A large clenched fist slammed hard into his face. He fell back against the wall. Quickly, he sat up again and glared at his tormentor in defiance. Cossack took a step back and pointed the Taser at his victim. He smiled at William and winked.
‘Agent Temple, so glad you could join us,’ said Hades from across the room. Perched on the end of the desk he held the Biblos Aletheia firmly in his hands. ‘We’ve been having a lovely chat with your pretty little friend here. It seems you have had quite an adventure. Well done to you both.’
Sat on the chair next to the desk was Ella. Her hair was a mess, it hung down half covering her face. The top of her jumpsuit was still unzipped, the top of her bra was exposed. Her hands were bound behind her back, the thin plastic dug into her wrist just below her watch. Tears ran down her frightened face. She lowered her head and sniffed occasionally.
‘If you dare touch her . . .’ William began until another punch to the face stopped him.
Cossack grabbed William by the head and shouted into his ear, ‘shut up!’ He threw him back against the wall.
Glaring up at the Russian, William refused to be intimidated. Breathing rapidly through his nose he stared up into Cossack’s eyes and held his gaze. A trickle of blood ran out from the corner of his mouth.
‘Enough!’ Hades barked at the two men.
‘Take what you came for and get lost,’ William commanded. ‘The rest of my team will be here soon. And they’re not too worried about the rules of engagement.’
‘I already have what I want,’ Hades said as a matter of fact, he held out the Biblos Aletheia and raised his eyebrows. ‘And it’s all thanks to you. Oh, and I know you are here alone, I’m afraid there’s no one coming for you.’
Ella flashed a worried look at William. William’s face remained unreadable.
‘I’ve been searching for this most of my life,’ Hades went on. ‘And you found it in less than a week! And it was right under my very nose all this time. Ha!’ He sighed deeply and stroked the surface of the gold book, he seemed mesmerised by it, lost in his own thoughts. ‘It belonged to my ancestors you see. But it was stolen from them by one of your ancestors, Ms Moore.’
Looking up at Hades, Ella frowned. ‘I don’t understand,’ she snivelled nervously. She used her shoulder to wipe the tears from her cheek.
‘It’s true. Francis Perryvall was one of your ancestors. And he was one of us too.’ Hades held his free hand to his chest in a salute of sorts. ‘He was the apprentice of Oswyn le Bone, a direct ancestor of mine from the early sixteenth-century. At that time, Oswyn carried the burden of leading the Brotherhood. But somehow the Catholic Church found out about us and launched a brutal attack at this very location. My people didn’t stand a chance; most of them were slaughtered that very same night.
‘But some survived and out of the ashes they rebuilt the organisation. This time they ensured that secrecy was paramount, it was drilled into every member upon pain of death. They recovered as much of our hidden treasures as they could, ancient and valuable artefacts and manuscripts that had been collected over the centuries. But our most valued and most sacred item of all was missing. Forged from solid gold and written in a long forgotten language, the Biblos Aletheia, our book of truths. I can only presume that Francis fled with it during the battle and hid. Perhaps he even escaped using this tunnel.’ Hades gestured around the room.
William’s eyes narrowed, he scanned the small room scrutinising every wall and corner. When he looked back at Cossack he saw that he was watching him. William smiled and winked. Cossack curled up his lip and drew his finger slowly across his throat.
‘I just can’t understand why he hid himself away forever though. But he did, he was never heard of again,’ Hades went on. ‘And ever since my people have searched every corner of the planet for this book.’ He closed his eyes and kissed the gold surface. ‘No matter now. It’s back in the hands of those who rightfully own it.’
‘Who made it?’ asked Ella.
Hades smiled at her like a proud father. ‘I’m glad you asked. Some say they came from Atlantis, others refer to it as Eden; there have been many names. But the true name for their homeland no longer exists, so ancient and forgotten are they.’
Ella and William looked at each other.
‘But surely that’s just myth,’ Ella protested.
