The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex Read online

  “Interesting,” Banyon whispered.

  Chapter Four

  “Tell me about the two people,” Banyon now asked. “Give me a description.”

  “Well,” the ferret started as his hand went to his chin in thought. “They’re a man and a woman. They are very young, early twenties, I’d say. They are American and spoke with a hint of a Mid-west accent. Their dress was very casual like they were going on a hike soon. They also were very crude and undisciplined, even uncontrollable, if you know what I mean. They are physically fit and didn’t seem to be easily frightened. Money didn’t seem to be a problem for them either. They didn’t balk at my fee. I’d say they are a bit shady.”

  Banyon’s questions were interrupted by Timmy who talked into his Bluetooth. “I’ve found the email. It was cleverly hidden, but they didn’t know who they were dealing with, dude.”

  “So is Edgar in the clear?”

  “Edgar couldn’t possible have known it was there.”

  “Okay, you can go back to your office now and have someone unlock the building,” Banyon said.

  “Oh, do I have to? I’m having too much fun with your babes,” the confirmed voyeur whined.

  “Get back to your station,” Banyon growled with irritation in his voice.

  “Party pooper,” Timmy replied. Banyon distained bossing people around, but now he had to. He was the boss.

  ***

  Banyon and the two women left the ferret in his office and found their way to the main conference room. There they found Steve and Tony guarding the door.

  “It’s awful quiet in there,” Steve said.

  “These people are up to something and I want to find out what it is,” Banyon said. “You play the bad guy when we get inside Steve.”

  “I can do that,” Steve replied with a smile and puffed out his chest. “We go in on the count of three. Women go left and men go right.”

  Banyon swiped his card in the door lock, threw open the door, and the four guards rushed into the room. Banyon waited until he heard the all clear sign and then followed.

  The two intruders were seated at the conference table with their hiking boots resting up on the top. They both had bottles of water and the man was eating a power bar taken from the conference room kitchen. They did not react when four armed people invaded the room. Not a good sign, Banyon thought.

  “Well, I guess you finally found us then,” the young woman said in a sarcastic way.

  “What’re you doing in here?” Banyon asked as he stood in the doorway.

  “We couldn’t get back to our lawyer’s office or out of the building. There is some kind of a lockdown going on. So we came here. This door was open.” The young woman explained.

  “I mean, what’re you doing at Dewey & Beatem?” Banyon blustered showing a little frustration.

  “Oh, well pops, that’s between us and our lawyer, Edgar something or other,” the man announced and waved his hand in the air with a lack of concern.

  “Listen punk, you are intruders in our building. We’ve got you on tape. You want to go to jail?” Steve roared.

  “Keep your wife-beater tee shirt on, Mussolini,” the young man retorted. “We are here as a client.” He then jutted out his chin in defiance. Steve, who was clearly Italian, was ready to attack and make the intruder pay for his insult, but Banyon stopped him with a wave of his hand.

  “Why did you specifically come to see Edgar?” Banyon asked patiently.

  “He’s doing some translations for us. That’s all,” the young woman replied somewhat more nervously now.

  “But why Edgar?” Banyon continued.

  “We were told he was the best in the business by our former employer,” the girl continued.

  “Who’s your former employer, punk?” Steve asked as he waved the gun in their direction. He was getting tired of their evasive answers.

  “Can’t tell you that because we don’t know,” the man said.

  “Jesus, we are getting nowhere fast,” Steve exclaimed in frustration. “Want me to rough them up a little bit Colt?”

  Just then, Loni, Mandy, and Maya arrived at the doorway. Loni quickly peeked inside the room. “Hey, I recognize her,” she let out and pointed to the young woman.

  “You do?” a stunned Banyon said as he turned to his partner.

  “Colt, don’t you remember. She was the girl who asked about my dress when we were in the Banyon Arcades in Poland,” Loni explained. “I never forget a compliment,” she said brightly.

  “Wait a minute,” Mandy yelled out accusingly. “You were the caterer’s helper at the party in Poland. You took Colt’s suit to be cleaned. I remember because you flirted with me.” Mandy pointed to the man.

  A new concern now entered Banyon’s mind as he realized he knew them too. “I also saw both of you dressed up as guards coming out of the Banyon Arcades.”

  The young woman was suddenly very upset. “Kenny, this has gotten out of hand. We’d better come clean,” the woman said as she grabbed the man’s hand in support.

  After a few seconds Kenny said. “Okay, but I’m not talking with all of you pointing guns at us.”

  Banyon didn’t hesitate. “Cindy, you, Mildred and Tony can go back to work. Take the guns and close the door.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cindy replied.

  “The rest of you find a seat,” Banyon added.

  Chapter Five

  Banyon studied the two people across from him before he spoke. Kenny was in his mid-twenties with a handsome face. He had broad shoulders and rough looking hands. He was about six feet tall with an unruly mess of brown hair on his head. His eyes were deep blue and hinted of a high level of intelligence behind them.

  The woman was about five foot seven inches and was slender of build. She had the freckled-faced beauty of someone who was outside most of the time. She appeared to be in great physical shape. Her hair was blond today, but Banyon had seen her as a brunette at the arcades. Her eyes were also blue and her features mirrored Kenny’s.

