Order of the Black Sun Box Set 10 Read online

  Order of the Black Sun

  Books 28-30

  Preston William Child

  Contents

  Secrets of the Deep

  The Templar Curse

  The Mayan Temple

  Secrets of the Deep

  Prologue

  THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF WEALTH AND POWER

  Admiral Walton Ogden had collected all kinds of treasures from his years plundering the high seas. Among them were souvenirs belonging to royalty, jewelry from high-class socialites, and an incredible amount of gold and other currency of far-off lands. There was only one thing he ever collected that he couldn't quite understand the value of.

  A small, glimmering white pearl with blue streaks spiraling around its sphere. When he first found it, it was inside of a little box with chains and locks all over it, sealed up tight. Ogden and his crew had been anxious to get that box open since surely a container that thoroughly protected contained something valuable inside. The crew had put most of their money on the theory that it was some king or queen's crown, adorned with all manner of precious gems. An item like that, which would have financial value as well as ceremonial value, would no doubt be a great prize.

  Everyone talked about how they would try the headpiece on and pretend to be king for a day.

  Admiral Ogden didn't entirely discount the theory, but hoped for something even better inside. He wanted the box to be holding something so amazing and worth so much, that he would be able to use it to purchase anything he wanted. He wanted something so amazing that his mind might not even be able to begin to imagine it.

  When they finally got the chains and locks off, and the box open, none of the pirates were satisfied. All of that suspense and all of that work to get that box unchained, and there was only one strange looking pearl inside. It wouldn't be worth much at all. Whoever took the time to lock such a small prize up like that must have been playing some kind of trick. That was the only explanation; the only one that made any sense at least.

  Admiral Ogden stood on the shore that evening after opening the box while the crew drank, laughed, and danced themselves to sleep. He held the pearl in his hand with half a mind to toss it into the water. There was no point in keeping it. It would be a waste of time to trade and it wasn't worth much else, even the small amount of space it took up in his pocket.

  He looked out as the waves crashed in front of him, the tides rising up to his boots. The sea came up to the beach and then pulled itself back out, like it was telling Ogden that it would take that strange pearl off his hands and gladly dispose of it for him. The ocean didn't have to worry about finding space to put it.

  Ogden closed a fist around the pearl, ready to chuck it as far as he could into the water that was waiting with open arms. When he squeezed it under his fingers, the sea seemed to change its mind. There was some splashing and the tides withdrew backward, like the ocean was recoiling, being forced back by some unseen force. It didn't even reach his boots anymore. The water didn't even come within ten feet of him.

  The ocean seemed like it was afraid of him, or afraid of what he had. How could something so massive and powerful like the sea be fearful of something so small in comparison?

  He thought about the ocean being able to produce such incredibly large waves. He'd seen firsthand how strong it could be during his many voyages around the world. As he thought about the waves, the water in front of him roared to life with newfound ferocity and the waves he was imagining rose in front of his eyes. They were colossal walls towering over him. He would be crushed beneath them.

  Ogden braced himself and wished that the waves wouldn't crash down on him ... and they didn't. The wall of water crumbled around him. All of its momentum and power dissipated almost instantaneously. The only water that hit him was from a few stray droplets. He was fine and the tides had fallen incredibly calm compared to only moments before.

  Admiral Ogden looked down at the pearl in his hand and then back out to sea. He thought about the water rising up and it did. Then he thought about it receding far from shore, and the sea heaved itself away from the beach. The shallows became completely exposed and he walked across the damp mud that had seconds before been part of the ocean floor. The water kept its distance as he walked, clearing a path for him to step.

  It was unlike anything he had ever seen.

  The ocean had become obedient to his every thought and his every whim. It submitted to him diligently and without delay. He had command of the very ocean. It listened to him—no. It was listening to the pearl in his grasp.

  It was becoming clear why the pearl had been under so many locks. Whoever knew about it wanted it protected, or maybe they wanted this power it contained. Either way, its power was twisting the sea, giving Admiral Ogden complete reign over the watery domain he called home.

  Ogden had collected many treasures from all over the world, but this pearl was clearly the most valuable item he'd ever acquired—perhaps even too valuable. There wasn't anything else like it, and he couldn't treat it like anything else he'd gained.

  He'd never had a treasure before that made him afraid ... but this one did.

  Admiral Ogden considered holding onto it and using its power to help him with his piracy. He was already becoming one of the most feared pirates on the seas, and having control of the oceans would solidify him as the most dangerous man to set sail. He would be able to throw storms at his enemies, have the water carry his ships rather than rely on the wind, and all sorts of other helpful things ... but he couldn't risk it. He wouldn't.

  The pirate admiral didn't tell any of the crew what the pearl was really capable of. He couldn't risk any of them wanting it for themselves. Having the power of the ocean might be enough reason to get some to start a mutiny. He made sure that they all thought that the pearl was nothing more than a waste that they should never have pulled from the sea. In that case, none of them would mind if he put it back, and that was exactly what he was planning to do.

