Lightning World's Divide Book 1

by Ryan Hartung

  “Well if what I heard from the Prime Minister is true, then I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” The president paused and looked Colt up and down, trying to nail down the young man’s character. “That won’t of course be a problem for me, will it?”

  “No sir,” Colt replied enthusiastically. He was relieved the situation was showing promise to play out much differently in the states than it did in England.

  “So, let me ask you a question. I’m a Catholic and I sure as heck one hundred percent believe there’s a higher power. But seeing this staff and what it can do makes me wonder, what if?” President Davis searched Colt’s eyes wanting an answer to a morally compromising question.

  “If you’re asking if I think Zeus really was real or not, the answer is no, I don’t. Now, that being said I haven’t a clue to where this came from, or how it’s controlling lightning, but from my years of studying and working in this field I have never found anything that would lead me to believe any of the Greek or Roman gods of legend ever existed in any form except in the imagination of men.”

  “If I asked you for your most educated guess, where do you think it came from then?” the president asked, clearly wanting some sort of concrete answer. Colt wasn’t sure if President Davis needed the question answered for himself or someone else.

  “Honesty Mr. President, I don’t have a clue,” Colt admitted.

  “Fair enough. There’s one condition to me letting you keep the staff with in your possession though and that is your complete willingness to cooperate with my people to find out as much about this weapon as possible.”

  “Sure thing. Actually the resources of the United States’ government would be extremely helpful in understanding this relic. Like you, I have questions of my own that need answering.”

  “Then we’ve got a deal,” the president said. He reached out to shake Colt’s hand one final time and turned to leave towards a jet black limo waiting on the other side of the tarmac.

  “Um, President Davis, there is one more item you need to be aware of.”

  “And that is?” the president asked, not annoyed at the delay in his departure.

  “My team and I have reason to believe there might be more artifacts of this type hidden around the world. In the room where we found the lightning staff there were also inscriptions vaguely detailing where Zeus’ brothers and sisters are buried.” Colt paused, gauging the president’s interest. So far their conversation could not have progressed any better than he had hoped and the last thing Colt wanted was to irritate the most powerful man in the world. Seeing no opposition, Colt continued.

  “The door leading into the chamber where this staff was housed, labeled the room as Zeus’ final resting place. Now I don’t believe Zeus was ever in there, but this weapon as you just called it, clearly contains a power we attribute to the god of thunder. If the places mentioned on the pedestal below where the staff was found are supposed to represent where his siblings are buried then it’s reasonable to surmise they too might house powerful artifacts.’

  “What kind of powers are we talking about?” the admiral chimed in clearly concerned more objects like Colt’s lightning staff might exist.

  “Well, he had five brothers and sisters, with Hera being his sister and his wife. But the two Greek gods I’d be worried most about if they too have weapons would be Poseidon and Hades; the gods of the ocean and death respectively. I’m only speculating here, but if any such artifacts exist with the power to discriminately kill or control the ocean, we could be in for a world of hurt if someone discovered them before us and meant to do the United States harm.”

  “I see. Jerry, clear my schedule this afternoon,” President Davis ordered his secretary. “I want Mr. Andrews, his two associates and the Joint Chiefs of Staffs assembled so we can fully address this bag of worms this man and his team have just uncovered.”

  “Yes sir,” Jerry dutifully replied.

  “Now, if there’s no further scenarios of impending doom I have a busy day ahead of me,” the president said rotating back to Colt.

  “No sir, I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I caused you any problems with my actions over in England.”

  “Nah, don’t worry about it young man. You’ve done your country a great service bringing back this artifact. Plus, there’s no way Tony Wilson wants a story getting out about how one American defeated over a hundred soldiers with some silly staff purportedly left here by Zeus, the god of thunder,” the president said laughing.

  “But in all seriousness, you’ve got a lot of work to do. Find out what makes this staff tick, where it comes from, but most importantly, you need to figure out if you’re right about their being more of these relics around the globe. If more of these exist, it’s best the United States discover them before anybody else. There are a lot of whackos out there who’d use them as weapons of mass destruction given the chance.”

  The president gave Colt a final handshake and was quickly ushered to his waiting motorcade. Colt watched the president leave while scratching his head. How was he supposed to accomplish all of that in one afternoon? The details the president wanted could take months depending on how tedious of reports he generated. As the president’s motorcade sped away from Colt along the airport’s tarmac, the throng of high ranking military, scientific and political officials who’d watched the staff’s destructive power in the distance swarmed him and his friends like they were rock stars asking question after question.

  Chapter

  10

  “Tell me you got that Bill,” Roger said. His face hurt he was smiling so big. Reginald had been right, this story was absolutely golden.

  “Oh I got it,” Bill returned. For the first time in two months he wasn’t thinking of his next drink or of his ex-wife. Even his headache seemed to have disappeared for the moment. He patted the side of his telephoto lens as if it were a delicate baby.

  Roger smiled even wider, feeling his skin being stretched more than it was used to. He slapped his friend on the back in ecstasy, knowing this was going to make each of them famous and maybe rich too. Roger leaned on the concrete highway railing and let the moment settle in. In his profession, besides a major disaster, this was about as good as a story could get. In Bill’s camera was a story so new, so unique, he knew he could probably milk its global impact for months.

