Protector--The Final Adventure

by Robert A Webster

  Dave swallowed hard. “I will tell him when I feel better.”

  “Don’t worry mate,” said Stu looking upset, “we won’t say a word to him about this.”

  “No, and I don’t envy you having to tell him about his family being killed, the poor little mite,” said Spock frowning and looking angry. “I’d like to get my hands on the bastards.”

  “Thanks lads,” said Dave and closed his eyes.

  Pon and Vitchae glanced at each other at intervals throughout Dave‘s account of the events. With Dave now asleep, Vitchae said. “Prime Master, I will tell Master Cenat in Salaburi and put the Imperial Palace Tinju on high alert. I will have dogs brought from the Bangkok police dog pound and post them around the Palace grounds.”

  Pon wai-ed Vitchae. “Thank you Master Vitchae. We will take Sid to the quarters and I will show Stu and Spock more about what we could be dealing with.”

  Vitchae wai-ed and left the room while Pon told Spock and Stu what Vitchae said.

  “We will take Sid to the quarters,” said Pon. “It’s late and we can get him settled.”

  Spock nodded and picked up the sleeping Sid, along with his Gameboy. Sid stirred, looked at Spock, smiled, and nodded off again.

  They walked the short distance to the quarters and Spock handed Sid to Dao, who carried the sleeping little boy to the bedroom. Putting him into the bed, she tucked him in and put his Gameboy on the pillow beside him. Sid woke, smiled at Dao, and hugged his Gameboy, before falling back asleep. Dao showered, ate, and went to bed.

  Spock and Stu walked to Pon's study and Stu went to his fridge, smiled, took out six cold cans of beer, and the three sat around the desk.

  Spock furrowed his brow and asked. “Do you think these Demon gadgey’s have re-emerged after two millennia to finish the job and kill Buddha’s descendants?”

  Pon frowned and said, “I don’t know Spock.” He picked up the newspapers on his desk that Stu had glanced at earlier, and said. “As I said before, none of the descendants or Gopetu’s living in Thailand have contacted me here, nor the Tinju in Salaburi.” He tapped the gruesome front cover photo of a car wreck with bloodied bodies barely recognisable as human beings amongst the twisted metal. and said. “That’s proof that some of our descendants and Gopetu’s are dead.”

  Spock and Stu with eyes-wide and mouths agog looked at the photographs.

  “A car wreck, the same thing that happened to Dave’s parents in England,” said Pon looking pensive, “I believe this is a global event, although I have not yet spoken to other Sanctuaries,” Pon sighed. “The problem is that most Sanctuaries around the world are like the Tinju before and cut off from the outside world with no communication.”

  “So who and where are these Sanctuaries?” asked Stu sitting back in his chair.

  While he and Spock drank their beer, Pon shook his head and looked concerned as he told them.

  “After the first attack on the descendant’s millennia ago, the Gopetu’s recruited the services of Monasteries of devout Buddhists to become Sanctuaries. Some of these holy orders comprised of warrior monks and, like the Tinju, used their fighting skills to defend their religion. The Sanctuaries edicts, along with learning the teachings of Buddha, were to assist the Gopetu’s if called upon to protect descendants. As Buddhism spread and the descendants spread out around the world, more Sanctuaries were appointed. First, it was the Tibetan Sonhus, then the Indian Khaskinka, followed by the Shaolin in China, the Japanese Samurai, and then over a millennia ago, the Tinju.

  There have been many additions over the centuries; the last one being the Warlords of Peace in the USA, which were formed several decades ago.

  There are now 42 Sanctuaries around the globe. All are listed in the Puravuttanta with each one having a copy which they update on the descendant’s and Gopetu’s in their area.” Pon pointed to the safe. Nowadays, it is simple to keep the Puravuttanta updated with the changes. Although it is difficult for the remote Sanctuaries, but when something changes, whoever is in charge gets word to one of their Gopetu’s who let the other Sanctuaries know.

  “Huh,” said Spock mumbling, “Bloody typical of the Yanks to give themselves a cool name,” he frowned, “they sounded more like a street gang than a holy order of Buddhists.”

  “Yeah, and it is an oxymoron. How can you be a Warlord of Peace?” asked Stu sounding like Bamber Gascoigne.

