The Five Greatest Warriors

by Matthew Reilly

  “Spectacular, gruesome, and total. That is what the end of the world looks like.”

  “RIGHT, WELL . . .” the Sea Ranger said. “That puts it all in perspective.” “If it makes you feel better, this has probably happened several times before over the eons,” Wizard said.

  “No, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  At that point, Jack took over.

  For Wickham’s and Diane Cassidy’s sake, he went over what they knew about the Machine, the Pillars, and the Vertices: how the Saudis had possessed the First Pillar for many generations; the Neetha, the Second; and the British Royal Family, the Fourth.

  As for the other three Pillars, they had only very scant information about their whereabouts: apparently, the Japanese Imperial Family, the oldest royal line in the world, possessed a Pillar—and according to the British royal, Iolanthe Compton-Jones, they’d managed to conceal it from the Americans at the end of World War II.

  Iolanthe had also told Jack that the preeminence of three European royal households—the British Royal Family, the Danish Royal Family, and the Romanovs of Russia—had been due solely to their possession of Pillars.

  Beyond that, Jack knew nothing of the whereabouts of the remaining three Pillars.

  The all-important Firestone and Philosopher’s Stone—needed to cleanse the Pillars—were currently in Wolf’s hands, taken during the battle with the Neetha tribe in Africa. Where Wolf was getting his information from, apart from his researcher, Felix Bonaventura, Jack didn’t know.

  As for the locations of the remaining Vertices, Jack’s team still had their photos of the trilithons of Stonehenge, lit by the light of the Dark Star, pinpointing the locations of the six great temple-shrines on ancient maps of the world, maps that—unfortunately—depicted global coastlines long before the oceans had risen to their current levels. This had made deducing the exact locations of the Vertices extremely difficult.

  Despite this, the twins had spent every day of the past month knuckling down to the immense task, comparing the ancient coastlines to modern ones, looking for matches.

  “And what have you found?” Diane Cassidy asked them.

  “Because it’s the next one to happen,” Lachlan said, “we’ve been focusing on the third light shaft that struck Stonehenge. This one.” He spun his laptop around so Cassidy could see the image on its screen:

  “The coastline featuring the point marked “3” is a tough one to deduce,” Julius said. “It could be the east coast of any continent, country, or landmass: Africa, India, Argentina, Sweden, even somewhere up among the islands of northern Canada. Even the scale is misleading, because it isn’t drawn to the same scale as the African one was.”

  Lachlan said, “We’ve checked every book we could find on ocean-level rises and antediluvian coastlines . . .”

  “And?” Jack asked.

  “And we’re no closer to finding it,” Lachlan said sadly.

  Julius said, “Put simply, we need more to go on, Jack, we need more information.”

  A silence descended over the table.

  It was Diane who broke it.

  “I might have something that could help.”

  DIANE BROUGHT up her backpack, the only thing she’d taken with her during their escape from the Neetha, and extracted from it a battered leather-bound notebook.

  Flicking the notebook open, she revealed page after page of hand-drawn images and densely packed notes.

  She held the notebook open to a page titled:

  THE RHYME OF THE WARRIORS

  (Sphinx, Giza)

  The First

  Shall be the noblest, scholar and soldier both.

  The Second

  A natural leader of men, none shall achieve greater fame than he.

  The Third

  Shall be the greatest warlord known to history.

  The Fourth

  Is the greatest obsessor, seeking only glory, but glory is a lie.

  The Fifth

  Shall face the greatest test and decide if all shall live or die.

  Below the poem were images of hieroglyphs and maps, plus scribbled notes.

  Diane looked at Wizard. “You’ve never asked me why I went in search of the Neetha in Africa, Max.”

  “I . . . well . . . I guess I assumed that you simply had gone in search of them, to see if this fabled lost tribe actually existed.”

  “While I became something of an expert on the Neetha, I wasn’t searching for the Neetha. I also know of the Six Sacred Stones and the Pillars. My expertise in the Neetha was purely the result of my larger search: to discover if these fabled sacred stones and diamond bricks actually existed.

