Words: 1677
4 1/2 years ago. . .
Lightning struck the ground near Jack Canyon, barely missing
the archaeologist, as he leaped over a stone wall to avoid
the booby traps of the ancient Greek temple. He fell down
covering his head as lightning hit the wall. He peeked for a
moment over the top of the wall looking for the device that
was emitting the electricity.
"Jack," a feminine voice called as a young brunette neared
him from behind. She, too, was seeking cover. "There's
never a dull moment, huh?"
A sudden outcry of gunfire rang through the chamber hitting
the wall. Jack pulled the girl to safety between two
pillars.
Emily smiled as she was held close to Jack. She faced him
and could smell his slightly sweaty scent, but it didn't
bother her. She kept her nose close to his chest. Her hands
held onto the tail of his light gray t-shirt. "Saving me,"
she said. "Usually its the other way around. You know, I
never quite figured out why you don't carry a gun with you."
"It's a lot more fun this way, don't you think?" He asked as
he looked at the incoming goons.
"Oh, yeah, loads," she replied sarcastically. "So what's the
plan?"
"I'll tell you as soon as I come up with one, Emily," Jack
told Ms. Baxter, his assistant. He pushed himself off a
pillar and darted across the room. He dodged a lightning bolt
that was thrown at him by the orb in the center of the room.
He was drawing the bolts of electricity toward the men with
guns. He was in luck, too.
"It'll be a miracle you don't get yourself killed, Jack,"
Emily told herself as she watched his daring spectacle. She
was in awe that he managed to take down one of the men. She
shook her head and continued to watch.
Jack watched as the other two neared the slope up to the
chamber. He leaped over a short stone wall and tackled one
of the three men, barely avoiding another strike by the
lightning device. With a precise punch to the stomach, he
knocked the wind from the man. Before Jack could turn
around, he was hit in the jaw by a big fist. At least, it
felt big.
Emily grimaced as she watched the fight.
Jack shook off the pain and fought back with a few hits of
his own. He ducked as lightning shot across the room and hit
the wall, sending shards everywhere, even on top of the man
Jack was battling with. Luck was on his side; and he wasn't
about to stop now.
one of the men was creeping along the short wall and nearing
Emily. Her nerves were beginning to tremble as the man drew
near. She was a fighter, but he had a gun. Without thinking
much about it, she waited for him to near. She attacked him
by tackling him, forcing him into the wall. She heard his
back make a crackling noise.
Jack's attention was on Emily as she stayed strong. Then a
scream echoed through the chamber. He wasn't sure if it was
his or Emily's. She had been hit by the device's
electricity. He jumped over the walls and ducked to avoid
the same fate as Emily. Finally, reaching her, he held her
in his arms.
"Jack," she spoke softly.
"I'm going to get you out of here," Jack told her.
"Take care of my dad, will you?"
"Don't talk like that," Jack said with a lop-sided smile.
"You're a strong woman. You can fight this."
"I love you, Jack," Emily admitted as her eyes fluttered.
"Stay with me, kid," Jack urged her as his hand found hers.
"Tell me-- Jack-- Tell me that you love me," Emily demanded.
"I love you, Em," he replied just before she let go of life.
Jack almost began to cry. He squeezed her hand hard and
tightened his jaw. He shot up from where he was and ran to
the other man, who was still searching for him in the large
chamber. He leaped onto a fallen pillar, dodging a bolt of
lightning, and pouncing on top of the last man standing. He
began punching and punching, but he could only see red. He
partially blacked out, unable to remember much except for
anger. He just lost the most important person in his life.
Then everything stopped.
Jack fell back into a seated position on the ground with his
back on the fallen pillar. He looked at his blood-drenched
fist and the immobile body on the ground. He breathed deeply
and tried to calm down. He was on a mission. He still had a
job to do. For Emily.
The white orb in the center of the room hummed loudly as it
sat idle upon a three foot stone stand.
Jack needed to shut it off before getting the artifact. He
could do this. He was smarter than these booby traps.
Wasn't he? He stood and dusted off his dark brown Carhartt
canvas pants. With one last look at Emily, he jumped over
the pillar and rolled once he hit the ground. He jerked up
the shield of a fallen Greek warrior and barely blocked the
lightning.
The shield reflected the electricity and thrust it back at
the orb rendering the white ball inoperable.
Jack stood and dropped the mirror-finished shield, before
moving forward. The altar was just ahead with his prize on
it. He stepped cautiously up the steps. He smiled as he
reached the top and reached out for the mythological relic.
"The mask of Medusa," he sighed happily and gave a cocky
grin.
***
Back from Thermapylae, Greece, Jack Canyon returned happy,
but deeply saddened. The good news was that he had the mask
of Medusa safe from anyone who would use it unwisely. The
bad news was hard for him to accept. It would be even harder
for him to explain. He knocked lightly on a large wooden
door and awaited for someone to open it.
An elderly man named John Baxter answered the door in shock to see Jack standing there with Emily in his arms. "Oh, god, Jack!" He cried out when he saw the burn in her chest. "Come in!" John closed the door behind Jack as he moved inside and lay Emily down on a couch.
Jack sat down on the floral designed couch as Mr. Baxter knelt on the floor in front of his lifeless daughter.
"How did it happen?" The man asked through his sobs.
"I was occupied with some grave robber who was trying to kill
us," Jack stated. "One sneaked upon her, and she fought with
him. I don't know if she forgot about the trap or not, but
it hit her."
"Did she die instantly? Was she in pain?"
"She looked peaceful," Jack answered as tears streamed down
his face. "I got to her before she died, though."
"What did she say?" John weeped.
Jack cried hard, but tried to restrain himself. "She told me
to take care of you, like you told me to take care of her
four years ago."
"What else did she say?" John asked.
"That she loved me," Jack stated as he wiped away his tears,
but more came.
John moved toward Jack and placed his hand onto his wrist.
"You would've been a fine son-in-law, a fine husband."
"Thank you," Jack told him as he stood up. "I'll arrange
everything for her funeral. Right now, I should get over to
the museum and get the mask to the curator."
"Take care, Jack," John told him.
"I'll see you around, John," Jack stated as he walked out the
door.
***
Jack's next stop was the museum on the other side of town.
He marched up the front steps and into the building. From
there, he found his way to the curator's office. The elderly
man behind the desk looked up as Jack knocked on his opened
door.
"Ah, Jack," he stated with a smile as he stood. "I guess you
have it?"
"Yes, Mr. Stone, I have it right here." Jack pulled the mask
from his pack and set it onto the desk.
"Perfect," the curator spoke as he looked over the artifact.
He looked up for a moment when he realized something was
missing. "Where's Emily?"
Jack's eyes dropped to the floor as the question arose. "She
died. The booby trap in the temple got her."
"It wasn't Sheppard?" Mr. Stone asked.
"I took care of him and his men," Jack replied.
"I'm sorry to hear about your loss," Stone told him.
"Listen, I'll pay for everything for her funeral. I'll send
your payment tomorrow." He looked back at the mask. "You've
done the world a great service."
Jack was headed out of the office, but stopped and turned his
attention back to Mr. Stone. "But at what cost?"
"I'm sorry she died, Jack, but I mean it. This mask is a
dangerous artifact that must be preserved by the right
people." He pressed the call button on his phone.
"Margaret, send her in."
A slim lady in jeans and a tank top walked in with her hips
and sandy blonde hair swaying. She smiled at Jack as she
moved to the desk.
"I need you to catalog this, Sophia," Mr. Stone told her as
he handed the mask to her.
"I'll get right on it, dad," she spoke softly as she turned
with the mask in hand. She gave Jack another smile, since
she thought he was cute.
Jack watched her exit with swaying hair and hips. "Your
daughter? I didn't know you had a daughter."
"It's better that way," Stone said with a smug smile.
Jack laughed slightly and turned to leave. "You know where
to find me." He continued onward with a hot bath and long
night's sleep on his mind. If he could sleep, after this horrible day.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART NINE
Words: 2589
"Jack," a deep and loud voice spoke from what seemed like nowhere.
Jack stood in a paradise city made of golden buildings and pearl streets that all glistened in the light. The plants and trees around him were perfect in bloom. Not a single plant was dying. "Where am I?"
"This is what you call heaven," the voice answered.
"Am I dead?" Jack asked cautiously.
"No, but you touched my outer shell, so I pulled you in. Not everyone can locate me, Jack Canyon. Though, you did."
"Does that get me a special spot here or maybe a cookie?" Jack jested.
"I do not share in your humor, I am afraid."
"So, what do I call you? Who are you?" Jack shifted and look back at the sphere behind him.
"I have many names," the voice boomed. "Call me Jehovah. Call me Ishwara. Call me by any of the names that mean God."
Jack could feel his body become overwhelmed as chills spread throughout his arms, neck, and back. "I had a feeling you were Him. So, the big blue ball outside is. . .?"
"It is I. I know what you are wondering. Heaven resides within me. And you also wonder, 'how am I talking to God if I am inside Him?' Well, Jack Canyon, I am everywhere."
"That's not really an answer," Jack told him.
"Why?"
"You can project yourself anywhere, in any form, really, because you're, for lack of a better term, a big blue ball of energy. You can divide yourself, sustain any form you want. It's really quite great."
"That is not all is it?"
Jack stared at the the ball for a moment. "Where did you come from?"
The scene changed quickly for Jack from heavenly bliss to a star-filled galaxy with no planets.
"What am I looking for?" Jack asked.
"Watch."
A sudden explosion shocked Jack who jumped back several feet as the fireball subsided, the planets were slowly shown and formed into their evolving states.
"The Big Bang Theory," Jack stated.
"Yes. Before the dawn of time, there was a great battle between two energies. The blue ball, as you call it, and a red ball of energy."
"Lucifer?"
"As you know him, yes," God replied. "The heat was so great in the battle that it caused a tear that created your entire universe."
Jack watched as the planets zipped by him and then he was on earth as the evolution took place. From a single-celled organism all the way up to the dinosaurs.
"Lucifer and I were still engaged in battle even by the time of the dinosaurs. Fearing to create another 'big bang,' we crashed into Earth."
"Wait a minute," Jack spoke, but paused. His question was answered before he could even get it out. The vision he saw came as the two energy balls crashed into earth and destroyed everything.
***
"I'm guessing your father's death wasn't of natural causes, huh?" Sophia asked as she began to put it all together. "He was getting too close to solving the puzzle."
"You're a smart, Ms. Stone," Maya replied. "And you're absolutely right."
"You really had us fooled," Sophia said angrily at Maya. "I was wondering how they could've been following us all this time. I didn't dwell too much on it, since all these places are supposed to be relics to religions. That's the Disciples of Origin's job, right? Protect the relics?" She paused for a moment. "No. That's not it all, is it?"
"You're smart, Sophia, so I won't lie to you," Maya promised. "We protect that." She pointed at the blue ball of enegry. "We protect God."
"God? That thing is God?" Sophia asked. "And why should I even believe such a stupid story like that?"
"Because it's true," Maya told her. "It is the alpha. It is the omega."
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, I shall tell you the story before you die," Maya started. "Before the dawn of time. . ."
***
"After the destruction of an entire world, I tried to give it all back," God explained to Jack. "I created a paradise from what I remember earth was like. I created a garden."
"Eden."
"I placed a man and woman there to procreate and bring back the race, but I realized that the life force was too weak. More variations needed to be instituted in order to create a better strand of life forms."
"No incestuous breeding."
"Right. From the time of 'Adam and Eve,' there were many men throughout the ages who were contacted by me for the betterment of mankind. They were the original group who called themselves the Disciples of Origin."
"Who were they?" Jack asked.
"Well, there were men and women. A few notable figures were Moses, Noah, Mary Magdalene, Jesus, Buddha, many Dalai Lamas, many Hindu priests, even the original twelve disciples who followed Jesus Christ."
"So, Jesus is your son?"
"I sent a woman a miracle that she needed," God spoke. "The stories written in the Bible, Qur'an, The Hindu Vedas or Bhagavad Gītā, the Buddhist Tripitaka, and many others are all written by men. Some truths to things. Though, I didn't want to be found. People cannot handle the knowledge."
"Then why plant a tree of knowledge in the garden?" Jack asked.
"The fruit from that tree and the 'Tree of Life' were to make man healthier in physical and mental form. However, much more energy was put into them, which allowed their fruit to give man too much knowledge."
Jack stayed silent as God continued to talk.
"The tale of 'Adam and Eve' had to keep people wary of such fruits or too much knowledge. The passages of many books in many religions were simply to cover up my location. People want to know the meaning of life. Life is what you make it, Jack Canyon."
"But why? I mean, you create us and the world out of guilt for destroying it the first time? Yet you flooded it later?"
"Not my intent," God said. "The flood came to wash away all traces of me. Before Noah's grand flood, some had started their search for me. The Disciples of Origin could not keep everything in check, since they were so few in numbers. I generated the flood to help them. I seldom aid their works."
"So, what's all this about worshiping you and believing in you?" Jack asked Him.
"Like I said, key members of the Disciples of Origin wrote the 'great books.' They worshiped me, as if I were their God, their great creator. I never wanted this. I simply wanted to put back what I took away."
"So, why are you here? Why don't you just go back to the stars?"
"I am trapped here in a never ending battle. The stories of good versus evil are true, Jack Canyon. When we fell to earth, 'Lucifer' was crushed into the hot core of the planet."
"Hell?"
"That is what you call it, yes," God replied.
"What is this? You two are aliens? Entities? What?"
"Just energy from the vastness of the universe."
"How is it you know my language? What I think?"
"I created you. Everything about you is in Adam and Eve. Their body structure, their language, everything. And as with everything, evolution comes. Things change a little at a time. The energy within you, I sense it. I know all, because my energy is everywhere."
Jack stopped for a moment as all the information sank in. "Listen, I didn't come here looking for you. This isn't what I wanted from the beginning."
"I know. You were searching for a link between religions. You found it. The central point. I believe it is written in your literature by a man called Shakespeare. 'A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.' It all started with me, but translations and climate and regions of the world shifted things. Diversity arose, but everything came from me, nonetheless. My name changed with each new language that was created."
"So, my theories are correct?"
"In a manner of speaking," God told him. "Why do you do what you do?"
"Because I am searching for a truth to my theories or other's theories."
"Like men before you, you can influence people with your words," God spoke. "Like all the religions are from teachings that tell people to be good and live good lives. However, due to a firm belief in that only one religion is right, wars have broken out. People have died for their religion. They do not understand it completely, but they have faith in it. Religion gives them hope that there is more to life than just living and dying. It gives them peace of soul and mind that their good deeds are worth something. And they are right."
"So, I guess I'm correct about this. I always wondered why a God would put people here and make us worship Him, and then we die. It seemed selfish."
"I wanted no recognition for what I did, but I got it," the voice came from the orb. "So, I spent time convincing those who would listen, those who called themselves the Disciples of Origin, to cover up all traces that I was on earth. They insisted on a puzzle, in case one day none of them were left. Many pieces from dozens of religions were used. Someone had to be smart enough to put it all together."
Jack smiled a cocky smile at the orb.
***
"This is all bullshit!" Sophia cried out. "Why should I believe this? Some occult group has a giant orb in the middle of Mount Sinai and call it God, and I'm supposed to believe them? Fuck off!"
Maya slapped her forcefully across the face, which got her a retaliation.
Sophia tackled Maya and forced her to the ground and began to punch her as hard as she could. Sophia was a fighter, much more than Maya was. Several men pulled her off the Indian woman.
"Hold it," Maya said. "She's mine!" Maya punched her in the stomach, which only fueled Sophia's rage.
Sophia attacked Maya again, but this time she was allowed, since Maya seemed to want to finish this.
Jack was thrust out of the orb and hit the brick wall before falling to the stone floor. He groaned as he looked up and around at the scene.
Sophia was still on top of Maya pounding her fists into the woman's body.
Jack moved to get her off Maya, but received an elbow to his chin, which knocked him back. "What the hell is going on here?"
Sophia kept Maya pinned to the floor. "She's one of them. She's one of the Disciples."
"What?!" Jack asked angrily. He looked back at the men with machine guns. "How ya doing?" He only got a glare from those men. "Sophia, get off her."
"What do you mean? she's a traitor." Sophia was reluctant to move.
"No, I understand the Disciples position, and so should you," he told her.
"Okay, speak English, Jack," Sophia stated.
"The orb, it's God, well, for lack of a better term that is," Jack began to explain. "It's just a great big energy ball that is in a battle against another energy ball."
"Yeah, Maya here explained all about the big bang, destruction of earth, and then rebuilding it. Their beginning ministry of disciples worshiped Him. Though, the came from vast cultures, which with various languages had things misinterpreted and then we have multiple religions. I get it."
"They protect his known whereabouts," Jack said. "People can't handle the knowledge of 'God.' "
"You were able to," Sophia argued.
"No, before anyone can possibly know the entire knowledge of the universe, they usually reach here," Jack explained more. "Mental states are just physical states created of energy. He is able to remove the knowledge before it can kill anyone. If the knowledge reaches 'critical mass' inside your head, you die."
"So, what's all this about becoming 'one with God' we hear so much about?" Sophia continued to ask her questions.
"That's it," Jack pointed out. "When you die, your body's soul is just energy so your soul is brought here to become one with Him. Inside Him is heaven."
"What about Hell?"
"Those who are bad spend their eternity in hell, unless given a chance for another shot at life," Jack said. "The other entity is hell."
"So, they stay there until they can be reincarnated?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm hungry and would love to take a week off." He put his arm around Sophia's shoulder as they turned around and met opposition from the Disciples of Origin. "We never catch a break."
The men pointed their guns at the two.
"I'm sorry," Maya said, "but you can't leave. No one other than us ever finds God and leaves alive. I'm sorry. It's our job, our mission."
"And you are the one who said that we should understand and respect them," Sophia muttered to Jack.
"I've been wrong on occasion," Jack replied.
"Let them go!" God ordered the Disciples.
"What?" Maya questioned. "No. They know too much, Lord."
"Let them go!" God repeated.
"They cannot be trusted," Maya argued. "They will surely give into temptation to spread all that we've worked so hard to cover up."
Jack looked from the guns to Maya to God.
"Maybe, but their journey for me is not over," God stated. "They have much work left to do in their lifetime."
Maya sighed heavily and hesitated as she stared blankly at Jack and Sophia.
"Let them go, Maya," God told her. "Do no let me repeat myself."
She continued to stare at them for a few moments longer before looking to God and back to the Disciples of Origin.
Jack was relieved to see the guns lowered and a path cleared so they could leave peacefully. He nodded at the men and Maya as he and Sophia started down the steps to leave the mountain.
"Maya, they are pilgrims, lost in this land," God spoke. "Help them home."
Maya bowed before the blue ball of energy. "Thy will be done, Lord."
Jack and Sophia were halfway back to Saint Catherine's Monastery when Maya stopped them.
"Listen, I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye here recently, but you guys are out here with no way home," Maya said. "Let me get you guys back home, okay?"
Jack and Sophia both smiled and nodded. Then they continued their descent back down.
***
Jack sat in one of the seats with Sophia next to him, and in his arms. He was grateful that Maya offered them a ride home, especially since she had been so kind up until her betrayal.
"Jack?" Sophia asked with her head on his shoulder. "I need to tell you something."
"Soph, just rest," Jack told her.
"It's important."
"I think I know what you want to say," Jack said. "I was a big idiot in all of this. No amount of historical knowledge is worth your life."
