Destiny (10 page)

Chapter
Fourteen

Location Earth / Sean MacRory:

The ride over was uneventful enough. The Islanders had kept to themselves near the stern of the small boat while the crew of the Triumph had clumped together in the bow. The engineers had spent most of the trip across the lagoon talking about some strip club hidden in the old port of Ormos, far away from the tourist areas that made Santorini the gem of the Aegean Sea, while Doctor Evans stood deep in thought at his side.

The ride up to the top of the volcanic cliff, where Fira hung overlooking the lagoon, was silent except for the mechanical sounds of the heavy machinery of the pulley system. The small quarters of the cable car had been packed to overflowing as the two very different groups faced off watching each other warily.

When they had reached Fira, it was surprisingly quiet. All of the tourists had gone back to their cruise ships when the electricity had first gone out, and now the normally bright and crowded streets were dark and silent. As they walked down the narrow winding avenue, their footfalls echoed eerily on the uneven cobblestones. From behind the drawn curtains of the second-floor windows, Sean saw the locals fearfully watching them as they made their way to the town’s center. As they reached the main square, surprisingly enough the Mayor’s office was the only building lit up. Hurriedly, the officers ushered them inside.

Sean didn’t get a chance to see much of the plush office as the officers rushed them up the narrow stairway that lead to the second floor, but what he did see peripherally was expensive hardwood furniture and highly ornate, rich fabrics. They were symbols of great wealth on an island like Santorini. As they reached the back office, Sean heard a deep voice call out behind the closed door in what must be Greek, but in a dialect, he’d never heard before.

“Οι εν λόγω αιρετικοί κλειδωμένο?” (Are those heretics locked up?)

The Lieutenant responded immediately in the same language. “Μεγαλειότατε, υπήρξαν επιπλοκές. Πρέπει να μιλήσουμε.” (Sire, there were complications. We need to talk.)

An explosion of air shook the small room as the door was suddenly whipped open by a dark haired man yelling at the top of his lungs. Like most of the islanders Sean had seen, the man was short and broad, but still his body filled the entire doorway. Unlike Regional Governor Machairidis, Mayor Aixi was not fat.

“Τι επιπλοκές?” (What complications?)

For a long moment, everyone froze as they eyed each other in the sudden silence. Sean knew enough restaurant Greek to order a beer or get his face slapped, but that was it. Whatever strange dialect these islanders were speaking, he’d never heard it before tonight. The Mayor ignored them completely as his eyes locked onto the Lieutenant angrily.

“Γιατί έφερες τους αιρετικούς εδώ?” (Why have you brought the heretics here?)

Standing to his full height, Sean squared his shoulder. Looking down at the smaller man, he spoke in a clipped British accent that he’d acquired for just such occasions.

“I take it you are the Mayor of this tiny spec of rock?”

Seeing the burning rage in the man’s eyes, Sean hid his smile. There were few things more insulting than an overbearing, pompous British accent delivered in a perfect nasal pitch. Being and islander himself, he knew he’d just hit every one of the man’s buttons with that one short sentence.

Before the man could explode, he felt Doctor Evans brush past him. Holding out a hand, she introduced herself.

“Professor Larissa Evans at your service.” The Major slowly took her hand as his eyes immediately focused on her impressive chest. “I hope you will excuse the interruption, Magistrate Aixi, but we are only here because your Lieutenant Aenixal asked us to come along. I believe he thought we could better explain the circumstances as to our presence on Nea Kameni.”

For a long moment, the Mayor gave his subordinate a withering glare. Sean knew that look well, Lieutenant Aenixal was in for the ass-chewing of his life. Once again, the man focused on Doctor Evans’ cleavage as he reconsidered his words. With an exasperated sigh, the Major turned around. Heading back into the brightly lit office, he called out over his shoulder.

“You might as well come in.”

Following close behind Doctor Evans, Sean entered the elegant office. The space was filled with antique hand-carved cherry furniture and decorated with heavy rich fabrics that gave the room an old-world feel. Tastefully set around the room were the priceless artwork of painted frescos and archaic vases depicting simple scenes of daily Minoan life.

