The Hypogeum Ch. 10-11

CHAPTER TEN

"I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love." - Mohandas Gandhi

Loki appeared in a clearing in a Forest, his eyes were wide open in astonishment; both at the strange voices that had spoken to him and also that he had somehow been transported to this place. He looked around the clearing. There was an old thatched cottage set roughly in the centre of the clearing. By the front door there was a rocking chair occupied by an old woman in old-fashioned clothing smoking a pipe, apparently engrossed in what was happening in front of her. She was watching a young man receiving instruction in some sort of martial art by simply the biggest man Loki had ever seen. Uncertainly, Loki looked around again, before walking slowly towards the strange people at the cottage.

As he came nearer, the old woman spotted him, removed the pipe from her mouth and said something to the men, who stopped what they were doing and turned to face the new arrival. The giant waved and said in an unexpectedly quiet voice, "Hello there," he was grinning, "Don't worry about it, the surprise will wear off soon."

The smaller man also grinned as he agreed, "Yes, but if what Taika says is true, then we should be in for a few surprises as well."

The old woman joined them and studied Loki with intense concentration, Loki started to feel a little uncomfortable under that steady, unreadable gaze. Here was a person that he never wanted to see across a card table. Presently she spoke, "Young! Very young you be for the work we have ahead."

Loki was nettled by the comment, for all his admittedly few years living by his wits, he had heard this comment, or very similar far too often. "It ain't the age that's important, it's the mileage."

The old woman took no offence at his tone and replied, "That sounds like a line from one of those picture plays."

Ranulf interrupted, "She means the movies. Taika has a strange way of talking, but you'll get used to it."

Taika ignored him and continued, "Young I said and young I meant. Still they chose you and I'm sure they have their reasons. Come Loki, we have much to discuss."

She linked her arm into his and led him back toward the cottage as the other two followed behind. As they walked, she told him everything she felt he needed to know, about Baphomet and all his interference throughout human history, the ley lines and why he was needed. Ranulf and Aloysius were introduced, and he was told of his place in the team.

Loki struggled to take it all in.

This was outrageous!

He must have gone mad, yes that was it. He'd gone round the bend and wasn't really in this forest at all, he was actually heavily sedated in a rubber room somewhere. Taika could see his disbelief showing on his face, she gently disengaged from him and said, "I thought you wouldn't believe me, but I had to try. Never mind, I'll let more persuasive talkers tell you the truth of it."

Somewhat nonplussed, Loki could only stand in silence, until a soft breeze blew in from nowhere, and he started to hear musical voices on top of it. Gently they spoke to him and explained their need. It was as though a locked door in his mind had been thrown open.

It was true!

It was all true.

He didn't understand why he knew that the voices spoke only the truth to him, but he did know that it was so. They asked him a question once again, and once again he answered, "Yes."

The breeze died down and Loki was left standing there in the clearing in the Forest next to a tumbledown cottage, in the presence of three people to whom he was now inextricably linked. Loki blinked and then looked at Ranulf, all he could say was, "Nineteen seventy four?

You don't look a day over twenty five!" he then turned to face Aloysius, "Nineteen seventy nine? You should be an old man!"

Finally he looked at Taika, "And you..."

The old woman merely smiled, "Time works differently here," was all she said.

Once Loki had settled into the group, his training began. He spent every morning along with Ranulf learning unarmed combat from Aloysius. After one particularly hard session, Loki rubbed the bruises that covered his left arm and asked, "If you're the warrior, how come we have to learn all this stuff?"

The giant answered, "The Warrior I may be, but you still need to be able to look after yourself."

Afternoons were given over to learning about small arms and military tactics and techniques. Loki and Ranulf were despatched into the woods to camouflage themselves and evade capture by Aloysius. They also spent a number of hours firing their weapons of choice at various targets that Aloysius had set up well away from the house. After what seemed like several weeks, but have quite easily been years, or minutes, Loki started to notice a difference in himself.

