by Toby Tate
“Maybe that’s what started all this. Maybe Hendricks thinks Tartarus and the Lilitu can do better. When your cousin’s team discovered the container, Panos alerted Hendricks and he took it. Then, he must have gathered all the Lilitu together on that island and had them actually touch the stones, changing them into beasts. Because of their incredible metabolism, the females would have begun to lay eggs almost immediately.”
“Maybe Hendricks is in touch with this ‘Tartarus.’ It’s guiding him, giving him instructions.”
“It’s possible. That would make sense in light of all that’s happened. For some reason, it couldn’t see or didn’t know exactly where the stones were hidden, and it was waiting for someone to find them, maybe even influencing the actions of the dig team.”
Hunter sighed and glanced out the window at the passing clouds.
“If that’s true, and Hendricks has some kind of supernatural entity on his side, then we’re going to have one hell of a time trying to fight him.”
Fifty
They were standing outside the obelisk on Crete, looking up at it as it towered over them like some stone god. Something was happening far above, at the very top of the tower. A light shone, like a beacon from a lighthouse; but instead of a single beam, it emitted light in every direction. If it weren’t for the fact that they were standing close to the tower, Lisa was sure they would have been blinded. A feeling of foreboding and hopelessness crept over her and she absent-mindedly put a hand to her swollen belly, wanting to comfort the child within.
Then the stars disappeared.
It was as if the entire solar system just went away, and they were transported to another universe, a universe of darkness and evil. But how could that be?
She reached out her hand for Hunter, but found nothing in the pitch blackness. A voice suddenly spoke, but it wasn’t a voice that she could hear—it was inside her head. When it spoke, a sharp pain reverberated through her skull, like someone with a sledge hammer was trying to break out.
“Welcome to Hell,” the voice said.
In the darkness close by, she heard the low, rumbling growl of a feral beast.
* * *
Lisa’s eyes snapped open and she tried to sit up, but found she couldn’t move. She waited several seconds until her body registered wake mode, then gradually raised her head off the pillow and turned to look at the bedside clock. Noon. Hunter had only been gone a few hours, but they were probably in Sicily by now.
She felt a presence in the room and turned to see Jade standing in the entranceway with a furrowed brow.
“What? Did I make a noise?” Lisa asked.
“If you call screaming a noise, then yeah.”
Lisa’s head plopped down on the pillow. “I’m sorry. I’ve been having really weird dreams.”
Jade walked over to the bed and crossed her arms. “About David Lawrence? Or Hendricks. Or whatever his name is.”
“Not exactly. Just about those things in the cave and about the baby.”
“Those things are frightening. What are they, exactly? I’ve never seen anything like them. Are they some kind of unknown animal species?”
“They’re called Lilitu…it’s a long story, but let’s just say that Hendricks is one that’s still in human form.” She turned her eyes toward Jade. “So is Mac.”
Jade’s mouth dropped open. “What? You mean he’s one of them?”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t subscribe to their philosophy of world domination. He’s trying to help us stop them.”
“Thank God. I hope they find something on this little fact-finding trip of theirs.”
“Me, too. All of our lives depend on it.”
Lisa sat up in the bed as Jade reached out to give her a hand. “Are you sure you want to get up?”
“Yeah. No more naptime for me. I think I’ve had enough nightmares for one day.”
Fifty-one
Gabe’s plane touched down on the tarmac at the military base near the coast in Constanta, Romania, a place often used by the CIA for prisoner detention and interrogation. She was glad it was still in operation; otherwise this mission would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Gabe found herself thinking of Mac, wishing that he was by her side. His presence had a comforting effect on her.
Or it could just be those blue eyes.
She smiled as the pilot throttled back and applied the brakes, forcing her forward against the seat belt.
Since all the obelisks were located exactly the same distance apart, Hunter and Mac would probably arrive at roughly the same time she did. As the wheels slowed and they began to taxi toward the airport, her cell phone buzzed. She glanced at the number. As she had suspected, it was Mac.
“Hi, John. I just landed. How about you?”
“Same here. We’re about the get out of the plane. I thought I’d let you know we arrived safely.”
“Or maybe you just wanted to hear my voice?”
“No maybe about it.”
“How’s Hunter? Is he having a nervous breakdown yet?”
“Almost. I’ve never seen someone hold the arms of a seat so tightly. I think he nearly broke them off.”
“Tell him I said not to be such a wanker. And call me if you find out anything, will you?”
“Will do.”
“And John?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful.”
“Always am. You be careful, too.”
* * *
Mac slid the phone back in his pocket as he and Hunter prepared to step down out of the plane. The pilot turned from the cockpit and glanced back at them.
“I hope you gentlemen had a good flight. I’ll be around when you’re ready to go. Just give me a buzz.” He gave them his cell phone number.
They exited the plane and walked across the tarmac toward the terminal at Naval Air Station Sigonella. Mount Etna loomed in the background, wisps of smoke rising from its crater.
