Christopher Golde

Date:            27th & 28th June 2002                    Location:      Guam

 

          The moment Jason was clear of the still moving blades of the chopper; he was directed by two armed US military guards to a waiting jet black, armoured, Humvee personnel carrier. Inside the vehicle was a uniformed officer who immediately outstretched an open hand.

            “Welcome to Guam Mr King,” he said, in a broad Southern American twang, before Jason had time to even sit, “I’m Lt Colonel Ballard and we’ll be delivering you to Mr Stansen as a matter of urgency.”

            Jason shook his hand replicating the firm grip of his host and replied only with a smile as he seated himself opposite the soldier.

            “We don’t have far to go Mr King, so it will only be a short trip,” continued the officer, smiling at Jason diplomatically.

            Jason had too many other things to think about to offer conversation, so just nodded his head courteously in reply and then gazed out through the darkened windows at the approaching buildings of the military base.

            As was promised the trip was only short and soon the vehicle came to a sudden stop in front of the door to a plain grey building with no windows or markings. The door to the Humvee swung open and they were once again greeted by two guards standing silently at attention.       The Lt Colonel gestured for Jason to go first and by the time they were both standing outside the vehicle, one of the stony-faced guards had already moved to the door of the building.

            Once inside the building, Jason was immediately escorted to a room at the end of a long white-walled corridor. The Lt Colonel turned and smiled at Jason gesturing for him to enter.

            “You will find Mr Stansen in here Mr King.”

At that, he saluted and retreated back towards the entrance to the building.

Jason looked at the closed door apprehensively and after a split second of hesitation reached for the handle.

            Entering the room Jason found himself standing at the top of a staircase looking out over a vast area about the size of a football field. It was like passing from one world into another and it seemed a physical impossibility that all this could fit within the dimensions of the building he had entered.

In contrast to the plain featureless exterior of the building, this room was busy and alive. The four massive walls of the room were lined with monitors ranging in size from average to enormous. With the exception of one area, almost every inch of floor, though neatly organized, was an explosion of desks and computers. At the epicentre of the room, there was a space about ten yards square, surrounded by glass walls that went all the way to what seemed like an impossibly high ceiling.

            At the centre of this glass cage, there was a desk and a high back swivel chair. The only object on the desk appeared to be a keyboard. Standing at the glass wall closest to Jason and looking in his direction was a solitary figure. Jason recognized the neatly trimmed grey hair and beard, as well as the distinguished British stance of the older man immediately. As always he wore a bow tie and suit, this time the suit was black and the tie was green.

            Jason smiled and walked down the stairs, then weaved his way between tables laden with computers and other technical equipment, till he came to the glass door of the room. Sir Nigel Stansen opened the door for him to enter and smiled at Jason, looking over the top of his gold rim spectacles, and holding out both arms in a greeting of both warmth and relief.

            “Jason, I’m so relieved to see you.”

He grabbed Jason’s hand with both of his and guided him into the strange office.

            “I came as quick as I could Sir Nigel,” Jason replied, somewhat puzzled by his friend's reaction. He had assumed he had been expected.

“Have the seat, my boy,” the older man said, gesturing to the swivel chair, “I’ll stand.”

Jason looked at the chair but remained standing. Although he was tired, it would go against his very strict upbringing to take a seat and let a more senior person stand, even if it was offered. Instead, he walked to the other side of the desk and rested gently on its corner. Sir Nigel Stansen did not sit either but instead lifted the keypad from the desk, cradling it in one arm and typing with his free hand. Immediately, a giant screen on the opposite wall sprang to life.

Jason watched as a CIA logo appeared on the screen.

“As I told you when you were on your boat,” continued the scientist, tapping on his keyboard, “French police intercepted an Ong lair in Paris that would indicate an imminent attack being planned by the cult.”

Jason watched as the CIA report showed pictures of arrested Japanese suspects and strange-looking suits and gas masks.

“It seems the Ong are preparing for another gas attack and this time the evidence gathered, suggests their target is your company.”

Jason shifted uncomfortably.

“At least you will be happy to hear that you were right about the object. It seems when your man entered the location coordinates as an IP address it was all there, pages and pages of information, all on the Internet for anyone to see that knew. Fortunately for us, at this stage no-one does know.”

“I have skimmed through as much of the data as possible in such a short time,” he continued “and I think we have some rather important issues that require attention immediately, however.”

The older grey-haired scientist looked over the top of his thick-rimmed glasses at Jason, who stood with his hands in his jacket pockets, reading information from the monitor on the wall. He walked two steps towards him and in an unusual non-analytical tone, gently said to Jason.

