Chapter 2

"Are you trusting this?" Sully asked, suspicious of everyone around them.

"You showed me the ropes. If your gut says something, we need to turn back now."

"We don't have anywhere at the moment. All we need is to get back. We should be able to accurately scan the book now in the rooms. Otherwise, just keep your hands close to your possessions. Don't trust anyone. Remember faces, of whose around you at all times. And watch. For. Guns. We're cornered here for a bit."

Nathan nodded, and they slowly made their way towards their quarters, not much of anyone around. All seemed quiet, the two settling in. Nathan laid down on his twin, the mattress soft and worn. Even with the bars digging in his back, he didn't mind. "Lay down kid, it's been a day for you. I have watch for a bit. Just relax."

Nathan didn't need to be told twice. The gentle rocking put him to sleep, his arms behind his head, left leg propped against the wall. He didn't even want to take his boots off. He slipped off, falling to the past of the orphanage.

He was looking out the window, wondering what mischief his brother was into. What adventures, experiences, life lessons he was learning. Nate sighed and slipped back onto his bed. He was so jealous. He didn't want to be stuck here, but he was too young to be on his own. He tried thinking of a few more years but he didn't know if he could wait. I'm just ten. I think I could make it... There are a lot of orphans out there, but it's going to be so much harder than trapped in here. All I need is patience and just a few more years. Tops at fifteen, I can get out like Sam. Nathan turned to his shelves, grabbing one in Latin. It was a favorite, but he still had a little difficulty translating. At least the nuns appreciated his excitement for history and enjoyed helping his curiosity with the Latin. He let the language lull him to sleep, the letters and practices floating around his brain.

Nathan began to wake, a few phrases stuck in his mind. He began mumbling them, trying to sit up,

"Sit down Nate, lay back down. What are you rambling?"

"Luna modo sol interitus, nisi te... Luna...luna… Solis, solis... Nisi te, nisi te…"

He opened the journal, Sully calling our warningly. "Nathan... What are you doing?

"Nox...quarentes malum in...perniciem in laudem, et, vincere, vincere vincere non fidelibus..."

"Nathan you're scaring me. Don't make me smack you on the head..."

"Latin... It's all here..." Nathan tried flipping the pages but a rock of the boat knocked him down. He tried pulling himself back to the table, but Sully was pulling him back to the bed. "No, nullam, no, abeam..."

"Jesus Nathan, you gotta start speaking English. I don't understand what you're saying. Why Latin all of a sudden?"

"The god damn nuns..." Sully laid him back on his bed, Nathan trying to remember what he said. "The, the moon is the way, and, the sun...is...destruction. Save, save yourself," he breathed out. "Theres...umm, an evil man of the night, maybe, Hitler, seeking praise through destruction. Umm, vanquishing, to, to vanquish the non believers. Just, just let me go. No, no, no, no no no..."

Another rock of the boat rolled Nathan over, a calm breathing overcoming the young man.

"What the hell was that boyo? I've never heard you speak Latin like that. You've let on, but never like that. Nobody better have overheard that." Sully walked over to the door, cracking it open and sneaking out. Taking the cigar out of his breast pocket and the zippo out of his pants, he meandered closest to the deck, still able to keep an eye on the room. He lit up, a few others out on the deck, the conversations drifting like the wind and waves. He puffed away, hoping he could get some sleep after this. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ignore what just happened. I wonder if he'll even remember. That was creepy as hell. I know it's a dead language, but, I wasn't expecting it to give me the shakes that it did.

The waves rolled, the boat cruised, something caught the edge of his eye. He looked over, not sure if it was by his room. Sighing, he flicked the half gone cigar over the edge. "All good things must come to an end...and the rest of that is not good."

He snuck to the room, letting out his breath before crouching around the corner and opening the door. He saw legs and tackled, getting kicked in the chest, hard. He gripped in pressure points as he pulled himself up the body, the person immobilized and gasping. "Okay you little brat, give me what you took and I'll try not to disfigure you for the rest of your life."

The person—male, he realized—released the journal, Sully holding his neck as he gave him a pat down on the backside, flipping him over and using a pressure point on his bicep, searched the front, finding one of the kiddie treasures Nathan had found back at the compound.

"All right, mister, I could kill you right here. It'd be quiet and easy. What are you looking for?"

"Money...just money items."

The man couldn't be much younger than Nate. "If I ever catch you snooping around these quarters again, I will kill you. And any of your buddies that are hiding around here. Got it?"

