by Reilly, Jim
“Ken, then let me go about this a different way. In any of the historic data through the years, were there any anomalies in the ground here that coincide with the low frequency signal coming from somewhere in Pergamon?”
As Ken analyzed the data, Taylor approached Cameron, “What do you think? I mean, what do you think they’re up to? They’re not going to find Satan in there, are they?”
“I’m not sure what will be found there. If, in fact, we do have Ancient Visitors involved in this, then they understand the power that religion holds over mankind. My parents were not religious folks, but they respected people who were. As you know, they went through the whole Bishop Terapion situation. What helped them overcome Bishop Terapion was understanding Scripture. They had help from James Connor, Rabbi Wolmetz, Iman Rashoni, and the rest of the Religious Council to understand the correlation between the happenings at that time and Scripture to find a way to overcome the Ancient Visitors. Did it help? I can’t say for sure, but my parents believed it aided in their dealing with the Ancient Visitors.”
Taylor thought for a second and told him, “I come from a religious community; we believe that everything comes from God, whether we’re talking the air, trees, the crops, the animals, and people. But the most important thing he gives us is His words. It’s not the easiest thing to understand though because God has been around forever, while we’ve been here for merely a blink of his eye. So I imagine our understanding of His words is limited.”
“I may not believe in Satan, per say, but I know that the Ancient Visitors are real,” Cameron told her. “My belief is that there is an Ancient Visitor craft hidden under this hill. Does it hold Satan? I doubt it. For me to grasp a religious resolution to this situation, I’d need more convincing.”
Ken then came back to Cameron to tell him, “I’m not sure what I have that will help you. The historic data I’ve compiled is not reliable in my opinion. Over the years, small caverns have been detected and when they looked to do additional tests, the cavern wasn’t there. At the time they thought it was equipment malfunction. The thing that I don’t understand is that the places of the suspected caverns are the same places the low frequency signals were coming from. I’m not sure what to think of that.”
Cameron looked away from Ken and peered down the hill to view the digging. After a few moments, he told Ken, “We’ll handle this going forward. I need you to go back to the Pergamon Administration Center and contact my parents to have them bring in their most trusted security people. Please do that.”
As Ken headed down the hill, Cameron summoned Taylor, Leonardo, and his personnel.
*****
31st Century.
“I hope you can come up with a good plan,” the priest said. “Steven, we are outnumbered and you don’t have the firepower they have. All we have are the three of us, and the James Connor program. How is that going to help to defeat these powerful beings?”
“That’s the thing, Father,” Steven told him. “We don’t have to defeat them; we need to get into that buried ship to get to Satan and Belial. I don’t figure it’s going to be easy, but we have to take a shot. What do we have to lose? What difference does it make if we fail and they kill us? We’re going to die anyway, so we might as well go down taking a shot at the top of their organization chart.”
Hailey said, “What if we create a diversion, so that one or more of us gets into that buried ship? I mean, I can fire on them and let them chase me. Maybe I can lead some of them away from here.”
Worried for the girl he’d become fond of, Steven offered, “No, I’ll do it. When I wasn’t practicing wrestling, I would have to corral the animals on our farm. The big ones were no problem, but the young could give you a run for your money, especially the small pigs. They’d turn on a dime as they scrambled through the mud. If anything, it helped my lateral movement. That will help buy you time as I can keep them busy to give you the opportunity to get into the ship.”
“Nonsense my children,” Father Willie told them. “I am the logical one to do it. You two are young, strong, and full of life. You have the ability to work together with your enhanced talents to get further than I could go. No, it’s me that needs to draw some of them away.”
Steven then looked at the partially enhanced man and said with compassion, “You’re not going to get too far. Let me do it.”
“I appreciate it my son, but I am not as slow as I look. Having grown up not fully enhanced, I was ridiculed by the other children and picked on. They thought of me as a deformed creature. At least that was how I thought they viewed me. In any event, I had to defend myself many times. To avoid many conflicts, I had to scramble through the streets of my hometown to get away from a beating. So don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself.”
“Father, you’ll be needed when we confront Satan,” Hailey countered. “You faced him at the barn in the virtual meeting room and you repelled him. You’re definitely going to be needed when we get to him. We certainly can’t do what you do.”
“Listen children, I don’t need to be there when you face Satan. We all have the ability to defeat him, every single one of us. When in everyday life, you make a decision to choose to be good, you defeat Satan. When you have bad thoughts and do things you are not supposed to do, he defeats you. It’s that simple.”
Steven asked, “If it’s that simple, how come mankind has never gotten a good grasp of it? History is filled with people doing great harm to others.”
“I said it was simple. I didn’t say it was easy. We, every single one of us, are tested. In many cases, it feels like the test is rigged and we don’t have a chance to succeed. But that’s not always the reason for the test. He tests us to see how we react and deal with adversity. You may think battling Satan is a no-win scenario, but just the fact that you had the courage to face him is the real test.”
The James Connor Program interrupted the conversation, “The Ancient Visitors have broken through to a cavity in the ground. I believe they have accomplished their goal and have gotten to the craft. I say they have minutes until they open it.”
