The roar of the river was growing even louder as Jack came close to passing out for lack of air. Suddenly the dark world filled with light and the waters warmed by twenty degrees as Jack kicked upward. The great current died out as he broke the surface into bright daylight. As he took in great gulps of air, he was never so glad to see the sun as it set low over the western horizon.
As he placed his arm around Dahlia’s neck and started kicking, he felt hands and arms around him, pulling him through the water until his feet started dragging in the mud. He was pulled onto the hot sand lining the river. He heard Dahlia coughing and throwing up water next to him and he angrily shoved her body away from his own.
“Damn, Jack, you caught the biggest fish in this damn river,” Everett said as he leaned down and made sure that the woman wasn’t going to choke to death. “Freshwater piranha, I believe.”
Collins coughed up water and rolled onto his stomach. Then he turned and looked at Everett.
“Next time we stay and shoot it out. That was not fun,” he said as he looked beyond Carl. “We lose anyone?”
“All accounted for. Will broke his nose, Professor Leekie is crying about losing the temple, and Ryan is bitching that he lost his wallet, but it looks like we’ll all live.”
Jack pushed himself into a sitting position and looked from Carl to the blond woman lying on her stomach.
“We better find a phone and pass on the bad news.”
“Think she’ll talk?”
Collins stood on shaky feet, trying to clear his head. Then he looked down at the woman, who was just coming to.
“Yeah, she’ll talk, or she may find herself being left in a country where people disappear all the time.”
AMERICAN CONSULATE
ADDIS ABBA, ETHIOPIA
Jack, Carl, Mendenhall, and Ryan were standing behind the two-way glass looking into the interview room. Virginia, feeling sick after her supersonic flight from Nellis onboard an F-15 Eagle, was to handle the interview with Lorraine Matheson—Coalition code name Dahlia—who was presently sitting in a straight-back chair with her hands cuffed to its armrests.
In Nevada, Sarah and her geology team were watching the video feed in hopes of gaining an advantage in their scroll research.
“And they developed this Wave technology from copies of the same scrolls we have in our possession?” Virginia asked, with her arms placed firmly across her chest. Her demeanor was calm, but inside she was seething that this woman could order death and assassination as easily as ordering breakfast.
Dahlia was dressed in the same clothes she’d been wearing when she was apprehended. Virginia understood, from a woman’s point of view, that this was grating on her.
“Yes.”
Jack had received Dahlia’s background check from Europa, who had hacked the FBI mainframe and pulled out her rather mundane file from its stored archives. Lorraine Matheson was the daughter of a wealthy author and was a graduate of U.C., Berkeley. She had squandered some years at the CIA as a researcher before finding the job boring. All through her young life, she had tried to be the exact opposite of her left-wing father and friends. She had eventually quit the CIA and drifted into freelance work in 1978. That was where her file ended.
“We know that certain members of the Coalition are related by blood to other Ancients, so they have heard the same stories about the Atlantean Key and the Wave being the cause of the destruction of Atlantis. Why does this Tomlinson believe he can control it?”
“His science teams estimate that the Wave will be enhanced by twenty million decibels, and the tone grooves on the diamond are a pinpoint decibel control for specific faults and their geologic makeup. That’s all I’ve learned from Tomlinson; he’s rather tight-lipped about his plans.”
In Nevada, at the mention of geologic makeup, Sarah started thinking. The familiar thought was again at the edge of her memory, then it was gone.
“What is the Coalition’s ultimate goal in all of this madness—to take over the world?” Virginia asked.
“You really don’t understand anything, do you? The Coalition is out to eliminate the leadership of nations that are a drain on the material wealth of others. They play games with the support offered by building up armed forces used for only one purpose: the subjugation of their own people. Tomlinson seeks to eliminate them from the world stage. Not their people, as in the past attempts, but their leadership.”
“If this is so, why the assassinations of western leaders and why a war in Korea that could bring down or weaken the United States?”
“The United States has always favored the status quo of the world. A weakened America will be swayed to mind its own affairs. Leaders financed wholly by the Coalition will receive the wealth of the world—food, money, and comforts will be supplied to their people. You see, why conquer when you can purchase. The use of the Wave is for those countries that will not let go of the old ways. It expeditious,” Dahlia said with a smile.
Jack and Everett walked in and handed Virginia a file folder.
“Before we concern ourselves with the real questions you will be asking, have you delved into the more recent materials concerning your friends the Ancients?”
Collins just looked at the woman, not really concerned with what she had to say about Martha and Rothman.
“I think you may be somewhat shocked that they are not the innocents you may have been led to believe.” Dahlia raised one eybrow and smirked.
Virginia sat in front of Dahlia and looked at her without saying anything for a moment. Jack and Carl stood with their backs against the glass and waited.
“I believe at this point I should be asking for legal counsel,” Dahlia said, looking from face to face.
“Nah, we don’t use ’em,” Everett said from his place next to Jack.
