Myles nodded as he took another puff from his pipe. “Yeah, the Gauntmen and Gruntmen are from a planet called Gnosis. How did an entire city of Gauntmen get here? How come they don’t try to imprison you and your crew?”
The captain chuckled. “Well, I made a deal with their Pontiff. He and his people caught me in the waters of the Brugmos Sea. I persuaded him that they needed an importer to survive here unless they revealed themselves making them strategically vulnerable. I can go to ports that they can't without drawing attention. The Gauntmen have been here for hundreds of years; landed and built the city. They have been sending a distress signal for rescue since the beginning but thankfully none have come. They allow me to pirate these waters as long as I pay their Reptet.”
Myles scratched his chin, “What is the Reptet?” “The Gauntmen be very mathematical and scientific. They have a calculation of what part of my profits they receive depending on how close I am to their home when I take it. They have attached a gold standard worth to all kinds of items so depending upon how close it was taken, I have to pay on that.”
“You could just lie to them.” Myles smiled. The captain shook his head. “They have systems for detecting lies in the electronics they wear. It's not worth it. The equation is fair. It is the amount of gold divided by how many leagues I was away from their island when I took the ship minus ten gold pieces.”
“That means if you take a ship within a league of their home you only get 10 gold pieces!”
“Right, I rarely take a ship that close.” “I bet you don’t,” said Myles with a yawn. “I'm tired. So, are we good? No more trying to kill Myles? I really do hate having attempts on my life in my sleep.”
The captain chuckled, “You're better to me alive than dead. You can sleep here, and I will sleep in me secret quarters.”
Myles raised a curious eyebrow.
“I know that look, don’t go looking for a bear's den lest you find an angry bear waiting for you.”
Myles tipped his hat, “Don’t have to tell me twice.” With a flourish and a bow the captain disappeared. Myles made his way over to the bed after deciding to have a glass of the captain’s nasty whiskey after all. He hoped that it would help him sleep. He drifted to sleep wondering what was going on back on earth.
4
On Earth
Books, scrolls, and old tomes lay strewn throughout the library that was Jack Raven’s study. The entire contents of his study would make any librarian faint. Books lined the shelves up every wall to the top of the twenty- foot tall ceiling of the mansion. Jack was on the floor as he fumbled through the pages of another book not seeming to even notice the beauty of the room he had taken for granted for so many years. His face was scraggly and he had been wearing the same clothes for several days.
It had been 3 months since Omar’s disappearance and it troubled him greatly. How could he abandon the project and his sister? This behavior was too unlike Omar whom he had known for years and considered family. Jack had visited Misaki in the hospital on occasion since then hoping that his presence might give her some comfort if she even noticed Omar's absence. During most visits, he just spoke to her softly telling her things about his day, but on his last visit two weeks ago, Misaki spoke to him in her sleep.
He had memorized the riddle, or at least what he thought was a riddle. The most beloved spoke aloud the fourteenth division while singing the sixth section of a song. The Way was opened for him.
After scanning through book after book for days on end – not really knowing what he was looking for – he finally settled on an old black leather-bound one. The pages were worn and the cover cracked, but it was still his favorite book out of them all.
Something was nagging at the back of Jack’s mind and he didn’t even really realize it. He had taken on the quest for truth through his library many times before but when that left him empty handed he always turned to his Bible.
Jack was oblivious to his butler Bernard who had just entered the Library for the second time this morning to check up on him. Bernard was always troubled when Jack took on such obsessive long nights. As he read through his Bible his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked up, jumped up from the floor, and began to dance around his butler. “It was right in front of me the whole time! I can't believe it. The Way… it was written at the top of the archway of the portal. Misaki is telling us the combination for the portal!”
Bernard, as always, was unamused. He shook his head and asked dryly, “Is this about that scientist who took millions of dollars from you and has likely moved to Tahiti?”
“He didn’t skip out Bernard! It was obvious even three months ago that he went through the portal,” Jack said, bubbling with excitement.
The butler shook his head, “Now sir, are we going to have a repeat of the Atlantis project?”
Jack scowled, “Hey! That map was real!”
“Indeed sir, as was the guide to Eden.”
“C'mon, a child has to have dreams!” “You were 21, Sir. Please tell me that you are not actually thinking of going through that portal after him,” Bernard implored absently as he eyed some dust on the closest bookshelf.
“I’m not thinking of it, I’m going to do it,” Jack emphasized. Bernard shrugged as he took a cloth from his pocket and wiped away the dust he had been eyeing, “I guess a bit of common sense was too much to hope for then, Sir.”
Jack ignored him as he walked to the library exit, “Alright, get in touch with my team. It’s been a few years so offer them whatever you need to. Have them meet me at the towers. I need you to have them retrieve Tyree Jackson and Sasha Romanov for me. Tell them I’m going to go save Omar. I don’t care what you have to do to get them there as long as it's legal.”
Bernard sighed as he reached for the phone in his pocket, “Yes Sir, I will arrange your provisions for the trip through the portal. You are going to shave and showers first, aren’t you, Sir?” He paused a moment to look Jack up and down making a sour face. “It seems it has been a few days since you have done either.”
