The Rozabal Line

by Ashwin Sanghi

  ‘Ah. So the Illuminati has always had access to Castro’s secrets?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes.’

  ‘Your Eminence, you seem to know virtually everything. I, your brother in the Crux Decussata Permuta, have never questioned your directions or motivations—but this seems to be asking me to go beyond the line of duty.’

  ‘Let me share a little secret with you. In the immediate aftermath of the death of Jesus, Mary Magdalene attempted to take over the leadership of the Christian faith by telling the other disciples that Jesus had communicated several matters to her alone. Quite naturally, both St Peter and St Andrew were not in agreement with her.’

  ‘That is common knowledge.’

  ‘Yes, but the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion took it upon themselves to protect the bloodline of Mary Magdalene and protect the powers of the sacred feminine. It was precisely to counter the Priory that the Crux Decussata Permuta was created. As you know, crux is Latin for cross, decussata implies the X-shaped cross, and permuta means inverted. As you also know, St Peter was crucified in Rome upon an inverted cross and St Andrew was crucified in Achaea on an X-shaped cross. The loyalists of Andrew and Peter decided that they needed to protect the Catholic Church from the pagan and Gnostic influences of Mary Magdalene and her continuing bloodline and created a secret society for this purpose. This would be called the Crux Decussata Permuta, of which you and I are loyal members.’

  ‘Yes. But we never get to meet other members,’ said Manning.

  ‘That’s because you and I are the last surviving members of the Crux Decussata Permuta,’ said Valerio.

  ‘There’s no one else?’

  ‘One died just recently. He also wore the pendant secretly.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The Sheikh.’

  Jerusalem, 1192

  The great Saladin had become Master of Jerusalem in 1187. Pope Gregory VIII reacted hastily and commissioned Richard the Lionheart to mount the third Crusade to recapture the holy city. Richard marched on Jerusalem in 1192 but he and his army were plagued by fever, hunger and thirst.

  He appealed to Saladin to provide him with food and water. And Saladin obliged, but on one condition. Richard would need to convert to Islam.

  A negotiated settlement was eventually reached. Five of Richard’s ten men belonging to the secret Crux Decussata Permuta offered themselves for conversion.201 They would allow themselves to be converted instead of Richard. Deal struck, Saladin remembered his duty to help the needy as a devout Muslim. He sent frozen snow and fresh fruit to revive Richard and his men.

  Richard eventually sued for a truce with Saladin under which Christian pilgrims would be free to visit the holy city without being troubled in any way by Saladin’s Muslim brothers. They would be watched over by five Muslim guards—the members of the Crux Decussata Permuta who had been converted from Christianity to Islam.

  The five converted Muslim men in Saladin’s camp and the remaining five Christian men in Richard’s camp continued to operate the Crux Decussata Permuta secretly. It suited them to have a secret organisation with a foot in both camps, Islam and Christianity.

  Islamic conquests encouraged devout behaviour among Christians and vice versa. Muslims and Christians alike saw each other as lesser evils than the ‘sins’ of paganism, polytheism, abortion, and homosexuality. A secret alliance between Chris-tianity and Islam had matured.

  ‘So who exactly was the Sheikh? Osama-bin-Laden?’ asked Manning.

  ‘No. Osama was a creation of the Illuminati. He created world terror and made the Illuminati ever more powerful around the world—in positions of government, banking, business, military and politics. He gave the Americans an excuse to police the world.’

  ‘And the Sheikh?’

  ‘The Sheikh was descended from the original five members of the Crux Decussata Permuta who had been converted to Islam by Saladin. All along, he tried to cooperate with us . . . unfortunately, his Master’s cooperation was always with the Illuminati.’

  His Eminence did not notice the two ropes snaking around his ankles. They suddenly tightened into two nooses and he was yanked off his feet. The ropes had been individually pulled from a terrace above. In less than a minute, he was dangling upside down. Each ankle was firmly in a noose and his legs were spread apart because of the distance between the two ropes. Seen from a distance, his body looked like an ‘X’, but upside down, feet up, arms down. Crux Decussata Permuta.

  The single sniper bullet wound to his genitals caused immense bleeding and by the time Manning was able to get help and bring his body down, he had already bled to death.

