“I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense right now,” he cooed as the pupils in his eyes began to glow a faint green color, “but I need something from Allan. I need you to be on your best behavior, okay?”
She found herself nodding, but felt as if her movements were controlled. His eyes bore down upon her’s, muddling her concentration altogether. The words that suddenly came out of her mouth shocked her to the core.
“Yes, Master.”
Chapter Nineteen: Technical Difficulties
Amongst the second generation of man were the brothers Cain and Abel. When God rejected Cain’s burnt offering, Cain became very wroth and succumbed to the temptations of the Devil, even Satan, and shed the innocent blood of his brother Abel…
– Methuselah 10:1 –
When Detective Parker and her partner arrived at Allan Young’s house that afternoon, they weren’t prepared for the sight they were about to behold. The instant the Judge signed off on the search warrant, their commanding officer had assigned them to search Allan’s house for evidence linking him to Jason Bridger’s murder.
“Police!” she pounded hard on the front door while Detective Brown patrolled the back, “Come out with your hands up!”
After several minutes of silence, “Detective Brown, I’m going in.”
“Copy that.”
She removed her handgun from its holster and flipped the safety off. As she made a forced entry, she knew immediately that they were going to need more backup.
“Parker to Base, come in Base.”
“Base here.” the radio controller responded, “What’s your 10-20?”
“I just entered at the Young residence. We need immediate backup.” she relayed as she stared at the pool of blood in the front room, “I found signs of a 10-54. I repeat, I have a possible dead body. 10-4.”
“Proceed with caution.” the controller instructed, “There’s a nearby patrol unit that should be arriving shortly. Over and out.”
The entire place was a shambles. The pool of blood on the hardwood floor had spread and stained the edges of a white rug under the coffee table. As she took in the scene, it appeared as though either the house had been robbed or that this was a severe case of domestic violence.
Dectective Brown joined her shortly, and together they began searching the house. Sirens could be heard in the distance, so she knew their backup would arrive soon. After a thorough search, they determined that nobody else was in the home.
Returning her gun to its holster, she was passing back through the living room when she saw a curiously crumpled envelope on the floor. Pulling out an evidence bag and some tweezers, she carefully slit open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Officer Gardner suddenly entered with his gun drawn as she read the letter.
“The home is empty.” she glanced up at him.
“I thought you reported a body.” he holstered his gun.
“Correction,” she winced, “a possible body.”
“So, in other words you panicked again.” he chuckled, “How many times has it been this month?”
She ignored his remark, “I think we might be able to book our suspect in custody on a double homicide charge.”
“What makes you say that?” she queried.
Detective Parker held up the evidence bag, “It seems he may have also killed his girlfriend and disposed of the body. This note indicates that she was about to leave him, which would have given him enough motive.”
Detective Parker sat at the precinct’s Law Enforcement Terminal (LET). As the machine booted up, the logo for Motif Global Encryption, Inc. (MGE) hovered on her screen momentarily. She entered her credentials, and the software loaded by default to the skip tracing screen. She clicked on the Forensics tab, and inserted the blood sample she obtained from Allan’s home into the scanning tray. The profile for Lillian Thatcher pulled up instantaneously.
“We have a match.” she confirmed to her partner, “According to this woman’s profile, she’s been dating our suspect for over four years.”
“You were able to get a DNA match that quickly?” Detective Brown stammered, “I’m never going to get used to this new technology.”
“You really need to join the new century.” Detective Parker teased her, “You’re getting feeble in your old age.”
“Excuse me?!” she shot back, “I’m twenty-nine.”
“Yeah,” she mused, “maybe for seven years and counting.”
She sighed heavily and ignored her remark, “So what do we know about this woman?”
“Five foot nine, has a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and a Masters in Cryptology, makes six figures annually...” Detective Parker rambled on, “Oh, hey! This is interesting. As it turns out, Lillian Thatcher works at MGE.”
“So does half the city, “her partner countered, “What’s your point?”
“Ah, but the company has only one Vice President.” she smirked and pointed to the screen, “And here’s some interesting trivia: according to this, she was the primary developer of this Law Enforcement Terminal.”
She continued to read through Lily’s profile, when suddenly the screen went blank. Confused, she checked to make sure the terminal was still plugged in.
“What happened?” Detective Parker stammered.
“Well, would you look at that?” her partner chuckled, “Your perfect software isn’t so reliable after all!”
“Nonsense,” she scoffed as she hit the reset button, “It just needs to be restarted.”
Once the LET had finished rebooting, she entered her credentials. She clicked on the Forensics tab again, and ensured the blood sample was still inserted correctly. This time however, the search bar continued to load for several minutes. After nearly five minutes had passed, an error appeared on the screen:
NO MATCH FOUND
“I told you.” Detective Brown laughed, “Looks like we need to call a repairman.”
“Probably.” she sighed, “I’ll just have to look her up manually.”
