THe Sentinal Satellite

  Maria now understood that even the powerful computers of the House of the Nazarene were not comparable to a 6,000-year-old Gray system. She hoped that the more powerful computers of the House of the Second Creation might be capable of the interface. She said,

  “But you must be using a more advanced operating system than transistor binary are you not? Can you not decode the discs for us?”

  Edward shook his head and gave them the bad news.

  “When it comes to advanced Great Gray computer technology we too are hundreds of years behind them. Their computer operating system is well past our understanding of it.”

  Edward saw the great disappointment on both and attempted to explain.

  “For the past thousand years, we have used computers with what at that time, was thought to be the ultimate in operating systems. We still use a binary system but it, like your atomic clocks, is based on the predictability of Cesium atom pulses. Your atomic clock is accurate to a millionth of a second every thousand years and that is how powerful our computers are. Until we discovered what the Great Grays were using, as I said, we thought we had the ultimate in operating systems.”

  Suddenly the coffee Maria was enjoying had lost all its appeal. Santo, ever lost to scientific jargon but understanding enough to know that all was lost, started absently gazing into the horizon. Maria asked,

  “Then what operating system do the Grays use?”

  Edward turned his palms up and stretched his hands apart while saying,

  “Even for us it is very hard to understand. They might refer to it as a Universal Frequency Operating System. All matter is in fact energy, the Unified Field, or the Matrix if you wish. When going down to the sub-atomic level, you do not find matter, but pure energy. That energy produces a frequency. This whole universe has an identifiable and connective energy frequency throughout. I think you refer to it as the Quantum Entanglement. This universal energy frequency is constant, with a fault factor of one millionth of a second per 30 million years. That means that a fraction of a second of universal frequency is faster than 600 billion of even our most powerful Cesium atom frequency computers. Now you understand why the Gray satellite could not possibly have been re-programmed by current Earth technology. It is far beyond what is understood by you or even us.”

  Although Santo did not understand the complexities of computer operating systems, he did understand that they were at an impasse. There was defeat in his question.

  “Then what can we do to destroy the satellite”

  Edward shook his head and said,

  “I think once you accept that it is Gray technology and they are not involved, then you have to wonder who on this planet has communicated with them and obtained that capability.”

  He then looked suspiciously long at Santo and asked,

  “Did you think Duchess Josephine de Meyer-David was only seeking revenge on you two? Does she also not hate your House and the Vatican as well?”

  Marie snapped around to Santo and gasped,

  “The Duchess? No, that can’t be right. Escape from that planet is impossible.”

  She then looked hard at Santo and asked the inevitable question,

  “Why do you suspect the Duchess?”

  Santo then confided what he heard from the dying Russian assassin. Outraged to be kept out of the loop she snapped,

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because at the, time it didn’t sound possible to me either. But considering what Edward just proposed, that she is seeking revenge on the House as well as the Vatican, it all makes sense now.”

  It only took Maria a second to join the dots. When it happened, she gasped in revulsion,

  “It was the Duchess who tried to kill Belle.”

  She then indignantly stomped her foot and harshly said,

  “You should have trusted me with that information.”

  Santo cast a confusing look at her. Clearly, she did not understand the military danger of entering unsubstantiated intelligence into the equation. However, Edward did. Witnessing her fit, he said to Santo,

  “Regardless of First Creation or Second Creation, we both seem cursed to not understand the complexities of the female mind.”

  Santo agreed, adding,

  “At times they are as difficult to understand as the Great Gray computers.”

  The awkward moment between all three quickly gave way to the urgency of the meeting and Santo explained,

  “I suspect that the Duchess was taught how to use their computers and then somehow escaped the planet with that knowledge.”

  Edward shook his head and said,

  “No, that is not possible. Humans have not yet evolved to comprehend those complexities. It would be like trying to calculate asymmetrical algorithms using an ancient abacus. Without doubt, they gave her something that could interface with your computers, perhaps a step-down interface component.”

  As Santo pondered this, Edward slowly asked,

  “What would be her purpose in destroying world powers? Clearly, she could not be thinking of world domination. She must obviously understand that the House of the Second Creation would stop her from doing so.”

  Santo observed,

  “If she knows that your House exists. Don’t forget you are a secret society.”

  He accepted the statement and said,

  “Yes. However, my question remains, why is she doing this?”

  By now Maria had recovered from her inappropriate emotional reaction to unsubstantiated information and contributed,

  “Revenge.”

  Accepting the viable connection, Edward pointed a finger and said,

  “Then I propose that if you want to stop the satellite, your solution is simple. You must locate the Duchess.”

