The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist (26 page)

Why kill Hart? He’ll never find the missing pages
to which LaPlotte
replied:
The
secrets are in other documents. I fear he will find them one
day.

The agent
placed the slip of paper away and looked at his watch. 12.20PM.
LaPlotte was three kilometers from his workplace. It was too far
for a man as busy as he was to come and have lunch or read a
newspaper, he thought. What was LaPlotte doing in the city centre,
he wondered again. Thinking further, the agent figured LaPlotte had
come to talk with Marcelle Vireaux but the woman had put him
off.

Now, he could
sense LaPlotte stirring. He watched him stash his newspaper under
his arm and, with his hands in his pockets, started towards the
shopping area. He sat next to a phone booth and kept looking at his
watch. The agent knew he was marking time waiting on a call. The
call that came wasn’t from the booth but from his phone. The agent
wasn’t surprised. Marcelle Vireaux was calling him. He stared as
LaPlotte ended the call and dashed to the subway.

Chapter 57

KD took aim as
Hart opened a window to let light in due to a power outage. Traffic
was at a standstill, offices were shutting, car horns blared.
Through the lens of his AK-47 rifle, he could see the sweatshirt
Hart wore with the insignia that said Mansa. He took a moment to
look around, making sure no one saw him. The hedge he stood in was
taller than his foot frame and wide enough to cover his body. He
focused again and placed his finger on the trigger.

“
Tom!”
Cathy called.

“
Yes?”

Her call tore
him from the window. The blast from the rifle went unnoticed in the
drone of car horns, alarms and sirens.

“
I think
you make way too many startling statements, Tom,” she
said.

“
I
suppose I do. What d’you mean exactly?”

“
Nothing’s dead, for one. You say that all the
time.”

“
Nothing
is, Cathy. There’s a timeless replica of you in your
realm.”

Cathy chuckled.
“Have you ever seen it?”

“
Science
will soon prove it. Have you ever known that something will happen
before it actually does?”

“
No.”

“
Lots of
people have. And, have you ever dreamt of something and it
happened?”

“
That’s
just coincidence. Dreams are just jumbled rubbish.”

“
Problem
is, your mind is blocked.”

“
You
speak of us becoming gods a lot too. Why on earth would you say
this, Tom?”

Hart knew the
question was coming.

“
Kronos,
Aphrodite, Hermes, rule the cosmos. Zeus is fascinating. He rules
our physical universe.”

“
Get to
the point.”

“
You’re
not going to be easy to convince, I see.”

“
What’d
you expect?” Her dimples deepened with her smile.

“
Zeus
carries a rod. The god, Hermes Trismegetus, and the Inca gods
carried rods too.”

“
Zeus is
a mythical being.”

“
His
proper name is Chonbal and he’s described as a regent of the
universe in a reliable ancient document. In other words, he may
well exist.”

“
So, what
about these rods?”

“
The rods
were of ultra-supernatural matter.”

“
How can
you be so sure?”

“
Moses
demonstrated it by parting the Red Sea.”

“
You
really believe that, Tom?”

“
I do,
just as I believe in the Philosopher’s Stone, a stone with
alchemical properties. It was used to confer youth and bliss.
Zosimos of Panapolis made mention of it, as did many. Matter can be
supernatural and, so can humans. There’re many examples of
supernatural matter there are in this world.”

Cathy stared
back blankly with a face that bore the same reluctance as
before.

“
I can’t
get you to understand anything, can I?”

“
If you
stop basing claims on fantasy, I will.”

It was becoming
hot in Hart’s flat and with no fan, sweat emerged on Cathy’s
forehead. Hart’s contentious demeanour didn’t do much to cool the
heat either. He was overly passionate, she felt. Still, she
wondered how a rational man like him could be so certain about
elusive things.

“
Cathy,
even Edgar Cayce predicted that an era will emerge when Mankind
will be god-like. Our true essence will return.”

“
There
you go again.”

“
You’re
not going to accept anything I say. I can see that.”

“
I’m just
not convinced.”

“
It’s
easier to solve equations than to convince you.”

“
You can
still try, Tom.”

“
I have
tried.”

“
I still
don’t believe we can be god-like, Tom. I just don’t believe it.
It’s too far-fetched.”

“
Long
ago, people knew the human mind could be influenced by universal
intelligence. Avicenna of Persia embraced metaphysics and spoke of
active intellect, sent forth from a creator. Maimonides, a highly
recognized Jewish scholar, also spoke of active intellect. We need
to recognize it and understand it. Newton also spoke of an active
principle operating in the universe.”

“
But, you
can’t find it. No one can.”

“
The
gospel pages told us how to, Cathy! Don’t you see? Can you imagine
what the ten missing pages say?”

“
No, I
can’t.”

“
I can.”
Hart leaned back staring into Cathy’s face, a face framed by thick,
glossy black hair. “Tell me something,” he said now.

“
What is
it, Tom?” she replied, anticipation brimming in her light-brown
eyes as she folded her long legs and arms.

“
What I’m
about to say will end your scepticism once and for all.”

“
Well,
well. Let’s have it.”

“
Do you
know how many persons have had near death experiences?”

“
Lots, I
guess.”

“
Many
have reported seeing a bright light.”

“
I
know.”

“
What if
it were a space-time continuum?”

“
A
space-time continuum?”

“
A portal
to another world. The dead can reach it at once because matter
travels faster than the light speed. It would take a spaceship
hundreds of thousands of years to get to another world. It’s all
about matter. Don’t you see? Don’t you see?”

Cathy was
silent as Hart continued.

