Vance and Dr. Zohar watched Ed climb out of the helicopter into the heavy rain and sloshing through the grass behind the detective. The wind had picked up viciously, whipped at both of them, and funneled through the open door. Zohar stood behind Vance to shield herself from the rain that was blowing inside.
Ed stepped inside, holding his leather bag with one hand and shielding his face from the wind and rain with the other. As rainwater poured off his hat, he shook Vance’s hand while eyeing Dr. Zohar. “Is this she?”
“The one and only,” Vance answered.
Ed shook her hand while introducing himself and added with his usual heavy British accent, “It would have been more desirable for our paths to cross under better circumstances.”
She had no reply other than a head nod and tucked her hand back under the coat.
Captain Sadusky stepped in after Ed and Vance said, “This is Captain Sadusky’s investigation.”
Ed turned to him, “What is your assessment, Captain?”
Sadusky motioned with his head for Ed to follow him. “Got an interesting murder back here.”
As they walked down the brick hallway Vance handed Ed the metal box, “A present for you. It’s a piece of metal with writing on it.”
“A-ha,” he said, grabbing it.
When they reached the open area, Sadusky pointed to the body.
As Ed got a view of the sprawled-out limbs his pace stopped. “Oh, my.” He then continued walking closer, glancing all around and then upward. He stopped a few feet from the right leg and asked, “Is this Dr. Golb?”
“According to Dr. Zohar, it is,” Vance responded.
Ed turned to Captain Sadusky. “Who has seen this thus far?”
“Only us,” he answered, giving Vance a questioning look.
“Is it possible to keep this unfortunate event a secret for now?” Ed asked.
“This is a federal case as far as I understand. I do not want any of the headaches related to this and as far as I’m concerned, my men and I are only providing security.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Ed said. He then turned to Dr. Zohar. “My dear, I understand that this is not an easy task, but what happened here?”
“Like I said earlier, I got a call from Dr. Golb asking me to meet him here. As soon as I arrived, these men in black robes grabbed me, took the papers I was going to give him, and continued torturing him.”
“What were you bringing him?”
“He asked me to bring the translations.”
Ed paused to open the metal box. Once opened, he carefully reached in with a couple of fingers, separating the delicate scroll. After a few seconds of looking it over, he asked, “Translations of this writing?” Dr. Zohar closely observed his examination of the scroll as if it were her baby. “Yes, it was that writing; are you familiar with it?”
Ed held a subdued laugh and said, “Yes, I am, and this looks to be one of the missing items found with the copper scrolls.” He then turned to Captain Sadusky. “Can you and your men excuse us for a moment.”
“My pleasure,” he replied, motioning with his head for his men to follow him.
Dr. Zohar seemed surprised by his statement. “I wasn’t aware...”
Ed held up his hand halting her statement. “What I need to know is how much of the missing scrolls did you and the late Dr. Golb have?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was under the impression that this writing was completely unknown.”
Ed continued, “Let’s start with that. How did Dr. Golb acquire this scroll?”
“I don’t know exactly,” she said, slightly defensive. “I joined with Dr. Golb a while ago and we started working on translating it.”
“So,” Vance said, lighting a cigarette. “What’s the big deal with the copper scroll?”
Ed stepped to the head of the body and knelt down. “The copper scrolls were originally found with the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, which at that time was Qumran, Jordan, in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, exhaling a long trail of smoke, “those were the scrolls found in caves.”
“Yes,” Ed said, pausing as he stared at the body. He seemed to notice something and then stood up. “Dr. Zohar, was he alive when you arrived?”
“Yes, he was,” she answered. This time she didn’t cry. Ed pointed, “Were these shoulder and hip spikes in place when you arrived?” She hesitated briefly before answering, “Yes, I think so.” Ed continued, “And you mentioned that he called you to come and meet him in this building.”
“Yes.” Vance realized that Ed had figured something out, but what was it? “What type of man was he?” Ed asked. “Well,” she said, “I would describe him as a man on a mission. He was quiet, determined, and focused.”
“You knew him well,” Ed asked, “yes?”
“Well, yes, in a way, I guess.”
“H-mm,” Ed said, apparently thinking. After a few seconds he continued, “Very well. Look at the arms and legs directly to the side of the spikes.”
Vance stepped closer and saw exactly what he was referring to: reddish-brown marks on the skin were pressed in, the unmistakable mark of a tourniquet.
“Strap markings,” Ed said “used to stop bleeding.”
