Chase Baker and the Seventh Seal (A Chase Baker Thriller Book 9) (5 page)

He looks up from the passage, his eyes locking onto my own.

“Are you asking me to answer the question?” I say.

“If only you could,” he says. “Revelations goes on to describe a band of four riders on four horses who are to usher in Armageddon and the end of times. The band includes a single pale rider on a pale horse. The riders will appear once the seven seals begin their sequence of being broken. But only when the final seventh seal is breached will all the truths of the universe be unveiled and, along with them, the rising up of the dead who are to be judged, and the total destruction of the earth.”

“That’s a pleasant thought,” I say.

“I’m not making this shit up,” Cross says. “So, don’t shoot the messenger.”

“So what is it you’re trying to tell me, messenger?”

“I believe the books were found for a reason.”

“That God himself wanted them to be found,” Magda interjects. “They are a warning that the end of days are upon us.”

“What do the ancient books you wish to recover have to do with the Bible passage about the seven seals?” I press.

“Don’t you get it, Chase, man?” Cross says. “The seals on six of the seven books or codices, have already been broken. They are proof positive that the Bible story is, in fact, the truth.”

“What truth?”

Magda once more places her hand on my shoulder.

“That whoever finds the book with the seventh seal intact controls the fate of the known world.”

CHAPTER 9

We open up another bottle of champagne, per my request. I need a little time to digest what they’re telling me about the good earth having finally reached the age of total destruction, and I need a couple more belts to wash it all down.

“So, let me get this straight,” I say, holding out my glass for yet another refill, “you want me to go after seven books made of metal that were written, or in this case minted, back in the year 70 AD. Each book is sealed, or was sealed, at one time or another. But now that six are no longer sealed, there must be four riders out there riding four horses, one of whom is a pale rider on a pale horse. I think I used to do bong hits to a Led Zeppelin song like that down in some kid’s basement back when I was in high school.”

“Not exactly,” Cross says. “The horse is a metaphor. According to the Bible, the only known entity to have the power to breach the seventh seal on the seventh book is something not of this earth.”

“And what would that be?”

“The Messiah. The man/God you and I both know as Jesus of Nazareth.”

Another wave of silence shrouds the room for a moment.

“Listen, Chase,” Magda jumps in after a time. “More than likely, the seals are just a bedtime story created by the author of the Book of Revelations.”

“John of Patmos,” I say. “Or, John the Divine.”

“But that doesn’t make them any less powerful to the believer,” Cross adds. “Especially the seventh seal. To some believers, breaking the seal means the heavens will reign down destruction on the earth.”

“How so?”

“Legend and the Bible has it that once the seventh seal is opened there will be events summoned by seven trumpets that will bring unbelievable devastation to our planet. Volcanoes will erupt, forests will burn, the earth will split open, tombs and graves will open up, oceans will boil, meteors will reign down from heaven and bombard the earth. But do you know what will be the biggest threat against humanity, Chase?”

I swallow something bitter. “You mean it gets worse?”

“Satan will pit man against man. He will summon up an army of evil.”

“And if said destruction just happens to be a wife’s tale?” I say.

“Then the believers will make it true.”

“In other words,” Magda says, “if the books fall into the wrong hands, such as North Korea or Al Qaeda or Isis, or simply some crazy bastard bent on world domination, it can mean a whole lot of hurt for a whole lot of people.”

“I’m beginning to see your interest in the books, Cross,” I admit.

He grins. “And of course, the fact that the codices are priceless is also reason enough to pique my interest. But rest assured, this one isn’t about money. It’s about seeing that the seventh seal is never opened.”

Magda looks me in the eye. “Don’t you see, Chase? By retrieving the seven metal codices and securing the seventh seal on the seventh book, you will be saving humanity.”

“The book would indeed make quite the prize for your collection,” I say, drinking down the rest of my champagne, crossing my arms over my chest. “Of course, it will cost you. Project like this won’t be without its dangers.”

“I’m prepared to pay handsomely, Chase, man,” he says. “You should know that by now.”

I nod. “Any idea where to start looking?”

“Accounts are conflicting. Some say they’ve been in the possession of the same Israeli family for a century or more. Other, more scholarly folks, claim they are entombed in the Holy of Holies under the Dome of the Rock which, if true, means we’re SOL. Whatever the case, they seem to have ended up in Jerusalem.”

“And you?” I ask. “What do you believe?”

“Like I said, I believe that six of the seven seals have already been broken and that six of seven angels and their trumpets are already blowing their horns, so to speak.”

“How do you know?”

“Just look at the signs, yo,” he says. “Over the past twenty years, we’ve seen the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, the collapse of the financial markets, some of the worst hurricanes and floodings of all times, plus great civil unrest in places like Ferguson, Missouri, and Chicago . . . free man being pitted against free man. We’ve seen the uprising of Isis and the slaughter of Christians and chaos in the Middle East. Again, man being pitted against man. North Korea is threatening nuclear war and, just last week, it was announced that the Russians have developed the new SNWS or, Satan Nuclear Weapons System, which means a single missile can now take out a country the size of France. Yet, all of this pales in comparison to what will happen if that seventh seal gets into the wrong hands and is used as the ultimate weapon.”