“
Secrets
were given to Judas, Mary Magdalene, Judas Thomas and others. The
missing pages are our last chance to have them. It’s now or
never.”

“
You’re
obsessed with these ancient secrets.”

“
I am. The tea should be ready. I’ll go fetch
it.”

Chapter 58

He placed cups
of tea on a table and sat beside her. He thought of holding her
hand but dispelled the idea. He wasn’t sure how she would react.
But, he liked the feeling he had. Cathy brought feelings of warmth
and cosiness to his home, something he’d never felt before.

“
I’ve
been meaning to ask you something,” she said, her light-brown eyes
brimming with anticipation again.

“
Do I
have someone in my life, you mean?”

Her face
flushed. “Eh… eh, no.”

“
Okay,
what?”

“
What’s
your real mission?” She was fascinated by Hart and by now she was
sure he knew it.

“
My
mission is to awaken the human spirit.” Hart motioned to his phone
remembering he had to make an urgent call to Marin. He stopped as
Cathy spoke again.

“
Why risk
your life for a couple of ancient pages, Tom?”

He sighed now.
Cathy hadn’t listened to anything he had said, far less believed
any of it. It dawned on him that the woman possibly had ulterior
motives.

“
Why were
the secrets hidden from us, Cathy? Did you ever wonder?”

She didn’t
answer. In the creeping darkness, she caught the image of Hart she
was more familiar with. It was a rigid. Hart’s axioms were
precipitating, solidifying suddenly. As the candles continued to
flicker from the air that entered the room, she knew she had lost
him to his convictions.

“
Why’re
you really here? Ar’you gonna write some spurious article about my
warped sense of deliverance. Is that it? Tell the world of my
misguided notions?”

“
Maybe, I
should go, Tom.”

“
Don’t,”
Hart said quickly as he recollected himself. “I’m sorry. Problem
is, we’ve been programmed to chase after things, like
robots.”

“
We must
pursue our goals, surely.”

“
I didn’t
say you shouldn’t, but do it sensibly and do something to make this
world better. You’ll be rewarded. Something is listening to
us.”

“
What?”

“
How else
can we explain prophecy and phenomena? People see flashes of light
in mindlessness.”

“
Flashes
of light?”

“
Some
people see them and some don’t. It takes time.”

“
Tom,
please.”

Hart rose
taking back and forth steps while he spoke. “Those flashes are
communication waves. We connect!” he shouted at her.

“
To what,
Tom?’

“
A
superior intelligence. Our mindless state is our biggest asset.
It’s part of a massive cosmic link-up. We’re not wholly of this
world.” He stopped his pacing. Sweat from the heat of the room
poured on his face.

“
You’re
not going to tell me you see angels too?”

Cathy was
mocking him now and he didn’t expect that from her. He said nothing
more. The light came back on and the air condition was starting to
filter cool air in the room. He shut the windows and sank in a
chair feeling alone. Would the world ever listen, he wondered.

Cathy, being an
expert reader of body language, felt his mood.

“
I’m
sorry and I know it’s just a matter of time before LaPlotte gets
caught and you have those missing pages. I’ll do all I can to make
sure of it, I promise you.

It’s not that I
don’t believe you, Tom, but people need time with this and I’m just
psyching you out. Hey, you think the media out there is going to
give you an easy time when you find those pages?”

“
And, I
don’t care.”

Ignoring his
comment, Cathy looked at her watch. “I must be on my way, Tom.” As
she raised her head, their eyes locked. She could feel butterflies
flapping. She struggled hard with the feeling she had. It wasn’t
going to be easy to dismiss Hart from her heart. She turned and
started to the door. “Thanks for a wonderful time. I’ll call you as
soon as I get news.”

“
I’m
going to Peru for a shot while. I’ll be gone a week, maybe
less.”

“
Peru?”
she frowned.

“
Yeah.
Got some things to check out there.”

“
Like
what?”

“
The Inca
gods came to teach us. I want to know what.”

“
Well,
good luck, Tom, and thanks again.”

He turned and
opened his front door to let Cathy out.

“
What’s
all this?” she questioned, stepping out and staring at the
commotion taking place.

Outside Hart’s
door, police were everywhere. A man in his mid-forties was talking
to one of them. The bullet from KD’s gun had struck the man’s
windows sending glass everywhere. He had scrambled from his bed
and, with great fear, had peeked outside. Below him, KD had stood
with his AK-47staring up at him. In a dash, he had dialled 911.

“
A man is
shooting at my home! A man is shooting my home,” he had screamed.
“Please hurry. It’s Ashner Avenue. Yeah, yeah, the same place where
the woman was shot dead. Look, this guy’s a serial killer. We have
a serial killer on the loose.”

“
Stay
calm. Help is on the way,” the dispatcher had consoled. “Please
stay away from the window and lock your door.”

Sweating, the
man had knelt down on his floor and had started to pray. He had
crawled out his room and made his way to the front door at the
sound of sirens.

Still hiding in
the thicket of Hart’s hedge, KD heard his phone beep. He grabbed it
thinking it was Foster. It wasn’t. It was a voice he didn’t
recognize.

“
Got him
yet?” LaPlotte shouted on the line.

He didn’t
answer.

“
Hello,
hello,” the Frenchman called out again. “Have you killed
Hart?”

KD switched the
phone off. He had heard the sirens in the distance and he knew if
he had started to run he would’ve been dead already. He dialled
Foster’s number now.

“
KD?”
Foster answered in a flash, hoping for news.

“
I, I…”
he fumbled on the line.

“
Is it
done? Answer me!”

“
Something went wrong, Foster, very wrong and I’m in
trouble.”