Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) (22 page)
Read Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Richard M. Mulder
And
the Lord blessed the land of Enoch, and they were blessed upon the mountains,
and upon the high places, and did flourish. And the Lord called his people
Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind…
After receiving
Brittany’s warning, Doug’s many years of paranoia had prepared him for just
this kind of scenario. He hurried around his apartment and grabbed his laptop,
his 72 hour kit, his sawed-off shotgun, his sash filled with military grade 12-gage
slug bullets, and his hidden wad of $100 dollar bills and scurried out the back
door. He wasn’t sure what Brittany had done, but he wasn’t going to risk
staying there. He ran down the fire escape and out the alleyway, making
absolutely certain that he wasn’t being followed.
He felt a rush of
excitement, knowing that his years of preparation and training for some type of
doomsday were finally going to pay off.
This is my destiny. I
was born to do this.
He ran northward down
the lane, crossing each street cautiously and following along alleyways. He
finally stopped under the Chicago Skyway on the corner of Ewing Avenue and
Indianapolis Boulevard.
An ominous-looking
armored tank marked the entrance to the small triangular East Side Memorial
Park. He quickly darted to the opposite side of the tank and crouched down
outside the view of the street. He ignored the putrid odor of urine, knowing
the spot was a favorite place for passerby homeless people to sleep.
All right Brittany,
where are you?
He pulled out his
laptop and booted it up. He knew it would be risky to connect to the mobile hotspot
of his pre-paid cell phone, but he had little choice. He was certain that by
now his MAC address was being monitored.
He connected via Wi-Fi
to his hotspot, and then activated a proxy anonymizer service to cover his
tracks. The internet speed was sluggish, but sufficient for what he needed to
do. In a separate window, he activated the ‘back door’ to the NSA’s server and
hacked into one of the running consoles in their database.
Logging in, he quickly
located the GFID Nano-chip tracking software. After a bit of digging, he found
Brittany Parker’s profile. Clicking on the location tab, a virtual map loaded
with multiple GFID Nano-chips betraying her whereabouts.
Found you.
She was travelling at a
tremendous speed in a southbound direction. He felt a bit disoriented as the
map indicated that she was somehow traveling through buildings at a rapid pace.
Looking further at the details on her profile, he realized she was underground.
She’s on the subway.
Fortunately the Red
Line ended almost as far south as he was. Unfortunately however, it didn’t come
this far east. There were at least six major intersections between his current
location at roughly 3600 east and State Street where the subway ended. At
walking speed, it would likely take him over an hour to get there.
I better catch a
cab.
“How did you find me?!”
Brittany stammered as she saw him wave to her from the cab.
“That’s not important
right now.” he yelled out the window, “Hurry! Get in!”
She obeyed and ducked
into the cab just before a single bullet ricocheted off the door frame. The cab
driver yelped and then started screaming profanities at an unknown entity as
they pulled away.
“I’m sorry about that.”
the cabbie apologized, “These hoodlums are relentless.”
Doug and Brittany
exchanged knowing looks. Doug’s earlier suspicions were confirmed and he was
absolutely convinced now that the NSA had been alerted. His laptop lay open on
his lap, and he watched the set of symbols for the GFID Nano-chips that had
been suspiciously closing in on Brittany’s location over the past several
minutes. It appeared they were now scrambling back a few blocks to their parked
car.
We’ve only got a few
minutes at best before they catch up to us!
The symbols flickered
again as he lost connection with the public Wi-Fi. He closed his laptop and
tucked it away in his carrying bag. He realized with a sigh of relief that it
was a miracle that he arrived when he did. It would only have taken a few more
seconds to have instead found her lying in a pool of blood.
“Take us to the nearest
motel.” he instructed the cabbie.
The cab driver nodded, “There’s
one only a few blocks from here.”
“Perfect.” Doug nodded,
“That will do.”
“What are we doing?”
Brittany asked in confusion.
“Trust me.”
A few minutes later
they pulled up to the entrance of a small motel.
“Keep the cab running.”
Doug instructed as he handed the cabbie a hundred dollar bill, “Keep the
change. There’s more where that came from. We won’t be long.”
The cabbie nodded with
a baffled look on his face as they climbed out of the cab.
“So what are we doing
here?” Brittany questioned as they rushed inside, “And who shot at me?”
“I suspect they were a
couple of NSA agents.” he whispered as they approached the front desk.
“Good afternoon!” the
hostess spoke cheerily, “How can I help you?”
“We need a non-smoking
room for the night.” Doug spoke quickly.
“Okay...” she looked at
her computer screen, “It looks like we still have a few open units. Are you
looking for a standard suite, or is this a special occasion?”
“Standard is fine.”
“How many people will
be staying tonight?”
“Just the two of us.”
he spoke quickly, “Listen. My fiancée here is deathly allergic to cigarette
smoke. We’ve stayed in some so-called ‘non-smoking’ rooms in the past that
clearly reek of smoke. Do you mind if we just take a look at the unit real
quick before we sign anything?”
“Yes,” she nodded as
she swiped a key card, “that should be fine.”
“Thank you.” he smiled
as she handed him the key card, “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s on the second
floor, third door to the left.” she called after them as they turned down the
hall.
“Will you tell me now
what we’re doing here?” Brittany jogged up the stairs after him.
“You’ll see.”
He fumbled for a moment
with the key card, but quickly got the door open. He waited for the door to
close behind her, and then pulled the microwave out of its cubby hole. Laying
it on the floor on its backside, he opened the door and applied pressure until
the door busted off.
“What on earth are you
doing?!” Brittany stammered as he pulled a roll of electrical tape out of his
backpack.
“I hope you don’t plan
on ever having kids.” he stated nonchalantly as he snapped off the small hook
from the door and taped it down inside the door sensor, “But we’ve got to fry
those Nano-chips before the NSA finds us again.”
