Mad Gods - Predatory Ethics: Book I Read Online Free PDF Page B

Eminence?”
    “Yes,” he answered pleasantly. “There are some in
every agency.”
    “Weren’t Templars a medieval order of knights,
monks?” The new Truth asked.
    “Originally,” Malone replied.
    “Once a Brother always a Brother,” George stated
ominously.
    “Oh, come off it, George,” Malone answered,
irritated. “I have been honest about why I left the service. Nothing’s
changed.”
    “Why should I believe you?” George asked.
    “I can’t tell you. Which agency I left no longer
matters to me. If it does to you, I can’t help that.”
    George looked suspiciously at Malone, who ignored him
and proceeded to answer Kosta’s question. “Yes, again. I’ll not go into the
varied histories of the Templars. You could read up on them and form your own
conclusions.” He nodded to the smoldering George, “Everybody has their own
perspective about my past affiliations.” He continued, “The twelve years I was
with them, they pushed their own agenda through MI-5, CIA, KGB.”
    “It’s possible that you have your own agenda,” George
offered.
    “I do. I’m helping you.” Malone’s response elicited a
disbelieving smirk. “If I had any other, you could easily both be dead.” This
blunt fact did much to assuage George’s suspicion.
    “If I still followed the Templar agenda, to destroy
the Truth, I could remove the last two this very moment.” After a long sigh, he
added, “I’m sorry that Kosta perceived that which you did not. I never told
you, because it doesn’t matter. My past is simply that - the past. It has no
place in the present, except to help you.” He glanced at Kosta.
    “How does the Vatican even know about us?” Kosta
asked. “How does anybody know about the Truth?”
    “Initially, the Templars were knights who protected
visitors to the Holy Land. They remained long enough to absorb pagan and early
Christian beliefs. These were the same beliefs that Catholics eradicated, only
allowing their interpretation of God to survive.” He looked at Kosta to be
certain that he understood. “These early beliefs evolved into different
beliefs, which we only now understand weren’t heretic, merely different
interpretations. They included Gnostics, Coptics, Cathars, Orthodox and many
others which have since been forgotten.”
    “In one way or another, the Catholics saw to it that
they were destroyed,” George added.
    “Because they were in constant contact, the Templars
were very familiar with the Orthodox Church and Byzantine culture. After they
were officially dismantled by Pope Clement in 1307, they became part of the
Grey Eminence. They shared all that they knew with their new masters.”
    “Why are we enemies?” Kosta asked. “What can we do to
them? We’ve lost everything.”
    “You’re the only remnant of a power to which they
still feel inferior,” Malone answered.
    “To which they are still inferior,” George
emphasized.
    “It’s all or nothing.” Kosta understood. “There can
be no dissent. It’s worse with the Truth, because they envied the Emperor’s
unquestioned, divine authority.”
    “If you asked them now, they would say that you are a
proponent of an ancient heresy, which should’ve been suppressed long ago,”
Malone said.
    The memory ended as Kosta brought his motorcycle
around the bend of KatoHora ,
lower-town of Mystra. His eyes searched for any of the Templars he had left in Sparti ,
six kilometers away. It was late afternoon, the milling tourists were leaving
through KatoHora to enter waiting buses. He saw no sign of his pursuers, proceeding through Kastro Gate .
One side of the gate was cut out of the cliff, and the arched cover was two
meters wide by six meters high. The slope of the hill was eased by stone steps,
built up with rocks and worn smooth from centuries of use. The arch connected
to a sizeable, squarely built, crumbled-topped, solid tower.
    Kosta, still wary, continued to the second shorter
arch of the gate. He also searched for signs