“Questions are surfacing in your mind. Why can’t we go public? Why not enlist the help of governments around the world? I wish we could, truly. It would ease my conscience about what has to be done. Indeed, your conscience is the other enemy you will fight in the days to come. And going public would also lift the burden, the proverbial weight of the world — knowing we weren’t the last line of defense, that help was coming, that there were others battling the enemy, that we could fail. But we cannot fail, just as we cannot reveal the details of the threat. It’s the same reason I can’t tell you all the details, why I can’t sit here and justify every last thing I’m about to ask you to do, though I wish I could. If we went public, the result would be mass panic, hysteria, a meltdown of society at the very instant we must stay intact. There are seven billion people on this planet. Imagine if they knew we were facing extinction. Our goal is to save the lives we can. There won’t be a lot of them, but if we all do our part, we can ensure that the human race survives. Those are the stakes. And we aren’t just facing the great threat. There are other, smaller obstacles. Governments, media, intelligence agencies. We can’t beat them, but we can hold them at bay long enough for our plan to work. And that’s what we must set about doing, right now. The packets my men are passing out are your assignments — subgroups, responsibilities, your marching orders. The actions are drastic, but so is our situation.”
Dorian squared on the crowd. “I am a soldier. I was born into this. I’ve dedicated my life to this cause. My father gave his life for this cause. Our cause. But I know you are not a soldier. You’ve been drafted, but I won’t ask you to do what you’re not capable of doing. That would be cruel, and I am not a cruel man. Immari is not a cruel organization. If, at any point, you cannot participate in the operation that follows, you can simply inform one of the Immari Security agents in my personal unit. There’s no shame in it. We are all links in a chain. If one link breaks, the chain breaks and then disaster happens. And that’s what this is all about — preventing disaster, no matter how it may seem. I thank you, and I wish you good luck.”
An Immari Security agent greeted Dorian as he exited the stage. “Great speech, boss.”
“Don’t patronize me. You need to keep a close eye on these people. Any one of them could sink the entire operation. Where are we on the primary task force?”
“The Immari components are assembling at the Clocktower Station HQ. The Clocktower agents are in the crowd. They should arrive when we do.”
“Good. Give everyone thirty minutes to compile their intel, then convene the group. Where are we on the trains?”
“We should have the roster of live and dead within the hour.”
“Speed it up. I want to have it for the meeting.”
CHAPTER 69
Milo swung the lantern back behind him, illuminating the stone steps. “Not much farther, Dr. Kate.”
They had descended the spiral stone staircase for what felt like an hour. Kate thought they must be at the center of the mountain or a mile below the monastery by now. Milo skipped down the stairs, carrying the lantern like a kid carrying a candy bag on Halloween night, never tiring, never stopping to rest. Kate’s legs burned. She hadn’t yet recovered from yesterday’s exertion. She dreaded the return trip up the stairs.
Up ahead, Milo had stopped again, waiting for her, but this time he stood on level ground — a large round opening at the base of the stairs. Finally. He stepped back and held the lantern out, illuminating a wooden tombstone-shaped door with a rounded top.
Kate waited for a moment, wondering if he was simply waiting on her again.
“Please go in, Dr. Kate. He’s waiting on you.”
Kate nodded and opened the door, revealing a cramped circular room. The walls were covered in maps and shelves that held glass bottles, figurines, and metal artifacts. The room was… medieval, like the ancient lab in the tower of a castle where someone with a name like Merlin or Archimedes might work. And there was a sorcerer in the room, or at least he looked like one. An old man sat at a shabby wooden desk, reading. He turned his neck slowly as if it pained him. He was Asian; his hair was long since gone, and his face was more wrinkled than any Kate had ever seen. He must have been more than 100 years old.
“Dr. Warner.” His voice was a whisper. He stood and ambled toward Kate, leaning heavily on his wooden cane.
“Mister…”
“There are no misters here, my dear girl.” He paused. Walking and talking were too taxing for him. He stared patiently at the stone floor while he gathered his breath. “Call me Qian. I have something for you. Something I’ve waited 75 years to give you. But first, I have something to show you. Could you help me with the door?” He motioned to a small wooden door Kate hadn’t seen before. It was no more than four feet tall. Kate opened the door and was relieved to see that the passage beyond was taller than the doorway. She waited at the door as Qian paced past her, stopping every few feet. How long had it taken him to get down here?
Kate looked into the corridor and was surprised to find that it was illuminated by modern LED lights. And it was short — no more than fifteen feet long. It seemed to dead end into a stone wall. It took Qian several minutes to reach the door, and when he did, he gestured toward a wooden button on the wall.
Kate pressed the button, and the stone wall began to rise up, like a false wall in an Indiana Jones movie. Kate felt air blowing past her feet, rushing into the room. It must have been sealed.