In the din, no one heard the shot. The Grand Master"s right hand, which was holding the golden knife, fell limply to one side while the knife fell on the granite platform upon which Vincent had been tied down. Prithviraj lunged forward, grabbed the knife and desperately started cutting loose the ropes that held Vincent prisoner.
"Run!" he shouted. Vincent was dazed. He remained frozen. Prithviraj used the knife to give Vincent a deep gash on his thigh, just to shock him into action. "Run!" he shouted again.
This time Vincent got up and started moving towards the pa.s.sageway. But it was too late. Stephen Elliot, Zvi Yatom and countless others had pulled out their guns and were shooting madly towards the table. Prithviraj went down in a flurry of bullets.
The karmic debt had been settled. "And son . . . that brother, who died for you . . . You will know when you have to return the favour . . ."
The confusion that followed bought Vincent some time. There were thirteen pa.s.sageways. He blindly ran into one of them.
Vincent ran madly through the pa.s.sage that led to an equally dark room. He froze when he looked at the sight before him.
In front of him was a clear gla.s.s pane with a "shop window" display behind it, dimly illuminated. The rest of the room was dark so as to ensure that the entire focus was on the window. Behind the window was a corpse. The corpse had been mounted for display on an upside-down cross. The body was that of Boutros Ahmad, Ghalib"s point man for South America.
The room had two exits other than the central pa.s.sageway through which Vincent had entered. One was to the left of the display window and the other to the right of it. Vincent dashed through the left exit. It took him through a curving pa.s.sage, equally dark and forbidding.
Within thirty seconds, he found himself in another room, identical to the first. The macabre display in this room was even more ghoulish. Behind the gla.s.s pane was a corpse that had been arranged neatly on a bed. Prior to placing the body on the bed, it was evident that the body had been fried in oil. It belonged to Yahya Ali, Ghalib"s trusted lieutenant in Chechnya.
Vincent"s instincts were now on full alert. He could hear voices. The panic caused by the shooting of the Grand Master and the retaliation on Prithviraj had taken the attention off him, at least for a few moments. He had to find a way out of this nightmarish catacomb.
The third, fourth and fifth rooms were no better. In one of them, Vincent found the body of Yaqub Islamuddin, Ghalib"s Jemaah Islamiyah operative in Jakarta, arranged on a chair with his head placed separately and neatly on a table nearby. The next room contained Kader Al-Zarqawi, Ghalib"s head of Iraq operations, crucified on an "X"-type cross. He had not been nailed, but tied to it with his legs prised apart, causing a much slower and more painful death.
Vincent was going mad. He wanted to vomit. He doubled up to puke and felt like he was expelling all his guts. As he came up for air, he was. .h.i.t by an even more ghastly sight. In front of him lay the body of Shamoon Idris, Ghalib"s key operative of the Islamic Jehad Council in North America, sawed in half with the battleaxe still positioned in his torso. The aim-to recreate an accurate visual description of the manner of death-had been achieved perfectly.
Vincent screamed in terror as he fled through the pa.s.sageway. It was of no use. The next room contained the crumpled corpse of Fouad al-Noor, head of the group"s activities in England. He lay crumpled in a corner with a gaping wound in his side. He had been pierced with a lance.
By now Vincent had reached a point of no return. Terror had made him numb. He observed the body of Faris Kadeer, Ghalib"s chief of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, hanging upside down on a cross with a spear having split open his thigh. The sight of Ataullah al-Liby, Ghalib"s kingpin of the French Intifada, was unbearable. His body lay on a stone platform with a spear through his stomach, guts spilling out across the stone.
The display of the corpse of Tau"am Zin Ha.s.san, Ghalib"s manager within the Darul Islam in Malaysia, was positively benign, when compared with the others. His display had been organised in a manner such that he was seated on a chair, clutching a dart that had pierced his heart.
Vincent lost count of the number of dungeon-like rooms he had run through. The sight that greeted him in this one was the worst of all. Bin Fadan, Ghalib"s Jaish-e-Mohammed representative in India, had been arranged so that he was clutching his own skin. He had been skinned alive.
