The thief’s eyes blazed as he stared into Tommy’s. “For the leader,” he said in a menacing tone. He reached up with both hands to grab Tommy and pull him down, but his foot slipped off the ledge below.
Tommy’s fingers instinctively let go. For a bizarre second, the thief hung in limbo as gravity wrapped its hands around him. His eyes went wide as he suddenly felt himself being dragged downward.
For a second, Tommy watched as the man tumbled through the air until he saw the man’s head violently crack against the rocky slope. Then the thief’s somersault instantly sped up as he plummeted to the water below.
Tommy shimmied back to safe ground before the man hit the lake. There was a faint splash in the distance, signaling the thief’s fate. Tommy breathed hard for a minute. Then he propped himself up with one hand on the ground.
His eyes caught a glimpse of something on the gravel a few feet away. It was yellowish and glimmered in the sunlight peeking out from behind white fluffy clouds above. He crawled the short distance over to the medallion and picked it up, holding it to the light. Underneath the engraved words was one number: a nine.
When he spoke, it was in a whisper. “What secret are you hiding?”
Chapter 2
Dr. Jann Heimrich stared at the screen in disbelief.
He’d been working on the DNA sequencing project for more than two years. It had begun with getting the appropriate paperwork and permissions, and wading through miles of other red tape.
That was to be expected when dealing with the remains of one of the greatest kings who ever lived. Getting access to tissue and bone samples of Charlemagne was one of the most ambitious things Heimrich had ever taken on. After months of interviews and appeals, he’d finally gotten permission to examine a small portion of the king’s body.
The Aachen Cathedral had been roped off one evening, which wasn’t a huge problem since few parishioners visited after dark. Under careful supervision, Heimrich had taken the samples from the remains, stored them in the appropriate containers, and then transported them to his lab on the other side of town.
The process, the years of waiting, had all led to this, this incredible revelation.
“That can’t be right,” he said.
He adjusted the view on the screen by zooming in closer.
The adjustment didn’t change what he already knew to be correct. “That’s impossible.”
“What’s impossible, Doctor?”
The voice startled Heimrich, and he instinctively spun around to make sure it was his assistant.
“Oh, Michael. You frightened me.”
“Maybe if you weren’t working alone in the dark in an old laboratory after nightfall….”
Heimrich snickered. “Good point. What are you doing here so late? I thought you would have gone home for dinner.”
“I just had a few things to clean up before I left for the night. What are you doing?”
“Come, come. You must have a look at this.” He beckoned his Korean assistant to the computer.
Michael obliged and padded from the doorway over to the workstation. Heimrich scooted his rolling chair to the side so his assistant could get a better view.
“See?” He pointed at the screen as Michael leaned over and examined the display. “The DNA, it’s…”
“It’s not human.”
Heimrich shrugged his head to one side. “Well, not exactly what I was going to say. It definitely is human.”
“Not like any human DNA I’ve ever seen.”
“Correct. You’re correct on that.”
Michael leaned in closer to the computer. His face was less than a foot away from it now. “Are you talking about some kind of evolutionary mutation, Doctor?”
“You know me better than that.”
It was true. Heimrich didn’t subscribe to the theory of evolution. He’d studied the evidence on both sides of the argument and chosen the side with an architect.
“What, then?” Michael asked.
“I’m not sure. Whatever this is will be a big discovery for us.” He pointed at some of the dots on the screen. “This could prove that certain people from history were more than just ordinary humans.”
“Are you saying that Charlemagne was more than a man?”
Heimrich stared at the screen. “What I’m saying is that he was no normal man. With these additions to the sequence, it’s possible he could have been smarter, maybe even stronger, than an average man.”
“That would certainly account for his military prowess. How did this happen?”
Heimrich absently rubbed the scruff on his chin as he considered the question. He’d been thinking on it long before Michael entered the room.
“Have you ever heard stories about relics that gave human beings incredible powers?”
“Of course,” Michael said, standing up straight again. He tweaked his neck to the left and right to get the kinks out. “It’s one of the reasons people are searching for the Holy Grail.”
“Right. An excellent example. There are people who believe that if they find those relics, the objects can give them some kind of power. What if the power a person receives is actually a genetic transformation, something that makes them — as you said — more than human?”
Michael raised a dubious eyebrow. “Doctor, you don’t actually think there is something out there that could cause this sort of mutation in a human being, do you?”
“All I’m saying is that something changed Charlemagne’s DNA. And like you said, that could account for his incredible success as a warrior.”
“Yes, but he died.”
Heimrich raised a finger. “Aha. I had the same thought.” He maneuvered the mouse and clicked it a few times to zoom in on the image. “You see here how some components are somewhat smaller than the regular pieces of code?”
“Yeah…”
“It appears they deteriorated, probably over time.”
“So what does that mean, exactly?”
Heimrich fell back in his chair and put his thumb to his chin once more. “I’m afraid I have no idea.”
They lapsed into silence as Michael considered the doctor’s theory. “All of the samples had this same result?”
“Every single one,” Heimrich said, nodding. “They’re all consistent. The mutation happened throughout the entire code. What I wouldn’t give to have taken a blood sample from Charlemagne himself. Then we could have confirmed what was going on.”
Michael sidetracked the conversation to public relations. “Are you going to announce this discovery?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes. Yes, of course. We’ll set up a press conference, get all the appropriate people involved. The scientific journals will be extremely interested in this find. Obviously, it will stir up a good amount of wild theories, but that is to be expected. At least the officials who gave us access to the remains will be glad to see something incredible came out of it.”
Michael listened, keeping his face emotionless, like stone. When Heimrich finished, Michael crossed his arms and gave a nod. “I’m sure you’ll be world famous as a result of this find, Doctor. This is going to be huge.”
Heimrich blushed. “Well, thank you, Michael. I don’t seek to be famous, although some of the money that may come with fame would be nice. Have to pay the bills. But yes, I should think the news of this discovery will go far and wide.”
Michael unfolded his arms and in doing so revealed a black pistol with a lengthened round barrel.
Heimrich frowned at the sight of the weapon.
Michael spoke before the doctor could say anything. “We can’t have the world knowing about this little secret, now can we, Doctor?”