BooksBarbecue
Back The Desert of Glass Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. BY MICHAEL C. GRUMLEY
  2. Prologue
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. 63
  66. 64
  67. 65
  68. 66
  69. 67
  70. 68
  71. 69
  72. 70
  73. 71
  74. 72
  75. 73
  76. 74
  77. 75
  78. 76
  79. 77
  80. 78
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. II
  83. III
  84. IV

All from rebuilding.  Villages, to cities, to portions of countries.  Government money was plentiful to those prepared to receive it.

Of course, that was before he’d seen the larger picture.  Before he’d finished the ancient book’s translation—the book stolen from its previous owner by Saad as a young man.

Momentarily distracted, Saad tried to think back.

What had it taken?  A decade to learn Sumerian and decipher its pages?  And another to actually understand it?

And when he finally did, everything changed.

After the revelation, Saad simply could not attain enough children.  He was insatiable.  Adults were fruitless, already too broken to provide accurate pictures of what the energy had shown them—just as the ancient book had indicated.

Thousands of years had shown that children were the only viable option.  Children were young, intelligent and still largely untainted, which made Saad’s idea of orphanages the perfect solution in harvesting children no one would miss.

Visions from the desert energy had proved stunningly prophetic and decipherable, allowing Saad to amass an extraordinary fortune from his prescient and opportunistic timing that no one could ever understand, not even his greatest adversaries.

But those visions were merely the tip of the iceberg.  Saad’s true wealth was hidden much deeper within the book, buried millennia before in the tomb of King Akhenaten—the last of the book’s living scribes.  King Akhenaten had added the last pages before his untimely death.

Before he could use it.

A king who, along with several others living before him, had ultimately shaped and accelerated every aspect of Egypt’s youth.  Agriculture, medicine, and of course, language.  Creating one of the most advanced and longstanding cultures the world would ever see.

Now, Mido Saad was about to follow in Akhenaten’s footsteps.  In all of their footsteps—those who had used the book to live, again and again, using the mysterious and everlasting energy of the glass desert.

All he needed now was the child who could survive the binding.

66

66

The hotel room door burst open, startling Angela Reed and Leonard Townsend, who both whirled around to see Joe and Mona enter with a young girl between them.

“We’re leaving,” growled Rickards.

“What?”

He moved directly to the closet and pulled the door open, retrieving pieces of clothing.  “I said we’re leaving.  Now.  You have five minutes to get your things together.”

A startled Angela turned to Mona for an explanation but got none.  Mona carried a dreary expression as she knelt in front of the girl and spoke to her in Arabic.

“What happened?!” Angela asked.

Rickards motioned in Mona’s direction.  “Everything she said is true about Saad.  They were waiting for us downstairs.”

“So, you never made it to the police?”

“We’re lucky we made it back up here.  And it won’t be long before they’re back—especially for her,” he said, looking at the girl.