Legends of Amacia: Mysteries of Tiamat
Premonition

A couple of days later, Harrypulled up to Hannibal’s house in his gray 1990 Ford Thunderbird with Dennis.They looked around, seeing the place seemed strangely vacant like there hadn’tbeen anyone around for days. Hannibal’s Chevy Tahoe sat in the moderately tallgrass beside the garage. Harry and Dennis slowly walked to the front door.Harry surveyed the yard and house intensely. “This is strange,” he murmured.“It looks like no one’s been here for days.” He stopped at the door andknocked. No answer. He knocked louder and longer again; still, no answer.“Let’s try the garage,” he told Dennis. They moved over to the door on thegarage, and Harry banged on it loudly, shouting, “Hannibal! Are you in there?”He again did not get a reply. “Something’s not right,” he muttered. “He shouldbe here.”

As he spoke, Hannibal camearound the corner of the garage and waved. “Glad you could make it,” he calledout amiably, walking up wearing jeans and a gray T-shirt. “We have a lot ofwork to do this afternoon. I just got the forklift this morning. It should behere in about half an hour.”

“Where wereyou?” Harry asked. “We banged on the doors and got no answer.”

“Oh, I wasbusy in the garden around back. I didn’t hear you until you hollered a minuteago,” Hannibal answered. “Would you like to see what’s going on?”

“Why not,”Harry said, nodding. “That’s why we’re here.”

“Good…followme; we could use some help,” Hannibal ordered, leading them around the back ofthe house. The ground dropped away noticeably as they walked around the garagetoward the back of the house. When they cleared the back corner of the garage,Harry saw a large terraced garden on the hill dropping away from the housetowards the tree line two hundred yards away. It covering almost an acre filledwith tomatoes, beans of all kind, potatoes, okra, peppers…both green and hot,sweet corn that had just started tasseling, squash, radishes, carrots, and manyother vegetables and herbs. A dozen five-gallon buckets lay scattered over theacre garden, filled to the brim with vegetables. “We’ve been picking thismorning. These fresh vegetables are going to the Temple with the supplies.Hey!” he shouted into the rows of trellises overgrown with pole beans. “Ourhelp finally arrived!” The rows shook as someone walked toward the end whereHannibal, Harry, and Dennis waited.

Selinasuddenly appeared out of the growth wearing a T-shirt and jeans, greeting them.“Selina!” Dennis exclaimed as his eyes lit up. He ran to her, giving her a bighug.

“It’s goodto see you too, little one,” Selina purred, returning the hug. “Glad you’rehere, Harry. We sure could use the help.”

“I can seethat,” Harry chuckled. “But I didn’t expect to see you here, Selina.”

“Well,Hannibal called and said he need some help with the garden and the supplies,”Selina explained.

“I can seewhy. This is a huge garden, Hannibal. And it looks like it’s doing well too,”Harry returned. “Where do we start?”

“Actually,we’re almost done out here. There are just these last two rows of green beansto pick. We were just about to take a break. Why don’t you help us take thefull buckets in?” Hannibal suggested.

“Sure.Dennis, grab those two buckets,” Harry said, pointing out two of the nearestbuckets. Everyone grabbed buckets and Hannibal led them towards the back door.Two-thirds of the basement wall lay exposed because of the land falling awayfrom the house towards the garden. In that wall, Harry noticed a large garagedoor. To the west of the garage door in the basement sat a fifteen-foot tallpatio deck allowing entrance to the kitchen through double doors. The deckconsisted of heavy treated white oak planks sitting on eight-inch square posts.The oak picket rail stood four feet tall, ringing the twenty foot wide deck andthe stairs, which sat on the west end of the deck nestled next to the house. Onthat end of the house, the ground level sat only six feet below the deck,making only a short flight of stairs necessary. A couple of outdoor chairs saton the deck facing the garden.

