The Atlantis Gene: A Thriller (49 page)

“Please. And call me Kate.”

Keegan stood beside her at the rail, not leaning and not looking at Kate. He stared out into the darkening bay. He was clearly in his 60s, but he was fit. Robust.

The silence was a bit awkward. “How’s the planning going?” Kate asked.

“Well. Though it won’t matter.” Keegan’s voice was flat, emotionless.

A chill ran through Kate. She tried to lighten the mood. “You’re that confiden—”

“I am. Tomorrow’s outcome has been planned for years now.” He motioned to the streets and the guards below. “Those aren’t Clocktower agents. They’re Immari Security. As are the guards inside. Tomorrow, the last of the non-Immari agents within Clocktower will die, including David.”

Kate pushed off the rail and looked back at the table where the men were still laughing and pointing. “I don’t un—”

“Don’t turn around. I’m here to make you an offer.” Keegan’s voice was a whisper.

“For what?”

“His life. In exchange for yours. You will leave here tonight, in a few hours, when everyone has knocked off. They’ll go to bed early; the raid is at dawn.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I? I don’t want to kill him. I’m genuinely fond of him. We’re just on different sides of the coin. Chance. But we want you, badly.”

“Why?”

“You survived the Bell. It’s the key to everything we’ve done. We have to understand it. I won’t lie; you’ll be questioned, then studied, but he will be spared. Look at your options. We can simply kill those agents inside right now. It’s messier, here in a residential neighborhood, but acceptable. We’ve held this operation open too long as it is, waiting, seeing who would come in, hoping he would call. There’s more. If you’re clever in your negotiations, you may be able to free the children, or perhaps trade yourself for them. They’re being held at the same facility.” Keegan looked Kate in the eyes. “Now what’s your answer?”

She swallowed and nodded. “Ok.”

“There’s one more thing. From the recordings on the plane. You and Vale mention a journal. We want it. We’ve been looking for it for a very long time.”

CHAPTER 107

Snow Camp Alpha
Drill Site #7
East Antarctica

A surge of relief swept over Robert Hunt when he saw the snowmobile parked outside the small, white-walled barracks at Drill Site Seven. He parked his snowmobile and ran inside. The men were warming themselves beside the wall heater. Both rose when he entered.

“We tried to wait, but we were freezing. We couldn’t stay.”

“I know. It’s ok,” Robert said. He surveyed the room. Exactly like the last six. He glanced over at the radio. “Have they called—”

“Three times, on the hour. Asking for you. They’re losing patience.”

Robert thought about what to say. “What did you tell them?” The answer would tell him where they shook out in all this.

“We didn’t answer the first call. The second said they were sending backup. We told them you were working on the drill, and we needed no assistance. What did you see?”

The last question sent Robert’s mind racing.
What if they’re testing me? What if they talked to the employer and they have orders to kill me? Can I trust them?
“I didn’t…” Winters started.

“Look, I ain’t no genius, hell, I didn’t even graduate high school, but I’ve worked an oil rig in the Gulf my whole life, and I know we ain’t drilling for oil, so why don’t you tell us what you saw?”

Robert sat at the small table with the radio. He suddenly felt so tired. And hungry. He pulled his hood off, then his gloves. “I’m still not sure. There were monkeys. They killed them with something. Then I saw kids, in a glass cage.”

CHAPTER 108

Clocktower Safe House
Gibraltar

Kate tried to estimate the distance between the balconies. Four feet? Five feet? Could she make it? Below, she heard a guard walking by, and she crept back into her room. She listened. The “crunch, crunch, crunch” of fine gravel under the man’s feet slowly faded into the distance. She returned to the balcony.

She stepped to the edge and put one leg over, straddling the rail, then cartwheeled the other leg over. She stood on the four inch lip outside the rails, which she held with both hands behind her back. Could she make it?

She reached a leg out, holding the rail with one hand, like a ballet dancer in a lunge during a high note. She extended as far as she could, felt her grip slipping on the rail, and almost fell. She reeled back just in time and slammed back into the rail. She was going to break her neck. The other balcony was just out of reach — less than two feet.

She leaned back against the rail and was about to jump for it when the door on the other balcony slid open and David walked out. He drew back at the first sight of her, but then, after recognizing her, he walked to the rail. He smiled at her. “How romantic.” He held out his good arm. “Jump. I’ll pull you up. I owe you one.”

Kate glanced down. She could feel the sweat on her hands. David held his arm out over the rail. It was a few feet from her. She jumped, and he caught her and pulled her over the rail and into his arms. Then it all happened so fast, like a dream. He swept her into the room, not bothering to close the door. He tossed her on the bed and climbed on top of her. He pulled his shirt off and ran his hands through her hair. He kissed her on the mouth and pulled her shirt up, only lifting his face from hers long enough to pull the shirt past her face.

