“Good.”
“Our Dr. Greene seems to think he’s dropped off the grid.”
“Have you figured out who it was who came to his office and scared him off?”
“Yes and no,” admitted Priest. “That they are Closers is unquestioned.”
“Closers? Really? So they’re working for Howard Shelton or someone at Majestic Three?”
“The man I had watching Dr. Greene’s office followed them to a military airbase in New Jersey. It is my understanding that the Majestic program no longer uses military transport for its operatives.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Perhaps they are working for Gateway,” said Priest. “I know you are in business with them, but surely you don’t trust them. Who else would want the case files about your son?”
Bell nodded. “Yeah, dammit. That’s what I’ve been thinking, too. When you told me about Greene I figured Gateway was trying to do an end run around me. They’re having some problems with their machine.”
“So you led me to understand. I wonder, though, why they haven’t simply taken Prospero.”
“I have a whole military academy keeping an eye on him.”
Priest said nothing, but his skepticism was there to be read in his bland smile.
“Okay, okay,” growled Bell, “I’ll have Stark add more people.”
“If you like, sir, I can have some of my people keep an eye from a distance. Watch the watchers, as it were, yes? If anyone makes a move on Ballard we will make a move on them.”
“What if they send Closers?”
Priest shrugged. “My people are second to none. They were trained by my brother.”
“Your brother? I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“We are not that close, but you know how family is. Besides, Rafael has found religion. He has convinced himself that his employer’s mother is a goddess and he worships the very ground on which she walks.”
“And yet you think he is fit to train top mercenaries?”
Priest laughed. A rarity for him. “No one is better at turning men into murderous fanatics than Rafael. No one. He calls his elite operatives ‘Kingsmen,’ and they are as dangerous as anyone you would ever hope to meet. Or, to not meet.”
“Good. Put them on it.”
“There is a cost element.”
“I know,” said Bell. “Whatever it takes. But do not let any of those Closers come anywhere near my son. You understand me?”
“Perfectly.” Priest cocked his head to one side. “Out of curiosity, sir, why is Dr. Greene even in the picture? With what he knows I would think it would be more useful to close that particular door.”
“Not yet. He’s the only person my son will open up to. Him and a kid at his school. Leviticus King. A juvenile delinquent with rich parents.”
“Anyone we should look into?”
“I don’t think so. The commandant of the school is keeping an eye on them, but it looks like they bonded out of need. King has been keeping the school bullies at arm’s length, and my son is providing him with some recreational party favors. I make sure Prospero has access to a few things. It helps him unwind after sessions in the lab. Kid blows a few joints, then goes back in next day, drops some speed, and he’s raring to go.”
Priest nodded, then changed the subject. “You already have the first of the Unlearnable Truths, The Book of Eibon. Has it been useful?”
“Prospero nearly creamed his jeans when he got it. But then two days later he freaked out when he said it only had some of what he needed. He needs all of them to solve the sequencing problems.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” said Priest, “but your son is a physicist, yes? These books deal with magic and ancient belief systems. Other worlds and strange gods. I’m not sure I understand how they will help Prospero solve a mechanical problem with his machine. I ask only because it might help me determine if there are other books, or perhaps more contemporary books that might be of greater value.”
Bell considered, nodded. “Prospero believes that this God Machine of his is not something new and he doesn’t think it’s even his original idea.”
“I do not—”
“The kid thinks that this is sacred knowledge given to a special few by what he called the Ancient Ones. Yeah, I know how it sounds, but it’s not the nuttiest stuff I’ve heard. I mean, go read the Book of Mormon or the handbook of Scientology before you judge. Fuck, read Ezekiel and all that Old Testament shit.”
Priest held up his hands. “No judgment, just curiosity.”
“Okay, okay. This ancient knowledge is kind of a test. Solving it accomplishes two things. It proves that you belong to the race of people from wherever these fruitcake Ancient Ones are from. Not another world, not somewhere out in space, but in another dimension, follow me? Good. The other thing you accomplish is to build a doorway that will take you home. Or, that’s what Prospero thinks. He believes that the knowledge of how to build the machine is encoded in his DNA. That it is there as a kind of race memory for those of his species.”
“Sacred knowledge,” suggested Priest.
“I suppose that’s as good a term as any. It’s sacred to Prospero. The kid believes this shit with his whole heart. Always has,” said Bell. “Just like he believes that these Unlearnable Truths were written by people who are either from the same race as the Ancient Gods, or who recorded what they learned from people who are. I think a little of both. Now we get to the tricky part. The science of the God Machine is amazing. I told you some of it. Absolutely brilliant. But there are some flaws in the system, and my people tell me that the flaws look deliberate. Like fail-safes.”
“What are they safeguarding?”
“Use by the unenlightened,” said Bell. “Prospero’s words. He said that they were put there so that only a true believer could solve them. He said that other people like him have built God Machines before and that they were able to go home. Funny thing is I did some research on it and the kid may be on to something. There’s a really good chance that Nikola Tesla built one. It fits, too, because right after that there was a rash of people who had some of the known side effects. Unusual kinds of dreams, visions of fantastic places. Almost a one hundred percent chance the entire surrealism art movement started because of the effect of the ‘god wave.’ That’s Prospero’s name for the energetic discharge of the machine when it’s in idle mode. Are you following any of this?”
“I am following all of it, Mr. Bell,” said Priest. “And it’s very useful. It corresponds to some of what I’ve discovered while researching provenance of the Unlearnable Truths. And I think I can add to what you know. You say that the surrealism movement in Europe was a possible side effect? I’m almost certain that Mr. Tesla may have built two God Machines, the second one being here in the United States. The sudden and dramatic explosion of a very specific kind of dark fiction and fantastical art in the twenties and thirties is not only similar to the surrealist movement; those stories are where we see mentions of these books.”
Bell considered that. “That fits. I’m more than halfway sure the Russians tried to build one in Poliske in Ukraine. A full-sized one, too. That’s probably why Chernobyl blew up. And the Nazis almost certainly did. Their Thule Society, those freaks. God knows that might explain a lot. For all I know the Ark of the Covenant might have been one. At this point I’m keeping an open mind. So, this isn’t new, Mr. Priest. It’s a matter of Prospero being the only person we know of who is able to build one now. He can’t finish it, though, without a code hidden in certain passages and spells in those goddamn books. So, crazy as it sounds, we need to get the rest of them for him.”