Tridas (17 page)

Antipater
nodded in non-verbal queues as Legio relayed the entire mission. At his
conclusion, Antipater dismissed him warmly and requested his presence, in full
armor tomorrow morning.

In
private on the terrace, Antipater broke the seal to read Aristotle's epistle.

To My
Friend, My Very Son, Antipater

I am
consumed with happiness to learn of your safety to the west. Your strength of
mind and immense skills have been well received by the Italian city states.
Your messenger views you through the same eyes as the legions of Macedon. I
trust Kavani is well and her love still ignites the fire in your spirit. Her
life-force is strong and unique. Your courage to leave everything speaks to the
mettle of the bond that ties you two together. The favor of the Gods is your
blessing. An act of kindness to esteem you, amongst all peoples.

Some
may view Alexander's visit a twist of fate, even Allatore fears it will be the
unraveling of your identity. The champion Antipater will likely be called upon
by our King, just as Darius of Persia and Batis of Gaza. Refusal will be a sign
of weakness and almost assuredly public death should our ruler decide to attack
Rome. Your ability to navigate through any situation is unparalleled. I trust
you have a strategy in place to appease all parties. Allatore will be present
in Rome to assist in these endeavors. The abdication of your position of Regent
is still clouded with mystery. Alexander has cast your departure as 'a hidden
emissary ready to strike for Macedon if necessary’, but encountering you in
Rome would most certainly thump his pride. The cooled embers of your betrayal
would be ignited once more. It would seem, word of your exploits has not
reached Alexander's ear, but in preparation for the trip to Rome, stories of
your valor will perk his attention.

Stay
strong and courageous,

Aristotle

Antipater's
mind was set. Kavani approached him on the terrace.

"Good
news from Allatore?" She had a way of assuming the positive.

"It
would seem Alexander is unaware of our presence in Rome. However, that is
likely to change as his trip preparations are underway. His detailed education
of any new destination, will undoubtedly be comprehensive enough to include my
name".

"Will
he immediately assume it is you?"

"I
would. The facts will be too convincing to not draw the obvious
conclusion". Antipater stated as he recalled the thought patterns of his
fellow student.

"He's
not as brilliant as you are, you know!" Kavani assured, squeezing his hand
from her position tucked under his chin as they both looked out at the sea below.
"Perhaps this is the opportunity to free ourselves from Alexander's threat
forever".

"Kill
him?" Antipater asked a bit stunned.

"I
have some ideas". She turned to face Antipater, flashing her beaming
smile.

"Of
course you do". He smiled back and kissed his love.

The
next morning Legio arrived in full battle regalia.

Antipater
tossed him a dull blade, "Defend my attacks."

Legio
skillfully responded to Antipater's assault, even offsetting a few swipes to
counter strike. The exchange of blows was impressive. Legio could certainly
fight. Antipater feigned an aggressive hit and Legio bit hard, finding himself
flat on the ground with Antipater's sword at the back of his neck.

"Walk
through the outcome of every move in your mind, before you commit".
Antipater instructed. "Your instincts serve you well, but in a short time
can be predicted. You must be able to adapt to the manners of your opponents.
Mimicking their approach, can both confuse or give a sense of over
confidence".

"Is
this how you fight, Sir?" Legio asked, wanting more than just a yes or no
answer.

"Yes,
your discerning spirit will continue to serve you well".

"You
are training me to stand in your stead for The Great Alexander's challenge in
Rome". Legio offered confidently, upon Antipater's compliment to his
intuition.

"Potential
challenge... We have much training ahead of us". Antipater corrected.

"It
would be an honor". And the training commenced.

Legio's
progress was remarkable and Antipater came to greatly enjoy their daily
training sessions. The bond between the two men grew notable.

"Legio's
desire for knowledge and understanding is unquenchable. He is rare amongst
men". Antipater acknowledged to Kavani.

"Careful
your sensitive side is showing through. That can be dangerous for
everyone". Kavani prudently advised. She loved Antipater's sensitive
spirit. It gave him insight and receptive capabilities, to see what almost no
one else could catch sight of, but it also made him susceptible.

"Thank
you, love. I am reminded, trust must be earned. His choice to face potential
death for me commands my attention".

"One
who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks
closer than a brother". Kavani quoted.

"Your
ability to see strength of character with such resolve is a force that will
yield us a plentiful harvest". Antipater offered in tribute.

"Let's
not mince words, someday it will save your life".

"How did he
escape?" Aven roared.

Hoyt immediately
doubled back his course into the lockers, relatively quickly spilling out into
the main concourses now teeming with fans at the match's finish.

"Perhaps
Sihamuni used a cloaking spell to cover his escape". Aven thought. If he
had fled the stadium, their best bet now was to see if Kava could
"track" him again. Not completely sure how the connection worked, he
and Kavani had agreed to stop all communications throughout the stadium sting.
Assuming failure now in apprehending Sihamuni, reconnecting was Aven's utmost
priority.

Sihamuni was out
of sight on the Argentinean team bus. He could sense his connection with Kavani
had been broken, but was unsure how. Her strength was a threat to what he
deemed was an inevitable outcome. All the more, he believed his role was to end
this potential risk or at least obstruct her vision of the pending calamity.
Even without his spiritual link, Sihamuni was a man with ample resources. He had
not sensed Kavani's movements since the Trevi Fountain. The team was staying
nearby in Piazza Navona. Unaware of Kavani's earlier link, he assumed he had
been tracked to the stadium via city cameras. He would use them now to his
advantage, luring his prey out to play, by making his presence obvious at the fountain
of the Four Rivers.

