Crowns and Cabals

by Dina Rae

  Treason? Oh God, what did Wendy say? Is she alive? Don’t cry. You can’t cry. That Peacekeeper is standing right over there. “Sir, my stomach is really starting to grumble. Do you think you could get me something? Anything,” I said.

  The Peacekeeper muttered something into his handheld radio. I had hoped he would leave, but no such luck.

  The reporter on TV remained silent as the camera flashed to Prince Laurie who was now stepping around the rubble of his World of Peace headquarters. I thought about the old days when there would have been a couple of dozen news men and women at the scene of a hot story. Now there was one newswoman with a few cameramen. A few of Laurie’s men moved to the side, allowing the reporter to ask the newly crowned prince for an update.

  The redhead approached him with her microphone. They all stood on part of the sidewalk and part of the street. “Well, Your Majesty, is that the right terminology?” Laurie nodded. “Any updates on who could have done this to you and our newly formed government?”

  “Wendy Grossman is no longer a threat to our new world. Peace will continue without her.” The prince pointed down Massachusetts Avenue. “That is what happens to those who disrupt our vision, the world’s vision. We will not tolerate vigilantes, dissidents, murderers, and terrorists!”

  The camera followed the doctor’s arm. Over Massachusetts Avenue, on both sides of the street, were two red banners hoisted up the street poles. A cable between the poles eventually held the banners as they suspended over the street. In the middle of the display was a gigantic new flag of the World of Peace. Below the new banners and flag was a thirty foot spike on the same side of the street of the demolished World of Peace headquarters.

  Wendy’s pierced, dead body hung vertically down the top of the spike. One of the red banner’s edges flapped across her head as the icy wind blew in the black velvet skies. She would have liked it this way-a martyr. I couldn’t help but think of Vlad Tepes, the man Dracula was patterned after. He pierced his enemies and displayed them in front of his house for all to see. He even feasted off of them, drinking their blood during his dinner. Was that the next step? Wendy was on one side of the street, soon I’d be on the other.

  Chapter Forty

  Raphael

  The night was anything but young. In a few hours the sun would rise and cast its dim glow in place of the jet black sky. We Patriots split up with heavy hearts, knowing that our time was limited.

  Jaxie walked home alone. Camden, Brick, and Sai separately headed back to their apartment complex. Their mission was to defend our leader while I, along with Chad and Marta, would attack our newest enemy, Prince Stephen Laurie.

  I used the last of my phony unit card and paid for the cab. No longer using the utmost caution, I got a half of a block away from the Laurie Treatment Center. Less than twenty-four hours ago, Jaxie gave me a drive-by tour of the facility, and it was loaded with Peacekeepers. Now the street resembled a ghost town. The lack of security only added to my anxiety as I reluctantly stepped towards the entrance.

  The side of the building looked to be a drop-off point. I could barely see, but I made out a carport and a ramped entrance. The streetlights weren’t bright enough to show details. The building was as dark as the sky. Oddly, no light shone through any of the windows. As I looked at the windows, I noticed that most were cranked open. Something was very wrong.

  A tall person, probably a man, stood under the carport. He was bundled up beyond recognition. His scarf and hat made him faceless. The man waved at me. There was something familiar about him. Was it Chad? A moment later, another tall person walked outside and waved. They were shouting something, but the howling wind made it impossible to hear.

  I cautiously moved closer to them, still hesitant in case my instincts were wrong. Then I realized it was Chad and Marta. Running towards them, I threw my arms around them and hugged them tightly.

  “Thank you! Thank you! I owe you my life! Jaxie owes you her life!”

  “Yes, Raphael. Thank us later. Let’s go inside. It’s so cold out here. It’s safe,” Chad said.

  I followed them inside of the building without fear. For a brief second I felt guilty about how I treated Marta the last time I was in Dallas. Her relationship with Chad made me jealous. I wanted to be first in his world. She took that position away. He was in love with her. I couldn’t blame him. She was a beautiful, bright, and good woman. I thought about Harper. She and I could have had something too, if only for brief moment of time.