Early in their training, the giant had not taken long to find both of them, but as they trained and their skills improved, he began to find it more difficult to root them out. Also, his shooting, and that of Ranulf had come on in leaps and bounds. Loki's evenings were his favourite though, for it was in the evening that he watched Taika demonstrate her skill at Imbuing. That was her name for it. She would take an item; in this particular instance it was a small silver ball. She held it firmly in her grip and then concentrated silently for a few minutes.

Loki could not see her actually doing anything, and said so when she finally opened her hand to show the apparently unchanged silver ball.

She merely smiled, led him outside and handed him the ball. "Throw it," she said.

Loki shrugged and threw it a few yards away, and was astonished to see it bounce, faster and fast towards the trees, he watched in disbelief as it flew about, bouncing at odd angles amongst the trees getting faster and faster with every ricochet off the trees. Taika whistled softly, the ball stopped bouncing and flew back towards her, to land gently in the palm of her hand. He had always loved gadgets, but this was something else!

It was not long after this that Taika had an extended conversation with the Forest. When she returned, she told her companions of the need to build a base of operations in the real world, and so had begun the building of the house in the New Forest.

Once that had been completed, they insisted that Taika's cottage needed a makeover as well, even in the face of her protests that it was not necessary.

Then came the time for Taika to tell them about the last member of their group. The one that up until this point they knew nothing about, "And truth be told," said Taika, "She knows nothing herself. For now that is the way it must be," the last was spoken with just a hint of sadness in her voice.

When the explanations were done, all three men knew that there was an ordinary housewife living in a small village a few miles from Salisbury with her husband. They were to watch over her and see that she came to no harm. But not yet. She had to suffer a loss and they had to let it happen, but at the same time, she was to be kept alive at all costs.

"Let me be quite clear, "Taika had told them, "If the choice is your life or hers, then you must... you must be willing to give your life up. Without the Lady, all will come to naught."

That comment had been a sobering moment for the men.

Aloysius had spent most of his adult life in one conflict or another and took it in his stride, but Ranulf and especially the young Loki struggled with the concept that they might be called upon to die before the fight was done. Still, all three were aware of the stakes and so, all three threw themselves into their given task.

The three would-be heroes stood by the newly refurbished house in the Forest and waved to Taika, before activating their travel stones she had crafted for them and transporting to their house in the New Forest. Once there, they selected the equipment that each thought he might need. Loki tucked an Uzi machine pistol inside his coat and filled his backpack with listening devices that he had built himself, a Watcher (with remote) and several Dancers, you never know, he thought to himself as he packed. On his way out of his room that was half bedroom and half electronics workshop, he collected three earpieces that would be their means of communication on the ground should they be separated.

Aloysius donned his favourite greatcoat, not only because he liked the style, but also because it was ideal for hiding a sawn-off shotgun down the sleeve, a short Jian sword down his back, a Walther PP9 semi-automatic pistol in a shoulder holster and an inside pocket full of Japanese Shuriken throwing stars.

Ranulf took only a pair of binoculars and a nine-millimetre Browning pistol with silencer tucked into his leather jacket.

When all three were set, they activated their travel stones once more and appeared in a field a short distance outside the Wiltshire village of Morton Abbas. They quickly made sure that they had not been seen and then moved to the wooded corner of the field to begin their surveillance of Alma Baines, ordinary working woman, married to Jonathon and mother-to-be.

The couple had met when both had been employed by the Salisbury based programming company called SaliSoft. They worked mainly on financial software for small businesses, met, fell in love and were married.

Then Alma had fallen pregnant a few months later. Not long after that their company was bought by WinCom, one of the largest corporations in the country and headed by Sir Nigel Winthrop. The City had been most surprised by this latest acquisition. Not only was it outside the normal area of business that WinCom dealt with, but also that Sir Nigel decided to move his headquarters there. Only a select group of people were aware that he had been ordered to make the purchase and the move by Baphomet, who wanted the control of his new project near Old Sarum, where he could keep a close eye on its progress.

