The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist (40 page)

Two hours
later, she entered the station that lay in the midst of the
Colombian jungle. The eerie quiet of the place caught her senses
more so than the image of Dr. John Steel who was ten yards away. He
looked fit for his seventy-seven years, his face blemished by
sunspots.

The tall Scott
approached her cautiously. “I’m doing this for Dr. Olsen and Dr.
Bentley. I don’t want to see their lifetime’s work come to nothing.
They were both dear to me. But first, I need to check on something
in my laboratory, so, come with me. Then, we would try and locate
what you’re looking for.”

She followed
Steel to Station 8, the Bio-Tech Laboratory that stood at the end
of a long hallway.

Station 8 was
shut from the outside world by a sealed door. Steel typed in his ID
for the Face Analysis Recognition machine. The door slid open and
soon Steffi stared into his future race. She looked on in horror at
what she saw. The nausea came first and then the dizziness.
Preservative jars that lined shelves were filled with human
embryos. Her left hand found the edge of a stool and she managed to
stay still for the ten seconds she needed for her eyes to adjust to
the stroboscopic light. She blinked again as twenty technicians
scattered about the huge lab came into focus. Their arms were
raised as they pipetted and measured samples by the dozens. It was
freezing cold, even with the coat she had on. She looked up as
Steel reappeared.

“
Over
there,” he pointed in earnest to a line of cubicles, “are the
developing anti-cancer embryos. I’m happy with that achievement
and, soon, I will complete the isolation and decoding of D19-ARG.”
The D19-ARG was an Anti-Retroviral Gene. Implanted into human
genes, it would rid the world of the Aids Virus one day. Steel
didn’t say more. The man was guarding the secrets of his mission,
something he had been doing for thirty years.

“
How much
time before you finish it all?” Steffi asked.

“
Much.
Now, my dear, let’s go.”

As they walked
down the hall, Station 8’s generators belched hot air into the
darkness that surrounded SARDS. Steel’s office was at the side of
the main entrance hall, a quiet room, far from the flow of
maintenance crews. It was a place where he could be alone and
unfettered.

“
Come on
in. Coffee?” he offered.

“
Yes,
please.”

Chilled to the
bone now, Steffi watched eagerly as Steel poured hot coffee into a
mug from a stylish Oster.

“
There
you go,” he said with a broad smile.

“
Thanks.”

She stared as
Steel dropped his weight into his leather chair. An expression of
smug accomplishment crossed his face. A lifetime of dedicated work
was about to unfold. It was his ultimate satisfaction and no one
was going to get in his way, Steffi knew.

“
Now,
what can I do for you, my dear?” he said.

“
I need
to get to Dr. Bentley’s lab. I’m looking for Dr. Olsen’s
data.”

“
I see.”
Steel wasn’t a man with a whole lot of time to waste. He took a
huge gulp of his coffee and said, “Let’s go, then.”

The third floor
was foreboding and cluttered with piles of ceiling tiles that had
fallen from a US helicopter blast weeks ago. Steel mounted a pile
of rubble to get to Bentley’s door. He pressed the stiff lever down
and pushed hard to open it. From where they stood, they could see
the cabinets that housed his Inca artefacts and the mummified
remains of the dead.

“
Olsen’s data should be here, Steffi.

Chapter 92

Back on the
Island, she grabbed the phone. “Hello,” she answered anxiously,
thinking it was the hospital and Pearce had died.

“
Any
change in Pearce’s condition?” Hart asked.

“
Not
much.”

“
How soon
before we know something?”

“
I don’t
know, days, maybe weeks. No one knows.”

“
Be
strong and positive. Pearce’s a fighter.” Hart didn’t often let his
feelings show but his voice was breaking. He was saddened over
Pearce. Having lost Olsen and Bentley, he could bear no
more.

“
There’s
nothing we can do but wait, Tom.”

“
I guess,
but, tell me what you found at SARDS.”