Hannibalmarched up the stairs and opened the kitchen doors. “Bring them over here,”Hannibal ordered, leading them into the kitchen. He sat his buckets down on thefloor in the middle of the kitchen. Selina, Harry, and Dennis deposited theirbuckets of vegetables with Hannibal’s buckets. Hannibal promptly went to therefrigerator and opened it, retrieving several cans of lemon-lime soda. “Youall want some?” he offered as he passed out the drinks. They all took one andfollowed Hannibal into the living room. Hannibal plopped down on the sofa withSelina. Harry sat in one recliner and Dennis sat in another recliner. “Whew.That’s a lot like work,” Hannibal breathed after taking a swig from his drink.Selina nodded in agreement.

Harry thenheard something echoing through the house, sounding like someone talking.“What’s that noise?” he asked.

“Oh. That’smy shortwave radio. I generally keep it on while I’m here. It makes this placea bit more tolerable. There’s a preacher on right now,” Hannibal explained.

“Just outof curiosity, is Selina going to help unload the trucks?” Harry asked.

Hanniballooked at him with an eyebrow slightly raised. “That would be something,wouldn’t it…explaining to the drivers why there’s a six-foot cat woman helpingto unload the trucks. Indeed, that would be something, wouldn’t it,” Hannibalcackled humorously.

Selinabroke out laughing. “It sure would,” she purred. “I’d almost like to see that.”

Hannibal’sface became serious, as he said, “No, I’m afraid not. She’ll need to stay outof sight until the trucks leave.”

Harrychuckled softly. “Just a thought,” he replied, drinking some of his soda.Dennis was not paying much attention to the conversation. He was drinking notjust his soda, but also his surroundings. He looked around and took note ofeverything. Hannibal’s living room contained several bookcases filled withbooks and artifacts. Several pictures and paintings of mountain, jungle, anddesert landscapes decorated the walls. A three-foot diameter copy of the AztecCalendar Wheel hung in one spot next to the window with a copy of the MayanLong Count Calendar next to it. The vivid colors of the Calendar Wheel and LongCount Calendar attracted Dennis’ attention.

“Hannibal,what’s that?” Dennis asked, pointing to the Calendar Wheel.

“That’s areplica of the real Aztec Calendar as represented on the Sun Stone, Dennis,”Hannibal stated. “Right next to it is the real Mayan Long Count Calendar. Bothof them allegedly show when this present age is supposed to end.”

“What doyou mean real calendars?” Harry asked. “Aren’t the ones shown to the public thereal ones?” Almost as soon as he asked the questions, Harry realized theancient Aztec and Maya calendars shared with the public were fakes. Hannibalsmiled wryly, tapping his temple with his finger. “Oh shit…they’re fakes andthese are copies of the real ones, right?” Harry queried.

“You catchon quickly, bud,” Hannibal crowed. “That’s exactly right. The calendars themasters of the universe allowed John Q. Public to see are sanitized versions ofthe real thing. The originals were so controversial that the scientificestablish omitted certain critical points on the calendar to keep the rest ofthe world in the dark about our history as a species. The order to do so camedirectly from the top. The true Aztec and Mayan calendars are much moredetailed, written in an encrypted form of their languages that reveals theirtrue origin.”

“So end ofthe world date of December 21st 2012 was a piece of propaganda?”Harry asked.

“Bingo,”Hannibal answered, smiling broadly, “and Harry wins the Kewpie doll.”

“And that’swhy when that day came and went with no earth-shattering event; the furor overthe end of the world dying with it,” Harry surmised. “It was the wrong day.”

“That’sright,” Hannibal stated. “But there’s more to these Calendars than the newsmedia told you…much more.”

“What doyou mean?” Harry asked. “Explain.”

“TheCalendars you see before you were not made by either the Maya or the Aztecs,”Hannibal explained. “Their origins lie much earlier than anyone wants to admit.Some say the Olmecs had a hand in creating it, but I’m not so sure about thateither. I tend to believe it may even predate the Olmecs, who are supposed tobe the root civilization in Mesoamerica.”

