by R. D. Brady
Vanessa bowed, standing across from her. “Yes, priestess.”
The priestess had left instructions to not be bothered last night unless there was a problem with the mission. This morning when she awoke, the lack of disturbance had added to the beauty of the day. Her plan was rolling out perfectly.
“How did Noriko do?”
“Well.”
The priestess arched an eyebrow. “I was not expecting her to return.”
Vanessa glanced down. “It was unavoidable. My man almost had her at one point, but one of the cats came to her rescue.”
The priestess raised an eyebrow. “A cat?”
Vanessa nodded.
The priestess waved her hand. “No matter, I suppose. There will be time for that. You’re dismissed.”
Vanessa turned to go, then turned back. “The Fallen—does that mission stay the same?”
The priestess smiled. “Right up until the end.”
“And the ring bearer? What should we do about her?”
“She won’t be able to stop us, not in time. Besides, we just helped her out.” The priestess picked up her glass of juice and sat back in her chair with a contented smile. “She thinks of us as allies.”
And she has no idea what’s coming.
CHAPTER 109
Baltimore, Maryland
Two Days Later
Laney sat on her living room floor with Cleo curled up by her side. It had been an exhausting forty-eight hours, but she couldn’t sleep. They had rounded up the animals on the islands, and all had been placed in quarantine, where they would stay until they could be brought back into the US.
The animals they’d rescued in Arizona had already been brought back to Baltimore. Henry had arranged for the construction of a temporary facility for them at an old farm, but it wouldn’t be ready for a few weeks; until then, they had been able to rent out space at a small zoo.
Laney ran a hand through her friend’s pelt, amazed at what she’d learned when she’d read through the files Danny had obtained. Was it possible? Was Cleo’s brain more human-like than leopard-like? And were the rest of the animals the same?
No one was sure what exactly the future of those animals would be. The US government had agreed that the Chandler Group could keep them for now, but custody was still a matter of debate. If Dom was right, they were an entirely new species. And figuring out the best way forward was going to take careful thought.
Laney was nowhere near capable of that right now.
She heard the front door open and close, and then Jake appeared in the doorway. He smiled gently. “Hey, you two okay?” he asked.
Laney stifled a yawn. Her body was ready to sleep, but her mind wasn’t there yet. “Yeah, but I’m not quite ready to let her out of my sight.”
Jake sat on the floor on Laney’s other side. “Jen’s the same way with Lou. Lou’s protesting, but you can tell she wants Jen there too.”
Lou had been really shaken up. Rolly, Jen, Zach, and Danny had been attached to her side ever since she got back, and Dom insisted they all stay at his place for a few days. After taking care of herself for so long, Lou seemed shocked to see how important she was in so many people’s lives.
But Laney could see the haunted look on her face. Rolly had a similar one. Neither of them was going to be bouncing back from this. Her Uncle Patrick had already arranged for them to speak with some people to help them sort through what had happened—when they were ready.
Laney leaned her head onto Jake’s shoulder. “I can’t believe we almost lost them. That was too close, Jake.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, but it’s all right now. Don’t go visiting the world of what-ifs. It’s a cruel place.”
Laney nodded, but it was hard. She still shook when she thought about Cleo and Lou on that island. They never would have been able to save them. If not for Noriko and her friends…
“Have you heard anything else from Honu Keiki?” Jake asked.
“No.” Aaliyah had called her when they were in the air on the way back to Hawaii. She explained it was the priestess who had sent help to Lelu Island. But Aaliyah had seemed just as in the dark as Laney as to why they hadn’t told her they were sending help.
Jake rested his hand on Laney’s thigh. “Well, I guess you’ve made some new friends.”
“Yeah,” Laney said softly, looking away.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right. How did the priestess know to send them to Lelu? They would have had to have left at the same time we left Hawaii—or even earlier. But we didn’t even know where we were heading at that point.”
Jake frowned. “You think they had something to do with it?”
“Yes.” She paused. “No. I don’t know. If they did, why take out all of the Katzes’ people? I just don’t get it.”
“Well, they are a secretive group.”
“True. I guess I can’t expect too much. I should just be happy.”
“And yet you’re not.”
Laney frowned. All the bad guys were dead. Lou, Cleo, and the other cats were safe. It was over, and yet she still felt unsettled. “We know we got all the members of the Katzes’ group. Henry’s people traced all their correspondence. That threat is gone.”
“So what is it?”
“It’s something Aaliyah said. She couldn’t imagine how Erica and Derek would be able to subdue a Fallen. They weren’t trained for anything like that. And you know how difficult it is. So how did they manage it?”
Jake was quiet for a moment. “You think there’s still another group out there targeting the Fallen?”
Weariness settled over Laney. “I don’t know. I’m probably just grasping at ghosts. We’re usually at DEFCON 1, and I guess I haven’t quite settled into the idea that it’s over.”
