Читать книгу CONCEALED - VIKON IAMO - Страница 3
Оглавление'You need to find a secret place. A flat very few people know about,' Peter King emphasised on his deathbed in a London hospital. Disoriented, his son Jason and wife Kate sat right next to him. 'You must find it. You understand,' Peter continued to admonish them. Jason and Kate dismally nodded, though they didn't understand the urgency of the situation Peter was trying to convey.
Dad, what is it about this flat? You never talked about it, and nobody else ever mentioned it.'
His father started panting for air, rallied his strength, and explained, 'As a matter of fact, I don't have the faintest idea about the flat itself. I've been told it exists and there is a key that was handed down to me by my father. And I wasn't allowed to talk about this until my very last moments in life, to keep the secret as safe as possible. Your grandfather has ordered matters to be this way. They say there are ancient artefacts and a scroll of immense importance hidden in that flat.'
Jason asked, 'Immense importance. What do you mean, you were not allowed to mention it? That sounds like somebody threatened you.'
'Please understand, very powerful, dangerous and largely invisible people are after the artefacts and the scroll, which is said to be the actual bible script. They call themselves The Order Of 33 Stages, a kind of brotherhood,' Peter whispered at the end of his tether.
'Dad, what is it about this brotherhood? Did mum know about it?' Jason asked, vigorously.
'No boy, she didn't know anything about it. The administrator will further advise you. He is going to provide you with documents and the key at the instance of the will reading. You must succeed. My time is up. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do for you,' Peter said despondently, and with a profound sigh went extinct, sharing no further detail with those present.
Silence filled the room. Jason and Kate were lamentable and bewildered by Peter's deathbed. Time stood still and the entire world stopped turning. After a while, they called the hospital staff to care for Peter's body. Two nurses came in and covered him in a sheet. Jason placed his hand on the head of his father for a few irreplaceable seconds before the nurses moved the body out of the room.
Glorious sunbeams pierced through the white transparent curtains. They fabricated a warm yet sad ambience, while Jason and Kate remained at the spot where Peter had spent his last moments.
He spent his life as a banker in the London banking district. He was a recognised expert in handling large cash transactions on international levels. Therefore, he and his wife grew rich and led a very decent life. However, Peter’s wife died unexpectedly due to sudden heart failure, leaving him to raise their young son Jason alone. In later life Jason followed his father’s footsteps and became a banker, where he would meet his wife Kate.
'I can't believe dad is gone, dished out a secret flat with ancient artefacts, a bible scroll, an invisible brotherhood and simply closed his eyes forever. I don't even know if there is an administrator. Unbelievable! I don't know what I'm supposed to think about this,' Jason beseeched forlornly as Kate held his hand.
A few days later a note came from the administrator. It proposed a meeting at his London office to discuss Jason’s father, Peter King. No details were provided about the administrator, not his name or address. However, the note mentioned that the administrator’s company driver would pick them up at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.'
Kate was frightened by this anonymous invitation. 'Jason, what is all this? Your dad had severely limited knowledge about the flat, its contents, and this brotherhood, The Order Of 33 Stages. However, he was so anxious about all this. And I am too, honestly. I'm not sure if I can handle this. Anyway, I'm a part of this already, whether I like it or not. The administrator knows who we are, and we don't even know his name.'
Jason sighed and responded, 'I understand, but I know no more than you do. Nobody in the family has ever spoken about this. Hopefully, we'll learn about it tomorrow. There is nothing we can do for now.'
The next day, they hurried anxiously to the entrance of their flat, five minutes before the suggested time. The administrator's driver arrived on time and introduced himself as John. He was casually dressed in neat black shirt and black trousers. At glance his way of dressing would make people assume he was a fashionable and sporty guy with an obsession for wickedly expensive clothing.
They were having second thoughts about getting into the car. The driver still wouldn’t disclose the administrator’s identity or their destination. After some hesitation he convinced them that it was absolutely necessary and so they got in. They drove off, and only a few minutes later, John slowed down nearby an inconspicuous side road. Despite having passed through this area many times, they had never noticed it. Suddenly, the garage door of the house on the corner opened and John drove into that garage. It turned out to be a passage leading to a kind of inner courtyard area.
'Here we are,' John reported and stepped out of the car. Before Jason and Kate could make sense of the short drive, John opened the rear doors for them and they found themselves in a beautiful little square. It was like a carefully maintained little city park, surrounded by brick houses. A small green haven right in the heart of London.
'This way, please,' John said, pointing at a splendid wooden door. He opened it, stepped aside and asked them to proceed up the staircase to the first floor and down the hallway to the front desk. The tension reached its peak as they walked in. When they had half-cautiously made their way up the staircase, they could hear someone coming their way. As they stepped into the hallway the light instantaneously flickered on, and before them stood an attractive woman in well-tailored business attire.
