The 13th Tribe Read online

  ADVANCE ACCLAIM FOR

  THE 13TH TRIBE

  “Drawn from scripture and history, these characters are walking mysteries thrust into situations where trouble is bound to happen. A great read!”

  — Frank Peretti, best-selling author of

  This Present Darkness

  “In The 13th Tribe, Robert Liparulo plunges deep into the pages of scripture to find intriguing what-if’s and stunning revelations—all woven into a tale that is both skin-tinglingly supernatural and thought-provokingly real. And with all the high-tech, action and heart that has always made his books a blast to read. Liparulo is a phenomenal storyteller, and The 13th Tribe is a phenomenal story. Read this novel! Seriously!”

  — Ted Dekker, New York Times best-selling author of Forbidden and the Circle series

  “The 13th Tribe is a work of sweeping imagination and high octane action that grabbed me, intrigued me, and wouldn’t let me go. The best Liparulo novel I’ve read yet.”

  — Steven James, best-selling author of The Queen

  “One of those rare books where cliché descriptions like ‘riveting, page-turner, couldn’t put it down’ must be used, because they’re all absolutely true. With The 13th Tribe, Robert Liparulo has crafted the start of what is sure to be an epic series.”

  — James L. Rubart, best-selling author of Rooms

  “A rousing, imaginative thriller. I was mesmerized from the opening page. Robert Liparulo does it again!”

  — James Scott Bell, best-selling author of Deceived and Die Trying

  “Cutting-edge technology and ancient vendetta come together in an adrenaline-laced cocktail of intrigue, action, and the hope for redemption. Thrill-master Liparulo’s most riveting story yet. An electrifying supernatural ride that will leave you tearing through the pages and thinking long after you’ve closed the cover.”

  — Tosca Lee, New York Times best-selling author of Demon and the Books of Mortals series

  “No one mixes fascinating characters, cutting-edge technology, biblically-based speculative fiction, and can’t-put-it-down suspense better than Robert Liparulo. The premise of The 13th Tribe is such a great idea that I wish I’d thought of it first! I was riveted, turning the pages as fast as I could, racing toward the nail-biting climax (which is set in an inspired location that’s way too good to spoil). With one mind-blowing twist after another, The 13th Tribe is Liparulo at his very best.”

  — Robin Parrish, author of Vigilante and Corridor

  “In The 13th Tribe, Robert Liparulo dives into Biblical history, raises tough questions about the nature and goodness of God, adds in his trademark dash of futuristic technology, and does it all in the context of a pulse-pounding, page-turning story.”

  — LifeIsStory.com

  “The author of Comes a Horseman ushers in an exciting new series with this action-packed and intricately plotted spiritual thriller that should appeal to fans of Frank Peretti and Oliver North.”

  —Library Journal

  “Liparulo (Comes a Horseman) opens the Immortal Files series with a bang . . . a fast-moving, imaginative narrative that examines moral questions . . . every reader is in for roller-coaster action . . .”

  —Publishers Weekly

  THE

  13TH

  TRIBE

  ALSO BY

  ROBERT LIPARULO

  Comes a Horseman

  Germ

  Deadfall

  Deadlock

  THE DREAMHOUSE KINGS SERIES

  FOR YOUNG ADULTS

  House of Dark Shadows

  Watcher in the Woods

  Gatekeepers

  Timescape

  Whirlwind

  Frenzy

  ROBERT

  LIPARULO

  THE

  13TH

  TRIBE

  © 2012 by Robert Liparulo

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  Thomas Nelson, Inc., books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

  Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

  THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Liparulo, Robert.

  The 13th tribe / Robert Liparulo.

  p. cm. — (An Immortal Files novel ; 1)

  ISBN 978-1-59554-169-7 (trade paper)

  I. Title.

  PS3612.I63A614 2012

  813'.6—dc23

  2011051154

  Printed in the United States of America

  12 13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

  FOR DON LIPARULO

  MY BIG BROTHER, MY TRUE FRIEND

  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

  —EPHESIANS 2:8–9

  “A preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach; he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite and fight.”

  —MARTIN LUTHER

  “Is it so dreadful a thing then to die?”

  —PUBLIUS VERGILIUS MARO, AENEID

  CONTENTS

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  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  READING GROUP GUIDE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  [ 1 ]

  Eddie Rollins didn’t believe in ghosts or phantoms or the boogeyman, but at that moment he felt a chill run down his spine like a drop of cold water. Gun in hand, he inched through the darkness between two bulbs mounted above doors on the backside of MicroTech’s large, squat building. Thirty yards ahead, a keypad beside one of the metal-skinned doors had just beeped and lit up. Seeing no one standing before it, despite the brilliance of the halogen lamp directly overhead, he’d drawn his weapon.

  Unusual things made him nervous: eight years on the force had taught him that shifting shadows in a dark alley or unlocked doors that should be locked meant trouble. He believed it was this suspicious nature that had kept him alive and earned him the security position at MicroTech when he went out looking for a job to supplement the pittance Baltimore paid its finest. In all the times he’d made this late-night circuit around the building’s perimeter, none of the keypads had ever beeped or lit up of its own accord. Then there were the noises: a faint whispering that could have been the wind, but his instincts told him wasn’t.

