Order of the Black Sun Box Set 7

by Preston William Child

  “No reason why they sank,” Sanchez added, looking as alive and enthusiastic as Nina. “They could find no cause of accident and no account of anything unusual by vessels in the same vicinity that night.”

  “Don’t fuck with the golden woman,” Sam said plainly. Purdue nodded in agreement with his eyes wide. “Is the prayer stick still here? I suppose they made off with the golden woman?”

  “Aye, there is nothing on board but some creepy fucking corpses in a bunch of secured crates!” Nina grimaced. Sam laughed and looked at Purdue in humorous reprimand. He pointed a thumb at Purdue. “Those are his.”

  Nina stared at Purdue in disgust. “Really, Purdue?”

  He shrugged. “Look, if we can analyze the tissue and the uniform fabric, we’ll know more about what caused their mummification. That, in turn, could link us into the local legends about seemingly groundless incidents of catastrophe. Think about it. Nothing just occurs by happenstance. Old mariners were superstitious. I am a scientist. I needed to find out how ships appeared to have just run aground, how men trampled each other into hot, dry areas where their skins turned to paper.”

  “Um, that’s another thing,” Nina told them. “Our suspect’s brother suffered the same inexplicable fate.”

  “How?” Purdue asked, hoping that it would explain his find.

  “He wants a scientific explanation, Dr. Gould,” Capt. Sanchez reminded her, but she had to tell Purdue the truth. From what she and Capt. Sanchez had been hearing through the bug transmission, it was not science as much as psychology.

  “He was compelled to self-mummification by a practitioner of Santería black magic?” she said timidly.

  “Oh Jesus, Nina,” Purdue exclaimed, looking away.

  Sanchez thought to lend some support down on the middle ground. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss that just because it sounds superstitious, Mr. Purdue. I am a very steadfast man. I’m not even religious, but I can tell you what we heard. This man, Dr. Sabian, is a psychologist who has used his professional therapy to brainwash, no, to hypnotically suggest to this young man’s brain that he was being emaciated and dehydrated. And from what we heard, he finally succumbed to the horrific spell.”

  “Okay, say we buy that,” Sam said, “and he could do this, why would he do it? Are you of the opinion that this is what happened to the men on the ships?”

  “Could very well be,” Sanchez answered. “You said it yourself, Mr. Purdue. Things don’t just happen without some explanation. Now we know, at least, that your Barnard and our Sabian are involved in the same twisted conspiracy to kill this little boy by the time of the next solar eclipse over the Incan city of Macchu Picchu.”

  “We recorded the last transmission from the bug,” Nina explained, “where the Inca prophecy was recited. We know where they are and where they are going. We know when they are planning to kill the boy and the lady who has been protecting him. So I am afraid your analysis will have to take a backseat to this child’s life, Purdue.”

  “Absolutely,” Purdue agreed. “We have to pursue them anyway, because they have the only two relics that can avoid El Dorado opening.”

  “The golden woman statue?” Nina asked.

  “And the prayer stick,” Sam added. “We have to melt down the statue to find something inside her chest to work in conjunction with the prayer stick, otherwise we can’t stop them from getting what they want.”

  “How many days until the eclipse?” Purdue asked.

  Nina looked stressed and Sanchez cleared his throat. “We have two days, gentlemen.”

  30

  The Cóncord and the Eagle

  Solar Eclipse Imminent: 94%

  The Spanish Coast Guard and local authorities took possession of the Cóncord in order to investigate a mass murder aboard the trawler, but they were not aware of true events. Captain Sanchez knew that the Málaga Police’s lengthy investigation into Barnard and his cohorts would severely compromise his mission and perturb his ability to successfully pursue Madalina and Raul. To disclose the identities of the culprits and to divulge Purdue and Cleave’s involvement would destroy all chances of arresting Dr. Sabian and his nefarious financial partner, Basil Barnard.

