The Dane Maddock Adventures Boxed Set Volume 2

by David Wood

“You’re a traitor to the country you devoted your life to serving.”

  “America.” Tyson laughed again. “I never served this infant nation. I serve the oldest people of them all. Any job I took in this foul government served to put me into a position to help prepare for the return.”

  Tam held Tyson’s full attention, and Avery took advantage of that fact, sidling away. What could she do to help? The man was too big to fight and, even if she could take him on, she couldn’t do anything before he pulled the trigger.

  “You’re crazy,” Tam whispered.

  “And you’re dead.”

  Before Tyson could pull the trigger, Tam struck, smashing the journal book into his gun hand.

  As Tyson’s shot went wild, Avery threw all her weight against the Poseidon statue. It toppled over with agonizing slowness, striking Tyson in the shoulder and knocking him to the side.

  Tam lashed out with a roundhouse kick, knocking Tyson’s Glock free. He reached for his weapon, and Avery remembered her own pistol.

  She drew it, took aim, and shouted out with more confidence than she actually felt. “Hands up or I’ll shoot!”

  At the sound of her voice, Tyson flung his flashlight at her head and rolled to the side. Avery’s shot went wild as the big man fled. She spun around, following the sound of crashing statues as he fled the vault, and fired a desperate shot.

  “Let’s go!” Tam had regained her feet, her Makarov, and the book. Avery snatched her Maglite off the shelf and followed. At the door, she paused to retrieve the crystal, then sprinted to try and keep up with Tam, whose light bobbed up and down ten meters ahead. Tyson stood well over six feet tall and looked like an athlete. It was unlikely they’d catch him, but Tam appeared determined to try.

  They took the steps two at a time, their footfalls reverberating through the stairwell. And then, all sounds were drowned out by a low rumble. Avery felt the vibration in the soles of her feet.

  “He must have taken the crystal! He’s trying to lock us in down here!”

  Up above, the statue slowly moved back into place. The square of bright light inexorably shrinking. Tam hurtled through the opening, which seemed to be shrinking even faster. Did Avery dare try it? But what if Tyson had taken the crystal? She might be stuck here?

  She had an instant to make up her mind. What would Maddock do? With a cry something like terror, she flung herself upward.

  She stumbled.

  And fell, her legs half in and half out of the stairwell. She scrambled to crawl, but she slipped on the slick, stone surface. Almost there. She felt the statue’s massive pedestal close on her foot.

  Suddenly, Tam grabbed her wrists and yanked. For an interminable instant, she felt frozen in place, and then she slid forward. Something grabbed her toe and she jerked her leg. Her foot slid free, leaving her shoe behind.

  “Could be worse,” she mumbled as she scrambled to her feet. When Avery reached the portico, she saw Tam standing on the bottom step, Makarov at her side. The thickening fog rendered visibility almost nil.

  “We lost him.”

  “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t fallen, you might have caught him.”

  Tam shook her head. “He had too big a lead, and the dude is fast. You saw them long legs. Besides, he’d have killed me if it weren’t for you.”

  Avery doubted that, but appreciated the words of reassurance.

  Through the fog, they heard the sound of running feet. They both aimed their weapons at the sound, but lowered them again when they recognized their driver.

  “I’ve been trying to reach you,” he said, skidding to a halt in front of Tam. “A terrorist group just claimed responsibility for the tsunamis. They’ve got a list of demands, and if they aren’t met, they say a major city will be the next to fall.”

  “Does this group have a name?” Tam’s tone of voice was razor sharp.

  “The Dominion.”

  Chapter 44

  Bishop Frederick Hadel read through a report from his agent inside the CIA. The contact was a low-level operative, and seldom had much of use to report but, on occasion, he delivered valuable information. Today, he’d picked up a useful tidbit. Someone within the agency had tried to warn the government about an attack on Savannah. Specifically, a man-made disaster.

