Ghosts of Forgotten Empires, Vol II: A Cord Devlin Adventure

Special Smashwords Edition

Ghosts of Forgotten Empires

Volume II

A Cord Devlin Adventure

by

Michael J. Foy

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Ghosts of Forgotten Empires Volume II: A CORD DEVLIN ADVENTURE

Special Smashwords Edition

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Copyright © 2014 Michael J. Foy. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

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ISBN: 978-1-941536-28-5 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-941536-29-2 (Paperback)

Version 2014.07.02

Other books by Michael J. Foy

The Kennedy Effect

Future Perfect

Ghosts of Forgotten Empires Volume I: A Cord Devlin Adventure

Reviews

"Guaranteed—when you read Michael J. Foy you're in for quite a trip. To the ends of the earth, the galaxy and beyond. Mike's books take the reader on a super cool ride through time and space. He’s writing very original and exciting fiction!"

Jordan Rich, Nationally syndicated radio talk show host

Chart Productions, inc

WBZ Radio

www.jordanrich.com

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"Author Michael J. Foy continues his exploration of the outrageously exciting in his latest—‘Ghosts of Forgotten Empires.’ Trained as an engineer, Foy has a lot of ideas—a lot!—about what in the universe could be possible, and ‘Ghosts of Forgotten Empires’ leads the reader into fantastically unexpected territory with a steady flow of outside-the-box imaginings and quirky-fun twists that turn the story on its head to leave the reader goggle eyed with jaw hanging open. Yup. In short, the novel is quite a read for anyone who loves mind-blowing adventure in a surprisingly logical package of amazing possibility."

G. Miki Hayden, author of the NYTimes plauded alternative history novel Pacific Empire and the eBook Jesus of Nazareth, which posits how the lost years of Jesus might have transpired.

"If you enjoy a history lesson while reading your science fiction novels; you will want to include ‘Ghosts of Forgotten Empires’ on your reading list this year. With a combination of Norse mythology, Egyptian archaeology, alien spaceships (of course) and deep personal loss experienced through our hero, Cord Devlin, you will experience a hot national security thriller!"

Jennifer Harris, Assistant Director of the Plymouth, Massachusetts Public Library

Ghosts of Forgotten Empires

Volume II

A Cord Devlin Adventure

PREVIOUSLY …

The Cold War had long been over. The old Soviet Union couldn’t maintain its military spending in order to compete with the United States. The economic might of the West proved to be the decisive factor in winning the struggle between the two ideologies.

After the Communist state collapsed, relative harmony existed between the United States and Russia. Each still served its own interests and continued to vie for world influence, but the two also stood down from their previous positions of nuclear antagonism. The new Russia, despite its claims, wasn’t a true democracy, though it at least embraced a free market system and sought to cultivate the U.S. as a trading and economic partner.

Armed with a new agenda, the Russian state abandoned Cold War-era brinksmanship—but then something changed. The discovery of alien artifacts that imbued their possessors with certain metaphysical abilities tipped the balance of power in the New World Order. This circumstance transformed the equation in favor of the Russians … at least for a while.

Suspicious of the American archaeologist Dr. Stone, the successor to the head of the Russian KGB—or FSB—sent an operative to monitor the suspected spy. Unknown to the Russians, however, Anatoly Dvorak also worked for a renegade Russian intelligence agency, the GGU. During his mission, he happened upon the cache of alien crystals found in the Egyptian desert but also already in the possession of the archaeological expedition. He solved the dilemma of ownership by caving in Professor Stone’s skull. So then, with a crystal, but not yet with the knowledge to use it, Anatoly set out to master his newfound abilities.

Soon after, American intelligence freelancer Cord Devlin was assigned to retrieve the rest of the crystalline artifacts. Although all the crystals’ whereabouts soon became known to American intelligence, four of the six were in the hands of individuals who now posed varying threats to humanity. Anatoly Dvorak, already part of a Russian renegade group, went renegade from them. Drunk with power, he suggested to the Russian ruling entities that he destabilize governments from Central America to Eastern Europe to Northern Africa.

Two other individuals from the archaeological expedition also possessed crystals and were motivated by selfish interests. Andre Provost and Jai Brar eventually teamed up in a bid to regain all the crystals for themselves. Cord Devlin also came by one and opposed the other three. His handler, Paul McMaster at the CIA, worried about the corrupting influence the power of the crystal would have on Cord, whose personal weaknesses were well documented. Oddly, McMaster also recognized that Cord’s affinity for the iconic TV series Star Trek might be the one thing that anchored him psychologically.

