Lauren paused, seeming to absorb this. “What kind of info was Matt supposed to give you?”
“Someone abducted the last missing child in the St. Marys investigation from the vehicle where he was with his parents. They found both parents charred in the car. I wanted Matt to send me an autopsy addendum, that is, documents showing the exact conditions of the murder of little Timothy’s parents. It was definitely a staged crime. The killer or killers disguised this double murder as an accident. They took the child out of the vehicle and then set it on fire. But the two adults were dead before the fire started. We have yet to find out how. The evidence available in the official autopsy didn’t mention anything about the murders.”
“You mean the official autopsy concluded the deaths were accidental?”
“Even better: the official autopsy didn’t conclude anything. The factors determining the conditions of the Pearson couple’s death simply disappeared into the 5d file!”
“All we have to do is try to contact Matt.”
“I’m afraid Matt’s definitely not reachable anywhere, Lauren.”
“So you’re fairly certain some of our leaders are involved.”
“I’m sure of it.”
“And you think they liquidated Matt.”
“I’m convinced they did.”
“Do you have a theory about the Pearsons’ deaths? I mean, why would they have had any interest in hiding things?”
“On the night of the ritual, I saw that witch turn into this thing before it was my turn. I can tell you for sure that the creature’s way of killing is different from that of an ordinary killer. Someone intentionally concealed the conditions of the Pearson assassination to hide the existence of this creature. Do you follow me, Lauren?”
“That does make sense,” she replied, sounding troubled.
“Then there was another fact that made me think. Supervisor Mullay contacted me personally while I was on a stakeout in the woods. I already thought that was strange. But when I told him about the documents classified before I’d even had a chance to look at them, he jerked me back into line. He said my mission was to find the children, not to solve the Pearsons’ death.”
“On the one hand, he wasn’t wrong, he was just following procedure. Do you think that Mullay . . . ?”
“I have no idea. Mullay is a supervisor. Senior officers do not under any circumstances contact agents in the field directly. Have you ever seen that happen?” he asked her.
“No, you’re right.”
“To sum up, assuming that some Bureau officials are involved in this affair, we can also add some Army generals to the mix. These soldiers have heavy equipment, such as the helicopters we saw. Even if those guys down there are independent professionals, a network of active military certainly contracted them. In other words, the Army is hiding behind this operation.”
“Given the scale of the technical means implemented, it seems likely,” she conceded.
“We need to determine the extent of these covert operations, Lauren. In other words, exactly how big is this dumpster fire?”
“I have a feeling we’re looking at a tiny bit of ice at the top of a monstrous iceberg immersed in an ocean of mud,” said Lauren.
“Supervisor Mullay almost certainly reassigned the St. Marys investigation to Agent Colin Andrews. I talked to him on the phone just before I took off. If it’s Andrews, it’ll be easier.”
“Easier?” she asked.
“Yes, you’ll contact him and get all the information out of him you can. Use your charms if you have to.”
“Manipulating Andrews won’t be unpleasant. I’m happy to try . . .” She gave him a cheeky smile.
“Do what you have to do; we need to know where we’re going. If he’s resumed the investigation, he’s surely gathered information we don’t have.”
A familiar feeling threatened to overcome Cooper. He paused and then continued.
“Our second objective is to understand why these scientists have such an interest in excavating these creatures, studying them, and transporting them by air. And above all, what threat do the creatures represent? We’ll have to study the translation tonight; it will surely answer some of our questions.”
A sharp pain interrupted him. He bent over, holding his stomach.
“Dammit,” Eliott moaned. “This shit is never going to leave me alone. Do you have a prepped syringe with you?”
Lauren took it out.
“Give me half the dose, just enough to make this thing understand.”
The sun gradually went down and eventually set on the silent forests. The scientific teams were still performing their laborious operations. Only their murmurs disturbed the quiet. They examined the immense bodies, lying immobile in their stone sarcophagi. They hesitated to take tissue samples but took measurements and photos from all angles.
Eliott was immersed in the translation, drinking coffee after coffee to stay awake. Lauren was also working on the sheets that poor Wilbur Ravenwood had written by hand. They continued to work by the light of their headlamps when the last rays of sunlight had disappeared behind the trees.
Later that night, Eliott called out to Lauren. “Listen to this,” he said, reading from the translation.
Thus, the Elders will rest underground for millions of years. Their long night will continue until life on the surface carries their vital substance; at that time, the opening rituals will begin, and the Sentinel will drink the precious blood, enriched with the supreme fluid of life, to open the doors of the crypts . . . The Awakening will then be at hand . . .
“How do you understand that?” Lauren asked.
“First, it tells us that the Sentinel opens the crypts’ doors: maybe that’s the creature’s function. It also tells us there are several crypts elsewhere. Then, that night, the witch performed an opening ritual that was not witchcraft. That young woman was a Sentinel. She was probably already a witch before this force possessed her.”
“You mean something turned her into one of those creatures?”
