The Venerate Order

by Troy Dukart

  As I made my way, I could see people were concerned.

  Even though we were a big town, word traveled fast. I was making a name for myself with my projects. People were volunteering to look for me and a concerned crowd had gathered. I made my way to State Street, as it was the quickest way to get to my neighborhood. As I got closer to home, I saw my neighbors surrounding someone. The crowd of people seemed angry, and the person they surrounded had raised his arms up. When I got close enough I could see it was Gain. He lived in Ventura now but would stop into town every once and a while. Gain was originally from New Santa Barbara too. He unfortunately had a reputation for being a hothead and reckless. He had already caused two traffic accidents pulling off stunts with his Mag-Cycle and tended not to tolerate criticism. When he was 21 he moved to Ventura, but we always kept in touch. He behaved himself with me, and he really knew engines and how to work with metal. We’d hit it off when we met back in grade school ten years ago. Like the rest of us though, he had his imperfections.

  “What the hell were you thinking, letting Strafe shoot off like that? No matter how many tests you did, a human is not the same as a bag of potatoes!” a policeman asked him.

  “Listen, I told you, once this guy gets something in his mind, that’s it. He is not afraid of anything and nothing we could have said or done would have stopped him!” Gain replied, “If you have put the blame on someone, go ahead and put it on me like you people usually do! But I’m not going to jail or to court until we find him!”

  It was kind of funny to see their faces when I simply walked up and waved to them. They didn’t know whether to be shocked or angry, “Strafe!?!”

  The crowd rushed towards me. Gain looked unsteady – rocking back on his feet . People asked me if I was okay, how I managed to escape the rapids, and what was this “metal thing” I was holding on to. I thanked them for their concern but told them I needed to discuss this privately. They respected my wishes. I pulled Gain to the side and told him the story.

  “No kidding, I can’t believe that you ended up there. On a. . . battlefield?” I was back – but he was having a hard time believing my story. A policeman stepped up to us.

  “Listen, we are glad you are okay, but we need to take you down to the hospital to get you checked out and ask you a few questions. It looks like you have a pretty mean cut on your head. The Mayor himself has requested so.”

  I agreed and we were on our way.

  +++

  When we made it to the hospital, the nurse requested the sword, as was customary to retrieve all items while entering. I placed the sword on the counter for them to hold onto and walked into a patient’s room and sat on my bed. To my surprise, the Mayor and Police Chief walked in within five minutes of me sitting down.

  “Strafe, we are glad you’re okay. We couldn’t believe that you showed up on the street like nothing happened,” the Mayor told me, he came up and patted me on the shoulder and then sat down next to me in a chair. He had on a black suit with a purple and silver insignia in the shape of a knight’s helmet pinned to his collar. I couldn't help but think it resembled the helmets of the enemy army I had found myself fighting against on that battlefield.

  “Mayor Chiller, Police Chief Sense, I am very sorry for causing all this trouble. I think I found something very important that I think you need to know. There’s an amazing cave up in the hills! Plus, I got. . .”I said before getting interrupted.

  “Son, do realize how arrogant you sound right now? We have been looking for you all day and you act like God himself sent you on this escapade! Listen, whatever happened, we are just glad that your family will be able to see you again tonight. But first, tell us what happened,” Chief Sense reported.

  Chief Sense was old school police, and had his hand on his baton. After I told them my story, they had a small discussion outside my room before re-entering.

  “What you did has seriously put into question the device you have made. Tonight please just go home after your check-up and make sure to not leave your house until we pick you up tomorrow. We need to ask you more questions.” Mayor Chiller instructed.

  They handled the situation better than I thought they would. I did find it a little strange that the Mayor was there. He seemed very interested in the battle I was in, along with the enemy soldiers we fought against. I thought about lying about some of the details but he was a major reason my project got cleared for city funding in the first place. He was a good man, at least he seemed to be. I hoped that the cave I ended up in wouldn’t be sold to the highest bidder.

  The police dropped me off at my mom’s house. She was sitting on the front porch and she’d been crying. When she saw me she stood up and when I saw how worried she’d been, I ran up and hugged her. Brutus had seen me coming. It was tough for me to stand upright as he pushed himself between me and my mom, trying to lick my face. Inside I explained to her what had happened. She lived alone there in the house where I’d grown up. I had a father too, but he left us a long time ago, taking my twin brother Zixin with him.

  I never truly got to know either of them. Sometimes, growing up, I would get frustrated when I would ask my mom questions about my brother or my father and she couldn’t answer my questions. I would turn that frustration into anger, but not at her. I felt anger towards my father. I would sometimes be ashamed to share his blood, because he hurt me and my mom. Regardless though, I still honored my Native side as well as my mom’s side. Both were equally passionate and had a history of overcoming struggle.

  She always said she didn’t know why, only that they both vanished the day after our fifth birthday. She had said that my brother would sometimes behave oddly and was able to do things that were hard to explain. One time she found her cat had been burned badly, so bad it had to be put down. She found Zixin standing over the cat, holding out his hand. There was nothing in his palm. No treat. Was he just teasing the cat? There didn’t seem to be a reason.

