CHAPTER SIX
-A MINUTE OF SILENCE-
Her heart was beating really fast as she drove back home from her Bank’s Vault. Her mind was imagining all sorts of things regarding this codex. She was so lost in her own little world; she failed to see the car behind hers, and the three men inside, watching her every move.
They photographed and reported every detail as it was happening. Hope in the other hand was clueless humming and singing without a care in the world. “God I am so exited! I can’t wait,” she hummed happy. She did not remember how she got home but she did, she was just a block away from her condominium.
“I have her at range,” the man said on the radio.
“Shoot her before she get’s inside the parking lot”
The task ahead was filling her mind. “Finally!” She thought, “My life is taking the right turn! Too freaking late, but is better than never. I’m going to be so famous!” She thought.
The men speed up their car to catch her before the right turn, when a child came out of nowhere driving a bicycle. Hope hammered the breaks. Missing the child by a couple of feet and sending their car straight to the other side of the road. She got off the car to make sure the child was all right, he was fine. She went back in her car and took off.
She hurried to her apartment and quickly packed a large suitcase with her belongings, made a few phone calls and talked briefly to Alicia, She was going to take care of her cat until her return.
She was feeling happy and successful. She went into the kitchen to prepare the cat’s taxi and fill a plastic bag with food, toys and other treats for her furry friend, when her cell phone rang. “Hmmm I am sure I left it in here…where is it?” She looked around and found it at her bar. A few minutes later, her taxicab was awaiting her.
Outside her apartment, a new car was after her. She boarded the taxicab and opened her cell with the intention to call her father “Ah! Maybe not he is going to get started and I am not in the mood,” She thought “I am going to see him anyways whether I want to or not! So what’s the point” she stared at the phone keys a little longer and she put it away.
She reached the airport, more than one hour ahead of the required time. She reached the front desk of the airline, among hundreds of travelers wanting to do the same. The noise was so loud she had to scream to the attendant to get her attention.
“What do you mean there is an hour delay…Ugh”
“We apologize for the delay madam; there was a terrorist treat at the Gatwick International Airport in London”
“Oh my!”
“It was a false alarm after all, but all departures had to be rescheduled, you are flying first class so you have priority… and you should, when you are paying eleven thousand dollars per trip,” she said while she typed Hope’s information in her database. If she had looked up to see Hope’s face, she would have caught a glimpse of her surprise.
“Is there a place you recommend for cheap coffee?” Hope said.
The attendant exploded in laugher while calling someone over the intercom.
“I love your sense of humor”
A man wearing the airline uniform was approaching them.
“Please take Mrs. Hope to the first class lounge,” she instructed the well-groomed man, he greeted her politely and grabbed her luggage to help her.
“Right this way madam!” he said leading the way.
“Eleven thousand dollars!” She thought.
“I’ll spend that kind of money on shoes or jewels … even an evening gown! …But on a flight fare or coffee? You get there anyways; coffee is coffee, what a waste. Good thing he is paying”
--O--------O--------O--
Back at Greg’s office, things were taking the right turn.
His fingers were typing as fast as Geeko could talk, once they got the handle of it, they had realized that indeed it was just a matter of starting.
“Ok, so what you have so far?” Geeko said.
“…Sr. Isaac Newton was one of the first men to suggest that the bible was an encrypted code, however an almost impossible task without the help of technology. Software with such capabilities has been recently developed and after analyzing the entire text, indeed some messages were revealed”
“Great! Now this is where it gets weird, the message in the case of the assassination of John F Kennedy is extremely detailed”
“What do you mean?” Greg said.
“It reads: Oswald, ruby, Dallas, Shoot, head and death. But it does not end there, they also found references to the twin towers, and the message for the 2012 is quite interesting. Comet large, stone-like, stony object, sped, Tongue-like, Sun, whole earth, earth annihilated smitten, stricken, smitten Planetary, wanderer, fragmentary sixty mile, blunderbuss, scatter-gun, Crater, Canada, ultimate terrifying, appalling, lethal, Modifier, mantle, axis, tilting tipping, Speeded, Seismic, eradication, It will be crumbled, I will tear to pieces.” He said out of breath.
“Wow! Ok so is a full reference to the galactic alignment but which other Planet does it refers to?