“Yes, it was some kind of cloud of black particles, very dense. I saw it when it left the woman to enter my body and make me what I am now. Listen to this part too.”
The Elder has thought well, and carefully planned the outcome of our endless night, oh my brothers . . . When we will be immersed in the oblivion of our lineage, deep in our tombs, life will have almost left our bodies . . . But on the surface, the black clouds will revive our eternal flame, and it will spread until we can finally emerge from our slumber . . . and rule again . . . For this, the Elder has thought well and planned carefully too, and he has generated the unique lineage of the Sentinel . . . a perfect creature in every aspect, which will be our vessel. From then on, the bearers of the essence of life, our human counterparts, will sacrifice themselves for our reign. Oh, my brothers, in this the Elder has thought well and has foreseen the return of our lineage, which shall not remain extinct.
“Who is this Elder?” Lauren asked.
“Probably one of their scholars—according to this text, he designed certain devices and even planned the return of these beings.”
“But who are they, Eliott?”
“I’m not sure, but what I’m reading in the translation suggests that they may be the source of life as we know it.”
“The source of life?”
“Yes, Lauren, the origin of all life on Earth.”
26
Caucasus Mountains, North Ossetia, Russia: November 10
Professor Meyer was pacing impatiently in the lobby of the modest Kesayevykh Hotel. Outside in the muddy streets, more horse-drawn farmers’ carts were going by than motor vehicles. These chaotic regions underwent unceasing conflict and constantly changing borders. Here, off-road drivers hired themselves out to transport people from valley to valley. They weren’t punctual like German taxis. In addition to Gustav Meyer, four other people also awaited the departure for Mamison Pass. Irwin Jamissen, a renowned neurobiologist from Sweden, was nervously leafing through a
two-month-old copy of the Washington Post. Sitting in a padded armchair visibly too soft for his massive physique, the French physicist Armand Lucas grumbled and wiggled to avoid disappearing between the opulent feather cushions. Leaning against the bar farther on, Italian astrophysicist Fernando Galliciano was sipping a mint gin and tonic and observing the whole room objectively. He seemed engrossed in internal calculations that focused on interdisciplinary relationships and their possible interplay among his colleagues gathered here. Finally, Sir Elton Alberry, a renowned London geopolitical expert, sat soberly on a wooden chair and leaned on a small round table. He ate a sparse breakfast while making perfectly modest gestures, displaying the natural detachment so characteristic of gentlemen from across the Channel.
Around 9:30 a.m., a big, shaggy man with black hair and a beard burst into the lobby and announced without greeting, “I taxi to Mamison Pass; you go there?”
He jabbered this to everyone in the room who might be interested, more precisely, the five scientists, who were the only people present.
In response, the five men stood up in unison and grabbed their luggage.
The driver, Slobodan, helped load the five scientists and their belongings into the off-road vehicle—a huge Hyundai. He then sat at the wheel and offered his passengers a unique smile, revealing alternating gold and enamel teeth. He turned the key and revved the diesel engine of the mechanical colossus. The vehicle headed down the main avenue and soon reached the mountain roads.
The five men actually had no clear idea of where they were headed. An anonymous letter had summoned them to participate in a secret meeting of crucial importance, since the subject was the fate of humanity. The thing that united the five scientists—apart from their high positions—was their membership in a Masonic society known as the Rosicrucians. They had received this mysterious summons under the seal of secrecy of the unified lodges. As for Professor Meyer, he had hedged his bets. in addition to belonging to the Rosicrucian Order, he was an initiate of the Order of the OTO, the Templars of the East. He justified his ambivalence by the need for balance, which he considered essential for a complete journey.
The mountain road twisted through the valleys nearly a hundred kilometers. It rose above the forested areas and crossed the passes and bare peaks. None of the passengers had spoken since the beginning of the trip. They all looked out the windows at the hostile landscape unfolding before their eyes, and not without some apprehension. A strong wind from the north gusted over the desert-like expanses. The vehicle, shaken by the fierce wind, set off on a trail that ran along the slopes of sparse vegetation. It followed this track for almost ten kilometers to reach an open plateau where the outlines of a massive edifice rose—an old but restored stone fortress.
The five scientists stepped out of the vehicle as it stopped under the arched entrance. Men in gray military coveralls approached with revolvers at their belts. They helped the visitors carry their luggage inside and guided them silently to the single rooms where they would stay. Comfort was minimal, though each room had a bathroom and a bookcase. The shelves contained numerous books dealing with research related to the work of each scientist. They had barely settled in when two other guards came knocking on their doors, one after the other. The five scholars followed the soldiers to a large room that seemed carved out of a gigantic block of anthracite marble. The room received light only from thin openings, like arrow slits, cut into the ceiling. In the middle of the room, in the shadows around a large black wooden table, sat five men dressed in military uniforms, each from different countries. They seemed to be awaiting the scientists’ arrival. The latter sat on chairs that had cards in front of them with their names written on them. When they all sat, one of the military men stood up and spoke.