  Pon, taken aback, looked at Stu looking smug.

  Spock chuckled, saw the surprised look on Pons face, and said, “Don’t ask… he’s an author now, so knows big words.”

  Pon, impressed by Stu’s useless literary trivia, took a swig of beer and, looking despondent, said, “Whoever planned this did it with extraordinary precision and knew a lot of information about descendants.”

  “Yeah, and who would have a reason to attack your lot... it’s not like you are terrorists. A Buddhist wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said Spock looking mystified.

  Pon shook his head and sighed. “I have no idea.”

  “I suppose the other big question was… why now?” said Stu, “and who would have the power and wealth to commit such an atrocity?”

  “Yeah,” said Spock after taking another gulp of beer, “they would need a quid or two to fund this and I can’t see the training being short… unless,” he said and pondered, “they were already trained.”

  Pon and Stu looked at Spock looking contemplative before he belched and said. “Although I still think that invisible suit nonsense sounded a load of old bollox.”

  “Mind you,” said Stu, “With modern technology, maybe there was something secretly developed… who knows…. Oh!”

  Pon and Spock glanced at Stu now looking deep in thought. Silence lingered in the room for several minutes until Spock asked.

  “What are you grinning about, buggerlugs?”

  Stu looked at Pon and said. “Who had loads of dosh and held a grudge against us?”

  Pon shrugged.

  Stu waved a finger in the air and with a tinge of excitement in his voice, said. “And who planned a precision operation against us before? ”

  Pon looked at Stu and again shrugged.

  Stu smiled and said. “That Ab dab… Sheik, Mohammed Del Whatshisface.”

  Pon rubbed his face, furrowed his brow, and said, “But he’s dead. We saw him die.”

  “Yes, he is… but his cronies aren’t,” said Stu smirking, “and Grimes was from the UK, so he could have traced Dave to get revenge.”

  Pon thought, smiled, picked up his phone, and called Thran in Vietnam.

  “Well done matey,” said Spock, handing Stu another can.

  Stu smirked, opened the beer, took a slurp, and said.

  “Problem solved. We can search for Grimes and his cronies, and when we find him, I can give him another fisting.” Stu smiled as he spat on his clenched fist, relishing the thought of pummelling the slimy English toff again.

  Pon looked disappointed when he hung up the phone and sighed. “It’s not Grimes,” he said. “Thran told me that he and the others are still in a Vietnamese jail. He said that they have had no contact with the outside world for several years.”

  Stu pondered and said. “Well, if it isn’t them; what about the Sheiks family? Maybe he had relatives as rich and as nasty as him. Perhaps he has an evil son who inherited his wealth?”

  “Hmm, that’s a possibility I suppose,” said Pon and looked at his watch.

  “It’s getting late. I need to make some phone calls and do more research on the Sheik. Why don’t you go to the quarters? I could be quite some time, so I will see you in the morning.”

  Spock and Stu walked the short distance back to the quarters carrying the stash of Singha beer cans that Spock raided from Pon’s office fridge.

  Seeing that the girls had gone to bed, Spock and Stu sat in the kitchen.

  “I’ll pop up and check on Sid,” said Spock with a mischievous grin.

  Stu took a swig of beer and thought how to work this story into his book
. He tried to come up with an inventive name for the novel, but couldn’t find any inspiration. “Hmm, I will see if I can find any ideas on the internet,” he said aloud and turned on his laptop.

  Spock returned a few minutes later.

  “Is Sid okay?” asked Stu, impressed with his friend’s seemingly newfound parenting skills.

  “What? Oh yeah, he is sound asleep in your room with Dao,” said Spock smirking.

  Stu furrowed his brow and asked. “What have you got there?”

  Spock grinned, sat down, and turned on Sid’s Gameboy.

  “Huh,” said Stu glaring at Spock as he logged onto the internet.

  — Chapter Five —

  “Mohammed Del Alaz had three wives and eight children,” said Pon coming into the Kitchen carrying a folder and looking excited. He sat down at the table and asked, “Where’s Sid?”

  “In the lounge with Dao, playing with his Gameboy,” said Spock looking disappointed while Stu smirked.