  Trip…I fell into the wall. “What the hell?” I screamed.

  I looked around the dark lobby. Dozens of bodies lay still all over the floor. Were they asleep, or dead? Would I slip on blood? I could barely see.

  Chad and Marta who were a few feet ahead of me turned around. “You okay?” Chad asked.

  “Uh, yeah, but…”

  “We’ll explain later. We got to show you the top floor,” Marta said. “Here, hold onto my arm. Chad and I are not the only ones to thank.”

  “What do you mean? Your brother cut and ran, right? Jun and his parents are being questioned? Maybe even dead…”?

  “Oh God, I sure hope not. But yes. There’s one more. She’s your student. We had no choice but to let her tag along. She followed us to your grandfather’s farm,” Chad said.

  “Who? Gloria?”

  “Gloria? She told us to call her Justine. Is her name Gloria? It doesn’t really matter. Chad and I think she’s a real bitch. She held us at gun point while we were loading up my work SUV with your grandfather’s weapons. Not the best impression, but the bitch is starting to grow on us. She’s also a genius, maybe an evil genius, but she’s helping us. She makes Jun look like a toddler behind the computer. It was her idea to grab these smoke bombs your grandpa had. She also knew what the vials in his weapon chamber would do. Together, the smoke bombs and the vials silently, odorlessly, and instantly killed off every one of these Peacekeepers. She began with smoking out the pack of soldiers outside of the building, and then the first floor, and so on and so on. Like a game of dominoes. That’s why there are seventy or eighty stiffs laying all over the place,” Marta said.

  “So that’s what those vials were for. I never knew. George, God rest his soul, thought of everything.”

  “He sure did. Wish I had someone like that who raised me. But at least I got Chad. Anyway, Justine also snagged George’s gas mask. She was the one who went into a poisoned building, turned off all of the lights, and then opened the windows. She knew that an hour of icy wind airing out the building would be enough for us to be safe. There’s more, much more.”

  Chad said, “Raphael, can you feel it? We’re going to beat the elites at their own game. When we get out of here, I mean out of Boston, we can start fresh and be free. You will be my best man. Marta and I promised each other that we would marry if we made it out alive.”

  “How about now? Before we’re all dead,” I said.

  Marta stopped climbing the stairs and turned around. “Keep it positive, Raphael. We saved your ass, remember? Don’t you want to know how we saved your ass?”

  “Yeah, I do. How’d you know where I was?”

  “We heard the blaring sirens and blow horns and naturally assumed they were for us. We ran out of the treatment center, but they all sped by. That’s when we knew you had to be behind it all. We followed them in case you needed some help, and then we saw you and that woman take off.”

  “That’s Jaxie, the Eastcoast Patriot.”

  “Kinda figured. We hope to meet her. Once you took off in your getaway cab, we walked back in the building and did some exploring. You gave us the perfect distraction.”

  We continued to climb. Chad and Marta had not huffed or puffed at all. I suddenly felt every bit of my forty-three years. We finally made it to the top floor of the building. Despite the exercise, I still froze. At least the wind wasn’t cutting through me. I heard a crackle in my ear. My earpiece still worked. I motioned for Chad and Marta to stop.

  “Hello. B
rick? Is that you? Slow down. My mic isn’t working that well…”

  “Raphael,” Brick said through the mic, “these things don’t last forever. Soon they will lose their charge. So listen up before our conversation goes dead. Jaxie was taken by Laurie’s driver. He took her into Cambridge, not the Boston home. We can’t get near the house, not alive anyway. It’s on a street called Gallagher. It’s the only house on the block being guarded by an army right now. Laurie isn’t even there. He’s ….”

  “Brick?”

  Static and then I heard him. “…TV. My dad isn’t answering his phone or his mic.”

  “Well, you said that the mics are losing their charge.” More static. “Brick?”

  Silence. I wasn’t even hearing static anymore. I guessed the mics lost their power, but I kept mine on in case.

  “Brick? That’s an Eastcoast Patriot?” Chad asked.

