The Dove (10 page)

“That only confirms what this says, and what I said about Mark Andrew being in the Abyss.”  Lucio looked up at them.  “If Bari is running from Jozsef then that means that he and Nicole have finally discovered the truth of their situation.  At least we can assume that they would be on our side now.”

“That would be assuming a great deal.”  Barry shook his head doubtfully.  “It could be a trick.  He could be trying to lure us to Egypt.  You heard what Lucifer said about the creatures in Africa.  There is nothing in Egypt now, but wild beasts.  If we send someone down there, it might be disastrous.”

“True.”  Konrad agreed.

“But if it is not a trick, then they will need our help even moreso.  Especially since Mark Andrew will not be able to help them.  If Sophia is now simply Sophia, she would have very little power to do anything.”

“Nicole is like Luke Andrew and he is like his father.”  Simon told them.  “And Bari is not human.  His father’s powers were not trifling.  My father told me Omar would have eventually been as powerful as the Mighty Djinni.”

“Then we will have to hope that Bari and Nicole can protect them.”  Lucio crossed himself.  “I can fly there and have a look.”

“You would need to discuss it with the Grand Master.”  Konrad told him.

“My father!”  Simon perked up again.  “I must see him.”  He broke from the room and Selwig bounced up from the floor where he had been waiting and followed behind him again.  Barry and Konrad followed after them.  Lucio folded the paper and slipped it in his pocket as Simon began beating on the door again.  He would go to Egypt.  Grand Master or no.  Besides, the Grand Master was not at home.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

Hubur stood on the top of the palace, looking out over the city.  She had insisted on coming here and Jozsef had accompanied her under duress.  He wanted to get away from her. 

“Look, my love.”  She waved one hand out over the city.  The full moon was rising over the horizon as a huge yellow disc.  “I have been thinking.”

“Oh?”  Jozsef yawned and placed one hand over his mouth.

“Yes.  I do that from time to time.”  She turned a disdainful eye on him.  “You are wasting time.”

She raised her arms toward the moon and a chill breeze sprang up, ruffling Jozsef’s long hair.

“Behold the power of the Ancients, Jozsef.”  She smiled and Jozsef looked about in alarm.

“What are you doing?!”  He grabbed at her arms, but could not touch her.

“I am reminding
you
of who you are!”  She said as the light began to fade.  Jozsef stood perfectly still as a red tinge appeared on the limb of the moon.  There was no eclipse due!  The red hue flowed rapidly across the face of Luna as shouts rose up from the courtyard below.  The wind began to howl in his ears almost immediately.

Jozsef grasped the edge of the parapet as the wind became gale force, blowing debris from the streets below, high into the air.  Sirens went off in the distance and a dull roar filled the spaces between the buildings of the city.  The people in the streets began to scream and shout and fight their way toward shelter from the sudden onslaught of desert wind.

Hubur raised one arm higher and pointed her fingers at the sky.  Jozsef followed this movement with his eyes and watched in terror as the darkened sky began to fill with streaks of green and blue light.  Hundreds of meteors were falling from the sky.  The first strikes were far away on the plain surrounding the ancient city.  There were small flashes of light on the horizon as the meteorites struck the desert floor and then the sounds of the explosions rumbled across the city, vibrating the very foundations of the palace.

Hubur laughed and lowered her arms.  Jozsef caught her and spun her around.

“What are you doing?!”  He shouted in her face.  Some of the impacts were growing quite large and the thunderous claps buffeted the city.  “You will destroy the city!!”

“And what loss would that be, my love?”  She asked him.  “But do not worry.  It is only a small display of things to come for our beloved subjects.”

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

Bari, Nicole, Sophia and Mark Andrew stood on top of the Ishtar Gate in Old Babylon.  The Colonel’s soldiers gathered about them, muttering and praying as they watched the awesome display of destruction raining down from the night sky.

“Outside?”  Mark turned his confused eyes on Sophia and put one arm around her protectively.

