He did not want to but something made him look down. From the top of this cavern to the bottom of the first cave, it was at least a hundred and fifty foot drop.
Still on hands and knees, he poked his head into a wall that was not really there. It was strange for Maria to see him seemingly slither headfirst into what appeared to be solid rock. With the flashlight turned on, he discovered that it was a tunnel not much bigger than his body. With his arms stretched forward, he managed to wiggle approximately ten feet into it. Ahead he saw a codex looking much like the books they found in the dome under the sea. Next to it was the third piece of the puzzle, a triangular piece of glass.
He grabbed both the book and the third piece of glass. With mission complete, he started wiggling backwards out of the tight tunnel. When Maria saw his feet appear she made sure the shell of the D-wing was snug against the wall. When he was out of the tunnel, from his crawling position, he turned to face her and much to her discomfort precariously stood up. Like a proud little boy for a job well done, he held both treasures high and grinned. That second of distraction was when his foot slipped and he tumbled off the D-wing. As he plunged toward the rocks far below, rather than scream or even panic, Maria’s instincts flew into action.
She immediately pulled back on the controls and the D-wing dropped faster than Santo plummeted. With a slight jerk of the lever, she slid under him. With a heavy thud, he flopped unharmed onto the nose of the D-wing. When it gently landed, Santo slid off the nose and stood next to the proud pilot. While smiling at her he said,
“Whew. That was close. I’m sure glad I kept you around.”
Maria was not going to let him forget that statement.
“You better be. You owe me big time buster.”
Red Cloud, still taking everything rather casually did not understand the conversation. However, he did understand the kiss the woman got from the man.
With their objective met and as they flew Red Cloud back to the Navajo mesa, Santo said to him,
“If your holy fire on top of the mesa is still blazing I can turn invisible and lower into the flames. When everybody is looking I will turn visible and make it look like we came from the fire.”
Although Maria thought it was a kind offer, that the deception might strengthen his spiritual value, Red Cloud did not. He sternly said,
“Thank you but my people are honest in our spiritual faith. Unlike others, we do not need proof or deception to believe.”
From up high, although diminished, they saw the fire on the mesa was still ablaze. Red Cloud pointed and said,
“There, they have left the fire on as a beacon to guide us back.”
As they approached, they saw the Navajo men sitting facing the fire dutifully waiting for their Elder to return from the spirit world. Because there was no need for the pretense of invisibility, Santo simply touched the D-wind down beside the fire. When Red Cloud stepped out of the vehicle to greet his men, Maria was again astounded at his casualness. She could not help but wonder what other secrets they held to make this venture so mundane.
As they lifted high and Santo was setting the GPS co-ordnance for the Three Sisters, Maria looked down at the disappearing flaming candle. She was struck by what Red Cloud had said when Santo offered to impress his followers with false spirituality, ‘we do not need proof or deception to believe’. To Santo it was simply a kind refusal of the offer but it was different for her. She understood that to strengthen man’s control of a faith, deception and lies were often used. To her, Greg Red Cloud now became a greater spiritual leader to his people than all the other religious leaders of the world. It was clear to her that Navajo beliefs were based on the power of truth.
Chapter 37
Returning from the Navajo Nation, they approached the Three Sisters through the long mountain gorge. After transmitting approach codes, Santo masterfully landed the D-wing in the cave. Waldorf was impatiently standing at the entrance waiting for them. After a quick preliminary verbal report, Santo handed the third piece of the puzzle to Waldorf who immediately limped over to Jessika with it.
At the desk, Maria cringed as Jessika swept a strand of blond hair out of her face. Carefully inspecting the new piece, Jessika confessed,
“I was sort of hoping this piece would be different from the other two.”
She looked up at the many inquisitive eyes bearing down on her and added,
“This cannot possibly be the weapon mentioned in the Great Gray legends. The only thing this could conceivably be is a trigger program for some sort of weapon.”
Combining their military expertize and using army protocol, Waldorf and Santo pondered what Jessika had said about the weapon being incomplete. However, eventually two shaking heads indicated a dead end. They agreed that three pieces of glass did not amount to anything remotely indicative of a weapon. Jessika broke their train of thought and added,
“Are you sure this is all there is?”
Maria however was more of a theorist, a scientist capable of thinking outside the box. Research, trial, and error had been an everyday occurrence in her laboratory. She had learned long ago that even a failed experiment could eventually point in the right direction. Pointing to the three pieces, she suggested,
“Join them at the edges to make various shapes.”
Although not seeing how that could possibly be a solution, Jessika laid them flat on the desk and joined one edge to the other making various shapes.
To everybody’s surprise, like magnets of similar polarities they would not stay together. As soon as she took her finger off one piece, it gently pulled away. Accepting Maria’s philosophy of trial and error, she tried different combinations with the same result, prompting her to deduce,
“Glass and crystal is not magnetic so clearly this material is something else.”
