The Seal of Solomon

by Jeffrey Ellis

  She kissed him.

  “That’s the most romantic thing I could think of,” she said.

  “Oh, that reminds me, I went back down to the mausoleum out of curiosity and searched the skeletons. You said you wanted a ring, so I managed to find Arthur’s and Guinevere’s and I think we should use them,” he told her.

  “Rings? We had a Celtic ceremony and they don’t use rings, but I remember rings. That’s odd, out of place,” she said.

  “Influence of Ra or Nefertiti maybe? Egyptians used rings for marriage a long time before Arthur and Guinevere were born and some of the symbols on them could be Egyptian, but I can’t read the language,” replied Sebastian.

  “I want to see them, where are they?” she said sounding excited.

  “They’re in my pocket,” he said pointing to the clothing trail across the floor.

  She jumped down and ran naked across the floor and started digging in his pants pockets. She found the two rings, wrapped in a piece of cloth. She looked at the rings. They were woven with numerous smaller links intertwined on top of a flat band of gold. They had eight gems on them of different types and runes were etched into the inside of the band in what appeared to be different languages. The crown piece of each ring was the Pendragon family crest made of the same red-gold metal as their sword pommels. Other than one being slightly smaller, they were identical.

  “Why didn’t you tell me before?” she said as he walked up to her.

  “I only just found them a little while ago and Bruce and I were talking and then you came in and then, we, uh, you know,” he said as he walked up behind her.

  “You’re amazing,” she said and pulled him down on top of her and wrapper her legs around him.

  After they finished, they lay there talking about their future wedding.

  “I have one condition of my own,” she said.

  “Anything,” he answered.

  “You tell me the truth about the moon,” she replied.

  He swallowed and sighed. “That. I told you a better version. Can’t we leave it at that?” he said sounding depressed.

  “No. If we’re to truly join our lives then we can have no secrets between us,” she said.

  “You deserve the truth. What I told you about the Trip-L terrorist incident wasn’t how it happened, it was how it should have happened. I was a corporal in the Global Command stationed on the moon at one of our laser bases. That part is completely true.”

  “We have a laser base on the moon?” she said.

  “Yea. They’re top secret installations. I can technically be tried for treason for even telling you, but I don't think you’ll turn me in,” he said.

  “I was decorated and moving up fast. At twenty-five I already had more commendations than men twice my age and was being fast-tracked through the ranks. Then Trip-L invaded a moon resort. A group of dumb kids, none of them older than twenty went on some stupid crusade to save the moon. They got there just like I said, and I was ordered to secure the resort. I got there, and my assessment was to be patient. They were kids and had no real plan and no long-term vision. There was no reason to force a confrontation. They would have given up in a few days and returned home to mild punishment and given a second chance,” told her and swallowed.

  He continued. “Then I received new orders. Instead of waiting them out I was ordered to go in with force and execute them. I was told civilian casualties were an acceptable risk because we have to teach them a lesson. They were stupid kids. They were going on about the moon’s feelings during my negotiations and I was having trouble not laughing at those deluded activists. These weren’t terrorists, they weren’t Seditionists and their actions didn’t threaten anyone. They had not hurt anyone and would not have. They didn’t even know how to properly use the guns they had, and I was told to execute every last one of them as an example and if civilians got in my way to kill them as acceptable risk,” he said sounding very sad.

  “I refused. I will not kill to prove a point. And do you know what they did? The ordered me back to base to face a hearing for insubordination. They sent another lieutenant to take my place and he did what they asked. He invaded the resort and the death toll was one hundred percent. “

  “A senator's daughter was among the Trip-L list of dead, likely the reason they had the money and connections to even pull it off, so to avoid a political fiasco they offered me an option. Me, and the colonel who ordered the action, along with the lieutenant who carried it out would retire and take an early leave from the service. They agreed to not give me a dishonorable discharge if I agreed to seal the records. The loss of the colony was officially listed as environmental equipment failure. I took the deal and not long after joined the Warden Academy. The lives were lost, and a political firestorm wouldn’t bring anyone back. The ALF is a real threat and a military scandal would incite them and drive up their recruitment and that would be bad indeed and not worth my sense of satisfaction seeing the guilty exposed. When the Director overseeing the academy heard my side of the events and spoke with the Senator he authorized my entry on the spot despite my dad’s concerns,” he managed to get out despite starting to get choked up.

  “Now you know the truth and you know I lied to you. I’m sorry, the truth is just horrible to fathom that our own people could do something like that. Our own defenders murdered people to prove a point. Everyone could have been saved but they wouldn’t let me save them,” he said tears in his eyes.

  “I covered up an atrocity and I lied to the woman I love and don’t deserve your hand. I lied to you because I wanted to hide from all that death. If I could have been more convincing, if I could have made them wait, I could have saved them. Now their blood is on my hands. I failed you and I failed them, and I failed my people,” he said crying.

  She looked at him and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “You didn’t fail anyone. They failed you. Why would you think I would not love you anymore for that?” she said.

  “Not for my actions, for lying to you. You are the one person I should always be honest with,” he said.

