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

by J. Robert Kennedy

  The MP5 fire from Dawson’s position had increased, the intense distraction working, Moore clearing the distance easily, the remaining of Leather’s men following, again unnoticed.

  Atlas peered around the vehicle and saw at least a dozen Triarii hiding behind vehicles about a hundred feet away.

  All in plain sight from his angle.

  He motioned for Moore to take a position on the floor, under the rear bumper, giving him a clear shot from a low angle. He looked at the others and they all indicated their readiness.

  “Now!” he hissed, stepping out and taking a knee, the others leaning on the trunk of the vehicle, using it as cover. Lead belched at the unsuspecting men at the far end of the vehicle bay, bodies dropping quickly. The sound of the MP5 fire shifted, Dawson apparently pressing the momentary advantage.

  Moore was firing below him, Atlas noting that the man was taking out targets trying to hide behind the vehicles, giving them no quarter as their numbers dwindled from dozens to a dozen, then half, then none.

  Then silence.

  Atlas rose, rushing toward the enemy position, the others on his six. Reaching the downed hostiles, there was little movement. A few moaned and he quickly kicked the weapon away from one, Moore doing the same.

  The threat had been eliminated.

  He looked over to where Dawson had been. “You boys can come out now!”

  Niner poked his head up. “Am I still on your hit list?”

  “I’m saving it for the ring.”

  Niner’s eyes flashed.

  Hmm. Fear?

  He smiled.

  Nobody talks about my mama’s hips.

  Dawson and the others approached and Atlas motioned toward the dimming lights. “Looks like they’re running out of power.”

  “Batteries must be dying quickly,” agreed Dawson. “Doesn’t make much sense for a facility this size to have less than fifteen minutes of backup power.”

  “Must be that experiment they’re running.”

  “Must be.”

  Atlas looked about. “Any idea where the professors are?”

  Dawson shook his head. “Nada.” He pointed at the ramp. “That looks like it leads outside, so I’m guessing those doors over here”—he pointed to a set of doors nearby—“lead somewhere important, since they’re the only doors one of us hasn’t come through already.”

  Suddenly the doors burst open and eleven MP5s were directed at it.

  “Hold your fire!” shouted Dawson as Acton and Laura emerged, skidding to a halt as they raised their hands in the air.

  Atlas shook his head with a smile, the two of them armed.

  How the hell do they do it?

  “Hello, Professors, good to see you,” said Dawson, stepping toward them.

  Acton waved him off, pointing at the rapidly dimming lights.

  “We’ve gotta get the hell out of here, now!”

  Control Center, Denier Installation, Iceland

  “Has the transfer been completed?”

  The tech nodded. “Yes, sir. All the funds have been successfully transferred back into accounts controlled by London.”

  “And the data streams?”

  “Wiped. There will be no record of what happened here tonight.”

  “Excellent work.” Chaney smiled at his people then sat down on the floor beside Annette, a woman he had wished he had more time to get to know. She had been fantastic this past year, a friend who had grown into much more, though only recently. Perhaps it was a relationship built purely on adrenaline, yet at the moment, it was the only one he had. He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his.

  The Triarii had their money back, so they would survive and thrive when he was gone.

  He sighed.

  The Proconsul had been right. They weren’t ready, though not for the reasons the old man had thought. They simply had completely misunderstood the power.

  Or maybe we didn’t.

  His eyes widened slightly at the thought. Perhaps they hadn’t misunderstood the power, perhaps they truly simply weren’t ready. Could the skulls themselves have withheld the power? There had been no explosion as there should have been. They had read no power being bled off from the skulls beyond what his ruse had fed into the system, a ruse he had designed himself, he ever the prudent one. It was amazing what could be accomplished with enough money and compartmentalization, nobody knowing what anyone else was doing, having no idea how their tiny bit fit into the entire picture. One person designed a shunt, another a piece of code, another a coded failsafe, another yet some additional piece to the puzzle, that when all put together, created something that would save the organization he had dedicated his life to, the organization he loved.

  “I’m sorry it had to end this way, my friends, but we die for a purpose. We know the mission of the Triarii is pure, is for the good of all mankind. We failed here today not because we have been misguided in our beliefs, but because we were not ready. Whoever or whatever gave us the gift of the skulls has deemed us not ready for the secrets they possess.” He smiled, squeezing Annette against him. “But future generations will be, I am certain of that, and by sacrificing ourselves here today, we will preserve the wonder that are the skulls, so that our descendants can fulfill the destiny handed to them two thousand years ago.”

  He rose, the others joining him, and he gazed up at the skulls overhead. He raised his fist in salute to not only the skulls, but to everyone that had sacrificed for this day over the millennia, and who would sacrifice themselves for the millennia to come.

  “We are the Thirteenth Legion! We are the Triarii! We shall know the truth!”

  The others cheered, their fists pumping the air before they clasped their hands over their hearts.

  Then silence as the lights flickered.

  He lowered his gaze, smiling at those gathered.

  “Goodbye, my friends.”