'I'm Andrea Parker. We do very much appreciate your attendance. This way please. Mr. Parker is about to meet you in a minute.' She ushered them to a waiting area near the front desk. Jason and Kate plopped down on massive leather chairs in the waiting room with baffling discomfort. Andrea walked across the hallway and closed one of the heavy wooden doors behind her, which they could observe from the waiting area. They also noticed the glamorous and swanky interior. The place highly imitates the lawyers and administrator’s chambers. The wood panelling, hardwood floors and Italian leather furniture were more luxurious than they had ever seen.
About five minutes later, they saw the heavy wooden door open. Andrea returned and asked them to follow her. She walked them across the hallway and pointed to the sizeable wooden door she wanted them to walk in. She went ahead and waited by the doorstep for them to enter the office, before closing the door behind them. No windows, no further doors, or any other connection to the outside world were seen in is this office. The glamorous style had been applied to this part of the building as well, but felt suffocating as little light traversing the interior. They paused for a moment to have a look at the bizarre paintings on the wall to their left, as a voice from behind suddenly caught their attention. 'Mr. and Mrs. King. I'm very pleased to welcome you. Have a seat.' The old man at the desk seemed to appear out of nowhere and they didn't move an inch.
'May I introduce myself, Frank Parker. Please, have a seat,' the old man insisted, politely but firmly. Mr. Parker was dressed in a very classic dark blue suit and red tie. His short grey hair and the oval-shaped glasses made him look very agile and smart.
They sat down at the desk, facing Mr. Parker. 'Well,' Jason mustered his courage and said, 'my father passed away very recently and left us with a few instructions to find some flat, which doesn't make sense to us at all.'
'We'll get to that in a minute,' Mr. Parker replied and opened a file on his desk. 'There is a bit of history you need to know before we talk about the flat.'
Jason interrupted, 'Pardon me, Mr. Parker, my dad seemed to be very anxious and pretty pressured throughout his last moments. I don't think there is time for any history lesson.'
'It's Frank,' Mr. Parker eased the situation and continued, 'I'm afraid we definitely need to go through the history, to make you understand the magnitude of the situation. I'd like to stress that there is no option for you apart from accepting this inheritance. You will have to consider any action necessary to complete this succession matter, since it is vital to the course of history and shall save your lives as well.
'Our lives? What do you mean?' Kate said, leaning forward and firmly gripping the edge of the tabletop.
'We will get to the details in a minute. For now, Kate, would you please get a grip on yourself rather than on the tabletop. This holds paramount importance and expressing unease simply won't do,' Mr. Parker said. ‘Jason, you and your family are descendants of a splinter group of the Templars. It all dates back a long time, from around the 11th to 12th century. As you might know, the Templars were shut down in 1312 officially. However, they continued to exist underground, and so did this particular splinter group. It was formed when times became difficult for them. This is where it started.’ Mr. Parker looked at the mystified pale faces of Jason and Kate, who were lost for words and simply staring back at him. He paused for a few seconds and continued, 'According to the documents this splinter group consisted of seven families. This was small enough to protect the secret and large enough to ensure its survival. The Templars were expropriated. Their power and properties were taken away from them, they weren’t to speak of the many detentions and executions of their members. The families of that inner circle strived for military careers as a camouflage from that point in time. As you know military personnel have always enjoyed some sort of protection, which was what they pursued. This worked out. Despite this shelter, many of these items have disappeared in the turmoil of those days and were embezzled over the centuries. As luck would have it, most families survived and passed down important information by word of mouth. This had proven to be the right way to safeguard the few items that remained in their custody. Over time, the group depleted in the wake of diseases, migration, assassination, and so on. You name it. But that's not all. There had been several attempts to compromise this small inner circle by way of blackmailing some of its families. Because of these circumstances, your family turned out to be the last man standing. The remaining items were entrusted solely to your family and have remained undiscovered for almost two centuries. Though your family managed to protect the artefacts entrusted to them, there were many obstacles along the way.'
Jason couldn't hold back, 'What exactly do you mean? I don't really understand what has been entrusted to our family?'
'Please let me explain the entire course of events, to show you the real picture. You need to understand all this to embrace your role attached to the inheritance,' Mr. Parker said and went on, 'over the course of the centuries, countries and rulers have changed, obviously. Your ancestors have managed miraculously to conceal the whereabouts of the artefacts and scroll, and keep the information concealed amongst them. This worked across generations.' Mr. Parker paused and looked again at the still befuddled and bloodless faces of Jason and Kate. He kept eyeballing them, obviously waiting for a reaction, but they were too gobsmacked to respond. Nevertheless, he continued to educate them, 'That worked until World War II and its aftermath. As you know, after Germany surrendered in 1945, the country was divided into occupation zones first, and later two German states were established.'