  “Do you want breakfast Pon?” asked Moo, placing a glass of cold water in front of the tired looking Prime Master.

  “No thanks Moo, I’ve already eaten,” he said and looked at Moo, who, realising that he had something important to discuss with Spock and Stu, joined Dao and Sid in the lounge.

  “You look knackered mate,” said Stu as Pon opened the folder.

  Pon nodded. “I’ve been up all night, but you might be onto something Stu.”

  Stu and Spock drank their tea while Pon took a scanned photo from the folder and placed it on the table.

  Spock frowned. “It’s that bloody Sheik Mohammed Del Numbnuts, the one who caused us all that grief,” said Spock, who then looked confused, “but he’s dead.”

  “He is,” said Pon and told them, “It’s not Mohammed, it is his eldest son, Sheik Fahed Del Alaz. He was the main benefactor of his father’s fortune.”

  Pon took out other documents and said. “According to what I found out, Fahed, like his father, was rumoured to be linked to funding terror groups.”

  “That’s it then,” said Stu tapping on the image, “he’s your culprit.”

  Pon furrowed his brow. “Perhaps Stu, but something puzzled me. Why attack Dave and the descendants in the UK?”

  Stu rubbed his chin and said. “Well, if the son of whatshisface was looking to get some kind of revenge on us for his dad, then Spock and I were in the newspapers along with you. Maybe this Fahed character got hold of a Thai newspaper and with all the Ab-dabs living in the UK, it wouldn’t be difficult to target Dave and the others.”

  Pon shook his head. “Yes, but how did he know about the descendants? That information’s only in the Puravuttanta and they are only given to descendants, Gopetu’s, and Sanctuaries,” said Pon looking pensive.

  Stu looked up from his laptop, “Well there’s nothing about Fahed on the web and he isn’t on Facebook.

  Pon sighed, “I know, I found nothing on there about him either.”

  Spock frowned. “Have you tried to contact any of the other Sanctuaries, to find out if anything’s happened to their descendants?”

  Pon smirked and said. “Yes Spock, all their GPS coordinates and phone numbers are in the Puravuttanta.”

  “Really,” said Spock raising his eyebrows looking excited.

  Pon and Stu chuckled.

  “Yeah, very funny,” said Spock frowning.

  “Only the Sanctuaries name, country, and a rough description of the locations are listed in the Puravuttanta, so finding them all could take years. Most are secluded Monasteries, similar to how the Tinju were. I have only met the Prime Master from one other Sanctuary, but when I called him his phone was off.”

  Spock smirked. “Can’t you just look in the yellow pages?”

  Stu slapped his forehead and groaned.

  “What!” said Spock looking indignant. “Pon and other monks here have phones, so maybe they all do. I bet the yank monks have them.”

  Stu frowned. “Yeah, but how will it be listed? Secret Septic Sanctuary - address: middle of nowhere?”

  Pon nodded and said. “I have looked at satellite images from Google Earth before to find the American Sanctuaries Monastery. The area described in the Puravuttanta was immense and I saw no trace of anything in the snowy wilderness.”

  Stu looked puzzled and sighed. “Well, if it was Fahed behind it then what has he to gain? We had nothing to do with his father’s death.”

  “Huh,” mumbled Spock, “if he’s as bonkers as his old man, he probably blamed us for killing his nutty dad. He probably thought if he killed off a few Buddhists, Allah will give him an extra few virgins when he popped his clogs.”

  Pon, sounding concerned, said, “If it was Fahed, then how has he found out about the Puravuttanta? There aren’t any descendants in the Middle- East.”

  Spock shrugged. “Unless his crazy dad had a copy. He seemed to have a lot of other crap and on TV it said he collected artefacts from other religions.”

  Pon looked again at the image of Fahed. He had also considered that possibility and knew that although they reported Mohammed’s plundered treasures were returned to their rightful owners or put in museums, he realised a copy could be somewhere.

  “Do you know where Fahed is now?” asked Stu interrupting his thoughts and still convinced that he was on the right track.

  Pon looked at his papers and nodded. “As far as I know he is in Saudi Arabia, he lives with his family in his Fathers Palatial house.” Pon took another scanned photo from his folder and laid it on the table.

