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  Chapter 7

  Early that morning, after promising Jessika that they would meet for dinner, Kirk kissed her goodbye and ran out the door. The cottage had a kitchen but after Jessika’s attempt to make a romantic dinner and had to ask if the potatoes smelled burnt, they mutually decided to patronize the nearby cafeteria and eat when hungry. After a hurried breakfast in the cafeteria, with the mysterious note from Turkey in hand, he rushed along the winding garden path to the main mansion and Maria’s lab.

  Kirk, being a soldier and man of action, had never been trapped by deep concentration. His world was one of quick decisions and reflexes. If a scientist were to spend time analyzing and experimenting for a solution in a battlefield, he would surely not survive the battle. When he barged into the lab and startled Maria, he did not understand why she suddenly exercised her right to swear like a trooper. Stunned at both her reaction and choice of words never found in a dictionary, he bolted to a stop and meekly said,

  “Sorry, did I startle you?”

  When her adrenalin had returned to proper levels, she took a deep breath and said.

  “I’m going to have to put a lock on that damn door.”

  She saw the note in his hand, pointed and asked,

  “Is that the reason you scared the bejesus out of me?”

  “Yes, I went to see Zak about it late last night.”

  “I see. Did he jump out of his skin too?”

  “No, but he swore just like you.”

  “Well, what was so important about an ordinary email?”

  He explained that a vitrified rock was not a common occurrence, that possibly it was a furtive message meaning he had found something of importance. He then related everything Zak had told him about why the letter clearly had a hidden meaning. A scientist would never throw away a rare vitrified stone.

  Finding that interesting, she turned back to her computers, saved all her programs, and walked over to the coffee urn. After offering him a cup of the elixir she asked,

  “So you think this Professor fellow has found something important?”

  Kirk nodded and added,

  “The fact that he picked up an important piece of evidence to an ancient war and then threw it away, I think was the message. Clearly, he felt secrecy was important. Perhaps he is being watched.”

  Maria went into deep thought and then slowly nodded her approval of the likelihood. She said,

  “Yes, Turkey is a volatile country right now. I should imagine the countryside is crawling with soldiers.”

  Kirk added,

  “He is a new field agent for the House and knows the new mandate of researching alien history throughout the world. Clearly he has found something he thinks is important to that directive.”

  Maria agreed and said,

  “True. At first, I thought he had just picked up a stone from an ancient fireplace or kiln. However, it seems that it might be more complicated than that.”

  While returning to her computer table she said,

  “It was good of you to notice that. If not for you the email would just have been filed away.”

  Sitting down, she continued,

  “Yes, there is no doubt this Professor---”

  She looked up at him and asked,

  “What’s his name?”

  “Professor Bartow Asker. I know him well. He was my Professor of Ancient Far Eastern Studies.”

  “I see, so you would vouch for him?”

  “Yes, I was the one who recommended him as a field operative. You have him in your data base.”

  “Yes, well those records were destroyed and could not be recovered from our satellites. I’m asking if you would vouch for him.”

  He nodded and firmly said,

  “I do.”

  “Very well. Do you know where this Alakati village is?”

  “Yes, I looked it up while having breakfast. It is in southern Turkey near the northern Iraq border.

  Maria again dove into deep thought. Not understanding the blankness, he took advantage of the lull and went back for more coffee. Upon returning to her desk, more to herself, he heard her mumble,

  “That’s the ancient Mesopotamia area isn’t it?”

  Not sure if he should answer, he did nevertheless.

  “Yes, at least in the northern boundaries of ancient Mesopotamia.”

  Maria continued with her bewildering tone.

  “Vitrified stone, atomic wars, the Rama Tribe, the Anunnaki Tribe and the Great World Wars.”

  She then looked up at him and clearly asked,

  “Can I presume that Zak told you about his theories on the ancient atomic wars?”

  “Yes, although he claimed they were historical fact. At least to some scholars that’s a theory on why there are so many fortifications throughout the world with stone turned to glass.”

  After a moment of probing another thought, Maria pointed a finger at him and said,

  “Considering this mysterious note and the indication of an atomic war, along with a possibility that it was in the ancient Anunnaki territory, it might be worth our while to find out what this Professor is trying to tell us.”

  As Kirk stood proud, Maria added,

  “I’ll ask Santo to look this Professor up and find out what the mysterious discovery might be.”

  She then looked to Kirk and asked,

  “What was the name of that village again?”

  It was then that she saw him suddenly slouch.

  As if it were a sudden idea, Kirk set a scheme into motion. He blurted out,

  “No, Santo can’t go. Jessika has a problem with one of Zak’s computer programs being mysteriously hacked. She is going to ask Santo to investigate it right away.”

  After a pause he quickly added,

  “It sounded important, maybe he should look into that right away.”

  Maria grinned and said,

  “No wonder Jessika handles you so well. You are so easy to read. Very well, the assignment is yours. I’ll authorize a small D-wing. Be careful in that village. From the sounds of it there are soldiers in the area.”