‘It’s no myth, I can assure you,’ Hades said. ‘This book was crafted eleven-thousand years ago by the very first advanced human civilisation. For fifty-thousand years they lived on a fertile and stable landmass. Ten kings ruled their land, tribal leaders who were considered to be living gods, deities who had been reincarnate as human. They used astronomical events to identify their kings and the chosen ones were brought up destined to lead and teach the rest. But when the ice melted at the end of the last ice age, their perfect, tranquil world was ripped apart. Their homeland was ravished by floods and the entire society fled across the Atlantic in great ships, or arks, in hope of finding new and safer pastures. Their land died and was lost forever.’ Hades looked down at the book and opened it up. He ran his fingers over the text and smiled to himself. His eyes defocused as if he was looking far beyond the book into another world.
‘However, while their land is truly lost, their stories, their beliefs and their skills are not,’ he said. ‘After their escape, the survivors landed on new shores and formed new settlements. Eventually they traded and mingled with the primitive local tribes. They taught them their ways, their traditions and their skills: building and farming techniques, the art of writing and teaching. Most important of all, they taught them the wonders of maths and astronomy. These teachings and their stories were absorbed by the local tribes across the planet and subsequently passed down through the generations. But of course meanings and stories changed, as they do, over time. Nowadays their stories are mere whispers of what once was. Fossils buried in the sands of time. Or as you say, myths.’
‘But how could such a successful civilisation be wiped from history completely?’ Ella asked. ‘There’s always a trace, one way or another.’
Hades smiled and nodded. ‘You’re right, my girl. But the evidence is there. It’s just so old and warped that it’s hard to make it out from the rest of the noise.’ He shifted on the desk and leaned down towards Ella. ‘On every continent that they landed on there is evidence of their existence; evidence in the archaeology, and in the mythology of that race. But because their ways were copied and amended so long ago, the full picture has been blurred beyond recognition.’
Ella frowned, but something stopped her from probing further. Hades looked down at her and tilted his head to one side as if in pity. His eyes wandered over her body. She looked away, disgusted, violated.
‘Many geographically separate civilisations and religions have stories of global floods and of lands that fell to the sea, yes?’ he prompted.
Ella nodded.
‘Like the Greek story of the great flood that Zeus sent to purge the world of evil,’ he continued. ‘In that myth only two people survived, and they did so by building an ark. Sound familiar? And there are many other similar stories of Eden, versions of creation and myths of the gods, are there not?’
Still looking away, Ella nodded.
‘It was them,’ Hades whispered. ‘They started it all. The intellectual revolution that changed the world.’
‘So where exactly does your little band of murderers fit in to this? Don’t tell me you think you’re their distant descendants,’ William mocked.
Hades face fell and he grimaced. ‘No, we don’t.’ He slid off the desk and approached William. He loomed over him and shook his head in disgust at the sight before him.
‘Four hundred years before the Christ was born, the world’s first ever historian, a Greek called Herodotus of Halicarnassus, travelled to Egypt to study the tribes and cultures. In an area close to the pyramids of Giza, he met a tribe who claimed to have lived there for over nine-thousand years.’
‘Three-hundr
ed and forty-one generations,’ Ella recalled.
Hades turned to her raised his eyebrows. ‘Yes, my girl,’ he said with a smile. ‘Well done. So you’ve read The Histories?’
Regretting her words, Ella reluctantly nodded. She made a mental note to learn to hold her tongue.
‘Herodotus followed and studied this Egyptian tribe for some months, eventually he gained their trust. They shared with him their stories and beliefs and they showed him their most sacred object. An ancient book made from pure gold.’
‘That wasn’t in The Histories,’ Ella snapped, ignoring her own promise. ‘He mentioned something about the Atlantis sea being beyond the Pillars of Heracles, but is assumed to be an error and that he really meant the Atlantic sea. After all it was years before Plato first ever mentioned the word.’
Striding back to the desk, Hades smiled and nodded vigorously at Ella. ‘It’s a subtle clue, my girl. You see, Herodotus was part of a small secret society of scientists and philosophers. They were known as The Secret Brotherhood of Olympus.’