Vincent felt faint. What was this place? How could they do this to human beings? He looked up and saw the body of Adil Afrose, Ghalib"s chief commander of the Australia operation. His body lay separated from his legs, which had been viciously broken. He had then been clubbed and stoned to death, evidenced by a ma.s.sive rupture to his skull.
The next room contained the lifeless body of Yehuda, trusted aide to Ghalib, hanging from a noose around his neck. Vincent ran through the exit and reached the thirteenth room. It contained the body of Ghalib. He lay crucified on a Roman cross, with a crown of thorns on his head.
The Illuminati had made sure their grand plan would never be revealed to the world. The Lashkar-e-Talatashar was dead. The anti-Christ and his flock of twelve were dead. Vincent finally pa.s.sed out.
Rome, A.D. 67 Peter lay dead on an upside-down cross. He had journeyed through Gaul and Britain before being imprisoned for nine months at Mamertime. He was crucified on the orders of the Roman Emperor at Nero"s circus. He had requested that it be done upside down so that the manner of his death would not be the same as that of his master.
Patras, Achaea, A.D. 69 Andrew, the first apostle of Christ, had travelled through southern Russia, Byzantium, Thrace, Macedonia and Greece. In Greece, he was crucified in Sebastopolis by Aegeas, the governor of the Edessences, on his refusal to denounce Christ. The cross that he was crucified on was an "X", not a "T". He was not nailed but corded to the cross, causing much more suffering than normal. He died after three days.
Jerusalem, Judea, A.D. 44 James had returned to Jerusalem after travelling to Spain and Portugal. On 2 January, A.D. 40, the Virgin Mary had appeared before him on the bank of the Ebro River. James had then returned to Judea, where he had been decapitated by King Herod Agrippa I himself.
Patmos, Turkey, A.D. 110 John preached in Russia and Iran until he was exiled to Patmos, off the Turkish coast. He died in his bed at an old age, having worn out his body. He had been plunged into boiling hot oil by the Romans but had somehow survived the ordeal.
Hieropolis, Phrygia, A.D. 66 Philip had succeeded in saving the life of the Roman proconsul"s sick wife. This miracle had made her convert to Christianity. The political fallout was the wrath of the proconsul who told Philip, "Denounce Jesus and save your life." Philip answered, "Accept Jesus and save your soul." He was pierced through the thigh and then crucified upside down till he died. His daughters were killed along with him in the same manner.
Albana, Armenia, A.D. 68 Bartholomew had journeyed through Turkey, Iran, India, Ethiopia, Persia and Egypt before reaching Armenia. Here he was "skinned alive" and subsequently beheaded.
Mylapore, south India, A.D. 72 Thomas Didymus was praying in the woods outside his hermitage when a hunter who belonged to the Govi clan aimed his poisoned dart and hit Thomas. The wound was critical and St Thomas died on 21 December, A.D. 72.
Ethiopia, A.D. 60 Matthew spent twenty-three years preaching in Ethiopia, Macedonia, Persia and Egypt. His death was ordered by King Hirca.n.u.s, who sent his men to run a spear through him.
Ardaze, Armenia, A.D. 65 Thaddaeus had spent many years preaching in Mesopotamia. He was killed under Abgarus, king of the Edessenes in Berytus, by a lance through his side.
Caistor, Lincolnshire, Britain, A.D. 61 Simon Zelotes spent his life in Mauritania and Africa before he was martyred in Britain by a halberd, a battleaxe on a long pike handle. He was sawn in half.
Jerusalem, A.D. 33 The "treasurer" of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, flung the thirty pieces of silver that he had accepted for betraying Jesus at the feet of the Sanhedrin. He then went out and hanged himself. The money was not accepted by the priests because it was "blood money" and was, instead, used to purchase a plot of land for burying the poor.
Jerusalem, A.D. 62 James the Just was killed because he did not deny the Lord. Ananias, the high priest, tried to force James to deny the Lord, but when he would not, he was thrown off the pinnacle of the temple, which caused his legs to break. He was then clubbed to death.
Alexandria, Egypt, A.D. 61 Mark, the evangelist interpreter of Peter, was dragged through the city of Alexandria for more than two days. His flesh was entirely raked off and hung from his body like rags. He died from loss of blood.