The man nodded, Sully squeezing painfully before letting go, the man scrambling up and away, Sully trying to see how far he was going. The man made it to the end, banked left. Sully went back into the room, Nathan still passed out. He locked the door, propped a chair underneath the handle, and set an alarm on his phone. The boat wasn't going to be at the port any time soon, but he could try to get some sleep. Nathan may wake up soon too.

/\/\/\~~~

Nate groaned as a light hit his face, hands grabbing his arms and pulling him up. He looked at the men, but it was useless. The sun was too bright and he was still pretty exhausted, but at least he felt like his brain was a little clearer. He might actually stand a chance of getting away. But, he wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes. That could cause a problem. He was dragged through a door, his eyes taking a second to adjust to the sudden dimming of light.

He looked up, but a fist across his face as the arms released brought him back to the floor. "Good afternoon Mr. Drake. It's such a pleasure for you to join us."

"Trust me, the pleasure is radiating through right now. I'm glowing."

He opened his eyes, seeing a dark suit, standing back up to see the face. Dark brunette hair, long face. Nose was a bit crooked from being smashed previously. Blue eyes. Captivating blue eyes. Nathan felt goose bumps crawling down his spine. The man smiled. "We've met in crossing."

"I'd remember your eyes though. Who are you?"

"Let me introduce my friend," another voice piped up, walking forward. Nathan stood straighter, crossing his arms against his bare chest. "What the hell happened to your hair?"

Harry Flynn looked at Nathan, smiling. "Decided to sharpen up for the summer. You like?"

Drake scrunched his nose. "Hopefully the blonde didn't sink through and bleach your brain as well."

"Well Sally, this here is going to be your new boss. I introduce to you, Mr. Axel Keller. Mr. Keller has been following your work for a few years now, from all over all ready, and he'd like to help you out."

"There's nothing I need help with. I can figure everything out on my own, thank you. I've been around a bit, it's not like I'm brand new."

Mr. Keller stepped forward, enclosing their space. "Be a shame if..." Suddenly Nathan gasped, unable to stop his response to the pain other than grabbing Keller's arm. "Something were to happen to permanently debilitate your skills. Now, Mr. Drake, how would you like me to remove my fingers from your side wound?"

"I've...had worse..."

"Oh really?" He heard the grin in the deep voice, and felt a pinch along what could have been a nerve or muscle. Nathan couldn't breathe. His eyes watered, his grip began to waver on the man's arm. "The nerve that I have right now, your intercostal, will leave you permanently in pain, and by the time I'm through with you, you're most likely going to bleed out anyway." He slowly removed his fingers, raising the two in front of Nathan's face. "It's that easy. All I have to do it pull and you will feel it all around your chest and spine, spreading from there. You think you can't breathe now? Wait until that nerve has been severed."

Nathan began controlling his breath, sweat suddenly covering his body. The blood was flowing freely down his side, but he kept his teeth grit. "I wish you dug out the bullet while you were in there. Would've made the show more worthwhile."

A gun fired three rapid shots, the barrel shoved onto Nathan's wound. "You want a bullet in your side, boy? By the angle and depth of the cut there was never a bullet in there. You just needed some stitches." Nathan felt his knees go weak, wanted to crumple on the ground, but the gun dug in a little deeper. He bit his tongue, closed his eyes for a moment as the room began to swim. "You are going to work for me, and if you don't accept, then I will personally see to it that you are never able to hunt again. You're nothing more than a god damn thief. What reputable contacts you have now, I will see to it that every fed and agency knows your name. No one will trust you, and you will never be able to be hired anywhere. Is that the future you want?"

Nathan was breathing short and heavy, trying not to move too much. The sting was beginning to fade at least. The gun had cooled and it'd be taken away in a moment. "What do you want from me? What makes you think I even have whatever?"

The gun was pulled away, Nathan trying to stand up straight, but he couldn't stop his muscles from shaking. "If you have what I'm looking for, then that will save us a lot of time. Otherwise, I know you have to skills to succeed in retrieving it. Do you...know the name Anton Drexler?"

"Yeah, he was the guy that got Hitler into that whole Worker's Party."

"Good, yes, he left a journal behind, or diary, and I want to know what's in the book."

"And you think the book is where?"

"Norway or Austria."

Nathan let out a sigh. "Neither. Austria is too simple. There's no leads or family out there from what I have found. Norway, that was a fucking joke."

"What do you mean?" Keller's voice sharpened again.

"Maybe it was Drexler's book. Maybe not. The book was a set of celestial patterns for when Hitler wanted to do all of the attacks on the Allies. There's a bit of Latin, but I don't see how I could have overlooked anything. How can Drexler he be a part of the stash Hitler left behind?"

