Flight to Destiny (A Samantha Starr Thriller, Book 2) Read online

  The German injected the unconscious man with a stimulant and waited until his bloodshot eyes opened. “Must I use the blowtorch again?”

  The prisoner’s eyes bulged from panic and the agony of numerous third-degree burns along with his bleeding fingertips. “No, please, I talk.” He coughed. “Water.”

  The German poured bottled water into the prisoner’s mouth, spilling it down his chest and onto burned spots, causing him to gasp and choke. He pulled away the bottle, waited until he recovered, and tipped the bottle to his lips again.

  The prisoner gulped down the water, paused, and inhaled.

  “Survivors of Atlantis live in secret mountain enclave. They have Poseidon’s Sword.” He paused, trembling. “For two thousand years, they have kidnapped orphan boys and trained them for Dragon Society they created.” His chin fell onto his chest, and his eyes closed.

  The German doused the man’s head with water and slapped his cheek. “Keep talking.”

  The prisoner gasped, slowly raised his head, and opened his eyes.

  “Boys were brought to enclave blindfolded and raised to eighteen.” He gulped air in short, shallow spurts as he struggled to focus. “Boys were blindfolded again when returned to world and given missions.” He coughed. “I was one of those boys.”

  “Good. Pity you didn’t speak sooner. You could’ve saved yourself from the blowtorch and pliers. Now, what sort of missions?” He studied the Asian’s face for signs of deceit.

  “Long before my time, many were sent to construct secret underground chambers at powerful dragon-current intersections.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Chambers hold information for Golden Twin and triplet goddesses of Sun, Moon, and Fire. Some chamber doors were designed to open by their touch, others require key.” His voice weakened. “Pendant keys for the doors are hidden in historic structures built over intersections of dragon currents.”

  “What is to stop someone else from finding and using a pendant key?” the blond man asked.

  “Keys only work for powerful women of Atlantean descent.” He paused and licked his lips. “Combined power of triplets is foretold to be unequaled.”

  The German stepped closer. “Where are they?” He splashed cold water on him.

  The prisoner gasped and shuddered. “Dragon Master said he received his final instructions twenty-three years ago. He was told Golden Twin would come this year.” The prisoner’s eyes were wild from the torture.

  “When?” the German’s tone betrayed his growing impatience.

  “Before winter solstice.”

  He knew that to be true from reading the ancient scrolls. “What is your mission?”

  “Help Dragon Master.”

  “And his mission?” the German stepped closer.

  “Find Golden Twin and give her key to Poseidon’s Sword.”

  He crossed his arms and glared. “And if he doesn’t find her?”

  The prisoner shuddered in fear. “Return key.”

  He clenched his fists. “How can he do that without knowing the enclave’s location?”

  “They will find him.”

  He lifted the prisoner’s chin. “What does the key look like?”

  “Only Atlanteans and Dragon Master know.”

  He sighed in exasperation. “Where is the key now?”

  “In new curio shop.” He coughed. “Hundreds of unusual items there, but none look like a key.”

  He grasped the prisoner’s shoulders. “How does the Dragon Master expect the Golden Twin to find his shop?”

  He grimaced. “She will be drawn to shop by powerful dragon currents.”

  “Describe her.” He had seen drawings of the triplets from an ancient scroll and knew the Golden Twin was supposed to be identical to the blond triplet.

  The prisoner blinked hard. “Mid-twenties, golden-blond hair, aqua eyes, and beautiful delicate features. Atlantean crystals will light up when she touches them.” He hesitated before barely whispering, “Abandon your quest. You cannot wield Poseidon’s Sword.”

  Frustrated, he focused on the Asian’s eyes. “Think again. I am Werner Voss, a member of the Black Sun. Our Nazi forefathers searched the world for powerful artifacts to benefit our cause. Our leader will know how to use the weapon. He has mastered the power of Vril, or, as you say, dragon current. Now, tell me the exact location of the curio shop, and I’ll release you.”