“Yes,” Vance said.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Zohar said. “Are you saying that they were keeping him alive?”
Ed now walked to where the right leg and foot were. “Did you actually see him alive?”
“Well, not really.”
That answer surprised Vance. She said earlier that he was alive when she arrived. Now he knew something was up but held his tongue.
Zohar’s mud-caked arm came out from under the coat that she was holding tightly. “I was right over there,” she said pointing, “next to the wall where they held me down.”
Ed stepped to the other side of the body, “Go on.”
She visibly sighed, “I was held down for only a few minutes. Then I was grabbed by my hair and pulled outside and thrown in the mud.”
“I see,” Ed said, and then asked again, “but you did not actually see him alive?”
“No, I mean yes.”
Vance couldn’t resist and, now irritated, chimed in, “Then how did you know he was still alive?”
“I heard him,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.
“What did you hear?” Ed continued.
“Someone was yelling questions like, ‘Where is it?’ over and over in a foreign accent and I thought the professor yelled back ‘Teton.’” For a second she now seemed doubtful and shook her head, lowering her eyes. “It didn’t sound like him but when I came back in and saw him... I... I figured he was in pain.” She turned around, walked a few paces, and continued, “I passed out when I saw what they did to him, and when I woke up the police were coming in.”
“To answer your question,” Ed said, continuing his earlier explanation, “when the original sets of Dead Sea Scrolls were found, they estimated the total number of scrolls when they were intact to be around a thousand. As of today, many have vanished without a trace. Therefore,” he tapped the box and looked directly at Dr. Zohar, “is this one of the missing scrolls?”
She gripped the coat around her tightly, lowered her head halfway, “Yes, I think so. I mean, by all the security around the scroll and secret meetings, I figured it was.” Her voice trailed off almost shamefully. She raised her head, “When the knights attacked the school, I somehow knew they were coming for the scroll.”
Ed held up his hand, gently halting what she was saying. He then turned around and began examining the area around the body. He made one complete loop, paused, and then walked to the far wall with his back to everyone. He then asked without turning around, “Were you able to read the unknown language on the scroll?”
She seemed uncomfortable and perplexed at his questioning and answered, “Not at first, but after a while, so-so.”
“But translations picked up recently?” Ed asked.
“Why are you so interested in this writing?” Dr. Zohar began choking up once again. “My professor has been murdered.”
“Unfortunately, my dear,” Ed said, turning to the left, “we don’t know that answer.” He pulled out a handkerchief, bent over, and gently lifted what looked like a mallet.
Vance finally decided to interrupt, “Weren’t the Dead Sea Scrolls written in Hebrew?”
Ed looked over the mallet. “The known scrolls,” he said, “were primarily written in Hebrew and Aramaic, which in the world of sociolinguistics is like French is to Italian.”
Sociolinguistics what? Vance thought. “Okay, forget I asked,” he said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.
Ed walked over to the main hallway and motioned for Captain Sadusky to step over. He carefully handed the mallet to him, and walked back. “Originally,” he continued, “when the fragmented scrolls were discovered, the painstaking work to put them together took many years.
Then,” he paused and began pacing back around the space, looking around, “it all stopped as a result of the Six-Day War in June of 1967. I remember that conflict well because not only were my good friend Betty’s husband and child killed in an explosion, but at that time the Palestine Archaeological Museum, where all the scrolls were being stored, became the property of Israel after the conflict. So you can just imagine the academic scuffling that resulted from that.”
“That’s interesting that you say that,” said Dr. Zohar. “Dr. Golb mentioned that all the time as the biggest delay in his research.”
“Delay?” Vance asked.
Ed stopped pacing. “The Arab and Israeli researchers wouldn’t cooperate.”
“Oh, yeah,” Vance answered, feeling stupid. I ought to just stay quiet before I reveal how little I know, he thought to himself.
“Well, Dr. Golb was definitely right about that,” Ed added. “Eventually, after another delay spanning many years, they worked out an agreement and finally published the initial research in 1977. Although,” he continued, “what is intriguing about this scene is that perhaps it was meant to intend to be symbolic of something.”
“That’s sick,” she blurted out.
Ed reached down and lifted the right hand, exposing a thin silver ring. He waved at Vance to come closer. “To complicate matters, this professor was a Mason.”
“A Free Mason?” Vance asked, surprised.
Ed turned the hand showing the ring, “Yes.”
