Journey Into the Flame (52 page)

“Stay in the air, and track them, then,” Valerie ordered. “We will be there in thirty seconds!”

The pontoon pilot opened the engines to full, with little regard for the wake affecting the other small crafts on the river.

“It’s just over there,” Mr. Perrot said, pointing to the smoke from the pyres. “Manikarnika Ghat. It’s where Jogi was killed.”

“What’s all that smoke?” Valerie asked as she readied for landing.

“It’s the smoke from the cremation pyres,” Mr. Perrot answered, looking at the crowds lining the shore and the stairways leading up to the temple and the pilgrim houses.

“How are we going to find them in these crowds?” Logan asked, as their pontoon moved closer to shore. The other WCF team had already landed and secured Simon’s getaway craft. They used a small fire extinguisher to put out the fire in its engine.

The two piloting agents disembarked first and tied off the pontoon. “Looks like they went into that first building up and to your right,” an agent from the hovering helicopter reported. “The pilgrim shed, the one with the clock tower on it. We counted three people.”

Mr. Perrot looked up and remembered what Jogi had told him: “It is always six o’clock at Manikarnika.”

“You stay here and secure the boats,” Valerie instructed the two agents who had arrived on the first WCF boat. “If anyone—and I mean anyone—tries to board, shoot them!”

“Looks like he took the Destiny Box with him,” Logan said, after taking a quick look around Simon’s boat.

“The rest of you,” Valerie said to Sylvia, Logan, and Mr. Perrot, “come with me.” She led them up the stairs, telling the remaining agents to secure the outside of the building, identifying all the exits and entrances. “Stay alert,” she said. “And if you see anything, you know the orders.”

Valerie and Sylvia drew their guns and maneuvered around the large Shiva Pyre pit from which enormous flames leaped into the air. Ten prepared bodies awaited their liberation.

“What is this building?” Logan asked, as he looked up at the clock tower. Bamboo scaffolding ran along one of its sides, and carpenters were working to shore up the façade of the three-story, faded yellow building. “It looks like it’s going to fall apart.”

“This is one of the two pilgrim houses,” Mr. Perrot answered. “Not a place for the faint of heart, according to Jogi.”

Valerie and Sylvia cautiously led them through the entrance and into the darkened interior.

“Jogi was right,” Logan said, as they entered.

The large, open room was filled with dying people. There was little order. Cots and pallets were haphazardly placed on the floor. And lying on the cots and pallets were pilgrims who had come from near and far to finish their journeys in this holy place. Family members held the hands of loved ones, and women covered in thin veils tended to the pilgrims, bringing them water but very little hope.

An auspicious place to die, perhaps
, Mr. Perrot thought, recalling Jogi’s words,
but not devoid of human pain and suffering
.

It took a moment for Logan to adjust to the gagging odor that permeated the air. Strong incense was being burned to cover the smell of death, but it had little success. Stray dogs and rats ran about, nudged away by the attendants and a few brave family members who comforted their kin, paying little attention to the out-of-place visitors who had entered.

“How many floors does this place have?” Sylvia asked, as she walked among the pilgrims.

“I believe three plus the roof,” Mr. Perrot guessed, as he and Logan followed close behind. They continued searching for Simon.

Valerie carefully lifted a blanket from time to time, only to reveal another suffering pilgrim. There was no sign of Simon or his men on the first two floors. Valerie led the group as they approached a stairway leading to the third level.

She peeked around the corner of the stairwell. The third floor resembled the first two floors: dying people lying next to one another, covering almost every inch of the floor. Valerie then saw the backs of Simon and two of his men, who were looking through the large windows at the opposite end of the floor. She spun back around the corner. “They’re near the open terrace,” she whispered. “Simon and two more.” She moved aside, so Logan and Sylvia could take a look for themselves. “On the count of three,” she whispered to Sylvia. “I’ll take out the one on the right, and you take out the one on the left.”

“What about Simon?” Logan asked, drawing his gun from his backpack.

“You be careful with that,” Valerie said.

Then she started to count. On three, she and Sylvia moved forward, firearms first. Logan followed, and Mr. Perrot peeked around the wall near the stairs. When they turned the corner, Simon wasn’t there.

“Where the hell are they?” Valerie shouted.

