The Keys of Solomon (6 page)

Falco gave the weapon a quick inspection, then checked the tripod, scope, and mounts. Usually, he preferred getting intimate with his mission objectives, utilizing assorted close quarter antipersonnel weapons. Handguns and knives were his personal favorites. There was little chance to botch a hit in close quarters, but such tactics also carried some high-risk disadvantages. His current target was a prime example. If the reports were true, and he didn't doubt for a moment that they were, Sam Conner was a very, very dangerous young man.

Falco had little left to do except make a final check of the ammo. While he emptied, checked, and reloaded the magazines, he thought about the boy he would kill later this evening, and the bizarre chain of events that led to the termination order.

A couple of years earlier, Falco and his former partner, Cohlin Ridley, had been part of a large Watcher contingency stationed at specific points around the world to observe and record odd behavior at the Veils. The Veils, or Eyes of God, were scattered across the planet with some situated in remote and nearly inaccessible areas, while others were “hidden” in highly conspicuous places: a tourist park in the northwestern United States, a well-traveled roadway near Berlin, a busy mosque in the heart of Mosul, Iraq, and another just to the north of Mosul, near an obscure Turkish village. The Veils could be found in the most likely and unlikely places imaginable.

Very little was known about the Veils, with most of the information coming from ancient documents recovered by the Knights Templar during the second and third Crusades. Only a few of the scrolls recovered from beneath Solomon's Temple in twelfth-century Jerusalem mentioned the Veils. In fact, the single greatest source of information regarding these mysterious “living instruments” was a journal engraved upon copper sheeting and buried with one of the Temple High Priests.

The document proved difficult to decipher, though the Templars eventually managed to piece together the history and function of the Veils. A kind of doorway constructed before recorded time, they were used by an unknown people to traverse the many planes of existence, including the reputed seven levels of Heaven as described by the Old Testament prophet Enoch. The journal also related a “divinely inspired prophecy” that connected the Veils to the living descendants of ancient trysts between angels and humans. Neither wholly human nor divine, these descendants were referred to as the Offspring.

According to the few texts that referenced the subjects, both the Veils and the Offspring would come together at some future point, and initiate a cataclysmic series of events referred to as “the End of Days.” The authors believed the End of Days would occur just prior to the Christian Rapture, and herald in the Great Tribulation, an unprecedented period of famine, disease, death, and human misery. During this short but catastrophic period, Creation's “ageless Enemy” would infiltrate the Plane of Man, and wipe out four-fifths of the earth's population. According to the dismal prophecy, the number of humans destined to survive the End of Days would depend on their commitment to survival and of course, God's will. The Templars and their various offshoots understood they could do little about the latter, and thus, began formulating plans for the former—to survive.

Other scrolls found inside the temple spoke of the same scenario with far less optimism for the survival of man. But the author of the copper scroll urged mankind to remain vigilant for portents indicating the coming of the Enemy, and to resist that coming with all of its might. Templar scholars took this to mean that the outcome wasn't necessarily preordained, and that mankind could influence its own survivability. Other less detailed documents named Legion as the “ageless Enemy” and foretold of the imminent assault on the world of man, as well as the coming of a modern-day usurper, and “an old war made new” that would threaten the very gates of Heaven.

When the Templars had collected what they believed to be all of the documents alluding to the Veils, they discreetly dispatched teams of knights to search for and record their exact locations. The Templars never succeeded in locating the Veils, as France's King Philip the Fair, in an act of desperate greed and infinite stupidity, outlawed the Order in 1307. Many of the Templars were imprisoned and executed for any number of bogus reasons. Yet large numbers of the Order managed to escape, taking priceless religious artifacts with them. These outlawed knights managed to survive and eventually prosper. It was they and their direct descendants who, years later, gave birth to the Order of Watchers.

Within a span of sixty years, the Watchers had succeeded in locating nine of the purported twelve Veils. The leaders, or Hierarchy, of this ultrasecretive organization held knowledge of the Veils in strictest confidence. Generation after generation of Watchers passed, with each contributing to the search for additional Veils, as well as the constant monitoring of those already found.

While the Watchers understood the nature of the Veils no better than did their Templar predecessors, they realized the immense power required to create and sustain these shimmering, translucent gateways. Surely, they reasoned, such powerful instruments must have some great and perhaps ominous destiny. For the next several centuries, the Watchers maintained discreet vigilance over the Veils, waiting for—something. And in the fall of 1997, it started. Overnight, the once effervescent Veils underwent a startling metamorphosis. They took on a murky, opaque appearance, emitted ghastly odors, and undulated violently in the air. A short time later, the first of the greater demons came through into the world of man. The first was soon followed by more. Only a few at first, but the numbers increased at an alarming rate. Just when it seemed a dire situation could degenerate no further, the Offspring began to emerge, the gifts of their mixed heritage manifesting in alarming ways.

The very fact that Conner and Michael Collier had made their way past a host of demons beneath the grounds of the old sanatorium spoke volumes. That only Conner emerged from that nightmarish tunnel said even more.

Centuries-old Watcher doctrine held that the Offspring would play a major role in the collapse of the world just prior to the End of Days. Some members of the Watcher Hierarchy leaned toward a belief that the Offspring were “tainted blood” out of the angelic Nephalim line, or possibly the human line of the Old Testament's Seth or Cain. While some of the original documents collected from various sources during each of the Crusades spoke in great detail of these potentially powerful entities, the scrolls failed to mention which side of the final conflict they would support.