She clicked on the Skip Trace tab, and entered Lillian Thatcher into the search bar. After a few more minutes, the same error bar appeared.
NO MATCH FOUND
Confused, she entered the following keywords into the Advanced Search function: Motif Global Encryption, MGE, International, Chicago, Vice President, Mathematics, Cryptology, and Law Enforcement Terminal.
NO MATCH FOUND
Curiosity getting the best of her, she decided to test the machine by entering her own name. Almost instantly her profile popped up.
“Brittany Ann Parker, Detective. Chicago South Precinct... Hang on,” her partner paused as she read aloud, “this thing says you used to date Lieutenant Shapley?!”
Her face went crimson as she closed her profile, “That’s none of your business.”
This thing is downright creepy!
“I wonder why it doesn’t want us to find Lillian’s profile now?” she muttered out loud.
“It might have had a temporary glitch.” her partner shrugged, “Maybe you should try it one more time?”
She agreed, and clicked on the forensics tab once again.
“There she is!” she recognized the photo as the profile loaded, “Wait... something’s wrong here.”
What on earth?
“This isn’t her profile!” she stammered as her partner walked around to have a look, “This says her name is Jamie Davenport from Tallahassee Florida, and she’s an adjunct professor of mathematics at the University of Florida.”
“Well, at least the mathematics part is correct.” Detective Brown shook her head in disapproval, “I’m reverting back to my earlier assessment that this thing is broken.”
“I don’t think so…” she wondered aloud, “I think someone deliberately changed her profile.”
“That’s preposterous. You think someone hacked into MGE’s servers and changed it?” her partner scoffed, “I may not know much about how the program works, but I do follow the news. Their mainframe is unhackable.”
<
br /> “So they claim.” she argued as she printed off copies of the profile details, “I need to go talk to Chief Herbert. This could be a huge development.”
“He won’t listen to you.”
She turned and their eyes met, “What do you mean?”
Detective Brown looked uncomfortable, “It’s not important. Just be aware that he will shut you down and tell you to forget the incident.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What are you not telling me?”
Her partner looked around in alarm and then leaned forward and whispered, “Do you remember Officer Doug Carlton?”
“I’ve heard of him, but I never met him.” she nodded, “Didn’t he get put on probation for insubordination?”
“Actually, he’s suspended from duty…” her partner whispered, “…permanently.”
“What?” she stammered, “What for?”
“He raised too many questions about a similar ‘glitch’ in MGE’s software.” she whispered, “But that’s all I know. So please, just drop it.”
“But don’t you think it’s odd that both victims had degrees in Cryptology? Do you think there could be a link?”
“I said drop it.” her partner pointed at the screen, “Besides, Jamie here only has a degree in teaching Mathematics.”
“Her name’s not Jamie!” she nearly shouted, “It’s Lillian! Can’t you see there’s a serious problem here?”
Detective Brown raised her hands in surrender, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Twenty: Unlikely Hero
And God said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And God said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed…
– Methuselah 10:2 –
As an Oracle, Abner could see events that had transpired in the past and could see events that could transpire in the potential future. His iguana was his Spirit Animal, and she served as his Totem. Without her, he never would have come to understand his unique abilities.
There were many things Abner had seen in vision about Earth, but there was one thing in particular that shied him away from ever wanting to go there: Disease. Prior to Timur’s reign, King Alexios I Komnenos ruled in the great City of Atlantis at a time when Earth carried a deadly plague called the Black Death. Each Seraphim prior to his reign had averaged a term of 500 years in Atlantis. Prior to King Komnenos’ reign in Atlantis, he ruled on Earth as Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1118 AD. It was by his hand that the Crusades took place in Jerusalem. Upon conferring his Empire to his son, he then falsified his death and returned to Atlantis. It was almost 200 years later that he decided to visit the Earth at a time when England was suffering from one of the most devastating pandemics in all of human history. Incidentally, he returned to Atlantis carrying the disease with him.
That day marked a rapid decline in their population. Within a short two years, nearly half of the three billion inhabitants of the two massive continents had died of the infectious disease. Once it had run its course, it seemed the nation was now prone to other illnesses.
When Abner had learned from Timur that Earth’s average lifespan was a mere 67 years of age, he was absolutely terrified. He had then vowed to himself that he would never travel there with Timur for fear of contracting one of Earth’s multitude of infections. It was for this cause that Abner was absolutely enraged to learn that in his most recent visit, Timur had brought with him an alien.
“She cannot stay hither!” he seethed, “Dost thou not understand the infections she could bring upon us?”
“Don’t be so paranoid, you old fool.” Timur chided, “After all of the many travels I have made between both worlds, you would think by now that I would have infected the lot of you.”
“Yes, but thou art anointed as a holy messenger!” he pleaded, “This vile woman however is not. Alas, ‘tis pertinent that thou dost send her back!”
“I will not.” he sighed heavily, “Her mere presence will lure Allan into my trap so that I can steal his Amulet.”