  He also punched a huge hole in the wall and he didn’t offer an explanation. My mom said that she and my father began looking into helping Zixin but no doctor could tell us a solution. She guessed that my father took him away to find a solution himself, but they had never discussed it before he left. She thought he might have taken Zixin to see some of our Native relatives up in Minnesota, but never found out for certain, despite exhausting a huge amount of time and money into finding them. We finally decided to face the fact that we may never see them again. As I was growing up, she was very protective of me because of this.

  +++

  My mom asked, “So, you’re telling me that the sword you found somehow flashed and then you were suddenly able to read the ancient writing?”

  “Yeah Mom, I really can’t explain it any other way. I need to tell Professor Sighter about this. It could change everything we know!”

  As she made dinner, my mother continued questioning me.

  “That is really strange that the sword’s message was ‘only those who do not desire my power may use me.’ What could that mean?”

  “I’m not sure. But everything that happened seemed to have a reason. I just can’t explain what it might’ve been. It was incredible!”

  “I don’t want you fighting in battles like that,” my mom said. It was just the sort of thing mothers say, but it seemed funny. She still treated me like a kid.

  “It wasn’t like I ran off to volunteer. I can only tell you what happened. I can’t tell you why. . . But Mom, you should have seen that cave! Plus, I brought back a sword!” I knew I sounded like a kid who’d gotten a new toy.

  “A sword? Where is it?” she asked.

  “The police are holding it.”

  My mom looked at me just as if I was making up stories.

  “I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m tired. Is it okay if I stay here tonight?” She said she was happy to have me stay.

  I was so glad to be home – I’d decided not to go back to my own place that night. I made my way upstairs and went to bed, but I couldn’t sl
eep. I called Yessa on our telecrom. It was one of the new types – imbedded under my skin.

  Yessa said she was with some friends, but she went into another room, to speak with me privately, “Strafe! You crazy shit! I was scared to death! I thought you died!”

  “I’m not gonna lie and say I wasn’t scared too, babe, but something incredible happened!” I replied.

  “I don’t care about that! You know how concerned you got me?! I need a massage!” she responded.

  “That’s easy; I’ll be over in five minutes,” I laughed.

  “Whoa, I heard the police took you in for questioning. You need to take this seriously and not mess around,” Yessa cautioned.

  “I ain’t messing around, only with you. See you soon!” I chuckled.

  I opened my window and jumped out, making my way over to Yessa’s apartment. By the time I got to Yessa’s place her friends had left. Later, in her room, as I laid beside her in bed while she slept, my mind wandered. I couldn’t help but think of Mayor Chiller wearing that insignia pinned to his collar.

  Something in my heart told me to be cautious.

  Chapter 5/

  The prophecy

  Strafe

  When I woke up, my body felt unusually warm.

  It was strange since it was cloudy and rainy outside and the heater wasn’t on near me. I remembered I had felt this same type of warmth when I found myself on the battlefield. My head was pounding as well; it was the same pain as when I got blasted by that light in the cave. I rolled over to see Yessa soundly asleep, I nudged her but she grunted back and put a pillow over her head. You need to get a better bed Yessa, I’m a wreck!

  My body felt completely different, like I had been working out. I was sore all over but felt ripped. I even flexed and couldn’t believe how buff I looked. Before I could ponder it further my telecrom began ringing, so I touched the side of my head and saw it was my mom, “Hi honey!”

  “Hi mom,” I yawned.

  “I was going to invite you to eat breakfast with me, are you at Yessa’s? You weren’t supposed to leave the house last night,” she lectured.

  “I’m a 23 year old man mom. . .” I grumbled.

  “Yeah, more like a 23 year old, lucky to be alive and breathing son of mine! If you don’t get back here, you’re gonna have two lumps on your head boy!” she jokingly retorted.

  My mom and I would kiddingly jab at each other once and a while, it was my job as a son to raise her blood pressure.

  “Alright, you win. I’ll be back soon,” I told her.

  “You have a guest here waiting for you, so don’t be late!”

  “Guest? Who?” I asked.

  “Someone very interested to talk to you. Get your ass back here! Love ya!” she told me before she hung up.

  I got out of bed and ran as quick as I could to my mom’s house. I noticed an older looking vehicle in the driveway, one that still used wheels. Most elderly people drove cars like that. I walked through the front door and was surprised to see who was eating pancakes with my mom, “Professor Sighter!?”

  “Hey Strafe! How’s it going there?” he asked, “The Mayor got a hold of me when he heard your story. He asked me to stop by and pick you up before we head to the hospital. But I must say your mother has made an excellent breakfast. Join us.”

  After breakfast we decided to get going. When we got in his car he said, “I always knew you were a rebel! When the rumor was going around that you’d even cheated death - something about your experiments - a catapult. I was intrigued to hear your story. Please tell me in your own words.”

  Professor Sighter was a kind, gentle old man. When I took an ancient art class as an elective, he really made an impact on me.