“Any idea who might also be looking for them?”

Cross shrugs his shoulders. “I would imagine that many people from many governments and institutions are secretly searching for the seven codices. But I wouldn’t be so concerned with competition.”

“What do you mean?”

“The danger you will face in your quest will be of a different nature. If that pale rider on that pale horse is real, and if he is indeed sent from hell itself, he will be the one who will try to stop you.”

“And how exactly do I recognize the pale rider, other than the shade of his skin? He carry a business card? He got driver’s license? That is, assuming the twenty-first-century version of the guy is not actually going to appear riding a horse.”

He shakes his head.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” he says. “But I can tell you this. You might have already come into contact with him and not have had the slightest clue.”

“You mean he might already be following me even though I only just found out about the existence of the seven books and the seventh seal?”

“He comes from a place that you and I cannot even begin to comprehend, and he is all knowing. The pale rider, and all the riders of the Apocalypse, wish to destroy God’s earth. It will be your job to stop them by uncovering the seven books with the seventh seal intact and bringing them to me.”

I nod like I understand everything. But truth is, the more he explains, the more lost I get. Bottom line, don’t let anyone break that seventh seal on the seventh book or the world goes boom.

“I have arranged your transport to Tel Aviv,” he adds. “From there, a driver will take you to Jerusalem. In the meantime, my people will make contact with you.”

“How will I know them, or him, or her?”

“Not to worry, Chase. My contacts will know you. If our initial research holds true, the books will be located somewhere just inside the Old City walls. Your job is a simple one. Extract them, make contact with me, and then I will arrange for your immediate transport back to the United States. Once you hand the books over to me, you will have completed your assignment.”

“And besides saving all of humanity, how much will I be paid for this little project?”

He smiles. “Let’s put it this way, if you don’t want to work for the next three or four years, you won’t have to.”

“Me likey,” I say.

He walks me to the door while Magda remains back inside the office. He opens the door with one hand while placing the other on my shoulder.

“Remember,” he says. “There will be forces competing for possession of the books. But if you stay vigilant, you can overcome their advances and safely extract them.”

“I’ll need weapons and money.”

“Everything is arranged. My driver will pick you up first thing in the morning outside your apartment.” He grins. “No more partying, you hear? Get some sleep, yo.”

“Very well then,
yo
,” I say, stepping through the door.

“Oh, and Chase.”

I turn back to him. “Yes?”

“There’s a passage in Revelations that sheds light on how to prevent all of this devastation should the seal become broken. It’s Revelations 8:1. It says, ‘When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.’”

“So?”

“If the seal should happen to break,” he says, “you have thirty minutes to reseal it. Think of it as putting the pin back into the grenade. Do you understand?”

I shake my head. “I’ve pulled the pin on more than one grenade in my lifetime. But I’ve never tried to push it back in.”

He smirks.

“I’m sure the situation won’t get that volatile,” he says. “Good luck.”

Turning, I head for the front door, wondering if I should have my head examined for being a treasure hunter.

CHAPTER 10

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

What the hell is a jiggety jig? A dance step? One to express happiness, perhaps?

I live alone above a pizza shop, separate from my little girl who lives with her mother and stepfather in a four-story brownstone within the exclusive Gramercy Park community. Teddy freaking Roosevelt lived in Gramercy Park. So, the last thing I do when I arrive home alone from one of my trips is do a jig.

As soon as I’m through the door, however, I drop my bag, pull a beer from the refrigerator, pop it open. What the hell, I’ve been drinking since I got off the plane anyway. Why stop now? Especially when my next move is to simply repack my backpack with fresh boxers, socks, and T-shirts. But, before all that, a little computer research is in order.

I don’t even bother to take my suit jacket off. I sit before the laptop set up on the kitchen table, which also doubles as my office, and type “The Seventh Seal” in the Google search engine. Naturally, I get a whole bunch of hits about The Book of Revelations, about John the Divine, and his gloomy vision of mankind. There are at least a half dozen heavy metal bands that use the name, “The Pale Horseman of the Apocalypse” as their moniker or some derivation thereof. I see doomsday cults, History Channel shows, right-wing Christian websites that refer to President Obama as the Antichrist, a couple more that pin the antichrist tail on Donald Trump, and several sites devoted to Nostradamus and his apocalyptic prophesies.    

But that’s not the junk I’m looking for.

What I’m searching for is any news about the seven ancient metal biblical codices themselves. Is there a man or woman out there who is presently looking for them? Is there anyone doing any serious digging for them in and around Israel or anywhere else in the Middle East, for that matter? Is there anyone who considers themselves a scholarly expert on the old books?

I shift my search from the websites to the news. That’s when something strikes me. Magda’s lecture on Jesus’s crucifixion this evening at the NYU university auditorium. I close the laptop.