  Werner was skilled at discerning the truthfulness of his torture victims. It was obvious the prisoner had surrendered his will and lacked the strength required to formulate believable lies. He jotted down the address the man recited and called one of his team members on his mobile.

  “Check the address and verify the curio shop is at that location. Call me when you know.” Werner hung up and waited.

  Thirty minutes later, he received a call from his comrade. “Is it there?…Good.”

  Werner pulled out his combat knife and slit the prisoner’s throat without a blink. He left the dingy cellar and ordered his team members to take turns watching the shop. They reported a sign on the door announcing the new shop would open the next day.

  On opening day, Werner focused his binoculars on the curio shop and pulled out his mobile phone. His height allowed for an unobstructed view over most pedestrians as he called his leader.

  “The Dragon Master has opened a shop in Hong Kong,” he said. “My source said he’s expecting the Golden Twin and will give her the key to Poseidon’s Sword. We’ll capture her and the key.”

  “Remember the prophecy. We need her to activate the weapon. See that she is not harmed.”

  “Jawohl, Master. You can count on me.” Werner ran his hand through his spiked blond hair.

  He slipped the phone into his pocket as he continued watching the storefront. Failure was not an option for any member of the Black Sun.

  Lotus Blossom Hotel

  With Hong Kong under communist control, I thought I’d be safe from armed kidnappers. My room in the Lotus Blossom Hotel overlooked the bustling harbor. I couldn’t wait to walk the streets, shop, take a junk to Kowloon, and dine in a floating restaurant, but I needed to catch up on my rest first.

  I fell into a deep sleep and dreamed about an unusual shop on a narrow side street in Hong Kong. The elderly shopkeeper had a Fu Manchu mustache. Another vision.

  The phone woke me.

  “Rise and shine, Sam. We need to escape the hotel before the wild ones wake and come looking for us. We’ll meet you in the lobby in thirty minutes.” Pete sounded chipper.

  “Correction, you need to escape, not me. And what did you mean by we?”

  “Lance and me. But I have it on good authority that Jack Stone is hot for you. We all need to escape before they shift back into party mode.”

  “Okay, see you in thirty near the main entrance doors.” I jumped into the shower.

  Lance and Pete whisked me out the door the instant I walked up.

  “Hey, Lance, get any sleep last night? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” I laughed and shook my head.

  “You were right about Carlene. That vixen’s an evil man-eater. I need my captain to protect me for the rest of our trip.”

  “Me too,” Pete said. “I think she’s coming for me next.”

  “Really? Am I supposed to believe my big strong copilots can’t fend off a five-foot-nothing actress? Seriously?” I stood with my arms crossed.

  “That woman’s a nuclear-powered sex cat from Hell. And she has the claws to prove it. Sharp teeth too.” He pointed at a bite mark on his neck. “I prefer to hunt my prey, rather than be the prey.”

  “Yeah, that randy actress will have to capture fresh meat elsewhere. I’m saving myself for my lovely wife.” Pete glanced back at the hotel. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “Fear not, gentlemen, your captain will protect you.” I looped my arms through theirs as I strolled between them. “I’m looking for a narrow side street with shops.”

  “There are shops everywhere in Hong Kong. Is there something in
particular you want?” Lance asked.

  “I’ll know when I see it. It’s an unusual little shop.” I glanced around. “It might’ve been on an alley.”

  “An alley? Is our favorite danger magnet leading us into another exciting situation?” Lance glanced at Pete. “I don’t think there’s a SEAL team in China, Sam.”

  “Relax, boys, we’re just going shopping. What could possibly go wrong?” I grinned and urged them onward.

  After walking several blocks, I felt a tingling sensation in my head and an urge to turn left. I recognized the street from my dream. “This way, guys.”

  I turned down the dark one-lane street and scanned the shop windows. Halfway down the block, I found the curio shop and stepped inside. Lance and Pete followed.

  An old man with a Fu Manchu mustache bowed in greeting. “Solraya Twin, Dragon Master welcomes you.” His right forearm sported a tattoo of a dragon clutching a gold trident in its claws.

  He seemed happy to see me, almost like he was expecting me.

