The Thirteenth Legion (A James Acton Thriller, #15) (James Acton Thrillers)

by J. Robert Kennedy

  “Check the system,” ordered Cooper. “See if there’s anything running that shouldn’t be. We need to find whatever’s draining those batteries!”

  Chaney spun toward her, his pacing halted. “Advance another twenty millimeters. Now!”

  Acton turned to the readings on the monitor nearest him, the familiar reading showing the power being generated now accompanied by a new reading indicating the amount of draw on the batteries.

  His jaw dropped.

  Wait a minute!

  Outside the Denier Installation, Iceland

  The security lights rapidly faded then suddenly shut off, the bulk of the light now coming from the opened roof of the contraption housing the skulls and what Atlas assumed was some sort of control center. He was fascinated by science, always had been, though unfortunately he never had the opportunity when he was younger to pursue it.

  Inner city schools were no place to learn.

  They were places to survive then escape.

  He had graduated, his parents insisting, he thankful they did. His uncle was army and his father had encouraged him to join, it the best way to escape the vicious cycle repeated all too often on the streets he grew up in.

  It was the best decision he had ever made.

  He loved his job.

  Loved it.

  And he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else. He had the best friends one could imagine, a job that actually meant something, and he got to fire guns and blow shit up every day, while learning things he never knew he was capable of learning. If someone had told him when he was seventeen that he’d be an expert hacker one day or that he’d speak several languages, he’d have asked for some of what they were smoking.

  Though no one could have prepared him for some of the incredible things he had been involved with over the past few years. Ancient crystal skulls? Two-thousand-year-old cults? Tombs of Cleopatra? Kidnapped Popes?

  It just never seemed to end.

  And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  He spotted what appeared to be a seam in the rock wall facing him. He pulled out his flashlight and played it along the crack, it quickly clear the seam extended all the way around, forming a rectangle.

  Got ya!

  He activated his comm. “Zero-One, Zero-Seven. We’re secure out here, over.”

  “In the middle of something! Could use a hand if you’re done doing your nails!”

  Atlas waved for the other teams to join him, it evident they were now alone and the weapons systems apparently destroyed. He stepped back from the door and launched a shell into it, taking cover behind a large boulder. The explosion shook the ground under his feet, it suddenly clear this wasn’t rock he was standing on, but something artificial. Peering out from behind his cover, he smiled at the door hanging off its hinges.

  “Zero-One, Zero-Seven. We’re on our way!”

  Vehicle Bay, Denier Installation, Iceland

  Dawson leapt behind an SUV as gunfire sprayed at them from across what seemed to be a large underground parking area, at least a dozen vehicles of varying types and sizes parked in two neat rows, a ramp at the far end appearing to lead to the outside.

  This would probably be their means of eventual escape, now that they had found it, but for the two dozen guards they now faced.

  He rolled behind the rear tire, Niner taking up position at the front, Spock and Leather still in the doorway, exchanging turns providing covering fire. He looked over his shoulder at the others. “Conserve your ammo, choose your targets! We don’t know how many more we’re dealing with.”

  He stretched out, prone on the cold concrete, peering through the scope on his MP5 and spotted feet behind a vehicle on the other side of the large vehicle bay. He squeezed the trigger. Someone cried out and dropped to the floor, writhing in agony.

  Exposing their upper body.

  Dawson squeezed again, silencing him.

  Another dropped, Niner’s weapon spurting disciplined shots across the way, Spock and Leather delivering short bursts to keep their opponents’ heads down.

  Dawson searched for more feet, finding two pairs huddled together. A quick shot, then another, had them both on the ground. Two additional shots thinned the herd some more. He continued to scan, but found nothing.

  They’d wised up.

  “Flashbangs!”

  Niner pulled one off his belt, Dawson doing the same. He looked over at Spock and Leather, who both nodded. Dawson popped the pin. “Three… Two… One…” He lobbed the grenade over the SUV and against the far wall, it hitting with a satisfying clang before rattling to the ground, Niner’s landing a moment later.

