Agent with a History (14 page)

I stood up. “You know I’m a lady. That’s all
that matters.”

I tugged again and he let go and I walked
down below decks. Time to face yet another fear.

Barefoot, I walked back up the stairs and
turned around the wheelhouse to face Flint. His face was a studied
mask of control, but the beat of the pulse in his neck was doing
triple time. That rapid pulse gave me confidence and I smiled
shyly, “I look pretty good don’t I honey?”

“You have to ask that?” He said thickly.

Feeling daring, I stepped up to him and
taking his hands I placed them on my bare hips overtop the bikini
bottom strings and stretched up till I was almost kissing him.

“Just remember that I’m a one man kind of
woman.”

Watching his eyes closely, I saw his irises
pulse larger as I said, “Your woman.” And then I kissed him.

Drawing back, I waited to see what he would
say, as his eyes drifted over me. His eyes drifted back to mine and
he nodded affirmatively, as if words were lost to him at the
moment.

I liked that and I had to admit that I had
never felt so positively about my body as I did in this moment. Add
self confidence to the gifts that this man had given back to
me.

As the yacht pulled up along the dock I
started out alongside Flint my hip rubbing into him in a sensual
manner. His arm came out around my back to rest possessively on my
right hip. Just like the picture the homeless man had drawn. Call
it fate or something else, but it was really happening.

What the picture hadn’t shown though was the
9mm that I held clutched in my hand under the back of Flint’s
shirt. Three men waited for us at the end of the small wharf, while
two others were fanned out on adjoining wharfs’ just like Flint had
said.

The men truly did look rough and their eyes
were all over me. I did my best to keep my smile in place, but it
was like taking a bath in sewage water the way they looked at
me.

I could feel tension radiating out of Flint’s
back. A quick glance to either side showed both men, caught up in
their fascination of me, they weren’t even holding their semi
automatic rifles with both hands.

We came to a stop and the one I took for
Benito started talking to Flint as his eyes were still firmly
focused on me.

“My friend I owe you a hundred thousand
ransoms for bringing this succulent delicacy…”

Okay, I’d heard enough. I brought the 9mm out
and put one in the guy to the left, pivoted on my foot and put one
in the guy to the right. I swung back around to behold Benito and
his two counter parts standing in slack jawed shock.

Feeling especially capricious considering
that these men with the first words out of their mouth had been
plotting their desire of raping me for their own mutual enjoyment,
I put a shell in each of their right knees. They fell to the ground
howling and clutching at their knees, all thoughts of lustful
conquest fading from their pain ridden thoughts.

I glanced at Flint, “I’m going to check the
house and see it there’s anything that will pass off as better
feminine attire.”

“Baby, you couldn’t look more feminine right
now if you tried!”

I smiled at the compliment and headed off
toward the house at the end of the wharf.

I had been successful in gathering several
more serviceable items of clothing. I sat now in the copilot’s seat
nervously, as Flint took the pontoon plane out into the open water
and started opening her up to a higher velocity.

He could fly too apparently, at least that
was what he had told me. He seemed to know what all the buttons
were for anyway.

Oh I hoped he was telling me the truth! I
clutched hard at the seat, as with a series of rough bumps, the
little sea plane skipped into the air. After several minutes of
flying in the air I focused on letting go of the seat and arm rests
a finger at a time.

Flint looked over consolingly, “I’m sorry I
can’t kiss you through this one, my hands are tied so to
speak.”

I smiled wanly, as I scanned over our route,
“So where are we heading now?”

“Mali.” was his simple answer.

My eyebrows rose slightly. How much did he
know?

“Well, am I getting warm?” He asked with a
smile.

“I told you I’m not interested in seeing the
treasure destroyed; you’re on your own.” I responded, with a
mysterious smile of my own.

“Well, would you like to hear my theory
anyway?” He asked with a hopeful tint to his voice.

I smiled more broadly, he never gave up. I
liked that about him. “Sure, why not?? I’ll listen to your theory,
but I’m not giving you any helpful hints.”

