Dr. Raja started to think that his plan would work, that things were falling into place. He had never considered himself lucky, but luck had played a large part in obtaining the information from the Philon Mechanic treatise and the Oracle Philon. He recalled how it all started.
***
Dr. Mohammed Seyyed Raja had been an assistant professor of Physics at the University of Karachi in Pakistan for only a few years when he answered a routine call routed to his office on that faithful day. It had happened a little less than a year ago. It had been placed by the banker, Ali Farhat. He was lucky to be in his office at the time.
The wealthy Sheikh asked if there was anyone on staff that would be willing to look at some ancient sketches of machines and figure out what the machines were and their usage. He told the young scientist that the candidate would have to refer to another reference to piece together some formulas. He explained that there was serious mathematics involved. What the sheikh didn’t know was that to be a physicist, math had to be a strong suit. It made Dr. Raja chuckle.
“I don’t know if I can help you sir,” Dr. Raja responded politely. “But I’d be willing to take a look.”
“Fine,” the banker replied. “I’ll send a car to pick you up. It will arrive in one hour.”
When Dr. Raja reached the splendid home of Ali Farhat on the outskirts of the huge city of Karachi, he was blindfolded. He was escorted to a secret room in the huge mansion. There, sitting on a long table sat several very old codex books. Next to the codex were several stacks of typed paper.
“It’s the translation,” the banker explained as he pointed to the piles.
“This is a huge amount of work,” Dr. Raja said with concern as he began negotiating a fee. But he was intrigued by the ancient text. After looking at some pages he spoke. “Where did you get them?” he inquired.
“We’ve had these artifacts in an old library in Jerusalem since around six hundred A.D. They had been placed there by one of the first rulers of Islam. He had ordered the books burned, but his subordinate noticed that there were many formulas and numbers imbedded inside. They decided to keep the books to study them. Unfortunately, they found that the formulas were not complete and the books remained in the library and were basically forgotten. Recently another small book was found that had the rest of the formulas. We now feel that what’s in the books is important. Can you help us?”
“The books have been translated, you say?” Dr. Raja asked as he rubbed his four day old beard.
“We have already had a very competent ancient language linguist do the translations, but I’m afraid he was short of the mathematical skills needed to complete the task,” Ali Farhat explained. “You won’t need to do all the calculations in the books. Can you explain this machine in particular?”
The sheikh handed Dr. Raja a small stapled pile of papers. The physicist sat down at the table and was immediately captivated by the text and formulas.
“The formulas are not complete,” he noted and looked up at his rotund host.
“I have the rest of the formulas if you are interested,” Sheikh Ali Farhat said coyly.
“How much will you pay?”
Chapter Thirty
Dr. Raja didn’t know that he had no reason to worry about the Sheikh and the Marja. He would never discover that the Marja’s name was actually Mohammed Mohammed. They were both well on their way to meeting their savior Allah.
Sheikh Ali Farhat had barely survived long enough to reach Karachi to visit his leader, the Marja. Mohammed owned the biggest bank in the city and had his hand in various plots to promote Islam by any means possible — legal or illegal.
A year ago, when the sheikh presented him the proposal for a climate changing device, the leader quickly said that is was ordained. He approved the plan while providing the financing that Sheikh Farhat needed to succeed.
The Marja was amazed and delighted when he saw proof that the weapon worked. But he quickly became disillusioned when he read about all the Muslims that had lost their lives during the tests.
After several long hard discussions over the last few months, it was decided to close down the laboratory where Dr. Raja was working and make all the workers disappear. No one was happy.
Sheikh Ali Farhart offered the gift of the unusual diamond to appease him. He told the Marja that he had bought it for him.
Mohammed rubbed the rough rock between his hands. “How much is it worth?” He greedily asked.
“I don’t actually have an answer to that question,” the sheikh struggled to admit as the poison took a stronger hold on his body.
A few hours later, both men were found dead in the Marja’s office. As he was dying, Mohammed realized too late that the value of the rock was his life.
Part Five
The Team
Chapter Thirty-One
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is the favorite cargo plane of the United States Air force. The one carrying the MAD team was only about twenty-five percent full on this trip. It carried the four MAD team members and a tricked-out, fully-loaded, Jeep that would run well in the desert and yet seat them comfortably. The team was going to have to do some serious driving once they reached Africa. So, General Stone made sure that they would have the best transportation available.
The plane also contained a squad of six TACP specialists. TACP stood for Tactical Air Control Party. They were the best bad asses the Air Force had to offer. They were brash, outspoken and deadly lethal. They brought their own vehicle and lots of weapons, including their bare hands.
The TACP team was there strictly as support on this mission though and would stay several miles back of the MAD team so they could not observe how the team worked, but be close enough to assist the team if needed.
