The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex Read online

Banyon wondered what that meant. “Haven’t you found the monk Father Pedro? If you have located him, you should be able to back-track to the codex.”

  “There’s no Father Pedro in Cuenca,” the spirit explained. Banyon was not surprised by the statement, but he was puzzled.

  “Did you follow the history of the Coles? They said they met him at their father’s funeral and they also met him in a room filled with artifacts,” Banyon said.

  “They did meet a monk at the funeral, but as soon as he left, his energy trail disappeared. Also, I was able to follow the Coles to a church in Cuenca, but then they disappeared for several hours. This has never happened before.”

  “I’ll bet he is using one of the Orion weapons to somehow cloak his movements. Can you verify that?”

  “Like I said, this has never happened before. Something caused the disturbance in the energy history. I assume it was a weapon.”

  “What about the memory stick sent to the Coles? Can you back-track from that?”

  “Actually, the memory stick was bought at a local electronics store. Carol Cole uploaded an attachment from an email on her laptop. That is what they brought to Edgar.”

  “And you can’t track emails, right?”

  “I cannot.”

  “So we are heading to Ecuador without any good information. Is that correct?”

  “So far, I would say yes.”

  ***

  Once Banyon finished his conversation with Wolf, he immediately placed a call to Timmy. The geek swept into his office a minute later. As usual he was dressed in jeans and a pull-over shirt. He was tall, lanky, and under twenty-five years old. Developing his social skills was one of Banyon’s goals. Timmy loved to look at women from a voyeur’s point of view. He would mentally undress them as he stared.

  “What can I do for the great god called dude,” Timmy said as he approached Banyon’s desk. He bowed like a servant would.

  “Timmy,” Banyon opened. “In a few minutes I’m going to give you a laptop computer. I want you to find out where the email with the information for the memory stick came from.”

  “Piece of cake,” Timmy replied.

  “Also, I want you to do some research. I want to know everything you can find out about a city called Cuenca, Ecuador, the Tayos caves, and rumors about hidden treasure there.”

  “It’ll take me a couple of hours,” he replied professionally.

  “Call me on the phone on the jet. We are headed for Cuenca in less than an hour.”

  “Is this for extra pay?” Timmy asked hopefully.

  Before Banyon could answer, Loni and Maya came through the office door dressed in their treasure hunting outfits and pulling small suitcases. Both women were attired in all-black body-hugging leotards and black running shoes. Their long hair was loose and cascaded down their backs. They wore dark sunglasses.

  “Hi, Timmy,” Loni gushed.

  Timmy the geek lost his train of thought. He turned and rushed out the door.

  Part Two

  Ecuador

  Chapter Eight

  An hour later, the seven travelers met in the front reception area of Dewey & Beatem. Mandy was now dressed in the same black leotards as Loni and Maya. The difference was that she wore tan cargo shorts over the leotards and a tan safari shirt. She told Loni that she didn’t want the men looking at her butt.

  Banyon and Steve had changed to light colored pants and golf shirts. The Coles were dressed the same. Their suitcases and weapons cases were piled up near the door.

  “Give me your laptop,” Banyon said to Carol Cole. She was holding it loosely by her side.

  “Why? It has all my important stuff on it,” she protested.

  “I want to track where the email containing the directions came from,” Banyon replied and held out his hand.

  “No, I need it,” Carol countered and clutched the laptop close to her chest.

  “You’ll get the laptop back in a few seconds,” Timmy said as he entered the lobby. He reached out his hand for the device.

  “Well…hello handsome,” Carol purred and slid over to the geek. She ceremoniously presented the laptop while bowing. She then batted her long eyelashes.

  “Ah,” Timmy said jovially. “Finally I have met someone who appreciates the power of the world’s best hacker.”

  “Well, I’m kind of a geek too,” she replied shyly.

  “You ever play anything on the internet?” Timmy quickly asked.

  “Game of War,” she replied.