Virginia opened the folder and pulled out a sheet of paper, then turned it around and laid it so that Dahlia could read it clearly.
“Do you recognize the letterhead on this document?” she asked.
The seal of the president of the United States was embossed at the top.
Dahlia looked and then leaned back in her chair. “Yes.”
“Do you see the signature?”
“I have.”
“This document clears you of all crimes committed in the United States and her allied treaty nations. In essence, Ms. Matheson, you are hereby pardoned before the facts are brought to public knowledge of the brutal crimes committed against the citizens of the United States. It is a document the new president did not want to sign. Am I clear on this point?”
Dahlia didn’t blink an eye; she only waited.
Virginia frowned and placed the letter back into the file folder and started to stand. She was playing this out like an experienced trial lawyer.
“You are clear,” Dahlia said before Virginia could stand.
“Good.” She removed the letter once again and slid it over to the woman. “Now, the sooner you answer a few questions from my two colleagues here, the sooner you can sign this and then take that much-needed shower and change of clothes you’re desperate for.”
Collins walked over behind Dahlia and removed her right handcuff.
“Where is he?” he asked, still standing behind her.
Dahlia looked at the document in front of her and then up at Virginia, avoiding Jack as much as she could.
“Crete.”
“Why Crete?”
“Because that’s where the Coalition will make their final assault.”
“How many?” Jack asked, finally turning around.
“Far more than you can handle. I believe your armed forces have far more pressing issues in Korea at the moment, as per Tomlinson’s plan.”
“How many?” Jack persisted.
“Two thousand defensive troops; I don’t really know.”
“Equipment?”
“I don’t know.”
“Again, why Crete?”
“You won’t be able to get to them there. He’s
deep underground,” she answered, finally looking Collins in the eyes, and then she smirked.
“Why?”
“To use the Wave, complete with Atlantean Key. He will attack Russia and China. That is everything I know.”
Virginia placed the pen on the presidential decree. “Sign it.”
Dahlia scribbled her name, never looking away from Collins.
Carl walked over and took the pen, then undid the other cuff. He helped her to her feet and pulled her toward the door.
“Come on, petunia, let’s get you to a bar of soap. You’re a little ripe.”
Before Everett could pull her through the door, Dahlia stopped and turned to Jack.
“I can’t resist, Colonel. I do have one more piece of information. Why Crete, you asked,” she said, starting to laugh. “Tomlinson is in a city that sank fifteen thousand years ago. Good luck assaulting Atlantis, Colonel.”
Everett pulled Dahlia away, but her laughter lingered.
EVENT GROUP CENTER
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA
Sarah was in the examination room, deep in thought as she perused one of the ancient scrolls as one of the professors from the Ancient Languages Department sat beside her, explaining a strange design pattern.
“How they even knew about the North and South American continents is anyone’s guess. They must have had exploration vessels that at the very minimum rivaled the Vikings’ ship design.”
Sarah was only half listening as the small memory of the Wave pattern still flickered just beyond her grasp.
“Now, this particular pattern here, according to Europa, is a close match for the continental plate that North America sits on. I say ‘resembles’ because the fault lines listed by these swirls and valleys are not accurate, nor the ones here, closest to Russia. I really don’t know what they are. Without some understanding of their science, we may never know.”
Sarah turned to the professor. “Excuse me?”
“Without some understanding of—”
“No, not that. You say Europa didn’t recognize the fault lines on the scroll the Ancients created?”
“No, she didn’t. The blue swirls listed are accurate faults, but the thicker red lines are a mystery. So either the Atlanteans knew something we didn’t and placed faults and plates that we can’t see today, or—”
Sarah jumped up and ran out of the clean room. She took the elevator down to the engineering lab, where Pete Golding was still studying the plate and its hologram. Sarah ran right into the middle of the floating map and started looking for a design she had seen earlier.
“Sarah, what’s the matter?” Pete asked.
Sarah finally found the design she had seen during the demonstration. It was a Key they hadn’t recognized earlier. As she examined it, Pete started looking over her shoulder.
“This fault pattern here, Europa has confirmed it is accurate. This line here beneath it is the continental plate, the same here in Europe and Asia. I didn’t recognize patterns in the shape of the continents earlier—only the North and South American plates, because of their unique shape. What’s confusing me is that this same pattern is on the map Jack recovered from Westchester. Now that I see it on the hologram, I can tell it runs under both the faults and the tectonic plates. Now look at this,” she said to Pete as her fingers traced a series of lines that led from one plate to the next, to the next, and so on. Some of the lines branched out and dwindled to nothing, like the branches of a tree, while the thicker, stronger lines connected the tectonic plates of the world by underground magma veins.
“What are you saying?”
“Somehow, the Atlantean scientists found a way to map what we can’t do today. They found out that all the continents and the plates they sit on are in actuality connected.”
Pete looked closer at the design, then his eyes widened as he finally pieced together what Sarah was driving at.
“Any massive assault on one tectonic plate could trigger a chain reaction around the world.”