Sophia smiled at him. "Well, I was right about that, but that's not what I wanted to say."
"Oh? You didn't want to say 'I told you so'?"
"Jack, shut up," she said and kissed his lips just before falling asleep on his shoulder.
Jack sat in shock for a moment. "Wait a minute. . . Sophia." He looked down at her closed eyes. "Soph?" Still no response. He laid his head against the headrest of the seat and slowly closed his eyes.
"Jack," a deep and loud voice spoke from what seemed like nowhere.
Jack stood in a paradise city made of golden buildings and pearl streets that all glistened in the light. The plants and trees around him were perfect in bloom. Not a single plant was dying. "Where am I?"
"This is what you call heaven," the voice answered.
"Am I dead?" Jack asked cautiously.
"No, but you touched my outer shell, so I pulled you in. Not everyone can locate me, Jack Canyon. Though, you did."
"Does that get me a special spot here or maybe a cookie?" Jack jested.
"I do not share in your humor, I am afraid."
"So, what do I call you? Who are you?" Jack shifted and look back at the sphere behind him.
"I have many names," the voice boomed. "Call me Jehovah. Call me Ishwara. Call me by any of the names that mean God."
Jack could feel his body become overwhelmed as chills spread throughout his arms, neck, and back. "I had a feeling you were Him. So, the big blue ball outside is. . .?"
"It is I. I know what you are wondering. Heaven resides within me. And you also wonder, 'how am I talking to God if I am inside Him?' Well, Jack Canyon, I am everywhere."
"That's not really an answer," Jack told him.
"Why?"
"You can project yourself anywhere, in any form, really, because you're, for lack of a better term, a big blue ball of energy. You can divide yourself, sustain any form you want. It's really quite great."
"That is not all is it?"
Jack stared at the the ball for a moment. "Where did you come from?"
The scene changed quickly for Jack from heavenly bliss to a star-filled galaxy with no planets.
"What am I looking for?" Jack asked.
"Watch."
A sudden explosion shocked Jack who jumped back several feet as the fireball subsided, the planets were slowly shown and formed into their evolving states.
"The Big Bang Theory," Jack stated.
"Yes. Before the dawn of time, there was a great battle between two energies. The blue ball, as you call it, and a red ball of energy."
"Lucifer?"
"As you know him, yes," God replied. "The heat was so great in the battle that it caused a tear that created your entire universe."
Jack watched as the planets zipped by him and then he was on earth as the evolution took place. From a single-celled organism all the way up to the dinosaurs.
"Lucifer and I were still engaged in battle even by the time of the dinosaurs. Fearing to create another 'big bang,' we crashed into Earth."
"Wait a minute," Jack spoke, but paused. His question was answered before he could even get it out. The vision he saw came as the two energy balls crashed into earth and destroyed everything.
***
"I'm guessing your father's death wasn't of natural causes, huh?" Sophia asked as she began to put it all together. "He was getting too close to solving the puzzle."
"You're a smart, Ms. Stone," Maya replied. "And you're absolutely right."
"You really had us fooled," Sophia said angrily at Maya. "I was wondering how they could've been following us all this time. I didn't dwell too much on it, since all these places are supposed to be relics to religions. That's the Disciples of Origin's job, right? Protect the relics?" She paused for a moment. "No. That's not it all, is it?"
"You're smart, Sophia, so I won't lie to you," Maya promised. "We protect that." She pointed at the blue ball of enegry. "We protect God."
"God? That thing is God?" Sophia asked. "And why should I even believe such a stupid story like that?"
"Because it's true," Maya told her. "It is the alpha. It is the omega."
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, I shall tell you the story before you die," Maya started. "Before the dawn of time. . ."
***
"After the destruction of an entire world, I tried to give it all back," God explained to Jack. "I created a paradise from what I remember earth was like. I created a garden."
"Eden."
"I placed a man and woman there to procreate and bring back the race, but I realized that the life force was too weak. More variations needed to be instituted in order to create a better strand of life forms."
"No incestuous breeding."
"Right. From the time of 'Adam and Eve,' there were many men throughout the ages who were contacted by me for the betterment of mankind. They were the original group who called themselves the Disciples of Origin."
"Who were they?" Jack asked.
"Well, there were men and women. A few notable figures were Moses, Noah, Mary Magdalene, Jesus, Buddha, many Dalai Lamas, many Hindu priests, even the original twelve disciples who followed Jesus Christ."
"So, Jesus is your son?"
"I sent a woman a miracle that she needed," God spoke. "The stories written in the Bible, Qur'an, The Hindu Vedas or Bhagavad Gītā, the Buddhist Tripitaka, and many others are all written by men. Some truths to things. Though, I didn't want to be found. People cannot handle the knowledge."
"Then why plant a tree of knowledge in the garden?" Jack asked.
"The fruit from that tree and the 'Tree of Life' were to make man healthier in physical and mental form. However, much more energy was put into them, which allowed their fruit to give man too much knowledge."
Jack stayed silent as God continued to talk.
"The tale of 'Adam and Eve' had to keep people wary of such fruits or too much knowledge. The passages of many books in many religions were simply to cover up my location. People want to know the meaning of life. Life is what you make it, Jack Canyon."
"But why? I mean, you create us and the world out of guilt for destroying it the first time? Yet you flooded it later?"
"Not my intent," God said. "The flood came to wash away all traces of me. Before Noah's grand flood, some had started their search for me. The Disciples of Origin could not keep everything in check, since they were so few in numbers. I generated the flood to help them. I seldom aid their works."
"So, what's all this about worshiping you and believing in you?" Jack asked Him.
"Like I said, key members of the Disciples of Origin wrote the 'great books.' They worshiped me, as if I were their God, their great creator. I never wanted this. I simply wanted to put back what I took away."
"So, why are you here? Why don't you just go back to the stars?"
"I am trapped here in a never ending battle. The stories of good versus evil are true, Jack Canyon. When we fell to earth, 'Lucifer' was crushed into the hot core of the planet."
"Hell?"
"That is what you call it, yes," God replied.
"What is this? You two are aliens? Entities? What?"
"Just energy from the vastness of the universe."
"How is it you know my language? What I think?"
"I created you. Everything about you is in Adam and Eve. Their body structure, their language, everything. And as with everything, evolution comes. Things change a little at a time. The energy within you, I sense it. I know all, because my energy is everywhere."
Jack stopped for a moment as all the information sank in. "Listen, I didn't come here looking for you. This isn't what I wanted from the beginning."
"I know. You were searching for a link between religions. You found it. The central point. I believe it is written in your literature by a man called Shakespeare. 'A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.' It all started with me, but translations and climate and regions of the world shifted things. Diversity arose, but everything came from me, nonetheless. My name changed with each new language that was created."
"So, my theories are correct?"
"In a manner of speaking," God told him. "Why do you do what you do?"
"Because I am searching for a truth to my theories or other's theories."
"Like men before you, you can influence people with your words," God spoke. "Like all the religions are from teachings that tell people to be good and live good lives. However, due to a firm belief in that only one religion is right, wars have broken out. People have died for their religion. They do not understand it completely, but they have faith in it. Religion gives them hope that there is more to life than just living and dying. It gives them peace of soul and mind that their good deeds are worth something. And they are right."
"So, I guess I'm correct about this. I always wondered why a God would put people here and make us worship Him, and then we die. It seemed selfish."
"I wanted no recognition for what I did, but I got it," the voice came from the orb. "So, I spent time convincing those who would listen, those who called themselves the Disciples of Origin, to cover up all traces that I was on earth. They insisted on a puzzle, in case one day none of them were left. Many pieces from dozens of religions were used. Someone had to be smart enough to put it all together."
Jack smiled a cocky smile at the orb.
***
"This is all bullshit!" Sophia cried out. "Why should I believe this? Some occult group has a giant orb in the middle of Mount Sinai and call it God, and I'm supposed to believe them? Fuck off!"
Maya slapped her forcefully across the face, which got her a retaliation.
Sophia tackled Maya and forced her to the ground and began to punch her as hard as she could. Sophia was a fighter, much more than Maya was. Several men pulled her off the Indian woman.
"Hold it," Maya said. "She's mine!" Maya punched her in the stomach, which only fueled Sophia's rage.
Sophia attacked Maya again, but this time she was allowed, since Maya seemed to want to finish this.
Jack was thrust out of the orb and hit the brick wall before falling to the stone floor. He groaned as he looked up and around at the scene.
Sophia was still on top of Maya pounding her fists into the woman's body.
Jack moved to get her off Maya, but received an elbow to his chin, which knocked him back. "What the hell is going on here?"
Sophia kept Maya pinned to the floor. "She's one of them. She's one of the Disciples."
"What?!" Jack asked angrily. He looked back at the men with machine guns. "How ya doing?" He only got a glare from those men. "Sophia, get off her."
"What do you mean? she's a traitor." Sophia was reluctant to move.
"No, I understand the Disciples position, and so should you," he told her.
"Okay, speak English, Jack," Sophia stated.
"The orb, it's God, well, for lack of a better term that is," Jack began to explain. "It's just a great big energy ball that is in a battle against another energy ball."
"Yeah, Maya here explained all about the big bang, destruction of earth, and then rebuilding it. Their beginning ministry of disciples worshiped Him. Though, the came from vast cultures, which with various languages had things misinterpreted and then we have multiple religions. I get it."
"They protect his known whereabouts," Jack said. "People can't handle the knowledge of 'God.' "
"You were able to," Sophia argued.
"No, before anyone can possibly know the entire knowledge of the universe, they usually reach here," Jack explained more. "Mental states are just physical states created of energy. He is able to remove the knowledge before it can kill anyone. If the knowledge reaches 'critical mass' inside your head, you die."
"So, what's all this about becoming 'one with God' we hear so much about?" Sophia continued to ask her questions.
"That's it," Jack pointed out. "When you die, your body's soul is just energy so your soul is brought here to become one with Him. Inside Him is heaven."
"What about Hell?"
"Those who are bad spend their eternity in hell, unless given a chance for another shot at life," Jack said. "The other entity is hell."
"So, they stay there until they can be reincarnated?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm hungry and would love to take a week off." He put his arm around Sophia's shoulder as they turned around and met opposition from the Disciples of Origin. "We never catch a break."
The men pointed their guns at the two.
"I'm sorry," Maya said, "but you can't leave. No one other than us ever finds God and leaves alive. I'm sorry. It's our job, our mission."
"And you are the one who said that we should understand and respect them," Sophia muttered to Jack.
"I've been wrong on occasion," Jack replied.
"Let them go!" God ordered the Disciples.
"What?" Maya questioned. "No. They know too much, Lord."
"Let them go!" God repeated.
"They cannot be trusted," Maya argued. "They will surely give into temptation to spread all that we've worked so hard to cover up."
Jack looked from the guns to Maya to God.
"Maybe, but their journey for me is not over," God stated. "They have much work left to do in their lifetime."
Maya sighed heavily and hesitated as she stared blankly at Jack and Sophia.
"Let them go, Maya," God told her. "Do no let me repeat myself."
She continued to stare at them for a few moments longer before looking to God and back to the Disciples of Origin.
Jack was relieved to see the guns lowered and a path cleared so they could leave peacefully. He nodded at the men and Maya as he and Sophia started down the steps to leave the mountain.
"Maya, they are pilgrims, lost in this land," God spoke. "Help them home."
Maya bowed before the blue ball of energy. "Thy will be done, Lord."
Jack and Sophia were halfway back to Saint Catherine's Monastery when Maya stopped them.
"Listen, I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye here recently, but you guys are out here with no way home," Maya said. "Let me get you guys back home, okay?"
Jack and Sophia both smiled and nodded. Then they continued their descent back down.
***
Jack sat in one of the seats with Sophia next to him, and in his arms. He was grateful that Maya offered them a ride home, especially since she had been so kind up until her betrayal.
"Jack?" Sophia asked with her head on his shoulder. "I need to tell you something."
"Soph, just rest," Jack told her.
"It's important."
"I think I know what you want to say," Jack said. "I was a big idiot in all of this. No amount of historical knowledge is worth your life."
Sophia smiled at him. "Well, I was right about that, but that's not what I wanted to say."
"Oh? You didn't want to say 'I told you so'?"
"Jack, shut up," she said and kissed his lips just before falling asleep on his shoulder.
Jack sat in shock for a moment. "Wait a minute. . . Sophia." He looked down at her closed eyes. "Soph?" Still no response. He laid his head against the headrest of the seat and slowly closed his eyes.
The End.
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART EIGHT
Words: 2105
Jack walked in a deep, dark void. He looked around at the nothingness that plagued him. "Hello? Anyone there? Where am I?" He moved forward, or at least he was walking. Jack was unsure if he was really moving, because the entire space was uniform black. "Boy," he said as he remembered eating the fruit and passing out. "If this is the inside of my mind. . . I'm in trouble. I thought there'd be more women."
"Jack!" A deep boisterous voice echoed throughout the area.
Suddenly, an overwhelming whind overcame Jack and knocked him onto his back, but instead of hitting the groun he stood on, he fell. He secretly hoped that A Nightmare on Elm Street wasn't true. Dying in this free falling dream wouldn't be fun. There was an abrupt jerk as he stopped in midair. He turned and landed on top of a mountain. "Where am I?" He turned to see an elderly man walking towards him. He jumped back with his back to the mountain side to allow the long bearded man to pass. "Where are you going?" He reached out to touch the man's robe, but his hand passed right though. "Whoa," he said looking at his hand. "That's a little unsettling. Am I dead?!"
No response.
He decided to follow the man up the trail, but he was quite aways behind. He was knocked back by a blast as an electrical bolt hit the side of the mountain. He looked through the dust to see the man pull two stone tablets from the mountainside. "Moses. This is Sinai." He spotted something else through the unsettled dust from the blast. It appeared to be a levitating sphere of light. "What the--?"
***
Sophia and Maya were up reading further into the Book of Origin as they huddled around a campfire. They had been waiting on Jack to awaken for hours. Night had fallen upon Turkey.
"So, what's the rest of the book say?" Maya asked as she lay her back against a large stone.
"It's all an elaborate map of the origin of religion," Sophia explained.
"What does it have to do with this puzzle and the quest we're on?"
"I don't know," Sophia replied. "We only have the medallion from the book and from the ark. Two are still missing."
"Where do you think they are?" Maya asked. "From the second clue, I'd say one is in the garden. It led us there."
"We didn't have much time to look with Jack's stupid taste-testing of the forbidden fruit," Sophia responded coldly. "Now, he's in a coma."
"Why don't we go back in?" Maya offered. "We can leave Jack out here and go back to the trees and find our third medallion."
"I don't know," she said looking at Jack. "I'd feel bad if anything happened to him. I just can't leave him out here."
"I understand," Maya responded with a nod of her head. "You care for him?"
"He's my boss," Sophia stated. "He pays the bills."
"No, it's more than that, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Sophia asked. She was playing dumb, because she didn't want anyone to know about her feelings for Jack. She had always covered her emotions with sarcasm and hatred toward Jack's ego and attitude.
"I know you were jealous earlier when he and I were flirting," Maya admitted. "It's intuition, my dear."
"Why don't we move Jack to a secure location so we can go in and find the third medallion," Sophia said changing the subject.
Maya smiled and nodded. She knew what Sophia was doing. As she and Sophia rose to their feet, she moved past the American woman. "Your secret's safe with me."
Sophia followed Maya over to Jack, who was a few feet away from them. She knelt down and looked at his face. Brushing his short brown hair to the side, she sighed heavily. "Why do you always get into these messes, Jack?"
Jack quickly grabbed her hand as his eyes opened slowly. "Soph?"
Chills ran down her spine, and all over, as Jack awakened and touched her. "Jack, you're okay."
"Of course," he replied. "Did you honestly think I could not be?" He raised up from his lying position and looked from Sophia to Maya.
"We have to get back in there and find the next medallion so we can get finished with this expedition," Maya told him.
"No," Jack said. "I know where to go from here."
"What? how?" Sophia asked in a bewildered tone.
"I'm not sure," Jack told her. "I think the forbidden fruit has given me knowledge."
"Then what's at the end of this adventure?" Maya questioned him, ready to finish this.
"I don't know yet," Jack said as he got to his feet. "I just know where to go."
"Shouldn't we get the final medallions?" Sophia asked.
"We'll come back for them to complete the sundisk, but they're not needed now," he explained. "The third medallion is buried between the two trees. The last medallion is located somewhere where we need to go. Our next stop is Saint Catherine's Monastery."
"That's near Mount Sinai at the mouth of a canyon or gorge, isn't it?" Maya asked.
"The gorge is impossible to trek," Sophia added.
"That's what they want you to believe," Jack said. "There is a trail that is accessible, but it's not where we need to go. We must follow the gorge."
"But that's suicide," Sophia told him.
"Jack, maybe we should rethink this," Maya stated. "If it's really as dangerous as--"
"We can make it," Jack said. "I know how. Come on, we have a long trip ahead of us. Let's get back to the airport."
"I'll call him while we take the jeep back," Maya said. "We'll probably have to fly into Dhahab, its going to be the closest city with the shortest road to Sinai."
"And you just happen to know that?" Jack asked.
"Well, my father was on the trail of this religious escapade you're on," Maya stated. "He did a lot of research on religious places and towns nearby. You know, just in case he needed to plan a flight there."
Jack looked down at the nearest town as they all began to walk. "Well, Mount Sinai, here we come."
"Are you sure you're okay, Jack?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, don't I look fine?" Jack responded with a smirk.
Sophia rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long trip to Dhahab.
***
Sophia could have hung herself on the trip down to Dhahab, Egypt on the Sinai Peninsula. Jack was flirting with Maya and Maya was enjoying it. Though, had Maya shown no interest, it might have allowed Sophia's secret to show through. It was hard not to let someone know how you feel, but Jack was just an arrogant bastard. It was even worse now with his ego in full overload now that he had the knowledge of the universe.
The plane set down in Dhahab several hours after departing from Igdir, Turkey.
Jack and Maya got off the plane and made their way down to the car that was waiting for them. Behind them was Sophia, who slowly followed. She got into the backseat as the other two took the front. She enjoyed some perks, like being all alone in the back.
"How far is this monastery?" Sophia asked in an annoyed voice.
"It's about an hour and a half," Maya replied. "It wouldn't take that long if the road was straight through. We'd travel about forty minutes straight through."
"Then why couldn't we get a four wheel drive vehicle?" Jack asked.
***
Daylight was breaking over Mount Sinai as their trip slowly came to an end at Saint Catherine's Monastery, which was surrounded by a large stone wall with several buildings inside including a tall tower.
"So what do we tell these people?" Sophia asked. "We're here to climb the gorge and find. . .what exactly?"
"They won't let us climb the gorge," Jack told her. "We'll have to follow the guide and trail and suddenly disappear."
"Great, another country to be kicked out of," Sophia mumbled as the car came to a stop.
Jack got out of the passenger seat and Maya out of the driver seat. He led the way up to the front of the monastery where a small group of people gathered to take the trail up to the summit.
"You are here for the hike?" The guide asked.
"Yeah," Jack said as he reached into his pocket to give the guy the money. "Three of us."
"Ah, good," the man said. "Always glad to have as many people as possible. We're just about ready here. You can join us or wait."
"We've come so far," Jack told him. "I think we'll just go ahead with this one."
"Alright, then follow me, please," the man announced as they began their hike toward the summit of the Mount Sinai.