  Pleased to be assigned a project, he snapped alert and left.

  Chapter 8

  With the help of a D-wing, Kirk could be in Turkey and the village of Alakati within the hour but that was not the problem. As indicated by Professor Asker, he was being watched. Entering a country overrun by military can be dangerous without proper authorization and papers. He also had to blend in, wear proper attire and most important, be able to produce suitable papers to any soldier demanding them. It was an easy task for the House of the Nazarene computer department to forge a passport and produce Archaeology permits from the Turkish Department of Divine Antiquities approving access and authority to search for antiquities in a certain area, specifically near the village of Alakati.

  The new location for the House of the Nazarene had a small private airport located on the other side of the forest from the mansion. At the end of the runway was a small nondescript hangar housing the secret D-wings. The Flight Controller for the hangar was Henrik Anderson, a relatively young man considering the responsibility. He was only eighteen but looked younger. Like most employees of the House, he was new to the job. Most of the lesser staff of the House simply thought they worked for a multi-national conglomerate. However, those in trusted positions like Henrik knew strange things often happened in this job. He was not surprised to see Kirk enter the hangar and walk toward him dressed as if going on an archaeology dig, hat, and all.

  While Kirk pre-tripped the assigned D-wing, Henrik teased,

  “Let me guess. You are off to some far exotic land looking for the lost Ark of the Covenant?”

  As Kirk signed the release forms, he grinned and playfully said,

  “Nah. We already know where that is.”

  After the paperwork was completed and signed, Henrik stood outside and watched the D-wing shoot straight up as fast as if shot from the barrel of a cannon. Henrik entered the time into the record
s.10:33AM.

  From Bulgaria and their secret base, Turkey was only across the Dead Sea so there was no need for Kirk to enter the stratosphere and take advantage of the Earth’s rotational speed. While speeding over the water, he activated the Radar Avoidance and Camouflage program. Minutes later, he was in Turkish air space hovering over Alakati looking for a secluded area to land. From up high, he spotted a deserted and partially destroyed ruin of a house with no roof. After a laser heat check confirming the absence of anybody in there, he landed in what could have been the living room. As per regulation, when walking away from a D-wing it was to remain camouflaged. As he walked toward the village, by remote control he sent it zooming five miles straight up to await a command to return.

  Although Alakati was a small village, Kirk still had the difficult task of locating the Professor. As intrusive as it was to the few villagers who even bothered to look at him, he casually strolled down the main dirt path singing aloud his South African University fight song. Coming from the same university, Kirk hoped the Professor would recognize and take interest in the singer. After only a few verses, Professor Asker stood in a doorway and watched the strange man come closer. He stepped forward and said,

  “Despite not being able to carry a tune in so much as a bucket, you at least remembered the right words.”

  His next statement was terse and demanded an answer.

  “Who are you?”

  Kirk softly asked,

  “Where can we speak privately?”

  On a secluded mound near the edge of the village was a small wooden bench. It was there they sat looking out into the vastness of the valley and distant mountains. After so many years, Kirk did not expect the Professor to remember his student, so telling him that he attended some of his classes was the first offering of friendship. The next confirmation was mentioning the codes he entered into the email to reach the House. However, what convinced the Professor was when Kirk related the contents of the Email and the importance of the stone he had cast away.

  After the Professor accepted that he was not a Turkish Antiquities spy, Kirk asked,

  “What mysterious thing have you discovered Professor?”

  Still leery of spies and listening devices, he nervously looked around the open spaces. Understanding the hesitation, Kirk assured him,

  “In my pocket is an audio frequency scrambler. No listening devises can penetrate it. I assure you that our conversation will be private.”

  Not far away, inside one of the mud walled shacks with a sheet metal roof, a man sat at a table in the small room with earphones clamped tight to his head. Behind him stood a Turkish Antiquities Police officer, Inspector Buruk. He projected the typical lackadaisical posture of an underpaid official, baggy uniform and sloppy posture. Despite appearances, many had suffered his tenacity to protect antiquities important to the history of his beloved Turkey. He, like so many others had to visit foreign museums to see and study the glory of his county’s past.

  When Yesin, the man with the headphones, started to tap them and eventually hit them hard, in a frustrated tone Buruk demanded,

  “What is the matter this time?”

  “Something is wrong. When they walked up to the bench, I heard them very clearly talk about their stay at a university in South Africa. But now, when they sat down, all I get is static.”

  Apparently taking the disappointment in stride, Buruk flicked his cigarette on the dirt floor and in a gruff tone said,

  “That is what we get for buying used Russian army junk. Are you at least recording them?”

  “Yes, but now all we are recording is static.”

  In a huff, he left the small room while grunting,

  “Russian static no doubt.”

