God's Lions - The Dark Ruin (53 page)

With the sun now peeking over the horizon off the stern of the yacht, Lev was squinting into the morning light when he saw a large, unmarked gray ship enter the harbor, and it wasn’t flying any flags. As soon as they dropped anchor, they launched a fast motorboat that headed straight for the Carmela.

“Get Moshe,” he said to Ariella. “And spread the word to the crew. No one boards this boat unless I give them permission.”

“Who are they, Daddy?”

“I’m not sure ... but I want the crew armed. And tell Morelli and Francois to stay out of sight!”

“Got it!” Ariella scurried up the outside stairs and headed for the bridge.

Turning around to face the crowded deck, Lev called for silence. “Everybody, listen up. There’s a boat approaching. There’s probably nothing to fear, but if anyone asks, we’re on a pleasure cruise and have stopped here to make repairs to our electrical system.”

Against a sea of nodding heads, Lev turned around and walked to the railing. Pulling up alongside was a gray painted patrol boat with a fifty-caliber machine gun mounted to the front deck. An officer wearing a khaki uniform with a red patch on the sleeve waved and smiled up at him.

“Ahoy there, Carmela. May we come aboard?”

“I don’t see any flag, sir. Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry about that. We haven’t received our flags yet. We’re Acerbi Corporation security. We just want to talk. It won’t take long ... I promise.”

“Come aboard,” Lev smiled back. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”

Lev’s sudden geniality caught the man off guard, dimming his smile for a fraction of a second. After the line to the yacht was secure, the officer and two of his men climbed the teak-wood stairs to the main deck and shook hands with Lev.

“Are you the captain of this vessel, sir?”

“Owner. The captain’s on the bridge trying to figure out what went wrong with our electrical system last night.”

The officer exchanged glances with the two men standing next to him. “Oh, I guess that explains why we didn’t get a radio call from you when you entered the harbor.”

“Look, I don’t want to appear rude, but even if my radios were working I would have called the local customs officers like we always do when we enter a foreign port. Why would I call a bunch of corporate security guys?”

The officer seemed to stiffen but maintained a cordial smile. “Haven’t you been following the news lately, sir?”

“Oh, you mean the plan by your boss to take over the world? Yeah, I heard about that, but as far as I know it’s all still just a bunch of talk.”

The officer stood erect, his bearing a little prouder. “Well then, I have some good news for you, Professor Wasserman. Mr. Acerbi’s plan has been ratified by almost every nation on Earth. You’ll be happy to know that customs inspections are a thing of the past, because the world is going to become one big country with no borders. Isn’t that good news?”

Lev tried to maintain his smile as a voice inside was calling out to him to throw the man overboard. “Why yes, that’s excellent news. So you’re saying there are no Spanish customs officers to deal with?”

“Exactly,” said the officer. “I would think a man who travels on a boat like this would see practicality of a one world government.”

“So, you’re a
welcoming
committee?”

The officer’s smile visibly faded. “No, Professor Wasserman. As I explained before, we’re officers from Acerbi corporate security. Although there is no longer a Spanish border, we must still maintain a security presence along the coastlines of the world to make sure criminals don’t try to take advantage of the new freedoms. This is merely a security inspection.”

“Well, since it seems you already know who I am, how can I help you gentlemen?”

“Just a few quick questions and we’ll be on our way. What is your business here and where are you going?”

“Wow, you guys certainly sound like customs officers.” Lev maintained his smile. “Sure you don’t want some breakfast?”

“No, sir. Please answer the question.”

“Actually, we’re on vacation. We had to put into port here after we had some sparking down in the engine room and lost electrical power. We didn’t want a fire at sea, especially with all these people onboard.”

“Yes, that’s quite understandable.” The officer scanned the large group of people crowding the back deck. “You certainly do have a lot of people onboard. Where did you say you were going?”

“Nowhere in particular. We’re taking a little pleasure cruise around the Mediterranean. I’ve been promising my friends I’d take them on a cruise like this for years now. If it’s OK with you it might be nice to let them sample the local beaches while my engineer works out our little electrical problem.”

