It was a pleasant seventy two degrees with hardly any wind today. A good shooting day.
He trotted away, following an old game trail into the brush. Bunny was certain that the cult could help them, but Davidson wasn’t so sure. The Knot had consulted them on numerous occasions and had gotten nothing of use.
You’d think for a centuries old cult, pre-dating Christ himself they would be a little more informed.
The set of three trees wasn’t far in. Their roots clung to the cliff keeping them from tumbling over in high winds. The thick tangled roots made it easy to scale the trees. He was settled into the highest supporting branch within seconds.
He then assembled his rifle. It had faired well in space. With only a little soot they picked up from the shuttle fire. Davidson waved his felt cloth over the sight. He didn’t blow on the lens because that would have left microscopic saliva particles on the glass and that just wouldn’t do. He also didn’t wipe the tiny soot particles from the lens so as not to create micro-scratches. His sniper rifle was a high performance machine. Any little thing could throw its expert craftsmanship off.
And even the tiniest alteration could ruin a long range shot.
Satisfied that his lens was clean and intact, Davidson brought it up to his eye. If he had a camera instead of a gun, he could have taken a National Geographic quality photo of the island meeting the sea.
The cult’s quarters hugged the tall cliff. There were only five or six small white washed homes over looking the white sands beach. Stark had shared intel that those homes were butted up against a series of caves that quadrupled the cult’s living space. Given the cult’s long history he could only imagine what kind of artifacts they had accumulated over the millennia.
He tried a variety of spectrums on his scope, but none could penetrate the thick rock. Moving on, he swept his sight over the blue green sea. Only small waves lapped at the pristine sand.
It was even more beautiful from here than it had been at the helipad.
While this island wasn’t a private island per se, it might as well have been. The only way on or off the island was by boat or helicopter. There wasn’t a ferry shuttle or any other public transportation means.
And once you got here there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot to do. Davidson guessed perhaps bird watching as a flock took off from a nearby stand of trees and wheeled through the sky, crying out at the new intruder.
Davidson refocused on the long steep earthen stairway, watching the rest of the team make their way down to the cult. He focused on Bunny. Her hair had settled down which he was sure gave her some relief. She was so beautiful.
Too beautiful, he had to remind himself.
He switched to Malvern. The man had so far been everything he said he was. Heck, he let them steal a space shuttle. But had that all been a long con? Davidson knew what it was like to run a long con. You were exemplary until you weren’t.
Having so little experience with the opposite sex and flirting, Davidson wasn’t sure if Malvern was responding to Bunny’s not-so-subtle advances or was just being nice.
As an example, Bunny tripped and Malvern caught her, supporting her arm until Bunny found her feet again. He then gave a squeeze to her arm as he released her.
Davidson felt his stomach tighten as his mouth went dry.
He jerked his scope away from the team and looked out behind them to find a completely empty island. The place was pristine, as if no human had ever been there.
A perfect place to explore the end of the world.
* * *
Bunny watched as several men, dressed in black robes and beards that went down to their waists came out of the nearest home. It was a little like watching Duck Dynasty, the Jewish edition. They all wore large silver Stars of David on their chest.
The men stopped, Allowing Bunny to step forward.
She bowed her head, “Shalom,” she said.
However the first man didn’t answer in Hebrew, instead he spoke in Greek. Good thing she was fluent in both.
“Den tha prépei na eínai edó̱.”
“I know, we are uninvited, but our quest is urgent,” Bunny stated in Greek.
The other men grunted, turning away.
“We are the un-Righteous,” Bunny informed them, following a hunch.
That got a second man to turn around.
“You are the reason there is no fire in the sky?” he asked in rather perfect English.
Bunny nodded. “But we both know the Righteous are on the move. Anything you know about them, we need to know.”
“We do not share out secrets so easily,” the man replied.
It was Bunny’s turn to snort. “Come on, you guys publish your work. Are you really going to try and sell confidentiality?”
The men looked between them. “There are things safe to share, others not.”
“Look,” Lopez said. “Can we just cut to the chase? If there is anyone you can tell your secrets to it is us. We don’t care unless it involves the end of the world.”
“And if we do not open our sacred book to you?” the first man asked, no longer feigning he did not speak English.
“Walk away really pissed,” Lopez said.
“Telling us is in your best interest,” Malvern stated. “You share the quote about the Un-Righteous on purpose. You wanted to warn the world, so now here is your chance to do just that.”
The men looked between themselves then the first man nodded. “I guess there is no point in gathering all this information if we are not going to use it for good.”
Bunny couldn’t have said it any better.
“I’ve got them!” Stark announced in her ear.
“Are they coming to Greece?” Bunny asked. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Righteous were right on their asses. Isn’t that where the religious extremists usually were?”
“No,” Stark said. “They are heading to India, specifically the Kashmir region.”
Bunny frowned, feeling less certain of herself. Why were the Righteous bypassing Greece? Shouldn’t they want to kill the cult before they could reveal any more secrets?