Jake scooted forward so he could look Laney in the eyes. “You know, Laney, one of the things I’ve learned is that we can’t logic our way out of everything. And sometimes, we need to trust more than words on paper when it comes to figuring things out.” He paused. “On the other hand, you did manage to stop the sacrifice.”
Laney’s head snapped back. The sacrifice. No.
“What is it?’ Jake asked.
Laney spoke each word slowly. “What if we didn’t stop the sacrifice?”
“But you did. The cats, Lou—they’re all safe.”
“But blood was still spilled. The blood of the companion killers.”
“But that’s not—I mean, they weren’t sacrifices.”
Laney stood up and paced the room. “This whole thing has been weird from the start. In all the situations we’ve dealt with, at the end, I knew why everything happened the way it did. Even if the reasoning was out there, I understood it. But here? I feel like we still only have half the story.”
She stopped and looked at Jake. “The Katzes couldn’t take down Fallen. They weren’t trained for it. The Honu Keiki left for Lelu before we even knew they were going there. And at the end of the day, over two dozen people lost their lives on both of the islands—a nice large sacrifice.”
Jake got to his feet and stood in front of her. “You don’t think this is over.”
A chill crawled over Laney. “No. I think it’s just beginning.”
Fact or Fiction?
All of the books in the Belial series come from facts I’ve picked up over the years—facts I string together in a way that, I hope, makes for a good story. So here are some of the areas that might be of interest to you. Some are big components of the story and some just passing details. Facts are placed here in no particular order.
Animal Hybridization Experiments. All experiments in the book are real: breast milk-producing cows, mice with an ear on their back, even the Harvard professor who wants to cross Homo sapien and Neanderthal DNA. The only fictitious experiment is the one that created Cleo. So yes, Cleo is the least horrifying experiment mentioned.
As mentioned in The Belial Search, th
ere have been experiments that allowed people to create mice with human brains. The mice demonstrated a higher intelligence compared with the mice brain rodents. And the animals were killed afterward.
Family Annihilator. The information on family annihilators is accurate. There are offenders who kill their entire family out of the blue. Almost always the reason involves a perceived loss of control over the members of their family.
Plum Island and the Montauk Monster. The history of Plum Island is accurate. There was a facility on Plum Island in the Long Island Sound. It began researching animal diseases. In the last two decades of its operation, it was the site of more than a few controversies including both the Lyme disease outbreak as well as the West Nile virus outbreak. A number of animals washed up on the shores, including four creatures on Long Island and in Connecticut that were unusual in their appearance. And all four creatures disappeared before they could be grabbed.
Native American Re-Education Schools. Both Canada and the US had re-education schools for Native Americans. The goal of the schools was to make the students less Indian.
Races. Edgar Cayce did say that Lemuria held all of the races and that when it submerged, the races scattered across the globe. He also said that people of African descent went to Mexico, where the Olmec heads were later discovered. One of the other places was also Melanesia. And as a small little note of something I just thought was cool, dark-skinned Melanesians do have a genetic trait of white blond hair. It’s incredibly unique.
Lemuria. All of the information about Lemuria in The Belial Search comes from real sources on the legendary ancient civilization. There are tons of facts that litter this book, but as a brief review, these are the facts that I used to create the story: Lemuria was an archipelago that stretched across the Pacific; the discussion of the various lands that were found are accurate; and the Lemurians were allegedly pacifists interested in improving the mind over developing material wealth.
Edgar Cayce even supported that view, arguing that there were fewer life readings about former Lemurians because they had less karmic debt. Other individuals besides Cayce have mentioned Lemuria, including James Churchward, who did claim that he was shown ancient texts on the legendary civilization which he spent eight years learning to read. Madame Blavatsky, the theosophist, also discussed Lemuria in The Secret Doctrine.
The proof for Lemuria is also accurate. There are indeed two long underwater ridges of land that were above the water prior to the last ice age. The Nazca Ridge and the Sala y Gomez Ridge are located where Lemuria was said to be.
The Yonaguni monuments off the coast of Okinawa are also real. And academics still debate where the structures are man-made or natural.
Project Paperclip and the Stargate Project. Both projects really existed. Through Project Paperclip, the United States provided refuge for Nazi scientists who in turned worked in many areas of high-level research such as biological engineering and the space program. The Stargate Project was a CIA-sponsored project at Stanford that was designed to determine the efficacy of psychic ability.
Nan Madol. Nan Madol is an actual location. As described in The Belial Search, it consists of ninety-two artificial islands built on coral reefs back in antiquity. There is an almost identical ruin three miles from Pohnpei on the small island of Lelu. As mentioned in the book, the two islands share the honor of being located where the storms are created, and therefore they are indeed protected from most of the damaging storms that wreak havoc on the Pacific.
The link between Nan Madol and Lemuria was not my creation. It came from the book The Lost Civilization of Lemuria by Frank Joseph. In the book, Joseph makes the claim that the two structures worked in tandem to disrupt storms in the Pacific in order to protect the Banaue Rice terraces.