"Where's the book?"

"I don't have it. Now, how can Drexler be a part of Hitler's stash?"

"We'll talk more about this later. You best get that damn book. And get yourself patched up. I'm tired of you bleeding all over my floor."

"I'm tired of bleeding. So it's fair."

Keller gave a short smile before he shoved the bottom of his boot square in Nathan's chest, Nathan falling backwards, but the cronies caught him. "Cut your attitude, get that book, and we'll be in touch."

Nathan was dragged back outside, different car though, he thought, and was shoved back into the trunk. He groaned as his side flared up, sweat beading along his forehead again. He wouldn't be surprised if the wound was infected now. Guns were disgusting. Especially handguns with simple standard maintenance. He tried relaxing, figuring out how to get a hold of Sully so he could do something about the book. He was sure their phones were tapped. Or, he could just tell the old man what was going on. He needed to get that friends number anyway. It'd still be another few days before Sully would be back from...whatever Navy thing came up that needed his sole experience.

My thoughts are scattering...I must be losing more blood than I expected. What are the chances they're going to drop me off at a hospital?

He tried his best to stay awake, to know that he wasn't going to die right then and there, but Keller seemed experienced. No, no Keller knew what he was doing. He wasn't going to let me die. I wonder what Flynn told him.

Nathan held it together long enough, cringing again when the trunk opened. He was grabbed out of the trunk, tossed on the ground, and the car drove off. Nathan picked himself up and didn't care if anyone was watching. Maybe they'd enjoy the show of his physique and be clueless to the oozing hole in his side. He made it to the elevator, graced with a little luck that no one was on board when he stumbled in. He pressed the fourth floor, trying not to smear blood. He let his mind drift as the elevator slowly moved up, his body exhausted from the lack of nutrition and sudden beating. "Shower...munchies...Sully. I can do this. Just a few more minutes, and the pain hopefully will be gone. I can do this. It's nothing new."

He stumbled to his room, door unlocked, nothing ransacked. He stacked as much items against the door as he could, just in case the goons came back. The shower was quick and painful, but the wounds across his head and side were clean. He ate the rest of the leftovers from the night before as he dialed up Sully, hoping the man would answer. He always interrupts me, why can't I interrupt him?

"Nathan! What do you need?"

"The number for your surgeon lady. Is she around?"

"What? Why do you need Sarah?" That's right, Sarah the surgeon. I may have been knocked around too many times. "Nathan, what's going on?"

Nate laid down on his mattress, the bed frame being used against the door. "Well, I was shot...some time...but there's no bullet. I needed just a few stitches but now I'm thinking I need a bit more than that."

"Why were you shot? Damn it Nate, I can't leave you alone for five minutes..."

"It's been five days. I was trying to get into the museum. They have some World War Two artifacts I wanted to look at. The guards surprised me on the way out. Totally ambushed my escape plan."

"Do you have the artifacts?"

Nathan smiled. "Of course I do. Like I said, I wanted to look at them and it's not going to be while they're in a glass case. But, whatever, I have a side wound, I'd like some stitches and blood, maybe a Vicodin or muscle relaxer or something...a beer...soup..."

Nathan felt his mind beginning to slip. His voice was definitely getting harder to keep steady. "Nathan, I'm two days out. We won't be finished until tomorrow. Sarah's in Puerto Vallarta right now on vacation. Sorry, I called her two days ago asking for her expertise. Keep the wound patched. Get some sleep, and you'll be fine. Don't forget to eat. You tend to do that a lot."

"Okay...do you know of a solid patch though that could cover open muscle about the size of gun tip?"

"What? What the hell happened?"

"Flynn has a new boss. Bossy wants my help. Bossy apparently knows physical anatomy and all, threatened to rip out my intercostal. So he shoved the hot tip of a gun in the hole, and now he wants the book we found back in Norway. And you're at least three days away. I don't think they have that patience."

"All right Kid. Seems like you've got yourself into a doozy right here. I'll try to do what I can. Tell him the book is being used for more Hitler jewel finding stuff. Like his artwork or something. He'll have it back."

"Yeah, sounds good. All right. I'll let you go. I think I can manage to sew the wound up. At least part of it was cauterized."

"Careful. I need you alive and safe. I can't do all this on my own anymore."

"I know. At least this last decade has been pretty nice. Talk to you soon."