What was in the Kashmir region of India that the Righteous would be interested in? It made no sense and if they were going to survive the day, everything had to make sense.
“Is something wrong?” the second man asked.
Bunny shook off her concern and began following the men, “No, nothing.”
* * *
Stark knew Bunny too well to believe that. She had been shaken by the news that the Righteous were nowhere nearby. Funny how thinking you were under imminent attack seemed like the more normal situation.
If Bunny was worried, so should he be. Stark started data mining on all information regarding the Kashmir region of India. Or Pakistan depending on who you spoke with. The area had been in dispute since the establishment of the two countries.
Both wanted the region for its strategic positioning. Even the Chinese wanted a piece of Kashmir.
But that had nothing to do with proto-Christianity or current day fanatics. If anything it was a breeding and training ground for Islamic terrorists. And the major clash was between Islam and Hinduism.
And if Bunny didn’t know the connection, Stark doubted he would figure it out from an internet search, however he had to try.
“She’ll never appreciate you,” his mother mumbled.
Maybe not, but that didn’t mean Stark wasn’t going to take a shot at it.
While his computer program ran, Stark glanced up at the screen that showed the team’s progress. For a moment the screen went blank as they stepped from the sunny afternoon into a nearly dark room. There was only a single flickering candle in the corner.
The island had no electricity, no phone lines, no natural gas. Nothing. These cult members were living as they had back in ancient Greece.
The cameras slowly adapted to the low light levels and began to show some detail. There was a large central table that looked like it had been carved out
of a single piece of wood. There were two long benches flanking each side. The table seemed to be set for dinner with stone plates. The crude utensils also seemed stone. These cultists weren’t fooling around. They took going back to your roots seriously.
The walls were lined with earthen bookshelves. Each one lined with leather bound books. What secrets were contained within each volume? Seldom did Stark ever want to be in the field, but damn. That was a whole lot of ancient knowledge there. Why was all the cool stuff so far away?
A curtain parted and the team was shown through a stone arch that looked like it had been hewn by hand out of the earth. The tunnel went straight into the island. The picture began to crack as they traveled deeper and deeper into the cliff.
Even his satellites couldn’t penetrate that deeply.
“Guys, I’m losing you.”
“Copy that,” Lopez reported.
“We’ve got a problem,” Stark’s mother reported. “We’ve got a boat approaching fast.”
“How fast?” Bunny asked.
“Lopez fast,” Stark stated, sliding his chair over to his mother’s screen. “It is going a hundred, a hundred and twenty five miles per hour at the least.”
Despite the signal breaking up, Stark could hear Lopez’s snort loud and clear. “That’s barely Levont fast.”
“Never the less, that boat is far faster than any commercial vessel and it’s heading straight for the island.”
CHAPTER 13
Bunny didn’t even flinch as she listened to the chatter over the com. Davidson was saying he could take out the boat before it got too close. Stark was worried about a RPG launcher that might have a range longer than Davidson’s rifle. You know, the usual afternoon discussion.
Bunny was impressed that Malvern didn’t weigh in. He was definitively listening, as his eyelids would open or squint based on the information, but he let everyone hash it out without interference.
The colonel might just be the commander they had been searching for.
Passing by several cubicles, Bunny noted numerous scholars transcribing ancient texts. Was this what it was like at the library of Alexandria? To have all this information in one place was a bit of a head rush.
After Paris, her life had shifted from the halls of academia to exclusive field work. She missed the smell of old books. She missed the womb that was a library where you sat round contemplating great theories rather than having to think on your feet twenty four seven.
How long had these scholars pondered some of the questions that had dogged her for years? How many answers lay within these earthen walls?
They passed by the last of the small cubicles and reached a large wooden door. A silver Star of David was inlaid in the thick oak.
The lead scholar seemed hesitant to open the door, then it opened from the inside. The scholar waved them in, backing away, not following them into this chamber deep beneath the island.
Keeping to protocol, even here, Levont went in first followed by Prenner then her, followed by Lopez and Malvern. She took comfort in being sandwiched between such brave men.
Torchlight flickered against the rock walls. In the center of the chamber sat an old, very, very old man. He was bent over by his age. His eyes were an opaque white with a white beard that fell all the way to the ground. A younger man helped his senior to sit up straighter.
“I do not know what help he can be,” the younger man said. “He hasn’t spoken in weeks.”
Bunny stepped forward outside her pocket of protection. She knelt by the elder’s chair and took his hand.
“The Righteous have struck and will strike again,” Bunny whispered into the dank air. “Anything you can tell us would be helpful.”
The man stirred, seeming to look forward past Bunny, boring through the wall.
“You are the unrighteous?” the old man’s voice cracked. The sound scratched her ears.
“Yes,” Bunny confirmed.
The old scholar grunted, then settled back down, giving no indication he was prone to speak again.
“Maybe we should goose him,” Lopez suggested.