  “That’s my favorite too,” Timmy gushed. “What’s your handle?”

  “Enough,” Banyon demanded. He and the rest of the team stood with their mouths open. They had never seen Timmy connect with a woman before. “Timmy will you just retrieve the data from the machine,” Banyon said strongly.

  “We’re done,” Timmy said and handed the laptop back to a now blushing Carol. He showed the memory stick in his hand. “I downloaded everything I needed from her hard drive. I can work from that.”

  “Everything?” Carol asked with a mischievous smile. “Pictures too?”

  “I’ll be able to see everything,” Timmy responded and also smiled. Banyon was pretty sure there were some provocative pictures of Carol on the hard drive and she wanted Timmy to find them.

  “Oh, for Christ sakes, let’s get out of here before they decide to become Facebook friends,” Steve uttered and began picking up bags.

  Chapter Nine

  The flight from Chicago to Cuenca, Ecuador took ten hours even in the company’s fast Gulfstream jet. They were about two hours into the flight when Banyon called a meeting of his team. He told Carol and Kenny to stay in the front of plane while they met.

  He told everyone on his team they had very little information to crack the mystery. They knew nothing about the mysterious Father Pedro, the Tayos caves and the Orion Codex that they sought. They were going in blind.

  “What is your plan then?” Mandy asked and flapped her small arms.

  “The invitation said to come to Cuenca. So we are doing that,” Banyon replied. “I assume that someone will meet us at the church there.”

  “That’s not much of a plan,” Mandy said sarcastically. “We need a break.”

  ***

  The break came an hour later just as the team was eating dinner. The phone on the plane next to where Banyon sat suddenly rang.

  “It’s Timmy,” the geek said into Banyon’s ear.

  “Have you got something?” Banyon quickly asked.

  “Probably more than you want,” he mysteriously replied.

  “Where did the email with the invitation originate?” Banyon said to guide the geek.

  “It actually came from Cuenca. It was sent from a computer in the office of a school for orphans. It’s called the Salesian School for orphans and is connected to a church next door. They also have a college level school on the compound.”

  “Can you tell me who sent it?”

  “It was sent from Father Hector’s computer, under his ID. He is the head of the school,” Timmy said. “But it could have been sent by anybody who had access to the computer. I hacked into the machine and found that over fifty people have used that computer in the last month. Most are orphan kids at the school. They each have their own user ID.”

  “Well, at least we have a place to start,” Banyon said hopefully. He knew Wolf would already be doing the research.

  “There’s more,” Timmy said dramatically. “I couldn’t find a copy of the translated document on Carol’s laptop and thought that was strange. When I checked with Edgar, he swore he sent it. So I looked into his computer and found that the translation actually went to a Father Bartholomew at the same IP address.”

  “Why would they need a copy of the translation?” Banyon asked as he searched his mind for a reason.

  “I might have an answer,” Timmy explained. “According to the ferret, the language used in the original document with the directions was very old. Only a few people in the world would b
e able to translate it besides Edgar. I think someone wanted the translation, but it was not necessarily Father Hector.”

  When Banyon said, “Now that is interesting,” he noticed that everyone was looking at him.

  Carol quickly asked Steve if the plane had WI-FI. When he nodded yes, Carol spoke. “Why don’t we put Timmy on the big screen in the front of the plane so we all could hear?”

  “I don’t know how to do that,” Banyon admitted.

  “But I do,” Carol squeaked happily. “Timmy, call me back on my cell phone. I’ll put you on the big screen.”

  “Absolutely,” Timmy remarked and ended the call to a surprised Banyon.

  In a few seconds, Carol’s expensive looking cell phone began to ring. She answered it. She pressed some buttons on the phone and on the remote control for the TV. Suddenly, Timmy’s image appeared on the sixty inch monitor. “Hi, everybody,” he said. He sat up straight and it looked like he had combed his hair.

  Banyon now wondered how Timmy had gotten Carol’s cell phone number, but quickly realized that she must have had it listed in her computer. He realized Timmy wouldn’t have missed that.