  Therefore, the freelance task force operatives he and Dr. Gould procured to locate the trawler agreed to bend the truth in order for them to go after Barnard before the Black Sun killed the child. For Nina it was no problem to persuade the men who helped chase off the British swine to omit all details pertaining to Capt. Sanchez, herself, David Purdue, and Sam Cleave. In exchange, they could take all the credit for any arrests made and for reporting the appalling incident as a suspected drug bust gone sour.

  It had come to the point where Sanchez had become so personally invested in Madalina and Raul’s plight that it did not matter who got the praise. Already, scarcely an hour after the task force leader had called in their so-called discovery on the trawler to the authorities, the story spread like wildfire all over the usual news channels. What made it especially juicy to the palates of reporters was, of course, the fact that this latest sea-bound tragedy had taken place practically at the same spot where the Purdue-crash had occurred less than a week before.

  Once again, the locals had reason to speculate, and again tales of a cursed sea flared up across the broader region of the coastal towns and cities from Alicante to the Strait of Gibraltar. Tourism would flourish with accounts from locals interviewed on television with hands on hearts, bringing up old legends and long forgotten stories reputed to have happened. The police had their hands full with the families of the crewmen who had enlisted for the Cóncord excursion, inquiring about their brothers, fathers and husbands, all missing.

  Of course, the bodies of the crew were nowhere to be found after they had been disposed of by Barnard’s men, but it only led to more superstitious rants about ghost ships and entire crews disappearing into thin air. Vincent Nazquez’s body was discovered inside a shipwreck at the bottom of the Alboran Sea, where he’d apparently died while scouting the wreckage on a dive for gold, of which there was no trace. And such were the misguided conjectures of the misinformed reporters that finally became the new truth for those who were not there.

  In a hangar office in Málaga, Capt. Sanchez and his Scottish friends prepared for Raul’s liberation. Purdue had contacted his personnel in Edinburgh. After orders to keep his status under wraps, he had his assistant urgently charter a plane from Málaga to Lima via an independent charter company, so that his own affiliates would remain oblivious for the time being.

  “Everyone ready to be chased by the biggest creepy crawlies in the world?” Sam asked in general, as he hid his collar camera under the foam rubber of his hard case.

  He was met with a resounding negation voiced in groans from the other three. Barnard’s people had come for the relics, yet they’d neglected to remember that not all important historical artifacts were made from gold and gems. Sam’s collar-mounted camera that had been hidden in the steel post held ruinous evidence of the slaughter, not to mention the entire event of Vincent Nazquez’ murder in real time.

  It was invaluable, and had Barnard known that it existed, Sam would have had no footage to edit a damning report—a report that was to be spliced together as soon as they’d finished saving the boy and preventing the Inca prophecy from being perverted.

  In the meantime, between their trip back to land and their departure to Peru, the party had shared all of their experiences and information pertaining to the purpose of the trip. Sam and Purdue had been given copies of the prophecy as read over the transmission, just to keep everyone aware of what Barnard and Sabian might have planned. In turn, Nina and Sanchez had viewed the whole ugly scenario from the feed of Sam’s collar camera so that they could learn the importance of the golden woman statue and what its purpose was.

  Viewing the footage also revealed Barnard, Maria, Isabelle and Hannah’s faces to Nina and the police captain, should they encounter them on the Amazon trail to Macchu Picchu.


  “I can’t wait to meet Raul and Madalina in person,” Capt. Sanchez mentioned while they waited for confirmation to depart. Nina mumbled, “Aye, I can’t wait to meet the triple bitches.”

  Sam and Purdue exchanged looks. Sam leaned back and teased, “Well, if you do run into them, make sure you get even in a jungle mud pit.”

  Purdue chuckled, “And don’t forget to alert us first. On that note, Sam, will you be able to use the collar cam again?”

  “No,” Sam shrugged, “I had trouble downloading the data onto my hard drive and almost lost the footage once when I tried an alternative override. So I decided to just use a normal handheld instead. The footage on the collar cam is just too important.”

  “I agree,” Purdue replied. “Well, it looks like we’ll be flying overnight, thank God. An approximate ETA of twelve hours would be tedious otherwise. At least now we can get some sleep after that hellish experience.”