  Leaving Edward at the table to finish his picnic, Santo and Maria returned to the D-wing. Once airborne, because Santo was looking for something, he circled the step pinnacle. Although it took less than a minute to get off the ground and circle, already the picnic table was empty and there was no sign of Edward. Still wondering how he got to the plateau, Santo was looking for a hidden means of transportation. There was nothing to see. Once again, Edward had mysteriously managed to disappear as if into thin air. As the D-wing sped away, Maria heard Santo utter,

  “I really want what he has.”

  Chapter 39

  While Santo and Maria were returning from China, a Nazarene accountant specialist was sitting at her desk busy on the computer. Ming-Lo, an Asian woman was fifty-five years old but looked thirty. The only thing that gave her youthful appearance away was tinges of gray in jet-black hair. Ming-Lo was the only known accountant survivor. She was busy confirming House account codes and tracking anomalies in House financial transactions after the tragedy. After intently staring at one account in particular, she turned to the next desk over to get Jessika’s attention.

  Surprised that Jessika’s desk was vacant, Ming-lo turned around to scan the cave looking for her. At the far end, near the main lobby she saw Jessika talking to Waldorf who had just returned from an assignment in Lisbon, Portugal. Suddenly Jessika lunged forward giving the startled man a great hug. With only one good leg for support, there was an awkward moment of her trying to keep him from falling over and him trying to recover from the sudden jolt. It was followed by what Ming-Lo thought might be an apology.

  She watched as Jessika returned to her desk, jauntily skipping along and bearing a thrilled expression. She sat at her desk, opened up the Survival List program and entered a name. When done, she noticed Ming-Lo was staring at her and baffled. She smiled and happily announced,

  “I just entered Kirk Waller’s name on the survival list along with nineteen missing children.”

  Although Ming-Lo too thought it was good news there was still the irregularity of one bank account to be reported. In a heavy Chinese accent she said,

  “I might have something here.”

  Jessika pushed her chair over to Ming-Lo and asked,

/>   “What have you got?”

  Because she was not sure, but told to report all irregularities, she sounded hesitant.

  “I think I might have discovered embezzlements in three House bank accounts. Millions of Euros have been removed from our banks in Istanbul, London, and Casablanca using old access codes.”

  She then looked suspiciously at Jessika and asked,

  “I thought you deleted those codes and entered new ones after the destruction.”

  “No,” said Jessika “I deliberately left them active.”

  Confused, for it seemed like such a huge error, Ming-Lo asked why she would do such a thing. Jessika, ever the computer genius seemed proud to say,

  “As bait. I wanted to see who might hack into them. I installed a tracer worm to infiltrate the intruding signals just in case something like this might happen.”

  She then quickly slid back to her computer and got busy tracing the transaction through the activated sleeper satellites. Unfortunately the trace was bounced off other satellites and re-coded after each one. As complicated as that made the trace, Jessika’s persistence eventually paid off. She activated orbital paths and through the tracer-code was able to isolate the last transmission. She then looked across the room where Waldorf had returned to his computer terminal searching for families of the missing.

  Waldorf’s leg was not healing as fast as serious wounds once might have in a younger body. Jessika and Ming-Lo would often hear, “Damn” echo from across the room. Jessika thought it was an annoyed remark prompted by his failure to work the programs but Ming-Lo knew it was the pain. In fact it was prompted by a reality that he was having trouble accepting. Waldorf was getting old and as now proven, was not healing quickly. Worse, he had been delegated to a desk. He was pleasantly distracted when hearing Jessika call over to him.

  “Sir, Ming-Lo might have discovered something important.”

  Even with the help of a cane, it was awkward getting up and crossing the floor. Pride made him stand between them. He asked,

  “What have you got?”

  Jessika explained why she had left the old codes active but inserted a tracer program into them. She then pointed to Ming-Lo who took the hint and repeated what she had discovered to Waldorf. Jessika interjected,

  “I was unable to get an exact location of the hacker.”

  Regardless, at this point Waldorf was glad to get anything and asked,

  “What is the dispersal range?”

  Again, Jessika was forced to report failure.

  “I’m sorry sir but it’s at least 1,000 square miles.”

  She heard him groan. Over a large city, that would be an impossible trace. Although overwhelmed, Waldorf asked,

  “Can you at least give me a country or a city?”

  After drawing up a world map and overlapping the tracer zone, he was disappointed to see that the target area was in the middle of the South Atlantic. He pointed and asked,

  “How many islands are in that zone?”

  She quickly called up that information and jubilantly announced,

  “Just one.”

  Chapter 40

  Just then, Waldorf turned to see Santo’s D-wing settle down at the mouth of the cave. Still believing the House of the Second Creation to be a myth, he nevertheless hobbled over to get a quick report. Maria, seeing that his pride was forcing him to stand on his bad leg while listening to Santo, said,

  “I need to sit down. Let’s go over to the lobby and talk in comfort.”

  Although Santo saw no reason to, Waldorf thought it was a great idea and followed her there.