During the entire seven plus hour flight from America, General Stone was very busy consulting maps and giving the TACP squad orders as he worked on a plan to intercept the neo-Nazis in the desert. The general explained that the MAD team needed to pick the neo-Nazis brains to find out all they could about who held the Switch device and, more importantly, the plans to build more of them. Once the MAD team had the locations and the names of the people involved, they would call for as much military support as they needed to capture everyone.
The team members were all dressed for the hot desert sun in traditional brown khaki button-down shirts and long shorts along with hiking boots. They had gun belts and mesh vests that contained equipment they might need the desert. In addition, each person also wore a baseball cap with no insignia, in fact nothing they wore had any identifying labels — just in case. The women wore their hair in long blond ponytails.
The general revealed his plan when they were over halfway to Africa. He told them that the plane was headed to Nouadhibou, Mauritania on the western coast of Africa. It contained an airport large enough to handle the C-5. From there, the team would drive overland to the Eye of the Sahara. It was a three hundred mile trip heading east into the stark desert — luckily there was a road for two hundred and sixty miles of the trip. Only the last forty miles would be off-road across the burning sand. But it would take most of the day to get there. The general explained that they would be camping out that night. That brought groans from the rest of the team.
The general explained that once they arrived, they would make camp just outside the unexplainable geological feature, get some rest, and go hunting for the neo-Nazis in the morning.
The general’s takedown plan was simple. He thought the enemy was seven hardened American thugs against the four of them. Not good odds. They needed to divide and conquer. The plan was to separate one man at a time out of the group and then the odds were four to one in their favor. It was much better odds. He also explained how they were going to achieve that. It took the rest of the flight.
The general’s final statement was the most important. “Once the operation starts, all our plans may go out the window. So be ready to be flexible.”
***
In the back of the
big cargo plane the TACP team also had a meeting.
“These guys carry some heavy juice,” a corporal muttered as he cleaned his gun. “Who are they?”
The captain whose name was Kane and was in charge of the men didn’t know. But he knew he needed to say something to his men, so he said what he thought. “They must be some sort of research team. I’ve been told nothing — just to support them when and if they need us and to transport any prisoners that they tell us to move.”
“Maybe they are some type of new supernatural army the brass is testing,” one of the men suggested jokingly.
“More than likely they are highly trained fighters and are going to test some top-secret weapon,” another TACP member squawked.
“You’re all fantasizing,” the captain muttered. “I think this has to do with archeology.”
“You know the women in the group are sure good looking and sexy,” another member noted. “Are you telling me that they are the ones that will fight with some assholes in the desert and we’re just transporters?
“Our orders are to not interfere, stay out of sight, take action when requested and care for any prisoners. Is that clear enough for you soldier,” the captain said in his harsh military voice that everyone recognized.
“So, do you mean that I can’t fraternize with either of those babes?” the sergeant named Pepper asked with a raised eyebrow. His ego was up to the challenge.
“Well my friend,” the captain retorted. “I think they’re a little bit out of your league and they would probably crush your nuts before you knew it. But if you want to try?”
“Hey, aren’t we going to campout tonight deep in the desert with them?” the sergeant suddenly pointed out.
“That’s the plan,” the captain replied knowing where the conversation was headed.
“It would be a good time for me to take a shot at the smaller one, you know the one named Kaley,” Sergeant Pepper said as a challenge.
“Okay, I’ll bet you a hundred bucks that you won’t even get to touch her ass,” one of the other team members quickly said.
“I’m in for a hundred too,” another member jumped in. Here’s my money.” He dropped the money to the middle of the floor where they were circled.
Soon there were five hundred dollars piled on the ground and a challenge that no self-centered, hormone-flowing, respectable young military man could turn down.
Chapter Thirty-Two
It was the fourth day of searching the huge flat surface of the Eye of the Sahara. The Effort men were getting tired and weary. The desert was taking its toll. They could not find a large meteorite like Philon mentioned in his codex, but they had found some smaller ones.
The seven searchers had situated their campsite on the western edge of the giant blue eye, just below an escarpment. It protected them from some of the searing heat of the sun and also from the continuous sand-filled wind. The two vehicles completed the circle of protection and kept sand out of most of their supplies as they were kept inside the land rovers.
They had only intended to stay for three days, but when three members of the original group suddenly left and returned to Chicago, things changed. The time that was required to finish searching the grid increased by thirty percent and they were still short of their goal. The searchers were getting uncomfortable and irritable.
The expedition in the desert included four men from the Effort. They were out of Chicago and some of Hans Keidel’s most trusted enforcers. There were also two tough South African mercenaries who were hired to guide the team and communicate with any natives they ran across.
The last searcher was a semi-scientist, who was hired because his hobby was hunting for meteorites. He was actually a bookstore owner who was after some adventure. The Keidel’s had found Ralph Burns, a life-long Chicagoan, on Craigslist. The other men in the group knew that he was expendable once they found enough meteorites to satisfy Hans Keidel. So far they were short of their goal by four meteorites.
