"Of course Sir Richard." Rob replied.
He then searched through his iPhone for the video, and when he found it, he played it back. After the video had finished Sir Willoughby Brown knew that Humphreys had been correct, for even though it was but a recorded video, something of the power used by the aliens had still given him a headache, although he had not felt anyone attempting to take control of his mind. However, it was the real thing that had affected Humphreys, not the recording that had only given him a headache.
"I see what you mean Inspector, and I imagine the real thing must have been far worse?" Sir Willoughby Brown said.
"It certainly was Sir Richard." Humphreys replied.
Sir Willoughby Brown was quiet for a moment while he took it all in, and it was now that a thought occurred to Sir Willoughby Brown.
"Inspector, you said that these 'Extra Terrestrials' were actually taking control of your mind, that they were only stopped by Rob smashing the glass bowl with the potion in?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked wanting this verified before he continued.
"That is correct Sir Richard, I felt an alien presence, alien as in not my own thoughts but something terrifying in the extreme, I then felt my own control of my mind slipping away, and I was truly afraid that my end had come." Humphreys replied grimly.
"Then these 'aliens, or Extra Terrestrials as you term them' knew you were looking in on their past actions and they were attempting to take control of your minds across time, something truly awesome, and had Rob not acted so promptly they would have read everything in your mind and maybe the others too?"
"Yes Sir Richard that is exactly how it was, in fact I cannot say categorically that they did not read parts of my mind." Humphreys replied feeling more than a little exhausted by his strange day.
"Thank you Inspector, Extra Terrestrials you say, you may well be correct, what do you think Rob?"
"It is a possibility, but then at the moment anything is, we just need more information than we have Sir Richard, before we can make a more informed judgement." Rob replied before continuing.
"Although it might explain one of the things that I do not understand Sir Richard, the power that we all felt, a power that seemed to come from their eyes. It could be that these aliens are telepathic and one that are able to use this power to get inside the minds of non-telepathic beings. It was the one thing that made me think of Satanism, especially as there was a pentagram under the bodies at St Luke`s, it being part of the church`s floor design, and there was an inverted one painted by the monsters directly under the bodies at the warehouse. However, David felt for a satanic signature at both crime scenes without finding even the merest hint of one." Rob replied.
David now spoke to Sir Willoughby Brown.
"Had it been a normal satanic sacrifice then I am sure that I would have felt something Sir Richard, as it was there was only the sort of atmosphere that all such psychotic crime scenes generate, which of course is one of unleashed evil." David said.
"Surely that is exactly the sort of atmosphere that Satanists leave behind them?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked quizzically. "And there were thirteen of them walking around their victims, and that means a coven in my book."
"You are correct up to a point Sir Richard, but it is different here, the Satanist in command of the coven also leaves a personal mark on the proceedings. At both of these two murder scenes I only felt an animal like hunger, no I believe that here we have come across an entirely different type of evil, an alien one from another world maybe, as Inspector Humphreys suggested, but one with ritualistic overtones." David explained before continuing.
"One other point Sir Richard, if Satanists had been involved then they would have charged both of the pentagrams, as we have done ourselves in the past when needing their protection against the forces of evil. As they went to the bother of constructing a pentagram but did not charge it, this tells us that they are not Satanists." David replied.
A charged pentagram is a five-pointed star drawn upon the floor and enclosed by a circle; the circle is then covered by blessed salt. The next part of the procedure is to draw the correct mystical signs at the apexes of the star, the signs at each of the points denote the five elements, four are of matter, and they are fire, air, water and earth, the fifth element is not of matter it is of spirit. To finish charging the pentagram five white candles are set at the apexes of the star and are then set alight, and finally five goblets are set in the valleys of the star and are filled with holy water. Satanists of course use an inverted pentagram and when they charge it, they use blood instead of salt to encircle the pentagram, wine in lieu of holy water for the chalices and black candles in lieu of white ones.
"There certainly wasn`t any sign that they had ever charged the pentagrams, there wasn`t even candle wax on the floor, and they would hardly have cleaned that away, not after the crimes that they had just committed, the blood stained floor and the remains of their gruesome meal." Rob added.
"One explanation is that it was a group of psychotic murderers, with satanic leanings?" Sir Willoughby Brown suggested looking for something easier to come to terms with and one that his superiors could more easily understand. "Rather than aliens from beyond this world?"
"I have been thinking about that Sir Richard, and I agree that it could be a group of people, a cult, but it would have to be led by some very dangerous and psychologically disturbed individuals, ones who control everything the others think and do." Rob replied. "However, that still does not explain the power that we all felt, that means Satanists or something beyond our present understanding, telepathic aliens seem the best bet."
"Hmm, yes we keep coming back to the power that everyone felt from across time, the more you tell me Rob, the less I seem to understand it." Sir Willoughby Brown said before turning to David.
"Tell me David, just how did you make the shooting of this video possible; was it more of the Bourbon satanic magic?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked knowingly.
