‘So this is the real deal,’ Ethan said. ‘How does it connect with anything that we’re looking into here?’
Hellerman sighed as he rubbed his forehead. ‘It’s at times like this I wish Jarvis were still working here, because I can sense a connection in all of this but I can’t quite define it. Essentially, the UFO connection between ancient peoples and the modern phenomena is something that Majestic Twelve seemed inordinately interested in. Their people showed up almost every time you and Nicola were investigating these kinds of things, and that suggests that whatever they were trying to achieve involved these kinds of artefacts. It’s only your hard work that prevented MJ–12 from getting hold of the Black Knight.’
Ethan nodded, recalling well the dangerous expedition to the Antarctic to obtain a thirteen–thousand–year–old satellite that had fallen from earth orbit. The mission had cost the DIA dearly in lives as they fought to prevent MJ–12 from gaining control of one of the most incredible objects mankind had ever encountered.
‘You know that we found more of those Trans Cranial Stimulation devices at the ranch in Utah,’ Lopez said to Hellerman, ‘and that the girls they were working on were being forced to wear them.’
Hellerman nodded.
‘That’s what I was afraid of,’ he said. ‘You see, I don’t think that the girls there painted those hieroglyphics on the walls of that ranch by copying a picture like this one. I think that they were being made to use the headsets in order to see the hieroglyphics as they were being written, in the past.’
Ethan blinked. ‘Like remote viewing?’
Hellerman shrugged as though he had come to the only conclusion that made any sense.
‘I think that the leaders of the cult were using these young girls to figure out what went on in ancient Egypt because they obviously consider events from that time period to be of great importance. Many of the hieroglyphics of the time show Pharaohs who look somewhat bizarre, with elongated heads and almond eyes, which some conspiracy theorists point to as evidence of an alien presence either in the population or through genetic manipulation.’
‘Sounds far–fetched,’ Lopez said, ‘they could have just been really ugly or interbred.’
Hellerman inclined his head. ‘True, there was much interbreeding at the time due to the belief that the Pharaohs were of royal blood, and that such blood should not be contaminated by lesser peoples. They didn’t know much about genetics themselves at the time.’
‘So any visiting aliens did a poor job of educating them,’ Ethan smiled wryly. ‘Anything else?’
‘Like people seeing into the past wasn’t enough?’ Hellerman asked, as though disappointed. ‘Whatever these people were looking for, it involved something that happened a long time ago. Did any of the other cult survivors give us anything to work with?’
Lopez shook her head.
‘Most of them are ardent believers and wouldn’t share a thing,’ she said. ‘But two of the women there were long time captives and seemed to try to help. One of them kept talking about this Tulli Manuscript of yours, and they mentioned Rome.’
‘They said that the girls were looking for guidance from Rome,’ Ethan said. ‘Aisha also mentioned that there were tablets involved, and that they were in Rome.’
‘Tablets?’ Hellerman echoed.
‘Yes,’ Lopez confirmed, ‘tablets, like the Ten Commandments.’
Hellerman’s eyes glazed over in awe.
‘The ancient Egyptians were the originators of the Ten Commandments,’ he said in a whisper, ‘and they created forty–two of them, which were written on tablets and broken before being placed in…’
Hellerman turned and grabbed a book from his shelves, leafing through it until he found what he was looking for, reading the relevant details from within the pages.
‘The Tulli Manuscript was said to be in the possession of the Vatican’s Secret Archives, although the Vatican denies its presence. Project Blue Book tried to access it but the Vatican claims that it never possessed the piece. My guess is that if this cult couldn’t physically get a hold of the manuscript, they would instead use the girls to look back in time and see it being written. If they saw the same text on tablets in Rome, then that may mean they are talking about the original tablets themselves, from which the Tulli Papyrus recorded the story. Aisha and the others were literally being used as what were once known as Divine Oracles.’
***
XIII
Lopez folded her arms and confronted Hellerman with a flat gaze. ‘So we’re still going with the crystal ball gazing theory?’
‘It’s not actually as crazy as it sounds,’ Hellerman replied. ‘Historically, nations across the globe have used young girls as a means to divine the future or peer into the past.’
‘Sure but that was all hokum,’ Lopez said. ‘If people were really capable of seeing the future we’d have solid evidence of it by now. I always find it suspicious that so–called psychics never win their state lotteries.’
Hellerman smiled.
‘Like many, I suspect that the natural ability of young girls and even children to experience paranormal phenomena becomes stilted with age. Most people just assume that the childhood belief in magic and monsters under the bed is just natural fear of the unknown that they learn to overcome as understanding grows. But what if the open mind of a young child also allows them to see more than we do, and that it is a genuine ability that is removed when their minds are closed by our modern world?’
‘I’ll believe that when I see it,’ Lopez said.
‘You already did once, in New York,’ Ethan reminded her.
‘That was different,’ Lopez replied, ‘that was a spectre, a wraith.’
Hellerman looked as though he was going to ask about that particular investigation, and then he decided better of it and went on.