“Of course, Professor. You’re free to go wherever you wish. Would you like us to send over a couple of our technicians to assist you?”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary. It looks like we’ve almost got things figured out, but I appreciate the offer.”

“Anytime, Professor Wasserman.” The khaki-shirted officer’s smile returned. “We’re here to help ... really. Anything we can do.”

“That’s very considerate of you. Would you care to take a tour of my boat?”

The officer’s eyes suddenly shifted over Lev’s shoulder as the hulking figure of Alon appeared behind him. “Uh, no, that won’t be necessary. This certainly is a beautiful boat. Maybe some other time.”

“Yes ... maybe another time.” Lev extended his hand in the direction of the teak-wood stairs leading back down to the waiting patrol boat.

The young officer hesitated for a moment before giving a short salute and descending the stairs. A minute later the throaty roar from the patrol boat’s motor faded off across the harbor as it headed back toward the large gray ship.

“What was that all about?” Alon asked, releasing the grip on the pistol in his waistband.

“I believe that was a warning. Take a look at that big gray ship over there. No flags, no markings, and there are several large satellite dishes next to a sea of antennas sprouting from the top of the bridge.”

“Military?”

“No, I’m afraid it’s much worse. We’re looking at the future, Alon. No borders, no customs ... just big gray ships sitting in harbors around the world watching everything we do.”

“No wonder it’s so quiet around here. Looks like the locals have figured out the same thing.”

“I can see that. Forget my plan for buying a bus. We’re looking at a whole new ballgame here. I want you to spread the word for everyone to continue acting as though we’re all on vacation. We can’t start acting nervous, and if we suddenly abandon ship and hop on a bus we’ll be followed.”

“Which means we’ll lead them right to Leo.”

“Exactly.”

Alon walked to the railing and stared across the water at the ominous-looking ship. “How did Acerbi’s people get ships like that in place so quickly?”

“I’ve been wondering that myself. I believe someone has been secretly building the infrastructure behind Acerbi’s plan for quite some time now. For years, many in the Acerbi Corporation were working behind the scenes to infiltrate almost every government on Earth. Many of those who ruled over Rene’s vast secret network were caught in the wake of his plot to exterminate millions, but I’m beginning to think that most of his top people remained hidden in plain sight, just waiting for the real Antichrist to take over. Someone had to be building those giant computers. We’re looking at a worldwide conspiracy that’s probably been in the making for hundreds of years.”

Lev relit his cigar and threw the match overboard. “Why don’t we have Alex light up the electronics? No sense in trying to hide now. Also, have the crew lower the big watertight door at the stern and start ferrying people to the beach in the speedboats. Make it look like a party. While they’re busy with that I’m going for a little chopper ride with your girlfriend.”

After increasing the rpm, Nava lifted the small blue chopper from the top deck of the Carmela and sped over the beach as Lev watched the green foothills of the Pyrenees fill the windshield. “Keep flying toward the mountains.”

Looking over her shoulder, Nava watched the big gray ship fading behind them. “How far do you want to take this?”

“Until they show their hand.”

Nava increased the tilt of the rotor blades and the chopper began to climb. Within minutes they were passing over deep valleys filled with shadows as sheer cliffs rose all around them.

“Anything yet?”

“Yeah, my radar just died ... and so did the radio.”

“Didn’t take them long. Fly around behind those cliffs ahead of us and set it down.”

Nava pulled the stick to the right, and as soon as they had passed out of sight, she pulled back and began a vertical descent, landing on the valley floor in a small clearing surrounded by large, overhanging trees. As soon as they touched down, Lev climbed out and pulled out some camouflage netting he had stowed in the back before they took off. As soon as they had covered the chopper, Lev peered up at the sky just as a fast-moving Blackhawk helicopter swooped by overhead and continued up into the narrow mountain valley.

Removing her helmet, Nava ducked under the netting and threw it into the pilot’s seat. “You were right, Professor. They were just waiting for us to make a move. What now?”

“We’ll hike out to the road where we can hitch a ride back into town. By the time we get back everyone should be on the beach.” Lev grinned. “I hope the people on the gray ship enjoy watching the party.”

