“The Grail,” Turcotte said.
Yakov nodded. “Yes. The Grail. I think it is, how do you say, the linchpin to this civil war. Whatever it is — whatever it does — it is very, very important. I think it may possibly be what the civil war among the Airlia was about in the first place. I think the manuscript will give us an idea how important.”
“What is the Grail?” Turcotte turned to Mualama. “Besides what we have here, I’ve read about it in terms of King Arthur and the Last Supper and all that. If it’s so damn important, we might as well have everything we think we know about it on the table.”
Mualama leaned forward slightly so he could see both men. “The Grail is a very old legend, one that rose from many places.
“It is often tied together with the legend of the Ark of the Covenant. It is said that the Knights Templar, when they ruled Jerusalem during the Crusades, knew the whereabouts of the Ark and the Grail. While legend often leads one to truth, the path is never clear or straight. So the Grail could be anything. Or it could be nothing.”
“It’s got to be something important for Burton to devote his life to trying to find it,” Turcotte said, “and for Aspasia’s Shadow to want it so badly.”
“I agree,” Mualama said. “The ancient legends are very complicated and have many different interpretations. There are indeed some who believe the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail to be one and the same, but not either.”
Seeing Turcotte and Yakov’s confused expressions, Mualama tried to explain. “The Ark was possibly not an Ark. And the Grail was most likely not a grail or cup. But whatever each was, they could have been the same thing. Or maybe not. Or maybe each are parts of a whole. I think the latter is the reality, but I do not know for certain.
“After all,” Mualama continued, “all those objects in their own time were extremely revered. Some of the legends that grew up around them were, as a spy would say, cover stories. Misinformation. Do you know how many different objects each has been described as?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “The Grail has been described as a stone from the stars, one description which would seem to be more applicable now, wouldn’t it? Of course, before people knew of the Airlia presence here on Earth so many years ago, that was interpreted to mean that it might be a meteorite. But maybe it literally was a stone from the stars brought here by the Airlia.
“There is even a legend that it is a stone that was given to man during the battle between Lucifer and the Christian’s Holy Trinity by the pure angels, who took neither side in this war. Or a spin-off on that legend where the Grail was actually a precious stone that fell off Lucifer’s crown when he was defeated in his revolt against God and cast down. And remember, Lucifer was an angel first. And he is mentioned in Burton’s tale as a name given to Aspasia’s Shadow.
“Pushing the Ark legend forward to the time of Christ, there is of course the more common notion of the Grail being the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. Most people these days believe that to be the source of the legend, but it actually predates the time of Christ.
“There is an older Jewish legend — mentioned in the Old Testament and tied somehow to the Grail — about two objects called the thummin and the urim. These are balls of clear material filled with burning water. They are supposedly made from the fire of the sun. The thummim and urim were supposed to be buried in a cave with the Ark, or perhaps they were the Ark, who knows? Then again, maybe the thummin or urim were something entirely different. Maybe the ruby sphere you found under the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia was one of those balls filled with a burning water? You must remember that early man had limited ways to describe things they had never seen before.
“Another way to explore legends is to examine the languages the legends are told in and their nuances in definition. Another word often used for the Grail is sangreal. Some cut that word in two, San Greal, meaning Holy Grail. However, if you cut it a different way, Sang Real, it means royal blood.”
Mualama smiled. “This theory has never gained much light of day because it suggests something the Christians fiercely deny. The royal blood is the lineage of Christ. Those who espouse Sang Real as the true meaning of the Grail say that Christ had a child with Mary Magdalene. There are those that believe a secret society has maintained Christ’s bloodline down to the present day and that the progeny of this bloodline has been involved in many of the world’s great events over the ages, and that person is the incarnation of the Grail.”
“You’re joking, right?” Turcotte asked.
Although Mualama was smiling, his voice was entirely serious. “I am not joking. I am simply relating to you some of the many legends surrounding the Grail and the Ark.”
“I think blood does play into this somehow,” Yakov added. “Burton mentions it and speaks of vampires in his manuscript. During my investigations for Section IV, I often came across references to blood. There were rumors the KGB ran an experiment for many years involving draining blood from people, searching for a certain strain. We know that the SS used blood from a Guide to inject into each of their top members — what were they seeking by that?”
Turcotte nodded. “Duncan thought that Von Seeckt stayed alive as long as he did because he had a trace of Airlia blood in his veins, even after all these years.” He turned to Mualama. “What else do you know of the Grail?”
“There are, of course, the Celtic and Arthurian legends surrounding the Grail. These date from well before the supposed time of Arthur, though. And, of course, Arthur himself and the entire Camelot tapestry is a legend that we don’t know how much credence should be attached to.
“In Celtic legend, there is the Cauldron — or Grail — of Awen which could bestow all knowledge on those who drank from it. It is also said the Cauldron could restore life itself.
“There is or another theory that the Grail is somehow connected with another object of legend, the lance of the Roman legionnaire Longinus — the spear that pierced Christ’s side on the cross.”
“We know that part is true,” Yakov said. “The Spear of Destiny was an Airlia artifact.”
“So you agree with the manuscript that whatever the Ark or Grail are, they are also Airlia artifacts?” Turcotte asked.
Mualama nodded. “Yes, and very powerful ones hidden after their civil war and presently of utmost importance now that the war is being renewed.”
“What do they do?”
“To that, I have no answer. But all the legends, from all the different sources, agree that the Grail, in whatever shape it is in, brings health, wisdom, and immortality to those who partake of it.”
Turcotte thought about it. “But if the Grail is in the Black Sphinx with Lisa, then rescuing her is one and the same thing.”
“Yes,” Yakov said, “but I wanted to be sure you were thinking clearly. Because that means that she is not the important thing down there, no matter what your heart tells you. If it comes down to it, we must get the Grail before we get her. Do you agree?”
Turcotte looked up, met Yakov’s dark gaze, and lied. “I agree.”
CHAPTER 7
Ten-foot waves smashed harmlessly against the wide steel bow as the ocean gave way to the massive object plowing through it. A football field longer than the Empire State Building was tall, and seventy meters wide, the supertanker Jahre Viking was the largest man-made moving object ever constructed.
A lap around the huge main deck covered over a half-mile and Johan Verquist was on his sixth circuit as he approached the bow. He ran smoothly, each foot slapping the steel decking lightly, then springing to the next step. He was in remarkable shape for someone seventy-eight years old and reputed to be the third-richest man in the world by those who kept such lists. Each trip the Jahre Viking made from the oil fields to the oil consumers increased those riches, but this journey was different.