However, Domeka… using various names… keeps reappearing throughout the history of The Mission. In Appendix 2 to the Crusades, Domeka is a key figure in forming several of the early crusades. The cross-reference in this instance is the emergence of Domeka as one of the early Spanish explorers in the New World. I found documentation that he accompanied Cortes during the conquest of Mexico. It must be remembered that King Montezuma greeted Cortes with the legend of Kon Tiki Viracocha (see ref. 6:32-4) weighing heavily on his mind. This led to the almost miraculous victory by Cortes and the conquering of Mexico City.
{data degrades… retrieval failed}
“This is most interesting,” Mualama said.
The others in the room looked up from their copy of the downloaded document. “If The Mission influenced the Crusades, they might have had an ulterior motive,” Mualama continued.
“Of course they did,” Duncan said. “They wanted to keep the human race in check.”
“No.” Mualama shook his head. “I am speaking of something much more specific. Europeans going to the Holy Land… perhaps The Mission was searching for something?”
A new voice came out of the speakerphone… Yakov’s deeply accented rumble. “And Kon Tiki Viracocha… the god that the Aymara in Tiahuanaco worshiped. Who was this Domeka? Was he Kon Tiki?”
Duncan put down the printout. “This is more information that leads nowhere. We need information that tells us about the key and where it might be. Right now… ”
The door to the conference room opened and Mike Gordon stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said, sounding not sorry in the least. He waved a piece of paper at Duncan. “I thought you better see this right away.
She took it and read it out loud. “‘Appendix Two, cross references The Mission and Domeka. Research reconstruction and field report. Dated ten, twenty-one, ninety-two by Coridan.
“‘Overview: While recovering information about the Inquisition I pulled up a partial file about a figure named Domeka. No doubt a Guide who participated in the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Spanish exploration/exploitation of the New World.
“‘It is interesting to speculate that Domeka might not be one person but a reincarnation using a guardian imprint of the same mind on different subjects. Because the alternative… that the Domeka involved in these events is the same person… means that this individual has lived for over a thousand years, the latter figure devolved from the most recent revelation, that Domeka was a member of the Nazi party in the 1930s and a close confidant of the Fuhrer.
“‘There is no doubt that The Mission was intimately involved in the Nazi death camps. Also, the numerous operations mounted by the Nazis that have a direct bearing on Airlia artifacts:
“‘Bimini/Atlantis search by submarines, 1930s.
“‘The Great Pyramid SS expedition, 1941.
“‘Tunguska expedition, 1934.
“‘The Spear of Destiny, also known among us as the key of destiny!’” Duncan’s voice rose on the last sentence.
“Does it say where this Spear is?” Turcotte’s voice was as excited as hers. Duncan looked up from the paper at Gordon.
He shook his head. “Data retrieval failed from that point on. We’re still looking through the rest of the hard drives.”
“There might be another person… ” Turcotte began, but Duncan’s mind had already raced to that conclusion.
“Von Seeckt,” Duncan hissed as she threw the printout down on the conference table. “He knows more than he has told us.”
Yakov’s bitter laughter came through the speaker. “I told you that you could not trust the Nazis.”
Duncan stood. “Mike, get back here as soon as possible.”
“Roger that,” Turcotte answered.
“Major Quinn and Mr. Kincaid. I want to know more from the hard drives… anything at all about the Spear of Destiny or keys… and I want the medical evaluation of those bones, ASAP.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the two answered in unison.
“Professor Mualama. If you could help our linguists decipher what is on the stone you brought, it would help tremendously.” She turned for the door. “Let’s move, people. The clock is ticking. I’m going to see von Seeckt.”
Kelly Reynolds was more “alive” than she had been since she’d made contact with the guardian. It was as if the alien computer no longer needed her but didn’t want to discard her yet, just in case. The part of her mind that was still her self, her identity, found that darkly amusing, reminding Kelly of her mother, who could never throw anything out and as a result ended up with a garage full of items she might need someday but never did.
Kelly didn’t think someday would come in this case either. The guardian was reaching into the world now, bringing what it needed to it. Kelly “knew” of the fate of the Washington, and the message the guardian had sent with her name on it.
The guardian was doing thousands of things at once, absorbing information, giving commands, testing theories, planning actions, in communication with Mars. And Kelly knew that although it made human computers look likes abacuses in comparison, the guardian was still only a machine.
So as it learned about humans through her, she learned about it.
CHAPTER 16
Yakov, Katyenka, and Turcotte braved the cold wind blowing off the Arctic Ocean and up the valley that held Stantsiya Chyort. The desolation of the site was reinforced by the shattered buildings. The bouncer waited nearby, ready to take them home.
“Your Dr. Duncan is very aggressive.” Katyenka broke the silence. She had listened in on the SATPhone conference call to Area 51.
“At least somebody is,” Turcotte said.
Yakov had been quiet ever since they’d come up to the surface, but he finally spoke. “There is a possibility this Spear key might be here in Russia.”
“Where?” Turcotte demanded.
“If the Germans did find this key, then they probably would have had it in Berlin, and we overran Berlin at the end of the Great Patriotic War.”
“Wouldn’t Section Four have gotten any Airlia artifacts?” Turcotte asked.
“Not necessarily,” Yakov replied. “The KGB and GRU always accepted the tenet that knowledge is power. Knowledge about the Airlia and their artifacts is turning out to be the ultimate power, is it not? Even fifty years ago there were some in the KGB and GRU who were afraid of the power Section Four potentially wielded. What if Section Four discovered an alien weapon was a major concern. How would the balance of power be maintained?”
“So the key might be in the hands of the KGB?” Turcotte impatiently asked. “Yes.” Yakov reached into his greatcoat and pulled out a flask. He offered it to Turcotte, who shook his head, then Katyenka, who took it.
“Westerners do not understand the new Russia.” Yakov screwed the cap on the flask after she handed it back. “In many ways it is worse now than under the Communists. We had a system then, one that the people understood. Now there is chaos. We Russians have become capitalists.” He gave a bitter laugh. “So much so that the most powerful force in this country is the Mafia. Everyone is playing for a position, trying to get as much power as they can in the vacuum the overthrow of the communist regime left. So, given that, even if the FSB did have something, I have no idea where that material is now.”
“Lyoncheka knows where the archive is,” Katyenka said. “He works out of FSB headquarters in Lubyanka.”
“Then we must go to Moscow and talk to this fellow,” Yakov said. “It is as simple as that.”