by N Williams
Zac smiled. This was getting to sound like something from a Graham Hancock book.
He continued, ‘Inside the chamber was an exceptionally large collection of pots, big pots. And inside these pots was the mythical lost Library of Alexandria.’
Now Zac laughed, ‘You’re kidding? Surely, if it’s true we’d have heard about it by now?’
‘We have, or at least I have, and others like me,’ said the old man smugly.
‘It would be impossible to keep that sort of thing from the masses. Conspiracy theorists would have a field day. Why wouldn’t a find of that importance be made known? It doesn’t make sense.’
‘Not to you at present, but I’ll explain why.’
CHAPTER 47
Gates and Sally sat in her Ka, outside the pharmaceutical company in one of the empty visitor parking bays. It had been agreed that they would take two cars and travel some distance apart, just in case someone was watching.
When they arrived, Gates had parked the Ka on the road leading to the building and moved closer after he’d seen Zac enter the glass and steel structure. But Gates was uneasy.
‘He shouldn’t trust these bastards. He should have let me go with him.’
‘I’m sure he’ll be okay. He wouldn’t do anything stupid here.’
‘Are you referring to Sir Eddie or to Zac?’ said Gates.
Sally didn’t look happy either. She had tried a dozen times to complete the same cell phone version of Patience but kept getting distracted.
Gates had a copy of the Auto Trades free magazine open at the Classic and Vintage section.
The day was hot and humid and Gates had left the air conditioning running, keeping the interior of the car at a comfortable temperature.
Zac had insisted, after the Castle incident, that they should be on full alert from now on and that meant they would operate as if they were on one of their old police escort jobs. All windows on the cars were to be kept closed, to prevent anyone throwing anything in, and all doors to be kept locked.
He sat with the magazine propped up against the dashboard so that it could be seen from outside. Gates was keeping the car park monitored through the windshield and the door-mounted mirrors, but he failed to notice the slightly damaged lorry that drove past the car park and stopped fifty metres further down the link road.
CHAPTER 48
‘The Church is a powerful body. It doesn’t matter what religion you are born into, the Church influences us all. Of course, some are more influenced than others. Have you noticed, Mr Woods, how many of the religions have traditions that are incredibly similar? This is especially the case with the oldest legends - the stuff of the Old Testament. For example, the Flood and the Prophets and even the story of Creation.
‘Can’t say I’ve ever given it any thought,’ said Zac irritably.
‘Well, nevertheless I think you’ll accept that the Church has been powerful and that it was always in its own interest to remain that way. Scare the poor plebs and keep them in their place. Threaten them with eternal damnation if they didn’t contribute ten percent of their earnings to the church, or donate their homes and land for the benefit of the faith.
‘It was all this,’ he continued, ‘that drove a wedge between my church and me. How could any church have any claim on morals when it fell short itself?’
‘So where are you going with all this?’ said Zac.
‘I think we are all searching for something. As I said before, as we get older we look for some evidence of an afterlife, some reassurance that everything we have learned, experienced and seen isn’t lost forever. Otherwise, what would be the point, eh?
‘But if some evidence came to light, something that not only added validity to the Testaments, but also provided mankind with something that could change the world for the better - and be directly and unequivocally linked to the Testaments - then I for one would die a happy man.’
‘Are you referring to the Holy Grail here?’ laughed Zac. He was convinced the old man was nuts.
‘I’m not talking about the Grail of the legend…I’m talking about something much older and indisputably true.
‘Mankind has spent the last two thousand years searching for evidence, something to sustain faith.’
‘I thought the whole idea of faith was that you didn’t need any evidence. Isn’t that the definition of faith?’ said Zac.
‘Yes for some. For the fortunate...or unfortunate, depending upon your viewpoint. Some would suggest that unquestioning faith has been the cause of too many wars, battles between faiths - a struggle for recognition of one true faith. Others would say that it is the lifeblood of what we are as humans. We need to connect to our God through whatever route we feel is right for us. That’s our divine gift, but it has also become our curse because of the way we struggle to understand it.
‘I understand that you’re a pilot, Mr Woods? A vicar once told me that all religions are equal, that they are all simply using different flight paths heading in to the same airport. They all come from different places, but all end up at the same destination.’
Zac nodded his head. ‘If only everyone thought the same way.’
‘Yes. Quite so! But this brings me on to why the relics you seek are fundamentally important...and dangerous.’
Zac was beginning to lose patience. ‘I’d be grateful if you got to the point. I’m sure we both have things to do, places to be, relics to find etcetera.’
‘Very well,’ Stockwell said, ‘The relics you are seeking are the two most important religious artefacts, things that are fundamental to all religions, things that could change the world for the better…or for the worse. They are things that could provide mankind with the elixir of life or cause divisions so fundamentally profound that the world could be thrown into a war that would exceed anything we have ever seen before. A war that would draw in every faith from the major established Churches to the handful of followers of obscure alien-worshipping cults. They are the relics that would provide evidence of the foundation of everything mankind has ever believed in.’