* *

From the bridge of the gray ship, the party on the beach looked to be in full swing as the sun began to drop over the horizon. Watching the goings-on through his binoculars, the young officer smiled as he watched people stumbling around the bonfires with wine bottles in their hands. “Looks like they’re not feeling any pain.”

“What would you like us to do, sir?” said a thin sailor with tousled blond hair.

“Just keep an eye on things. Wake me up if they do anything strange.”

“Strange like what, sir?”

“Like if they don’t return to their ship or start running away from the beach.”

The seaman grinned. “Doesn’t look like they’ll be doing much running.”

“No, but just the same, keep an eye on them. I don’t like the way their helicopter disappeared on us today.”

“Yes, sir.”

* *

On the beach, it really looked like everyone was whooping it up as Alon stood next to one of the bonfires and stretched. Nodding to a small group sitting nearby, he walked them down to the water’s edge until they were trapped in the shadows between the rise of the sea and sharp slant of the white sand beach behind them. Hunched down, they quickly began making their way to an area behind some giant boulders that lay in the darkness at the far end of the beach. Once out of sight of the gray ship, he passed the group off to Lev and John before returning for another group.

Meanwhile, Moshe was edging one of the speedboats up onto the smooth wet sand of the beach as a group of fit-looking crewmembers hopped aboard. Shoving the throttles into reverse, he backed away into the flat surf and headed back to the Carmela. As soon as they disappeared behind the stern of the yacht, Moshe waited while the crewmembers flattened themselves against the bottom of the boat before he spun it around and headed back to the beach. To the seamen watching from the bridge of the gray ship, it looked like he had just dropped off a load of party goers at the yacht before returning an apparently empty boat back to the beach to pick up another group of happy campers, when in truth he was ferrying the same group back and forth while everyone else simply walked off the end of the beach under the very noses of those watching from the gray ship. With each trip of the speedboat, Alon would lead another group off the end of the beach, until, as the bonfires began to die down, the speedboat departed with its so-called final load of party-goers and returned to the yacht.

On the bridge of the gray ship, a sailor smiled as the lights around the yacht began to go out. “Looks like they’ve all had enough fun for one day. Those people really know how to party.”

“They’ll be feeling it tomorrow,” another seaman remarked. “What are we watching these guys for anyway?”

“Orders, mate ... what else?”

Back on the yacht, Moshe and the fit-looking crewmembers stowed the speedboat below decks and raised the watertight door at the stern. After squeezing into black wetsuits, they slipped over the side and began swimming away from the now-empty yacht toward a pier that lay a quarter of a mile away through calm water.

Once they had made it to shore, they walked up beneath the pilings of the pier and stripped off their wetsuits before creeping around behind the buildings lining the waterfront. Then, crossing the beach road, they disappeared into the woods and met up with the rest of the group.

Rising up from behind a clump of bushes at the base of a bent oak tree, Lev walked over to Alon. “Is everyone here?”

“Yes, sir. I did three head counts.”

“Good. Let’s move out. By the time the people on the gray ship notice that no one’s aboard the Carmela tomorrow, we’ll be long gone.”

“I’ll take the point,” John said, pointing his rifle down the trail.

Ariella picked up her medical kit and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll go with you.”

“Don’t you think you should hang back a little?”

“Why, because I’m a girl?”

“No.” John tried to look serious. “They always take out the point man first. Alon told me so. Since you’re the medic here, I want you back in the pack so you can patch me up if I get hit.”

Ariella smiled back and flipped her night vision goggles down over her eyes. “Nice try, commando boy. Besides, I have the map, now let’s move out.”

In the salty, humidity-laced breeze that was drifting in off the Mediterranean, John could hear Alon snicker in the background as they made their way through leafy foliage that pulled at them from the sides of a narrow goat trail that ran parallel to the beach highway. As soon as they had made their way off the beach, the so-called group of
partygoers
had undergone a startling transformation. Twenty members of the villa’s security force, plus several young men and women picked from the ranks of the yacht’s crew, were now wearing state-of-the-art night vision goggles and were armed with automatic weapons they had managed to smuggle ashore in coolers.