“Al is going to like that,” Vance added, equally sarcastic.
Ed continued holding the hand, analyzing the ring. He gently lowered it slightly and looked around. He looked upward toward the top of the warehouse, at the dilapidated walls and the lower areas closest to him. “This specific location could be significant.”
Vance observed his motions. “You’re saying this is more than just a getaway place?”
Ed didn’t hear him, so instead Vance clued in to what he was getting at. He looked around and figured that Collins might be hinting that something was under this warehouse. He whistled to Sadusky.
Having overheard the conversation, Sadusky joined them. “You’re suggesting that this is more than a simple meeting place?”
Ed lowered the hand he was holding and stood up. “It’s a strong possibility. I will provide whatever resources you need, but this building must be secured and no one must be allowed to enter.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do that.”
“I think he means very secure,” Vance added.
Sadusky motioned for one of his men to come over and spoke quietly to him. The man nodded and pulled out his radio.
“Thank you,” Ed said. “I also need the history of this building and this specific property sent to me as soon as you can.”
“Like what do you mean?”
“As far as the records can go.”
“That should narrow it down somewhat,” Sadusky answered smartly.
Ed looked around for a few seconds and then stepped closer to the captain. “The fact that you and your men are a part of this investigation means that all of you have been exposed to extremely sensitive information.”
“I’m getting that impression.”
“As of now,” Ed motioned to the man on the radio, “if possible stay off the airwaves. Get the information on this warehouse as quietly as you can. Tell only those who need to know.”
“Say no more.” Sadusky immediately snapped his fingers to get the man’s attention. The captain drew his hand across his throat to halt his radio use. The man looked puzzled so the captain repeated the gesture.
Ed turned to Vance and Dr. Zohar and said, “Follow me.”
Sadusky snapped his fingers for his men’s attention, pointing to the doorway, “If you need us we will be here...investigating.”
“You can have it,” Vance added.
“Funny,” Sadusky responded, giving Vance a mean look. He then added, “Just make sure my man gets his coat back from her.”
“I will,” Vance replied.
Ed led the way down the creaky hallway and outside the building into the wind and rain. They splashed their way to the helicopter Ed had arrived in and they both helped Dr. Zohar climb aboard. Vance and Zohar sat on one side of the small compartment with Ed on the other.
Ed opened his laptop and placed it on a small metal ledge next to an electronics station. He then placed the small metal box next to it, opened it, and then delicately lifted the scroll out. He slipped on his glasses, focused on the laptop, and began typing away.
Vance pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag.
Zohar watched him the entire time and asked, “Must you?”
“You betcha,” Vance replied, smiling. “If you hadn’t given us the slip earlier we wouldn’t be in this mess, so tough!”
“You don’t understand.”
“Try me.”
She hesitated a few seconds and looked up at Ed.
Vance spoke first, “Look, if you are trying to protect your professor, I think that question has been answered.”
“I know,” she said, somberly looking down at the helicopter floor, her dried, muddy hair still clumped over her face.
“So why don’t you tell us what the fuck really happened,” Vance said as calmly as he could.
She nodded up and down. “Okay.”
Ed looked over and let his glasses slide down his nose. “It’s okay, my dear, you are not in trouble.”
“Yet,” Vance added.
“He was already dead when I arrived; there was no one there.” She looked down again. “When I saw him on the floor chopped to pieces like that, I threw up and I didn’t know what to do.”
“Yeah...go on,” Vance said, tapping his ashes on the floor.
“For a while...”
Ed cut her off. “Did you have the scroll with you?”
She nodded, “Yes.”
“And this is it?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
She was quiet for a moment and Vance said, “Go on.”
She breathed, “Yes, when I was alone I didn’t know what to do, and then... I heard a noise outside... And as fast as I could I hid the scroll.”
Vance listened to her changing her story, still not believing it. “And,” he asked, moving her along.
“I hid the scroll and made it to the walkway where it leads to the door when she came in.”
Vance dropped his cigarette and sat up straighter, “She?
“A dark-haired woman came in and pointed a gun at me. She told me to raise my hands and back up.”
Vance glanced at Ed, knowing damn well who she was, but didn’t say anything and glanced back at Zohar.
“She walked towards me as I backed up and when the hallway ended she saw the professor’s body. The sight of the body caught her off-guard and she seemed as shocked as I was.”
“I bet she didn’t throw up,” Vance added sarcastically.
