The Grecian Manifesto (17 page)

Tommy was leaning over the top
railing of the fence, eagerly watching his friend’s progress. He looked like a
kid at a toy store. “It should be okay. I don’t think there are any snakes at
this elevation. And if there are, they’ll be pretty dormant in these cool
temperatures.”

“Good point,” Sean said, still
hoping his friend’s rationale was sound.

His right hand came to rest on
a wide, stone shelf on the upper left side of the hole’s interior. Sean felt
around for a few seconds, a sense of panic beginning to set in. “I found a shelf,
but it’s empty.” He reached deeper into the cavity, nearly all the way to his
shoulder, his face pressed against the steep embankment.

Sean was about to give up,
resigned to the fact that someone had probably come along and taken whatever it
was that would have been hidden inside. For the briefest of moments, it made
him think about how the pyramids and so many other historic locations had been
pilfered by the greedy. He took a deep breath and stretched his arm in just a
little farther, pressing his shoulder fully into the hole. Unable to avoid it
anymore, the frigid, flowing water ran down his shirt from his armpit to his
belt. He ignored the cold liquid, desperate to find the item that could
possibly save Adriana. A second later, his middle finger touched something on
the shelf. It was cold and dry to the touch. With every ounce of energy he
could muster, Sean extended his fingers another inch deeper into the crack.
Three of his fingers found the top of something that felt like a stone
cylinder. He pulled the object along the shelf toward where he was crouched. It
rolled easily, confirming its wheel-like shape.

“Did you find something?” Tommy
shouted across the water.

The sudden noise of his
friend’s voice startled Sean. His arm jerked to the right, nearly knocking the
precious object into the water flow. He let out a long breath and ignored Tommy
for a moment. More cautious and deliberate, Sean continued to roll the cylinder
along the shelf until his elbow was nearly in the clear again. His fingers wrapped
around the little tube and he pulled it free of its ancient resting place.

For a second, he stared down at
the strange piece. It was carved from white marble and only seven inches long,
perhaps two inches in diameter. Sean tried to remember if he’d seen anything
like it on his previous journeys, but he couldn’t recall ever finding such an
artifact.

“What is it?” Tommy asked
impatiently. He’d climbed over the fence and was standing next to the water.

Sean didn’t answer immediately.
He continued to examine the cylinder, rolling it over in his fingers. The open
end had been sealed with a deep, crimson wax. As he turned the object, he found
an image engraved into one side. The profile of a man with a wreath atop his
ears and wrapping around his head, stared off to the right. Sean recognized the
Latin words immediately. It was the royal seal of Julius Caesar.

Chapter 33

Corfu, Greece

A blurry light seared through
the cracks of Adriana’s eyes as she gradually awakened. The haze slowly began
to fade, giving way to her surroundings. She was back on the floor of the
cellar. The light emanated from a solitary light bulb overhead. The back of her
skull ached, sending throbbing pain signals through her brain every second.
Instinctively, she tried to reach up and massage the spot that seemed to hurt
the most, but immediately realized her hands were bound tightly behind her
back. Her neck was sore from lying on her side, though for how long she didn’t
know. Her ankles had also been tied up, preventing her from any movement other
than wriggling like a worm on the floor. There was a sharp pain coming from her
side, though she didn’t know why. It felt like one of her ribs was badly
bruised, maybe broken.

Adriana tried to collect her
thoughts amid the pain and confusion. What happened? She remembered running
down a gravel road amid tall stands of grass and trees. There was a boy running
ahead of her. Who was he?

Then the story began to come
back to her. Niki. The boy’s name was Niki. He’d been imprisoned with her in the
cellar. They’d tried to escape. She’d taken out several guards, but something
had happened. Someone tackled her from a blind side. She hadn’t seen it coming.
Adriana winced. The pain in her ribs stabbed at her with every breath. The man who
had tackled her had also kicked her in the side. The awkward position in which
she lay wasn’t helping the pain. She needed to roll over to her other side to
take a little pressure off the injury. It took a minute, but after rocking back
and forth she was able to roll over onto her other side. The movement had
increased the agony during the process, but now at least her ribs weren’t
killing her.

The whole room was still
somewhat blurry, despite her regaining consciousness. She’d hit her head pretty
hard on the gravel road. Adriana took a long, deep breath and sighed. She
needed to focus. Another realization hit her: Niki was gone. Had the boy made
it to the town? She’d told him to go to a church, but she wasn’t really sure if
the kid would be able to find his way. Children frightened easily. If he had
gotten lost, he could be in worse trouble than he would have been in the cellar
with her.