  Waldorf wanted to thank Maria for her consideration but did not want to show weakness to his Second in Command. As they sat, she got a quick and pleasant smile. Santo continued with his report. Waldorf heard that the Duchess may be responsible for the destruction of the House as well as the threat to the Vatican. While Santo continued with his report Waldorf sat in disbelieve.

  “If it is the Duchess, then we suspect that she has a Great Gray computer that can interface with the Sentinel Satellite.”

  Maria urgently added,

  “We have to locate the Duchess.”

  Waldorf looked across the floor at Jessika and Ming-Lo. While both wondered what the distraction was, he said,

  “I think we already have.”

  Santo and Maria stood behind Ming-Lo while she explained the new information to them. Although Santo did not understand the charts or graphs, he understood the possibility that it was the work of the Duchess. He asked Jessika,

  “Can we move a sleeper satellite over those coordinates and get a visual on the island?”

  Jessika did not need to check her computer, saying,

  “Yes, but it would mean pulling one away from recovery and rescue duties.”

  Waldorf had a quick solution.

  “Then send my D-wing on a scouting mission. We need to know what is at that location.”

  Just as Santo was about to volunteer, Jessika received an alert signal on her computer. After codes were checked and verified she turned to Santo and said,

  “There is news from Commander Razk. He wants to meet with you.”

  Annoyed, thinking that it would be a futile meeting, he weighed the importance of which mission to take. Waldorf, seeing Santo’s conundrum chose for him.

  “It doesn’t always have to be you. We have many good men I can send.”

  Because there was urgency in locating the Duchess, Santo agreed and said,

  “Okay. Because time has pretty well run out, let us assume that is where she is and prepare for it. While you arm the D-wings, I’ll zip over and see what Razk wants.”

  Because Commander Razk was not identified as a high-ranking religious leader in the Vatican, his profile was not on the face identification database operated by the Duchess. He knew that he could walk in or out of the Vatican grounds without risk. He was sitting on a bench in a small courtyard over at Castel de Angelo. Because he was wearing street clothes, the swarm of tourist walking by gave him no more than a casual inspection. He seemed just like another tired tourist.

  A few minutes later another man, also in street clothes approached and asked,

  “May another tired tourist join you?”

  Without looking at the intruder, for he knew who it was, Razk acknowledged the request with a casual hand motion.

  Santo sat and asked,

  “What is the news?”

  Santo heard the despondency in his tone.

  “The Elders of the Vatican have met and a decision has been made. In a nutshell, there are only two choices. Expose the secrets to the world, an exposure that will surely destroy the faith, or if we keep the secrets then every building in the Vatican will suffer the same fate as your island. The Elders have regrettably decided to sacrifice the existence of the physical aspect of the Vatican in order to keep the faith alive. The secrets will be kept and the buildings will die so that the faith can prevail.”

  Santo understood that no matter the decision, it could not possibly be a good one. He asked,

  “Do the Elders understand why they are not permitted to leave the Vatican grounds, that their lives will also be sacrificed?”

  “Yes, unfortunately they do. However, the Elders have reasoned that martyrdom for the sake of the faith is better than having it destroyed. The Cardinals were reminded that man was created to honour God. The Vatican and all material things can be destroyed and rebuilt. It is better choices than having the faith perish. What good are all these holy buildings without a religious faith? Apparently such was the word of God when they sought divine council.”

  Santo looked hard at Razk. The term, ‘word of God’ had always struck him as an excuse to enforce the will of the person saying it. How many evil men through history had rallied armies using the term, ‘so said God to me’? Razk heard the cynicism in Santo’s question.

  “Where did this word of God come from?”

  Although Razk was aware of the deceptive
ness of this particular ‘word’, he was bound by oath to the secrets he knew, legitimate or fraudulent. His reply as well as the lie was a requirement of the job.

  “As I am not a man of the cloth, I am not privileged to such things.”

  Santo did not accept the answer but understood such was the way of the church. He too harboured secrets best not shared. What he did not like and found hard to accept was that men were willing to die for their faith. Such was not the way of a soldier. There was logic in the adage, ‘run away to fight another day’. He struggled with the diverse philosophy between men of faith and men of war but let it go as a perpetual struggle with no clear closure.

  Apparently the decision was made, one not to his liking but one he had to accept. Nevertheless, he could not hold back a derisive comment.

  “The decision to sacrifice their lives is an easy one for tired old men who have already suffered through life and now seek refuge in heaven. It is a greater sacrifice for those who are young and have much to live for. An old man can only look back at his life for there is nothing more ahead of him, while the young eagerly look forward to a fruitful life. I fear that because the Elders now see Saint Peter’s Gate coming ever closer, their decision to die for the faith is an easy one. I wonder if what they are so frivolously willing to die for would be the same easy decision for the young.”