“Welcome, gentlemen. I am General Griffin, an officer in the United States Army. You are probably wondering why you were invited to this meeting in such a remote, harsh environment.”
The scientists all nodded.
The general was clearly uneasy. He continued, “Well, I speak for all the senior military personnel around this table. I have to tell you that we ourselves have not received any more details than you have about the subject of this meeting.”
A murmur of disapproval arose from the scientists.
“What is the meaning of all of this?” Galliciano shouted.
“Is this a joke?” Armand Lucas spat out, exasperated.
“However,” the general tried to appease them, “if we all agreed to respond to this summons, it was because it was not foreign to our common objectives, don’t you think?”
“Our common objectives?” Lucas exclaimed.
Professor Meyer stood up to speak.
“Come now, gentlemen, we know very well what brings us together today. It is because we all share the same secret, the oldest and greatest of secrets—Hominum primus.”
At these words, a deathly silence fell over the table.
A thumping sound suddenly rose at the back of the room—a metallic scraping. A door had just opened in one of the walls.
Then four tall, dark silhouettes emerged from the shadows. They seemed to float above the ground as they moved. A veil of black particles swirled around them, almost completely concealing them from view. The four shadows came to take their place on high seats—actually thrones—set up at a distance from the large table. They seemed to bow as they passed close to the men. The men, some of whom were stunned, returned their greeting by nodding, while others clearly expressed terror.
Professor Meyer had remained standing. He greeted them with veneration and repeated half aloud, fascinated, “Hominum primus . . . whose humble servants we all are here.”
The four colossal beings now sat motionless in their seats, gazing at the human assembly with close attention. Their eyes were nothing but two openings into inexpressive voids. Yet the men sitting around the table felt under intense scrutiny, penetrated by a wave of energy digging into their minds.
One of the four creatures made of darkness raised a vaporous hand and spoke. “We appreciate that you have agreed to gather here.”
The voice was so low and deep that it seemed to rise from the depths of the mountain.
The being continued. “The purpose of this meeting is to announce the dawn of the new order that will govern man in the near future. Each of you has acted wisely on your own and honored our secret. It is now time to carry out the actions planned on the different continents, within your brotherhoods and military organizations.”
Professor Meyer quickly raised his hand. “I am now able to make significant modifications to the large extractors. Their production of vital fluid will nearly double.”
The shadowy being looked at Gustav Meyer with interest. “Perfect, Professor Meyer; we knew your work would bear fruit. When do you think you can start?”
“I am entirely at your disposal, as of today if you wish. You tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
The creature waved vaguely toward one of its fellow creatures, which spoke. “All of that is fine, Professor, but the issue of extractors remains secondary to our major objectives. General Griffin . . .” The thing invited the soldier to speak with a curt gesture.
The general rose and cleared his throat. “We have uncovered two more crypts and secured all the opened ones. The excavations are continuing, and we are currently airlifting your counterparts to your central base, where the construction of the large extractors will soon be complete.”
“What about the breakdown process, General?” the thing asked.
The soldier turned to one of his peers, who stood up to answer.
“I am General Oubaiev, of the Russian armed forces.”
Everyone greeted him briefly.
“We have finished organizing the computer and logistics network of the hacker units that will help initiate the collapse. Now we are just waiting for your order to start the viral process.”
The creature seemed to display satisfaction. “Very good; we will give t
he order within two days. General Oubaiev, have your units ready.”
The stunned scientists had no knowledge of the imminent start of the action plan, and furthermore, none of them really knew what it would involve. A man in uniform went from chair to chair, handing out documents to the academics. These described the stages of the global economic collapse about to occur. The scale of the deployed resources dumfounded the scientists, as did the technical sophistication with which the hackers would operate. Only then did they realize they were setting in motion the third, and surely the final, global conflict here. Discussions concerning the plans to attack the economic system continued at length among the scientists.
Then yet another creature took over and addressed General Griffin. Its voice was only a muffled rumble that vibrated the chairs and the guts of those who sat in them.
“General Griffin,” the entity thundered, “it seems you have failed to share some facts with us.” Obviously, something had not gone as planned on the American military side. The light in the already gloomy room dimmed abruptly.
The general suddenly turned as pale as the Caucasus Mountain snows. He clutched his throat and seemed unable to answer.
“Do you know what kind of information I’m referring to? Perhaps you hoped your mistake would go unnoticed.” Clearly requiring no response, the creature continued its accusation. “We recently lost our Sentinel on your soil in a Pennsylvania forest. Did this information reach you, General?”
“I didn’t . . .” Griffin stammered, “I didn’t know how important you thought this kind of subordinate was.”
The shadowy being emitted a bleak growl. “Subordinate? The Sentinel lineage is our most precious work!”
“I didn’t know,” repeated the general with a pitiful look.
“We were able to identify the one chosen after Isolde. Find this human named Eliott Cooper, General Griffin, by any means at your disposal. Find him as soon as possible!”
The creature made an effort to contain the power its anger generated. It managed to spare the general’s life. The room’s lighting returned to its normal intensity.
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