  “So what can you tell us about Father Bartholomew?” Banyon asked.

  “Here is his picture,” the geek replied. The screen changed to show a photo of a monk.

  “Is that the man you met at the funeral?” Banyon asked.

  “No,” both Coles said at once.

  “This guy is too fat, too young and too white,” Kenny added.

  “Well, what about this guy?” Timmy said in the background. Another picture appeared.

  “That’s him,” Carol shouted and pointed. The travelers all moved to the front and stood in a semi-circle for a better view. Suddenly they all were excited, they had a lead.

  “Tell us about Father Bartholomew first,” Banyon ordered. He knew Timmy would have gathered everything available on the man.

  The picture on the monitor split and Timmy reappeared on the right side. “According to what I could find,” Timmy said to qualify. “This guy first appeared in Cuenca around 1983. He was originally from Germany, but his parents used to live in Ecuador before World War II.”

  “Why did his parents leave?” Mandy wondered out loud.

  “Well, they didn’t leave,” Timmy responded. “They were arrested and believe it or not, were interned in the United States during World War II.”

  “How is that possible?” Loni questioned.

  “During the big war,” Banyon quickly spoke. “Many neutral South American countries including Ecuador had an agreement with the United States to round up possible subversives. They were sent to places like Texas. The South American countries were more than happy to arrest them because then they could confiscate all their assets. It was a money maker for all the countries involved. A lot of innocent Germans who had wealth were arrested.”

  “That’s right dude,” Timmy said. “Father Bartholomew’s last name is Walther. The family was part of the famous German gun manufacturer family and held huge tracts of land near Cuenca that were confiscated by the government. But they never returned to Ecuador after the war and settled back in Germany.”

  “Wow!” Loni exclaimed.

  “Anyway, he joined the Salesian mission in 1984 and has been a protégé of Father Hector since,” Timmy continued. “He has a brother named Carl who is a colonel in the Ecuadorian army. That’s all I have on him.”

  “What about Father Hector?” Maya asked.

  “This guy is very mysterious,” Timmy announced. “He was an orphan and was raised right there in the orphanage. I couldn’t find anything about him except that he became a Salesian monk and he’s about eighty years old.”

  “That’s it, nothing else?” Mandy whined.

  “Well, there is one thing and it has to do with the Tayos caves as well,” Timmy said nervously.

  Banyon sensed that Timmy was hesitating. “Tell us,” he ordered.

  “Okay,” Timmy uttered under his breath. “But you are going to think that it is crazy stuff.”

  “Why do you say that?” Carol asked soothingly.

  Timmy looked straight into the screen and started. “Father Hector spent many years working under a man named Father Carlos Crespi at the Salesian school. The monk was very controversial. There are a lot of conspiracy theories about him.”

  “Like what?” Loni asked.

  “Father Crespi was an unbelievable man. Among his many talents was a love of archeology. He collected a huge amount of artifacts. Many of them are very strange. They all disappeared upon his death in 1982. He even opened a museum for them at the school in 1960, but it mysteriously burned down less than two years later.”

  “What is so mysterious about the artifacts,” Maya asked.

  “Well, he was known to be close to the indigenous people of Ecuador. He claimed they brought him presents they had taken from the Tayos caves. He purchased some too. It is well known that he had many thousands of pieces of treasure. The conspiracy theorists and ufologists, that’s people who believe in UFOs, say that many of the artifacts could not have come from Ecuador.”

  “Wait a minute,” Maya squealed. “You’re talking about theories that the author Erich von Daniken writes about. I’ve read his books. He presents some interesting viewpoints.”

  “Among others writers,” Timmy replied. “Here let me show you documented photos taken of some of the artifacts.” The screen quickly split up into eight sections, each one had a picture of an artifact. Some of the shots also contained the aged Father Crespi.