  Vehicle Bay, Denier Installation, Iceland

  Acton rushed toward Dawson and the others, relieved to see them, but there zero time for pleasantries. He pointed at the lights. “The entire place is rigged to blow the moment they run out of power.”

  “How big?”

  Acton shook his head. “No idea, but it’s meant to destroy the entire facility and kill anyone inside.”

  Dawson pointed at three SUVs nearby. “Check for keys!”

  Niner raced toward the nearest one, two of Leather’s men the others, all three roaring to life almost immediately, the keys apparently kept inside.

  “Okay, let’s go!” shouted Dawson. “Professors with me!”

  Acton helped Laura into the backseat of Niner’s SUV then climbed in after her, Dawson getting in the passenger side, Spock and Atlas taking the third vehicle as Leather’s team filled the remaining spaces. Niner hit the gas and they rushed toward the ramp at the far end, the front angling up as they hit it, racing toward a rapidly approaching exit.

  That was closed.

  “How the hell do we open that thing?”

  Acton tried to remember how they had got in before, when Laura pointed at a fancy garage door opener clipped to the visor. “Press that!”

  Niner reached up and pressed the button, the doors slowly beginning to part as Dawson pressed his earpiece.

  “Control, Zero-One! We need evac now! Make sure the choppers don’t travel over the complex, it’s rigged to blow!”

  Off the coast from the Denier Installation, Iceland

  “What’s going on?”

  Kennedy shook his head as he peered through his binoculars. What were once bright lights were now barely visible, the brilliant display a shadow of its former self. “I don’t know, but the lights are definitely continuing to get dimmer.”

  “Maybe they finished?” suggested Simmons, the excitement clear in his voice. “And there was no explosion so it must have worked!”

  Kennedy nodded slowly, not willing to give in to the excitement he so desperately wanted to feel. He believed in the skulls, he be
lieved in their power. Not only the danger of that power, but the potential. And if Martin Chaney and his Deniers had indeed succeeded, succeeded in safely harnessing the energy he knew was within, it was indeed a great day.

  An incredible day.

  The world would forever be changed from this moment forward. An unlimited, clean, free power source, provided to mankind by the gods, humanity finally ready to receive the gift bestowed upon it untold millennia ago.

  He thought of Ananias and his prophecies, and how he had suggested he was the last of a long line of keepers, a line that had succeeded those before them, and it made him wonder for just how long these skulls had kept their secrets hidden.

  And how one bold, brash move, by a younger generation, had finally unlocked them.

  He owed Chaney an apology, apparently, though there was no excuse for the blood spilled to get to this moment in history.

  The sky suddenly lit up, a fireball racing toward the heavens, it unlike anything he had ever seen before. He rushed to the deck to get a better view, the explosion rapidly retreating in on itself, the light of the flames dying as he peered through the lenses. He turned to the Captain, still on the bridge and pointed at the Denier facility.

  “Get in there! Now!”

  The engine roared to life and within moments they were racing toward the fading fires, fires suggesting not only that he had been right to fear what Chaney had attempted, but that mankind was still not ready for the secrets of the skulls to be revealed.

  Route 1 Ring Road, Iceland

  Acton gripped the handhold as Niner raced toward the rock wall blocking their access to the road. He pressed the button overhead but nothing happened.

  “We’re getting a little close,” commented Dawson, his voice straining to remain calm.

  “Patience, my dear, there’s another button.” Niner pressed it and the rock in front of them quickly lowered into the ground, their SUV bouncing as the tires hit the top, it not having had a chance to recede completely. “See, nothing to worry about.” Niner cranked the wheel to the right, sending Laura sliding into Acton. He helped her back to her side.

  “Get your seatbelt on.”

  She reached for it, her hands shaking as she tried to push it into the buckle. Acton reached over and put his hands on hers, steadying them, allowing her to finally insert the tongue with a click. He pulled his own on as he was pressed into his seat, Niner stomping on the accelerator.

  Dawson pointed to a bend in the road ahead. “We need to get around that bend! That’ll put the hill between us and the blast!”

  Acton turned in his seat, staring back at the complex, the garage door they had exited still visible, a dim light inside flickering.

  Then nothing.

  “It’s too late!”

  A massive fireball shot into the night sky and outward, racing toward them. Acton grabbed Laura and pushed her down, undoing his seatbelt as he threw himself over her, his only thought now of saving her. He felt Niner press harder on the accelerator, the engine protesting.

  Then everything changed.

  He turned his head to see what was happening, sounds muffled, a screech of evil unleashed surrounding them. The entire vehicle glowed as flames licked at the windows.

  And there was heat.

  Something popped and suddenly they jerked to the right.

  Heading straight off the highway.

  He gripped Laura tighter, regretting he had ever agreed to come along.

  Operations Center 2, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

  “Oh my God!”

  Leroux dropped into his chair as Sonya’s outburst turned to whimpers, the entire op center in shock as the satellite feed showed a mushrooming eruption of fire and rage filling the entire screen in an eerie green and black. They had just spotted three vehicles turning onto the road but they were nowhere to be seen now, the fireball having almost immediately overtaken them.

  Nobody could survive that!

