“Templars,” Kai said. It sounded as if he’d been bursting to say it. “Right? You guys are Templars -- uh, sorry.”
Estelle was glaring at him for interrupting. Yves only smiled. “We were, once. But our Order has since gone through several transformations. Rebranding, you might call it. Today -- and for quite some time -- we have called ourselves Ordo Lunae.”
“Ordo -- what?” Estelle blurted.
“Lunae. It is Latin, for the Order of the Moon.”
“Doesn’t sound Catholic,” Booker said.
“That is because it is not. Although many of our number do belong to the Catholic Church. And the Islamic faith, and the Jewish community, and the Hindu -- from all walks of life, in point of fact. That is the point I am trying to make -- we stem from a common source. A common…heritage.”
“Lunae.” It was Estelle who spoke, but rather than cold, her voice had become contemplative and distant. “Moons. Like on my father’s urn.” Yves nodded. “But why?”
“Well,” Rick said, leaning forward, “moon worship has been traditionally connected to hermetic cults, keepers of knowledge and --”
“I think,” Nasim said, “we should let Yves explain.”
“Right. Sorry. Again, your party.”
“But you were on the right path, Monsieur Álvarez,” Yves said. “Although we do not worship the moon, our namesake is owed to those who did. For as long as there have been humans looking up at the sky, there have been those that held the moon in reverence, and they have all been led by similar figures. The Sumerians called him Sin, the Egyptians, Thoth. The Greeks combined the two into the figure of Hermes Trismegistus, while the Romans spoke of Prometheus. Among the Jews he was called Enoch, great-grandfather of Noah, while Islam named him Idris, a prophet second only to Mohammed. All these figures, repeated throughout history, have always shared two key commonalities: an association with the moon or the heavens, and the possession of great secrets. Their followers, in these cults of the moon -- these cults of knowledge -- have safeguarded the secrets of the Remnants for countless generations.”
“Forbidden knowledge,” Rick said. “Remember, Prometheus didn’t get off easy for stealing fire from the gods.”
Yves nodded. “Indeed. A warning and a reminder that some knowledge can be dangerous if not treated with reverence and respect. Knowledge like that of the Remnants.”
A silence followed this declaration. Rick glanced at Estelle and could see that she was going through an internal struggle. “So you --” she began, then stopped and tried again. “Ordo Lunae -- you’re a cult?”
“Not in the pejorative sense. We are simply a small group that knows the hidden truth.”
“About the Remnants. And my father knew.”
“Oui. Their existence has been the secret to which our Order has been privy for centuries. That was the true purpose for which the Knights Templar were founded -- to seek out and uncover the mysteries of the Remnants. Their charge, passed down through generations, is maintained by us. We preserve the secret knowledge of these artifacts, even as we study them and attempt to uncover their origins.”
“You’ve been studying Remnants for hundreds of years? But --” She glanced at Nasim. “I thought Pharos knew next to nothing about them. Nobody at Camp Moses seemed to know what the Ark really was, or what it was created to do.”
Yves gave a heavy sigh. “You are quite right. Please understand that, while modern members of the Order are aware of the Remnants, we are far from truly knowing them. Whatever secrets our predecessors once understood, much of their knowledge has been lost through the centuries. Today, we are a minority. Only a few hundred of us exist throughout the world, and a full understanding of the Remnants -- what they are, who their creators were, why they were gifted to mankind -- has been lost to us. If it was ever known in the first place. Were it not for a few fortunate discoveries in recent history, even their existence may have remained forgotten.”
“What sorts of discoveries?”
“Caches and records, of the Order’s progenitors. The Knights Templar,” Yves said, nodding to Kai, “made one such discovery whilst digging beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. They found a storehouse which must have, at one time, contained many wonders. But it had been sacked sometime in the distant past, and only a few items remained, hidden by the ancient priesthood that had been entrusted with such knowledge. Still, from these ashes the Templars found their purpose, and the search for Remnants was reignited. Ordo Lunae continues their quest today. Your father continued their quest, Estelle. He was the best of us. Several months ago he found a number of Templar documents in the collection of an old Scottish estate belonging to a family whose ancestors had been Templars themselves. These documents, among other things, indicated that the Ark of the Covenant may have been a Remnant. It was what put Martin on the Ark’s trail.”