She had to tell him. Had to stop it.

Her bra was off, and his pants were coming off.

It felt so good. The release. They could talk after.

Kate watched David’s chest rise and fall. It was a deep sleep. She made her decision.

She put her clothes back on and quietly exited his room, slowly closing the door.

“I was clear.”

The voice frightened her. She turned — Keegan, standing behind her, wearing an expression of… sadness, disappointment, regret?

“I haven’t told him—”

“I doubt that—”

“It’s true.” Kate cracked the door, revealing David lying on his back, a sheet covering only the lower half of his body. Kate gently eased the door back. “We didn’t talk at all.” She looked down. “I was saying goodbye.”

30 Minutes later, Kate watched the lights of Northern Africa out of the window as the plane flew south toward Antarctica.

CHAPTER 109

“David, wake up.”

David opened his eyes. He was still naked, lying in the same place he’d fallen asleep. He felt the bed beside him. Empty. Cold. Kate had been gone for hours.

“David.” Howard Keegan stood over him.

David sat up. “What is it? What time is it?”

His former mentor handed him a note. “It’s around 2am. We found this note in Kate’s room. She’s gone.”

David opened the note.

—————

Dear David,

Don’t hate me. I have to try to make a trade for the children. I know you’re attacking Immari Headquarters this morning. I hope you’re successful. I know what they’ve taken from you.

Good luck,

~ Kate

—————

David’s mind raced. Would Kate do this? Something felt wrong.

“We think she left several hours ago. Anyway, I thought you should know. I’m sorry, David.” Howard walked to the door.

“Wait.” David eyed him, thinking. What option did he have? “I know where she’s gone.”

Howard turned and looked at David skeptically.

“We were given a journal in Tibet.” David dressed as he spoke. “It contained a map of the tunnels below the Rock; there’s something down there, something they need.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. But I think she’s gone after it — to use it to trade. What’s our status?”

“Everyone’s suiting up. We’re almost ready for the assault.”

“I need to speak with them.”

Thirty minutes later, David was leading the final 23 Clocktower agents in the world through the tunnels under the Rock of Gibraltar. He had told the men that he had to go — that he had to find Kate — and that he might be delayed in joining the assault. His role was largely ceremonial anyway. His wounds, especially the leg wound, disqualified him from playing an active role in the assault. He would be at a desk watching the screens and readouts, coordinating the men during the operation.

His fellow agents had agreed unanimously: they would stay together, investigate the tunnels first, recover Kate, then resume the original plan. The boon from the chamber in the tunnels could offer some tactical advantage in the main operation.

They had anticipated little resistance at the warehouse, and they weren’t disappointed. The warehouses weren’t even guarded. Or locked, although they had been. The Clocktower team found a common combination lock, the kind used on high school lockers, laying on the ground, snapped in half. Clearly Kate’s work. Apparently Immari had abandoned the site a long time ago and regarded it as low-value. The lack of security still made David suspicious.

The entrance to the tunnels was just as the journal described it — and in almost the same condition. A black tarp had been thrown off the opening, and the lights leading into the mine were on. Inside the tunnels, there was one change: an electric car system, like a monorail tram with single cars, had been added to provide swift, safe transport through the tunnels. Each car held two passengers, and the team piled into about a dozen cars, with Howard and David riding in the first car. After the dizzying spiral down into the mine, the tunnel straightened and began forking. David hadn’t anticipated this — he had assumed the Immari would have closed any dead ends. The map in the journal was of the inside of the Atlantis structure; he had no idea which way to go at the forks. There was no choice; they began dividing their forces and unfortunately, the rail lines kept forking until David and Howard rode alone, hopefully on the right track.

The plan was to rendezvous at the entrance in one hour. That would still leave time for the pre-dawn raid at Immari Gibraltar.

David stared straight ahead as the tunnel’s lights flew by in an endless monotony. What was he missing? Howard worked the car’s controls, managing their speed. Somewhere, far off in the distance, three faint, rapid-fire pops rang out. David looked over at Howard, and they shared a knowing glance. Howard slowed the car and they waited for more sounds, hoping to discern the direction.

“We can reverse,” Howard said quietly.

They waited. The tunnels were quiet. What to do? The sound was clearly gunfire, but David wasn’t in fighting condition and Howard was in intelligence, but he was a manager, not a soldier. Neither could offer any real resistance. In fact, they would probably be in the way.

“No, we go on,” David said.

Five minutes later, they heard another bout of gunfire, but they didn’t stop. Five minutes after that, they reached the room that opened onto the Atlantis structure. The steps lay in the center of the room, fully uncovered. To the right was the jagged opening the journal had described. David could also see the rest of the structure, but it was mostly smooth dark metal. Massive iron I-beams reached high overhead, holding the rock and sea at bay.