  The dual eruptions were deafening in their concrete enclosure, the screams of the victims echoing all around them.

  “Let’s go!”

  All four of them quickly advanced, Niner and Dawson taking the left, Spock and Leather the right. As the smoke cleared, their opponents could be seen stumbling around, hands over their ears, moaning in agony. He immediately squeezed the trigger, clearing his arc of targets as the others rained hellfire on those who remained.

  “Behind you!”

  Dawson spun at Leather’s warning and cursed, at least a dozen hostiles streaming into the vehicle bay.

  This is what happens when you don’t have proper intel.

  Control Center, Denier Installation, Iceland

  “Advance another twenty millimeters.”

  The hum was now a whine, high-pitched and approaching painful. The guards were staring up nervously at the skulls, their weapons lowered, their duty forgotten as they watched the objects they had coveted their entire lives deliver upon their fabled promise.

  Unlimited energy.

  But it was all bullshit.

  And Acton could hold his tongue no more.

  “It’s fake!”

  Everyone in the room spun toward him, Chaney’s jaw dropping slightly, his eyes wide.

  But nobody said anything.

  Acton stepped forward, past the guards, pointing at the main display showing the energy generated by the skulls and the draw on the batteries. “It’s fake! Look! Don’t you see it? The battery power is being drained at almost the same rate the energy is being generated! We never noticed it before because whatever energy source you were using was enough to maintain the illusion, but now you’re using the batteries to keep it going.” His eyes met Chaney’s. “It’s all fake! The skulls are doing nothing!”

  “That’s a lie!” shouted Chaney, looking at the others. “Don’t listen to him! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” He pointed at the guards. “Get them the hell out of here!”

  “Oh my God! He’s right!” It was Cooper that said it, the guards freezing in their tracks, the entire room’s focus now on the woman examining several displays, her fingers flying over a keyboard. “The numbers match almost exactly. The battery draw is equal to the amount of power being generated by the skulls plus the expected draw from our equipment. Every time the skulls have moved closer since the power failure, the drainage rate on the batteries has increased!”

  Chaney stabbed the air with his finger. “You’re relieved!” He motioned to the guards. “Take her!”

  The guards remained still, staring at each other, not sure what to do.

  But Cooper did. She pointed at Chaney. “Seize him!”

  The guards hesitated, though only for a moment, before they marched toward Chaney. Chaney leapt for a control panel to his right, slamming his hand down on the kill switch several times then holding it in. An alarm sounded and he looked up at the skulls, all eyes following his.

  Acton gasped as all thirteen skulls steadily advanced toward each other. “What the hell did you just do?”

  “What needed to be done!”

  They all watched in horror as the skulls continued to advance, the high-pitched whine ear piercing. Acton covered his ears, Laura doing the same as he squinted, trying to see what was happening through tearing eyes.

  They touched
.

  All thirteen in a circle, each touching the skulls beside them.

  And there was no explosion.

  No disaster.

  No calamity.

  Nothing.

  The high-pitched wail faded to a whine then a hum then nothing. The needles all zeroed out, the draw on the main battery dropped to nearly nothing, the remaining power estimate leaping.

  And a room filled with believers, suddenly didn’t know what to do.

  “What just happened?” asked Laura, taking Acton’s hand.

  But Acton knew. There was only one explanation for what had just occurred, and why. He watched a defeated Chaney as the man dropped into a chair, the gun clattering to the floor. “Why don’t you explain yourself?”

  Chaney stared at him then the others, Cooper standing in front of him, a mixture of shock and anger on her face. “Please. What have you done?”

  “What needed to be done.” Chaney’s shoulders heaved and his head dropped as he bent over. Cooper knelt in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  “Martin, please, tell us what this is all about.”

  Chaney drew a deep breath and nodded, sitting up and wiping the tears from his cheeks. He rose, squaring his shoulders as he looked at those that surrounded him, those that he led. “You all deserve an explanation. This was a failsafe.”