“Wouldn’t the Coalition … wouldn’t they have seen this?” Pete asked.
“Not without this three-dimensional design they wouldn’t. They didn’t have the plate map, so they could never have known about it.”
“Oh, Sarah, if they use this device on any of these major plates—”
“They could either shift entire continents … or blow the planet to hell.”
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The most important meeting in the long and storied history of the Event Group was about to begin. The president’s National Security Council was about to be formally introduced to several of the Event Group members. The Group’s background would remain hidden from them, as the council thought they were to be briefed by Compton’s secret think tank. Nevada and Ethiopia could see the council via video link.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are very short of time here. The briefings will be short and to the point. Questions will be relayed to me and I will ask them,” Niles said, sitting at the head of the table next to the president.
“Secretary of Defense Johnson, if you please.”
“As of this moment, the situation in Korea, while not yet stable, has cooled somewhat. We have pulled back all defensive troops from the border and have entrenched around Seoul. The armored divisions of Kim Jong Il have not made any threatening gestures as of yet, but CIA reports there is tension between Kim and at least one of his generals in the field. We will get more on that in the next few hours. On reinforcing, we have deployed the Hundred and First and Eighty-second Airborne to act as rapid deployment out of Japan.”
As everyone watched, pictures started flashing on monitors in Washington, Nevada, and Addis Abba.
“The Chinese and Russians are massing heavy bomber and fighter forces at their Pacific bases. They are not lowering their defense status even with the Coalition evidence we have provided them. We have the Eisenhower and Nimitz carrier groups steaming for the Sea of Japan, but it will take at least five more days to deploy them defensively.” The secretary paused and removed his glasses. “We are spread thin. If anything outside of Korea erupts, we will be desperate to cover it.”
Niles nodded in thanks. Then he turned to the head of the FBI. “Any word on the forensics end from Chicago?”
“We have concluded that none of the bodies found inside the house are that of William Tomlinson. We must surmise he escaped,” he said angrily.
“Mr. President, my people have come up with several pieces of information that will be important to this meeting. I ask that close attention be paid to the military aspects of what is said because the shortages the secretary of defense spoke of are a very serious problem if what we think is happening is accurate.”
The president nodded.
“Several of you know Colonel Jack Collins. Colonel, explain what you have uncovered on the Coalition and its whereabouts, please.”
As briefly as possible, Jack explained what they had learned about the Coalition thus far. He explained the confrontation and failure at Pearl Harbor and the results of Dahlia’s interrogation. Then came the shocker.
“In essence, the Coalition is going to strike at the Chinese and Russian nations within a short time frame. We have traced the Coalition hierarchy to a base on Crete, and this base is heavily defended.”
“Ken, we need intelligence on this Crete operation as soon as possible,” the president said.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs nodded. “I will order photo recon overflights immediately.”
“May I recommend satellite surveillance only, or we may tip our hand that we know where they are,” Collins stated from the Ethiopian consulate.
“General, this will involve retasking a few satellites. You better get Space Command on it right away,” the president ordered.
“Now, Jack, do we have any ideas on how we can assault the island with the few assets we have in the area?” Niles asked.
“A nuclear strike is out of the question
because of the civilian population. Even if we could manage evacuating the populace, we believe the Coalition operation is under ground—very deep under ground, where air strikes are not possible. I’m afraid we have to do this the hard way.”
“Colonel Collins, on Dr. Compton’s recommendation, I am placing you in command of all operations outside of the actual assault. General Caulfield will coordinate with field command. Gentlemen, plan it well.”
The president didn’t say it outright, but he had just ordered the planning stage for the invasion of Atlantis.
PART FOUR
ATLANTIS
14
THE DMZ (THE BORDER OF NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA)
Major General Ton Shi Quang was looking at the opportunity of a lifetime. The Americans had retreated without a shot fired, leaving positions that had been prepared since the end of the conflict in the 1950s.
Thus far, he had been on the phone no fewer than five times to the Great Leader himself, telling him that he could make an offensive run right around the Americans and destroy the South Korean army, which was sitting up defensive positions two hundred miles farther south. The American Second Infantry Division would be completely cut off, where they would die or be forced to surrender.
Of course, Quang knew that he wouldn’t be there for the great victory or when the Americans started lobbing nuclear weapons onto his troops. Instead, he would be far from the battle zone, waiting for his Coalition partners to make him a very, very rich man.
Still, the Great Leader was hesitant, as if the Americans were starting to get the full truth through to his addled brain. He could not allow Kim to fade in his desire to get retribution for the earthquakes. The Chinese and the Russians had swayed him in order to allow things to settle over the last two days. General Quang now had to start the war in earnest, which was what he was being paid for.
He studied the intelligence reports and matched them with the large sand table. The Americans had left close to two thousand troops behind to guard combat engineers who were undoubtedly laying traps and tank obstacles to slow him down. As commander in the field, he had the option and the right to attack these troops if he thought them a danger for any future attack.
Ancients: An Event Group Thriller Page 34