  “I believe you already know some of us, but we don’t know you,” Banyon said as his next comment.

  “My name is Kenneth Cole and this is my sister Carol Cole,” Ken responded. “We are artifact hunters.”

  “You seem so young. How many artifacts have you found so far?” Maya asked.

  “None,” Carol responded. “We’re just getting started in the business.”

  “So why were you tracking us in Warsaw?” Loni asked suspiciously as she got right to the point.

  “We weren’t — originally,” Carol said evasively.

  “Then who were you following?” Banyon asked.

  “We were following Albin Wilk. Our former employer switched us over to you while we were there in Poland. He told us you were now more important to him.”

  “You keep saying your former employer. Who are you talking about?” Maya asked.

  “I thought you knew,” Kenny offered. “He is the head of The Society of Orion in Ecuador.”

  The statement made Banyon and his team very uneasy. The Society of Orion was a very secret organization which protected Orion’s weapons in case he came back to earth someday. Banyon had become the head of the Poland branch when he brought Albin Wilk and his aunt down, but had been told that the other six chapters did not know where each other were located.

  “Why did the head of the society in Ecuador have you following Albin Wilk?” Banyon asked when he recovered.

  “The leader said that he knew Albin Wilk was a fraud and had drained resources from the society,” Carol explained. “He explained that a journal recapping the power of some of the weapons had been found and many people would soon turn up to search for them. We were hired to grab any weapons we found. But, of course, you got them first.”

  “How much do you know about how our team operates?” Banyon asked as he wondered if they knew about Wolf.

  “Only what the leader told us,” Carol offered. “He said you were very good at finding artifacts. He asked
us to pass on any information we could about you. We did.”

  “What did you learn in Poland?” Loni quickly asked. “And what did you pass on?”

  Carol provided the answers. “While we were waiting for Wilk to come out of the office at the arcades we spotted you coming out of the office. We decided to plant a bug on your suit. We learned nothing from that.”

  “Ah,” Mandy exclaimed. That is why you came to the suite. You needed to recover the bug, right?”

  “Yes,” Kenny replied. “And I planted another under the serving table while I was there.”

  “I’m guessing you also planted bugs in the arcades when I saw you in there,” Banyon noted.

  “That’s correct,” Carol answered. “We found out that you stopped a plot to use some of Orion’s weapons and they are now in your possession. That’s what we reported back to our employer.”

  “So why are you here?” Banyon asked again. “If you have planted more bugs in this building, we will find them.”

  “No, our mission is over. We are no longer employed,” Kenny said sadly.

  “But what about the translation?” Loni quickly asked.

  “It is our payment for shadowing you guys,” Kenny admitted. “We were promised the directions to the real Tayos caves so we could go there and collect some artifacts. When we received the memory stick and a note to use the lawyer Edgar to translate them, we wondered if it was some sort of a trap, but we are desperate.”

  “Explain that,” Banyon said.

  “Over the last several years we have been searching for the Tayos caves. In doing so we have spent our entire inheritance and all the money the society paid us.”

  Chapter Six

  Banyon now asked the most important question. “How did you meet the head of the society in Ecuador?”

  Kenny explained. “Our father was a career diplomat with the United States government. He was stationed in Quito, Ecuador for many years. Our mother died ten years ago so we lived with him near the embassy there for the last ten years. His passion was finding the Tayos caves and we spent much of our childhood roaming the jungles of Ecuador looking for them. The caves are our passion too.”

  Carol continued. “When he died last year, we met the head of the society at our father’s funeral. He told us he could help us with our quest, but we needed to do some work for him first.”

  “So he sent you to Poland,” Loni said.

  “Yes,” Kenny replied.

  “Can you describe him?” Banyon asked.

  “At the funeral, he appeared to be an old, very poor priest,” Kenny noted. “He stood maybe five feet tall. His frock was thread bare and the soles of his shoes had holes in them. He appeared to be a mestizo, someone of mixed blood. About seventy percent of the people of Ecuador are mestizo.”

  “Did he say where he was from?” Maya asked.

  “He said he was a priest who worked for the poor in Cuenca in the southern Ecuador, but we didn’t believe him. I think it was a disguise,” Carol responded.

  “But you worked for him anyway. Why?” Loni asked.

  “Not at first,” Carol said. “But he sent us a formal invitation to come to Cuenca. We were told to go to a school run by the Catholic Church. There two monks blindfolded us and took us for a ride. When they took the blindfolds off we were standing in a room which was filled with gold and artifacts. He told us it was only a portion of what had been recovered from the Tayos caves. He said he would allow us to recover some of the treasure if we helped him.”

  “Sounds like an offer which was hard to pass up,” Loni agreed.

  “Yes,” Kenny continued. “He then told us about The Society of Orion. He said he was the head of the Ecuador chapter, but needed help in Poland. He couldn’t go there because he was too ethnic and too old. He didn’t explain that the weapons worked and were usable. We found that out in Poland. He didn’t lie to us, but omitted a lot of useful information.”