“What’s‘Mesoamerica’?” Dennis asked.

“It’s all thecivilizations that arose in Central America lumped together,” Hannibalexplained. “Technically, Mesoamerican civilizations stretch from the Southernand Southwestern US through Mexico down to Columbia. Some legends and myths saythat these civilizations were colonies of Atlantis, but there’s no way to knowfor sure.”

“Atlantis,”Dennis chimed. “Neat!”

“But whatabout the real calendars,” Harry asked. “Can you explain them?”

“Well, itseems that these peoples adopted the calendars,” Hannibal stated. “They wroteit down in their languages, but it appears that they all had the same ideasabout time since the calendars are very similar. The calendars themselves aremodeled on base 13 and 20 numerical systems. In fact, the Mayan calendar is acombination of three different calendars: one based on a two hundred sixty daycycle, which happens to coincide with the nine-month gestation period of humanwomen and the planetary cycle of Venus in the sky. It’s used as a sacredcalendar. The second one is based on the three hundred sixty-five day solarcycle and is used as a secular calendar. It’s as accurate as the atomic clockswe have down to four decimal places. These two calendars intermesh at the sametime with each other and a third calendar known as the Long Count, which has acycle of over five thousand years and supposedly reflects the total time fromthe beginning of creation of our present world.”

“Whoa,”Harry murmured. “That’s amazing. But if that’s the case and December 21st2012 isn’t the real end of the world, then when is it going to happen? Do wejust throw out the power elite’s propaganda version of the calendars?”

“No, wedon’t throw out the propaganda,” Hannibal declared. “Part of the propagandaabout the Calendars is that they were translated accurately. You mustunderstand something before you can truly grasp the significance of thedeception. The Mayan Codices is one of the most complicated languages everdevised, and the fact that the Spanish destroyed nearly everything the Mayawrote down didn’t help any either. Granted, some of the Codex has beendeciphered, but a significant portion of it remains undecipherable. As aresult, the Calendar has not been completely decoded; however, they didtranslate enough of it to become very concerned about what it would do if thatinformation became general knowledge. It would mean the end of their plot tocontrol humanity. Because of that, the masters of the universe purposelyaltered the version of the calendar to hide the truth about the end of theCalendar. The erroneous dates were fed to the news media to be propagated asaccurate to keep the public in the dark. When their date of December 21st2012 came and went without an earth-rending catastrophe, they successfullyburied the truth about what really faces us in the near future. That’s why youdo not believe anything coming out of the major media outlets of the world.”

“So thedate of the end of the world is not right?” Dennis asked.

“Yes,”Hannibal stated. “As I mentioned earlier, the Calendar uses an encryptedversion of the Codex. Only a few select priests who were given theresponsibility of passing on the knowledge of the Ancients and the correctaccount of history knew how to decipher this amazing piece of ancientencryption. As I said earlier, I suspect the Calendar is much older than theMayans and that they may have adopted it when they encountered it because ofthe history it held.”

“Wow,”Dennis chimed. “So do you know when the real day the Calendar says the worldwill end?”

“Notreally,” Hannibal admitted. “Another thing you must understand is that theCalendar doesn’t say the world will end, it just says when the end of the ageis going to occur. According to the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Hopi, and manyother Mesoamerican peoples, history is cyclical. Humanity rises to greatheights of civilization only to be demolished by some catastrophic eventthought to have been instigated by the gods because of humanity’s wickedness.The event completely wipes out that civilization, leaving only a few humans leftto start over. These cataclysms usually redefine the surface of the Earth byfire, water, wind, ice, or some combination of these elements. The ancientMaya, Aztec, and Olmec understood that our planet is a highly energetic andvolatile planet that reshapes itself periodically on a global scale. They alsoknow how the stars and other planets can trigger these cataclysms. It’s awonder that our ancestors had such knowledge.”