So four adversaries with the power to change the planet faced off against each other. And unknown to any of them, another entity was manipulating the foursome, feeding off the conflict that such a divergence of interests had historically fomented.

Andre and Jai were at a distinct disadvantage relative to trained operatives Devlin and Dvorak. Surprisingly, Jai was killed by an injured and temporarily weakened Cord. For reasons later to be revealed, Cord’s abilities outstripped those of his similarly endowed opponents.

Recognizing this, Anatoly recruited Andre to kill Cord. And when Cord appeared to be dead from a lethal dose of neutron radiation, Anatoly killed Andre, leaving only Anatoly as a possessor of the crystals’ might. No one remained to oppose him, he thought, since he was still unaware of otherworldly forces feeding off worldwide instability.

CHAPTER 1

Cord Devlin’s disembodied consciousness roamed a part of space-time where only subconscious thought exists. He sensed others, or at least their thoughts, and tried to orient himself. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was being irradiated by MIT’s neutron source. He’d been in the operating room under the reactor, bound to the table, as his adversaries looked on. The room was designed to target malignant tumors in cancer patients. It was meant to save lives … but not this time. Anatoly Dvorak and Andre Provost had watched Cord through the transparent bioshield as they manipulated the machinery to fire deadly neutron radiation through Cord’s body.

Part of Cord actually sympathized with them or at least with Anatoly, whom he respected. They feared him, as they should have, and how else could they have ensured his death? Certainly not with their guns. Anatoly had recruited Andre in this shadow cold war since Anatoly, by himself, was no match for Cord. Each of Cord’s antagonists could have toppled mountains with their metaphysical abilities, yet even that power wasn’t enough to overcome Cord. All three men were in possession of certain crystalline artifacts that endowed them with unbelievable abilities.

But in spite of having the crystals for roughly the same amount of time as the others, Cord Devlin had progressed to a level far beyond them. Something about his personal make-up, his unusual constitution, gave him an edge. The reason seemed incomprehensible, but an explanation would eventually come from the man Cord knew as his uncle.

Now, alongside the voices, Cord thought he heard music. He strained to listen. The song seemed familiar, yet he couldn’t quite grasp the tune. Competing with the other noises, the melody only came through as sporadic notes. Maddeningly, they lay just beyond Cord’s threshold of recognition.

Eventually, however, the background voices diminished, and slowly the song came into focus. What the hell? Cord heard the theme from Star Trek, the original series. Whatever passed for eyes in his bodiless state jerked open. All was now silent, and he had a weird sense that he was waking from a dream—but where was he? He found himself lying face down on a padded, kidney-shaped bed. Covering him was a thin blanket made of some metallic fabric.

Cord threw off the blanket with a start and tried to get his bearings. Cave-like walls surrounded him on two sides, while a large, rectangular stone wall made up the back of the small chamber. Turning around to the front, he looked out onto a corridor whose floor lay about eighteen inches below the level of the chamber he occupied.

Cord stood and went to exit the room, but to his dismay, a transparent barrier prevented him from leaving. With a quick flair of anger, he hurled his two-hundred-twenty-five pounds against the obstruction. It resisted as if it were made of tautly stretched rubber. He tried again, but to no avail.

Along the walls of the corridor, Cord could see similar cells marching down its length. Peering into one, he noted a furry humanoid with a boar-like snout and tusks. It ambled around on spindly legs. Eventually, it noticed Cord and moved out of sight.

Another room contained a large, bird-like creature with fluttering wings. On the outside of yet a different cell, Cord also could see plants and something that threw tentacle-like shadows.

These were all display cases, and Cord realized he was a captive in some kind of menagerie, just like those other creatures. At that moment, across from his cell, an elevator door opened, and Cord was shocked to see who exited.

Uncle Jamie?

His uncle walked over and smiled up at Cord from the floor of the corridor just outside his cell.

Hello, Cord. How’re you feeling?

Angry!

Yes, I suppose you would be. You’ve just been killed … maybe.

A chill went up Cord’s spine.

His uncle smiled weakly. All right, let’s catch you up. You’re trapped, or at least your disembodied consciousness is in a region of subspace. That’s the consequence of your maneuvering to get away from Anatoly. But you can escape with a little guidance from me. We’ll have to reconstitute your body and collect the scattered parts of your consciousness for it. His uncle gave Cord a reassuring look.