  I remember my first impression was, “Here’s a dottering old fellow.” He was bald on top, but the hair of his white beard grew down to the middle of his chest. Whenever I saw him, he always had worn his white coat, thick-rimmed glasses, and his talisman he told me he found while on an expedition in Italy when he was young. I often volunteered to help students in his class with their studies. He would bring in finds that were beautiful works of art. Although we didn’t keep in contact as much as we did back when I was in college, he was still a close friend.

  I told him everything that happened the day before, about the cave, the sword, everything. He was very intrigued, as he said the cave I described didn’t match any ancient societies that inhabited California on record. This find, Sighter thought, could possibly predate anything on record in America and might even be of alien origin. After ten minutes or so, we arrived back at the hospital.

  When we walked in, I noticed that the sword was in the same spot where I put it the day before.

  “Professor, why didn’t anyone put this away? What if someone were to take it?” I said to him.

  He smiled at me, looked at the sword and said, “I tried to move it. Nobody could steal it if they wanted to. You see, it won’t budge an inch. It might as well weigh a ton! Also, it glows white and blue around not violent people, like the nurses but when a gang member was brought in for a knife wound, I was told it glowed bright red as they passed by. That is why I am truly intrigued to see this cave you have found.”

  The sword wouldn’t budge? It reacted to people’s nature as well?

  “Please take it with you Strafe. The Mayor has requested our presence at his office,” the Professor informed me. When I went over to grab it, I picked it up with ease. I could see curiosity in the professor’s eyes when I did this.

  We exited and drove across town to the Mayor’s office. When we were escorted in, I noticed there were many men talking with the Mayor, wearing unusual uniforms that I didn’t recognize. They all had on the same pendant as Mayor Chiller.

  “Gentlemen, please come in and sit down” the Mayor gestured toward vacant chairs. The room felt hostile, as though it were full of wolves.

  “Pardon my curiosity, but who are these people? Are they FBI?” Professor Sighter asked. One man with slicked back, blonde hair stepped up and offered to shake his hand. The professor noticed the man’s eyes had red-colored irises. He declined.

  “Please allow me to introduce myself and the others. My name is Tiras Strand. I am the United States representative of the Federation of Worldwide Ancient Societies or FOWAS, based in Oslo, Norway. It is an honor to meet you sir. I believe you are familiar with us Professor?”

  “Yes I am,” Sighter responded, “Your people have had quite a history, I might even say a reputation. My colleagues have heard of priceless artifacts going missing, suspecting they have been sold on the European Black Market.”

  Tiras smiled, looked at the Mayor and then looked back at us, “You are absolutely right Professor. Unfortunately, over the past few years our reputation has been damaged immensely by the actions of a few, but we are on a new course with new leadership. With our resources and your expertise, we can ensure that future generations across the world will be able to enjoy the public viewing of ancient artifacts that would otherwise be held in private collections. Our recent discoveries in Egypt helped locate the tomb of Queen Nefertiti and we gave total control of the site to the Egyptian Government. The Mayor has been a supporter after the leadership change, and told us about the sword last night over telecrom in hopes we might be able to assist in its identification. I knew this demanded our attention, and we were in New York, so it didn’t take us too long to get here.”

  “I’ve always had a fascination with the ancient world Professor,” Mayor Chiller continued,

  “If you remember, in Japan last year, the Federation helped uncover the old Kingdom of Jogan buried under fifty feet of earth and rock. They made certain that the Japanese government took possession of every artifact that was uncovered and transferred supervision over to them after we cataloged every object found.”

  “Yes, I know. I am also confident the University of California, New Santa Barbara would fully fund an expedition to excavate the cave and collect its contents,” Professor Sig
hter responded.

  “If this is the way you would like to go, we will completely support you in your choice Professor. I would like to say before you make that decision, we are willing to give you ultimate supervisory control and access to equipment and personnel immediately that which would take weeks for the University to procure. Also, the site will belong to the City of New Santa Barbara and our work will be reported to and approved by Sacramento and Federal agencies in Washington,” Mr. Tiras said with a benevolent smile.

  I spoke for the first time since entering the Mayor’s office, “And the catch?”

  Everyone in the room was caught off guard, but they all smiled.

  “Strafe, it’s great to finally meet you,” Mr. Strand said while holding out his hand to shake mine, “Many people in my industry would kill to meet you. You recently graduated college right? Becoming a pilot is no easy feat! Did I mention that the Federation is willing to help you pay back your student loans as a sign of our appreciation for your discovery of the cave and its contents which will benefit all of humanity?”

  There was something I didn’t like about this guy.

  “We’re listening Mr. Strand,” the Professor said.

  “Right, the catch. We are only asking to catalogue for our database. We make our money off our website and publications. The US would maintain exclusive rights to showcasing and documenting as long as we publish our findings first. Of course, Strafe would be credited for finding the cave and will have a key role in the expedition,” Mr. Tiras explained.

  Professor Sighter knew he was right about the timing. It was summer now and the new semester would start soon, keeping him busy at the school. Still, he looked concerned.

  “Is that so? If, as a representative of your Federation, you are being true to your word, you are without question the best option at the moment, but the decision does not lie with me.”

  I immediately felt uncomfortable as all the eyes in the room turned toward me.