  “Yeah. And things don’t look too good.” I repeated the basics of our conversation and then asked, “What about Harper? Is she safe?”

  Chad opened the door on the top floor and directed me to follow. “Harper called me. By the way, she is a wealth of information. Good call on inducting her into the group.”

  “Yeah. I probably killed her. I should have left her alone.”

  “Maybe, but she wanted the risk. You are a dumb ass. Why didn’t you tell her that you love her?”

  “What’s the point? Soon we’ll be dead. But you’re right. I do love her. That’s why I didn’t tell her about the trip. I didn’t want to put her or any of you in danger. Apparently, none of you listen to me.”

  “And you don’t ask for help when you need it the most. Harper got scared. She couldn’t reach you, and only had one of your many numbers. Luckily, for you and all of us she called me. She wanted to come here.”

  “Please, Chad! I don’t want her to die. Hell, I don’t want any of us to die!” I shouted angrily. “She better not be here!”

  “She’s not. But she got spooked. A bunch of people with badges came looking for you at work. They questioned her and she played stupid. So far, so good. She left for Nashville yesterday. Some of her archeologist friends are there and she wanted to talk to them face to face. She’s safe. Don’t worry. There’s so much more we need to tell you.”

  We walked into an office the size of a high school gymnasium. Justine was at the end of the room typing away. I recognized her face from the soft glow of the computer screen. “Hi Justine or Gloria!” I yelled from the other side of the massive room.

  “Hi, Professor! Give me a minute to explain!” She went back to typing.

  “Harper better be in Nashville. No more surprises.” I said.

  “That’s where she said she was going. Honestly, I don’t know if she made it. She called me a second time. Sorry, I didn’t ask about her location. Her expertise was way more important.” Chad walked down a long hallway with Marta and me following him. “Your crown got her old archeological juices flowing. She didn’t have all of the answers, but said she’d get back to me.”

  “So Chad, what’s your point?”

  “She believes your crown and thousands of other ancient items were reported stolen back in 2003. Does the date ring any bells? Two years after 9-11-2001. I know you lost your dad back then. Our troops went down to Iraq to get the big, bad Saddam Hussein…”

  “Fast forward from conspiracy theory, please,” I said. “Am not in the mood.”

  “Okay, then. We went to Iraq for many reasons. Harper believes one of those reasons was to get the Treasure of Nineveh. Saddam kept inside of the Central Bank of Iraq.”

  “So America has the treasure?” I asked.

  “Official reports state that Hussein’s family beat the Americans to it, but no one is really sure. I mean, it’s an all-around inside job. Iraqi military left the doors open and then abandoned post. Maybe it’s the only reason we went down there, but I guess that doesn’t matter right now. Several crowns were part of the treasure, but no photographs. Harper believes your crown is one of them. But the crowns are only part of it. Six stone tablets were taken from that bank. They are here, Raphael. The tablets!”

  Marta then added, “There’s more! Did you know in 2015 ISIS completely destroyed the city of Nimrod. Do you know why?”

  “Because they wanted to erase history?”

  “Please, Raphael, much too simplistic. Don’t you see? There were six more stone tablets in that city. They belonged with the tablets from the bank. ISIS knew how valuable these tablets were to certain people. Twelve tablets made a complete set. Harper believes ISIS sold them off to the highest bidder. That might have been Laurie from day one. Or maybe he bought them later on. Can you believe it? They are right here this room!” Marta said with the kind of enthusiasm a child has when describing Disney World. The darkness, the dead, and a room filled with exhibits from the Middle East put me closer to the edge. Her excitement confused me.

  Marta and Chad led me through several displays of artifacts. The doctor had the enormous room set up like a mini-museum. All of his prized possessions were encased in glass. I was even closer to Justine. Was this a set-up? I must have stepped over another four or five bodies and I wanted to run away. I had to remind myself that Chad and Marta saved my life only hours ago. Justine, for whatever reason, was helping us instead of turning me into the Peacekeepers. Still, my guard was way up.