Kate interrupted as she couldn't connect the dots. 'Both of our families are British. Why are we being involved in some event that had taken place throughout the war in Germany?'
'I agree as far as your family is concerned. But the King's … ,' he paused briefly and turned to Jason ' … the King's family isn't as British as they think they are. Not even a century ago, they used to be the Koenig family, which is the German word for King.'
Jason not convinced by that, started arguing, 'Frank, I'm sorry, but this is pretty far-fetched. Nobody in our family ever mentioned something like that or claimed to be German. Do you have any evidence for this?
Mr. Parker affirmed, 'Indeed, there is proof. I'm almost bound to say it is hidden in plain sight. Let's start with your grandfather, Albert King. Do you remember him? He was mute, right? In fact, he wasn't. He just pretended, to hide the fact that he couldn't speak proper English, which would have attracted unnecessary attention. Concealed medical reports have shown that your grandfather had been in perfect health until death. He was a high-ranking German general with access to secret military technology. He had to leave Germany, because key members of the then German government suspected him being a turncoat. They were after him to protect their advanced technology from being revealed to the enemy. It was bizarre, for he was actually preparing his escape for the sake of the family secret rather than being a traitor. And the latter finally made him subject to investigation of the German government. In this way, his sheltered position in the military had turned against him. Though he could hardly trust anyone, he managed to have an underground organisation issue him with counterfeit British identity documents, with the name King. Your grandfather was able to keep that mute alibi alive since he was trained in sign language. He introduced that as the way of communication in his British family life. And he got away with this for a lifetime. For good measure, he worked as a journalist, which allowed him almost entirely to communicate in written form. Perfect set up, isn't it?'
'You are making this up, aren't you? And even if this is true, how on God's green earth would you know?' Jason asked, as he took it with a grain of salt.
'How do I know? Well, take an educated guess. Which office for administration and legal counselling do you think supported your grandfather when registering in Britain and settled all the issues that came along with his fabricated British identity? It was us, the Parkers. We identified a British citizen; Mr. Paul Engelbrecht, our former client. He almost looked like your grandfather and was nearly the same age. It was sort of a blessing in disguise. Unfortunately, that gentleman's name wasn't King obviously. But fortunately in a sense, he suffered from a terminal disease. Cancer, as far as I can remember. To cut a long story short, that gentleman agreed to donate his identity, sadly enough, because he had nothing to lose. The day he died, we took measures to dispose of his corpse without a trace and a new character was about to be created. It was the time for Albert King to enter the stage. He contacted authorities pretending to be Paul Engelbrecht, who wanted to change his name to Albert King. He reasoned, that carrying the German name Engelbrecht might cause issues in the future and applied for that very name change. Since he pretended to be mute, nobody could interview him properly, let alone find out if he was a native English speaker or not. The story was rock-solid, and the British authorities bought it. They changed the name of the replaced, late Paul Engelbrecht and issued a genuine British passport in the name of Albert King to your grandfather. Until that point, he used the fabricated British identity documents to manage daily life in the UK. On top of that, he could make use of Engelbrecht's walk of life attached to his new identity, and Bob's your uncle.'
'I don't know what to believe,' Jason gave voice to his unquenched scepticism.
Mr. Parker raised his eyebrow. 'You might simply believe me, even though you are not comfortable with this. So please listen. Your dad, Peter, was born in the UK, and unbelievably, he never noticed his father's camouflage. Since your grandfather couldn't speak out about his German descent, his son – your father – wasn't aware of his father's roots, and didn't speak German. So even if he had known about your grandfather's actual background, it would have been nearly impossible for your father to conduct a decent search for the artefacts and the scroll without involving others to overcome the language barrier. This would have been too much of a risk at that time, for many key people of the then German government were alive back in those days. Therefore, your grandfather was worried that they might have targeted your father during his lifetime. So, the matter had to rest for one generation to terminate that risk. Ultimately, he had decided to keep your father in the dark about the details. He wanted to ensure his opponents from the war were well and truly deceased before this secret was revealed to you. In that way, you're able to resume the search, facing less risk. A wise choice! This is why your father couldn’t lift the curtain and show you the truth. He just didn’t know himself. He renounced this life leaving behind the only tangible thing he had; the key that I'm going to hand over to you.'
Jason and Kate became increasingly concerned hearing all this, while Mr. Parker continued, 'There are a few more facts that I'm ordered to shed the lights on for you. These are being stipulated in a sealed letter, which I'm going to open now.'
'Dad talked about a key before he died. We are supposed to get this key and some paperwork from you ...'
