Has this misadventure been a matter of poor timing—or had it been plotted that way?
He returned to Burman’s side and raised this concern. “I find it suspicious that we only received word about theGardiens’ plan to move the bookafterWright had already sent off the book. Could the warning to us have been purposefully delayed?”
Burman glanced over to him. “You’re wondering if another cell within our organization might have attempted to make a play for the book? To steal it away from us? To usurp our authority over the matter?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Keir looked across at Tissot. Unlike the two of them, the cardinal was not a part of theConfrérie’s inner circle. Instead, Tissot belonged to an outlier cell, one of the oldest. It traced back directly to the Marquise de Maurepas, the minister of state to King Louis XVI and the founder of theConfrérie des Illuminés. His cell continued to believe the book was demonic in nature, possibly the source code to Satanic magic—a fear once shared by the Marquise himself.
Yet, over the centuries, the organization evolved and refined its ambitions. Even the name—Confrérie des Illuminés—was no longer in vogue. It conflated too much with another secret society, theIlluminati. Though, truth be told, their two organizations had overlapped in membership in the past. The same was true for many other groups across history: the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons, the Italian Carbonari, and its French offshoot, the Charbonnerie. Even today, theConfrérieremained deeply involved with the Bilderberg Group, where political leaders and captains of industry met privately and discussed world concerns without fear of exposure or reprisal.
Over time, theConfrériesystematically wove its web throughout the world’s secret organizations—both in the past and now. All to seek the betterment of humankind. That was their ultimate goal. In the past, their efforts had centered on seeking lost knowledge—like what could be found in Saint-Germain’s journal. But now theConfrériehad merged forces with a new growing movement, calledlongtermism, which advocated that it was the moral duty of those living today to improve humankind’s future, to look past short-term problems for long-term solutions—no matter the cost, if it ultimately improved the chances of humanity’s survival.
It was how Keir had been recruited, along with many other wealthy members, mostly in the tech industry. TheConfrériesought to build a secret army of like-minded individuals, to make the hard choices that politics and shortsightedness would not allow.
Yet, that didn’t mean the Brotherhood was of one mind. Over the centuries, exposed to so many different ideologies, it had splintered into disparate factions, each with its own agenda, some in conflict with the others.
Like perhaps now.
Burman looked skeptically at Keir. “Remember, Cardinal Tissot brought the mole to us.”
“A mole whose identity he keeps to himself,” Keir reminded Burman.
“Would you do any different? By keeping his contact under wraps, Tissot makes him and his cell an essential part of this operation. And even if you’re right, with the book loose out there, both sides are equally handicapped, so it doesn’t much matter.”
“Maybe . . .”
Keir stared over at the cardinal. Tissot was in his early seventies, the same age as him, but the cardinal, with his white hair and frail form, looked decades older. Whereas Keir maintained a well-muscled frame, which filled out a suit tailored to accentuate his physique. Similarly, his dark hair, while speckled with salt, remained thick.
Such youthful vigor was not solely due to genetics. One of the latest ventures of NeuVentis Pharma was in the field of biogerontology, the study of anti-aging, which had proved to be a veritable gold mine. And Keir had taken full advantage of the field’s many treatments and innovations. His regimen involved weekly testosterone injections, a fistful of daily supplements, regular hyperbaric oxygen sessions, along with IV therapy and blood transfusions.
“Before you cast aspersions,” Burman warned, “there are many who still admire Cardinal Tissot. His modalities and beliefs may be outdated, but it was his father who worked with Rommel during World War II to secure the cache of gold coins found in North Africa, a treasure whose location was encrypted in Saint-Germain’s journal. Though we only obtained a quarter of the haul, it was still worth tens of millions in today’s dollars.”
Keir scowled. “And the Nazis took the rest—shattering apart the greater mystery hidden within all that gold. There’s no telling what wonders were lost to the world when the Nazi gold train vanished in Poland.”
“Yet, theConfrériestill learned a valuable lesson.”
“Which was what?”
“That Saint-Germain buries his secrets in ever-unfolding layers. We will know better next time. To look beyond the glitter and wealth for the greater truth hidden behind it.”
Keir nodded, finding some measure of solace.
For the longest time, Saint-Germain’s journal—the foundation stone to theConfrérie’s existence—had been nearly forgotten. Even after the scuffle during World War II, where the book had proved its value while hinting at greater mysteries, it had faded again, relegated to an outdated relic that had little bearing on the world’s mounting troubles.
But now . . .
He stared at the laptop, at the frantic search on the screen. “Do you remember reading Countess d’Adhémar’sSouvenirs, her account of Saint-Germain’s vanished journal?”
“What of it?”
“According to her diary, Saint-Germain claimed his book would return to the world during a ‘time of great tribulation.’ And look at the state we’re in now. The threats we face. Nuclear war. Engineered pandemics. Collapsing ecosystems. The emergence of AI. More than any time in the past, humankind teeters on the brink of extinction. Don’t you find it strangely opportune—possibly even providential—that the lost journal has come into play during this time in history, atime of great tribulation.”
“Providential?” Burman raised a brow. “Now you’re sounding like Cardinal Tissot.”
“Am I? The last time the book rose into prominence was during World War II. Another pivotal moment in human history. And here it rises again out of the dark vault of theGardiensand back into the light of day.”
Burman frowned. “There is nothing mystical about this. You’re placing divine power onto coincidence. The simple reality is the journal contains secrets to astounding riches and potentially arcane sciences. For those reasons alone, we must possess it, to use its wealth and knowledge to move humanity forward. TheGardienshave kept this book buried for too long, spitefully keeping its wonders from humanity.”