The moment had
arrived. It was one Steffi dreaded. She struggled hard to say, “I
didn’t find anything.”

“
What
d’you mean?”

“
Olsen’s
data isn’t at SARDS.”

She placed the
phone down and looked out from her patio at red bougainvilleas in
her garden. It was two days since she had come back from Colombia
but it felt like a lifetime. The red roses she had bought for
Pearce lay in a basin in her kitchen. Visits were still limited.
The surgeon had said something about his brain being swollen from
the shot to his neck and all Steffi knew was the desolation and
fear she felt for him. She had sat outside his room for hours and
had left after much coaxing from the head nurse.

“
Go home
my dear. I promise I’ll call as soon as he moves his eyes,” she had
said.

That was
yesterday and the reality of the situation was unbearable for her.
She stared at the clock. Visiting hours would be come around again.
She gathered her strength and headed to the shower. Soon, she was
out the door.

“
Put the
TV on,” the same nurse said standing next to her in Pearce’s room.
“He needs to start hearing voices. Look for eyelid
movement.”

Steffi saw
nothing new. Pearce lay motionless. His hair was shaved off and she
guessed he would have preferred it that way. His doctor had assured
her earlier that his brain swelling was down.

His lips were
puckered as usual, and, even in his state, he was probably thinking
about a scheme, she figured. She switched on the set and found his
favourite sports station. Pearce had a hankering for the Gators
basketball team. He was tall at six foot three and had played for
his school team years ago. Two minutes later, a game came on and
Steffi raised the volume up. She turned as the nurse spoke
again.

“
Even if
his condition improves, you’ll need to think about treatment
elsewhere, his physiotherapy.”

Steffi hadn’t
given it a thought.

“
He’s
going to need care and…” The nurse stopped. A moaning was coming
from Pearce.

“
Steffi,
Steffi,” they both heard. Pearce was moving his legs and trying to
open his eyes.

“
I’ll get
the doctor.” The nurse hurried out.

Steffi placed
her hand on his forehead. Even though he struggled, his voice came
through.

“
Steffi?”
he called again.

“
I’m
here, Tim.”

He opened his
eyes and looked around. As he emerged from his comatose state, his
memory slowly came back. He turned to her, blinking his eyes,
trying to focus.

“
Got the
date, love?”

“
No, I
didn’t.”

“
I’ve got
to get out of here.”

“
You
can’t.”

“
I have to. Please listen.”

Chapter 93

The air carried
the scent of food. Hart faced Steffi at a table at Sunset Resort on
La Joya Island two weeks later. From the patio, he could see the
vast hills in the distance. It felt humid. He wiped sweat off his
face with a handkerchief and drained cold water from a bottle he
held in his hand. A robin that was perched on a branch flew onto
the table. It raised its wings and fluttered about, determined it
seemed, to get to the crumbs that rested on his plate. With a swish
of Hart’s hand, it was gone.

It was
lunchtime and the outdoor patio was packed with diners. Next to
them sat a middle-aged couple who spoke a language nobody knew.

He turned to
Steffi. “What time d’you think Pearce will get here?

“
He’ll be
here soon. Don’t worry.”

“
We
should be with him, shouldn’t we?”

“
He’s
fine. He’s at Findley Estate.” Steffi glanced at her watch. “He’s
taking a bit long, I admit. It’s been three hours. But, he told me
to pick you up at the airport and wait here for him.”

Hart sighed. He
hated waiting on anyone or anything.

“
So,
what’s the date on La Croix’s painting, Tom?”

A male voice
interrupted Hart’s reply. “Would you care for anything else?” a
waited asked.

“
Do you
want anything more, Steffi?”

“
No
thanks, Tom.”

“
Just the
bill, then,” he said.

“
Sure.”

He answered
Steffi as the waiter walked away. “It’s 2021.”

“
2021?
The missing number is four?”

“
La Croix
had painted a planetary configuration that signalled the coming of
the Age of Aquarius. It’s an alignment between Jupiter and Saturn.
He painted what he had seen in a vision.”