"But first, don’t you recognize where you are? I thought it was a great analog to your current situation. Something you’d find familiar, given your passion for Star Trek."

The light dawned. Talos IV? guessed Cord.

Of course. Jamie nodded in agreement. You’re a captive of your mind. Kind of like the way Captain Pike was a captive of his own mind at the hands of the Talosians.

Talosians? Where are they? Cord hadn’t seen any.

His uncle seemed to think over the matter. We don’t need them to get you through this. But if you’d like …

Jamie motioned for Cord to look behind him and to his left. There was Vina. Cord stood speechless. But then he thought of something to ask her. Are you real?

As real as you wish, she responded.

And now I say, ‘No, that’s not any answer.’ Cord understood, but he was still behind the barrier, or still disembodied, he presumed.

There you go, said Uncle Jamie. Now you’re getting into it.

Is this supposed to be helping me somehow?

A framework is important. And a familiar one will make becoming whole again, mentally and physically a little easier for you.

Uncle Jamie stepped up to the level of the cell’s floor and walked through the transparency as if it really was a Talosian illusion. He sat on the padded couch and looked at Cord. Vina drifted in behind him.

Now I have to tell you a story, Cord. Something about your unusual heritage. Maybe you had better sit down.

Cord hesitated. After a moment, he moved to take his uncle up on the invitation to sit but not before taking Vina’s hand. When he sat down next to Jamie, he had Vina on his lap. His uncle made a disapproving face, then started talking, but stopped, apparently thinking the better of it.

Do you want to do this later? Jamie asked.

Definitely, Cord wanted to wait. Do you mind? he asked. How often does a Trekkie get to live out a fantasy like this?

Fine. Enjoy yourself.

Two Days Later

You know, if you had a body, you’d be sore now, chided Jamie.

Well, it sure feels as though I have a body. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Whatever. Are you ready now for the truth about the McCords?

There’s a truth about the McCords? answered Cord. And then he immediately thought about his childhood. Every kid thinks his family is a bit different, but even as a boy Cord sensed that his was truly a little stranger than others. Does my mother know about this?

Yes. And now it’s time for you to hear about our roots. And the connection to what’s been going on with the crystals.

Could this conversation be real, and would Cord be able to trust his uncle’s information? At this point, he could but listen. Connections with the crystals? This ought to be interesting.

It will be, Uncle Jamie promised. "I just wish we were in the real world. There, I could hook you up to a device, a helmet of sorts, that would feed the information directly into your brain. And it would be far more impressive than the latest 3D version of Star Trek."

Cord just sat dumbfounded by what his uncle was saying.

Okay, let’s do this the old-fashioned way, started Jamie. What do you know about the Cretaceous period?

Cord’s grasp of the geologic eras had gone slightly fuzzy since he’d shed his body. There were dinosaurs?

True. But much more than giant reptiles made that period remarkable. Any paleontologist will tell you that humans didn’t exist one-hundred-million years ago. They’d tell you that, and they’d be wrong. Jamie grinned.

In fact, a sizable human community lived on Earth at that time. They were technologically advanced, far more advanced than even today. Earth was the seat of a star-spanning civilization. Except it wasn’t called Earth. It was called Vertropicus because lush green tropical jungles nearly covered the globe. Vertropicus means ‘green jungle,’ or at least that’s what the native language of the time translates into now. The world was a paradise with no permanent ice. People lived well past a thousand years, and everyone shared in the rich planet’s privileged position in the galactic civilization.

Cord’s disembodied consciousness was staggered. Wait a minute. What are you telling me here? Some fantasy? he demanded. Scientists have found no evidence in the rock records of any such civilization. Surely, if it existed at all, something of it would have been left behind.

Cord’s agitated questioning didn’t appear to bother his uncle at all. That’s a very good point, Cord, Uncle Jamie responded. And the reason no one has discovered it is because we haven’t arrived there yet.

Whaaaat?

Jamie stared at his nephew in serious contemplation. At least that’s the theory, he said. Sometime in the future, mankind will discover time travel and colonize the past. So since we haven’t gone back yet, nothing exists to discover right now. Understood?

Cord supposed he got the drift. "You mean that we have to pass the point in time when time travel is invented. Then the remains