The Tenth Cycle: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 1) (37 page)

Raj laughed, wrinkled his nose, and then said, "Oh, what the hell. Why not?" Sarah laughed at the familiar idiom pronounced in Raj's lilting accent, and went to the kitchen to help Martha fix the drinks. Fifteen minutes later, they all sat around the table, Raj moving from behind the computer to a spot where coffee could not be spilled in the keyboard, enjoying their drinks and discussing what the revelation would mean and how to publish it.

In Würzburg, Septentrio the younger paced back and forth in his father's study. Before his death, his father had warned him that the other members of the group would be watching him carefully, waiting for him to make a mistake. As he paced, Septentrio kicked at a piece of furniture that was in his way. The conflicting feelings he struggled with kept him enraged, and he was having a difficult time controlling his temper.

For over forty years, his father had belittled and berated him for his sexual preference, told him he was weak, and proved it by having him beaten often until he gathered the courage to fight back. After that, several times a week, Septentrio would go to his bed only to find one or more women waiting there for him. Time after time, the women would humiliate him for his rejection of them, and he had no doubt that his father had ordered them to do so.

As a consequence, Septentrio hated his father fiercely and would gladly have murdered him himself. And yet, his hatred, with no other outlet, was now directed toward the people he blamed for his father's death. Daniel Rossler and Sarah Clarke. Even now, their detested faces smiled and mocked him from his computer monitor.

His brief from the other members was simple. Deal with Sidus and his traitorous actions, and find Rossler and Clarke before more harm was done to the interests of the Orion Society. The first was easy, he had only to activate their backup mole in the CIA system, and extract the information about where David was being held. It was a pity they hadn't time to deal with him as he had dealt with Impes. After his henchmen had shot their way in to the safe house, Septentrio personally put the bullet in the brain of the fickle David.

It would have pleased his father, Septentrio reflected, to know that he was both ruthless enough and clever enough to have the traitor killed while in custody of the CIA. Probably surprised the hell out of him, too, if the truth were known.

Septentrio code-named the new operative Latet, and took great delight in tormenting the man with the fate of his predecessor for grievous errors. Unlike his father, who knew just how to motivate without wrecking his assets with fear, the current Septentrio was a petty, bitter man. He would bully his assets into obedience, and never know why he couldn’t keep loyal employees.

However, Rossler and Clarke had disappeared without a trace. Septentrio wasted no time in tracking down their known associates, only to learn to his frustration that Rajan Sankaran had also disappeared, as well as Sinclair O'Reilly. He even went personally to the home of Martha Simms, finding her gone as well. Clearly they had all gone somewhere together; however they had dropped off the grid as if they had never existed. No charges had been posted to their credit card accounts for several days, their cell phones were turned off and none of their cars had been spotted anywhere that might have recorded their license plate numbers.

Reaching out to his CIA, FBI, and NSA contacts produced no better results. The Rosslerites had disappeared like a needle in a haystack. A quick reconnoiter at the homes of the extended families found them heavily guarded but still no sign of the researchers themselves. Septentrio's mood was so foul that he had half a mind to wipe out the families, along with their minders, but logic told him that this would not help gain the cooperation of the researchers.

The only clue that showed the Rosslerites had left behind was that, curiously, each missing person had withdrawn large sums of cash on the same day that they all disappeared. The only logical conclusion was that they were prepared to stay hidden for quite some time, and may even be making plans to leave the United States. Infuriated, Septentrio set a trap that he knew would foil their plans.

Through his CIA contacts, Septentrio floated the rumor that Rossler and Clark, aided by Sankaran and O'Reilly, were potential terrorists with links to Al Qaeda. Photos and faked transcripts of their meeting with the Egyptian scholars gave rise to the assumption that they were conspiring with Egyptian radicals. Within hours, APB's had been posted for all four of them and with that, their faces broadcast over every news outlet as armed and dangerous. Suddenly the group was the object of a worldwide manhunt.

At the same time, the Orion Society, not wanting them to disappear in the hands of some law enforcement group, offered a reward among their underground network for the capture of the researchers, to be paid on receipt of all members without harm.

As soon as the initial giddiness had settled down, Luke knew it was time to arrange for his Mossad contact to make a visit and see what they had to offer for the group’s safety. He spoke briefly to Sarah, explaining his errand, and slipped away unnoticed by the rest. Luke made his way to the Canadian side of the border and found a pay phone that accepted both currencies. He placed the call.