“The scaffolding!” Sylvia called. She ran to the open window of the terrace. “They’re climbing down!”

Valerie and Logan ran to the window and looked out.

A moment later, shots rang out. Simon’s men were engaged in a gun-fight with the two agents at ground level. Valerie could see that Simon and his men were six meters below her. She took a shot and struck one of Simon’s men.

“Macliv!” Simon shouted, as the bodyguard fell from his perch, landing on the stone stairs below.

The other gunman looked up and fired off a few rounds at Valerie, who ducked out of the way, pulling Logan with her. Another series of shots rang out. Valerie looked out and saw the second gunman crashing into a large woodpile below. One of the agents had been hit during the latest exchange; the other had taken out the last mercenary. Valerie spotted Simon awkwardly climbing down the scaffolding, carrying Deya’s Destiny Box under his arm.

“You guys use the stairs, and go back down,” Valerie said, as she started to climb onto the bamboo scaffolding.

“I’m coming with you,” Logan said. He shoved his gun into the waist of his pants, swung his backpack over his shoulder, and climbed behind Valerie. Sylvia grabbed Mr. Perrot by the arm and led him back down the stairs of the pilgrim house.

“Give it up, Simon!” Valerie yelled after him, as she paused and waited for a good shot. “There’s no place left to go!”

Simon didn’t answer. He was busy navigating his way down the scaffolding. Valerie couldn’t get a clean shot; she didn’t want to risk shooting any of the innocent bystanders below. She resumed her descent and was closing in on her quarry quickly, with Logan not far behind her. In desperation, Simon jumped the remaining two meters to the ground, his momentum causing him to crash into a chanting group of mourners, who were carrying a pallet holding the adorned body of their loved one above their heads. The body tumbled to the ground, sandalwood and garlands of flowers scattering around it. Simon had disturbed the holiest of traditions.

Sylvia and Mr. Perrot emerged from the pilgrim house just in time to see the crowd angrily surrounding Simon. The mourners looked outraged, many of them yelling and shaking their fists. Simon still lay on the ground, trying to stand up. The nearest agent was powerless to get through the growing mob, and Valerie and Logan could only watch from their positions on the scaffolding. The crowd shouted furiously, as they pushed Simon closer to the Shiva Pyre.

“You must help me, Robert!” Simon screamed, rising to his feet. “I
know you’re here! Surely you don’t want these books to be destroyed in the fire!”

Mr. Perrot didn’t have a clear view of Simon, but he could hear him and see the crowd working itself into a frenzy. “Remember what you said when you killed Jogi, Simon!” Mr. Perrot shouted back. “This is a good place to die!”

“This is not over, Robert! I know the secrets of the books—I know about the last symbol!”

“We’ll see,” Logan said to himself. “Because it’s the only thing that can save you now.”

He watched as the crowd pushed Simon, who was clutching the Destiny Box to his chest, all the way to the edge of the burning pit. The people were unforgiving, continuing to shout obscenities at a feverish pitch. In a burst of anger, they pushed Simon one more time, causing him to lose his balance and teeter on the edge for a few seconds.

A surprising calm seemed to come over Simon’s face. “The final symbol won’t save you now,” Logan murmured as he watched Simon fall backward into the roaring flames of the Shiva Pyre that rose four meters into the air. Logan heard no screams as Simon was engulfed in flames, but he could see a light, bright and seemingly blue, burst across the Destiny Box, sweeping it out of Simon’s hands.

Valerie and Logan made their way down the remaining scaffolding and joined the other agents, several of whom were bleeding from shots they’d sustained. They pushed their way through the crowd and were joined by Mr. Perrot and Sylvia at the edge of the pit.

“We need to put this fire out!” Mr. Perrot shouted above the roar of the crowd. “We need to retrieve the books!”

“I don’t think that is possible,” Valerie said. “Judging by this crowd, they’re not going to let anyone extinguish it.”

“This fire is burning too hot,” Sylvia said. “There’s going to be nothing left of Simon or the books.”

Mr. Perrot stood in mournful silence as he watched workers throw more logs into the pit.

“Well, Simon may be gone,” the group suddenly heard Logan say, “but the books aren’t.” They all turned and looked at him. He was holding Deya’s Destiny Box.