The trail was straight up at first and twisted and turned around as it got higher. As the group slowly got out of sight, Jack, Maya, and Sophia slowly turned around and headed toward the gorge, which was a treacherous way to go, not to mention stupid.
"Jack, this is a stupid idea," Sophia reminded him.
"Yes, thank you for telling me for the nine billionth time," Jack said in an annoyed sarcastic way. "Listen, as much as this gorge is 'unaccessible,' it's also a lie."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked. She was getting more curious about all this and where it was leading. Her father spent his remaining breaths looking over the material taken from Babylon and India. It was time to give her father's work proper rest.
"Think about it," Jack started. "Your mother tells you it's dangerous, so what do you do? You don't go that way."
"What are you trying to say?" Maya continued.
Jack stepped across a large boulder making his way through the gorge. "Well, obviously, someone doesn't want us to pass through here. I'm betting this is another cover up." He turned and helped Maya and Sophia across and then up the mountain.
Below was a group of men dressed as Muslims who were watching them intently.
"What are we looking for?" Sophia questioned him as she climbed along with him. "Is there some kind of secret passage in the mountain?"
"As a matter of fact," Jack said as he stopped in front of a large boulder halfway through the gorge, "there is. Right here."
"How did you know that?" Maya asked in awe.
"Well, I did eat of the tree of all knowledge," he gloated. "The third medallion leads you to St. Catherine's. There you locate the fourth medallion where the Chapel of the Burning Bush is. It leads you through the gorge to this rock." He pressed on a smaller stone in the wall, which opened the large boulder. "See?" He smiled at them. "Ladies first."
Sophia and Maya entered the stairwell and started up toward the top.
Jack followed behind them. He was getting so nervous about what was at the top. He could feel the end of their journey near. The knowledge of the fruit only allowed him parts of the puzzle at a time.
"Um, Jack," Sophia said as she reached the top with Maya.
"What?" Jack asked as he came upon a large platform-like area. "Wow!" He stood in awe are the large stone brick area that housed a large blue energy ball in the middle.
"What is that?" Maya questioned.
"It's Him," Jack replied as he got closer to the blue ball of energy. He knelt down before the orb and touched it. "It's God." Then it suddenly pulled him inside.
"Jack!" Sophia cried out as she jumped forward. There wasn't much she could do to save him now.
"Another Jack Canyon moment, huh?" Maya asked. "I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's okay," Sophia tried to tell her. "He gets into trouble all the time. I'm used to it."
"No, not that," Maya said as she moved away from Sophia and pulled a gun on her. "I'm sorry for this." Then the men dressed as Muslims appeared from the stairwell with machine guns.
Sophia was speechless, but what does one say when there's a gun pointed at you. "Guess Jack isn't the only one who gets into trouble."
"Well, I needed to see just how smart Jack was," Maya told Sophia. "I needed to see if he could figure all this out. Seems he is smarter than we gave him credit for."
"We?"
"Yes," Maya replied. "The Disciples of Origin."
Jack walked in a deep, dark void. He looked around at the nothingness that plagued him. "Hello? Anyone there? Where am I?" He moved forward, or at least he was walking. Jack was unsure if he was really moving, because the entire space was uniform black. "Boy," he said as he remembered eating the fruit and passing out. "If this is the inside of my mind. . . I'm in trouble. I thought there'd be more women."
"Jack!" A deep boisterous voice echoed throughout the area.
Suddenly, an overwhelming whind overcame Jack and knocked him onto his back, but instead of hitting the groun he stood on, he fell. He secretly hoped that A Nightmare on Elm Street wasn't true. Dying in this free falling dream wouldn't be fun. There was an abrupt jerk as he stopped in midair. He turned and landed on top of a mountain. "Where am I?" He turned to see an elderly man walking towards him. He jumped back with his back to the mountain side to allow the long bearded man to pass. "Where are you going?" He reached out to touch the man's robe, but his hand passed right though. "Whoa," he said looking at his hand. "That's a little unsettling. Am I dead?!"
No response.
He decided to follow the man up the trail, but he was quite aways behind. He was knocked back by a blast as an electrical bolt hit the side of the mountain. He looked through the dust to see the man pull two stone tablets from the mountainside. "Moses. This is Sinai." He spotted something else through the unsettled dust from the blast. It appeared to be a levitating sphere of light. "What the--?"
***
Sophia and Maya were up reading further into the Book of Origin as they huddled around a campfire. They had been waiting on Jack to awaken for hours. Night had fallen upon Turkey.
"So, what's the rest of the book say?" Maya asked as she lay her back against a large stone.
"It's all an elaborate map of the origin of religion," Sophia explained.
"What does it have to do with this puzzle and the quest we're on?"
"I don't know," Sophia replied. "We only have the medallion from the book and from the ark. Two are still missing."
"Where do you think they are?" Maya asked. "From the second clue, I'd say one is in the garden. It led us there."
"We didn't have much time to look with Jack's stupid taste-testing of the forbidden fruit," Sophia responded coldly. "Now, he's in a coma."
"Why don't we go back in?" Maya offered. "We can leave Jack out here and go back to the trees and find our third medallion."
"I don't know," she said looking at Jack. "I'd feel bad if anything happened to him. I just can't leave him out here."
"I understand," Maya responded with a nod of her head. "You care for him?"
"He's my boss," Sophia stated. "He pays the bills."
"No, it's more than that, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Sophia asked. She was playing dumb, because she didn't want anyone to know about her feelings for Jack. She had always covered her emotions with sarcasm and hatred toward Jack's ego and attitude.
"I know you were jealous earlier when he and I were flirting," Maya admitted. "It's intuition, my dear."
"Why don't we move Jack to a secure location so we can go in and find the third medallion," Sophia said changing the subject.
Maya smiled and nodded. She knew what Sophia was doing. As she and Sophia rose to their feet, she moved past the American woman. "Your secret's safe with me."
Sophia followed Maya over to Jack, who was a few feet away from them. She knelt down and looked at his face. Brushing his short brown hair to the side, she sighed heavily. "Why do you always get into these messes, Jack?"
Jack quickly grabbed her hand as his eyes opened slowly. "Soph?"
Chills ran down her spine, and all over, as Jack awakened and touched her. "Jack, you're okay."
"Of course," he replied. "Did you honestly think I could not be?" He raised up from his lying position and looked from Sophia to Maya.
"We have to get back in there and find the next medallion so we can get finished with this expedition," Maya told him.
"No," Jack said. "I know where to go from here."
"What? how?" Sophia asked in a bewildered tone.
"I'm not sure," Jack told her. "I think the forbidden fruit has given me knowledge."
"Then what's at the end of this adventure?" Maya questioned him, ready to finish this.
"I don't know yet," Jack said as he got to his feet. "I just know where to go."
"Shouldn't we get the final medallions?" Sophia asked.
"We'll come back for them to complete the sundisk, but they're not needed now," he explained. "The third medallion is buried between the two trees. The last medallion is located somewhere where we need to go. Our next stop is Saint Catherine's Monastery."
"That's near Mount Sinai at the mouth of a canyon or gorge, isn't it?" Maya asked.
"The gorge is impossible to trek," Sophia added.
"That's what they want you to believe," Jack said. "There is a trail that is accessible, but it's not where we need to go. We must follow the gorge."
"But that's suicide," Sophia told him.
"Jack, maybe we should rethink this," Maya stated. "If it's really as dangerous as--"
"We can make it," Jack said. "I know how. Come on, we have a long trip ahead of us. Let's get back to the airport."
"I'll call him while we take the jeep back," Maya said. "We'll probably have to fly into Dhahab, its going to be the closest city with the shortest road to Sinai."
"And you just happen to know that?" Jack asked.
"Well, my father was on the trail of this religious escapade you're on," Maya stated. "He did a lot of research on religious places and towns nearby. You know, just in case he needed to plan a flight there."
Jack looked down at the nearest town as they all began to walk. "Well, Mount Sinai, here we come."
"Are you sure you're okay, Jack?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, don't I look fine?" Jack responded with a smirk.
Sophia rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long trip to Dhahab.
***
Sophia could have hung herself on the trip down to Dhahab, Egypt on the Sinai Peninsula. Jack was flirting with Maya and Maya was enjoying it. Though, had Maya shown no interest, it might have allowed Sophia's secret to show through. It was hard not to let someone know how you feel, but Jack was just an arrogant bastard. It was even worse now with his ego in full overload now that he had the knowledge of the universe.
The plane set down in Dhahab several hours after departing from Igdir, Turkey.
Jack and Maya got off the plane and made their way down to the car that was waiting for them. Behind them was Sophia, who slowly followed. She got into the backseat as the other two took the front. She enjoyed some perks, like being all alone in the back.
"How far is this monastery?" Sophia asked in an annoyed voice.
"It's about an hour and a half," Maya replied. "It wouldn't take that long if the road was straight through. We'd travel about forty minutes straight through."
"Then why couldn't we get a four wheel drive vehicle?" Jack asked.
***
Daylight was breaking over Mount Sinai as their trip slowly came to an end at Saint Catherine's Monastery, which was surrounded by a large stone wall with several buildings inside including a tall tower.
"So what do we tell these people?" Sophia asked. "We're here to climb the gorge and find. . .what exactly?"
"They won't let us climb the gorge," Jack told her. "We'll have to follow the guide and trail and suddenly disappear."
"Great, another country to be kicked out of," Sophia mumbled as the car came to a stop.
Jack got out of the passenger seat and Maya out of the driver seat. He led the way up to the front of the monastery where a small group of people gathered to take the trail up to the summit.
"You are here for the hike?" The guide asked.
"Yeah," Jack said as he reached into his pocket to give the guy the money. "Three of us."
"Ah, good," the man said. "Always glad to have as many people as possible. We're just about ready here. You can join us or wait."
"We've come so far," Jack told him. "I think we'll just go ahead with this one."
"Alright, then follow me, please," the man announced as they began their hike toward the summit of the Mount Sinai.
The trail was straight up at first and twisted and turned around as it got higher. As the group slowly got out of sight, Jack, Maya, and Sophia slowly turned around and headed toward the gorge, which was a treacherous way to go, not to mention stupid.
"Jack, this is a stupid idea," Sophia reminded him.
"Yes, thank you for telling me for the nine billionth time," Jack said in an annoyed sarcastic way. "Listen, as much as this gorge is 'unaccessible,' it's also a lie."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked. She was getting more curious about all this and where it was leading. Her father spent his remaining breaths looking over the material taken from Babylon and India. It was time to give her father's work proper rest.
"Think about it," Jack started. "Your mother tells you it's dangerous, so what do you do? You don't go that way."
"What are you trying to say?" Maya continued.
Jack stepped across a large boulder making his way through the gorge. "Well, obviously, someone doesn't want us to pass through here. I'm betting this is another cover up." He turned and helped Maya and Sophia across and then up the mountain.
Below was a group of men dressed as Muslims who were watching them intently.
"What are we looking for?" Sophia questioned him as she climbed along with him. "Is there some kind of secret passage in the mountain?"
"As a matter of fact," Jack said as he stopped in front of a large boulder halfway through the gorge, "there is. Right here."
"How did you know that?" Maya asked in awe.
"Well, I did eat of the tree of all knowledge," he gloated. "The third medallion leads you to St. Catherine's. There you locate the fourth medallion where the Chapel of the Burning Bush is. It leads you through the gorge to this rock." He pressed on a smaller stone in the wall, which opened the large boulder. "See?" He smiled at them. "Ladies first."
Sophia and Maya entered the stairwell and started up toward the top.
Jack followed behind them. He was getting so nervous about what was at the top. He could feel the end of their journey near. The knowledge of the fruit only allowed him parts of the puzzle at a time.
"Um, Jack," Sophia said as she reached the top with Maya.
"What?" Jack asked as he came upon a large platform-like area. "Wow!" He stood in awe are the large stone brick area that housed a large blue energy ball in the middle.
"What is that?" Maya questioned.
"It's Him," Jack replied as he got closer to the blue ball of energy. He knelt down before the orb and touched it. "It's God." Then it suddenly pulled him inside.
"Jack!" Sophia cried out as she jumped forward. There wasn't much she could do to save him now.
"Another Jack Canyon moment, huh?" Maya asked. "I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's okay," Sophia tried to tell her. "He gets into trouble all the time. I'm used to it."
"No, not that," Maya said as she moved away from Sophia and pulled a gun on her. "I'm sorry for this." Then the men dressed as Muslims appeared from the stairwell with machine guns.
Sophia was speechless, but what does one say when there's a gun pointed at you. "Guess Jack isn't the only one who gets into trouble."
"Well, I needed to see just how smart Jack was," Maya told Sophia. "I needed to see if he could figure all this out. Seems he is smarter than we gave him credit for."
"We?"
"Yes," Maya replied. "The Disciples of Origin."
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART SEVEN
Words: 2371
"Come on, Jack," Sophia urged as she pressed her mouth to his to give him a breath.
Jack held her for a moment and kissed her, but she jumped back quickly. Getting to his feet, Jack looked at Sophia and Maya for a moment. "How long was I out?"
"Jesus Christ, Jack, we thought you were dead," Sophia said still infuriated by his actions.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Jack argued.
"Not your kiss," Sophia stated. "You were dead for a few minutes." She wiped her mouth.
"Can we go home now?" Maya asked interrupting the two.
"What do you mean 'go home'?" Jack questioned. "We can't quit now when we're so close."
"So close to what?" Sophia argued putting her hands onto her hips. "You've almost died more times than I kept up with. These Disciples won't give up. All three of us almost died on your roller coaster of death there."
"Maybe I should open up a theme park," Jack said as he looked up the mountain and then at the debris around them.
"Grow up, Jack," Sophia yelled as she stormed off down the snowy trail.
"What about you, Maya? Do you want to continue?"
"I don't know," she replied softly. "This was just so much. I couldn't handle this. We could've died."
"But we didn't," Jack explained. "We can finish what we- what your father- started. We can solve this puzzle. The dagger led to the sundisk. And without the Book of Origin, we couldn't have figured out where to go from there."
"But we lost the medallion from the ark," Sophia said as she turned back to them, but she kept her distance.
"No, no we didn't," Jack told her as he reached into his pocket. "I stuck it into my pocket before the ship went down."
Maya smiled at his quick thinking. "You're brilliant, you know that?"
"Well, I try not to brag," Jack said modestly.
Sophia rolled her eyes at the egotistical man. She knew what this meant. This meant her job wasn't done yet.
"Sophia, bring me the sundisk and the book," Jack ordered. "I think it's time we find out where we go to next."
Sophia moved toward him and pulled her pack off her back and thrust it hard into his chest.
Jack opened up the pack and pulled out the sundisk and tried matching the medallion to one of the remaining holes. It slipped into the hole that was sitting on the eastern side of the disk with the medallion from the book on the northern side. "Perfect fit. Sophia, translate."
Sophia sighed heavily as she looked at the sundusk's surface. "From the resting place of the ark of Noah, traverse, but watch your step. It's right beneath your feet, if you can't find it, ask for help."
"What does that mean?" Maya asked.
"I haven't the slightest clue," Jack answered. "This puzzle is getting more and more coded."
"You said yourself, Jack, that the Garden of Eden was possibly located nearby, right?"
"Well, in theory--"
"Yes or no is all you need to say," Sophia told him.
"Fine, yes," Jack stated.
"Okay, then, its talking about the garden of Eden," Maya said. "So, what now?"
"Well, it says its right below our feet," Sophia began to explain.
"Does that mean we're standing on it?" Jack asked.
"I don't think so," Sophia replied. "Remember in the book of Genesis, Eden was not on a mountain top, but rather in a valley. It was near the mouth of a river."
"Wait, it was near the sources of the Euphrates, Tigris, Pishon, and Gihon," Jack remembered.
Maya turned to the west and pointed out toward the horizon. "Then its that way. The source of the Euphrates is about one-hundred and fifty miles that way."
"That's a long way out there," Jack said.
"If I remember correctly, Eden was the place where the four rivers were," Sophia stated.
"Yeah, so?" Jack asked.
"The garden is supposedly in the eastern part of Eden," she explained.
"Where exactly does that put the garden?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, exactly," Sophia responded as she began to walk off. "Come on. We'll get off this mountain and see."
Jack's mind was working overtime on where it could be. He was so anxious and tired and beat up. It had been a rough trip so far. It could only get worse. "So, you're all for this now, huh?"
"There's still pieces of the puzzle missing, Jack," Sophia told him. "That means there's still something to do."
"And two seconds ago you were ready to pack up and go home," Jack reminded her.
Yeah, well--" Before she could finish her sentence, the ground gave way and dropped the trio into a shaft that angled at forty-five degrees. She slid down ahead of the others, but Jack was right behind her.
Maya was behind Jack in their quick descent inside the dormant volcano. There was an abrupt drop off that landed her on top of the other two.
"That wasn't so bad, huh?" Jack asked from between the two girls.
"Get off me!" Sophia cried from the bottom of the pile.
"Hey, I'm not complaining," Jack stated. "A nice Jack sandwich is just what you two want." He slowly got up after Maya crawled off. "Everyone okay?"
"No," Sophia said as she rose to her feet. She dusted her clothes off as thoroughly as she could. "Where are we?"
"Inside the mountain," Jack pointed out as he looked around the large cavern. He walked toward the edge of a ledge the overlooked a deeper area. "Hey, girls, take a look. It's like 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' all over again."
"Jack, that's the garden," Sophia announced.
"Inside the mountain?" Maya asked. "Why?"
"It's the perfect place to hide something like this," Sophia replied.
"No way the Disciples did this," Jack said as he continued to stare over the edge. "I mean, it's inside a mountain."
"Well, Eden was the first place in the bible to be created for men," Sophia began to explain. "Noah's day on top of Mount Ararat came much, much later. The way I understand it with the way that tectonic plates work, its possible for the volcano to just appear."
"Well, let's go down and see what we can find," Jack stated as he looked for a way down.
"And what exactly are we looking for?" Maya asked looking between Sophia and Jack.
"Good question," Sophia responded.
"Anything from the bible," Jack told them both. "The tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree of life, all that stuff."
"Great, are you going to eat of the tree and get us kicked out?" Sophia questioned him with much sarcasm in her voice.
"Oh, come on, you don't believe in all that do you?" Jack laughed. "The story is obviously made up to scare people from eating of the tree."
"I thought it was to tell of the defiance of God," Maya interrupted them.
"Well, that's how we perceive it, because that's what we're taught," Jack explained. "Now, from the Disciples of Origin point of view, you're not supposed to eat from the tree because then you'll have knowledge of something. They never banked on people actually finding the garden." There it was, the way down. He started down the stone staircase that descended into the garden.
"So, what is that we're not supposed to know?" Sophia asked her boss.
"When I find the tree, I'll let you know," he answered.
"But isn't the tree supposed to be apple or fig or--"
"It can be anything," Sophia announced.
"So, we're looking for a flea on an elephant's ass," Maya stated.
"Needle," Sophia corrected her. "A needle in a hay stack."
"Anyone remember where exactly the tree was located? Anyone?" He paused for a moment for an answer, but only got silence. "Anyone at all?"
"Jack, it's the only tree of its kind out here," Sophia told him as they reached the center of the garden.
"Why was it called a garden if no garden is planted here?" Maya asked.
"It's possibly because it was originally a place where humans were planted to grow," Sophia replied to her. "Had the story not ended with Adam and Eve being booted from here and had they obeyed God, they might have flourished and procreated."