“I think we have a problem that needs our immediate attention but we must be careful not to let it distract us from our objective.”

Jason looked at him and at the same time felt the blood rushing to his head.

“I was downloading the link that your man sent me from the boat when this arrived.”

Sir Nigel clicked once on his keyboard and a huge message appeared on the screen. Jason read it twice and his blood curled inside his stomach.

‘under attack attempting escape still, have laptop need help Simon’

Jason’s head dropped. “Those bastards!” he said, angrily but softly. He turned to face his friend and Sir Nigel could see the despair in his eyes. 

“We have to assume the worst Jason,” said the old man, sympathetically.

Jason just nodded his head slowly, unsure how he should react. He felt so helpless. He felt so responsible. Nigel walked towards Jason putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jason was listening but his thoughts were with Julie and his crew; he knew how ruthless the Ong could be.

 “Jason, there is a US military recovery team on their way; in fact, they should be almost there. This message came in not long after I received yours, and they were dispatched immediately.”

The irony of that impacted even more on Jason. ‘They must have attacked minutes after I left the ship,’ he agonized, ‘if only…they would have at least had a chance with me there.’

“We’ll know soon Jason, “ Sir Nigel added, trying to comfort him, “we really do need to concentrate on this now, there is something even more disturbing we must address, especially now that we know the Ong is involved and may have this information as well.”

Jason looked up into his old friends ageing eyes.

“What now? I thought this would be the last one,” he said, feeling real tiredness come over him.

He had not slept for more than forty-eight hours. He had dived that morning to two thousand feet. He had travelled over ten thousand miles in the last two days and it had been non-stop for the last two months since he had received the message at Ayres Rock. He then remembered that Nigel Stansen had been chasing the trail now for more than forty years, from one end of the globe to the other. He, Jason King, really had no right to be tired.

“Well it seems we have one more to find,” replied Sir Nigel, “and now we probably have a race to get there first.”

The grey-haired scientist turned towards the large screen once again and clicked on his keypad. Quickly the e-mail message was replaced with a website that had the appearance of a technical manual. Across the top of the page, the bold text read.

Gods Eye 2055

Jason knew this indicated the space traveller they had found was from the year 2055 which, was by far the latest one to be sent of all they had recovered.

“This particular one was due to be launched in 2055, but the information was prepared in 2050 and it was launched five years early due to an urgency that it eventually explains later in the text,” continued Sir Nigel. “There is a huge amount of text concerning paradoxical changes in their world since the last launch in 2046. It seems the events that have taken place in our world since the landing of the previous two; have in effect, caused remarkable changes in their world, which I might add was the expected result. During the last ten years, they have had more or less an explosion of religious belief that has at least prevented four major conflicts from escalating to…”

“Sir Nigel,” Jason interrupted, “that’s all very well but don’t you think you should get straight to the point, in case I have to get somewhere fast?”

“Yes, sorry, you’re absolutely correct,” the grey-haired professor said, turning away from the screen to look at Jason. “My apologies Jason, I get a bit carried away when I see all this stuff and often forget that although we are dealing with the future, time is of the essence.”

“That’s okay prof,” said Jason with a smile, “you deserve the excitement, I just get nervous when the Ong gets involved and I’m worried about my people out there on my boat.”

“Yes, well, we’ll cut to the chase then, as you would say,” he quickly replied, spinning back to the monitor on the wall and clicking on his pad, “our object target will be here.”

As he finished his last word, giant text appeared on the monitor.

 ‘The Temple of Light – Tibet’

Jason stood staring at the screen in disbelief. “The Temple of Emah?” he said choking on the words. “When?”

“Let me see,” said the professor, looking at his keyboard. The text on his screen changed and there it was.

’11.00 GAT 28 June 2002’

“Tomorrow?” Jason exclaimed, so loud Sir Nigel jumped.

“Afraid so,” he meekly replied.

“How on earth am I going to get to ‘The Temple of Emah’ in Tibet from Guam in less than twelve hours?” Jason said still staring at the date on the huge screen.

Sir Nigel was silent for a moment and Jason could see that an idea was forming in his friend’s mind, by the glint in his eye and the way he ran his bony fingers through his thick well-groomed grey beard. All of a sudden he looked directly into Jason’s face, a smile appeared on his thin lips and he turned, strode over to the solitary desk and putting down the keyboard. Picking up a slim, black, cordless phone, he pushed one button then spoke with authority.

“I need an escort immediately for Mr Jason King to hangar 6, thank you.”

He put down the phone and looked towards Jason.

“Come on son you’re going to Tibet.”

