Carpathian: Event Book 08

by David L. Golemon

  The room was again silent as Alice gathered up her paperwork and then sat.

  “Alice will have the complete report on the Jeddah soon” Niles said. “Right now we do know that the interior minister of Romania has been charged in connection with his cooperation with the Edge of the World Hotel and Resort Casino. The land has been reverted back to the hands of the Romanian government for leasing to the original inhabitants of the pass—the Jeddah. Since the collapse of the pass itself and the temple under it, NATO soon discovered that the pass was no longer a weak point on the Romanian frontier and thus the plans for its defense were scrapped and a new threatening area was soon located for NATO to concern itself with.”

  “What of the species of wolf that you have verified as actually existing?” the president asked.

  “The official Department 5656 report on Operation Grimm,” Alice explained, “states that the quest to find a supposed new species of Canis lupus was unfruitful and the plans for any more incursions to search for this species have been shelved. The offshoot of wolf known to legend as the Golia do not exist, nor have they ever existed in the fossil record of any country.” Alice cleared her throat as the cover-up for the benefit of the new alpha male, Mikla—so he could keep his clan of amazing creatures hidden from the rest of the modern world—became apparent. “As for the Jeddah, well, as Anya said, they are no longer that, but ordinary citizens of the world. The power of the link between species will continue to be studied by our Neurology Department and the potion sample returned is under strict quarantine on Level 72.”

  “We haven’t learned enough to keep these highly volatile compounds out of this facility?” Sarah asked in reference to the disaster of eight weeks earlier in the Event Group complex during the Lawrence Ambrose investigation when a chemical compound was accidentally released into the complex bringing on death and damage.

  “Director Compton authorized it,” Alice said, “in order to keep this compound as secret as we can without the Centers for Disease Control knowing we have it. The properties of these ordinary plants work in combination with the human mind’s natural endorphins and the end result once the two differing species have committed to the spell is a chemical balance that allows one mind to electrically attach itself to the other, in more than just the mechanical sense. As we saw with Madam Korvesky and Mikla, the mental link was so strong that when Mikla broke his ankle, Madam Korvesky’s ankle snapped through the sheer power of her own mind and through the distress that the Golia felt at the time of his injury. In essence Madam Korvesky saved Mikla by accepting a large portion of his injury and thus dooming herself. As I said, we have years upon years of research as this can be a beneficial approach to advancing noninvasive surgery and for certain mental disorders.”

  When Alice was finished with her report she relaxed for the first time in weeks since the push to get this Event up and running. This was the last mission she would personally be a part of and wanted to end with what she considered one of the top Events in the department’s history. She had proven not only the existence of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, but also that of the most wonderful species of animals the world has ever seen. She thought of Garrison Lee and also of Madam Korvesky and the night they all had shared together in Hong Kong—the night that started it all for Alice Hamilton. She shook her head, silently saying We did it to Garrison Lee.

  Two minutes later after the president had signed off with a “well-done,” Jack, Sarah, and the others sat around the conference table not saying anything as Niles knew Collins was about to say what he had to say to the group. He cleared his throat and stood.

  “Two questions are swirling through your minds about our last Event call. Why I let Mr. Everett go and why I allowed him to stay with Anya for as long as he possibly could. Niles agreed that it was for the best.”

  “I don’t understand how losing the best man in this command is for the best,” Ryan said, still angry and hurt over the captain’s recent departure.

  “Believe me, Mr. Ryan, that was the last thing I, Niles, Garrison Lee, or the president of the United States wanted. Captain Everett is integral to the plans of this nation in the next two years’ planning for future Events. He had been picked by Garrison Lee and Dr. Compton last year for a mission that could help us in the near future, a mission being put together by the U.S. Navy, one that has serious ramifications for the defense of this planet in regards to the Event in the desert over seven years ago. However, last month things changed rather dramatically.”

  “What are you saying?” Sarah asked, as Virginia Pollock, who knew what Jack was about to say, reached out and patted Sarah’s hand as the small geologist was starting to be frightened at the tense way Collins was delivering this news.

