Sun of the Sleepless

by Patrick Horne

  Dale looked up and grunted, somewhat gingerly lifting himself from his chair so as not to put too much strain on his knee which now throbbed dully from where the joint had been viciously kicked earlier that morning.

  'I'm gonna need crutches -' he groaned sarcastically.

  Jolene shook her head disdainfully.

  'I could always get Sergeant Stanley to carry you down to the security room?'

  'I think I'll manage by myself,' said Dale, grimacing as he straightened his leg.

  Frans had made the call to Senator Dru on his secure cell phone and it had been agreed that all arrangements would be made to get Rey and Akosua back to England that very night. It had been agreed that they would drive to Midden-Zeeland Airport, a small regional airfield in the south of The Netherlands providing an uncontrolled one kilometre grass runway from where they could fly via private plane to the south east of England and parachute out prior to the plane landing legitimately and reporting to the local UK passport control authorities.

  Senator Dru was slightly alarmed to hear about Gertrude Verker but accommodated the request to have her secured; their van would continue on to Germany and Gertrude would be delivered to a safe-house that would be prepared for her arrival and containment.

  'What about you, Frans?' Rey had asked after the call ended. 'What are you going to do?'

  Frans rasped some air in through the corner of his mouth.

  'Good question! I'm not sure to be honest. I may accompany our new friend to Germany and stay low for a while. If the US manages to get a lead on you two they may also be able to identify me, so, it is probably better to make myself scarce for a while and go down the rabbit hole.'

  Rey nodded in understanding.

  'You could come to the UK with us?'

  Frans raised a hand and waved it at him dismissively.

  'I can think of better things to do than jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane, besides, I do not want to be the gooseberry when you are in the field!'

  Akosua raised her head and looked at Frans questioningly.

  'Do you still have the ring?'

  He looked at her for a moment and fumbled into his pocket.

  'Right here, I guess I may as well return it myself since there is no point in the courier trying to catch up with us.'

  Akosua took the small ring box that Fans held out.

  'So this was Queen Maria's Sigil Ring?'

  She flipped open the box and carefully took out the silver ring, holding it reverently and peering intently at the wreath of oak leaves that surrounded it and the six symbols placed equidistant about the face.

  The ring had been cast in 925 silver using the lost-wax process. To make the master for casting, the original wax was carved by hand on a small stand and the whole thing submerged in a plaster-like solution call 'investment'. Placed in a kiln, the wax melted as the plaster hardened and eventually evaporated leaving a hollow in the plaster the exact shape of the original carving into which the molten silver could be poured. It was significant from an historical point of view simply because it had been created in 1938 by Gahr & Co. of Munich, the very same company that had produced the SS-Ehrenring, or 'Honour Ring', bestowed as an award by Heinrich Himmler to members of the German Schutzstaffel during the latter years of the Nazi regime.

  The Reichsführer-SS himself had granted special dispensation to cast a batch of three hundred and sixty-four Sigil Rings as the design included symbols that were of a highly sensitive nature and prone to attract extreme prejudice as a result of the prevalent discriminatory ideology, however, the ring that Akosua now gazed at simply shared the same provenance in terms of the workshop - its purpose and meaning were entirely different and totally unrelated in spite of the similarities to the uninitiated.

  The ring was wreathed with oak leaves to represent endurance, stability and strength, embodying the common qualities associated with the oak tree in physical and spiritual terms. The six symbols spaced about the face of the ring effectively marked the six points of a hexagram around the wearer's finger, offering protection and assurance with their individual and combined spiritual meaning.

  Frans leaned back, watching Akosua.

  'Do you know how to interpret the sigils?'

  Akosua glanced quickly at him, as if it were an insult that she would not know the importance of each symbol. She looked at the skull with empty eyes staring blindly out, crossed thigh bones placed behind it.

  'The Death's Head Skull, a momento mori or remembrance of our own mortality. It also signifies faith until death and recognition of the futility of our own lives in The Great Work except in the achievement of a noble objective. It reminds us that although we operate on a physical plane, we are forever connected to the spiritual significance of our actions.'

  She moved the ring about to show the next device, a traditional Taijitu circle often called the Yin Yang symbol.

  'The Circle of Ultimate Power, representing the combined powers of creation and destruction in physical and spiritual planes, never in stasis but always interacting as an illustration of the continuing development of the material world.'

  Next was a square tilted to represent a diamond shape in which two 'L' shaped marks were juxtaposed.

  'The Jera rune, representing the passage of time and the consequence of action, traditionally associated with the solar year and the harvest. It shows us the change in life that we must accept but try to bring to a beneficial result through our own endeavours.'

  Next was a six pointed regular star formed by two interlocking triangles inside of a hexagon.

  'The Hexagram, representing the balance of The All and everything that has been created from it. It reminds us of the object of our actions, to achieve release from the trappings of the material world.'

  Akosua rubbed a finger over the next symbol, a regular five pointed star inside of a pentagon.