  “A failsafe?”

  Chaney nodded at Cooper. “Yes. As Proconsul, I knew that if the skulls didn’t react as we expected, everyone had to think they had. I had a failsafe designed into the system that would kick in if nothing happened after the first few tests. I didn’t want us to lose our resolve, perhaps stopping out of fear there might be a sudden, large explosion, so I had the system designed to slowly ramp up the readings, just in case.”

  “And the hum, the vibrations?” asked Cooper.

  “All part of the failsafe. I had hoped that eventually the skulls would begin to generate their own power, and they might have, but we weren’t given the chance to find out”—he turned to Acton and Laura, jabbing a finger at them—“because your Bravo Team destroyed the tidal generators!”

  Acton pointed at the skulls pressed together in a circle. “They’re touching now, so wouldn’t we be seeing something?” His eyes narrowed. “And what was that you did that triggered them moving together?”

  Chaney glared at him, then his expression softened. “If was the final failsafe.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Cooper.

  “It was the only way to ensure we could reunite the Triarii and try again in the future.”

  Acton suddenly felt a pit form in his stomach. “What did you do, Martin?”

  Chaney looked at him. “You’re too smart for your own good, Professor. Now that the experiment has failed, and the deception has been discovered, no one can be allowed to live.” Laura’s grip tightened on Acton’s hand. “The others are out there, I know they are. This facility will be destroyed, and we will all die.”

  “What’s the point of that?” asked Laura, fear in her voice, a voice also laced with a hint of anger.

  “I have shaped the blast so that it will appear the skulls are once again responsible. It will inspire future generations to try to succeed where we failed.”

  Acton shook his head in frustration. “But they’ll fail too! It didn’t work!”

  “No!” cried Chaney. “There was obviously a flaw in our experiment, a misunderstanding of some sort.” He pointed at the skulls overhead, rising from his chair. “The skulls have power, just not one that we understand yet. We had assumed it would be some sort of energy we could measure and tap, but it wasn’t. There’s something else at play here.” He lowered his voice, approaching them. “Jim, you know that. Laura, I know you do. You’ve felt its affect on you every time you shiver. There’s something there, but we’re obviously not ready to understand it.”

  Acton sighed, nodding toward the skulls. “Shouldn’t they have exploded?”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Chaney, whipping around and striding into the midst of his stunned brethren. “Yes! There should have been a massive explosion, even if we weren’t able to tap their power. We know that from our own history.” He looked at Cooper. “It means what we did here worked somehow, we somehow were able to prevent that explosion. It means we’re getting closer to discovering the answers to the questions we’ve had for two thousand years.” He placed a hand on Cooper’s shoulder, then moved on to the next person, patting their cheek, surveying the room. “I can see it in your eyes. You think we’ve failed, but search your hearts. You know we haven’t. You know our history, you know why we’re here, and you still have your faith.

  “Do Christians say God isn’t real just because they’re prayers aren’t answered? No! They realize that not all prayers are answered, and they continue on, their faith remaining strong knowing that the day they truly need that prayer answered, the day they are truly worthy, it will be.

  “And the same is true for us, for the Triarii. One day our prayers, our questions, will be answered.” He frowned, his head bobbing slowly. “But not today. And not for us.” He paused, putting an arm around the woman who Acton had sensed some history with. “We failed here today, and if word were to get out, it would shake the faith of the entire legion, just as it has shaken our own faith. It could mean the death of the Triarii, the death of the descendants of the Thirteenth Legion that sacrificed everything. I refuse to believe that it was all for nothing! I refuse to believe that I dedicated my entire life to nothing!” He spun, staring at Acton. “And I refuse to let my failure here today destroy two thousand years of tradition.”