“What need hast thou of this woman?” he demanded, “Why hast thou not used the seer stones I provided unto thee?”
“Those worthless rocks?” Timur huffed, “How am I supposed to hocus pocus an answer from a couple of shiny rocks?”
“Bring them hither, and I shall teach thee.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Abner’s face went ashen white, “Where hast thou safeguarded these sacred relics?”
“They’re probably in the belly of a street sweeper truck by now.”
“Belly?” his face twisted in confusion, “Thou hast fed them unto a beast?!”
“No.” Timur sighed heavily, “Suffice it to say, they are no longer in my possession.”
“What?!”
“I tried to use them, but they were flawed.” Timur spoke defensively, “So I disposed of them.”
“Thou didst not!”
Timur stared at him defiantly. Abner stared back at him in shock as his lower lip quivered. Never before had a Seraph been so ignorant and foolish, nor had caused such mayhem and discord among the people. The Seraphim of old were commissioned to lead the people and bring inspiration unto them. Since Timur’s forced rule, the Great City had fallen into charred ruins and any who opposed him were scattered and destroyed. Only the fearful who had yielded their souls to be consumed by the Leviathan remained in submission unto him. It was at that moment however that Abner made a silent resolve to turn the tide.
“Tell me,” Abner spoke quietly, “What dost thou intend to do with the woman?”
“She’s Allan’s significant other.” he explained.
“I doth understand thee not.”
“She is betrothed to Allan.” he smiled wickedly, “When he arrives to save his precious Lily, I will break his heart by forcing her to ‘confess’ her love for me. When his heart falters, I will obtain his Amulet and kill him.”
Abner was acutely aware of Timur’s commanding powers. These powers he had employed upon Abner before, and over the years he had learned that the best way to avoid Timur’s powers of persuasion was to agree with him immediately, even when his actions weren’t agreeable.
“I commend thee for thine flawless plan.” he lied.
Satisfied, Timur smiled and clapped his hand on his old friend’s back, “I knew you would see reason.”
Many hours had passed. One sun was fading in the west while the smaller one had already set in the south. Abner approached the Altar cautiously so as not to startle the sleeping woman. He hesitated for a moment as he swallowed his fears of disease, and then nudged her ever so slightly while pressing his index finger to his lips. Her eyes fluttered open in fear, but she remained silent.
Abner revealed a small dagger and whispered, “Fear not. I hath come to help thee.”
Relief flashed across her eyes as he proceeded to cut her binds. The duct tape proved to be difficult, and Abner worked carefully. She flinched at one point, but remained calm. It was then that he saw fresh blood oozing from her wrist. He apologized profusely, removed the sash around his robe, and bandaged the fresh wound.
“Pray tell, I urge thee to follow.”
“Thank you.” she spoke hoarsely.
She looked pale, and limped painfully on her numb leg. Abner stopped before a lit fireplace. Grabbing one of the two unlit torches from the mantle, he stoked the fire with it until the tar on the torch began to burn. The fireplace was adorned on each side by two gold statues of lions. He took hold of the one on the left, and twisted it sharply. With a click, the fire went out with a huge gust of air and the soot-stained fireplace suddenly rocketed backward with an audible screech. At their feet a dark descending stairwell revealed itself. As they descended together, Abner was confused by the light up ahead. Moments later, the lion shifted back on its own accord and the sooty fireplace screeched back to its home. Slowly, the red emb
ers burst back into flame.
There was light shining down from the ceiling, and Abner couldn’t understand the source of it. He tried to hurry her through the strangely-lit room which Timur had filled with odd contraptions, but the woman stopped and appeared to be mesmerized.
“There’s a whole server farm in here!” she commented as she approached the rows of modern computer technology, “What’s it doing here?”
“Server farm?” Abner looked at the strange rows of contraptions, “What dost thou mean?”
“This had to have been expensive.” she sat down to face the computer terminal, “I wonder what he needs this for?”
“I wouldst not touch that!” he warned, “Lest ye die from God’s wrath by lightning.”
“Nonsense.” she scoffed as she typed in a few commands.
He looked over her shoulder and read the crude English flashing on the screen:
GFID NANO-CHIP LINK UNESTABLISHED. ENTER ACCESS CODE:__________
“That’s disturbing.” she muttered to herself.
Wanting to get a better understanding of the odd machine, he placed his hand on the iguana’s back.
“Show me, that I mayest understand.”
I shall show thee what thou dost desire.
As the vision unfolded, Lily faded from view as he looked around the room. All of the odd contraptions were absent, and the room was empty. A loud trumpet could be heard from somewhere above, and Abner felt the ground begin to shake. Suddenly from the center of the room a hole opened up and a beam of bright blue light shot upward into the ceiling. A loud humming sound reverberated off of the walls, nearly knocking him off his feet.
“What is it that I doth see?”
I doth show unto thee a day over five thousand years ago when the Great Transport that hath brought our land unto the world Zion. What thou doth see is the activation of the great machine.
Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) Page 8