  Swakilki had avenged the death of her mother.

  Chapter Thirty

  Maryland, USA, 2012

  Stephen Elliot, Prithviraj Singh and Zvi Yatom were back in the darkened room of padded velvet. The Grand Master, Alissa Elliot, spoke: ‘Achaita, divine revelation. Rome will pass away, Jerusalem will burn and the reason will become broken. And my Law, the Law of Zión, will be acclaimed by the whole of humanity.’

  ‘Achaita!’ said all those gathered in unison.

  ‘Oh illuminated, brothers and sisters, see what we have before us!’

  ‘Achaita!’

  The Grand Master, dressed in scarlet robes, held the knife close to Vincent’s heart. Vincent had been placed on the large black granite slab in the centre of the room.

  ‘Elevate and proclaim the Light! The last of the Crux Decussata Permuta is finished. We have created an abundance of wealth by keeping the world in fear! Achaita!’

  ‘The truth must emerge. And the Church must crumble.’

  ‘Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión! Zión!’

  As Prithviraj saw the Grand Master’s golden knife aimed at Vincent’s heart, he saw a vision of Pandit Ramgopal Prasad Sharma flash before him.

  ‘Son. The brother who died, took on your karma to save you. You were destined to die and he died for you. He has died or killed for you in previous lifetimes too. He has a karmic relationship with you . . .’

  ‘Find the priest, my son . . .’

  ‘And son . . . that brother, who died for you . . . You will know when you have to return the favour . . .’

  The next few seconds were a blur. Prithviraj pulled out his .357 Magnum pistol and took a shot at the Grand Master. The consequences came in slow motion.

  Because of the dark robes of the Grand Master, the blood was not visible to the others in the room. They were still chanting, ‘Zión! Zión! Zión!’

  In the din, no one heard the shot. The Grand Master’s right hand, which was holding the golden knife, fell limply to one side while the knife fell on the granite platform upon which Vincent had been tied down. Prithviraj lunged forward, grabbed the knife and desperately started cutting loose the ropes that held Vincent prisoner.

  ‘Run!’ he shouted. Vincent was dazed. He remained frozen. Prithviraj used the knife to give Vincent a deep gash on his thigh, just to shock him into action. ‘Run!’ he shouted again.

  This time Vincent got up and started moving towards the passageway. But it was too late. Stephen Elliot, Zvi Yatom and countless others had pulled out their guns and were shooting madly towards the table. Prithviraj went down in a flurry of bullets.

  The karmic debt had been settled. ‘And son . . . that brother, who died for you . . . You will know when you have to return the favour . . .’

  The confusion that followed bought Vincent some time. There were thirteen passageways. He blindly ran into one of them.

  Vincent ran madly through the passage that led to an equally dark room. He froze when he looked at the sight before him.

  In front of him was a clear glass pane with a ‘shop window’ display behind it, dimly illuminated. The rest of the room was dark so as to ensure that the entire focus was on the window. Behind the window was a corpse. The corpse had been mounted for display on an upside-down cross. The body was that of Boutros Ahmad, Ghalib’s poi
nt man for South America.

  The room had two exits other than the central passageway through which Vincent had entered. One was to the left of the display window and the other to the right of it. Vincent dashed through the left exit. It took him through a curving passage, equally dark and forbidding.

  Within thirty seconds, he found himself in another room, identical to the first. The macabre display in this room was even more ghoulish. Behind the glass pane was a corpse that had been arranged neatly on a bed. Prior to placing the body on the bed, it was evident that the body had been fried in oil. It belonged to Yahya Ali, Ghalib’s trusted lieutenant in Chechnya.

  Vincent’s instincts were now on full alert. He could hear voices. The panic caused by the shooting of the Grand Master and the retaliation on Prithviraj had taken the attention off him, at least for a few moments. He had to find a way out of this nightmarish catacomb.

  The third, fourth and fifth rooms were no better. In one of them, Vincent found the body of Yaqub Islamuddin, Ghalib’s Jemaah Islamiyah operative in Jakarta, arranged on a chair with his head placed separately and neatly on a table nearby. The next room contained Kader Al-Zarqawi, Ghalib’s head of Iraq operations, crucified on an ‘X’-type cross. He had not been nailed, but tied to it with his legs prised apart, causing a much slower and more painful death.

