The Belial Stone (The Belial Series)

by Brady, R. D.

  “So if I told you Dr. Priddle appears to have gone to Montana, would that be a possible location for a second Gobekli Tepe?”

  There was silence on the phone. Laney could imagine her uncle staring, unblinking, his hand on his chin. Laney had coined it his “thinking man” look when she was a child.

  “From a geological standpoint, it’s possible, of course. The landmass of Montana is millions of years old.” He paused mumbled. “Hmmm, could they have gone to New Mexico? Nah, that was too late in the timeline. Central America?”

  She interrupted. “Uncle Patrick? Care to share?”

  “Sorry. I was just thinking about where they would have gone after. If the site was created by the Children of the Law of One, and they truly were on the run from the Sons of Belial, they wouldn’t have returned home. And they wouldn’t have stayed at the site, because that would have led the Sons of Belial right to it. Yet, they must have gone somewhere. I was thinking about the Anasazi ruins at Chaco Canyon, but they only date to the tenth century. So I’m trying to think of where…”

  Laney bit her lip, waiting for him to continue.

  “There is one site that would seem to line up with the timeframe we’re talking about. Although ‘site’ is probably too strong a word for the location.” Patrick paused again.

  Laney sighed and rolled her eyes. “Uncle Patrick, if you’re trying to create some sort of dramatic build up, I assure you, you’re there.”

  “Sorry, sorry. It’s not that. It just, well, it’s almost too incredible.”

  “Uncle Patrick, everything about this situation is incredible. So what’s one more brick in the surreal pile?

  Patrick chuckled. “True enough. Okay, then. There was a group of people called the Olmecs from northern Mexico whom traditional archeologists believe reached the pinnacle of their civilization around 1500 BC. They were known for their carvings of incredible stone structures, weighing over a hundred tons, that they moved across great distances. Do you remember the book I showed you of statues from all over the world, when you were a little girl? You called it the giant head book.”

  Laney’s mind flashed back to pictures of heads carved from stone that rivaled the size of the sphinx. “I remember it. Which ones were the Olmecs?”

  “They were the carvings of the heads with African features found in San Lorenzo in Mexico. And there’s debate as to the age of the ruins attributed to the Olmecs: 1,500 BC is the youngest age that can be attributed to them. Alternative archaeologists, however, believe that they are thousands of years older. Some even argue that the carvings were not actually of the Olmecs, but rather were handed down from an even older civilization.”

  “Wait, how is that possible? Africans were nowhere near Central America at that time.”

  “That is exactly the issue alternative archaeologists point out. In fact, they were nowhere near Central America at the later time, never mind the earlier one. Which, of course, makes it rather difficult to explain how these heads were created.”

  “Why do you think these people could be related to a site in Montana?”

  “For four reasons. First, there doesn’t appear to have been any developmental phase in the Olmecs’ civilization. They appeared on the scene, with an incredible technological ability, essentially out of nowhere. Second, they sprang up in Central America, which is close enough to Montana if you’re not actually trying to settle too close. Third, if the Montana site is there and dates the same as Gobekli Tepe, then the timeline is consistent with the older dates given for the Olmecs. It’s the fourth reason, though, that really gives me pause.”

  “And that is?”

  “Remember how some academics argued that Gobekli Tepe was pristine because the builders intentionally buried it to protect it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, at the time of the Olmecs’ downfall, all building stopped. In fact, buildings were demolished and defaced. We don’t know if they did it themselves, or if it was done to them. But in the middle of this, the Olmecs dug and created these elaborate graves that were lined with blue tiles and multi-colored clay. And into these graves, they placed these huge stone heads and some smaller sculptures.”

  Laney imagined the giant stone heads and their burial. What an incredible undertaking. Such an elaborate process could only have been done for something they cared for a great deal. “They were buried to preserve them for future generations.”

  “Exactly. Just as with Gobekli Tepe and perhaps this Montana site, we see people burying something to protect it.”

  CHAPTER 37

  Chester, MT

  Gideon glanced through the photos Priddle had brought from the dig site. He, Priddle, and Kensington were in the senator’s study at his Montana ranch. Kensington had flown in for a few days to see how the site was progressing, and he was growing impatient.

  Gideon’s own patience was reaching an end as well. He couldn’t understand how no stones had been uncovered yet. Why was this taking so long?

  He paced along the back wall of Kensington’s office. He quickly shuffled through the pictures, looking for any evidence of the stone. Where the hell was it?

  Kensington leafed through an identical stack of pictures over at his desk. He pointed to a symbol in one of the photos.

  “Is this a cross?”

  Gideon knew what picture the Senator was referring to. He shifted to the photo and sighed. The photo was a close-up of a double crucifix with perfectly straight edges, etched deeply into the granite. The man was a true idiot. The site pre-dated Christianity by thousands of years.

  Priddle grabbed the photo across the desk and then handed it back. “Not exactly. It’s more likely an ankh or crux ansata. It’s seen throughout ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and denotes eternal life. It’s believed that the cross that’s used in Christianity was, in essence, borrowed from an older source, perhaps even linking it to the ancient Egyptian quest for immortality.”