“Fair enough. Okay, so our story starts a
long time ago, just after the great flood to be exact, when the
descendants of Noah’s sons started to move back into the greater
world from the Middle East, from where they went their own separate
ways. Ham’s descendants settled prominently down into Africa.
Several mighty kingdoms emerged early on, the most well known of
which are the Egyptians, but much less known was another powerful
kingdom further south and to the east, the kingdom of Kush, which
is now modern day Ethiopia, Sudan and parts of some other
countries. They were powerful and their warriors were renowned
throughout the world. They were mostly left to their own, as few
could challenge them. Now here is where it gets interesting. In the
biblical days of Solomon he received gold from the land of Ophir, a
lot of gold, and it was regarded as a steady source. Now, no one is
quite sure where Ophir was. It was long theorized that it was in
reference to the kingdom of Kush, but the problem with that is that
while there is gold in that area, there’s not the kind of gold in
abundance mentioned in the Bible. Another interesting item of that
time was the mysterious Queen of Sheba. She came from the southern
end of the Arabian Peninsula, aptly named the land of Ceba. She too
had a lot of gold and other treasures, which she gave to Solomon in
abundance, when she saw the truth of his wisdom for herself. More
importantly, there is evidence of some connection between her land
of Ceba and the kingdom of Kush. We know that they traded with each
other across the Red Sea quite extensively. In fact, it’s possible
that they were of the same blood and that the land of Ceba was but
a satellite outpost of the greater Kush Empire. Now, the Queen of
Sheba and Solomon allegedly became lovers and had a son, whose name
was Menaleck. The Queen did not stay with Solomon, but returned to
her own land. There is some evidence that Solomon saw Menaleck at
least once later on in his life. It’s rumored that Menaleck’s
appearance was so similar to Solomon’s father King David that
Solomon had him renamed, with the name of David, after his father.
Now Menaleck is rumored to have returned to Jerusalem near the end
of Solomon’s reign. On a side note, it’s rumored that he took the
Ark of the Covenant with him from Jerusalem, along with a
contingent of Levite priests. Not overly important to the treasure
I’m looking for, but what is significant about Menaleck taking the
ark of God, is that he didn’t return to Ceba, he went to Kush.
Little else is known of Menaleck after that, but he was the son of
one of the most notable kings ever to walk the earth, as well as
the son of a likewise notable Queen. He was of royal birth, in
spades, so to speak. I think he ruled Kush after that, but little
is known to support that. Now Solomon dies and the sovereignty of
Israel is split. Judah is alone with Benjamin in the south, while
the ten northern tribes do their own thing. Time goes by and the
northern tribes start getting hammered hard by their neighbors for
their disobedience to God. The Assyrians complete the downfall of
northern Israel and carry them all away into captivity, while Judah
persists on for a while. During this time the kingdom of Kush
hadn’t gone away, they’re still a powerful force to be reckoned
with. Now we have to go back in time slightly again, before the ten
northern tribes were taken captive, in particular the tribe of Dan.
Dan was one of the largest of the tribes of Israel, but they
weren’t able to conquer their allotment of the promised land, and
so, they were forced to settle northward from their originally
chosen spot. They settled along the coast just below Tyre and
Sidon, the main capitol cities of the Phoenician trade empire.
There is strong Biblical evidence to suggest that the tribe of Dan
picked up on seafaring from the Phoenicians and started settling
elsewhere before the northern tribes were taken into captivity.
They are said to have landed on Cyprus and modern day Turkey. The
remnants of their landward people, that were taken into captivity
by the Assyrians, are said to have eventually migrated northward
with the remnants of several other tribes and eventually they made
their way out over northern Europe. But Dan went somewhere else
though too. Remnants of their tribe, along with the tribe of
Naphtali and several others, fled south from the captivity or had
already migrated earlier to the land of Kush.”

“What does all this Jewish history have to do
with the treasure you’re hunting?” I said, looking out the window
of the plane at the barren desert we were passing over.

“It has everything to do with it, and you, by
the way.” He rejoined.

I didn’t look at him for fear I would reveal
something in my face. I realized that not looking at him was a tell
all of its own, but I couldn’t help it. What else did he know?

“Care to explain that?” I asked the question
more softly than I had wanted it to sound.

