The Assassin Lotus by David Angsten

Author:David Angsten [Angsten, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: NowHereBeBooks
Published: 2014-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

I gauged its weight in my hand. Though it was larger and more crudely made, the basic design looked strikingly similar to the object I’d discovered in Maya’s suitcase. I felt certain the two items were related.

Excited, I woke up Karkakov. Snorting and grunting, he came back to life, in the process waking Faraj. The two of them sat up, saucer-eyed.

I held out the artifact to Karakov. “Tell me what this is.”

50.

Vajra

“A VAJRA,” HE SAID. “That’s the second recovered at this site. The first was what brought me here and got this whole thing started.” He straightened his sutured leg and winced. “Could somebody please make some coffee?” He gestured toward a tin on the table, and Faraj set to work.

I helped the archaeologist up onto the stool. “I thought you said it was Phoebe convinced you to excavate this site.”

“Phoebe had heard about the Vajra that was found here, uncovered after a flooding of the Murgab. I was digging in the foothills of the Kopet Dag at the time. She persuaded me that excavating here might be better rewarded.”

“Why? What’s a Vajra?”

“‘Vajra’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘diamond thunderbolt.’ The thunderbolt was the weapon of Indra, the great lord of heaven and the god of storms and war. For the ancient Aryans, the Vajra symbolized his power and strength—like the lightning hammer of the Norse god, Thor, or the thunderbolt of Zeus.”

Faraj struck a match. We watched him light the canned fuel cooker under the coffee pot.

I picked up the decayed, verdigris thunderbolt. “What’s it have to do with the soma lotus seeds?”

“It was the clue to finding them,” he said. “The Vajra belongs to Indra, and Indra is described in the Rig Veda hymns as the foremost imbiber of soma. The divine drink invigorates and strengthens him. It allows him to rise above his fear and perform heroic action.”

I thought back to something he’d said earlier. “That’s what you meant, isn’t it—about rumors and the Taliban? They think this legend is true—that soma will instill them with courage.”

“The Taliban control the drug trade. They’ll capitalize on whatever they can sell to fund their war, and kill whoever gets in their way. It’s the Iranian obsession that I don’t understand.”

“But you said yourself: a tribe of the Aryans split off into Iran. It’s a part of their Persian heritage.”

“Believe me, the Ayatollahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran do not care a fig about their heretic ancestors.”

“It’s true,” Faraj said. “The clerics discourage it. The Aryans have nothing to do with Islam. The religion of Mohammed comes out of Arabia—more than two thousand years later.”

I looked to Karakov. “But didn’t you say that archaeology professor worked for the Iranians?”

“Professor Baghestani is one of the few archaeologists the Islamic government in Tehran has ever hired—and that was for research into the history of Islam. Even that, they never allowed him to publish!”

“I want to talk to this professor,” I said. “But tell me something. An Indian woman I met in Rome was killed while trying to track down the lotus.

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