  “So then you agreed to help him, right?” Maya asked.

  “He gave us a handful of gold coins to sell to finance our trip and promised to give us the directions to the caves when we completed our mission.”

  “Okay,” Banyon uttered. “But what was his name?”

  “He said his name was Father Pedro. Pedro is a common name in Ecuador though,” Carol said.

  “We have told you everything. Can we go now?” Kenny whined.

  “No,” Banyon replied. “Mandy, I need to talk to you outside the room.”

  ***

  “Gas up the jet and tell the pilots we are going to the nearest airport to Cuenca, Ecuador. Have them get enough provisions for seven people,” Banyon ordered.

  “But there are only five of us,” she replied.

  “We’re taking the kids with us. Also draw some weapons from the armory.”

  “When will we leave?”

  “In about two hours.”

  Mandy scampered off to get things started.

  ***

  When Banyon returned to the room he found the rest of the team in a deep discussion with the Cole siblings.

  “What kind of artifacts did you see in the room?” Maya the archeologist pressed them.

  “There were paintings piled almost to the ceiling in the room,” Carol responded. “We saw many household items made from gold which looked European as well. There were also a number of strange looking gold pieces and statues. Some had bird and animal heads.”

  “Colt!” Maya howled as she turned toward him. “What they are describing could be Hitler’s lost treasure. We know that many Nazis escaped to South America with loot.”

  “Well, there is a large German population in Cuenca,” Kenny agreed.

  Banyon could feel the excitement grow in the room. Everyone sensed the thrill of a treasure hunt. “We’re leaving for Ecuador in two hours,” he stated.

  “Good, then we can go,” Kenny said as he started to get up.

  “Not so fast,” Banyon announced.

  “Why, we’ve told you everything,” he blustered.

  “Because Father Pedro sent us an invitation just like the one you got. It was hidden in the memory stick you brought. We’re going to look for the Tayos cave and also find out what the good padre wants from us.”

  “We can’t afford a trip to Ecuador,” Carol wailed.

  “You’re going on the company payroll,” Banyon announced “We’ll split any artifacts that we find as well. Is that agreeable?”

  “That sounds like another offer we can’t refuse,” Kenny said brightly and sat back down with a smile.

  “But I have nothing to wear,” Loni shrieked. “I can’t go in this beautiful dress.”

  Chapter Seven

  Banyon returned to his office. He was finally alone. He had sent Loni and Maya home to change and to pick up some clothes. Mandy, Steve and Banyon all kept an emergency travel bag in the office in case they were called away in a hurry.

  Mandy was downstairs at reception making all the arrangements for the trip and Steve had gone with the Cole siblings to collect their belongings at the cheap motel where they were staying. Everyone was due back in an hour.

  Banyon was kind of excited about the upcoming adventure, but had many concerns and worries on his mind. Especially since they had just bought the company that day and now everyone was going out of town. Banyon and the Patel clan had invested almost all of their savings to buy the firm.

  He also worried that the Cole children knew more than they were admitting about Banyon and his team. Do we need to “Freud-a-size” them? Previne and Heather were both not available to make the Coles’ forget — if that was needed. The team would also not have anyone headed to Ecuador who could make people there forget. This was a big risk for them. They relied on “Freud-a-sizing” to keep their secrets. It was a hypnotic process developed by Sigmund Freud, but never published because Freud was afraid it would not be used for good.

  Then there was The Society of Orion. He wondered what they really knew about each other an
d him. Did they communicate? Are they spying on us? Would they attempt to recover their weapons? There were over a hundred weapons still out there and any of them could be used against his team.

  He knew the Orion Codex was the actual written history of all the weapons and in the wrong hands it could be a huge problem. Anyone could make the weapons work.

  Finally, he wondered about the Tayos caves. Could all this be a trap? Many people had searched the huge caves and now the Coles said they were all looking in the wrong caves.

  ***

  Once Banyon identified the issues, he started to address them. His first call was to Heather Vance. He told her to drop what she was doing and return to Chicago to keep the office going while he was gone. Heather immediately agreed and said she would be in the office within two hours. Her plane for Washington D.C. hadn’t left yet.

  He then decided to talk to Wolf. Wolf was a spirit who was tied to Banyon by a curse. He could see anything in real time and could follow history back in time. All he needed was a name, a place, and a time to start. Banyon had to ask questions out loud and could not ask about the future. At first Banyon was frightened of him, but Wolf had turned into a valuable asset and Banyon’s deepest secret.

  “Wolf, are you there?” he said in a whisper.

  “I’m here my boy,” the old voice replied in his head. “This looks like a splendid adventure.”

  Banyon wondered why Wolf had said that. Wolf sometimes told Banyon what he wanted him to hear and not what Banyon asked. Banyon never knew why.

  “Are the Coles who they claim to be?”

  “Yes, I was able to check their background. Their father was obsessed with the Tayos caves. They are who they say they are,” the spirit replied.

  “Did you find the Orion Codex yet?” Banyon was sure he needed to find the book and Wolf would have already been working on its location.

  “I don’t have the necessary information to locate it,” Wolf answered sadly. “I have no place to start my research.”