  Nina looked at Purdue and Sam. Their spirits were high, but to her mind they were simply setting aside the true emotional trauma they had suffered until the coming rescue mission was complete. Their injuries aside, the two men were obviously drained in every way. Only she could see it, because she knew them so well. “So, where are we going, exactly?” Nina asked. “To Lima, I assume?”

  “Actually, Capt. Sanchez said that the transmission conversation indicated that they were in a place called Pucallpa. Right, Pedro?” Purdue asked.

  “Sí, Pucallpa. Although I’ve never heard of it,” Sanchez affirmed.

  “The charter company informed me that the nearest airstrip of international standard is,” Purdue scanned over the itinerary to find the name of the airport, “FAP Captain David Abenzur Rengifo International Airport.”

  “Geez, that’s a mouthful,” Nina muttered with a raised eyebrow. “And how far is that from Machu Picchu?”

  “A stone’s throw,” the pilot explained. He was standing under the ‘Exit’ sign in uniform, ready to depart. “And a bit of an ascent, maybe. Macchu Picchu is south from Pucallpa, but we will take a helicopter from there towards Machu Picchu so that you don’t have to hike through the treacherous Amazon jungle.” The nerdy pilot cackled at his own silliness, but his attempt at humor found his audience mute. He just motioned for them to follow him.

  “Seriously? A helicopter?” Sam complained as they followed the pilot to board their flight to Peru. On the tail of the small jet there was the usual registration mark, but on the body itself was written ‘Eagle,’ something Purdue found interesting.

  “Come on, Sam,” Purdue said, patting his friend on the back, “hair of the dog, old boy. Also, we have to get there as fast as we can, and you know our friends at the organization have the same resources we do.”

  “Oh shit, yes,” Sam realized. “I forgot about those friends meeting us there.”

  They spoke in riddles so that the pilot would not decipher their intentions, just in case he was—connected. Nina shook her head in amusement, and was Sanchez striding next to her in deep thought. Purdue mentioned the Inca prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor flying together, as mentioned by Vincent Nazquez. It was just an amusing coincidence, he thought, but secretly he wondered if there was something more behind it.

  On the flight they had a light meal and decided to share a drink from the first class bar on offer. Capt. Sanchez declined gracefully, as he wished to stay alert, even going without his jeropiga until further notice. But what he would accept was a bit of insight.

  “Excuse me, Dr. Gould, for sounding like a complete layman, but what exactly is Machu Picchu? Is it a town or an historical site, or . . .?” he asked delicately, hands held in an open gesture.

  “Oh,” Nina replied happily, her cheek still holding a grape she’d just popped in her mouth, “of course I can tell you a bit. The Inca Empire was born from the Cuzco Valley . . . there is a town called Cuzco too . . . and was most prominent in the fifteenth century and it lasted until, well, the fall of the kingdom, the very page in history we’ve been dealing with the past week.”

  “How so?” he asked, sitting on the edge of his seat and folding his hands.

  “This golden woman was reputed to be one of the last relics claimed by the Spanish conquistadors under a cruel and treacherous asshole called Francisco Pizarro, who’d ransacked countless villages for gold. You see, Pizarro had captured a powerful emperor, Atahualpa, and held him ransom. But even after Atahualpa’s people paid the ransom and then some, the conquistadors killed him anyway and went on a rampage, destroying the temples of gold devoted to Inti and other gods, among others.”

  “Inti the sun god, right?” Capt. Sanchez guessed, and got a nod from Nina.

  “So Machu Picchu was built high up in the mountains to protect the nobles from the Spanish raiders. It was like a stronghold, so high up that any would-be intruders would be detected while still ascending the mountains.”

  “And that’s where they plan to kill Raul,” Sam asked.

  “Sí,” Sanchez said, nodding.

  “I have a suspicion they might hold the sacrificial ceremony in the Temple of the Sun. It is one of the main structures of Machu Picchu,” Nina speculated. “If the prophecy coincides with the solar eclipse, it would be the logical place to go.”

  “But don’t you have a bug on them, Pedro?” Sam asked Sanchez.