“What are you talking about?”
“The message is very clear. A wonderer object part of our planetary system will come between earth and the sun, causing lethal modifications to the axis of the earth, causing seismic movements, affliction and terror. The comet will impact, sixty miles from a crater in Canada. Alternatively, it could also mean that will impact near a 60-mile crater in Canada. So we need to know if there are any comets in the way, if there is any information about a new unknown object in our solar system and if there is a crater with sixty miles or 100 km diameter in Canada or if there is a crater about 60 kilometers from Canada”
--O--------O--------O--
Back at the airport, Hope was relaxing and enjoying her life. There was no noise and the exclusive area was big and tastefully decorated, the young and handsome attendant had lead Hope to the resting area at first, but she changed her mind and asked him to take her to the social spot for some mingling and perhaps a few drinks as well. She was completely unaware that around her, many were watching her moves and reporting it to their boss.
The elegant lounge was trendy and unlike you might think, very busy as well but quiet, more than a lounge it looked like a fashion show, full of beautiful people walking around cell in hand, meeting each other and checking each other out.
She made a quick scan of every man and woman and congratulated herself in her choice of clothes; a waiter approached her while taking a seat on a red leather stool by the glass bar.
“Can I have a coffee please, half and half milk and a pinch of cinnamon”
“Right away madam”
“Wait! Bring me a martini instead; I had quite a hectic day”
“Very well!”
“Lord I can’t believe I am still hung over and I drank less than Alicia!" She laughed at the thought of her dearest friend, feeling probably worst that she was.
Well hidden in a corner in the opposite side of the lounge, a dark shadow was following her every step. A man in his late Forties’ caught her attention and without restraint, she played with the locks of her hair to lure him in. He smiled back and stand up with the intention of introducing himself, he was almost there when his cell phone ringed, making his smile disappear at the voice of his wife, in the other side of the line
“Shocking!” She thought. “The good ones are either gay or taken” She looked around and figured out the way to the bathroom and wave to the waiter, who understood she wanted him to keep an eye in her things.
The mysterious figure who had been following her the whole time, took this opportunity to pass by her table and knock her drink over, the waiter promptly rushed to his aid.
“Are you ok sir?” he said
“I am sorry, I did not meant to knock the drink over”
“Do not worry sir, I can make another one,” he said
“I tell you what, let me follow you to the bar and I’ll bring it back myself,” he said.
“There is no need really! I can do that”
“No, no! I insist”
“Ok if that will make you feel better then”
He walked to the bar and the bartender prepared the new martini. He took it and as he turned around to walk towards Hope’s table, a small bottle came out of his pocket, he pick it up quickly and before putting it back in his pocket, he poured a few drops of the liquid into the drink, left it at the table and walked away.
When hope returned to the table, she found the waiter cleaning up the floor.
“Another guest, accidentally knock your drink off, so we replaced it while you were in the bathroom madam, I hope you do not mind that some of it sprinkled your luggage”
“No no! It’s alright don’t worry …thanks for bringing me another one”
She opened her purse and gave him a tip. The drink was cold and mixed at perfection, she was thinking about ordering another one, when the speakers informed the passengers that the flight to Switzerland was ready to be board.
She grabbed the handle of her luggage and quickly walked to the elevator to reach the first floor… she took a few steps and she felt the floor moving beneath her pumps," It must be the alcohol" She thought and ignored it. As she hurried her steps, a red headed child was tripping ahead of her, trying to catch up with his mother. He gave her a shy smile and waved to her before disappearing in to the crowd. And she would have done the same, but unexpectedly a very sharp pain in her stomach made her stop and grab herself from the tunnel wall.
She was sweating profusely and her legs did not seem to be able to hold her weight, next thing she knew she was vomiting and laying on the floor. Employees gathered around her; radioing security for help. The mysterious man that has been following her was at the entry of the gate, when her fearful eyes were scanning everywhere. At some point, she even made eye contact with him.
--O--------O--------O--
“You got to be kidding me Greg!” Geeko said exalted. He was sitting on the couch with his lap top open. “There is a crater with those dimensions in Canada! Although is not 100km in diameter but 110k instead. No comet though and I am still working on the other planet and there is nothing as far as NASA is concerned”
“I knew it! What’s the scope?” he said exited.