“How manyages do the Maya say we’ve had?” Harry asked.

“Theexperts in the scientific hierarchy of world claim the Mayas believe we areliving in the 4th Age or cycle of creation on the Long Count,”Hannibal declared. “They say the Hopi Indians of northern Arizona believesomething similar. On the other hand, the Aztecs show in the Sun Stone depictedhere that we’re living in the twilight of the 5th. Yet, the datesfor the end of the 4th Age of the Maya and the 5th Age ofthe Aztec seem to coincide because they’re using the same base calendar system.But because of the incomplete nature of the decoding of the Mayan Calendar, wecan only get an approximation for when this age will end and the next age willbegin. From my own personal research and knowledge concerning this, I’veconcluded that the so-called experts are wrong in the number of Ages and wherewe are in their calendar.”

“So,according to your research, which Age are we living in?” Harry asked.

“I’veverified these results with a dozen other respected archaeologists around theworld,” Hannibal stated, “some of whom are on the payroll of the masters of theuniverse. The real deal is that there is no discrepancy between the Aztec andMayan Long Count calendars. We’re now in the twilight of the 6thAge, preparing to go into the 7th Age or World as the ancientscalled it. The end of our present Age is very near and will redefine our worldforever as the end of previous Ages did.”

“And whendoes the Calendar say this will happen?” Selina asked.

“Newevidence and breakthroughs on breaking the encrypted Codices suggest thatsometime within the next eighteen months we’ll see a celestial event that’llend this age and herald in the next,” Hannibal said. “It’ll be a global eventthat’ll decimate much of the population of the planet and restructure thesurface. But it will not be the end of the world, just a restructuring andstarting over for those who survive the cataclysm. The exact date is still lostin the encryption. It’s something I really want to know, especially with whatwe’re doing now. I have this strange feeling that what I’m doing with Amacia isdirectly involved with what the Calendar is pointing to.”

“Do youthink the key to the full deciphering of the Mayan Codex may be in Tiamat’sLibrary?” Harry asked.

Hannibalraised an eyebrow at the question. “You know, you might be right,” he replied.“It very well may be in there. I’m one of the few experts on the Mayan Codexand that language does seem to mimic what we’re seeing in the Library. We’llhave to keep an eye out for the key to the Codex encryption.” The sound of asemi-truck echoed through the house as the heavy truck came up the driveway.

“That mustbe the forklift. He’s early. Harry…let’s go out and unload it,” Hannibalordered. “Selina, could you and Dennis go out to the garden and finish pickingthe beans?”

Selinanodded and said, “Sure. Come on Dennis and give me a hand.” Dennis jumped outof the chair and followed Selina out the back door.

“Come on,bud. Let’s do this,” Hannibal told Harry as he headed for the front door. Theystepped out on the front porch to see a semi with a lowboy trailer and a largeforklift on it parked in the driveway. The driver had just gotten out of thetruck and was heading for the house. Hannibal and Harry met him in the yard.

“You’reearly,” Hannibal said.

The driverextended his hand and shook Hannibal’s hand. “Guess I am. Where can I unloadit?” he asked.

“Well,right there will be all right,” Hannibal answered. Then speaking to Harry, hesaid, “Why don’t you pull your car over by my truck there in the grass.” Harrynodded and immediately moved his car.

Within fiveminutes, the forklift sat in the driveway and the driver prepared to leave.“We’ll be back tomorrow about this time to get it. Is that going to suit you?”the driver asked.

“Surewill,” Hannibal returned confidently. “If we need it longer, I’ll call in themorning.”

The driversmiled and climbed into his truck, starting it up. A cloud of smoke boiled outof the exhaust pipes. The driver waved as he circled around in front of thehouse, driving away. Hannibal moved the forklift out into the grass so it wouldnot be in the way of the delivery trucks. He walked back to Harry as he stoodat the end of the sidewalk. “Why does this place look like you have not beenhere for weeks?” Harry asked, following Hannibal back into the house.