"I see."
"There," Jack said in a gasp as he pointed to the tree in the center of the garden. "The tree of knowledge of good and evil."
"It's a fig," Sophia said saddened. "I would've guessed apple, seeing how they're brain food."
"There's your apple," Maya showed her.
"So, the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil," Sophia said as she began to think aloud. "So, why are these two so special? What kind of knowledge do they hold?"
"According to the book of Genesis," Jack started, "good and evil is a merism, a figure of speech." He plucked a fig from the tree. "Being of both good and evil means that it is of all or everything."
Maya stayed back, and kept quiet, as Jack examined the fig.
"So, its the tree of all knowledge," Jack finished. "It holds the knowledge of the universe."
"Is that really a good idea?" Maya asked as the fig approached Jack's lips. "I mean to hold the knowledge of everything is. . . dangerous."
"She's right," Sophia agreed. "Eating from this tree would be stupid. Didn't you go to Sunday school or church?"
"Why?" Jack argued. "It was always the same old thing. The preacher would banter and bash other religions and cultures saying they were wrong in what they believed." He bit the fig in half and chewed on the piece. "Oh, this is tasty." Finally, he swallowed it. "I don't feel different. I don't feel smart." He ate the rest of the fig and waited for a moment.
"See? Nothing," Maya said as she let out a deep breath.
"Well, that just sucks," Jack cried out. "I was hoping for a reaction."
"Maybe it will work over a period of time," Sophia told him.
"Or it doesn't work at all," Jack replied. "I should've known. The bible is so full of false--" He lurched forward cradling his stomach as he fell to his knees. He groaned quite loudly.
"Jack?" Sophia and Maya yelled as they rushed to his side.
He continued to groan as he fell over to his side.
"I guess two-thousand year old fruit doesn't agree with him," Maya stated.
"We need to do something to help him," Sophia urged their new friend. "It could be killing him." She compressed his stomach with hers hoping to get him to throw it up."
Jack suddenly stopped moving in the fetal position and lay unconscious.
"Does he always get into positions like this?" Maya asked.
"Well, he most certainly does," Sophia answered the thirty-something year old Indian woman. "This is why he drags me along. If something happens to him, I must help him."
"I surely hope he pays you well," Maya told her.
"Trust me, he does," Sophia said with a smile. "Okay, he's alive for now. I don't know if its poisoning his system or just made him a little sick. We should go."
"Who's going to carry him?" Maya asked as she stood from her kneeling position.
"I can't do it alone, so we'll have to work together on this," Sophia responded.
Maya scanned the garden with her eyes for a moment. "He's going to hate us for taking him out of here."
"He'll get over it," Sophia stated as she stood. She grabbed one of Jack's arms and ordered Maya to do the same. Once they had him up, they headed through the garden to get out.
"Do you know where the exit is?" Maya asked between breaths. Jack was heavy, almost too heavy for her.
"No, do you? Come on, it can't be hard to find." Sophia stopped when she spotted some type of spring. "That has to lead out, right?"
"Hey, I'm just along for the ride, because I wanted to see what my father was so obsessed about."
"Right," Sophia nodded as she guided them all down the side of the stream. She stumbled a little, but didn't fall completely. Jack's weight was more than she anticipated.
"You okay?" Maya asked to be friendly.
"Yeah, lets keep moving," Sophia urged even though she was getting tired.
The ground began to rumble beneath them as the volcano began to wake. The trio paused for a moment.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sophia asked as her eyes widened.
"The volcano. . . its not so dormant anymore," Maya realized. "Run. Now!" She and Sophia moved fast with Jack hanging on their shoulders. The ground below began to crack and cave in. "Oh, shit!"
Sophia moved her legs as fast as she could to avoid being dropped into the middle of the volcano. Suddenly, they all fell, but not into a fissure. The ground sucked Jack into, forcing the girls to try and pull him up, but it was too difficult. Sophia strained as she pulled her boss out of the hole and onto solid ground.
"Okay, can we go now and stop playing around?" Maya asked as she panted.
"You have my vote," Sophia replied as they all began to move again. They reached a point where they could finally see an exit. They saw light. Parts of the large cavern began to drop around them. They hastened their escape from a brisk walk to a sprint. The ground cracked and caved once more, but the group was close to the end. As it gave way, they slid out of the mountain and down the base of it.
"Thank God," Sophia said as they came to a stop at the bottom. "Land."
Maya looked up at Mount Ararat as the quaking came to a stop. "It's over. Just a little quake." She tired to catch her breath as they lay on the ground.
Sophia slapped Jack. "Wake up. Come on. I'm not dragging your ass back to the plane."
"Come on, Jack," Sophia urged as she pressed her mouth to his to give him a breath.
Jack held her for a moment and kissed her, but she jumped back quickly. Getting to his feet, Jack looked at Sophia and Maya for a moment. "How long was I out?"
"Jesus Christ, Jack, we thought you were dead," Sophia said still infuriated by his actions.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Jack argued.
"Not your kiss," Sophia stated. "You were dead for a few minutes." She wiped her mouth.
"Can we go home now?" Maya asked interrupting the two.
"What do you mean 'go home'?" Jack questioned. "We can't quit now when we're so close."
"So close to what?" Sophia argued putting her hands onto her hips. "You've almost died more times than I kept up with. These Disciples won't give up. All three of us almost died on your roller coaster of death there."
"Maybe I should open up a theme park," Jack said as he looked up the mountain and then at the debris around them.
"Grow up, Jack," Sophia yelled as she stormed off down the snowy trail.
"What about you, Maya? Do you want to continue?"
"I don't know," she replied softly. "This was just so much. I couldn't handle this. We could've died."
"But we didn't," Jack explained. "We can finish what we- what your father- started. We can solve this puzzle. The dagger led to the sundisk. And without the Book of Origin, we couldn't have figured out where to go from there."
"But we lost the medallion from the ark," Sophia said as she turned back to them, but she kept her distance.
"No, no we didn't," Jack told her as he reached into his pocket. "I stuck it into my pocket before the ship went down."
Maya smiled at his quick thinking. "You're brilliant, you know that?"
"Well, I try not to brag," Jack said modestly.
Sophia rolled her eyes at the egotistical man. She knew what this meant. This meant her job wasn't done yet.
"Sophia, bring me the sundisk and the book," Jack ordered. "I think it's time we find out where we go to next."
Sophia moved toward him and pulled her pack off her back and thrust it hard into his chest.
Jack opened up the pack and pulled out the sundisk and tried matching the medallion to one of the remaining holes. It slipped into the hole that was sitting on the eastern side of the disk with the medallion from the book on the northern side. "Perfect fit. Sophia, translate."
Sophia sighed heavily as she looked at the sundusk's surface. "From the resting place of the ark of Noah, traverse, but watch your step. It's right beneath your feet, if you can't find it, ask for help."
"What does that mean?" Maya asked.
"I haven't the slightest clue," Jack answered. "This puzzle is getting more and more coded."
"You said yourself, Jack, that the Garden of Eden was possibly located nearby, right?"
"Well, in theory--"
"Yes or no is all you need to say," Sophia told him.
"Fine, yes," Jack stated.
"Okay, then, its talking about the garden of Eden," Maya said. "So, what now?"
"Well, it says its right below our feet," Sophia began to explain.
"Does that mean we're standing on it?" Jack asked.
"I don't think so," Sophia replied. "Remember in the book of Genesis, Eden was not on a mountain top, but rather in a valley. It was near the mouth of a river."
"Wait, it was near the sources of the Euphrates, Tigris, Pishon, and Gihon," Jack remembered.
Maya turned to the west and pointed out toward the horizon. "Then its that way. The source of the Euphrates is about one-hundred and fifty miles that way."
"That's a long way out there," Jack said.
"If I remember correctly, Eden was the place where the four rivers were," Sophia stated.
"Yeah, so?" Jack asked.
"The garden is supposedly in the eastern part of Eden," she explained.
"Where exactly does that put the garden?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, exactly," Sophia responded as she began to walk off. "Come on. We'll get off this mountain and see."
Jack's mind was working overtime on where it could be. He was so anxious and tired and beat up. It had been a rough trip so far. It could only get worse. "So, you're all for this now, huh?"
"There's still pieces of the puzzle missing, Jack," Sophia told him. "That means there's still something to do."
"And two seconds ago you were ready to pack up and go home," Jack reminded her.
Yeah, well--" Before she could finish her sentence, the ground gave way and dropped the trio into a shaft that angled at forty-five degrees. She slid down ahead of the others, but Jack was right behind her.
Maya was behind Jack in their quick descent inside the dormant volcano. There was an abrupt drop off that landed her on top of the other two.
"That wasn't so bad, huh?" Jack asked from between the two girls.
"Get off me!" Sophia cried from the bottom of the pile.
"Hey, I'm not complaining," Jack stated. "A nice Jack sandwich is just what you two want." He slowly got up after Maya crawled off. "Everyone okay?"
"No," Sophia said as she rose to her feet. She dusted her clothes off as thoroughly as she could. "Where are we?"
"Inside the mountain," Jack pointed out as he looked around the large cavern. He walked toward the edge of a ledge the overlooked a deeper area. "Hey, girls, take a look. It's like 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' all over again."
"Jack, that's the garden," Sophia announced.
"Inside the mountain?" Maya asked. "Why?"
"It's the perfect place to hide something like this," Sophia replied.
"No way the Disciples did this," Jack said as he continued to stare over the edge. "I mean, it's inside a mountain."
"Well, Eden was the first place in the bible to be created for men," Sophia began to explain. "Noah's day on top of Mount Ararat came much, much later. The way I understand it with the way that tectonic plates work, its possible for the volcano to just appear."
"Well, let's go down and see what we can find," Jack stated as he looked for a way down.
"And what exactly are we looking for?" Maya asked looking between Sophia and Jack.
"Good question," Sophia responded.
"Anything from the bible," Jack told them both. "The tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree of life, all that stuff."
"Great, are you going to eat of the tree and get us kicked out?" Sophia questioned him with much sarcasm in her voice.
"Oh, come on, you don't believe in all that do you?" Jack laughed. "The story is obviously made up to scare people from eating of the tree."
"I thought it was to tell of the defiance of God," Maya interrupted them.
"Well, that's how we perceive it, because that's what we're taught," Jack explained. "Now, from the Disciples of Origin point of view, you're not supposed to eat from the tree because then you'll have knowledge of something. They never banked on people actually finding the garden." There it was, the way down. He started down the stone staircase that descended into the garden.
"So, what is that we're not supposed to know?" Sophia asked her boss.
"When I find the tree, I'll let you know," he answered.
"But isn't the tree supposed to be apple or fig or--"
"It can be anything," Sophia announced.
"So, we're looking for a flea on an elephant's ass," Maya stated.
"Needle," Sophia corrected her. "A needle in a hay stack."
"Anyone remember where exactly the tree was located? Anyone?" He paused for a moment for an answer, but only got silence. "Anyone at all?"
"Jack, it's the only tree of its kind out here," Sophia told him as they reached the center of the garden.
"Why was it called a garden if no garden is planted here?" Maya asked.
"It's possibly because it was originally a place where humans were planted to grow," Sophia replied to her. "Had the story not ended with Adam and Eve being booted from here and had they obeyed God, they might have flourished and procreated."
"I see."
"There," Jack said in a gasp as he pointed to the tree in the center of the garden. "The tree of knowledge of good and evil."
"It's a fig," Sophia said saddened. "I would've guessed apple, seeing how they're brain food."
"There's your apple," Maya showed her.
"So, the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil," Sophia said as she began to think aloud. "So, why are these two so special? What kind of knowledge do they hold?"
"According to the book of Genesis," Jack started, "good and evil is a merism, a figure of speech." He plucked a fig from the tree. "Being of both good and evil means that it is of all or everything."
Maya stayed back, and kept quiet, as Jack examined the fig.
"So, its the tree of all knowledge," Jack finished. "It holds the knowledge of the universe."
"Is that really a good idea?" Maya asked as the fig approached Jack's lips. "I mean to hold the knowledge of everything is. . . dangerous."
"She's right," Sophia agreed. "Eating from this tree would be stupid. Didn't you go to Sunday school or church?"
"Why?" Jack argued. "It was always the same old thing. The preacher would banter and bash other religions and cultures saying they were wrong in what they believed." He bit the fig in half and chewed on the piece. "Oh, this is tasty." Finally, he swallowed it. "I don't feel different. I don't feel smart." He ate the rest of the fig and waited for a moment.
"See? Nothing," Maya said as she let out a deep breath.
"Well, that just sucks," Jack cried out. "I was hoping for a reaction."
"Maybe it will work over a period of time," Sophia told him.
"Or it doesn't work at all," Jack replied. "I should've known. The bible is so full of false--" He lurched forward cradling his stomach as he fell to his knees. He groaned quite loudly.
"Jack?" Sophia and Maya yelled as they rushed to his side.
He continued to groan as he fell over to his side.
"I guess two-thousand year old fruit doesn't agree with him," Maya stated.
"We need to do something to help him," Sophia urged their new friend. "It could be killing him." She compressed his stomach with hers hoping to get him to throw it up."
Jack suddenly stopped moving in the fetal position and lay unconscious.
"Does he always get into positions like this?" Maya asked.
"Well, he most certainly does," Sophia answered the thirty-something year old Indian woman. "This is why he drags me along. If something happens to him, I must help him."
"I surely hope he pays you well," Maya told her.
"Trust me, he does," Sophia said with a smile. "Okay, he's alive for now. I don't know if its poisoning his system or just made him a little sick. We should go."
"Who's going to carry him?" Maya asked as she stood from her kneeling position.
"I can't do it alone, so we'll have to work together on this," Sophia responded.
Maya scanned the garden with her eyes for a moment. "He's going to hate us for taking him out of here."
"He'll get over it," Sophia stated as she stood. She grabbed one of Jack's arms and ordered Maya to do the same. Once they had him up, they headed through the garden to get out.
"Do you know where the exit is?" Maya asked between breaths. Jack was heavy, almost too heavy for her.
"No, do you? Come on, it can't be hard to find." Sophia stopped when she spotted some type of spring. "That has to lead out, right?"
"Hey, I'm just along for the ride, because I wanted to see what my father was so obsessed about."
"Right," Sophia nodded as she guided them all down the side of the stream. She stumbled a little, but didn't fall completely. Jack's weight was more than she anticipated.
"You okay?" Maya asked to be friendly.
"Yeah, lets keep moving," Sophia urged even though she was getting tired.
The ground began to rumble beneath them as the volcano began to wake. The trio paused for a moment.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sophia asked as her eyes widened.
"The volcano. . . its not so dormant anymore," Maya realized. "Run. Now!" She and Sophia moved fast with Jack hanging on their shoulders. The ground below began to crack and cave in. "Oh, shit!"
Sophia moved her legs as fast as she could to avoid being dropped into the middle of the volcano. Suddenly, they all fell, but not into a fissure. The ground sucked Jack into, forcing the girls to try and pull him up, but it was too difficult. Sophia strained as she pulled her boss out of the hole and onto solid ground.
"Okay, can we go now and stop playing around?" Maya asked as she panted.
"You have my vote," Sophia replied as they all began to move again. They reached a point where they could finally see an exit. They saw light. Parts of the large cavern began to drop around them. They hastened their escape from a brisk walk to a sprint. The ground cracked and caved once more, but the group was close to the end. As it gave way, they slid out of the mountain and down the base of it.
"Thank God," Sophia said as they came to a stop at the bottom. "Land."
Maya looked up at Mount Ararat as the quaking came to a stop. "It's over. Just a little quake." She tired to catch her breath as they lay on the ground.
Sophia slapped Jack. "Wake up. Come on. I'm not dragging your ass back to the plane."
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART SIX
Words: 2349
The flight to Turkey was nice, Sophia thought. She got a good meal and a nice nap. It was her only choice really. She had grown tired of Jack and Maya flirting and talking only about his theory of how all the religions in the world are connected. She was relieved when the trip was over and they were getting gear to climb Mount Ararat. Sophia wasn't sure if she wanted to do this. Then again, someone needed to keep Jack out of trouble. That seemed to be her logic for everything to do with Jack. Her father and Jack were colleagues for many years. She had made a promise to her father to take up responsibility for Jack and to watch over him, because Jack sure enough could not do it for himself.
She remember when she first met him two years ago. The welcome was filled with flirting and bad news of the prior assistant, Emily Baxter, who had died on the job. Of course, remembering all this while escalating a mountain was not the best of times to be doing so, but nevertheless, it was there. Jack was an arrogant bastard, and she still thought so, but he was quite the charmer and quite handsome. She refused to give in, under orders of her father. She had been given all the information on the infamous Jack Canyon she needed to get the job and not fall for him.
Then the argument of the first field job Jack tried to get her on popped into her mind. She refused and pleaded to be left to do her filing. She just wanted to stay at her desk, but Jack needed her talents on the job while he did some "simple" relic hunting. He was notorious for being a grave robber in various countries, and the toll count was rising. Then again, it could have been the competition being angry with him. She and her father were never quite clear on the actual facts of the situations. She sighed heavily and steam came from her mouth.
Jack stood in his harness with a pack on his back and equipment inside to do the climbing. He was used to this kind of adventure. Anything that required him to exert some form of force like swimming, jumping, or climbing, was right up his alley. "Alright," Jack said as they headed up a trail. "Watch your footing and be mindful of your surroundings."
"So, where do we find this ark?" Maya asked. "I mean, we know its here, but where?"
"On one of the peaks," Jack answered. "We'll get up to this one first. We'll make camp when we get back down."
"Camp?" Sophia asked.
"Well, we can't make it up this one and back down to the truck before dark," Jack told her. "We have to make camp."
"What about a bath? A toilet?"
"Don't worry," Jack answered his assistant. "I packed some tissue." He looked at Maya and they laughed.
"Oh, you think this is a joke?" Sophia asked through their laughter. "This isn't funny, Jack Canyon."
"I don't know," he said as they neared the end of the trail. "It seems quite hilarious to me. You'll just have to make the best of it."
Sophia sighed as Jack stopped and started climbing is way up the mountain and securely placing caribiners into the mountain to keep them safe. She was the caboose, since Maya went up before her.
"It has been a while since I've done climbing like this," Jack admitted.
"Are you out of shape?" Maya asked.
"Nah, I can handle it," Jack told her as reached the top of a cliff. He stopped to take a short break.
Maya, and then Sophia, climbed up and joined Jack. They were halfway up the mountain. It was a long way up and a tiring climb.
"How about breaking out some of those PowerBars," Sophia offered, hoping for food and water.
Jack opened up the pack and tossed her one of the bottled waters and a PowerBar. "Maya?"
"I'll just have the water," she stated.
"You sure?" Jack asked. "It's a long way up until our next stop."
"Okay," she replied, and Jack handed her a bar and bottle of water.
As they ate, they continuously examined the area around them. The snowy top of the mountain was a dangerous climb. It was cold, too. Once they finished, they were back to climbing.
Jack wasn't sure how they would find the ark, but when he found it, he would know. Then again, how do you find a two-thousand year old boat on a mountain covered in snow? He sighed heavily as he stood after their short break. "You girls ready to trek the rest of this mountain?"
"You bet," Maya said enthusiastically as she rose to her feet. She was ready for this to be over with.
Sophia didn't share her enthusiasm. "Let's just go," she stated moving past Maya and getting behind Jack, who started up the trail already.