  “Sorry Sherlock, it looks like your mad Ab-dab theory is blown to pieces,” chuckled Spock when he saw a smiling Fahed with his wives and children dressed in Western clothing. “Apart from his harem, he looked like a normal family man,” said Spock smirking.

  Stu furrowed his brow and looked at Spock. “Huh, that proves nothing, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, it must still be him… who else could it be? Come on Einstein; let’s hear your list of suspects.”

  Spock, still chuckling said. “Well... Now I know there’s no evidence yet, but it sounds to me like Woneater could be a Buddhist bloodsucker.”

  Sid then walked into the kitchen. “What’s so funny? Oh, Ay-up Pon, I never heard you come in.”

  “No, too busy playing on your Gameboy,” grumbled Spock, still miffed about how Sid had found the Gameboy after he had hidden it.

  Sid glared at Spock, went to the fridge, took out a coke, and asked. “Can we go see Dave? I want to find out when we can go horm.”

  Pon nodded, smiled, and said. “Yes Sid, we can go to the clinic and see Dave.”

  Sid smiled and went back into the lounge.

  Stu looked at Spock looking miserable and smirked. “Well Spock, Pon told you his name meant, ‘he who has found meaning.’ Perhaps the meaning is a Gameboy, he found that easy enough,” he sniggered.

  Spock grunted, having thought hiding it in the fridge would be safe, which it would have been if he and Stu hadn’t drunk most of the contents.

  Pon, sounding sullen, leant forward and asked. “How is he?”

  Stu sighed and said. “He’s okay, but slept a lot, which is to be expected after what he’s been through.”

  Spock, his mind now on their problem and thinking about the Puravuttanta story, said. “The invisible clothes bollox I am still finding it hard to believe, but whoever is behind this must have one of your old books and using that against you and the Buddhists.”

  Pon sighed and nodded.

  “Invisibility is possible,” said Stu looking smug.

  Spock and Pon looked at Stu and furrowed their brows as Stu said. “Last night while Spock played with Sid’s Gameboy, I researched about it on the web.”

  Spock groaned, got up, took his and Stu’s empty mug, and went to the hot water jug while Professor Stu explained. “It is feasible that there are things in nature beyond our *visual spectrum. Take red for example; under water red below 10 metres is murky and colourless, and the deeper you go other colours appear th
e same. Scientists proved that red fish are invisible to predators and,” he said waving a finger, “look at jellyfish and how hard they are to see, they are transparent and we can see right through them.”

  Stu then smiled and said. “We have not discovered all the places that exist on our planet, nor have we discovered every creature or plant life. New discoveries are made all the time, so who can say that animals and plants don’t exist on the planet that we can’t see?”

  “Yes smartarse, but as you say, red might be colourless underwater, and you can see through jellyfish, but you can still see something. Dave said he saw nothing but daggers,” said Spock bringing over three hot mugs of tea.

  Stu took a sip of tea and said, “Yes, I know, but that was just one example of how things can change our visual perspective.” Stu leant forward. “What I am saying is; maybe we can’t see everything.”

  Pon listened with interest at Stu’s hypothesis, while Spock looked unconvinced and smiled. “We can see beer and that’s the important thing.”

  Stu frowned, and perturbed by his friend being unimpressed by his research, smirked, and said. “Okay buggerlugs, so what colour is the wind?”

  Spock furrowed his brow as he considered Stu’s argument for a millisecond. He smiled, leant sideways, and let rip.

  Spock chuckled as Pon and Stu grimaced, and he said. “I don’t know about the colour,” he sniffed his ripe stench, “but you can certainly smell it.”

  — Chapter Six —

  “Brr, it’s freezing out there,” said Caleb walking into the heated office.

  After brushing light flakes of snow off his thick coat and woollen hat, he took them off, hung them on a wall hanger, and said. “Although it is clear blue skies, it must be 20 below.” He looked at the thermometer, “Huh, 22 below.”

  Caleb rubbed his shaven head and knocked snow off his boots on the coir mat.

  Seeing blood on the mat, he looked at the sole of his boot and groaned. “Urrh,” he said, looking at the brown bloody splodge on the underside of his boot, “I stepped on one of those god damn frogs.”