  “I figured that the Neetha, as the original owners of one of the Six Sacred Stones—the Delphic Orb—might have information about the others, which they certainly did. My quest is the same as yours, it’s just that my key reference point—this poem, The Rhyme of the Warriors—was different.” She turned to Jack. “You know it?”

  “I do,” Wizard answered for him. “It was found carved on a tablet between the front paws of the Sphinx. Napoleon’s men unearthed it.”

  “That’s correct. And that tablet now resides in the British Museum.”

  “So what’s the poem’s significance?” Jack asked.

  “I believe,” Diane said, “that this poem is directly related to our mutual quest. I believe it tells of the five people who over the course of history have most affected the fates of the Firestone, the Six Sacred Stones, the Pillars, and the Vertices.”

  Diane projected the poem onto the whiteboard and with a marker began circling various words and adding notes in the margins.

  As she wrote, she spoke confidently and expertly: “As we all know, the Great Pyramid was built by Khufu. The Sphinx, however, sits in front of the second pyramid at Giza—built by Khufu’s son, Khafre—so for a long time archaeologists simply assumed it had also been built by Khafre. Today, however, many Egyptologists believe that Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, actually intended to build the Sphinx but died before he could.”

  “We’ve had some experience with the Great Pyramid,” Jack said kindly.

  “But perhaps you haven’t yet realized the monumental importance of its builder,” Diane said. “I mean, the Great Pyramid, the Golden Capstone, the Firestone: all three of them have been integral to your mission. And it was Khufu who erected all three of them. It was Khufu who had all of them in his possession. Doesn’t it make sense that Khufu might have had some knowledge—a very high level of knowledge—about your Machine?”

  “It does when you put it that way,” Jack said, eyeing Wizard.

  The old professor just shrugged bashfully. “We concentrated on Rameses and the Six Ramesean Stones.”

  “Understandably,” Diane said, finishing her writing on the whiteboard. “But did you ever ask yourself, where did those Six Sacred Stones come from? And where did the six oblong diamond pillars come from?

  “At some point in time, they must have all been together, right? And the first time we find them together is with Khufu—this is why in some texts, the Firestone, the Six Sacred Stones, and the Six Pillars are collectively referred to as ‘Khufu’s Treasure’ or ‘Khufu’s Wisdom.’ And the answer to what became of Khufu’s Treasure lies in this poem, written over four thousand years ago.”

  With a flourish, she stepped away from the whiteboard, revealing her handiwork:

  “Genghis Khan . . . Napoleon . . .” Wizard said.

  “Jesus Christ . . .” Zoe breathed, “a warrior?”

  Julius jerked his chin at the whiteboard. “I think you meant to say ‘Lachlan Adamson’ for the fourth warrior. He’s the great obsessor. Geez, you should see him combing his hair in the morning. That’s obsessive . . .”

  “Hah-de-ha-ha,” Lachlan replied.

  “This is what I was studying,” Diane said. “This is what led me to the Neetha—to see what information they might possess about the Rhyme. I just never expected to be captured and ensl
aved by them.”

  Jack remained silent for a long moment, gazing at the whiteboard.

  Then at last he said softly, “It’s a prophecy . . .”

  Diane nodded, impressed. “Yes, Captain. Yes, it is. A foretelling, an insight into the five individuals who over the centuries will most affect the fate of Khufu’s Treasure: the Firestone, the Six Sacred Stones, and the Six Pillars.”

  Jack said, “So you’re thinking that if we follow the trail of these five great warriors, follow their lives and histories, we’ll find the Pillars and maybe also some clues to the locations of the remaining Vertices.”

  Diane Cassidy pointed at him. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”

  “OKAY,” JACK said. “So how’d you figure out that these guys are the warriors mentioned in the Sphinx tablet. I mean, what about other great military types like Raleigh or Nelson—”

  “—or Caesar or Hannibal—” Zoe added.

  “—Saladin or Alexander—” Pooh Bear said.

  “—Hitler, Patton, or Rommel—” Julius said.

