Chapter 7: Lebanon

Cody's plan, when he left Peru, was to get contact information from his mother and fly the group to Lebanon via commercial airlines. The saying that applies here, is; 'to make God laugh, tell him your plans.' Coach class on commercial airlines couldn't be called comfortable, but they would have been a lot more comfortable than the slung canvass seats in the C-130 cargo plane that Cody found himself in. The discomfort wasn't what was aggravating him. He glanced at his mother, before looking out the small window at the blue sky and darker blue ocean below him. He clinched his jaw in frustration as he thought about the last month, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

Upon arriving in New York, his mother had calmly listened to his description of their experiences in Peru. She had patiently listened to the reasons they needed to go to Lebanon. She had asked a few questions to clarify some points before opening her laptop and start sending emails. She explained, while sending them, that she was modifying her own upcoming trip to the middle east because she would be going with him. She was supposed to be going to Egypt in forty-five days. She had moved her expedition up thirty days and made arrangements to spend those extra thirty days in Lebanon. Her official explanation was 'to investigate structures related to her study of the Egyptian culture's impact outside Egypt during the Second Dynasty.'

"Besides," Professor Cynthia Randal had said, "if you run straight to Lebanon without a complete plan, you will fail. Honey, it's just like a major dig. Planning, then executing that plan, will determine your level of success."

Cody had objected loud and long. As usual, his mother's calm logic was irrefutable and Cody's objections were ignored.

His first objection was about time lost and giving their enemy time to strike back at them.

"They might try to strike at you here," his mother admitted, "but, you know they might and you can watch for it. Also, if they try to strike at you here, you have other resources to protect you, and to strike back. There is also the fact that we have better medical facilities here, if someone gets hurt. You don't want to know how bad medical resources are in Lebanon!"

He tried other reasons to keep his mom out of the line of fire, with similar results.

"Honey, I know you can get your team there on your own, but you won't have any of your equipment," Professor Randal had explained. "How do you expect to do anything if you don't have your tools?"

"Mom, don't you get it? People were trying to kill us in Peru! If we continue to follow this path, they will try again. They might try again anyway. We know they have agents in the United States, on both sides of this stupid war. I don't want you in danger! I've already lost Dad, possibly because of Viper, and I don't want to take a chance on losing you, too."

Professor Cynthia Randall smiled wistfully and stopped her packing for a moment to pat Cody's cheek. She looked at her son for a moment before kissing his cheek and turned back to her packing. She kept her back to her son and her head down as she spoke.

Cynthia roughly cleared her throat before saying, "Cody, I cried when I found out that your father was killed."

His mom hesitated so long that Cody thought she was finished speaking. Then she cleared her throat again, sounding suspiciously like a sob was hidden in the action.

"I know we never married, but I was very fond of your father, Cody," Cynthia continued in a choked voice. "He was a good man. Finding out that he may not have been simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, makes me angry," Cynthia said quietly, looking down at her hands which had given up arranging clothes for packing.

She turned back to Cody and looked up with a gaze so hard that Cody flinched back. He had never seen such a look of anger and determination on his mother's face.

She met Cody's eyes when she continued with, "Honey, when you were off fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, I expected to hear that you had been hurt every day. Every time the phone rang or someone knocked at the door, I had to fight to keep from crying. I wasn't always successful. I was afraid for you and helpless to do anything. Now, you are telling me that you're going into danger again. I understand why you need to go and I wouldn't try to stop you if I could. But, if you think I'm going to sit back and do nothing, you're nuts! You have two choices. Book your flights and fly to Beirut. I will meet you there. Or, you can fly with me and have all your equipment with you."

"But, Mom, there will be people with guns and they'll probably be shooting at us," Cody said plaintively, clearly recognizing that he had lost the argument, based on his experience from past arguments.

Cynthia shrugged her shoulders and said, "So, shoot back. By the way, how are you planning on getting weapons in Beirut? I assume that is one of the tools that you'll need. You don't have the contacts to get them in Lebanon and you sure can't carry them with you on commercial flights." She didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "Yes, weapons will be part of the tool set that you'll need on this trip. If we're flying on a private charter, like one of the Smithsonian cargo flights, they can be carried on the plane. Plus, I have a few contacts in Lebanon that can help us. Do all of your people know how to use weapons? Is there anything else you can teach your team that will improve their chances of survival?"