Outside the
Galleria Kava turned on her phone. She had a missed call from Aven. Kava
recounted her vision to Aven.

"Are you
getting any sense of his new location?" Aven asked.

"Nothing
definitive, the images are too generic. I broke his bond with me, but it has
weakened my link to him as well".

"I'll see
what we have on Zavodovski Island. I'll see you back at the hotel". Aven
wrapped up the call and started after Hoyt.

The
concourses were filled with people, but Hoyt stood head and shoulders over the
crowd. Aven flagged him down as they both maneuvered to the edge.

"No
Luck?" Aven asked.

"I
think he is long gone. What did Kava say?" Hoyt asked, knowing Aven would
have already reached out to her after losing the monk.

"Their
bond is growing weaker. She appears to have slipped his connection entirely,
which has made her images a bit less vivid. Sihamuni seemed to have a level of
access with the Argentinean team that seems curious to me... Let's look into
that as well as Zavodovski Island”.

"What?"
came the response at the far-reaching, random location.

"Kava
saw the name in a vision”. Aven replied completely dead pan.

"Time
to rendezvous with the team back at the hotel. The jacket from Langley should
be available. Plus, we can scan the city camera reports”. Hoyt offered up, in
response to Aven's obviously edgy countenance at the monk slipping them once
again.

"Sure.
We can learn all we can about Zavodovski Island as well”. Aven said under his
breath as they exited the stadium.

Within a short
period of time, the entire team was back at the hotel, reviewing city cam
footage and speaking with other municipalities also tracking the monk via
likeness recognition software. Hoyt sought the FBI jacket as Aven headed
directly to see Kava.

Opening the
suite door, Aven was surprised to find Citlalli and Malin. He knew each had a
role in this pending calamity, but he simply needed time with Kavani alone. His
love greeted him with a kiss and for a brief moment it was just the two of
them. Scanning the room further, Aven notice the laptop displaying longitude
and latitude coordinates in one window and a picture of a smoldering volcano in
another.

"Started
looking into the island”. Kava explained, sighting his eyes. "Zavodovski
is the northern most land mass of the Sandwich Islands in the Atlantic. Serious
volcanic activity is reported on this island, which is also home to the
chinstrap penguins”. She smiled with the last tid-bit of information as she brought
up a separate image of the waddling birds. "Another interesting fact,
Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over the island and is rumored to have
military presence since the Falklands Conflict”.

"Surprising”.
Aven interjected. "The name sounds Russian?"

"Very
astute my love. The island was named by the  Russian Antarctic nbsp;
Gottlieb von Bellingshausen on the Christmas
Eve in 1819. Bellingshausen named it after Lieutenant Ivan Zavodovski, who was
captain of his ship, the 
Vostok”
.
Kavani recited. "I think the Russian/Argentinean connection is more than a
coincidence. I'll continue to pour over the details”.

"I'll
check in with the boys downstairs. The sooner we end this thing, the sooner we
get our lives back”. Aven returned, still disappointed that his time with Kava
was cut short.

Stepping
back into the hall, Hoyt called out from down the way, "Good timing. I was
just coming to disturb your alone time, with some breaking intelligence”.

"Kava's
sisters already took care of the disturbing... Whatcha got?"

"New
keywords from the code as well as confirmed activity in the Andaman Sea"
Hoyt reported. "Our diligent hackers at Langley have two new sequences
solved, revealing SRIHARIKOTA and KOLA BOREHOLE. Sriharikota is an island in
the Bay of Bengal. It houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Launch Pad. The
Chikyu is currently on course for this destination. The station has feed lines
for liquid propellants and high pressure gases”.

"Rocket
fuel to inject into the earth's core”. Aven stated and questioned at the same
time.

"Exactly”.
Hoyt answered, as they rounded the corner to join the team.

Aven
froze in his steps upon entering the room. Projected on the wall was an ancient
Mesopotamian character. Aven knew what it symbolized, but he was sure it had
been lost for millennia.

"And
of course there is this”. Hoyt continued, gesturing to the projected symbol.
"It recently came across the transmitters, from none other than Colonel Suttikul to your attention”.

"What
does it mean?" Aven asked, attempting to ferret out any known information.

"We
were hoping you might shed some light on that”, offered the Commander. "It
appears to be absent from any of our data banks. The origin is also not clear,
but the team at Langley believes it to be old rather than new, perhaps
influenced by its intended audience and your expertise in antiquities”.

Aven
stepped forward and took a closer look. A spiral was enclosed by three circular
bands. The spiral centered around a staff with a single serpent wrapped around
it.

"The
staff with one serpent wrapped around it, is the symbol of modern medicine”.
Aven recited. It also reminded him of the Maya Vision Serpent, the Nagas
guarding Angkor and the Semitic Nehushtan, but he was unwilling to present this
information quite yet.

"What
about the series of black and white dots at the compass points?", asked
the commander.

"It
looks like some type of ancient Morse Code”. Proposed Hoyt

Aven
starred blank face at Hoyt, "A code perhaps... but in ancient pictographs
sequences at the 4 points of a sphere were usually the potential outcomes for
an unpredictable series of events”. Aven failed to explain that the one
positioned at top was most likely, as the one at the bottom was least probable,
while the two side positions had equal possibilities. Aven perceived the symbol
as an invitation from the Colonel to negotiate
terms for his assistance against Sihamuni. The notion was very attractive
considering the mouthpiece of delivery. He obviously had ancient knowledge
relevant to the situation. "Was there any more to the transmission?"