  Vincent was going mad. He wanted to vomit. He doubled up to puke and felt like he was expelling all his guts. As he came up for air, he was hit by an even more ghastly sight. In front of him lay the body of Shamoon Idris, Ghalib’s key operative of the Islamic Jehad Council in North America, sawed in half with the battleaxe still positioned in his torso. The aim—to recreate an accurate visual description of the manner of death—had been achieved perfectly.

  Vincent screamed in terror as he fled through the passageway. It was of no use. The next room contained the crumpled corpse of Fouad al-Noor, head of the group’s activities in England. He lay crumpled in a corner with a gaping wound in his side. He had been pierced with a lance.

  By now Vincent had reached a point of no return. Terror had made him numb. He observed the body of Faris Kadeer, Ghalib’s chief of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, hanging upside down on a cross with a spear having split open his thigh. The sight of Ataullah al-Liby, Ghalib’s kingpin of the French Intifada, was unbearable. His body lay on a stone platform with a spear through his stomach, guts spilling out across the stone.

  The display of the corpse of Tau’am Zin Hassan, Ghalib’s manager within the Darul Islam in Malaysia, was positively benign, when compared with the others. His display had been organised in a manner such that he was seated on a chair, clutching a dart that had pierced his heart.

  Vincent lost count of the number of dungeon-like rooms he had run through. The sight that greeted him in this one was the worst of all. Bin Fadan, Ghalib’s Jaish-e-Mohammed representative in India, had been arranged so that he was clutching his own skin. He had been skinned alive.

  Vincent felt faint. What was this place? How could they do this to human beings? He looked up and saw the body of Adil Afrose, Ghalib’s chief commander of the Australia operation. His body lay separated from his legs, which had been viciously broken. He had then been clubbed and stoned to death, evidenced by a massive rupture to his skull.

  The next room contained the lifeless body of Yehuda, trusted aide to Ghalib, hanging from a noose around his neck. Vincent ran through the exit and reached the thirteenth room. It contained the body of Ghalib. He lay crucified on a Roman cross, with a crown of thorns on his head.202

  The Illuminati had made sure their grand plan would never be revealed to the world. The Lashkar-e-Talatashar was dead. The anti-Christ and his flock of twelve were dead. Vincent finally passed out.

  Rome, A.D. 67

  Peter lay dead on an upside-down cross. He had journeyed through Gaul and Britain before being imprisoned for nine months at Mamertime. He was crucified on the orders of the Roman Emperor at Nero’s circus. He had requested that it be done upside down so that the manner of his death would not be the same as that of his master.203

  Patras, Achaea, A.D. 69

  Andrew, the first apostle of Christ, had travelled through southern Russia, Byzantium, Thrace, Macedonia and Greece. In Greece, he was crucified in Sebastopolis by Aegeas, the governor of the Edessences, on his refusal to denounce Christ. The cross that he was crucified on was an ‘X’, not a ‘T’. He was not nailed but corded to the cross, causing much more suffering than normal. He died after three days.204

  Jerusalem, Judea, A.D. 44

  James had returned to Jerusalem after travelling to Spain and Portugal. On 2 January, A.D. 40, the Virgin Mary had appeared before him on the bank of the Ebro River. James had then returned to Judea, where he had been decapitated by King Herod Agrippa I himself.

  Patmos, Turkey, A.D. 110

  John preached in Russia and Iran until he was exiled to Patmos, off the Turkish coast. He died in his bed at an old age, having worn out his body. He had been plunged into boiling hot oil by the Romans but had somehow survived the ordeal.

  Hieropolis, Phrygia, A.D. 66

  Philip had succeeded in saving the life of the Roman proconsul’s sick wife. This miracle had made her convert to Christianity. The political fallout was the wrath of the proconsul who told Philip, ‘Denounce Jesus and save your life.’ Philip answered, ‘Accept Jesus and save your soul.’ He was pierced through the thigh and then crucified upside down till he died. His daughters were killed along with him in the same manner.

