Nothing.
He walked back to the cave. It was cold inside. Deathly cold. He tried to turn the stranded snowmobile on, but it was out of gas. How? Had they followed him and barely made it back? No — the tracks were old. They had run it here in the cave. Why? To keep warm? Yes, probably. They had waited as long as the could, until it sputtered out and the warmth receded. Then they had climbed on the last snowmobile and left together. But where had they gone?
CHAPTER 104
Immari Research Base Prism
East Antarctica
“I beg you not to do this, Dorian.” Martin stepped in front of the door and spread his arms.
“Be reasonable, Martin. You know the time has come.”
“We don’t know that—”
“What we do know is that a huge chunk of their city has broken off. And that one of their Bells was activated almost 75 years ago — we have the bodies from the sub as proof. You want to take the risk? We both know they’ll come out of hibernation soon, if they haven’t already. We don’t have time to research and debate. If they march out of there, the human race is finished.”
“You assume—”
“I know it. You know it. We’ve seen what the Bell can do. And that’s just the porch light over the stoop — the doorway to the type of cities we won’t be capable of building for thousands of years, assuming we’re even capable of inventing technology on their scale. Imagine what weapons they have in there. The Bell is simply a bug-zapper to keep the beasts from disturbing their rest. They don’t want anyone inside there for a reason. I’m ensuring our survival. This is the only way.”
“An act of this magnitude, based upon so much conjecture—”
“Great leaders are forged from the fire of hard decisions,” Dorian said. “Now stand aside.”
Inside the cell, Dorian knelt down to look the two Indonesian children in the face. They sat on a white bench, just outside the primate lab. Their feet dangled a few inches above the ground.
“I bet you two are glad to be out of those suits, aren’t you?”
The boys just stared at him.
“My name is Dorian Sloane. What are your names?”
The boys’ eyes were a blank stare that drifted slowly from Dorian to the floor.
“That’s ok, we don’t need names to play this game. The name game is boring anyway. We’re going to play a better game, a very fun game. Have you ever played hide and seek? It was my favorite game as a child. I was very good at it.” He turned to his assistant. “Get the packs from Dr. Chase.”
Dorian fixed the boys with a stare. “We’re going to put you inside a maze, a giant maze. Your job is to find a certain room.” Dorian held out a picture. “You see this? This is a room with a lot of glass tubes in it. Tubes big enough to hold a man! Can you believe it? If you can find this room, and hide in it, you’re going to win the prize.” Dorian laid the glossy printout on their laps. It was a computer rendering — an extrapolation of what the Immari thought a large tube room might look like.
The boys each studied it. “What prize?” one of them asked.
Dorian spread his hands. “That would be my question too. My, you’re clever, so very clever.” Dorian looked around. What prize indeed. He hadn’t thought they would ask. He hated kids. Almost as much as their questions. “We actually have several prizes. What…what prize would you like?”
The other boy put the printout on the bench. “Kate.”
“You want to see Kate?” Dorian said.
Both boys nodded, matching the rhythmic motion of their dangling legs.
“Well, I tell you what. If you find that room, and hide there, and wait, Kate will come and find you.” Dorian nodded when the boys’ eyes got bigger. “That’s right. I know Kate. We’re old friends, actually.” Dorian smiled to himself, for the inside joke, but the grin had the desired effect. The boys bounced subtly on the bench, excited.
A lab assistant entered with the packs. “Here they are, sir.” He helped Dorian put the packs on the children. “The snap activates the warheads. We’ve tried our best to make them tamper-resistant. If the snaps are disconnected, the warheads will detonate. As you requested, once they’re activated, there’s no manual or remote deactivation. We set the countdown for five hours.”