Maria then suggested,
“How about subjecting the pieces to a spectrographic analysis?”
Jessika’s reply sadly reflected the greatly diminished capability of the devastated House of the Nazarene.
“Yes, if this was before we were attacked but there is nothing like that here.”
It was a stark reminder of their dire situation. However, Maria bounced right back with,
“Let’s try shinning a light beam into it.”
Maria took one of the pieces and positioned it in the path of a light beam. The experiment was not expected to be a great revelation or discovery but she was hoping for a little more to happen than absolutely nothing.
Suddenly Waldorf pointed to an empty space on the desk and excitedly said,
“What the heck is that?”
All eyes darted to the indicated spot to see a shadowy outline of strange formations. When Maria pulled the crystal out of the beam, the design disappeared. After each piece was subjected to the light beam, Maria excitedly observed,
“It looks suspiciously like Inca artwork or something from all the Meso-American cultures at that time.”
Each piece produced different mysterious designs on the desk surface. When Maria held one piece perfectly still, the design animated. Lines slowly slithered over and under each other like a can of creepy crawling worms. However, because they had no idea what they were looking at, all they could do was stare in amazement.
True to Maria’s scientific mind she was the first to realize that they were looking for a solution in a two dimensional configuration. Perhaps the answer did not lie on a flat surface. Picking up the three pieces she carefully stood them on the desk to create a three-sided triangle pyramid. Much to her pleasure and everybody else’s, the magnetic edges ‘clicked’ together.
All stood staring at it in awe. However, despite the new alignment nothing else had changed. Nothing happened. Santo then suggested,
“Try hitting it.”
When all astonished eyes darted to him, he felt the need to explain,
“Vibrations. Maybe different frequencies can activate something.”
Maria’s stern frown suddenly
turned to a smile. She said,
“Wow. Look at my little soldier thinking like a scientist.”
Except for the ‘little soldier’ bit, he felt complimented and pleased to contribute in a field alien to him. Jessika picked up a pencil and gently tapped the structure.
It was a different type of explosion. Although silent, everybody was blown off their feet and sent flying backwards through the air, nothing else was affected by the detonation. The pencil Jessica had struck the structure with gently fell to the desk. The glass pyramid remained on the desk intact and the computers remained in place. Even the reams of paper on her desk lay perfectly still.
As each struggled to stand they checked themselves for missing body parts. All were pleased to discover that despite the impact and thrown ten feet away they were not hurt. Waldorf understood that with such force they should have suffered serious injury. Maria’s question was more to the point.
“What the hell just happened?”
After her head had cleared, she made a more pragmatic observation.
“That was a dimensional impact explosion, a barrier between this dimension and wherever that thing is from.”
Santo wisely said to Jessica,
“Don’t do that again.”
Everybody straightened up and cautiously returned to the desk to stare in wonderment at the three pieces. Their silence indicated that each was lost to the mystery. It soon became apparent that it was well beyond their understanding of whatever it was. Maria sadly announced,
“We depended so much on this weapon and all we get from it is hopelessness.”
Jessika voiced the same bitter setback.
“If only our full resources were available we could figure it out. Give me time and I can probably crack the code.”
Santo’s voice reflected the agony of defeat,
“We have run out of time.”
Maria saw Santo lower his head and dejectedly walk to the cave opening. She thought his despondency was due to the one thing that so easily disappointed a soldier, defeat. Wanting to comfort him, she followed. At the edge of the cave, looking out into the vastness of the canyon she took his arm into hers and wisely said nothing. She felt him reach into his pocket and bring out the small communication disk Edward had given him in London.
As instructed, he squeezed it hard. A minute later, he heard,
“Yes Captain. How can I be of service to you?”
Santo replied,
“We thank you for your help in locating the three discs. However, the technology is beyond our understanding.”
There was a lack of concern in Edward’s reply.
“Are you asking the House of the Second Creation for help again?”
Because there was no need to disguise or explain the hopelessness, Santo was clear in his reply.
“Yes.”
“You understand Captain that it is not in our nature to get involved in the matters of the First Creation.”
Santo was prepared for such a comment.
“Yes, you made that abundantly clear in London. However, I feel I should remind you about the fear you expressed of such a formidable weapon, one capable of massive destruction. Remember what you said, our mutual enemy will soon be scanning for abnormal energy readings throughout the world and inevitably discover many of your secret places. The Sentinel Satellite is a mutual enemy that we cannot destroy without your help.”
There was a long pause. Santo was hoping Edward was contemplating the request rather than just disconnecting. Finally,
“Very well Captain. I have received permission to offer assistance. I will meet with you. Jump into that D-wing of yours and place the disc near your GPS computer. It will transmit a location into your system. As I do not have a lot of time, it would be to your advantage to do so immediately.”
Slightly confused, Santo looked to Maria and said,
“Apparently we are going on a trip.”