“Are you sure that all the Magnetic Anomaly Detectors are fully charged?” Fred Mayer the Effort leader questioned the book seller. “I don’t want to come all the way back here to recharge them.”
The hand held detectors were called coincidently MAD devices. They were all bought on eBay and were usually used by construction workers to find nails in walls of buildings. Ralph Burns had found that they were excellent for noting changes in the magnetic fields that surrounded meteorites on the ground. You could even plug them into an iPhone and produce a log report. They were cheap, very efficient and high-tech.
“All seven are completely charged,” Ralph responded. “But we’re running low of food and water,” he complained.
“We still have to cover the eastern section,” Mayer explained in a threatening voice.
“But that’s thirty miles away,” Burns croaked. “And then there is all that walking? Can’t I stay here today?”
“You know that all seven of us need to walk side-by-side to maximize the coverage of the ground. Now get ready,” Mayer ordered. “We leave in ten minutes.”
“I hope we find some meteorites today,” Burns mumbled under his breath.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After the C-5 landed at the Nouadhibou airport, the team was able to quickly clear customs and was on the road within an hour of landing. Malcolm agreed to drive the first leg of the journey. Kaley sat in the front with him to navigate. She chatted incessantly about the mission and other things.
Malcolm felt that she had to be nervous and her defensive mechanism was talking. She talked about politics, world hunger, illegal aliens and a host of subjects that were more controversial, but she never stopped talking. He knew she was treating him nicer, but she talked so much he considered asking for the old Kaley back. It wasn’t so bad, he thought. At least she flirted with me back then.
Malcolm glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed that General Stone was on the phone with someone and Lisa was busy studying something on the Internet. The Jeep had onboard Wi-Fi. He found no help there, so he asked a question.
“So how many missions has the MAD team actually been on?” He asked Kaley.
“Oh,” she said abruptly and covered her mouth. “I actually don’t know. I’ve never been on one.”
“What? What about Lisa?”
“As far as I know none,” she responded.
“Are you kidding me?” Malcolm cried out. “Do you mean that only Simon has been on a mission before?”
“Sorry to disappoint you my boy,” General Stone commented from the back seat. “But this is my first mission as a team as well.”
“I can’t believe this,” Malcolm screamed. “Here we are heading into a desolate desert to capture seven tough thugs, and none of us has any experience? This is suicide.”
“Now hold on young man,” Simon sputtered. “I didn’t say we were inexperienced. We just haven’t had experiences together that’s all.”
“But didn’t you say that the MAD team had been in business for several years?” Malcolm replied.
“It has,” Simon replied flatly. “But when Ryan died last year our policy was changed. He was the other member of the team we have talked about.”
“I know who he was,” Malcolm blustered. “What are the changes?”
“The change is that we all go on every mission as a team, not as individuals and we support each other,” General Stone replied. “Before, each member of the team kept their abilities private. Only I knew what they were capable of doing. Now we all can draw from each other. This is a much better way to operate. Don’t you agree?”
Malcolm became quiet as the general had answered his question. But as he continued to drive, he started wondering about the circumstances around Ryan’s death and what was the real reason for the policy change.
***
A few hours later Malcolm asked another question as he continued to drive through the desert. “Does anyone know exactly how this device called a Switch works? I mean there may be
other ways to stop it from working if we understood how it actually operates.”
“Very astute Malcolm,” General Stone said as a compliment. “I’ll explain what we know, but remember this information comes from our own experience with the device and we have yet to work it properly. We still aren’t able to aim it where we want.”
“Why do you think we can’t aim it properly?” Malcolm immediately asked.
“There are four components needed to shoot off the device,” the general started. “First is that the device must be in a vortex. Second, there must be a magnetic meteorite in the cradle of the device. Next, the calculations to point the device and the type of natural weather phenomena desired must be exact to direct the antenna. And finally, someone with ESP needs to aim it.”
“We all have ESP. Why doesn’t one of us aim it for Dr. Darby?” Malcolm said as he pointed out the obvious.
“Dr. Darby and I agree that it would not be a wise choice because the government would immediately find a way to use it as a weapon,” Simon Stone said sadly. “Right now, only Dr. Darby and the President know of our capabilities.”
“I get your point,” Malcolm announced. “So our real mission is to destroy everything about anything that Philon was able to produce.”
“Yes,” the general said in a hiss. “But only six of us know that.”
“That’s kind of cool,” Lisa said cheerfully. “We are to use our paranormal powers to destroy a paranormal device while keeping ourselves above suspicion.”
“That sounds like a mission statement to me,” Kaley agreed.
“Can we get back to how we can stop the device from working,” Malcolm complained. The discussion had gotten way off track.
When it finally returned to the subject, Malcolm found that no one had the answer.
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