In Ethiopia, anthropologist Gabe Turpin is pressed into service by a society of modern Knights Templar to find the Ark of the Covenant. The society wants to rebuild the Temple of Solomon, and harness its power to transform the human spirit. Turpin and the modern Templars enter a deadly race against a secret cabal that also wishes to possess the Ark's power, and unleash an apocalyptic final solution in the Middle East. The Third Temple Order the complete book from Booklocker.com http://www.booklocker.com/p/books/6993.html?s=pdf or from your favorite neighborhood or online bookstore. Your free excerpt appears below. Enjoy! THE THIRD TEMPLE GARY GABELHOUSE Copyright © 2013 Gary Gabelhouse ISBN: 978-1-62646-463-6 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Published by BookLocker.com, Inc., Bradenton, Florida. The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. Booklocker.com, Inc. 2013 First Edition Thrillers for the spiritually curious: www.gabelhouse.com Prologue Thebes, Egypt 1462 BCE haraoh Akhenaten watched the High Priest of Ra and his attendants, as they conducted the ancient ceremony within the King’s Chamber carved deep P within the great pyramid. Every symbolic action found its place and formed a more-sacred ceremony within the chamber. The wonderful Bari—a gilded, rectangular reliquary, was slightly over two cubits long and less than two cubits deep and across—beckoned the Pharaoh. The Bari—a holy reliquary for a God, was decorated with winged, sphinx statuaries, and shone golden in the candlelight as the fog and clouds of the God cascaded out and onto the floor of the chambers. The priests of Ra carefully approached the Bari, knowing of its deadly potential as it also generated life and peace that was the will of the God. The priests wore the protective cowls and robes as they sought the presence and witness of God. The priestly contingent had been partaking of the food of the God—the manna whose ingestion made all attending the cask as brothers and full of the divine light. Throughout the years Akhenaten had been schooled in the arts of the priests. He knew the signs of power, the numerology of the divine, and the rules of sacred geometry. The Testimony of the Gods were within his understanding, and he was comfortable within the arcane worlds of Egypt’s cosmology. However, the priests were always guardians of the secret ways, and prohibited his complete entry into the final mysteries—despite he was Pharaoh. He longed to sit in the throne seat of the great pyramid in the presence of God, Aten. Somehow he knew that such an experience would magnify his will and intent ten thousand fold. The Pharaoh had laid intricate plans—and for months now, studied the routines of the priests of Ra. His purpose was singular and focused: to posses the Bari containing the 1 GARY GABELHOUSE God—for he was certain it was the earthly home of the one God, Aten. He felt it was his destiny to rescue this earthly home of God from the spiritually greedy priests of Ra. It had been months now since he had first looked upon the light of the God's face—the light of the Bari. It had lured him—taunted him, and merely being in the presence of the Bari gave him a feeling of contented bliss. A peace flooded through him whenever he was touched by the clouds of the God. The first experience those months ago had been so life changing that the Pharaoh now risked all to possess the experience forever, and for himself—to have the home of God for all time. The Pharaoh crept closer to the band of priests as the dry, cold air of the chamber drew goose flesh on his arms. His sword drawn, the King of Egypt arranged his mind into an empty and calm place—a softly silent place—as he beheaded the priests. The goggling eyes of the priests shuttered open, wide—as surprised looks came over the faces on the heads that rolled across the sandy soil of the King’s Chamber—still alive in part, though dismembered from their life force. The head of the High Priest of Ra, disembodied, lie at the feet of the Pharaoh, and instinctually spat sand from its mouth as a last act of life. Akhenaten wielded his sword with abandon as priests fell amidst the gathering clouds of the Bari. Suddenly, and in an eerie and lonely silence, the Pharaoh finally found himself alone with the Bari, out of which was billowing the vapor and mist of God over his feet. Akhenaten's bronze blade found no more necks to cleave. In the gloom of the King's Chamber of the pyramid, the young Pharaoh again focused on the Bari. It now appeared to be a cascade of living liquid with form—as it crept up the walls of the chamber. Then, a spider web of blinding light began to emanate from between the wings of the sphinxes perched atop the holy reliquary. Arcs of blue- white light began to dance within the wings and veritably entered Akhenaten's eyes, nose, mouth and ears. The 2 THE THIRD TEMPLE Pharaoh was flooded with the light of God and fell to his knees as he wept at seeing his deadly handiwork. Rather than priests lying bloody on the floor of the chamber, Akhenaten saw the slaughtered bodies of his son, Tutankhaten as well as his six daughters. Grief flooded him and he kneeled down, as his resolve to possess the Bari of God waned and became only a dull ache. But then, a tremendous peace and bliss entered the Pharaoh, seemingly washing away his sins in the chamber deep within the pyramid. Levi, Akhenaten's adopted father, patiently waited for the Pharaoh’s sign. In the cool of the desert evening, Levi talked in low tones with the men of Goshen. As fellow Israelites, they had all come to help Akhenaten rescue the earthly home of the one God, Aten and remove it from the possession of the Priests of Ra. Nighthawks flew over the stands of papyrus that, in turn, issued tickling sounds as water crept through the green stalks. The scent of charcoal fires mixed with the smell of the great river in the night. A sliver of a moon, which nearly framed a bright star, rose above the palms as Levi saw Akhenaten stumble from the chamber of the pyramid. The Pharaoh seemed to be in a trance—sleep walking as he shakily walked toward the Israelites of Goshen in the watery light of the moon. Laconic, the King of Egypt offered a disjointed statement to Levi. “My father, the home of God on earth—the Bari is ready to be freed. Take care to wear the robes and cowls of the priests as the holy cask is still...very dangerous to mere men. God can yet smite those without faith or knowledge.” “I understand, my son,” said the elderly Israelite. “We are anxious to rescue the home of the one God on earth from these blasphemous worshipers of false gods. We revel in knowing we take Aten and His earthly home with us tonight.” 3 GARY GABELHOUSE Within the close confines of the Kings Chamber, the men of Goshen, draped in the ceremonial garb of the priests, ran the long, wooden poles through the loops of gold fashioned on the side of the Bari. They lifted the cask and its God and spirited it out of the pyramid and into the cool air of the desert night. A loyal contingent of Akhenaten's personal bodyguards provided escort out of the old city for their Pharaoh and the Israelites along with their holy treasure. The unlikely group marched to the East toward the unknown vastness of the desert of the Sinai. On the outskirts of Thebes, walking in hushed silence and using only the light of the moon to navigate by, the group was suddenly challenged by a guard detachment of the Priesthood of Ra. There was no avoiding the large contingent and both parties stopped, as the flames of the torches of the priests' guard detachment whipped in the gathering wind. “Proclaim your station and intention,” issued a menacing voice in the dark of night. “We are the royal guards of the Pharaoh, Akhenaten!” cried out Levi, speaking for the soldiers who he thought were probably dullards. Also, Levi did not want to betray the fact that the Pharaoh was among them. “We have arrest warrants for the Pharaoh, for he blasphemes our Gods—warrants issued from the priests of Ra and Amun,” cried out the voice in the dark. “The Pharaoh cannot be far from his royal guards. If the blasphemer is in your party, he is advised to surrender to avoid violence.” With only a nod from the Pharaoh, the bodyguard contingent was released like a raptor from the falconer’s glove. The clash of armor rent the quiet of evening as the bodyguard troops of the Pharaoh, outnumbered three to one, grimly lay down their adversaries into the sand—like stalks of wheat reaped by a terrible sickle. It was quiet again with the exception of the moans of a wounded soldier which were quieted with a sword thrust.