Although, the most impressive piece of the collection was a half-snake, half-human woman marble statue that stood life-size in the far corner of the room at what had to be at least a hundred and eighty-three centimeters tall. That is if you measured the thick snake coils holding up the statue’s human torso the same as you would measure a standing human’s height.

There was something emotionally powerful about the statue’s life-like humanoid face that looked towards the heavens that grabbed your soul. Even though the statue’s humanesque face was surrounded by hair-like tiny serpents, she was breathtakingly beautiful with her arms reaching out in supplication. It was as if the sculptor had perfectly captured the snake-woman’s beseeching request to the heavens.

Sean’s attention was suddenly pulled back to the owner of the office as the Mayor sat down heavily in the cushioned chair behind his oversized desk. As the man irritably inspected the group before him, Sean noticed the man’s crisp white dress shirt was rolled up to the elbows and that his fancy tie was cockeyed to one side as if he’d hurriedly dressed. Ignoring Sean completely, the man focused his ire on Doctor Evans.

“I don’t know why Lieutenant Aenixal thought it necessary to bring you to me instead of taking you directly to prison.” Seeing Doctor Evans sharp intake of breath he continued speaking, cutting her off before she could begin speaking. “I really don’t care who you are Doctor Evans.” Straightening a stack of papers on his desk, the Major glanced at Sean before continuing. “Nor do I care about why you are here. As your Captains so succinctly pointed out, we are a small island with simple rules. Trespassing on Nea Kameni is one of them." Signaling at the officers in the room with a wave of his hand, the Mayor smiled unconcerned. “Now if you will excuse me, I have work to-.”

Cutting off the Mayor, Doctor Evans dropped her friendly façade abruptly. “We are not done here Aixi, at least not yet.” Ignoring the Mayor’s shocked face at the casual use of his name, Larissa laid into him.

“Actually, I’m only here to give you a message from Regional Governor Machairidis.” Pulling out a thick envelope, Doctor Evans tossed it onto the desk in front of the Mayor. “He said that if you had any questions in regards to his orders about my presence on Nea Kameni, that you could contact him personally.”

Not saying a word, the Mayor ripped open the envelope. Shuffling through the papers inside, Sean saw the man’s face turn beat red as Doctor Evans whispered over her shoulder in Welsh. “Gwnewch yn siŵr bod eich Bechgyn yn barod Capten. Os bydd unrhyw beth yn mynd i ddigwydd, bydd yn nawr.” (Make sure your Lads are ready Captain. If anything is going to happen, it will be now.)

Standing up abruptly, the Mayor slammed his fist onto the desk before him as Sean gave the signal to his men to get into position. “Haven’t you done enough to my people, Doctor Evans?”

For a second, the Mayor looked around the room at his audience, before locking once more onto Doctor Evans’ as he spoke in a barely controlled voice. “I am well aware of who you. What I don’t understand is why you are here? Why even bother with our tiny island after destroying our economy with your lies?”

Understanding suddenly who Doctor Evans was, the islanders around the room angrily pressed closer as Sean unobtrusively slipped his hands into his pockets. Sliding his fingers into the brass knuckles inside, Sean and his men let the police officers crowd to the front as the Mayor continued with his tirade. “From the beginning of time, the people of Thera have been called the children of Atlantis. Over the centuries, we have endured devastating volcanic eruptions and terrible earthquakes that have killed thousands of our peoples in service to our ancestors. Through all of this, our civilization has survived for almost four thousand years by our dedicated service, and yet …” The Mayor’s eyes bore into Doctor Evans as his voice rose in volume. “In one stroke, you have corrupted that simple truth with your lies!”

Shoving the angry officers crowding around her back with a savage twist of her shoulders, Doctor Evans screamed back at the Mayor. “I never once said that I’d found Atlantis!” Forcing herself to calm down, Doctor Evans spoke evenly. “The armchair archeologists that run the Royal Society of London came up with that bloody dumb thesis. As a matter of fact, I never once agreed with them.”