It then occurred to Steven to ask, “James, I should have inquired earlier, but do you have any knowledge from the Ancient Visitor database as to what is kept in there? I mean, what makes this so important to have Satan and this Belial here to witness the opening of the craft?”
“I was only found with a drop of the Ancient Visitors computer liquid. I don’t have access to all information. However, I do know that they believe the key to enslaving mankind is in that craft.”
*****
21st Century.
Leonardo looked over to Cameron and observed, “It looks like they’ve stopped digging. We should know soon enough if they found anything.”
With the sun higher in the sky and at Cameron’s people’s backs, Cameron told the team, “One last time. We wait for them to enter the craft, then Leonardo, you and your personnel disable any of their people outside of the dug hole. I’ll get to the opening in the ground, and if there is a craft, I’ll drop a stun grenade into the opening. It should knock out anyone within ten meters. Without knowing the extent of their weaponry, it should give us a good ten minutes to secure the site. Taylor--”
Before he could finish, she protested, “I infiltrated the Babylon Corporation Headquarters; I am fully capable of taking care of myself. I can be a help. If it weren’t for me, you’d be one of their drones. There’s no reason I can’t be a part of the plan.”
“You’re still a material witness; I need to keep you safe. If anything happens to you, I’d… ah…We’d have no case. Take a stunner for your protection, then go down the hill, and find Ken. Tell him what we’re going to do.”
Without saying a word, the enhanced woman turned away huffing and puffing to catch up to Ken.
Leonardo joked, “That’s pretty smooth Romeo. You have a way with women.”
“I just wanted the witness secured.”
“Sure! The witness.”
&
nbsp; After a quick laugh with Leonardo, Cameron ordered the operation to begin as he signaled to the others to slowly move forward. With the sun still at their back, they gradually made their way down toward the dig where the participants were just finishing.
Cameron thought to himself that it was pretty brazen making a move on them in broad daylight. As they got closer, he was feeling very confident because he and his people were stealthy enough to approach without being detected. When they were about ten meters away, Cameron yelled, “Freeze, United Nations Security! Don’t move a muscle!”
Lily and Will Davis slowly put up their hands above their heads. The enhanced men who were using the digging equipment did so as well. Everything came to a stop. Easy Cameron thought. Maybe too easy.
Lily Gordon said to Cameron, “Inspector Richards, is there a problem? I don’t understand why you might be here. As for us, we’re doing a project for The Babylon Corporation. Agent Will Davis, one of your own, is here with special permission from the Inspector General. Whatever your suspicions, this is a legal dig; I can provide the authorized permits if you like. It’s important work we need to do.”
Will Davis added, as he and Lily stood by the freshly dug hole, “That’s right Cameron. We’re here with permission from Sanchez, and like Ms. Gordon just mentioned, we’re doing important work here.”
“Sure you are. I bet you’re just looking for rocks out here,” said Cameron sarcastically. He kept noticing that Lily and Will were as calm as could be even though Leonardo and his four team members had them surrounded. Cameron then thought: there’re more of them.
Without warning, weapon fire could be heard as two of Leonardo’s men went limp and fell to the ground. Cameron took cover behind some of the digging equipment while Will and Lily went through the hole into the dark cavern.
Leonardo returned fire, but they found themselves surrounded with at least one sniper hiding in the ruins up above.
Hearing the weapons fire as she headed to meet up with Ken, Taylor reversed course and looked for the sniper’s location. After a few shots were fired, she located the shooter at the top of the ruins of the amphitheater. With no time for fear, she rushed through the old columns and broken ancient Greek statues. With her heart racing, she was determined to get in range.
Pinned down, Cameron, angry at himself for not anticipating this situation, racked his brain for his next move. He knew that if they stayed where they were, they’d eventually be picked off one by one.
That was when he heard the sound in the distance. It wasn’t loud, but he recognized the sound of a United Nations Security stun gun. The same type he gave Taylor when he sent her off to be safe.
Now, not having to fight on two fronts, Cameron signaled to Leonardo he was going for the entrance dug into the ground. As Cameron maneuvered toward the hole, Leonardo and his two compatriots fought with Will and Lily’s people.
At the dig entrance, Cameron reached for his stun grenade to launch it into the hole, but it was deeper than he had expected so to get within maximum range of the grenade he climbed into it to get closer. As he made his way in, he saw the shiny metal of a craft in front of him. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a visible entrance into the ship. Feeling he was too late, he put the grenade, that could neutralize people and electronics within ten meters, back into his pocket, and then with his fist he punched the craft in frustration.
*****
31st Century.
As the twilight of the coming night set, Steven who always loved this time of the day, didn’t take notice as he intensely observed the Ancient Visitor craft finish its drilling into the ground.
Once the drilling had been completed and the Ancient Visitor craft landed, Father Willie did as planned and in the distance fired a weapon into the direction of the craft. At the time, Belial and a small contingent had departed the large craft to enter the drilled entrance into the ground while the smaller escort ships landed on the ground and the occupants followed Belial.
