by Sean Salazar
Once he did, Alex immediately got up, changed seats to sit next to Ed, and leaned in to see the scroll. “Have you...?”
“...translated it?” Ed said, finishing his question.
“Well, have you?”
“Allow me,” Ed said, focusing on the laptop.
Alex appeared to be reading the scroll and glanced up, “This is word-for-word from the gold plate.”
“So,” Ed said, “your incarceration has not tarnished your dusty memory.”
“Sometimes I wish it had,” Alex responded, and began reading the scroll directly,
“The wars of conquering men continue unhindered. Thou extended
reach is unstoppable; the gods cannot stop man. Thou make
secret the underworld in preparation for thy return. It shall...”
Alex stopped reading and said, “This is almost perfectly preserved.” He turned to Dr. Zohar, “Where in the world did you get this.”
She pushed a muddy clump of hair out of her face, tucking it neatly behind her ear, “All I know is that these may have come from the Vatican.”
“That is the answer I was waiting for,” Ed said, “but the question I have is, where did the Vatican get it from?”
Alex glanced back at the scroll and said, “That is a problem we need to figure out soon.” He then refocused on the scroll and began reading,
“It shall be the hiding place for the children of the watchers to prevent them from being destroyed by man in battle. They shall remain inside the Earth, imprisoned until the end of days.”
Dr. Zohar leaned in, “That sounds very close to what we have come up with.” She wiped her hands nervously and seemed as if she had more to say.
Ed saw her reaction and asked, “Is there more that you would like to share?”
“Well,” she looked around the cabin, “Dr. Golb told me something that I think you people should know.”
“Yes,” Ed replied.
She arose and slowly walked around the cabin. As she did, small chunks of dried mud fell out of her hair, but Vance thought that she still looked beautiful considering what she had been through. After a few moments, she turned to face Ed and Alex, “I think he knew who was going to kill him.”
Natalie finally broke her silence. “How long have you been assigned to watch this Dr. Golb?”
She stopped and turned to face Natalie. “What are you talking about?”
Vance was not ready for the sudden change in tactics but could tell that Natalie was told when to ask the question.
“You are...” Ed said, glancing at his computer.
“I am what?” she responded angrily.
“Let me see if I have my facts correct,” Ed said. “You go by the name Zohar but you are in reality Meir.”
“So,” Alex crossed his arms chiming in. “Did you kill the doctor?”
“Or,” Ed quickly added, “were you showing up to actually hand off the scroll and he was already dead? Or...”
Alex spoke up, “Most likely you knew the doctor had the other scroll and you were showing up to retrieve it, but he was already dead.”
Vance considered himself a complete idiot for not catching on to the tactics they were using, so he just sat back and observed the exchange.
“Yes,” Ed stated, looking at Alex. “When the knights attacked the university she was as caught off-guard as the professor was, and when he ran for it with the scroll he was working on...”
“She had to find him to retrieve it,” they both said at the same time.
Dr. Zohar stood defiantly and crossed her arms during the exchange between Ed and Alex. Vance could now tell that they were getting to her.
Ed turned to her, “Well, which is it?’
They both sat back staring at her and waiting for her answer.
At that moment, several men in black combat fatigues and face masks burst into the cabin with guns drawn. Vance, completely surprised again, jumped up, whipped his gun out, and aimed at the charging men. His cigarette slowly fell out of his mouth, as he had no idea what was going on and figured he was done for. His eyes darted back and forth when he noticed none of the weapons were aimed at him. All were aimed at Dr. Zohar. He then noticed she had not even budged. He took a deep breath, realizing that the surprise party was not for him. It was all an elaborate part of the plan, so he put his gun away, retrieved his cigarette from the deck, and stepped back.
Ed stood up, held out his left hand, and one of the men handed him metal handcuffs. Without saying a word, he proceeded to clamp Dr. Zohar’s arms behind her back and walked her to a seat, forcing her to sit down. He was not gentle with her and she did not protest at all. In fact, she wasn’t even surprised. Her face changed from victim mode to angry.