It was at this time that a name came across the desk of the employee dealing with the addition of the SaliSoft workforce onto the WinCom payroll. One Alma Baines (neé Grayson) due to go on maternity leave in the near future, date of birth 27 March 1982, place of birth, Swindon. He paused a moment and then re-read the details. A thought struck him and he used his computer to access the World Wide Web. A quick search later found him reading a website that explained the meanings and origins of names. Alma meant 'Fostering Mother'. He quickly got on the phone to Sir Nigel and said, "Sir, you're not going to believe this. I think I may have found her. She was here all the time."

The head of WinCom wasted no time, he called his head of security in to see him and outlined what he required, "I want the Baines couple watched. And I want them both investigated thoroughly."

He offered no further details on why he wanted the information and Richard Hardacre knew better than to ask.

A few days later, Sir Nigel sat in his office and finished reading through the initial design parameters required for a totally new piece of security software, which was to be called DataVault. He knew all about the project, including the portion that appeared in no written form anywhere, the routine codename Hypogeum. Another type written report was on his desk. He scanned through the report on Jonathon Baines with very little interest, however, he scrutinised Alma's file in detail:

Name: Alma Baines (neé Grayson).

Employee Number: 345091B.

Date of Birth: 27th of March 1982.

Place of Birth: Swindon General Hospital.

Current Address: 42 Welby Drive, Morton Abbas, Wiltshire.

Education: Schooled in Swindon where she excelled in mathematics

and home economics. Attended the University of Bristol

gaining a degree in computer science.

Employment: Joined SaliSoft straight from university where she

formed part of the financial systems programming team.

Remarks: Married to Jonathon. Due on Maternity leave due to impending

birth of first child. First name means 'Fostering Mother'.

Both parents deceased in motoring accident on holiday in Spain

in August 2001.

Sir Nigel was forced to admit that she did look good for it and was almost beside himself, the opportunity for advancement within the Hypogeum was within his grasp. He could almost feel the red robe being draped over his shoulders already. The Mother had finally come to light, and it was he, Sir Nigel Winthrop of the brown robes that had found her. But he knew that he had to be careful if he wanted to stop anyone else from stealing his thunder. To that end, he decided to keep his discovery from the other members of his order for now, and have his Head of Security handle the problem. For one thing, if he could provide Baphomet with a fait accompli, DataVault ready to take over the control of most of the financial institutions in the world and the death of the fabled Mother, his reward would be beyond imagination.

Unbeknown to him though, he was not the only person to read the report. One of Winthrop's covert operatives reported to another member of the Hypogeum in addition to himself. He reported directly to a man by the name of Adrian Walker, who in turn ensured that Baphomet was kept aware at every stage of Sir Nigel Winthrop's scheme. Ranulf and his team were at this time unaware of Sir Nigel and WinCom's involvement in their situation. All they knew was Alma Baines, the Mother was in danger and they had to keep her alive.

Strangely, Taika had always referred to her by name or by the title 'Lady' and when asked why, had replied that it would be impolite to address a woman of Alma's young age as Mother, so she would be addressed as 'Lady'. Little did her three young men know that there was actually a legitimate reason to address her by either title. The first time that Ranulf saw her, he was smitten. Loki heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced at Ranulf who was staring fixedly into the small television screen. She seemed so small and delicate, even though she was in the later stages of her pregnancy. He watched her walk from her house to the village shop and back again via the camera on the Watcher that Loki was controlling from their spot in the woods.

Meanwhile Aloysius was making his way to the other end of the village. It took all of his 22 years experience of camouflage and concealment to circumnavigate the village unseen. Although he had faith in the gadgets that Loki was so enamoured of, he preferred to see the ground with his own eyes. Once he had seen everything that he needed to, he made his slow way back to Ranulf and Loki.

As he approached them, sitting in the shade of the trees, he could see Loki busily directing the Watcher using the two thumb-sticks on his controller whilst Ranulf reclined against the bole of a tree, staring into space with a faraway expression.

"What's up with you?" he asked Ranulf.

The leader of the team came back to the now and gazed up at his friend, "What did you say?"