  “But it resembles a cross,” Kensington argued stubbornly.

  Walking away from the two, Gideon rolled his eyes, knowing why Kensington was trying to tie this structure to Christianity. His conservative base would love it. The man couldn’t see beyond his own petty political desires. Oh, how he longed for the day the man was no longer of use.

  “Yes. Yes, it does.” Priddle agreed.

  Kensington continued to review the photos. “How much of the site is uncovered at this point?”

  “Approximately fifty-five percent.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Senator, this site is huge, and you have to understand that archaeology is a painstaking process. They’ve been working on the Gobekli Tepe site since the mid-‘90s and only uncovered about six percent. In comparison, we’re moving at a lightning-fast rate.”

  Kensington grunted in response. “What about the Belial Stone? Have there been any etchings that refer to it in these latest excavations?”

  “Uh, yes.” Priddle stood up and took the photographs from the Senator.

  Kensington curled his lip at Priddle’s proximity and leaned away from the professor. Gideon couldn’t blame him. The man always seemed to smell of old takeout.

  Priddle pointed to the bottom of one of the photos. “Here, on photo twenty-seven. Look at the bottom of the lith.”

  The Senator waved Priddle back to his seat and used his magnifying glass to get a better look. Gideon flipped to photo twenty-seven in his own stack. The frame depicted a priestess standing next to a glowing sphere. In the next frame, she took the sphere and used it to help a man who had been hurt. In the final frame, the man stood next to the priestess completely healed. The stone appears above them.

  “What is this?” Kensington demanded. “Does it tell you where one of the stones is?”

  “Uh, no. Not yet.”

  At Kensington’s glare, Priddle continued, a tremor in his voice. “It does, however, tell us that the people who built the site are familiar with the Belial Stone and have used it. It’s only a matter of time be
fore we find one.”

  Kensington nodded. “How much time?”

  Priddle looked uneasily around the room. “I’m not sure. It’s not clear at this point where the stone will be found. But we are making good progress. You realize, of course, that the cold weather will be upon us soon and we'll have to shut down for the winter. The ground will be too hard to dig through.”

  “Can’t we just bring in some earth movers? Wouldn’t that speed up the project?”

  Priddle cringed. “That’s not a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “For two reasons. First, the structures are all incredibly close to the surface. Over time, the ground above them has been eroded by wind and rain. That’s the reason the first monolith was uncovered. Left alone, most of the structures would have probably been uncovered naturally in another hundred years or so. Second, the structures are simply too close together. If we use an earth mover, we risk damaging the monoliths.”

  “So?” Kensington asked.

  “We, also, might lose a Belial Stone in the process or worse, destroy it. We don’t know if one became dislodged over the years. By using the earth movers, we could miss it.”

  Kensington grunted. “Fine. But I expect you to increase the pace before winter. I want more than pretty pictures of a Belial Stone, Professor. I want a stone.”

  “Sir, the men are working around the clock as is. Perhaps if we had more men to dig…”

  Kensington looked up and caught Priddle’s eyes. The academic quickly looked away.

  “Very well,” Kensington replied. “I will get you more men. But you had better get me results.”

  “Yes, sir. Of course. I’m sure we’re very close.”

  Kensington grunted again and waved him out of the room. Priddle glanced at Gideon, who had moved to the couch along the back of the room.

  Gideon merely raised his eyebrows and tilted his head towards the door. Priddle turned. Tripping on his untied shoelaces, he caught himself on the doorjamb before stumbling from the room.

  With a look of disgust at the doorway, Kensington turned his attention to Gideon. “That man is a cockroach.”

  Gideon sighed. “True, but he is a useful cockroach.”

  Kensington’s gaze returned to the photos on his desk. “Can you get more men?”

  “More men are never a problem. The problem, however, will be when winter moves in. The professor is right about the timetable. We have another month, maybe, before winter moves in. Then you’ll have about 200 or 300 men and nothing for them to do.”

  Kensington sighed. “Well, we’ll just have to close up shop and start again in the spring.”

  Gideon looked at him for a long moment. He knew what the Senator was really saying. But he got a perverse pleasure from making the man spell it out. “And the men?”

  “They’ll have served their purpose and provided a valuable service to this country. Once we have the stone, they will have helped forge a stronger United States.” Kensington leaned back in his chair, his hands across his chest. “Their sacrifice will be remembered.”

  CHAPTER 38

  Saint Paul, MN

  Laney relayed the information she had learned from her uncle to Jake while they sat in a little bohemian coffee shop not too far from campus.

  It seemed incredible. The United States had often been belittled by other countries for its short history and lack of culture. The U.S.’s oldest historic sites were only a couple of hundreds of years old, compared to the sites thousands of years old found around the world.

  If this site truly existed, all that would change. Even more critically, they might be able to find the missing men and Tom. Montana could answer all of their questions.

  The sky was beginning to darken with rain as they left the shop. They decided to stay in Minnesota for the night and head to Montana the next day. If they left now, they wouldn’t arrive until well after dark anyway. And if Montana was as important as they thought, they were going to need to hit the ground running.