Nathan hung up, cringing as he moved his side. It was going to be another long night. He sat back up, pushing the exhaustion from his mind. There was still a bit of evening sun out, so he was thinking that he'd be able to fix the wound a bit more. "I hate sewing myself up. It fucking hurts." He pulled his duffle bag closer and opened a side pocket, pulling out his bandage kit. He grabbed the surgeon's needle and thread, sanitized the area, and went into the bathroom, putting a towel in between his teeth. He pierced himself and tried to make quick work of it. Sweat flowed, hands shook, muscles flexed. He screamed into the towel, blood once again escaping down his side. It was only about five or six minutes of suffering, but he felt like it had been a solid hour. He lightly wiped the blood off, sanitizing the area again. It wasn't pretty, but it would hold. At least he didn't think he'd get an infection now, and definitely wouldn't lose any more blood. As for replenishing the blood loss...

Nathan eyed the fridge, even though nothing more was in there, instead grabbing a glass of water, chugged it, and refilled it, setting it next to his mattress. He laid down, deciding screw it, and fell back asleep. He'd eat in the morning. Maybe at a diner. Ooo, that sounds good...

/\/\/\~~~

Nathan woke up, confused for a moment. The lights were on, Sully was in the bed across from him, door double protected with a chair, their bags, the single petty suitcase holder, and Nathan saw carefully placed was Sully's lighter. Nathan actually stood up, wondering what gave. Sully always kept the zippo on him. It was open, placed between two books. Nathan's books. The bindings were bent, but the hardback was able to lodge the zippo in place as they tried to fold back to normal. He shook the table a little, surprised at the simple, solid hold. At least the books were 500 hundred pages to help with the hold. But, if someone had tried to bust the door open, the lighter would make a distinctive... No... But, would he react? Nathan picked up the lighter carefully, looked at Sully, sleeping peacefully on his back, deep breaths raising the chest. Nathan simply flicked the lid closed, and without missing a beat, Sully was up and Nathan ducked, not wanting another gun pointed at him. Sully saw him crouched, then sighed and laid back down, placing the gun back into hiding. He held out his hand. "Jesus kid, stop with the heart attacks all ready. I'm not done exploring yet."

Nathan handed him the lighter, Sully rolling over onto his front. "Just had to see. I'll ahh, keep watch then. Work on the book a little."

"Yeah, go back to your mumbo jumbo language."

Nathan found the book under his pillow with his gun, the rest of his satchel hanging on the edge, closest to the wall. He propped himself up, not going to change the lighting if they had already been sleeping under them for who knows how long. Nathan flipped through the pages, the words switching between German, Latin, English, Polish... Nate flipped through the pages faster, wondering how much he may actually be able to translate. He saw stars and planets, slowing down to sun positions. Everything was so specific. He kept back and turned, catching a bit, Die Sonne, sol meum. The sun, my sun... What the hell are they going on about?

SIEG! SIEG! SIEG! SIEG! All the way down another page, victory over and over and over for four pages. Nathan finished flipping through the last pages, seeing the date was June 30, 1934. He slowly flipped back to the front, trying to read or at least get the concept of what the book was about. The drawings were magnificent, specific as they laid out planets and drawings of shadows on the ground, with the sun's locations, wind even drawn in.

He slowly progressed for a while, time not even a concept as he was swallowed by the words, trying to grasp why everything was so jumbled up. This person had to have known at least eight languages. This was going to take longer than he expected. He stretched, pausing on another language, eyes gliding to the moon and how detailed it was. He couldn't recognize any of the words on this page, but the handwriting was loopier than normal. More cursive, elegant, a little rushed though. At least the guy was happy. He slowly turned the page, seeing dates and more drawings of the shadows, finally falling on the new moon. "What the hell? What were they planning?"

The more elated the handwriting, the more pressure was put into shading. More languages he couldn't translate, besides a quick bit of 'Greatness' and 'Conquer' in Latin. He sighed when he realized he had barely broken the ten page mark, when there was quite a bit more. His head was spinning. "So, get this," he quietly said, sitting up. "Moon arrangements, sun arrangements, planet arrangements. Those...are standard readings. It's what they had to do in the day. Stars. Wind. Gave them direction..." Nathan looked back at the book, looking at the detail of the wind. Some nights the wind was heavy and thick, other nights, like the full moon, it looked like it was hardly blowing. "What a coincidence right there..."

Sully finally began to stir after Nathan managed a few more pages figured out, the writer changing his language maybe on his mood? But there weren't any slang words or shorthand words for the moment, so that seemed like a plus.

"How's it going, Kid?"

"Not too bad. I just need to know if you recognize any of these languages. The author flips around quite a bit."

