Song of Ariel: A Blue Light Thriller (Book 2) (Blue Light Series)

by Mark Edward Hall

  The rage in Annie was immediate and intense. She turned away from Doug and headed for the control room door. “I’ll kill the little bitch!” she said.

  Jennings spotted the intruders first. There were two of them, about thirty yards up the trail facing in the opposite direction. He reached out and touched Eli gently on the shoulder. The little man came to a halt beside him. Together they stood like statues watching for movement.

  Jennings noted that the intruders were no longer wearing their protective head gear.

  “I get a feeling about them,” Eli said.

  “What do you mean,” Jennings whispered.

  “I don’t think they intend us harm.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see about that. You stay here.”

  Jennings moved slowly up behind the intruders. “Drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads,” he said leveling his assault rifle at their backs.

  The two men obeyed without hesitation.

  “Turn around slowly,” Jennings said.

  “Our mission here is a peaceful one,” said one of the intruders. Jennings caught sight of Laura and Danny moving in from the left and right flank. They now had both intruders covered from all sides. “You are Jennings, are you not?”

  “How the hell do you know that?”

  “We know quite a lot about you. You were part of our study program.”

  “Study program? Okay, wise ass, what the hell’s going on. Who are you?”

  “We are soldiers of God. We have come here to protect the chosen one.”

  “Soldiers of God? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “We are ordained Jesuit priests?”

  Crap, Jennings thought. Just what I need right now. A couple of holy rollers. “Who sent you?”

  “The Brotherhood of the Order.”

  An almost electric shock went through Jennings when he heard that name. He and Annie had listened hour on end to Doug’s stories of the secret organization that had their beginnings as the Knights Templar, how they had saved his life and spoken of a future where a new savior would arise. Doug had insisted that they believed this new savior would be his and Annie’s daughter. Jennings knew Ariel was special in many ways, but he had always been skeptical of the savior part.

  “They really do believe the child is the chosen one, you know,” Eli said.

  “Men have believed in some pretty strange shit since the dawn of time,” Jennings said. “False prophets are a staple of weak minds.”

  “You know the child,” one of the men said, his eyes alight with rapture. “Tell me, what is she like?”

  Jennings glared angrily at the man. “I’ll tell you what she’s like. She’s a fragile little human girl, not something divine. Yes, she’s smart, maybe even a savant, but she’s no more savior than I am. She believes in science and evolution, not some flawed concept of a supernatural creator.”

  “Perhaps science and creation are more closely linked than you think.”

  Jennings frowned. “Yeah, whatever.”

  “Her name is being spoken far and wide,” said the second man. “Unfortunately not everyone wishes her well.”

  “How do I know you two don’t mean her harm?”

  “You don’t, brother. But hear me, we have come in service to worship and protect, not to destroy. And we are not alone. Others have gone ahead and are attempting to contact the child’s parents. They have a very important message to pass on.”

  Jennings bristled. “How the hell did you know about this place?”

  “We have known from the beginning.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “It is not up to me to explain. I am merely a soldier.”

  “Who destroyed the cabin?”

  “We do not know.”

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Please, sir, time is wasting.”

  Laura and Danny were now standing directly behind the two men, their guns trained on their backs. “What are we going to do with these guys?” Laura asked.

  “I’ll lead the way,” Jennings said. He scooped up their weapons and gave one to Eli. Eli looked skeptically at it. “I’m not asking you to use it, just carry it?”

  Eli accepted the weapon, holding it as one would hold a hot poker.

  “You and Danny cover them from behind,” Jennings said to Laura. “If either of them makes a wrong move, you have my permission to—”

  “Yeah, I know,” Laura said, motioning for the two intruders to follow Jennings. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

  Together they all struck off up the hill toward the caves.

  “We know about the child’s parents, and we know about the spear of destiny,” one of the men said conversationally.

  For the first time in years Jennings was reminded of the object Doug had brought here with him, the fragment of an ancient weapon that was purported to be the tip of the spear that had pierced Christ’s side at the crucifixion. Jennings had always been skeptical of the entire story. What were the chances? Several years ago he had asked Doug about the object, wondering what had become of it and Doug had said that it was in a safe location. As far as Jennings was concerned that was good enough for him. He would have been happy to never hear about the damned thing again. Now these guys were talking about it.

  Doug caught Annie by the arm before she could reach the door. “Annie, there has to be a very good reason why she’s here.”

  Annie spun around and pulled free of Doug’s grasp. “I don’t care,” she said, her lips tight, her eyes wild. “I don’t want that woman in our lives.”

  “You can’t go out there. It’s too dangerous.”

  Annie’s eyes flamed. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do, Doug. How dare she come here! How dare she screw with our lives! I know what she wants. She wants you and she wants our child. No way in hell she’ll ever lay a hand on either of you.”

  “That’s right, she won’t,” Doug said. “Listen, Annie, she didn’t come for me or Ariel. I know she didn’t. Something bad has happened in the world and if she’s here she’s here to help us in some way.”

