Black Rose

CHAPTER 8

Rain streaked the facade of a handsome eighteenth century château located a half hour out of Geneva. The building sat on a spit of land jutting into the River Rhône. Water ran in rivulets over a prominent stone bas-relief set over the grand entrance. The carving showed an all-seeing, radiant eye, centered over a nine-pointed star. An inscription bordered the design:

Translated into English, the inscription read:

Johannes Gutenberg sat in a dark leather chair in the spacious high-ceilinged library of the château, holding a crystal snifter containing a generous helping of Louis XIII cognac. The polished wooden floor was covered with a fine Persian rug that had once graced the Shah's palace. Rain beat in intermittent gusts against the tall windows of the library, blurring the view of the river flowing by. For a brief instant the sun broke through the dark clouds roiling the afternoon sky and bathed the room in storm light glow.

Gutenberg swirled the smoky amber liquid in his glass and held it to his nose. He inhaled and smiled. There was nothing like it, a distinct aroma that spoke of age and the skill of the master distiller who had created it. It spoke of educated taste, of wealth and power. Wealth and power were two things of great concern to Johannes Gutenberg. Not the getting of them, he had plenty of both. It was the application of them that concerned him, as it had his predecessors in the organization.

AEON had gone through many changes over the centuries. The latest incarnation had emerged during the 1700s but the organization traced its beginning to the time of the Knights Templar. Once it had been part of the Templars but that changed in the thirteenth century when a faction of the order had broken away. Their successors had manipulated the Pope and the King of France to launch the 1307 persecution that shattered the Templars' hold on power. True power lay in the shadows, not on the throne. It was still that way, all these centuries later.

A small group of the original Templars that called themselves the Guardians had escaped the King's soldiers, well aware of who had betrayed them. They still existed and were led by a man Gutenberg knew only as Adam. Their purpose was the defeat and destruction of AEON. It was a hidden war that had been going on for seven hundred years.

The Guardians had never succeeded. If Johannes had his way, they never would. They were troublemakers, all of them. Because of them, plans had been disrupted, important plans. They were the ones who had alerted that American woman's group to AEON's existence.

Gutenberg sipped his cognac. On the other hand, if it weren't for the Project, I wouldn't be in charge.

The thought pleased him. Before the Project got involved, there had been nine leaders of AEON, nine wealthy men scattered over the globe. Leadership of the group had always been based on success and the consent of the others. Failure had only one result: death. Interference by the Project in AEON's operations had reduced the leadership board to seven and opened the way for Gutenberg's ascension.

The attrition of leadership could not be allowed to continue and the rules had been changed. Success was still the criterion for remaining as chairman but the death penalty for failure had been rescinded. It made for a more congenial atmosphere. The current board had achieved a good working harmony under Gutenberg.

Success with the Russian operation more than made up for the recent failure in India. The samples of plague stolen by the Russians from the Koreans were safe in Krivi Dass's pharmaceutical laboratories in Zurich. When a vaccine to prevent the disease and a drug to cure it had been found, the next phase of the plan would begin.

Krivi Dass was one of the ruling seven and a close ally of Gutenberg's. Johannes felt comfortable with Krivi. Even his wife liked him. For Gutenberg, that was an important litmus test.

If Johannes had a weak spot, it was for his wife Marta. In Marta's eyes, Johannes was a successful businessman who happened to own one of the oldest banks and greatest fortunes in Europe. Marta saw him as a philanthropist who gave freely to numerous charitable causes, a man with heart. It was doubtful that any of the millions of desperate people who had been pushed further under by Gutenberg's rapacious policies would have agreed with her.

Gutenberg never allowed his feelings for her to interfere with business. Marta would be horrified if she knew what AEON did and what his role was in guiding it. But she would never find out. Johannes was careful to make sure of that.

Johannes Gutenberg was addicted to the use of power, a drug he found more powerful than the finest opium. The application of power brought unfortunate results for some, but that was inevitable when you were building a new world order, where everyone would know their function and place. A world ruled by AEON from behind the scenes. The time was coming when events would make that world possible. Success was closer than it had ever been. Of course there were obstacles that needed to be taken care of before then.

One of those was the Guardians. Johannes sipped his liquor and thought of the trouble they'd caused in the past. The interference of Adam and his group could not be tolerated. It was time to remove them as a factor.

Another problem was Harker's group. That might prove more difficult, but Johannes enjoyed a challenge.

Gutenberg lifted his glass to the rain-swept windows.

To the New Order, he thought, and drank.