“Well, no she didn’t. She then grabbed my hair, dragged me over to the body, and asked me what happened.”
“What did you tell her?” Ed asked.
“I told her I didn’t know and then she pulled me outside and hit me in the back of my head with her gun and I passed out. When I awoke, in the mud, I came back inside.”
“And that is when Sadusky and his men arrived,” Vance finished for her.
She glanced over at Vance. “I was afraid to say anything until I saw you come in.”
“You said she hit you in the back of the head,” Vance said. “Then how did you get that shiner on your face?”
“I landed on a rock in the grass, I think.”
Vance picked up his cigarette off the floor and responded suspiciously, “Oh.”
Ed clicked on a small overhead dome light and aimed it at the scroll. He then pushed his reading glasses back up his nose and re-focused on the computer, “Thank you for relaying that story, my dear.”
Vance checked his PDA for the time. “How long ago was the dark-haired woman here?”
“Maybe a couple of hours ago.”
Ed turned the computer to face her and asked, “Is this the dark-haired woman?”
She leaned in closer to see the screen and said, “Yes, for sure.”
“Shit, I knew it,” Vance said.
Ed turned the screen back around, “So the question is, was Agent Jess Contreras tracking you or the professor?”
“Who is she?”
Vance glanced over at Ed, “and why didn’t she shoot her?”
“Okay, well thanks a lot,” Dr. Zohar added, loosening the coat around her shoulders.
Then a thought hit Vance. “Right, why didn’t she shoot you?” He paused a moment and glanced out the side door window into the rain. He then turned to the pilot, “Hey man, have you seen anyone moving around out here?”
The pilot turned around, shaking his helmeted head.
Vance knew the pilot couldn’t see a damn thing through the rain but something wasn’t right. In fact, something was seriously wrong.
“Fuck,” he said out loud, pulling out his gun. He chambered a round and announced, “Agent Jess Contreras is using the doc here as bait.” He sized up the helicopter cabin, realizing that a large caliber bullet could easily punch a hole anywhere. “And to top it off she’s a fucking sniper.”
Ed looked up, “Pilot,” he yelled, “get us out of here.”
The pilot’s hands immediately went into action, flipping switches to power up the engines.
As the vibration of the turbines kicked in, Dr. Zohar asked, “She is using me as bait?”
“She is a cold-blooded killer,” Vance said as the chopper lifted off. It hadn’t lifted ten feet when the helicopter jerked to the side and nose-dived back into the grass, hitting with a loud thud.
Vance had just enough time to grab something to hold onto and turned around, saw the pilot slumped over to the side with blood dripping out of the helmet. He couldn’t see his face but he knew exactly what was happening. “Right on time,” he yelled. He could see the hole in the pilot’s windshield and estimated the bullet’s direction as coming from the front right area. Vance listened for the rotors to hit the ground and they didn’t so he yanked the door open as the chopper stabilized. The rotors were still turning and loudly whipping in the rain. On hearing the obvious crash, the detectives came running out of the building. Vance turned, “You guys okay?”
A resounding yes came from Dr. Zohar but Ed didn’t even appear phased and was still working on his computer. “Hey Ed, you okay?”
“Yes, of course,” he answered loudly over the engines. “I wanted to double-check one of the words with our translation software before I moved on.”
Al had warned Vance how tough as nails Ed was and now he believed it.
“Shouldn’t we get out?” she asked.
Vance held his arm out to keep her in place, “No, not yet.” He then turned, staying low, and worked his way over to the slumped-over pilot. He pulled his arms off the collective and made sure his feet were not on the pedals.
The pilot’s door opened and Vance saw the other chopper pilot assessing the situation. He still had his helmet on and Vance yelled out, “He’s dead.”
“I can see that,” he answered. “What the hell happened?”
Vance pointed to the bullet hole in the windshield, “Bubba, there’s a sniper out there. I highly suggest you take cover.”
“Roger that,” he answered, ducking out of the way. “He then reached in and shut off the engines.”
Vance climbed back out of the cockpit and saw that Ed was all packed up. “Let’s go.”
They quickly ran to the other chopper and boarded as if they were under fire. The pilot got the engines running and they were airborne within seconds.
Vance braced for another sniper shot but none came, or not that he could hear. After a few more seconds, Vance relaxed, letting out a deep sigh. He glanced at the doc. She was holding onto the borrowed wrap-around jacket and was staring at the floor, shivering from obvious nerves. He glanced over at Ed who was typing away on his computer as if it was business as usual. Several more seconds went by before Vance reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes and his PDA. He lit one, took an extra-long drag, and typed a message to Al that Jess was here on a rampage. He hit the SEND button and sat back.
