Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Hatteras Island, do you think it might have something to do with the Lost Colony, Edwin?”
“Could be,” Dr. Worlich said. “Either way, it looks like we’re going to have to wait until this whole mess is over with before we can start researching it again. I’m just glad we were able to lock it up in the vaults for safekeeping.”
“Hold on a minute,” Captain Niven said. “You’re losing me here. Can you explain the significance of this island? And what is this Lost Colony you’re talking about?”
“The old name for Hatteras is Croatoan Island,” Paul said. “There were theories that the lost colony of Roanoke may have settled there after their disappearance on Roanoke Island.”
“Roanoke?” Joe said. “I’m not too familiar with it. Can you explain further?”
“The Lost Colony was a sixteenth-century British settlement that was based in Roanoke Island,” Dr. Worlich said. “Sir Walter Raleigh founded it and it was England’s first attempt to establish a permanent colony in the New World. A little over one hundred colonists lived there, surrounded by small tribes of Croatoan Indians. In fact, the first English child born on American soil was named Virginia Dare, and she was a part of that colony. The Roanoke Colony were the ones that introduced tobacco and potatoes to Europe. Now the ship that brought them there left to return to England for supplies, but when they came back three years later the colony was gone.”
Valerie rubbed her chin as she was taking it all in. “Gone? What do you mean gone?”
“I mean every living person in that colony was missing when the relief force got there,” Dr. Worlich said. “The settlement was deserted. Not a living soul was behind the wooden walls they had set up for defense just three years earlier. There were no signs of battle; it was as if all the inhabitants of the colony just dropped whatever it was that they were doing and disappeared into the wild.”
“No clues? Nothing at all as to what might have happened to them?” Valerie said.
“One very cryptic clue,” Paul said. “The only thing that they found of any significance was a single word carved on a fencepost in the village stockade. It merely said: Croatoan.”
Valerie seemed confused. “That’s it? Just that one word and nothing else?”
“That’s it,” Dr. Worlich said as he clasped his fingers together on the table. “The ultimate fate of the colony has never been solved. Granted, both England and Spain were at war and so it took years for a relief ship with supplies to get back to Roanoke, because England needed every ship it had in order to fight the Spanish. So it often took years to support the colonies out in the North American continent. Even the Spanish themselves were looking for that colony, but they never found it.”
“The one-word clue that was left there might pertain to Croatoan Island, but there never was any proof that the colonists settled in that place,” Paul said. “The colonists were instructed to carve a Maltese cross on a tree trunk as a sign that if they were forced to leave Roanoke, then there would be a message to the relief parties, but no such carving was ever found.”
“There has been some archaeological evidence uncovered about fifty miles away from the original site of the Roanoke colony, but it’s pretty sparse because of shoreline erosion,” Dr. Worlich said. “The true fate of the Lost Colony is one of the great unsolved mysteries of history.”
Captain Niven crossed her arms and frowned. “So what you both are saying is that what’s happening right now might be some sort of curse? Because you brought the archaeological remains of that so-called lost colony into the museum in New York?”
Valerie looked at her. It was obvious she was skeptical. “Granted, it’s pretty thin in regards to motive, but we don’t seem to have any other leads to go on. This one lead coincides with everything, well almost everything anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Paul said to her.
Valerie leaned forward so they all could see the scar on her face. “I’ve survived an attack by a large group of cultists just days ago near the East Village. They had flayed the skins of their victims and were using obsidian knives as weapons. My partner was killed. I believe the only thing that saved me was that I wore an old Aztec charm on my neck that was visible after I fell. My mother is full-blooded Aztec and she told me that the god Xipe Totec is walking around Manhattan right now.”
Paul looked up in confusion for a minute. “Xipe Totec? The Flayed God? Are you sure?”
“It has to be,” Valerie said. “I’m sure you government types have also seen the video footage of those creatures attacking people in Central Park, right? From their appearance alone it was obvious those were tzitzimitl, Aztec demons that looked like skeletal women.”
“I’ve seen the footage and I’m not disagreeing with you,” Paul said. “It’s just that from the database we’ve set up, it seems that these so-called Pagan gods and their demons are formally tied to a geographic location as to where they originated. I myself survived an attack by Celtic demons called Fomorians in England, but my point is why would an Aztec god that’s tied to Central America be doing here in the Tri-state area?”
“Well, since you did mention the Fomorians, and they were based in Ireland yet they somehow made it to London, right?” Dr. Worlich said. “Perhaps the Aztec gods may be making a push up north to us?”
Paul nodded. “That’s certainly a possibility, but I would have thought that they would go through the southern states first. If what Detective Mendoza is saying is true about Xipe Totec, then how was he able to bypass the south?”
Dr. Worlich shrugged. “They’re gods, obviously. I guess their power is pretty absolute at this stage.”
“Which brings us to the next question,” Joe said. “Suppose we do find a connection with that relic you have in the museum. What then? How do we kill a god?”
“My mother said that you can’t kill a god,” Valerie said. “The most we can do is to trick him in order to foil his plans.”
