C. Palov - Templar's Quest

Too busy rounding up Jews, the Reich’s high command greatly erred when they didn’t eradicate the Romani. Yes, many gypsies were killed, but like rodents, they spent the post-war years reproducing at a frantic pace. Six decades later, they littered the streets of every major city in Europe. Like so much trash.

Trash that would be picked up and put into a garbage bin once they located the Lapis Exillis.

But first they had to find the medallion. And we only have five days to do so .

Since his father had been afraid to ship the Montségur Medallion to Germany, lest it be confiscated by an inquisitive customs inspector, his last letter contained a drawing, front and back, of the pendant. Disastrously, by the time the missive arrived in Göttingen, the ink had smudged, the symbols and inscription illegible.

Although stymied by the setback, the seed of an idea began to germinate: what if the other members of the Seven had sent their children letters? Perhaps there were others, like Ivo, who wanted to continue their fathers’ research, but didn’t know how to find the Lapis Exillis. Or, more importantly, what to do with the ancient relic should they manage to locate it.

Inspired, Ivo spent several months tracking down the second generation.

As fate would have it, those children, now grown adults, had also received letters from fathers who’d eluded arrest by stealing away to Buenos Aires, Cairo, New York. Contained within those dispatches was the cumulative research of the original Seven. Thrilled at the prospect of continuing the great work begun by their fathers, the second generation vowed to find the Lapis Exillis. To honour their fathers, they unanimously decided to call themselves ‘The Seven Research Foundation’.

Naturally, the first order of business was to find the Montségur Medallion, Ivo’s father making no mention in his last missive of its whereabouts. Since that letter had a Damascus postmark, they surmised that the medallion was in Syria. It took them more than twenty-five years to locate it, finally tracking the medallion to the remote village of Al-Qanawat. Not wishing to garner unwanted attention, they contracted a third party to retrieve the medallion.

A costly blunder. One that must be rectified as soon as possible.

Without the Montségur Medallion, they could not find the Lapis Exillis , the requisite component to perform das Groß Versuch. Once the Great Experiment was successfully executed, they would be able to awaken the sleeping soul of the Aryan people.

Then they could begin again. Bolder. Stronger. More resolute.

Just as their fathers had envisioned.

18

‘Sorry, Kate. You can’t come with me to Paris.’

‘Since it’s not safe for me to stay in Washington, what am I supposed to do?’ Kate retorted, quick to bat the objection right back at Finn. ‘I need you to protect me. There’s no place in the city where I can hide. They know my name and address. No doubt, they’ve mined all my personal data off of a computer database. My place of employment and my –’

‘This is strictly a one-man operation,’ Finn said over the top of her. ‘And just so you know, the matter is not open for debate.’ Ultimatum issued, he walked over to the coffee table to retrieve his belongings.

Kate trailed after him. ‘But I have an expertise that you’ll need once you get to Paris.’

‘Oh, really?’ It was all he could do not to roll his eyes. ‘Is this where you tell me that you took karate lessons at the local Y?’

‘No. This is where I tell you that I speak passably good French. When I was an undergraduate in college, I had a three-month summer internship at the Musée de l’Homme.’

‘Good for you.’ Finn stuffed his cell phone into his pocket. ‘But I was planning to buy one of those electronic translators.’ He didn’t enjoy being a hard ass, but he needed to end this discussion here and now. If he was going to get out of Washington without putting CID on the scent, he’d have to call in some old debts. Get the ball rolling. He already knew that if he went to an ATM or used a credit card, he’d be signing his death warrant.

Apocalypse now.

However, like any trained commando, he had a contingency plan. His involved a well-stocked storage locker in Arlington, Virginia. Cash. Guns. KA-BAR knife. Night-vision goggles. Everything he needed to take out the enemy.

‘Okay, here’s my second offer,’ Kate said with a surprising measure of boldness. ‘Not only does my friend Cædmon Aisquith live in Paris, but he’s a walking encyclopedia when it comes to symbols and their meanings. If you want to decipher the tattoo and medallion, Cædmon is your man.’

Hearing that, his gaze narrowed suspiciously. ‘I thought you were the symbol expert.’

‘My field of expertise is the peoples and culture of Central Asia. Cædmon is a medieval scholar with a graduate degree from Oxford.’

‘Loosely translated? He’s one of those nut jobs who plays the lute at the Renaissance Festival.’ This time, Finn did roll his eyes.

‘I’ll have you know that Cædmon is a serious scholar.’

‘I don’t need a scholar. All I need is a loaded weapon and a clear shot.’

‘Did I mention that he owns a bookstore on the Left Bank?’ Knowing full well that she hadn’t, Kate kept pounding at a very dead horse. ‘He has a zillion reference books at his fingertips.’

‘And I’ve got Google at mine.’

‘You said it yourself –’ snatching the medallion off the coffee table, Kate hefted it in the air – ‘ this is your leverage with the Seven. So it might be a good idea to know what this means. As Cædmon is fond of saying, “Knowledge is power”.’

‘This is my fight, not yours. And it sure as hell ain’t Lute Boy’s battle.’

‘Where do you get off claiming this isn’t my fight? A few hours ago the Seven arranged to have me killed. Why? Because I chauffeured you to the embassy. And I only did that because you conned me into giving you a lift. You knew full well how dangerous these people are, yet that didn’t stop you from dragging me into the viper’s nest.’ Having just laid the mother of all guilt trips on him, Kate, arms belligerently crossed over her chest, stared him down.

‘Do I feel bad about what happened? Hell, yeah. But it doesn’t change my mind.’

‘Let me be blunt, Sergeant. Because you did drag me into this mess, I now require your protection. I’m scared to death. And, trust me, I didn’t like saying that any more than you liked hearing it.’

Finn opened his mouth to lob the next salvo. Only to clamp it shut an instant later. Arguing with Kate Bauer was a lot like arguing with a computerized voicemail system. You could talk yourself blue in the face, but it wouldn’t make a damned bit of difference.

He rubbed a hand over his jaw. Taking her to Paris would be a major pain in the ass. Hell, they’d be flying directly into the eye of the shit storm. But what choice did he have? She’d been targeted for execution. And he’d always been good at juggling more than one ball. So, yeah, he figured that he could protect her and hunt down the Dark Angel.

‘You’ve got me pinned in a corner. You know that, don’t you?’

‘Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?’ There was no mistaking the flicker of hope in those grey-blue eyes.

Finn nodded tersely, already regretting his decision. ‘You might know a lot about symbols, Doctor Bauer , but when it comes to dealing with unfriendlies, you don’t know your left from your right. My mission is to apprehend the Dark Angel and get my buddies the justice they deserve. And I don’t want anything to distract me from that. Which is why you will obey all of my orders. Without question. Understood?’