They all put on headsets and, without taking his eyes off the computer, Ed started to say, “How do you—or should I ask—where were your recent translations coming from?”
“I am still amazed that you can read that,” she answered, loosening the coat up around her shoulders. She began nervously rubbing her hands together.
“I would assume,” Ed said, “that some of your translations came in recently, yes?”
She began to stare and said, “This is my first time seeing someone dead.”
“Well,” Vance said tapping his ashes onto the floor, “you picked a good day to end that streak.”
The chopper shook up and down briefly flying through rough air. When it settled down, she looked over at Ed, “Well I, um...” She struggled to get the words out and gave up, lowering her head again.
Ed sat up straighter and pushed the computer screen down, halfway dimming the light off his face. He then took off his glasses and said, “My dear, about two thousand years ago and moments before the Roman army captured him, King Decebalus of the area now called Romania chose to commit suicide over being captured. The Romans then immediately seized the remainder of his lands and began searching for his massive hidden treasure.” He stopped for a moment until she raised her head. He then continued, “In order to locate the hidden treasure, the Romans relentlessly tracked, tortured and brutally murdered anyone they discovered had anything to do with the treasure.” He paused again, “Eventually they hunted down and found the one person closest to the king.”
“I can see where this is heading,” Vance said.
“When his remains were discovered, they found a scene identical to the one suffered by your professor, Dr. Golb.”
She buried her head in her hands, tightening the fingers around her ears with clumps of hair, “I can’t get the vision of him lying there out of my mind, and now the dead pilot.”
Vance exhaled a long trail of smoke and tapped the ashes onto the ground. “So you’re saying the Brotherhood is going medieval on us, looking for hidden treasure details or a location on that scroll?”
Ed re-lifted the computer screen, slipped on his glasses, and began
typing.
Suddenly Dr. Zohar let go of her hair and lifted her head, “Did they find it?”
Ed glanced over at her with an inquisitive look.
“The Romans,” she said. “Did they find the treasure?”
“Oh,” Ed said, “they most certainly did.”
“Okay,” she slowly said.
“According to history,” Ed continued, “the King had the direction of the mighty river Saretia temporarily redirected. He then ordered the use of captured Roman soldiers to bury his many tons of gold and silver in the mud directly under where the river flowed.”
“And then sent the rushing water back over the spot,” Vance added.
“Yes, and to conceal its secret location, the King had the captured Roman soldiers executed.”
“Massacres and brutality are definitely on the rise,” Vance said.
“Which brings up another point,” Ed said. “After what you just witnessed my dear, your mind and spirit are in turmoil.”
She nodded.
Ed continued, “The answer to the brutality of the past, if there ever was such an answer, was a heavy belief in the after-life and a past life. Armies would often march through entire regions brutally killing every man, woman, and child, fully believing that their souls would simply move on and possibly return. That,” he continued, “was the reason all mention of past lives was removed from religious scripture. It helped to civilize and tone down the brutality of warfare.”
“Excuse me,” Vance said, “I could think of a religion that seemed to have missed that memo.”
“Oh yes,” Ed continued, “Islam was just beginning at that time and alternate versions unfortunately led to the brutal Jihad. A wholesale belief in the after-life—whether true or not—led to what we called the permanent revolution.”
“I will never buy that as an excuse for murdering my professor,” she said.
“Although, the question I have now is the relation of this scroll here to the actual Dead Sea Scrolls.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said.
“Because,” Ed paused a moment as the chopper bounced around through turbulence, “I am bringing these ancient stories up to you for a couple of reasons.”
She gave a willing look that she was listening.
“Another goal of the conquering Romans in the area of Israel was the location of Herod’s treasure.”
“The Biblical Herod and the copper scrolls,” she said, perking up.
“Precisely,” Ed said.
She gave Ed a very serious look and responded back, “The Dead Sea Scrolls.”
Vance watched them go back and forth like a secret pact and asked, “Should I even bother asking what you two are talking about, or should I just stay out of it?”
Dr. Zohar turned to Vance, “The locations of Herod’s treasures were listed in detail on the copper scrolls.”
“This copper scroll here that you saved,” Ed said, pointing to it, “is part of a very important scroll. So important, in fact, that it has part of a missing section of Holy Script that we had in our possession.”