Professor Cynthia Randal shook her head in disappointment at Cody's hesitation to answer and said, "You really don't have a plan, do you?"

He had finally given up. Cody knew that there was no way to change her mind when her jaw set the way it was. He would have better luck changing the path of a hurricane or a land slide. She was also right, he finally admitted to himself. He didn't have a good plan and hadn't prepared his team the best that he could.

Cody didn't spent the time idle, once he accepted the inevitable. He kept his interns together, just as they would be in the field. He explained that the dig wasn't finished and there was safety in numbers.

There was research that required a follow-up from Cody and his team. The research relating to the mixed languages on the tablets found nothing similar. The ankh with the eye in the loop was found in Sumerian writings, in the earliest part of the story of a god giving knowledge to mankind. On the same Sumerian tablet, the god that objected to mankind having the knowledge of the gods entered the story. That was last time the strange ankh symbol was found. Cody was still sure that he had seen the symbol someplace else, but he couldn't dredge it from his memory.

Cody also spent time every day working with his interns, both individually and as a group, to make them a cohesive fighting group. His mother joined many of the sessions as her time permitted, as did Maria and Manuel. Each of the nine members of the group had skills they could teach the others and Cody took full advantage of all of them. They all improved their knowledge and skills applicable to battle, both hand to hand skills and with weapons. Professor Cynthia Randall was surprisingly proficient with a pistol, nearly a match to her son's proficiency.

He went one step farther. Cody taught his interns to meditate with the goal of them listening to that small, quiet, inner voice and acting on it. Meditation is used to calm and center the mind. Other than some martial arts, it is seldom associated with battle and war. His mother joined some of the meditation sessions and was helpful in guiding the interns in the rudiments of meditation. After all, she was the one who had taught Cody to meditate as an energetic five year old on a delicate archeological dig.

Cody wasn't as successful with the interns as he had hoped, but the exercises weren't the failure he had feared either. Cody knew that time and practice would improve their skills. Time, however, was in very short supply.

Briana was the most proficient, rivaling Cody in her ability to sense when she was being watched. They attributed her skill to her prior training in martial arts, teaching her to focus. By the end of the month, Briana could feel when attention was shifted to her while walking down the street. She also began using her new found skills while doing her kata and during sparring. She discovered that she could sense where the next strike would be and react to it.

Shawn and Amy could both sense when attention was shifted to them during meditation exercises, but were not able to consistently translate that skill to the street. The ability to recognize when they were being watched was an important first step to being able to remotely detect danger. Most people can sense when they are being watched, particularly when high emotion is associated with the watcher. Most people simply don't notice or pay attention to the feeling. The training was able to hone that ability for Shawn and Amy, and to set them on the path to making it a useful skill. They also began having other flashes of insight during research.

Carl was next and Brian was last in the skill levels they were attempting to learn. Carl could occasionally tell, in meditative sessions, when attention was switched to him. It was often enough to ensure his success wasn't an anomaly, and to spur him on in his attempts to get better. Brian didn't exhibit any skills with human interaction. Curiously, he did seem to have a skill with material objects. He 'felt' when a material object was near. Brian's skill excited Cody because he related it to his own seeking skill.

Maria's skills with intuition seemed to blossom during their meditation sessions. She demonstrated it during the hand to hand combat drills, and during their planning sessions.

Manuel seemed to be a natural. Cody didn't find out why he was a natural until a week after they started their training.

Cody had his own goals during their meditation exercises and with his mother's help, may have had some degree of success. Unfortunately, there was no way to test and know that their efforts were successful. All Cody could do was believe they worked. He had figured out early in his life that belief was the key ingredient to effective visualization.

Visualization worked when searching for the right place to dig or moving rain clouds aside so a dig wouldn't be disturbed at a crucial point. The key to successful visualization was belief. Belief has many degrees. A person may believe they are going to win when they purchase a lottery ticket, but that is actually more hope than belief. Successful visualization requires belief the same way a person believes air will be available when they take their next breath. That is unshakable, rock solid, doubtless belief.

