The Atlantis Stone

by Alex Lukeman

  "Jesus," Harker said. "Fondling."

  She sat down, her coffee forgotten. A headache began, quick and sharp.

  "What were you thinking?" Stephanie said.

  "What do you mean, what was I thinking? We came out of the restaurant and he kissed me."

  "Don't go defensive on me, Elizabeth. We're going to have to do some damage control."

  "What control? There isn't a damn thing we can do that won't make it worse for Clarence."

  "What about you?"

  "What about me? You saw what it said. I'm the 'unknown female companion.' It's Clarence who has the bigger problem."

  "It's only a question of time until they figure out who you are," Stephanie said. "There are plenty of people who would love to see you knocked down."

  "I wonder if he's seen it yet. I'd better call."

  She got her phone out of her purse and dialed Hood's number. He picked up on the second ring.

  "Good morning, Elizabeth."

  "Have you seen the morning papers?"

  "I have. I was about to call you."

  "How do you think we should respond? They may not know who I am yet, but your enemies are going to come after you with their knives out. This is the kind of thing those idiots on the Hill love to get their hands on."

  "There isn't much we can do. Any action we take will make things worse. We'll have to ride it out."

  "And if the politicians come after you?"

  "I'll deal with that as I have to. Even the Director of the CIA is allowed to have a personal life."

  "All they have to do is insinuate suspicious activity and start one of their endless investigations."

  "There's one thing they need to take into account," Hood said.

  "What's that?"

  His voice took on a dark edge Elizabeth had never heard before. It reminded her that Hood headed up one of the most powerful government agencies in the world.

  "Their personal lives won't hold up to public scrutiny. By going after me, they're going after the Agency. It's not a good idea to take on the CIA. If they try to bring either one of us down over a kiss, they'll find they've opened Pandora's box. I won't let them involve you."

  "I always wanted a knight in armor."

  Hood chuckled. "If they come after us, they'll be the ones that need armor."

  "What do you think the president will do?"

  "I haven't heard from him yet, but the day is young. Rice will back us up. He doesn't like Congress any more than we do. He won't be happy about it though."

  "No, I don't expect he will."

  "I'm sorry you've been dragged before the public eye. From time to time these vultures follow me around, hoping for an opportunity like this."

  "It goes with the territory," Elizabeth said. "It hasn't happened to me before but I'm not high profile like you."

  "After this you may be."

  He paused. Elizabeth heard someone talking in the background.

  "I have to go," Hood said.

  "Let me know what the president says. For what it's worth, Clarence, that was a pretty good kiss."

  "Likewise, Elizabeth. I'll call you later."

  He disconnected. Elizabeth turned to Stephanie.

  "Let's get back to work. This is a distraction, but I'm not going to let it interfere. At least not much."

  "Unless you have something you want me to do, I'm working on the latest ISIS encryption scheme."

  "That's fine. I have to go through the morning brief for the White House. Until we hear from Nick, it's back to normal."

  "Normal?"

  "Whatever that is."

  Stephanie looked at the row of clocks on the wall.

  "He should check in soon."

  CHAPTER 26

  Selena answered the phone.

  "Yes."

  "This is the front desk. There is an envelope here for you, a message."

  "A message? Who is it from?"

  "I don't know. There is only an envelope, addressed to you."

  "Send it up, please."

  "We're busy at the moment," the clerk said. "There's no one to bring it up."

  "How long will it be?"

  "I am not sure, Madam. A while."

  Selena looked over at Nick and rolled her eyes.

  "All right. I'll come down and get it."

  Selena put the receiver down.

  "What was that about?"

  "That was the desk. Someone left a message for me."

  "How could anyone leave a message? Nobody knows you're here."

  "It's probably a mistake."

  "Have them send it up."

  "They won't do it."

  "Why not?"

  "The desk clerk made a lame excuse about being busy."

  "I'll go down with you."

  "Don't bother. It will only take a few minutes."

  Their room was in the short part of an L shaped corridor. Selena came out of the room and started for the elevators, around the corner of the L. She turned the corner and saw a man and a woman waiting for her.

  She had time to think I've seen them somewhere when the woman jabbed a Taser into her side. Selena convulsed. The electricity ripped through her, short-circuiting her nervous system. She collapsed onto the floor, twitching.

  "Quickly," Katerina said.

  Dimitri was a large man, a typical Spetsnaz soldier, bulked up and strong. He picked Selena up and headed toward the fire stairs at the other end of the corridor.

  Back in the room, Nick was having second thoughts about letting Selena go down to the desk alone. Something wasn't right. Who would leave her a message? No one knew they were in Egypt.

  His left ear began itching.

  Shit, he thought.

  Nick got up and left the room, running. He turned the corner of the L in time to see a man and a woman at the far end of the hall, opening the door to the fire stairs. The man carried Selena in his arms. Her arms and legs dangled loose, her head lolled.

  "Hey!" Nick yelled.

  He ran toward them and drew his pistol. They turned toward his shout.

  Dimitri dropped Selena, reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pistol.

