The Armageddon Conspiracy by Mike Hockney Page A

against God.
    Next, the same dark angel was falling
to the earth clutching the spear, surrounded by a torrent of black
raindrops. The expulsion of Lucifer from Heaven, presumably.
    Next came the Garden of Eden, featuring
a Tree of Knowledge shaped like a human being with a huge brain. A
naked Adam and Eve stood in front of it. Near them, a serpent
slithered over an odd emerald globe.
    Then Cain, a surprisingly handsome
figure, was depicted killing a swarthy Abel with a spear. Next up
was Cain bearing a strange double S mark, like two serpents, on his
forehead. The Mark of Cain, Lucy assumed. Behind Cain stood a city
with a high, gleaming tower. Lucy guessed this was the Tower of
Babel.
    Panel 7 on the top right corner showed
God in a mystical cloud above the Ark of Covenant in a tent – the
Tabernacle – with a Moses-like figure looking on. The next panel
showed the gold Temple of Solomon with a High Priest praying in
front of the Ark.
    Panel 9 was Jesus being baptised by
John the Baptist in the river Jordan. Another Jesus-like figure
waited in the background. Lucy had no idea who this other person
was but, for some reason, she thought this figure had immense
significance.
    Panel 10 showed Salome
doing the dance of seven veils for King Herod. In the next panel,
John the Baptist’s severed head rested on a gold, jewel-encrusted
dish. The eyes and mouth were wide open, and something about it
reminded Lucy of Munch’s The
Scream . Another man was being beheaded in
the background. Lucy wondered if this was the same person who was
shown earlier waiting to be baptised by John the Baptist. Who was
he?
    In Panel 12, The Last Supper was
depicted with 30 pieces of silver lying between Jesus and Judas. Prominently displayed were a gold, jewel-encrusted dish containing
bread and a beautiful chalice full of wine – the Holy Grail.
    Panel 13 on the bottom right corner
showed a Roman soldier thrusting a spear into Christ’s side at the
Crucifixion, with a man, presumably Joseph of Arimathea, collecting
blood in the Holy Grail.
    Panel 14 presented the Resurrection. A
crowd were witnessing the event, half of them cheering, the other
half with deeply gloomy faces. Lucy couldn’t understand why Raphael
had painted some people looking so unhappy at this joyous
event.
    Panel 15 showed a siege of a castle on
a mountaintop. Men were climbing down the mountainside in the dark,
while on the other side of the mountain, men and women were being
burnt at the stake in the dawn light.
    Panel 16 was the most baffling of all
the images: Lucy’s own painting. How could it possibly have ended
up in this collection of unknown masterpieces by one of the world’s
greatest artists?
    Panel 17 showed, apparently, King
Arthur’s Camelot – a castle overlooking a raging sea. Panel 18
depicted the battle of Camlann where Arthur, clutching Excalibur,
was killed by the lance of his nephew Mordred. In the background
was a round chapel and a castle on a high mound surrounded by
trees. A cloud of dark ravens hovered above the chapel.
    The next panel presented a desolate
land, full of beggars in rags. In one corner was a dark cave, with
a pool at its centre, full of stalactites and stalagmites. In the
other was a forest with a ruined abbey in the middle.
    Panel 20 showed a mountain castle
overlooking a lake in a wooded valley. Painted directly onto the
surface of the lake was the Holy Grail.
    The next panel depicted the procession
of the Grail Hallows: Spear, Sword, Chalice and Dish in front of
the Fisher King, the guardian of the Grail Castle.
    Panel 22 showed the Fisher King with a
spear sticking out of his inner thigh.
    As for Panel 23, it was simply bizarre. It was divided into four quarters, one of which showed a blue
swastika on a white flag, the next a rising sun, the third a black
and white flag, and the last a skull and crossbones. In the middle
of the four flags was a circle containing a pyramid incorporating a
staring eye, with a Phoenix hovering over