  I didn’t know what Solraya Twin meant or Dragon Master. Did he recognize me from news stories or was this was about something else?

  “Uh, did you say, Dragon Master?”

  He nodded. “Head of Dragon Society. I am honored.” He bowed again.

  The store was dim, deserted, and eerily silent with a musty scent infused with incense.

  I stepped closer to the old shopkeeper and bowed, reciprocating his polite gesture.

  He smiled with a sweep of his arm. “Please to look around.”

  Statues, sculptures, idols, carvings, stuffed cobras about to strike, unusual china, and hundreds of antique oddities with embedded crystals covered the shelves.

  I felt drawn to a beautiful hand-blown glass dragon perching on a crystal globe on a bottom shelf. When I pulled it out, I saw something behind it that made my breath catch. It reminded me of one of my dreams in Hawaii.

  I set aside the dragon and pulled out the strange item behind it. The base was an obsidian pyramid with a diagram on one side, a map with trident symbols on another side, and strange writing on the other sides. The peak of the pyramid was flattened with a solid-gold disc holding three female statues standing with their backs to each other facing outward. They were crafted from white moonstone and held crystal pyramids.

  One statue was adorned with long hair made of gold, aquamarine eyes, and a gold diadem inlaid with blue and yellow topaz gems. She could have been my twin. I felt a chill.

  When I wiped dust off the crystals, I saw visions of an advanced ancient civilization on an island surrounded by an azure sea. A massive white marble palace, bordered by giant pyramids and enormous sphinxes, dominated a high plateau behind a sea-level city encircled by three canals. The outer canal joined the harbor where longboats were moored.

  What was this place?

  Two words from a strange language I shouldn’t have been able to understand repeated in my head.

  Then everything went black.

  I woke on the floor in Lance’s arms with the obsidian piece clutched against my chest and the crystal pyramids glowing brightly. I felt woozy as Pete kneeled beside me.

  “Are you okay, Sam?” Pete looked worried. “The crystals lit up like flares, and you kept repeating a couple of words we don’t understand. What the hell?”

  Before I could answer, Dragon Master stepped from behind the counter with a submachine gun. He crossed the room to us.

  “Solraya Twin, very dangerous here. Go now.” He turned when four Nordic-looking men entered the shop.

  We were still on the floor when the old man opened fire on the blond men. Three collapsed in a staccato storm of bullets as they drew pistols with silencers. Their stray shots shattered glass figurines on the upper shelves behind us.

  Broken shards showered the room. The fourth man took a bullet in his right shoulder and dropped his pistol before he escaped out the door.

  Silence enveloped the shop like a heavy shroud.

  The shopkeeper made a call on his mobile phone. In what seemed like seconds, four young Chinese men with dragon tattoos rushed into the shop, whisked the bodies into a van, and drove off.

  Pete’s hand shook as he pulled me to my feet. Lance stood up beside me and sucked in his breath. I trembled all over. No one spoke. Wide-eyed, we checked each other over but only found tiny cuts from broken glass.

  I was surprised the shopkeeper looked so calm.

  “I don’t know what happened with this thing, and those men looked a lot different than the ones who attacked me in Hawaii,” I said in a shaky voice.

  My hands trembled as I stepped forward to return the odd object to the old man.

  “Thanks for saving us.” I bowed, and so did he, but he wouldn’t touch the black pyramid.

  Confused, I looked at him, full of questions.

  “It is yours.” He glanced at the door. “Dragon Society wait many generations for this day. Take it,” he instructed. “Your destiny lies hidden in one teardrop on cheek of time, in rose-red city old as time. Follow dragon current and beware Vril wielded by Black Sun.” He pointed at the door and ushered us out. “You go now. Hurry!”

  I was still in shock. “What about the police?”

  “No police! Go quickly.” He locked the door behind us.

  I felt like a character in a movie playing in fast-forward. We rushed down the narrow street and turned onto the main road toward the hotel, constantly scanning for the fourth gunman in the crowds.

