The Ophir (10 page)

The long arm of the Templar members reached
into many pockets. King Philip le Belle of France, during the last
few years that the Knights existed as a sovereign entity, knew it
well. He, like so many other members of the ruling society at that
time, was indebted to the Knights, first bankers of the world.

The King resented the Templar’s power. He
resented the wealth that they possessed and hated being at their
mercy.

“I owe them nothing. I am the King, and as
King the right to exact payment is mine in whatever amount I see
fit.”

“My King, might it not be a mistake to
eliminate the Templars? They protect the realm. Without their
protection you would be at the mercy of any invading country. Your
enemies would have a clear path.

The treasures were taken in the name of the
church. We can share the wealth but request the Orders be left
intact and demand continued fealty. There are many heathens to be
tamed and future riches to be claimed.”

“My dear Monsignor, perhaps
you
should
be the one to take greater caution. After all, these treasures you
claim to protect for the people were taken from the very people you
claim as your flock, your children. As King, I have more right to
them than you do. They live on my property. They are fed from crops
I allow them to harvest. You would do well to remember this.”

“Oh, Your Lordship, I have not forgotten who
owns what. Neither have I forgotten how they came into ownership.
Nor have I forgotten how certain holdings and wealth were
squandered leaving the owners at the mercy of both the Church and
the Order of Templars.”

King Philip IV of France devised a way to
free himself from the Templar hold. Greed spurred him on. He found
a way to bring charges of heresy against the Knights Templar. He
knew that if he succeeded, he would eliminate his debt to them. He
would be able then to confiscate the entire Templar treasure for
his own personal use.

On Friday the thirteenth, in the month of
October, 1314, Grand Master Molay was arrested. King Philip of
France never learned any of the secrets held so dear by the Grand
Master of the Knights Templar. Jacques de Molay sacrificed his life
rather than give up the precious cargo or deny his God.

Records of the time stated that King Philip
never saw even one piece of the treasure,. When he went to claim
his prize, the treasure was no longer there; all antiquities had
been moved by the nobles in charge to the Templar fleet. Using the
tomes of sacred rites, they stayed at sea in calm waters until the
time and events were aligned for their final resting place.

Jacques de Molay, grand master of the Knights
Templar, was roasted alive. Even after being tortured without ruth,
he remained faithful to his passion; he never divulged any of the
places that sheltered the Templar treasures. The story of the
Templar orders became part of legend, but little known is that the
cunning Philip le Belle made Molay Godfather to his son. He
requested his attendance as pall bearer at the funeral of Philip’s
sister-in-law just one day before giving orders to have Jacques de
Molay arrested and leveling several criminal charges against the
Grand Master. For the next seven years, Molay and other Knights
would suffer tortures while confessions were extracted that would
destroy the once highly held Templars. At his death, he was given
the opportunity to confess before the people his greatest sins.
Just before being burned at the stake he recanted, stating
thus:

“To say that which is untrue is a crime both
in the sight of God and man. Not one of us has betrayed his God or
his country. I do confess my guilt, which consists in having, to my
shame and dishonor, suffered myself, through the pain of torture
and the fear of death, to give utterance to falsehoods imputing
scandalous sins and iniquities to an illustrious Order, which hath
nobly served the cause of Christianity. I disdain to seek a
wretched and disgraceful existence by engrafting another lie upon
the original falsehood.” and then added theses solemn words:

“With God as my witness, guilty of heresy
is King Philip of France. Greed clouds his judgment. As to the
false accusations by Pope Clemente and the Holy Catholic Church, I
say our strivings were not to teach any religious creed
,
or
bring doubt on our God. The Knights Templar believe that as God’s
children we have the right of choice; any religious opinions are
yours alone to own. We have always enjoined upon man the sacredness
of faith, the beauty of a humble reliance on the goodness of God.
Even now, in our darkest hour, we beg you to be true to this.
Delight in the companionship of the devout, not only to frequent
the holy places of worship, but to carry the teachings into your
daily lives.