  Annie’s initial moment of rage was diminishing. Doug could see the change in her eyes. “Annie, I told you everything. She’s human, and she made a mistake. I made a mistake. I was vulnerable. But if it hadn’t been for her I wouldn’t be here. Please, at least offer her the courtesy of explaining why she came here.”

  Just then a second sensor went off. Doug rushed back into the control room and saw Rick Jennings along with several other people escorting two men in hazmat suits through the first perimeter line.

  “It’s Rick,” he said and could see the relief on Annie’s face. “I’ll go out and bring them in. You stay with Ariel.”

  Annie did not argue. Protocol had been set years ago. Someone always stayed with Ariel. Besides, Annie realized she was not in the proper frame of mind to greet a woman she had never met but felt an intense jealousy towards. Doug was right. She needed to calm down. She needed to get her emotions together.

  Doug snatched his weapon off the wall and unbolted the door. He backtracked his earlier route circumnavigating the obstacles he’d put in place to conceal the cave entrance. He went immediately to the woman he had initially seen on the monitors and said in a voice that sounded a little too harsh even in his own ears, “Why did you come here?”

  The woman looked shattered. “I have something of the utmost urgency to discuss with you and Annie and it was the only way.”

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “That’s part of what we need to talk about.”

  “So what do I call you now? Lucy? Nadia? Or is it something else?”

  “You know my name, Doug,” she said. “And you know why Lucy was necessary.”

  “I don’t know how I feel about any of this,” Doug said. “You drugged me. You left me a note. I was nearly killed in a pre-dawn attack, and now, more than four years later you show up here coincidently on the same day my wife and child
are almost killed in a drone attack. This whole thing smells.”

  “That wasn’t us.”

  “Us? You mean that Brotherhood you work for? Who then?”

  “If you’ll calm down I’ll explain everything.”

  “I’d like to hear that explanation myself,” said a voice behind Nadia.

  They all whirled and saw Rick Jennings and his entourage holding weapons on two guys wearing hazmat suits.

  “What took you so long?” Doug said to Jennings.

  “Nasty stuff going on out in the world,” Jennings said. “Nice to see you too.”

  Doug and Jennings embraced. “Boy, it really is good to see you. Thought we were on our own up here.”

  “Not as long as I’m alive,” Jennings said.

  “Okay,” Doug said, turning back to Nadia and her companion. “You’ve got some serious explaining to do.”

  “Not until they’re frisked for weapons,” Jennings said. “Off with the hazmat suits.”

  All four intruders complied, stripping off the cumbersome protective gear. Jennings and Laura patted them down until they were satisfied there were no weapons. They did find some small devices that looked like miniature cell phones. “What are these?” Laura asked.

  “They’re closed circuit com devices,” Nadia replied.

  Jennings examined one of the devices. “Show me,” he said handing the device back to the woman. Nadia pressed a button and a small screen lit up showing what appeared to be a topo map of the area around them, “All units stand by for further instructions,” she said into the device. Her voice came out of the other three devices.

  “How do they work?” Jennings asked. “Are they like walkie talkies?”

  “No, they’re much more sophisticated than that. They’re keyed to a private satellite that sits in a geosynchronous orbit. Essentially they’re cell phones.”

  Jennings had an idea. “Can you contact anyone else with these units? I mean other than your own organization.”

  “Sure, but I’m not going to. At least not yet. Unless you want to paint a bull’s eye on this place.”

  Doug turned to the middle aged man who accompanied Nadia. “And you are?”

  The man extended his hand. “Dr. Seth Randal. It’s a pleasure, Mr. Mc Arthur. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Doug did not take Randal’s hand. He wasn’t even sure if that was his real name. The Brotherhood of the Order was slippery like that. “Why are you here?” he asked.

  “I have something I need to discuss with you and your wife. It’s about your child.”

  Doug’s eyes drew down on the man. “Let’s get something straight right now,” he said. “Our child is way off limits. As a matter of fact, she’s so far off limits if you so much as look at her the wrong way you’re a dead man.”

  Randal smiled.

  “Dr. Randal has no intention of harming Ariel,” Nadia said. “Our mission here is a peaceful one.”

  “How the hell do you even know her name?” Doug said, turning on Nadia now.

  “Doug, we know everything. You’re well aware of the reach of my organization. You know me, and know I wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her. Our mission is to protect her.”

  “Yeah, well Annie and I have done a pretty good job of that up until now.”

  Nadia leveled her gaze at Doug. “You haven’t done it alone. We’ve been here since the beginning.”

  Doug and Jennings were both floored by this revelation.

  “You mean you’ve been watching them?” Jennings said.

  “And you,” Nadia said. “Since you first brought them here.”

  “This is getting really weird,” Laura said.

  “I’m afraid it’s going to get a lot weirder,” Nadia said. She introduced the two men they’d captured and told Jennings that they were part of a security detail who had accompanied her and the doctor here.