  “Our first leak,” he said aloud. His mind ran through the list of false trails he’d laid. The Savannah rumor had been planted with the leader of the church in Key West. He’d have to address that situation immediately. A shame, really. Some of his most ardent supporters were members of that particular congregation, and they’d served him well during the tsunami and in Mexico.

  Now, he opened a browser window on his desktop computer and navigated to the major news sites. As he expected, the internet was abuzz over the proclamation the Dominion had just released, in which they claimed responsibility for the tsunamis and demanded the President’s resignation, along with that of the Vice President, a few select Supreme Court justices, and most of congress.

  His demands would not be met, of course, but the implicit message would not be missed. One look at the list of representatives and justices whom the Dominion considered acceptable would deliver the message. The nation needed to change, and he would make it over by any means necessary. The next attack would prove the Dominion’s power, and when they obtained the Revelation Machine…

  His phone buzzed, interrupting his musings. He tapped the speakerphone button.

  “Yes?”

  “Mister Robinson to see you, Bishop. He says it’s urgent.”

  “Send him in.”

  As always, Robinson knocked exactly two times before pushing the door open. It was an idiosyncrasy, or perhaps a compulsive behavior, that Hadel was happy to ignore, given Robinson’s reliability.

  “I just received a report from a contact within a friendly organization. A CIA agent named Tamara Broderick sought his help in accessing a vault beneath the Jefferson Memorial—one that, she claimed, contained a Templar archive.”

  Hadel sat up straight. “And?”

  “It was there. Inside, she found information that pinpoints the location of the capital, if you will, of Atlantis. He failed to obtain the document in question, which he said appeared to be a journal of some sort, but he saw the map and knew exactly where it pointed.”

  Hadel laid his hands on his lap to prevent Robinson from seeing them tremble. He couldn’t remember ever being so excited. But, when Robinson told him the location, he found himself puzzled.

  “I’ve never heard of such a place. Just a moment.” He returned to his computer and called up the location. When the first images appeared on his screen, he relaxed. “Atlantis,” he whispered, “has been hiding in plain sight all this time.”

  “I’m assembling a team as we speak,” Robinson said. “We await your instructions.”

  “Activate the failsafe plan.”

  “Bishop?” A furrow creased Robinson’s brow. “But the failsafe is…”

  “I know what it is, and now is the perfect time to activate it, because I’m going with you.”

  Chapter 45

  The Range Rover bounced across the barren landscape, jostling its passengers. Maddock slowed the vehicle to a halt atop a rise. The sun beat down on the dry, rocky landscape below. It was hard to believe this was their destination.

  They all climbed out, stretching tired limbs and knuckling sore backs.

  “The Eye of the Sahara,” Sofia whispered. “I never would have thought it possible.”

  Located in Mauritania, the Richat Structure, or the Eye of the Sahara, was a thirty kilometer-wide, collapsed volcanic dome. Visible from space, when seen from far overhead, its circular shape and symmetrical rings bore an eerie similarity to elements of Plato’s description of Atlantis. Indeed, when Sofia had shown him satellite photos of the location, he’d been shocked no one had considered it before.

  “It looks different from here,” Bones said. “Not like Atlantis at all.”

  “That’s because we a
ren’t looking at it from overhead.” Jade rolled her eyes.

  “But how could Atlantis have been here? We’re so far away from the ocean. I don’t see how it could ever have flooded.”

  “Researchers have found evidence of salt water fishing in the area ten to twelve thousand years ago,” Jade said. “So it’s possible that the ocean extended further inland than it does now.”

  “Another possibility is that Plato’s flood story referred to the site in Spain, which flooded and was buried beneath mud, just like the story says,” Sofia said. “If the mother city stood here, it might have been so isolated that it could have been lost to memory.”

  “Seems like an awfully big place to just get lost,” Bones said.

  “Up until a little over ten thousand years ago, settlements in northern Africa were largely restricted to the Nile Valley. By the time the Sahara went through its monsoon period, the Atlanteans were gone. At least, that’s our best guess.” Sofia looked out across the landscape and smiled in disbelief. “I’ve worked at this for so long, and now we’re right on the verge of finding it. I just can’t believe it.”