‘The Olympians?’ William mocked, he laughed loudly and deliberately.
Hades’ eyes narrowed, his face reddened. ‘Don’t underestimate them, they were a powerful group,’ he went on. ‘The Brotherhood recognised that knowledge was power and they recruited like minded people to forge that power. Together they used it to become rich and influential. In secret, their skills were passed down the generations.’
Subtly, William observed the room as Hades turned his attention back to Ella. Cossack still had the Taser in his hand, but he had lowered his arm and was listening with interest to the story.
‘When Herodotus returned to Athens he told his brethren about the sacred book that he had discovered,’ Hades said, recalling the story he had learned from his father as a young teenager. ‘He knew it was like nothing that had ever been seen before in the known world. They all agreed that it was wasted in the possession of a primitive Egyptian desert tribe. So they embarked on a mission to steal it from them. A band of mercenaries were hired and they travelled to Egypt. They raided the tribe in a precision planned dawn attack. Once the Brotherhood had found the book they slaughtered the entire tribe to ensure that word of what happened never got out. When it was all over they held a private celebration in Alexandria for the hired troops. But the wine was poisoned, the Brotherhood killed all the outsiders.’
While the two men were engrossed in the story, William tried to get Ella’s attention. He twitched and winked at her several times, but was careful to not let the others see what he was doing.
‘The Brotherhood then spent years trying to decode the book. They made little progress until a chance find some two-hundred years later. A strange clay tablet full of unknown symbols had been found by a Greek philosopher. He took it to the museums in Alexandria for further study. Soon after, one of the brethren came across it and instantly realised its importance. For it contained within it not only the very same symbols that decorated the sacred book, but also Cuneiform, the earliest Sumerian script. Naturally the Brotherhood took the tablet, not by murder and deceit this time, but with a large amount of gold.’ Hades laughed heartily. ‘With that crucial find they were able to start deciphering the secrets that had been held for so long.’
‘So what is it then, a shopping list?’ William chided, deliberately trying to keep Hades off balance.
Hades tried to ignore him and remained focused on Ella. As he spoke she glanced occasionally over to William who was still mouthing something to her.
‘Amongst all the stories that it told, there were dozens of mathematical and technological revelations,’ Hades said. ‘Each new translation was a wonder, and often a truth so strange, so frightening, that the Brotherhood knew it would never be accepted by the religious and political zealots of their time. So they vowed to keep it secret, to document their work and record everything for the future generations, for a time when it would be accepted. And, being scientists, historians and philosophers, they recorded more than just their research on the book.’ Hades raised his eyebrows and grinned knowingly.
Ella tried to work out what William was signalling her. Her mind raced. Then, in a flash, it all became clear. Her pulse raced, her face flushed red. She feared Hades would notice, but he was too engrossed in his own moment.
‘You see,’ Hades continued, ‘Herodotus is my ancestor.’
Gently, Hades placed the book down and slid off the desk. He approached Ella and extended his fist out to her face. Her eyes widened, she pushed her head back. William made to stand up, but Cossack moved swiftly over and pushed him down.
‘Do you recognise that?’ Hades asked her. He held out his signet ring in front of her face. She nodded. The gold ring had a symbol on it. A symbol that she had seen many times before.
‘I know you are wearing an identical ring,’ he said quietly. ‘They were forged from Egyptian gold in Alexandria over two-thousand years ago.’
Blood rushed to Ella’s head, her stomach somersaulted. She felt dizzy as the realisation ran through her. When she looked at William he once again mouthed the same words. Her eyes narrowed. There was so much she wanted to ask, so much she wanted to know. The ridiculousness of her predicament almost made her laugh.
‘These are just minor relics of the treasures that the Brotherhood has passed down through the generations,’ Hades continued. ‘Our ancestors, Ella. Like The Histories, they kept detailed records of many historical events as they occurred. The real histories of the ancient world, untainted and unaltered by religion or politics. The truth.’