  Albana, Armenia, A.D. 68

  Bartholomew had journeyed through Turkey, Iran, India, Ethiopia, Persia and Egypt before reaching Armenia. Here he was ‘skinned alive’ and subsequently beheaded.

  Mylapore, south India, A.D. 72

  Thomas Didymus was praying in the woods outside his hermitage when a hunter who belonged to the Govi clan aimed his poisoned dart and hit Thomas. The wound was critical and St Thomas died on 21 December, A.D. 72.

  Ethiopia, A.D. 60

  Matthew spent twenty-three years preaching in Ethiopia, Macedonia, Persia and Egypt. His death was ordered by King Hircanus, who sent his men to run a spear through him.

  Ardaze, Armenia, A.D. 65

  Thaddaeus had spent many years preaching in Mesopotamia. He was killed under Abgarus, king of the Edessenes in Berytus, by a lance through his side.

  Caistor, Lincolnshire, Britain, A.D. 61

  Simon Zelotes spent his life in Mauritania and Africa before he was martyred in Britain by a halberd, a battleaxe on a long pike handle. He was sawn in half.

  Jerusalem, A.D. 33

  The ‘treasurer’ of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, flung the thirty pieces of silver that he had accepted for betraying Jesus at the feet of the Sanhedrin. He then went out and hanged himself. The money was not accepted by the priests because it was ‘blood money’ and was, instead, used to purchase a plot of land for burying the poor.

  Jerusalem, A.D. 62

  James the Just was killed because he did not deny the Lord. Ananias, the high priest, tried to force James to deny the Lord, but when he would not, he was thrown off the pinnacle of the temple, which caused his legs to break. He was then clubbed to death.

  Alexandria, Egypt, A.D. 61

  Mark, the evangelist interpreter of Peter, was dragged through the city of Alexandria for more than two days. His flesh was entirely raked off and hung from his body like rags. He died from loss of blood.

  Rome, A.D. 67

  Paul, originally known as Saul, one of the main persecutors of Christians, who had a change of heart when Jesus appeared before him in Damascus, was beheaded in Rome under the orders of Nero.

  Washington DC, USA, 2012

  The CNN newswoman was saying, ‘Seventy-two hours ago, the President was accidentally shot and fatally wounded during a weekend hunting and camping trip with friends while in Maryland. The shooting occurred at about 5:30 pm on Saturday. Her husband, SAS director Stephen Elliot, who had been with the Pres
ident when the accident happened, said that investigations were ongoing, but that all indications were that it was certainly an accident.’

  The newswoman continued, ‘The President’s Secret Service detail rushed with emergency medical assistance but death was almost immediate. The autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital confirmed that the cause of death was a shot from a .357 Magnum, which is sometimes used for deer hunting.’

  The panoramic views of Camp David gave way to footage of the coffin lying in state as she continued. ‘The body of the President was placed in the East Room of the White House from where it was sent on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Thousands lined up outside the Capitol building to pay their last respects to the departed leader. Heads of government and heads of state from over a hundred countries are expected to attend the state funeral on Tuesday. After a funeral service at St Matthew’s Cathedral, the late President will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The vice-president has assumed full executive powers and has declared Monday to be a national day of mourning.’

  The commentary went on. ‘The late President Alissa Kaetzel Elliot is survived by her husband, Stephen Elliot, SAS director. Her alma maters, Yale and Oxford, are also observing a day of mourning. Viewers will recall that Alissa had met her husband-to-be while he was a student at Yale.’

  Vincent felt as though he were falling through space. Actually, he was. As he fainted inside the thirteenth room containing Ghalib’s body, the impact of his fall activated a secret panel in the carpeted floor. Vincent fell through the hole like a sack of potatoes and landed with a thud in a brightly lit room.

  Squinting, he saw that the room was wholly white. The entire ceiling was flooded with pure white fluorescent lighting. Even the floor was covered in dazzling white tiles. The room seemed to be some kind of memorial. The stark walls bore framed black and white photographs of Presidents, prime ministers, generals, businessmen, actors, scientists and diplomats. Loyal and committed members of the Illuminati down the ages.