‘It has often been the case the young girls of pubescent age have been at the epicentre of major paranormal events. The most famous case occurred in 1967 in Rosenheim, Germany, when scientists from none other than the Max Planck Institute visited a lawyer’s office to investigate an immense surge of poltergeist activity. Drawers were opening and closing, lights swinging, printers were spilling their ink, telephone calls would be made when there was nobody actually using a phone. One set of records shows the talking clock being dialed three times per minute, that’s forty–five times in fifteen minutes: far too fast for the dialing system of the phones of the time to handle. On one occasion every light bulb in the building blew up at once, on others all the bulbs were unscrewed even when people were in the office. Such events required huge amounts of energy and yet nobody was doing anything untoward. The scientists set up cameras and voice recorders to monitor events and recorded some of the only existing footage of things like pictures rotating on their hooks, far beyond the reach of the witnesses. They also noted that electrical equipment would falter and lights would flicker when a nineteen–year old employee was in the building. They eventually traced the events to her, and when she was sent on vacation the poltergeist activity ceased.’
‘So?’ Lopez challenged. ‘Maybe she had some kind of psychokinetic ability, but that’s not the same as looking forward and backwards through time is it?’
‘No, but it is possible that what we have in Syria is a coordinated search for a modern day oracle.’
‘A seer?’ Ethan echoed. ‘I wouldn’t have thought that the Russians would waste time and money on a search for something so mythical?’
‘No, but in classical antiquity an oracle was a person considered capable of wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions of the future, inspired by the gods,’ Hellerman explained. ‘They took these seers very seriously, truly believing them to be capable of divination, of speaking to the gods themselves. The word itself, oracle, comes from the Latin verb orare, “to speak”, with the ancient Greeks referring to the divinations as khresmoi. However, seers, or manteis, divined messages through the actions of nature around them, bird signs
and so on.’
Ethan shook his head, unconvinced. ‘I won’t believe that a world superpower would be messing around with something that is little more than divining tea leaves.’
‘Don’t underestimate what these people could be capable of,’ Hellerman said, showing a rare sign of genuine interest in the paranormal. ‘The most important oracles of Greek antiquity were Pythia, priestess to Apollo at Delphi, and the oracle of Dione and Zeus at Dodona in Epirus. The Greeks had temples of Apollo located at Didyma on the coast of Asia Minor, at Corinth and Bassae in the Peloponnese and at the islands of Delos and Aegina in the Aegean Sea. From these temples the oracles were consulted on a regular basis, the prophetesses revealing their divine revelations in frenzied states probably brought about by the use of mind–altering substances.’
‘Seriously?’ Lopez uttered. ‘They were taking advice from pot–heads?’
‘And what does this have to do with the Tulli Manuscript or those hieroglyphics?’ Ethan asked.
Hellerman looked at the mysterious image of the hieroglyphics at Saqqara. ‘I looked into the leader of the Utah cult. Abraham Messian was indeed a hard–core Old Testament preacher who was expecting the End of Days, but the Old Testament contains many references to a Pharaoh, as well as references to supposed alien encounters in the book of Ezekiel, with descriptions of flaming wheels descending from the sky from which emerged humanoid figures.’
‘Did the Egyptians have oracles too?’ Lopez asked.
‘Plenty, because they existed before the more famous Greek oracles,’ Hellerman confirmed. ‘The “frenzied women from whose lips the god speaks” are recorded in the Near East in the second millennium BCE and in Assyria in the first millennium BCE. In Egypt the goddess Wadjet was depicted as a snake–headed woman and her oracle was in the renowned temple in Per–Wadjet. The oracle of Wadjet may have been the source for the oracular tradition which spread from Egypt to Greece. If we’re assuming that any of what’s happened in Utah is possible, then the most likely conduit would presumably be through the eyes of a person who lived at the time. That’s to say that a modern day oracle would see past events through the eyes of a long–dead one.’
‘Who was high on drugs at the time,’ Lopez added.
Hellerman shrugged apologetically. ‘It’s not an exact science.’
‘Any evidence that these supposed oracles were in any way reliable?’ Ethan asked.
‘The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture and was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male–dominated ancient Greece. She responded to the questions of citizens, foreigners, kings and philosophers on all issues. The semi–Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria and even Egypt also respected her and came to Delphi as supplicants.’
‘That’s a sign of popularity, not accuracy,’ Lopez said.
Hellerman tilted his head in acquiescence.
‘Croesus, the king of Lydia in 560 BCE, tested the oracles of the world to discover which gave the most accurate prophecies. He sent out emissaries to seven sites who were all to ask the oracles on the same day what the king was doing at that very moment. Croesus proclaimed the oracle at Delphi to be the most accurate, who correctly reported that the king was making a lamb–and–tortoise stew, and so he graced her with a magnitude of precious gifts. He then more famously consulted Delphi before attacking Persia, and according to Herodotus was advised: “If you cross the river, a great empire will be destroyed”. Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that ultimately was destroyed by the Persians.’
‘Ambiguous advice at best,’ Ethan countered. ‘It allowed the battle to go either way and still prove the Delphi correct.’
