The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex by Gerald J . Kubicki, Kristopher Kubicki Page A

I need to do now,” Banyon said. “But there is one small problem.”
    “What is that?”
    “You lied,” Banyon replied furiously. “How can I trust you,” he said and flapped his arms. “You said that you learned the trick to heal Mandy from an indigenous person. But you actually learned it from Father Crespi, didn’t you? How do I know you aren’t helping the Germans?”
    “I didn’t lie,” the monk responded calmly. “It was one of your people that said Father Crespi. I actually learned about the weapons from the former head of the society. He was another monk who had been raised in the jungles. He had taken over from a monk who had originally come from Europe many years before.”
    “So Father Crespi was never head of the society?”
    “I was already head of the society and mission when Father Crespi came here in 1956. He knew nothing about the weapons. I never trusted him, but he did good work for the people of Ecuador and collected many artifacts.”
    Banyon knew Wolf would be checking on everything the monk said so he moved on. “How sympathetic was Father Crespi to the Germans’ cause?”
    “On occasion, he supplied them with artifacts to raise money and sometimes went to their meetings. But Father Crespi’s focus was collecting artifacts and treasure. He comingled his findings with a collection which he brought over from Europe. He was kind of a showboat. He liked the attention he got from the media and other archeologists. He had a large ego for a Salesian monk.”
    Banyon was now satisfied the monk was telling the truth. At least until Wolf told him otherwise.
    “So do you have a plan to stop the Germans?”
    “I leave that to you, but I can help,” the monk replied.
    “It may take me a few days to come up with something,” Banyon replied.
    “You and your friends can stay here. I’m afraid the accommodations will be Spartan, but they are clean and safe. We can only offer you a room with bunk beds, is that acceptable?”
    “Thank you for the offer,” Banyon said.
    “Well let’s head back to the others then,” Father Hector said happily.
    “I need to make a bathroom break first,” Banyon replied.

 
     
    Chapter Seventeen
     
    Once he had locked the door to the bathroom, Banyon addressed Wolf with a question.
    “Why didn’t you tell me about Father Bartholomew? You must have known he worked for the church.”
    “Like Father Hector, I wanted you here,” Wolf explained. Banyon knew Wolf was sometimes very selfish and had unusual motives.
    “So, both you and Father Hector are manipulating me. Is that right?”
    “Yes,” the spirit replied in a sad tone. Banyon knew the spirit had done it before.
    “Is Father Hector telling the truth?” he asked.
    “It will take me ten to twelve earth days to answer that correctly,” the spirit replied. “But from what I can tell, he is a saintly person who doesn’t lie.”
    “What about his paranoia about the Germans? Is it real?”
    “From what I can gather, Carl Walther’s people now plan on following you into the jungle. Colt, these men are very evil. They have killed several people in just the last few days.”
    “Why?”
    “They are taking the houses of several local people who are next to the compound so the new men arriving have a place to stay. Since they control the police and military, the deaths are recorded as accidents or drug related.”
    “Who are these new people?”
    “They are all ex-patriates from many countries. They all have criminal records and needed to leave their old countries. They are all white supremacists.”
    “We are definitely eliminating these guys,” Banyon snorted. “Did they also kill Carol and Kenny’s father?”
    “He was about to file a report about them. They beheaded him and made it look like a cartel hit.”
    “Damn it,” Banyon shouted out. After a few seconds of uncontrollable rage, Banyon asked, “do you have ideas on how to proceed?”
    “Well, Maya did tell the one assassin that