Page 8 of The Phoenix (Spy Girl 6)
“That’s because the design is based off that. Did you notice that, while most coat of arms have a cross shape in the middle of the shield, it has an X?”
“Like Black X?” I ask.
“Well, like the black X from the Von Allister logo, yes. And each design inside the shield is based off my friends. We’d drink, joke, and gamble; we were on top of the world, dreaming of even bigger things. I made the logo for our perfect world more as a joke. But, when I saw it on the Arcadian dollar bill, I got very worried. I knew The Echelon was planning to turn my dreams into reality and what that meant.”
“What do the symbols stand for?”
“Well, first, there was the prince, Giovanni. Since the perfect country of Arcadia was going to have its capital as Montrovia, it made sense that I use the base of their coat of arms. The gold symbols generosity. The ponies symbolize readiness for all employments for king and country—not the world-class polo that people joke about—and their motto Virtute Non Vi Regium, which roughly translates to—”
“Virtue by glory, not force. When I took the castle tour, our guide told us that. She said Lorenzo the Magnificent was greatly adored by the people. That they wanted him to be king. That he didn’t have to take the position by using force.”
“Which is something I love about their monarchy. It’s one of the few in history that wasn’t taken by force.”
“I heard you were a pacifist.”
“My twin sister died in war. A mostly senseless war that did nothing but make many countries hate us, which has led to increased terrorism and more death. I would much prefer we lived in peace.”
“Me, too,” I say. “What about the other symbols?”
“There’s the eagle. That’s what we called Jack. His father was the president, and he ended up being elected, too. He was very patriotic, and everyone loved him.”
“His father was evil.”
“Yes, I know that now. My own father and I had a tenuous relationship, and I idolized Jack’s father a bit. He invited me to The Echelon when I was pretty young. To be involved in something of that magnitude that had its roots in the Renaissance, I was so incredibly honored. And, with the other members’ guidance and advice, my business flourished.”
“Hillford ordered the hit on Jack because he couldn’t control him, right? There was something The Echelon wanted him to do that he wouldn’t. Do you know what it was?”
“I think it had to do with martial law. His father was pushing for him to sign a bill about it, allowing him to declare martial law without approval from the Senate in extreme cases.”
“Like a bunch of people dying?”
“I suppose so,” Ares says, bowing his head. “Then, there is The Society. Their crown symbol sits atop the crest.”
“Are they related? The Society and The Echelon?”
“Yes. Lorenzo the Magnificent had his network of contacts and spies, but The Echelon was his secret society. Throughout history, there have only been ten in that group.”
“Ten rings, ten seats,” I say. “And, now, The Society is connected through the phones you created. Those are the people they want to survive The Great Culling, I assume.”
“Exactly. Those they deem worthy of living in the new world. They have been expanding at an extremely fast rate over the last ten years. Their members now total close to five million.”
“And you, Jack, Gio, Malcolm, and Aleksandr were all recruited together?”
“I was the first, as you saw in the video,” he replies. “That’s part of why I became a recluse. I knew they were considering giving rings to Malcolm and Aleksandr.”
“Do they have symbols on the shield, too?”
“Yes. Aleksandr was the valiant. The dragon represents his Slavic background, but he was extremely chivalrous, particularly with the ladies,” he says with a laugh. “Gosh, I miss them. We called Malcolm the dauntless, so he is the lion on the shield. He has an unwavering personality and is very rigid in thought. We used to tease him that, when he wanted his way, he would practically roar.”
“Does that mean you are the phoenix? I guess that’s fitting now since you’ve risen from the dead.”
“They called me that because I would hole up in my lab, working on a project for long periods of time. They used to tease me that I’d burst into flames and I couldn’t come back out until I was reborn.”
“I really like Malcolm and Aleksandr. I hope they aren’t involved in this. I don’t want to have to kill them.”
“Would you if they were?” he asks.
“I wouldn’t want to, but if they were behind all this, yes, I would. And I’m pretty sure they are.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I opened the vault at the TerraSphere when I was there.”
“You what?” he exclaims.
“Isn’t that what you wanted me to do? You put it in the video game.”
“No! I was just trying to show you why the Sphere was built where it was. To hide The Echelon’s treasure. If you accessed it, that changes everything. They know. They have to know!”
“Know that it was me?” I ask.
“Yes! That must be why you were attacked.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean, you don’t think so?”
“They would have already killed me if they thought that. Think about it. Dupree’s ring is missing. How could I possibly have it?”
Ares considers this. “You’re right. And they have mine.”
I tell him about the timing of Malcolm and Aleksandr’s urgent trip and how I believe they went to the Sphere to check it out.
Ares furrows his brow in concern, clearly thinking it all through.
“We need to discuss who is in The Echelon,” I say, still on a roll. “We’ve been blind as far as that goes. Why don’t we just freaking kill them all and stop it that way?”
“Because Blake hung the man who’d killed Prince Marcelo off a building, and even then, all he would say was that there was nothing that could stop it.”
“Why are we even trying then? Why don’t we just go to your Society-approved vault to ride The Great Culling out and then live in Arcadia?”
“Because we can’t let millions of people die,” Ares says, shaking his head.
“I want a list. It will also help us figure out what their plan is. We can track them.”
“Tracking them is all I’ve been doing for the past six years, Huntley. I haven’t figured it out.”
“Okay, let’s talk about who is part of it. Who was in it when you left six years ago?”
“Myself, Marquis Dupree, John Hillford—who was the leader—Harrison McClellan, Alessandro Vallenta, Maximillian Olivier, Rutherford Elingston, and one ring was given to a British museum by an heir who hadn’t known better. They’ve been secretly trying to buy it back for years. The other two are of no consequence to the plan, as they passed with no male heirs. So, new members would have been brought in.”
“Let’s talk about their industries. You had the idea for the perfect world. What else did you bring to the table?”
“They didn’t ask anything else of me that would relate, so I think that’s it.”
“Okay. Dupree was in pharmaceuticals. I suppose they could taint their drugs. Or maybe they could put drugs in the grain that would kill people? Or they could simply withhold whatever the sick people would need to get better? But I feel like that’s not right. Because Dupree was trying to impress The Echelon with the nuclear bombs.”
“He was a bit of a showboat,” Ares agrees. “And, if they didn’t give him a big role, he would have created one for himself.”
“Hillford was a former president, and his son was president, which would be important to their plan to enact martial law—something they will need to do, right?”
“I assume so.”
“Do you know if that bill ever passed? Like, did Daniel’s dad approve it?”
Ares’s eyes widen. “I don’t know. Let me look.” He
taps on his phone and then sighs. “Yes, he did.”
“So, they control the stock market of the world as well as a large majority of the banking, medical supplies, and drugs. Do you think they could have offered Hillford’s ring to Daniel’s dad?”
“I’d say it’s highly likely since he passed the bill.”
