The Prodigal Sun: A Novel Read online

  The Prodigal

  Sun

  A Novel

  By

  S. E. MEYER

  Copyright © 2013 S. E. Meyer

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1506189075

  ISBN-13: 978-1506189079

  DEDICATION

  For Kathy Jo

  My only sunshine, my bright and morning star.

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  6

  1

  Prologue

  9

  2

  Dreams And Apparitions

  16

  3

  From Bad To Worse

  35

  4

  Dirty Deeds

  46

  5

  A Night To Remember

  53

  6

  Lock-Down In London

  71

  7

  Seeing Is Believing

  78

  8

  South Gate Station

  91

  9

  The Rabbit Hole

  102

  10

  Of Castles And Dragons

  111

  11

  An Unexpected Guest

  119

  12

  The Road To Baghdad

  131

  13

  Alone In The Dark

  149

  14

  An Unexpected Journey

  169

  15

  The Revelation Of John

  180

  16

  A New Day A New Dawn

  196

  17

  The Ties That Bind

  213

  18

  Into The Lion's Den

  227

  19

  The Devil's Advocate

  242

  20

  Out Of The Frying Pan And Into The Fire

  259

  21

  Its Always Darkest Before The Dawn

  269

  22

  Whispers From Beyond

  286

  23

  Queen Of Denial

  290

  24

  The Prophet

  299

  25

  The Devil's In The Details

  307

  26

  Whispers Of Conspiracy

  316

  27

  The Sun Of God

  323

  28

  Bread For Bullets

  337

  29

  Message From Above

  346

  30

  The Sixth Seal

  351

  31

  Puzzling Evidence

  359

  32

  To Hell In A Hand Basket

  362

  33

  Something To Eat

  377

  34

  Lost In Translation

  384

  35

  A Brother's Betrayal

  389

  36

  Basement Bar-B-Q

  399

  37

  A Sortie Of Souls

  411

  38

  Operation K.M.A.

  420

  39

  The End Of Eden

  427

  40

  Escape To Eridu

  435

  41

  A Heavenly Host

  441

  42

  A Snaky Situation

  454

  Prologue from Eden Rising

  468

  Sumerian Inventions Still Used Today, Quotes and Sumerian Dictionary

  473

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to take the time to thank the following individuals, who without their contributions and support, the completion of this book would not have been possible. I would like to thank my editor Mike Gerrits for your priceless contributions in both the editing process as well as the depth of conversation relating to the main topics of what this book is really all about. A special thanks to Diane K. for your insight into the main characters in this book. Thank you to my friends at Amazon Publishing. I would also like to thank my sons for their understanding and patience while this project took so much of my time away from them over the years. A special thanks to my English teacher and mentor Gary Cameron for teaching me to believe in myself and my work. Finally I would like to thank my best friend in the entire world for the better part of the last two decades, my wonderful and amazing wife. Thank you for understanding my true motivation for finishing this project. For the countless hours of deep and meaningful conversation exploring and discussing the wide range of topics of this book. Thank you for the sacrifices, your understanding, and your endless unwavering support over the years. I also thank you for your many contributions to this book along the enlightening journey it has taken both of us.

  WARNING!

  As the author I feel it is my responsibility to issue a warning to my readers regarding the content of this book. Although a fictional novel, this story contains historically accurate information and true facts that may challenge your current beliefs. Should you decide to turn the following pages I would ask you to do so with an open mind. It is not my goal to sway any reader to any one line of thought. However I am strongly motivated, and feel obligated, to simply reveal what is already hiding in plain sight. The thirsty masses of Humankind have wandered for thousands of years with dry mouths, yearning to quench their pallets with the rest of the story. The truth has been hidden...until now. I will show you the well, but only you can choose to drink from it.

  “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it” - Aristotle

  “Most new ideas are branded as heresy, until a time when, either through science or technology, they can be proven as truth.” - S.E. Meyer

  All references to historical locations, religions, ancient writings and the representation of current beliefs of local peoples from around the world described in this novel are true.