And
the Watchers mourned the loss of their children, for God didst say unto them: I
shall destroy the sons of the Watchers from amongst men. Yea, they shall
destroy themselves in battle; for they will not have length of days…
Lily
shivered as Tiamat roared with another blast of hot breath at the base of the
Tower of Babel. When Lily first attempted to dig out the entrance over an hour
ago, a small avalanche of snow had buried it further. Fortunately Tiamat had
been standing by her side and had shielded Lily with her wings, otherwise Lily
might have gotten buried alive.
Tiamat’s
last roar appeared to have finally done the trick. By the time they had removed
all of the snow earlier, they were faced with a thick barrier of ice. When
Tiamat originally explained to Lily that breathing fire was a myth, she was
disappointed. Lily was quickly pacified however when the thick ice began to
melt away with Tiamat’s first roar.
The
last of the ice wall had caved in to reveal a hollow entryway. Together they
passed through into the darkness. Far in the distance however she could see a
strange blue light dancing against the pillars. She was drawn to it, and after
several minutes they stopped before what appeared to be a swirling whirlpool of
shimmering water – only it was standing vertical against a wall. A humming
sound echoed off the walls and pillars that surrounded them.
“What
is that?”
Verily,
‘tis the open portal back to Earth.
“Is
it safe?” she hesitated.
I
know not what lies on the other side. ‘tis been hundreds of years since my kind
hath made use of this portal. Humans upon Earth didst hunt my kind for sport,
so thus my ancestors didst make an exodus unto Zion. We have not returned
hither since.
Lily
approached the swirling whirlpool with caution. Sparks of electricity seemed to
be somehow lighting up the water-like substance, spreading from the center and
swirling outward in the form of a spiral.
She
took a deep breath and spoke confidently, “I’m going in.”
She
let go of Tiamat’s side and stepped forward. She held her breath and closed her
eyes as she passed through the vortex. She half expected to feel water, but
instead she felt warmth as her body lurched forward. Her head spun violently
and she forced herself to open her eyes. Streaks of light filled her view as
she continued to spin down what seemed to be an invisible tunnel. The streaks
of light built in quantity and velocity until the cluster of light formed into
a single brilliant flash.
She
stumbled forward as her feet met the ground inside a dark cramped space. She
felt immediately claustrophobic when she realized she was surrounded on all
four sides by walls that were dimly lit by the swirling blue vortex. Seconds
later she ducked for cover as Tiamat’s massive body exited the portal and came
smashing into the opposite wall. With a loud crash, an orange light seeped into
the cramped space as the dust settled. Bricks and dust lay strewn about
everywhere at her feet.
As
she stepped out into the glow, she was shocked to see at least a hundred people
dressed in Hindu attire staring at her in awe. They had all been kneeling in
prayer inside a large room that was adorned with gold and jewels everywhere.
Tiamat’s neck and head protruded from the opening, and she lay unconscious upon
what appeared to be a throne with a stone statue sitting in it. The head of the
statue had broken off and had fallen to the floor among the bricks and dust.
Considering
their dramatic entrance, she half expected everyone to be screaming in terror.
Instead, they all bowed in reverence and began chanting in unison. They all
chanted in multiple languages, but yet she was able to recognize bits and
pieces of Bengali. As she listened, she realized in horror that they all seemed
to think that she was the ancient goddess Shiva returning to Earth in a pillar of
light accompanied by the resurrected Vritra, the dragon of drought.
She
quickly placed her hand on Tiamat’s head.
“Wake
up. We have to get out of here.” she whispered urgently while trying to shake
Tiamat’s massive head, “These people think we are Hindu gods.”
Tiamat
snorted in reply and slowly opened her eyes. As she raised her head and
stumbled to her full stature, several more bricks crumbled to the ground. The
people in the room continued to gawk at them as Tiamat forced herself through
the narrow opening. Behind them the blue vortex swirled brilliantly.
A
new chant began as they all bowed again in reverence. Lily quickly mounted the
dusty saddle, and was able to make out from the brief chants from the man
speaking Bengali that they were now worshipping the portal as the fiery column
of light from which the half-woman god Shiva had long ago appeared.
“Let
me guess.” Lily whispered, “One of the Seraphim was named Shiva.”
Verily,
‘tis true. Yea, I hath been told that he was a very beautiful man, for he was
often confused as a woman.
“Great.”
she rolled her eyes, “Now I’m a Hindu goddess. Let’s get out of here.”
The
people made a pathway as Tiamat walked toward the open archway on the far wall.
Lily turned and cringed as she looked at the crumpled throne and statue. She
recognized the throne from her college studies. They were inside the Somnath
Temple, one of the oldest and most sacred of Hindu temples.
As
they followed through the main hall, many more bowed in reverence as they
passed. Lily was grateful when they finally reached the exterior of the
building. Tiamat kicked off into the air as an ocean wave slapped against the
containment wall and sprayed saltwater onto Lily’s face.
As
they flew high in to the early morning sky, she felt a little disoriented. It
had been approaching nightfall by the time they had cleared the entrance to the
Tower of Babel, and now dawn was breaking on the other side of the portal.
She
turned her head and looked down at the Somnath Temple shrinking in the
distance. She remembered reading that the temple had been destroyed and rebuilt
multiple times, and nobody knew when it had been originally built. But now she
knew. Clearly, these were the remains of the missing half of the Tower of
Babel.
Where
shall we go, my child?
“We
need to get to Chicago.” Lily determined, “And unfortunately, that’s on the
other side of the Earth. It will probably take us a few days to get there. We
need to discreetly find food and supplies somewhere. I’m famished.”
I
shall take thee to fulfill thine destiny, young Oracle.