The Milestone Protocol Ernest Dempsey (best short novels of all time .txt) 📖

coming soon, little one. After the fall of Kaffa, Jani Beg Khan spent years of his life searching for information about the assassin he’d killed. He learned as much as he could, but was also afraid of digging too deep. He feared that the group who had sent the messenger might return to exact vengeance, blood for blood. The last twelve years of his life were filled with paranoia. He rarely slept through the night, as every noise awakened him. All the while, he continued his search for answers until his mother became ill. The Khan and the physicians all believed she would be blinded by the illness, and so Jani Beg summoned the Metropolitan of Russia, Alexius, to come heal her. The man’s efforts were successful, and he was rewarded for healing the Khan’s mother. Seeing the power and wisdom Alexius displayed, Jani Beg sought one more request from the man. He showed him the gem he’d taken from the dead messenger years before and relayed the story.”

A candle flickered to the left, casting long, dancing shadows on the far wall to the right. Adriana only let it distract her for a second. “What did Alexius tell him?”

“Alexius stared at the fire gem with eyes full of terror and hope. He explained to the Khan that it belonged to an agent of one of the most powerful and evil organizations in the world.” Miyamoto stopped and took a deep breath, adding drama to the story. “The Hermetic Cult of Thoth.”

Adriana tensed her eyebrows and thought for a second. “Thoth?” she asked. “As in the emerald tablets legend?”

“This goes far beyond that much-debated artifact. The moon god Thoth was considered a powerful Egyptian deity—god of writing, magic, wisdom, and science. He was one of the judges of the underworld and the scribe of the dead. Many of those who worshipped him attributed the famed Book of the Dead to his own hand. After the fall of Egypt’s great empire and the loss of its ancient religion, the followers of Thoth went underground. They hid in the shadows, but their power and influence continued to grow. The cult infiltrated philosophical circles in Ancient Greece, continually gaining new and important members. As their ranks swelled, so did their power.”

Adriana processed the information quietly. She’d heard of the Egyptian deity, and of Hermes Trismegistus—the supposed author of the Hermetic Corpus.

“Thoth and Hermes,” Miyamoto explained, “were worshipped as one in many places. During the Hellenistic Period, both were revered in the Temple of Thoth in Hermopolis.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, Master—” Adriana said.

“But you want to know what this has to do with you and your family,” Miyamoto finished. “I know.”

She blushed and nodded. “Yes.”

“Patience was never your greatest asset,” he said with a smile. “The Cult of Thoth members believe themselves to be the hands of their deity. They consider it their sacred task to maintain the balance of Earth, judging who lives and dies based solely on the need for planetary optimization.”

He noted the confused look on her face. “Thoth,” he said, “held the Book of the Dead. He decided who was sent to the underworld and who wasn’t. As a god of science, he also understood the delicate balance between the planet’s ecosystems, the organisms inhabiting them, and how those things could be changed or altered. The cult’s followers have a powerful understanding of this and are driven almost solely by their belief that it is their duty to monitor and, occasionally, maintain the population of the planet.”

Adriana didn’t like the way he used the word. “What do you mean by maintain?”

“Exactly what you think it means,” her father answered. “Throughout the ages, for thousands of years, the Cult of Thoth has been behind nearly every major war and every pandemic that has swept the world. They have influenced the rise and fall of empires.”

“Wait a second,” Adriana protested. “You’re telling me that one group that’s been around for a few thousand years or so has been behind most of the wars?”

“As well as many plagues and diseases that have ravaged the population.”

“I don’t understand,” she confessed, shaking her head. “You’re talking about a single entity deciding the fates of billions of people. That seems—”

“Implausible,” Diego said, finishing her thought. “I know. It’s too broad in scope. Many have said those words when people speak of a deep-state entity that controls the ebb and flow of history. I’m aware of the arguments against it. It’s called a conspiracy theory by skeptics, and yet whispers of it abound at water coolers, around campfires, in secret conversations where people aren’t afraid of being called a quack or mentally ill. You must keep in mind, Adriana, that this is a group of fanatics who formed more than three thousand years ago. They have had millennia to build their ranks and resources, and they only choose from the elite of society. Billionaires are often the first to be chosen, but there are others. Most are from familial connections. It’s easier to spot them since their family chain of power tends to continue for long periods of time.”

Adriana pondered the point but said nothing.

Miyamoto continued where Diego left off. “Think about the lines of presidents in the United States, the politicians whose families control seats of power for generations. Surely you have heard of secret societies that it seems many major political players are involved with. Many people have at least heard the names Illuminati, Bilderberg, Rosicrucian. These and several other groups like them all work under the umbrella of the cult. They are the appendages of the body and are all driven by a single purpose.”

“Which is what?” Adriana asked after two breaths.

“Total global control, of course,” Miyamoto said matter-of-factly.

That wasn’t enough for her. She had to know more. At the moment, none of this made much sense. She’d heard crazy conspiracy theories before, even ones similar to this about a deep state that decided the fate of humanity, but it was too big,