‘And what would they be?’ prompted Zac.
‘They would be the Alpha Relics. Evidence that the first book of the Old Testament is based on fact and not fiction, Mr Woods.’ Stockwell paused for dramatic effect. ‘I’m talking about the last mortal remains of Adam and Eve.’
CHAPTER 49
Zac didn’t know what to say. He was stunned into silence. This old man was delusional, just another quasi-religious nut grasping at straws, desperate to find some shred of truth in fantasy.
‘You’re nuts! No, not nuts, raving mad!’ Zac shouted. ‘Apart from the fact that Adam and Eve is a myth, if these relics were the last remains there’d be nothing left after all this time. It’s just ridiculous.’
Stockwell’s expression didn’t change. He had obviously expected this reaction. ‘I know what it sounds like, Mr Woods. But why are you so sceptical? Is it because you don’t believe the story of Adam and Eve, or because you don’t think the remains could exist after all this time?’
‘Both! Surely the whole Adam and Eve thing was just some way for people with a limited understanding of nature to make sense of creation. Myths like this permeate all cultures. Even the ancient people had tales like this.’
‘Yes, but if the ancient pre-Christian and pre-Judaeo people had stories like this then they could well be based in fact. Stories passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.’
‘But that’s like saying the world is flat. That was a belief that was predominant before some clever bastard proved otherwise.’
‘Actually, that’s a strange analogy to choose because it’s not as straightforward as you might think. Aristotle, over three hundred years before Christ, claimed that it was common knowledge that the world was round. It seems that knowledge that was once commonplace somehow became lost…or buried. And this brings me back to the recent history of your search.
‘As I said, over a hundred years ago, a youn
g boy broke into a hidden chamber beneath the great Sphinx of the Giza plateau. He found a chamber believed to contain the lost Library of Alexandria. This library was not like the library we think of today. It was full of large pots. In each of the pots was a secret of the past. Secrets that could destroy our understanding of the Bible and make us re-evaluate our place in the universe.’
Zac had second thoughts. This wasn’t the realm of Graham Hancock; this guy had now entered the world of Eric Von Daaniken.
‘Can’t you see that this is just nonsense? The remains of Adam and Eve could not be in existence. Even if the Bible story was based on truth, there is no-way the relics could survive intact after all this time.’
‘But what if Adam and Eve were the first of a new race - not of all humans, as we are led to believe?’
CHAPTER 50
Sally was beginning to feel the strain of the day. The air inside the car was either too hot or too cold. The air blower was too aggressive and to have it switched off was simply not an option.
‘Where is he? Do you think we should go look for him?’ she asked.
‘We’ll give him a couple more minutes and then we’ll go in - heavy handed if necessary.’
Gates pulled his Glock out of the glove box and checked the magazine. He tucked it inside the back of his trousers.
Sally gave up on the Patience and tucked the phone into her pocket just as the rigid body lorry pulled out from the kerb and swung around in the link road. The lorry drove back towards the building and turned into the car park.
Sally froze as Gates became rigid. ‘Now don’t panic,’ he said calmly, ‘but there’s a big lorry behind us, which I’m sure is the same one that we met in the country lane.’
Gates started the ignition of the car just as Sally saw the lorry accelerate straight towards them.
‘Hold tight,’ shouted Gates, as he put the Ka into reverse. He dropped the clutch just as the truck thundered down on them.
The tyres squealed as the little car shot backwards.
Sally held on tightly to the seat as Gates had the Ka up to thirty in reverse when he dipped the clutch and flicked the steering hard around, sending the car into a J-turn. Before the car had finished its arc, Gates had it in first gear and was accelerating out of the car park.
CHAPTER 51
‘This just gets more absurd,’ sneered Zac.
‘Let me finish, please.’ Sir Eddie was clearly becoming tired of Zac’s scepticism.
‘I understand your incredulity Mr Woods, but it’s vital you understand all there is to know before you decide to continue your quest. I want you to know exactly what you are searching for so that you can understand why you are doing it and why it is so important that I acquire them before others.’
Zac nodded his head and shrugged, ‘Go on, I’ll let you finish. But don’t expect me to buy into all this shit.’
Stockwell continued. ‘As I said, the chamber contained hundreds of clay pots, big pots. It’s now believed that the pots contained the complete wisdom of tens thousands of years of man’s early development on earth.’
‘How did it end up in Giza?’ Zac was clearly not convinced.
‘There was good reason for it. Alexandria was not that far, on the grand scale of things. History has it that Julius Caesar accidentally set fire to the Library about fifty years before the time of Christ. But other legends have insisted that the Library was taken elsewhere and secured in a secret location before that date. The buildings at Alexandria burned down, but the contents were saved. And what better place to store them than the most iconic location in North Africa at that time - below the great Sphinx? A marker for all eternity.’
‘Hold it there for a second. How would a whole library of books be taken from Alexandria to the Sphinx and stored in a bloody giant hole under the lion? I can’t picture a band of cunning Egyptians digging a chamber under the Sphinx.’