  One night, he rowed out by himself into the sea and held the pearl out over the side of his longboat, suspended above the sea below. Something with so much power shouldn't exist, and should especially not be given to mere mortals. As much as Admiral Ogden enjoyed finding valuable prizes, there were some things that even he wouldn't dare hold onto. He loved treasure—sometimes probably more than he should—but this was more dangerous than gems or gold could ever be, to him and to everyone around him.

  They never should have opened that box. If anything, they should have added even more locks to keep it contained and out of anyone else's hands. He thought about maybe hiding it in the cavern with the rest of his treasure hoard, but even that seemed too insecure for something like the pearl. Something like that didn't belong with gold and silver.

  The only place the pearl would really be safe was some place where no one could ever get to it, somewhere no soul could ever tread, at the very bottom of the deepest sea.

  Unbeknownst to the crew, he had commanded the sea to bring him to the place where it ran deepest, and the pearl brought the ship to this very spot.

  He stood there in his longboat and prepared to drop the pearl but clenched it harder. He needed to see where it was going. He needed to see the deepest waters. He clenched the pearl tightly and a whirlpool opened up in front of him. He looked down into it, and it went so far down that he couldn't see the bottom. It truly was the deepest sea. Surely, no one would ever get this pearl down there.

  Admiral Ogden twisted his hand, giving one last look at the strange pearl, and let it fall from his palm. It plummeted into the gaping hole he had created in the sea, disappearing into the vast pit of swirling water, and when it a faded from v
iew, the sea patched itself closed until he could no longer look down into the bowels of the ocean.

  There would be times when he wished he had held onto that pearl later on, as his pirate fleet burned and as he awaited his execution, but those were selfish, fleeting regrets. When it came down to it, he was glad that he didn't hold on to that particular treasure. It was where it belonged; resting at the bottom of the sea, where no one could ever hold it again.

  1

  CHAPTER ONE - CREDITS AND DEBTS

  David Purdue was so happy to have money again. It wasn't nearly as much as he used to have, but it was still a blessing. He didn't have to fight for scraps on the streets anymore. The pirate gold he had unearthed was more than enough to give him some comfort and maybe a way to take his life back from the people who took it from him.

  He had the long dead pirate, Admiral Walton Ogden, to thank for that. His trove of treasure was remarkable and had already helped Purdue recover millions of his stolen finances. With that gold, he could start to figure out how to take back everything the Order of the Black Sun had robbed him of—his money, his collection of priceless relics, and his friends that had been abducted.

  It wasn't just Ogden's gold either that was helpful. There was another treasure that Ogden alluded to in his logbook; something that was too valuable or too dangerous to keep with the rest of the prizes in that cave. There was something that he dropped into the sea so very long ago. His greatest treasure.

  He remembered the pirate's entry in the journal word for word. He'd read it dozens and dozens of times since he'd first found it. He remembered what it said more clearly than anything else he'd ever tried to remember. It read:

  Know this. I have put everything I ever collected as a pirate in this cave. Everything except one particular piece of treasure. It is not among the piles of gold that you have found. It was too dangerous to have. Most things I found at sea were material. They were belongings that I could take and understand the value of. This treasure was not so simplistic, but it was valuable in an altogether different way. This item could control the very sea itself, far too dangerous for a rum-soaked man like myself to have.

  Much like my gold, and like any good pirate worth his name, I buried it.

  Though I did not bury it in sand and stone. I buried it where it belonged. At sea. That is where it no doubt still rests, far away from the reach of man.

  To fully accept my legacy, then you must find my final treasure but remember that it is not as simple as gold. Search for it at your own peril.

  Spend wisely.

  Signed, Admiral Walton Ogden.

  Every time he had read it, he got more and more excited by the possibilities. If this treasure could control the sea, that would be incredibly helpful in bringing down the Order of the Black Sun. That was the initial part of the log that intrigued him ... but it was a part blotched out by an ink stain that that got him even more curious. He managed to decipher it after days of close inspection.

  The deepest depths of the sea.

  That maybe narrowed this treasure's location down a little. Maybe.

  “You're not really considering looking for whatever the hell is down there, are you?”

  Purdue had only recently reunited with his colleague, Sam Cleave, who was already doubting Purdue's plans. The rest of the world thought David Purdue was dead, and he needed to stay that way for some time longer. It gave him the drop on the Black Sun and he needed every advantage he could get against an enemy like that.

  Sam was one of the few who now knew the truth. He'd barely escaped capture from the Order of the Black Sun himself. Just like Purdue, he got help from a woman who otherwise seemed like an enemy—Sasha, an enforcer for the Black Sun. She'd saved them both from her own allies.

  “I am indeed considering it,” Purdue said.

  “Why?”

  “The real question is ... why not?” Purdue countered as he poured himself a drink.

  The hotel room he was renting out was thankfully full of alcohol to help him clear his head. It was a stressful time, and sometimes it was the simple pleasures that helped him through all of it.

