The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex (2 page)

Chapter Three

“Timmy, you stay here,” Banyon told the geek. “The girls will protect you until we discover how big this threat is to us. This may take awhile.”

“I’m hanging with the babes, man,” Timmy said as he looked at the three beautiful women who were still dressed up in dresses from the business transfer that day. “Cool,” he added and bobbed his head.

“Loni, there’s a gun in the hidden compartment in my desk. Do you remember?”

“I remember,” she replied evenly.

“Use it for protection only,” Banyon said as he reached the door.

When he opened it, he found two women standing there with handguns. He knew one was a master at surveillance and the other was a bomb expert. All the employees at Dewey & Beatem had special talents beyond their legal expertise. The firm sometimes conducted black-ops for the government. Operations it could not perform without outside discrete help. Everyone at the firm could shoot a gun. It looked strange for Banyon to see two female lawyers in business suits toting big handguns, but he was pleased they were there.

“Cindy, Mildred,” Banyon greeted both women. “We need to go and find the ferret. We believe he is in his office.”

***

“Who’s there?” the ferret asked in a squeaky voice when Banyon knocked at his office door.

“Edgar, it’s Colton Banyon. Open the door.”

After a few seconds, the door swung open and the two women rushed in with their guns pointed straight ahead. The ferret stumbled backwards and brought his hands up near his chin — just like his namesake would do.

“Who’s in here with you?” Mildred demanded.

“There’s no one… in here… but me,” he quickly chattered in his high pitched voice.

“Sit down at your desk,” Banyon ordered as he walked into the room.

“Do I need to keep my hands raised?” Edgar nervously asked as he looked down the barrels of two guns.

“No,” Cindy responded. “You’re not fast enough to stop us from shooting you.”

“Where are the two people you allowed into the building?” Banyon asked as an opening.

“Why, they went to the bathroom,” the ferret jabbered. He suddenly realized they were the people who were loose in the building. “Oh, god, what’ve I done?”

“Tell me about the email,” Banyon demanded as he knew where the intruders were located for the moment.

“What email?” the ferret asked with a look of confusion. His eyes had turned into large saucers.

“The one you just sent to me a little while ago, Edgar,” Banyon said loudly. “That email.”

“I haven’t sent you an email today,” the ferret responded weakly. “There must be some mistake.”

“It was sent from your computer not ten minutes ago. It bounced off of several satellites, but Timmy was able to track it back to you, that email,” Banyon explained angrily.

“Impossible,” the ferret responded hotly. “I’ve been working on a translation for the last hour, that’s all. No emails.”

“Is it for the two people you let into the building?” Banyon quickly asked.

“Why yes,” the ferret replied defensively. “They gave me this memory stick to bring up the data.” He pointed to the device which jutted out of a portal in his computer.

“Cindy, grab the stick and bring it to Timmy. I want him to find out if there’s a hidden email on it,” Banyon ordered. Cindy rushed forward and snatched the stick from the computer and sprinted out of the room.

“Do you think someone is trying to use me as a dupe?” the ferret asked with horror on his face.

“We’ll know in a few minutes,” Banyon responded evenly. “Now tell me what you are translating.”

“It is an old version of
Kichwa.
It’s a South American language spoken primarily by people living in the Andes.” Edgar was the resident expert on languages at Dewey & Beatem.

“Would that area include Ecuador?” Banyon quickly asked.

“Why, yes, of course,” the ferret responded.

“What does the translation say?”

Edgar hit a button on his keypad and the printer started. In a few seconds a single sheet of paper printed out. “Here read it for yourself,” he said as he handed the paper to Colton Banyon. “I’ve already sent a copy to the email address they gave me.”

After reading the page, Banyon remained silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke. “It’s directions to the Tayos tunnels in Ecuador. I’ve heard of them. They are very long tunnel-like caves that supposedly hold many ancient treasures.”

“That’s right,” Edgar gushed and pointed his boney finger at Banyon. “The tunnels have been connected with many superstitions and even extraterrestrial beings. I did some research while I was waiting for my clients to return.”

“But a major expedition was conducted in 1976 and nothing of importance was found.” Banyon was a student of history and knew about the popular exploration of the tunnels.

