The Alboran Codex

by J C Ryan

  The next day when he dropped his report off, to his surprise, there was a message from his handler thanking him for a job well done and confirming that his final payment had been processed as per his instructions. It was the end of his mission — the easiest money Durand had made since he entered the professional assassin industry.

  The sudden and amiable ending of his contract suited Durand to the T. It meant he got his payment and the client was happy and more importantly, unsuspecting of his plans.

  Chapter 25 -

  The job offer

  Mackenzie had set herself up at the kitchen table where she could be out of Liu’s way and out of earshot while she was dictating the Sirralnnudam translations into the voice recognition software.

  She was reading through a paper titled “A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell: Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology,” published in 1996 by Robert A. Freitas Jr., a Research Fellow of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing (IMM) at Palo Alto, California. She had read this specific information many times before, but she often returned to it and read it again as it always stimulated her thought processes.

  Although generic descriptions of potential nanomedical devices had been published by others over the years, Freitas was the first scientist of modern times who had published such an elaborately detailed exploratory design that had the potential to achieve a useful result — an artificial mechanical erythrocyte (red blood cell) or respirocyte generator.

  The Nobel physicist Richard P. Feynman was the first to propose the concept of nanotechnology in December 1959. During a presentation, he laid down an apparently “unachievable” challenge to build a working electric motor no larger than 1/64th-inch cube. He backed his challenge with a $1,000 prize. Within eleven months, an engineer, William McLellan, presented his 250-microgram, 2000-rpm motor, consisting of thirteen separate parts, and collected his reward. Since then nanotechnology had emerged in leaps and bounds in not only medical science but almost every industry on the planet, as scientists started building rigid nano parts for the medical, computer, telecommunications, apparel, military, energy, and many other industries.

  Chemists had been successful at constructing self-assembling, multi-part nanomachines that could travel through the human body on missions to discover, monitor, report, and repair. It seemed as if it was just a matter of time before the first complex, micron-scale chemical factory that would overcome the shortcomings of current artificial blood technologies would make its appearance.

  At least, that’s what Robert A. Freitas Jr. had predicted more than twenty years ago. But after all this time, and despite enormous progress in the nanotechnology field, no respirocyte generator had been built yet.

  Mackenzie was so deep in thought she didn’t hear Liu calling out to her — only becoming aware when Liu waved her hand in front of Mackenzie’s eyes.

  “You had me worried. I’ve been calling you for the past five minutes. You must have been on another planet.” Liu was enlivened. “Sorry to disturb your thoughts, but I have something very interesting to show you.”

  Mackenzie nodded, apologized for not hearing Liu’s calls, and followed her to the study, where she took a seat next to Liu so they could both look at the two computer screens.

  “I’ve got two parts I want to show you.” Liu pointed at the screen to the left displaying the original text of the Sirralnnudam. “You see that part I’ve highlighted? Now look at my translation on this screen.” She started reading.

  “’Unknown word’ air or gases are absorbed or taken up and released or set free by ‘unknown word’. There is a balance or relationship between ‘unknown word’s’ processing of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the human body . . .”

  “Replace that first unknown word with respiratory and the other two with hemoglobin,” Mackenzie said calmly.

  Liu made the replacements and Mackenzie read the translation again. “Mhh now it makes sense. This is really exciting.”

  Liu continued. “When there is a high level of oxygen in the lungs it helps to release the carbon dioxide.” She paused and looked at Mackenzie. “Makes sense to you so far?”

  Mackenzie nodded.

  “Okay.” Liu continued. “It says carbon dioxide is generated in the body because of the burning or processing of the food we eat. Both the oxygen and the carbon dioxide in the body are transported between the lungs and the cells of the body by the red blood cells.”

  Mackenzie nodded again. “So far it’s spot on.”

