The Society of Orion Book Six: The Moroccan Affair: Colton Banyon Mystery

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “According to the writings, he died from a bite from an insect, I think. I’m not sure of the translation as I used a program. It could have been something larger.”

  “Hmm,” Banyon replied. “We already know that the Sumi hated to have any creatures near them. That is why they invented the Repel device to chase them away. Maybe any bite from any creature would be fatal to them. As I understand it, there are no creatures on their planet.”

  “Precisely my thinking,” Carol agreed.

  “So what’s the bad news? That is actually good news. We might be able to exploit that information.”

  “The Supreme Leader’s body is in storage,” she said.

  “Storage? Storage for what?” Loni looked over at him with a questioning look when he yelled it.

  “He was being kept there so that he could be buried with honor in the center of their new capital city on Earth.”

  “What?” Banyon asked with grave concern. “Is it in Ecuador?”

  “I don’t think so,” Carol explained. “It appears that he died there, but will be buried near the forests in Turkey.”

  “But how did a Turkish sarcophagus get to the Tayos caves then?”

  “They built it from local stone,” Carol answered. “There is also mention of an Amber chariot that is already at the third depository. It was meant for the Supreme Leader to have in his final resting place. He was to be buried with other objects as well.”

  “This is all great information,” Banyon said after a few seconds. “But why is the information so important right now.”

  “The year listed for the ceremony is this year.”

  “My God,” Banyon roared. “That means they are invading soon.” Maya now leaned in from the back seat to listen.

  “Yes,” Carol agreed. “And Colt there is one more thing. The third depository is the headquarters for the invasion. There may be more devices and information we can use to stop the Sumi there. We need to get there fast and find out what we can.”

  A little bit of panic was now gripping Colton Banyon. “We’ll head there right after tonight.”

  “I think that you need more help, Colt. The Sumi are very computer and device oriented. None of you are geeks. I think Timmy and I could probably hack into their computers and find out more stuff than you would by burning down their headquarters, don’t you?”

  Banyon was now more worried about a possible invasion than people knowing the secrets of his organization. He decided that he needed the help more than he needed his personal security.

  “Carol, make arrangements for you and Timmy to go to Turkey. Coordinate it with Mandy who will make the arrangements for the rest of the team, but don’t call her until I tell you. We’ll meet you guys in Turkey tomorrow night.”

  “Will it be okay if we brought someone else to help?” Carol inquired like a plea.

  “As long as they can help, bring them,” Banyon said nervously.

  “You’re leaving cellphone range Colt. I’ll talk to you later,” Carol promised.

  As soon as she hung up the phone she turned around, spread her arms, and asked a question. “How did I do?”

  “You both did great,” the ferret replied to Carol and Timmy. “Now let’s hope Kenny is as successful.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Meanwhile, Ahmed Fasi’s caravan reached the end of the road — literally — it suddenly ended. The vehicles could not be driven into the vast empty sand desert. There were too many shifting sand dunes and hidden gullies. He ordered everyone out of the jeeps and they began to trek silently toward the old French Foreign Legion fort in single file.

  The sun was already low in the sky, but the temperature was well over a hundred degrees. Everyone was soon sweating. There was not a speck of vegetation or cover to be seen in any direction. The all-sand desert was dusty, dry and windy. The two mile journey took over an hour.

  They knew that they were close to the fort when they spied thirty armed military men reclining in the shade of a makeshift tent in the open desert.

  Fasi strolled up to the man in charge. He went by himself. Hakim told everyone else to wait. Fasi didn’t want anyone else to hear the conversation. The mercenaries shifted uneasily as they hadn’t expected to see any authorities in the open desert. Several killers growled their disapproval. To them, nothing good came from having the military or police around and many of them had a price on their head.

  The man in charge was a captain and came to attention as Fasi drew near him.

  “My name is Captain Salib,” the military man offered and saluted. “I have been ordered by the King of Morocco to protect you at this location in the desert.”

  “Good,” Fasi replied. “I want you to deploy your men on that dune over there,” Fasi pointed. “Tonight, when I shoot off a red flare, I want you to come charging towards the camp and kill anyone you encounter except me. Do you understand?” It was an order, not a request.

  “Some will be your men, I’m afraid,” the captain replied shaking his head “It is hard to see at night out here. There could be many casualties.”

  “Kill anyone you find,” Fasi repeated through gritted teeth. He didn’t like that a lowly military man was questioning him. “Is that clear, captain?”

  “All the orders of my King were precise,” the captain explained. “He said that there may be some killings. We’re trained for conflicts in the desert. We’ll do as you request.”

  “Just don’t shoot me,” Fasi said in dismissal. “I’ll be under the canopy.” He turned on his heel and motioned for the mercenaries to follow him.

  The captain neglected to tell Fasi that he and his men were ordered to quickly leave the site as soon as it was dark. He didn’t understand the order, but was bound to obey.

  ***

  Fasi led the men for only about another hundred yards and then stopped in front of what appeared to be a hill of sand. He motioned for the men to drop the backpacks they were carrying in a pile next to him.