  Chad took out his phone and flashed the light from the screen onto the glass case which held the tablets. “It’s hard to see right now, but there’s twelve of these things. No one in the world of archeology is able to translate the inscriptions. Many believe it’s similar to cuneiform, but the language and culture of the tablets has never been confirmed.”

  “Chad, how do you know this?” I asked. “I mean, you’re smart, but c’mon. You knew the doctor collected this stuff?”

  “No, Raphael. My knowledge came from your girl Harper. She told me about the tablets before I even found them here! They somehow came up when she was researching your crown.”

  “Chad, Marta, I love you both, but please explain to me why I should care about these tablets? I’m lost in your knowledge. Enlighten me,” I said.

  “We will. We are. Harper has this theory. The tablets are not part of a written language. She believes they are diagrams. The first one starts with sets of chromosomes inside of a cell. Each picture seems to tell a story about genetic engineering. I can’t even begin to tell you the process. Harper couldn’t either. You will need to befriend the biology teacher for that info. Oh wait, you’re probably shit-canned now that the Dallas Peacekeepers are looking for you,” Chad said. Even in the dark I could see his gleaming toothy smile. “Bear with me, brother. Look at the sixth tablet. There’s a frame next to it. It’s labeled.” Chad flashed his phone at the tablet. Shirley Dunham.”

  “Your grandmother? What nerve!” I said in disbelief. “What does this mean? You were right? Shirley was like a missing piece on the DNA ladder? But for what? What was he building?”

  “Well, none of us know for sure, but Chad mentioned that his grandmother’s cells never died. If the doctor could somehow isolate the gene that kept them living and then patch it into someone else’s DNA, theoretically the recipient of the new DNA strand could live forever,” Marta said.

  “It’s possible!” yelled Justine from down the room. “CRISPR. They figured out how to do that decades ago. Laurie has it perfected. Be patient! I am almost done with my masterpiece. Keep filling him in.”

  Chad said, “The ultimate life-everlasting, fountain of youth.”

  “So the cells might never die, but what if the person was destroyed, you know, burned up or blown up?” I asked in response to all of the survivors in the fire of Boston Symphony Hall.

  “Ah, the ability to self-heal, at least to a degree. If the body is still somewhat intact, you know, not burnt to ashes or dipped in acid, then maybe it’s possible. The process to self-heal is spelled out on the next five tablets. Again, this stuff is way over my head.
”

  “Like a modern day vampire. My grandfather used to refer to the elite as vampires.”

  “Exactly. They feed off the young to keep on going,” Chad said and then walked to the end of the tablet display. “Look. This stone doesn’t have any cellular diagrams. It’s a depiction of a sacrifice.”

  I studied the tablet and said, “You’re right about everything. Jaxie just witnessed a child sacrifice only hours ago! They ate the child’s heart during the ceremony! Now I see why. Children have different stem cells, especially babies. In ancient times, Moloch worshipers sacrificed their first born babies to Moloch and were promised more fertility and prosperity in return. In modern times, the sacrifices were not needed. An injection would do the same job.”

  “Sounds like he wants to start a new world with a new species of humans,” Justine yelled, clearly injecting herself into the conversation. I was surprised at how she could even hear us. “Hey, did you or your Eastcoast Patriots get any footage of this ceremony you keep on talking about?”

  I watched her from the distance. There were at least seven radios piled onto the desk. She occasionally picked one up and mumbled something into the speaker.

  “Raphael,” Chad said, “she’s cool. For some reason she worships you. But then when I was your student, I worshipped you too. I still do in a way, not like God. You are a leader, a reluctant leader, but a leader nonetheless. Trust her. She’s not out to screw you over. C’mon, man, look around. She risked her life and killed all of these Peacekeepers to help us. Who else do we got? Dylan’s M.I.A. right now. Let’s not forget about Jun. You know we will never see him or his family again. Let’s face it, I want to be positive, but we all got one foot in our own graves. Maybe if Justine works her computer magic, she’ll get us out of this. Share with her, Raphael.”