by Sean Salazar
She stopped and pulled her hands back again. This is excellent, she thought. Suspiciously, she continued pulling the clothing back, realizing that she could prolong this no more. Several shreds of clothing came loose, but she kept pulling. More and more marking continued to emerge. “This is crazy,” she said, embarrassingly out loud. She stepped back, not sure of what to make of what she was observing. She glared at the blackened markings revealed under the clothing. “Now...” she paused, “that I have to say is different.”
She sneezed suddenly as she noticed several more visible grooves. She wiped her nose on her sleeve, keeping her gloved hand clear of her face. She composed herself and called to her assistant, “Hey, you have got to see this.”
Her assistant stepped away from her examination table and walked over. “Yes, doctor?”
“Take a look at that.”
Her assistant positioned herself by the hand bones and leaned in. “Well, it’s... Um, I don’t know, but...” she leaned in closer, “what the heck?”
Dr. Hamilton pulled off her gloves, walked over to the wall phone, grabbed it and put it to her ear, “Get me the CIA Director, ASAP.”
Chapter Twenty
Two blocks from the subterranean complex; second entrance
The moon was bright as the Ford Excursion pulled up to the curb. The doors opened and four men piled out, each with a small shoulder pack and dressed in black.
Jess Contreras, also in black with her hair braided and tightly pulled back, stepped out of the shadows and away from the dark wall where she had been waiting. She chose this specific location and time due to very few pedestrians walking about at this hour and it was a strategic blind spot from the soldiers guarding the entrance. Earlier, she had observed Ed and the pretty blonde enter the alleyway in the rain. The fact that he was there undoubtedly meant that they were wasting no time deciphering what was underground.
The four men continued single-file to the corner where she stood. When the first man, who was their leader, reached her, the other three stopped just short of him and stood next to the old building, blending into the dark brick wall. She reached out her hand and he handed her a small silenced submachine gun.
She silently motioned for them to follow her to the next corner one block away. When she reached the spot, she waved for the others to crouch down and the lead man stepped up next to her. “Your orders?” he asked, in his sharp, deep voice.
She pulled out a small device, brought it up to her eye and looked through it. The alley had two concrete barriers, intended to block vehicles. From her position she counted two guards patrolling in the alleyway and didn’t see anyone else. Directly around the corner was a military Humvee and an armored vehicle parked along the sidewalk. The Humvee had two passengers, both in the front seat. The armored vehicle looked to be sealed. If the alarm sounded, the soldiers could be out of the Humvee and into the alley in three seconds and the armored vehicle marshaled into action right after that.
After she assessed the situation, she stepped to the side and nodded to the leader.
He then motioned for his men to step forward. He pointed to the vehicles and quietly gave one of his men orders. The man looked carefully at the Humvee and then crossed the street.
The leader then motioned for another man to approach. He pointed to the two guards in the alleyway. The man too took a good look, nodded, and slowly began walking towards the guards, staying in the dark shadows.
Jess then turned to the leader and the remaining other man, motioned for them to follow her, and they reversed course and headed back down the way they had come. They made it to the next corner, turned, and worked their way in the direction of the alleyway. Being still one block away, she found a dark section of sidewalk and dropped to one knee.
After a few seconds, Jess crossed the street with the two men directly behind her. She could now see the parked armored vehicles and began walking towards it. As she got closer to the opening of the alley, she could see a dark shadow crawling up to the driver’s door of the Humvee. In one split second, the shadow stood up and quickly opened the door. She could see two flashes of light emanate from inside the cabin and the passengers slumped over. The shadow closed the door and approached the armored vehicle. He would toss a deadly chemical gas grenade into a small opening in the front, instantly killing the crew inside.
In just seconds, the job was finished and the dark shadow backed away from the vehicles and approached the corner of the alley.
Jess now continued the final distance to the corner. She paused and slowly glanced around the edge and saw the two guards were gone. She now brought up her weapon and motioned for the men to follow. Quickly she made it to the small section leading to the window. The man the leader sent was kneeling in front of it, waiting. The two guards she had spotted earlier were lying flat on the ground to the side of the window, barely visible in the dark.
She knelt down next to the window and looked inside. She saw the hole and a light inside, but no other guard. She climbed inside and lowered herself. The other men followed her inside. Meanwhile, the other two men were eliminating the guards and neutralizing the vehicles at the opposite alley entrance.
Jess saw a ladder, crawled over to it, and looked down. At first, there were no sounds but suddenly she could hear footsteps. She raised her gun and continued listening. The footsteps had a pattern. They would be light, then heavy, as if the person was walking in a short back-and-forth pattern. She waited until the sounds of the steps lightened and quickly scaled down the ladder. Directly ahead, the silhouette of an armed guard was just turning around in front of an open rock wall with a light aimed at it. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger halfway, releasing one bullet. The silenced bullet entered the forehead and the guard buckled, his face hitting the dirt hard.
Jess pointed to the small bricked opening leading to the shaft and motioned for the other men to continue the assault.
