The Reichsführer-SS himself had granted special dispensation to cast a batch of three hundred and sixty-four Sigil Rings as the design included symbols that were of a highly sensitive nature and prone to attract extreme prejudice as a result of the prevalent discriminatory ideology, however, the ring that Akosua now gazed at simply shared the same provenance in terms of the workshop - its purpose and meaning were entirely different and totally unrelated in spite of the similarities to the uninitiated.
The ring was wreathed with oak leaves to represent endurance, stability and strength, embodying the common qualities associated with the oak tree in physical and spiritual terms. The six symbols spaced about the face of the ring effectively marked the six points of a hexagram around the wearer's finger, offering protection and assurance with their individual and combined spiritual meaning.
Frans leaned back, watching Akosua.
'Do you know how to interpret the sigils?'
Akosua glanced quickly at him, as if it were an insult that she would not know the importance of each symbol. She looked at the skull with empty eyes staring blindly out, crossed thigh bones placed behind it.
'The Death's Head Skull, a
momento mori
or remembrance of our own mortality. It also signifies faith until death and recognition of the futility of our own lives in The Great Work except in the achievement of a noble objective. It reminds us that although we operate on a physical plane, we are forever connected to the spiritual significance of our actions.'
She moved the ring about to show the next device, a traditional Taijitu circle often called the Yin Yang symbol.
'The Circle of Ultimate Power, representing the combined powers of creation and destruction in physical and spiritual planes, never in stasis but always interacting as an illustration of the continuing development of the material world.'
Next was a square tilted to represent a diamond shape in which two 'L' shaped marks were juxtaposed.
'The Jera rune, representing the passage of time and the consequence of action, traditionally associated with the solar year and the harvest. It shows us the change in life that we must accept but try to bring to a beneficial result through our own endeavours.'
Next was a six pointed regular star formed by two interlocking triangles inside of a hexagon.
'The Hexagram, representing the balance of
The All
and everything that has been created from it. It reminds us of the object of our actions, to achieve release from the trappings of the material world.'
Akosua rubbed a finger over the next symbol, a regular five pointed star inside of a pentagon.
'The Pentagram, it represents the elemental aspects of creation during the transformation of
The All
to the entirety of the universe. It illustrates a method of change within the material world and points us to the source of everything that may be experienced.'
Frans jerked his head at the ring.
'- and the last one?'
The final symbol was an eye placed within a triangle, so favoured of Freemasonry and conspiracy theorists all over the world. Akosua gazed at it.
'The All-Seeing Eye, representing
The All
as spirit and manifest throughout The Great Work, connecting each piece together to form the whole, from the smallest atoms to the largest black holes, from the barren rocks that make the planets to the life that thrives upon our own Earth. It is the signature that tells us that we are all part of the same.'
Rey smiled.
'Very eloquent! You obviously paid attention in some of your classes.'
Akosua nudged him and smiled widely.
'So when do I get mine then? I've been waiting to be awarded my ring since I was a little girl, I must have earned it by now?'
Rey assumed a look of mock incredulity, he stuttered and blustered jokingly.
'You'll have one soon enough,' Frans nodded reassuringly, 'after
Merkur
is complete I would think that you will be raised to the rank of Knight of The Holy Order of Thrones and you'll be awarded your own
Sigil Ring
!'
Rey sniggered.
'Yeah, they might even spell your name correctly in the inscription.'
A sharp elbow into his ribs made him exclaim an exaggerated wheeze as Akosua carefully placed the ring back in its box and handed it back to Frans.
Jolene and Dale were ensconced in the small security room that acted as the central viewing station for the various CCTV cameras mounted about the embassy, including the external cameras that overlooked the plein of Lange Voorhout where the antiques fair had occurred earlier in the week. A security guard had cued up the relevant recordings of the footage and after a rudimentary explanation of how to operate the equipment had left them to it.
'Alright Dale, this starts from around 07:00 on Thursday 7th January, the Verker girl had a stall up here somewhere,' Jolene said as she pointed at the top left of the screen, 'it is just possible that your attackers were watching her and so they may show up on here.'
Dale leaned back, his chair creaking as he settled himself into a comfortable position.
'- and if they're not on here?'
'Then we move on to the next most likely set of footage. I have requisitioned videos from trams at the time of the attack and some traffic cameras for tracking the car. We'll find them.'
'What about Gertrude's apartment? The door entry system may have had a camera system as well.'
'I've already had Stanley check that out. It did have a camera but it wasn't working and doesn't record images anyway, so we can't see who spoke into the microphone when they came up to the apartment. We have to rely on CCTV footage and this is the best starting point.'
'This could take forever!' Dale complained.
'Say three days' worth of footage from three or four different sources - that could be two weeks of watching video.'
'Do you have something better to do?'
Dale glanced at her but Jolene immediately admonished him.
'Keep looking at the screen, we don't want to miss anything.'
'I was actually thinking about Gertrude! You know? The girl who has been kidnapped? It is just that you haven't mentioned her yet, I'd have thought her safety would be of some concern to you.'
Jolene tensed slightly.
'She was abducted, not kidnapped and of course I'm concerned for the girl, the problem is that we have no idea where she may be and the only real lead we have is your identification of who took her. You may also want to remember that all of this is taking place within the wider context of a national security threat to the United States. I would have thought that might be of concern to a CIA employee?'