'Yes, that is the key I just mentioned. I've been instructed to open this sealed letter after the death of Peter King in your presence. So, if you would sign this approval down here please, that is to confirm that you attended the reading of the Will and allowing me to open the file. Before we proceed, I'm bound to inform you that the legal option of rejecting the inheritance wouldn't apply in your case.' Their lack of credence still sustained when Mr. Parker added, 'You see, this inheritance is sort of mandatory as time is short.'
'Why would time be short?'
'Again, we'll get to that in a minute. I assume the sealed letter shall reveal that.'
Jason agreed, grabbed a ball-pen and quickly signed the paper Mr. Parker had placed on the desk, right in front of him. He took the signed document, stored it in the file and then retrieved the envelope and presented it to Jason and Kate. Both nodded their heads, and Mr. Parker got a knife from his desk to remove the red wax seal. He opened the envelope, unfolded the letter, and started reading.
---
'I, the undersigned, Peter King hereby declare this to be my Will. I nominate Mr. Frank Parker to be the administRator. He shall obtain mandatory acceptance of the heritage and suBsequentLy shall hand over the key and provide the Following information to the inheritor given hereinafter:
The flat accommodates several art treasures, such as sculptures. The actual nature, number, and quality of those artefacts are unknown to me. Next to the artefacts, there is an ancient scroll, which is said to be the original issue of the holy bible and it has been handed down from generation to generation. The Order Of 33 Stages has threatened members of the King's family to hand over the art treasures and the ancient scroll to their representatives throughout the course of centuries. Persecution had been conducted several times around the 14th to 17th century. However, the undersigned has never seen the bible scroll to verify its contents or its existence. It would erode the fundaments of society and religion. The division of power, as we have known it today, might even cease to exist. The bible scroll records a different narrative than religious and government leaders have made people believe for more than two millennia. It has also been passed down that the art objects, and the scroll had fallen into the hands of the then German regime before it broke down. It is said, that after World War II secret police had accidentally found the items in a Berlin bunker. They managed to move them to a secret flat, supposedly somewhere in the former German Democratic Republic. Unfortunately, there is no tangible trace of the flat, the artefacts, and the scroll since the fall of the Berlin wall. Most probably, the existing documents had been destroyed by the secret service before its headquarters were stormed in the wake of the uprising in 1990.
Therefore, I don't know the location of the flat. I was entrusted with the alleged key, which is enclosed and shall be handed to the heir. My father, Albert King, had entrusted the mentioned details concerning the flat to his younger sister, Mrs. Sally Fulbright, at some unknown point in time. I was forbidden to contact her, and can't provide any further information. The heir shall perform any action necessary to locate the flat, and safeguard its contents as described above.
Signed by Peter King'
---
Jason and Kate aimlessly stared at Mr. Parker for several seconds without having the faintest idea of what to say or do. The silence seemed to fill the entire place. Totally unsettled, Jason whispered, 'Frank, this isn't true at all, is it? Let me get this straight. All we know is that there is a flat somewhere, and we have the key. And by the way, the original bible is locked in there, and all we have to fear is this brotherhood, The Order Of 33 Stages. We have no clue about where to find the flat while facing invisible danger. And the only possible trace is left with my grandfather’s sister, who might not even be alive anymore. This is just insane!'
'Well, there is one thing for sure, this is out of the ordinary,' Mr. Parker agreed and further said, 'you see, we were handed the envelope decades ago and, of course, we were not allowed to open it beforehand. In other words, we didn't know about the magnitude of this, though we have been taking care of your family matters for generations. Despite this unexpected turn, I have to tell you that you and your wife will be left to your own devices from now on. But there is good news. There is an address of Mrs. Fulbright given in the documents.'
'You won't be helping us, Frank? Is that what you are saying?' Kate asked.
'I will help you if I can, and you can consult me basically anytime you want,' Mr. Parker said to bring the conversation to a close while handing a copy of the file and the key to Jason and Kate. 'If I were in your shoes, I'd go and see your great-aunt. You might consider giving me a call after you speak with her. I'm afraid, I'm not allowed to take action myself, because of the law, you know. Please let me know once you’ve managed to see her and we'll have a chat about it, which might help you to sort things out,' he said, and led them to the door where Andrea was already waiting for them. They left the office building speechless about the bombshell that just hit them.
'I simply don't know what to say,' Kate said as they walked through the hallway to the staircase.
'Neither do I,' Jason responded as they passed the splendid wooden door to the inner courtyard. 'I'm not even sure whether to believe any of the things he said. But since dad’s last words were suggesting this narrative as well, let's go and find Sally. That's the clue to follow for now, I think.'
John was waiting for them with the rear doors opened. They got into the car still totally puzzled about the news that had come about with the reading of the Will. Classical music already played on the radio when John ignited the engine and drove off. A weird silence was accompanied with the music that was sounding from the speakers, and the car seemed to be hovering rather than driving on the street to their place.