Rome, A.D. 67 Paul, originally known as Saul, one of the main persecutors of Christians, who had a change of heart when Jesus appeared before him in Damascus, was beheaded in Rome under the orders of Nero.
Washington DC, USA, 2012 The CNN newswoman was saying, "Seventy-two hours ago, the President was accidentally shot and fatally wounded during a weekend hunting and camping trip with friends while in Maryland. The shooting occurred at about 5:30 pm on Sat.u.r.day. Her husband, SAS director Stephen Elliot, who had been with the President when the accident happened, said that investigations were ongoing, but that all indications were that it was certainly an accident."
The newswoman continued, "The President"s Secret Service detail rushed with emergency medical a.s.sistance but death was almost immediate. The autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital confirmed that the cause of death was a shot from a .357 Magnum, which is sometimes used for deer hunting."
The panoramic views of Camp David gave way to footage of the coffin lying in state as she continued. "The body of the President was placed in the East Room of the White House from where it was sent on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Thousands lined up outside the Capitol building to pay their last respects to the departed leader. Heads of government and heads of state from over a hundred countries are expected to attend the state funeral on Tuesday. After a funeral service at St Matthew"s Cathedral, the late President will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The vice-president has a.s.sumed full executive powers and has declared Monday to be a national day of mourning."
The commentary went on. "The late President Alissa Kaetzel Elliot is survived by her husband, Stephen Elliot, SAS director. Her alma maters, Yale and Oxford, are also observing a day of mourning. Viewers will recall that Alissa had met her husband-to-be while he was a student at Yale."
Vincent felt as though he were falling through s.p.a.ce. Actually, he was. As he fainted inside the thirteenth room containing Ghalib"s body, the impact of his fall activated a secret panel in the carpeted floor. Vincent fell through the hole like a sack of potatoes and landed with a thud in a brightly lit room.
Squinting, he saw that the room was wholly white. The entire ceiling was flooded with pure white fluorescent lighting. Even the floor was covered in dazzling white tiles. The room seemed to be some kind of memorial. The stark walls bore framed black and white photographs of Presidents, prime ministers, generals, businessmen, actors, scientists and diplomats. Loyal and committed members of the Illuminati down the ages.
At one end was a door without a handle. Vincent tiptoed towards it and inspected it. He then tried nudging it open but found that it was an armoured door that was firmly sealed shut. On the right side of the door was a numerical keypad that probably controlled access through the door. Just above the keypad was the reverse side of a single one-dollar bill, duly laminated. Vincent looked at it, confused, until it struck him! The back of the American one-dollar bill was an entirely Illuminati-sponsored image! He pulled out the crumpled copy of the doc.u.ment that he had discovered at the Rozabal shrine from his inside pocket.
You are my genie, revealing me; use these verses as a key. Vincent thought to himself. Could it be? Could it actually be used as a key? He had nothing to lose. Take my shekels in your hand, see the pyramid in the sand. See it better than the all-seeing eye, see it better than the bird up high. Count the steps up to the top, count the leaves and fruit in the crop.
Vincent looked at the one-dollar bill, the modern world"s shekel. There indeed was a pyramid. The pinnacle of the pyramid had a single "all-seeing" eye. Next to it was the American bald eagle-the bird up high. Vincent began counting the steps on the pyramid. Thirteen. The eagle was holding two branches in its talons. One branch had leaves and the other had fruit. Vincent counted the leaves and the fruit. Thirteen each!
Count the arrows to put them in slumber, count your armour of equal number. And when they have fallen, riddled with scars, make sure that they count the number of stars. And when death knocks and destiny brings, shade and fan them with my wings. My plumes on both sides will protect, count them over to be correct.
Vincent looked more closely at the eagle"s talons. It was also holding arrows. Vincent counted them. Thirteen! The eagle also held an armoured shield. Vincent counted the armoured bars on the shield. Thirteen! Above the eagle was a cloud containing stars. By now, Vincent knew what to expect; nevertheless, he counted the stars. Surprise, surprise . . . thirteen! He then looked at the eagle"s wings. He carefully counted the plumes on each side, right and left. Thirteen each.
Count the language inside the beak. Count the language above the peak. Then count me and my apostles meek.
