Fall of Knight by Peter David Read Free Book Online Page A

remote island that was the hiding place of the Holy Grail. In fact, the island actually turned out to be the Grail. The Grail has four forms—the cup, the sword, the belt, and the land. And the land was being ruled over by Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian hero. He and Arthur had a throw down and, long story short, Arthur won, acquired the Holy Grail, which transformed back into a cup, helped Gwen drink from it, and she completely recovered. And that’s what happened.”
    Stockwell didn’t move from the chair. Ron waited a while for his boss to make some sort of response, or ask a question, or something. Instead, Stockwell merely stared at him. “I know,” Ron said tentatively, “that none of that sounds like it makes any sense…”
    “Actually,” said Stockwell, “considering that all the explanations I came up with made little to no sense…that one actually comes closest to holding together. The Holy Grail…”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Ronald…I don’t know if you remember, but a year or so ago, I looked you in the eyes and I asked you about the whole business with Arthur Penn identifying himself with the Arthur of legend.”
    “I remember it well, sir.”
    Stockwell shifted in the chair. “I looked you in the eyes, and asked you if it was all part of some massive campaign stunt…grandstanding in order to entertain potential voters…and I asked you if he was King Arthur…”
    “No, sir.”
    “Ronald…”
    “No, sir, you did not ask me that,” Ron said firmly, slapping his palm on the desk. “You asked me if he was suffering from some sort of psychosis. You asked me if he really, truly thought that he was King Arthur. And I said to you, ‘I’ve known Arthur for a long time, and I can assure you: He is not suffering from a delusion about being King Arthur.’”
    “And you left out the part about his actually being King Arthur.”
    “You wouldn’t have believed it.”
    “I don’t believe it now !” Stockwell stood up, and Ron automatically began to do likewise. Noticing it, Stockwell gestured in irritation for Ron to take his seat again, which he promptly did. Stockwell shoved his hands into his suit jacket pockets and walked back and forth, shaking his head as he did so. “I mean…it’s just impossible, what you’re saying.”
    “Well, sir, obviously it’s not impossible, because it’s the case. Either that, or you’re going to have to factor in that the top medical experts in the world told you of a certainty that Gwendolyne Penn would never recover from her wounds. Ever. Faced with that impossibility, I think you’ll have to agree that we’d better begin downgrading from impossible to highly improbable.”
    “You’re asking me to believe that Arthur Penn is a five-hundred-year-old king?”
    “No, sir. First of all, from my understanding, it’s closer to a thousand years, and second, I’m not asking you to believe anything. I’m just telling you what I know to be fact. What I’ve seen with my own eyes. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”
    “I suppose that’s true enough.” He considered a moment. “This is why Arthur declined any and all continued protection by the Secret Service, isn’t it. He didn’t want anyone else seeing that Gwen was alive.”
    “I tried to convince him that he was being overcautious.”
    “It took a damned act of Congress to have his guards removed, Ron. I remember him addressing all those congressmen. ‘Where I will go will be far from the eyes of man. I ask you, as a token of respect, to honor my wishes for privacy.’ I thought he was going to commit suicide or something.”
    “He wasn’t being insincere. In some respects, Arthur Penn is the most solitary individual I’ve ever known.”
    Placing his hands on the chair back, Stockwell looked as if he was physically bracing himself. “Tell me what you’ve seen. All of it.”
    Ron proceeded to do so, describing the entire sojourn to Pus Island, renamed Grail Island for obvious