As Lakesh spoke, Kane’s expression grew remote, then his face was twisted into something dark and implacable. Tendons and veins stood out on his neck. His eyes blazed, and the atmosphere in the office grew electric with tension. His right hand tensed reflexively, the finger crooking to receive the trigger of a Sin Eater that was no longer there.
Brigid came to her feet, holding out a restraining hand toward him. “Kane, listen and wait.”
He flung her hand away, not averting his icy gray blue gaze from the old man.
She cried out, “Don’t waste that strength now! We’ll need that energy, that anger yetwhen we have to fight for our lives. Give him a chance and hear him out at least.”
He slowly turned his eyes to hers, glaring at her, lips drawn back from clenched teeth. His left arm came up, fist knotted. Brigid stared back, no fear in her eyes or stance.
Then the furious fires in his eyes faded. He dropped his fist. Gutturally he said, “I’ve been threatened one too many times today.”
“He wasn’t threatening you.” She gently touched his face as though to test that he wouldn’t explode. “Unless it’s the truth that threatens you.”
“Truth,” he repeated, his voice hollow. “Everybody I’ve run into lately claims to have a monopoly on it, yet it’s always different Nobody can back up anything with proof. Archons, the Trust, the Totality Concept. Truth, my ass. It’s nothing but a bunch of fiction or self-serving lies that I’m supposed to buy into.”
Lakesh, unperturbed by his near brush with violent death, remarked, “A predark Russian novelist, Solzhenitsyn by name, wrote, The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.’ Are you brave enough to take that step?”
“I want proof.”
“I’ll talk first and you will listen. Then you shall have your proof.”
I’LL TRY TO DRAW A MAP of events from the beginning,” Lakesh said, “or at least the beginning as I understand it.
“Human history is intertwined with the activities of the entities we call Archons. They were called many things over many centuriesangels, demons, visitors, E.T.’s, saucer people, grays. Whatever they actually are, whatever they are called and even where they come from is unimportant at this juncture. Enough to know that they have been around long enoughon and offon the planet that they consider themselves Terrans proper.
“Beginning at the dawn of human history, the Archons influenced human affairs. The concept of humanity as a slave race, owned by some mysterious power, was expressed thousands of years ago in many of the earliest recorded texts.
“The sinister thread linking all of humankind’s darkest hours leads back to a nonhuman presence that has conspired to control us through political chaos, staged wars, famines, plagues and ‘natural’ disasters. It is a conspiracy that continues to this day, aided and abetted by willing human allies.
“The Archons have a standard operating procedure, which they have employed since time immemorialthey establish a privileged ruling class dependent upon them, which in turn controls the masses. The Archons’ manipulation of governments and many religions was all-pervasive.
“I’m sure most of you have heard of World War II and its horrific excesses. What you haven’t heard about are the secret societies that flourished in Germany prior to the rise of the Nazi Party. From information that I received, these societies, such as the Thule and the Vril, were in contact with the Archons, whom they referred to as their ‘secret chiefs.’ With the help of their chiefs, the Nazis enjoyed great technical advances, including the prototype of the aircraft known in predark times as a flying saucer. You may not be aware that the Nazis came very, very close to conquering the world, spreading the Archons’ fascist views and racist ideas into the international population.
“Despite their superior technology and intellects, the Archons are not invincible or omniscient, as Hitler found out. World War II was not just the defeat of the Third Reich, but a defeat of the Archons, as well. Unfortunately they took measures to make sure they would never be beaten again. If the Archon Directorate had a written constitution, that would be its first article.