Adriana shook her head. No,
Niki had made it. Kids were resilient. She remembered playing in her father’s
vineyard outside of Madrid. Their family’s land holdings were vast, and
extended for hundreds of acres across the countryside. She’d gotten lost in the
rows of grape vines when she was only five. She’d been running through the
fields with a paper kite flying a few feet above her. Before she realized it,
Adriana had lost track of where she was. She had never been to the far reaches
of her father’s land before. There were tall trees protecting the boundary of
the vineyards, trees she’d never really seen before. The curious part of her
had wondered what lurked beyond the tree line, in the dark shadows of the
forest. The other part of her had a healthy fear of the unknown, and had
steered her back toward the house.

After a few hours of wandering
through the seemingly endless rows of vines, she began to worry. The day was
getting late, and she’d not had anything to drink since lunch. Her parched
throat begged for water or something cool to drink. Eventually, Adriana calmed
herself enough to plop down on the ground and think. She looked up at the sun
and remembered where the sun always set in relation to her home.
West
, she thought. She stood back up and
looked in the direction of the dropping sun, then spun around and headed in the
opposite direction, resolved to keep walking until she found her way home. And
find her way she did. Her father had been looking all over for her and had
gathered the field workers to help with the search. She remembered how he
hugged her when she arrived at the house. He’d picked her up and squeezed her
so tight she’d squirmed a little, telling him she was going to pop. He kissed
her forehead and cheeks, relieved that she’d come back safely.

“Promise me you won’t run away
like that again,” he’d said.

“I didn’t run away, Papa,”
Adriana had answered with childlike innocence. “I was just on an adventure.”

Even now, with the throbbing
pain and the dire situation facing her, she smiled at the memory. She wished
her father could be there to pick her up and take her back into his home, clean
her up and take care of her. Adriana had been independent since that day in the
vineyard. She hoped Niki had the same spirit, the same sensibility that had led
her home. The boy would be fine, she told herself.

A loud thud followed by a crash
sounded from behind her. Someone had kicked open the door, spilling a little
more light into the room. The loud noise hadn’t helped her headache, but the
more pressing concern was who had entered the room. A second later, she got her
answer.

“It seems you were unhappy with
your accommodations,” the oddly familiar voice said. Dimitris Gikas stepped
around into her field of vision and stood over her for a moment. He wore a navy
blue suit with a blue-and-white striped tie. Even from her spot on the floor,
he stank of expensive cologne, obviously one of those people who always put on
too much. He crossed his arms and stared down at her with an angry expression.
“Where is the boy?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” It wasn’t a
lie. She truly had no idea where Niki was at the moment. She hoped he was in the
safety of a sanctuary somewhere, but Gikas would never get that information
from her.

“I see.” He took a few steps to
the side and then returned. “You killed a few of my men, you know. That is
something I cannot let go unpunished.”

“I don’t care. Anyone who works
for you deserves to die.”

Gikas jerked his head back and
frowned. “Anyone? Even the secretaries for my companies? The people I provide
jobs for in the cities, on my farms? You seem to think of me as some kind of
monster. When the reality is I am more likened to a savior.”

“What kind of savior imprisons
innocent children and murders people in cold blood?” She found speaking only
served to increase the pain in her head, but she had to keep the conversation
going. It was the only thing keeping her from losing consciousness again.

“Innocent?” he shrugged to the
side. “In the history of this world, many innocent people have had to die to
create a greater future; it is part of the grand drama that plays out. The role
of the innocent is to provide purpose for the rest of us, a rallying cry for
those who would revolt, or a footstool for others to reach greater heights.”

“Is that all they are to you? A
footstool?”

Gikas’s face radiated with
vanity. “Of course. The greatest leaders the world has ever known were always
aware of this. Do not get me wrong, each person has their purpose. Some
purposes are grander than others.”

Adriana flashed an expression
of disgust. “And what is your grand purpose, Señor Gikas?” She let her Spanish
roots come out with the last part of the sentence.

He raised an eyebrow. When he
spoke, he didn’t answer the question right away. “Democracy is dead, Miss
Villa. It has failed miserably. All over the world, the experiment with
republics and democracies is collapsing before our eyes. Democracy is a
temporary form of government, Miss Villa. The Scottish historian Alexander
Tytler said that. He knew that when people realized they couldn’t simply vote
for their best interests when bribery and corruption would rule in reality,
that the government would collapse. And we are seeing it happen right now.”

She struggled in vain against
the bonds on her ankles and wrists, not to get free, simply to find a less
uncomfortable position. “So what would you do? Bring anarchy to the governments
of the world; throw them all into chaos so you can do as you please?”

Gikas tilted his head back and
let out a laugh. “Oh, certainly not, my dear. Quite the opposite, in fact.” He
waited for her to ask, almost begging her to. When she didn’t, he went on. “People
are meant to be ruled. They say that they want freedom and other nonsense, but
the truth is human beings want boundaries, rules, restrictions. They crave it
deep within their subconscious. It is in their nature to be subservient. The
greatest empires the world has ever known weren’t under the rule of democracies
or republics. They were led by one man.”