  “You know, I thought you were full of crap a few hours ago when you came to my house,” Bill said. “I mean, come on a staff that can shoot lightning? It’s something out of a science fiction novel. Those things never really exist. It’s like the Yeti or the Lock Ness Monster, you hear about them, but everyone knows they’re just fiction. Yet here we are and I just saw it do exactly what you said. I tell you though, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed you; not in a million years.”

  Roger smiled and patted Bill on the back again. “Well I’m glad you believe me now. But just between us, I thought Reginald was full of crap too.” Roger was thrilled to have been proven wrong. Many times he’d been awakened in the middle of the night only to arrive after the story had already broken or sometimes there never was really a story to begin with. This time however was different.

  “Alright, let’s get off this overpass and look at those pictures,” Roger suggested. Normally he’d wait until returning to the office to see what his cameraman had captured on film, but this time his excitement was too great.

  Half a mile down the road Bill had already removed the camera’s memory card and was uploading the pictures onto his laptop. The first fifty photos were of Colt Andrews and the staff along with the president and the other officials at the landing sight. Another twenty plus digital photographs were of only the staff itself, many of which were zoomed in to capture the smallest of details.

  “Here come the money shots,” Bill announced as he used the keypad to flip through the large files. The next slew of pictures was of Colt summoning the small cloud that spewed the massive bolt of lightning from its middle.
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  “Wow, I can’t believe we actually got it!” Roger exclaimed.

  Bill stopped on the most impressive picture of them all. He wasn’t sure if it was luck or skill, but the picture showed a thin trail of lightning connecting Colt’s staff to the black cloud and then an even thicker and more radiant bolt of lightning coming from the same dark cloud and impacting with the three blue barrels, which looked like melting goo.

  “That’s more than a money shot my friend. That’s a Pulitzer Prize winner right there,” Roger interjected. Both of them stared and studied the majestic picture displayed on the laptop’s highly pixilated screen. Not one of the rest of the pictures was even close in comparison to the brilliance of the two streams of pure white energy and the radiant glow of the lightning staff.

  Once back at the office and after they had both grabbed a much needed cup of coffee, Bill followed Roger to his side office and shut the door. Roger dialed Reginald’s home phone and placed them on speaker.

  “Hello,” Reginald’s almost giddy voice greeted them. “Tell me you Yanks have good news and that I didn’t call the wrong people.”

  Roger thought about letting Reginald dangle like a perch on a fishing line for a few minutes, but his excitement was too great. “We got it Reg. I’m sending you the best picture now.”

  A minute passed in silence as Reginald waited anxiously for the file to zip its way from the states to England. Roger and Bill were also eagerly awaiting their British colleague’s inevitable cry of delight.

  “God save the queen,” Reginald muttered in amazement after the picture finally opened. “Who do I have to thank for this wonderful masterpiece? It’s greater than I could have ever imagined,” he exclaimed.

  “My friend Bill took that shot,” Roger proudly replied. “I think he’s going to have a good shot at a Pulitzer for that picture. Don’t you agree?”

  “Truthfully I think it’ll blow the competition away lads. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Now that we have the proof we need, we have to make a story out of this.”

  “Hang on there a sec Reg. You said after we got the proof you’d send us another piece of information. I want to see everything there is before we continue. That was the deal,” Roger interrupted a little hot under the collar. He’d known Reginald a longtime and had no reason yet to doubt his honesty, but journalists had a well-earned reputation for keeping their stories close to their vests. Too many times Roger had seen one reporter upend another just to get the story out a few hours earlier for their paper or newscast and make the headline at the expense of everyone else.

  “Sorry, keep your knickers on. I just forgot that’s all. I’m sending it to you now,” Reginald honestly replied. After seeing Bill’s shot of a lifetime, Reginald had completely forgotten the file sent to him by one of the British communication officers.

  Once the file arrived and Roger clicked it open for both he and Bill to see, they were awestruck at the picture’s ramifications. “Is this picture saying what I think it is?” Roger asked.

  “I believe it is old chum. If Bill’s picture of the lightning staff really is supposed to be Zeus’s treasure, then according to this picture of inscriptions there are at least five more treasures out there.”

  “Wow,” Bill said and slumped into Roger’s extra chair.

  “Yes, wow as you put it Bill,” Reginald said feeling the same way. “This story is going to make each of us famous and rich,” he nervously laughed.

  “Settle down you two; first of all we need to get this thing ready for print. We’ve got some work ahead of us so let’s get started. If we’re on task with this story we could have it out by this evening,” Roger suggested.

  “My thoughts exactly. I’m going to call George Stonewall over here who’s the head of England’s museums to get his thoughts on this. From what I understand he’s the original person this file was sent to. So although he might not be the happiest about us breaking the story, if he wants it done right I’m sure I can convince him to lend us a hand. Plus I’ve heard the guy is always looking for a handout so I’m sure he’ll be amenable for a certain price,” Reginald replied.

