“The CIA director would like to see you,” a voice from above said.
“On our way,” Ed answered, climbing the ladder hand over hand, with Alex right behind him. The young man was on the first level and when Ed reached it, he noticed that the door on the left side of the passageway was now open.
“This way,” he motioned.
Ed climbed off the ladder carefully putting his foot on the brick floor. He looked back down into the dark cavern and for a moment thought he saw someone running below.
Ed reached to assist Alex off the ladder who blurted out, “I got it.”
“All right,” Ed said, pulling his hand back.
Alex eyed the open door at the end of the short passageway. “Why couldn’t we have used that way the first time?”
“Sorry, sir,” the young man answered. “I think the engineers below just gave the okay that this location is secure enough to use.” Alex wiped his hands on his pants, “Okay then, let’s get on with it.” The young man led them to the end of the old brick passageway, up two steps and through the door which led to another passageway traveling to the right. The square brick passageway looked like it had not been used for a long time. Ed couldn’t resist and asked as he walked, “What is this area used for?”
“Actually, sir, you two were below the emergency operations center.”
“So,” Alex said from behind, “that rules out knowing anything about that chamber below?”
“That would definitely be a no,” the young man replied as he continued to lead the way. “And what do you mean by that?” Ed asked. “The space below is apparently a surprise to everyone, including me.” They reached another door and the young man punched in a code on the keypad next to it. As he opened the door, he motioned for the two of them to enter. He then led them up two more short flights of stairs passing several armed guards and another group of military men standing around one of the doors. The young man led the two of them directly to it, causing the men to stand aside. Upon entering, Ed saw large monitors covering all four walls. Ms. Churchill and Natalie were standing near a table focused on the center monitor.
Ms. Churchill waved them over.
As they approached the table, Ed thought he heard the hardened voice of the Secretary of Defense, Mr. Oppenheimer, loudly coming from the computer monitor.
“You have got to be kidding me! Knights, knights and horses attacking a university; you have got to be kidding me.”
“It gets better,” Ms. Churchill said, glancing down at a piece of paper she was holding. “I received a report of another attack moments ago.”
Mr. Oppenheimer looked down and read something that was just handed to him from someone off to the side of the camera. After a few seconds he looked up into the screen and with a perplexed look said, “I obviously spoke too soon.”
“Natalie,” Ms. Churchill said.
“Yes,” she answered wide-eyed, obviously overwhelmed by everything.
Ms. Churchill continued, “Eighteen Muslim students were massacred, and at the same time a group of Christian missionaries were killed in Mexico by men masquerading as Muslims.”
“Dear god,” Alex whispered to Ed as they both observed the exchange.
“Unfortunately, Natalie,” Mr. Oppenheimer said, “you were right with your advice, so let me ask, is this what you had in mind?”
Natalie slowly responded, “Uh, no, sir.”
“But why in god’s name would they go...” Mr. Oppenheimer continued loudly, his voice echoing throughout the room, “...go through all the trouble with armored horses and knights?”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary,” Ed said, stepping in front of the monitor. “Knights and horses make perfect sense...”
“All right,” Mr. Oppenheimer replied. “Well, feel free to give me a hand understanding this.”
Ed thought for a moment, carefully choosing his words. He then explained, “The Brotherhood is part of an ancient order,” he paused, “following an apocalyptic script. You absolutely have to keep that fact in mind.”
“Yes, I’m getting that this is some ancient legend bullshit and yes I get that they were pissed off after the bombing in Iraq, so answer me this,” Oppenheimer continued loudly, “why go through all the trouble of dressing up as knights?”
Ed responded as calmly as he could, “Mr. Secretary, allow me to introduce Mr. Alex Pike.”
“Greetings, Mr. Secretary,” Alex said. “I recently rejoined the fight from a delightful period of capture and incarceration.”
“I heard something about that,” Oppenheimer said. “If I’m not mistaken, both of you were rescued by Agent Robek.”
“That is correct,” Alex responded
“Good,” Mr. Oppenheimer said loudly. “It’s a benefit to all of us that you two remain healthy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Secretary. That is also our goal,” Alex said, chuckling.
“Now getting back to my question,” Oppenheimer continued, “in your opinion, are these knights part of the Brotherhood, and is this a sick continuation of the church massacres?”
“That is a very good question,” Alex answered, as he turned to Ms. Churchill and asked, “Did your report indicate what the knights were attacking at the university?”
“An archaeology building appears to have been the primary target,” she replied.
Ed and Alex both exchanged glances and Ed replied, “Well, the archaeology building does sound suspicious.”
Mr. Oppenheimer continued, “Before I make any more suggestions to the president, at this point, I don’t care who these knights are except that they have to be stopped. From what you just said, and this latest attack in Georgia, would you conclude that the knighted horsemen are the Brotherhood gang of apocalyptic thugs we have been dealing with?”
“In this case,” Ed answered, “it’s hard to say decisively. Under normal conditions, it would depend on what their target was. Considering the knights stormed an archaeology department at the university...” he paused, “and massacred a group of Muslim students...”
“It’s a strong possibility,” Alex finished for him.
Mr. Oppenheimer continued, “Ms. Churchill, what response would you recommend?”
“At this point, seeing as how the attack occurred under a few hours ago, I would gather that local and state SWAT teams are now converging on the area and a statewide search for the knights has begun.” She paused, “As for the CIA, and by direction of the president, I will initially defer that question to Ed.”
“Allow me,” Ed said, turning to Ms. Churchill, “without raising any red flags with a full investigation, is there any way we can ascertain which department they attacked within the archaeology building and which professor or professors were involved at the university?”
“You suspect something,” Mr. Oppenheimer asked.
“Yes,” Ed answered.
“Very well,” Ms. Churchill said. “If we move quickly with what you’re suggesting, it could probably be accomplished at least at the university. We can put the place in a national security lockdown, temporarily keeping out the local police investigators and FBI.”
“That would be splendid,” Ed said. “The Brotherhood is clearly after something, so my guess would be that the university or someone there may have had something archived or an item of importance was recently discovered.” He put both hands on the table, glanced directly at the computer monitor so the Secretary of Defense could see him clearly. “Since we are pressed for time, I would suggest quickly investigating the scene in Georgia with my team.” He paused and glanced at Ms. Churchill for a response.
She appeared physically agitated and asked, “What are your plans?”
He looked back at the monitor, “First, Mr. Oppenheimer, as I told the president, I want you to know that we can handle this investigation more efficiently than your men.” He then directed his next question to Ms. Churchill, “How quickly can you hold off the investigators in Georgia?”
“It’s hard to say because the media is already rolling. What I can do is steer the investigation in different directions.” She crossed her arms and calmly released a smile. “What exactly are you planning?”
“I will send agents Al and Vance to Georgia to ascertain what we can.” He glanced at Alex, then back at Ms. Churchill. “I believe they are arriving shortly and Alex and I will provide support.”
Ms. Churchill cleared her throat in an unlady-like fashion, “I am not promising that I can pull this off, but how much time do you need to perform your investigation?”
“Give us twelve hours,” Alex answered
Ed was about to pull his hands back off the table when he felt a strong vibration.
“What the hell was that?” Churchill asked, alarmed.