The Mayan Resurrection (15 page)

My grandpa. He says I’m a heathen. Says my soul needs to be cleansed.

Lilith, I have to go.

Wait! Please don’t go, I get so … lonely.

I have to go, but we can talk again.

Really? Will you be my friend, Jacob?

Of course, but now I have to go.

The digital display advances—2:11.

Immanuel Gabriel is on the verge of panic. He is about to leap into the pool when he sees Jacob’s fingers loosen their grip on the ladder rung.

The white-haired twin floats to the surface, then suddenly snaps awake. His head breaks the water, his azure-blue eyes searching for the digital clock. ‘Seven minutes. Convinced now?’

Immanuel shakes his head. ‘I can’t do that. I’m not like you.’

‘Yes you are.’ Jacob climbs out of the pool, his eyes catching sight of a passenger jet as it streaks north across the afternoon sky.

ZAP!

White light … presidential seal … the interior cabin of a private plane … Ennis Chaney at his desk … the open cockpit door … a man in uniform at the controls … an identification badge … a glint of steel … blood splatters the control panel … nosedive … a sickening descent … bursting into flames …

ZAP!

‘Jake … hey Jake, wake up!’

Jacob opens his eyes. He is on his back, lying on the pool deck. He sits up, confused. Looks at his brother. ‘What happened?’

‘You fainted, dickhead. Serves you right for staying under so long.’

‘No … it wasn’t that. I had a vision.’

‘What kind of vision?’

‘A plane crash. I think it was Air Force One.’

‘You’re such a freak.’ Immanuel heads back toward the house.

‘Manny, wait—’ Jacob hurries after his brother. ‘That never happened to me before. It must have something to do with the light. I entered the light for the first time. The vision just latched on to me!’

‘Leave me alone!’ The thermoimager above the rear security door tracks the dark-haired twin as he approaches. Positively identifying Immanuel, the system opens the sliding bulletproof doors.

Immanuel enters the kitchen, Jacob right behind him.

‘You can’t ignore this, Manny, you’re my twin. At some point, these things will happen to you, too.’

‘Shut up—’

‘We have to be ready. Years from now you and me are going to leave this world and—’

‘I said, shut up!’ Immanuel races through the hallway and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

‘It’s our destiny, Manny!’ Jacob presses his face to the closed
door. ‘If you’re too much of a wuss to go, maybe I’ll go with Lilith!’

‘Jacob Gabriel!’ Dominique grabs her son by the arm, dragging him away from his brother’s door. ‘What did I tell you about teasing Manny?’

‘I wasn’t teasing.’

‘Go to your room.’

‘No.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I have to call Uncle Ennis. I have to warn him—’

‘Young man, you’re grounded!’ She drags him into his bedroom. ‘You stay in there until I say you can come out.’ Dominique slams his door shut, then knocks on Immanuel’s door. ‘Manny? Manny, sweetheart, you okay?’

Hearing the sobs, she enters.

In a corner of his bedroom, Immanuel Gabriel sits on the floor, pulling out clumps of his dark black hair.

‘… Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil—’

Lilith Robinson opens her azure-blue eyes. She is no longer in the nexus. She is lying on the cot, naked, her slender wrists and ankles bound by plastic cords.

Quenton stands over her, Bible in one hand, cross in the other, his white minister’s outfit lathered in sweat as he verbally assaults the girl with more fire and brimstone.

‘… we pray the God of Peace will crush Satan beneath our
feet, so that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us—’

Brandy is at the back window, mimicking Quenton behind his back.

Lilith giggles.

The minister’s eyes widen. He slaps the girl across the face, then sprinkles her with Holy Water. ‘Take hold of the Dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan. Bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit, that he may no longer seduce the nations!’

Lilith closes her eyes, her body trembling.

OCTOBER 11, 2020: MABUS ESTATE, THE HAMPTONS, NEW YORK

It is America’s hottest summer playground, a coastal resort occupied by palatial beach homes owned by the rich and famous.

Peter Mabus stands in his bathrobe on the deserted stretch of private beach, staring at the pounding ocean of autumn as a gray dawn breaks over the eastern horizon. The last few years have taken their toll on the once robust entrepreneur. Following the landslide loss to Ennis Chaney in the presidential election, his wife of thirty years filed divorce papers after catching him in a hotel suite with two of his secretaries. Chaney’s new anti-fossil-fuel initiatives are costing him tens of millions of dollars, and his religious-based political party is under investigation for tax evasion.

‘Hey, Dad!’

Mabus sees his son, Lucien, waving from the boardwalk. ‘Someone here to see you.’

Mabus signals for his guest to approach.

Solomon Adashek makes his way over the private boardwalk and past the tall sea grass to the beach. ‘Good morning.’

‘I see nothing good about it. I hired you to do a job, Mr. Adashek. Why hasn’t the job been finished?’

‘You hired me to terminate the most closely guarded figure in the world. These things take time. However, my operative is now in position to complete the task at hand.’

‘When will it happen?’

‘Today. Our friend should be dead in time for the noonday news.’

Ennis Chaney looks up from behind his desk, swallowing the rest of his pickled egg lunch as his secretary escorts the rabbi and a woman with bright orange-red hair into the Oval Office.

‘Rabbi Steinberg. Nice to see you again. Been what … a year?’

‘Two. We were together at the twins’ fifth birthday party.’

‘Sorry I missed the last few. Been busy campaigning for my vice president. Wish we could talk, but I leave for Detroit in ten minutes. Next time call ahead and make an appointment.’

