The Eye of Moses - Vatican Knights Series 22 (2020)

in darkness to serve the Light. Instead of spreading Christianity by the sword as the Knights Templar did, he did so by the pointed barrel of a gun.
For years he had honed his skills as an assassin and eventually came to believe that he was a soldier of God. When others believed that his extremist outlook had a sense of zealousness to it, he believed that he was fully grounded in his religious conviction. ‘Look at the world,’ he would tell people. Societal breakdown was all around him as terrorism, prejudice and lack of tolerance were becoming the norm with no end in sight. Heightened tensions were growing between nations, especially between the superpowers. And the only way to curb these disturbances was to force the Light into blackened hearts.
After offering his mercenary services to Christian fanatical groups who sought to change the world but had no practical means to make measurable strides, he had seen an opportunity when Elias Caspari proposed the vision of creating a society where there was only one rule under one voice. The idea of a totalitarian government would be a systematic approach to sustain an ideal society. More so, people like Caspari had the financial strength to stamp out wars and bring forward a new vision.
But there would be costs, Elias Caspari told him during the moment of his recruitment. It’s time to kill the few for the good of the many, if we’re to save our kind in the long run. And there’s no point in extending an olive branch to our enemies, only for it to be returned to us in rejection.
To Salt, Caspari sounded like a missionary from God who made sense. Reaching out a hand in peace no longer worked. The world was vastly changing in ways that many believed was the beginning of The End of Days. In time, Salt began to steal lives in the name of Heaven—and Elias Caspari—so he could justify his action in the end. It’s time to kill the few for the good of the many, if we’re to save our kind in the long run. Caspari’s words rang abundantly clear through his mind every time he pulled the trigger.
His wife had never questioned his activities or knew that he was an assassin who killed for the sake of ‘good’ to promote a better future. To her, he was a simple businessman who traveled the globe to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.
When he accepted Caspari’s offer to join his association of soldiers, he would only do so if given the right to rule over the unit, which was granted. And it was a move he knew that Caspari would regale over after observing someone like him operate with the cold fortitude of a machine.
As Salt looked in the mirror, he looked into eyes that had an icy chill to them and saw little by way of feeling or compassion.
After rubbing his hands over his face as if to wipe away his true self to don his second skin of cheerfulness, he went to the balcony, gave his wife an obligatory peck on the cheek, feigned a smile, and told her that he was going to work.
Dressed appropriately in a suit and tie, Salt left the apartment and headed for Deep Mountain.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY
The Consortium Stronghold
Cochem, Germany
Kimball Hayden quickly found himself sitting in Mr. da Vinci’s office alongside another man who’d been introduced to him as Mr. Spartan. With Mr. Spartan and Hayden sitting on one side of the desk and Mr. da Vinci on the other, it was Mr. da Vinci who opened a dialogue of discussion.
“Thank you, Mr. Hayden, for aiding the Consortium on this operation. You came highly recommended by Father Auciello.”
“And please,” he said, “call me Kimball.”
“As you’re aware, the Vatican and the Consortium have had an amiable relationship for centuries.”
Hayden looked at Mr. da Vinci’s nameplate, which read GRAND MASTER. “And that,” he said, pointing, “is your title?”
“Grand Master? Yes. I come from a long line of them, with the first Grand Master being Michel de Nostredame, whom the world knows as Nostradamus.”
“Yeah. I saw the statues,” said Hayden. “I just never made the connection. Especially with the cross of the Knights Templar etched upon the crucible he’s holding.”
Then from Mr. Spartan, “How much do you know about Nostradamus or the Knights Templar?” he asked. “I’m talking about their histories.”
“Well, I know the Knights Templars were believed to be in control of a great treasure which was never found, which allegedly included the Ark of the Covenant. I also know that the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in 1314 because King Philip the Fourth of France was deeply in debt to him, so he worked in collusion with Pope Clement to disband the unit by declaring them heretics in order to avoid payment.”
“That’s the historical account, yes,” said Mr. Spartan. “Now what about Nostradamus?”
“I assume what everyone knows about him.”
“Such as?”
“That he used the crucible as a conduit to see into the future. But because of the pandemic fear of witchcraft, he disguised his visions as coded verses. What he called quatrains.”
Mr. Spartan eased back into his seat with his hands clasped together. “Very good, Kimball.”
“Is there a reason why you’re asking me this?”
“To give you a foundation as to where we come from,” said Mr. da Vinci. “Our roots are tied with the moral compass of the Knights Templar, though we are an organization independent of the Knights’ creed.” Mr. da Vinci leaned forward in his seat with a half-smile. “Tell me, what would you say if I told you that Nostradamus couldn’t tell the future any more than you and I could?”
“I wouldn’t know what to say,” Hayden answered while shrugging.
“What if I told you that the quatrains weren’t predictions at all, but veiled messages regarding the secrets not only of the Knights Templar, but in history, in general. Such as the wealth and