Stepping forward, Doctor Evans leaned in until she was face-to-face with the Mayor. “The only reason I came here is because the island of Scheria was not a Phaeacian city, but an outpost of Atlantis. When I leave your island, the world will not question the facts that the people of Santorini are the children of Atlantis.”

Flecks of spittle hit Doctor Evans in the face as the Mayor screamed, flailing his arms angrily. “It doesn’t matter what you do or say! You will never leave this island alive!”

Sean didn’t exactly know what he had been expecting, but having the Santorini Mayor dive for his boss was not one of them. "Battalia-abu!" Bellowing his family’s ancestral war-cry, Sean MacRory lunged forward. The action was quick and brutal. One second everyone was listening to the Mayor and Doctor Evans argue, and the next everyone was swinging and yelling.

Sean’s first haymaker slammed into the back of the islander’s head standing on his right. As the man dropped like a sack of fish, his next swing was already heading for the man’s mate. As the man whipped around, his eyes had a split second to widen in fear before Sean’s meaty fist caught him solidly on the jaw.

Sean did bother watching the man hit the ground. He was already heading for his Boss. Out of the corner of his eyes, Sean was peripherally aware of the battle unfolding around him as the Major lunged across the massive desk. The man’s face twisted in hate as he grabbed Doctor Evans by the shoulders. To his left, Kane McDougal had already laid out one man and was in the process of leaping head first into another for a Limerick Kiss, while on his other side the blonde German lads were going to town.

Sean heard frighten screams as Hans lifted the two closest police officers next to him into the air by the back of their necks. Stretching his arms out wide, the large man brought his hands forcibly together with a resounding clap as the islanders immediately went limp. While on the far side of the room, Wolfgang held one of the police officers on the ground, while pummeling him unconscious with his fist.

The blood rushed in Sean’s ears as he saw Larissa fall back out of sight with the Mayor on top of her. As they disappeared, he raced to her aid just as the Lieutenant jumped in front of him blocking his path. Without slowing down, Sean hit the smaller man like a rugby forward retrieving a ball from the scrum. One second the Lieutenant was crouched in a wrestler’s stance and the next he was bouncing off the far wall of the office as Sean effortlessly battered him aside with a bellow.

“If that pompous ass hurt Larissa, he was going to …” Skidding to a stop, Sean swore under his breath at the sight before him. In stunned amazement, he laughed out loud in relief as the Mayor shrieked in agony.

“Bloody hell, Larissa … “, stuttering for a second Sean quickly recovered. “ I mean, bloody hell, Doctor Evans.”

On the ground before him, Doctor Evans held one of the Mayor’s arms isolated between her muscular thighs. Using both arms, she forced the screaming man’s elbow backward to just before the point of breaking. Sean heard several gawfing laughs as his lads walked up behind him. A second later, he felt a rough hand grip his should.

“We should do this more often.”

The Chief Engineer’s gruff words brought a smile to Sean’s hard face as he looked around the destroyed office. Scattered in small piles across the room were groaning or unconscious men. As scraps went, this had been relatively tame. In these smaller ports, the law wasn’t always so cut and dry. Being legal was more about who you could bribe or being strong enough to fight off the local thugs dressed up in uniforms.

Sean gave a nod of thanks as the Chief Engineer used his boot to push a moaning Lieutenant onto his back. He was a good man to have in a fight. Kane had grown up on the streets of Limerick’s Southside with a reputation for having a hard head and a big mouth. A self-taught mechanical genius, the young boy learned his trade working on the old cargo ships left over from the last World War. Nowadays, the old Seadog was pushing fifty, but he was still good to have in a fight.

“Would someone get this crazy bitch off of me?”

“Aaarrrggg!” The Mayor screamed in agony as Doctor Evans twisted the man’s arm near to the point of breaking. “Not before you explain why you want us dead.”

“I don’t have to answer any of …”

“Aaarrrggg!”

“Next time, I’ll break it. Now talk!” Sweating profusely, the Mayor stubbornly kept his mouth shut as his body strained against the submission hold’s intense pain. Calmly, Doctor Evans continued. “On the count of three, I will break your bloody arm if you do not answer my question.”

“One …”