The Merlin Chronicles: Box Set (All Three Novels)

by Daniel Diehl

  “That would never work. Merlin...I mean my granddad, will insist on meeting this Nemo guy.”

  “Merlin?”

  “Ahh, yeah. You know, like umm, Merlin Olson, the American football player.”

  “Oh, right. Cool. Well, I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. Like most hackers, Nemo is seriously into privacy.”

  Beverley got off the bed, moved two steps toward her brother and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Jonathan. I know you’ll do your best. This is really important.”

  “Yeah, sure. No problem, Sis.”

  Beverley’s mother insisted they stay for dinner and spend the night, but by mid-afternoon the following day they were back in York. Beverley dropped Jason off with the promise that as soon as she heard from her brother she would ring him, no matter whether the news was good or bad. She knew how tense he was; during the drive back she could see the little muscle in his jaw twitching.

  Climbing the stairs to his flat Jason wished he had something definite to tell Merlin. ‘We just have to wait’ didn’t seem like much to offer.

  “So that’s about it. I wish I had more to tell you, but Jonathan says it might take a few days to get in touch with this Nemo character and then he has to convince him to meet with us. Sorry.”

  “I understand. If nothing else, the centuries have taught me patience. We can’t let our anxieties play on us; it only makes us more vulnerable.” Merlin seemed very philosophical and Jason asked if there were some particular reason for his apparent calm.

  “All things do not happen at once”, was the cryptic reply. “You set things in motion on your end and I have done so on mine.”

  “Have you have had any luck with the mirror?”

  Merlin nodded demurely. “Indeed I have. Our friend is still in Wales. Her headquarters are in Cardiff.”

  “You’ve seen her then?” Jason’s sounded simultaneously relieved and excited.

  “Seeing her was the easy part. The hard part was discovering her location. The glass gives me an image of her and her immediate environment, but until she moves to a place I can identify she could be anywhere. A room is a room. Finding out where that room is, is the hard part.”

  “How did you do it?”

  “I watched her until she left the building and I got a glimpse of the name above the entry door. Then I tracked the company through the internet. I have to say, a search engine is a marvelous tool.”

  “So she does have a real business. Do you think it’s just a front?”

  “She certainly does and it hardly looks like a dummy corporation. By all appearances she’s doing frighteningly well, though I couldn’t find out just what it is she does. Her headquarters seem to occupy an entire building.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  Merlin’s answer was accompanied by a small smirk. “That woman is so arrogant. In the same way she still dresses like the Whore of Babylon, she flaunts her true identity in the name of her company.” Merlin was deliberately building tension, dragging it out, knowing it was driving Jason crazy.

  “Well, tell me for heaven’s sake.”

  “Would you believe, the Excalibur Holding Corporation?”

  Jason’s mouth fell open in amazement, a look that slowly dissolved into a puzzled frown. “Excalibur? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Hardly surprising. Morgana always did prefer to remain behind the scenes; it was never her way to expose herself. She likes power but hates being in danger. But the name is outrageously appropriate, don’t you think?”

  “If she’s all you say she is, she’s had a very long time to build a power base. Fighting her might not be so easy.”

  “True, but then again, fighting her through her company computer system is the last thing she’ll expect. Morgana may be immensely powerful, but as far as my ability to fight her, I’m willing to wager she’s grown lax over the centuries. That gives us the edge.” With a little shrug he added, “At least as long as we get to her before she calls in her flying friends. If we move before she does, we stand a good chance of defeating her once and for all.”

  “And if the wicked witch calls in her flying monkeys before we get to her?”

  “I think the term you would use is ‘We’re fucked’.”

  “Right. That’s what I was afraid of.”

