Order of the Black Sun Box Set 9

by Preston William Child

  “Let's get comfortable. You traveled all this way. You didn't come across the sea for a five-minute chat. No. No, let's have a drink. Let me shake your world properly.”

  Sam shrugged. “Would take a lot to do that at this point. Our whole lives have been pretty earth-shattering lately.”

  “Not like this.”

  They followed Galen through many other rooms. It was like he intentionally took them on an alternative route through the house that would show off more of his possessions. He presented every room like he was on a stage in front of thousands.

  “That over there is a pike used by the Vlad the third,” Galen said and pointed out a long wooden spear on display.

  Sam walked over to it and looked actually impressed, being won over by the items they were seeing. He stood beside the spear that towered over him in awe. “So, this is what Vlad the Impaler used for his ... impaling.”

  “Human shish kebabs, aye,” Galen said with a snort.

  “Impressive,” Purdue said dryly.

  They finally ventured into what seemed like the last stop. It was a library—at least it would've been a library if there were actually books on the enormous shelves. Instead, they were filled with brittle old arrowheads and rusty bullet shells. Galen poured them some drinks and offered one to each of them. They all took seats except for Galen, who stood standing in front of them like a presenter.

  “I wouldn't have called if I wasn't absolutely sure of the validity of my sources. You know that right?”

  Purdue nodded and smiled. “I told my colleagues here that exact thing on our way here. They wanted to be sure you weren't wasting our time.”

  Galen glanced to Nina and Sam and they both shrugged their shoulders.

  “Nothing personal,” Sam said. “It's just when a stranger says he knows information about where to find one of the most famous weapons in the world ... it pays to be a little skeptical. Especially when that weapon got stolen recently.”

  “Then I'm happy to prove that your skepticism was unnecessary.”

  “Perfect,” Purdue said, already bored of Galen's expected showmanship. “So, what have you learned about the Spear of Destiny then? Where's April?”

  “April?” Galen asked, bewilderment crossing his expression.

  Purdue rolled his eyes. “Enough with the suspense. The woman who stole the spear from my collection. Where is she?”

  “Never heard of her,” Galen said. “And what's all this rubbish you keep saying about you already having the spear? You mentioned it on the phone and it makes piss-all sense to me.”

  “So, you didn't find the Spear of Longinus?” Nina asked, already getting a bit annoyed.

  “Spear of Longinus? No, no. That's rubbish. The Spear of Septimus is the Spear of Destiny.”

  “That's not the one I had,” Purdue insisted.

  “Then the one you had was some fake souvenir! There are like a dozen spears of destiny in the world that everyone says is the real one. But I'm telling you, the one I've found is the actual Spear of Destiny.”

  Purdue wanted to throttle Galen. It was seeming more and more like a waste of time. Purdue had already found the spear. He didn't need to go on a wild goose chase trying to find something he already had. Still, he was curious to know just what it was that made Galen so excited.

  “Fine,” Purdue said. “Go on then.”

  Purdue turned to Nina and Sam who already looked just as dissatisfied as he did. They were hoping to catch that thief, not go looking for some other spear of destiny. It felt like a waste, when they should be trying to track down the holy blade that they already had.

  Galen took a sip of his drink, and his lips stretched into a smile against the glass. He took a gulp and put his empty glass down. Purdue was ready for another diversion into something pointless, but Galen finally got to the point.

  “A friend of a friend of someone I paid rather well, sent me something interesting.” Galen moved to one of the bullet-filled bookshelves. Behind a particularly broken arrowhead, he pulled out a rolled-up scroll of paper. “This. Handle it with care, eh?”

  He handed the scroll to Purdue and then went back to pouring himself another drink. Nina and Sam both leaned over so they were practically on Purdue's shoulders. They all stared at the paper as Purdue slowly unrolled it.

  “Aramaic,” Nina said, and leaned in closer to read it. She was a bit rusty and dialects had never been one of her strengths. “This is old. Very old.”