Vance nervously fumbled with his still-lit cigarette and popped it back into his mouth. He then realized he put it in backwards and spat it out. He then yelled, “Would someone tell me what the fuck just happened?” One of the men in black reached up and pulled a Velcro patch off his arm, revealing the silver SAS insignia. “Okay, well, that about figures,” he said embarrassingly.
Alex crossed his arms and looked directly at Zohar/Meir, “We have been watching you for years.”
“Ah yes,” Ed said, calmly sitting back down.
“I know this is going to sound like I’m paranoid,” Vance interrupted, “but why didn’t someone tell me what you crazy Brits were up to?”
Natalie smiled, “Sorry.”
Ed let out a sinister laugh, “You will figure it out as you go.”
Vance just figured that these British World War II vets were most likely masters at the art of sneaky covert operations, but they could have at least given him a subtle hint what they were planning. He returned a grin and sat down, “If you say so.”
Ed then nodded to the men in black and they all simultaneously lowered their weapons. One of the men stepped over, yanked Zohar from the seat, and handed her off to one of the other men as if she was a sack of potatoes.
“Thank you, Captain,” Ed said, “take her away.” The four men turned around and exited the plane as quietly as they had entered, dragging the doc with them.
“Okay now,” Ed said, and then asked as if nothing had happened, “where were we?”
“Someone was about to fill me in,” Vance said smartly, glancing at Natalie.
She shrugged, “I just played the part.”
Ed began typing away. “Her unexpected appearance in these matters may have inadvertently answered a few questions.”
“It appears so, doesn’t it,” Alex added.
“Let me see,” Ed continued. “To give you a bit of background on the young doctor, it would be prudent to explain the religious organizations she worked with.”
Vance took this opportunity to light another cigarette. “It’s okay to simplify it; I just need to know what happened here.”
Ed continued typing. “Fortunately for us,” he paused with a somber look on his face, “rather, I should say, that we are very, very fortunate that Betty was not killed during the London attack and she saved much of our Brotherhood database.”
Vance noticed that both of them became sad for a few seconds. They exchanged glances once and Ed continued, “When you gave us her name from the University of Georgia I got a positive hit immediately.”
He turned to Vance, “I apologize for keeping you in the dark but we needed to ascertain what she was up to considering the information that we have is rapidly changing.”
“Changing?” Vance asked. “What do you mean?”
“Betty briefly stepped out of hiding and forwarded us new information she obtained from the Vatican,” Alex said. “She uncovered a few answers that may help explain or—should I say—define the rebel faction within the Vatican we are dealing with.”
Vance coughed—getting back to the point of not telling him what was going on, “You’re saying you knew she was going to make a run for it?”
“As soon as we did the background check on her, ye
s,” Ed said. “I ordered my men to begin tracking her movements immediately.”
“So I take it that is normal procedure,” Vance asked, irritated. “I mean what if I would have shot one of those SAS fuckers when they stormed the plane?”
Alex turned to Ed and asked, “She mentioned the Vatican provided the scrolls to Dr. Golb.”
Vance quickly realized questioning the way these Brits do business was going to go nowhere so he conceded.
“That she did,” Ed said. He then glanced at Vance, “Dr. Zohar or Ms. Meir was a deep covert operator for the militant branch of the Vatican called the Jesuits.”
“Never heard of them,” Vance said flatly.
Ed turned back to the screen. “This is going to sound rather odd for you but in order to understand the Brotherhood you have to understand the beginnings of human conflict.”
“Uh, excuse me,” Vance said.
“To put it simply,” Ed said, “Dr. Zohar is part of a secret branch of the Jesuits. Now to understand the importance of that I again bring up the identification of who and what has been behind human warfare.”
“Yeah,” Vance answered, “you mentioned that, but like I said, make it simple.”