‘The Delphi also proclaimed that there was no man wiser than Socrates. As a result, Socrates dedicated his life to a search for knowledge that was one of the founding events of western philosophy. He claimed that she was “an essential guide to personal and state development.”‘
Ethan looked at the images of the hieroglyphics, the Tulli Manuscript and then at the Trans Cranial Stimulation device on Hellerman’s desk.
‘What if they’re searching for evidence of UFOs in the past for some reason?’ he speculated. ‘Even if the method does seem crackpot, these people are insane enough to try something like that.’
Hellerman stared at Ethan for a long moment, and he could almost see the sudden rush of thoughts flashing past the scientist’s eyes as he performed a rapid mental calculation and then whirled to his desk and sifted frantically through his papers.
‘What is it?’ Lopez asked.
Hellerman pointed a finger up in the air beside his head as he ordered his thoughts.
‘If the Tulli Manuscript is in the Vatican, and that even a major figure like General Condon with the backing of the United States Government could not retrieve it, then the Vatican must consider whatever is written on the papyrus to be explosive to say the least. The best bet we have is to see if Aisha can envision what they’re hiding so that we can go take a look.’
‘Go take a look,’ Lopez echoed. ‘So we just stroll into the Secret Archives of the Vatican, take the papyrus and waltz right out of there with it? C’mon Jo, I’ve seen the movies, that place is locked up tighter than a nun’s panti…’
‘Partly true,’ Hellerman interjected, ‘but in fact anybody can walk into the secret archives. However, you cannot browse – you have to know where the artefact you’re looking for is before you enter the archive.’
Ethan frowned.
‘Okay, but Aisha is no natural oracle. She would need to be wearing that device to make it happen.’
Hellerman nodded.
‘We can only ask,’ he said simply, ‘because without knowing where the artefact is, we won’t be getting anywhere near it.’
***
XIV
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’
Aisha turned her head and looked in Lopez’s direction as she heard her voice.
Lopez stood in the doorway of a briefing room inside the DIA Headquarters, one of several units designed to block not just all sight from outside in the watch room but also all sound. With the glass windows fogged out and the doors sealed, briefings on extremely classified or otherwise sensitive material could be conducted without concern for being overheard by passers–by with lower security clearances.
The man called Hellerman had converted the room into a simple medical chamber, complete with reclined bed, soft lighting, a heart monitor with the volume switched off and a second set of screens attached to a Deep Trans Cranial Stimulator. Upon the bed lay Aisha, her hands crossed calmly upon her stomach and her head resting back against the pillows, her head surrounded by the DTCS’s myriad wires and connectors.
‘I’ve done it before enough times,’ she replied quietly.
‘Under duress,’ Ethan’s voice added from nearby. ‘We don’t want to put you through anything that you don’t feel up to enduring.’
Aisha turned her head toward the man and the woman. She suspected somehow that they were both dangerous individuals. Warner sounded as though he may have served in the military and Lopez appeared kind hearted but was surrounded by an aura of contained ferocity, like a caged leopard always on the lookout for an opportunity to strike. And yet, right now, they were more concerned with her welfare than anybody she had known for years, since before her parents had…
Aisha’s train of thought cut off automatically, and she sighed and nodded.
‘I know, and that is why I want to do it. I know that I will be safe here.’
Warner squeezed her shoulder.
‘Fine, but the moment you want out you shout, got it?’
Aisha felt a warmth in the pit of her belly and she realized that she was smiling as she nodded back at Warner. Lopez rested one hand against her cheek.
‘We’ll be right next door,’ she promised, ‘and we’re not leaving until this is done and we kno
w you’re okay.’
Warner and Lopez left the room and as they closed the door behind them Aisha heard it hiss shut, sealing her in. All external noises disappeared and she knew that soon the device would begin working. From a speaker in the room, Hellerman’s voice sounded gently.
‘We’re just getting ready,’ he told her. ‘Two minutes and we’ll start the device, just try to relax.’
*
‘Talk to us,’ Lopez said to Hellerman as they joined him at a desk outside the briefing room where the scientist sat at a computer terminal.
Hellerman gestured to the screen as he worked.
‘Aisha’s wired up to this device so we can monitor her heart–rate and other vital signs while she’s in seizure.’
‘You’re actually going to do that to her?’ Lopez asked, clearly horrified.
‘This is the only way,’ Hellerman confirmed, ‘at least it’s the only way that the Russians had found that worked. It’s not pretty but it’s how Aisha described to me the procedures Abraham Messian put them through in order to provoke their ability to visualize past and even future events.’
‘And this will lead us to the girls the Russians are using, and these supposed tablets?’
‘That’s the hope,’ Hellerman said. ‘The technique being used here isn’t really Deep Trans Cranial Stimulation although the procedure derives from it. This process is actually known as Electroconvulsive Therapy.’
‘What’s the difference?’ Lopez asked.
‘Typically, the severity of the condition being treated. ECT is used to treat serious mental disorders, and only then if every other form of treatment has failed. It’s used in the west if the patient is on the verge of suicide or catatonia, and is the last resort.’
The Genesis Cypher (Warner & Lopez Book 6) Page 9