The water was rushing back over the broken ship, and the image returned to the lab and the Atlanteans. One of them had been thrown against the bulkhead. The body was limp. Dead? The surviving Atlantean hoisted the Neanderthal like a rag doll and shoved him into a tube. His strength was amazing. David wondered if it was the suit or his natural strength.
The Atlantean turned to his partner and hoisted him up. The image winked out as the man left the room. The hologram followed him as he ran through the ship. He was thrown about — no doubt as the waves rocked the ship and it floated lifelessly to the bottom of the sea. Then he was in the chamber where Craig and David now stood. He worked the panels for a moment. He didn’t actually touch the controls, he merely worked his fingers above them as he held his partner on his shoulder.
The computers shut down one by one.
“We think he’s activating the Bell here. An anti-intrusion device to keep animals like us out. It makes sense. Then he powers off the computers. We’re still scratching our heads at this next part.”
On the hologram, the room was almost dark except for the faint glow of emergency lights. The man stepped to the rear of the room and touched something on his forearm. A door slid open before him. David followed it with his eyes — the door was there, but it had the spear in it now. The Atlantean looked around, paused, and walked through. The door shut behind him — with no spear in it.
David looked back to the door.
“Don’t bother.” Craig shook his head, as if disappointed. “We’ve tried. For hours now.”
“What’s in the door?” David stepped closer to it.
“Not sure. A couple of scientists think it’s the Spear of Destiny, but we’re not sure. We think Patrick, or rather Tom Warner, had it down here, trying to cut a hole in the door or something.”
David edged closer. “The Spear of Destiny?” David knew what it was, but he needed to buy some time and distract Craig.
“Yes. You don’t know it?”
David shook his head.
“Kane was obsessed with it, and Hitler after him. The legend is that the spear was stabbed into the side of Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross, killing him. The ancients believed that any army that possessed the spear could never be defeated. When Hitler annexed Austria, he took the spear, and he only lost it a few weeks before Germany surrendered. It’s one of the many artifacts we collected over the years, hoping it, or anything else from antiquity, would provide clues to the Atlanteans.
“Interesting,” David said as he grabbed the end of the spear. He pulled at it, and he felt the door move, if only slightly. He pulled harder, and the spear came free. He dropped his cane and lunged through the door as Craig pulled his gun out and began firing.
CHAPTER 118
Immari Research Base Prism
East Antarctica
“No, don’t shoot them!” Dorian yelled into the radio, but it was too late. He watched the second man take two shots to the chest, and the third fall from shots to the shoulder and abdomen. “Stop firing! I will shoot the next idiot who pulls the trigger!”
The gunshots ceased, and Dorian walked out into the open space toward the last man. At the sight of Dorian, he began crawling for his gun, leaving a trail of thick blood as he went.
Dorian jogged to the gun and kicked it to the far wall of the lab. “Stop. I don’t want to hurt you. In fact, I’ll get you some help. I just want to know who sent you.”
“Sent me?” The man coughed, and blood ran down his chin.
“Yes—” Dorian’s ear piece crackled, and he looked away from the dying man.
One of the station techs came on. “Sir, we’ve ID’ed the men. They’re ours — one of the drill teams.”
“A drill team?”
“Yes. They’re actually the team that found the entrance.”
Dorian turned back to the man. “Who sent you?”
The man looked confused. “Nobody… sent us…”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I saw…” The man was losing more blood now. The shot in the gut would do him in soon.
“Saw what?” Dorian pressed.
“Children.”
“Oh for God’s sake,” Dorian said. What was the world coming to? Even oil rig operators were bleeding-heart softies these days. He raised the gun and shot the man in the head. He turned and walked back to his Immari Security unit. “Clean this up—”
“Sir, something’s happening in portal control.” The soldier looked up. “Someone just launched the basket.”
Dorian’s eyes drifted toward the floor, then darted back and forth. “Martin. Send a team — secure the control station. No one leaves that room.” A thought ran through Dorian’s mind: the basket was launched. Kate. “How much time?”
“Time?”
“The bombs the children are carrying.”
The Immari security agent took out a tablet, tapped at it, then looked up, “less than fifteen minutes.”
She might still reach them. “Cut the cord on the basket,” Dorian said. It was a fitting end. Kate Warner — Patrick Pierce’s daughter — would die in a cold dark tunnel, just as Dorian’s brother Rutger had.
CHAPTER 119