Estelle recalled the ancient scrap of vellum and its faded text, her father’s translation, shown to her by Berhanu. “How long has he been doing this? Did my mother know?”
“She did. They worked together, after your father brought her into our fold. We all worked alongside one another for a time, in service to the Order and the legacy we had inherited. Progress was slow to the point of being nonexistent at times -- decades spent trying to find a scrap of truth -- but every discovery was a victory worth lifetimes of searching.”
“And Uncle Francis?” Estelle said. “He was with the Order too, wasn’t he?”
Here Yves paused uncertainly. “Oui, he was -- for a time. But he left, feeling his calling lay elsewhere. Meanwhile, we continued our search.” Rick got the impression the priest was glossing over details, not comfortable discussing the falling-out of old friends. “And, eventually, we crossed paths with Radical Dynamics.”
Yves turned to Nasim, and they all followed suit. She leaned forward. “Thirteen years ago we launched an expedition into the Amazon. It was a survey for terra preta, a rare type of extremely fertile soil unique to the region. It's man made, though nobody quite knows how. I was hoping that Radical Dynamics might be able to replicate it for agronomic applications in barren regions.” She shrugged, as if it no longer mattered. “We made a few promising discoveries, nothing terribly exciting…until we found the ruins. On the surface they appeared unremarkable, a jumble of stones. But the further the expedition went, the stranger the ruins became. And inside…”
She pressed a hidden panel on the table’s surface, and from the center of the wooden expanse emerged a glass box on a pedestal. Inside were what looked like several marble-sized beads. They shone bright gold beneath the lights.
“These. We didn’t know it at the time, but they were the first Remnants to be discovered by what would become Pharos. The first Remnants to be discovered in several hundreds of years, as I understand it.” Yves nodded.
Rick leaned forward, peering at the beads. He thought he could feel the faintest of pulses coming from them, a slight tingle in his abdomen -- or was that just his imagination? Glancing over, he saw that Estelle was staring at them as if transfixed.
“They don’t look like much,” Booker said flatly.
“Compared to the Ark,” Nasim admitted, “they aren’t. They are what we tentatively classify as Wild Remnants -- pieces of material that are not part of a functional assemblage but were left raw, unused. These are dormant, or else dead. Effectively useless. But once brought back to our laboratories and examined more closely, it became clear that they were not ordinary golden beads. Though composed of known elements, their nanostructures were nothing that could have been created by ancient man, or even modern technology. In the context of the strange ruins, it was clear that we had stumbled upon something that defied explanation. At least, until your father came along and told me about the Order. He told me what little Ordo Lunae knew about them, what potential they may hold, and I knew then that they were the key to our survival. That, with the Remnants, we would be able to save this planet and ensure the continuation of our species ind
efinitely. Imagine being able to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Imagine being able to purify the world’s supply of drinking water, make deserts fertile, tap free and limitless energy in the vacuum. Even reverse death.”
She looked to Estelle, speaking to her directly. “It was the ultimate realization of Radical Dynamics’ foundational goal. The very reason we both go to work every day. Your father shared my vision. He brought me to this vault, this chamber of initiation, used by the Templars to hide their secrets, inherited by Ordo Lunae. He showed me the records that had been hidden here by the Templars, and together we founded Pharos in this very room. With the knowledge of Ordo Lunae and the resources of my company, we set out to recover what Remnants we could and bring about a brighter future.”
“But -- why?” Estelle said, a desperate note in her voice. “Why keep it all from me? What was he trying to protect me from?”
“You were too young,” Yves said. “Martin always planned to bring you into Ordo Lunae, but only once you had reached an age at which he felt you would be ready to know the truth and choose for yourself what to do with it. It is a very difficult thing, to accept that the world is not as you knew.”