  Prologue

  The ground shuddered, trembling around the crew foreman’s dusty boots as he maneuvered his way down the tunnel in front of him. The entire hillside above his head quivered as large mining equipment tore away at the dirt, deep inside the base of the hill, in a remote part of the South American jungle. The stout foreman peered down the dirty shaft from under the reinforced plastic safety device above his brow. The hardhat was no longer white and lustrous like the day he first arrived. It had morphed into a rough, scratched up lid that was now as brown as the surrounding tunnel. He squinted through the dim light cast by the yellow incandescent bulbs above his large head and muscular frame as he slowly made his way to the end of the long, angled shaft. There was a slight bounce to his step this morning and his heart quickened, along with his pace, as he ventured deeper into the dirt corridor. He no longer paid attention to the dirty brown walls or dusty air. The dark surroundings and burning in his lungs had become a normal, daily routine over the last several months. His thoughts briefly flashed to his home and the woman he loved that was waiting there for him. He felt a twinge of pain in his chest as he thought of her, longed for her. A momentary expression of sadness crossed his brow. Four months in this hellhole and I’m finally going to be able to go home. He thought, now grinning broadly, as the moment of grief was quickly replaced with excitement. He got to within twenty feet of his crew-members running the equipment and stopped next to a man shoveling loose debris out of the way. The man dropped the soil and small limestone rocks into a cart that ran on a track back out to the entrance. The foreman felt the vibration caused by the machine’s three he
ads reverberate through his body as it continued to chew through the earth like a ravenous animal. He didn’t like the way it rattled his bones, but he was happy to be out of the unbearable heat and humidity of the thick jungle above them.

  “Hey, Gene!” the foreman wearing the not-so-white hardhat yelled into the ear of the man next to him. “How are we doing?” His thick, bushy eyebrows were raised in a quizzical expression, wrinkling up his brow as he asked the question. The man in the blue hardhat stopped what he was doing and yelled back over the noise of the equipment.

  “Good, a few more feet and we’ll be up against the blocks. We’ll have to change out the heads, and then we should be able to push through,” explained Gene, motioning with his hands as he spoke. There was a loud screeching noise and the machine stopped digging. The men running the equipment backed the machine up several feet to get a good look at what made the noise, then quickly shut it down. They noticed the boss watching them and one of the men walked over to address the foreman.

  “Hey Jeff, we’re there. We just have to get through the block wall now and we’re done,” said the tough looking man, an expression of proud achievement shining through his dirty face and bloodshot eyes. He shook his fist above his head in celebration.

  “That’s excellent Jim, I’m looking forward to getting out of this God forsaken jungle,” Jeff answered as he pulled off his hardhat and wiped his face with a rag from his back pocket. “I already got in touch with the guy who's paying for all this, he’ll be here soon. I just wanted to make sure you were going to get it finished today.”

  “Yes sir!” replied Jim as he walked back to the machine where his partner was standing and they began removing the heads from the front of the digging equipment. “I can’t wait to finish this up. I’m going to take my payday and get back to my girl waiting for me at home,” he said from behind the machine as he worked. “I’m sure Mike and Gene are ready to go home too. Four months in this place has got me right done in. I need a vacation!” Jim finished.

  “Yeah, and you’ll be able to afford a nice long vacation after this job,” replied Gene as he began reloading the cart with dirt. The thought of getting paid and going home made him quicken his pace. The foreman grabbed a nearby shovel and started helping him as Gene continued speaking. “Me, I’m going to spend it all on expensive booze, fast cars and even faster women,” he said with a laugh that made his eyes squint.

  “Sounds like you guys have all your money spent already,” said Jeff as he shoveled another pile into the cart. He took a moment to wipe a bead of sweat from his brow with his forearm.

  “What about you boss? What are you going to do with your money when you get out of here?” Gene asked through the cloud of dust he was kicking up with his shovel.

  “Me? Oh I don’t know. I think I’ll buy Marge something nice and just take it easy for a while,” Jeff answered, grinning at the thought of a relaxing day on the patio, sipping iced tea with his wife. He continued to ponder the idea, which turned the corners of his mouth up into a larger grin. Jim commented again from behind the machine as he replaced the last of the heads with a grunt.

  “That’s the problem with you married guys, you lose your sense of adventure,” he said with a laugh that echoed up through the corridor.

  “Oh I don’t know about that Jim. After all, I am down here risking my ass in the middle of the jungle with your ugly mugs,” Jeff replied, playfully tossing a small rock over the machine, intended for the top of Jim’s hardhat.

  “You missed me old man,” Jim replied as the rock fell harmlessly at his feet. “There, we’re all set, let’s get this pig back up and running,” Jim said as he came back around to the front of the machine with his partner. They fired it back up with a roar and Jeff watched as they slowly began crunching through the partially visible block wall in front of them. The ancient limestone blocks crumbled easily under the machines diamond heads and within minutes the last of the wall crumbled away in front of them, revealing a large opening.