Vincent looked at the eagle"s beak. It was holding a banner that read "E Pluribus Unum", meaning "Out of Many, Emerges One". Thirteen letters. He then saw the Latin motto above the pyramid"s peak, "Annuit Coeptis", meaning "G.o.d has favoured our undertaking". Thirteen letters again.
Jesus and his twelve apostles. Thirteen.
Vincent hurriedly punched 13 into the numeric keypad and watched the door slide open silently.
The First Continental Congress had requested that Benjamin Franklin, along with a team, develop the Great Seal for the United States. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved. The back of the United States" one-dollar bill bears this seal that depicts a pyramid. Very few would notice that the pyramid on the bill was a Masonic symbol, a pyramid of 13 progressive levels. The number 13 was present not only in the 13 steps of the pyramid. There were 13 stars above the eagle, 13 bars on the shield, 13 leaves on the branch, 13 fruits, 13 arrows.Just like the army created by the Illuminati to terrorise the world. The Lashkar-e-Talatashar. Or the Army of Thirteen. The base of the pyramid had the year 1776 inscribed on it. The American public thought it was the year in which the American Declaration of Independence had been signed. Actually, it was the beginning of the final cycle of the Maya Long Count calendar. More important, it was the year in which Adam Weishaupt created the Illuminati. The base of the pyramid bore the motto "Novus Ordo Seclorum" which, from Latin, translates to "New Order of the Ages". Much like the objectives of the Illuminati. Creating a new world order and ruling it.
Talpiot, Israel, 1980 Had Vincent looked more closely at the one-dollar bill he would have noticed something else that was extremely important. The pyramid"s peak was a triangle with an all-seeing eye.
"At about 11 in the morning of 28 March 1980, with the Christian season of Lent already a month old and almost over, first light entered a tomb, beneath the treads of a bulldozer. On this exceptionally beautiful Friday, the entire south face of the tomb"s antechamber fell away to reveal what looked for all the world like a doorway; carved above it was a symbol that none of the construction crew had ever seen before."
Inside the tomb, archaeologists found ten ossuaries, limestone boxes that had served as first-century coffins. Six had inscriptions, including "Jesus, son of Joseph", two "Mary"s and "Judah, son of Jesus".
Subsequent research would cast substantial doubt on the genuineness of the tomb as the final resting place of Jesus and his family. Many would say that Talpiot was a hoax perpetuated to embarra.s.s the Church. Not too many people were worried that the symbol above the tomb looked much like the Illuminati symbol of the all-seeing eye within the peak of a pyramid depicted on the American one-dollar bill.
Chapter Thirty-One.
Vatican City, 2012 Thomas Manning was in the corridors of the Ospedale Bambino Gesu, the hospital within the Vatican premises. His Eminence had been rushed to the hospital, but had been pro-nounced dead a few hours later. Manning had been pacing up and down the corridors for more than three hours. A kindly nurse, Sister Maria Esperanza, a beautiful young nun of mixed blood, brought the immensely fatigued man a cup of steaming hot espresso. Thomas did not know that Sister Maria Esperanza had a special recipe for espresso.
She would grind the best Lavazza beans, using a good burr grinder. She would then fill the double shot filter basket without pressing the ground coffee down. She would level off the loose ground coffee by sliding a straight finger across the top. Then she would expertly "tamp" the coffee, using a solid handheld tamper and around thirty pounds of force. Having fitted the filter handle, she would extract the steaming hot espresso shot into the cup that already contained her special ingredient, a spoonful of 1080.
Compound 1080, or sodium monoflouroacetate, was a water-soluble chemical used primarily to kill coyotes. It was a colourless, odourless, tasteless poison. One teaspoon could kill up to a hundred adult humans. There was no antidote.
Sister Maria Esperanza made the best coffee in town. The funny thing was that no one in the hospital knew her name. Brother Thomas Manning was unable to thank her for the coffee before he died.
Swakilki didn"t care. She slipped out of the nurse"s uniform, got back into her own clothes, mounted her Honda Spazio scooter, and headed over to Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
Islamabad, Pakistan, 2012 He was sitting inside the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the official residence of the President of Pakistan. The President was looking at the transcript of a phone conversation between the chief of Pakistan"s Inter-Services Intelligence and Stephen Elliot of the SAS.