  “Where do we start?” Maddock asked.

  “There are no explicit directions, but it seems there’s a system of caves somewhere near the center.”

  “According to my research, there’s a small hotel there,” Jade said. “That could make for a good base of operations while we search.”

  “As long as we can see the Dominion coming.” Maddock hopped back into the Range Rover and cranked it up while the others piled in. Deep inside him, the thrill at the prospect of finding Atlantis battled with apprehension over the Revelation Machine. What if the Dominion got there first? Or, and he hated to entertain the thought, what happened if he found it first? Did any government deserve the power to destroy the world? But that was a problem for later. First, they had to find it.

  “Were we supposed to make a reservation?” Bones asked as they pulled up in front of the tiny hotel that rested right in the center of the Eye. “Looks like they didn’t leave the light on for us.”

  The small hotel appeared deserted. Maddock cut the engine. All was quiet. “I imagine this place doesn’t get much business, but I have a bad feeling about this.” Drawing his Walther, he climbed out of the Range Rover. Bones was at his side a moment later.

  “Do you want us to stay here?” Sofia asked.

  “I don’t want you two to be alone, just in case.”

  “Maddock, you see these tracks?” Bones swept his hand in a half-circle. “At least two different vehicles were all over this place, and not too long ago or else the wind would have blown the tracks away.” He narrowed his eyes. “Looks like Hummers to me.”

  Maddock didn’t reply. He hoped that, if two Hummers had come this way, they weren’t packed with Dominion agents. He led the way to the hotel.

  The coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils as soon as he opened the door. He didn’t need to look far to find the source.

  A man lay bound to an upended chair. His eyes gazed blankly up at the ceiling. Congealed blood pooled on the floor around his head. Maddock grimaced at the ragged cut in the man’s throat.

  “Cause of death is pretty obvious.” Bones pursed his lips as he looked at the grisly scene. “Looks like he was tortured.”

  The man’s hands were smashed, his fingertips sliced and his fingernails torn out.

  “I guess the Dominion got here first.” Maddock hoped he caught up with the men who did this. He was eager to repay the favor.

  “I can’t imagine they got any useful information from a desk clerk,” Bones said.

  “We can hope,” Jade said. “Say, what if it’s not the Dominion? What if it’s this Trident group Tam told us about?”

  “All we can do is be prepared. Let’s check the building and get out of here.”

  It didn’t take long to determine no one else was about. Thankfully, they found no other bodies. When they’d completed the search, they gathered outside the door.

  “What’s our next move?” Bones asked. “This place is too big to just go wandering.”

  “I don’t see that we have a choice.” Jade turned to Sofia. “Unless you think there’s something you missed in what Tam sent you.”

  Sofia shook her head. “I’ll look again, but I don’t think so.”

  “I have an idea,” Maddock said. “I think it’s safe to say the man inside didn’t know the way to Atlantis. But, if he was local, he probably would have been familiar with any caves in the area.”

  “Which would mean the Dominion now knows the way,” Bones grumbled.

  “How would they know about the caves without the book?” Sofia asked. “Tam said her so-called friend only saw the map.”

  “It stands to reason that Atlantis, if it’s here, is beneath the volcanic dome,” Jade said. “They’d have wanted to know about any tunnels or caverns that might lead underground.”

  “So we do what?” Bones asked. “Drive around until we find some locals?”

  “We could do that,” Maddock said. “Or we could follow their tire tracks.”

  Chapter 46

  The moment he spotted the Hummers parked at the base of a steep rise, Maddock pulled the Range Rover behind a rise, blocking it from view. Urging Jade and Avery to wait with the vehicle, and failing spectacularly to convince them, he and the others moved closer to scout the area.

  “I’ll bet it’s somewhere on that ridge up there.” Maddock pointed to a steeply-sloped wall of volcanic rock. “It stands to reason the entrance would be somewhere difficult to get to, and that doesn’t look like an easy climb.”