  “Good. Now it says hemoglobin is an important . . . I think that word means protein . . . let’s call it a substance for now, in the red blood cells, which mixes or combines with the oxygen, and that about ninety-five percent of the oxygen is carried in this form. The remaining oxygen gets dissolved in the blood. I’m not sure that my figures are correct, but from what I could make out of their numbering system, it seems as if hemoglobin holds about eighty-seven times more oxygen than the blood fluid or plasma.” She paused and looked at Mackenzie and noticed the stunned expression.

  “Liu, it’s mind-bending to think that some scientists, thousands of years ago, documented this information with such stunning accuracy. This is stuff we only discovered a hundred or so years ago. In the light of this, maybe I should use the word rediscovered.

  “This information is one hundred percent in line with what we know today. If I didn’t know how old this book was, I would have taken you to task about the origin of this information.”

  Liu smiled. She’d had the pleasure of seeing looks like the one on Mackenzie’s face on quite a few occasions in the past when she’d done translations for Carter and for his grandfather, Will. “Shall I continue?”

  “Please, I’m all ears.”

  “It says that the hemoglobin inside the red blood cells also combines with carbon dioxide and about twenty-five percent of what the body produces during food processing is carried by hemoglobin. Ten percent dissolves in the plasma and the remaining sixty-five percent gets transported by the hemoglobin inside the red blood cells.

  “Now with this next part I’m struggling a bit with the medical terminology, but the gist of it seems to be that this arrangement of how the carbon dioxide is transported around in the body ensures that the acidity levels of the blood in the veins are in sync with those in the main arteries.” She paused and glanced at Mackenzie.

  “Magnificent translation, Liu!” she exclaimed. “I could not have explained that better than you just did. And again, as with everything else you have told me in the past few minutes, it’s exactly as we understand it today.”

  “Well, then I am very pleased. Now I suggest you buckle up for part two.” Liu laughed as she found the relevant page and brought it up on the two screens.

  “Ready when you are,” Mackenzie whispered eagerly.

  “From what I can make out, the author is talking about an easy or simple but extremely small machine or device or mechanism that was used to simulate red blood cells. It goes on to explain that this little miracle machine can deliver about 240 times more oxygen to the tissues than natural human red blood cells are capable of. The mechanisms of the device are described in more detail in the latter parts of the text. I had a quick look at it earlier, but I will need a lot of technical help to translate that correctly.”

  They decided it was time for a tea break and went to the kitchen to prepare their drinks before returning to the study. Mackenzie was burning to get hold of Carter and tell him, but she controlled her excitement. She wanted to have a look at the design before she would call him.

  It didn’t take them long to figure out that the device was constructed out of a diamondiferous material, using a variation of chemical, thermal, and pressure sensors, all controlled by what they could best describe as an onboard nanocomputer. The apparatus apparently was powered from the abundance of naturally-occurring glucose in the body, enabling them to operate independently and virtually indefinitely.

  “Liu, I can’t help but wonder if some of the
present-day designers of hypothetical respirocyte generators had a peek at the Sirralnnudam before creating their designs.” She laughed. “Discounting my limited understanding of nanotechnology, to me this ancient device sounds so similar to some of the modern designs it’s almost scary.”

  “Well, what we need to find now is the exact design specifications—the blueprint if you will. I’ve scrolled through the text but couldn’t find anything like that . . .”

  “Ah . . . that’s not nice of them. Why didn’t they just play along and give it to us?” Mackenzie snickered.

  “Maybe they were not as bad as you think. I found this paragraph here.” Liu pointed at the screen with the original text. “I haven’t translated it properly yet, so I’ll just give you the general picture. It says here that this machine or device was developed and used by people who lived on the earth a very long time . . . wait, I think that should be translated as ‘many thousands of years ago’. According to this, those were strange people who called themselves the Zamzummim, although the text also uses this word hereרפאים, which is a Semitic word for Rephaim. Now the most intriguing part for me is this part here, which could have two possible meanings; the one is that this Zamzummim people were of extraordinary height and stature—”

  “Giants!” Mackenzie shouted. “They were giants! Liu, this is . . . this is . . . I don’t know what to say . . . staggering.”