“The people who brought me this translation said that these directions are to the
real
entrance to the tunnels,” Edgar explained.

“Interesting,” Banyon whispered.

Chapter Four

“Tell me about the two people,” Banyon now asked. “Give me a description.”

“Well,” the ferret started as his hand went to his chin in thought. “They’re a man and a woman. They are very young, early twenties, I’d say. They are American and spoke with a hint of a Mid-west accent. Their dress was very casual like they were going on a hike soon. They also were very crude and undisciplined, even uncontrollable, if you know what I mean. They are physically fit and didn’t seem to be easily frightened. Money didn’t seem to be a problem for them either. They didn’t balk at my fee. I’d say they are a bit shady.”

Banyon’s questions were interrupted by Timmy who talked into his Bluetooth. “I’ve found the email. It was cleverly hidden, but they didn’t know who they were dealing with, dude.”

“So is Edgar in the clear?”

“Edgar couldn’t possible have known it was there.”

“Okay, you can go back to your office now and have someone unlock the building,” Banyon said.

“Oh, do I have to? I’m having too much fun with your babes,” the confirmed voyeur whined.

“Get back to your station,” Banyon growled with irritation in his voice.

“Party pooper,” Timmy replied. Banyon distained bossing people around, but now he had to. He was the boss.

***

Banyon and the two women left the ferret in his office and found their way to the main conference room. There they found Steve and Tony guarding the door.

“It’s awful quiet in there,” Steve said.

“These people are up to something and I want to find out what it is,” Banyon said. “You play the bad guy when we get inside Steve.”

“I can do that,” Steve replied with a smile and puffed out his chest. “We go in on the count of three. Women go left and men go right.”

Banyon swiped his card in the door lock, threw open the door, and the four guards rushed into the room. Banyon waited until he heard the all clear sign and then followed.

The two intruders were seated at the conference table with their hiking boots resting up on the top. They both had bottles of water and the man was eating a power bar taken from the conference room kitchen. They did not react when four armed people invaded the room.
Not a good sign
, Banyon thought.

“Well, I guess you finally found us then,” the young woman said in a sarcastic way.

“What’re you doing in here?” Banyon asked as he stood in the doorway.

“We couldn’t get back to our lawyer’s office or out of the building. There is some kind of a lockdown going on. So we came here. This door was open.” The young woman explained.

“I mean, what’re you doing at Dewey & Beatem?” Banyon blustered showing a little frustration.

“Oh, well pops, that’s between us and our lawyer, Edgar something or other,” the man announced and waved his hand in the air with a lack of concern.

“Listen punk, you are intruders in our building. We’ve got you on tape. You want to go to jail?” Steve roared.

“Keep your wife-beater tee shirt on, Mussolini,” the young man retorted. “We are here as a client.” He then jutted out his chin in defiance. Steve, who was clearly Italian, was ready to attack and make the intruder pay for his insult, but Banyon stopped him with a wave of his hand.

“Why did you
specifically
come to see Edgar?” Banyon asked patiently.

“He’s doing some translations for us. That’s all,” the young woman replied somewhat more nervously now.

“But why Edgar?” Banyon continued.

“We were told he was the best in the business by our former employer,” the girl continued.

“Who’s your former employer, punk?” Steve asked as he waved the gun in their direction. He was getting tired of their evasive answers.

“Can’t tell you that because we don’t know,” the man said.

“Jesus, we are getting nowhere fast,” Steve exclaimed in frustration. “Want me to rough them up a little bit Colt?”

Just then, Loni, Mandy, and Maya arrived at the doorway. Loni quickly peeked inside the room. “Hey, I recognize her,” she let out and pointed to the young woman.

“You do?” a stunned Banyon said as he turned to his partner.

“Colt, don’t you remember. She was the girl who asked about my dress when we were in the Banyon Arcades in Poland,” Loni explained. “I never forget a compliment,” she said brightly.

“Wait a minute,” Mandy yelled out accusingly. “You were the caterer’s helper at the party in Poland. You took Colt’s suit to be cleaned. I remember because you flirted with me.” Mandy pointed to the man.