Before he had even finished the sentence, the door to the main room opened and in marched the guards. They wasted no time in getting to the glass cage and Sir Nigel grabbed Jason by the arm.

“Come along my boy, no time to waste, go with the guards and by the time you get there it will be all ready. I’ll stay here and organize it. They will give you a satellite phone to keep in touch with me here.”

The guards met Jason, saluted and turned to lead the way. Jason took one more look over his shoulder at the elegantly dressed professor and smiled to himself.

“Be careful Jason,” the old man added, as they left him, “remember the Ong could be there.”

He hadn’t needed reminding, that thought had never left Jason’s mind for a moment. Jason even half hoped they would be there; especially if they had hurt any of his crew on board ‘The Ocean Dancer.’

“Prof,’ added Jason, looking at the elder man with his now intensely green eyes, “you keep me updated on the status of my crew.”

“Don’t worry son, I will call you soon as I hear anything…”

“Good or bad,” interrupted Jason, “I need to know, Julie was on that boat.”

Nothing else needed to be said; the old man at that moment looked even older and Jason turned to face the two guards waiting for him, holding the door to the strange room open.

Jason and the two guards left the building and walked across the open tarmac for about ten minutes, passing several enormous aircraft hangars along the way. Finally, they came to a much smaller black hangar with a large number six painted in white letters on the front roller door. The guards ushered him in through a side door, which led into a small immaculately clean room, with a number of jet black flying suits lining the walls.

An officer greeted Jason as Sergeant Brasco and asked him to remove his clothes and put on one of the flying suits. Soon as Jason had removed his own clothes, another soldier in flying fatigues began assisting him to gear up. Within ten minutes, he was fully kitted up and ready to go.

“This is your satellite phone, Mr King,” said the sergeant, handing Jason a slim piece of very expensive looking technology. Jason thanked him and checked if it was on, before slipping it into a side pocket of his suit.

“This way Mr King,” the sergeant said, opening a side door into the hangar. As they entered, Jason couldn’t believe his eyes. He stopped for a moment and just stared. The only aircraft in the hangar was the most incredible looking piece of machinery he had ever seen.

The sergeant kept walking but looked over his shoulder as if expecting Jason’s reaction.

“It’s an F17 Stealth Fighter, Mr King, one of the fastest planes on the planet,” he boasted, with obvious pride.

Jason continued to follow him towards the aircraft, which had the appearance of being one gigantic black wing with eyes. As they approached, Jason saw two men waiting, one dressed in what looked like a black spacesuit, holding a sleek black visored helmet in his arms and next to him, another dressed in overalls, also holding a similar helmet. As the sergeant approached, he saluted and same was returned by both men.

“Mr King, this is Lt Forster, he will be your pilot,” said the Sergeant.

The pilot saluted Jason but then held out his hand. 

“Mr King, a pleasure to be transporting you today,” he said, with a friendly smile, as they shook hands firmly, “should be the ride of your life.” 

“I’m sure it will,” said Jason, genuinely impressed by the efforts of Sir Nigel.

“Mr King, Lt Forster will be taking you into China,” the Sergeant continued, “it is the first time a stealth fighter has ever been legitimately in Chinese territory with the consent of the Chinese Government. Your Mr Stansen seems to have some amazing pull.”

Jason could see that the Sergeant was also genuinely impressed with Sir Nigel’s efforts.

“You will be dropped at a military base in the far south of China,” said the Sergeant, “where a Chinese chopper team will then take you to Tibet and to your destination.  We will not be waiting for your return Mr King; you will have to find your own way home.”

”We’ll get to that when we get there I suppose,” said Jason, a matter of factly, “I at least have a phone, so I can call a cab.”

He expected maybe a smile, but when there were none, he stepped towards the other man holding the helmet. 

“Well let’s get going,” said Jason, taking over the moment as he was accustomed to doing.

Once they were airborne Jason’s stomach began to settle.  He had felt the incredible ‘G’ forces of the take-off and ascent to the point of suffering vertigo as all the fluids in his body rushed to the rear, then to his feet and his blood struggled to circulate.  Now they had levelled off and he was feeling normal again, he started to breathe easy.  There was a click in his ear and a voice spoke as if in his head.

“You okay Mr King,” came the voice of Lt Forster? 

Jason just spoke normally, assuming he would be heard like in the ‘Big Jim” suit he used for the deep dive.

“Yes thank you, Lieutenant,” he answered, “now that we’ve levelled off.”

“Not many people fly in these without training Mr King,” came back the reply, “so I think if you’re still conscious, you coped pretty darn well.”