“She’s right,” Paul said. “We may need a plan once we get into the museum. How to deal with Xipe Totec and how to deal with those demons.”
“Guns don’t seem to affect them,” Joe said as a matter of factly. “We’ve requested some flamethrowers. Perhaps if we burn them down, it might do the trick, but so far our request has not been approved.”
“You’ll get them by late this evening,” Captain Niven said. “We have a contingent of special forces troops here with us. They’re veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’re in the process of equipping them with special weapons that might be able to help so they will join you in the push to the museum.”
“Which brings me to another question,” Joe said. “I must request that Detective Mendoza be given tactical command of this operation. She knows the area and has experience.”
“Just because she survived one attack doesn’t mean she’s experienced in dealing with these creatures,” Captain Niven said brusquely.
Paul put his arm up to calm things down. “Hold on a minute, we’re all in this together. Detective Mendoza, will you consent for allowing our soldiers to go with your team? You will have overall tactical command, but you must be willing to give them leeway if things get dicey out there.”
Captain Niven looked at him in surprise. “Now wait a minute, this is now a Department of Defense operation and we have qualified military personnel who will be put in command and General Benteen is—”
Paul cut her off with a wave of his hand. “The president gave me the authority to chair this task force. If the NYPD feels that they have enough expertise for this mission, then they can retain command of their own units.”
Valerie placed her hands on the table as a sign of concession. “I’m not a soldier and I have no experience in warfare. All I would like to do is to get my forensics team into the museum and have a look at this tree trunk. Whatever the government wants to do is their business as long as they don’t interfere with what my men are doing. They are free to give out orders to their own s
oldiers, and I will definitely cede command to them if we’re attacked, deal?”
“Deal,” Paul said with finality as he ignored Captain Niven’s angry glare. “Since this could be a very significant lead, I’m going along too.”
Captain Niven’s eyes were now wide as saucers. “What? You’re the head of this task force. The area is too dangerous and I will not allow you to take that risk, Professor.”
Paul shrugged. “Somebody has to go down to that museum basement and get a thorough examination of that tree. If there’s any clue we can get in regards to solving this crisis, then it’s imperative that we have all hands on deck.”
“I cannot permit this, if anything happened to you we would have no idea on how to continue to deal with this crisis,” Captain Niven said.
“Someone with some knowledge of anthropology has to be down there to deal with whatever it is that’s written on that tree. If we can make an assessment on the scene, it would be of great help in solving this mystery,” Paul said.
Dr. Worlich cleared his throat. “With all due respect, Paul, she’s right. You’re too valuable to be sent into the lion’s den. Since I’m currently not doing anything, I volunteer to go in with the troops.”
“This could be a suicide mission, Edwin,” Paul said to him.
Dr. Worlich shrugged and smiled. “I’m divorced, the kids have their own families now, and as far as I know, they’re safe. Anyway, I am part of the museum staff and I know my way around there. Unless I do my part, this whole thing could get worse.”
Paul turned to look at his military liaison. “You need to give him the best protection necessary, it all hinges on whether Edwin can decipher the meaning of the writing on that tree bark.”
“I’ll do you one better, Professor Dane,” Captain Niven said. “I’ll be going with him and you can monitor us both from the command HQ.”
“That’s it then,” Joe said. “All we can do now is wait for those weapons you ordered and we’re good to go.”
“And don’t forget to pray to whatever gods we have on our side,” Valerie said.
28. The Transformed Man
Israel
Ron Boland stared at the orthopedic cast on his left leg, the plaster had solidified and it was obvious that he couldn’t bend the knee. That meant that any kind of running was out of the question. Then again it wouldn’t have made any difference, since his right wrist was handcuffed to the metal frame of the wheeled bed that he was lying in. He was in some sort of infirmary. The room had white painted walls and a single steel door was located on the far side. All he remembered was lying in the back of the Land Cruiser out in the middle of the Arabian Desert. The moment he had closed his eyes someone had hit him with a stun gun. The rest of his short term memory was a blur. He vaguely remembered being put on the back of a cargo plane and the next thing he knew they were treating his leg.
He had been awake for several hours now, and was busy counting the tiny holes in the ceiling panels when the door opened and an old, portly man wearing a yarmulke and hobbling along on a cane walked inside and closed it behind him.
Boland looked at the older man. “What the hell took you so long, Ariel? And why am I handcuffed to this goddamned bed?”
Ariel Weizman found a metal stool and dragged it over near the bed before sitting down on it. “Shalom. The team was just taking precautions, Ron. In your line of work, I’m sure you understand these kinds of operating procedures.”
“Fine,” Boland said. “So now explain the restraints on me.”
Ariel shrugged. “Again, we have precautions. In this day and age, we cannot afford to make a single mistake.”
Boland kept his composure even though his anger was rising. “So is this how you treat your allies, Ariel? If I was to report this to my government, it would create a diplomatic incident, you know that.”