  “Okay, just hang on one sec. Those words could also refer to dead ancestors or residents of the Underworld or Netherworld.”

  “No, I don’t think so. We can check with Carter, but if my memory serves me correctly, recalling some of the facts from when Carter explained the history of giants to Sean and the others when they were here a few weeks ago — the word Rephaim means giants. That name Zamzummim appears in the Bible and is later changed to Zuzim. They were a race of giants whom some scholars believe lived from before Adam.”

  “I’ll take your word for that. So, then that text means the giants who called themselves the Zamzummim developed and used what we would today call a respirocyte generator.”

  Then the reality of it all sunk in, and Mackenzie exploded. “Liu! We found it! We’ve got it! It’s incredible . . . it’s astonishing . . .”

  Mackenzie was on her feet dancing and shaking her arms in the air. And the next moment, just as quickly as that outburst happened, she went unnervingly quiet. She stopped and stared out the window. Her mind had become cluttered with thoughts and emotions — remembering the first conversation she had with Will, years ago, about this. The research she had put into it, the pain and suffering of she and her children in captivity, the hopelessness she experienced at times. Liu’s abduction and her unnecessary suffering — all because of this research. Guilt and remorse . . . was this really worth it? Thousands of thoughts and emotions bombarded her brain.

  She should have felt jubilation, gratification, or even liberation. This was the moment she had worked for so long. But then, it had almost cost her, her life and those of her children and her husband and her friend, Liu. For so long she had expected, hypothesized, and anticipated, and now it was there. But instead of joy, she felt cold and deflated. She felt guilty.

  Finally, after many minutes, she turned to Liu, and with tears in her eyes, she started talking. “Liu . . . I . . . I don’t know what to say. Suddenly, I’m feeling so empty . . . so guilty . . .”

  Liu opened her mouth, but Mackenzie held her hand up to stop her. “No, please let me finish. I’ve drawn you into this . . . were it not for my egotistical mania to make this discovery, you wouldn’t have endured all that suffering in Saudi Arabia . . . hell, you wouldn’t even have been there . . .”

  “Enough!” Liu shouted. “Have you lost your mind, Mackenzie? I won’t have another word of that senseless babbling of yours. You are my best friend. I’m a linguist, I translate ancient scrolls and texts and whatever — that’s my job, and I love what I do.

  “The people who locked me up in that place were criminals, evil-minded people with evil intent, not you. You had nothing to do with it. I don’t want to hear another stupid thought like that out of your mouth.”

  She stood and put her arms around Mackenzie’s shoulders. “This is a momentous occasion, Mackenzie. We have all the reason to celebrate. It’s almost as if this is partial reparation for what they took away from us in that evil place.”

  Mackenzie stood back and looked at Liu, mustering a smile through her tears. “How can anyone ever hope to be blessed with a better friend than you?”

  It was time to get hold of Carter. Mackenzie phoned him on the satellite phone and asked him to come home as quickly as possible. She refused to tell him why.

  ***

  Ten minutes later, Carter and Dylan arrived in the electric cart and entered the house to find the shell-shocked women in the living room.

  “What’s wrong, Mackie?” Carter asked with concern in his voice. “It looks as if you’ve seen a ghost.” He took a few steps and took her in his arms.

  Dylan followed suit and took Liu in his own arms. “What is it, Liu?”

  As if on cue, the women started laughing, to the consternation of their men.

  Mackenzie spoke first. “Carter, we’ve got it! We found it! Its beyond exciting—”

  “What are you talking about, Mackie? Slow down now, take a deep breath, and tell us.”

  “We found the first reference to an ancient respirocyte generator, Carter!” Liu burst out in laughter again. “Can you believe it? It’s been hiding in the Sirralnnudam all this time, just waiting for us to find it.”