  “Don’t be afraid yet. We just keep moving forward as though there was no opposition. Slow and steady. Right now remaining calm is our greatest ally.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The four of them were cramped and uncomfortable in the confines of the Mini. Jason drove and Beverley navigated, while they argued over the best routes through County Durham and Northumberland. Merlin sat in the back next to Jonathan, watching the scenery in total amazement. Cattle, sheep, green fields dotted with gnarled oak trees and scribed by hedgerows and stone fences in need of repair - these were familiar things, but four and six lane highways, trucks and cars screaming past, towns and cities in the distance with their multi-story buildings reaching up to touch the iron-gray clouds, these were strange and alien things. The old and the new, melded together, fighting for dominance over the English countryside. Merlin sympathized; it was a feeling he was becoming familiar with. Even his physical appearance betrayed his disconnectedness. He was wearing the tweed suit Jason and Beverley had bought him, but his long white hair and beard made him look like a skinny Santa Claus dressed for a country outing.

  “Jonathan, are you sure this is the way to Nemo’s?” Beverley had been shifting her gaze from the written directions to the landscape for fifteen minutes and was convinced they were thoroughly lost. Just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne they left the main road and since then they had traveled back roads, heading deeper and deeper into the Northumbrian National Park. For half an hour they had traveled on one unnamed road after another, passing the occasional tiny hamlet set amid a vast, rocky wilderness dotted with clumps of gorse and heather.

  “Hey, I just wrote down what the man said.” Jonathan was tired, cramped and getting testy. He leaned forward, peering over his sister’s shoulder to stare at the directions. “We just passed the sign for the Farmhouse B&B and we should be coming up to the blue gate any minute. It ought to be on the left side of the road.”

  “I saw it. We just passed it back there.” Jason cut in on Jonathan. “Let me find somewhere to turn around.”

  Minutes later they pulled to a stop in front of a rusted blue metal gate. Jonathan jumped out, stretched his legs, opened the gate and made a low, sweeping bow, motioning Jason to pull through. Once Jonathan was back in the car, Jason shook his head at the cow-path confronting them and asked “Ok, where to now?”

  “The directions say follow this lane for two-point-three miles to a ruined barn; pull up to the hay-stack next to the barn and wait.”

  “That’s all? Just park and wait?”

  Beverley waved the paper helplessly. “That’s it.”

  The Mini wallowed across the rutted tractor path, lurching from one rut to the next until they saw the tumbledown ruins of a stone barn in the middle of a field. Next to the barn was a stack of hay bales nearly two stories in height. There was absolutely nothing else in visual range except sheep wandering aimlessly across the landscape. When Jason pulled to a stop, they clambered out of the tiny car, walking in circles to pull the knots out of their muscles. Only Merlin seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

  Jason leaned against the front of the car, cupping is hands over his ears protecting them from the hard northern wind. “So what are we supposed to do now, Jonathan?”

  “Wait.”

  Jason was about to say something when a figure appeared from behind the haystack. “One of you better be Jonathan.” The large man asking the question appeared to be in his mid-forties; he was balding, unshaven and wearing dark blue coveralls. On his head a battered yachtsman’s cap sat at a rakish angle.

  “I’m Jonathan. And you are?”

  “Nemo. Who the fuck else would be out here in
this God-forsaken place?” Nemo’s toothy, lopsided smile belied the harsh edge to his voice. Jonathan strode purposefully toward the man and shook his hand.

  “I’m really glad to meet you. You’re a legend.” Turning back to the others he added “This is so cool. I met Nemo. God, this is so cool.”

  “Don’t bust a gut, kid. I’m just another hacker like all the rest.” Turning his gaze to the group milling around the car he motioned with his hand. “Well, come on in. Don’t stand out here in the cold.” Scanning the sky he added under his breath “Don’t want those goddamned black choppers seeing us hanging around out here.”

  As the others walked toward Nemo and Jonathan, Beverley whispered to Jason “Come in where?”

  “I have no idea, but I think we’re about to find out.”

  Ahead of them, Nemo disappeared around the haystack, Jonathan hard on his heels like a puppy. By the time the others rounded the corner the pair had vanished. Beverley opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Just as Jason reached up to scratch his head one of the hay bales moved out of line. A second later Jonathan’s head appeared around its edge.