  “I want two men to build the canopy,” Fasi said to Hakim. “I also want six men to dig out the fort with me. Get them for me,” he ordered

  “Shouldn’t we get all the men some food first?” the second in command argued. He had seen the sullen look on many of the faces of the killers.

  Fasi could have cared less about eating. All he wanted were the weapons hidden in the fort, Colton Banyon found, and everyone dead. But he realized that he had to appear to be taking care of his men.

  “Very well,” he responded. “Get someone to make some food. Then get some more men to begin to dig out the entrance to the fort for me.”

  “They work for you, master,” Hakim replied. “You should give the order.

  “Who will volunteer?” Fasi yelled out to the twenty men milling around the site.

  What the arrogant Ahmed Fasi didn’t understand was that mercenaries were not normal workers. They were independent contractors who only responded to money and not orders. No one was interested in building, cooking, or digging. No one raised their hand.

  After a few minutes, the frustrated Fasi told Hakim to pick two of his own security team from his residence to build the canopy. It was his first priority.

  Suddenly Steve stepped forward. The rest of the Banyon team followed him. “We’ll help you dig out the fort,” Steve said. “There are six of us.”

  The always cautious Fasi took a minute to study the men before him and then spoke. “No, there will only be five of you helping me dig. That man, the one with the shaggy hair will volunteer to do the cooking.”

  He pointed to the surprised Eric.

  ***

  After an hour, Eric had made enough food for all the men to eat in shifts. They first group grabbed their food and sat down near a dune in the shadow caused by the late afternoon sun. Fasi’s digging group was invited next. They had already dug a trench to the wooden front door of the fort and were about to enter when called. The third group provided security until the first group finished eating and replace
d them.

  The encampment was very quiet, no one spoke. They just ate and stared until Fasi ordered the digging crew back to work.

  “It will be dark in a half hour,” He said. “I need to find what I’m looking for.”

  ***

  It took only a few minutes to clear the doorway of sand. While they were digging, Fasi told the men that the heavy work was almost over. He explained that the square fort had ten foot thick walls and a tunnel ran down the middle of the outside walls. It offered a way for the people inside the fort to travel around the entire complex without going outside. In addition, other tunnels branched off to go to the buildings inside the compound.

  “The access tunnel will be the third one on the right. It will lead us to a chapel,” Fasi added as he handed out flashlights that he took from one of his security men who had stationed himself by the doorway for protection.

  The tunnel was only five feet high so everyone had to bend over to proceed. It was very dark and very claustrophobic.

  “Watch out for snakes,” Fasi told them. “If there is one, there may be hundreds.” This only made everyone more nervous.

  “How long is this tunnel?” Steve quickly asked as he tried to gauge how long he would be feeling uncomfortable.

  “Each wall is about two hundred feet long,” Ahmed Fasi explained. “The entrance we seek will be half way down the tunnel after the first turn,” the Arab added.

  A collective groan came from all the men as they regretted volunteering for the mission.

  “Well, at least we don’t have that stupid Eric with us,” Steve suddenly joked.

  The ever suspicious Fasi quickly responded.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He is about six foot two,” Steve answered. “He’d have to crawl in here and would slow us down. Besides, I’ve run across him before. Things always seem to go amuck when he is around,” Steve said to prompt Fasi. He knew that Fasi planned to kill Eric as soon as it was dark.

  Fasi responded. “When we get back to camp, I want you to keep an eye on him until it gets dark,” Fasi said as he fell for Steve’s ploy.

  “I’ll keep him with this group of guys,” Steve offered.

  “I’ll send someone to deal with him later,” Fasi said absently.

  He couldn’t see the smiles that were on the faces of the Banyon team.

  “I’ve found the entrance,” Kenny Cole shouted. He was the point man.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Colton Banyon, Loni and Maya stood in a line looking directly at the top of the sand hill that covered the fort. They were about two hundred yards away from Fasi’s encampment and were in the lengthening shadow of a tall dune. They couldn’t be seen by anyone in the camp.

  They had approached the site from a different direction than Fasi. Their vehicle was only a couple of hundred yards behind them. They had no reason to hide it.

  “Okay,” Banyon said. “Loni you need to be on the left flank. That is where our guys will be situated for support.”

  “Got you,” Loni replied.

  “Maya,” Banyon then pointed, “I want you on the right flank to start. As soon as we hear from Eric, shoot off your weapon and run back here.” Option B of Banyon’s plan included using the new weapon given to him by the ferret and also some of the original Orion weapons that wouldn’t be affected by Fasi’s counter weapons.

  “I’ll go barefoot,” she responded. “I can run faster that way.”

  “And Loni,” Banyon said as he turned back to his partner. “Don’t forget that you have to be less than a hundred feet from Fasi when you activate your weapon. We only have one chance to do this. It is a onetime use weapon.”

  “Okay,” she replied. “I can’t wait to use it. It will be so much fun.”

  “But first we need to complete phase two of our plan,” Banyon explained.

  “Well hurry up and get it started,” she said impatiently.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The six-man expedition entered the chapel and relief showed on their faces. They were finally able to stand up straight. Steve looked around the inside using his flashlight. The small chapel appeared to be Christian and not Moslem. Everything inside was made from stone, even the pews. Dust, sand and cobwebs made the place look eerie.