  Chaney lowered his voice, taking a more comforting tone. “My friends, we will die here today, and the mystery will continue. Our brothers and sisters will come and collect the skulls, they will see the evidence I want them to see, and assume the skulls are indeed the cause, and things will continue with the knowledge that mankind is still not ready to harness their power. This is something we know, for we weren’t able to do it today. And in the future, someone, somewhere, will make the courageous decision once again, like you all did, to unite and try again.” He smiled, everyone now huddled together in the center of the room, arms around each other, heads pressed together, almost a mirror image of the skulls overhead. “The Triarii will live on. The Thirteenth Legion will live on. And we will never be forgotten for our sacrifice.”

  To hell with this.

  Acton grabbed the gun Chaney had dropped on the floor and aimed it at the guards. “Deactivate the bomb. Now!”

  The cult turned toward him, though no one advanced, even the guards standing with their hands to their sides, their weapons draped across their chests, untouched.

  Chaney smiled, shaking his head slowly. “That’s not going to happen. I am prepared to die here today, as we all are.” Murmurs of agreement accompanied by the bobbing heads of indoctrinated psychos sent a jolt of panic through Acton.

  There’s going to be no reasoning with them.

  “Professors.” Chaney paused, his smile broadening. “Jim. Laura. We knew the risk when we came here. We knew something could go terribly wrong and that we could all die. We were prepared for that. Now we die for another reason. We die to preserve the legacy so that future generations may try again where we failed.”

  Acton looked at Cooper, who he had thought was a true scientist, motivated by a thirst for knowledge, not proof in the supernatural. “Surely you can’t agree with him! You’re willing to die to cover up the fact you failed?”

  She stepped forward, stretching out her hand toward Chaney, who took it. “He’s right. The Triarii must go on, the skulls must go on.” She stared at Chaney, a smile spreading across her face. “I happily sacrifice myself so the Thirteenth can live.”

  “Well, we don’t.”

  Chaney motioned toward the guards who immediately advanced. “I’m afraid you must, Professors. You are aware of our secret.”

  Acton aimed at the chest of the approaching guard, firi
ng two rounds, the large man dropping in a heap as Acton fired two more rounds into the second guard, returning his aim to the group of scientists.

  “Nobody moves.”

  Laura grabbed one of the guard’s weapon and they backed toward the door.

  “You’re too late, Jim.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Chaney pointed toward the display showing the energy generation and the battery draw. Acton looked, the first readout still zero, though the draw on the batteries higher than earlier. “When the batteries run out of power, this facility will be destroyed. There’s no stopping it.”

  Acton grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, Laura stepping through. He glanced back at Chaney.

  “Martin, sometimes a shiver is just a shiver.”

  Exterior Entrance Stairwell, Denier Installation, Iceland

  Atlas charged down the stairs, the others behind him, the sound of gunfire getting louder, his concern growing. He came to a halt at a door, waiting for Moore and the others to gather at the bottom. “Ready?”

  Everyone nodded and he pulled open the door slightly, the din of gunfire suddenly deafening. He peered through the crack, quickly assessing the situation, the distinctive sounds of MP5s coming from the far right, FN P90s pretty much everywhere else.

  He stepped back so the others could hear him. “It’s some sort of large garage. Half a dozen vehicles close to us, another half dozen on the other side. We’re at the one-two corner. Friendlies are to the right, near the one-four corner, hostiles concentrated on the opposite side on the number three and four walls.” He activated his comm. “Zero-One, Zero-Seven. Friendlies at your nine o’clock, over.”

  “About time you arrived. Join the fun, try not to shoot Niner.”

  “No promises.” Atlas pulled the door open and stepped out, weapon raised toward the far wall. He held his fire, the hostiles apparently not yet noticing them.

  Flanking opportunity.

  He ducked behind the nearest vehicle, some sort of large loader, the others joining him, the door closing behind them. He pointed at two of Leather’s men, indicating they should remain and provide covering fire, the others to follow him. He peered out from behind the front of the vehicle then sprinted across the way, diving behind the row of vehicles on the far side, clearing the thirty feet unnoticed. He took up a covering position and Moore followed.