The Boaz Connection
By Kramer
Prologue
Kristina Boaz had been part of the evil sect Cabal. An organisation led by Pieter van Eckhardt, a madman and alchemist who believed he could revive the 'Nephilim race.' Together with the scientists Grand Muller and Kristina Boaz he had tried to do this but he got stopped by two people.
Adventurer Lara Croft had killed Pieter van Eckhardt and destroyed the 'sleeper' the first specimen of Nephilim. During her search for Eckhardt she had met Kurtis Trent, the last living member of the Lux Veritatis. They decided to work together to defeat the Cabal. While Lara took care of Eckhardt, Kurtis got in a fight with Kristina Boaz. She already had been made victim of her own work and deformed horrifically. It was her own leader Eckhardt who believed she was not loyal.
Kurtis killed her but got wounded badly and sprayed with a pesticide like liquid.
With the last strength she had in her weakened body she had raised up once again and managed to stab her skewer into Kurtis' back. She saw how he collapsed to the ground.
The same moment she heard a rustling sound and in the last seconds of her life she saw how a blade flew into her. A sharp pain in her neck and then the world went black and quiet. Like someone switched the television off in the middle of a program.
Kristina had no family or friends. In fact, everyone who would hear about her death would probably release a sigh of relief, the monster is dead. Because even before she turned into a hideous deformed creature, the word 'monster' did suit her perfectly.
Kurtis meanwhile grunted as he slowly lost his consciousness. He felt the terrible pain of his chest wound and his skin felt itchy because of the green grossness she had sprayed on him.
I
Moscow, Two Years Later
A thick blanket of snow covered the streets of the Russian capital as a black Mercedes made its way through the darkness. The snow was shining bright in the front lights of the car; the streets were not very crowded, not with this weather, not at this time of the day.
It was half past ten in the evening and people stayed in their houses to keep away from the freezing temperature. Some cafes showed some activities and homeless people gathered around iron barrels which they had set on fire.
The car continued its way until it reached a big building. Most of the windows looked dark but in the lobby and at the top floor there were some lights on.
The door swung open and a man in a long black coat got out. He took the low steps leading to the main entrance. A bouncer asked for his papers but when he saw his face he immediately opened the door.
The man took his ushanka from his head and shook some snowflakes out of his long brown hair. Another man walked to him and offered to take his hat and coat. "Welcome to our hotel, the conference room is on the top floor. The elevator is over there."
When he arrived at the top floor he saw how one of the doors was opened and everyone was already inside, waiting for him.
He rubbed his neck with a painful looking face and entered the conference room. All the people stood up and nodded politely.
One man who was sitting at the front row came to him and shook his hand. "Glad you are here. And don't worry. You're only five minutes late."
The man nodded and made his way to the desk at the front of the room. He checked the overhead projector and then cleared his throat to make sure everyone had his attention.
It became quiet in the room. His azure eyes stared into the group of people for a second before he began to talk.
"For those who perhaps haven't heard of me, my name is Kurtis Trent. I considered myself the last living member of the Lux Veritatis. Recent research proved that this was a mistake. There are more people in this world whose forefathers were part of this secret organisation. And I'm proud to take a leading role in the project to get them together and work together to make this world a little less evil."
He switched on the overhead projector and the screen showed a map of Europe. Kurtis pointed at the right corner of the sheet. "In the year 1119 the order of the Knights Templar was established in Jerusalem. They were in direct command of the Pope, their main target was to protect the pilgrims of the Holy Land. In 1291 they moved to Cyprus and the cult began to fall apart. One group of people who decided to leave the order formed an offshoot called the Lux Veritatis, Light of Truth. The Lux was an independent organisation and their main target did not focus on the Christian believe itself but on suppressing activities of alchemy and sorcery."
He remained silent for a few seconds and looked around before he continued. "Since the twelve hundreds the Lux Veritatis was in a constant battle with the Cabal. The Cabal is a dangerous, evil group formed around the person of Pieter van Eckhardt. This black alchemist created five so-called Obscura Paintings, which were…. Yes, what's it?"
One man in the front row had raised his arm. "Mr. Trent, we do appreciate you want to provide us with all this background information. But I think it's better if you inform us about our plans for the present day."
Kurtis was a little surprised by this, but could understand what the man said. "Yes, I got you. Well, as most of you know, Eckhardt managed to get these paintings together in 2003. He tried using them to revive The Sleeper but thanks to me he failed. However, the world will never be completely free of evil, and therefore I decided to investigate the possibilities of making the Lux Veritatis a big and more influential organisation again."
He placed another picture at the projector. The screen showed again a map of Europe but this time the cities of Moscow and Paris were coloured red and were joined together with a red line.
Kurtis cleared his throat. "I started my search in Russia because my father was born here. I managed to find a small group of people whose parents or grandparents were part of the Lux."
He smiled. "That group of people I'm talking to at this moment." The men in the room smiled too and nodded politely to each other.
"Our mission is to create cells across whole Europe and establish a network of informants. At this moment we have two, one in Paris and one here, in Moscow. Plus, across the world we have some free agents."