“That makes no sense,” Estelle said stubbornly.
“The Order has its traditions,” Yves replied, shrugging helplessly. “Martin insisted upon honoring them, but he never wanted to keep you in the dark. He always wanted you to become a part of Ordo Lunae…at least, until something changed.” The priest suddenly looked miserable. “He called me the day he fell ill. Begged me not to ever mention Ordo Lunae or Pharos or Remnants to you. For your safety, he said, you must know nothing of that world.”
Estelle stiffened in her chair. “He spoke to you. On the day he died. And you didn’t tell me?”
“It was his final wish, and I was determined to honor it.”
“But Uncle Francis wanted me to know!” she shot back. “After my father’s funeral, he told me to search for the truth. He wanted me to find out.”
“It was not his decision to make.”
“It’s not yours either!”
“I was trying to -- your father begged me to give him his word! Even now, I am not comfortable with betraying his trust. Given all that has happened, however --”
“It is a moot point,” Nasim finished. “Estelle is involved now, and is perfectly capable of making an informed decision, as Martin wanted.”
“I am not convinced the danger has passed,” Yves said. “She has already suffered greatly! It is quite literally a miracle she is even sitting here! I warned you what would happen if you were careless in your pursuit of the Remnants, if you did not treat them with the proper respect -- I warned you of the sort of consequences you would have to face!” It sounded like he’d been holding this in for some time.
“And now you’ve been proven right,” Nasim said coldly. “So we can either sit here and pass blame, or decide what to do next.”
A strained silence fell over the table. Estelle, Nasim, and Yves sat glaring at each other. Rick felt like he was sitting in on a bad family reunion, one that was two drinks away from turning into a brawl. He glanced at Booker and Kai and saw they shared his discomfort. He cleared his throat.
“Right, so -- look, obviously there’s a lot you guys need to work through. But we’re all here, we’re all alive, so -- y’know, maybe we can all just bring it down a notch?”
Estelle looked at him sourly, but Nasim sighed. “Yes, you’re right. What’s done is done, and we are well beyond…” She drew herself up, face composed. “I did not bring you all down here to air grievances. Before Pharos, this vault served another purpose. It was a ceremonial space, in which new members were inducted into the Templars’ innermost circle, and, later, into Ordo Lunae. I brought you here so that it can serve that same purpose. I wanted to do the thing properly and officially invite you to join Pharos.”
Finally, they’d come to it. Rick looked to Booker, who nodded. They’d decided beforehand that he should be the one to speak.
“Before we give you our answer,” he said. “There’s a few things we need to make clear. A few conditions.”
Nasim folded her hands on the table. “Go ahead.”
“First: The thefts, the murders. The death of Jane Baum and Martin Kingston and all those other people Ibis hired and discarded. Something has to be done. He’s still out there, which probably means you’ve still got a rogue faction in your organization. As far as we know the Ark is gone. Nobody got what they wanted. So they’ll try again, for as long as other Remnants are on the table. How are you going to deal with it?”
“With your help,” Nasim said immediately. “The same offer that I made to you in Gondar still stands. You were the one who uncovered all of this, Booker. If you join Pharos, your primary role will be to help root out the corruption of the organization and right the ship. I promise you, those responsible will be brought to justice.”
“Justice,” Booker repeated. “That means working with the law, not above it.”
“Pharos is not above the law. When the time comes, I assure you, those guilty will be handed over to their fates.”
It was less of an agreement than it sounded. Booker looked at the others. Estelle met his eyes and nodded. Rick and Kai exchanged their own glances before giving Booker their approval. It was about what they had expected, and about as good as they could have hoped for.
“Ok,” Booker said, turning back to Nasim. “Second: No more secrets. We would need total transparency in all things. Some of us -- hell, all of us are done being led around by the nose. You want our help? We need to know what it is we’re doing.”