‘Then why not publish it,’ William said. ‘Set it free. Let the world benefit from it.’
Hades laughed. ‘And let the mongrels twist it, spin it, or brand it all as lies and heresy? No, that time has passed. Their time has passed. The time of popular ignorance, selfish capitalism and religious corruption will be gone forever.’ He held out his palms. ‘The new era has already begun. Surely you know that much, don’t you, Agent Temple?’
William frowned, the pieces began to fall into place. ‘Surely you can’t be serious,’ he said.
Ardent, Hades’ eyes narrowed. ‘It is the natural order of things.’
‘How?’
‘A plaque of Thebes,’ he stated. ‘I will simply take advantage of their own sins, their own greed. “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the children of disobedience”.’
‘You’re insane.’
‘No, the world is insane. But not for much longer. Our vision is pure, what we must do is clear. From our Eden the new world shall emerge. With better people, a better way of life, a world free from the constraints of the medieval religions that have corrupted the progression of humanity.’
‘Eden two-point-zero? Ha!’ William mocked. ‘You’re fascists. Mad and twisted. In other words, scum.’
Hades’ blood boiled. He grimaced and nodded a silent order to Cossack. At the same moment William looked directly at Ella and mouthed the word, “Now”.
Reacting instantly, Ella stood up. ‘If I really am one of you,’ she said innocently with the slightest pout. ‘Then take me with you. I want to know more.’ It was all she could think of to grab their attention.
But it worked.
Having already readied himself, and with a face full of rage and passion, William leapt up from the bed and kicked Cossack squarely in the face. The Taser flew out of his hand and clattered along the floor. William kicked Cossack in the stomach and brought his foot down on his knee. Cossack stumbled backwards and fell to the floor clutching his bleeding face.
With only his legs as a weapon, William continued his attack. Focused on his next target, he jumped towards Hades. Ducking low, he kicked out in a low sweeping movement so sure and so swift that Hades’ legs were swept from under him. Shocked by William’s speed, Hades watched in awe as William jumped into the air and swiftly slid his arms under his bottom and thighs. He landed in an awkward crouched position, but quickly stepped out
of his bound hands one leg at a time. He righted himself, stretched his clasped hands out in front of his chest and prepared himself for the next move.
Cossack recovered and lurched for the Taser. William took a two handed swing at Cossack’s head and knocked him over onto his back. With maximum aggression, Cossack kicked out at William’s stomach. The force pushed William backwards towards the bed. Cossack righted himself while William struggled with his balance. Cossack smiled an evil grin and threw himself at William, he was enjoying this. The pair collapsed onto the bed and grappled at each other.
Despite having his hands tightly bound, William managed to get a few blows in with his elbows. But Cossack had the advantage. He grabbed the plasticuffs and pushed William’s arms up over his head. With all his might William struggled, but a firm and well aimed punch to the solar plexus winded him and dampened his energy. Cossack heaved William off the bed and threw him across the room. William crashed into the wall on the other side and fell to the floor. He pushed himself up once more.
‘Now boss,’ Cossack shouted. ‘SHOOT HIM!’
In an instant Hades aimed the weapon at William’s chest and pulled the trigger. There was a flash and a loud crack. For a nano-second William stared in disbelief as the darts hit him once more. Instantly he collapsed in agony as the electric shockwaves surged through him. Gritting his teeth, Hades continued to squeeze the trigger and delivered an agonising electric charge for several seconds.
The last thing William saw was Ella cowering wide eyed on the floor by the cabinet. Feeling cold and numb, he reached out to her. Then he passed out.
Chapter 33
0745hrs – Bedfordshire
When Ella had emerged from the tunnel and climbed back up onto the bridge with Hades, she was shocked to see that it was daylight. The still morning air was cold and smelled of the forest. A thin layer of mist clung to the ground. The foliage was wet with dew. Hades escorted Ella along the track road to one of two quad-bikes. For some reason, Cossack had stayed behind.
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