The next day, half an hour before the stated six a.m. meeting time, Akiva Beckman arrived with a crew of technicians outside the safe house. There, they quietly activated with remote control devices the permanently-installed listening devices in all the rooms, being thorough in case a word or two whispered in the bathroom or elsewhere could shed light on Luke’s mysterious request. Beckman, a consular agent with the Rhode Island assignment working out of the Boston consulate, would have been the appropriate person for Daniel and Sarah to speak to in any case. However, Beckman was Mossad. His status was known to certain CIA agents, Luke among them, in an open secret that allowed them to work together whenever any operation required cooperation between the two agencies. Otherwise, the CIA turned a blind eye to Beckman's activities, trusting from past association that they were not aimed at harm to the United States.

Promptly at six that morning, Akiva presented himself at the front door of the safe house. In the doorway stood a tall, well-built man in his early thirties. He extended a hand to Akiva and drew him inside, where several other people waited despite the early hour. Akiva’s dark, curly hair framed a high forehead and sharp brown eyes, adding to the pleasantness of his angular face and engendering instant trust among the researchers. Smiling, he introduced himself.

"I'm Akiva Beckman," he announced. "But if we are to be friends, you may call me Beck."

Sarah was charmed, and Daniel, considering the man too old to be a rival, felt comfortable in his presence also.

"Beck, thank you for agreeing to see us. The lovely lady with me is my fiancée, Dr. Sarah Clarke, aka Sarah, and I'm Daniel.” Indicating the others as he spoke, he also introduced Sinclair, Martha and Raj. Luke, the man already knew of course.

"Well, then, shall we sit down and discuss why I am here?" Beckman led the way to comfortable seats in a spacious living room, explaining that this was a house where his consulate brought those who sought his help to enter or re-enter Israel, there to await permission if they had nowhere else to go.

"All right, my friends, may I call you by Daniel and Sarah? Both names with long tradition in my culture," he added with a smile.

"Please, let's don't stand on ceremony," Sarah responded.

"Daniel and Sarah, then. Why don't you tell me briefly how I can help you?" Akiva included the others in his request by giving each a short but steady look, but Daniel was clearly the leader, and to him he addressed his remarks.

He warned Akiva, "This is a long story, but I can tell you in a nutshell what we need. Then maybe you can ask the questions I know you'll have, rather than hear it from the beginning."

"That will do for now. Please, proceed."

Daniel drew a deep breath, and said, "In a nutshell, people are trying to kill us, we have reason to believe our own government, or people working for the government, as well as an international group of very powerful people with bad motives are involved. What we need is asylum."

It was nothing less than Beckman had anticipated, though stated more bluntly, so he betrayed no surprise. Instead, he said, "I suspect that before a decision can be made, someone is going to have to hear the whole story, but why don't you expand on that just a bit."

"Before we reveal the reasons, we understand that you will not speak of this to anyone, not even your government, if you can't assure us that our request will be granted, is that correct?" Daniel had come armed with his anti-listening device, and belatedly wondered if he should have brought his digital tape recorder, too. Then, realizing that having a recorded assurance meant nothing to bullets, he accepted Akiva's answer. Trust was beginning to come hard, but they were desperate.

Akiva nodded, and said, "You have my word. My association with Luke here is valuable to me. I would not lightly jeopardize it."

Satisfied, Daniel went on. "Okay then. What I'm about to tell you may seem unbelievable, but we can back it up. Please try to keep an open mind." After taking a deep breath, he plunged into the core of the story. "Without going into how all of this came about and the steps we've taken to get where we are with it today, we've made a discovery of historic importance. You could say it's world-changing. Our government, your government, every government in the world is going to want the information, along with many powerful corporations. Along the way, our research has prompted someone, we're not certain who, to kill two of our associates, hold my grandparents hostage and kidnap Sarah here. Four kidnappers were killed when we retrieved her, and we’ve just learned that there was a fifth who evidently escaped. We're about ready to reveal the information, but we'd like to be somewhere safe when we do. After searching for options, we settled on Israel as the safest place, assuming we can get official protection."

Akiva heard the claim with evident calm, but now asked, "May I know what the discovery concerns? Just in broad terms, if you will, please."

Daniel looked at Sarah for agreement, and she nodded. "You may be aware that both scholars and crackpots have had theories about the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt having more significance than meets the eye. We've proved it, and in the process have found a record from an ancient civilization that pre-dates all accepted theories of the history of humanity. As I said, we have proof. We can back it up. Just what we've translated so far indicates that they may have been far more advanced than we are currently, and the extent of the record indicates it may be all laid out in a way that we can understand and apply."

Beckman's mouth had opened in astonishment. This was completely unexpected. Attempting to maintain a professional detachment, he asked, "What proof can you offer? This is an extraordinary claim, and if it's legitimate, I think I can assure you that my government will be willing to help you, in return for access to these records."

Daniel had come prepared for this question. He said, "Sarah?" signaling her to bring out one of the documents she and Martha had prepared, then continued as Sarah handed them to Akiva.