“Had?” she asked.
“Our London bunker was attacked and I am still waiting to hear what has been salvaged,” Ed said.
“I see,” she said. “But are you saying that you have actually translated the writing?”
“The mysterious writing on this scroll is what we call Holy Script, and we have been working on it for many years.”
“But you already have it?”
Ed began typing away on the computer and after a few seconds he said, “Look here.”
She stood up and moved over to Ed’s side of the cabin.
“Dr. Zohar,” Ed said. “I am showing this to you because I believe you are an innocent bystander, but not just that; you may have important information that we need.”
“Well,” she said, sounding relieved, “as long as I am not in trouble I’ll help any way I can.”
“Now,” Ed continued, “I brought up the history of Decebalus for a reason, because the method of torture used then is identical to what happened here.”
“And the result was a full confession,” Vance said.
“Most likely,” Ed answered.
“Which is going to lead to a buried treasure,” she asked. “Dr. Golb mentioned something about that, but he had said that he believed that it was a story about something hidden.”
“Very close,” Ed said.
Vance leaned back, “This is way over my head.”
“I’m following you,” Dr. Zohar added, and asked again, “So you can really read this writing?”
Ed paused for a moment reading the computer screen. “Allow me,” he said, then began reading,
“The wars of conquering men continue unhindered. Thou extended reach is unstoppable; the gods cannot stop man. Thou make secret the underworld in preparation of the return. It shall...”
She watched the screen very carefully as he did and said slowly, “I can’t believe you can actually read this.”
“There is much more,” he said, “and I believe that what you have here is part of the missing information that we need.”
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Ed leaned back, “Well first of all, we have a library of this writing called Holy Script.”
“Why are you calling it Holy Script?”
“That is an excellent question,” Ed answered. “After years of struggling with the translating process we discovered a common theme that was very significant. It turns out that the writing was essentially communication between the gods themselves.”
“Interesting,” she said. “So how did you decipher it was communications between gods?”
“In essence, we didn’t. It was more of an observation and once we took that approach, deciphering the written word began to make sense. For example,” Ed sat back up and began typing, “our translating process is not one hundred percent correct but we believe we are very close.” He continued typing for a few seconds, then stopped. “The copper scroll here is the continuation of a gold plate that came into our possession a short time ago. Once we translated it, it virtually led us to the discovery of the bomb that exploded in Baalbek, Lebanon. And even more coincidental was writing we found under Washington, D.C., which was also a missing part of the gold plate as your scroll here is.”
Vance followed along the best he could. He had only heard about the gold plate that Al acquired somehow.
“What is truly amazing is that you and your professor seemed to have deciphered a part that our translating program stalled on.”
“Oh,” she said. “Which part?”
“Our translating program did not finish the earlier translation because of missing words and here it is.”
“And the translating program finished it?”
“It looks that way,” Ed said, as the chopper bounced a bit.
Vance continued to watch the exchange take place wondering what Ed was up to and how much he was going to divulge.
“Assuming,” Ed continued, “that your professor was correct.”
“I guess we will find out,” Vance added, feigning that he was remotely interested in the writing mumbo jumbo.
After a brief flight, the pilot announced over the headsets that they would be landing shortly.
Once the chopper landed, they exited and immediately boarded a small jet and headed aft towards the cabin area. Alex Pike and Natalie were sitting against the port side in a large chair. There were several more rotating chairs designed specifically for meetings.
Ed motioned for Dr. Zohar to sit down and said, “This is Mr. Pike and Ms. Sikorsky. This,” he said, “is Dr. Zohar who has been translating Holy Script at the university with Dr. Golb.”
“You don’t say,” Alex responded skeptically. “And that was his body found?”
Dr. Zohar glanced at Alex and nodded.
Vance sat down across from them shaking his hand and adding, “We have not fully confirmed it yet.”
“I’ll explain in a moment,” Ed said.
Alex gazed back at Zohar, “And you have translated Holy Script?”
Dr. Zohar loosened the coat around her and laid it against the cabin wall. She then sat down, still a muddy mess, and answered, “I think so, or at least he believes we did.”
“They most certainly have,” Ed added, sitting down.
Ed opened his laptop and pulled the small box out of his bag. “This is going to amaze you, my friend.”
Alex arched his bushy eyebrows, “Very well then.”
“What we have here is some of our missing work,” Ed said, gently placing it on the table.
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, yes,” 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.