"We're close, I can smell it," Jack announced as he neared the edge of a cliff, but he slipped and fell down.
"Jack!" The girls cried as they rushed to aid him, but he was sliding down the side of the mountain faster than they could move.
He fell off the edge of the slope, but was caught by the rope that tied him to the Sophia and Maya. He groaned as the pain from the harness jerked him.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"Yeah, I'm here," he told her.
"Are you okay?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, I'm hanging in there," he stated, waiting for them to start pulling him up. "Um. Girls?"
"We're trying," Sophia told him as she tugged on the rope, but suddenly, it snapped. She fell backwards into Maya. Then she scurried to the edge to try and find Jack, but he was nowhere in sight. "Jack?"
"Why don't you two come on down!" He yelled at them as he pulled himself into a cave that was inside the mountain.
Sophia and Maya looked at each other for a moment and slid down to the side of the mountain. As they looked down, they didn't see anything but the valley below.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"I'm in some sort of cave in the side of the mountain," he yelled back. "Just come on, you two."
Sophia lowered herself slowly down to the cave opening, where Jack grabbed her by her belt and pulled her near. "You alright?"
"For someone who just thought she lost you? Yeah. Sure." She unbuckled herself and moved away from the ledge.
"So, you care about me, eh?" Jack asked as he waited for Maya to come down.
"I never said that," Sophia argued.
Maya's feet, and then her legs, came into view. Jack grabbed them to pull her near so he could get her down. "It's okay. I have you." He tried to assure her.
"Just don't drop me," she said with a fearful voice. She didn't like the idea of dangling from the side of a mountain. It was a long drop.
Finally, Jack pulled her into the cave and to safety. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," she said nervously. "Ten fingers. Two arms. I'll check the rest later, huh?"
"Come on," Jack urged. "Let's scout out this cave." He turned and headed in, while he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter to give them a well lit path.
"So, why are we here?" Sophia asked as she followed Jack slowly down the tunnel.
"Because, Soph, the ark isn't going to be on the top somewhere, is it? I mean, think about it. After thousands of years, it will be buried beneath all the snow, possibly even in the side of the mountain somewhere." Jack turned down another tunnel.
"These walls don't exactly look cavernous," Maya pointed out.
"Well, if miners had come through looking for anything or perhaps geologists trying to find out if this thing is still active, then they would've boarded up the sides to support it from a cave in." Jack stopped for a moment as he entered a large cavern. He shined the light around to see anything out of the ordinary. "I suppose we're at the bottom of this one. We should climb up."
Sophia thought she spotted something as Jack was moving the light. "Wait, go back."
"What?" Jack asked.
"Move the light back to your left," she stated. "I thought I saw something."
"And what might that be?" He asked as he moved the beam of the light to his left and stopped on something.
"That!" Sophia moved closer. "Someone built a staircase in the cavern."
"Maybe some kids built themselves a little clubhouse in here," Jack mentioned.
"Let's check it out," Maya urged as she moved up the first few steps. She was excited about the find.
Jack and Sophia returned glances and followed her up. Something felt wrong between them. Sophia knew what it was, and she knew Jack was oblivious to it.
The staircase was spiral and went around the cavern wall all the way to the top.
Once at the top, the trio scanned the area for a moment. Jack stood scratching his head while Maya and Sophia took a break and knelt down.
"I'm beginning to think this isn't a series of caves," Jack said as he moved forward.
"And just what evidence makes you even think that?" Sophia asked as she glanced at Maya. "Other than our friend her thinking the same thing, huh?"
"Look," Jack said as he motioned toward a wooden door. "This is something you don't see in a cave or a mine."
Sophia got to her feet and moved toward the door at the end of the short tunnel. "There's always that clubhouse theory."
"No, you don't put up a door without some kind of warning," Maya added. "You know, like those 'no girls allowed' warnings."
Jack pulled the door open and stepped inside a smaller room. "This is designed like some kind of office," he stated as he examined the room and spotted an opening, which led into another room that had a series of beds. "What is this place?"
"Jack," Sophia called out as she picked up a small coin from the desk.
"What is that?" He asked as he neared her. It was obvious to him once he shined the light on it. "One of the medallions." then it hit him. His face lit up with as he realized what this place was. "This is the ark. This is Noah's ark."
"Very good, Mr. Canyon," a voice spoke out from behind them.
As Jack and Sophia turned around, they saw Maya being held at gunpoint by a man in a fine brown suit. He was slightly taller than Jack and had a goatee, although his hair was graying.
"I'll be taking that medallion," the man said as he held out his hand. "I'll also take the sundisk and the book."
"I'm guessing you're the Disciples of Origin," Jack assumed as he began pulling off the pack from his back. "I hate that we're so close and you're doing this to me. Could you let us finish our adventure before killing us?"
"I'm sorry, but you already know too much," the man replied. "Our job is to keep this under wraps. If you die here, no one will miss you. They won't look here. We'll make sure."
"Well, I tried," Jack said with a smile to Sophia. He handed over the slowly to the well dressed man. He sighed and shook his head. "It's all there."
The man began to dig through the bag for a moment. "Is this your idea of a joke?"
"I'm not laughing," Jack said.
"Fine, kill the Indian girl," the man ordered.
Jack grabbed the bag from the man and knocked him down. Then he hit the man holding Maya. Quickly, he grabbed Maya and Sophia by the hand, but they were all stopped by men outside with machine guns. Jack laughed slightly as he backed into the room.
"Not a smart move," the Disciple leader said as he punched Jack in the stomach.
As Jack fell, he landed near the downed gunman. He pulled a pin off the grenade belt. Turning back to the man, he got to his feet and shoved him into the men with the machine guns. As quickly as he could, before the grenades detonated, he pushed Sophia and Maya into the bedroom and took cover just in time.
The grenades exploded and shook the mountain.
"Uh-oh," Jack said as he felt the ark begin to move. It was sliding down the side of the mountain.
"This is not good," Maya cried.
"Leave it to Jack to get in over his head," Sophia said as she braced herself against something.
"This is not my fault," Jack argued.
"Can we argue about this if we survive," Maya yelled out.
The ark began to tumble and crack and break as it rolled down the mountain side. The people inside were being tossed around if they weren't secure somewhere. Finally, it hit bottom. Part of it shattered into several pieces.
The Disciples were dead, either from impalement from shards of the ark or the explosion from the grenades.
Sophia slowly rose to her feet, even though she felt off balance. She looked around the broken bedroom for Jack and Maya. They were nowhere in sight. She called out as she made her way out into the snowy valley between the two mountains. She spotted maya lying in the snow unconscious. "Maya?" She slapped the girl lightly. "Wake up. Where's Jack?"
Maya's eyes opened slowly, but she didn't speak.
Sophia got up and moved around searching for her boss. "Jack? Jack?!" then she saw him. He was lying still in the snow. She rushed to him and began checking his pulse. "Oh, god, no! Jack!" She began to administer CPR to revive, but it wasn't working. "Come on. Jack! JACK!"
The flight to Turkey was nice, Sophia thought. She got a good meal and a nice nap. It was her only choice really. She had grown tired of Jack and Maya flirting and talking only about his theory of how all the religions in the world are connected. She was relieved when the trip was over and they were getting gear to climb Mount Ararat. Sophia wasn't sure if she wanted to do this. Then again, someone needed to keep Jack out of trouble. That seemed to be her logic for everything to do with Jack. Her father and Jack were colleagues for many years. She had made a promise to her father to take up responsibility for Jack and to watch over him, because Jack sure enough could not do it for himself.
She remember when she first met him two years ago. The welcome was filled with flirting and bad news of the prior assistant, Emily Baxter, who had died on the job. Of course, remembering all this while escalating a mountain was not the best of times to be doing so, but nevertheless, it was there. Jack was an arrogant bastard, and she still thought so, but he was quite the charmer and quite handsome. She refused to give in, under orders of her father. She had been given all the information on the infamous Jack Canyon she needed to get the job and not fall for him.
Then the argument of the first field job Jack tried to get her on popped into her mind. She refused and pleaded to be left to do her filing. She just wanted to stay at her desk, but Jack needed her talents on the job while he did some "simple" relic hunting. He was notorious for being a grave robber in various countries, and the toll count was rising. Then again, it could have been the competition being angry with him. She and her father were never quite clear on the actual facts of the situations. She sighed heavily and steam came from her mouth.
Jack stood in his harness with a pack on his back and equipment inside to do the climbing. He was used to this kind of adventure. Anything that required him to exert some form of force like swimming, jumping, or climbing, was right up his alley. "Alright," Jack said as they headed up a trail. "Watch your footing and be mindful of your surroundings."
"So, where do we find this ark?" Maya asked. "I mean, we know its here, but where?"
"On one of the peaks," Jack answered. "We'll get up to this one first. We'll make camp when we get back down."
"Camp?" Sophia asked.
"Well, we can't make it up this one and back down to the truck before dark," Jack told her. "We have to make camp."
"What about a bath? A toilet?"
"Don't worry," Jack answered his assistant. "I packed some tissue." He looked at Maya and they laughed.
"Oh, you think this is a joke?" Sophia asked through their laughter. "This isn't funny, Jack Canyon."
"I don't know," he said as they neared the end of the trail. "It seems quite hilarious to me. You'll just have to make the best of it."
Sophia sighed as Jack stopped and started climbing is way up the mountain and securely placing caribiners into the mountain to keep them safe. She was the caboose, since Maya went up before her.
"It has been a while since I've done climbing like this," Jack admitted.
"Are you out of shape?" Maya asked.
"Nah, I can handle it," Jack told her as reached the top of a cliff. He stopped to take a short break.
Maya, and then Sophia, climbed up and joined Jack. They were halfway up the mountain. It was a long way up and a tiring climb.
"How about breaking out some of those PowerBars," Sophia offered, hoping for food and water.
Jack opened up the pack and tossed her one of the bottled waters and a PowerBar. "Maya?"
"I'll just have the water," she stated.
"You sure?" Jack asked. "It's a long way up until our next stop."
"Okay," she replied, and Jack handed her a bar and bottle of water.
As they ate, they continuously examined the area around them. The snowy top of the mountain was a dangerous climb. It was cold, too. Once they finished, they were back to climbing.
Jack wasn't sure how they would find the ark, but when he found it, he would know. Then again, how do you find a two-thousand year old boat on a mountain covered in snow? He sighed heavily as he stood after their short break. "You girls ready to trek the rest of this mountain?"
"You bet," Maya said enthusiastically as she rose to her feet. She was ready for this to be over with.
Sophia didn't share her enthusiasm. "Let's just go," she stated moving past Maya and getting behind Jack, who started up the trail already.
"We're close, I can smell it," Jack announced as he neared the edge of a cliff, but he slipped and fell down.
"Jack!" The girls cried as they rushed to aid him, but he was sliding down the side of the mountain faster than they could move.
He fell off the edge of the slope, but was caught by the rope that tied him to the Sophia and Maya. He groaned as the pain from the harness jerked him.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"Yeah, I'm here," he told her.
"Are you okay?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, I'm hanging in there," he stated, waiting for them to start pulling him up. "Um. Girls?"
"We're trying," Sophia told him as she tugged on the rope, but suddenly, it snapped. She fell backwards into Maya. Then she scurried to the edge to try and find Jack, but he was nowhere in sight. "Jack?"
"Why don't you two come on down!" He yelled at them as he pulled himself into a cave that was inside the mountain.
Sophia and Maya looked at each other for a moment and slid down to the side of the mountain. As they looked down, they didn't see anything but the valley below.
"Jack?" Sophia called out.
"I'm in some sort of cave in the side of the mountain," he yelled back. "Just come on, you two."
Sophia lowered herself slowly down to the cave opening, where Jack grabbed her by her belt and pulled her near. "You alright?"
"For someone who just thought she lost you? Yeah. Sure." She unbuckled herself and moved away from the ledge.
"So, you care about me, eh?" Jack asked as he waited for Maya to come down.
"I never said that," Sophia argued.
Maya's feet, and then her legs, came into view. Jack grabbed them to pull her near so he could get her down. "It's okay. I have you." He tried to assure her.
"Just don't drop me," she said with a fearful voice. She didn't like the idea of dangling from the side of a mountain. It was a long drop.
Finally, Jack pulled her into the cave and to safety. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," she said nervously. "Ten fingers. Two arms. I'll check the rest later, huh?"
"Come on," Jack urged. "Let's scout out this cave." He turned and headed in, while he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter to give them a well lit path.
"So, why are we here?" Sophia asked as she followed Jack slowly down the tunnel.
"Because, Soph, the ark isn't going to be on the top somewhere, is it? I mean, think about it. After thousands of years, it will be buried beneath all the snow, possibly even in the side of the mountain somewhere." Jack turned down another tunnel.
"These walls don't exactly look cavernous," Maya pointed out.
"Well, if miners had come through looking for anything or perhaps geologists trying to find out if this thing is still active, then they would've boarded up the sides to support it from a cave in." Jack stopped for a moment as he entered a large cavern. He shined the light around to see anything out of the ordinary. "I suppose we're at the bottom of this one. We should climb up."
Sophia thought she spotted something as Jack was moving the light. "Wait, go back."
"What?" Jack asked.
"Move the light back to your left," she stated. "I thought I saw something."
"And what might that be?" He asked as he moved the beam of the light to his left and stopped on something.
"That!" Sophia moved closer. "Someone built a staircase in the cavern."
"Maybe some kids built themselves a little clubhouse in here," Jack mentioned.
"Let's check it out," Maya urged as she moved up the first few steps. She was excited about the find.
Jack and Sophia returned glances and followed her up. Something felt wrong between them. Sophia knew what it was, and she knew Jack was oblivious to it.
The staircase was spiral and went around the cavern wall all the way to the top.
Once at the top, the trio scanned the area for a moment. Jack stood scratching his head while Maya and Sophia took a break and knelt down.
"I'm beginning to think this isn't a series of caves," Jack said as he moved forward.
"And just what evidence makes you even think that?" Sophia asked as she glanced at Maya. "Other than our friend her thinking the same thing, huh?"
"Look," Jack said as he motioned toward a wooden door. "This is something you don't see in a cave or a mine."
Sophia got to her feet and moved toward the door at the end of the short tunnel. "There's always that clubhouse theory."
"No, you don't put up a door without some kind of warning," Maya added. "You know, like those 'no girls allowed' warnings."
Jack pulled the door open and stepped inside a smaller room. "This is designed like some kind of office," he stated as he examined the room and spotted an opening, which led into another room that had a series of beds. "What is this place?"
"Jack," Sophia called out as she picked up a small coin from the desk.
"What is that?" He asked as he neared her. It was obvious to him once he shined the light on it. "One of the medallions." then it hit him. His face lit up with as he realized what this place was. "This is the ark. This is Noah's ark."
"Very good, Mr. Canyon," a voice spoke out from behind them.
As Jack and Sophia turned around, they saw Maya being held at gunpoint by a man in a fine brown suit. He was slightly taller than Jack and had a goatee, although his hair was graying.
"I'll be taking that medallion," the man said as he held out his hand. "I'll also take the sundisk and the book."
"I'm guessing you're the Disciples of Origin," Jack assumed as he began pulling off the pack from his back. "I hate that we're so close and you're doing this to me. Could you let us finish our adventure before killing us?"
"I'm sorry, but you already know too much," the man replied. "Our job is to keep this under wraps. If you die here, no one will miss you. They won't look here. We'll make sure."
"Well, I tried," Jack said with a smile to Sophia. He handed over the slowly to the well dressed man. He sighed and shook his head. "It's all there."
The man began to dig through the bag for a moment. "Is this your idea of a joke?"
"I'm not laughing," Jack said.
"Fine, kill the Indian girl," the man ordered.
Jack grabbed the bag from the man and knocked him down. Then he hit the man holding Maya. Quickly, he grabbed Maya and Sophia by the hand, but they were all stopped by men outside with machine guns. Jack laughed slightly as he backed into the room.
"Not a smart move," the Disciple leader said as he punched Jack in the stomach.
As Jack fell, he landed near the downed gunman. He pulled a pin off the grenade belt. Turning back to the man, he got to his feet and shoved him into the men with the machine guns. As quickly as he could, before the grenades detonated, he pushed Sophia and Maya into the bedroom and took cover just in time.
The grenades exploded and shook the mountain.
"Uh-oh," Jack said as he felt the ark begin to move. It was sliding down the side of the mountain.
"This is not good," Maya cried.
"Leave it to Jack to get in over his head," Sophia said as she braced herself against something.
"This is not my fault," Jack argued.
"Can we argue about this if we survive," Maya yelled out.
The ark began to tumble and crack and break as it rolled down the mountain side. The people inside were being tossed around if they weren't secure somewhere. Finally, it hit bottom. Part of it shattered into several pieces.
The Disciples were dead, either from impalement from shards of the ark or the explosion from the grenades.
Sophia slowly rose to her feet, even though she felt off balance. She looked around the broken bedroom for Jack and Maya. They were nowhere in sight. She called out as she made her way out into the snowy valley between the two mountains. She spotted maya lying in the snow unconscious. "Maya?" She slapped the girl lightly. "Wake up. Where's Jack?"
Maya's eyes opened slowly, but she didn't speak.
Sophia got up and moved around searching for her boss. "Jack? Jack?!" then she saw him. He was lying still in the snow. She rushed to him and began checking his pulse. "Oh, god, no! Jack!" She began to administer CPR to revive, but it wasn't working. "Come on. Jack! JACK!"
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART FIVE
Words: 1697
The flight to India proved to be peaceful, at least for Sophia Stone. She was sleeping most of the time, since Jack Canyon kept her up all night. Well, they got home late and she was enjoying her slumber when he woke her to come save his ass. She couldn't believe he needed her that much. Besides that, she was was a little tired of having to save the day.
Jack stretched in the back of the cab. He was tired of all the lethargic traveling. Maybe they should have walked to Yashodhan's place, but they had no idea where in New Dehli his street address was located. "How much further?" Jack asked as he tugged at his pants trying to get comfortable.
"Not far," the driver replied keeping his eyes on the road.
"Wonderful," Jack mumbled. "And I thought New York cabs were the only ones that smelled bad."
Sophia just kept silent, because Jack was an idiot. That, and he was probably going to piss the driver off and she didn't want to be anywhere near it, but something told her if it did go down, she would be right in the middle.
The cab slowed to a stop in front of a two story home which had Tej on the mailbox. "We're there."
"How much?" Jack asked.
"Can't you read?" The man asked as he pointed at the meter.
Jack sighed at the man's attitude and then paid him the rupees before stepping out. He wasn't surprised when the cab sped off in a huff. "Guess he doesn't like us Americans, eh?"
"Or you saying his cab stinks," Sophia stated.
"Why must everything be my fault?"
"Because it usually is," Sophia told him as she moved toward the home. "Like now. It wouldn't surprise me if Yashodhan answers the door and knocks you on your ass."
"Hey, Yash and I have an understanding," Jack spoke. "We respect each other." He reached the door and knocked loudly.
“Right,” Sophia mumbled to herself, just before a young woman opened the door and looked at them both. She felt like the girl didn't expect someone so white to be at her doorsteps.
“Can I help you?” She asked softly in a deep Indian accent. She was shorter than either Sophia or Jack, though of average stature for an Indian woman. The woman's skin was dark and she appeared to be in her early thirties. Her black hair was shoulder length, which made her look very business like, even if she was not in the classy clothes she wore.
“We're looking Yashodhan Tej,” Jack spoke out. “Do you know where he might be?”