  Accepting the promise of a safe conversation, the Professor opened up. While covertly sneaking Kirk a piece of paper he said,

  “Here are the coordinates for the location. It is hidden under the mountain shrub indicated by the GPS.”

  Kirk was not polite while demanding,

  “What is hidden under the shrub?”

  There was a heavy emphasis on the word ‘what’. However, overpowered by a spy game that he was not accustomed to playing, Professor Asker either had ignored the question or did not hear it. At least to Kirk, it appeared as if he had gotten off the subject. He continued,

  “A Botany Professor friend of mine at the university asked that as long as I was going to the mountains in Turkey, would I smuggle out some small samples of the indigenous mountain flora. Just a twig or leaf would be good. Well, can you imagine my surprise when I went to cut off a leaf and discovered that it was plastic? The plant was as fake as the plastic plants you find in a house.”

  Kirk was stunned. Was all this high-level secrecy just because the Professor had found a fake plant in an isolated mountainous region of Turkey? He snapped,

  “You contacted the House of the Nazarene because you found a fake shrub?”

  The Professor’s reply was discourteous.

  “No, don’t be stupid. I told you it was under the fake shrub. Not believing it myself, I brushed a few branches aside and there it was.”

  Before the Professor could tell him what he found under the shrub, he looked up and saw Inspector Buruk huff and puff his way up the path toward them. He looked to Kirk and said,

  “This might not be good.”

  Kirk turned in that direction and saw the Professor’s concern. In a whisper, a very concerned Professor asked,

  “Do you have proper papers?”

  In a whisper, he replied “Yes.” Thinking that Buruk was coming to end the conversation, the Professor quickly blurted out what he thought was important to the discovery.”

  “You cannot go to those GPS coordinates in the daytime. There are too many eyes about. Are you equipped to search at night?”

  “No, not on this trip but we have high resolution night vision goggles. I can come back at night with them.”

  “Good, bring rope and lanterns as well.”

  Before the Professor could say anything more, Inspector Buruk was at their feet. Kirk looked up at a man who did not seem happy to have struggled all the way up the slight incline to them. While taking another deep drag from his cigarette, he struggled to say,

  “Good afternoon Professor Asker. I see that you have finally managed to make a friend here in our little village. I told you we were a friendly community, did I not?”

  It must have been a rhetorical question for Buruk did not wait for a reply. Instead, he thrust out his hand and demanded of Kirk,

  “Papers please.”

  Not getting flustered, trusting in the forgeries, with a confident flair Kirk reached into his pocket and produced them. Inspector Buruk flipped through the passport then stopped at a page and said,

  “I see your point of entry was Istanbul and then you flew to Malatya.”

  Kirk produced a stern expression and strongly replied.

  “No, you must be looking at it wrong. I landed in Istanbul and then transferred to the Ferit Melen airport in Van and had a man drive me here.”

  The Inspector politely nodded, handed the papers back and said,

  “Perhaps it was my mistake. Regardless, I trust you had a comfortable flight.”

  Knowing that such men can smell fear, to show strength, Kirk said,

  “No. It was actually very bumpy and uncomfortable.”

  The Inspector nodded and said,

  “It must have been a Russian plane.”

  After inspecting the University papers attesting to his qualifications as an archaeologist as well as approval from the Turkish Divine Antiquities Council to search a specific area for one week, Inspector Buruk was satisfied with Kirk’s legality. The Inspector then looked sternly at the Professor and in a commanding tone said,

  “If it pleases you Professor Asker, perhaps now might be a good time to go over yesterday’s search results. Would you be so kind to accompany me to my office?”

  The Professor nodded, tu
rned to Kirk and said,

  “This will take a couple of hours. Why don’t you continue with your research and perhaps we can meet again in a few days.”

  After shaking hands, Kirk watched the two men walk down the slope and disappear into the village.

  Chapter 9

  It was 3:20 in the afternoon when Kirk returned to Bulgaria and signed the D-wing back in. Handing the clipboard back to Henrik Anderson, he said to him,

  “Keep the engine running Henrik. I’ll need it again in a few hours.”

  Henrik watched as Kirk hurried out of the hangar. He knew Kirk well enough to understand that he was a devil-may-care type of person, always happy but never understood his strange vernacular. Was he making fun of him or not? Certainly, Kirk knew that a D-wing worked on alien technology gained from when the Great Gray Tribe was involved with the House of the Nazarene. D-wings do not have engines. They operate on a gravity deviation frequency allowing either the pilot or the computer to regulate and direct the force of gravity on the craft to befit its direction and speed.

  While in the cafeteria grabbing a quick sandwich, Kirk saw Santo sitting at a table by the window. Santo liked to look out into the estate while eating. Although Santo and Kirk are friends, there was still the matter of respect and courtesy for the position of Captain of Security to be considered. Rather than Kirk intruding and simply sitting down at Santo’s table, he politely stood off to the side. When Santo looked up and saw who was standing there, he understood the intent, nodded, and pointed to the chair.