  Diane held up her hands. “I know, I know. Believe me, I looked into all those figures and more before I settled on these ones. It took years of work.”

  “So how’d you decide on these ones.”

  “Right. Well. Let’s start with Moses. Now remember, the historical and biblical figure we know as Moses was actually an Egyptian priest named Thuthmosis. Moses or Mosis simply means ‘son of,’ so Thuth mosis means ‘son of Thoth,’ the Egyptian god of wisdom. So Moses the man is the namesake of one of the Ramesean Stones: the Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis.”

  “Otherwise known as the Ten Commandments,” Pooh Bear said. “We’re aware of this.” He threw a look across the room at the Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis.

  “Oh, yes, right,” Diane said.

  Jack asked, “So how did you figure that Moses was the first warrior in the rhyme?”

  “The rhyme is not the only ancient text mentioning five fabled warriors,” Diane said. “There are two others, one from the Wu Gorge in China, which is generally attributed to the philosopher, Laozi; and a second from the ruins of Karakorum in Mongolia. This is the first one.”

  She turned to a very old sepia-toned photograph stapled into her notebook. It showed a stone pedestal engraved with ancient Chinese calligraphy. She’d translated it:

  THE FIVE

  1. A humble priest, son of the great god of wisdom, will flee his home, and a great king’s hatred.

  2. A seer, a healer, a man all would be, will die atop a hideous tree.

  3. A lord of war but a ruler most wise, from the barren plateau his kingdom will rise.

  4. He shall seek empire but find only tears, his empire shall last not one score of years.

  5. A mortal battle, between father and son, one fights for all, and the other for one.

  Wizard said, “I saw this pedestal when I was at the Wu Gorge. It’s still there, only it’s ten feet underwater now.”

  Diane turned to a second photograph, this one showing a large cast-iron door covered with studs and symbols that looked like a variety of ancient Chinese writing.

  “The language is Mongolian,” she explained. “This door is one of the gates of Karakorum, the Black City, the capital of the Khanate. This is from the time of Genghis Khan.”

  Everyone read Cassidy’s translation of it:

  THE FIVE GREATEST WARRIORS

  THE FIRST, THE WARRIOR-PRIEST, will bring the treasure out of the chosen land and found the great lineage.

  THE SECOND, THE WARRIOR-KING, will join two royal lines and thus continue the God King line. He will break the treasure in two and leave his mark on the world forever.

  THE THIRD, THE HORSE-WARRIOR, will loyally guard the treasure in his halls of iron and pass it to those he deems worthy.

  THE FOURTH, THE EMPEROR-WARRIOR, will pursue the treasure for his own glory and succeed only in scattering it further. It shall forever remain out of his reach.

  THE FIFTH, THE BRILLIANT WARRIOR, will be there at the Second Coming and will decide the fate of all.

  Diane said, “This is how I settled on Moses, Jesus, Genghis, and Napoleon. When you cross-reference all three sources—and numerous other historical clues—you can see how they all fit. I don’t yet know the last warrior, the fifth one—the Black City Text says the fifth warrior will be at the ‘Second Coming,’ which is the return of the Dark Star next month.”

  Lachlan Adamson turned to Jack. “A mortal battle between a father and son, Jack. Could be you and your asshole dad, fighting it out to the end.”

  Jack gave Lachlan a sideways look. “I seriously doubt that I am the subject of an ancient prophecy. Besides, these texts don’t specify whether the fifth warrior is actually the father or the son. The warrior could be my father, or Pooh Bear and Scimitar’s father, or even someone we haven’t encountered yet.”

  Zoe still looked unconvinced. “Jesus Christ is not commonly called a warrior. He was a man of peace.”

  “He carried a sword,” Wizard countered, “and at one famous point in the Gospel of Luke, he urged his followers to go and buy swords.”

  “And many of those followers were revolutionaries urging insurrection against Rome,” Julius said.

  “And Napoleon?” Zoe said. “The emperor-warrior? The guy failed more than he succeeded.”