  Colonel Jack Collins looked over and sadly nodded toward Niles Compton, who returned to his desk and removed a small metal box that was fingerprint-coded for security.

  As Niles returned to the conference table with the small aluminum and steel box that was only a foot long and half that deep, Collins continued with his eyes averted and not reaching out to anyone. Now they would learn why the colonel had been so silent about Captain Everett since their return from Romania.

  “You have all wondered why I excluded everyone in this room from assisting me in the search for my sister’s killer, especially Mr. Everett. He was hurt that I would not include my best friend.”

  All in the room saw Jack’s hesitation as he stated for the first time that his best friend in the world outside of Sarah McIntire was Captain Carl Everett. “There is a reason for this. Carl and I have to be separate for the foreseeable future.” He finally looked up and saw the confusion on their faces. Will Mendenhall and Jason Ryan were the first to see the distress written on their colonel’s face. A nervous Pete Golding and Charlie Ellenshaw exchanged looks but waited for Jack to continue.

  Niles Compton now placed the small box on the tabletop and then used his right thumb for security verification as the pad read his thumbprint and the locking mechanism snapped and the lid opened with an audible hiss of air from the hermetically sealed box. A fine mist of frozen air exited the container as Niles sat hard into his chair, not wanting to see the contents. He pursed his lips and nodded at Jack after wiping his hands on his black pants.

  “Last month in a dig in Antarctica, the United States Geological Survey team stationed 622 miles from McMurdo Station found this item just under one thousand feet of solid ice that the geologists say froze solid over three hundred thousand years before, covering a prehistoric rain forest. They excavated the site by creating large tunnels that were carved into the continent and the team brought up extinct plant life from Antarctica and this was enough to cause a stir at McMurdo Station to say the least. A bore hole was sunk next to the original site after magnetometers picked up on metal buried in the ice. Once down in the borehole the engineers discovered wreckage of what can only be described as a ship of some kind. Not only metal but they also started bringing out larger and larger specimens. They even unearthed a sabertooth cat—well, portions of one anyway.” Jack fell silent and then closed his eyes as he pulled the box over to him and then with a look of distaste he removed the item. “Before the president of the United States put a clamp on the findings and sealed the area off with United States Marines, this was brought up.” He handed the item over to Sarah, who placed it front of her as everyone who knew Captain Everett recognized what they were looking at.

  “Oh, my God,” Sarah said as she eased back down into her chair as she no longer trusted her legs. Charlie and Pete exchanged that look of utter impossibility once more and Ryan and Mendenhall just sat in silence.

  On the table before them were the remains of a wristwatch. The band was missing with the exception of several broken, golden, links. On the back side of the stainless steel and gold watch was the inscription they all knew by heart since most in this very same room helped compose it for the gift watch not long after the Event in Brazil.

  TO CAPTAIN CARL
C. EVERETT—NEXT STOP FLAG TERRITORY—YOUR FAMILY AT 5656.

  Each person in the room had seen the watch the day they had surprised Carl with it after his promotion to captain. It was well-wishes toward his next rank adjustment to admiral. Everett had beamed at the gift and thanked everyone as he slid the watch over his large wrist.

  “What is the meaning of this, what does this artifact mean?” Charlie Ellenshaw asked.

  “This watch stopped working when the man wearing it was killed, or died, or dropped it.” Niles looked up into the astonished faces of his friends and now his most confused staff. “The watch stopped functioning over three hundred thousand years ago.”

  The silence in the room said it all. Now they understood why Carl couldn’t be there. Jack was protecting him by keeping the captain tucked away in Romania with the illusion of happiness until this thing could be studied further.

  “But why keep you and the captain separated?” Pete asked, fearing the worst, as was expected at the Event Group at all times and this he suspected was no exception to that rule.

