David Sakmyster - The Cydonia Objective

Xavier shrugged, pretending not to care, although a sinking feeling was forming in his gut. “Treasure?”

“Not exactly. Hitler and the other members of what they called The Thule Society were following up on legends—or possibly if one source is to be believed— remote visions of a certain psychic named Trevor Ravenscroft. The belief in a pre-diluvian civilization, an advanced race, possibly coinciding with Atlantis or else even its predecessor. A race of supermen with advanced intelligence, physical strength and especially, mental powers. Powers and abilities that made them godlike.”

Xavier nodded. “Yeah, so Hitler was insane. Easily manipulated by whackos with god-complexes. Aryan master race. Sure. If they could prove they were descendants of these Thulians or whatever, then they’d what—justify genocide and lordship over the Earth?”

Calderon grinned. “Not only that, although certainly that was a big part of the justification for their quest. No, what Hitler intended was to discover where the remnant of this great super race went during the last cataclysm. Where they hid. And, he believed, where they continue to reside, deep in the earth, watching. Waiting…”

“For what?”

Calderon shrugged. “Hitler thought maybe they were waiting for him. Waiting for a ruler to step up and take the mantle of succession. To build an army capable of overwhelming the lesser races. All at the behest of a ruling class with advanced powers.”

Xavier wriggled against his bonds, wishing he could have hidden a knife in his sleeve to give himself a chance at escape. A chance at ending this here and now. Instead, he had to think of another way. “So, forgive me Senator. What the hell does this have to do with anything? Hitler’s gone, and us ‘lesser races’ smashed his superman dreams and dismantled his aspirations.”

“Gone, yes. But the Custodians are not.”

“The who? Oh, the Thule people. The master race. They’re still there, hiding under rocks?”

“Deep in the earth. Deep underground.” Calderon rubbed his hands together slowly, again looking out the window at the devastation. “And now, Xavier, we finally have a way to get to them.” He patted the briefcase, his eyes glowing with excitement.

And then Xavier got it. He understood his visions. Understood why nothing could stop the coming devastation. And at last, he understood what they were doing up in Alaska.

“Oh dear god,” he whispered. “HAARP. I guessed you used it to cause this localized earthquake. Modulating an ELF vibrational wave, using a billion watts of power, all in the same cadence and frequency into this one spot…”

Calderon waved his hand to move him along. “Yes yes, that was child’s play. Technology we’ve had for decades, but enhanced only recently in the last upgrade to the antenna arrays. All thanks to Tesla’s vision. But still, it wasn’t enough. The Custodians are deep. Deeper than we could ever probe, deeper than we could reach, even with HAARP.”

Xavier motioned with his chin to the briefcase. “But this is the game-changer.”

“It is,” said Calderon. “And I think they’ve been after it for millennia. Two sides, forever at war. It started up there.” He looked up at the roof. “Among the planets. The myths, decoded, tell the story. The gods of the sky and their squabbles, their bloody and earth-shaking battles. Marduk and Tiamat. Thoth and Set, Odin and Loki… So often repeated, so often recalled, if only in fables by our small minds. But there were always those who knew the truth, those who sought for dominance—or if nothing else, at least détente.”

Xavier tried to put the pieces together. “The Emerald Tablet gave the possessor what… a way to tap into greater destructive powers?”

Calderon nodded.

“But the Tablet does more.” Xavier thought quickly. “And now you have the translation. So, what do you need me for?”

Calderon was silent for a moment. “The boys are untested and rash, while you… you have a strength they’ll never attain, at least not in time to be of use. And Nina… well you know her.”

Xavier shrugged. “Does anyone really know her? I thought I did.”

“Regardless, you have an affinity for the power in the Tablet. A power that needs to be wielded by someone who can already do what you can.”

“So it was designed by one of them?”

“If you mean the Custodians, the early race, then yes. I believe so. We have certain evidence, scrolls and traditions that speak of a time when these artifacts were created by the greatest of the ‘gods’, used and coveted by their brethren. But like the hammer of Thor, only one of their own could access its true power.”

“So, fine. You need me. But you already know I’m sworn to stop you. All I’ve seen my whole life is you destroying the world. At first I thought it was to exact some sort of fiery revenge for Marduk’s ancient loss, but now…”

Calderon bent his neck. A moment of doubt crossed his expression. “I am not the destroyer,” he whispered. “They—these Custodians, forever aloof but forever jealous and stewing, dreaming only of their return, like some slumbering Lovecraftian deities—they are the true enemy. As long as they exist, mankind can never be free.” He spread out his arms. “I’m the world’s savior. And you, Xavier Montross, can help me.”

Xavier merely stared at him, dumbfounded. He’d known something was coming, but this?

“Join me,” Calderon said in a voice just above the rumble of the bulldozers, helicopters and rescue equipment. “Stop the Custodians. Together with your remote-viewing, with your ability to spirit-walk or whatever it is you do, and my resources, we can find them. Seek out their hiding places, penetrate their shields, and with this…” He gripped the case in both hands. “With this… we will wipe them out, bury them under a billion tons of earth like the cowardly moles they are. Wipe them out and reclaim this world for ourselves.”

Xavier felt dizzy. Tugged in two directions. “No,” he whispered.

“Xavier, don’t be a fool. They see what’s happening. They’re tracking evolution. We’re changing, transforming… into what they can’t abide.”

“What?”

“Changing into them.” Calderon grit his teeth. “Use your viewing powers later to confirm all this, but trust me. They are the ones that have constantly interfered in humanity’s path. The Flood. The Tower of Babel… Anytime we got too close, started working together, started evolving toward something, unlocking genes they had tried to deactivate. Custodians indeed!” He made an expression of disgust. “Custodians of their own perverse lordship perhaps. If you look, you’ll see their bloody fingerprints stamped across history. Since Babylon and since crushing the last great human civilizations, like those Indus Valley, Peru, Egypt and Cambodia, China—wherever man dared to advance and reach for their true destiny—we believe they’ve opted for the subtle approach. Fostering wars and disunity. Corrupting religion so humanity is always at each other’s throats.”

“Fighting ourselves so we can’t see the real enemy?” Xavier had to smile. “Reagan made the same speech at the UN in 1985. Thought maybe if aliens threatened us, we’d find common ground and unite against them.”

“Yes, you have it! And yes, I’ve had predecessors who have sought to change the status quo. But none with the access to the knowledge or power that I possess. They fear people like you, like my twins. Like the Morpheus Initiative. And they’ve dreaded the rediscovery of The Emerald Tablet.”

“But if it could hurt them, surely they would have found it first. Being as powerful as you claim. They could have done what Caleb did and found it first.”