FBI Special Agent Johnsten standing at the door to one of the rooms and approached him. Another man, a local cop in uniform, was nearby. His name tag read: Sgt. Trent Wilson.
“Tolen up here, too?”
“Yes.” Johnsten cocked his head, looking from Curt to Fawn, then back to Curt. “What happened to you?”
“Ran into the COTE. Again. Can we talk in private?”
“Do you mind?” Johnsten asked the officer.
“No problem,” Wilson said, walking away.
“How’s Tolen doing?” Curt asked.
“He’s not going to be the same for a while, but he’ll recover.”
Curt regarded Fawn as he said, “Fawn, this is FBI Special Agent Link Johnsten. He’s one of the good guys.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he chuckled, “but I do have a few redeeming traits.” He shook Fawn’s proffered hand.
“Well, I finally get to meet Dr. Curt Lohan,” a short blonde girl walked up and offered her hand. Curt shook it, surprised by her diminutive and youthful appearance. If he had not recognized Bar’s voice, he would have never guessed it was her. Tolen must have recruited her out of junior high school.
Bar brushed a long strand of blonde hair over her right ear. “I’m Tiffany Bar,” she said facing Fawn.
“Fawn Cortez…Roberson,” Fawn stammered.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Fawn,” Bar said, placing a second hand on top of Fawn’s. Curt was moved by the sincerity in her voice.
Bar’s head swiveled to Curt. “I’ve been furiously trying to figure out if there’s a code in Ed Leedskalnin’s pamphlet, A Book in Every Home. Tolen seemed to think the man was hiding something in the text which could be germane to recent events. I keep running into a brick wall. This may be one of those lone times when Tolen’s intuition doesn’t pan out.”
Bar continued, lowering her voice and leaning in toward Curt, “Do you really think it’s possible the COTE can destroy humanity?”
“Whoa, whoa,” Johnsten cut in, “what’s this all about? I knew you were tangling with some fanatics, but they can end humanity? What are we talking about here, mate?”
“Agent Bar, Fawn,” Curt said, “I’m going to let the two of you brief Special Agent Johnsten while I go check on my girlfriend, but to answer your question, Johnsten, if we don’t find a way to stop the COTE, we’re in trouble.”
Bar explained, “I’m going to look at some satellite imagery to see if we can get a fix on the COTE’s new camp. There’s no way in hell I can tell my boss we’re trying to stop a cult from entering Eden and destroying mankind, but they are kidnappers, and that’s enough to get the troops moving.”
Curt left the others and stopped by the nurses’ station to inquire about Sherri’s condition. There was no change. He returned up the corridor, past Bar, Fawn, Johnsten, and Wilson, and entered Sherri’s room. Machines clicked and beeped. The respirator huffed and hissed. Her vital signs appeared normal, from what he could tell, but she looked worse than before, if that was possible. Her face was pale, her skin ashen. She looked so vulnerable. He pulled up a chair next to the bed, his chest aching with concern.
He wondered for the hundredth time why he had ever allowed her to become involved with all this. The guilt was becoming a crushing weight. Curt reached a hand to her forehead and gently brushed her bangs back, careful not to touch the still-bandaged gash. He placed his hand on Sherri’s stomach where their child was growing in her womb. He swallowed hard as emotions overcame him.
He knew the odds of Sherri ever reviving were slim. If the COTE succeeded, it wouldn’t matter if she did. Curt bowed his head, resting his cheek on the side rail. Had he really been responsible for ending the human race when he found the Fish in the gun powder magazine at the Castillo de San Marcos last summer?
Curt lifted his head. The side of his face which had been resting on the rail was numb. He rubbed his bleary eyes. The room glowed with colors then things returned to normal. He realized he had fallen asleep. His left hand was still on Sherri’s stomach. Curt gently pulled it away and read the clock on the wall: 1:21 in the morning. He had dozed off for over an hour.
CHAPTER 24
Curt stood and stretched, feeling the pangs from the bumps and bruises his body had endured over the last few days. While the brief sleep might have been beneficial for his mind, it had given his muscles time to revolt. The sum of everything he had endured—from the attack of the Serpent in the military museum, to the entry and exit into the inverted pyramid on Bayard Point, and from the ordeal at the mouth of Six Mile Creek when the Fish and Serpent merged, to barely escaping from the Aztec sacrificial device—contributed its share to his physical pain.
With muscles tight, Curt waddled to the door. He went into the hallway and found the bathroom near the nurses’ station. Other than hospital staff, the hallways were empty at this hour.
A minute later, as he was washing his hands, a succession of hard knocks on the bathroom door startled him.
“Curt, are you in there?” It was Fawn.
“Yeah, give me a second,” he said, pulling a paper towel from the dispenser in a rush and drying his hands. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Agent Bar needs to see you right away,” Fawn’s voice lowered, as if she suddenly realized how loud she was talking in the quiet hospital. She cracked the bathroom door, and whispered, “She’s found a code in Ed Leedskalnin’s writing.”
Curt finished and hurried from the bathroom. Fa
wn led Curt down the hallway past Johnsten and Wilson, who were now standing outside Tolen’s room.
“Does it mention the God Tools and the portal?” he asked in a low voice.
Fawn nodded. “Yes, but that’s all she’s told me. Did you get any sleep?”
“I drifted off for about an hour.”
“Me too.”
They arrived at a small waiting room. Bar was alone in the room sitting on the couch, looking down at her tablet. As they entered, Bar was beaming. “I did it. Ed’s a tricky little man, but I figured him out.”
“What do you have?” Curt asked.
“As I said before, Tolen suspected Leedskalnin may have left a hidden message in his published pamphlet. Turns out, he did. It just took me a while to figure out. Ed had numerous typos in the pamphlet, and we thought the incorrect letters might spell out a message. It wasn’t that simple. Are you familiar with the significance of the number sixteen to Ed Leedskalnin?”
“Yes,” Curt responded, “the reason he supposedly built Coral Castle was in memory of his ‘Sweet Sixteen’ fiancé who left him standing at the altar in Latvia. The number seems to have resonated with him, as there are also sixteen steps leading up to the living quarters at Coral Castle.”
“Well, he also incorporated it into his cipher. We were right that the typos played a role. If you count sixteen letters beyond each typo, you get Ed’s message—and what an incredible message.” She dropped her eyes to the paper in her hand and read aloud:
“The current opening at Rock Gate Park is identified by the symbol of the Jewish tree. This portal will provide entrance where the victim rests, not far from the Garden of Eden. I am just one in a long line of laborers to fulfill my role. Throughout history, men have built structures to support the doorway: Stonehenge, Easter Island, Oak Island, even the pyramids of Egypt have served as the opening. Mine will last until the year of our Lord 2000. After that, it will be reopened to the north in the middle of another manmade structure.”
End in the Beginning (The God Tools Book 3) Page 11
