Unknown 9 by Layton Green (each kindness read aloud txt) 📕

that? What if he betrayed Dr. Corwin—and then burned down his own lab after he stole the research, to cover up his crimes?”

“Now you’re thinking like a paranoid reporter,” Cal said grimly. “There’s someone else too. It’s an extreme long shot, but I don’t trust anyone in this mess. You’re a good kickboxer, right? Think about how quickly the Archon disabled you. Who do we know who’s involved who could pull that off?”

After a moment, Andie swallowed and said, “Zawadi? But why save us twice and let us go?”

“To see where we end up? Maybe she betrayed Dr. Corwin, and is working on her own. Maybe we’re not really free but being watched the whole time, used as guinea pigs to help her find the Enneagon.”

Andie stared down at her hands. She really didn’t want Cal to be right about that one.

“Listen,” he said gently. “I don’t think that’s the case. Otherwise she would have just stayed with us.”

“Maybe, maybe not. She gave us the phone and the documents and, like you said, she can probably track us whenever she wants.”

“True, though I think Lars Friedman is more likely. The point is, until we know for sure whose side everyone is on, we can really only trust ourselves.”

After a weary nod of agreement, Andie used Zawadi’s phone to conduct research on yantras and the museum exhibits, searching for a connection. Cal sat with a pen and a pad of paper he found in a desk and began scribbling, working on his own research threads.

An hour later, Andie was stunned by what she had discovered. She paced the room fiddling with her wine bottle, sorting through the threads in her mind. “Cal,” she said finally, “I found a few things.”

He looked up from his chair. “The next location?”

“Not yet. But listen to this: You know that iron bowl we saw in the museum?”

“The one related to some pillar in New Delhi?”

“That’s right—and the Iron Pillar of Delhi is very real. It’s a tourist site, and all those claims about the purity of the iron and the lack of rust are true. Scholars don’t even know where it came from. But I can’t find a single mention of any companion pieces, such as that bowl, that are similar in age and construction.”

“So if the bowl is real, how the hell did it end up in a private museum?”

“Exactly. And remember the miniature sandstone column with the carving of the nine dragons on top? This is even stranger.”

“What was it called? Ash something or other?”

“An Ashoka pillar. Twenty of them are still in existence and can be seen around India. Everything the placard said about King Ashoka and his pillars is true—except for the last sentence.”

“Remind me?”

“The placard claimed the miniature pillar in the museum was found in King Ashoka’s personal collection and uncovered from his tomb in Karnataka.”

“That sounds . . . plausible.”

“Sure, except there’s absolutely no mention on the internet of his personal collection or anything like it—and no one’s ever found King Ashoka’s tomb.”

Cal’s eyebrows raised. “Ah.”

“Ashoka was mentioned half a dozen times in that museum. So I decided to look him up.” She took a deep breath. “Have you ever, in any of your conspiracy research, run across something called the Unknown Nine?”

Cal frowned. “I don’t think so. Maybe someone brought it up in a chat once, but I’ve definitely never researched it. What is it?”

“An ancient Indian legend about King Ashoka. All the sources agree, by the way, that he underwent a radical conversion after massacring the Kalinga. He’s known for those pillars and his conversion to Buddhism, but there’s a pervasive legend that he went a step further to ensure humankind stopped slaughtering one another in senseless wars. Realizing that technology was only going to improve over time, and that some people would use it for their own evil purposes, King Ashoka gathered nine of the most brilliant minds in India—they were all men at the time, naturally—and tasked them with accumulating and preserving all the knowledge in the world. Thus was born the society of the nine unknown men. Starting to sound familiar?”

Cal whistled. “That’s hella close to what we know about the Leap Year Society. Why were they unknown?”

“According to the legend, there can only be nine members of the order at any one time. The nine were supposed to remain anonymous, hidden in the shadows while they protected humankind from its own base instincts. Before one of the nine dies, they have to pass on the knowledge to a successor. The true believers out there think the Unknown Nine still exist today, guardians of knowledge passed down through the millennia.”

“It’s insane to think they were having the same debates about technology thousands of years ago that we’re having today,” Cal said. “Those flaming arrows must have caused quite a stir. In any event, that’s some legend. Are you becoming a believer, Mercuri?”

“I’m just drawing parallels. Remember the carving of the dragons on the Ashoka column and the seal in the exhibit? Nine dragons inside a circle. While some of the other Ashoka pillars have animal carvings on top, there are no dragons, and there’s no mention of that inscription in the museum anywhere either. Listen again: ‘We pledge together at the crossroad, devoted to the gathering of knowledge, through immortal time and spirit.’”

“That sounds an awful lot like a direct reference to Ashoka forming the society of the Unknown Nine.”

“I’d agree with you, except why did the ouroboros with the nine dragons show up on that seal in the Harappa exhibit as well?”

“I . . . don’t know.”

“What the hell did we see in that museum, Cal? Did they really find Ashoka’s tomb? Either way, I know they’re telling us something about the Leap Year Society.” She started pacing the room again. “There’s something I haven’t told you. Remember Dr. Corwin’s journal? The one I lost?”

“How could I forget?”

“There was a reference to the Unknown Nine.”

Cal sucked in a breath. “That’s rather relevant.”

“Not before