Here Nasim paused. Yves was watching her carefully. “You understand that this is a tad more difficult. Pharos by nature is insular. To prevent unwanted leaks and rumors. In the past I couldn’t tell you everything because you weren’t involved, weren’t properly vetted --”
“A dinosaur nearly ate me,” Kai said mildly. “And I’m pretty sure all of us took a punch or a bullet for this gig, before we even knew about the Remnants. I’d say that made us pretty involved.”
Nasim nodded. “Of course. And I regret that it came to any of that. And, if you join Pharos, you will be given the highest clearance possible. Nothing that you need to know will be kept from you.”
“That you need to know,” Rick echoed. Again he and the others wary exchanged looks. Booker, however, was squinting at Nasim.
“Why does this need to be kept secret at all?” he asked. “Why hide the Remnants from the world, if it’s all for the greater good?”
“The world is not ready,” Yves said quickly. “That much has been made clear time and again. Each time a Remnant surfaced in history, greed won out. The struggle for control over these artifacts ultimately led to chaos and destruction.”
“Then why look for them at all? Why not leave them alone?”
“Because they are too important to remain hidden,” Nasim answered. “I agree with Yves in principal. If there is any truth to the tales of what we believe were Remnants cropping up in the past, then they usually ended up in the hands of those unable to properly wield them, or only capable of doing so with selfish motivations. That cannot be allowed to happen again. There will be disclosure,” she said, focusing on Booker. “But it must be controlled.”
“You’ve seen the news. You can’t hide what happened at Sinai, it’s too late. People are frightened and clamoring for answers --”
“And springing the truth on them now, without adequate data, will only increase their fear, pushing it to panic and chaos. Telling them how little we know would only make matters worse. This is how it needs to be, Booker. On that I will not budge.”
They held each other’s gaze for a silent moment. “Fine,” Booker said. “Our third condition -- well, this really only pertains to Rick and Kai, I guess.”
“We need autonomy,” Rick said, taking the reins. “Kai and I are accustomed to a certain lifestyle. A certain degree of freedom. And a fa
t paycheck on the regular. If we join this shindig, we’re not going to put on uniforms and start goose-stepping around the office. We offer our services, not our souls.”
He could have sworn the corners of Nasim’s mouth twitched. “Should you join Pharos, you and Kai will spend most of your time in the field, tracking down more Remnants. You’ve proven yourselves unusually adept at it already. How you go about it will be up to you, within reason. And yes,” she said, as Rick opened his mouth, “the paycheck will be very fat and very regular. All of you will be given everything you need.”
Rick clapped his hands together. “Awesome. No more questions.”
This time Nasim did smile. “So you accept my offer?”
“No,” Estelle said, rising suddenly from her chair. “We need to sleep on it.”
Nasim looked taken aback by the sudden turn, but then she nodded, covering her surprise expertly. “Of course. It’s a big decision. I would not want you to rush into it. But first, I’d like to show you all one more thing.”
She rose, Rick, Kai, and Booker following suit. Nasim turned to Yves. “Thank you, Yves. You can go now.”
The priest looked as if he wanted to say more; instead he stood, circling the table to grasp Estelle’s hands. “Bonne chance,” he said. “Whatever you decide, I hope it is the right choice.”
“I -- so do I.”
They left him standing at the table as Nasim led them across the vault to the other door that Rick had glimpsed earlier. Like the one they had entered through, this was constructed of old, sturdy wood. On the other side was a corridor of sleek metal paneling and bright lighting. At the far end stood another door, this one more reminiscent of a bank vault. Nasim touched a console beside it, scanning her hand again and typing in another code.
“I told you the vault was not the full extent of the Library,” she said, as the door slid open with a hiss. “This is the Library.”
They stood on the landing of a stone staircase, with steps leading down to the floor of a room as large as the atrium of a train station, with a ceiling of raw stone. From their vantage point they could see people arriving and departing through various tunnels, with the names of streets, neighborhoods, and specific buildings displayed above the archways. Those arriving flooded in one direction, towards the back of the room where they passed through gates in a wall made up of frosted glass panels. On this wall, PHAROS was displayed in tall letters. Beyond Rick could make out an even larger space.
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