“Is known as the Manicouagan reservoir or Lake Manicouagan, is located in Quebec, That’s scary man, the bible code is accurate then” he said chocked.
“It seems like it,” Greg said concerned “Did you found anything else”
“Not about the lake, but I found out that indeed there is a correlation between the Hopis and the Sumerians”
“What is the scope in that?”
“The Sumerians believed, the creator of man was a woman and so do the Hopis, the Sumerians believe that Pahanah was an ancestor from heaven. And the Hopis see Pahana as their lost white brother. For the Hopis, the father creator was ka, for the Sumerians the essence of the sacred father was ka. For the Hopis alo are their spiritual guides and for the Sumerians al-u are beings from heaven. Taiowa is the sun god for the Hopis and Taea is the sun god for the Sumerians. The Katsina were the messengers from the gods for the Sumerians and the Kachinas are messengers from the spirits for the Hopis. The Sumerians use the word Amik and the translation is Look up to the sky, the Hopis use the word Omiq and mean the same thing. Where are you going with this? Why are we finding correlations from other cultures?”
“Well, the 2012 is a world wide phenomenon, Is in many religions in the world, coming from that perspective we have two choices, one of them is; something really bad is really going to happen. Or they share a tread that connects them all together.
“What is your first pick?” Geeko said.
“Hmmm, considering the information we have, my brain tells me that there is something really bad about to happen, but my heart tells me that, there is something bigger behind it”
--O--------O--------O--
Back at the Airport, there was much movement at the gate, a small crowd of people gathered around to help Hope, while the crowds of passengers waited patiently to board. The emergency unit took over taking her to the emergency room. The strange man attentively followed them, without loosing sight of them.
Inside the sterilized room, Hope laid on the narrowed bed was calm and relaxed; a young doctor was taking her vitals one more time and examining her eyes with a penlight.
“Everything looks fine!”
“What do you think it was doctor?”
“I don’t know! Maybe something you ate, anyways feel free to rest for a while, I‘ll be checking on you in 30 minutes” he said and left the room.
“Ok thanks!”
She did as directed and stayed on the bed for the next thirty minutes, she was fine although a little disoriented.
“Well that was random wasn‘t it?” she said to the nurse that came to offer her help.
“At first we thought you were having a heart attack, but your heart was working fine and there were no other symptoms,” she said.
“This has never happened to me before!” Hope said.
“Normally, the doctor will suggest for the patient an immediate visit to the doctor, but in your case he had nothing to say!” she said.
“What time is it?” Hope said
“Is 9:00 o’clock… your plane left an hour a go but you are scheduled for the next flight in an hour… everything has been taken care of already and the doctor said you were free to fly so we checked you in for the ten o’clock flight”
“Thank you so much, I appreciate it” she said standing up, and walking around the small room, to make sure her legs were strong enough to carry her weight.
“…Well, that was strange was not it?” Hope said
“Would you need any help with your luggage?”
“No, I am fine really, Thank you anyways”
She took her luggage and walk to the exit door, completely lost in her thoughts trying to remember everything she could have drank or eaten, she reached the lobby of the airline just twenty minutes before ten it is almost time they would be announcing the flight any minute. Across the hallway, the man she had noticed earlier was still in the same spot, she felt a cold chill, when she accidentally made eye contact with him and he gave her a cold smile and waved at her.
“He is so creepy,” she whispered.
There was something, she could not put her finger on.
“I am still recovering so what do I know! I am just not thinking straight” She thought.
She looked around for something to invest her mind into and she spotted a fashion magazine further down, a masculine hand picked it up and handles it to her.
“Thanks” she said smiling
Her smile froze, when she recognize the face as that of the creepy man.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes I am, thanks” she said in distrust “Where you…?”
“Yes I was here when you fainted” He interrupted her “I did not get a seat for that flight so I had to wait for the next one …That is why I am still here” he said.
“Ah ok” she said not certain of what to say next.
“Well you have a nice evening, would you care for some coffee?” He asked
“I would love to…,” she said feeling like a total bitch for not knowing why she could not reciprocate this man kindness
“… black or a specialty?” he asked
“Hmmm black will be fine thanks,” he said.