“Man, I wouldn’t want to be around when that thing blows,” Hunter said. “This is the second time I’ve been here and that volcano never ceases to amaze me.”
“If what I suspect is true about what Hendricks has planned, you’ll pray that every volcano on earth blows and kills us all.”
Hunter glanced at his accomplice. “That sounds ominous. What is it you think he has planned?”
“I’d rather not speculate just yet. Let’s just say that it will make every major disaster since the flood look mild by comparison.”
As they reached the terminal, a man pushed the door open from inside. He was dressed in khaki pants and a blue pullover shirt, his sandy blonde hair close-cropped in a military buzz cut. He was short, and built like a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders.
“You must be the guys I’ve been expecting. Welcome to Sicily.” His accent was non-distinct, but definitely American. He smiled as he held the door open for them both to pass through.
They continued walking as he spoke. “I’m Bob Jordan. I guess you guys don’t have any luggage, since you won’t be staying long. Either of you been here before?”
Both men nodded.
“Good. That’ll save some time. I guess you’re ready to go check out the obelisk.”
“If you don’t mind.” Mac said.
“Are you military?” Hunter asked.
“CIA. I’m doing this as a favor to Gabe. Saved my ass a couple of times in the field.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Hunter said.
Fifty-two
They drove for an hour on some of the worst roads Hunter had ever seen. He thought the ones back home were bad, but decided he would never complain about them again. The main highways were okay, but now they were driving through mountainous terrain on pothole-filled roads barely wide enough for one vehicle. Even though they were in an off-road four-wheel-drive SUV, he was being banged and jostled so badly he thought his kidneys would rupture.
Hunter stared out the window at the passing scenery. The hills an
d valleys were endless, but there didn’t seem to be many trees in this area, just shrubs, grassy terrain and farmland.
“How far away is the site?” Mac asked.
“Only about an hour from the base. The thing is it’s out in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a hill, which is strange to begin with. I mean, why build something as big and expensive as a two-hundred-foot obelisk, and then hide it way the hell out here? It doesn’t make sense. Thankfully, they built a road that leads up to it; otherwise we’d be using a chopper. Or walking.”
“How many times have you been out here?”
Jordan shook his head. “Never had a reason to come. It’s just an obelisk. What is it you guys expect to find, anyway?”
“We’re hoping it will help us with an investigation of the man who built it.”
“You mean Lawrence Hendricks, AKA David Lawrence?” Mac shot Hunter a look.
“What do you know about him?” Hunter asked.
Jordan shrugged. “He made his money in real estate, buying foreclosed property, fixing it up and selling it for a bundle. He invested in stocks, made business investments. He’s like King Midas—whatever he touches turns to gold. Then he built that little island paradise of his.”
“You know about that?”
“It’s our job to know. No one has actually been out there, since he hasn’t broken any laws. Not long after, he started building these things.”
The pointed top of a huge, black object suddenly appeared over the side of a hill and Hunter realized what he was seeing: the obelisk.
* * *
As they stood staring up at Hendricks’s handiwork, Hunter was awed by the sheer size of it. It wouldn’t surprise him if all six of the objects were eventually classified alongside the eight wonders of the world. It was flat black, and about half the size of the Washington Monument, which was still quite impressive. He couldn’t help but wonder if Hendricks was making up for his lack of endowment in another area.
There was a single row of symbols chiseled into one side, about six feet above the ground, like some kind of dedication, or history, or maybe a set of instructions. He pulled a small camera out of his shirt pocket and took a few photos of the symbols and the obelisk itself.
As they circled around the bottom, he noticed there was a steel door, painted black, on the back of the monument.
What the hell could be inside there?
They walked all the way around the structure, Hunter and Mac both snapping pictures, and then stopped where they began.
“What’s it made out of?” Mac asked.
“It’s called Absolute Black Granite,” Jordan said. “It comes from a quarry in southern India, and from what I understand, it’s monolithic, meaning it’s all one piece. Expensive as hell, too, I might add.”
Hunter squinted up at the very top. “How did they move it?”
“It was already chiseled into shape before it was shipped. They bring these things in on cargo ships, and then move them from the docks with specially made flatbed tractor trailers. When it gets to where it’s going, they build the foundation, and then lift it into place with a huge crane.”
“Sounds like a job.”
“It keeps the locals employed and gets quite a few visitors. Brings in people from all over.”
As if on cue, a couple of tourists in an Italian sports car drove up the road toward them.
“I see what you mean,” Mac said. “Any way we can get inside? See what’s in there?”
“I can tell you what’s in there.”
“What?”
Jordan smiled. “A spiral staircase.”
Fifty-three
“So the whole thing is hollow?” Mac asked.
“Just like a pyramid. But nobody has been inside one of them. It’s a big mystery. We figured maybe there’s a lookout tower or something on top, like the statue of liberty.” Jordan glanced around. “Nothing worth looking at out here, though.”
“Maybe there’s something else up there, something Hendricks is going to use when the time is right,” Hunter said.