Cody was worried about Viper adepts. Based on the information from the Viper Captain, he needed to shield his group so they couldn't be mentally detected or followed by the Viper adepts. Equally concerning was the Captain's claim that adepts could fog people's minds. He explained the problem to his mother, but she couldn't think of a way either. Visualization, to prevent the Viper Adepts from tracking them, was the best hope they had. They didn't explain their fears to Cody's team, but Manuel provided the key after a week of training and preparations.

"Professor Frost, when are you going to teach your students the next step?" Manuel asked curiously. "We don't have much time."

"What are you talking about?" Cody asked, just as curiously.

Manuel Martinez had taken part in their sessions, both physical and mental. He seemed to be a natural with the meditative techniques, but Cody hadn't questioned it.

"I thought your meditation exercises were setting the foundation for the next step," Manuel explained carefully. "Our time is short and I wondered when you would teach them the next step."

Cody frowned at Manuel in thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure what you mean by the next step, Mr. Martinez. Obviously, there is something in your experience that suggests there is a next step. Frankly, I don't know what it is. I've never tried to teach what I do before. In fact, I've tried to hide what I can do for a lot of years. I caught the attention of some individuals while I was on active duty in the Marines and it caused some issues. What do you mean when you say, 'next step?'"

"Well," Manuel started, looking uncomfortable. He took a deep breath to gather himself before saying, "My father taught me techniques to hide from our enemy. Every son must learn the techniques before their initiation when they turn sixteen. He told me that other Seekers, not you, not The Seeker, um..." he stopped, clearly frustrated and rattled.

"Let me start again, Professor Frost," Manuel said, after he had calmed himself. "A lifetime of hiding is hard to ignore. Seekers, the organization that I belong to, have practiced a skill that is used to hide from Viper Adepts. I have always thought of them as simply 'the enemy' but now I have a name for them. Sir, we use our aura's to hide, but we have our own adepts that can do more. I have been told that some can include their aura in a strike. Um, when you hit someone, the blow is intensified by your aura continuing beyond where the blow is stopped by the body and striking at the opponents life force. I have been told that some can even strike from a distance. Other tasks are possible with the aura, but I have only, personally, achieved one beside the basic skill that all must learn. When tired, you can face the sun and spread your aura, like a cape, catching the sunlight. The energy from the sun, caught by your aura, can be pulled into your body. You will no longer be tired and will be as alert as after a good night's sleep. But, most of our members primarily use the skill to hide from our enemy."

Cody thought for a moment before asking, "Can all of your members use this skill?"

"For hiding? Of course," Manuel said with a shrug. "Everyone has an aura. Everyone can feel their aura, if they are shown how. That part is simple. Once a person feels their own aura, it is a simple step to using it to hide. Simple, not easy," Manuel emphasized. "Some don't apply the effort or time required to go beyond hiding. That skill is required before a boy is initiated at sixteen, as I said, and the boy learns of his heritage."

Cody nodded and smiled when he said, "I understand the difference between simple and easy. Would you show me how?"

"Yes, Professor," Manuel said, smiling back.

The exercises were quick and easy. They started with the basic relaxation of meditation and Cody holding an imaginary ball between his hands in front of him. Without his hands touching, Cody was instructed to slowly move his hands closer together, and then farther apart, while imagining he was holding the imaginary ball.

"Imagine you are squeezing the ball between your hands, but can't quite squeeze it flat," Manuel instructed. "Can you feel the pressure of the ball between your hands?" he asked after a moment.

At first, Cody couldn't decide if he was really feeling something or if it was simply his imagination. Then it dawned on him that what he normally did could be attributed to imagination, too. He decided that he really was feeling something between his hands, and treated the rest of the training session accordingly.

Ten minutes later, Manuel moved him to the next step. He instructed Cody to visualize what he felt between his hands as a part of his body that extended beyond his skin. Manuel explained that Cody needed to accept that the field surrounding his body was as much a part of him as his hands and that Cody had as much control over it as his hands.

Thirty minutes after they started, Manuel said, "The rest is just practice. Decide what you want your aura to do and visualize your aura doing it. For hiding from the, um, from Viper, visualize your aura reflecting mental probes. Keep doing that until it becomes an unconscious action. That is what we do with our sons before they are initiated into our order."

"How do you make it an unconscious action?" Cody asked. "I know how to find what I seek, whether it is the right place to dig or if an enemy is waiting for me, but those are conscious efforts."