Adriana’s eyes widened at the
realization. “You would be emperor?”

He rolled his shoulders. “King.
Emperor. Consul of the state, you may call it anything you wish. But yes, I
believe that the only truly functional form of government is a monarchy. One
person must make the decisions for the good of the people.”

“For the good of the people?”

His lips creased to one side of
his face. “Of course. When there is order, crime is lower, the economy thrives,
and people have purpose. Unemployment will drop. The military will be strong
again. Our country will return to its former glory.”

“And none of this has anything to
do with your ego,” she spat in a dubious tone.

He raised an eyebrow. “Ego?
Perhaps I am ambitious, but someone must lead, and who better than I?” She
didn’t offer a response to the question.

Instead, she asked a question
of her own. “And how will you convince the people to allow this? They will not
stand for it. Your countrymen have a long history of believing in democracy. Do
you think they will just forget it and let you have your way?”

He took a step away from her
and folded his hands behind his back. When he reached the window in the corner,
he stopped and gazed out at the starry sky. “Of course, the masses will need
some kind of reason for things to change. As it is, they will simply replace
the current government with a replica. If that happens, the entire fiasco will
start all over again. If we are to initiate real change, we must completely
eradicate the old system.”

Adriana’s eyes narrowed. She
didn’t like where this was going.

“Earlier you mentioned chaos.
While I do not believe in an anarchist society, I do feel strongly that there must
be a little chaos for order to prevail. In the case of my beloved country, it
will require only a little push. And when it all comes crashing down, I will be
there to save them.”

“And what kind of push are you
talking about? Killing your fellow countrymen?”

He paced back over to where
Adriana lay on the floor, stopping short in case she got the guts to try to
kick him in the shins. Despite her bonds, Gikas knew she was like a coiled
snake, always looking for a way to strike. “No,” he answered, looking down at
her. “Although there will likely be much death in the wake of the government’s
collapse. No, my push is a simple one. I will starve the people into
submission.”

Adriana’s face twisted in
confusion. “What do you mean, starve them? How could one person starve an
entire country?”

“Ah,” he smiled at the
question. “It’s actually quite simple. All it really takes is the purchase of
most of the country’s food suppliers. For the last several years, I have been
buying farms, distributors, and producers in nearly every corner of the
country. The orders for food are all automated now, all delivered digitally by
computer. It is easy enough to begin restricting orders. When a grocery store
asks for a hundred units of something, we simply tell them we only have
twenty.”

She tried to process what he
was saying, but it still seemed implausible. “There is no way you could own
that many companies to make such an impact.”

His eyebrows raised in
contention. “Really? You are seeing this sort of thing happening all over the
world. Facebook has bought numerous companies. Twitter has as well. YouTube was
purchased for nearly two billion dollars. Why not in the food production
industry? Over the last decade, I have bought up 40 percent of Greece’s food
producers. When I begin to cut back what we send out, the other companies will
not be able to fill the void.”

Gikas’s voice took on a dark,
sinister tone. “Nothing drives people to madness like hunger, Miss Villa. They
will do anything to feed themselves or their children. And when their
government fails to aid them, the people will be ripe for revolution. Who
better to lead them than the one who feeds them?”

“You will lose hundreds of
millions with this scheme. It cannot work,” Adriana said, though her words
lacked true conviction.

He put his hands behind his
back again. “The money I lose will pale in comparison to what I will make in
the long run. Besides, money is nothing without power. Greece will kneel before
me as their savior, their king. After that, the possibilities are endless.”

She had one last question but
wasn’t sure if he would answer it or not. He’d been in such an informative
mood, Adriana needed to know. “Why do you need the antikythera so badly? What
does that have to do with your Grecian manifesto?”

He spoke frankly. “Surely you
know, Miss Villa. The Eye of Zeus can foretell the future. Once I have it, I
will be able to snuff out my enemies before they rise up. I will be able to
forecast the maneuvers of any military on the planet and move my forces accordingly.
Even the military might of the United States will not be able to stop me.”

“So what, you want to take over
the world? Good luck with that.”

He started for the door and
stopped at the threshold. “No, Miss Villa. I do not wish to take over the
world. It is far too large, with too many people. I simply state that no
military will be able to intervene in what will happen here. The meddlesome
Americans always try to police the activities of the world, and their friends,
the British, usually come along. In this case, they will be powerless to do
anything to stop me. Besides, those countries only get involved when there is
money to be made. It’s in their capitalist nature. If they don’t see a
financial opportunity here, they will not come. I will be elected as the new
ruler of Greece, and when I am, I will make every country in the European Union
pay for turning their backs on us.”