  “Not for some people.” Bones winked. He and Maddock had always been competitive when it came to climbing. “So, do we wait until Tam gets here with backup?”

  “I don’t think we can. If the Dominion, or anyone, for that matter, is ahead of us, we’d better catch up to them before they find the machine.”

  “Ladies, you should wait with the Range Rover.” Bones held up a hand.

  “Not a chance.” Jade glared at the two men. “We’ve got as much right as you to see this through. Heck, Sofia has more right than any of us. This all started with the Dominion killing her team. Besides, you’re probably outgunned, so you’ll need all the help you can get.”

  “Someone needs to be here in case Tam tries to make contact.”

  “Have you checked your phone lately?” Sofia held up her phone. “We haven’t had a signal for hours. Might as well be a tin can and string.”

  Maddock had had this same argument too many times to count, and not only with Jade, and he’d never won.

  “No point in arguing. Let’s move.”

  They found precious little cover as they moved toward the spot where the Hummers were parked, but they arrived without incident. Whoever had gotten here first hadn’t left a lookout. Maddock made a cursory inspection of the vehicles. Both were empty, save a Bible lying on the passenger seat of the second vehicle. It wasn’t confirmation that it was the Dominion they tracked, but it increased the likelihood. Meanwhile, Bones began tracking their quarry, complaining all the while about stereotypes and racial insensitivity. He identified eight sets of bootprints, probably belonging to men based on their size. As they expected, the tracks led up the rocky slope, part of one of the raised rings that gave the Eye its distinctive appearance.

  The way up was easier than Maddock had anticipated, with plenty of natural hand and footholds. Jade was a skilled climber in her own right, and Sofia held her own. They experienced a bit of good fortune when, approximately two-thirds of the way up, they came upon a climbing rope affixed to pitons hammered into the rocky face.

  “Nice of them to help us up the steepest part.” Bones grunted as he heaved his bulk up the rock.

  “Putting these in would have slowed them down, at least a few minutes,” Maddock added. “We’ll take any break we can get at this point, no matter how small.”

  Reaching the top, they fanned out and began sear
ching for the caves that would, they hoped, lead down into the earth and to the fabled lost city. Minutes later, Maddock spotted a ledge a few meters below the place where he stood. From this vantage point, only a fraction of it was visible, but his sharp eyes espied it, as well as a scuff mark that might have been made by a boot. He waved the others over and then climbed down for a better look.

  Rubble lay scattered across the ledge where someone appeared to have cleared away a rockfall, exposing a dark passageway.

  “I think this is it,” Maddock said.

  “How will Tam and the others find us?” Jade looked doubtfully into the dark cave.

  Maddock considered the question, then took his cell phone out of his pocket and stuck it in a crack in the rock.

  “Maybe they can trace it.” He made a noncommittal shrug before entering the cave.

  A few meters in, the cave floor dropped down at a steep angle before leveling off in a small chamber where three round tunnels converged. Seeing no signs left by the Dominion’s agents, they decided to take them one at a time, beginning with the one on the left.

  “This is a lava tube.” Jade shone her light around the rock-encrusted tube. “And maybe not the most stable one. There are cracks everywhere.”

  Maddock looked up at the fragmented crust coating the tunnel and winced.

  “Maybe Bones should walk a little more softly,” Sofia said.

  “The day a white person teaches me how to walk softly…” Bones began.

  “Hello? Latina here.”

  “Oh. You shut it too.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Maddock said. “How about we hold it down in case there’s a Dominion agent or two waiting around the corner?”

  “He’s such a killjoy, but I suppose he’s right.” Bones squeezed the grip of his Glock.

  The lava tube ended in a wall of rubble, and they were forced to retrace their steps. The second passageway was similarly collapsed a short way in.

  “That leaves door number three,” Bones said.

  They entered the third passageway moving cautiously, not knowing when they might happen upon the Dominion. This lava tube was in a condition similar to the others, with cracks running through the rocks and shattered stones all over the floor, remnants of minor ceiling collapses. More than once, Maddock froze when he thought he heard the sound of cracking rock.