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4

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After climbing aboard the helicopter, Jade donned a set of earmuff style headphones that, thankfully, brought the noise level from the engines down to a dull roar. After making a futile effort to wipe some of the mud from his fedora, Professor climbed in and took the air chair next to her. The misshapen hat lay on his lap, looking miserable but not defeated. Kismet sat across the aisle, and as both men fitted their commo headsets in place, the rest of the soldiers crowded in, filling up all the other seats and whatever other space they could find. When the last man was in, the aircraft began to shake and shimmy and then Jade felt an unsettling heaviness as it lifted off. Through one of the side windows, she could see the emerald expanse of the Amazon basin falling away behind them.

Professor’s voice sounded in Jade’s headset. “Okay, now that we can hear ourselves think,” he said, his tone even gruffer than usual, “maybe we can run through those introductions again, and then you can explain exactly how it is that you just happened to be out here. Your timing is a little suspicious.”

“I’d say my timing was perfect,” Kismet replied, evenly. “But you’re right. As I said before, I was out here looking for...” He hesitated, glanced over at Jade. “For you.”

“Right,” Professor retorted, making no attempt to hide his suspicion.

Or is it jealousy? She wondered.

“Okay, introductions take two,” Kismet said. “I’m Nick. You’re Jade. And you’re... Sorry, I don’t think I actually caught your name.”

“Call me Pete.” Professor narrowed his gaze at Kismet. “You’re American. Are you a spook?”

Kismet shook his head. “No. I work for the UN. Specifically, for the Global Heritage Commission.”

For the first time since meeting him, Jade felt a twinge of doubt. Maybe this wasn’t a rescue after all.

The Global Heritage Commission was the enforcement arm of UNESCO—the United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organization. Jade didn’t fully understand the political or bureaucratic intricacies of either body, but she was familiar with the mission of the former. GHC liaison agents worked with local law enforcement agencies to ensure the preservation of World Heritage sites and protect other unique cultural properties, which included random inspections of archaeological digs to ensure that the practices being used conformed to established guidelines and to expose illicit backdoor sales of artifacts to collectors.

“You work for the Global Heritage Commission and you’re looking for me? Why? I haven’t done anything wrong,” Jade said, and then silently amended the statement, Not lately anyway.

“It’s nothing like that,” Kismet said, shaking his head emphatically. “Truthfully, I need your help with something. Something that has nothing to do with archaeology.”

“If we refuse, are you going to kick us out?”

“Just hear me out.”

Jade shrugged. “Go on.”

“I understand that you had a hand in executing the estate of Gerald Roche.”

Jade exchanged a wary glance with Professor.

Until his death, about a year earlier, Gerald Roche had been a notorious conspiracy celebrity and the author of several books about a purported takeover of global human society by what he called “changelings,” so-named for the faerie creatures who substituted their own offspring for human children. There was some debate about whether Roche had actually believed that the changelings were supernatural creatures or merely a metaphor for the ruling elite, but after his murder, Jade and Professor had discovered a very real—and all too human— shadow government dating back several centuries. Roche himself was an odd character, and a notorious collector of occult memorabilia and other rare curiosities, which was how Jade had first become acquainted with him.

“Not exactly,” she said, guardedly. “I was working with Dr. Allenby at the British Museum to preserve the collection intact, but the actual executors had other ideas. The provenance of most of the pieces was a bit dodgy—that was the word Dr. Allenby used—so we didn’t put up too much of a fight. Most of the collection was sold at auction.”

Kismet pursed his lips together in disappointment. “I’m specifically interested in a manuscript that might have been in his library. A book called the Liber Arcanum. Does that ring any bells?”

Professor leaned forward. “You’re going to have to be a lot more specific than that. Liber Arcanum literally translates to ‘Book of Secrets.’ Every alchemist and occultist worth his salt wrote his own book of secrets, and I’d be willing to bet money that Gerald Roche had about a dozen of them.”

Jade saw something change in Kismet’s expression. His earlier confidence was gone, replaced by something that seemed almost like embarrassment or guilt. “As you might have already guessed, this gets into stuff that’s a little... weird.”

“We can handle weird,” Jade said.

“If it involves Roche,” Professor added, “that’s pretty much a given.”

Kismet nodded. “In April of 1904 an Englishman named Adam Garral climbed up the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt and spent the night inside the King’s Chamber. Exactly what happened next is unclear, but when he emerged early the following day, he had in his possession a strange amulet which he claimed to have found in a hidden room deep within the pyramid—a room that no one else has ever found. He called the talisman ‘the Apex,’ probably because of its shape. It’s a pyramid about so big.” He held up his hand, finger and thumb spaced about three inches apart. “Made from a solid block of lapis lazuli, with what looks like a small skeletal hand gripping the exterior.

“Adam Garral was a minor occult figure in his day and it would be typical behavior for someone like that to concoct a wild origin story for a supposedly enchanted knick-knack, but for reasons I’m not prepared to go into right now, I think he was telling the truth.”

“And you’re trying to find this Apex,” Jade guessed.

Kismet shook his head. “No. I already know where it is. I’m trying to figure out what happened next. Garral wrote in his diary that the Apex enabled him to, among other things, read a book he called ‘the Liber Arcanum,’ which was written in Enochian script. Enochian is a ciphertext language invented by Dr. John Dee and the magician Edward Kelley in the late 16th century, though they claimed it was actually the Angelic first language that mankind spoke before God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Professor said, sending a wink in Jade’s direction. “Despite that fanciful story, Enochian is remarkably similar to English in its grammatical structure and syntax.”

Jade suppressed a giggle. “Most Americans think Jesus spoke English, so why not?”

Kismet frowned at the interruption, but pushed ahead with his story. “I’m not looking to prove Garral’s claims, but I do want to find out what happened to him. He found something in that book, and whatever it was caused him to leave England, after which his trail vanishes. The only lead I have right now is this Liber Arcanum.”

“Which is written in Enochian,” Jade said. “Enochian means John Dee, which brought you to Gerald Roche, which in turn brought you halfway around the world to me. You’re going to an awful lot of trouble to find this guy.”

Kismet shrugged. “I just missed you in Cuzco. Had to pull some strings to get the army to give me a ride out here.”

“Lucky for us that you did.” She stared at him a moment longer. “This isn’t official business, is it? It’s personal.”

Kismet regarded her for several seconds then nodded. “Adam Garral was my great-great-grandfather.”

Professor raised an eyebrow. “You’re using your official capacity to investigate a personal matter?”

“If you’re that worried about it,” Kismet shot back, “I can always make this official. But that would mean billing you for the rescue.”

Jade stifled a chuckle and held up her hands. “Okay, we’re all friends here.” She faced Kismet. “First, thank you for getting us out of there. Second... I’m sorry, I don’t recall seeing anything called the Liber Arcanum at Gerald’s place in London, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. If you’d like, I’d be happy to help you—”

“Jade,” Professor said, his tone disapproving.

She waved him off and kept talking. “I’ll put a call in to Kelly... Dr. Allenby. If she doesn’t have it, she might know where it ended up.”

“I appreciate it, but really there’s no need for you to go to the trouble. You’ve already pointed me in the right direction. I’d hate to tear you away from your work here.”

Jade glanced out the window again. The jungle looked deceptively peaceful from so high up. “I could go for a change of scenery. Oh, and a shower.”