  “Alright, you call your man and we’ll see if we can’t bang this thing out in a hurry. We’re about to become famous you guys,” Roger finished with a large smile, thinking of the bevy of talk shows and interviews sure to come their way.

  “Oh, one more thing before you go. I’m thinking about leading with the title; Zeus’ Lightning Staff Found! What do you guys think?” Roger asked.

  “I absolutely love it Roger. This is a story of a lifetime,” Reginald replied, to which they all agreed.

  Chapter

  11

  The Secretary of Defense opened the SUV’s large black rear door and stepped out into the warm sun. Already standing in the grassy clearing were Colt, Hillary and Dominic along with the weirdly pulsating lightning staff. The Secretary strode across the long uncut grass to where the three were positioned and stopped.

  “Well Mr. Andrews, let’s see what that baby of yours can do.”

  Colt looked at the aging gentleman dressed in his full military fatigues. Although Colt had been wary of showing the United States’ military the weapons’ existence after what had transpired in England, so far his worries had been for nothing. He even noticed the Secretary of Defense, only second to the president in military superiority, had just referred to the staff as his baby, which was a positive in itself.

  “We’re meeting with the president in five hours so I didn’t have much time to get this course set up, but this should at least give us a taste of what your lightning staff can do. For the moment I don’t care how you work that thing, just how it performs in these different scenarios. Look up in front of you on that hill. Do you see the cars and trucks up there?”

  Colt followed the Secretary of Defense’s finger towards a small hill in the distance. At least twenty cars and trucks were intermixed in an area about the size of a football field.

  “Yeah, I see it,” Colt acknowledged.

  “It’s a shame to have to destroy those vehicles because they’re all in working condition, but the president wants results by this afternoon.”

  “Those cars all run? Man, that isn’t cool. I could really use one of those bigger trucks,” Dominic replied, thinking of his old dilapidated truck, badly in need of repair.

  “I understand son, but we’re under a time crunch here. I only had an hour to prepare this little dog and pony show and although cars from a scrap yard would have been cheaper, they can’t drive themselves up that hill,” the Secretary of Defense replied.

  “Mr. Secretary, you might want to shield your eyes if Colt’s going to use the staff against those cars. From what I’ve observed the bigger the target the brighter the staff and the lightning bolts become,” Hillary suggested, not overly eager to feel her retinas burning again anytime soon.

  “Already taken care of.” The Secretary motioned with his hand towards the car he’d arrived in, where a corporal came running out with four pairs of sunglasses. “These glasses have been used for nuclear testing so I’m guessing they’ll be more than sufficient for this.” He handed a pair to Hillary and Dominic and then Colt.

  “No thanks,” Colt replied. “For some reason the light doesn’t seem to bother me. I can tell the light gets brighter, but nothing so much so that it hurts my eyes. I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess that there’s some sort of optical protection sent out by the staff for its user.”

  “Suit yourself,” the Secretary of Defense said and put on his special sunglasses. “Do your worst.”

  Colt took a step forward, separating himself from the others and began concentrating on the vehicle lined hill. Behind him were at least twenty spectators with no less than ten of them holding a camera or a piece of scientific hardware as the spectacle began.

  As each time before, the staff began glowing a bright pulsing yellow then turning to white before a small black cloud was formed in the sky. A fantastic bolt of b
luish white lightning shot out of the cloud seconds after its formation and towards Colt’s intended targets. With so many vehicles as marks in the same location, the lightning bolt once halfway towards the earth branched out into five smaller bolts, which then each split into another four even smaller bolts before striking the parked vehicles individually at the same time.

  As if a mortar had been dropped on top of the wide hill, all twenty cars and trucks exploded simultaneously. Gigantic fireballs erupted from most of the car’s and truck’s tanks of gasoline. Within minutes only charred remains of the vehicles remained, many of which between the lightning’s powerful blast and the heat of the fire barely resembled a car or truck at all.

  “Very impressive,” the Secretary said, visibly pleased. “That’s one test, now on to the next. Look over to your right. There’s a car there and a car way over there. I want you to try and hit both of them at the same time.”

  Colt looked in the cars’ directions and saw they were separated by at least three football fields. He wondered if the staff would be able to hit them simultaneously or if he’d have to use it twice. Maybe the lightning bolt would split in two again?

  Colt turned the staff and commanded it to destroy the targets. The lightning staff obeyed his commands but instead of striking the two cars separately or splitting a bolt of pure energy in half, this time two separate small black clouds formed; one above each target. The clouds simultaneously produced their desired energy and the cars were utterly destroyed only milliseconds apart.

  “Excellent Mr. Andrews, truly excellent. And now for the final test. If you’d turn around you’ll see another ten cars lined up down the road. You’ve demonstrated the destructive nature of the staff with the twenty vehicles burned at one time and you just showed its ease at destroying multiple targets spread apart. Now I want to see how it handles being used repeatedly instead of just one shot. If you can, take out each target by itself, working your way down the line. Let’s see how your magic weapon does when it’s used over and over again. From what I’ve seen, I’m betting it’ll do just fine,” the Secretary of Defense finished.