"Yes it was Sir Richard, it was amongst the section that allowed us to set up that simple protection spell that saved all our lives, yours included Sir Richard, when Moira Bourbon sat in the reception area of these very office waiting to kill or enslave us."
Inspector Humphreys was agog as he listened to this easy conversation regarding Satanists and black magic, yesterday he would have openly laughed at them, but after this afternoon`s show all he felt was a burgeoning fear as he listened to Sir Willoughby Brown speak again.
"What I have seen makes me a believer, but as you say Rob, Reynolds is not the sort of man to believe that your little bit of magic is actually possible. Let us leave him to conduct his investigation, to patrol London in an attempt to prevent any further atrocities; he has the manpower, which our small department does not. I will speak to the commissioner and bring him right up to date; I will suggest that you three are left alone to conduct what could well be the main investigation, free to use your magician's tricks without any obstructions from Reynolds. When are planning to try your bag of tricks at the warehouse Rob, I will need to inform the commissioner beforehand if we are to prevent Reynolds from intervening?"
"We thought tomorrow morning at 5 o`clock Sir Richard, there will be fewer people about to complain at that time." Rob replied and then went on to offer up a plan that had just occurred to him.
"These, well let`s call them aliens for want of a better title, I believe they may attempt to capture one or all three of us when and if we attempt to use our little parlour trick again." Rob mused. "If they do so then we could make use of their attempt to snare one of us, the Yard could have a score of marksmen concealed within the warehouse ready to take them all down the moment they show."
Sir Willoughby Brown made to interrupt Rob here but Rob waved him down.
"No hear me out Sir Richard before you attempt to shoot me down in flames." He began. "It seems to me that their mind control must be similar to the one that Moira Bourbon used so well, so why should the protection spell that we used agai
nst her, not work equally well against these Extra Terrestrials?"
"The fact is Rob, there are thirteen of these 'aliens' and we must assume that they all possess some of this mental power that you have already run up against. However, there was only one Moira Bourbon; it could mean that when they attempt to use their mind control that they will be able to tear right through your protection spell." Sir Willoughby Brown argued.
"You are correct up to a point Sir Richard, however she was an extremely powerful Satanist, and we really do need to find out who they are and just what is their agenda." David argued in turn.
"If you are both wrong we could see a massacre happening in and around that warehouse, if the 'aliens' are able use their mind control against the marksmen." Sir Willoughby Brown replied anxiously.
"Well we cannot go up against our villains without them, although they could not immediately gain control of our minds they would simply walk into the warehouse and overpower us, then any of us that survived their initial attack would be taken away and made to answer any questions that they care to put to us. Within a very short period of time they will have acquired all that we know about Satanism, if they are able to make use of it, and if there is a planet full of telepathic beings just waiting to be called, then we would have made them invincible." Rob argued convincingly.
His argument had the effect of scaring Sir Willoughby Brown; he now had to decide whether he could dare to use his two agents against their new enemy, for to do so could make matters much worse. However, he was a believer in attack being the best form of defence, and to roll over would only give this new vicious enemy permission to do as they like with the people of England, maybe even the world.
"Therefore what you are saying is that we wager everything on the protection spell or we do nothing, that is to say we surrender?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked.
"Moira Bourbon was at her most powerful when she sat waiting for us to leave the protection offered by the spell, the demon part of her could not go up against it, so I say go for it, the alternative could leave us bitterly regretting our caution if we decide to wait and see." Rob argued. "Remember Sir Richard, it is only the 'aliens' mind control that we are talking about here, not their physical presence, from within the safety of the protection spell our marksmen can take them down before the aliens become aware of their existence."
"Why oh why Rob are all of your cases so damnably dangerous." Sir Willoughby Brown lamented before coming to a decision.
"OK then we will go ahead with your plan, as you say we need to find out who we are up against, we will be putting so many lives at risk but this time I feel that we have no choice, I just hope that we are not signing the death warrants of twenty SCO19 officers." Sir Willoughby Brown decided, SCO19 being the Yards special armed squad of police officers.
"What about you Inspector, are you OK with it, it is the lives of your people that we are talking about?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked pointedly.
"I decidedly do not like it Sir Richard, however as you yourself pointed out, what choice have these 'Things' given us, so yes, I think that we should go for it." Humphreys replied grimly.
"I will send the recording to the language experts, to see if they can interpret the words chanted in your recording Rob, you never know they might be able to find something." Sir Willoughby Brown said more in hope than belief, for they would have precious few words on which to work with and such a little time given to them to succeed.
"OK leave a copy of the recording with me, I will need it to show the commissioner, in the meantime I want you three men to go over Rob`s plan, we cannot afford any slip ups, too many lives will be at risk." Sir Willoughby Brown said dismissing them as he picked up his phone to speak with the commissioner of police, he needed to arrange an urgent meeting with the Yard to update them and get their agreement to Rob`s audacious but dangerous plan.