  I spotted a shipping office and ducked inside with my treasure as Lance and Pete followed me. I gasped for breath as I tried to slow my heart rate.

  “This is too valuable to carry around. I’m sending it to someone I trust.”

  They watched the door as I approached the counter.

  “Can you pack this in a small wooden crate with lots of padding? I don’t mind paying extra.”

  While the shippers gathered packing materials, I snapped pictures of the pyramid’s strange map, diagram, writing, and statues.

  Then I filled out the paperwork to send it to Harvard Professor of Antiquities Ben Armitage, my former teacher and dear family friend. I wrote a detailed note in shaky handwriting and asked Ben to keep it secret and locked up, except when studying it. I asked him to text me if he discovered anything about it.

  “Uh, miss, you want turn off lights before we load in crate?” a young Chinese man asked.

  “Um, just a minute.” I motioned Pete over and whispered, “Do the crystals feel hot?”

  “Why don’t you touch them?” he whispered back.

  “There’s no telling what’ll happen if I touch them again. Don’t be a wuss.” I raised an eyebrow with a challenging look. “I need to know if they’re hot. I don’t want to put a cargo jet at risk.”

  Pete sighed with trepidation and haltingly touched a glowing crystal with his index finger. He shrugged. “It feels cool.” He tested the other two with the same result.

  “So? You turn off lights now?” the impatient employee asked.

  “No, the lights will go off automatically. Go ahead and crate it.” I smiled and pushed the black pyramid toward him.

  I didn’t know if the lights would go out, but at least they weren’t producing heat.

  Soon after I paid, a truck pulled up and loaded the packages waiting to be flown to the United States. Security problem solved.

  Lance and Pete hovered near the door. Both had served as military pilots in combat, trained to remain calm in dangerous situations and continually assess their opponents.

  “The old shopkeeper knows a lot more than what he told you,” Lance said, peeking out the door.

  Pete huddled close. “What do you know about that weird pyramid thing?”

  Lance turned for my response.

  “In Hawaii, I had a dream about something that looked like the pyramid from the store, except it was huge, and three real women were standing on it. My dream at the hotel here provided glimpses of the alley, curio shop, and the old shop
keeper.”

  Pete looked surprised. “Are you saying you have dreams that predict the future?”

  “The women in my family line start having psychic visions in their mid-twenties, usually related to something in the future. Mine started a few months ago. Please don’t go telling everyone at work about this. It’s personal, and anyway I probably sound like a freak.”

  “So, when you were in that trance, what did you see?” Lance asked.

  “I saw an island with strange airships flying around and colorful longboats in the harbor. The city looked ancient with huge pyramids and giant sphinxes. I shouldn’t have been able to understand the two foreign words you said I repeated, but somehow I did.” I stared out the window.

  Pete glanced at Lance, then at me. “So tell us, what were the words?”

  “Poseidon’s Sword. Sorry, don’t know what it means or why I heard it.” I leaned back and sighed. “Maybe we should google it along with Dragon Society, Black Sun, Vril, and dragon current.”

  “We should go back and ask the old guy. I bet he knows.” Pete looked determined.

  I hated having more questions than answers. How did the shopkeeper know me? Was it because I resembled one of the statues?

  “Pete’s right. I’m going back and demand some answers. Dragon Master said the Dragon Society has waited many generations, so he must know everything about the black pyramid.”

  Lance looked like he was ready to tie me to the copy machine. “What if the last gunman is waiting for us in that dark alley? I’m sure he’s not happy about his men getting killed. Maybe he brought reinforcements. We’re unarmed. I don’t think we should go.”

  “You’re forgetting the survivor was wounded and dropped his weapon. He’s probably in a hospital, but I’ll hide my hair in your baseball cap and wear sunglasses and your windbreaker, just in case. He’ll expect two men and a woman, so I’ll go alone.”

  “The hell you will! If I can’t talk you out of this, I’ll follow behind you and guard your six.” Lance’s fighter-pilot lingo meant he would guard my back, the six o’clock position. He shot me his alpha-male glare to communicate arguing wasn’t an option.