Chapter 38
Waldorf was standing alongside the D-wing watching Santo and Maria climb into it. Santo saw that Waldorf was not happy with this secret mission and to a degree, understood his anxiety. He too was not pleased about going on a blind assignment with no Intel. However, he understood Edward’s help was their only chance to destroy the Sentinel Satellite before it destroyed the Vatican.
With the canopy still open, Waldorf stood beside the D-wing and watched as Santo placed the strange disc near the GPS computer. Immediately a thin blue beam shot out of the disc and as Santo could only surmise, sent a location into the GPS. Waldorf said,
“Call that location up on the screen. If you can’t tell me who you are meeting, at least I want to know where on earth you are going.”
Understanding the highly developed House of the Second Creation and their secretive ways, Santo only hoped that somewhere on Earth was where they were going. He keyed in the request.
Waldorf was relieved when the location showed a large and rugged mountain range in the Hunan Province of China. Maria commentated on the location,
“At least it’s not too far away.”
Waldorf contributed,
“It is a large hostile wasteland of steep and inaccessible mountains. Are you sure of that location?”
Santo was not one for blind faith but the times were dire and the situation demanded a degree of trust. He said,
“I guess we will know in a few minutes.”
Because the GPS indicated the location as northeast, a close proximity to theirs, there was no benefit in shooting up to the stratosphere and taking advantage of the Earth’s rotation. After lifting off, Santo set a high flight path at maximum velocity. With the Radar Avoidance Program set and camouflaged, they easily avoided detection into hostile territory. Twenty minutes later, they were in the Hunan Province racing high over jagged mountaintops.
Moments later the GPS program dropped them down into a long narrow canyon filled with massive rocky pinnacles jutting above low clouds. Although the pinnacles were vertical and high, some supported sparse trees on the steep sides. As they zigzagged through them, Maria commented on the geography.
“It’s beautiful.”
Because of her adventure into the high mountains of Tibet, she was expecting the next turn to reveal a shrine clinging to a high cliff. Santo was surprised when the D-wing automatically lowered onto the top of one of the high and barren summits.
Opening the canopy and getting out, both were surprised that the weather was comfortable and warm. When considering the mountaintop location, she expected a bitter cold wind. While walking around, they discovered the top of the peak was covered with moss and grass. Strangely, in the middle of the plateau was a picnic table with nothing on it. As Santo walked toward it, Maria walked over to the edge of the sheer cliff and cautiously looked down only to see clouds far below. She quickly backed away from the precarious edge and turned to see Santo sitting at the picnic table as if waiting for somebody to serve him a sandwich and cold beer. After joining him and sitting, she said,
“Well, it’s warm enough for a picnic but I didn’t bring anything to eat. I guess it’s just you and I.”
Santo looked around and confirmed her comment. There was nobody atop the peak with them.
A moment later, while looking at Maria, he grew confused at her astounded expression. Something was clearly going on behind him. As there was no warning or indication of danger from her, he casually turned around to see Edward approaching in the distance. He was carrying a large picnic basket as well as beaming what Maria had always thought to be a seductive smile from a handsome man. As he placed the basket on the table, he said,
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was terrible on the Istanbul turnpike.”
As this was the first time Edward had ever expressed a sense of humor, neither knew to groan or take him seriously.
While Santo and Maria continued to stare at him in wonderment, from the picnic basket he spread a tablecloth and set the table with bread and various tidbits indicative of a casual picnic
. Much to Maria’s delight, she could smell coffee. Edward noticed her euphoric reaction to the elixir and said,
“Yes, the Captain once mentioned your propensity for caffeine. I hope you enjoy my private blend.”
When the table was set to his liking and while they were chomping on a slice of bread dipped in olive oil, he looked to Santo and asked,
“So, what’s up?”
Santo, afraid of the food and its affects, ignored the offering and started the conversation in his usual diplomatic demeanor.
“Thank you for coming.”
After Edward acknowledged the politeness with a nod, Santo continued,
“With your help in identifying the tribes who had each hidden a piece of the weapon we were able to recover them. However, as it turned out, it is not a weapon. We think it might instead be a computer code that shuts the satellite down.”
Edward accepted the news rather casually. Maria contributed,
“The problem is that we cannot access the data. We don’t understand the program. We are hoping that you can decode it for us.”
Edward was not accommodating.
“Well, here is the problem with antiquated computer technology trying to access an extremely advanced computer technology. With what little you know about computers, getting into the advanced Great Gray satellite program is akin to trying to communicate with it using Morse Code. It is not going to work. Your computers function on a transistor-based binary operating system, a simple ‘0’ and ‘1’ or negative and positive system if you wish. Even though the computer that is controlling the Satellite was programmed with a technology well over 6,000 years old, it is still at least 4,000 years in advance of what yours is today.”
THe Sentinal Satellite Page 23