“This is not natural!”  Bari shouted to them above the rumbling.  “There is no meteor shower or eclipse scheduled for tonight!”

“Scheduled?!”  Nicole shouted at him.  “Do you schedule such things?!”

“You know what I mean!”  Bari yelled at her.  “It’s not time for such a thing.  I know!  I study the stars.  Astronomy is a hobby of mine.”

“Oh!  Well!  That makes me feel better.  Looks like your hobby is out of control.  Can you do anything about it?”  She cringed as one of the larger explosions shook the wall beneath their feet.  “I think we’d better get down from here!”

The impacts were in the flat lands between Old Babylon and New Babylon.  They could see tremendous gouts of dust rising into the air and drifting southward across the eerily red face of the moon.  The soldiers hustled them down from the wall into the narrow streets of the old city.

“This is the work of Jozsef Daniel.”  Nicole told them as they hurried along.  “He probably learned what we did by now!”

“Colonel McGuffy!”  Bari shouted to the man as he rushed toward them.  “We can’t stay here!  We’ll be crushed if they get any closer.”

The panicked group rushed through the Ishtar Gate and headed for the three vehicles parked near the visitor’s center.  They would have to travel on.  No stopping for the night.

As the three vehicles sped across the deserted landscape to the south and west, the meteor shower continued behind them, coming closer and closer.  Their progress was slowed as the dust clouds caught up with them and a strong wind from the north swept small rocks and pebbles along the road.  The visibility was reduced to a few yards and the darkness was complete.  Nicole buried her face in Mark Andrew’s shoulder and he held both his daughter and Sophia in the rear seat of the ATV.  Bari leaned forward against the dash, trying to help the Colonel watch for debris in the road.

“Outside is dangerous.”  Mark commented knowingly as they crawled along.  The wind buffeted the armored vehicle and they could hear the muffled explosions still occurring with increasing frequency behind them.

((((((((((((()))))))))))))

Simon had no doubt about where his father was.  It did not surprise him at all when he learned that Barry had tried to deceive him.  He checked his father’s condition and pronounced him well enough.

Barry was greatly relieved that the healer was not angry with him.  They had missed breakfast and lunch, sending Lydia and Rachel word they were working on something very important.  Catharine had come twice to see Lucio and he had spoken briefly to her in the hall.  Izzy had brought lunch up to them as they hashed over the situation and tried to decide what to do about the message from New Babylon, the condition of the Grand Master and debated whether to allow Lucio to fly down to Egypt.  Selwig had abandoned them earlier on and they had called Luke Andrew in to discuss the situation with him.  He had wanted to go to Egypt immediately in search of his father and sister, but they had pointed out that it would take too long for him to get there by conventional means. 

Luke suggested he try to summon his half-brother, Lemarik.  The Djinni could travel by very unconventional means. 

Simon mulled over everything in silence, but he did not tell them that he had decided to go himself.  Instead of going to New Babylon, he would try to intercept them in Egypt.  At times the world seemed very small and other times, it seemed immense.  How on earth could he find such a small group of people in such a vast wilderness?  The best bet would be to take the message at face value and go to Giza.  From there he could make the decision whether to travel toward New Persia or…

“I have to get some things together.”  Simon told them as he dropped his father’s arm to the bed.  “There will be work to do when he wakes up.  Just keep an eye on him and don’t tell the others… yet.  There is no need to worry them unnecessarily.”

“Those were our thoughts as well.”  Konrad agreed.  “Brother…” he turned back to the hall, expecting to see Lucio and Simon behind him, but the hall was empty. The smell of bacon drifted in the hall.  “Simon? Lucio?”  The Apocalyptic Knight frowned back toward Barry’s room.

He walked back down the hall quietly, but in his heart he already knew what he would find.  He opened the door to Barry’s bedroom and looked down at the clothing lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. Lucio’s clothes.  He went to the window and leaned out, staring off into the bright blue sky.