  They checked into a two-room suite at the Redfield and ate at the hotel’s restaurant downstairs. The dining room was intimate, with fabric-covered booths, low lighting, and soft music piped in. It was romantic and delightful. For the first time since all this had begun, Laney felt safe, normal.

  When they reached the room, Jake asked her if she wanted to join him for a workout in the gym.

  “Normally I’d say yes. But I’m so sore, I think a workout would be torture.”

  “It might help work out some of those kinks.”

  “It probably would. But I’m thinking a really hot bubble bath might be equally helpful. And less strenuous.”

  Jake looked at her for a long minute. “Maybe I'll skip my workout. I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”

  “Jake, you’ll be one floor down. I promise to yell really loud if any one breaks in the room.”

  “No. I’ll stay. Maybe we’ll rent a movie.”

  At dinner, Laney had felt relaxed, but Jake had been like a coiled spring. He needed to work off some of that energy. She put her hand on his arm. “How about a compromise? A quick work-out and then a movie?

  He smiled, taking out the key card. “Deal.

  Before he could insert it, the door to their room swung open, a gun extending from the dark. Grabbing the gun barrel, Jake slammed the gunman’s hand against the door frame before launching himself at the attacker. The men crashed to the floor, the door swinging shut behind them.

  It happened so fast Laney couldn’t even be sure the shooter had been male. She reached for the door handle to help when the door to the room next to her flew open. A second gunman. She aimed a sidekick for his stomach. He dodged the kick, grabbing her ankle and yanking her towards him, into the other room. She grabbed the gun with both hands, hopping as she balanced on one leg. She threw a right elbow at his chin.

  He grunted and dropped her leg. He drew back to throw a punch, but she twisted out of the way, taking his gun hand with her. He yelped as his finger got pinned next to the trigger.

  Forcefully twisting the gun from his hand, he screamed as his finger broke. Unfortunately, she yanked too hard and the gun went flying from her grasp, hitting the far wall. She turned to run for it, but was yanked back by the waist. She threw her head back, catching him under the chin.

  “Bitch!"

  He threw her away from him and she crashed into the desk. Paper, pens, the phone all crashed to the floor with her. He ran at her. She rolled to her feet, sidestepped his rush and aimed a round kick for his knee. It buckled and she caught a reflection on his belt from the moonlight streaming in through the window. She reached down and yanked the knife from his belt.

  She sliced up in an arc starting at his waist and diagonally across his chest. He screamed and tried to grab her. She dodged his hands, bringing the knife around again and sliced across his neck. Blood poured from the wound. She stopped, staring in horror at the damage she’d inflicted.

  The man turned, blood gurgling from his neck and mouth. He grabbed onto her, falling forward. They fell backwards, his blood now dripping onto her chest, neck and face. With a scream, she shoved him off her.

  Scrambling quickly back from the body, she crashed into the wall behind her. She watched the man writhe, and then just as quickly become still.

  Shaking, she stared at him, unable to believe what had just happened. She had just killed him. She hadn’t hesitated. Hadn’t had any qualms about the actions. Was this who she’d become? Someone who could kill without thought?

  Her head jerked up. What if he was one of them?

  Heart pounding, she ran for the gun, lying beneath the window. She grabbed it and trained it on the man. She moved closer. He didn't move, not even his chest. She leaned down and quickly checked for a pulse. He was gone.

  She fell back from the body, all her energy seeming to drain from her. “Not a superhuman,” she whispered.

  CHAPTER 39

  Jake slammed the man’s head into the floo
r. Then, wrapping his right hand around the man’s forehead, his left around the back, he twisted. The man’s neck broke and he went limp. He leapt from the body, and grabbing the gun that had been lost in the tussle, threw open the door.

  “Laney!” He yelled. The hallway was empty. Where had she gone? Did she go get help?

  He ran down to the end of the hall and then back. She wasn’t there. Fear enveloped him. Where was she?

  A noise from the room next to theirs had him bringing his weapon up. The door next to their room opened and Jake watched in stunned disbelief as Laney stepped out, covered from the waist up in blood. He quickly lowered his gun, walking towards her. “Laney? Are you hurt?”

  She didn’t say anything, just stepped back to let him in.

  His gun drawn, he stepped in. The room was a wreck. He stepped closer to the body next to the bed. The man was gone. Blood soaked into the carpet around him. He leaned down anyway to check for a pulse. There wasn’t one.

  He turned back to her. “Laney?”

  Her eyes met his. “He’s not a superhuman.”

  His head jerked back in surprise. He hadn’t even thought about that. But she was right. Neither of the attackers was a superhuman. So who were they and how did they fit in with this whole mess?

  “Mine, either.”

  “Is he dead, too?” she asked, her voice quiet.

  He nodded and a tear rolled down her cheek. And then she began to shake and her legs gave out.

  Jake grabbed her before she could hit the floor. He pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist. “I’ve got you, honey. I’ve got you.”

  He carried her out of the room, cursing whoever was putting her through this again.

  CHAPTER 40