“So why didn’t someone from the settlement just go and dig up the Vril?” Heather asked with a tilt of her head.
“Also a good question,” Lisa noted. “The elder filed the report along with hundreds of other reports and when he died, no one knew about it until a more recent elder discovered the scroll. The tribe had left the area many generations before and had no idea where the portage was located.”
“So you’re pretty sure that the Vril is still there then?” Banyon asked.
“No one has ever translated the stones before, so yeah, I’m sure,” the professor calmly replied.
“And the directions are specific enough to find the hiding place?” He continued.
“The writer gives descriptions of large boulders as land marks. They would not have moved since then,” Lisa explained.
“We’ll need to send some people to find the Vril before anybody else can get there,” Banyon quickly said. “It’ll need to be someone we can trust or ourselves.”
“I agree,” Lisa acknowledged.
He glanced at his watch and then looked at Mandy.
“The jet won’t be ready for another hour,” she said, reading his mind. “But, we won’t have enough time to drive up there and back. It’s about a two hour drive one way.”
“Have you heard from Previne?” he quickly asked.
“No,” Mandy answered. “I’ve left voicemails for every one of them, but no one from the clan has called me back.”
“Lisa, please continue. I need to think for a second.” Banyon quickly said.
“Alright,” Lisa replied.
Banyon then got up off of the couch and went out onto the balcony. He turned so that no one could hear him speak.
“Wolf, where is Previne?”
“That is what I have to tell you, Colt. The entire clan is in a lawyer’s office having a meeting as we speak. That is why they haven’t responded.”
“Why?”
“Their Aunt Amrita in India died,” Wolf replied. “They’re planning to fly out to India today to bury her. The lawyer is reading them the will right now.”
“But, does that mean that they won’t be going to Las Vegas with the rest of us?”
“They will not.”
Banyon suddenly felt stressed. Of course they needed to bury their aunt, but it put him in a huge bind. They needed to recover the artifact and stop the attacks on Joey Brownwater. The team had to find and neutralize all the people that might know about Vril. They had to protect Joey Brownwater and now Loni at the ranch. They also had to collect the Vril buried in Wisconsin. He was seriously running short of time and people. He realized the whole situation could soon become messy and deadly. He had also lost his ability to make people forget things. Previne was the only one on the team who knew how to Freud-a-size people.
He wandered back inside with his head spinning.
Chapter Seventeen
When he stepped back inside he heard Heather ask a question. “If the Phoenicians had so many ships sailing to America, how come there are no records? I hardly know anything about them actually.”
“That’s a very good point,” the professor replied. “I’ve thought about it myself. I think the answer is very simple actually. The Phoenicians were traders and never gave anyone their secrets — including trading routes or partners. They were probably afraid of losing their trading business. Some of the other cultures they traded with would attempt to cut out the middleman, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” Heather replied as she nodded her pretty head. “But they must have kept records?”
“Oh, they kept records, but they were more advanced than most cultures at the time and that is probably why there are no records.”
“Explain that?” Heather asked curiously.
“They wrote everything on papyrus. It hasn’t survived. There are precious few records and only a few of their stones and scrolls have ever been recovered. Most of what we know about them is from records created by the Greeks and the Romans who came into contact with them while trading for goods.”
“What’s papyrus?” Mandy asked. “I never heard of it.”
“One of their largest trading partners was the Egyptians. They supplied papyrus, which is paper made from the papyrus plant. It grows abundantly in the delta of the Nile River, but not many other places. The Phoenicians were very practical and realized that paper weighed less than rock, so they wrote everything on scrolls.”
“Where are their scrolls then?” Heather was flustered and badgered Lisa for a clear answer.
“The Romans destroyed them,” Lisa said sadly. “A large number of their scrolls were deposited in the great Library of Alexandria. The Romans burned it down around 50B.C. The rest of their writings were probably kept in their cities. They all were overrun by the Romans, the Greeks and various other empires. The largest Phoenician city was Carthage and that fell to the Romans in 156 B.C. the Romans burned it to the ground. Since the scrolls were paper, they all burned.”
“So, what you are saying is that we don’t know the extent of their Empire nor much about their race, right? They were a dubious race.”
Lisa quickly replied. “Let me correct you on both issues,” she said formally. “They didn’t have an empire and they were not a race of people.”
“Now I’m completely confused!” Steve admitted loudly and flapped his arms.
“Okay,” Lisa said. “I can explain it for you. The Phoenicians were traders. Whenever they found a location where they could trade something they set up an outpost. They appeared around 3200 B.C. Over time, the outposts grew and became cities. Each city had a king and government. They became city-states independent of each other, but working together to conduct trade. There were about fifty Phoenician city-states all over the Mediterranean.”
“Think of them as the first franchise,” Banyon interrupted.
“Yes, I think you could say that,” Lisa agreed after some thought. “Also trading in the early days was different than today. A ship would pull into port unannounced and stay there until they traded their wares. They then left for another port to trade the items they picked up. Eventually, they would make it back to their home port with valuables. The process could take years.”
