The Camelot Code by Sam Christer Read Free Book Online Page B

vehicle,’ adds Suzie, keen to prove she’s worth her free drinks. ‘One of those high-breeds.’
    ‘You mean hybrids,’ says Irish. He turns back to Sarah. ‘You see the make, or recognize the type?’
    She shakes her head. ‘I’m not good with cars. Not like I am with men. It was a big, boxy thing.’
    ‘Probably an SUV,’ suggests Suzie authoritatively. ‘Sports Utility Vehicle.’
    ‘Thanks,’ says Irish. ‘I know what SUV means.’
    ‘I watched it go,’ adds Sarah. ‘A few seconds later a car started and drove after it. Took me clean by surprise because it hadn’t any lights on. It was silver. Like a limousine but not as big.’
    Irish downs his whisky shot. ‘Like a pimp’s car?’
    Sarah pulls a sour face. ‘No. Classier. It had one of those glass roofs. I could see street lights reflecting on it when it drove off.’
    ‘Two or four doors?’
    She has to think. ‘Four.’ Something occurs to her. ‘Oh, and I might be wrong on this, but the licence plate was weird.’
    ‘How so? You mean out-of-state plates?’
    She looks embarrassed. ‘It sounds stupid now. Forget I spoke. I’m really not sure I’m right and don’t want to say the wrong thing.’
    ‘Say it,’ urges Irish.
    ‘I don’t think it was a DC plate. I’m not even sure it was American.’
    He waves the barman over and makes a final note. An out-of-state plate spells only one thing.
    Trouble.
    The kind that can be near-on impossible to investigate.

22
     
GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND
     
    A swarm of helicopters cover the sprawling green grounds. Chauffeured cars crunch the long gravelled drive. Armed guards shadow eleven men and women into the stately home and usher them through cool, marbled corridors to a door marked Wine Cellar.
    Two former SAS men flank the big black slab of oak. They check credentials before allowing anyone to descend the stairs. Once below ground the visitors use fingerprint- and retina-identification systems to enter a huge windowless and bombproof room.
    At the centre of the secure space is an ancient, circular table. It is marked with heraldic crests and Christian symbols. The circle itself is more than just a design that ensures no one has prominence – it is a Eucharistic symbol: a representation of the holy host.
    The delegates of the Secret and Sacred Order of Arthurians take their places.
    They are all highly successful executives, CEOs and owners of philanthropic businesses that also fund the SSOA. The organization is dedicated to peace, freedom and an endless fight against terrorism and evil.
    Like Britain, the country where it is headquartered, the SSOA is governed by two distinct authorities, one chosen and one hereditary. Today’s meeting is of the Inner Circle – an operational body made up of chosen delegates. They have been picked, not only because of their immense wealth and power, but also because they are so passionate about the central aims of the SSOA that they are willing to die – or kill – for them.
    While the Inner Circle formulates and implements policy, it can’t do so without reference to a much larger and even older authority.
    The Blood Line.
    The BL is comprised of members who are direct descendants of the Knights of the Round Table.
    Beneath these two bodies, is a hidden army of modern-day knights. A secret force, spread internationally. Recruited almost exclusively from national military and intelligence bodies. Its uniform is the anonymity of every day clothes and its camouflage that of suburbia and average life.
    Today’s agenda, like the briefing paper, is written in Arthurian Code. The rotational cipher was created centuries ago on two wooden wheels marked with letters and numbers. The outer contained numbers and the inner letters. The base code would always be A and 1. But every day someone would spin the wheels and then record the random number that matched A. So if A aligned with 6, then the day’s code would be known as Plus Six. Modern Arthurians have special