“Well, Ijust haven’t much time to keep the lawn up because of the other work I’ve beendoing. Another reason is that I haven’t been here for over a week,” Hannibalexplained as they stepped into the house. Selina and Dennis were sitting on thesofa, talking softly. Hannibal immediately noticed it and asked, “Youfinished?”

“Yes,”Selina replied. “I was nearly done when Harry and Dennis showed up. Dennisproved to be a great help in those last two rows; however, the vast majority ofthe beans on those rows need grow a little more. They aren’t quite big enoughyet so we just left them. Remember, you planted them a little later than theothers.”

“Right,”Hannibal replied, sitting down in the recliner. “I remember now. I did that sothe beans would all come in at once. What do you think, a couple more daysbefore they are ready?”

“Maybe asmany as four days,” Selina answered as Harry plopped in the vacant recliner.“The beans are really small right now, but when they’re ready, it’s going to bea pile of them.”

“Good,”Hannibal chimed. “That gives us a little space to breathe and get some of theother things done.” Turning to Harry, he asked, “Would you like to see whatwe’ve gotten so far?”

“Sure,”Harry answered.

“Good…followme,” Hannibal said, abruptly rising from his seat. Everyone rose and followedhim down into the basement. Hannibal turned on the light and Harry lookedaround. The basement appeared much bigger than the house with rows of shelvesfilled with canned goods. The shelves lay set up in isles big enough to drive aforklift easily between them. A large garage door stood in the near end wherethe steps came down. In the far end sat a dozen chest freezers lined up inrows. The freezers were enormous: six feet wide by ten feet long by four feethigh. Each had a set of moveable steps in front of them. Hannibal led themthrough the shelves to the freezers and opened the nearest one, revealing itcompletely filled with frozen vegetables.

Harrylooked at the freezers and the shelves in astonishment. “How did you get thetime to do all this?” he asked.

Hannibalsmirked as he closed the freezer. “I have some very skillful and knowledgeablehelp that comes in from time to time,” he explained. “They picked and processedmost of what you see here. Unfortunately, I lost most of that help about twoweeks ago. I don’t know what happened. The last time I called them, theyinformed me that they would be unable to help me anymore. Apparently, they musthave gotten some work or something is keeping them from helping out. It wasstrange. It was almost as if they were afraid to come over here. But anyway,the last few pickings, I’ve had Selina and some of the guys from the Templehelp out. Most were glad to help just so they could get away from the Templefor a little while.”

Harryscratched his ear as he thought about Hannibal’s stockpile. “You know, this isan impressive stockpile of food,” Harry observed. “All of this came out of thegarden?” Hannibal nodded. Harry whistled softly. “Is all of this going to theTemple?” he asked again.

Once again,Hannibal nodded. “I have to get this place cleaned out,” he announced. “Themasters of the universe know I’m up to something. The mamba upstairs in thegarage proved that to me, so I’m going to move my entire stockpile of food andall of my research materials to the Temple. It is the safest place on theplanet for now. I can’t risk them replaceing any of this. If they replace it, it’shard to tell what evil they may do with it.”

“So we’regoing to empty this place because of the establishment goons,” Harry surmised.

“Yes, thegovernment monitors me continuously,” Hannibal declared. “That’s one of thereasons I don’t have a regular phone here or carry a standard cell phone. NSAcollects and monitors everything said over the phones or internet to identifywho the dissidents and malcontents are. The only phones they can’t track ormonitor are the ones we found at the Temple. It’s not part of their networkwith an encryption so deep that it appears as background static thatindecipherable.”

“Do youthink they’ve been watching me?” Harry asked with a hint of apprehension on hisvoice.

“Mostlikely, yes,” Hannibal stated bluntly. “I’m sure they’ve been monitoring yourfamily because of our friendship.”