  'The Pentagram, it represents the elemental aspects of creation during the transformation of The All to the entirety of the universe. It illustrates a method of change within the material world and points us to the source of everything that may be experienced.'

  Frans jerked his head at the ring.

  '- and the last one?'

  The final symbol was an eye placed within a triangle, so favoured of Freemasonry and conspiracy theorists all over the world. Akosua gazed at it.

  'The All-Seeing Eye, representing The All as spirit and manifest throughout The Great Work, connecting each piece together to form the whole, from the smallest atoms to the largest black holes, from the barren rocks that make the planets to the life that thrives upon our own Earth. It is the signature that tells us that we are all part of the same.'

  Rey smiled.

  'Very eloquent! You obviously paid attention in some of your classes.'

  Akosua nudged him and smiled widely.

  'So when do I get mine then? I've been waiting to be awarded my ring since I was a little girl, I must have earned it by now?'

  Rey assumed a look of mock incredulity, he stuttered and blustered jokingly.

  'You'll have one soon enough,' Frans nodded reassuringly, 'after Merkur is complete I would think that you will be raised to the rank of Knight of The Holy Order of Thrones and you'll be awarded your own Sigil Ring!'

  Rey sniggered.

  'Yeah, they might even spell your name correctly in the inscription.'

  A sharp elbow into his ribs made him exclaim an exaggerated wheeze as Akosua carefully placed the ring back in its box and handed it back to Frans.

  Jolene and Dale were ensconced in the small security room that acted as the central viewing station for the various CCTV cameras mounted about the embassy, including the external cameras that overlooked the plein of Lange Voorhout where the antiques fair had occurred earlier in the week. A security guard had cued up the relevant recordings of the footage and after a rudimentary explanation of how to operate the equipment had left them to it.

  'Alright Dale, this starts from around 07:00 on Thur
sday 7th January, the Verker girl had a stall up here somewhere,' Jolene said as she pointed at the top left of the screen, 'it is just possible that your attackers were watching her and so they may show up on here.'

  Dale leaned back, his chair creaking as he settled himself into a comfortable position.

  '- and if they're not on here?'

  'Then we move on to the next most likely set of footage. I have requisitioned videos from trams at the time of the attack and some traffic cameras for tracking the car. We'll find them.'

  'What about Gertrude's apartment? The door entry system may have had a camera system as well.'

  'I've already had Stanley check that out. It did have a camera but it wasn't working and doesn't record images anyway, so we can't see who spoke into the microphone when they came up to the apartment. We have to rely on CCTV footage and this is the best starting point.'

  'This could take forever!' Dale complained.

  'Say three days' worth of footage from three or four different sources - that could be two weeks of watching video.'

  'Do you have something better to do?'

  Dale glanced at her but Jolene immediately admonished him.

  'Keep looking at the screen, we don't want to miss anything.'

  'I was actually thinking about Gertrude! You know? The girl who has been kidnapped? It is just that you haven't mentioned her yet, I'd have thought her safety would be of some concern to you.'

  Jolene tensed slightly.

  'She was abducted, not kidnapped and of course I'm concerned for the girl, the problem is that we have no idea where she may be and the only real lead we have is your identification of who took her. You may also want to remember that all of this is taking place within the wider context of a national security threat to the United States. I would have thought that might be of concern to a CIA employee?'

  Dale sighed and returned to gazing at the video.

  'Alright, but how about you tell me a bit more about what is going on?'

  'You know what you need to know.'

  'Awww, come on, I had the shit kicked out of me this morning, these were no ordinary terrorists, they'd been watching that apartment, watching Gertrude Verker and as soon as they saw their opportunity they grabbed her. Why?'

  'Well, that is what we're trying to figure out!' Jolene exclaimed irritably.

  'No, you don't get me. Look, Jackson spots this book for sale on the internet, right? He gets me to pick it up. Alright, so far, so good. However, your lot tie in this book to a terrorist group that is threatening the US, something pretty big and pretty definite if the involvement of the Deputy Director is anything to go by. So, how come a dusty old book is the only link to this cult? They can't have just appeared out of thin air, we must know about them through our other intelligence channels! We must do!'

  In spite of his outburst, Dale still sat focussed on the video, watching the world go by as the market traders prepared their stalls on the screen.

  Jolene thought for a moment.

  'Well, I agree that it seems odd -'

  She carefully considered what she was going to say next.

  'Dale, the original threat was delivered directly to The President in December last year; they'd done their homework in gaining access to a secure communications channel usually reserved for direct contact with other heads of state, the Russian Premier and the British Prime Minister for instance. We know the message was only sent to The President and that it didn't come directly from a foreign power.'

  Dale was frowning but still looked directly at the screen.

  'Well, why the secrecy, if this is a terrorist threat why not deal with it just like any other form of terrorism?'

  'I don't know all the facts Dale, but I do know that a set of demands was issued along with an ultimatum; retaliation for non-compliance was threatened for every successive month that we don't comply.'

  Dale almost stuttered.