The day will come when the Church will fall
charged with collusion and sodomy, charges you tried to lie at my
feet, and which I die denying. You, my liege, nor you Monsignor,
will witness this final renunciation. And so it shall be.”

As he gazed into the royal crowd of
spectators and guests of honor called to witness his execution, he
made one final statement from his funeral pyre. He denounced King
Philip and Pope Clemente, shouting it that all might hear. Showing
no sign of fear, he roared that God would take revenge on the lives
of those Templars taken unjustly. The shouted curse,
“From your
lips to God’s ear
” sealed the curse and obliged the Church to
answer for criminal transgressions before God. It is rumored that
Philip’s death came as retribution. Fruit from the vine, one might
say. Witnesses to Clemente’s death claim that his last act of
contrition was to beg forgiveness for three great crimes in which
he had a hand: the poisoning of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and
the ruin of the Templars and Beguines.

At one time, mystical knowledge denied by the
Church was in the hands of the twelve known Imam’s of Hashasheem
traditions. But, now it was protected by the noble assassins. The
Compilation of The Thirteen Treasures and The Owl, the first
cataloged Grimoire, along with additional information from the
Druids, the Magick of the Egyptians, Mithraic astrological
mysteries, Faerie traditions from the Pietish ancestors and even
more mystic knowledge from the Etruscans and the Ordre de Seon,
were under the tenacious hold of the secret sect. It was no wonder
the Church pursued the Knights as vigorously as the Templar
federation fled their persecutors. A political war was at hand; the
Knights Templar was caught in the web.

The treasures were said to also include the
Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus, the Holy Grail, a recorded document
said to be the connection between heaven and earth and the shroud
Jesus was buried in. But these historical relics carried less
monetary or spiritual value than the mystical knowledge of the many
cultures involved. In those tomes, both desecrate and hallowed, the
warrior monks possessed a secret so great that the knowledge, if
exposed, could destroy basic concepts of Christianity as presented
to the world by the faiths of our time.

Within the year, both King Philip and Pope
Clemente were dead just as Jacques de Molay had predicted. Justice
had been served. The noble Knights scattered, never to be heard
from again except in whispers. They started in obscurity and left
little but conjecture.

With no Grand Master to rule, steps were
taken as soon as word of his arrest was announced. New associations
formed and plans were laid for saving the sacred treasures held by
the Templars.

To some, the Knights still exist. Others
believe them to be extinct. And still others, such as Captain Juan
Antonio Patiño, know not only that they exist, but also will learn
where one of the most precious pieces of the Templar treasures will
be found. He knows, because he will be the one to place it
there.

For more than 200 years the nine man teams of
The Poor Knights of Christ were based in the areas of France,
Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon. They defended and protected the
Holy Land and its possessions. They controlled immeasurable wealth,
and yet held true to their vow of poverty. The numerological
designation of the teams was not an accident; it stood for omega,
the end.

* * * *

The Knights Templar, renowned for their
skills as architects and engineers, built castles using sacred
geometry. They learned, from the mystical documents in their hands,
how to erect defensive sites that held water gates on coasts and
rivers like those found at Oak Island in Nova Scotia.

They designed and built a great fleet of
galleons, which they leased to trusted nobles on the premise they
would be pressed into service by the Templars should they be
needed. The lead galleon would run point much like a gaggle of
geese flying south for the winter. The triangle formation was part
of their training as spiritual guards, as well as logistical
defense. No matter which way the opponent moved, the Templars could
maneuver their ships to counter the move of opposing ships. They
played the game of chess at sea with cunning and extreme
supremacy.

The Poor Knights also devised communication
codes used with the aid of a lantern to relay route changes and
other bits of information while at sea. But all their skill, all
their ferocity, all their wealth, would be put aside and other
forms of communication would be used when they crossed paths with
the pirate ship Ophir.

Chapter
Eleven

Captain Antonio heard the whisperings of
change through the mind of his men.