“This isn’tgood,” Harry admitted, “but not surprising. I suspected that all along. What doyou do when you need to make calls, such as arranging for the supplies comingtoday?”

“That’s avery good question,” Hannibal replied. “For my regular business dealings, Ichannel all my phone calls go through my office at the University and don’t sayanything that could call attention to me. So far, I’ve been able to thwarttheir efforts to replace out what I’m doing. But that’s changed with theirassassination attempt. That snake smelled like a tactic used by an old enemy ofmine. I must be getting really close to something they want kept quiet.”

“Whatsnake?” Dennis asked innocently.

“Someoneput a poisonous snake in my garage the other night while I was at your house,Dennis,” Hannibal reported. “It was a black mamba. It’s very fast and deadly.They obviously hoped it would kill me, but I killed it first.”

Dennis’eyes grew wide with surprise and fear. “Why would someone want to kill you witha snake, Hannibal?” he asked.

“You mustunderstand, Dennis,” Hannibal said softly. “I have made many bitter enemies whowould like nothing better than to see me dead. The snake was a way toaccomplish that without it looking like a hit. It’s actually a standard tactic.Now that they’ve failed with the snake, I fear they may do something a bit moredirect. That’s why I’m doing this. They’re coming for me and I can’t be herewhen they come.”

“I don’tunderstand,” Dennis murmured fearfully. “I don’t want you to die.”

“I’m notgoing to die,” Hannibal replied confidently. “I’m well aware of their tacticsand know how to circumvent them. But I’m still in danger here, so today, afterthe supplies I ordered are delivered, I’m going to send for help from theTemple, and we’re going to move everything out of the house. This place isgoing to be vacated. I know they’re coming and when they get there, there can’tbe as much as a DNA strand or fingerprint left. Our best defense is not to behere when they arrive. The Lord has allowed me this warning so I can get out ofthe way.”

Harry’sface fell slightly as he looked at Dennis, whose face reflected a mix ofconfusion, fear, and concern. Selina listened intently as well, knowingintimately the danger Hannibal described. “They’re fixing to intercept us tothwart our move on Amacia,” Hannibal stated. “I have received reliableintelligence on this from some well-positioned people within the governmentthat are friendly to our cause. I hope and pray that they’re not found out.”

Theseverity of what Hannibal shared really began to sink in on Harry. “If that’sthe case, then they’re going to move against my family too since they have beenmonitoring us, aren’t they?” Harry surmised.

Hannibalsighed deeply. “I’m afraid so,” he admitted. “We’re going to have to insuretheir safety before we go because the government will try to take them and usethem against us.”

“When didyou replace this out?” Harry asked with growing apprehension.

“I foundthis out late last night from one of my people in the NSA and DefenseIntelligence who have been monitoring everything, including what the Masters ofthe Universe have been planning for all of us. They’re coming and we can’t behere when they come. The schedule is going to have to be accelerated so we canstay ahead of them,” Hannibal said sternly. Dennis’ fear and concern grew, sohe slid over close to Selina. She noticed his concern and put a comforting armaround him.

“MyGod…this is unbelievable!” Harry exclaimed. “This kind of evil I can’t evenfathom. What’re we going to do?”

“You,Dennis, and Mary are coming to the Temple with me. They will be safe there,”Hannibal stated. “It’s the only way. All of our plans to let them stay herejust got shot to shit.”

“TheTemple,” Harry asked with great concern, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Fromwhat you’ve told us, it’s a very dangerous place. And let’s not forget thevision. What about the demoniac hordes and Dezarcus…what about them? I’m notgoing to put Mary or Dennis in that kind of situation. I’m not going to putthem in the belly of that beast!”