Belial, barely annoyed by the intermittent fire, waved his hand and the large craft lifted off in the direction of the fleeing Father Willie.
Knowing Steven and Hailey were hoping to trap Belial and whoever was with him inside the buried craft, Father Willie ran as fast as he could to divert the Ancient Visitors’ attention, even for a brief moment. The priest remembered when he was a child growing up in the streets of old London where his mother raised him. There, he was abandoned by his father. He always believed it was due to his deformity. In this time, not being fully enhanced was looked down upon. His mom, always upbeat, told him he was put on this Earth for a reason and made him feel important. This, however, didn’t stop many of the local children from bullying him. They made fun of his oddly shape head, and his two different sized arms. It may have been a fun time for the other children, but it was hell to him.
The agony that he had endured, he now appreciated at this moment because the zigzagging he had to do to avoid those kids through the streets of London was helping him now as he zigzagged through the Pergamon ruins avoiding the Ancient Visitors’ craft bearing down on him. He ran in between statues of Greek gods and large stone columns or pillars scattered throughout the ruins. Without looking back, he ran past the Amphitheater on the Acropolis while seeing the temples of Trajan and Athena. As he ran, he thought that this outdoor museum would have been a nice place to visit if it weren’t for the Ancient Visitors bearing down to kill him.
When he got as far as his legs could take him, he stopped running and turned around to face a craft that was now directly over him. Knowing, he probably had only seconds, he spoke even if no one was there to hear him, “I forgive you, and even though I forgave those bullies as a kid, I do so again just to reaffirm. I also give myself fully, body and soul to the mercy of the--”
Steven, along with Hailey, seeing the craft now returning, took the opportunity to disable the two Ancient Visitors guarding the entrance. Once that was done, they rushed into the new cavity in the side of the hill.
Before they even stepped foot into the opening, Belial surfaced and his guards moved to capture the two. Firing the weapons they had, Steven was able to hit one of them, but Steven was hit in the back by the returning fire. Even though it wasn’t fatal, it was quite painful, and it incapacitated him causing his body to shake. While Steven was on the ground, disappointed that he was losing his opportunity, Hailey darted into the darkness with a guard close in tow.
Belial took a long dissatisfied breath as if dealing with a human was beneath him, grabbed Steven by the collar, kicked away his weapons, and dragged him into the entrance. About halfway between the entrance and the buried spacecraft, two more of Belial’s guards took over to take Steven the rest of the way to the craft.
Belial said to Steven as they approached the shiny chrome hull of the craft, “You’re one of the ones we trained and then got away. You’ll be useful in developing our army.”
Steven who was in extreme pain responded, “I won’t help you. I’d rather die than lift a finger for you. You shouldn’t even bother trying. Just kill me now.”
“You insignificant life form, in a few moments you won’t have a choice in the matter,” said the six foot six grey with a tint of green being with a stone face. “Soon, you’ll perform the way we initially engineered you.” With his long right arm, Belial placed a hand on the craft, and then within a second, an outline of a hatch appeared. That hatch slowly opened with gasses emerging during the unsealing.
As a guard dragged captured and slightly beaten Hailey next to Steven, Belial looked down onto Steven. He looked at him as if to say it is all but over.
*****
21st Century.
Cameron stood there alone in the cavity in the ground banging his hand on the buried shiny chrome hull of the craft when suddenly an outline of a hatch into the craft appeared. That hatch slowly opened while the flow of air emerged from the hatch as it unsealed.
He stood back for a moment then ran into the open hatch with his w
eapon aimed, but before he could react, a weapon was discharged coming out of the buried craft and it hit Cameron directly in the side of his stomach. His forward motion brought him into the craft five meters before he fell to the floor. He realized he had been hit with an Ancient Visitor disintegrator and a good portion of his stomach in the area of his right side was missing and bloody. The only good thing about a disintegrator was that it clotted the blood flow. However, that didn’t help much when losing vital organs. He knew instantly he would only have a few minutes to live.
Leonardo was pinned down using the digging equipment for cover, his two remaining compatriots lying dead next to him on the ground when he saw someone on top of the hill running toward him. At first Leonardo thought it was another sniper coming in for a closer shot. Yet this person was firing at the people from Babylon Corp. As Leonardo focused his eyes, he recognized the person. It was Johnny!
When the last of the Babylon people were felled to the ground, Leonardo stood up from behind a small crane still dirty from the dig, and yelled to Johnny, “I’m sure glad you got here, they almost had me finished off. I’d be done for, if it weren’t for you. They took some good people from us today. Hey, where’s Angelis? When did you get enhanced?” Johnny didn’t say a word and kept walking to Leonardo with his weapon raised. Leonardo yelled, “Johnny, what are you doing?!”
Johnny fired into Leonardo’s chest and said, “I’m simply tying up loose ends. We don’t need anyone alive who can talk. Your death here will help explain some things.”
As the life left his body, Leonardo looked up at Johnny, and he tried to comprehend what had just happened.