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.
David looked up, studying the area above the stairs. There was a huge dome and a place where the structure’s overhang had been cut away from above.
“What is it?” Howard said.
“This is where they extracted the Bell,” David said, almost to himself.
Howard walked to the stairs, put his foot on the first step and looked back at David.