Prologue
A New Dark Age
“We are living in extremely troubled times,” Director Darren Fuller began as he regarded the Hunters who were seated at the table. He made eye contact with each of them. “Our economy suffers more every day. Wars and rumors of wars are in the headlines of every major newspaper. Terrorism has become as common to us as Baseball, apple pie and Chevrolets. To put it bluntly, ladies and gentlemen…the hope for our future looks mighty grim.”
He paused to let his words sink into the members of his team. They were the Hunters and what they did was fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. They fought for freedom and justice. They faced each new threat, every new crisis boldly and with determination. For years, they did what they had to do to keep terrorism from claiming innocent lives.
Michael Lenox was the head man on the field. He sat next to Staci Cohen, a new member of the team who was offering her skills as a Medical Doctor to the Hunters. Next to her sat a man who towered over every one in the room - even seated. His name was Marc “Fury” Shiva. Shiva used to be a professional wrestler but after he was falsely accused, he was barred from wrestling forever. Lenox had helped clear his name. Now he was a Hunter and his loyalty to Lenox was strong.
William “CrazyMan” Fronk sat quietly at the end of the table. His laptop was open and his attention seemed to be focused intently on the screen. He occasionally pushed up his glasses and wiggled his eyebrows. To those who didn’t know him, he seemed to be uninterested in what was happening at the emergency briefing that Director Fuller had called, but in truth, he wasn’t missing a single detail.
At the other side of the table, there were four other members. Keith “Ace” LeBeau and Kevin “Birdman” Vogel were pilots. LeBeau was a known on the team as one of the best pilots on the planet. Vogel was a close second. James “Grunt” Bollinger sat next to Erin Greye. Every one in the room under the farmhouse, which was located at the Hunters Hardsite in the Adirondacks, was giving Fuller their full attention.
“Something has come to our attention,” Fuller said grimly, “that has caused us to re-evaluate our focus. A new development. Or at least I should say a new development because it has just come to the surface and is new to us, but this threat is as old as time itself. This threat has been on our planet for a long time. It was created long before the time Adolph Hitler rose to power with dreams of world conquest. Julius Caesar. Napoleon. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. Saddam Hussein. Countless other men could be named here as evil dictators whose only goal was complete and utter world domination. These men are also a part of something that hasn’t been noticed…until now.”
Fuller took a deep breath before continuing. “A pattern. These men are all a part of a pattern. A design. They make their attempts at world domination, they fail, and someone else steps in to take their place. This has continued and will continue until these people who are all a part of this pattern finally succeed in their quest to rule the world. These people are part of a secret organization called ‘The Brethren’. They are at work today with a common goal. To rid the world of those who are without their organization…and anyone who is not of them is considered as chattel. They will stop at nothing to get what they want and that includes the taking of innocent lives. We have recently been given some information that will help us learn more about who we’re dealing with and it also gives us an idea of what we can do now about this threat. Our informant has given us names of individuals within the Brethren. He has named places where they meet and where they are based. He has let us in on some of their activities. Based on this information, we can only conclude that we must act now…today. Because if we do not, then the world today is about to face a new dark age. A dark age in which the survival of all mankind could find itself in complete jeopardy.”