Dale sighed and returned to gazing at the video.
'Alright, but how about you tell me a bit more about what is going on?'
'You know what you need to know.'
'Awww, come on, I had the shit kicked out of me this morning, these were no ordinary terrorists, they'd been watching that apartment, watching Gertrude Verker and as soon as they saw their opportunity they grabbed her. Why?'
'Well, that is what we're trying to figure out!' Jolene exclaimed irritably.
'No, you don't get me. Look, Jackson spots this book for sale on the internet, right? He gets me to pick it up. Alright, so far, so good. However, your lot tie in this book to a terrorist group that is threatening the US, something pretty big and pretty definite if the involvement of the Deputy Director is anything to go by. So, how come a dusty old book is the only link to this cult? They can't have just appeared out of thin air, we must know about them through our other intelligence channels! We must do!'
In spite of his outburst, Dale still sat focussed on the video, watching the world go by as the market traders prepared their stalls on the screen.
Jolene thought for a moment.
'Well, I agree that it seems odd -'
She carefully considered what she was going to say next.
'Dale, the original threat was delivered directly to The President in December last year; they'd done their homework in gaining access to a secure communications channel usually reserved for direct contact with other heads of state, the Russian Premier and the British Prime Minister for instance. We know the message was only sent to The President and that it didn't come directly from a foreign power.'
Dale was frowning but still looked directly at the screen.
'Well, why the secrecy, if this is a terrorist threat why not deal with it just like any other form of terrorism?'
'I don't know all the facts Dale, but I do know that a set of demands was issued along with an ultimatum; retaliation for non-compliance was threatened for every successive month that we don't comply.'
Dale almost stuttered.
'- but that is normal for any terrorist threat; why is this such a big deal?'
Jolene sighed.
'Apparently it is the kind of retaliation that has been promised. As I understand it, The President's team had enough technical data supplied to them to make them realise that these terrorists knew what they were talking about and so they're being taken seriously.'
'Are we talking Hollywood style devastation here?'
'Kind of - Look, that is irrelevant right now, the point is that the threat involves a weapon of mass destruction and this group's claim of possession appears plausible. We're not talking about conventional weapons, explosives or chemical weapons - a bomb in a building or sarin gas which could be released in a shopping mall - this threat concerns something much worse. As I understand it, there is an implication that this could be a world event.'
'Nuclear weapons?' Dale questioned incredulously, frowning as he turned to look up at her.
Nodding to the screen in admonishment, Jolene continued, 'No, apparently there is something worse. For a number of reasons it was assumed that our government and security agencies have been infiltrated and at the very least needed to be kept dark for the time being. There are some concerns that members of our own military may be involved in something but I haven't been given all the information. I do know that The President himself set-up a small task force of trusted personnel in liaison directly with the heads of the security agencies and I was invited to lead one of the preliminary special investigation units.'
'Who are they though? This cult? We must know something about them?'
'Again, I don't know the full details but I have been led to understand that they're not officially affiliated with any country, religion or race. They just call themselves the Brothers and Sisters of the Sun of the Sleepless but we have no intelligence on such a group and especially one that has access to the type of weapons they are threatening to use. We just need to follow up on anything that may link back to them, which is why we're tracking a three hundred year old book.'
Dale frowned again.
'So were you told what this weapon actually is? I mean, our military has all kinds of crazy shit hidden away in bunkers, they must know something about it.'
Jolene stopped and ran back through what she had just said.
'No, I wasn't told, not officially anyway. I checked out some of my own sources and, well, the suggestions were pretty unanimous and considering some of the classified information I have been told about I'd say that my sources were right.'
'Classified information? Such as?'
Jolene raised an eyebrow.
'Well, I haven't seen them myself, but they are the same classified documents that Jackson is trying to get access to!' she said flatly.
Dale turned to her and stared into her eyes, she looked to be telling the truth, but he considered that you could never really tell when it came to CIA operatives who were involved in black projects.
'Why haven't you told Jackson? It might help him in his research?'
'I didn't want to distract him and it wasn't even necessary until he confirmed a connection with the terrorists. Once he had submitted his preliminary findings I was going to explain a bit more, see how he links it in with his own investigation.'
Dale looked back at the screen and his eyes widened. The footage had been playing at a fast-forward pace, around four or five times normal playing speed, however, he had just spotted Gertrude Verker and to his surprise, could see a woman standing in the background wearing a pair of what looked like tan riding boots, black skin tight leggings and a tan leather jacket. Around her neck and shoulders was slung a large scarf that reminded him of the kind worn by archetypal Middle Eastern rebels.
'STOP!'
Jolene craned in, peering at the screen.
'What is it?'
Dale shunted the video backward a minute or so and then pressed play again. The woman moved about the stalls, just another tourist or shopper looking for a bargain, but it was not her face that made her seem familiar, the shock of blonde hair was a dead give-away.
They watched as the woman took a call, slipping her cell phone back into her pocket after a short conversation before moving towards Gertrude's stall. She rummaged into her bag and then walked on again, fiddling with one of her ears, simply adjusting the earring to any bystander that was watching.