  “Hey, you guys, you got to see this. God, this is great.”

  Jason and Beverley cast sideways glances at each other and moved forward.

  Inside the haystack two ancient mobile homes stood facing each other, each one at least fifty feet long. Bales of hay were stacked tight around three sides, leaving only a six-foot walkway between the trailers. At one end of the passage, two bales of hay were arranged on a concealed pivot so they swung outward like a door. At the opposite end, Nemo stood by the door of one of the trailers.

  “Welcome to the belly of the Nautilus. Enter.” With that, he stepped through the door, waiting for his guests to follow. Inside, the trailer was stripped to the walls and filled with bank upon bank of monitors, hard drives and boxes of software, CDs and other paraphernalia. On one wall a gigantic anarchist’s ‘A’ was painted in blood red spray paint. Nemo was already ensconced in a massive office chair upholstered in worn-out black leather. Jason immediately thought of the scene in Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea where James Mason, as the mad Captain Nemo, sat at the keyboard of a gigantic pipe organ, pounding out a dirge as the Nautilus sank to her doom. Nemo swiveled to face his guests. His eyes fell first on Beverley. “You must be Jonathan’s sister.”

  Beverley nodded and offered her name.

  “And you two?”

  “I’m Jason Carpenter. I’m the one who asked Jonathan to contact you.”

  Nemo nodded obliquely and moved to eye Merlin suspiciously.

  “You may call me Merlin.” The old man offered a bow that made his beard swing like a fluffy pendulum.

  “Anything you want.” Nemo chuckled. “If I can be Nemo, you can sure as fuck be Merlin. So what brings you aboard the Nautilus this fine day?”

  After wondering whether Nemo was as crazy as the character in Verne’s novel or had just been alone in the wilderness too long, Jason launched into an involved explanation of how the CEO of the Excalibur Corporation had been hacking his grandfather’s company computers, stealing software they had developed for their own use and, in the process, stealing sensitive records in an attempt to ruin the company. Somewhere, at the center of the tale was a grain of truth, but no more than was needed to make the whole scenario sound plausible. When he reached the end, Nemo sank back in his chair and steepled his fingers together and closed his eyes.

  “Merlin. Excalibur Holding Company. Hmm.” When he opened his eyes, they were smiling. “I’ll bet at least some of that load of shite is the truth. Am I right?”

  Jason nodded meekly, with an almost imperceptible shrug. “Some of it.”

  “What the hell. Good enough for me. So you want me to tap into this bitch’s system and pull out everything I can. Right?”

  “That would do nicely, young man.” Merlin could sense a kindred, playful spirit here and that appealed to him. “So long as it does not expose you or your operation in any way.”

  “Hey, don’t worry your whiskers about me, Mr. Merlin. I can cover my ass better than any hacker in the world. By the time I’m done, even I wouldn’t be able to track the hack back to its source. Then...,” after a pause for dramatic effect, “Just to be safe I’ll reroute it through just as many systems before I download it onto your hard drive. That’s as much for my own security as for yours. Even if somebody gets to your computer, they’ll never be able to trace it back to me. Everybody happy with that?”

  Everyone in the room nodded, more or less in unison, only Merlin spoke.

  “If possible, I would like to have all the information on how she contacts others with whom she works.”

  “You want her address book. Ok. Anything else? No? Good. So how much information do we have on this Excalibur Holding Corporation, anyhow? I need somewhere to start.”

  Merlin explained everything he knew, which was pretty much limited to their building name and street address in Cardiff. He had gotten the company telephone number from its scant website.

  “Not much to go on, but we thrive on challenge.” Nemo interlaced his fingers, turned his hands inside out and flexed his knuckles until they sounded like twigs breaking. “This may take a while, so why don’t you good people go across the way and make yourselves at home. Coffee, tea and cola are all there, just root around till you find what you want. When I have something, I’ll call you.” Without another word, he turned his back on his guests, focusing his attention on the keyboard.