  “You silly man. I have never loved you more than I do right now,” she told him as she held him.

  “There is something I want to tell you. You asked me once about revenge on the ALF and I brushed off your question,” she said.

  “Yea, I recall. It was back at the end of my training,” he replied.

  “The truth is, I did get revenge. After training, after I had been in the field a while, I went back home. I wanted to remind myself where I came from. I wanted to make sure I don't forget my roots and how I got to where I am,” she said.

  “That seems relatively normal but I'm guessing it doesn't end there,” he replied.

  “No. Not exactly. I got there and was walking through Dirtville and all the old haunts. I visited the building I lived in, my old school, even the alley where Mary was killed. I even met up with the old gang that still ran the neighborhood, the Sand Vipers. A few of their older members remembered me and things were mostly civil. They had a lot of questions about the Wardens and I answered what I could, gave them the pitch about getting out of the cycle of violence and how there are better solutions, you know, trying to be the good citizen,” she told him. “They laughed it off and things with them ended neutrally enough. I had no authority over them and wasn't the law, so they let me be and I let them be. I think they were also a bit afraid of me. Wardens have a reputation for being people you don't cross.”

  “While I was there, I ran into some recruiters for the ALF. They were roughing up a group of kids to show them what happened to people who don't agree with their views. I interjected, and the situation escalated when the Sand Vipers showed up. The ALF attacked me and when all was said and done, four of them were dead and three others hospitalized and half the Vipers dead or badly hurt,” she told him. “The Vipers did most of the damage to the ALF, but one died by my hand and two of the wounded were my doing.”

  “So, you defended yourself and others. Sou
nds like you were just being a Warden,” he told her.

  “Not exactly. I had superior weapons and armor, better training and skill. I should have called the authorities and let them handle it instead I got involved in a situation that cost several kids their lives. I think the ALF recruits were a lost cause but not the gang members. They could have gotten out. Some of them had interest in joining GloCom. They could have been a benefit to society but instead I got involved in something I shouldn't have and got them killed. They could have been anything other than dead,” she told him.

  “You made a mistake. You're human. You couldn't know how it would turn out or how it would have turned out if you hadn't got involved at all,” he said.

  “My mistake cost lives. I realized at that point what it meant to have power and responsibility. It wasn't like the power we have now, but it was still power. The Wardens are better trained than anyone. We're better equipped than anyone except GloCom's heavy divisions. We're selected because we're the peak of human physical and mental ability. Deep down part of me was thinking of Mary and enjoyed hurting the ALF and that was wrong. We can't let that power go to our heads as I did,” she said and put her arms around him.

  Her voice took on a more serious tone. “Take today. You know when you ordered Merlin to stand down and your voice reverberated? Did you feel the magic in it? I did, and I know you did too. You made a Master kneel with just words. I've known something was different about you since we met but can't explain what. I can't say if it's because you were Arthur in another life or not, but I don't think it is. You didn't become who you are because you became a king, you became a king because of who you are. These people will follow you to their deaths if you tell them to. Take that power very seriously. You're something special and you have a major part to play in the events to come,” she said.

  “I do take it seriously. I don't want to be in charge. I really don't. I've never wanted power. All I want to do is help people but no matter how much I try to avoid it, people keep looking to me to make decisions and lead. I don't even know how I got here. Why are the Wardens even giving me any authority? It doesn't make sense,” he told her.

  “It's because of the Prometheus Trial. You passed a segment that only very few people have ever passed. Every Warden takes a version of it, Prometheus is 14's. The real test wasn't any of what they told you and everything you found in the database was all forged and left deliberately. Even me trying to tempt you away from it was part of the test. You would have been told once you were officially moved into the career path for Warden command. Part of the test is judging your traits to determine if you're a viable leader or will remain a field agent. Normally, they spend years developing and honing those traits as they did with me or William or any of the others, but the Seal changed things. We lost a lot of our command staff that night to the numerous destroyed facilities and you were fast-tracked,” she told him.

  “So that night, you were in on it. That means they knew about us and you knew they knew,” he said.

  “Not exactly. They told me to try to seduce you. At the time, I thought they were being genuine. I didn't know they knew about us until your final evaluation. I played along with the test and it turns out I was being played as much as you were. I'm sure Anna and William had a good laugh at our expense,” Chelsea told him.

  “We did,” said Anna as she walked into the throne room.

  “How much of that did you overhear?” Chelsea asked her.

  “Enough of it to know you told him about the real purpose of the test. It's okay though. I was going to do that myself when we returned, assuming he handled himself well on this run. Congratulations, Sir Sebastian. You're officially invited to join the Warden's command staff, as a junior officer in training, of course,” Anna told him.

  “I don't know what to say,” he replied. “Thank you.”

  “I want to say something, though. You don't give yourself enough credit Chelsea. The one thing that's always held you back is that you don't believe in yourself as much as you should. I agree your boyfriend here is something special but so are you. You're always so quick to fall in line when you should be leading,” Anna told her.

  “Anna, he was King Arthur. That commands respect,” Chelsea told her.