  Jack answered that. “True, but he did have himself proclaimed Emperor of France. He was also an Egypt nut. It’s because of him that we have the Rosetta Stone and deciphered hieroglyphics. And he was famously initiated into Freemasonry inside the Great Pyramid. There’s no Western leader in history with closer links to Egypt.”

  Jack turned back to Diane Cassidy.

  “This is very helpful, you might be onto something here. Let’s assume for the moment that you’re right and chase up these four historical figures a bit further: Moses, Jesus, Genghis, and Napoleon.

  “Everybody, it’s time to hit the books. I want you to cross-reference these four warriors with everything we know about the Machine, the Pillars, and the Vertices.

  “Cover everything, from astronomy and Egyptology to ancient mythology; from the sites of Vertices we’ve been to—Abu Simbel and Cape Town—to Aristotle, Rameses, Khufu, Hieronymus, the Neetha, and the Great Houses of Europe. Anything and everything. Look for connections, crossed paths, any kind of common denominator that will lead us to the remaining Pillars and Vertices.

  “And just for you, Zoe, look for any other contenders for the title of ‘Great Warrior,’ just in case Dr. Cassidy here has got it wrong.

  “All right, folks, let’s move.”

  ZANZIBAR

  FEBRUARY 2008 THE MONTH BEFORE THE 3RD DEADLINE

  OVER THE next few weeks, the team immersed themselves in research, reading anything and everything they could about the four known “Greatest Warriors”—Moses, Jesus, Genghis Khan, and Napoleon—noting journeys they had taken, texts they had written, or books that had been written about them.

  They read the Bible, plus the other known gospels; they read The Secret History of the Mongols, the great work recording the achievements of Genghis Khan, searching for any mention of ancient knowledge, “wisdom” or “treasure.”

  Every two days they would convene for a meeting, at which Jack would write up key points on the whiteboard at the front of the room.

  Sure enough, over the course of their research, curious connections came up.

  The Great Houses of Europe, for instance, called themselves the “Deus Rex”—the God Kings—the name used in the Mongolian Black City text to describe the line of Jesus Christ.

  It went up on the whiteboard.

  Likewise, it was found that Napoleon had shown an inordinate amount of interest in Rameses II. During his famous expeditions to Egypt, Napoleon had given explicit orders that all discoveries connected to Rameses the Great be brought directly to him.

  One inscription found inside Rameses’ palace ruins at Luxor had consumed him. It had read:

/>   A LONE BEKHEN SENTINEL STANDS GUARD OVER THE ENTRANCE TO THE GREATEST SHRINE.

  The Greatest Shrine was a reference, of course, to the Sixth and last Vertex. And “bekhen” was a rare variety of brownish black basalt.

  And so Napoleon had ordered his scientists to scour Egypt for monuments made of bekhen stone. Their most famous discovery was the Rosetta Stone, but beyond that only a few small obelisks were found and none of them stood over the entrance to any underground shrine.

  In addition to his obsession with Egypt, it was discovered that Napoleon also had an unusual fascination with astronomy—including a particular interest in Saturn and Jupiter.

  The French emperor was intrigued as to why the orbits of these two planets sometimes lagged behind their predicted positions. It was as if, he observed, some outside force was acting on their celestial movements.

  “In artillery school, Napoleon was taught by the scholar Pierre Simon de Laplace—” Zoe reported to the group at one of their meetings.

  “Laplace?” Wizard looked up. “He was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He came up with the concept of the meter. He was also a leading figure in astronomy, some say superior even to Isaac Newton in the field of celestial mechanics.”

  Zoe said, “Well, when Napoleon became emperor of France, he brought Laplace to his court to consult on matters astronomical, in particular, to investigate the cause of the lag in Saturn and Jupiter’s orbits.”

  Jack said, “So Napoleon knew a lot about Egypt and about the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter. We can probably assume then that he knew about the Dark Sun.”

  That too went up on the whiteboard.

  At the mention of Isaac Newton, Stretch chimed in.

  “I’ve been following up on Wizard’s reference to Newton’s alchemical work. Newton was a fanatic about alchemy, the ‘science’ of turning lead into gold. It was his obsession. He wrote more about it than on any other subject.”