She caught an occasional breath between the kisses. Mattie moaned intensely as David reached deeply for her. He gently but firmly squeezed her skin with his amorous grasp. She discharged moans of release from the tension that had built up within her. Mattie felt an undisclosed and unsuppressed self-control while David felt the initial cold grip of her firm but soft hand reach inside his pants. In the passion of the moment, they both lost their control. The barriers between two acquaintances completely broke down, and they became true lovers.
The kissing and the touching turned more passionate as they gradually removed all of their clothes, one piece at a time. They reveled in the playing and enjoyed the game. It was a full afternoon. They napped, but only after making love to each other. David released himself into her loving folds, and they forgot their past. They lost themselves in each other.
They awoke at sunset after a protracted and unrushed snooze. David caressed Mattie and played with her hair with restless fingers.
“Hey! Let me show you something else,” David sparked as he reached for something on a nearby shelf.
“Stay in the bed, David! It’s chilly,” she begged him.
“Hang on,” David insisted.
David grabbed the vial with the magnet in it. He opened the tube, and he jerked the covers back. He poured some of the liquid into Mattie’s exposed belly button.
She screamed playfully, “David! What are you doing?” She looked down at the liquid. It had transformed itself into something other than liquid.
The glittering and silver liquid started to form the shape of a ball. It jumped up and down. It moved from within her belly button to the outside of it. Back and forth it jumped.
“It’s alive!”—Mattie blurted out with a smile of discovery.
“Don’t worry! It’s just energy. That’s all. It’s not alive. The magnet reacts with elements and creates a movement that then produces a simulation of life—but it is extremely cool, though, isn’t it?”—David had conquered love and science, but he did not explain to her how he had obtained the liquid. Maybe another day, he thought.
Mattie watched in amazement as the odd and life-like magnet jumped on her stomach to its random beat and rhythm. Magnetism and attraction were in the room. Their eyes locked together, and they held each other’s hands. It was their first day together.
David and Mattie did not get married, but they did live together, from that day onward. They continually enjoyed the simplicity and art of holding hands. They stayed mesmerized and in love. Five years later, they still were very much attracted to each other.
David’s mind had gone back to the past. He thought of a time that was five years ago and before.
“David, let’s please go home now,” Mattie insisted as she attempted to pry him out of his chair. “You can tell me about our Cairo adventure tomorrow.” He was in a daze, but she finally got his attention and led him out of the pub and into the brisk desert air of Salt Lake City. His daydream was over.
David was determined to share some of the details of the Cairo trip that he had kept to himself. Perhaps he would even share the story of the man in the cloud, the one who appeared to him on the day his dad died.
Just before they started to walk away from the pub, David’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened his old-style flip phone and answered as a gust of wind whipped into them.
“Hello?”—he said it mundanely, annoyed by the late-night call.
“What? Who is this?” he scowled and frowned. “I understand. I’ll be right there.” David had a strange look on his face, and Mattie became overly curious and panicked.
“Who was it?” she pleaded.
“That was Haj! Haj is alive.”—his tone mixed with anger and inquisitiveness.
Chapter 4
The Meeting
Peter held his .357 Magnum against Haj’s temple. He slowly began to withdraw the weapon while he still maintained a direct aim at Haj’s head.
“Very good, Haj! Very well done, old boy!”—Peter complimented his forced participant.
“When David finds out everything, he’ll kill you. You lied to him. You kept my existence secret for five years!”—Haj stared a hole through Peter’s shallow soul.
“Oh, hardly! If anything, he’ll be thanking me by the time our meeting is over!”—Peter didn’t blink. “Besides—David will never hear you or your ravings, which he will conclude are from a wild lunatic.”
Peter backed away from Haj’s holding cell. He powered down his cell phone, the same one that Haj had used to call David, just minutes before. The secure area had, in addition to the metal bars, a force field of alternating red and purple beams that became active as Peter stepped away from Haj. Metal bars rose from the floor that had lowered earlier to allow Peter access. In addition to the lasers and metal bars, a thin layer of clear plastic shielding with the deceptive look of clear glass rose between the lasers and bars. The metal bars, along with the shielding, moved into designated ceiling grooves above the cell. They sealed tightly, and the cell became completely sound proof. Haj pounded the clear panel and screamed, “No! You bloody…” The sound stayed in the cell.
A few miles away, an impatient David Hughes raced his Cavalier to the J & H pharmaceutical company in Holliday. Mattie had asked him, “How do you know it really was Haj?” Her skeptical question ran through his mind as he drove closer to Peter’s company headquarters. Haj had told him to come alone and to meet him on the third floor. He had said there was no time for explanations. So after he dropped Mattie off, just in front of their downtown condo, a soberer David Hughes rushed to find out the answer to Mattie’s question. Was Haj truly alive, he wondered.