  “Pull it back! Pull it back!” Jeff yelled as he waved at the men with his hand and then nervously wiped it across his forehead. Jeff felt his heart race with anticipation as the crew-members backed the machine off far enough for them to be able to squeeze around it and access the opening ahead. “Let’s get some light in there!” the boss yelled again. “I want to see what all of this was about.” Gene grabbed two large spotlights along the wall next to him. He plugged them in to a thick cable that ran down the tunnel from a large generator sitting at its entrance. He squeezed around the machine and set them in place just inside the opening as he entered it. The rest of the crew followed and everyone stared in awe as they looked around. They were standing at the base of an ancient pyramid buried deep under the jungle floor. The walls were littered with beautiful, brilliantly colored, hieroglyphs. Solid gold artifacts, lying on the floor in every direction, surrounded the group and the air of accomplishment that the men had been sharing all morning changed to giddy amazement. Jeff’s breathing quickened and he let out a whistle. “No wonder they spent so much money on this little project to get in here. There must be millions of dollars’ worth of artifacts down here, and look at the gold!” he said as he picked up a small gold statue and grunted with the effort of lifting it. He felt strong palpitations surge through his chest, not from the weight of the statue, but from the sheer amount of gold that surrounded them.

  “You know what? I bet they don’t even know what’s all down here. I could fill my pockets with a few of these small trinkets before anyone gets here and pad my check a little more,” said Jim, jumping around the room and then stopped as he picked up a solid gold necklace. “Ye-Haw!” he said, and finished by adding, “we’re rich boys!” slapping his hand on his thigh. Jeff responded as he set the heavy statue back on the floor and motioned for everyone to leave the chamber.

  “You just put that back now Jim, we don’t need any trouble and that guy we’re working for gives me the willies. No telling what he’s liable to do if he finds out any of you stole anything. Let’s just get out of here, get paid and go home,” he finished as he held Jim’s gaze. He was starting to grasp the scope of the situation and he felt a lump fill his throat at the sight of the room full of treasure. He hoped there wouldn’t be any trouble and he quickly wiped the sweat from his palms onto the front of his shirt. This kind of loot can make a person go a bit crazy. He thought as he continued to stare Jim down.

  “Stealing? Shit boss, it’s not like any of this stuff is his, he’s just the lucky bastard that knew it was here is all,” Jim pleaded.

  “I don’t care put it back, let’s go now!” Jeff answered with a firm tone and everyone sheepishly exited the dusty cavern and walked back into the small tunnel. Jeff felt the tension in his muscles relax as soon as everyone left the room. He was relieved that the excitement they all felt had not impaired their judgment, at least not yet. They maneuvered around the machine and regrouped on the other side. As soon as they stopped shuffling they could hear footsteps echoing down the tunnel towards them. They all turned towards the sound and squinted, making out a very tall figure in the dim light.

  “It’s him,” Jeff whispered as they watched the figure quickly approach. He was slightly hunched over due to the cramped space but the men watching him were all standing up straight.

  “Damn, he’s tall!” Jim said. His spine began to tingle as he stared at the man.

  “Quiet,” Jeff whispered as they watched him approach. An eerie feeling came over the group as the figure neared them. He was thin but appeared athletic and moved with incredible speed. He was wearing a dark suit that made him look out of place and was carrying a small black case in one hand. He smiled as he stopped directly in front of them. The tall figure took off his dark sunglasses, revealing icy blue eyes under a full head of short blond hair. He had a narrow jaw that stopped abruptly next to his strong chin, which rested directly below a pair of thin, pursed lips. He began to speak in a cool, calm tone.

  “G
ood work gentleman,” he said and then walked past them into the large chamber. The men followed behind with Jeff in the lead. The foreman turned and stopped them at the entrance and they watched the figure walk directly to a table in the middle of the room. He moved with confidence as though he knew exactly where he was going and what he was there for. He stopped in front of the small table and bent over as he retrieved something from its dusty surface. Jeff couldn’t tell what it was since the figure’s back was to them, blocking his view. The man in the suit quickly set the small case down next to him. He opened it with one hand as he blew the dust from whatever he held in the other. He held the object over his head and Jeff could now see what it was; a small pyramid that just fit in the palm of his hand. It brilliantly reflected the small amount of light in the room and seemed to glow in the ambient dimness. Jeff was awestruck by its beauty and felt a brief moment of sadness when the figure quickly wiped the pyramid with his suit jacket and placed it inside the case. He felt a strong desire to keep looking at it, like an aching hunger in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to hold it and feel the cool stone in his hands. He yearned to run his fingers along its smooth edges. Jeff watched the figure snap the case shut and turn to face him. He walked past the group huddled at the entrance and back out into the shaft in a fraction of a second. Jeff was taken aback by the fluid motion and speed of the man. It took him a moment to come to his senses before he spoke to the crew.