  “What does it say?” Purdue said, sounding somewhere between suspicious and excited.

  “That the soldier who stabbed Christ was named Septimus and it was his lance that eventually was regarded as the Spear of Destiny.”

  “Septimus?” Sam asked, like he was wondering if the name should be familiar.

  “A relatively common Roman name,” Nina said, shaking her head. “Usually given to the seventh son of a family.”

  “Those Romans sure liked to sprout kids,” Galen said with a snort from across the room.

  “Go on,” Purdue said, almost licking his lips with excitement. “Is that all?”

  Nina continued, “According to this, Septimus was killed days after Jesus was crucified.”

  “Days?” Sam asked, bewildered.

  “There it is,” Galen said. “That's interesting, isn't it? Apparently people were immediately fascinated by the spear. It had that Christ blood on it, after all ... and if we know one thing, it's that the good Christian folks love their Christ blood. They drink that wine to represent his blood every Sunday. Bunch of vampires, I tell you. Glad I got the 'ell away from the church.”

  “It says here that Septimus was killed for the spear and his killer stole it from his body.”

  “It's not so much stealing as claiming a prize,” Galen chimed in. “But yes. Having a weapon that speared God ... people wanted it for themselves. As they always do with power like that. So, they killed poor Septimus for it. He was just following orders, poking at the messiah.”

  “This also claims his killer was murdered not long after and the spear was taken from him. The spear was brought to Jerusalem where it was again stolen ... by the person who wrote this page. And they say it will be buried with them, to protect it.”

  “Hold on,” Sam gingerly took the scroll from Purdue's hands, handling it with enough care that the old paper didn't tear. “You're telling me this spear was passed from killer to killer until the person who had it last decided to be buried with it.”

  “To safeguard the world from the fire of God,” Nina said, roughly translating the last portion of the scroll. “The scribe thought the Spear of Destiny was the power of God himself grafted to a weapon. They wanted to make sure it was never used.”

  “And this ancient scribe of ours didn't give coordinates of his burial site, did he?” Purdue asked. “Any longitude? I'll settle for latitude.”

  Nina shook her head with some disappointment. “No. Nothing about where they would be buried with the spear.” She looked up from the scroll at Galen. “Really, this doesn't help at all. Just someone claiming to have the spear with no actual evidence.”

  Galen didn't look worried, or embarrassed. He was smiling with his hands behind his back. Then he brought them out, revealing another rolled up piece of parchment. His grin was wide like a hyena, like he was relishing this moment.

  “Sorry,” he said with a smirk. “I just needed to see the surprise on all of yer faces. This was well worth it, I tell ya. There was another part of the writings.”

  He handed the new scroll to Nina and she pulled it open, her hands trembling with excitement. Purdue and Sam joined in, staring over the new information.

  Nina read it, and didn't bother translating it aloud at first. She was too astounded by what she was reading. She forgot there was even other people in the room at all. It was only when Purdue coughed loudly and expectantly that she snapped out of her stupor and read the most important part out loud for everyone else to hear.

  “I will rest near
Him, with the spear that pierced His flesh beside me. The blood it spilled will be forever near its original home. Forever.”

  “This Spear of Destiny is near where Jesus was buried...” Purdue said.

  “Or still with April and this is all garbage,” Sam muttered, and added, “a waste of time.”

  “Jerusalem,” Galen said victoriously. “I can assure you that the real spear is in Jerusalem.”

  “Outside of Jerusalem,” Nina said firmly. When she got puzzled looks from everyone, she clarified. “Jewish law forbade people from being buried within the city's walls. If we're going by what the Gospels say, he was buried in a tomb somewhere near where he was crucified.”

  “But nobody knows exactly where he was buried right?” Sam asked. “And didn't he ... not exactly stay entombed for long?”

  “It was a brief sleep, yes.” Galen chuckled. “Three days of death before Happy Easter to ya.”