Chapter Twenty-One
Moments later, Ed reached the bottom of the ladder and Alex said loudly from above, his voice echoing, “You didn’t tell me it was this damn far down.”
“Didn’t want to ruin the surprise,” Ed responded, digging the light out of his pocket. He found it, turned on his light and said, “Allow me to give you the dime store tour.”
“By all means,” Alex said, motioning with his hand for Ed to proceed.
Ed splashed through the centimeter or two of water to the podium, which was almost in the center of the chamber. Two men on their knees were busy guiding a cable into a small hole next to it and did not notice them walk up.
Alex stood next to him, placed his hand on the large stone podium and asked, “This is where the bomb was?”
“Yes, and aimed straight up.”
“Where is this water coming from?”
“Don’t know, but if I was to speculate; the water seems to be leaking in from the Potomac River.”
“I see,” he said, stepping around the podium.
“This way,” Ed said, splashing past the men. He stepped through the large wooden doors and pointed in both directions, “The chamber is enclosed within a large square base made of stone blocks roughly the same dimensions as the Washington Monument.”
Alex stepped to the wall and hit his fist on it. He examined the wall briefly and said, “This structure looks suspiciously like a load-bearing wall.”
“If it is,” Ed asked, “what is it supporting?”
Alex stepped back and responded, “Or when was it supporting something?”
“Excellent point.”
“And where was this pile of bones I keep hearing about?”
“This way,” Ed said, splashing down the passageway. He made it to the corner and followed it to the right along with the power cords. Ed stopped at the intersection next to another large light. “In that direction, after a long journey treading through water and another door leads to a ladder which leads to the other entrance.”
“And the skeletons were piled at
the bottom of the ladder?”
“That is correct.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The men in black ran past the fallen soldier and leapt through the small brick opening with Jess following behind. She made a quick assessment of the brass statue and the open shaft. After a few seconds she said, “I want this space and the tunnel destroyed.” She then aimed her light down the shaft and said to the leader, “Come with me.” The other man remained behind and began placing explosive charges throughout the space.
She landed at the bottom of the ladder and he dropped a black bag down to her. She noticed dozens of muddy footprints now replaced the skeletons. Once the other man joined her, they began charging down the tunnel.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Naturally,” Alex said, “when constructing a vast complex such as this, you would think one would notice. Unless it was built before the neighborhood upstairs moved in.”
“Yes,” Ed answered as his attention remained in the direction of the longer main passageway. “I would offer that one would notice the construction of such a large complex.”
“How far is this tunnel again?”
“It’s quite far, my friend. And considering your physical condition and that you still may be a little tipsy, I would recommend grabbing a ride on the surface; besides, my feet are sore.”
“I won’t argue with that. My feet are also stressed, not to forget soaking wet.”
They made it back to the main doorway and re-entered the chamber.
Ed led him directly to the writing. “This,” Ed said, holding his light directly at it, “is the wall that I am going to name, ‘The End of Days Wall.’”
Alex aimed his light over the faded mural. “So, we have a faded painting of a bearded man sitting on a blackish cloud with,” he lowered his light, “writing under the cloud.” He lowered his light further. “And seven candles below that.” He shot his light under each candle from left to right. “And writing under each candle.” He again lowered the light.
“Over another row of writing; all of it appears to be ancient Hebrew.” He lowered it to the base of the wall at the brass statue buried face up, “And that.”
“I thought you would like that,” Ed said, kneeling next to it. “When we were down here the first time it was much darker and we were being shot at.”
Alex knelt down next to him, “So in other words, it was business as usual.”
“It would be an odd day if we were not being shot at,” Ed said, shining his light over the statue’s head to illuminate the writing. “There is another statue in the other chamber, but without writing.”
“This is not something I would expect to find outside of Europe,” Alex said, twisting his head to see the writing. “You have deciphered all of it?”
“I believe so.” Ed began reading,
“In... of the giants... Returning from the everlasting...
Establish their throne.”
Ed stood up. “My initial impression zeroed in on the words Giants and Everlasting.”
Alex remained kneeling, “I would agree.” He spent a few seconds analyzing the writing. He then added, “Let me speculate that your impression would be to re-calibrate the Hebrew words.”
“Precisely my thought.”
Alex stood up, examined the writing under the seven candles briefly and asked, “So the rest of this you believe is a continuation of the other codes?”
“It’s a strong possibility.”
“Well,” Alex continued, “there is more going on here than meets the eye.” He pointed to the black cloud the bearded man was engulfed in. “Look.” He stepped closer to the wall. “Because it appears,” he aimed his light directly at the cloud, “that part is not a cloud.”
Ed also stepped closer and examined the wall. “You’re right. There’s an outline of something, but what is it?”
Alex swept his light directly over the seven candles and stopped on the center one. “Whatever it is, it seems to be pointing to this candle.”
“Indeed it is,” Ed said, following his lead. He stepped directly in front of the image examining its outline. “It almost has the appearance of an Egyptian structure.” He aimed his light back down at the statue, “Almost like this fellow here.”
Alex knelt back down and after a few seconds, he laughed.