Hannibal sawHarry’s fear and concern in his comments. “The Temple is ours now,” Hannibaldeclared confidently. “Yes, it’s still a dangerous place, but it’s going to bea far less dangerous place than this in a week or less. As for the hordes andDezarcus, don’t worry about them. I prayed all last night about this and theLord has assured me that the Temple is the safest place for Mary and Dennis. Infact, do you remember the evil presence I said was over that place? Well, thelonger we’ve been there and the farther we’ve explored, the less oppressive ithas become. In fact, I was there yesterday helping Nathanael and Selina checkout the new level to the Library. The atmosphere there is now almost pleasant.It still has a strange, somewhat alien feel to it but the malevolent aspect ofit has all but dissipated where we’re doing most of the research. Apparently,the Lord has secured most of the Temple with His angels. If you don’t believeme, just wait and see. We’re going to take all this stuff to the Temple this afternoonand you can see for yourself.”

Harry’sface was still etched with worry as he looked at Dennis again. Dennis seemed tobe eager and excited about the possibility of going to the Temple, but remainedconcerned about the turn of events. “You’re sure about that?” Harry askedHannibal sharply.

“Absolutely,”Hannibal answered with complete confidence.

“The Templeis safe, Harry,” Selina chimed. “Trust Hannibal; the place is secure.”

“How longbefore they come?” Harry asked in a slightly defeated tone, rubbing the side ofhis face with his hand.

Hanniballeaned forward and looked Harry square in the face. “Within a week,” Hannibalreported. “I don’t know exactly when the raid is supposed to happen, but I doknow that it will be within a week.”

“This isunbelievable. This thing has put my family in jeopardy. But in my heart I knewthat this was a possibility,” Harry said with finality. “We’re going to have todisappear off the face of the Earth. And we’re going to have to do it quick.”

A suddenchill raced down Hannibal’s spine and his face fell. “You’d better go get Maryand any of the pictures you have of Selina and Nathanael,” he ordered urgently.Then to Dennis he asked, “Where’s the hologram projector I gave you?”

“Righthere,” Dennis answered, digging into his pants pocket to retrieve the device.He held it out for Hannibal to see.

“Why didyou bring it?” Hannibal asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’tknow,” Dennis answered. “Something just told me to bring it along.”

“There arestrange forces at work here we don’t understand,” Hannibal stated soberly.“Harry, go get Mary right now. We’ll sanitize your house after we get donehere.”

Harrylooked at Hannibal as if he were crazy. Then a violent icy chill ran down hisspine and a feeling of deep dread sank down into the bottom of his heart. Hisface became very pale and anxious. “I think that’s a good idea,” he agreed.“I’d better go get her. There’s something going on here that just isn’t kosher.I felt it when I got up this morning but it got very bad when we got here. Ididn’t say anything about it because I thought it was just something I ate lastnight. Can you watch Dennis?”

“Sure,”Hannibal replied. “Go get Mary and the pictures. And don’t be long.” At that,Harry dashed up the stairs and out the door to his car. He cranked it and racedaway.

“What’sgoing on, Hannibal?” Dennis asked.

Hannibalmoved over and sat down on his haunches in front of Dennis. “You, your mom, anddad are going to have to come with us to the Temple. There are some very badpeople that are coming for us so we can’t be around when they show up,” he saidgently.

“Are theythe same guys who tried to kill you with the snake?” Dennis asked, his facedrawn with fear.

“Yes,”Hannibal answered. “But don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen toyou or your mom or dad. I just can’t let them use you as a tool to get to meand that’s what they’ll do. Besides, if you come with us, you won’t have to gothat jail of a school anymore and put up with those bullies. And you’ll get to seeand learn things you never dreamed of at the Temple.”

Denniscracked a smile. “Are there kids like me at the Temple?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,”Hannibal replied. “I have whole families working with me at the Temple and anumber of them have children, so you will not be alone there. I forget; howmany children are there, Selina?”

“About adozen or so, both boys and girls of all ages,” Selina reported, “and they havea grand time there. I’m sure you’ll fit in with them just fine.”

