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20 |Acton/Palmer Residence St. Paul, Maryland
Dawit Ganno held his breath as their New York City operative, Asrat Fida, expertly disabled the security alarm in the professors’ residence.
“You’re sure nobody was notified?”
“Positive. It gives you enough time to enter your code and I was able to disable it before that.”
“So, you have been making good use of your time here.”
Fida frowned. “There’s not much else to do.”
Ganno detected a hint of snark. “Remember, you’re here doing God’s work.”
Fida said nothing, instead heading deeper into the house. “How about we get this over with. I may have stopped the security company from knowing we’re here, but that doesn’t mean a neighbor didn’t see us.”
Ganno grunted, Fida’s point correct. “What are we looking for? I’m not used to an American household.”
“Anything electronic, or any papers. iPhones, iPads, tablets, eReaders, laptops, desktops—”
“You realize most of those words mean nothing to me.”
Fida nodded. “You look for papers, I’ll look for devices.”
“Very well.”
The search didn’t take long, Fida returning to the living area within minutes, emptyhanded. “They must have taken everything with them.”
Ganno’s eyes narrowed. “Who takes a computer with them? Aren’t they kind of bulky?”
Fida chuckled. “You really are in the Dark Ages, aren’t you? They probably have laptops. Portable computers. You just disconnect it and put it in a bag.”
“Ahh, yes, I’ve seen those before. I didn’t realize they were as useful as a computer.”
“They are now.” Fida gestured at the home in general. “There’s nothing here to check.”
“What about their email, I think you call it? Can you get into that? Isn’t that stored on the Internet?”
“Sometimes, but we’d need to know their email addresses, and depending on how secure they are, we could just trigger an alert.” Fida shook his head. “I think it’s best we leave well enough alone.”
“We need to know if they told anyone.”
Fida shrugged. “We listened in with the parabolic on their dinner with their friends last night, and they said nothing. I think they’re going to keep their promise to Father Amanuel.”
“They better. I really don’t want to have to kill anyone but them.” He pointed at a pile of papers sitting on the kitchen counter. “I found these. Take a look. I can’t read English very well.”
Fida stepped over and quickly leafed through the pages, his eyes widening. “These look like they’re for the equipment they referred to.” His eyes narrowed as he continued to examine them, taking photos of each with his phone. “It looks like it’s equipment for some sort of containment system.” He looked at Ganno. “Is there something wrong with the Ark?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, judging by these papers and these measurements, it looks like they’ve been asked by Father Amanuel to build something to help protect the Ark.”
“Protect it how?”
“It looks like this system would control the temperature and humidity.”
Ganno’s jaw dropped slightly. “So, that’s why he left. I’ve been trying to figure out why the Keeper would leave that which he has sworn to protect with his life. But if something had happened to it, or was going to happen to it, then protecting it might mean seeking help.”
Fida pursed his lips then exhaled. “So, we don’t have to worry about them.”
Ganno shook his head. “On the contrary. It merely changes the timing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now we wait until they finish their job.”
“But they’re good people, doing a good thing.”
“It doesn’t matter. They know the secret, and that can’t be allowed to stand.”
“But do they? For all we know, Father Amanuel didn’t tell them what it was. They might be just going to show him how everything works, then leave, never knowing what they’re preserving.”
Ganno’s head bobbed slowly as he scratched his nose. “This is possible, but we would need to be sure. If the professors enter the church, then they must die.”