David and Mattie lived in a condo near Temple Street, not too far from the Mormon Tabernacle and Temple Square. The condo was a gift from Peter, to entice David to work for him. David had only accepted for Mattie’s sake. It was a different life from the old house in San Francisco, but it was an agreeable downtown atmosphere. It sported a lively and youthful arena. Neither of them was very religious, let alone a member of one particular faith. Instead of a religious appeal, they were both drawn to the multi-cultural atmosphere of Salt Lake City because it bustled at any given weekend with various cultural activities, concerts, and shows. After all, Mattie played in the symphony on occasion, and it was extremely convenient.
In less than fifteen minutes, David arrived at the J & H pharmaceutical company and rushed up to the guard shack. He stopped abruptly at the security gate, where a security guard greeted him. His first impression of the guard was that he was overbearing, overweight, and very unfriendly.
David managed a security firm in the Salt Lake area, and he usually had no problem with security or in managing people in a tactful manner. However, tonight, David was rushed and to the point. He started with a rude demand.
“Call Peter! Get me in, as soon as possible,” David commanded with a particular degree of insolence.
“Sir, Mr. Jenkins isn’t expecting any visitors tonight. I’m sorry. You need to leave. So turn your car around, and leave the premises!” the guard retorted with expectation.
Suddenly an intercom voice was heard over the guard shack speaker, “It’s ok! Let him in.” It was Peter’s voice.
David bolted through after the gate lifted. He parked and got out of the car in a dark parking lot on the east side. The lights in the lot were minimal.
He looked at his Rolex watch and saw it was about 1:45 am. A light flashed green on its face. He pushed a button on the side of it and watched the green light change to a flashing red light. A separate circular hand started to move in a clockwise circle around the numbers. After a second pass around the numbers, the hand stopped at the number two on the clock face. When David turned to his right, the hand moved back to the number twelve, almost as if it gave David some direction.
David walked the defined pathway. He followed the prompts of the watch. He proceeded toward a barely visible grey door in front of the nearby high-rise office b
uilding. Perhaps the watch was attracted to the magnetic circuitry behind the door, David thought. When he arrived at the grey door, a red light turned on above the door’s frame. It revealed a sign that read, “Employee Entrance Only.”
David heard a buzzing sound. It sounded like an electronic lock held in an open position. He turned the doorknob, and he entered cautiously. He looked down at his watch, and he pushed another side button on it. The flashing red light on the watch changed to a light purple color.
David walked down a long bare corridor that seemed ominously dark and cold. The corridor was partially lit by two four-inch strips of side lighting centered on each side of the corridor walls. The lights in the strips turned off and on in a sequence. They created a sense of movement and encouraged forward action.
At the end of the hallway, an elevator waited for David. He paused for a moment, and he looked at the corridor behind him. He did not sense any threats, but something was not quite right. He pushed a button on the elevator front panel marked with an upright triangle, and the doors slowly opened for him.
David stepped into the elevator and looked for any inside buttons, but there were none. He smiled and shook his head back and forth with a sense of understanding and a lack of surprise.
He spoke and annunciated as if someone could hear him, “FOURTH—FLOOR—PLEASE!” Haj had said to meet him on the third floor. He decided to go to the fourth floor instead. Maybe discretion is in order, he thought. The elevator responded in a soft feminine voice, “Understood. Fourth floor. Proceeding.” It moved rapidly upward and responded again to its passenger in about ten seconds. “Arrived. Fourth floor,” it said. David exited.
He took a quick turn to his right, and David spotted the door to the stairs. With as much stealth as possible, he pushed the handle down, pushed open the door, and entered the lonely stairwell. He slowly closed the door behind him. He stepped softly down the concrete steps toward the third floor while he suspiciously looked at all of his surroundings. It was as if he expected something to happen.
At the entrance to the third floor, he opened the door and entered a well-lit floor, full of many offices and desks. All was visible. It was a very open setting. Some walls were tall and transparent, and some were opaque, short, and at waist level. Various cubicles and workstations with elaborate phone systems were also set up at some desks.
He walked around a corner wall, and a man quickly appeared in front of him and caught him off-guard. It was Peter. He was still in his dress clothes but absent a tie.
“David, old boy! Glad you are here!”—Peter gave a fake smile.
Immediately, David greeted Peter with a swift punch in the face, and Peter fell to the floor. David had the look of an angry man with a tightly pinched lip. “You son of a…”—David started his tirade, but he was interrupted.
“David, please calm down!” Peter attempted to explain while he stood up to face David.
“You want calm, Peter? You want calm? Get me to Haj, right now!” David said, firmly pointing his accusing and judging finger directly in Peter’s face.
Peter slowly retrieved a handkerchief from his inner jacket pocket and wiped his lip stained with fresh blood. He spoke softly.
“I will explain. I will explain everything to you. And when you hear everything, I promise—I promise that you will be my friend, once again. Please! Hear me out first. Will you follow me? I will take you to see Haj—but, first—I need to show you something that will help you understand,” Peter explained.
“Make it quick!” the skeptical David urged.
They walked through a maze of desks, toward a double-door entrance, on the other side of the floor.