The rabbi casts a worried look at the redhead.

‘Now what’s so damn important you had to fly up to Washington instead of using the video-com?’

‘Your assassination.’

For a moment, Chaney’s raccoon eyes narrow, then the president rasps out a laugh. ‘Is that all? Hell, I’ve received more death threats than the FBI can count.’

‘Mr. President, this is Kimberly Ward, a professor at Washington College. Her background is in parapsychology.’

‘I deal with paranormal phenomena, Mr. President.’

‘Well, if I ever run into a ghost, I’ll be sure to call you.’

Kimberly Ward is not amused. ‘I’m a scientist, sir. I deal with the science of extrasensory perception, clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition, and I assure you my time is just as valuable as yours.’

Chaney perks up, his ego always ready for a battle of wills. ‘Go on, Miss, uh?’

‘Ward. Kimberly Ward.’

Chaney signals them to sit, then hobbles to his favorite easy chair. ‘Okay, Ms. Ward, you’ve got five minutes.’

‘Have you ever heard of the theory regarding mind-body dualism?’

‘No.’

‘Psychokinetic researchers such as I are convinced there are two separate but coexisting facets of human beings: the physical body, which does not survive material death, and the nonphysical mind, or soul, that can live forever.’

‘If this is a religious thing—’

‘This is science, Mr. President, with studies that date back to the late 1930s. Our latest research can measure the electrostatic radiation that is expelled by a human being when the subject undergoes an out-of-body experience. The study of paranormal phenomena has made huge strides over the last decade. Along
with the material forces of gravity, electromagnetic, and weak and strong nuclear forces, scientists now believe a fifth force may be present in the known universe—a force that relates to psychokinesis. Your godson, Jacob, exhibits abilities in this field that dwarf any subject I’ve ever studied.’

‘It’s the Hunahpu gene,’ Rabbi Steinberg interjects. ‘Somehow, the boy is able to tap into a higher dimension of consciousness.’

‘Really?’ Chaney glances at his watch. ‘You know, I think my watch is slow.’ He stands to leave.

Steinberg blocks his path. ‘Jacob saw something. He had a vision, a precognition. You’ll never make it to Detroit this afternoon, Ennis. One of Air Force One’s flight crew is planning to crash your plane into the Washington Monument moments after takeoff.’

The president glares at the rabbi. ‘How could a seven-year-old boy—’

‘Jacob claims he saw the man’s security badge,’ says Kimberly. ‘He’s even given us a name: Fred Botnick.’

Chaney hesitates, then touches the office intercom. ‘Kathy, get me a list of the flight crew scheduled this afternoon for Air Force One.’

‘Yes, sir. Transferring information to your monitor.’

The bookshelf to Chaney’s left vanishes, replaced by a large monitor. A dozen names appear on screen.

Kimberly Ward points to the seventh name down.

B
OTNICK
, F
RED
. R
ANK
: M
AJOR
. A
SSIGNMENT
: P
ILOT
.

Chaney stares at the screen for a long moment. ‘Kathy?’

‘Yes, sir?’

‘Get me the FBI director, then cancel my speech in Detroit.’

‘Sir?

‘Just do it.’

TOP SECRET/MAJESTIC-12

WARNING: Unauthorized access or viewing of this document without the appropriate authorizations will result in permanent incarceration or sanction by authorized use of deadly force.

PROGRESS REPORT ON SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAM
GOLDEN FLEECE

14 October 2020

JACOB GABRIEL

1. The genetically enhanced abilities of JACOB GABRIEL (son of Michael Gabriel, see HUNAHPU GENE) continue to evolve. On 3 September 2020 and again on 18 September 2020, Agent MITCHELL KURTZ witnessed Jacob remain underwater in excess of four minutes. When questioned, Jacob responded by saying he had moved into a ‘higher dimension of consciousness beyond our third-dimensional senses.’

2. On 10 October, 2020, following a similar ‘immersion,’ Jacob confronted Rabbi RICHARD STEINBERG with a vision
regarding an act of terror aboard Air Force One. Steinberg met in person with POTUS on 11 October 2020. FBI agents arrested AF-1 Major FRED BOTNICK (pilot) who was later identified as a member of an Aryan Nation terrorist regime. Seven pounds of C-4 plastique explosive was found sewn inside the lining of his uniform. More arrests are pending.

CONCLUSIONS

3. Jacob’s ability to ‘remote view’ makes him an invaluable resource to U.S. antiterrorist forces. It is recommended that both the boy and his twin (IMMANUEL) be evaluated for PROJECT TRINITY immediately.

4. GOLDEN FLEECE geneticists now agree it is unlikely that HUNAHPU DNA is limited to the Gabriel clan. Every attempt should be made to identify other members of this bloodline. A necessary first step would be the genetic ‘tagging’ of newborns, as well as the top one percent of athletes and students, along with all mental patients diagnosed ‘paranoid schizophrenic.’

Submitted:

W. Louis McDonald
GOLDEN FLEECE

14 October 2020

OCTOBER 17, 2020: BELLE GLADE, FLORIDA

Lilith’s flesh crawls with fear as her grandfather slips in between her sheets. She can smell the alcohol on his breath—

—and the pungent scent of his sex.

‘Time for another lesson, girl.’

She turns away. Stares at her dollhouse.

‘As you get older, boys are gonna try stuff on you. Can’t let ’em do these things. Understand?’