Jack laughed. “Of course. Have my black outfit set out.” Jack left the room with a gleam in his eye. He lived for adventure and crossing into an entirely new world or dimension definitely sounded like just what he needed.
Jack climbed to the fourth story of his sprawling mansion and walked to the west wing where his bedroom was. After a good long shower, shave, and brushing of the teeth he put on the black SWAT outfit that he always wore on adventures. It came equipped with many pockets and all of Omar’s greatest inventions stored within them.
He lifted the vest and put it on. The black cloth of the entire outfit was more like armor than cloth. It was impenetrable. Great when someone thought they were going to shove a knife in your side or a bullet through your heart. Everything down to the black ball cap was made of the durable material, but it was light as a feather. The armor fabric had been a commission that Jack himself had given to Omar. Not even the government had this, but oh how they would love to get their hands on it.
Jack went through the pockets. The auto-audio translator was there, the light-bender device that allowed one to either be invisible or mimic an image, meal pills which were tablets that contained a day’s nutrients and suppressed appetite for 24 hours, a re-breather allowing you to breathe through it under water – without an oxygen tank, multivision goggles, a laser pistol that drew its recharge from solar energy, a solar powered laptop with 25 terabytes of data on it, and a few other things that Jack only glanced over briefly.
Jack suited up thinking back to the first time he had gone on one of his adventures with Dr. Omar Metzger. His father had still been alive then and ran the business empire that Jack now had control over. Jack had not intended to take Omar. He already had a scientist, Dr. Sasha Romanov, but his father had insisted. “It is a fool’s errand, but I guess that is why it appeals to you. I want you to take Omar… he is a good, longtime friend of the family.” Jack had relented, bringing him along and not only had Omar saved t
heir lives with a few of his inventions; he had also rooted out a traitor in the group.
Jack had not been sure about Omar’s involvement with his family. After suiting up, Jack went to his father’s old room in the mansion which was preserved unchanged from the day he died. Jack rarely went in there because of the pain he felt at the loss of his iconic father. He wanted to find Omar’s link to his family. Jack had tried many times over the years to find that link and he obsessed with searching through the house for any clues but found nothing. After an hour of going through his father’s things Jack gave up. As he walked from his father’s room he found Bernard waiting for him at the door. Bernard was actually blocking the exit so Jack stopped and gave him a questioning look.
“What is it, Bernard?” Bernard rubbed his chin. “Well, sir. I have seen you rummage through the mansion before but never through your fathers room in such distress. What are you looking for, Sir?”
“I am looking for something my father must have hidden, some kind of clue as to the family’s link to Omar Metzger… how that relationship began,” said Jack in frustration.
Bernard gave Jack a confused look. “And you never thought to ask me, Sir?” Bernard went to one of the panels in the wall and pushed on it and a piece of the wood floor slid open revealing a box in a secret compartment in the floor.
“I don’t know what is in it, Sir. But don’t count out the help when trying to locate something in a mansion, Sir,” he said and walked back out of the room as if he had found something to clean.
At the top of a box full of papers, Jack found a letter from Germany that was post marked 1943. In the letter was the map to some lost treasure that it appeared his father had followed and found. The letter was short, “When the name Omar Metzger comes to you, trust him with your life and your family secrets. Invest in Omar’s projects and, by all means, when your son goes to find the Lost City of Atlantis, send Omar with him. His life depends on it. Later your son will find this letter and everything that leads to Omar, but keep this letter secret so he can find it at the right time.” It was signed “Nekar.”
What? My father was only 10 when he got this letter. Omar wasn’t even born yet. Beneath that letter Jack found a copy of Omar’s birth certificate. He found a newspaper clipping of the bombing in Israel that had killed Omar’s mother and father. There were letters back and forth with a Japanese family; it was Omar’s adoptive family. Jack’s father had contacted them and told them about Omar. He had even given them the money to adopt him and put him and Misaki in an advanced school for child prodigies. And when she had gone into a coma his father had paid for extensive research to be done on Misaki.
This is unbelievable. My father had been a benefactor for Omar for so many years, helping him from behind the scenes. Does Omar know? Because that letter had gained Jack’s father his fortune, he had taken it very seriously.
Jack sat on his father’s bed with his head in his hands; so many emotions rolled through him, he couldn't put words to them. Omar was the only other person his father had taken care of like Jack. To Jack this made Omar almost like an older brother. Going through Omar's files made him feel even closer. Now I have to go save him.
Jack left the mansion in a hurry. The Raven Towers were three skyscrapers that looked like black glass knife blades jutting from the ground to the clouds with the tallest tower in the middle. It was a multibusiness complex with businesses mostly owned, run, or affiliated with Jack Raven. The driver took him to the circular brick parkway with a fountain in the center. Jack gathered his father’s papers on Omar and quickly got out of the limousine passing a statue of his father to enter the middle building.