  “And as I understand it, you were Queen Guinevere. You should read over the founding journals of the first Wardens. Guinevere was as involved as Arthur, often more so. When I've been training with Merlin, I've talked with him at length about you two. I don't think it was your looks that made you the queen and you've earned the respect and admiration of everyone on our team. Now start acting like it,” Anna told them. “Oh and get dressed. The shuttle will be here soon,” she the two as they realized they were still sitting naked in the floor.

  “Anna, I...” Chelsea started but Anna stopped her.

  “You don't need to say anything. Now you have enough time, if you're quick, so hurry up,” Anna said as she left.

  “Enough time for what?” Sebastian said, seeming confused.

  “You can be dense sometimes, you know that?” Chelsea said as she laid back and pulled him on top of her.

  “Damn those two have stamina,” Anna said to herself as she walked away.

  #

  The people in the room were having a heated argument. The group numbered a dozen and consisted of ten African and Nubian men and women along with two European men. Their dress and mannerisms were all different, but they had the same symbol tattooed on them indicating their Warden loyalty.

  “The Rashidun army will be here in weeks and at the rate, they are conquering Egypt, Babylon is no longer safe for the Masters. We must move them,” said one of the Nubian men.

  “NO!” replied one of two beautiful twin African woman. “This Enclave is among the first and will stand the test of time. The Rashidun will not find us, and the Masters will remain safe,” she said adamantly.

  The twin woman next to her looked at her and sighed. “Sister, they are right. I was born here as you were, and I love my home as much as you, but we cannot let our feelings cloud our reason. The coming army is unstoppable and will take this city. We cannot risk losing both Masters if this enclave is discovered. You are in command though and we follow your orders,” said her twin.

  The twin looked at the Europeans. “What of the Master at London and the one at Edinburgh? Did you move them?” she asked.

  “Yes. Morgana and Boudicca are no longer located at enclaves. We have moved them to sacred sites that are not populated so the constant wars following the shattering will be less likely to impact them. Morgana is entombed beneath her home, now abandoned, and Boudicca is entombed beneath the great henge. Both tombs are sealed, and their entrances buried and hidden. We swore to keep them safe and in our judgment that is the best policy but as your sister said, this is your enclave and a new High Lord has not been chosen yet, so you bear the sole weight of that decision,” said the man.

  She stood up and paced around the room for a few minutes. “It is decided. I love my city and my enclave, but my advisers are correct in their judgment. Master Ra will be moved to the Necropolis at Giza and Master Nefertiti will be moved to Karnak. Their desire was to remain together, but they could not foresee this and we must separate them to lessen the likelihood both would be discovered if the worst happens.”

  “We will assist,” said one of the men. She looked at the Europeans.

  “I thank you for the offer but that is not necessary. You are but two and your people could not possibly arrive before the invaders. As envoys assigned to my command, I charge you with a greater task. Take the knowledge of our decision to your respective enclaves so it can be recorded as we will record your actions in our own archives. High Lord Arthur’s prime directive as preservers of knowledge must be maintained as must our duty as guardians of the Masters. Go now. We will handle things here. My people will get you out of the city and arrange transport to London. If you can, return to us and continue your posts as envoys when this war is a memo
ry. You are always welcome here brothers,” she told them.

  #

  “Sebastian, we’ve been at this for six weeks. We’re no closer to finding the Masters than we were when we left Camelot,” said William.

  They no longer used titles when meeting. Sebastian was adamant that no one within their inner circle is above anyone else and they all sit as equals.

  “We’ve gone through the database dozens of times. We’ve gone over public records, the President has had her people go through the restricted government databases, we’ve even gone through great expense and effort to get access to the GloCom’s database and nothing. There are no records of what happened to them. We might have to face the fact that they are gone. Merlin can’t even find them magically. I’m out of options and honestly, scanning the databases yet again with yet another set of parameters is pointless,” said William bluntly.

  “Agreed,” said Anna. “There is no record in the archives maybe we should forget them and move on.”

  “Is everything the Wardens have in the database?” asked Chelsea.

  “Everything relevant,” said Anna. “Those records are extensive. The only things not in the archive were private diaries. They were slated to be transferred in the next few years but then the catastrophe hit, and that project is sidelined indefinitely while we rebuild.”

  “It’s not much but maybe it’s something. Let’s go through the diaries,” said Sebastian.

  “Do you realize the extent of what you’re asking?” said Bethany. “There are hundreds of thousands of them on microfiche. They were never converted from their antique formats. We have fourteen centuries of diaries from nearly a hundred enclaves on an old format from the twentieth century. We don’t have the manpower to go through those,” she told him.

  “We don’t need to go through all of them. We can narrow it down,” said Chelsea.

  “Suggestions?” asked Sebastian.

  Bruce spoke up. “We should start with the guardian enclaves and specifically the diaries of the directors and runners. The archives should at least be able to help us narrow down the names of people who might have had direct involvement with the Masters. Back then they had agents whose only job was to carry messages before electronic communication. Important decisions would have been relayed that way. They wouldn't have written messages down. The runners and leaders kept diaries though, in a code of course, and might have recorded something useful. Our codes are top notch but not impossible to break.”