“Thanks,” was Jason’s comforting reply.

“We will be over the Pacific for about a half-hour, then the Philippines for a couple of minutes, then straight into Chinese airspace before tracking down South,” the pilot continued, “the Chinese are a bit wary about our movements over their airspace so we can’t fly direct, we have to follow a set flight path which is a bit longer, but should get us on the ground by nightfall.  Oh, by the way, Mr King, I received a message for you from the ground just after take-off that the recovery team had reached your boat and at this stage, there are two survivors.”

“That’s all they said,” asked Jason?

“Sorry sir, that’s all!”

Jason closed his eyes and sighed deeply.  ‘My God, only two,’ he thought with despair, struggling to cope with his emotion. ‘As well as Julie is on board, there had been a dozen other good men and women.”  He wrestled with the tide of thoughts flooding his system, anger, pain, fear, dread, sadness, it was all there, and it hurt!

“Julie, where are you,” he said softly?

Somehow, he hoped she would hear him and reply.  It was with this thought that he realized just how much she really meant to him. She had been a good friend and there had been that first magic kiss but until this moment, he had not realized that maybe his feelings went way beyond friendship.

‘Maybe I love her,’ he thought, a smile overcoming his sadness as he wondered how she, miss totally independent, would handle that. ‘That’s if she’s still alive,’ his thoughts again plummeting back into despair.

When they touched down at the remote airbase in China, it was almost dark, but Jason could make out vast desert-like plains on one side and enormous bare rocky peaks on the other.  The minute they had begun taxiing back towards the small outcrop of buildings and hangars, it became obvious how popular their visit was, as dozens of vehicles came from everywhere, chasing their aircraft as they came back along the runway, many of them packed with fully armed soldiers.

 

“I’m certainly hoping your Mr Stansen has enough influence to get me back out of here Mr King,” said the pilot in Jason’s headset. 

“He usually does,” Jason said, not wanting to be too positive in case he was wrong.  The pilot brought the aircraft to a stop, almost at the same time as the flotilla of Chinese military caught up and then completely surrounded them.

“I think it’s time for you to leave Mr King,” said Lt Forster, as if keen to see Jason go, “good luck to you.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” said Jason, as he opened the hatch, as he had been shown, “sure you wouldn’t like to stop for a hot coffee before the long trip home?”

Jason disconnected his helmet, putting it back on his flight seat, then climbed to the ground, having to jump the last bit, since no ladder was available.

He stood there and looked about him at the gathered crowd of Chinese troops standing around him, some with firearms drawn.

“Well, this is nice,” he said, softly and sarcastically to himself.  He looked up at the pilot’s chamber but could not see through the blackened unreflective shield that gave the appearance of a giant single eye on the alien-looking craft.

Jason turned back to the surrounding troops and said in perfect Mandarin.

“I am Jason King of the United Nations, can I speak to your commanding officer?”

Suddenly, there was an instantaneous dividing of the troops and emerging, flanked by two burly, fully armed, Chinese stormtroopers, and obvious by his numerous stripes and authoritative walk, the Officer in Charge.

“Mr King,” he said, as he arrived at where Jason stood “you speak Chinese, welcome to the Peoples Republic of China, we are honoured to have your presence on such a momentous occasion.  I am Commander and Chief of the Southern Region of the Peoples Army of China and my name is General Sung Sui Lee.”

“Thank you for your most warm welcome General” replied Jason, looking at the commander but also glancing at the troops surrounding them. 

“Oh excuse me” continued the Chinese General, “but they are all curious as well as worried. It is not every day we have foreign guests at this outback base, let alone ones travelling in aircraft we have only seen in the picture books of the future.”

The commander shouted an order and all the troops immediately dropped weapons to their side or returned them to holders before returning quickly to their trucks, where they stood at attention, waiting for the next order.

“Mr King,” the commander said, “my men will escort you to your quarters for tonight and after you have freshened you can join me for dinner.  First thing tomorrow morning, I will have a helicopter unit fly you to the temple in the Himalayas.”

“Thank you for your kind hospitality and assistance,” replied Jason, “I assume you are aware I must be at the temple before eleven in the morning your time.”

“Yes Mr King, we will make sure you are there before then.” 

“Oh, there is one other thing General,” Jason said as he turned and looked at the still patiently-waiting F17, “my transport would probably like to get back to his base.”

“Yes, of course, Mr King.”