  Fasi wasted no time and went straight to the front altar. He pointed to a slab of granite in the exact center of the altar. It served as part of the floor. “Get this piece up, but be careful, there may be snakes under it.”

  Kenny Cole stepped forward and drew out a long sharp knife. He then attacked the mortar that held the tile in place. After a few minutes he inserted his knife in the opening he had made and pushed down using the knife as leverage. The heavy tile popped up and this allowed Steve to pull it out of its place. Inside was a small metal box that appeared to be very old.

  Kenny pulled the box out by a handle and said. “Want me to carry it out for you Mr. Fasi?”

  “Please do,” the Arab responded. “I’ll be carrying this statue,” he commented.

  “Where did you get that?” Steve asked.

  “I took it from over there,” Fasi explained and pointed to the empty pedestal. “After all, this expedition was meant to collect an important artifact. I have to show the media something when I get back, even if it has no value.”

  “So this whole trip was a diversion for you to collect this box,” Steve recapped.

  “Not quite,” Fasi said with an evil grin. “It is about eliminating some unwanted vermin. Now let’s get back to the camp.”

  On the way back, Fasi didn’t notice that Kenny Cole lagged behind. He was able to open the box in a few minutes. He replaced the twenty weapons inside with rocks and shoved the Orion weapons in his pockets.

  It was so dark in the tunnel that no one noticed.

  Part Four

  Attack

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Meanwhile, back in Casablanca, five dark figures huddled in the shadows behind a fountain in the front garden of Ahmed Fasi’s estate. They were already inside the walled compound. Heather had used a jamming device, supplied by her boyfriend Steve, to override the elaborate camera and motion sensor security system that surrounded the residence. They had placed a ladder on both sides of the locked metal gate and had climbed the nine-foot high front wall without any of the five security guards and five mercenaries noticing. They had dropped down into the garden leaving ropes hanging down as way out and rushed to the rendezvous point.

  Mandy and Heather wore black full-body leotards and carried sniper rifles along with pistols on their hips. Chase wore black jeans and a black polo shirt and carried a medium sized black bag. He wore two handguns. The twin Patel sisters wore skin-tight black wet suits. They all wore black plastic gloves to avoid leaving any fingerprints.

  Chase, who had only seen the Patel sisters in dresses, was astonished at how thin they looked in their sleek outfits — and sexy too. The assault group didn’t bring any Orion weapons. This was going to be an old fashion assault, right out of WWII legend.

  Heather, who was the leader of the group, had worked out a plan to retrieve the weapons in Fasi’s safe. If they were lucky, they wouldn’t have a confrontation with any of the guards. They wanted to leave them for the King’s men to roundup tomorrow.

  She also knew that she could call Colton Banyon for help. He could use Wolf to locate all the guards and they both had a satellite phone so he could talk to her. But she wanted to use that option only as a last resort.

  “Okay,” Heather uttered. “We need to get into position. We’re only about fifteen minutes away from the start of the attack on Fasi and when that happens we will lose Banyon’s help.”

  “Has everyone got their earpieces?” Mandy asked.

  “Our guns and earpieces are in the waterproof bag,” Previne said and pointed.

  “Alright, let’s get started then,” Heather said.

  The two Patel sisters dropped to the ground and began slithering towards the moat that
surrounded the residence. To Chase they looked very much like eels as they slipped into the water without causing a ripple. A thirty foot cord was tied to Previne’s left leg. Once they crossed the twenty foot wide moat, they would pull the waterproof bag across. Both women took a deep breath and submerged.

  Heather knew that the Fasi’s residence was called a Kasbah. It had been the preferred dwelling for the rich and powerful in the Arab world right up until the twentieth century. The features included a moat, to stop attackers. There were also very high walls with no windows to discourage climbers. The windows were located near the very top for defenders to use. The defenses also included high towers on the corners of the building for shooters. It was hard to get inside.

  It also had a drawbridge and an iron meshed gate entrance. It was the only way into the Kasbah. Inside the entryway, there was an open courtyard and several buildings. It was, in fact very much like a medieval castle.

  Heather and Mandy quickly set up their sniper rifles. Their first job was to shoot any guards who were stupid enough to stick their heads out and notice the Patel sisters.

  Within seconds, the cord tied to the waterproof bag began to disappear into the water and the bag followed. The attackers couldn’t see the two women, but knew they were hanging onto a crack or hole in the wall while they dragged the bag across.

  A minute passed and then Heather heard Previne in her earpiece. “We are starting the climb now.”

  “Wow!” Chase suddenly exclaimed. “This is so mission impossible. They look like attractive black spiders scaling that wall.”

  “Calm down Chase,” Heather replied as she searched for anyone looking their way by using the scope of her rifle. “Remember, you’re married.”

  “But I can still be impressed,” he replied. “Those suction pads Steve gave us really do work.”

  “Oh,” Heather replied absently.

  “And you have a dirty mind,” Chase said as he pulled equipment from his bag.