  Nick fired, the sound rolling down the narrow confines of the hall like thunder. He missed and fired again and missed again. Bright flame leapt from the muzzle of Dimitri's gun. The bullet ripped through Nick's jacket sleeve and burned across his arm. Katerina ducked through the open door into the stairwell and disappeared from sight. The door slammed behind her.

  Nick squeezed off two more shots. A red blotch blossomed on Dimitri's white shirt. He staggered back against the wall and fired. The round passed close enough to feel it go by. Nick shot him again. Dimitri dropped his pistol and slid to the floor, leaving a wide smear of blood on the wall behind him.

  Quick footsteps sounded in the hall.

  "Nick."

  Ronnie had heard the shots and come running. His pistol was in his hand. He looked at the carnage, at Selena lying on the floor. She was conscious, struggling to regain control of her body.

  "Taser," she managed.

  "Shit, man, what happened?"

  Nick holstered his gun.

  "This guy grabbed Selena. There was a woman with him. It was that couple we saw at the temple."

  Someone opened a door to a room down the corridor. Ronnie turned, pointing his pistol.

  "Get back in your room," he shouted. The door slammed shut.

  "We'd better get out of here, fast," Nick said. "This place is going to be swarming with cops any minute."

  "You're hit," Ronnie said. There was blood on Nick's sleeve.

  "Only a scratch."

  They picked Selena up and went through the door into the emergency stairwell, guns at the ready. There was no sign of Katerina.

  "Can you move yet?" Nick asked.

  "If you hold me up."

  Nick and Ronnie held her between them and started down the stairs.

  Muscle control began to come back. They still had to support her.
She kept a grip on Ronnie's arm.

  Nick took out his phone and punched in Harker's code.

  "Nick."

  "Director, we have a problem. We need out of here yesterday."

  Elizabeth wasted no time asking why.

  "Can you make it to the embassy?"

  "We're still in Masrá Matruh and the embassy is in Cairo. We wouldn't make it. Every cop in a hundred miles will be after us."

  "Are you wounded?"

  "No."

  "How about the airport?"

  "They'll have it covered by the time we get there."

  "All right. Can you get to the harbor?"

  "I guess we have to."

  "Go to the harbor and find a boat. Head out from land and call me. I'll see what I can do."

  "Copy that." Nick disconnected.

  Ronnie looked at him with a question.

  "She said find a boat."

  They reached the ground floor. Nick cracked open the stairway door. Two cops armed with M16s were talking with the desk clerk. As Nick watched, they ran to the elevator.

  "Clear." He looked at Selena. "Can you walk now?"

  "I think so. If I lean on your arm."

  No one was looking in their direction.

  "Let's go."

  They entered the lobby and hurried to the entrance and out the glass doors. Taxis were lined up outside. They got into the first one.

  "Take us to the harbor," Nick said.

  "You like souvenirs?" the driver said. "My brother has a shop. Real antiques. You will like."

  "Just the harbor," Nick said. He handed the driver a twenty dollar bill. "No souvenirs. Get us there fast and there's another one of these for you."

  That was all it took. The taxi pulled away from the hotel, into heavy traffic. Nick thought he'd seen it all when it came to the insanity of taxi drivers but the Egyptian cabbie set a new standard.

  The driver wove in and out and pulled into opposing traffic to pass, squeezing back to the sound of horns and squealing brakes at the last moment before a head-on collision. More than once Nick was certain they were doomed. They reached the harbor and pulled to a stop. Selena sat rigid in the backseat, clenching the cracked vinyl. Ronnie's reddish-brown skin had gone pale. The driver turned to Nick and beamed at him. Several of his teeth were missing. A single gold crown gleamed in the ruin of his mouth.

  "Very fast, no? You are happy?"

  Nick forced himself to unclench his hands. He took out another twenty and gave it to the driver.

  "Very fast, yes."

  The driver handed Nick a card. "My brother's shop. You must come."

  They watched him drive away.

  "I thought we were going to die," Ronnie said.

  "He almost hit that bus head-on," Selena said. "We were doing at least sixty."

  "He got us here ahead of the cops. Let's find a boat."

  It was late afternoon, almost evening. The sun was moving toward the horizon in a gaudy display of orange and red and gold. A cooling breeze had begun off the Mediterranean.

  "Look for a boat with some range," Nick said.

  "How about that one?"

  Selena pointed at a fishing boat converted for tourists. The high bow and tall cabin were still the same, but the winches and nets had been replaced with tables and chairs under a faded green canopy.

  A sign on the pier advertised sunset cruises. A foreign couple stood by the sign. The man was arguing with an Egyptian wearing a dirty billed cap decorated with gold braid.

  As they came close, the man threw up his hands in disgust.

  "Let's go, my dear. I'm not going to pay a hundred dollars for an hour on this miserable excuse for a boat."

  The Egyptian made an obscene gesture and called out in Arabic as they walked away.

  "What did he say?" Nick asked Selena.

  "It wasn't nice. You don't want to know."

  The Egyptian captain watched them coming toward him.

  "You do the talking," Nick said. "Tell him we want a private cruise. Tell him we'll pay him in American dollars. Haggle with him on the price but not for long."