At that, the General gave a curt wave to one of his henchmen and looked at the giant fighter jet. The soldier, in turn, yelled an order to another senior looking soldier who immediately yelled orders to the mass of troops. They, in turn, fell back to form a line along the edge of the tarmac. Jason waved in the direction of the sinister-looking cockpit and the jet's engines erupted suddenly, spinning the giant wing on its heels towards the runway, where it immediately burst into the night sky leaving behind a bewildered audience who could only gasp at the awesome sight.

Jason then turned and followed the Generals guards towards the nearest buildings to the tarmac.

After being shown to his very basic sleeping quarters, Jason dined with the General and a group of his senior officers.  They were all very impressed by Jason’s command of their language, but he was most surprised that no-one asked about the nature of his mission.

Early the next morning, Jason was woken politely by a junior officer and quickly escorted to a giant Mi-8/17 Russian built helicopter that stood where the previous night the F17 had been parked. The morning chill, which was obviously sub-zero, cut into his face and he was thankful that they had provided him with a thick, fleece-lined, flying jacket for the journey. In the morning darkness, he saw no-one else except the two Chinese pilots sitting at the controls of the aircraft and his escort, who stood well back and waved him towards the open cargo door to the chopper. 

The take-off was smooth and as the sun peaked over the horizon in a spectacular kaleidoscope of colour, they left behind them the endless flat plains to the north, heading towards the distant snow-capped mountain ranges to the South. Jason pulled the thick coat around him tight and with one had rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and then attempted to ruffle his hair into some form of respectability. His mind wandered back to Julie and where she might be now, unusual loneliness crept over his soul as he feared the worse. He was not the type who usually noticed remoteness, or feared to be alone, but at that moment, he felt like he was the only man on Earth and the weight of his thoughts seemed almost too much to bear.

As the hours clicked by, the low lying ranges turned to craggy seemingly impenetrable rock edifices and was soon replaced by spectacular snow-covered mountain peaks.  Vast glaciers sprawled out between the peaks and now the chopper did not attempt to fly over them but zigged and zagged seeming to follow endless ice flows.  Peaks laden with snow now soared above them into the clouds and the sun disappeared completely for much of the journey.

Jason looked at his watch that had been adjusted to local time and saw that is was now 10.40 am.

 ‘We must be close,’ he thought, beginning to get anxious.

Just then the chopper arched around a windswept icy peak and Jason recognized it immediately.  It was the ‘Temple of Emah’, perched precariously atop a snow-covered twin peak for over one thousand years.  As they approached, Jason saw what he had feared most. In the courtyard of the temple grounds was a large black helicopter,

‘“The Ong” was already here.’ 

His heartbeat jumped an octave and his mind raced through alternatives.

‘I have no choice but to continue,’ he thought ‘let’s hope there’s something to this prophecy.’

He instructed the Chinese pilots to land as far from the other chopper as possible and be ready to abort if necessary.

As they touched down gently on the other side of the small courtyard, Jason carefully watched the black helicopter for movement, but there was none.  If there was anyone inside they were not coming out, but he knew if there was, then they would be warning others of his arrival.

“Keep the motor running boys,” Jason quipped to the two pilots, as they opened the door and he jumped out into the freezing air beneath the spinning prop.  He looked up at the pilots once he was on the ground and could see no smiles, but noticed they had both drawn sidearms in preparedness. 

“Must have got lost in the translation?” he said, as he turned to face the temple.  Jason wasted no more time standing out in the open and dashed towards the corner of the ancient building.  Once there, he realized where he was, remembering the arched hallway in front of him from his last visit. He knew, that if he followed it, he would eventually come to the giant main hall of the temple where he had previously seen the mural. 

“That’s as good a starting point as any,” he said to himself, and proceeded down the hallway, slinking stealthily between the massive stone pillars that supported the arches.

He was still dressed in his flight suit from the F17 with the Chinese military issue coat over the top.

‘I must look like something out of a James Bond movie except I have no weapons or gadgets except my satellite phone and my US military standard issue utility survival belt,’ he thought, as he moved cautiously along the arched corridor, ’and I have no idea what that contains, except necessary rations and maybe a first aid kit. On the other hand, the Ong is no doubt armed to the hilt.’

As he made his way along the deserted hallway, it crossed his mind that the last time he did anything like this was in his youth. Now, he understood what ‘the Darkness’ had meant when he had told him that one day all his skills would become useful.

Finally, he came to the entrance of the giant hall and pushed open the door just enough to allow himself to squeeze through. Inside, there was no sound or movement and looking down towards the altar, he could see that none of the thousands of candles was lit. He glanced at his watch.

’10.55, well I’m here, now what.’

