Chris returned from his smoke a good few minutes before he entered the room. Carl and Dave were still in the midst of their argument, and he took the opportunity to lean against the wall just around the corner from the doorway and soak up as much information as he could.
Carl was clearly of the same opinion about Dave as he was. The man’s comments, snidely and unhelpful, almost forced him to break his concealment a few times, but he restrained himself. The information coming from the pair was just too useful.
Chris did not really get Carl’s position until nearly the end of their discussions. In his life, spending any time ruminating on the whys and wherefores of God were not something he ever did. Even when alone, peering out over the desert at some enemy compound for hours on end, it was never a topic his brain drifted to. So, when Carl’s musings started to include Biblical references, he might as well have been talking another language.
However, as the conversation progressed, he did begin to get a feel for how this was all stacking together. The Biblical Deluge, or as Louisa had called it ‘The Younger Dryas Period’, was the key. If there was a civilisation back then, and if they were reasonably advanced, it made sense they would try to save something of themselves when the deluge came. What they left was so unreal, like TV would be to a Roman, it appeared as if it came from God. Therefore, the two notions became blended. The history of this lost people now merged with the Sun-God myths of our Neolithic past.
The only thing left to do was tie that information to whatever it was Dave was up to at the base. In answering that, the next leg of their journey may become apparent.
Chris still dragging Dave by the arm, the group filed out of the restaurant and across the lobby into the hotel bar; the room quiet, the lights dimmed, and the scent of fresh coffee hanging in the air.
Chris selected a group of tables to one side of the space, devoid of the distraction of unwanted company, and called over the bartender. He gave him five, fifty Euro notes and told him not to stop filling their glasses with Courvoisier until everyone was sated or the money ran out. He took a seat next to Carl on the plush, upholstered seats and ensured Dave was facing him.
This odious squirt of a man had been a royal pain in the arse ever since Chris first met him. If Dave did not tell him everything he needed to know, he was not sure he would be able to contain his more violent tendencies long.
“Start talking. I’ll let you know when to stop.” said Chris, forcefully. “You can begin with what happened to Geffers at the base. I’m going out on a limb, but you were involved, weren’t you?”
“I had nothing to do with the death of Doctor Geffers!” Dave leant forward, pointing to exaggerate his claim.
“You’re terrible at this, Dave.” said Carl, picking up on the gesture. “You may not have anything to do with what happened to Geffers, but your protestation just told us you know more than you’ve let on so far.”
“So get busy with the details, professor.” said Chris, taking a sip of brandy and adopting an adversarial pose.
“I don’t know what happened.” said Dave, clearly disturbed by the angered faces surrounding him. “Professor Linley and I were planted at the base to stop the discoveries seeing the light of day, that’s all. I never thought he would kill someone. No matter what Carl says, we are not monsters colonel.”
Chris smiled. The pressure was beginning to tell. Dave was moments from talking. “So what did happen?” he asked, taking any anger from his voice and giving Dave the chance he needed to expel his demons.
“I really wish I knew. I have no idea what is going on. Or why Harry did what he did.”
“You must have some idea.” said Louisa. “There can only be one reason why you were on site and that was to prevent evidence for what Carl has just told us getting out. So, why would Professor Linley only take one artefact? Why not try to steal all of them?”
“That much I can make a reasonable guess at.” said Dave, slouching into his chair and gulping his brandy. He rolled the glass in his hand, as he let out a deflated sigh. “I may not have been entirely forthright with my answers when we were in the car driving away from the base.”
Not entirely forthright? That was an understatement. Chris caught himself before he began shouting. So far, Dave had clammed up every time he felt threatened. That was not the way to get him to speak. He had given him just enough rope, it was now time to see if Dave would fashion the noose.
“As we’ve discussed, the third item from the Ark of Ra was a lock of Ra’s golden hair. However, the Bible said it was an Omer of Manna, God’s multi-purpose foodstuff.” said Dave, looking round the group to ensure they were following him. “What if they are the same thing?”
“How could they possibly be the same thing?” asked Justin, perplexed. “Even you said there were different.”
“Exodus, chapter thirty-two. Moses has gone up Mount Sinai to see God and Aaron has stayed behind with the Israelites. The Bible is not exactly clear on what happens next. According to tradition, the Israelites force Aaron to make a golden calf, although Aaron actually states at the end of that chapter that the calf formed by itself. However, whatever causes the formation of the golden statue, the Israelites begin to worship it. This angers Moses and in a temper fit he forces Aaron to burn it.”
“Burn a golden statue? Good luck!” said Justin. “Gold’s inert. It doesn’t combust.”
