Although born in India, a land immersed in Hindu mythology, Shiva had not chosen his alias for religious reasons. Shiva is the consort of Durga, he had explained to Tanaka. The mahashakti, the form and formless, the root cause of creation, preservation, and annihilation.
Tanaka had understood that was not meant to be interpreted literally, but it suggested a very intimate relationship between the young man — who had been an orphan and an outcast — and the mysterious leader of their cause. Durga might have been a parental figure, the person who lifted young Shiva up out of poverty and set him on the path. Or perhaps a former lover. Or both. Although Durga was a form of the Goddess in Hinduism, that did not mean the person behind that alias was female.
Shiva was gone now, but the cause remained. Durga remained, and had made direct contact with him in the weeks following Shiva’s disappearance.
Aside from Shiva, a true Child of the Goddess, Tanaka had never met another follower in person, but that did not matter. Their unity of purpose found its truest expression in the virtual world, where they could share ideas unburdened by the limitations and animal urges of physical bodies.
However, there was only so much that could be accomplished on Internet forums and chat rooms. Misery and suffering existed in the real world, so the Annihilation, the Great Victory of Durga, the end of death itself, could only be accomplished there. Tanaka would be the instrument of Durga’s victory.
Security was also a concern. Compartmentalization and anonymity ensured that only a few knew the full scope and purpose of the plan, and this was of particular concern as the plan came to fruition.
The driver did not know who Tanaka was or that he carried the Roswell meta-material, nor did he know with certainty that the recent earthquakes were the beginning of the end. He might be Christian or Muslim, or something else altogether. All he would have been told was to pick someone up outside the gates of Tomorrowland and to do whatever that person instructed.
And one other thing. He handed Tanaka a throwaway mobile phone.
Tanaka opened the message center and read the only entry there, an anonymous text sent only a few minutes earlier. No words. Just a single question mark.
A message from Durga.
He typed out a reply.
>>>Got it.
A few seconds passed, and then a new message appeared.
>Second test was a success. Objective achieved.
Before he could reply, another text arrived.
>Sent men to Sinai. Contact lost. Success there unlikely.
Tanaka took the news like a physical blow. He had passed along the information about George Pierce’s search for an ancient relic with a possible connection to the Black Knight, but he had not really considered it to be much of a threat to their endeavor. Durga felt differently, and judging by the outcome, the concern appeared warranted.
>>>What does that mean for us?
>Uncertain. What is status there?
Tanaka started typing in a response, deleted it, started again and then deleted that, too. When he had slipped away from the transmitter building, Fallon had been unconscious and the three visitors were all in mortal danger. If everything had gone according to plan, all four were now dead, but if he had learned anything from the day’s activity, it was that things did not always go according to plan. Proclaiming victory would be premature, but if he equivocated without good reason, the entire endeavor might be derailed. He settled on a compromise that seemed workable.
>>>Unknown. Recommend we keep an eye on things here.
There was a pause, then another text appeared.
>Agreed. Have your driver stay behind to assess outcome. Continue to prime objective.
“Stop the car,” Tanaka said, as soon as he read the message.
The driver pulled to the side of the road.
“Go back. You’re supposed to keep watch at Tomorrowland.”
The man glanced over and frowned. “Just me?”
“I have work to do elsewhere.”
“And…you’re taking my car?”
Tanaka almost laughed aloud. “I’ll leave your car at the airport.”
The man was not pleased about surrendering his personal vehicle to the cause. It was easy to be a true believer on the Internet. Sacrificing material possessions in the real world was a lot harder.
“Trust me,” Tanaka went on. “Very soon, you won’t need a car or anything else, ever again.”
THIRTY-TWO
For a long time, Abdul-Ahad did not move. He felt exhausted, completely drained. He could not see a thing. His entire body felt numb, the nerve endings in his skin overloaded. It was as if the pure light unleashed with the destruction of the jinn had bleached him to the bone.
But he was still alive.
At first, the realization had filled him with despair. Had he been wrong about attacking the jinn? Was that why he had been denied entry into Paradise with the others? But as he lay there, blind, numb, and helpless, he realized why he was still alive.
His ears worked just fine, but for a long time, all he could hear was the soft crunch of jinn roaming about on the mountain slope, and much fainter, the cries of alarm rising from the monastery. Then, he heard voices, speaking English.
The agents of the anti-messiah were still alive.
There was nothing he could do to stop them, not in his current condition, and not by himself. But there were other ways to fight.
Israfil must be told, he thought.
God was not finished with him. There was work yet to do.
THIRTY-THREE
“The Lost Ark,” Marcus Fallon shook his head in disbelief, as the conference call ended. “Well, I guess it isn’t any crazier than the idea of using an alien artifact to shut down the sun. Or are the two connected? I can’t keep it all straight. Is this all for real?”
Carter stared at him, but it was the pink-haired woman, Dourado, who answered. “If Dr. Pierce says it is, believe it.”
She turned away, as if the matter warranted no further consideration and began discussing travel plans with Carter, while the big man, Lazarus, looked on, saying nothing.
Fallon felt like the odd man out, a stranger in his own home. They were done with him. He was of no further use, and they didn’t seem to care if he knew it.
He was a little surprised, and not in a good way, at the audacity they had demonstrated thus far, moving into Tomorrowland like a military strike force, destroying his property, commandeering his computers. While it was true that he was partly to blame for the mess, that didn’t excuse their rudeness.
We’ll just see about that, he thought.
“So what happens next? I mean, once Pierce finds the Ark?”
Carter looked up again. “You heard him. Shut the Black Knight down and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“That’s not acceptable.”
“Excuse me?”
“The Black Knight is the key to breaking free of the Earth, colonizing other planets. You don’t just throw an opportunity like that away.”
Carter shook her head. “Maybe you’ve forgotten already, but the Pacific Coast is underwater. The world is in shambles, and that would be true even without Tanaka trying to send us all to Hell. That’s where your opportunity has gotten us.”