He walked towards the altar, his footsteps the only noise echoing into the distant recesses of the giant hall.  Once at the front of the altar, he continued circumnavigating towards where he knew the mural would be.  Natural light flooded into the hall from windows far above in the arched eves, creating an almost spiritual effect on the large stone mural.  Once again, Jason could see the dragon and its’ dominance over the earth and other heavenly bodies.  As he stood, mesmerized again by its energy, he was suddenly startled by a voice coming from behind him.

“Amazing likeness I admit.”

Jason spun around

“Fujimo!” he said under his breath.  “So you did survive.”

“Why of course King San,” Icko Fujimo came back, “you are not the only one there is a prophecy about.”

Jason looked immediately behind the cult leader and saw that there were two other figures approaching in the distance.  He glanced at his watch. ’10.58’.

“Yes Mr King, it is almost time,” said Fujimo, with a confident arrogance, “I was just admiring this mural when you arrived, uncanny likeness but slightly ironic don’t you think, when I am the dragon.  Maybe you should reconsider my previous offer and join us as an ally.”

Jason glanced at the mural, looking once again at the product of the dragon’s breath, which was a man with his features.

“I don’t think your intentions would suit my taste,” retorted Jason, with nothing but contempt for the methods of destruction that the Japanese cult used. “I don’t know why I am, who I am, but I do know, I am nothing like you.”

He glanced again at his watch. ’10.59’

“Well, maybe you’ll change your mind,” said Fujimo, turning and waving forward the two figures out of the shadows.

Jason’s heart skipped a beat, as he realized one was Julie, followed by another of ‘The Ong’s” henchmen, holding an automatic weapon at her head.   He went to move forward towards her, but Fujimo held up an arm.

“King San,” Fujimo said, “not till I have your allegiance.”

“Are you crazy Fujimo,” replied Jason, angrily, “you can’t hold someone hostage to get me to join you.”

Fujimo was about to answer when the ground began to shake.  Jason looked at his watch to see it click over to 11.01.

‘Better late than never,’ he thought.

Now the whole room was shaking, enough to throw the gunman off his feet and the weapon flying toward Jason.  Julie looked at Jason and saw that he was already racing towards her.  The giant mural was now rocking dangerously back and forth, and a crack in the floor was opened to form a fissure large enough to take a man.

As the mural came crashing to the stone floor, Ieko Fujimo dived to one side avoiding being crushed but nearly sliding into the widening crevasse.  His henchman was not so lucky, as the extending crack opened beneath him until all Jason heard was a terrifying scream and he was swallowed completely. 

Jason had stopped short of Julie, as the crevasse opened between them.  Knowing that the way out was on his side, he yelled at her to jump to him.  She hesitated a moment, the ground shook more violently, then she ran towards him closed her eyes and leapt.  Jason just managed to catch her hand and as she started to fall backwards, he pulled her into his arms.

For a brief moment, they just stood there embracing.  He felt her silky hair on his face and inhaled the scent of her presence.  It was then, that he had realized he had been right on the mark in feeling that there was something more between them. A huge pillar came crashing to the ground only meters from them, which brought him instantly back to reality. He pulled her away from his chest.

“We have to get out of here quick,” he said, putting emphasis on the ‘quick’.

He turned to look towards the door that was on the other side of the altar.  Giant stones were plummeting from the high ceilings, followed by billowing red swathes of silken clothe, floating gracefully to the floor amidst the chaos.  Jason caught sight of Fujimo running towards the door, glancing wildly over his shoulder at the destruction, before disappearing outside.

“Come,” yelled Jason, “we have to get to the chopper,”

He took off towards the door the cult leader had exited, dragging Julie along by the arm.  The floor shook more and more, as massive stone pillars supporting the walls of the temple began to fall.  As they ran towards the door, one of them crashed towards them and Jason had to stop momentarily to avoid being crushed.  When the dust cleared enough for them to see again, they continued their race towards the wooden door and daylight.  Once they had reached the outside, they found it wasn’t much better, with huge cracks opening in the paving and walls beginning to crumble, before sliding into oblivion down the side of the mountain.

“Quick, the chopper is this way,” Jason yelled, above the roar of falling rock.

They raced along the archway, dodging from side to side, to avoid falling debris.  Ahead, he could just make out Fujimo in the distance, also running in the direction of the outside courtyard. As they rounded the corner of the temple, he could see both helicopters with rotors in full spin.  The walls behind the Chinese helicopter had fallen away and as they began to run towards it, the ground opened up and dropped away in one incredible whoosh. The giant Russian aircraft momentarily dipped before regaining height.  Jason could see the two Chinese pilots pointing at them, but now there was nothing they could do, as they gained altitude safely, clear of the collapsing temple grounds.