Ariel threw his hands up. “I know this looks bad and I’m sorry. But I’m only following orders. The word on up is that anyone that we take in that has anything to do with Subject Noah is to be treated as a potential threat.”
“My leg is in a cast because it was busted up,” Boland growled. “Do I look like a threat to you?”
“Normally, we wouldn’t have put you in restraints and instead would have allowed you to stay in a secure room with proper supervision, but right now we are short-staffed and we’ve got no one to spare,” Ariel said. “We’re at a critical stage right now because the dust storm has reached the Jordanian border.”
“Ariel, I cooperated with your side fully. I gave my area coordinates in the desert to your people. And yet they hit me with a stun gun and sedated me,” Boland said. “We had an agreement that if I allowed your men to interview this Subject Noah, you would then find me and my operative a way back to the United States. Am I missing something here?”
Ariel looked away. “A new situation has arisen. This Subject Noah has more intelligence value than we previously surmised and something happened to your operative that compels us to keep him here for the time being. So long as you do not make any trouble for us, I can arrange for a way to get you back to America.”
Boland’s eyes narrowed. “What happened to Patrick?”
“We’re not sure. He was in the cave along with Subject Noah and they were talking—apparently the target was somehow able to … transform him into something else.”
“What? What do you mean transform him? Is Patrick still alive?”
“Your operative is undoubtedly alive. In fact, he survived several gunshot wounds to his torso and apparently has made a full recovery. He is currently in another part of this installation and we are doing some tests on him.”
“You’re full of it.”
Ariel sighed at the American’s lack of tact. “No, Ron, I am not. His skin has apparently molted and the new skin he has is almost bulletproof. He has also gained tremendous strength and speed. It was a miracle that our people were able to neutralize him, but then again, I think it was because he was still undergoing the process of transformation. Reading the reports, it was like him turning from a tadpole and into a frog.”
Boland shook his head. Everything that had happened in the past few days was simply unbelievable, but in the end it was true. He felt that nothing could surprise him anymore. “Why did your men try to disable him? Was he hostile or something?”
“Let’s just say that he was uncooperative when we tried to apprehend Subject Noah,” Ariel said. “He tried to interfere, so we used force to take him down. We sedated him and he’s still unconscious as of now.”
“Whatever happened to him is irrelevant. He’s still an American citizen and you have no right to keep him here.”
“Once we run the tests on him and analyze what happened as to how he became like he is now, then he will be free to go,” Ariel said. “Provided that he refrains from any future hostility, of course.”
“What about Noah? Where is he?”
“Subject Noah is uncooperative as to how he was able to somehow transform your operative,” Ariel said. “But we have found other uses for him so we’re keeping him here in Israel for the time being.”
Boland scoffed. “This wasn’t the deal I made with you people.”
“Would you have preferred to walk out of that desert on your own, with those demons right behind you? Be thankful that we saved your life, Ron.”
Boland grimaced. He could hardly maintain his composure. “Whatever. Now get me out of these handcuffs.”
Ariel leaned on his cane. “Do I have your word that you won’t try anything stupid?”
Boland looked him in the eye. “Yes.”
Ariel got up slowly from the stool. “Very well, I shall call for an escort and then they will take off those handcuffs. You will then be placed on a private jet and flown back to the United States. If you keep quiet about this incident, then your man will be returned to you in a few days once our tests are done. Even if you do make a stink about this, it won’t harm the special relationship we have with your
country, you know that. We’ve been doing everything we’ve ever wanted to anyway and your own government has never threatened to cut off our aid or sever our ties so your complaint will be useless, but I think you already know that.”
Boland said nothing.
Ariel turned around and headed for the door. Boland slipped out of the handcuffs since he had already unlocked them even before Ariel had come in. His captors did not remove his wristwatch, nor did they notice a handcuff key that was taped to the bottom of it so Boland was just biding his time until he heard the full story. Boland leapt forward and tackled Ariel from behind. The old man grunted as he fell face forward. Boland got his arm around the old man’s neck as the CIA administrator began to search him with his other hand.
As Boland forced him up, Ariel shrieked in pain. Boland found a keycard in the old man’s pocket, along with his wallet and car keys, but nothing else. Pity he didn’t carry a weapon with him, Boland thought.
“Please … my neck, I-I can’t breathe,” Ariel said hoarsely as he struggled against the taller man’s arm around his neck.
“You goddamned bastards,” Boland said as he held the keycard up in front of him with his other hand. “Always in it for yourselves again, eh? Now tell me, does this keycard give you access to the entire facility?”
“Y-yes!”
“Okay,” Boland said, “Now where are you holding my operative?”
“One l-level below us, please, it hurts!”
“How many guards in this level?”
Ariel was gasping. “Argh.”
Boland partially relaxed his grip. “How many guards?”
“O-only four on duty in the security room in the level below us. M-most of the guards are located at the upper floor where they’re making the go-golems….”
Boland’s eyes widened. “Golems?”
“Y-yes, they are our country’s secret weapon against those Babylonian devils.”
The Glooming (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 1) Page 32