“We can’t take the risk. Inject yourself, Konrad. It’s your only chance.”
Konrad flipped open the metal case and eyed the syringe for a second as the Bell beat louder. There was something else running down his face. He saw the red reflection in the glass of the helmet. How long did he have? Konrad snatched the syringe, pulled the plastic cover off the needle, and plunged it through his suit, into his arm. The case must have been some sort of warming device, but the liquid was still freezing as it flowed into his veins. “I’ve done it, now lift me up.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Konrad.”
Konrad felt wetness on his arms. It wasn’t sweat. The Bell thundered louder. He also felt strange, weak inside. “What have you done to me?”
Mallory leaned back in the chair, a satisfied look on his face. “Do you remember giving me that tour of the camp where you were testing the Bell? It was the early ‘30s, I don’t remember exactly when, but I do remember your speech, what you said to the workers to convince them to do those terrible things. I had wondered how you would pull it off. You said, ‘This is hideous work, but these people are giving their lives so that we can understand the Bell, so that we can save and purify the human race. Their sacrifice is needed. Their sacrifice will be remembered. The few die so the many can survive.’” Mallory shook his head. “I was so impressed, so enamored with you then. That was before you put me in a tube for 40 years, before you took my life. I was loyal. I played second fiddle for so many years, and look at how you repaid me. I won’t give you a second chance.”
“You can’t kill me. I am the Immari. They will never stand for it.” Konrad fell to his knees. He could feel the Bell beating in his heart, ripping him to shreds from the inside out.
“You aren’t the Immari, Konrad. You’re a science experiment. You’re a sacrifice.” Mallory shuffled some papers, then said something to someone off screen. He listened for a moment. “Good news, Konrad, we’re getting data from the suit. It should give us everything we need. We have a fetus with sustained Atlantis Gene activation — it’s actually the child of Kate Warner and Dieter. Talk about irony. Anyway, the trouble is, we needed a genome of the same genetic stock before Atlantis Gene activation. A parent, ideally. We also needed to track and test that genome as the Bell attacked it in order to understand exactly which genes and epigenetic factors are involved. As you’ll remember, it’s a lot of effort to disassemble a Bell, and then there’s the whole power issue.” Mallory waved his hand in the air nonchalantly. “So, we figured we’d just keep this Bell active, prep a syringe with the gene-tracking therapy and wait for you to walk out. I was never very good at speeches, not as good as you, but I was good at figuring out what people would do. And you’re very predictable, Konrad.”
Konrad spit blood as he fell face forward into the ice.
“I guess this is goodbye, old friend. As I said, your sacrifice will be remembered.” As Mallory finished, a man ran into the office. Mallory listened and then looked confused. “Gibraltar? When?”
CHAPTER 147
Kate held her breath as the portal door slid open. It was just as her father had said: a control room with tons of glass consoles. But there was someone there — a guard, leaning on a stool and reading a magazine.
At the site of Kate and the two boys, he gawked for a brief moment, then returned the stool to its four legs and scrambled to his feet. A magazine with a nude woman on the cover drifted to the floor as the guard grabbed an automatic rifle that had been leaning against the wall and pointed it at Kate. “Don’t move, Dr. Warner.” His face was hard. He pulled his shoulder close to his mouth and said, “This is Mills, Chamber 7, I’ve got them, Warner and both boys. Request assistance.”
Within ten seconds there were two more guards in the room. They searched all three of them with a brief pat down. The soldier in charge smiled as he pocketed the pistol from Kate. “Come with us,” he said.
CHAPTER 148
Mallory Craig paced in his office, waiting for news. He looked up when the Immari Imperial Agent entered. “We got the biometric data from Kane’s suit. Dr. Chang is analyzing it, but he says he needs the body.”
“Fine, get him the body. Where are we on Gibraltar?”
“They have Warner and the two children.”
“Which Warner?” Mallory snapped.
“The woman.”
What was Mallory missing?
“You want us to—”
“Has anyone else come out?”
“No.”
Craig sat down at the desk and began scribbling feverishly. When he had finished, he stood, stuffed the letter into an envelope, and scribbled an address on the outside. “I need you to deliver this.”
“What about Dr. Warner?”
Mallory looked out the window and thought. Had Vale and her father died in the tombs? “Hold the woman there. We need to interrogate her. And triple the guard on that room. Tell them I’m on my way.”
CHAPTER 149