“Au contraire young man.” said Dave, taking another sip of his drink with a trembling hand. “According to the Bible, Aaron burns the golden calf to a white powder. Moses then mixes that powder with water and forces the Israelites to drink it. And Manna, as related in the Bible, is a white, pulp-like substance. Therefore, we can surmise that Manna is this special type of gold, burnt and mixed with water. Maybe, like fool’s gold, it is not actually gold. To be honest, no one knows. All I can say is that it is Manna that powers the people and thus the artefacts as the stories in the Bible progress. We always thought the third artefact was probably a storage vessel for some. I can only think something happened on one of the tests he was conducting and Harry had to think quickly to keep the discovery hidden. It appears the course of action he took was too rash.”
“Too rash!” said Louisa, stunned by the lack of remorse shown. “He killed a man professor!”
“Look, girl.” said Dave, a sudden fire behind his eyes. “You are completely unaware of what is going on around you most of the time. People have become lazy, ignorant, emotionally stunted, and the church always has to deal with the fall-out. You have no idea what we do for you. The wars we fight, and continue to fight, so you can waste your days buying beauty products and watching soap operas. Or, like you Justin, so that you can discuss meaningless rubbish on the internet rather than face the outside world. Do you really want reality to come crashing into your daily lives? Any of you?” The words hung there, as Dave stared fiercely at each member of the group. “What do you think will be the consequences of the Ark being seen for what it actually is? Do you think civilisation can cope with a fact like that? Most of you turn to mush watching fatuous, z-list, celebrity television programmes! The world would fall apart if it knew what we know. You need your white lies, all of you. You all thrive off the safety blanket you are wrapped in.”
“Nice try, Dave.” said Chris, completely unflustered by the rant. “I’m not going to be put off the scent that easily. You obviously know more about the Ark than you’re letting on. So tell us what you know.”
Dave considered Chris’ words for a while, before taking another sip of brandy and leaning forward. “I’ll tell you what I know if you allow me to take the Ark back to the Vatican after we’re done. After all, the church is the rightful owner.”
“We can see about an arrangement when the time comes professor.” said Chris, unwilling to return an answer until Dave had told him everything.
Dave grinned. “Ok colonel, we’ll play your game, and Carl can see if he can play mine. I’ll give him a clue to start; Manetho.”
“Greek
scholar of the third century BC.” said Carl, without hesitation. “Famous for his chronology of the Pharaohs, he was highly intelligent and probably a priest of Ra during his life. He also wrote a history of Egypt called the Aegyptiaca.”
“Correct. Manetho also spent a lot of his life in Alexandria, at the great library. He has an entire journal dedicated to a conversation with the chief librarian. In that journal, when Manetho is defending how great the Greeks are, the librarian suddenly becomes cryptic and says, You Greeks are just children and know but a tiny part of what we know. We are two suns old and understand the mysteries of the heavens. At first glance it looks like a throw away comment, but it actually belies a deeper knowledge. Tell me Carl, what two pieces of flora are specifically mentioned in Genesis?”
“The Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life.” said Carl, trying to understand where Dave was going.
“Correct. Therefore, if we use Carl’s eloquent Pioneer People analogy, we can infer that the Tree of Knowledge, whose fruit Adam and Eve are tempted into eating by the serpent, is actually a metaphor for the passing on of knowledge from an ancient civilisation to the lesser mortals who followed. So what is the Tree of Life? The Bible says God told Adam it held the power to turn him into a God; to live forever.”
“It’s probably something they left behind or another metaphor. The Bible also says that when Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, God put up a gate to stop anyone ever getting near it again.” said Carl.
“The Tree of Knowledge has already been used, shall we say, and thus no longer requires protection. God only wants to protect the Tree of Life. The Bible makes that point very clear. It’s how God accomplishes this that’s important. The Bible says, and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword that turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life. You should love this Carl, because it tells you everything you need to know about the original location of the tree.” said Dave, waiting expectantly for a response. “So, we’re looking for somewhere with an entrance in its eastern side, which something keeps the way of. Keep the way can be translated as...?”
“Protected.” said Carl, struggling to keep up.
“But that can’t be right!” said Justin, his eyes wide with revelation.
“Oh my!” said Dave, with childish glee. “I can’t believe Justin has beaten you to it! Go on boy; put him out of his misery.”
“The Ark of Ra is the Tree of Life! It was stored in the great pyramid at Giza. The cherubims and flame are a description of the Ark. The Great Protector was the ancient Egyptian name for the Sphinx that sits to the eastern border of the pyramids. The Bible is describing its resting place.”
“And?” said Dave, catching the envious look on Carl’s face.