“Well, he's not here,” the woman stated. “I'm sorry.”
“When will he be back? I'm Jack Canyon, a colleague of his.”
“I guess you didn't hear then,” the woman said sadly. “Yash passed away about two weeks ago.”
“Oh,” Jack replied thoughtfully. “I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do?”
“No, thank you. What did you need with my father?” She asked, receiving looks from Jack and Sophia both. “I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I am Dr. Maya Rajah.”
“Well, we're looking for something he might have mentioned known as the sundisk. It's very important in my research. He was also writing a book that may help us.” Jack paused to take a breath.
“Please, come in,” Maya told them as she motioned for them to enter the living room. She closed the door behind them and moved along behind them. “Please, have a seat. How did you know my father?”
“He and I worked together about a month ago,” Jack replied as he and Sophia sat down on the couch across from Maya, who took the red leather button chair at the edge of the rug. “I'm surprised he didn't mention me.”
“Well, Mr. Canyon, I recall the story behind the search and discovery of the dagger of Ganesha,” she mentioned. “My father told me everything, but he did speak highly of you. Said you'd be able to solve the puzzle or something.”
“What puzzle?” Jack asked curiously.
Maya slowly rose to her feet and moved to a book case with a large disk on it. The disk was probably fifteen inches in diameter. The center was a 12-inch mirror with the outside rim made of gold with four holes on four corners. The holes were in the shape of coins. Though, it appeared as if the coins had a small piece cut out of the center so they would fit into the slots. “This is the sundisk, Mr. Canyon. My dad had spent his remaining time studying this.”
Jack slowly stood and examined the disk as she laid it onto the coffee table in the center of the room. “What are these circle slots here? They look like they some kind of medallion slots.”
“That's what my father couldn't figure out,” Maya told him. “See, he believed there were pieces that fit in here from stories in the bible or perhaps the Devanagari. He wasn't sure, but he believed this entire Babylonian Sundisk to be from a different culture.”
“Well, he's right,” Sophia spoke out as she moved to the disk. “It's in Arabic.”
“What does it say?” Jack asked as he continued to examine the slots.
“I don't know exactly,” she told him. “The missing pieces are leaving out things. I can't really tell what the entire message is.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at the sundisk and then searched Sophia's backpack for the Book of Origin.
“What are you doing?” Sophia asked.
“I think I've seen this before somewhere,” he replied as he pulled the book out and laid it onto the table beside the sundisk. He looked at the hard cover of the book. He felt of the cover for anything that moved. He felt it near the center and twisted it slightly, which allowed it to come off the book's cover. “Huh.”
Sophia and Maya stepped back as Jack slipped the medallion into one slot and began to twist it.
“It's not working,” he told them as he stopped and pulled the medallion out of the slot. “Why isn't it working?”
“Try another hole,” Sophia told him.
Jack moved to the norther point and slotted the medallion before twisting it into position. It locked and he stepped back. “Read it now.”
Sophia looked at the writing again for a moment. “The Ark. . .”
“The ark? That's it?” Maya asked. She was surprised.
“Is it the ark of the covenant? Noah's Ark?”
“Jack, it says the path you seek leads to the ark. Upon the mountain on the Anatolia. . .”
“Anatolia?” Jack asked.
“What? What is it?” Maya asked.
“Anatolia is where Mount Ararat is, but its also a possible location of the Garden of Eden,” Jack explained.
“So what are we looking for?” Maya questioned.
“Well, its either Noah's Ark or the Garden we're supposed to be looking for,” Jack told her. “Either way, we have to get to Mount Ararat. Once there, we'll know what we're looking for.”
“My father had a company plane,” Maya offered. “I'm sure we can use it to get to Turkey.”
“You can fly?” Jack asked her.
“No, but I have a pilot,” she answered.
“Somehow, I figured as much,” Jack replied. “When can it be prepped for take off?”
“In a few hours,” Maya said. “Let me make the call. Please, make yourselves at home. The kitchen is open to your needs. It's back that way.” She made her way toward a back room to make the call to her pilot so they could take off soon.
Jack and Sophia walked towards the back of the room to find the a hallway that lead down to the kitchen. Jack was hungry, but he wasn't sure about Sophia. He thought she might be, since she slept most of the way there.
“What do you have a craving for?” Sophia asked.
“Beats me,” he replied. “Let's just see what's in the pantry or fridge, eh?"
Maya didn't take long before she returned. "Our plans are set, Mr. Canyon."
"Please, call me Jack, Maya," he told her. "You know, you're better looking than your father."
Maya laughed a little. "I certainly hope so."
Sophia rolled her eyes at Jack's flirting. "So, when do we leave, Maya?" She interrupted them on purpose. She was jealous, but couldn't let them know.
Maya looked at Sophia for a moment. "We can leave within the hour. I'll be glad to have dinner served on my plane."
"Sounds wonderful," Jack stated. "Lead the way."
Maya led them out the side door and into the garage.
Sophia pushed by Jack, pushing him hard, and continuing into the garage. She was shocked at the Mercedes-Benz sitting in the garage. It was a lavish car and very luxurious.
Jack's jaw dropped. "What on earth was Yashodhan into? This car is expensive for an archaeologist's salary."
Maya smiled slightly, "He did a lot of work. He was married to his job."
"I take it your mother left, huh?" Sophia asked getting into the car.
Maya was in and started the car. "She divorced my dad several years ago. Took half his assets, but he still managed with all this."
"Nice work, Yash," Jack said into the wind as Maya pulled out of the driveway. "So, how nice is his plane?"
"You'll see," Maya told him. "You'll see."
***
It didn't take long for them to reach the airport. It was a private airstrip outside of New Delhi. Yashadhan was part owner of it. Their hangar was open and the Cessna plane was ready for take off.
"Like what you see?" Maya asked through the silence in the car. She knew Jack was gawking at the plane.
"How exactly do I get a good paying contract like he did?" Jack questioned her.
Maya laughed, though she was unaware that Sophia was annoyed with them by now. Jack's greed was getting to her. He wanted the money and the fame.
The car came to a stop in the hangar and they trio got out. They all grabbed their bags before boarding the plane.
The flight to India proved to be peaceful, at least for Sophia Stone. She was sleeping most of the time, since Jack Canyon kept her up all night. Well, they got home late and she was enjoying her slumber when he woke her to come save his ass. She couldn't believe he needed her that much. Besides that, she was was a little tired of having to save the day.
Jack stretched in the back of the cab. He was tired of all the lethargic traveling. Maybe they should have walked to Yashodhan's place, but they had no idea where in New Dehli his street address was located. "How much further?" Jack asked as he tugged at his pants trying to get comfortable.
"Not far," the driver replied keeping his eyes on the road.
"Wonderful," Jack mumbled. "And I thought New York cabs were the only ones that smelled bad."
Sophia just kept silent, because Jack was an idiot. That, and he was probably going to piss the driver off and she didn't want to be anywhere near it, but something told her if it did go down, she would be right in the middle.
The cab slowed to a stop in front of a two story home which had Tej on the mailbox. "We're there."
"How much?" Jack asked.
"Can't you read?" The man asked as he pointed at the meter.
Jack sighed at the man's attitude and then paid him the rupees before stepping out. He wasn't surprised when the cab sped off in a huff. "Guess he doesn't like us Americans, eh?"
"Or you saying his cab stinks," Sophia stated.
"Why must everything be my fault?"
"Because it usually is," Sophia told him as she moved toward the home. "Like now. It wouldn't surprise me if Yashodhan answers the door and knocks you on your ass."
"Hey, Yash and I have an understanding," Jack spoke. "We respect each other." He reached the door and knocked loudly.
“Right,” Sophia mumbled to herself, just before a young woman opened the door and looked at them both. She felt like the girl didn't expect someone so white to be at her doorsteps.
“Can I help you?” She asked softly in a deep Indian accent. She was shorter than either Sophia or Jack, though of average stature for an Indian woman. The woman's skin was dark and she appeared to be in her early thirties. Her black hair was shoulder length, which made her look very business like, even if she was not in the classy clothes she wore.
“We're looking Yashodhan Tej,” Jack spoke out. “Do you know where he might be?”
“Well, he's not here,” the woman stated. “I'm sorry.”
“When will he be back? I'm Jack Canyon, a colleague of his.”
“I guess you didn't hear then,” the woman said sadly. “Yash passed away about two weeks ago.”
“Oh,” Jack replied thoughtfully. “I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do?”
“No, thank you. What did you need with my father?” She asked, receiving looks from Jack and Sophia both. “I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. I am Dr. Maya Rajah.”
“Well, we're looking for something he might have mentioned known as the sundisk. It's very important in my research. He was also writing a book that may help us.” Jack paused to take a breath.
“Please, come in,” Maya told them as she motioned for them to enter the living room. She closed the door behind them and moved along behind them. “Please, have a seat. How did you know my father?”
“He and I worked together about a month ago,” Jack replied as he and Sophia sat down on the couch across from Maya, who took the red leather button chair at the edge of the rug. “I'm surprised he didn't mention me.”
“Well, Mr. Canyon, I recall the story behind the search and discovery of the dagger of Ganesha,” she mentioned. “My father told me everything, but he did speak highly of you. Said you'd be able to solve the puzzle or something.”
“What puzzle?” Jack asked curiously.
Maya slowly rose to her feet and moved to a book case with a large disk on it. The disk was probably fifteen inches in diameter. The center was a 12-inch mirror with the outside rim made of gold with four holes on four corners. The holes were in the shape of coins. Though, it appeared as if the coins had a small piece cut out of the center so they would fit into the slots. “This is the sundisk, Mr. Canyon. My dad had spent his remaining time studying this.”
Jack slowly stood and examined the disk as she laid it onto the coffee table in the center of the room. “What are these circle slots here? They look like they some kind of medallion slots.”
“That's what my father couldn't figure out,” Maya told him. “See, he believed there were pieces that fit in here from stories in the bible or perhaps the Devanagari. He wasn't sure, but he believed this entire Babylonian Sundisk to be from a different culture.”
“Well, he's right,” Sophia spoke out as she moved to the disk. “It's in Arabic.”
“What does it say?” Jack asked as he continued to examine the slots.
“I don't know exactly,” she told him. “The missing pieces are leaving out things. I can't really tell what the entire message is.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at the sundisk and then searched Sophia's backpack for the Book of Origin.
“What are you doing?” Sophia asked.
“I think I've seen this before somewhere,” he replied as he pulled the book out and laid it onto the table beside the sundisk. He looked at the hard cover of the book. He felt of the cover for anything that moved. He felt it near the center and twisted it slightly, which allowed it to come off the book's cover. “Huh.”
Sophia and Maya stepped back as Jack slipped the medallion into one slot and began to twist it.
“It's not working,” he told them as he stopped and pulled the medallion out of the slot. “Why isn't it working?”
“Try another hole,” Sophia told him.
Jack moved to the norther point and slotted the medallion before twisting it into position. It locked and he stepped back. “Read it now.”
Sophia looked at the writing again for a moment. “The Ark. . .”
“The ark? That's it?” Maya asked. She was surprised.
“Is it the ark of the covenant? Noah's Ark?”
“Jack, it says the path you seek leads to the ark. Upon the mountain on the Anatolia. . .”
“Anatolia?” Jack asked.
“What? What is it?” Maya asked.
“Anatolia is where Mount Ararat is, but its also a possible location of the Garden of Eden,” Jack explained.
“So what are we looking for?” Maya questioned.
“Well, its either Noah's Ark or the Garden we're supposed to be looking for,” Jack told her. “Either way, we have to get to Mount Ararat. Once there, we'll know what we're looking for.”
“My father had a company plane,” Maya offered. “I'm sure we can use it to get to Turkey.”
“You can fly?” Jack asked her.
“No, but I have a pilot,” she answered.
“Somehow, I figured as much,” Jack replied. “When can it be prepped for take off?”
“In a few hours,” Maya said. “Let me make the call. Please, make yourselves at home. The kitchen is open to your needs. It's back that way.” She made her way toward a back room to make the call to her pilot so they could take off soon.
Jack and Sophia walked towards the back of the room to find the a hallway that lead down to the kitchen. Jack was hungry, but he wasn't sure about Sophia. He thought she might be, since she slept most of the way there.
“What do you have a craving for?” Sophia asked.
“Beats me,” he replied. “Let's just see what's in the pantry or fridge, eh?"
Maya didn't take long before she returned. "Our plans are set, Mr. Canyon."
"Please, call me Jack, Maya," he told her. "You know, you're better looking than your father."
Maya laughed a little. "I certainly hope so."
Sophia rolled her eyes at Jack's flirting. "So, when do we leave, Maya?" She interrupted them on purpose. She was jealous, but couldn't let them know.
Maya looked at Sophia for a moment. "We can leave within the hour. I'll be glad to have dinner served on my plane."
"Sounds wonderful," Jack stated. "Lead the way."
Maya led them out the side door and into the garage.
Sophia pushed by Jack, pushing him hard, and continuing into the garage. She was shocked at the Mercedes-Benz sitting in the garage. It was a lavish car and very luxurious.
Jack's jaw dropped. "What on earth was Yashodhan into? This car is expensive for an archaeologist's salary."
Maya smiled slightly, "He did a lot of work. He was married to his job."
"I take it your mother left, huh?" Sophia asked getting into the car.
Maya was in and started the car. "She divorced my dad several years ago. Took half his assets, but he still managed with all this."
"Nice work, Yash," Jack said into the wind as Maya pulled out of the driveway. "So, how nice is his plane?"
"You'll see," Maya told him. "You'll see."
***
It didn't take long for them to reach the airport. It was a private airstrip outside of New Delhi. Yashadhan was part owner of it. Their hangar was open and the Cessna plane was ready for take off.
"Like what you see?" Maya asked through the silence in the car. She knew Jack was gawking at the plane.
"How exactly do I get a good paying contract like he did?" Jack questioned her.
Maya laughed, though she was unaware that Sophia was annoyed with them by now. Jack's greed was getting to her. He wanted the money and the fame.
The car came to a stop in the hangar and they trio got out. They all grabbed their bags before boarding the plane.
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART FOUR
Words: 1834
Jack poked his head out of the ditch he had rolled into. He made sure the black car was gone before crawling out to find Sophia. Making his way to the car, Jack search under it. He peeped into the small crevice that was formed by the windshield holding the car up. She wasn't there, so he moved on. "Sophia?!" Jack called out.
There was moaning, but it wasn't distinct enough to locate.
"Sophia?" Jack cried again as he moved around the car in search for her. He found her on the other side of the car. He gave a sigh of relief when he found her unharmed, shaken nonetheless, but unharmed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Jack, really," she said as she pushed herself up. She groaned as she did so, because she was slightly bruised. "Oh, no," she said as she looked at Jack. "My car." She jumped to her feet and examined the overturned car. "My baby."
"I'm fine, too, thanks," he said in a nonchalant tone.
Sophia turned with a smile. "I'm just teasing, Jack," she admitted. "But you have a nasty cut on your head there." She touched the side of his head, forcing him to flinch. "Does it hurt?"
"Yes! It hurts!" Jack yelled.
"Sorry," she said sympathetically.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," he told her as he moved toward the street. "We need to get a ticket to India, now."
"Jack, we've just been in an automobile accident," Sophia told him. "Surely we should tell the police, insurance company, and get checked up at the hospital."
"Sophia, we don't have time," Jack said. "Do you still have the Book of Origin?"
"Yes, why?"
"The guys call themselves the Disciples of Origin," he finally admitted to her. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the book."
"Don't you think they would've searched for the book if that's what they wanted?" Sophia asked.
"Not necessarily," Jack replied. "My best bet is on them wanting us out of the picture entirely. If I'm right, Yashodhan Tej is in big trouble with these guys, too, especially if the Babylonian sundisk and Hindu sacrificial knife are involved."
"Did you get the knife?"
"It's still in my bag," Jack said, before realizing his bag must have been tossed out with him. "Where is my bag?"
"I don't know," she responded as she began to search for it.
Jack moved toward the ditch and slid down into it. He couldn't find the bag anywhere.
"Here it is!" Sophia called out to him.
Jack sighed for having to crawl out of the ditch again. He looked up at her as she held the bag in hand. "Thanks," he said. "Now, let's go to your place. You better pack."
"And you better get your head bandaged."
Jack nodded and headed down the street with her. Darkness and stars filled the sky, as did a half moon.
Once they reached Sophia's apartment, she unlocked the door and allowed Jack in.
"Wow, so, this is your place?" Jack asked the obvious.
"Don't get too comfortable," she warned.
It was Jack's first time to her place. She didn't trust him enough to let him into her place. He might try something, but not forcefully. Though, she seemed to believe Jack was deeper than he pretended to be, but for what reasons, she didn't know.
"I'm going to shower and pack," she told him. "There are some bandages and medical stuff in the kitchen." She entered her room and locked the door.
Jack made his way to the kitchen and began searching for the first aid kit, which was under the sink. He didn't locate it until after searching all the drawers and cabinets first. It was the last place he expected it to be.
Once Sophia was finished, she got out of the shower and stayed in her towel as she packed. When the packing was done, she began to dress herself and work with her long dirty blonde hair. She had put on some tight fitting jeans that flared at the bottom and fit over her boots perfectly, along with a tank top.
Jack cleaned his wound and put a small band-aid on it. After he checked himself in the reflection of the glass microwave door, he moved around her living room. It was nice. Actually, better than he expected and better than his place. It was more colorful. It was a pale green, quite nice with the paintings she had. He spotted a photo album and began to look through it.
Sophia finished and sprayed on some perfume before walking out with her bag. She stopped for a moment and stared at Jack.
He was smiling. He was admiring her baby pictures and the recent family photo. Then he got the uneasy feeling that someone was looking over his shoulder.
"Jack Canyon! How dare you pry through my things."
"I'm not really prying," Jack told her. "It was sitting in plain sight. I didn't go out of my way to look through things, except in the kitchen for the first aid kit."
"Do you want to use the shower?" Sophia asked as politely as she could. She wasn't really upset about the picture album. What was going on with her? She shook her head as she thought. It must've been the way of things. She was supposed to be like this towards him. It is how it had always been.
"Sure," he answered. "I'd like to get all this grass and dirt off me. Thanks."
"No problem," she said as she watched him go into the bathroom that was joined with her room. She sat down on the couch and looked at the pictures he had been looking at.
Jack stripped and stepped into the shower and turned it on. He reached for the shampoo which had a girl-like smell to it. He frowned and poured a little into his hand before rubbing it in. Once it lathered, he rinsed it all out. He was feeling better. The shower really helped. After washing off all the dirt and mud, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel.
Sophia flipped slowly through her album smiling at some of the pictures as she spotted old memories. She didn't even notice Jack had slipped back into the room with her. He sat down beside her on the couch in his usual clothes. She glanced over at him when he sat down. "You smell like a woman."
"No thanks to your shampoo and soap," Jack muttered, which made her smile.
"You think those clothes are going to make you manly?" She asked as her smile turned into laughter.
Jack glanced over his green Carhartt pants and dark gray t-shirt. "Yes, I do!"
She shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Oh, Jack, relax."
He stared at her through the corner of his eye. "Are you ready to go?"
"Do we really have to?" Sophia asked in a whimper.
"I'm afraid so," Jack replied. "I want to know why these bastards are after me."
"It's always about you, isn't it?"
"Most of the time," Jack replied to her.