"Why is this man so important to them?" he had wondered about Ghalib some nights earlier, as he sipped his evening scotch and soda. Now he knew.
His G.o.dd.a.m.ned chief of intelligence and those American b.a.s.t.a.r.ds wanted to justify their extended presence in Pakistan by ensuring that trouble continued to be stirred up by the likes of Osama and the Sheikh. Enough!
He decided that it was time to have a scotch and soda in the evening with the deputy director of the ISI.
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, known as the ISI, wielded immense power in Pakistan. The ISI was responsible for surveillance, interception and espionage, as well as the security of Pakistan"s nuclear programme. The ISI"s power had been consolidated in 1988 when the Pakistani military dictator, President Zia ul-Haq, had commenced Operation Tupac-an action plan for the control of Kashmir. The ISI had been responsible for creating and training at least six major militant organisations, with approximately between 5,000 and 10,000 armed men of Indian-Kashmiri origin, who would plague Indian authorities for the next few decades.
The ISI chief ran his organisation ruthlessly. Under him, his deputy director in charge of the political, external and general divisions had to be constantly on call. The ISI chief was a veteran. Under him, the ISI had played a pivotal role in the CIA-sponsored Mujahideen war to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The CIA had a.s.signed the responsibility of training and money distribution to the ISI, which had trained about 83,000 Afghan Mujahideen and sent them off to Afghanistan to fight. The CIA had then decided to use the ISI to promote the smuggling of heroin into Afghanistan with a view to turning the resident Soviet troops into addicts. The ISI chief had executed the plan with his usual ruthless precision. He had even ensured the takeover of Afghanistan by the radical Islamic Taliban regime after the fall of the Soviet-backed government in Kabul in 1992. His rise had been partly due to the constant backing and support of an equally enthusiastic director of the CIA, the late President of the United States of America, Alissa Kaetzel Elliot. He had enjoyed an extremely cosy relationship with Stephen Elliot of the SAS too.
This particular ISI chief had to go. His deputy director was the man for the job.
The ISI chief was escorting Stephen Elliot and Zvi Yatom from the Pindh Ranjha International Airport to their suite at the luxurious Islamabad Serena Hotel in his Hummer. His boss, the Pakistani President, had been very specific about holding the meeting with the American and the Israeli here in Islamabad.
It was around 6 pm when the blast occurred. An improvised bomb containing TNT had been placed against the left underside of the vehicle, near the gasoline tank and the rear pa.s.senger seat. This ensured that the gas tank explosion would eliminate all the occupants. The trigger was via a pager.
The deputy director phoned the President to convey to him the tragic news regarding the death of the three men inside the Hummer.
Maryland, USA, 2012 Vincent had hurriedly punched 13 into the numeric keypad and watched as the door slid silently open. In front of him was a long tunnel. It had been built out of reinforced concrete on all sides. It was unpainted, but a single cable along the length of the roof supplied power to the hundreds of naked light bulbs that ran endlessly in a straight line.
Ignoring his fatigue, Vincent began jogging towards the end of the tunnel. It was tiring because the tunnel had an upward incline. After about half an hour, which seemed like an eternity, Vincent reached a solid whitewashed concrete wall with an equally white door.
On the white background was painted the German phrase: "Wer war der thor, wer weiser, bettler oder kaiser? Ob arm, ob reich, im tode gleich."
Under it was an English equivalent: "Who is the fool? Who is the wise? Who is the beggar or king likewise. Wizened fools and beggars on thrones. All underneath are just skull and bones." It was the motto of the Bavarian Illuminati, established in 1776. The same year, 1776, was alluded to at the base of the pyramid on the American one-dollar note. The same year that marked the beginning of the final cycle of the Mayan calendar.
Next to the door was another numeric keypad. Above it was a small laminated sign that had the following words very neatly laser-printed: "Please enter your room number." Vincent didn"t need to do the calculation! He had always wondered what the significance of Room Number 322 of the Skull & Bones society was. Vincent quickly punched in 3-2-2. It was his lucky day. The lock clicked and Vincent was able to push the door open.