  Jonathan lagged behind, motioning the others on. Standing silently near the door, he watched Nemo’s back, transfixed. The legendary hacker’s fingers flew across the keys like a pianist executing a Chopin sonata; except there was no music, only the hollow sound of the plastic keys. Clack, clack. Clack, clack, clack. After nearly five minutes, Nemo broke the silence. Without turning around, he said, “You really want to see this, don’t you Jonathan?”

  “That would be great. I mean, if you don’t mind. If I wouldn’t be disturbing you.”

  “Actually, I do mind. But you can stay on the condition that you really don’t disturb me.”

  “Ok.”

  “Just don’t hover over my shoulder. Pull up a chair.” Jonathan jumped into position without a sound.

  One. Two. Three. Four hours passed and the only sound in the room was the soft clatter of keys. In the other trailer, Merlin and Beverley sat while Jason paced like an expectant father awaiting the arrival of his firstborn.

  * * * *

  “Holy, fuck. Who the hell is this bitch?” Nemo’s voice shattered the long, sleepy silence.

  “Did you find something?” They were the first words Jonathan had spoken since perching next to Nemo.

  “Yeah. Go get that Merlin guy, your sister and what’s-his-name. They need to see this.”

  Jonathan raced to the other trailer, thrusting his head through the door. “Hey you guys. Nemo wants you. Says it’s important.” Everyone bolted for the narrow door at once, but Jason and Beverley stood aside allowing Merlin to pass. When they entered Nemo’s inner-sanctum, he swung around to meet them.

  “I can see why you think this Excalibur chick is a threat.” He motioned them closer. “Come here, look at this.”

  “What are we seeing?” Merlin leaned in over Nemo’s shoulder.

  “It’s an accounts list. Not the actual books or anything, just a list of who she does business with and where she has financial interests. You won’t believe this. Hell, I don’t believe it. Look here. See. These letters are abbreviations for company names, like the ones they use on the stock market. All you have to do is know the stock market abbreviations and you can read them off like listings in a telephone book. Here you got BP and Shell Oil. Here is Boeing, Bell and Haliburton. This is AmeriTec. There are listings here for gold mines, silver mines, copper mines, banks in the Cayman Islands, South American timber companies, even public relations firms that specialize in political spin-doctoring. Here are
the names of at least four major, international armament companies and here is Blackwater – you know, the mercenary killers-for-hire. You name it and Excalibur owns huge blocks of it. And from what I can tell, they buy most all of it through dummy corporations, so the big companies themselves don’t even know Excalibur is taking a bite out of their asses.” Nemo turned his head to look at Merlin. “Who did you say this woman was?”

  “She uses the name Lucrezia Morgan.”

  “Well, your Miss Morgan has been a very bad girl.”

  “Do you mean there’s more?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m not sure, but judging from some of the corporate tie-ins – that is, with companies that I know are bad, or have bad connections – it looks like she is hooked up with the Russian Mafia, Afghani warlords, Mexican drug lords, Chinese Triads and the Japanese Yakuza.”

  “Jesus.” cried Jason, “gangsters.”

  “Not just gangsters, lad, world class mobsters. This is one seriously dangerous lady you people are dealing with, so watch your step.”

  Jason pulled Merlin aside and whispered into his ear. “Gold, copper, oil, timber; she’s trying to corner the world’s resources.”

  Merlin pulled Jason so close his lips almost touched his ear. “Considering her insane desire to rule the world once her fire-breathing friends are finished with it, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?”

  Letting the thought to sink in, Merlin turned to Nemo. “I believe we now know all we need to know. Except, perhaps, did you find any very curious, possibly even indecipherable, contact codes in her email files?”

  “I didn’t look at them all that closely. Why? Looking for something special?”

  “I just wondered.”

  “I’ve already transferred her email list to your computer, so you can go through it when you get home. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

  “Possibly. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I throw you all out into the cold?”