  Nina continued. “There are many tombs that have been found outside of Jerusalem and almost just as many have been proclaimed as the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. The spear could be near any one of them, or maybe near a tomb that hasn't even been discovered yet. There's no irrefutable evidence that Christ's tomb has actually been found.”

  “Hard without bones to try and identify,” Galen said, drinking another glass. “It's the problem when the tomb's sole occupant up and gets out of bed.”

  “Remarkable findings, Galen,” Purdue said, giving a slow clap. “Job well done. The only question is if this scribe's writings are reliable. It doesn't tell us the exact location but it does give us a wide berth of where to start. There's also the matter of the spear we already found.”

  “All fair points but there's only one way to know for sure,” Galen said. “We find it and see for ourselves how legitimate it is. Maybe it will put the spear you found to shame, just like all of those spears of destiny kept in churches and museums all over the world. So, what do ya say, Davy? You and I carrying out an excavation. It'll be just like old times.”

  Purdue sure hoped it wouldn't be like old times. He'd probably want to strangle Galen by the end of it. Still, he had come through with at least something of value. It wasn't much to go off of, but if there was even a chance that it was accurate, they may actually have a shot at finding the spear. And that was too good of an opportunity to just pass up.

  “Yes,” Purdue said, rising to his feet. “Just like old times.”

  4

  Jerusalem, My Destiny

  The journey to Jerusalem was certainly not boring. Galen made sure of that. He recounted all of his adventures he had been on in the last few years, often pausing to remind Purdue that he could have been at his side for all of them. Purdue didn't seem overly regretful of his absence. Given his own adventures in recent years, he wasn't really impressed either.

  Still, Galen told the tales with a feverish grin, like each story put him another step above Purdue.

  There was his discovery of the real Wallace Sword, since according to Galen, the one on display in Stirling was undoubtedly a fake. “Give it a close look next time you see it. As fake as can be.”

  There was his trek to Iraqi Kurdistan where he unearthed some of the long sarissa pikes that Alexander the Great's forces had used at the famous Battle of Gaugamela. “Those things are taller than I am, believe me. As holy as it may be, the Spear of Destiny is going to have to be pretty big to even compare to one of those Alexander pikes. No wonder that crazy bastard brought down the Persians. Can't get within seven feet with those pointed at ya.”

  He had gone deep into the black market and spent millions of dollars to recover one of the many knives that had stabbed Julius Caesar. “Impossible to tell for certain if it's real but if I owned it, at least I win either way. Either I have one of the actual tools used to kill Caesar or I have a very old valuable knife. It's a win-win. And in the off chance it is legitimate, I hope was Brutus's. Would make it even more valuable.”

  “I even found Excalibur. King Arthur's weapon itself. And it wasn't in a stone. It was entombed with a handful of knights.”

  “No, you didn't,” Purdue perked up, having looked like he was about to throw himself from the plane if he had to hear any more of the stories. “We found Excalibur.”

  “That's right.” Nina said, raising an eyebrow.

  “And it wasn't easy...” Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “Did you? For Christ's sake, how is it you all keep finding duplicates of what I find? First, you tell me you already have the spear. Now you tell me you already have Excalibur.” It was the first time Galen had looked embarrassed, but his fluster only lasted a moment before his confident grin returned. “Then I guess I just have some old broadsword on display then. No matter.” He smacked himself on the head and laughed like he was the biggest idiot on the planet. “Or maybe the one you have is a cheap knock off like your spear of destiny must have been. Authentic or not, it still makes for a lovely mantelpiece.

  It was becoming apparent to them that Galen didn't care very much about the authenticity of his weapons, as long as they were old and worth a lot of money. It didn't matter if he had the real Excalibur as long as he had an old enough sword to claim he did. He also seemed to prefer quantity over quality, given that his house was literally filled with weapons to show off to his guests.

  Nina wasn't a fan and she could tell Purdue wasn't either. Sam seemed interested in Galen, but more like he was enjoying the rambling imagination of a five-year-old child than actually admiring his exploits.