"In a minute. Let me wake up a bit. At least my little wall held. Anyone stop by?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Good. I believe we still have a few days left. Trip should take about four like on our way to Norway. We're probably at least one day down."

"Yeah. And what food do we have?"

"A little. There should be a food cart around here somewhere too. More money for the sailors."

"And less chance of living for us."

Sully started pulling things away from the door, Nathan getting up and helping. Sully opened the door, Nate following to stretch his legs. He was only going to stand in front of the door though for a moment. He couldn't afford any of his things being taken. "I'm going to find the john then have a smoke," Sully said, walking back down the hall. "Keep an eye out for a young punk. Black bag, dark hair, a little younger than you. Smaller in stature though."

"Wait—what? Why?" But the old man was gone. Nathan went back into the room, sitting on the floor and doing a few of his favorite stretches, hopping up and down to keep his body going. He couldn't allow his body to weaken at all. Heal, yes, but weaken, no. Why this punk though? What happened that Sully would single him out? Did something happen while he was asleep? "Whatever. I have the book still and a vague idea that it's about astronomy. Great."

Nathan finished his exercises when Sully came in, the older man looking at him. "So what help do you need with the book?"

"What happened while I was sleeping?"

Sully crossed his arms, but shook his head and sat on his bed. "Well, you woke up and went all Latin on me. Wanted the book. Something about the sun and moon and vanquishing, and saving yourself? Yeah, you flew off the handle, I don't know what happened. Went out to smoke after I laid you back down and found a younger guy in the room, grabbed the journal and one of the toys, looking for money."

Nathan racked his brain, trying to remember. "I dreamt of the orphanage. But, nothing big. Maybe that's what triggered the Latin. As for the punk, I'm sure they won't be back, thankfully. I need you to look at the book and see if you can recognize any of the languages. I know you know a bit, but I can barely scratch the surface of the German and French."

Nathan handed the book off, Sully leaning back and already began making leeway. "These look like plans for attacks..." Sully finally mentioned. "These are descriptive, and drawn well. There's coordinates, cities, all the positions of the sun and moon? Hell, even the wind speed is impressive."

"Exactly. So, they apparently were planning attacks. But, this is like ten years before the end of the war. Did Hitler know what was going to happen? Did he purposefully plan for this?"

"Well, there was the whole Blitzkrieg, but this journal was five years before any of those attacks. Maybe this could have been a back-up plan if the Blitzkrieg failed. But how could they predict the weather patterns years and years ahead? Or were these patterns from that specific day and what they thought the near future would hold?"

Nathan rubbed his temples, trying to wrap his head around this. They had in their hands a sneak peak to the German's thinking, but it was only beginning to raise more questions than answer. "So, we don't know. You're Mr. Navy, this all makes a bit more sense to you than me. Like, you were in the Navy when they were coming away from this type of teaching and all. What's your best judgment?

Sully sat there for a moment, hand propped against his chin and mouth, eyes focused on the journal pages, slowly flipping. "Well, first off, we need more information. We can't start jumping to conclusions. There's so much more to this book than we can uncover. My opinion is the whole Nazi plans were meant to be from the get go, from like the end of World War I. These are just a few pages, but glancing at the whole picture, these guys knew more than we ever expected. We've been taught to be weary of the Germans, the German's have been taught to never know their past anymore, but overall, we need to get in touch with some people who can help us out."

"So we're way off base over here. We have no idea what's going to come of this book." Nathan laid back on his bed, staring at the smokey-yellow ceiling. "You know some people then?"

"Yeah, I know a few. They'll definitely go a lot faster on this project than we will, respect the knowledge, and probably be upset that it's not in a museum. But, yes, I know a few people."

"Anywhere close?"

"Langley, Virginia. You know, our favorite place to be around."

"Shit. Well, at least we can get your plane and fly directly there."

"Yeah, I'll get it figured out. I think a friend still owns a hangar out there."

Nathan stared at the ceiling for a moment longer. "These are going to be some long days."

"Just think about when you were sent to prison. I mean, those two times have to be better than this."

Nathan shot up, pointing a finger at Sully. "I'll have you know, the first time was because of you, and the second time was to get information! So, no, the only time was because of you..."

And another! My goal is to not ditch this story for a few months or whatever, like i have my other stories, besides the oneshots. I've been watching these uncharted "movies" on youtube that have helped remind me of the games, Nathan and Sully's character, so i'm really stoked. In the next few chapters, i will say Nathan will not be his normal character, but i will do my best to represent his smartass, witty, cocky self, all description that Marlow threw at him, because it's so true. Anywho, enjoy, will try to update within a week, see y'all soon!