“How did you know I would take the stairs?”—David’s suspicions increased.
“David, you are more predictable than gravity at times. Oh, and I see you are still sporting that watch with the digital recorder? You still haven’t replaced my last one that broke. I have always paid you well for your little inventions, you know.”—Peter tried to make bland conversation, but David did not respond. He remained silent concerning his own watch’s undisclosed abilities.
Past additional double doors, they turned to a hallway on the left. Peter scanned a thumbprint, and the pair entered a dark room that was soon lit by automatic lighting.
The room was full of several glass-enclosed exhibits. They showcased technical inventions of some kind on display tables. Each glass enclosure contained various metallic or plastic shaped pieces, some with gears or digital monitors. A scanning red laser beam protected each exhibit. It emanated from the tip of a mounted metal rod in the center of the table. It continuously scanned the exhibit with a back and forth and random motion.
At the far side of the room, there was a yellow door clearly marked with an additional advisement not to enter the area. David stepped behind Peter cautiously as they approached it.
“Behind this door—this is what I want you to see. And, David,” he paused. “Please keep an open mind.” Peter attempted another synthetic smile that David rejected once again.
As Peter opened the door, David noticed a pulsating light. It illuminated the entire room. The color alternated randomly between pink and purple. The source of the light was behind a curtain. It was a thick curtain, but it did not block out the light that it attempted to hide. Peter moved the curtain to reveal an enormous ten-foot and circular field of color. It radiated with intensity. The room was obviously sized to accommodate the shape of the energy. The circular field of alternating and pulsating color remained pink for just a moment, before it changed to a light purple, in only a matter of seconds. There was no specific pattern to the color change. The field of color did not sit or rest on any barrier. Nothing contained it. It merely existed. On the opposite side of the colorful shape, there was an empty white room. It was as if it invited one to walk through the field and into the white room behind it.
To the left and in front of the field there was a wall of computer monitoring equipment. It displayed dozens of dials, controls, and knobs. That must control the field, David thought as they both stepped into the room. Peter confirmed, “The dials to the left control and manage the diameter of the field and its strength. Isn’t it amazing?”—Peter waited for a response, but David ignored him. He looked with wonder in his eyes and continued to scan the room.
Finally, David asked, “What is it?”
“This is an artifact I brought back from Cairo,” Peter explained. “Haj and I found this five years ago, but he was going to turn the technology over to the Egyptian government—he was a spy, David!” Peter braced for a response, but David again was silent.
“I was hired by very top U.S. Government operatives to find and keep this technology away from the Egyptians and any other foreign power,” Peter announced. He expected an inquisitive response. This time, he received it.
“This field of energy is only about ten centimeters thick. There is nothing supporting it or containing it?” David said while he looked at it from various angles with his scientific eyes.
Then David changed the subject.
“Why did Haj call me?—and how?” David asked.
“He escaped guard tonight, very cleverly I might add. And he stole my cell phone during an inspection. He is safe. I assure you,”—Peter tried to explain, but he also attempted to gauge David’s tone—as if ready to pounce upon it.
“You kept him prisoner for five years and lied about his death to Mattie and me!”—David grew angrier. Peter sensed it and wiped nervous perspiration from his brow.
“I had no choice,” Peter insisted. “I was bound by something called a Secrets Act, and I was operating covertly. My directives were from the highest powers in our government. A decision was made to cover and hide Haj’s existence. There were other countries and powers seeking this technology and power source. It was out of my control, old boy!”
“So, what does it do?”—David was still not satisfied and knew Peter was lying. What did he mean when he said, “our g
overnment?” None of this sounds believable, he thought.
“Look at this!”—Peter pressed a button on one of the left panels. A small door opened from beyond the field, at the far corner of the white room. David saw a German Shepherd dog trot out. The dog started to pant heavily. It quickly responded with excitement to the sight of David. David squinted and looked at the dog. David estimated the distance to the dog to be at least eighty feet or about twenty-four meters away at the far end of the room.
“You have a dog just like Haj had in Egypt. What was its name? Charlie?” David asked while the dog started to pace happily in its room. The animal barked several times, seemingly in response to hearing his name. David’s eyes expanded, and he had a face of bewilderment.
David called to the dog, “Charlie?” The dog immediately gave a barked response with a human-like smile.
“That dog is Charlie, David!”—Peter looked at David with an air of pride.
“But, Charlie had kidney failure, if I remember correctly.”—David grew more puzzled.
“When Haj first revealed this to me, I could not resist testing this technology. I was going to walk through the field myself, just to see what would happen. But it was Charlie that ended up testing it for me. He passed through the field by accident one day—chasing some cat or something. At first, we thought he was harmed, but a local vet gave him a clean bill of health. In fact, his kidneys were completely cured within a few days.”—again, Peter checked David and his reactions.
“He should have some age to him also.”—David noticed that the dog looked similar in age to the one that he had remembered.
The Royal Stones of Eden (Royal Secrecies Book 1) Page 4