“Very well then” he walked away to find the coffee shop.
"I really am a bitch he is being so nice and I just can’t stand his presence." The flight was announced and a big crowd of people hurried to the gate, Hope rushed among them to the line, followed by the man trying to catch up with her coffee in his hand.
“Awwww I am sorry, no drinks allowed after this point” said the gate attendant.
“Thanks for the coffee any ways” she said apologetic throwing the cup in the trash can.
The flight attendant greeted her loudly and led Hope to the first class cabin. To her dismay, creepy guy was going there as well “I’ll be damned! If he ends up next to me, I am moving! There is no way in hell I am sharing my space with that weirdo for this many hours! Ugh, here he comes; go go go ugh! …Right behind my seat. Fuck!” She thought mortified. “I thought he said there were no seats left in the other flight, what about mine! Mine was available…”
She could hear his breathing and every movement he made in his chair bothered her. The veins in her temples, were growing thicker with every gratingly noise coming out of his chair and she could not stop tapping her leg with her middle finger. Four young executives took their seat across her aisle complaining the separation of their team and quick to seize any opportunity, she offer him her seat in exchange of his.
“Really …you do not mind?” he said gratefully.
“Not at all! I am flying alone and you guys are a group so I will be happy to exchange my seat for yours,” she said.
She took his seat three rows away. she was feeling much better. “No more creepy man” She was now relaxed.
--O--------O--------O--
“I am tired man!” Geeko said putting aside the laptop from his lap. “We have been working for seven hours non stop, my eyes hurt”
“Is ok Geeko, don’t force your eyes man”
“Ah, these poor little eyes of mine are already screwed up big daddy”
“Aren’t you eligible for surgery?”
“I am, what I am not eligible is for financing!”
“Is it too expensive?”
“For me it is, I don’t have that kind of money, and I already screwed up my credit, so I have no chance there”
“How comes?” Greg said.
“I used the credit cards to pay my rent, when I lost my job”
“So you work and study then”
“Not now, with this recession they let go of all the newer employees and left only the ones with seniority”
“Ah ok, so it was a new job?”
“No man, I worked there for five years!”
“Wow and you were the newer one? Where were you working?”
“I didn’t live here in Cali Greg, I lived in Louisiana, but with the oil spill, they closed the place I was working for and I had to move back with my mom”
“I am sorry to hear that”
“I am sorrier because I was in my last year at school, but without a Job I can not stay there and finish,” he said sad.
“Hmm, well hey man, let’s get back to work. Who knows maybe you can make some money with this book and return to school”
“How is that?”
“Ahhhh… Books aren’t free man; it’s a job like any other”
“Shit! You know, I never thought about it, yeah is a job and you can make money …Kewl beans man! I have a job now. Woo hoo!”
--O--------O--------O--
She arrived to Geneva as planed, exactly eleven hours and seventeen minutes after departure from Washington. She was feeling rested, she managed to sleep for a few hours so She was invigorated and exited. She loved Switzerland, Geneva in particular! With all its trendy places and high-end stores but after a few steps from the plane, her smile faded away “Something is wrong”
There was a lot going on with the security guards and police officers walking restlessly “This airport is always busy but there is something going on” The creepy gentleman was the first one to pass through customs, and smiled at her one last time before disappearing into the crowd. As she walked through customs, she had to ask what was going on.
“You are all very lucky! The plane before yours exploded in mid air …right off the coast of Nova Scotia! We don’t know much about it yet, but some witnesses said it was a big explosion”
Hope thought she was going to collapse in the floor, when she realized that the plane he was talking about, was the one she had missed,
“Oh my god!”
“Yes madam, today is a sad day,” he said
“What about that little red headed boy, NO! That is impossible! There has to be a mistake, these things do not happen to me! …oh my god, he is dead! That little shy boy is dead; nobody has ever died on me!” Her eyes filled with tears.
“You have a good heart madam! Nobody else but you, showed any care at all, everyone seemed in such a hurry!” the officer said admiring her compassion.
The weather outside was beautiful and the air smelled different that the air in Washington, it felt a lot cleaner and colder, but she just could not seem to be happy about that.