  As everyone read the words they all knew so well, Niles opened a second lid on the box and then acting as though he were afraid to touch it slid the box over to Collins. Collins took a handkerchief from his pocket and removed several gold links that at one time made up the wristband for the expensive watch. He held them and looked the links over and a sad smile crossed his lips as he set the items down.

  “What is it?” Ryan asked, standing to get a better look at it.

  “That, Mr. Ryan, is the reason Captain Everett and I have to stay separated until we reach some conclusions here at Group. I have been suspended from duty by Dr. Compton and restricted to base for the foreseeable future. Commander Ryan will take over my duties.”

  The room erupted as all questions were directed at Niles Compton, who sat next to Alice not looking at anyone.

  “Again, what are those?” Ryan asked, becoming scared because for the first time he was seeing extreme unease in the face of Colonel Jack Collins.

  “Those, Mr. Ryan, are the remaining links to the wristband of that watch. And as you can see they are covered in a brownish stain that we analyzed. Virginia, would you explain your findings on what kind of stain that is on the links?”

  Virginia cleared her throat, as she hated discussing this with anyone, much less the friends inside of this room.

  “The stain consists of O negative blood. The bloodstain was preserved by being frozen for such a long period of time.”

  “Captain Everett’s blood?” Jason asked.

  “No. The DNA profile was matched to a person here at Group, but not the captain.”

  “Who?” Sarah asked, knowing she wasn’t going to care for Virginia’s answer.

  “Mine,” Jack said as he finally sat in his chair.

  The shocked faces around the room made Collins feel terrible as he knew he had just turned the worlds of everyone in the conference room upside down.

  “At some point approximately three hundred thousand years ago, Captain Everett and possibly myself may have been killed in the prehistoric past.”

  Sarah felt as if her blood had stopped coursing through her veins as she looked at Collins in stunned silence.

  Director Niles Compton rapped his knuckles on the conference room table to get their attention.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the president has authorized an immediate Event alert for this department—the location to begin the investigation is Antarctica. Pete, your departmental team will lead the investigation. Virginia, we have to have all theories no matter how ridiculous or mundane on the science of time travel and I need you to figure out with the rest of the engineers just what in the hell that ship is under the ice and where it came from. The president has authorized any expenditure in this endeavor. Until then as the colonel said, he has been relieved of command and is under house arrest. We cannot take any chances having him out in the world. As for the captain, we think he’s pretty safe for the time being inside Romania.”

  The room was silent.

  “We all know about the theories of time travel and their obvious flaws. However, if Albert Einstein said it was theoretically possible to travel backward in time, then we can assume that somehow our friends ended up in the past, especially after this discovery in Antarctica.”

  Sarah took Jack’s hand and didn’t particularly care about military protocol or who was watching.

  The friends and colleagues of Colonel Jack Collins and Captain Carl Everett had a new mission—find out how both of their friends ended up buried under a mile of solid ice that hadn’t seen the sun in three hundred thousand years.

  The Event Group was now on a war footing.

  ALSO BY DAVID L. GOLEMON

  Event

  Legend

  Ancients

  Leviathan

  Primeval

  Legacy

  Ripper

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DAVID L. GOLEMON grew up in Chino, California. He raised three great children and now makes his home in New York. Carpathian is the eighth novel in his Event Group Series. Visit David online at www.EventGroupFiles.com.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.

  An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

  CARPATHIAN. Copyright © 2013 by David L. Golemon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.thomasdunnebooks.com

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Jerry Todd

  Cover photographs: wolf eyes © S-Belov / Shutterstack.com; castle © Davor Lovincic / Getty Images

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Golemon, David Lynn.

  Carpathian: an Event Group Thriller / David L. Golemon. —First Edition.

  pages cm

  ISBN 978-1-250-01300-2 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-250-01301-9 (e-book)

  1. Event Group (Imaginary organization)—Fiction. 2. Quests (Expeditions)—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3607.O4555C37 2013

  813'.6—dc23

  2013009117

  e-ISBN 9781250013019

  First Edition: July 2013