Alex turned to Ed, “Go ahead and tell him.”
“Yes, of course,” Ed said, rubbing his chin while thinking. After a moment, he began typing away on his computer and as he did so he said, “Going back in time, whenever you come across an event that somehow created a new branch of religion, or philosophical ideology, there is virtually always the Brotherhood behind it.”
Vance did his best to follow along. “So, Dr. Zohar/Meir was a Jesuit something? Are the Jesuits Brotherhood?”
Alex answered, “Absolutely not.”
Natalie spoke up, “Now you’re confusing me.”
“Thank you,” Vance uttered, “I was wondering when you were going to back me up here.”
Ed pulled his fingers away from the keyboard. “Considering and despite the almost total lack of historical documentation,” he explained, “we have uncovered over the years many subtle clues to the existence and activities of the secret Brotherhood we are battling. Now to confuse you more, when we look into the history of Dr. Zohar and the religious order called the Jesuits; we have to go back to the 1540s.”
“If you must,” Vance commented, letting his cheek rest on his palm.
“A soldier named Ignacio Lopez,” Ed continued, “better known as Ignatius of Loyola, had a series of visions and afterward founded the Jesuits and gave their alliance to their captain, Jesus Christ.”
“The Jesuits were militant priests?” Natalie asked.
“In essence,” Ed said, “to simplify their purpose, the Jesuits were the Vatican’s answer to the growing Protestant problem back then.” He paused a moment and turned the screen to Alex. “We also have Zohar/ Meir as a suspected member of the Black Preceptory.”
Vance put his elbow on the sidearm of the seat and dropped his cheek into his palm, completely uninterested. “And they are...?” he asked, in a low tone of voice.
“Which is interesting and a double-cross,” Alex said, not hearing his question, “because the Black Preceptory is anti-Catholic.”
Vance sat back up, catching the double-cross comment, “So you’re saying she is playing both sides?”
“In a way, yes,” Ed said. “So now, we have to figure out her connection to Dr. Golb and who the dark-haired woman was she identified to us as Agent Jess Contreras.” He then turned the screen and pointed. “Here is something interesting. When Al landed in Washington D.C.
following clues uncovered in Rome, he found these items welded to the ground near the statue of George Washington.”
Vance leaned a little closer to see the picture of an old-style royal crown and an angled metal cross welded to the ground inside it. He leaned back and replied, “Okay, so what is that?”
Ed glanced at Natalie, “Please explain.”
“Um-m, yes,” she said, “that’s the insignia of the medieval group called the Black Preceptory.”
“You guys are killing me,” said Vance. “So you’re saying Zohar and Jess Contreras may be operating as a team.”
“So the question I have now is,” Ed said, “did the scrolls really come from the Vatican as Zohar said or is that a ploy of some sort?”
“Okay,” Vance said seriously, “can we do an interrogation of Zohar/ Meir now?”
“If the scrolls actually came from the Vatican,” Alex said, “then it is a massive double-cross, because I am quite certain the Vatican was not aware of her presence.”
Vance rubbed his forehead. “I’m serious, guys; we should at least question her because it had to have been Jess that shot the helicopter pilot.”
“Then shooting the pilot,” Ed said, “was deliberately done to provide Zohar cover.”
Vance chimed in, “Come on, guys, is she Brotherhood or not?”
Ed paused a moment and then answered, “No.” He then added, “But definitely close.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Vance almost shouted.
“May I?” Alex asked, motioning to the computer.
Ed pushed it over, “By all means.”
“If I recall,” Alex said, his fingers moving quickly over the keyboard, “the Black Preceptory was an upper level of the Orange order.”
“Why did you let her go and not interrogate her?” Vance asked, not wanting to get sucked into these two and their research.
Alex continued typing and reading. Eventually he said, “Here we go, but it’s not much.” He pointed to the screen, “Vance, before we confuse you any further, think of the Brotherhood as the unseen hand behind these different medieval factions.”