A new concern now entered Banyon’s mind as he realized he knew them too. “I also saw both of you dressed up as guards coming out of the Banyon Arcades.”

The young woman was suddenly very upset. “Kenny, this has gotten out of hand. We’d better come clean,” the woman said as she grabbed the man’s hand in support.

After a few seconds Kenny said. “Okay, but I’m not talking with all of you pointing guns at us.”

Banyon didn’t hesitate. “Cindy, you, Mildred and Tony can go back to work. Take the guns and close the door.”

“Yes, sir,” Cindy replied.

“The rest of you find a seat,” Banyon added.

Chapter Five

Banyon studied the two people across from him before he spoke. Kenny was in his mid-twenties with a handsome face. He had broad shoulders and rough looking hands. He was about six feet tall with an unruly mess of brown hair on his head. His eyes were deep blue and hinted of a high level of intelligence behind them.

The woman was about five foot seven inches and was slender of build. She had the freckled-faced beauty of someone who was outside most of the time. She appeared to be in great physical shape. Her hair was blond today, but Banyon had seen her as a brunette at the arcades. Her eyes were also blue and her features mirrored Kenny’s.

“I believe you already know some of us, but we don’t know you,” Banyon said as his next comment.

“My name is Kenneth Cole and this is my sister Carol Cole,” Ken responded. “We are artifact hunters.”

“You seem so young. How many artifacts have you found so far?” Maya asked.

“None,” Carol responded. “We’re just getting started in the business.”

“So why were you tracking us in Warsaw?” Loni asked suspiciously as she got right to the point.

“We weren’t — originally,” Carol said evasively.

“Then
who
were you following?” Banyon asked.

“We were following Albin Wilk. Our former employer switched us over to you while we were there in Poland. He told us you were now more important to him.”

“You keep saying your former employer. Who are you talking about?” Maya asked.

“I thought you knew,” Kenny offered. “He is the head of The Society of Orion in Ecuador.”

The statement made Banyon and his team very uneasy. The Society of Orion was a very secret organization which protected Orion’s weapons in case he came back to earth someday. Banyon had become the head of the Poland branch when he brought Albin Wilk and his aunt down, but had been told that the other six chapters did not know where each other were located.

“Why did the head of the society in Ecuador have you following Albin Wilk?” Banyon asked when he recovered.

“The leader said that he knew Albin Wilk was a fraud and had drained resources from the society,” Carol explained. “He explained that a journal recapping the power of some of the weapons had been found and many people would soon turn up to search for them. We were hired to grab any weapons we found. But, of course, you got them first.”

“How much do you know about how our team operates?” Banyon asked as he wondered if they knew about Wolf.

“Only what the leader told us,” Carol offered. “He said you were very good at finding artifacts. He asked us to pass on any information we could about you. We did.”

“What did you learn in Poland?” Loni quickly asked. “And what did you pass on?”

Carol provided the answers. “While we were waiting for Wilk to come out of the office at the arcades we spotted you coming out of the office. We decided to plant a bug on your suit. We learned nothing from that.”

“Ah,” Mandy exclaimed. That is why you came to the suite. You needed to recover the bug, right?”

“Yes,” Kenny replied. “And I planted another under the serving table while I was there.”

“I’m guessing you also planted bugs in the arcades when I saw you in there,” Banyon noted.

“That’s correct,” Carol answered. “We found out that you stopped a plot to use some of Orion’s weapons and they are now in your possession. That’s what we reported back to our employer.”

“So why are you here?” Banyon asked again. “If you have planted more bugs in this building, we will find them.”

“No, our mission is over. We are no longer employed,” Kenny said sadly.

“But what about the translation?” Loni quickly asked.

“It is our payment for shadowing you guys,” Kenny admitted. “We were promised the directions to the real Tayos caves so we could go there and collect some artifacts. When we received the memory stick and a note to use the lawyer Edgar to translate them, we wondered if it was some sort of a trap, but we are desperate.”

“Explain that,” Banyon said.

“Over the last several years we have been searching for the Tayos caves. In doing so we have spent our entire inheritance and all the money the society paid us.”