“Sure, there were mistakes,” he said, “but that’s no reason to burn all the progress we’ve made. If the Ark is the key to controlling the Black Knight, then we need to do more research with it.”
“You mean you need to do more research,” Lazarus said, in a low voice that sounded more than a little threatening.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I’ve already laid the groundwork. Invested millions. If Tanaka hadn’t gone bat-shit crazy, I would already be on my way to working out the kinks. I deserve a piece of this.”
Carter continued to regard him with cool indifference. “I guess you could make a legal case for that. Of course, you would have to admit some responsibility for these disasters. And make the case that you could behave responsibly with it.” She shook her head. “I know you mean well, Marcus, but you know what will happen if you try to move forward with your research. Someone will turn it into a weapon, just like what Tanaka wants to do.”
Not if I turn it into a weapon first, Fallon thought.
And why not? If he controlled the Black Knight, he would own the sun.
He managed a smile of resignation and let the matter drop. Maybe they were done with him, but he wasn’t done with them.
THIRTY-FOUR
“I can’t believe they called this ‘the Promised Land.’” Fiona waved a hand at the panoramic vista spread out before them. From the 2,800-foot-tall ridge overlooking the Jordan River Valley, she could see all the way to Jerusalem, but although there were a few patches of green here and there, and a sparkling blue gem that was the Dead Sea, the landscape was, for the most part, desolate desert.
“It looked very different three thousand years ago,” Gallo said. “Remember, this is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions on Earth.”
“Inhabited and contested,” Pierce added. “People have been fighting over this real estate through all of recorded history.”
“Yeah, it’s got kind of a lived-in look,” Fiona agreed. She dropped her gaze to the large metal plaque that showed the direction and distance of several important locations, some of which Fiona recognized — Jerusalem and Bethlehem — and some which sounded familiar. “Qumran?”
“The location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found,” Pierce said.
“Oh.” Fiona turned away from the scenic view. Off to her left stood the reconstructed Byzantine church, called the Basilica of Moses, the ruins of which had been discovered in the 1930s. The structure reminded her of the St. Catherine’s Monastery, and that made her think about Father Justin, which in turn made her feel like crying. So she turned away from it as well, looking instead to the parking area, which was crowded full of cars and buses. Tourists were snapping selfies with the Holy Land in the background.
Pilgrimage, twenty-first century style.
While the world was still trying to restore some semblance of order following the unprecedented global earthquakes, tourism in the Holy Lands was continuing apace. Instead of canceling their plans and heading home, visitors to the region seemed energized by the possibility that the long-anticipated End Times were about to reach their climax. One such vacationer had explained to Fiona how the Book of Revelation foretold a great earthquake and a time of darkness upon the Earth, just before the End.
Fiona found the prophecy more than a little disquieting. It was probably just a coincidence, but what if it wasn’t? She had tapped into some kind of universal knowledge under Arkaim. Maybe all those prophets in the Bible had tuned into the same thing? Maybe whatever was about to happen with the Black Knight was so profound that it sent ripples back through time? Or maybe someone — God, or the Originators, or whoever — had known what might happen, and sent those visions and prophecies as a warning?
Thinking about it made her head hurt, especially since she was already feeling tired and a little cranky after traveling too many miles and getting too little sleep. Twenty-four hours earlier she had been in Russia, preparing for an excursion into the tunnel labyrinth beneath Arkaim. Twelve hours prior — give or take — she had been huddled with Pierce and Gallo in a cave on the side of a mountain in Egypt. Now, she was about to go searching for another cave on another mountain, this time in Jordan.
To the north, opposite the church, stood a tall, creepy-looking cross-shaped sculpture. “What’s that?”
“It’s a reimagining of the Nehushtan,” Gallo told her. “The Brazen Serpent that God had instructed Moses to set up to heal anyone bitten by one of the fiery serpents that God had sent to punish them.”
“So God sent the serpents, then told them how to be saved from the serpents.”
“Christians believe the incident was meant to prefigure looking to crucified Christ for salvation. You’ll notice the cross-shaped design of that piece. It’s a modern piece, of course. Not the actual Serpent Moses made.”
“What happened to the real one?” Fiona asked.
“According to the Bible, it was destroyed a few centuries later. The people had started worshipping it, so King Hezekiah had it destroyed.”
“Is that the spot where Moses put it?”
Pierce jumped in. “Remember, the Israelites were a nomadic people, so there was no fixed location for it. This mountain has special significance though, because it’s the place where Moses died. God wouldn’t permit him to enter the Promised Land, but he did get to see it from here. So this place is a symbolic boundary between the Holy Land and the wilderness, divine grace and exile. That’s what makes this the most logical spot for the Ark to be hidden.”
Pierce had clearly put some thought into the matter.
Fiona nodded at the sculpture. “It kind of reminds me of a Caduceus. The symbol for medicine.”
“Technically, the symbol of medicine is the Rod of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. A staff with one snake. The Caduceus has two snakes and is the symbol of Hermes, the messenger of the gods. The two are commonly confused, but it is interesting how the archetype of the serpent as both a healing figure and a symbol of wisdom is mirrored across different belief systems.” Pierce nodded at the sculpture. “That definitely has elements of both.
“You’ll appreciate this, Fi. Hermes, or Mercury, was also considered the embodiment of wisdom. In Egyptian mythology, he was equated with Thoth, and the Babylonians called him Nabu.”
“Nabu… Nebo?”
Pierce nodded. “And the Egyptian word for ‘gold’ is Nebu. Gold was a sacred metal to the Egyptians, associated with the glory of the sun god. The name for Hathor literally translated as ‘golden goddess.’”
“Hathor, the sun cow lady?”
The trilling of Pierce’s satellite-enabled smartphone interrupted him, just as the conversation was getting interesting. He grinned when he saw the name on the caller ID. “Tell me you’ve got good news, Cintia.”
He listened for a moment, then gestured for Fiona and Gallo to join him in their rented car. Once they were all ensconced within, he set the phone face-up on the center console. “Okay, say that again.”
Dourado sounded like she was stuck in fast forward. It wasn’t too hard to imagine her ensconced in her computer room, mainlining Monster energy drinks. “Are you all sitting down? I hope you’re sitting down because… Mind. Blown.”
“Let’s have it,” Pierce said, sounding far more upbeat than he had any right to.