“Dammit, Lucio!”  He shook his head.  “God be with you.”

He turned around and found Vanni standing in the room near the door.

“My father has flown south.”  The carbon copy of the Italian told him.

“Were you here when he left?”  Konrad raised both eyebrows.

“Yes.”  Vanni picked up his father’s clothes from the floor.  “He will see the great monuments of Khem.  They hold a special significance to him.”

“I’m sure.”  Konrad drew a deep breath.

“He will be all right.”  Vanni told him and shrugged.  “I need to go to the center and comfort the King.  He is in a most foul mood.”

“I’m sure.”  Konrad repeated. 

“The Master will be back soon.” 

Konrad nodded.

“When you get to Jezreel, beware of the one called Ruth.”  Vanni told him as he started for the door.

“Wait!”  Konrad caught up with him.  “I’m not going to Jezreel.”

“Yes you are.”  Vanni told him.  “The moon has become as blood and the sun has fallen from the sky.  You know these prophecies.”

“What are you talking about?”  Konrad asked.

“The Ancient Evil is awakening in New Babylon.”  Vanni told him in a quiet voice.  “The plains of Megiddo await us.”

Konrad let go of his arm and Vanni left him in the room.  At first, he seemed frozen in place, as if the simple words ‘Megiddo awaits us’ had completely paralyzed him, and then he bolted from the room, running down the hall, past the Grand Master’s room, down the stairs and out the front doors into the bright afternoon sunlight.  He passed several people along the way, but he did not stop, did not turn back when they called to him and had no recognition of them nor did he comprehend the words they said.  He ran down the garden path toward the stables.  The world seemed to pass by him as he stood still rather than the reverse and before he realized that he had done anything at all, he was riding one of Mark Andrew’s precious stallions at full tilt toward the old chapel, north of the house.  When he reached the chapel, he rode the horse onto the front portico and dropped to the stones.  The horse wheeled about in panic and fled down the steps and back toward the stables.  Konrad did not notice this in his haste to get inside the chapel. 

He ran down the aisle of the sanctuary and threw himself to his knees in front of the altar, beneath the great crucifix John Paul had brought here from somewhere in France.  He crossed himself and looked up at the face of the crucified Christ.

“Father!”  He called to his father, not the Creator.  “Father!  The time is come and I am not prepared!  Why did you leave me?!  Why didn’t you tell me what was to be done?”

In all the time since he had taken his father’s place on the Council, he had never considered what might eventually fall to him.  He had pushed such thoughts away from him when they threatened him, and he had wrapped himself in the concerns of the moment.  The things happening around him; his family and the mundane occupations that ensured the continuance of the Order and the survival of the people that he had come to think of as his family after the death of Lucia; the total immersion in the cares of the material world had even glazed over the bizarre events that he had witnessed over the past hundred years or more.  He felt very old even though many of his Brothers had lived much longer than he.

Konrad lowered his head to the cold stone of the altar and closed his eyes.  His mind traveled back to the time when he had been the apprentice of Mark Ramsay and he had begun this long journey.  A journey that he’d never really tried to direct or control, simply going this way and that as the wind blew and the world turned.  He’d misused and abused his powers and abilities and had eventually ignored them altogether, preferring to imagine that he was simply an ordinary man, living only for the moment.  If only Mark Andrew were there.  He would find him and ask him why he suddenly felt very old and very young, at the same time!

Lucio had said Mark Andrew was in the Abyss.  The message and other evidence said the Knight of Death was in New Babylon!  He had rarely ever used his mystery to look into the minds of the people he knew.  He had only done so at the express order of the Grand Master and then he had done it reluctantly.  He knew that his father had done more.  He knew that his father had used his mystery as it should have been used.  He knew that his father had been a constant reminder to the members of the Order that they had a purpose
.  An ultimate goal
.  It was his duty and his work to remind them.  To keep up with them, but he did not want to know their minds.  He had enough trouble with his own!