Vincent looked around. He was somewhere in the forested Catoctin Mountain Park along the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains.He was standing in a lush verdant forest along one of the mountain slopes. He turned around to look at the door through which he had exited a few moments earlier. It was virtually impossible to discern, quite ingeniously hidden away in the slope.
"It"s probably used by all those lunatics to enter and exit the ceremonial chambers without being observed," thought Vincent as he carefully trudged along to get to the main road and onwards to civilisation.
He felt inside his pocket for the photocopy of the Rozabal doc.u.ment that he had managed to secretly keep in spite of the original being s.n.a.t.c.hed away by General Prithviraj Singh in Srinagar. It wasn"t there! It had obviously slipped out sometime during his escape from the Illuminati headquarters. The Illuminati now had the original as well as the photocopy somewhere on their premises.
Katra, Jammu, India, 2012 The Trikuta Mountain, where the Vaishno Devi shrine was located, had a single base but three peaks. Hence the name tri-kuta, meaning "three peaks". Three women were walking up the slope of the mountain toward the place where they would be able to access the holy cave that eventually led to the shrine itself. On an average, 5.4 million devotees paid homage to the divine Mother G.o.ddess each year, trekking nearly twelve kilometres from the base till they reached the holy shrine at an alt.i.tude of 5,200 feet.
This particular shrine had no statues. The three heads that were worshipped by devotees were natural rock formations. The uniqueness of this formation was that although emanating from one single rock form, each head was distinctly different from the other two in colour and texture; hence each would be worshipped as a different manifestation of the divine Mother.
The three women seemed quite comfortable with each other. Swakilki, Alissa and Martha were on their way to reacquainting themselves with the powers of the cult of the sacred feminine.
In the centre stood the divine Mother in gold. The golden G.o.ddess was considered to be the source of wealth and prosperity. She was supposed to enhance the qualities of inspiration and effort in her devotees. Her name was Lakshmi.
To the left stood the divine Mother in white. The white G.o.ddess was considered to be the source of all creation, knowledge, wisdom, righteousness, art, spiritualism and piety. Her name was Saraswati.
To the right stood the divine Mother in black. She represented the quality a.s.sociated with the darker and unknown realms of life. Since human knowledge about life was rather limited, and given the fact that man continued to remain in the dark about most of it, the black G.o.ddess was the basic source of all that was mystical and unknown to man. The black G.o.ddess was supposed to guide her devotees in conquering the forces of darkness. Her name was Kali.
Hindus believed that all human beings contained attributes of the three divine Mothers and that their behaviour was determined by the attributes that were predominant in their nature. But they also believed that in order to lead a meaningful life, a proper balance among these three was necessary and that any exaggerated trait spelt danger.
This was the significance of the number 13. One supreme being and three manifestations.
The holy trinity.
Lakshmi Saraswati Kali.
La Sara Kali.
Not just an anagram, but an indication of membership of a very exclusive club. The cult of the sacred feminine.
New York, USA, 2012 Vincent was on a flight back to New York when he remembered the most important words from the Gospel of Jesus: And when you emerge and see the trees. Please do consider what will make you free. Thirteen Cycles. One and Three. The Mayan called it the Sacred Tree. I just call it the Sacred Three. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are Three. Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati. The third eye that the Hindus see. The lines of a triangle in trinity. Christian, Muslim, Illuminati. The first two fight, the third waits to see. How much destruction can there possibly be?
That was when the shekel dropped!
Mary Magdalene herself had studied the ancient occult sciences as a temple priestess in Maghada and had derived her powers from the three manifestations of the divine G.o.ddess. Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali.
And when she reached France, her daughter had been called La Sara Kali because she represented not only the bloodline of Jesus and Mary but also the continuation of the cult of the sacred feminine. Her name represented all three elements of the trinity: La-kshmi, Sara-swati and Kali.
Then he remembered the visions from his projection with Martha in Goa: "Where are you now?"
"Yerushalem."
"And what do you see around you?"
"Temple fires. It"s night. I can see Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin a.s.sembled, judging Jesus. They are irritable because no reliable witnesses are coming forth with evidence against Jesus."