  Sam didn't seem won over by Purdue's counterargument. “Why not? I'll tell you why not. Because the longer we take to hit the Black Sun back, the longer Nina is a prisoner.”

  Dr. Nina Gould was unfortunately one of the captives who had been taken by the order, and the one person both Purdue and Sam both held with an equal amount of esteem. They both wanted her back, and they both knew it wouldn't be easy.

  “Perhaps,” Purdue said. He took a thoughtful sip of his drink. “Or perhaps she might already be dead, aye? Whatever the case, if we storm in there unprepared ... if we just run at that secret society as quick as we can, we all lose. It is better to wait to have a bit more power to throw at those bastards, and this top secret treasure at the bottom of the ocean might be the extra bit of muscle we need. Hell, it could be the only way for us to even have a ghost of a chance.”

  “But we're talking about the deepest parts of the ocean. Hardly anyone has gone down that far. More people have probably gone into space than down there!”

  “Relax,” Purdue said with a sigh. “Everything's manageable.

  Sam didn't look convinced but he didn't argue any further. He knew how stubborn Purdue could be once he set his mind on something, and that there would be no hope of convincing him no matter how much he tried.

  “Fine,” Sam conceded. “So what's your plan then? Put on goggles and a snorkel and go for a swim?” The sarcasm in his voice was sharp but Purdue was just glad that Sam was at least now starting to humor the idea of looking for the treasure on the ocean floor.

  “I would at least put on a wet suit too,” Purdue said with a wink. “I imagine it would get quite damp and cold down there, don't you think?”

  “Seriously though...” Sam's trepidation was returning. “What do you actually plan to do about that? The location is going to be more than just a hindrance. This isn't some lost island you can find on an old map. We can't just fly there or row to shore. You would need a submarine to even reach it. Last I checked, we don't have one of those. And even if we did know where to go and how to get there, we don't know what it is we are looking for, or if it's even down there at all!”

  “A submarine wouldn't do...” Purdue said quietly to himself, like he had only heard part of Sam's point. He was visibly lost in his own thoughts, cycling through the possible paths that they could take. “If Admiral Ogden really did put it in the deepest sea, a submarine would be crushed at that depth. Pressure would crunch it up like a tin can. But with the money we've made from that gold, we could probably afford a vehicle designed for exploring those depths.”

  “Let me make sure I’m hearing you right. You want to spend all of the money you just got ... that we need to even try to go after the Black Sun ... you want to use all of that to try and find something that might not even exist ... or be helpful to us at all.”

  Purdue shrugged. “I'm an optimistic soul.”

  “I don't see why,” Sam groaned, lying back in the couch like he was getting a bad headache. Maybe he really was getting one from all of the stress. “You're potentially going to throw away all of the progress you've made. All of that shit you did to get some money back will have been for nothing. You get that, right? You understand? And from how you made it sound, it took a lot to get that gold, like a whole lot of shit.”

  “It was indeed,” Purdue said. “One might say it was a boat load of shit, aye.”

  “So all of that effort. All of that was for what? Fighting off pirates. Stealing from that museum in Nassau. Pissing off that crime boss in Jamaica—”

  “The Wharf Man,” Purdue said, remembering that enormous human being very well. “He must really want my head, I imagine. Our last conversation wasn't exactly cordial.”

  “Yeah, him,” Sam said. “All of that will be for nothing if we just use up all of the treasure.”

  “It won't be a waste of money
if it turns out to be true. I would be spending what I got from that gold on the next step toward something better. If Admiral Ogden's logbook is anything to go by, then it will be worth it.”

  “Sure,” Sam said and failed at hiding his rolling eyes. “If you're willing to risk everything on the diary of some pirate from like three hundred years ago.”

  Purdue was. When there weren't many other options, the riskiest ones were sometimes the ones that would bear the most fruit. Sam might not understand that now, and of course there was a chance that Purdue could be on a wild goose chase, but the only way to know for sure would be to try. And if Purdue was right and Ogden's final prize was down in the sea, then all of it—all of the expenses and effort—would be rewarded in full.

  “What's the problem with that? I would think a man who spent so much time digging up stories from the past wouldn't be so quick to throw any kind of information away. Don't you reporter types love your sources? Well, this is my source. It may be old but I don't think that automatically invalidates it, aye?”

  Sam made sure that Purdue could see his eyes roll this time. “Fair enough, you bastard.”

  “Besides, you know me,” Purdue continued with a great, big shrug. “The Order of the Black Sun took everything from me. It's only right that I risk everything to hit them back ... and hit them back harder than they hit me.”

  Sam knew he was fighting a losing battle, no matter how hard he debated his points. He slowly backed down, accepting that there wouldn't be any chance of deterring Purdue from his chosen path. He shook his head in defeat. “I hope you're right.”

  Purdue smirked, knowing he'd won the argument. “Aren't I always?”

  “No. No, you're really not.”

  “Soon enough we'll be at the bottom of the ocean, and when that happens, while we're down there and I find what I'm looking for, I expect a most sincere apology from you.”