8th March
Bishop Gerald Hunter looked around at the other four people seated at the oak table in the Chained Library. It had been very many years since there had been a full meeting of the Masters of ARK.
‘If I may summarise,’ said Bishop Hunter, ‘we believe that Sam Collins had discovered texts, probably at Gobekli Tepe, that gave him the power of divination with a degree of specific accuracy quite unlike any previous prophet.
‘It seems likely that the knowledge gained by Sam Collins incurred the wrath of God, who smote him with a meteorite from the heavens. You may have seen that on the news about five weeks ago.
‘The original texts, containing the occult secrets, would have been written on stone or clay tablets – probably in cuneiform script. There must be translations of them into modern English, however. It seems likely that some of those translations are now in the possession of Sam Collins’ neighbour, Swan Morrison, and it seems probable that Mr. Morrison has concealed critical documents at his brother’s farm.
‘You have all heard the recording made by the brave Reverend Leadbetter, just three days ago, which showed that the predictive rites and rituals require unspeakable sexual acts at their outset. You have also heard the latter parts of the recording, after those rites and rituals had been enacted, in which astoundingly accurate predictions were made for events of the following day.
‘Finally, we learned from the last recorded conversation between Mr. Morrison and Mrs. Hargreaves that they would both be moving immediately to the farm of Duck Morrison to allow a more private location for further experiments with the texts.
‘These are the incontrovertible and undisputable facts. We must now decide upon what action ARK must take to gain possession of the texts, all of which rightly belong to our Church – the one true Church of God!
‘We must, however, be cautious,’ Bishop Hunter continued gravely. ‘As you know, while the heroic Reverend Leadbetter was making his recording, he encountered supernatural forces so intense that they unhinged his mind. He is now in a catatonic state in a psychiatric hospital – unable to move or speak. More proof, if further proof should be needed, that genuine and very powerful supernatural forces are at work here.’