“The librarian at Alexandria knew how long the pyramids had been there. The two suns he mentions to Manetho are a reference to the Eagle Bowl. The librarian was showing off his knowledge of the Mayan calendar. Two Mayan suns would be ten thousand or so years. Add that to the date of the conversation and you get him dating the pyramids at ten thousand five hundred BC! Exactly what the Orion Correlation Theory suggests, and exactly what our radiocarbon dates have returned from our artefacts. He was proving how much he knew and how little Manetho knew.”
Chris frowned. He had not slept properly in two days and now three people were discussing something so far over his head it was embarrassing. He probably did not want to know the answer, but realising his knowledge would be incomplete without it, he asked the only questions that came to mind. “Two things: One, what is the Orion Correlation Theory? And two, what’s the Eagle Bowl?”
“The Orion Correlation Theory colonel, states that the three Great Pyramids at Giza match perfectly with the stars of Orion’s belt; a narrow band spanning the middle of a constellation better known as ‘The Hunter’. Their layout placed to mirror the heavens.” said Justin, enthusiastically. “The thing to note is that the stars match the pyramids at only one date in history.”
“Let me guess,” said Chris, “ten thousand five hundred BC?”
Justin smiled, nodding as Carl took over.
“As for the Eagle Bowl, it’s a twelve foot tall, twenty-five tonne piece of basalt carved sometime toward the end of the fifteenth century in Mexico. It’s a modification of the earlier Mayan calendar and was the most accurate time device devised by man until the French atomic clock was switched on in nineteen fifty-five. It works on a system known as the ‘long count’ and uses cycles of two hundred and sixty days to calculate your date now, relative to the start date of the calendar and the location of the sun and stars.”
“The most interesting thing about all the Mesoamerican calendars is that they all start on dates before the civilisations that created them came into being.” said Dave, adding to Carl’s point.
“Why is that interesting?” asked Justin. “If it’s based on astronomy, then surely it has to start on an astrological date.”
“Calendars are started from significant dates; astrological or not.” said Dave, his confidence back and his hand still, as he placed his tumbler on the table. “The Mesoamericans based their calendars on the early Mayan calendar, which is thought to have been created in around fifteen hundred BC. The problem is that its start date is thirty-one fourteen BC. So, think of what we have already discussed about James Usher and the seven days of creation.”
Before Chris could even recall who James Usher was, Justin’s excited voice broke his concentration.
“Unbelievable!” said Justin, teetering on the edge of his seat, his right leg shaking so fast it was wobbling the table. “Usher came back with a date of four thousand and four-ish BC for the birth of Adam. That was the end of the sixth day. So, the end of the seventh day, using the Peter reference from the Bible, is roughly three-thousand and four-ish. The Mesoamericans knew when the Biblical seven days of creation ended. That’s remarkable!”
“Have you ever wondered why we have never found any trace of Carl’s Pioneer People?” asked Dave, leaning back in his seat, a smug air washing over him. “To give an example, I’ll use the majestic labyrinth of Amenemhat at Heracleopolis.”
“The what?” asked Justin. “I’ve never heard of the place.”
“You are unlikely to have done, because absolutely nothing of it survives.” said Carl, happy to fill in the many blanks being left by Dave. “Two renowned Greek scholars, Herodotus and Strabo, wrote about it in the first century BC. They state the great Egyptian labyrinth was located next to a majestic pyramid up the Nile from Giza. The three-story structure was divided into twelve massive courts, each comprising over a hundred rooms. Connected to a subterranean passage that led to yet another twelve immense courts, each contained another impressive collection of rooms. Flinders Petrie, a renowned archaeologist from the late nineteenth century, visited the location and spent three months excavating it. Other than a battered pyramid, he found nothing. The last remnants long since used as aggregate to line the trans-Egyptian railroad. The only reason there are any truly ancient monuments left at all is because they were too massive to dismantle, and even that hasn’t helped in every case. Just look at how little is left of the Great Wall of China! Most ancient structures have long since been cannibalised by the civilisations that followed the builders.”
“And that’s why the Ark has never been located. Robbers looted the pyramids eons ago. Those in the know, whose little number now includes you, have been scrambling to locate where the items may have gone ever since.” said Dave. “So we have a starting point from which to find where it resides now. All we need to do is look at the missing pieces. Maybe, between us Carl, we can locate what others could not and…”
A high-pitched siren, whose volume was so piercing it rattled their brandy glasses, cut the conversation short. Above the group, sprinklers burst into life and doused them is tepid water.
“This doesn’t smell good, man.” said Carl, leaning across so Chris could hear him above the din.
/> Chris nodded; Carl was right. “Let’s get our stuff and find a rear exit to this place.”
Chris turned to speak to the group and stopped. In front of him, Louisa crouched with her hands pressed on Dave’s chest, his eyes glazing over and blood pouring down his sodden shirt from a pair bullet holes in his torso.
Chapter 22