“Yes,” Ed asked, “what is so funny?”
“Your statue here.”
Ed glanced down at it, “Yes?”
Alex reached over and knocked on the chest area, “It’s a woman.”
“Oh,” Ed responded, looking closer. He noticed he was hammering on the brass contour of breasts. Ed was slightly embarrassed that he did not notice that obvious detail earlier. “Well, you’re right. It is a woman.” He stepped back getting a broader view. “If you’re a woman,” he said, speaking to the statue, “then you must be a goddess.”
Alex looked up at the faded Hebrew writing under the black cloud. After a few moments of studying it, he began reading,
“The return...
Shall be... The lighting of the...
Seven seals of Erra through the Earth...”
He then moved his light under the first of the seven candles on the right and read the writing, “First seal of Tubal...
He moved the light to the second candle,
“And the horse...”
Next, the third candle,
“Second seal of Masech...”
Fourth candle,
“Third seal of Rosh...”
He paused, stood up, and leaned in closer to see the next small row of Hebrew characters under the fifth candle. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, keeping his gaze on the wall.
Ed noticed that Alex stopped on an important word. He cleared his throat, “That is also something I wanted you to see.”
“This can’t be right,” Alex said, and began reading,
“The end of days...
Will be in the day Gog days...
Followed by...
The stars passing...
And the great waters...
Will cover the Earth...
And Babylon will return and the gate of Ba’al shall open.”
He glanced at Ed, “Did I get that right?”
“Difficult to say, but I came to the same conclusion.”
“Tubal, Masech, and Rosh are all biblical names,” Alex said.
“But the mention of Gog,” Ed added, “is something totally different.”
Alex stood up, rubbing his chin for a while as he contemplated the writing. He then crossed his arms on his belly in his usual fashion and asked, “And you don’t have a fixed date on this writing yet.”
“Being that you are a master at deciphering hidden codes within codes,” Ed said, “and the fact that you are now fixated on these newly discovered writings, this could only mean that the trauma of being shot, interrogated, and drugged must be wearing off.”
Alex turned his light on Ed, gave him an upset look. “Is that a yes or a no?” he demanded.
“No,” Ed answered, happy that his old friend was back, “I mean yes.”
“Don’t go getting soft on me now,” Alex said.
“When I initially did a rough translation of this wall...”
Alex cut him off, “While under fire.”
“Yes, of course,” Ed answered, snickering at him. “I concluded,” he corrected himself, “well, rather I should say, a preliminary conclusion is that the word Gog in this manner is a numeric word syllable code.”
“Oh, really.” Alex was surprised. He aimed his light back at the three Hebrew characters spelling Gog. “So, if I understand you correctly,” he said, “then, the use of Gog in this form, is a date?”
Ed straightened up and answered, “Yes, I believe so; that is, of course, if we are translating it correctly.”
“Very well. Shall I ruin my lunch by asking what date you have come up with?”
“Ah,” Ed said, glaring at the wall. “Before all the misc
hief started with all that shooting I calculated a date of 2240.”
Alex did not respond and began studying the wall again. He moved his light back and forth examining different parts and eventually said, “I do not easily gather how you came up with that.”
“I suggest,” Ed said, pulling out his camera, “that we document this wall and I will explain it to you over a cup of tea.”
“That sounds like a great idea, but I want to examine the other entrance soon.”
Ed took several more pictures of his ‘end of days’ wall and then joined Alex at the other faded painting.
Alex had his light aimed at another faded image of a bearded fellow sitting on a throne holding an open book with his left hand. The cover of the book was facing outward and Greek letters were visible on the right side with the left side blank. “The only writing on this wall appears to be on the book cover.”
Ed handed the camera to Alex and added, “The American government has given you and me first rights of investigation. When we leave, they will immediately tear this place apart in their own investigation.”
“I was wondering about that,” Alex answered as he began taking pictures.
When he had finished, they both began climbing the rope ladder to the surface.
Chapter Twenty-four
Splashing down the passageway, Jess skidded to a stop at the first intersection. The narrow, water-filled passage made it difficult to maintain a steady pace but they reached their goal. A large light was positioned in the center of the intersection. She observed the power cord stretched to the right and leading to the main entrance. She motioned for the other man to go to the left and she continued to the right, following the power cord.
Jess continued down the watery passageway, trying to keep the splashing sounds to a minimum. A large doorway appeared on the left side where the water and power cords freely flowed inside. She quietly approached the side of the door with her gun sights up and ready. A few seconds later, the other man approached from the opposite direction, indicating that the perimeter had been cleared. She waited until he was in position on the other side of the door. She then leaned around and immediately noticed two men kneeling to the side of a stone platform that once held the bomb. They were focused on what they were doing. She glanced at the other man and nodded. They both entered the space and made a rapid analysis. Two men working by a podium; two more men climbing a ladder a short distance behind the podium. She followed the ladder up with her sights observing the lighted hole in the ceiling leading to the White House lawn. She turned and gestured for the other man to kill the men by the small platform. Turning back, she again focused on the two climbing the ladder.