Mac glanced at the figures chiseled across the front. Just like the case that had been discovered in Crete, there were seven symbols all together. They resembled the symbols that had been on the top of the artifact from the archeological dig. But what did they mean? He wasn’t an archeologist or a linguist. He would have to wait until they got back to Crete and take the photos to Dr. Petrakis at the University of Crete.
Mac shook his head in frustration. He hoped Gabe was having better luck than they were.
* * *
Gabe met the military liaison, an American woman with long, red hair and freckles named Felicia James. She looked young, almost like a teenager, and wore blue jeans and a button-down shirt. They left the base almost immediately in a small Suzuki SUV, a vehicle widely used by the Hungarian police. The roads and highways in Hungary were in very good shape, for which Gabe was glad, since the drive from the base in Constanta to the obelisk site outside Bucharest was a little over two hours. Most of the countryside along the way consisted either of heavy forest, farmland or grassland—not much in the way of civilization, except for the occasional lone house. They listened to Romanian music radio most of the way there. Gabe didn’t feel much like talking, anyway. She was too distracted thinking about Hendricks, and about Mac and their relationship.
James eventually broke the silence. “The obelisk is in the middle of a fallow wheat field,” she said. “There is a road that leads to it, and a small parking area, but not much else. A lot of tourists come to look at it. You’re the first CIA person I’ve seen. What’s their interest in this?”
“We’re trying to find some information about its builder, David Lawrence.”
James said nothing.
“Is there anything at all you can tell me about the people who put it in place?”
“Not much, really. They used local labor, although I believe it was supervised by Lawrence’s people. They were very insistent about the placement, said it had to be exact.”
As she spoke, the obelisk appeared over the horizon. Even a few hundred meters away, the size was impressive. She couldn’t imagine the truck that had hauled it or the crane that had lifted it. They had to have been enormous. It looked as if it was chiseled out of one gigantic block of stone.
They drove down a dirt road and turned off onto a freshly paved one, then stopped at the edge of a concrete parking lot.
Gabe stepped out of the car, gazing up at the pointed top of the obelisk as she walked. Then she eyed the row of symbols, seven in all, that was chiseled into the front. What was it about the number seven? It was used a lot in the Bible and other religious writings, and seemed to have some kind of mystical significance. Hendricks had been telling the media the symbols were representative of the country that harbored the obelisk, but Gabe knew they were probably instructions of some kind.
She stopped a few feet in front of the obelisk and James stepped up beside her. She eyed the polished surface−it was flat black with small grey speckles, and looked like granite.
“What’s this thing made of? Do you know?”
“I believe the builders said something about black granite, or absolute black, something like that. It supposed to be quarried from India. Very rare and expensive.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound, and Gabe’s stomach knotted up in response. Something wasn’t right. She turned slowly toward James and looked down to see a gun pointed at her.
“Don’t make a move, Miss Lincoln.”
Fifty-four
“Miss James, you really don’t want to do that,” Gabe said, eyeing the gun that the woman was pointing at her gut. She could tell it was a forty-five caliber—big enough to leave a good-sized hole.
“Tell me the real reason you’re here,” James said.
“I’ve already told you. I’m trying to get information on David Lawrence.”
“You mean Lawrence Hendr
icks, don’t you?”
Gabe said nothing. Then James made a peculiar demand.
“Take off your sunglasses and let me see your eyes.”
Caught off guard, Gabe hesitated for a few seconds. What was this woman’s game? She finally reached up and peeled the glasses off.
“Satisfied?” she said.
James leaned in closer, staring into Gabe’s eyes like she was looking into her soul. Then she backed away and lowered the pistol.
“I guess so. I just had to make sure you weren’t being controlled by one of Hendricks’s…things.”
Gabe slid the glasses back on. “You know about the parasites?”
James stuck the gun into the waistband of her jeans and pulled her shirt down to hide it. “That classification makes perfect sense, because that’s exactly what they are—parasites.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was controlled by one.”
“You were controlled by a parasite? By Hendricks?”
“He came to supervise the initial placement of the obelisk a few months ago. I think he wanted someone here that was under his control, so he could insure things went his way. We were at the base, alone in a room while waiting for the base commander. We were talking, then he started making comments about how pretty my eyes were and how he thought I looked out of place at a military installation. Then he pulled off his sunglasses and I saw that his eyes were silver. But instead of running, I was mesmerized, hypnotized somehow. He suddenly grabbed me and kissed me. I tried to fight him, but he was too strong. Then I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was doing things I would never have done normally—going through secret files, listening to phone conversations—and I was having bizarre sexual fantasies about him. I don’t even like to think about it. When I realized I was being manipulated, that my mind wasn’t my own, I began to fight the creature. One day, I was at home, staring at myself in the mirror and wondering what was wrong with me, when white liquid started leaking out of every pore in my body. It scared the hell out of me. It just evaporated like water. I must have passed out for hours.”