[Anthology] Killer Thrillers

by Nick Thacker

  For the time being, Vilocek was putting on a cooperative front to ensure that Bryce’s team felt safe and at ease. He’d even allowed them to keep their weapons. On the flight from Giza, however, Vilocek had pulled Karn aside and warned him to “stay on his toes.” After they tracked down the crystal, and it was safely in Vilocek’s possession, Karn was to “dispose” of the opposing team. The scientist and his pain-in-the-neck niece would also no longer be needed.

  Cole Reed had already been tested with a new strain of the synthetic crystal. In the lab, no physical changes had been evident in the boy but his vital signs had been abnormal for the first few hours after the injections.

  After testing for radiation, pupil dilation, and physical mutation, Vilocek’s physicists and doctors had declared the infusion a “complete success” — meaning no long-term effects should occur in Reed’s future. The crystal sliver would glow bright blue in Cole’s presence — as would his exposed skin — but other than that, he seemed to be the first subject Vilocorp had tested that showed no adverse side effects.

  But then, Reed was not the only test subject.

  Vilocek wasn’t sure what the current body count was — there were still a few patients locked away in New Mexico who were hanging on by a thread, expected to die any moment — but he knew they had brought in more than twenty human specimens, from all walks of life, and close to a hundred species of animals.

  Cole was the only one lucky enough to survive without strange physical deformities.

  Vilocek hoped that he would be able to replicate the experiment — but next time with the original crystal. He believed the pure specimen would provide much more powerful effects.

  He would be the first successful subject. He was not a man to waste time pondering after effects or waiting for focus groups, multiple human trials, and the worthless bureaucratic posturing of the United States Food and Drug Administration. He wanted nothing to do with publicizing the results to the world, anyway. Whatever he was able to accomplish with the crystal, he would keep to himself.

  He even had plans in place for the removal of the doctors and scientists who would aid him in the experimentation.

  Once all was said and done, he alone would be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor for the rest of his life.

  The rest of his long life.

  Thanks to his father’s secret memoirs, Vilocek knew that the crystal not only had miraculous healing powers and benefits when mixed with other pure substances — a fact he had proven inside his own laboratory — but it also held the secret to sustained life.

  Dr. Enko Vilocek, after stealing the crystal from James Whittenfield, Sr., had discovered that not only could the crystal resurrect a healthy plant from a wilted shrub, but that the same plant had blossomed and grown to thirty percent larger than the control specimens, and had outlived the others by almost fifty percent.

  When tested on small rodents, the same results were found. Screech, an aptly named guinea pig Tanning had actually grown quite fond of, had outlived his brothers and sisters by almost four years — an insanely long life for a common house pet.

  Vilocek knew that by acquiring a much larger — and more potent — sample of the crystal, he would be able to streamline and expedite his research tenfold. Maybe more, depending on the actual size of the stone. Either way, he would be able to enjoy an extremely long lifespan, his aging slowed to a crawl as the physical effects and healing properties worked their magic.

  Now, as Beka and Karn marched the prisoners back into the room, Vilocek turned to Bryce. “Captain Reynolds. I know you’ve been in contact with Whittenfield — please share his thoughts on all of this.” It was an unmistakable command, yet Vilocek added a raised inflection at the end of the statement, making it seem as though he was asking a question.

  “Look,” Bryce said, “I already told you. He doesn’t know any more than we do. I told him everything I told you, and sent him the images from the well shaft.”

  “Well, you mentioned the well shaft had some markings on the outside that you recognized, correct?” Vilocek asked. “Let’s see if the good professor here can offer his input.” He glanced over at Andrews, gasping in the corner of the room.

  “I didn’t recognize them from anywhere, but they were on both the door to our tunnel, and to the entrance stone blocking the hidden chamber,” Bryce said as he pulled up one of the images on a laptop. Vilocek again looked toward Professor Andrews.

  “Well?”

  Beka propped the older man up, keeping him from collapsing under his own weight. Clearly he was still in excruciating pain, but he spoke up in a firm, confident voice.

  “I don’t know about those symbols — I’ve never seen anything like them in my life. But I can assure you, they are not hieroglyphics.”

  “Well, Bryce has Whittenfield cross-referencing the symbol with other known glyph-based written languages, and since he will have a much better connection from where he is, I guess we’ll just have to be patient.” He motioned to Karn and Beka. “Clearly Professor Andrews is of no use to us any longer. I was mistaken to think that he would be some help to us here. Gentlemen, dismiss him from the expedition.”

  Corinne’s and Jensen’s eyes widened simultaneously. The guards tightened their grips on their captives, and Beka’s characteristic smirk appeared.

  Bryce stood, making eye contact with Sean Bartlinski in the corner of the room. Wayne and Jeff Thompson also exchanged glances, both gripping their pistols. Vilocek raised his hands in front of him, acting like a referee. “Gentlemen, please do not try anything rash. It makes no difference if we end this in a bloodbath or a calm, professional execution. Miss Banks and her uncle are no longer needed, and regardless of what you do, they will be eliminated.”