Those present at the meeting at the Yard, initially, were Sir Willoughby Brown and the metropolitan commissioner of police, Sir James Hardwick, who had only held the position for the last month. Sir Willoughby Brown expected that the initial part of the meeting between them would be cordial, for they were old friends, and Hardwick had known about the strange cases conducted by the SIS, having been a senior police officer on secondment to the Home Office as an adviser to the Home Secretary before taking on his present position. Sir Willoughby Brown began the discussion.
"James, my team has ascertained that the murders at St Luke`s have nothing to do with Satanists, however they believe that they now know just who is behind the atrocity and they have a plan in mind to take out the sick bastards." Sir Willoughby Brown explained.
"Has this anything to do with the stunt they pulled at the church?" Hardwick asked apprehensively.
"James, it was no stunt, it was the real thing, and had Chief Superintendent Reynolds stopped for just one minute to think, to view the video before damning it out of hand, he would have realised that." Sir Willoughby Brown replied. "They used one of the spells that they found in a book from the Bourbon library, and it worked, and before we go any further I want you to watch the video they made." Sir Willoughby Brown said pulling out his laptop and playing the video to the commissioner.
As Inspector Humphreys had done, Sir Willoughby Brown gave a running commentary, using much of what Humphreys had said.
"Inspector Humphreys, your man from the Yard, saw this video taken, he confirmed to me that it is not a fake, he saw no hologrammatic projector and swore Rob and David never had the opportunity to set one up. Not only were they were with him from the moment that I introduced him to them, but one of your forensic teams was working at the church, so no one else would have had the opportunity to do so. James, the seven victims were laying in the mortuary when this video was taken, however Humphreys said that the seven victims looked exactly as we see them here, when he saw them before they were taken down. Now look at the thirteen figures, especially the one in the centre, even on the video you can feel some of the power behind their red blazing eyes. I am informed by Humphreys that had we been at St Luke's, then we would know just how awesome that mental power actually was, and no hologrammatic projector of any sort can do that."
Sir Willoughby Brown stopped the video here to make a point.
"James, I can still feel their power coming through the video, even though this video has been downloaded from Rob Hinds` iPhone, and I am sure that you too can feel it. When I watched it on the iPhone itself the affect was slightly greater, and according to everyone who was at the church the real life affects were very powerful in deed."
Sir Willoughby Brown now restarted the video.
"Ah this is where Rob Hinds ran forward and smashed the glass bowl; it effectively stopped the hypnotic spell that everyone at the church had begun to fall under, even though as I have already stated, it was coming across time. Inspector Humphreys fully believes that these things could have made him do literally anything, he actually felt the control of his mind slipping, the power of these bastards is simply awesome." Sir Willoughby Brown declared grimly.
Hardwick was a little stunned by now, he damned Reynolds for not giving him the complete story, even so had he not already known about the extra dimensional trips taken by Rob, his wife and David Pritchard, then he too would have ridiculed the video and everything that he had heard about it out of hand.
"You do realise that I cannot openly come down on your side Richard, to do so would see both of us out on our ears?" Hardwick finally said.
"Of course James, but your people can be told that we are going up against a terrorist hit team, with Rob Hinds in command of the operation. One dead sick bastard looks much like another one, don`t they?" Sir Willoughby Brown replied.
"You may be right Richard, but tell me just what do Rob Hinds and David Pritchard think we are up against this time?" Hardwick asked grimly.
"The best that they can come up with, and your man Humphreys agrees with them, is that they may well be Extra Terrestrials with a telepathic abi
lity second to none." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.
"Tall grey Extra Terrestrials, well Richard that makes a change from Satanists and telepathic aliens certainly answers what the power that they say they felt actually is." Hardwick replied. "You do realise Richard that this could become very tricky if this goes wrong. What about the mind control that these 'Extra Terrestrials' are said to use, does your man know how to combat it?" Hardwick asked apprehensively.
"Rob Hinds does have a plan to counteract it; if it works then we should be able to take them all out." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.
"If it works, if not then we could lose a lot of brave officers. OK tell me the plan and all the risks that go along with it." Hardwick said suddenly sounding very tired.
Sir Willoughby Brown now went over the plan, stating that he needed a score of the best marksmen that the Yard could supply, they were essential to ensure the success of the whole operation.
"There is one other point Richard, my men will need to shoot to kill from the outset, they may well hesitate, seeing as how they have been made to account for themselves each and every time that they have used their weapons." Hardwick lamented angrily. "However, rather than making out it is the Daesh that they are after, I think that we should tell them about the Extra Terrestrials from the outset, getting them to sign the official secrets act should make it even more believable, but nothing about the video or the spell your man used, that they would not believe." Hardwick decided.
**********
It was six o`clock that same evening and Jeremiah Jones was sitting cross-legged in his private meditation chamber. Ever since the aliens had arrived, he had felt slightly troubled about them, although he knew that he should be happy, for they had confirmed everything that his Church stood for and preached about each day. However, he felt that there was something not quite right about them, if only he could think what it was, but for once, his brain refused to work. He had decided to meditate on the problem, he was sure that if he worked hard and long enough on the problem the answer would become clear. To aid him in his task he began to chant softly to himself, this had always helped him in the past; he prayed to god that it would do so this time.