  He felt his chest tighten as he thought of the brave men he had dealt with on various ops in the past, of the professors he had never met yet felt he knew, and of his friend Kane, who had just lost comrades-in-arms he had fought and shed blood with on countless deployments.

  He’s going to take this hard.

  He pushed himself out of his seat, watching the explosion quickly dissipate. He turned to Child. “Get the choppers back there, now! We need to know if there are any survivors.”

  “Yes, sir.” Child was unusually subdued. Leroux wasn’t sure if his newest team member had ever watched a friendly die before, and he felt for him. He remembered his first time.

  He’d never forget it.

  Don’t give up.

  He activated his comm. “Zero-One, Control. Come in, over.”

  Nothing.

  “This is Control to any Bravo Team member. Do you read, over?”

  Again, nothing.

  Nothing but the static of dead air.

  Route 1 Ring Road, Iceland

  Niner jerked the wheel to the left, setting them back on track as the heat and flame suddenly dissipated. Acton lifted himself off his wife as Niner continued to struggle for control, three more loud bursts heard before they ground to a halt, their tires blown.

  “Everyone out!” ordered Dawson as he threw his door open. Acton helped Laura from her seatbelt then followed her out her door and onto the scorched pavement. He stared, eyes wide, at their vehicle. Anything that wasn’t metal was melted or still burning, the paint job flaking off, the rubber tires smoldering goo.

  “I can’t believe we survived that.” He looked back at the other two vehicles to see them in even worse shape, the third actively burning, the men inside shouting for help.

  “Oh my God!” cried Laura.

  Acton sprinted toward the rear vehicle, the others following, flames licking up the sides. Dawson smashed the driver side window with the butt of his MP5, the others doing the same. Acton pulled his leather jacket off and threw it over the melted doorframe, momentarily smothering the flames, allowing Dawson to reach inside and haul the driver through as Leather did the same on the other side. Acton helped pull the driver to safety, glancing back to see Niner reaching through the shattered rear window and pulling Spock free, Atlas tumbling out after him.

  Dawson rose. “Is that everybody!”

  “Yes!” shouted Leather, dragging his last man from the vehicle, the interior now engulfed in flames. “We’ve gotta get out of here, there’s ordnance in there!”

  Dawson hauled the driver to his feet. “You good?” The man nodded. Dawson turned to Spock and Atlas. “You guys?”

  Spock patted himself down. “I’d feel at home in a bucket of the Colonel’s finest, but I’ll live.”

  “I’m good,” replied Atlas who then looked at Niner. “And my hips fit through that window just fine.”

  Niner grinned, Acton not getting the joke.

  “Then let’s go! Everybody, move!”

  Acton helped the still weakened driver as they all began to sprint toward the bend in the road that would provide them cover. He glanced back at the complex, engulfed in flames, black smoke billowing into the night sky, and said a silent prayer for the poor misguided souls who had given their lives for nothing.

  Hugh!

  His chest tightened as he remembered his forgotten friend in all of this. Reading and Chaney had been best friends, and he had been heartbroken when Chaney had disappeared. If Delta was here, then Reading certainly knew what was going on, which meant he would know his friend had betrayed them all.

  And now he’d have to deliver even more bad news to the man.

  His best friend was dead.

  For no reason other than idolatry.

  How much more bad news can Hugh take?

  Reading was strong. The strongest man he knew. But the death of Kinti had killed him inside, and Chaney’s disappearance had left an even deeper hole, he losing his best friend when he needed him most. Yet at least there had been hope, hope that on
e day his partner would return.

  And now that hope was gone.

  The angry roar of ammo and grenades ripping at the interior of the rear vehicle had them all ducking as they pressed forward. Acton reached back for Laura’s hand, the driver now running on his own. She grabbed hold and he hauled her ahead, putting himself between her and the danger behind them, when suddenly there was a massive screeching sound as the fuel tank ignited. The blast of heat and air pressure nearly knocked him off his feet, but he regained his footing and continued forward, checking to his left and right to see the others still pressing on and around the bend.

  Dawson raised a fist and they all slowed to a halt, turning back to stare at the devastation they had just escaped. The flames at the Denier facility had died down dramatically, the smoke having thinned. Much of what Acton had seen was concrete, glass and steel, materials that didn’t burn well, which probably meant most of the fireball was the explosives themselves.

  “Choppers,” said Spock, pointing to the waters.

  Acton turned and spotted two choppers, their searchlights on, racing toward the area. Dawson pointed down the road where it was slightly wider and looked at Niner. “Have them land there.”

  Niner nodded, activating his comm as he ran down the road to direct their evac. Dawson turned to Acton.

  “Is there anything worth going back for?”

  Acton shook his head. “There’s no way they survived. They designed it that way.”

  Dawson’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “They sacrificed themselves so the mystery could live on.”

  “What about the skulls?”

  Acton shook his head. “I don’t see how they could have survived that blast, but I’m guessing they did. Chaney mentioned a shaped charge or something. Even if they did, I couldn’t give a shit. It was all faked, the entire thing. They killed themselves and made it look like it was the skulls that caused it so that the fact nothing happened would never get out.”