Jason looked across at the black helicopter of ‘The Ong’ and saw it struggling to keep its place in the courtyard.  Fujimo was waving wildly for it to come in and pick him up. Jason thought it was their only chance, so started running towards the Japanese cult leader. 

As they approached, the black helicopter was touching down again on a piece of courtyard still intact and Fujimo began dashing towards it.  Jason could see the pilot now and recognized him as Akura, the assassin from New York.  Akura was desperately trying to hold the aircraft in place, as the ground shook wildly.  Fujimo was having difficulty standing upright and was still waving for the chopper to come closer.

 Jason and Julie began to run towards the black chopper when there was a tremendous cracking noise and the ground under the chopper broke away as it was inching forward towards Fujimo.  As the ground under the chopper dropped away, its nose dipped, bringing the rotors down and lurching it forward, towards the waiting Fujimo.

It all happened so fast, but Jason saw it almost in slow motion, as the blades of the black helicopter caught Fujimo at about the waist, tearing him in half.  The arms and head just seemed to disappear, probably thrown clear of the courtyard by the force of the blades.  The bottom half and legs, just seemed to stand there for minutes on their own, as if oblivious to their loss, then simply fell backwards spraying blood back onto Jason and Julie.  Jason looked at the chopper and could clearly see the horrified look of Akura, who realized he had just slaughtered his boss and the basis for their whole evil prophecy.

Jason covered Julie’s face with his arm, pulling her into his chest and watched helplessly, as the chopper peeled off, leaving them behind.

“Come, there must be another way out,” said Jason, softly to Julie’s head buried in his arms.

The ground was still shaking seriously and the edge to the courtyard was now only feet from them.  There was definitely no more time to lose.  They again sprinted back to the edge of the temple, where now the walls were beginning to fall inwards crushing the temple.  There was still enough pathway left for them to run, but it was diminishing every second.

“Come, I remember I came up some stairs from the bottom of the mountain last time I was here,” yelled Jason.

Julie had not said a word and Jason could see the fear expressed in her eyes and her ghostly white complexion.  The couple ran as fast as they could, dodging fallen and falling debris, as they made their way back, past the great hall, towards the rear of the temple.  When they rounded the next corner, Jason just stopped staring in disbelief.

“This is not good,” said Jason, as he stared at what remained of the stairs leading down to the main gates. In front of them, between where they stood and the gate, was now nothing but fresh air for at least fifty yards.  Jason peeked over the edge, into the chasm that was at least five hundred feet to the nearest ledge.

“We won’t be going this way,” he said flatly.

He looked back the way they had come in despair and that was when he saw it.

“Oh my god,” he exclaimed, in disbelief.

“What,” Julie asked, timidly?

“The cat” was all he could say!

Julie looked along the rubble-strewn path behind them and then she saw it.  A black normal size cat stood about twenty feet away just looking at them.

“It’s just a cat Jason,” she said.

“Not just a cat I think,” replied Jason, as he started in the cat’s direction pulling her along.

The cat saw Jason approaching and when he came within ten feet, ducked in through a door leading into what remained of the temple.  Jason went to follow when Julie pulled him back.

“Where are you going, the temples falling?”

It’s okay,” he said, now half smiling, “I think I know this cat.”

She looked at him as if he had gone crazy.

“You know this cat?”

“Quick, we mustn’t lose it,” he answered, pulling her with force in through the doorway.

She relented, knowing full well Jason did nothing like normal men and he was probably right this time too.

As they entered the temple again, Jason looked about and saw the cat standing by a stairwell.  Soon as they began running towards it, the cat disappeared down the stairs.  They followed and found that the stone staircase spiralled down and down, into the bowels of the mountain.  Above them, they could hear the continuing roar of the collapsing temple and even bricks from the walls in the stairway began to break loose and fall down around them.  They could still just make out the cat ahead of them, as it went down and down. They followed, the stairwell getting darker and darker, while the roar above them got louder and louder.

Eventually, after about five minutes of decent, Jason could make out a faint glow ahead of them and saw the cat disappear into it.  The moving stairs were now becoming almost impossible to balance on and as they reached the glow, they saw that it was actually an icy hole in the wall. Without hesitation they launched themselves through it, landing on their hands and knees into the snow.

Jason looked around the illuminated room of ice they had entered and saw the solitary occupant of the room was the black cat, standing next to a hole in the floor.

They both walked cautiously across the icy surface, slipping and sliding, till at last, they could see, that the cat was standing next to what looked like the entrance to a water slide made of ice.