They both
turned to the figure that appeared with a wide grin.

“
Sorry,
I’m late.” Pearce grabbed a chair and sat.

“
You’re
one hell of a guy,” Hart said with smile. “I’m really happy to see
you. How are you?”

“
I’m ok,
Tom. I’m gonna get some rest after this.”

“
I sure
hope so. What can you tell us?”

“
Bentley
was keen on a number of things. Prophecy was one of them. Alien
visitation was another. The earth had caretakers who had left
predictions for Mankind to follow. The Toltec left us stone
carvings that spoke of the emergence of a new era, but Bentley was
amazed by the Inca Quipus.”

“
Because
they were never decoded. No one knew what was in them. What Olsen
did was remarkable.”

“
Of
course, Tom.”

“
Also
fascinating were tablets with writing found at the bottom of Lake
Titicaca. Olsen got wind of the tablets from the Quipus he
deciphered. Bentley searched with a diving team and found them.
Bentley found the first objects that prove aliens were here. I’m
still not sure if that’s the reason they were both
killed.”

“
I don’t
think so. It has more to do with the Naples Document and the claim
that the Inca were Christian-like. So, what happened to the
tablets?”

“
They are
part of his collection, as far as I know.”

Pearce looked
far into the distance. The resort’s gardens stretched for hundreds
of yards. He turned to Hart. “What d’you think of this business of
aliens?”

“
The
ascent of man is a result of alien technology.”

“
You seem
sure of that.”

“
Ancient
civilizations knew of Astronomy and Science. The gods of the
universe had travelled to earth and taught them.”

“
You’re
not denying that spacecrafts exist, are you?”

“
No, not
all. Are you aware there’re key sites?”

“
Key
sites?” Steffi frowned.

“
Places
along the equator that can be easily detected by alien
communication systems. Carnac in France, Carahunge, Armenia’s Stone
Henge and…”

“
Nazca,”
Pearce interrupted.

“
Evidence
of visitation exists in the Nazca lines and drawings.
Mathematicians have long known the lines and drawings that expand
three hundred square miles are precise alignments to Orion and can
be seen clearly from orbit. Bentley considered it a landing
strip.”

“
Bentley’s passion was truly the prophecy of the Inca.”
Pearce shifted to ease the discomfort he was beginning to feel in
his legs. “According to the prophecy, the eagle of the north will
fly with the condor of the south and the earth will reawaken. It is
the age of light. There’re phases in the coming of the New Age.
We’re currently leaving the Piscean phase and entering the Aquarian
phase.”

“
We have
numbers 7, 19 and 4. Add them to 1991 which was the year of the
last solar eclipse and we get 2021,” Steffi reminded
them.

“
We’re at
a cusp and things will gradually change from here onward.” Pearce
pushed his chair back. “Are you ready?” he asked looking Hart’s
way.

“
Where’re
you going?” Steffi inquired.

“
I found
Olsen’s data. Took me some little time to dig around but I found
it, just where Juan Salazar said it would be. While in the Delta
Amacuro, Bentley had told him where he kept his collection. Olsen’s
data is in it.”

“
Wait!”
Steffi called out. Hart and Pearce had already started walking away
when she pulled a letter from her shirt pocket. It was a letter she
had grabbed from a desk when she had visited Mary Findley. The
letter came from Olsen and was filled with calculations and a
method for deciphering alien writing. “Tom, listen, I’ve kept this
letter a while. I want you to have it. So, what’re going to do
about Olsen’s killer?”

“
Cathy,
my girlfriend, found out that Olsen’s killer is a man called
Hammer. He works for Foster. We’ll get Foster this time. Terrance
Nash is going after Ernesto Arturo too. He’ll talk.” As he turned
to leave, Hart’s phone rang. He stopped dead. The call was from
Avery Lengard of the British Museum. He took a deep breath and
answered. “Mr. Lengard?”