Watcher scholars predicted the long-dormant Offspring would emerge at the End of Days and become a pivotal factor in the fate of man and the Christian faith. With that belief in mind, the Watchers had sought out and maintained surveillance on suspected Offspring bloodlines. It wasn't an easy task. Such a labor-intensive effort required decades of man-hours, monotonous genealogical research, and exorbitant funding. The Watchers also had in their possession many other tablets and scrolls of a prophetic nature, many of which had little or nothing to do with the blood relations of angels, and in time, less energy was dedicated to locating the Offspring and greater attention paid to more obvious and no less unsettling events in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Things remained in status quo until Abbotsville came to a rapid boil. Afterward, the Watcher leadership believed that Sam Connor
could
have been solely responsible for the deliberate destruction of the Veil in Tennessee, an act that allowed Legion to pass from their sordid plane of existence, Sitra Akhra, into the world of man. While Watchers like Falco kept personal opinions to themselves unless asked, he wasn't so sure about the boy's role in Abbotsville.

But one thing was certain. While Conner may or may not have consciously realized the full consequences of his actions, he surely contributed to the damage of every known Veil on the planet. The Veils were interconnected by some odd juxtaposition, and whatever adversely affected one, affected them all. Through Sam's actions, unwitting or otherwise, the Eyes of God were corrupted beyond repair. A supposedly divine, and therefore indestructible, artifact destroyed by a mere boy. With that kind of unchecked power at his command, the boy was a danger to the entire world. Although the vote was divided, the consensus was clear: The boy could not be allowed to live.

Though the Hierarchy remained divided regarding the Offspring, most were convinced Sam Conner was a clear and present danger. Some objected to the boy's termination and instead advocated his abduction. They insisted that the Offspring be studied, examined, and possibly used as a tool in the war with Legion. They feared the boy's assassination would eventually lead to an all-out effort to exterminate the Offspring bloodline. The majority, however, saw the mission as just another necessary precaution. Demonic or not, the Offspring were still very, very dangerous. For his part, Falco relished the task, seeing it as an opportunity to atone for his many sins.

Along with men and women like Ridley, Harriett Tilden, and William Caseman, Falco would carry out counterstrikes against the ageless Enemy until God chose another path for him. And for three years, Falco had done his duty with deadly efficiency. God willing, he vowed to continue for as long as life remained in his body or the threat posed by the Enemy was neutralized.

He glanced at his watch. It was nearly time to strike another blow in the name of God and humanity.

*   *   *

Falco finished the equipment check, then slid the cases back into their hiding places beneath the beds. Finally, he sat down on the bed and kicked off his shoes. With all the preparations completed, he should have been relaxing, allowing his mind to stand down and rejuvenate. But something was worrying him, nagging at the fringes of his mind. Something was wrong.

Since joining the Order and becoming a consecrated Sword, Falco had carried out twenty-three similar missions. He didn't enjoy killing, but he accepted it as a necessary act in the escalating war between good and evil. Thomas Falco had no trouble reconciling his actions or drawing a clear distinction between murder and killing the Enemy. Still, something troubled him. He'd never felt such apprehension while preparing for a mission.

Time frame wasn't an issue. They still had two hours before proceeding to the ambush point. Nor was lack of equipment or planning a problem. The vehicles and other supplies were ready and pre-positioned, and support teams had already been dispatched and were on standby to assist with emergency extraction. He and Will had gone over the plan a dozen times, memorizing all primary and alternate routes to and from the campus Biology building. Both men had memorized Sam Connor's usual routes across campus, his face, body type, and preferred clothing. They even knew the size of Sam's black-and-white Converse sneakers. Ten and a half, EE. And the mission wouldn't end with Sam. They also knew about his mother and younger sister.

So what is it? What am I missing? Why does this mission feel so wrong?
Embarrassed by his doubts, Falco chided himself.
You're a professional. Act like it! Probably still on edge from St. Louis. After all, forty-eight hours doesn't allow for much separation. Just take it easy and everything will work out just fine.

He glanced over at Will and was surprised to find the Brit staring back. There was a curious expression on the man's face, one Thomas had never seen before. When the two locked eyes, Falco saw something else he would have never expected from Will Caseman. It was the resigned look of a man who knew he wasn't coming back from a mission. After a moment, Will looked away and made a show of fidgeting with his iPod. Falco lay back on the bed, though he continued to study his partner from the corner of his eye.

On the surface, William Caseman was an unremarkable fellow. Falco often thought Will was the kind of guy you could overlook in an elevator, making him the perfect physical specimen for this kind of work. But there was more to Will. Much more.

Only two years earlier, Will had seemed ready to make a career of military service when he inexplicably resigned his commission and applied to a seminary in Northern Ireland. Another highly irregular coincidence shared with Thomas Falco.

The Watchers had covert operatives embedded in any number of high government offices across the globe. They were acutely aware of Will's devout Catholic orphanage upbringing and his sterling military record. Apparently, they were also aware of the reasons behind his unexpected resignation from the military and his sudden and puzzling interest in seminary, though details had been blacked out inside the dossier.

Before moving to recruit Will, the Watchers exercised customary caution, discreetly observing his behavior for nearly a year. On the day he was finally contacted, Will handed the recruiter a small notebook containing information on his “covert observers.” Information included names and detailed physical descriptions, types of automobiles driven, residential addresses, pubs frequented, churches attended, spouses and mistresses. To say the man possessed a sharp eye for detail was an incredible understatement.

Falco and Will had worked only a couple of missions as a team, but one of those missions had been a ball-breaker. The eradication of a “nest,” or small colony, of minor minions in Buenos Aires. After months of observation and preparation, the Watchers moved in for a quick kill. They weren't expecting the appearance of a greater demon, nor were they fully prepared for it. Still, the strike team prevailed. Caseman had performed particularly well and earned Falco's respect for his courage and resourcefulness. Falco also came to respect the man's intuition, and from the look on Will's face today, that intuition was giving off some bad vibes.

So I'm not the only one with some serious heartburn over this mission. What the hell is wrong with us?