“I think he wants us to go down there,” said Jason, less than enthusiastically.

“Down there,” Julie answered as if to say no way.

“Where else?”

Behind them, from the doorway, the roar was getting louder and louder.

“I don’t think we have much choice,” yelled Jason, over the building noise.

Jason looked at the cat, its brilliant green eyes stared back at him and he had such a feeling of understanding that he smiled and grabbed Julie’s hand, ready to take the leap of faith. He sat down on the edge of the ice hole, wrapping his thick Chinese military coat around him with his free hand.

“Straddle your legs around me and hang on,” Jason yelled at her.

She sat behind him, grabbing his shoulder; the roar coming through the door was now making it almost impossible to hear, but he thought he heard her say “wait a minute!”  He felt her legs swivel about and then she screamed “okay!” right in his ear, which he heard a little too well.

Jason grabbed her arm and pushed off, launching them both down the icy tube, just as a torrent of rock and snow burst through the door, filling the room completely.  As they flew down the ice chute, it curved from side to side in big arcs that caused them to roll uncontrollably.  Julie screamed loudly and Jason held his breath hoping that the tunnel would not end suddenly, plummeting them into some bottomless abyss.

For what seemed like minutes they travelled faster and faster, sledging from side to side, wildly out of control.  Then all of a sudden, it stopped, and they were airborne.  Jason’s breath left him, and there was almost a deafening, instant, silence, abruptly cut short by a smothering explosion of shattering cold, as they ploughed into something very wet.

Jason could breathe, but strangely he felt like he was underwater and he could see nothing but white.  He lifted one arm, not willing to take the other off Julie’s leg.  When his hand exploded into the open air, he realized they were buried in snow.  He frantically started digging the snow away with his free hand, then pulled himself clear, quickly turning and uncovering Julie’s head.  Her eyes were full of snow and she gagged and spat, attempting to clear her airway.  He pulled most of his own body out then started clearing the snow from her, as she coughed and spluttered.

He held her shoulders and began to laugh.  She opened her eyes and looked at him indignantly.

“And what’s so funny,” she said as if hurt?

He just kept laughing at first, and then pulled her to his chest.

“You just look so cute with snowy eyebrows and white moustache,” he said, laughing softly.

He then pulled her back from him and looked at her hurt expression. This was the woman he had always wanted, her skin like soft silk, those soft brown almond eyes and her ruby red lips. He pulled her back towards him and gently touched his lips to hers and they kissed.   At first, she was shocked but slowly submitted, wrapping her arms around his neck.  They kissed long and hard until he pulled back slowly and looked at her beautiful face.

“That’s been a long time to come,” he said, smiling at her.

He brought her back to his chest.  Then suddenly, she pushed him away.

“The cat,” she said excitedly “where is it?”

“The cat?”

“Yes, I grabbed him just before we left.”

She was now frantically scraping aside snow around them as if to uncover the small creature.

“Ohh!” he said, recalling her last hesitation at the top of the slide.  He started looking about for the little black feline, that he suspected had saved his life for the second time, and that's when he saw them.

“Look,” he said, pointing a few feet from them. 

She looked and could see small paw prints in the soft snow, disappearing off around the snowdrift they had landed in.  They both lifted their feet to clear the soft snow they had dug up and followed the prints.

Coming around the edge of the snowdrift, Jason just stopped and looked up, bewildered at what he saw.  Julie had already stopped and just stared in disbelief.

“Oh my god,” Jason exclaimed!

Without taking his eyes away from the sight before him, he reached for his satellite phone in his pocket.  Tearing his eyes down for just a moment, he pressed the speed dial ‘hash one’ and put the phone to his ear, as he stared back up in amazement.  The phone answered.

“Sir Nigel,” Jason said, “I think I have found what we were looking for.”

There was a pause before he continued.

“I’m okay,” he continued, “and I have Julie Peirce with me.  You’d better give the chopper pilots my coordinates.  I’ll send you a directional locater after I get off the phone.” 

There was another pause.

“And you better get a scientific recovery team to these coordinates ASAP. Yes, sir, it’s another one.”

As Jason spoke, he looked back up at the mountain where the Temple had been.  The twin peaks were now completely split in two by the earthquake and the temple was all but gone except for rubble.  Between the two peaks, sat the largest black orb Jason had ever seen.

 

 

 

     Chapter sixty two
            The Race

Yet greater sign there be to see;
As man nears latter century.
Three sleeping mountains gather breath,
And spew out mud, ice and death.
An earthquake swallow town and town;
In lands as yet to me unknown.

Mother Shipton                       1488-1561