CHAPTER 60
Dorian Sloane motioned for Dr. Chang to put on one of the helicopter’s headsets.
Below them, another explosion rocked the complex, causing the helicopter to shudder then bank slightly away from it.
The second Chang’s headphones covered his ears, Dorian started in. “What the hell happened?”
“The Bell, some kind of problem.”
“Sabotaged?”
“No, or, I don’t think so. Everything was nominal, power, radiation output, but it… malfunctioned.”
“Impossible.”
“Look, we still don’t completely understand how it works, and it’s, you know, old, over 100,000 years old, and we’ve been using it non-stop for about 80 years—”
“This is not a warranty issue, Doctor. You need to figure out what happened—”
Another man broke onto the line. “Sir, there’s a call from the facility, the security chief, he says it’s urgent.”
Dorian tore off his headset and grabbed the sat phone. “What?”
“Mr. Sloane, we have another problem.”
“Don’t call me and tell me we have a problem. It’s quite apparent we have problems. Tell me what the fuck the problem is and quit wasting my time.”
“Oh course, I’m sorry—”
“What? Tell me!”
“The Bell room. It exploded. We think radiation could have escaped.”
Dorian’s mind raced. If the bodies — or even radiation — had escaped from the Bell room, he could still salvage Toba Protocol. He just had to sell it to the people on the ground.
“Sir?” the security chief said tentatively. “I’m initiating a quarantine per our SOPs, I just wanted to confirm—”
“No. We’re not establishing a quarantine—”
“But my orders—”
“Have changed. As has the situation. We need to rescue our people, Chief. I want you to devote all your resources to getting everyone onto the trains and away from the facilities. And put the bodies on the trains too. Their families deserve the right to bury them.”
“But won’t there be an outbreak—”
“You worry about getting those people on the trains. I’ll take care of the rest. There are factors you’re not aware of. Call me when the last train is away. Immari is a family. We don’t leave anyone behind. You understand me?”
“Yes sir, we won’t leave a single soul behind—”
Dorian disconnected the line and put his headset back on. He turned to Dmitry Kozlov, the Immari Security officer sitting across from him. “Did Chase get out with the nukes and children?”
“Yes, they’re on their way to the coast.”
“Good.” Dorian thought for a moment. They would get bodies from the Bell — that was the good news. But the explosions at the facility would draw attention. If the world found out what was at the site… 5,000 years of their work, of well-kept secrets… would all be lost, as would the Immari. “Launch drones from Afghanistan. As soon as the last train leaves, blow the facility.”