  Jennings turned to the two men. “I thought you guys were priests?”

  “We are,” said the first man. “But we are also soldiers. These are trying times, and God needs all the help he can get.”

  Jennings glared at the two men. “We didn’t really capture you, did we?”

  “No, sir,” replied one of the men. “We knew you were on your way up and we waited for you.”

  “It would be best if they stayed outside as sentries,” Nadia said. “That’s why they’re here. To protect us.”

  “So you’re saying I should return their weapons?”

  “And their com units,” Nadia continued. “There are two dozen more security forces spread out around the area. I need my com unit so that I can communicate with them. Considering the present situation in the world the child needs all the protection she can get.”

  “I’m finding it difficult to trust you,” Jennings said.

  “We watched you land on the pond and monitored your hike up the mountain trail,” Nadia said. “If we had meant you harm you would have been dead the moment you stepped out of the plane.”

  “Who the hell are you people?” Jennings said.

  “I realize I don’t look the way I looked as a teenager,” Nadia said to Jennings. “I remember you well, though, Rick.”

  A shadow passed over Jennings’ face. “I remember a young woman named Nadia Zeigler,” he said. “I’m well aware of who you say you are. Doug told me the entire story, and I trust him. I’m still not sure I trust you.”

  Nadia smiled. “I hope I can earn your trust.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “We have some very important information to pass on,” Seth Randal replied.

  “Are you a priest too?”

  Randal smiled. “I’m a scientist, part evolutionary biologist, part anthropologist.”

  Jennings frowned. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “All male members of the order are priests first,” Nadia said.

  “It’s been a long journey,” Randal said wearily. “I wonder if we could all gather somewhere where it’s cool and talk.”

  “Give them back their weapons,” Jennings said, eliciting a pained look from Laura.

  Nadia looked at Doug. “Now, shall we proceed? I’ve been waiting a long time to meet Annie and Ariel.”

  “I’m not sure the feeling is mutual on Annie’s part,” Doug said.

  Nadia leveled her gaze at Doug.

  “She knows everything,” Doug said. “There are no secrets between us.”

  “No, of course there aren’t,” Nadia replied. “I suppose I’d feel the same way if I were in her shoes.”

  CHAPTER 12

  On the outskirts of Jackson, Mississippi, July 4th.

  The day after the arrival.

  Jason and Charlee picked up the Natchez Chase Parkway heading northeast toward Route 20 which they hoped would take them around Jackson. By the time they reached the southern outskirts of Jackson, Jason knew he’d made a mistake coming this way. Here they found nothing but chaos. They saw it from a long way off, fires, billows of smoke rising into the air; so much in fact that it clogged the freeways and jammed traffic to a standstill. Here Jason and Charlee found other survivors, quite a few of them actually, but there was so much carnage, so much violence, it was impossible to know who they could trust and who they couldn’t.

  Even amongst the living, the dead lay everywhere; men, women and children, struck down in attempted flight by the plague as well as by those who had become infected and were no longer in control of their humanity.

  Abruptly Jason turned the truck around looking for a way out of this nightmare, perhaps a less crowded way around Jackson. Against his strongest instincts, he shunned those who reached out to them for help, and there were many. He could not be sure the plague had run its course, and he could not take the risk that he and Charlee would become infected. Besides, no way could they make a difference here. There was just too much suffering.

  A few police cars and other emergency vehicles moved sluggishly through the destruction, but it all seemed so fu
tile.

  “What do you think we should do, kiddo?” he asked Charlee. It was a rhetorical questioned designed to elicit a response from the girl. Through it all Charlee had remained strangely silent but attentive to the chaos outside, her eyes bulging from her head, her white-knuckled hands gripping the edge of the seat.

  “You mean about all this?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It scares me to death.”

  “Me too,” Jason said.

  “I think we should get as far away from here as possible,” Charlee said.

  “Exactly what I’m thinking,” Jason said as he maneuvered the truck in and around stalled traffic on the crowded freeway. There was an almost total blockage ahead, along with a mob of angry looking men trying to clear it. When they noticed Jason’s pickup edging closer they stopped their work, turned and glared suspiciously at them. Jason eased down on the brake. He was reluctant to engage anyone. Looking around for options he saw that the west bound lane on the opposite side of the median wasn’t nearly as jammed up. He would have to cut across a grassy strip of perhaps one hundred yards to accomplish the feat. Other vehicles had tried and failed, becoming hopelessly mired. The strip was torn to shreds.

  Oh well, it was the only way. Jason slammed the truck down into four wheel drive and stepped down hard on the gas, swinging the wheel hard to the left, bumping over several concrete barriers and crashing through a wire fence. It had obviously rained in the past twenty-four hours and the median was sodden. For a moment the truck bogged down and Jason was unsure if they would make it all the way across. As the truck revved to pull itself free Charlee gripped the seat with a fierceness that was frightening. Just when it seemed they were doomed, the truck pulled itself free of the muck and began moving again, albeit slowly.