‘You’re assuming that the chamber was added after the Sphinx was created. What if it was there already, from the time before the Sphinx was built? It could well have been used for other purposes before the library was located there.’
‘It’s not proof.’
‘True. But a very famous opera star was present at the time the boy found the chamber. That woman was Adelina Patti, a lady who made her home in your part of the world.’
Stockwell continued before Zac could interrupt.
‘I once belonged to a group of people who had an interest in the relics. I can tell you that I have long known that Madame Patti was performing in Egypt at the time the boy discovered the chamber and became involved in the discovery. I also don’t believe her presence there was a coincidence. Being a devout Catholic, she apparently used her enormous wealth to sponsor the shipment of the find to another location. Her only condition was that one of the pots should be entrusted to her keeping. Hard as it is to imagine any country allowing that, Egypt at the time was unstable. Many countries had courted it, and all were vying for control of the region. I suppose with the increase in archaeology in the area, and the distribution of antiquities becoming a valuable trade, it isn’t too hard to imagine that one item from a collection of thousands could be bought for the right price.
‘When it came to moving the antiquities, it was decided that it was best to reseal the chamber and pretend it was never discovered. The Egyptians didn’t want to lose their treasures and had no idea of what the contents could trigger; the political fall-out could be horrendous. Countries have gone to war over less.’
‘But there were witnesses…the boy and Madame Patti,’ Zac said.
‘Well, Madame Patti wasn’t an issue,’ said Stockwell. ‘She settled for her pick of the pots in return for her silence and made a hefty donation to the region. She also paid for her pot to be shipped to the UK. As for the boy...no one ever saw or heard of him again. Your guess is as good as mine as to what happened to him.
‘What you need to realise, Mr Woods, is that the library is said to contain information that could challenge the accepted understanding of world history. Some have suggested that mankind had developed into a race that was as advanced as we are today. Others suggest that the library sheds light on everything from the ancient understanding of biology and physics to astronomy and astrology. Just about everything, down to the more esoteric subjects also. If this is true, then the library is the most significant find in the history of man.
‘I can’t imagine any religion being happy about that,’ said Zac.
‘Not just unhappy Mr Woods, they’d be bloody devastated. Everything that had gone their way over the last two thousand years would suddenly go belly-up. They would lose credibility, the one thing that sustains them. Believe me, Mr Woods, too much is at stake for them to let that happen. We’ve already seen how Islamic fundamentalists will stop at nothing to protect their religion. Do you think the Catholics or the Protestants or even the Jews, would just step back and let their businesses be undermined in that way?’ Sir Eddie saw Zac’s reaction to the use of the word "business." ‘You must understand that religion is big business. Between them all they bring in billions of pounds in donations and sales of everything from Bibles to wine. You name it and the Church has done it. Like any successful business facing ruin, they will do anything and everything they can to stop that from happening.’
Zac looked puzzled. ‘Okay. So let’s just say I buy all of this for a moment. It still doesn’t explain how the discovery of Adam and Eve would undermine religion. Surely, this would be a good thing?’
‘You’d think. But what if the Catholics get hold of it when the Jews feel they have the rights to it? Or the Muslims decide that they are just as entitled to claim the remains for themselves? Just look at the troubles in the Holy Lands. The Temple on the Mount is a perfect example of the way the religions of the ancient and modern world cannot get along. The Crusades of a thousand years ago will begin again, but this time, if the relics were proved to be genuine, everyone on the planet would have a right of ownershi
p.’
Zac began to see the potential minefield. ‘But where do you come into this?’
‘Ah. The relics are a monumental find, with potential benefits that would change our very existence on this planet.’
Stockwell poured a shot of brandy into a crystal balloon glass and offered one to Zac.
‘No, thank you.’ Zac thought for a moment. ‘I can see why the religions of the world could get divided by a find like this, but apart from causing a potential battle between the faiths I can’t see how it can benefit the world.’
‘Have you ever read the Old Testament, Mr Woods?’
Zac shook his head. ‘Can’t say I have. Not beyond the stuff I picked up at school.’
‘If you read the book of Genesis you’ll be taken through the Creation of the world to the Creation of man…Adam! Then God makes Eve by taking a rib from Adam. We are told how Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden...’
‘The old serpent and apple bollocks,’ said Zac.
‘Yes,’ replied Sir Eddie, ‘eloquently put.’ He grimaced. ‘Within the text is something that most people overlook as some sort of confusing timeline. Adam is said to have lived to an age of over nine hundred years.’
Zac nodded. ‘I do remember something about that. Wasn’t that something to do with the Creation and the seven days - time being measured differently, or something like that?’
‘There are many suggestions as to why Adam is said to have lived to that grand age. But just stop for a moment and imagine what it could mean to us if it were true? What if Adam had lived that long and we recovered his remains? Genetically, it could be a goldmine.’
‘Yet we are all just granted the three-score years and ten.’
Sir Eddie began reciting; ‘“Three-score and ten I can remember well: Within the volume of which time I have seen. Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night. Hath trifled former knowings."’