"They don't want you, Jack," Sophia stated. "What else do secret organizations do, hm? They protect secrets. There's something in this book they don't want the world to know. If we exploit it, they might kill us."
"Or back off," Jack added.
"Do we really want to chance that?" Sophia asked. "I mean, they can just cover it up, if they have someone high enough in power. We can't really trust anyone."
"They think we're dead," Jack said. "I think now is the best time to disappear. We go to India, we find Yash, and figure out this puzzle."
"What if they find us there?"
"They won't be looking for us, Soph," Jack told her. "We have the upper hand now that they think of us as ghosts. Hell, he could come back to haunt their asses."
"Why don't we just play dead? Huh? Funeral and all."
"We've just begun our adventure by finding the Book of Origin," Jack stated. "I'm not giving up now. Nor should you."
Sophia sighed heavily. She really didn't want to do this. The search for the Book of Origin was tiring enough. Now, Jack wanted to fly to India to find a professor who hates Jack and has the pieces of the puzzle that might show them the full picture. It was too much for her.
"You are my assistant," he reminded her, which received another heavy sigh. "Your father would be disappointed if you didn't help."
She knew he was using that as leverage against her. She slumped in the seat and pouted slightly.
"Maybe I should call him," Jack said as he got up and made a move for the phone.
"No! No!" She yelled. "I'll go."
"Thank you," Jack smiled as he sat back down with her.
"You're a deceitful man, Jack Canyon," she told him. She glanced up to see a wicked grin. It was so cocky, she knew he was doing this on purpose. It was one of his tricks and she was falling for it, but if Jack didn't watch out for himself, who else would?
"I need you, Sophia, you know that," he said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Who is Butch without Sundance, or Clyde without Bonnie, or--"
"I get it, Jack," she said with an annoyed tone. Anytime she called him by name, it meant she was annoyed. To what degree was a mystery until she called out his full name. Then one would know she's a step above being annoyed.
"Alright, then, let's get going," Jack announced. "We have a plan to catch."
"I hope the flight isn't packed," Sophia said standing to get her bag. "I want to stretch out and sleep."
"That's a good plan," Jack told her. "Would've worked out well if I hadn't been attacked by the religious mafia."
"Really?" Sophia asked with hopeful eyes. "We could've just slept easily?"
"Yeah, I was going to give you until after the weekend to sleep and rest."
The annoyed look returned to her face. "Tomorrow is Monday, Jack Canyon!"
"I know it is," he said with another cocky smile.
They headed down to the lobby of the apartment building and headed outside to call for a taxi cab. It was safer than traveling in their personal vehicles. Though, Sophia no longer had one. She was going to make Jack pay big time for that.
"You owe me a car," she stated boldly.
"I do not," Jack said.
"I'll tell my dad," she threatened.
Jack looked to her for a moment. "Would you like a hardtop this time?"
She smiled at her victory. The dad card worked on her, it would work on him. Finally, when the taxi arrived, Jack opened the door for her and climbed in after.
"To the airport," Jack ordered the man.
Jack poked his head out of the ditch he had rolled into. He made sure the black car was gone before crawling out to find Sophia. Making his way to the car, Jack search under it. He peeped into the small crevice that was formed by the windshield holding the car up. She wasn't there, so he moved on. "Sophia?!" Jack called out.
There was moaning, but it wasn't distinct enough to locate.
"Sophia?" Jack cried again as he moved around the car in search for her. He found her on the other side of the car. He gave a sigh of relief when he found her unharmed, shaken nonetheless, but unharmed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Jack, really," she said as she pushed herself up. She groaned as she did so, because she was slightly bruised. "Oh, no," she said as she looked at Jack. "My car." She jumped to her feet and examined the overturned car. "My baby."
"I'm fine, too, thanks," he said in a nonchalant tone.
Sophia turned with a smile. "I'm just teasing, Jack," she admitted. "But you have a nasty cut on your head there." She touched the side of his head, forcing him to flinch. "Does it hurt?"
"Yes! It hurts!" Jack yelled.
"Sorry," she said sympathetically.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," he told her as he moved toward the street. "We need to get a ticket to India, now."
"Jack, we've just been in an automobile accident," Sophia told him. "Surely we should tell the police, insurance company, and get checked up at the hospital."
"Sophia, we don't have time," Jack said. "Do you still have the Book of Origin?"
"Yes, why?"
"The guys call themselves the Disciples of Origin," he finally admitted to her. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the book."
"Don't you think they would've searched for the book if that's what they wanted?" Sophia asked.
"Not necessarily," Jack replied. "My best bet is on them wanting us out of the picture entirely. If I'm right, Yashodhan Tej is in big trouble with these guys, too, especially if the Babylonian sundisk and Hindu sacrificial knife are involved."
"Did you get the knife?"
"It's still in my bag," Jack said, before realizing his bag must have been tossed out with him. "Where is my bag?"
"I don't know," she responded as she began to search for it.
Jack moved toward the ditch and slid down into it. He couldn't find the bag anywhere.
"Here it is!" Sophia called out to him.
Jack sighed for having to crawl out of the ditch again. He looked up at her as she held the bag in hand. "Thanks," he said. "Now, let's go to your place. You better pack."
"And you better get your head bandaged."
Jack nodded and headed down the street with her. Darkness and stars filled the sky, as did a half moon.
Once they reached Sophia's apartment, she unlocked the door and allowed Jack in.
"Wow, so, this is your place?" Jack asked the obvious.
"Don't get too comfortable," she warned.
It was Jack's first time to her place. She didn't trust him enough to let him into her place. He might try something, but not forcefully. Though, she seemed to believe Jack was deeper than he pretended to be, but for what reasons, she didn't know.
"I'm going to shower and pack," she told him. "There are some bandages and medical stuff in the kitchen." She entered her room and locked the door.
Jack made his way to the kitchen and began searching for the first aid kit, which was under the sink. He didn't locate it until after searching all the drawers and cabinets first. It was the last place he expected it to be.
Once Sophia was finished, she got out of the shower and stayed in her towel as she packed. When the packing was done, she began to dress herself and work with her long dirty blonde hair. She had put on some tight fitting jeans that flared at the bottom and fit over her boots perfectly, along with a tank top.
Jack cleaned his wound and put a small band-aid on it. After he checked himself in the reflection of the glass microwave door, he moved around her living room. It was nice. Actually, better than he expected and better than his place. It was more colorful. It was a pale green, quite nice with the paintings she had. He spotted a photo album and began to look through it.
Sophia finished and sprayed on some perfume before walking out with her bag. She stopped for a moment and stared at Jack.
He was smiling. He was admiring her baby pictures and the recent family photo. Then he got the uneasy feeling that someone was looking over his shoulder.
"Jack Canyon! How dare you pry through my things."
"I'm not really prying," Jack told her. "It was sitting in plain sight. I didn't go out of my way to look through things, except in the kitchen for the first aid kit."
"Do you want to use the shower?" Sophia asked as politely as she could. She wasn't really upset about the picture album. What was going on with her? She shook her head as she thought. It must've been the way of things. She was supposed to be like this towards him. It is how it had always been.
"Sure," he answered. "I'd like to get all this grass and dirt off me. Thanks."
"No problem," she said as she watched him go into the bathroom that was joined with her room. She sat down on the couch and looked at the pictures he had been looking at.
Jack stripped and stepped into the shower and turned it on. He reached for the shampoo which had a girl-like smell to it. He frowned and poured a little into his hand before rubbing it in. Once it lathered, he rinsed it all out. He was feeling better. The shower really helped. After washing off all the dirt and mud, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel.
Sophia flipped slowly through her album smiling at some of the pictures as she spotted old memories. She didn't even notice Jack had slipped back into the room with her. He sat down beside her on the couch in his usual clothes. She glanced over at him when he sat down. "You smell like a woman."
"No thanks to your shampoo and soap," Jack muttered, which made her smile.
"You think those clothes are going to make you manly?" She asked as her smile turned into laughter.
Jack glanced over his green Carhartt pants and dark gray t-shirt. "Yes, I do!"
She shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Oh, Jack, relax."
He stared at her through the corner of his eye. "Are you ready to go?"
"Do we really have to?" Sophia asked in a whimper.
"I'm afraid so," Jack replied. "I want to know why these bastards are after me."
"It's always about you, isn't it?"
"Most of the time," Jack replied to her.
"They don't want you, Jack," Sophia stated. "What else do secret organizations do, hm? They protect secrets. There's something in this book they don't want the world to know. If we exploit it, they might kill us."
"Or back off," Jack added.
"Do we really want to chance that?" Sophia asked. "I mean, they can just cover it up, if they have someone high enough in power. We can't really trust anyone."
"They think we're dead," Jack said. "I think now is the best time to disappear. We go to India, we find Yash, and figure out this puzzle."
"What if they find us there?"
"They won't be looking for us, Soph," Jack told her. "We have the upper hand now that they think of us as ghosts. Hell, he could come back to haunt their asses."
"Why don't we just play dead? Huh? Funeral and all."
"We've just begun our adventure by finding the Book of Origin," Jack stated. "I'm not giving up now. Nor should you."
Sophia sighed heavily. She really didn't want to do this. The search for the Book of Origin was tiring enough. Now, Jack wanted to fly to India to find a professor who hates Jack and has the pieces of the puzzle that might show them the full picture. It was too much for her.
"You are my assistant," he reminded her, which received another heavy sigh. "Your father would be disappointed if you didn't help."
She knew he was using that as leverage against her. She slumped in the seat and pouted slightly.
"Maybe I should call him," Jack said as he got up and made a move for the phone.
"No! No!" She yelled. "I'll go."
"Thank you," Jack smiled as he sat back down with her.
"You're a deceitful man, Jack Canyon," she told him. She glanced up to see a wicked grin. It was so cocky, she knew he was doing this on purpose. It was one of his tricks and she was falling for it, but if Jack didn't watch out for himself, who else would?
"I need you, Sophia, you know that," he said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Who is Butch without Sundance, or Clyde without Bonnie, or--"
"I get it, Jack," she said with an annoyed tone. Anytime she called him by name, it meant she was annoyed. To what degree was a mystery until she called out his full name. Then one would know she's a step above being annoyed.
"Alright, then, let's get going," Jack announced. "We have a plan to catch."
"I hope the flight isn't packed," Sophia said standing to get her bag. "I want to stretch out and sleep."
"That's a good plan," Jack told her. "Would've worked out well if I hadn't been attacked by the religious mafia."
"Really?" Sophia asked with hopeful eyes. "We could've just slept easily?"
"Yeah, I was going to give you until after the weekend to sleep and rest."
The annoyed look returned to her face. "Tomorrow is Monday, Jack Canyon!"
"I know it is," he said with another cocky smile.
They headed down to the lobby of the apartment building and headed outside to call for a taxi cab. It was safer than traveling in their personal vehicles. Though, Sophia no longer had one. She was going to make Jack pay big time for that.
"You owe me a car," she stated boldly.
"I do not," Jack said.
"I'll tell my dad," she threatened.
Jack looked to her for a moment. "Would you like a hardtop this time?"
She smiled at her victory. The dad card worked on her, it would work on him. Finally, when the taxi arrived, Jack opened the door for her and climbed in after.
"To the airport," Jack ordered the man.
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART THREE
Words: 1604
The plane landed at nearly midnight on the Atlantic Coast. Jack had to wake Sophia up since she slept half the flight. He was amazed she could sleep like that, let alone snore like she did. Of course, he pestered her about it on the cab ride to the office to which she argued only to fuel is "I'm always right" attitude further.
He stepped out of the cab and turned to pay the driver, before looking at Sophia for a moment. "Are you going to be okay on the ride home?"
"I'll be fine, Mr. Canyon," Sophia told him. "Have a good night and don't book any flights until next week."
"You have my word," Jack said as he closed the door, but his face showed a wicked, deceitful smile.
Sophia sighed heavily. If his devilish smile wasn't enough, she knew his word was worthless. He continued to look ahead as the cab went on.
Jack watched the cab get out of sight before turning toward the office and unlocking the door. He had a small feeling of being her guardian since her father wasn't around to do it much anymore. He entered his two story office. The first floor was his travel agency, small museum of his accomplishments, and of course, desks. The rooms were all uni-color. They were neutral tan.
Upstairs was where the living quarters were. He had a nice room all to himself, a living room with television and computer, a small library, a kitchen, as well as a single bathroom.
He sat down in front of his personal computer and logged on to check his email. Jack lowered his head when he noticed he had nothing. He got up slowly when the computer chimed in with "You've got mail." He turned to it and checked again, seeing an email from an unknown user. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the subject line. He opened the message cautiously and began to read it as he sat back into his leather desk chair.
The email read:
Dear Jack Canyon,
Beware.
Regards,
The Disciples of Origin.
Jack was confused by this message. He began typing out a message in reply. "Dear, Disciples of Origin," he spoke aloud as he typed. "Beware of what?" He spaced down with the enter key. Then typed out his name. It was simple, just as the original email had been.
An alert message popped up telling him that that email address didn't exist.
He stared at the screen for a moment or two before trying it again. Still, he received the same error message stating that email didn't exist. He began to search the original email for the address, but saw none. That was even more confounding. "What's going on?"
The phone rang startling Jack, who grabbed it quickly. "Hello?" He heard nothing, so he hung up just as fast as he had picked it up. He checked the caller ID, but it was listed as unknown. In one final attempt to find the number he dialed *69 for information. He stood shocked when he number was spoken to him. It was his own number.
Dropping the phone, Jack slowly backed towards the stairs. The dial tone on the phone could be heard quite loudly throughout the office. As soon as his foot touched the bottom step of the stiarcase, he turned, but met something heavy, which knocked him to the floor. He pushed it off and went for the lights, but was immediately tripped.
Somone was in the room with him. Someone that must've been calling from a different line in the building and sending emails from one of the computers.
Jack rolled to his side to see a shadowy figure coming at him. He kicked them in the gut which made them lurch forward. With a swift punch, his fist contacted with their jaw. Jack spun around on his knee and rose to his feet. He rushed upstairs, but the person pursued. Jack slammed the door in their face, but the masked figure relented in giving up.
The door was pushed and kicked as the person tried to force Jack back.
"What the hell do you want?!" Jack asked as he gritted his teeth. He pushed back on the door as he searched the room for something to brace against it. He tried reached for the chair in the corner, but it was too far. He could touch it with his fingertips, but no way could he grab it and keep the door secure. He had to act fast.
The person began to thrust himself against the door in an attempt to budge it.
Jack wedge his shoe underneath and moved to the chair. He pulled it close and propped it against the door handle, before taking his shoe back and slipping it on. He frantically grabbed his travel bag, which he began stuffing clothes into.
A loud thrashing came from the door, catching Jack's attention. Then it came again and something broke through the door. It was an ax.
"Shit!" Jack exclaimed to himself and turned looking for another exit. He spotted the window and moved to it. Tossing his travel bag at it, the window shattered. He began to step out when he didn't hear the thrashing at the door anymore. He was half way out when he turned to check out what was going on. Jack nearly slipped, but he caught himself, he thought.
The window's threshold gave way, dropping Jack down the steep roof. He still had the bag in hand, which caught the gutter. He grunted as it jerked his shoulder.
Looking at the ground, Jack contemplated the fall. He struggled to get the bag to let off the gutter, but the gutter gave way instead, dropping him to the ground which was about ten feet below. When Jack landed, he rolled, keeping his bag in hand.
The moment he got onto his feet, he was knocked down again by the masked man. Jack still held the bag, so he was fast on his feet to smash it into the person's head.
They seemed disoriented from the knock on the head.
Jack searched for his cellphone and dialed Sophia's number. As soon as he had the number dialed and the phone up to his ear, the man returned to tackled Jack once more. He dropped the phone and his bag.
"Jack?" A feminine voice came from the phone. She could hear him grunting. "Jack, don't call me in the middle of the night making noises as if you're having sex." Then he began choking and struggling for air. "Jack? Jack, are you okay?"
Jack leaned forward from a choke hold and thrust his head back to headbutt the person in the nose. "Sophia!" He yelled finally, hoping to get her attention. He wheezed and fought for breath.
The masked man was up once more, but holding his nose.
Jack was getting tired of this. "What the hell do you want? HUH?!" He grabbed the person by the collar and pulled the close. "What do you want from me? What did I do to get this, hm?"
The person remained silent.
"Tell me what I want to know," Jack demanded. Gunfire echoed through the area, forcing Jack to hit the ground, but the masked man didn't act fast enough. Jack turned to see a black car continue driving down the street. Turning back to the masked man, Jack pulled his mask off, revealing an Arab man. "What the hell is going on?"
Getting up, Jack dusted himself off and sat down on his steps, where he stayed just looking at the man for a moment. He had no idea who the Arab man was or what he wanted.
Sophia arrived to Jack's relief. She watched him get up and walk toward her, but he hit the ground suddenly as more gunfire rang out. "Come on!"
Jack stayed low as he moved to the car and hopped into the metallic silver convertible. "GO, DAMN IT! GO!"
Sophia didn't have to be told twice. She hit the accelerator and sped down the street, but the other car stayed in pursuit. "What did you do this time?"
"I don't know."
"Yeah, right," Sophia replied in disbelief.
"No, seriously," Jack pleaded with her. "I haven't the slightest clue what I did this time."
"Well, someone's awfully pissed to send some kind of hitmen after you," Sophia announced.
"Yes, I've noticed that," Jack said in an annoyed tone.
A bullet whizzed past Sophia's head. Then another hit her windshield.
"I don't like being shot at, Jack Canyon!!!" Sophia yelled swerving her car in and out of traffic.
"Just get me someplace safe!" He told her as he stayed low in the car's passenger seat.
"Aren't you going to do something?" Sophia asked.
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know, shoot back!" She cried.
"Do you still have that," Jack reached into the glove compartment for her .9mm pistol. "Ah, good." He turned and fired a few rounds at the black car. He looked at Sophia who had been jerking the car left and right. "Could you keep it steady?"
She simply glared at him.
"Eyes on the road! Eyes. on. the. road!" Jack barked.
A bullet hit the car tire and it swerved out of control. Sophia couldn't hold it and it hit the curve and flipped. Both Jack and Sophia were tossed from the car.
The black car slowed down and watched the convertible flip multiple times until it landed on its top. It sped off when there were no signs of life.
The plane landed at nearly midnight on the Atlantic Coast. Jack had to wake Sophia up since she slept half the flight. He was amazed she could sleep like that, let alone snore like she did. Of course, he pestered her about it on the cab ride to the office to which she argued only to fuel is "I'm always right" attitude further.
He stepped out of the cab and turned to pay the driver, before looking at Sophia for a moment. "Are you going to be okay on the ride home?"
"I'll be fine, Mr. Canyon," Sophia told him. "Have a good night and don't book any flights until next week."
"You have my word," Jack said as he closed the door, but his face showed a wicked, deceitful smile.
Sophia sighed heavily. If his devilish smile wasn't enough, she knew his word was worthless. He continued to look ahead as the cab went on.
Jack watched the cab get out of sight before turning toward the office and unlocking the door. He had a small feeling of being her guardian since her father wasn't around to do it much anymore. He entered his two story office. The first floor was his travel agency, small museum of his accomplishments, and of course, desks. The rooms were all uni-color. They were neutral tan.
Upstairs was where the living quarters were. He had a nice room all to himself, a living room with television and computer, a small library, a kitchen, as well as a single bathroom.