  “I did, but lost the signal. The bug’s battery was only good for a period of 48 hours, but I believe Dr. Gould is accurate in her assumption about the location of the sacrifice,” Sanchez explained.

  “I think so too,” Purdue agreed. “I just hope we’re right. We have mere hours, if even a single day, to get there and find them before this happens. If we’re wrong, that poor child will die for nothing.”

  “Are you going to arrest Madalina?” Nina asked Sanchez, bowling him over with something he’d been silently wrestling with. All eyes were on him in the mild hum of the plane.

  “I honestly do not know,” he replied quietly. “She did commit a terrible crime, even if it was under the influence of someone else. I mean, that is what insanity pleas are for, but that won’t make her any more free, you know.”

  “Maybe you can just ‘not find her’,” Nina suggested with a wink. “She sounds genuinely good to me, and trust me, I’ve dealt with the most unsavory people you will ever come across.”

  “As for Sabian, he shouldn’t be arrested. He should be executed,” Sanchez lamented, “but my job is not to assassinate. In a court of law he will just use his tactics to get off and he should pay for what he did to these people’s lives!”

  “As should Barnard and his bitches,” Sam joined in.

  “What worries me is how we will get the golden woman melted down for the second relic,” Purdue sighed.

  “Hopefully we’ll not need her,” Sam said. With a mischievous smirk he grasped his Beretta’s butt in the holster of his belt. “After all, there is little that a few pelts of lead cannot fix when it comes to murdering fuckwits like those.”

  31

  Red Messiah

  Solar Eclipse Imminent: 98%

  Madalina was in no way restrained once they arrived at the base of the mountain. Raul and Dr. Sabian were traveling together, while she was accompanied by three women. They were ordered not to speak to her unless they had to convey Dr. Sabian’s commands, yet they did not hold back with snide remarks about Madalina’s figure or her profession. Normally she would have given them a piece of her mind, but she elected to act indifferent, almost slow-witted, in order to survey them objectively.

  They were, in her opinion, easier to handle than the therapist who had betrayed her. Yes, they were tough women with oddly retrospective mannerisms and looks, but they couldn’t control her mind. Physically they could probably destroy her, but she also knew that they were not allowed to harm her before she’d fulfilled her role in the sacrifice. Had she traveled with Sabian, he may have rendered her powerless to her own actions while still forcing her to do his bidding.

  Among all the un
pleasantness, she had to concede that the landscape was breathtaking. She had never traveled before, and it was a potent experience to be on another continent amidst other cultures. When she looked up, she gasped in awe. All around them the jagged-faced mountains reached through the clouds like cathedrals of might. Their peaks touched the heavens like no mountain she had ever regarded, and where the rockiness hid, it was green as emerald and lime. When the drizzle started over the high regions, she could have sworn that the clouds circled the magical rainforest like a bird of prey.

  The sky had already begun to dim, changing the hue of the terrain as far as she could see.

  “Come, Madalina,” Maria snapped, pulling her by her upper arm. “I hope you’re fit.”

  “I’m fit enough,” she replied casually, as they started up the winding path through the trees.

  “You could be an Olympic track star, sweetheart, but the altitude here will knock you down,” Hannah said from the back of the line. “Hope you make it to the top before the mosquitoes kill you.”

  They all snickered, but Madalina focused her attention on the route and she used unusual formations and branches as beacons. Not intending to go through with the sacrifice, she made mental markings of the way back so she would know where to to flee with Raul. Her eyes admired the beauty of the endless peaks and their silent power. She could almost feel the concentration of energy when the sun fell against the rocks were she hiked. The women with her were babbling incessantly about nonsense, from their favorite alcohol to their sexual achievements.

  And I thought I was a slut, she thought to herself as she listened to them. In her heart she laughed at their conversation, and sometimes she almost chimed in, but she knew she could not get personal with them. They belonged to the wizards who kill children, and she would sooner set them on fire than socialize with them. She did, however, have one question, and she briefly glanced at Maria, walking next to her, before lowering her eyes to the pathway.