"The first page shows what we had discovered at the time of our colleague's murder. The second, the more accurate translation by our linguist. Take a look."

Akiva scanned the first page, noting that whoever had translated it hadn't known what some of the--words? symbols?-- meant.

[Unknown word] traveler/person/human/man from future. [Unknown word] critical/important/significant [Unknown word] telling/story/message [Unknown word] read/browse/assimilate/learn all/ [Unknown word] everything here/in this place/at this location [Unknown word]

He read aloud, getting only to the word 'future' before his eyes flew to Daniel's. "What does this mean?"

"Read the next page," Daniel urged. "All will be explained."

The next page had the complete translation of the full text, including the numbers that had eluded Sinclair on first reading. Put together, without the hesitations as Sinclair translated and the interruptions of the others exclaiming at each new sentence, it was even more impactful.

"In the year 25,992 of the Tenth Cycle, the Supreme Council of Knowledge, commissioned the least of their number, I, Zebulon, to build this monument and record our history for Those Who Come After. In all the cycles, this has never been attempted before.

We of the Tenth Cycle believe that we have achieved more than any Cycle before us, and, knowing our fate, wish to leave evidence of our knowledge. With this knowledge, perhaps you, our children, may continue our progress and stop the cycles of destruction that have held our kind to less than our full potential for two hundred and sixty thousand years."

Then he repeated slowly in utter astonishment, “Two – hundred – and – sixty – thousand – years!” Akiva repeated in an excited and high pitched voice with emphasis on each word. Akiva's reaction, a profane exclamation, was blasphemous, creative and so foul that Sarah and Martha blushed and Daniel's hands formed into fists. A shaken Akiva apologized and said, "You could have warned me."

"I guess I should have." Daniel remarked.

"You understand that this will negate the entire history of my people," Akiva accused.

"No it won't," Sarah argued. "The history of your people in our cycle is intact. It is only what went before that's different, and that's the case for everyone. However, we understand the explosive nature of this discovery. It's what convinced us that it's too dangerous for us to be here, or anywhere else that our enemies can penetrate, when we release the news."

Daniel continued, "We have a record of the steps and methods we used, but briefly, it culminated in our linguist making several translations, all consistent with what I've told you and what is stated in this document. At the moment, he's searching the records for a sufficiently advanced piece of scientific evidence that can be corroborated. As soon as he finds it, we want to be ready to release the news of the discovery, and obtain help in translating and utilizing the rest of it.

"As for access, we plan on giving that freely as public information. Obviously, we'll need to get wide consensus on restricting access on anything that might be used for great harm. We haven't quite sorted that out yet, but in any case it's premature. Only a tiny fraction of what's there has yet been translated."

Beckman could hardly contain himself, the thought that with control of this information his country could at last be secure from the enemies that surrounded it. But, he must give these Americans the assurance that his government would cooperate, and then make the arrangements to do so. It would take finesse. Perhaps there would be an opportunity for their own linguists to find something of advantage that only Israel would know of. In any case, the cachet associated with sheltering the people who made such an important discovery should be enough to secure their entry and shelter in Israel. He stated only a portion of these thoughts, though. "I think I can assure you that my government will cooperate with your request. It may take a few days to make the arrangements.”

Daniel answered, "Do you intend to phone someone? We've been avoiding that, because we know the NSA, at the very least, is listening for keywords. Can you make sure you don't mention our names, or the pyramid?"

"I'll use a scrambled phone, of course," Beckman assured him. "Please don't worry, we know how to get around your NSA."

Daniel wasn't sure how he felt about that in general, but was reassured for the issue at hand.

“I believe I can assure you that my government will be happy to host you and protect you while you complete your task,” Akiva repeated. “However, I must warn you that we cannot protect you while you are on US soil. Until I can make the arrangements, you must understand that you are on your own. Is our hospitality in this safe house adequate for a few days?”

“Very much so,” Sarah replied. “Thank you for making it available to us.”

“How many of you will be visiting my country?” Akiva asked delicately.

“Just five of us. Uncle Luke will stay here and see to the safety of our families,” she replied.

“Very well, I’ll make the necessary arrangements.” Half-bowing, Beckman excused himself and left, getting into a dark panel van. Inside was a technician with a set of headphones on his head and a chagrined look on his face. "What is it?" Beckman asked.

"Akiva, I don't know why, but I couldn't hear a word of your conversation."

A speculative look came over Beckman's face as he wondered if these people had already made use of their new discovery to create something that would jam state-of-the-art bugs. Now that would certainly be something his government would want. If it could defeat Israel's advanced technology, it must be very good indeed.

After he had returned to the hotel where he was staying, Akiva contacted his superior officer in Mossad headquarters, where it was now late in the afternoon. "You're not going to believe the conversation I just had..." he began.