  After all, the three of them had been part of far more thrilling adventures than any of the nauseating ego trips that Galen was spewing. If they told him half of the things they had done, he'd probably shrink to the size of a peanut. Hell, if he had been in their positions, a man like that wouldn't have stood a chance against the Order of the Black Sun or the many trials they'd faced.

  But no, none of them had any desire to pat their own backs or show off for a guy like him. They hadn't done any of it for glory.

  As obnoxious and arrogant as Purdue could be, Nina had quickly grown a newfound respect for him in comparison to Galen. Galen was in a league of his own when it came to smug, rich adventurers. She was surprised the human body could contain that much narcissism.

  He was in the middle of telling them all about his discovery of a war ax dating back to the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England when the plane landed. Nina was relieved to not have to hear Galen belittle anymore historical figures like the Vikings to prove how amazing he was. She was sure his story would somehow end with, “Those invaders were doomed to fail with a little hatchet like that. They could have at least made it a challenge for me to find.” No need for him to say it. Pompous guys like Galen were easy enough to predict.

  They made their way out of the plane and down the stairs to the runway outside. They were immediately met by the blinding, scorching hot sun. Nina walked with Sam behind Galen and Purdue. Galen was going on and on about the benefits of documenting expeditions yourself, so that when the time came, he could gain even more acclaim with a series of autobiographies.

  “We can live the life most people can only dream of, can't we? Traveling to exotic places. Exploring lost civilizations. Bringing expensive and rare souvenirs back with us. It takes a lot of money to do live like we do, but living like we do can make us a lot of money. It's a vicious cycle.”

  “I don't really do it for the money.” Purdue shrugged.

  “Course you don't. If I gave you five million euros, you'd toss it aside like it was pocket change. That's the kind of rich you are, Davy. Filthy, filthy rich.”

  They approached a group of men on the edge of the runway. They were dressed from head to toe in functional—almost military—apparel. The apparent leader, standing proudly at the front of the pack was a muscular man with ash colored hair.

  “Wonderful! Was hoping you'd already be here!” Galen took the leader's hand and shook it. He turned to Purdue, Nina, and Sam and indicated
the pack of stern looking men. “Everyone, this is Roland Maddox. He and his big strong men here will be our escorts during our excursion.”

  “Escorts?” Purdue asked. “Hardly my type.”

  Nina looked over the group and immediately had the impression that they were all soldiers, or former soldiers. They all stood at attention with the same rigidness.

  “As holy as this land is, it can be dangerous. Good to have some protection. Protocol for any of my travels. Hadn't I mentioned that on the way here?”

  “I must have missed it,” Purdue said. “You just had so many stories, it's tough to remember the details.” His words were laced with sarcasm but Galen was completely oblivious to it, just like he was to most things.

  “We'll stay out of your way,” the leader, Maddox, said calmly. “And we'll just make sure you don't run into any trouble.”

  “Appreciate it,” Purdue said unconvincingly.

  “Might not be such a bad thing,” Sam whispered to Nina. “If we bump into Black Sun ... maybe these guys could take them.”

  “I doubt it.”

  The Order of the Black Sun wasn't a group of thugs. They were an extensive network that could probably murder all of these “escorts” without them even realizing they were there. She hoped that their clashes with that secret society were finally over.

  They all introduced themselves to the new arrivals. They were all very professional about it. Shaking their hands and sharing their names with them. If they were going to be orbiting them like satellites and protecting them the whole trip, knowing their names was going to be helpful.

  There was one woman among the burly men. Her name, as she announced when she took their hands, was Sasha, and she looked tough enough to take down any one of the other members of her team. There was something about the way she held herself. It was like she always had her feet dug into the ground, stable and ready to take on anything that came her way. She didn't look impressed by the sight of her clients and honestly looked ready to punch Galen in the face the moment he came down the runway.