  He considered radioing for backup or at least asking Larry, who sat in front of a bank of monitors, to put down his ever-present magazine and tell him if the cameras were picking up something Eddie’s eyes weren’t. But until he knew more he didn’t want to risk looking foolish or, worse, giving away his presence if someone was back here and hadn’t already seen him.

  He swept his gaze across the large parking lot, half full with only the night shift’s cars. The few lights scattered around on high poles were dim and useless. Still, he thought he might spot something interesting—a dome light, a commercial vehicle—but nothing jumped out at him.

  He smiled a little: nothing jumped out at him—not the best choice of words in this situation.

  At the far back of the parking lot and circling around the sides of the building, a grassy berm rose to a tall chain-link fence topped with loops of concertina wire. Years ago, in an attempt to keep the employees from feeling like prison workers, the company had planted a row of trees midway up the berm. Pretty, but stupid from a security standpoint.

  He scanned the trees, mostly defoliated this time of year. Something glinted in one of them, and he squinted at it. He could make out the fence through the branches and was thinking that’s what had caught his eye when the keypad beeped again. Six beeps, actually, and the door’s bolts disengaged with a metallic thunk. As the door swung open, Eddie crouched and hurried toward it, watching the lighted area draw closer over the sights of his revolver.

  The light shimmered, a rippling current of air like heat waves coming off hot asphalt, then it was gone. The door was swinging closed now, and Eddie bolted for it.

  “Freeze!”

  It slammed shut.

  He was almost to the door, recalling the code that would open it, shifting his gun into his left hand, when he tripped over something and crashed onto the concrete pad at the threshold. He rolled to see what he’d stumbled over and almost screamed—would have screamed, had his lungs not frozen solid.

  A pair of eyes stared down at him. Just eyes, shaped by unseen lids, floating in the glow of the light. Where a head and body should have been . . . nothing. Beyond the eyes he could see the building’s white-painted bricks, a crack running up from the foundation. The eyes blinked and moved toward him.

  The same fear that had paralyzed him a moment before now spurred him to action. He scrambled backward, pushing himself away from the approaching eyes. He leaned on one elbow, swung his gun up and fired, instinctively aiming eighteen inches below the eyes, a center-mass shot—if whatever this thing was had mass.

  The eyes sailed back and disappeared. A gout of blood appeared in the air and gushed down and around the point of impact in a thin sheet, coating a chest and stomach Eddie could not see. He gazed in awe as the eyes reappeared, this time as narrow crescents. They—and the growing sheet of blood—descended slowly, as though the invisible being was sliding down the brick wall.

  The door burst open, fluorescent light from an empty hallway exploding over him. But the hallway wasn’t empty: more eyes rushed out of it, bobbing up and down, coming toward him. And another object, floating, circling, as though dancing on the waves of light—a long blade: a knife or sword. It glimmered and sparked as it came at him. In the speed of it all, everything slowed down in the way wheels spin so fast they appear not to be moving at all. He swung the gun toward the eyes, the blade, and felt something strike his hand hard. He fired into the night sky.

  A pair of eyes, angry slits with dark irises, stopped over him, and he felt a blow against his chin, knocking his head back. He felt the back of his skull collide against the pavement and an explosion of pain, making his vision go white. Then he felt no more.

  [ 2 ]

  Nevaeh knelt and grabbed the security guard’s hair, yanking his head sideways as she brought her dagger to his neck. A firm hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her back.

  “Nevaeh,” Ben said behind her. “He’s an innocent.”

  The blade shook under the strain of her anger. “He got in our way,” she said, her gaze focusing on the man’s carotid artery, pulsing just below the skin. “He shot Elias.”

  “NEV-ee-ah.” Enunciating it with that deep orator’s voice of his, like a father warning a child.

  She sighed heavily and jerked her shoulder out of his clasp. She plucked the gun from the man’s limp hand and cracked it across his temple to make sure he stayed down, then tossed it away. Her eyes met Ben’s. “Happy?” she said.

  From behind Ben, Phin’s voice came at her: “Come on, come on.” His eyes bounced in the doorway, and she knew his invisible body was bouncing, his arms jittering in front of him the way they did when he was excited or agitated, which pretty much defined his constant state of mind.

  She glanced at the camera above and to the left of the door. It was slowly panning away from them, toward the darkness. It had captured the fallen man, but clearly no one had noticed; anyone who had would have overridden its automatic movement and held the focus on them. MicroTech made products that required both sterility and security, meaning lots of hermetically sealed barriers and doors, even in the corridors. She doubted the sound of the gunshots had reached anyone’s ears.

  She rose, brushed past Ben, and crouched where blood appeared to float a foot away from the wall. She touched it and moved her fingers over Elias’s body and down his arm. She slid a switch sewn into a tight cuff around his wrist, turning off the power to his suit, and he suddenly popped into existence, clad in a jumpsuit that appeared to be made out of sharkskin, scaly and gray. Something like a mouth-less ski mask made of the same material covered his face and head, hands and feet. Constructed of negative index metamaterial, the suit effectively bent light around the wearer’s body, rendering him—or her—invisible. The technology had something to do with each tiny scale transferring light to the adjacent scale, but Nevaeh didn’t care how it worked, as long as it did. Ben had the brain for such things; she was much more interested in using it to rid the world of people who’d abused the life they’d been given by harming others. The mission at hand would go a long way toward that goal, and she didn’t need Phin telling her to hurry.