Honu Keiki. The words are real but the group is fictitious, as is the island they lived on. Honu means turtle. And Keiki means child. Other than that, everything, including the island of Malama, is fictitious.
Mummies on the Gobi. I remember reading about the discovery of Caucasian mummies in ancient China, years ago. I have been fascinated by them ever since. Here’s a link to one of the articles on the discovery. No on is really sure where they came from. The pictures of the mummies are unreal, especially the one labeled the Beauty of Loulan. She is absolutely beautiful.
Easter Island. All of the information provided in the text on Easter Island is accurate except for anything related to the murders. Easter Island does have a very violent past involving slavers. There are nine hundred Moai statues strewn across the island, and one theory about their use involves electromagnetism. Easter Island was declared an emergency landing site for the space shuttle and therefore the little tiny island does have a very long runway. Tablets were found on Easter Island that were written in a language that bears an uncanny resemblance to the language of both the Cuna Indians of Panama and the writing of the ancient city of Mohenjo Daro.
The Lemurs of Madagascar. The lemurs of Madagascar were named after the large continent that zoologist Phillip Sclater believed once existed in the region. He believed the animals were isolated once this fabled continent sank.
Suffragettes and Native Americans. The United States suffragette movement was in part inspired by the power structure of early Native American groups. Women in those tribes had a more equal role to play in the tribe than is conventionally understood.
Megadroughts and all Environmental Disaster Information. Sadly, all of the information on the state of the environment is accurate. NASA is projecting megadroughts for the western half of the United States, the two percent threshold information is accurate, and scientists have recently suggested that by 2100 parts of the Persian Gulf will be too hot to live in and that winters will be snowier and summers drier.
Honestly, I didn’t really have to do much research on the environment. Every time I read the news, there was some new study with dire warnings. We really need to take better care of our planet.
Nikola Tesla, Mark Twain, and Controlling the Weather. Honestly, I think Nikola Tesla is one of the most fascinating people in recent history. He and Mark Twain were in fact friends, and Twain would occasionally swing by his laboratory. Tesla did attempt to build the Wardenclyffe Tower out on Long Island. Part of the goal, beyond providing wireless electricity, was to stop hurricanes before they became too powerful. Scientists today have acknowledged that the idea of disrupting storms is possible and that Tesla may have indeed been right.
Magna Mater. One of the world’s oldest religions is called the Magna Mater, the Great Mother. The religion honored a female deity viewed as being the creator and protector of the world. Romans borrowed the religion, adapting it to a god named Cybele. And the Great Mother is alleged to have been a friend to the animals and is pictured with lions and leopards as her guardians.
Where do we go from here?
I keep trying to figure out where this series ends because it has to end, right? All good things and all that. But I haven't quite reached the end of ideas yet. Once I struggle to make a story work, then I'll know it's time. Having said that, there are at least three more books coming in the Belial Series. Hope you stay around for the ride!
The Belial Guard (Summer 2016)
The Belial Warrior (Winter 2016)
Undetermined Name or Publication Date
In the meantime, if you haven't had the chance, pick up a copy of Hominid or Runs Deep. And I will also have a sci-fi novel coming out this summer as well called A.L.I.V.E.
Keep Reading for an Excerpt from R.D. Brady's Hominid
Hominid
Def., any of a family (Hominidae) of erect bipedal primate mammals that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms and in some recent classifications the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan
- Webster's Dictionary, 2015
"Well now, you'll be amazed when I tell you that I am sure they exist."
Jane Goodall, Animal Rights Activist, NPR Talk of the Nation, September 27, 2002<
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PROLOGUE
Twenty Years Ago
Rogue River National Park, Oregon
Her heart pounding, eight-year-old Tess Brannick’s eyes flew open. She sat up, pulled her dark hair out of her eyes, and strained to listen.
There was nothing. And there should have been something. She and her twin brother were in a tent on the southeastern end of Rogue River National Park. She should hear crickets, owls, animals skittering through the surrounding forest.
But there was only silence.
“What is it?” Pax asked, turning on the lantern. His bright blue eyes reflected his fear.
Even though they were twins, and separated by only four minutes, Tess had always been the big sister looking out for Pax. Tonight was no different.
She was shaking inside, but she tried to keep her voice calm. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”
A snarl sounded from somewhere outside the tent, followed by a series of yells—her dad.
Pax latched on to her hand.
Before the trip, Tess and Pax had begged their dad to let them sleep in their own tent. He’d finally relented. Now Tess really wished he hadn’t.
“Tess?” Pax asked.
A shotgun blast sounded from close by. Tess jumped. “Get out of your bag,” she hissed. They both squirmed out of their sleeping bags, and Tess wrapped her arms around her brother.
When the tent flap flew open, they both screamed.
Their dad rushed in, his shotgun cradled in his arms. Gene Brannick was always calm and ready for a laugh. But now, his blue eyes were deadly serious, and no smile crossed his lips. As he crouched down in front of the twins, Tess could smell his sweat.