“They were like traveling salesman then?” Steve asked.
“Very much so,” Lisa agreed.
“What did they trade?” Mandy inquired. “Why would someone want their goods?”
“They originally started with two products, Lebanese cedar, which was used to build the best ships of the day and a purple dye called Tyrian Purple. The dye was made from sea snails found only off their coast. The dye was also known as Royal Purple and was coveted by royalty as a sign of position. It also didn’t fade easily.”
“But where did they start?” Mandy asked. “I mean what was their home port?”
“The original traders came from a part of what was called the ‘Fertile Crescent’. Today that area is the coast of Lebanon and Israel where several city-states became prominent. The people recorded on the stones came from one of those. They were from Tyre, which is today roughly where Beirut is located.”
“Are you telling me that Arabs actually discovered America?” Heather suddenly burst out with alarm.
“No, I’m not,” Lisa said with annoyance. “The Phoenicians were many peoples who banded together for only one common goal — trading. They were Hebrews from Egypt, Canaanites — who were the native people from the area — Greeks, and other people from the Mediterranean basin. The Greeks actually gave them the name Phoenicians. Once someone became a citizen of the city-state, they became Phoenicians.”
“So the city-states were like America — a melting pot,” Heather exclaimed.
“Now you’ve got it,” Lisa laughed and pointed to the woman. “But I should tell you that they didn’t necessarily have a good reputation. They are often described as arrogant, tough negotiators, cheaters, pushy and mean.”
“Sounds like they were a used car
salesman to me,” Steve uttered.
Chapter Eighteen
Lisa Lange was in her element as she continued to lecture the group about the Phoenicians. She told them the Phoenicians actually invented the first alphabet. It only contained twenty-two letters — all consonants, but was later used to develop our current alphabet. She also told them how they were master shipbuilders, and how they employed both sails and rowers on their vessels called galleys. She included how they became experts in making glass and even that they were slave traders. They traded anything to make a buck.
Banyon listened, but spent most of his time just pacing around the office. He had worries on his mind. He just couldn’t figure out how he could get everything done in time. If just one piece of his plan wasn’t completed, everything else would be for naught. Lisa’s secrets would be found out — his would not be far behind. Vril would fall into the hands of someone who would undoubtedly use it for something unethical and people would be hurt. Vril seemed to corrupt everybody.
He finally decided he would have to give up on collecting the Vril for now. If he could complete the other tasks, no one would remember where the Vril was located and he could go and get it at a later time. The problem was the tasks weren’t going to be easy — especially since Previne wasn’t available to help.
He caught movement in the hallway and watched as Timmy, the geek, danced into the office.
“Whoa,” Timmy uttered as he spied all the people in the office. “Didn’t know you were holding a seminar, dude.” Timmy was in his early twenties and called Banyon dude. He called Loni dudette. He had many personal quirks, but he was the world’s best hacker and had proven it on several occasions. He saw Banyon over by the balcony door and casually strolled over with a smirk on his youthful face.
“You got something for me?” Banyon asked hopefully.
“Yeah, but some of it you’re not going to like,” he replied and shook his mop of hair negatively. Timmy actually held a folder in his hand. It was the first time Banyon had ever seen him with anything other than a laptop. He handed it to Banyon.
“What did you uncover?” Banyon asked as he waved him onto the balcony to talk so they wouldn’t interrupt Lisa’s lesson.
“Who’s the good looking blond?” Timmy asked as he used his thumb to point at Lisa over his shoulder.
“She is a full professor of History at UNLV. She is out of your league, Timmy,” Banyon replied with a smile. Timmy was a voyeur and always on the hunt for any woman who would put up with his energy-drink charged lifestyle.
“Oh, for a minute there, I thought she was hot,” he replied with a laugh. Timmy was always in a good mood.
“What’s in the folder?” Banyon asked.
“Yeah, man. You asked me to find out what I could about some land in Nevada. Are you looking to buy some?”
“Hardly,” Banyon responded. “The information is for a case we just picked up. It involves the land.”
“Then I’ll be getting paid separately for this, right?” Timmy replied brightly. He often performed extra services for Banyon and liked getting paid.
“We’ll work that out later,” Banyon agreed.
“Awesome,” Timmy gushed.
“Tell me about the land.” Banyon restated without looking inside the folder. Timmy was easily sidetracked when not in front of a computer.
“Yeah, okay, boss-dude,” the geek said as he bounced from foot to foot. “It’s bad juju, man.”
“I’ll need more specifics than that,” Banyon replied deadpan.
“What I mean is that the land has had some strange stuff going on there,” Timmy explained.
“Just give me the history,” Banyon implored. “The rest, I’ll figure out for myself.” Banyon knew that Wolf would also update him.
“Righteous, man,” Timmy exclaimed and attempted to bump fists with Banyon. But he didn’t respond and just stared at the geek with a blank face. “Okay, I’ll be serious,” Timmy finally acknowledged.
“Please do.”