Waiting at the glass doors was Sasha Romanov. She couldn’t even wait in the office to talk to me. Scientists… no regard for social decorum. Sasha stood an inch taller than Jack with her heels on in a knee length black skirt and a stained lab coat. She must have come here straight from work. Sasha was a brilliant and attractive woman. Jack normally liked women who were assertive, career minded, intelligent, and attractive but Sasha very obviously had a thing for Omar. I doubt Omar even thought in such terms about anyone. Omar had always seemed too obsessed about his sister to care for the attention of any other woman.
As Jack rushed through the glass doors the scientist interrogated him. “Why have you called us here? They said it was life or death. Is Omar back; is he ok?”
Jack gave her his most charming smile as he entered the elevators and swiped his key card for the top floor. “Sasha! I’m great, so nice of you to ask. I’m saving it for when we get upstairs where everyone else is. But if you're good I will give you my father’s file on Omar. It contains his entire life story; things I sure didn’t know, and even a few psych evaluations. Very interesting material, especially the place where he talks about you.”
She blinked. Good, hopefully stunned long enough for this elevator to get us to the top. But Jack had no such luck. Instead she punched him in the arm. “Look. That boyish smile and witty sarcasm may get you what you want with most women but I will not be treated like an idiot.
He laughed as he rubbed his arm, Wow, she can punch pretty hard, that really hurt! “Hey, it surprised me, too." Jack opened the folder he was carrying and grabbed the cover form that had all of Omar’s medical information on the front handing it to Sasha.
She looked at the form and paused as if thinking. “You really do have his files,” she said quietly. The elevator reached to top of the tower where Jack’s office was. It had black marble flooring, a glass desk, a few chandeliers, and two purple leather sofas to either side of the desk. He smiled as he thought about how much he enjoyed seeing people react to being seated on purple furniture. Finally, his own logo hung on the wall behind the desk. He had been told that it was arrogant to have your own logo, but he considered it such a good design, he could not pass it up. It was a black playing card with purple lining that has a J at the top left corner with a raven flying above it and the same thing inversed at the bottom.
On Jack’s left was his “field team” sitting quietly on the couch and to his right Tyree Jackson, Omar’s young muscular lab assistant. He was a large man but awkwardly so; though a grown man, Jack had always thought of him as child-like and easily swayed. He wore glasses, a red hooded sweatshirt with a white tee shirt underneath, black jeans, and Timberland boots with the beginnings of a goatee growing around his mouth. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked around as if he felt out of place.
Jack approached Tyree and stuck his hand out. He gave him a reluctant look before shaking his hand. “How have you been, Tyree? I have not seen you since the last time I visited Misaki.”
“Uhm, I have been good. It wasn’t that long ago. I’m just confused as to why you have me here. I'm just a lab assistant who, has become more of a glorified bed nurse to Misaki.”
Jack smiled, “Relax Tyree, we are all friends of Dr. Metzger and we are here about him. You are very important to what I have to say.” Jack turned to the others. Most of them were familiar faces. Bogdan, Charli, Caleb, and Owen were part of a team Jack had assembled many years ago, but there was a new member. The man looked to be Italian. He was short and had a very stocky solid build. Jack cocked his head at the man. “You are new.”
The man calmly nodded and stuck out one of his hulking hands and spoke in an unmistakably Italian accent, “I am Ingatio Marinelli; I will be assigned as your personal bodyguard on this journey.” Jack shook the man’s hand, and it completely engulfed his own. He had never met a man so burly.
Jack turned to Sasha and Tyree on the other couch. Both of them looked impatient, but Jack would not do away with formalities. Jack pointed to the tall man on his team’s couch whose body was in the shape of a triangle. He had a thin waist and massively broad shoulders. His eyes were an ice blue, his skin was fair, and his hair was a blondish red. “This is Bogdan, he is the leader of my field team. He is prior Russian military and well trained in the art of war and tactics. He is also somewhat of a
theologian.”
Bogdan simply nodded and said, “This is true.”
Tyree raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses. “Field?” Jack ignored him knowing he would get to the point after formalities. “Next to Bogdan is Charli and Caleb. They are cousins, well trained in martial arts from an early age. They both have some special abilities that will come in handy. Charli is a telekinetic and Caleb can speak to animals and control them to an extent”. Caleb had brown eyes and dark hair and looked to be in his late twenties. Charli had blue eyes and blonde hair. She looked to be about sixteen years old but had been confirmed to be twenty.
Tyree tried to speak again but Jack kept going. “Then there is Owen, our demolitions expert.” Owen was fairly short, was muscular, had a shaved head, wore large black sunglasses and a sleeveless black vest with camouflage pants and combat boots. He nodded his head toward Tyree and Sasha.
Sasha stood up, “Enough of this charade. First, there is no such thing as telekinesis. And second, I didn’t come here to meet your team. I came to find out about Omar.”
Tyree, still sitting, looked up at Sasha with agreement on his face. Charli hand signed to Caleb but it was subtle. Jack imagined that the others didn’t notice. Other than that Charli kept her composure. Jack knew that if it had been him, it would have been too tempting for him; he would have shown off.
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