  Maya rushed up to the screen and jumped up and down. She was clearly excited. “Look this one is definitely from the Sumerian era. It is very old” she exclaimed. “How did it get to Ecuador?”

  “Can you read the writing on the one on the left?” Loni asked.

  “No, but it appears to be Egyptian,” the archeologist replied.

  “It looks like all the artifacts are gold,” Carol noted.

  From off screen, Timmy replied. “According to notes from acclaimed archeologists who visited the monk, he had thousands of gold artifacts.”

  “These pictures on the right are very strange,” Maya noted. “They are ancient statues, but they have animal and reptile heads. I’ve never seen anything like them before. I wish I could study the real artifacts,” she moaned.

  “Father Crespi claimed the Tayos caves actually run for hundreds of miles under Ecuador and are loaded with treasure,” Timmy explained. “He never divulged the real entrance.”

  “But we have the directions now. Maybe we will find some valuable artifacts,” Kenny said with excitement.

  “Well, this is certainly very controversial,” Banyon admitted.

  “Dude,” Timmy said. “That is only part of the controversy.”

  “Okay, let’s hear the rest,” Banyon asked in fascination.

  “Many people visited Father Crespi and were allowed to examine rooms where he kept the artifacts. Several have noted something very bizarre.”

  “What?” the impatient Loni asked.

  “They claimed that some of the items were actually the personal collection of Adolf Hitler.”

  “You’re kidding,” Steve huffed in disbelief.

  “One claimed they even saw a picture that once hung behind Hitler’s desk and other items he kept around his office,” Timmy said.

  “My god!” Maya exclaimed. “Hitler’s lost treasure. I thought it was just a rumor.”

  “It is worse than that,” Timmy replied. “Some conspiracy theorists speculate that Father Crespi actually was Adolf Hitler.”

  “Now that is crazy,” Steve screamed and jumped out of his seat.

  “Actually there is some evidence,” the geek replied.

  “I love this conspiracy stuff,” Carol shouted enthusiastically. “Timmy, please tell us what you found?”

  At that point, Banyon excused himself to go to the bathroom.

  ***

  Once Banyon was inside the bathroom
, he addressed Wolf.

  “Was Father Crespi really Adolf Hitler?”

  “I can only research back in history at the rate of four years per earth day. I don’t have that answer yet. But what does it matter, he is still dead. That is all that counts,” the spirit said gruffly. Wolf, despite all his powers, could only follow the energy path of history at the rate of one day per minute — four years per day.

  Banyon was sure that Wolf knew more than he was saying, but let it go. What did it really matter? “Okay, I’ll let that go for now,” Banyon replied. “Are the artifacts real?”

  “It will take me a long time, several months to determine that,” the spirit replied.

  “Alright,” Banyon uttered in frustration. “What can you tell me about Father Hector?”

  “I can confirm that he is the head of The Society of Orion, but much of the timeline in his history is disrupted. I can’t see where he goes or what he does. I believe he is using one of the weapons to hide his actions.”

  “What about Father Bartholomew?”

  “Ah, finally you asked the right question,” Wolf responded happily. “Father Bartholomew has been stealing artifacts from the hidden stash for several years. He stole the Orion Codex.”

  “Why? Is it for the money?”

  “In a way, yes,” Wolf said. “He is turning the treasure over to his brother, Colonel Carl Walther.”

  “What is he doing with the artifacts?” Banyon was beginning to be confused by all the wrinkles in this case.

  “The colonel is saving them to eventually sell them. He wants to use the money to reclaim the lands his family held near Cuenca. He plans to build a compound there and a private army. He wants to take over the Ecuadorian government by force.

  “Is that possible?”

  “The Ecuadorian army has less than twenty-four thousand troops. Many officers are white of German ancestry. There is also a large German population in Cuenca. He has recruited many of them.”

  “So he is a white supremacist,” Banyon uttered to himself. “Do you know where he is keeping the artifacts and the codex?”

  “He has a small ranch just west of Cuenca. It is fenced in and heavily guarded.”