  His eyes landed on each man individually for a moment, before settling on the band around Corinne’s ankle. Bryce knew why. If anything was out-of-line with this man’s plan, he could instantly cause unbelievable pain to the professor — or worse. Bryce wasn’t about to test what “or worse” might be.

  But before the guards could haul them off to wherever they would be murdered, Professor Jensen spoke up, almost yelling.

  “Wait!” he cried. “I know — I mean, I think I know — “

  Vilocek turned toward him. “Yes, Professor?”

  “It’s just that, well it seems — “ Jensen paused for a moment. “Well, I’ve been thinking about the relationships between the Golden Ratio — 1.618, as you know — how it appears numerous times both in the street layout of Washington D.C., and the Pyramid of Giza.”

  “I remember your paper,” Vilocek said, his voice indicating his diminishing patience.

  “Right, well, I have been struggling to find the connection between the Golden Ratio and this new information. Either through the symbols themselves, or some other manifestation entirely, there should have been at least one more representation of the Golden Ratio in the pyramid. One that we haven’t already documented.”

  “Why? Couldn’t it just be a coincidence that Phi shows up a few times on some old map and inside the Pyramid?” Karn asked.

  “No. No, it’s not that simple. I thought of that, but the fact remains — the ‘Golden Ratio,’ ‘Golden Number,’ whatever you want to call it — has been known to man long before the layout of the capital city and even before the pyramids. Some even say that both were built according to the number — a claim that actually has scientific merit. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen men constructing buildings and designing architecture that incorporates the number Phi.

  “So, the city was built in a specific way that not only pointed us to the Great Pyramid, but also maintained the angles that would mathematically support the Golden Ratio. Likewise, historians believe that the Egyptians, or whoever built the Pyramid at Giza originally, built it using those angles and, again, the Golden Ratio.”

  “So the Golden Ratio shows up in nature, art, and architecture.” Vilocek said. He was getting visibly annoyed. “Why is t
hat so important now? I read your article, Professor, and though it’s fascinating, I’m not sure we need a lecture on the Golden Ratio at this particular time.”

  “But understand, though,” Jensen said, suddenly more animated than he’d been in two days. “No one knows exactly who was the first to ‘discover’ this unique number. Some attribute it to the ancient Greeks, others argue it was given to mankind by God himself. Either way, the number is certainly linked to some miraculous things. If we think back to the hidden chamber, the tunnels, the symbols, everything — we should be able to find another reference to the Golden Ratio that might reveal a great deal.”

  Vilocek sighed slightly. He knew Andrews was intelligent, but he still couldn’t see the benefit of chasing after a number — after all, what difference would it make if they did find another link to the Golden Ratio? What bearing could that possibly have on the crystal?

  Karn reached into his front pocket and withdrew the small field notebook he was constantly scribbling in. “I can maybe help with the tunnel thing. I made a rough map of the tunnel in case we got turned around down there. Turns out it was just a curve that tightened in on itself as it descended.” He handed the notebook to Professor Andrews.

  The Professor stared at the page in disbelief.

  “It’s right here! This is it — the Golden Ratio is part of the crystal’s history!” The others stood and gathered around the small notebook.

  “What are we looking at?” Vilocek asked.

  “The diggers of those tunnels,” Andrews explained, “ — the original owners of the crystal, left us a clue pointing back to the Golden Ratio.”

  He grabbed the simple map Karn had drawn and drew in some of the other features they’d seen in the ancient site, then turned it around to show them:

  “It’s a spiral,” Bryce said, confused. “So what?”

  “It is a spiral,” Andrews said, grinning in spite of the situation. “That alone would be cause for interest, as the rest of the Giza pyramids — and all other pyramids known to man, for that matter — consist of straight, angled shafts, leading into rectangular or square-shaped chambers.”

  “But the spiral passage in this drawing — which leads to the hidden chamber — is exactly the same shape of the other passage as well — the one leading out of the hidden chamber back up to the Lower Room.”

  He took the pencil from the binding of the notebook and quickly sketched out the other passageway — an exact copy of the first tunnel Karn had drawn, resulting in a mirror image.

  “As you can see, the spiral is repeated with the two passageways. This is a perfect representation of what’s called a ‘Golden Spiral.’”

  “A ‘Golden Spiral?’” Bryce asked. “Is that tied in with the Golden Ratio?”

  “Exactly!” Andrews was in full professor mode, happy in his own element. “Watch this.” He continued to scribble on the page, this time sectioning the spiral into quadrants. On the next page he drew a simplified version of the shafts, and continued his lesson.

  “As you can see, each section of both spirals can be split into quadrants — getting progressively smaller and tighter with each curl; specifically, each quarter-turn is proportionately smaller than the preceding turn.

  “Or — looking at it from the opposite way — each section of the spiral, starting from the center — which in this case is the location of the well shaft — each quarter turn in the spiral gets progressively larger by a specific ratio, or number, each time. Anyone want to guess what that multiple is?”

  Wayne Thompson spoke up from the back of the group. “Phi — 1.618?”

  “Correct!” Andrews beamed.

  “Again, Professor,” Vilocek said, more insistent now. “What exactly does this have to do with the crystal?”