  '- but that is normal for any terrorist threat; why is this such a big deal?'

  Jolene sighed.

  'Apparently it is the kind of retaliation that has been promised. As I understand it, The President's team had enough technical data supplied to them to make them realise that these terrorists knew what they were talking about and so they're being taken seriously.'

  'Are we talking Hollywood style devastation here?'

  'Kind of - Look, that is irrelevant right now, the point is that the threat involves a weapon of mass destruction and this group's claim of possession appears plausible. We're not talking about conventional weapons, explosives or chemical weapons - a bomb in a building or sarin gas which could be released in a shopping mall - this threat concerns something much worse. As I understand it, there is an implication that this could be a world event.'

  'Nuclear weapons?' Dale questioned incredulously, frowning as he turned to look up at her.

  Nodding to the screen in admonishment, Jolene continued, 'No, apparently there is something worse. For a number of reasons it was assumed that our government and security agencies have been infiltrated and at the very least needed to be kept dark for the time being. There are some concerns that members of our own military may be involved in something but I haven't been given all the information. I do know that The President himself set-up a small task force of trusted personnel in liaison directly with the heads of the security agencies and I was invited to lead one of the preliminary special investigation units.'

  'Who are they though? This cult? We must know something about them?'

  'Again, I don't know the full details but I have been led to understand that they're not officially affiliated with any country, religion or race. They just call themselves the Brothers and Sisters of the Sun of the Sleepless but we have no intelligence on such a group and especially one that has access to the type of weapons they are threatening to use. We just need to follow up on anything that may link back to them, which is why we're tracking a three hundred year old book.'

  Dale frowned again.

  'So were you told what this weapon actually is? I mean, our military has all kinds of crazy shit hidden away in bunkers, they must know something about it.'

  Jolene stopped and ran back through what she had just said.

  'No, I wasn't told, not officially anyway. I checked out some of my own sources and, well, the suggestions were pretty unanimous and considering some of the classified information I have been told about I'd say that my sources were right.'

  'Classified information? Such as?'

  Jolene raised an eyebrow.

  'Well, I haven't seen them myself, but they are the same classified documents that Jackson is trying to get access to!' she said flatly.

  Dale turned to her and stared into her eyes, she looked to be telling the truth, but he considered that you could never really tell when it came to CIA operatives who were involved in black projects.

  'Why haven't you told Jackson? It might help him in his research?'

  'I didn't want to distract him and it wasn't even necessary until he confirmed a connection with the terrorists. Once he had submitted his preliminary findings I was going to explain a bit more, see how he links it in with his own investigation.'

  Dale looked back at the screen and his eyes widened. The footage had been playing at a fast-forward pace, around four or five times normal playing speed, however, he had just spotted Gertrude Verker and to his surprise, could see a woman standing in the background wearing a pair of what looked like tan riding boots, black skin tight leggings and a tan leather jacket. Around her neck and shoulders was slung a large scarf that reminded him of the kind worn by archetypal Middle Eastern rebels.

  'STOP!'

  Jolene craned in, peering at the screen.

  'What is it?'

  Dale shunted the video backward a minute or so and then pressed play again. The woman moved about the stalls, just another tourist or shopper looking for a bargain, but it was not her face that made her seem familiar, the shock of blonde hair was a dead give-away
.

  They watched as the woman took a call, slipping her cell phone back into her pocket after a short conversation before moving towards Gertrude's stall. She rummaged into her bag and then walked on again, fiddling with one of her ears, simply adjusting the earring to any bystander that was watching.

  The woman stood for a moment before rubbing her forehead with her forefinger and thumb cocked into an 'O' shape. Suddenly, the people scattered about the market started to look in one direction, away from the stalls to the road that ran alongside it, some of the stall holders moved to rush out of the frame, Gertrude Verker could be seen holding her hands to her face before she too ran out of view. The tram accident!

  Jolene looked at Dale.

  'Is it her?'

  He nodded slowly.

  'Yeah, I'm damn sure it is, but it doesn't tell us much, I suppose that we can at least get a screen capture and get an enhanced picture from it for facial recognition.'

  'A little more than that I think!'

  Jolene smirked. She tapped the screen at the bottom left of the image with a blunt but polished fingernail.

  'Don't you think that it is odd that these two guys are looking in the direction of our street fighter when everyone else is looking towards the tram accident?'

  Dale focussed closely on the bottom of the image where two men were standing side by side, their heads and shoulders just peeping into the frame; a man with short silver grey hair was talking to a larger man with closely cropped hair next to him.

  They conversed for a while before the black woman walked out of frame and after a minute or so the small man patted the big man on the shoulder and wandered off into the market. After a short hesitation the big man turned around to head out of the bottom of the image; Dale paused the footage and the brutal looking face was now recognisably clear.

  'That is definitely the guy who choked me!'

  Jolene nodded, 'Yeah, and we also have a third mystery man. Review the video and select the best images, we'll get screen dumps and submit them for image processing and enhancement.'