  The Egyptian smiled at them, hopeful.

  "Sunset cruise, very beautiful evening."

  Selena began talking to him in Arabic. He looked surprised that she could speak his language. He answered her. Selena shook her head and replied. The captain said something else. Selena turned to Nick.

  "Three hundred dollars. He wanted more."

  "Of course he did." Nick took out the money. "Give it to him."

  The Egyptian's smile grew wider at the site of the money. He took it and gestured at the boat.

  "I am Captain Ahmed. Please, this way."

  They followed him onto the boat. A boy thirteen or fourteen years old came out of the cabin.

  "My son Mohammed," the captain said. "Please, be comfortable. He will bring coffee."

  Five minutes later, they left the harbor. A police car pulled up at the far end of the pier as they cleared the breakwater.

  Mohammed brought a tray loaded with three glasses set in filigreed metal holders and a large brass pot with a long, narrow spout. He set the tray down and placed a glass before each of them. With casual ease he moved the pot up and down, sending the scalding coffee pouring in a perfect stream into the glasses.

  "Why do they do that?" Ronnie asked.

  "Do what?" Selena asked.

  "Pour the coffee from way up high like that."

  "It helps cool it down so you can drink it."

  "I thought it was just for show," Nick said.

  The sea was calm. With only a light chop, it was a perfect evening for a cruise. Under different circumstances it would have been a pleasant outing. Nick walked to the stern and took out his phone. The propeller turned and vibrated under his feet.

  "Director. We're away from the harbor."

  Elizabeth and Stephanie were in Elizabeth's office, looking at a moving green dot on the wall monitor that marked Nick's position.

  "I have your GPS marker," she said. "I need you to get farther away from shore. As far as possible in the next hour."

  "All right. What do you have in mind?"

  "Someone will pick you up. I'm working on it."

  "That doesn't sound very encouraging," Nick said.

  "You're going to have to live with it. What happened?"

  "Two people came after us. I guess it was the Russians. They tried to take Selena. They hit her with a Taser and were getting away when I stopped them."

  "They're dead?"

  "One of them is. The other was a woman who ducked away as soon as the shooting started. We had to get out of there in a hurry. There was no time to go back to the room. You won't believe what Selena found."

  "Nothing would surprise me about this mission," Elizabeth said.

  "She thinks she's found Atlantis."

  The call was on speaker. He heard Stephanie gasp in the background.

  "Now I'm surprised," Elizabeth said.

  "I'm not sure how long I can keep this boat out here."

  "You were a Marine. Find a way."

  "Aye, aye, Director."

  Harker disconnected. Nick went back to the others.

  "What did she say?" Ronnie asked.

  "She's working on it. Someone will pick us up."

  Ronnie looked out at the empty ocean. "In what?"

  They sat drinking coffee and watching the sunset.

  Selena gripped her glass in both hands.

  "How are you doing?" Nick asked her.

  "I've had it. I can't do this anymore."

  "What?"

  "You heard what I said. I'm not going to do this anymore. I'll see this mission through but after that, I'm done. Getting tasered is the last straw. Enough is enough."

  The Egyptian captain interrupted.

  "We go back now."

  "We want to stay out a while longer," Nick said.

  "No, is dark now. We go back."

  "How about another three hundred dollars for a few
more hours?"

  "American?"

  Nick took the bills out of his wallet. Another three hundred dollars was irresistible. They disappeared into the captain's pocket.

  "Two hours. No more. Then we go back."

  He climbed back up into the pilothouse.

  "What if we need more than two hours?" Ronnie asked.

  "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

  Two hours later the sea was still empty. The captain was giving them dark looks from the bridge.

  "We're going to have to persuade him to stay out longer," Nick said.

  "He's beginning to worry that something isn't right," Selena said.

  "We can't go back to the harbor. The cops will be waiting. I'll call Harker again."

  Nick took out his phone.

  Ronnie pointed off the port bow. "I don't think you need to talk to her," he said. "Our ride is here."

  The dark sail of a submarine broke the surface of the sea fifty yards away, a primal shape rising like Jonah's whale from the deep. Phosphorescent water cascaded in streams off the long, rounded hull as the deck appeared. A hatch opened high on the side of the sail.

  "Lamont ought to be here. He'd love this," Ronnie said.

  An officer appeared at the hatch with a bullhorn. He looked down at Nick standing by the railing of the boat. His amplified voice echoed over the water.

  "Are you Carter?"

  Nick cupped his hands and yelled across the gap. "Present. Am I glad to see you."

  "Standby."

  "Looks like we're leaving in style," Ronnie said.

  "I wonder how Elizabeth pulled this off," Selena said.

  Captain Ahmed and his son stood open-mouthed on the bridge, gazing at the apparition.

  Nick looked at the enormous shape holding position by their tiny boat. Sailors had appeared on deck. They lowered a zodiac into the water.

  "I don't know how she did it," Nick said, "but I think we're going to hear about it when we get back."

  CHAPTER 27

  Alexei Vysotsky listened to Valentina's report. The connection from Egypt was fair at best.

  "One of Volkov's agents is dead," Valentina said.