“Lopez!” Levont groaned, elbowing his teammate. Bunny glared over her shoulder as well.
“What? I’m just saying….” He tilted his head. “How much longer until that boat makes island-fall?”
“It is accelerating so my revised estimate is approximately seventeen minutes.”
Lopez’s eyebrow went up. Bunny sighed, the corporal had made his point.
She squeezed the elder’s hand. “You are said to have the sight, can you share with us your visions?”
The old man didn’t seem to hear her or simply didn’t care. He sagged back into his chair, bending over so far it almost looked like he was going to take a nap.
“We may have to call this a wash,” Lopez stated.
If that were the case they had wasted far too much time on this side trip when they should have been speeding off to India to engage the Righteous directly.
“The acorn does not bare fruit,” the old man said in Greek then coughed.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Levont asked.
Bunny had no idea. She was a little tired of scholars speaking in riddles.
“No,” she responded, whether she like it or not, she had to try and decipher the man’s cryptic words. “The acorn yields a tree that yields another acorn, an oak tree bares no fruit.”
The old man’s lips parted, showing yellowed and cracked teeth. He chuckled. “If you know so much, then why ask me any questions at all?”
Bunny raked her brain for what the in the heck the old man could mean.
“Is he talking about a parable?” Davidson asked over the com.
“The acorn reference could be the parable of the Oak and the Reed.”
“But what does that have to do with the fruit?” Davidson asked as he should.
“Christ’s parable of the tree and its fruit?” Bunny suggested.
“Could be,” Davidson replied. He was the only other member of the team well versed in ancient scripture.
“Um guys,” Lopez interrupted, “Is this geek-out helping us in any way?”
Bunny thought back and forth over the Oak parable. It was a simple one. The oak was arrogant in its strength and thought it could stand up to the windstorm, yet toppled over while the reed which bent survived. It was a pretty stand-fare parable. Don’t be prideful. Be willing to yield and bend. What did that have to do with the Righteous? A little hard to bend in the face of a nuclear attack.
The fruit story was a little more complicated. It was about how evil was in the root. A good tree bore good fruit. An evil tree bore evil fruit.
“Are we the good tree?” Bunny asked. “And the Righteous the evil tree?”
The old man’s eyes flickered back and forth for a moment.
“Where are their roots?”
“He who is resurrected lives amongst the clay feet,” the older man stated, then descended into a coughing fit. His assistant rushed forward, pushing Bunny out of the way.
“That will be enough for today,” the young man said in a tone not brooking any argument.
“But did we get what we need?” Lopez asked.
Bunny had no idea. They might or they might not. That’s how prophecies and parables went.
Just as the old man was being helped from his chair, his hand lashed out and grabbed Bunny’s. “Follow the fruit to the tree. To the roots then dig them out. They are the oak.”
Okay, good to know.
“That sounded actionable,” Malvern stated.
Bunny didn’t argue as the old man was led away through a thin curtain at the back of the chamber. About all she could make out were single bed and gilded door, probably to an Arc.
The old man’s bedroom wasn’t important. What he said was. So her team were the reed. They had to flexible, roll with the punches.
“Sounds like we need to head to India,” Prenner said.
“Yes,” Bunny confir
med.
Lopez smacked his vest. “Then let’s do this!”
Bunny didn’t argue as they filled out of the chamber into the hallway.
They had direction now. There was hope.
Bunny liked hope.
* * *
Davidson scanned the sea to the east. The boat should appear any second if Stark’s calculations were correct. Plenty of time to eliminate the threat before it made shore.
Bunny had gotten what she needed out of the scholar so now they just needed to head east, in a hurry. What the Righteous were doing in India was anyone’s guess. They just had to catch up with the zealots before they moved on.
A sound caught Davidson’s attention. He swung around to watch the helicopter start to take off.
“Um, guys is there any reason the helicopter is lifting off on its own?”
“Are you kidding me? Lopez would kill me,” Stark reported briskly.
“Well, Lopez is going to be pissed because the helo is about ten feet off the ground right now.”
“What?” Lopez demanded.
Davidson brought up his rifle. “Is there anywhere I can hit it that is repairable?”
“The most vulnerable spot is the rear rotor, but don’t damage it too much or it will spin out of control.”
“Stark?” Davidson asked. “Any other options? Can’t you override whoever is driving the remote control?”
“The only problem, is that according to my screens, we are in control of the helicopter.”
Great.
“Okay, I’m taking the shot then unless someone has a better idea…”
No one responded so Davidson pushed his eye against the scope and ignored the swirling of the rotors and focused on the rear gears. There was a large metal bolt holding the rotor to the tail. If he could dislodge that, the rear rotor should fall off relatively unharmed, forcing whoever was trying it highjack their helicopter to land.
He squeezed the trigger. The shot hit, but instead of that bolt, it cut through the metal of the tail. He didn’t feel too bad though. He was trying to hit an item that was two inches long on a moving object.
Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Collection (The Second Cycle of the Betrayed Series) Page 16