Vance gave him a straight, expressionless look. “Seriously, can we at least talk to her?”
“In time,” Alex answered.
“At this moment we have other pressing issues,” Ed said. “Al is right now going into the Teton mountain range tracking a hidden signal possibly coming from inside. The Brotherhood is believed to be in the immediate vicinity.”
“What?” Vance blurted out, standing up. “Who else is there with him?”
“We have a small team there now,” Ed answered. “We need you to head there and provide logistical support in case they actually locate the source of the signal.”
“Or bump into the Brotherhood,” Vance added angrily.
“If you find that signal,” Ed said, “I want you to track it, identify the source, and send the information to us immediately.” He handed over a small black bag. “Give these to Al.”
Vance grabbed the bag, peered inside, and saw folded maps. “That I can do. I would much rather assist Al in the fight than sit around here listening to you guys going over all this history shit.”
Ed rose and grabbed Vance’s hand, “You will understand as you go.”
“I’m sure I will.” Vance then glanced at Natalie and forced a smile. “You, on the other hand, I could hang out with all day.”
Natalie smiled shyly and crossed her arms. “Really,” she replied.
Chapter Forty-Six
Wyoming
After an extended hike through the woods, Major Reeves motioned for one of the other men to come over. Crouching, the man put another bag down. Major Reeves handed the bag to Al and said, “This way.”
Al grabbed the bags and followed, staying close to the major. He continued to check his bearings on his PDA. The screen indicated a lake forty-five yards ahead. “There is definitely a lake up ahead,” Al whispered.
“Roger that,” Major Reeves answered.
They plowed through a thick section of branches and bushes until the major whispered, “Stop.” He motioned everyone to lie down on the ground. After several minutes, Reeves motioned with his hand to move forward.
Al crawled forward until he reached an edge of what appeared to be a short cliff.
Major Reeves put his hand on Al’s shoulder and whispered, “Change the frequency of your nigh
t vision scope.”
“What?” Al whispered.
“Your scope can cross visual spectrums.”
Al felt the base of the scope closest to his right eye. He felt the ridges with his fingertips and clicked it clockwise. With each click, he looked out into the blackness of the lake until he noticed something on the far side. A purple laser beam was in fact being aimed into the lake and was definitely coming from the shore. “Okay, I see it, I think.”
Without taking his gaze off the lake, Reeves whispered, “Our men are dug in about twenty-five meters behind the spot where the beam begins.”
Al crawled closer to the cliff edge next to Reeves and looked carefully out into the lake for a better view. From his position, he couldn’t determine how long or wide the lake was but was clearly able to focus on the beam. Then, suddenly, another one appeared closer to their position. “What’s going on now?” Al asked.
Reeves, looking straight into the lake, whispered, “I would speculate that the second beam could be an apparent triangulation.”
“I don’t get it.”
After a prolonged silence, Reeves added, “It’s a definite triangulation pattern.” He crawled over and whispered something to one of his men. After he did, the man crouched down and disappeared into the forest in the direction of the beams.
Al moved forward again to get a better view. He couldn’t determine how steep the drop-off was, but he could feel small white splashes spraying about with the cold wind, which meant that he wasn’t very high above the lake.
After another long silence, Reeves crawled back over and said, “My men are relocating.”
Al remained focused, knowing that these men knew what they were doing. “Now what?” he asked.
“The decision now,” Reeves slowly whispered, “is to investigate or only observe.” He continued looking into the lake with an eagle-like gaze. He then twisted around, “Get ready.”
“Do I have a choice?” Al whispered. He stowed his gun and removed his small pack. He then pulled and tightened the straps around his ankles and wrists, and flipped the hood over his head.
The major reached over to Al’s belt and turned on a small device that sucked the air out of his jumpsuit, tightening it snug around his entire body. It took a split second for Al to catch on to what was going on. He already knew the suit was fully protected from most versions of enhanced vision devices but he now concluded that this suit meant business.
