At that moment, Tyndareus’s amplified voice issued from speakers on the suit. The microphone also picked up the sound of his ventilator-assisted breathing, which made him sound like a geriatric Darth Vader. “Dr. Kenner. You’ve returned.” There was a note of undisguised suspicion in the voice.
Kenner assumed a contemptuous air. “No thanks to your man there.” He jerked his head in Rohn’s direction and scowled. “He ran like a coward, and left me to die in the jungle.”
“Yet, here you are. And with Dr. Gallo. Very resourceful of you.”
“Not really. If you want the truth of it, I’ve spent the last few days as a guest of Dr. Pierce and the Herculean Society.”
The unexpected admission stunned Gallo. If Kenner was still playing a part, he was way off script. She hugged Fiona again, but before she could repeat her warning, Kenner continued.
“They know everything. That’s how I was able to find you. They’re out there right now, preparing to attack.”
Gallo gasped. “Liam, you son of a bitch!”
Rohn started barking orders to the other men, but Tyndareus raised one armored hand. “And I am to believe they just allowed you to wander out here, with Dr. Gallo as a hostage?”
“Of course not. I convinced them that I was on their side. Not hard to do given who you really are, Herr Doktor Mengele.”
“You know this, and yet here you are?”
Kenner shrugged. “What you did in the past does not concern me. What you may accomplish in the future is a different matter entirely.” He stabbed a finger at the rock slab behind Fiona and Gallo. “Beyond that wall lies the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. A mutagen that will allow us to take absolute control of evolution, to rewrite the source code of life. Pierce and his merry little band believe it’s their mission to keep it secret. To hide it from the rest of us. That kind of paternalism disgusts me.” His eyes drifted to Gallo, and he locked stares with her. “Even if I had no other reason to hate him, that would be enough.”
He tore his gaze away and looked at Tyndareus again. “He’ll be here any moment. You really ought to be getting ready for that.”
Electronically enhanced laughter burbled from the TALOS suit. “You’ve made a believer out of me, Dr. Kenner. Vigor, take care of it.”
As Rohn began marshalling his forces to prepare for the imminent attack, Tyndareus spoke again. “Your return is more fortuitous than you may realize, Dr. Kenner. If this is indeed the gate to the Underworld, then it is closed to us. I trust you possess the knowledge to unlock it.”
Kenner stared at the wall for a moment. “No. I’m rather afraid I don’t. But she does.” He pointed at Fiona.
“That’s absurd,” Gallo said. “Leave her out of this, Liam.”
“She’s a genius with ancient languages,” Kenner continued. “She’s the one who figured out how to use the Phaistos Disc to navigate the Labyrinth in Crete. She figured out how to read Queen Hippolyte’s map in less than five minutes.”
He narrowed his gaze on Fiona as if peering into her soul. “There was something else on that map. An inscription in a language I’ve never seen before. Augustina avoided mentioning it, but I think the girl knows how to read it. And I think it contains instructions on how to find a way in.”
Tyndareus turned his bulk around and marched toward Fiona. Although she felt foolish doing so, Gallo stepped in front of the man in the mechanical suit. “Leave her alone.”
“Is he correct?” The sound of Tyndareus’s wheezy voice issuing from the speakers of the metallic behemoth was almost absurdly comical. “Is there an inscription on the map? Something that points to the door to the Underworld?”
“Of course not,” Gallo answered, but then she heard a small voice from behind her.
“Yes.”
Gallo’s heart broke. “Oh, Fi….”
“Yes, there is,” Fiona said, a little louder. “And I know what it says. I might be the only person alive who knows what it says.”
Tyndareus leaned closer, the suit poised like a lion getting ready to pounce. “You can read it? What does it say? Is there a secret door? Can you open it?”
Gallo turned her head, lowering her voice to an urgent whisper. “Fi, don’t help him.”
“Is Uncle George really here?” Fiona asked.
“With friends.”
“Good.” As exhausted and broken as she appeared, there was something indomitable in her smile. “You need to trust me, Aunt Gus. Everything is going to be okay.” She stepped out from behind Gallo. “Yes. I can. But first, you have to let my aunt go.”
Almost before she finished the sentence, one of Tyndareus’s metal gauntlets shot out and wrapped around Gallo’s throat. Both her hands shot up, but the mechanically assisted grip was unbreakable. She felt the pressure increase and heard her vertebrae popping as he lifted her off the ground. She managed to wrap both hands around his wrist so that her neck was not bearing the entire weight of her body, but she knew it was a losing battle. In a moment, she would pass out, and then her neck would snap.