Manuel nodded and said, "It is a conscious effort to seek, but are the mechanics of what you do conscious? Think of when you first learned to seek," Manuel instructed. "Didn't you need to direct your thoughts?" He didn't wait for an answer before continuing when he said, "I wager that now, you do consciously seek, but you no longer direct your thoughts on how to seek. You just do it."

Cody's skeptical look prompted Manuel to continue with, "A person learns to walk as a child, but when injured, and loses a leg, must learn to walk again with their artificial leg. You don't think about picking up an apple when you reach out with your hand and pick it up. Deciding to pick the apple up is a conscious decision, but the mechanics of doing it are unconscious. With constant practice shielding will become a normal, unconscious action."

Manuel sighed and said, "I will send a message, and ask an elder to watch over you and your people. That is what we do with our sons when they are learning this skill. It seldom takes longer than two or three weeks with our sons because it is a simple skill. However, our sons must practice alone or with their fathers or older brother. The elder sends a message of acceptance back when a son has gone twenty-four hours without detection. He is then ready for initiation. You and your people may practice together so I expect that it will take less time. Professor, this will protect you from Viper. Energizing yourself or using your aura in battle may also come in time, if you practice enough."

Cory incorporated Manuel's instruction into the intern's, Maria's and his mom's training. They picked it up as quickly as Cody had. Briana began practicing her martial arts differently, again, trying to incorporate another new found skill into her martial arts techniques. Even Brian was successful in feeling and using his aura. Brian was relieved with, what he considered, his small success.

Manuel entered the room Cody and the interns were using for some hand to hand fighting drills with a big smile. It had been nine days since Manuel's question about the next step.

"Professor Frost," Manuel called. "I just received a message," he said as he stopped, looking over the little group with a look of pride that was almost paternal. "You are all as ready for initiation as any true son. Congratulations to you and your team. I am proud of you."

Communication is a skill that most small military units in the field use to improve effectiveness. Hand signals for go, stop, danger, and others were some of the common hand signals taught. One signal was added to the set of signs Cody and Shawn taught, to indicate snake. They thought it was important in case a member of Viper was spotted by one of them and they had to notify the rest of their group silently.

At the end of the month, nine people settled on the C-130 for the first leg of their flight. Cody shivered at the number of their party.

Cody had studied many esoteric beliefs during his life, mostly out of curiosity. Numerology was one of the belief systems that he had studied. He didn't believe in Numerology, but the belief was important in some of the cultures he studied, so he needed to understand it. The number nine had two different meanings in Numerology. One meaning was 'an ending, ' or maybe 'the end'. Another meaning was the highest level of changes, which could mean an ending of one path and the beginning of another. Cody couldn't help but wonder if this trip would be the end of the secret that had been held for millennia or the end of man as the tablet had warned. Both meanings of the number nine could apply in his team's case. A chill ran up his spine again, as he felt the wheels of the C-130 leave the ground.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Cody grumbled, just loud enough for his mother to hear him over the rumble of the C-130.

"Why?" Professor Cynthia Randall asked with frustration at Cody's continued focus on the subject.

"Because it's too dangerous, Mom!" he said, equally as frustrated. "Mom, this isn't about just archeology! We're going up against a worldwide organization and they don't care about what laws they break."

"You've already told me all that, Cody," Cynthia said sharply. "Unless you can come up with new arguments, use your energy in more constructive ways. Practice your mental exercises. Plan on how we can safely get from Beirut to Baalbek. Go to sleep. Hell, I don't care what you do. Just quit trying to resurrect the same argument. We'll land in a few hours. What will we do after we land? You are in charge of this circus, so take charge. Do you have a plan beyond taking the gear that we'll need in Lebanon off the plane?" He had directed their packing to prepare for that and she didn't wait for an answer, saying, "Just understand that some things can't be changed, like me being along for the ride. Get used to it."

"Yes, Mom," Cody said, as he ruefully reflected back on how many times in his life that arguments had ended with those words.

Cody thought about what they would do when they landed. He did have a plan, sort of. Arrangements had been made to guard the C-130 until they returned, up to a week. Or rather, Manuel's Seeker organization would provide guards. The mini expedition had been authorized as a short term archeological survey relating to a study of the Egyptian first and second dynasty. Transportation had been arranged for the trip to and from Baalbek, also through Manuel.