She thought about taking the buss to get to the city as most travelers do, but she was too tired for that and wanted to find a hotel for the night. The original plan was to surprised Adriano as soon as she was in town, but this did not include a dead boy and a mid air explosion, she was in no spirits to see anybody right now. Although if she would have stick to her plans, she would have find, Adriano in a very compromising position. However, right now she was not in the mood for anything else but solitude.
She could have been dead and yet there she was, happy to be alive and feeling guilty for doing so. That little red head boy was living in her mind. “Who was he? What would he have become if the plane didn’t crashed? Was he going to be a doctor…a scientist…an accountant…a waiter?” she thought “My god, it’s like cutting a flower before it’s even a bud” She said a prayer in silent and swear to herself that from that moment on, she was not going to think about it again. Her trick did not work. She couldn’t think about anything else.
--O--------O--------O--
Back at the office, Geeko gave Greg a view of his full repertoire of curses and gestures of frustration.
“God dammit! Son of a bitch, is there a planet or not!”
“What is it with you?” Greg said laughing.
“Back in January 26 1983 NASA launched the infrared astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and reported they had found something massive. However they retracted from it later, saying that what they found was a dwarf star”
“…and I’m the weird one ah?” He mocked him.
“Wait! They did it again in 1992 and they retracted again a few days later. So what is the fucking truth? Did they or did they not? Although this time, they gave a lot more information, apparently it was eight times bigger than the earth.
“That is impossible to hide!”
“Not really, if indeed is that far away, the only way to see it, will be with an infrared telescope”
“Not necessarily!”
“What you mean?”
“A planet that big, has to affect the other planets … and make huge changes on atmospheric conditions”
“So…?”
“So … check the weather patterns prior 1983!”
“I already did that, there has been some significant changes, but nothing too significant”
“Hmmm…”
“Wait! There is something here, but I am not sure how true this could be; since is one of those web pages about the 2012, sort of dooms day kind of thing”
“What does it say?” Greg said.
“They call it Nibiru”
“…any scientific data to corroborate their sources?”
“Hmmm, not really”
“Then discard it! …we will come across much stuff like that; we will only include information that can be verified.”
They were working out some other details of the recently found information when his telephone rang.
“Geeko, can you pass me my phone please?” he said while typing on the keyboard.
“Sure” Geeko said, walking to the living room to grab his phone and bring it to him.
“Hello? …I am on my way!” he said standing up quickly “Common man! Is an emergency”
They jumped in the car and took off at a fast speed, Geeko did not say a word during the whole time, the face of his friend did not seem alright, he limited himself to follow him and observe. They arrived to a hospice center Greg got of the car quickly and asked him to park the car and come inside to find him. Greg rushed into the building and after crossing a few corridors, he found the one he need it. At the end of it, he found the door he was looking for. Inside nurses and a doctor surrounded an elderly woman.
“Thanks for calling me” he said to the nurse that watched him compassionately.
“Is that you?” the weak and old figure on the bedside trying to find him with her eyes; Geeko was barely entering the door.
“Yes mom is me” Greg said and walked to the bed to hold her hand.
“I am scared,” she said trembling.
“No need to mom, everything will be alright”
“I can’t see anything,” she said.
“Its ok mom, the lights are off” Greg said.
Geeko looked surprised at that statement, since the light of the room was bright and almost blinding. The elder extended her hand to caress his face and Greg took it and kissed it. She closed her eyes and her arm went limp, she was dead. Greg placed her arm at her side and walked to the nurse taking a very deep breath.
“Thanks again” he said holding her hand and walk to the door.
“Ah, I do not know what to say Greg, I am so sorry man” Geeko said hugging him.
“What are you sorry about?” Greg said surprised.
“What?” Geeko said shocked, shaking his head in disbelief. “You just lost your mother…?”
“No, no…” Greg said “Oh! Thanks man, but she was not my mother.
“What do you mean?”
“Six months a go, I started volunteering my time in this nursing facility, her family came to visit her every other day; before they moved to Asia for work. She did not recognize anyone, but from the second she saw me, she thought I was her son, and ever since, she called me son. She has been sick for the last couple of weeks and we knew she was going to die any day, I just wanted to be here for her, I did not wanted her to die alone.