“Change, change, Mon Ami, has become our
enemy. The Ophir can no longer overtake even lesser ships than
this. Weaponry gives way to greater guns. Special instruments are
used for sailing the proper route.”

“True, mate. Not even the stars are needed to
point the way. A ship’s crew is no longer a true crew of sailors.
They’ve been taken back to slavery. No need to know. Just do as
told.”

“Did you hear about the iron ships?”

“Iron ships? HA! Not only did I hear ‘bout
them, I hear they be tinkerin’ with one that goes under water. Can
you imagine that? Underwater ships.”

“Makes you wonder what they’ll think of
next.”

“Aye. Today under water, tomorrow what? The
sky?” Both men snickered at the thought.

“No. No. The moon! HA! HA!” The sailors
doubled in laughter at the visions in their heads.

Captain Antonio and his crew enjoyed
centuries of freedom. They wanted for nothing. Once, he believed
he’d made the better bargain when faced with extinction or
immortality. He questioned the decision made so long ago.

“Contona, did we make a mistake? We’ve plied
the oceans for eons. We seem to be at the center of a kaleidoscope
with the bits and pieces of life going through changes with
increased speed.”

“At the time, Cap’n, we were faced with a
decision that had to be made in that instant. Nay, Cap’n. You made
the right decision. No one would argue that. But, ye be right.
Things are different. It’s not so much that things have changed but
more that we haven’t.”

Time was moving at such a pace that we could
no longer stay in stride. I now understood that the bargain made so
long ago was no more than a curse of equal magnitude to that of
Kadar Nazim. And now Captain Antonio had another decision to make,
but could not make it alone, nor could I be a part of the
process.

Captain Antonio was not a Master. Not in the
sense that Joseph Ben Abin had been. He was a pirate, a pirate with
goals that no longer brought the exhilaration that life on the seas
once afforded. He, his men and I, would forever be on the edge of
civilization, never part of it. We never became part of the
changes. We learned of them through others that also ‘became’ and
stagnated with the rest of us, or those whose lives ended with the
first confrontation. Bits and pieces.

“Do you ever miss the world, Contona?”

“Aye, Cap’n. I long for the politeness of
society, the company of a woman, the laughter of children playing,
the feel of solid ground beneath my feet and the freedom to explore
the entire world, not just the oceans.”

“As do I, my friend.” The two men shared a
past and a pipe in the full moon light as they reminisced about the
days of youth.

“We’ve sailed to the far reaches of the seas
several times over. We’ve explored cities lost far beneath the
oceans now travelled by intrepid men of the world. There was a time
when that was our domain, but they’ve found that part of our world
too.”

Our quarters were close, and I could hear the
conversation between the Captain and his First Mate. They
accumulated wealth beyond their wildest dreams, but it meant
nothing. It was his desire for a life that no longer was within
reach, and the knowledge that they were trapped in this one, that
made the Captain decide to face his men and offer an alternative to
the limited life we now led.

“Have you noticed the changes in the
crew?”

“Aye. The numbers change from time to time,
and it isn’t all due to battle. If you think ‘bout it, we’ve had
precious few battles in the last few decades. We’ve been livin’ off
sunken booty for the most part.”

“Not much of a life for a pirate, aye?”

“Pirate? Nay, Cap’n. I’d say it be more like
scabbin’.”

Captain Antonio and his First Mate continued
talking into the night. They covered their thoughts, cloaking them
in a high-pitched hum to anyone that tried to eavesdrop. It was
painful to the ears, so I stopped. I entertained my own thoughts of
lost dreams. My thoughts turned to those things that men covet;
money, women, wine and song.

Needless to say, my thoughts ended without
completion. The call for ‘all hands on deck’ came before I was able
to reach a state of utter depression. It was moments such as these
that reminded me that I had never had a life of my own. Not a
real
one where I could be the master of my own fate. I too
longed for change, or at the very least, freedom from my present
state.