  “What?” Dylan shouted as he lifted Liu off the floor, her feet dangling in the air almost fourteen inches off the ground. “How did you . . . hang on . . . let’s sit down, I can’t keep you up in the air like this forever.”

  “You didn’t have any problems a few months ago, when you carried me up those stairs . . .” Liu giggled.

  “Different time and circumstances,” Dylan muttered with a big grin.

  Carter let go of Mackenzie and dragged her over to the couch next to him. “Now one at a time, beginning with you, Mackie, tell us what you found.”

  An hour later, after Liu and Mackenzie had fetched the laptop from the study and showed them what they’d found, and Carter having checked and double-checked Liu’s translations, he and Dylan were just staring at the ladies.

  “Earth-shattering,” was all that Dylan could get out when the significance of the discovery dawned on him.

  “Mackie, it’s maybe too early to say, but I’ve got this strange awareness that we have what you are looking for right here in this house.”

  “What do you . . . Of course! The library of the giants!”

  Carter slowly nodded. “All the more reason to get that translated as quickly as humanly possible.”

  “Library of the giants? What’s that? Have I missed something?” Liu asked.

  Carter looked at Dylan. “I think it’s time to read her in on that.”

  Dylan nodded, turned to Liu, and explained to her how Carter found the metallic sheets at the City of Lights in Egypt and brought them back with him. He also explained how Carter was able to access the script with the help of an electron microscope.

  As Dylan’s account progressed, Liu became more and more excited, and in short order she was staring at the rendition of one of the dots on one of the sheets on Carter’s computer.

  She started speaking under her breath, “Mhh, definitely proto-Semitic, some familiar root words that look like a mix of ancient Arabic, Aramaic, ancient Hebrew . . . and others. Wait a minute here is a word . . . large . . . enormous . . . in size. Hang on let me go back . . . humans, large or enormous . . . Giants!”

  Carter and the rest started grinning. “Liu, you should have paid us a visit a long time ago. Just imagine how much we would have discovered by now.”

  Liu was deep in thought. She didn’t even hear Carter speaking. “Mackenzie, you are not going to believe this . . . here it is, the exac
t same word for giants we saw in the Sirralnnudam, Zamzummim.”

  A deafening silence broke out as they all stared at Liu.

  Carter was the first one to get his brain and vocal cords connected again. “That means Mackie’s respirocyte generator might be waiting for us in those metallic sheets. Liu, how long will it take you to familiarize yourself with that language?”

  “Maybe a month or two. But that is not the issue. If I understood Dylan’s explanation of the size of this library correctly, you’ll need an army of a thousand linguists and ten to fifteen years to work through it.”

  “You’ve got a point there but I already spoke to Rick Winslow about developing a computer program to help us speed things up, but we’ll still need a human to check and oversee everything.”

  Liu nodded. “Yeah, computers can help a lot, and it might be useful to at least get the rough translation of everything done quickly. That will enable you to start searching, categorizing, and indexing the content.”

  Carter glanced at Mackenzie. It was as if telepathic communication passed between them, and she nodded slightly.

  “Liu, are you open to a job offer at this stage?” Carter asked in earnestness.

  Dylan’s heart missed a beat as he realized what it would mean if she said yes — she would move to DC — they could . . .

  Liu started. “I . . . I . . .”

  “You’ll head up a team of translators, working on this library and the Sirralnnudam . . . and, of course, any other documents we come across. Double your current salary and of course all your current benefits.”

  “You’ll have to give me a bit of time to think about that, Carter,” she replied. Glancing at Dylan, she saw the anticipation and excitement on his face.

  Mackenzie didn’t lie — he really is in love with me.

  Mackenzie saw the exchange of looks between the two and then the sudden change on Liu’s face. “Oh Liu, I think Carter forgot to mention the biggest hazard with this job, and that is you’ll have to move to DC.”