"I asked what was up with you. You were miles away."

"Oh, just thinking."

"Well maybe you'd better think about the job at hand, Ranulf. I saw you both from miles away and I got close enough to kill you before you even knew I was here."

Loki looked up from the screen and in aggrieved tones, said, "Hey! I was watching the Lady."

Aloysius threw himself down next to his companions and answered, "I know that. That's not the issue. Ranulf was supposed to be on guard," he fixed his leader with a baleful eye, "and you weren't."

Ranulf could not answer; he knew that Aloysius was correct. He was supposed to be keeping a lookout whilst Loki played with his toys and he hadn't. Instead, he'd been daydreaming. Embarrassed, he stood up and looked out across the fields before saying, "You're right. I'm sorry. We all know how important this is," he turned back to face his friends and continued, "I promise I won't let you down."

Somewhat mollified, Aloysius agreed to put the Ranulf's failure in the past and move on, "As long as it doesn't happen again Boss."

Ranulf retrieved a flask from Loki's pack and poured himself some tea, he took a sip and then said, "Can I ask you both something? You don't need to answer, but I'd really like to know."

Both men waited for Ranulf to go on, "What did the Forest ask you that made you agree to sign up for this?"

Loki laughed and answered, "Easy! It asked me if I wanted to have the most fun I've ever had and have access to some of the best toys in the world."

Aloysius grinned at Loki's display of child-like enthusiasm before he answered more sombrely, "The trees asked me if I wanted to make a difference again. Why do you ask?"

Ranulf took another sip of tea before he answered, "They asked me if I wanted to find my true purpose," he pointed toward the controller that Loki held, "And I think I've found it. I've had my fare share of success with the opposite sex, but I've never felt about any woman, the way I feel about Alma Baines. Never met her and I've only ever seen her on that little screen..."

Loki and Aloysius waited in silence, before Ranulf spoke again, "How can this be? How can seeing her on a television screen affect me like this? I don't know, but I do know that I would do anything to protect her. And I also know that if I'm called on to lay down my life, it suddenly seems a very small price to pay."

Aloysius stood up and placed his massive hand gently on Ranulf's shoulder without a word. His expression was one of gentle understanding. The three men remained at their temporary camp, taking turns to control the Watcher. The sky was dark and an owl hooted in amongst the trees when Aloysius, who was currently watching said, "Movement."

Instantly alert, Ranulf asked, "What is it?"

"There's a car driving slowly up the street. Doesn't fit."

The two smaller men crowded round the small display and were forced to agree. They were watching a dark Mercedes with smoked windows driving toward the alleyway behind Alma and Jonathon's house. Loki took over the controller and used it to follow the car's course. It parked up in the alley and a man in dark clothing climbed out carrying a small device.

"What's he got?" asked Ranulf.

"Looks like a camera," answered Loki.

They watched him silently enter the back garden and take up position in the shadows under a tree that was growing there. He waited for a better view and then took a couple of pictures of Alma through the window as she was preparing some food in the kitchen. She glanced up and looked out as though something had caught her eye, shrugged and then continued with her task. The spy froze whilst Alma was staring out into the garden and relaxed once she switched off the light and carried something into another room. Then he quietly made his way back to the car and away.

Loki murmured, "It's started."

Ranulf answered, "No. It started a long time ago. But now it's here, Aloysius was right. We need to make sure we're ready."

The surveillance continued through the night and all of the next day. When once again there was movement at the house. The Mercedes was back and once again parked in the alley. The three men watched as a figure made his way to the side of the house and stooped to do something to the Peugeot 307 parked in the drive. Aloysius was all for getting over there and causing some mayhem and Loki was ready for a fight as well, but both were restrained by Ranulf who said, "No. We'll wait. We don't want to play our cards yet."

His companions bristled at his decision to wait, until he held up a hand for silence, "We don't know what they're up to, we don't know who they are. We need more information before we go charging in," he pointed a finger at Aloysius, "You should know the importance of good intelligence before diving straight into a fight!"