  “Well, Dr. Vilocek — “ Professor Jensen said, starting to theorize out loud, “this ‘Golden Spiral,’ as it has come to be known, and other instances of the term ‘Golden Mean,’ ‘Golden Ratio,’ etc, have all been labeled as such due to their appearances in nature. Some have even gone so far as to say that God himself used the Ratio to design the heavens and the earth, with the ubiquity of its appearances arguably more than a coincidence. The ancient Greeks — specifically Pythagoras — have been designated as the true ‘discoverers’ of the Ratio, and have used it in their art and architecture for centuries; even to the present day.

  “But what if the Greeks were not the first to discover this ratio? What if there was someone else — some ancient civilization even — who’d found out about the Golden Ratio and used it in their engineering and construction as well? Further, what if the Ratio was used somehow in the creation of the original crystal?”

  “What, like the crystal wasn’t natural to begin with?” Cole asked.

  “Maybe it was — who knows?” Jensen asked. “But there’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world — as far as we know, right? So why couldn’t someone have actually created the crystal from something? Maybe using the Golden Ratio as a blueprint?”

  They all pondered this for a moment. Vilocek seemed surprised; surprised that he had not questioned the crystal’s creation, much less that it might have something to do with the Golden Ratio. He knew Andrews made a strong point, but they would need to see more evidence of the crystal’s relationship with the Ratio before he would accept such a theory.

  As Jensen continued to explain and clarify the mathematics, Bryce’s cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. Surprised he even had service out here, walked into the kitchen, where there were more windows and the potential for a stronger signal.

  “Reynolds,” he answered.

  “Bryce — it’s Whittenfield; I’m on a secure line. I just wanted to check in. Have you made any progress?”

  Bryce explained what had unfolded so far; the near-executions and Jensen’s theory of the Golden Spiral. He added Jensen’s belief that the crystal might have been created by some ancient civilization, possibly with the help or use of the Golden Ratio.

  Whittenfield asked more questions, and Bryce promised to try to send an image of the page in Karn’s notebook. In turn, Bryce asked Whittenfield about any headway he’d made regarding the symbols on the outside of the well shaft beneath the Lower Room.

  “Actually, yes. That was one of the main reasons I called.”

  “Really?” Bryce perked up.

  “It turns out that the symbols on the shaft were exactly what you thought — a map.”

  “Really? To where?”

  “That’s just it — I’m not sure exactly where, but it’s the results I have here that led me to call. Bryce — this map, these symbols — you won’t believe this,” he continued. “This map is actually a sort of circular diagram of specific spots on the earth’s surface.

  “The shaft itself, I’m willing to wager, is representative of the center of the earth, and therefore the symbols around the center mark geographic locations around the world.”

  “So it’s like a globe?” Bryce asked, slightly confused.

  “Sort of,” Whittenfield said, “only it’s a globe in two dimensions, as if you looked at the North Pole from directly above it, and the equator was the circle that represented the diameter of the Earth.

  “In this case, the north pole would be somewhere in present-day Alaska, and the equator would be what we call a ‘Great Circle’.”

  “Ok — I’m with you,” Bryce said. “The rim around the well represents the circumference of the earth. The bottom of the shaft, the ‘center’ of the earth.”

  “Exactly,” Whittenfield said. “And the symbols on the well shaft’s outer surface represent points along that Great Circle. Including the Pyramid of Giza, there are nine points altogether designated by those symbols.”

  Bryce let this last statement sink in. “So there are ten symbols, and each one represents a physical location.”

  “Precisely correct — the symbols line up perfectly with the corresponding spots around the world, and they are most certainly not ra
ndom, arbitrary geographic points.”

  “What do you mean? They’re known locations?” Bryce asked, beginning to share the older man’s excitement.

  “Yes. Absolutely, yes. Bryce — I don’t know how it has escaped modern-day geography, but these sites — these places that your hidden chamber points — all exist on the exact same diametric line around the earth. If you drew a straight line around a globe, connecting these dots, each one of these ancient sites would appear exactly on that line.”

  Bryce felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. “What exactly are these locations?”

  “Whittenfield was triumphant. “Starting with the Great Pyramid, of course, the remaining sites include the location of the ancient temple of Ammon-Ra, home of the Oracle at Siwa, the first known inhabited city on the planet, Ur — in Sumeria, the group of monuments at Khajuraho in India, and the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, also known as the Mound of the Dead.”

  “I think I’ve heard of most of those — all ancient historical sites, right?” Bryce asked.

  “Not just historical sites — some of these are UNESCO World Heritage sites, while others are the pinnacle of their civilization’s architectural achievements. Overall, however, these sites all define and represent their respective cultures. In short, these places are sites of such significance they’ve impacted and shaped world history.”

  “Damn.” Bryce was stunned.

  “And don’t forget, there were nine sites mapped by the symbols — I’ve mentioned the first six only.”

  “So what are the others?”

  “Well, completing the circle around the well shaft, we have the Incan city of Machupicchu, the ‘Lost City’ of Petra — “

  Bryce interrupted. “Wait — the Petra in the Indiana Jones movie?”

  “The same. Lost for centuries, and found in the early 1800s by the explorer Johann Ludwig Burkhardt.”