“I believe that the kingdom of Kush had a
very heavy influence of both Jewish customs and blood lines. They
remained paganistic as a nation, but I believe there were those
there also practicing Judaism. I say this for several reasons, but
I’ll narrow it down to just three reasons. Menaleck possibly ruled
there and he was half Jewish. Several remnant tribes of Israel are
known to have settled there after the captivity. The last reason is
from the Bible, but a lot farther into the future somewhere in the
area of 30AD or so. Phillip, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus,
is told by an angel of the Lord to go along the desert road toward
Gaza, in Acts 8:26-40. He meets a man, an Ethiopian eunuch of great
standing. He is in charge of all the treasures of Candace, Queen of
Ethiopia, aka Kush. Phillip is told by the Spirit to go stand by
the eunuch’s chariot. The eunuch was reading the book of Isaiah and
didn’t understand a certain passage in particular that foretold of
the coming of Jesus. Phillip shares the news of Jesus with him and
the man is saved and baptized that same day. The eunuch departs
home satisfied and Phillip is transported to Azotus by the Spirit
of God. Now there are a couple of things to take away from this
interesting tidbit of scriptural reference. Kush, long after the
fall of Israel’s prominence, is still a powerful nation to be
reckoned with. At this time, after Jesus resurrection and ascension
into heaven the good news of the gospel had not yet been made
freely available to the gentiles. Peter doesn’t have his vision of
the gospel being preached to the world of the gentiles until two
chapters later in Acts, when he’s summoned by Cornelius the
centurion. Why then would this eunuch be studying the Old
Testament, and why would Phillip be sent to explain the scripture
to someone who wasn’t Jewish? I believe that it can be best
explained in that this powerful eunuch in charge of the treasury of
Ethiopia was in fact Jewish, a descendant of the refugees of the
twelve tribes of Israel. The man had an important, powerful
position in the land of Kush. It stands to reason, I think then,
that there was a very powerful Jewish influence there, dating all
the way back to the days of Solomon and even before him, perhaps.
Who then is this great Candace of Ethiopia that the eunuch serves?
The answer to that is that there have been many Candace’s of the
Empire of Kush throughout time. Candace is not a personal name,
it’s a title. It means ‘glowing’ or ‘glowing bright’ and was the
term given to all the queens of the Kingdom of Kush, also known as
Nubia and Ethiopia. The people of Kush put a spin on the
traditional headship of their peoples. They had both kings and
queens, but the queen was the ultimate authority and not the king.
The queens were so powerful that they could request the king to
kill himself and he by matter of tradition had to do so. The queens
were known to the people simply as Candace and the last name of
their origin, being how they were told apart from each other. These
queens were known for both their wisdom and their skill in battle.
In 325 BC the Candace of Meroe marshaled her armies and arrayed
them at the northern border of her land, as Alexander the Great,
having finished with his conquest of Egypt and hearing of the
fabled wealth of Kush, marched with his army toward the fabled
land. Upon seeing the vast number of warriors of Kush and the
Candace’s skillful placement of them, Alexander turned back for
fear of what would be said if he were to lose to a female general.
Later, another Candace invaded Roman held territory and defeated
several Roman legions in open battle. The list of the
accomplishments of the many Candace’s could go on and on.
Eventually, through the ravages of time, most of the ancient
kingdoms of Africa fell to European imperialism or internal strife
of their own making. The grandeur of Kush disappeared and now
little is known of it. I thought I’d reached a dead end in finding
the treasure of Kush and then I heard of a small cult like group
that kept a low profile, but that seemed to have tremendous impact
in concern to societal matters in the region. They were said to be
ruled by a female, who went by the title of Candace, and was
respected as such. It was very hard to find anything on them, as
they were so secretive. Then I found out from a source that there
was no current ruling Candace. The last Candace lived to an
astonishing one hundred and fifty two years. She was forced into a
marriage not to her liking as a young woman. Her husband did many
evil things and out of fear that he would reveal the secret of the
treasures of Kush, she asked him to kill himself. He refused,
lacking the honor of the tradition dating back far into the history
of the Candace’s. She killed him herself when he refused. They’d
had one son together and in time it became apparent that the son
took after his father in almost every way and excess. He, in fear
of his mother, nearly succeeded in killing her, but she survived
and had him hunted down instead. He had but one surviving daughter,
that he had never known, and the Candace adopted her and raised her
as her own. The girl didn’t want any part of the responsibility of
her ancestral duty though and ran away to the city. She met a
businessman and fell in love, but it was a one sided affair. Her
businessman lover knew of her ancestry and all he wanted from her
was the wealth of the ancient Kushites. He imprisoned her and beat
her in order to force her to tell him what she knew, and where the
old Candace could be found. She refused and somehow managed to
trick a guard and escaped. Alone and pregnant she walked over two
hundred miles back to where the old Candace lived in secretive
isolation. She died in childbirth giving birth to twin boys. The
boys, for a time, lived with the Candace and then they left. Their
father found them and tried to enlist them to help him get the
treasure, but the boys wanted it for themselves and they tortured
and killed their father together. The Candace had them both exiled,
with the knowledge that the dynasty was to die with her. Then,
something happened. A daughter of one of the two brothers killed
one brother in retribution for her mother’s death by his hands. It
was unclear what would happen to the girl, but the Candace stepped
in and demanded that the girl be brought to her to train as the
next Candace. Her father agreed to it, but only on the condition
that the girl be told all the secrets of the past, to which the
Candace agreed. The girl lived with the Candace for two years from
the time that she was twelve till she was fourteen. Then the girl
left and went back to her father’s home and the old Candace was
never seen again. The girl’s father, anxious to finally learn the
secrets of the past for himself, pressured his daughter to tell him
what she knew. She refused over and over. He choked her one night
to the point of unconsciousness and told her that if she didn’t
tell him what he wanted that he’d rape her himself in the morning.
She was sixteen. She had learned a few things in how to defend
herself, while with the Candace and she over-powered her security
detail in the night and slipped out of the house undetected, by
climbing down three floors on the outside of the house. She then
swam through several miles of open sea water to the mainland. She
was never heard from again and was presumed dead, until eleven
years later, she turned up as a successful and highly respected
homicide detective working for the NYPD. Lisa Tauranto, you are the
last Candace of the kingdom of Kush.”