He sat down in front of his personal computer and logged on to check his email. Jack lowered his head when he noticed he had nothing. He got up slowly when the computer chimed in with "You've got mail." He turned to it and checked again, seeing an email from an unknown user. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the subject line. He opened the message cautiously and began to read it as he sat back into his leather desk chair.
The email read:
Dear Jack Canyon,
Beware.
Regards,
The Disciples of Origin.
Jack was confused by this message. He began typing out a message in reply. "Dear, Disciples of Origin," he spoke aloud as he typed. "Beware of what?" He spaced down with the enter key. Then typed out his name. It was simple, just as the original email had been.
An alert message popped up telling him that that email address didn't exist.
He stared at the screen for a moment or two before trying it again. Still, he received the same error message stating that email didn't exist. He began to search the original email for the address, but saw none. That was even more confounding. "What's going on?"
The phone rang startling Jack, who grabbed it quickly. "Hello?" He heard nothing, so he hung up just as fast as he had picked it up. He checked the caller ID, but it was listed as unknown. In one final attempt to find the number he dialed *69 for information. He stood shocked when he number was spoken to him. It was his own number.
Dropping the phone, Jack slowly backed towards the stairs. The dial tone on the phone could be heard quite loudly throughout the office. As soon as his foot touched the bottom step of the stiarcase, he turned, but met something heavy, which knocked him to the floor. He pushed it off and went for the lights, but was immediately tripped.
Somone was in the room with him. Someone that must've been calling from a different line in the building and sending emails from one of the computers.
Jack rolled to his side to see a shadowy figure coming at him. He kicked them in the gut which made them lurch forward. With a swift punch, his fist contacted with their jaw. Jack spun around on his knee and rose to his feet. He rushed upstairs, but the person pursued. Jack slammed the door in their face, but the masked figure relented in giving up.
The door was pushed and kicked as the person tried to force Jack back.
"What the hell do you want?!" Jack asked as he gritted his teeth. He pushed back on the door as he searched the room for something to brace against it. He tried reached for the chair in the corner, but it was too far. He could touch it with his fingertips, but no way could he grab it and keep the door secure. He had to act fast.
The person began to thrust himself against the door in an attempt to budge it.
Jack wedge his shoe underneath and moved to the chair. He pulled it close and propped it against the door handle, before taking his shoe back and slipping it on. He frantically grabbed his travel bag, which he began stuffing clothes into.
A loud thrashing came from the door, catching Jack's attention. Then it came again and something broke through the door. It was an ax.
"Shit!" Jack exclaimed to himself and turned looking for another exit. He spotted the window and moved to it. Tossing his travel bag at it, the window shattered. He began to step out when he didn't hear the thrashing at the door anymore. He was half way out when he turned to check out what was going on. Jack nearly slipped, but he caught himself, he thought.
The window's threshold gave way, dropping Jack down the steep roof. He still had the bag in hand, which caught the gutter. He grunted as it jerked his shoulder.
Looking at the ground, Jack contemplated the fall. He struggled to get the bag to let off the gutter, but the gutter gave way instead, dropping him to the ground which was about ten feet below. When Jack landed, he rolled, keeping his bag in hand.
The moment he got onto his feet, he was knocked down again by the masked man. Jack still held the bag, so he was fast on his feet to smash it into the person's head.
They seemed disoriented from the knock on the head.
Jack searched for his cellphone and dialed Sophia's number. As soon as he had the number dialed and the phone up to his ear, the man returned to tackled Jack once more. He dropped the phone and his bag.
"Jack?" A feminine voice came from the phone. She could hear him grunting. "Jack, don't call me in the middle of the night making noises as if you're having sex." Then he began choking and struggling for air. "Jack? Jack, are you okay?"
Jack leaned forward from a choke hold and thrust his head back to headbutt the person in the nose. "Sophia!" He yelled finally, hoping to get her attention. He wheezed and fought for breath.
The masked man was up once more, but holding his nose.
Jack was getting tired of this. "What the hell do you want? HUH?!" He grabbed the person by the collar and pulled the close. "What do you want from me? What did I do to get this, hm?"
The person remained silent.
"Tell me what I want to know," Jack demanded. Gunfire echoed through the area, forcing Jack to hit the ground, but the masked man didn't act fast enough. Jack turned to see a black car continue driving down the street. Turning back to the masked man, Jack pulled his mask off, revealing an Arab man. "What the hell is going on?"
Getting up, Jack dusted himself off and sat down on his steps, where he stayed just looking at the man for a moment. He had no idea who the Arab man was or what he wanted.
Sophia arrived to Jack's relief. She watched him get up and walk toward her, but he hit the ground suddenly as more gunfire rang out. "Come on!"
Jack stayed low as he moved to the car and hopped into the metallic silver convertible. "GO, DAMN IT! GO!"
Sophia didn't have to be told twice. She hit the accelerator and sped down the street, but the other car stayed in pursuit. "What did you do this time?"
"I don't know."
"Yeah, right," Sophia replied in disbelief.
"No, seriously," Jack pleaded with her. "I haven't the slightest clue what I did this time."
"Well, someone's awfully pissed to send some kind of hitmen after you," Sophia announced.
"Yes, I've noticed that," Jack said in an annoyed tone.
A bullet whizzed past Sophia's head. Then another hit her windshield.
"I don't like being shot at, Jack Canyon!!!" Sophia yelled swerving her car in and out of traffic.
"Just get me someplace safe!" He told her as he stayed low in the car's passenger seat.
"Aren't you going to do something?" Sophia asked.
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know, shoot back!" She cried.
"Do you still have that," Jack reached into the glove compartment for her .9mm pistol. "Ah, good." He turned and fired a few rounds at the black car. He looked at Sophia who had been jerking the car left and right. "Could you keep it steady?"
She simply glared at him.
"Eyes on the road! Eyes. on. the. road!" Jack barked.
A bullet hit the car tire and it swerved out of control. Sophia couldn't hold it and it hit the curve and flipped. Both Jack and Sophia were tossed from the car.
The black car slowed down and watched the convertible flip multiple times until it landed on its top. It sped off when there were no signs of life.
To Be Continued. . .
Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART TWO
Words: 1485
The cab ride to the airport was not one to brag about, especially since it was a small cab and Sophia had to stay seated close to Jack. She felt very uncomfortable with him right up next to her. If it wasn't the smell of the cab that was making her sick, then it was Jack's closeness.
Finally, relief came as she sat on the plane with Jack next to her, but he wasn't as close. She leaned back and closed her eyes as the 747 took off for the United States.
Jack was too excited to sleep. His mind was restless about the things that had happened on the expedition. The book was theirs and no one could take it away from them. He hated the fact that he majored mostly in religion and Asian cultures, because he couldn't read both Greek and Roman languages. He had a brief Greek language course in his last year of college.
Sophia woke up in mid-flight to spot Jack going over his notes and trying to translate the book. He looked frustrated, very frustrated. "Is everything, okay?" She asked in a groggy tone.
"This doesn't make any sense," he replied in an annoyed tone. "See?" He slid the notepad over into her direction.
"Wait a minute, let me see the book, Jack," Sophia said, offering her help.
Jack picked up the open book by both ends and set it down on her tray. "Good luck."
"Jack, I'm a linguist, remember?" She asked hoping he would remember her resume. "I think I can handle this."
Jack was silent for a moment as he tried to remember, or act like he had forgotten. He didn't like feeling inferior, but he needed her help. So, he had no choice but to give in.
"Yeah, I see the problem," she spoke up. "You have your Roman alphabet backwards, or inside out, I'm not sure which yet." She glanced up at his blank stare. "Look." She moved the book and notepad into his view. "This is all wrong." She scratched it out with the pen, but paused. "You know what?" She flipped to the next page. "Let's start over."
Jack continued to sit in silence as she began to translate the text for him.
"Your ego will just have to overlook all this, okay?" She asked. "You hired me to help you, right? That's what I'm doing." She wrote down a few more sentences. "Take a look."
Jack scanned the paper and read the current translation. "The eyes of the Roman and Greek pantheon are upon us all. This book is for one, is for all. Beware of the place in which it leads. No man shall enter, if he is powered by greed."
"Go on," Sophia urged.
"Written by the hands of great, great men. The men with powerful minds the gods did send. To the ends of the earth and back again. In search of the great beginning, Eden." Jack paused abruptly. "The Greeks and Romans never believed in the garden of Eden."
"Keep reading, Jack, it gets better," Sophia said with almost a promise.
"Across the sands of Egypt, but not too far
To the land where forbidden fruit are
The dagger of wisdom leads to the disk
Enter only if you dare to risk."
"Exactly," she said hoping Jack would catch on. She knew he would, but she rarely gave him credit since it would make his head inflate and explode.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Jack asked in almost shock.
"For those who have no idea, they'd never see it as plain as we do, right?"
"Not at all," Jack stated. "The Ganesha dagger of wisdom. . . the one we procured in Indian for Yashodhan Tej. He has the disk."
"That's right, which means we need him," Sophia admitted.
"Oh, he's not going to like this at all," Jack said. "He hates me."
"Do you think he could've known? Do you think he wanted to find this book? Or possibly read it?"
"Soph, that tomb hadn't been touch in decades," Jack reminded her. "I doubt Yash had been there then."
"He is old, Jack," Sophia mentioned. "Besides, we found the dagger of Ganesha for him, which lead him to the sundisk, which is what this text says."
"So, what should we do?" Jack asked.
"Well, let's get home and recuperate, okay? Then decide."
"We need to get to India, NOW!" Jack ordered.
"I'm not going another day without a decent hot bubble bath, so stuff it, Jack!" Sophia argued with him.
Jack was so excited. Not only did this put the Roman and Greek gods together, but the Hindu and Babylonians as well. He stared out the window as Sophia continued on with the book of origin. He glanced back every once in a while at her. "Do you think we could find Eden?"
"It's possible, but we must first find the sundisk and Yash, right?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah," he answered. "I mean, think about the connections."
"Do we have to go through this again?" Sophia questioned with a sigh.
"What? Do you have a problem with this discussion?"
"We've been over this once before, Jack," Sophia admitted.
"The trinity in both the Hindu and Christian texts?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Sophia replied. "Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu are the Hindu trinity. You think that's enough grounding to link them to the Christian trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
"Oh," Jack said slightly disappointed he didn't get to tell her. "What about all the festivals of light?"
"No, you failed to mention that to me," she said, lying. She just wanted him to feel important.
His eyes lit up and he sat up in the seat, sitting tall beside her. "Well, Hannakuh, Christmas, and Diwali are all three different religious events known as the 'Festival of Lights,' around December. I say around because Diwali is in November, but its close enough."
"And this links Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity?"
"Well, yeah," Jack said. "It further supports my theory that regardless of the names of these religions, everyone believes in a single high deity, some kind of trinity, and a festival of lights which is close to the end of the year. This book is slowly proving that, Sophia. We find that sundisk, we find Eden, we're set!"
"We can go after the sundisk next week," Sophia told him. "How does that sound?"
"It could be gone by then," Jack protested.
"It could be gone now," Sophia stated.
"We need to act fast if we're going to get this settled," Jack urged. "The sundisk isn't going to wait forever."
"Eden has been around since God created it, Jack, it's not going anywhere," Sophia said quietly as she closed her eyes.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Jack reminded her.
"Yeah, you've told me that a bunch of times already on this trip. I'm going home, taking a bath, and resting for a few days."
"Listen, I can book our tickets today. We could fly out tomorrow to India. It's no big deal." Jack turned to her. "You can rest on the plane, like you're doing now."
"No, Jack! This is not decent rest. Decent rest involves an immobile bed. At my house. Got it?" Her voice continued to rise in an angered tone as she spoke to him in order to prove her point.
"But--"
"NO buts, Jack Canyon, get some rest or this plane is going to be missing a passenger by the time it lands."
"Sheesh, such a hard woman," Jack said as he tried getting situated in the chair. He sighed and faced he window thinking about the trip ahead. India was going to be a dangerous place to go. For Jack, anyway, since he was last seen trying to steal an idol from one of their precious temples. Though, Yash, might welcome him with open arms, when he finds out what news he brings.
"Go to sleep, Jack," Sophia said adjusting her pillow. "Honestly, you're going to be worse than me with PMS if you don't get some rest."
"Did I hire you to assist me or give me orders?" He glared at her, but she couldn't see it, since she had her eyes closed.
"What did I say?" Sophia asked. "My dad told me all about you. Taught me how to handle you, too. So, GO TO SLEEP!"
"Yes, mother," Jack replied and hit his head against the headrest to get the pillow to fluff right. He sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe Sophia was right. He drifted off to sleep shortly after closing his eyes. He was more tired than he thought.
Sophia looked over at him for a moment, making sure he was asleep. She turned her back to him and pulled her knees to her chest. She slowly drifted off into a dream about her parents.
The cab ride to the airport was not one to brag about, especially since it was a small cab and Sophia had to stay seated close to Jack. She felt very uncomfortable with him right up next to her. If it wasn't the smell of the cab that was making her sick, then it was Jack's closeness.
Finally, relief came as she sat on the plane with Jack next to her, but he wasn't as close. She leaned back and closed her eyes as the 747 took off for the United States.
Jack was too excited to sleep. His mind was restless about the things that had happened on the expedition. The book was theirs and no one could take it away from them. He hated the fact that he majored mostly in religion and Asian cultures, because he couldn't read both Greek and Roman languages. He had a brief Greek language course in his last year of college.
Sophia woke up in mid-flight to spot Jack going over his notes and trying to translate the book. He looked frustrated, very frustrated. "Is everything, okay?" She asked in a groggy tone.
"This doesn't make any sense," he replied in an annoyed tone. "See?" He slid the notepad over into her direction.
"Wait a minute, let me see the book, Jack," Sophia said, offering her help.
Jack picked up the open book by both ends and set it down on her tray. "Good luck."
"Jack, I'm a linguist, remember?" She asked hoping he would remember her resume. "I think I can handle this."
Jack was silent for a moment as he tried to remember, or act like he had forgotten. He didn't like feeling inferior, but he needed her help. So, he had no choice but to give in.
"Yeah, I see the problem," she spoke up. "You have your Roman alphabet backwards, or inside out, I'm not sure which yet." She glanced up at his blank stare. "Look." She moved the book and notepad into his view. "This is all wrong." She scratched it out with the pen, but paused. "You know what?" She flipped to the next page. "Let's start over."
Jack continued to sit in silence as she began to translate the text for him.
"Your ego will just have to overlook all this, okay?" She asked. "You hired me to help you, right? That's what I'm doing." She wrote down a few more sentences. "Take a look."
Jack scanned the paper and read the current translation. "The eyes of the Roman and Greek pantheon are upon us all. This book is for one, is for all. Beware of the place in which it leads. No man shall enter, if he is powered by greed."
"Go on," Sophia urged.
"Written by the hands of great, great men. The men with powerful minds the gods did send. To the ends of the earth and back again. In search of the great beginning, Eden." Jack paused abruptly. "The Greeks and Romans never believed in the garden of Eden."
"Keep reading, Jack, it gets better," Sophia said with almost a promise.
"Across the sands of Egypt, but not too far
To the land where forbidden fruit are
The dagger of wisdom leads to the disk
Enter only if you dare to risk."
"Exactly," she said hoping Jack would catch on. She knew he would, but she rarely gave him credit since it would make his head inflate and explode.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Jack asked in almost shock.
"For those who have no idea, they'd never see it as plain as we do, right?"
"Not at all," Jack stated. "The Ganesha dagger of wisdom. . . the one we procured in Indian for Yashodhan Tej. He has the disk."
"That's right, which means we need him," Sophia admitted.
"Oh, he's not going to like this at all," Jack said. "He hates me."
"Do you think he could've known? Do you think he wanted to find this book? Or possibly read it?"
"Soph, that tomb hadn't been touch in decades," Jack reminded her. "I doubt Yash had been there then."
"He is old, Jack," Sophia mentioned. "Besides, we found the dagger of Ganesha for him, which lead him to the sundisk, which is what this text says."
"So, what should we do?" Jack asked.
"Well, let's get home and recuperate, okay? Then decide."
"We need to get to India, NOW!" Jack ordered.
"I'm not going another day without a decent hot bubble bath, so stuff it, Jack!" Sophia argued with him.
Jack was so excited. Not only did this put the Roman and Greek gods together, but the Hindu and Babylonians as well. He stared out the window as Sophia continued on with the book of origin. He glanced back every once in a while at her. "Do you think we could find Eden?"
"It's possible, but we must first find the sundisk and Yash, right?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah," he answered. "I mean, think about the connections."
"Do we have to go through this again?" Sophia questioned with a sigh.
"What? Do you have a problem with this discussion?"
"We've been over this once before, Jack," Sophia admitted.
"The trinity in both the Hindu and Christian texts?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Sophia replied. "Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu are the Hindu trinity. You think that's enough grounding to link them to the Christian trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
"Oh," Jack said slightly disappointed he didn't get to tell her. "What about all the festivals of light?"
"No, you failed to mention that to me," she said, lying. She just wanted him to feel important.
His eyes lit up and he sat up in the seat, sitting tall beside her. "Well, Hannakuh, Christmas, and Diwali are all three different religious events known as the 'Festival of Lights,' around December. I say around because Diwali is in November, but its close enough."
"And this links Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity?"
"Well, yeah," Jack said. "It further supports my theory that regardless of the names of these religions, everyone believes in a single high deity, some kind of trinity, and a festival of lights which is close to the end of the year. This book is slowly proving that, Sophia. We find that sundisk, we find Eden, we're set!"
"We can go after the sundisk next week," Sophia told him. "How does that sound?"
"It could be gone by then," Jack protested.
"It could be gone now," Sophia stated.
"We need to act fast if we're going to get this settled," Jack urged. "The sundisk isn't going to wait forever."
"Eden has been around since God created it, Jack, it's not going anywhere," Sophia said quietly as she closed her eyes.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Jack reminded her.
"Yeah, you've told me that a bunch of times already on this trip. I'm going home, taking a bath, and resting for a few days."
"Listen, I can book our tickets today. We could fly out tomorrow to India. It's no big deal." Jack turned to her. "You can rest on the plane, like you're doing now."
"No, Jack! This is not decent rest. Decent rest involves an immobile bed. At my house. Got it?" Her voice continued to rise in an angered tone as she spoke to him in order to prove her point.
"But--"
"NO buts, Jack Canyon, get some rest or this plane is going to be missing a passenger by the time it lands."
"Sheesh, such a hard woman," Jack said as he tried getting situated in the chair. He sighed and faced he window thinking about the trip ahead. India was going to be a dangerous place to go. For Jack, anyway, since he was last seen trying to steal an idol from one of their precious temples. Though, Yash, might welcome him with open arms, when he finds out what news he brings.
"Go to sleep, Jack," Sophia said adjusting her pillow. "Honestly, you're going to be worse than me with PMS if you don't get some rest."
"Did I hire you to assist me or give me orders?" He glared at her, but she couldn't see it, since she had her eyes closed.
"What did I say?" Sophia asked. "My dad told me all about you. Taught me how to handle you, too. So, GO TO SLEEP!"
"Yes, mother," Jack replied and hit his head against the headrest to get the pillow to fluff right. He sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe Sophia was right. He drifted off to sleep shortly after closing his eyes. He was more tired than he thought.
Sophia looked over at him for a moment, making sure he was asleep. She turned her back to him and pulled her knees to her chest. She slowly drifted off into a dream about her parents.
To Be Continued. . .
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