Dennis’fear subsided at the news, but his face continued to reflect his concern. “Whyare these people trying to hurt us?” he asked. “We’ve done nothing to them.”

“I wish Iknew,” Hannibal stated. “But many of these guys are like the bullies you’vedealt with in school. When they don’t get their way, they resort to violence;however, they aren’t very bright, which allows us to outthink them.” WhenHannibal saw the continuing worry on Dennis’ face, he declared, “I’m not goingto let them hurt you or your family, Dennis. You have my word on it. Let’sshake on it.” Hannibal held out his hand and Dennis shook it.

Selinalooked at Dennis and purred, “We’d never let anything happen to you or your momor dad. We’re family and we take care of each other.”

“Come on,let’s go back upstairs,” Hannibal ordered, leading Selina and Dennis back tothe living room. Hannibal sat down in his recliner and Selina sat on the sofawith Dennis next to her. Dennis sat there, leaning on her side as he consideredthe ramifications of what was about to happen. Selina put her arm around himand stroked his hair gently. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Hannibaldeclared. “This thing has taken on a life of its own. It shouldn’t have come tothis.”

“Seldom dosuch things turn out the way we want,” Selina said profoundly, stroking Dennis’hair. “I learned that the day you rescued us from oblivion. We just have todeal with it the best we’re can and pray the Lord still has His hand on it.”She gazed at Dennis with the love of mother and purred, “You know, Hannibal. I’venever had any children. Yet the Lord has provided me with a much bigger familythan I ever had on Kaitia. Dennis here I look at more as a son rather than afriend. Mary is the sister I never had had even though I had a twin sisterwhere I came from. I would die for them if it meant keeping them safe.”

“So wouldI, Selina,” Hannibal agreed, “So would I; they’re very special to me, just asyou and Nathanael are. We’re family, as you’ve so eloquently put it, and I’d doanything to ensure their safety. That’s why I was going to give Harry’s familyall that money while we were gone. But now it seems my plans have been changedby a higher power.”

Dennislistened intently as they spoke. “You love us that much?” he asked, looking upat Selina.

“Yes, Ido,” Selina answered with a smile.

“So we’regoing to stay at the Temple while you’re gone,” Dennis surmised, finallycomprehending what had been discussed.

“Yes,”Hannibal answered. “Like I said earlier, you’re going to get to stay at theTemple and if you want, help with the work there. I’m sure you’ll learn morethere in a week than in a whole year in that brainwashing factory they callschool. At the Temple, you’ll actually be able to apply what you learn.”

“Really?”Dennis beamed. “I get to help at a real dig?” Hannibal smiled and nodded. “Thisis getting better and better!” Dennis exclaimed.

“You’llneed to mind your elders there, though. You can’t just go running off. TheTemple can be hazardous and you can get lost,” Hannibal warned. “But if youjust stay in the secure areas with the grown-ups, you’ll do fine.”

“Oh, Iwon’t run off,” Dennis reassured.

“Good,” Hannibal said. “Is anyone hungry?” Dennis andSelina answered yes. “Come on over here in the kitchen. Maybe we can replacesomething to eat,” Hannibal said pleasantly. They arose and followed Hannibalinto the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and asked, “Anyone like friedchicken because I have some here.” They again responded yes and he took out apaper bucket of fried chicken, dumped the cold fried chicken onto a flat cookiesheet, and turned the oven on. “It’ll be a few minutes while it heats up,” hesaid as he put the chicken into the oven. A few minutes later, he took thechicken out of the oven and sat it on the stove next to some plates, saying, “Helpyourself; what do you want to drink?” They told him their preferences: Selinalemonade and Dennis a lemon-lime soda. He handed out the drinks and the threeof them sat at the table eating lunch without much fanfare or talking. Thepreacher on the radio continued to echo through the house; the preacherpreaching a hell-fire and brimstone sermon.