“Anyway, the land is listed as having an ancient Indian burial ground on it. It’s from way back several thousands of years ago. It’s sacred ground, man. It’s registered and everything. The first Indians there were the Anasazi. They had an outpost on the land. There is actually a fresh water spring at the base of the mountain, on the edge of the property, so they could survive in the desert. For some reason, they pulled out about a thousand years ago. But soon after another group of Indians moved in and squatted on the land until they finally were able to purchase it legally around 1890. The same family has been listed as the owner since then. Their last name is Brownwater.”
“Is that all you have?” A disappointed Banyon remarked.
“Course not,” the insulted geek replied. “The whole ranch is barren inhospitable dry desert. I can find no records of crops or livestock being raised there. It looks like all they’ve ever done on the land was live there.”
“That’s strange. I wonder why?” Banyon asked.
“There’s also a lot of chatter on the internet about the land being cursed,” Timmy continued. “Local people have reported seeing strange black figures in the open desert carrying what looks like weapons. There are also reports of aircraft coming and going without making any noise. Watches go crazy on the land and things get pulled out of people’s pockets and wind up on the ground. Cell phones sometimes get jammed out there too. Then, of course there are the strange noises. Most locals won’t go near the place.”
“Hmm, it sounds like the land is haunted or someone wants people to think it is haunted,” Banyon offered.
“That’s what I thought too, dude,” Timmy said brightly and pointed at Banyon.
“But?” Banyon said as he studied Timmy’s face. He had many tells and would never be a good poker player. Banyon realized that Timmy had more information to give him.
“I discovered something else,” Timmy said in a whisper as he leaned close to Banyon.
“Why are you whispering?”
Timmy grabbed Banyon’s arm and pulled him farther out onto the balcony. He turned so no one could see or hear what he said and covered his mouth. “It’s a conspiracy, man. It’s big brother. These guys are worse than the NSA and they don’t follow rules, dude. I had to be real careful when I looked at them.”
Banyon’s heart beat a little faster. “What guys?”
“Goblin, that’s who,” Timmy said in a rush.
“Goblin, what’s a Goblin?” Banyon asked.
“Their official name is Goblin International, Inc.,” Timmy explained. “Their offices are in Los Angeles. They’re a government contractor for procurement. They collect things for the Defense Department that the war mongers at the Pentagon can’t buy on the open market and they are real bad news.”
“I never heard of them,” Banyon remarked.
“Well, I have,” Timmy uttered dramatically. “We did some work for them a couple of years ago, before you came aboard, Colt. They just take what they want and leave a trail of mayhem behind. We quit working for them once we found out about their tactics, but I kept a file with emails and stuff.”
“How do you know they are involved?” Banyon inquired.
“They have tried to buy the land several times. It’s all in the records. They want the land badly.”
“Are you sure about this?” Banyon searched his mind for a reason for a defense contractor wanting open desert.
“I recognize their modus operandi, the way they work. Also, I hacked into their secure email system,” Timmy admitted.
“What’s their modus operandi?
“I’ll explain,” Timmy said in a hurry. “They intimidate and scare people into submission. I’m sure that’s what they are doing on the ranch. They have all kinds of high-tech devices to use. I’ve checked their research emails, so I know.”
“What kind of devices?”
“For example, they have a magnetic resonating device that can pull anything metal out of someone’s pocket. It a
lso screws up watches. They have very advanced jamming devices and they can also project holographs. They have stealth and super-quiet helicopters and a SWAT-like black ops arm. These guys are like a private army.”
“Well, that would explain some of the spooky things going on at the ranch,” Banyon admitted out loud as he scratched his chin. “But, wouldn’t they need men infield to make all these things work?”
“My guess is that they have several sniper-like guys hiding in plain sight,” Timmy replied.
“Do you think they would kill someone to get what they want?” Banyon asked as he wondered about Joey’s grandfather.
“I know they have murdered people before.” Timmy’s answer sent a chill down Banyon’s spine. He was suddenly very worried about Loni. He had sent her into the teeth of the beast.
“Mandy,” he shouted out. “Get the Pahrump police department on the phone. Tell them to send several armed cruisers to the Brownwater ranch right now. I think Loni is in trouble.”
“I’m on it,” the youngster replied. Banyon started to leave the balcony and head for the bathroom to ask Wolf what was going on, but Timmy had other ideas.
“Wait, dude, don’t you want to know why Goblin wants the land?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Alpha one, this is Delta two, what’s your eta?” the camouflaged ex-marine spoke into a microphone attached to his fatigues. He was prone on the ground with netting covering his position. He had been spying on the ranch for a full shift — twelve hours of lying on his stomach. He held a huge high-tech pair of binoculars to his eyes as he spoke.
“Delta two, this is Alpha one, we are less than a minute from your position. Delta one do you copy?”
“Alpha one, Delta one, will meet you at Delta two’s location in five minutes,” A second sniper replied.
“Alpha one, Delta two,” the first sniper broke in. “Be advised that our target has company. A red jeep has pulled up to the ranch.”
A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14) Page 6