“How did you get that?!” Sylvia asked.

“We saw it fall into the fire!” Mr. Perrot said, his sadness suddenly replaced with joy.

“There was a flash of blue light,” Logan answered, “just as he fell. It seemed the books chose not to follow him any further.”

“The books
chose
?” Valerie repeated. “Flash of blue light? What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t see it?” Logan asked. The group remained silent, looking at him in awe as the roar of the fire continued behind them.

“It would seem that was for your eyes only,” Mr. Perrot said.

65

A child never makes an assumption. He will walk to the other side of the room to discover what is over there.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

BANARAS, INDIA, 5:22 P.M. LOCAL TIME, FREEDOM DAY

The accompanying agents forged a path through the crowd, leading the others away from the pyre. Closer to the river, they found a small table and a few chairs under a canvas canopy. Additional WCF personnel were arriving. They began their work securing evidence and rounding up the bodies of all who had died. Mr. Perrot stood for a moment and watched the agents carry the draped body of Jogi across the grounds of the ghat and onto an awaiting pontoon. Valerie took her father’s hand, wanting to comfort him.

Logan set the Destiny Box down on the table, and everyone stared at it, still trying to reconcile Logan’s version of events at the pyre with what they had seen with their own eyes or, as Logan pointed out, what they hadn’t seen.

“So what do we do with this thing now?” Valerie asked. “There doesn’t seem to be a way to open it.”

“There has to be,” Logan answered. “After investing so much time and effort in constructing the trail of clues that led to the books, Deya wouldn’t
just lock them inside a box with no way to open it.”
Besides,
Logan wondered to himself in silence,
why would the blue light have salvaged the box if it couldn’t be opened?
He placed his finger on the Destiny Box’s pad, hoping inexplicably that he himself might be the key. It gave no response to his touch.

“What if the books aren’t in there?” Mr. Perrot said. Logan and Valerie both gave him disapproving looks for even suggesting such a thing. “Everyone has assumed that the box contains the books. What if it contains yet another riddle or nothing at all?”

“They’re in there,” Logan said confidently.

“We could take it back to the lab,” Valerie suggested. Sylvia nodded in agreement. “They should be able to figure out a way to get the books out of there.”

Mr. Perrot gazed at the people milling around the area between the pyre and the river. He was startled to see an old friend walking unsteadily among them. “My heavens, that’s Babu!” he said. “That’s Deya’s husband over there!”

Everyone turned and saw the old man slowly making his way toward the pilgrim house. He used his cane to nudge aside a pesky dog that was impeding his journey.

“Why is he here?” Valerie asked.

“I fear he has come to join the pilgrims in the house,” Mr. Perrot said sadly. “He must believe that his time has come.”

It was then that Logan saw someone most unexpected approaching Deya’s husband. A graceful-looking man with a serene countenance. “Sebastian Quinn!”

“Who?” Valerie asked.

“He’s the one I told you about, the man whose artwork I’m restoring.”

“Why would
he
be here?” Mr. Perrot asked. “And how does he know Deya’s husband?”

Sebastian now stood in front of Babu. The dog that had been pestering Babu took a few steps and stood alongside Sebastian, who was
whispering into Babu’s ear. Then he placed his hand on Babu’s chest and tapped over his heart several times.

“What’s he saying to him?” Valerie wondered out loud.

Although Logan wanted to walk over to Sebastian, something held him in his place.

“I’m certain that I don’t know,” Mr. Perrot said, not taking his eyes off his old friend. “But whatever it was, it has brought a smile to Babu’s face.”

Sebastian pointed to where Logan and the others were sitting. He leaned forward toward Babu and whispered something else. The old man seemed to perk up and started making his way over to them. The pace of his gait quickened, and he waved enthusiastically. “Hello, Robert! Hello, my old friend!”

Mr. Perrot could not believe the change in Babu’s demeanor. This was not the same slow-moving, confused man who had guided him and Jogi in Deya’s garden just a day ago. “Babu, what has happened to you?”

Distracted for a moment by the sight of the old man walking toward them and his joyful greeting, Logan turned back to the crowd to locate Sebastian. But he could no longer find him. “Excuse me, where is that man who was just with you?” Logan asked Babu.