The Milestone Protocol

by Ernest Dempsey

  Sean climbed down from the cab and clapped his hands together as the armed guard approached. The man carried a submachine gun slung over his shoulder, but kept it under his armpit instead of high and tight, ready to fire if necessary.

  Complacency, Sean knew, was the mother of destruction.

  “Right on time,” the man said in a Swedish accent. “I would get you some guys to help unload, but everyone is down in the control room right now. Boss called everyone down about a half hour ago.”

  A half hour, Sean thought. That didn’t give them much time. By now, Magnus could already have the diamond in place and begin the process—whatever that was—to start up the machine.

  “No worries,” Sean said, imitating the man’s accent. He looked up at another control room at the top of a metal platform overlooking the tunnel. A staircase went up to a catwalk and then continued up to the room where two men sat inside, probably watching video monitors. “We loaded the things. We can unload them. They were pretty heavy, though. Any idea what’s in those crates?”

  The guard snorted, rocking his head back. “The boss doesn’t tell us much about that stuff. We just open doors and tell people where to take it.”

  “Sounds like my boss,” Sean quipped. “We’ll get it unloaded and get out of your way. Where should we take it?”

  The guard extended a finger toward the maintenance elevator. “Over there. Apparently, it’s going down to the control room. You’ll have to take two elevators, so it may take a while. But you get paid by the hour, right?”

  “You know it,” Sean agreed, happily. “Plus a little overtime pay, too.”

  The guard smiled a toothy grin. “That’s good. I’ll escort you down once you have the boxes unloaded.”

  “Good deal.”

  Sean turned and twirled his finger in the air toward Tommy, who had been waiting in the passenger seat. He nodded and climbed down out of the cab. Dak and Alex did the same.

  The four men followed the guard over to two loaders. The machines were flat on the surface, like hardware store carts but with electric motors and control panels on one end, along with a steering mechanism akin to a wheel.

  “You ever used these before?” the guard asked.

  “A few times,” Sean lied. “But I have to admit, I like the older machines better. More power.”

  “Afraid I don’t know much about that stuff,” the guard confessed. He scratched at his neck, revealing an ankh tattoo. “I’ll be over there at the lift when you’re ready.”

  “Thanks,” Sean said. “Won’t take long.”

  The man sauntered away, holding the gun against his side like it made him tough.

  “Any idea how to work these things?” Sean asked when the man was out of earshot.

  “I would try the power button,” Alex offered, pointing at the red button with the universal symbol for power.

  “Good start,” Sean laughed. “Come on. We need to get these crates unloaded.”

  He fumbled with the first loader for a minute but quickly got the gist of how it worked. The green up and down arrow buttons on the panel raised and lowered the platform, which would make unloading the crates easier. Blue forward and reverse buttons made the machine go.

  “Simple enough,” Tommy said as he pressed down on one of the buttons. His loader jolted forward and bumped into the one Sean had been inspecting. He narrowly jumped out of the way.

  “Yeah,” Sean said, shaking his head. “Real simple.”

  “Sorry.”

  Dak chuckled. “Come on. We’re running out of time.”

  Sean and Tommy steered the loaders over to the back of the trucks while Alex and Dak flung open the back doors. Dak had to work a little harder with the frozen clasp, but the snow that had gummed it up was mostly melted, and unhinging it only required a firm pull.

  The second the occupants in the cargo area saw the light pour in, they gripped their pistols and waited behind the big boxes.

  “We’re clear for now,” Dak said. “Time for phase two.”

  The group inside stood up from their crouching positions and nodded. They’d already emptied the crates of the supplies, which were mostly freeze-dried food and bottled water.

  One by one, the members of the team climbed into the open boxes while Dak pulled himself up and started resealing them. Sean was already lowering his cargo to the asphalt by the time Dak and Alex got the first crate onto the loader. They slid the container with Adriana onto it first, then to the back of the machine.

  “I hope this works,” Niki said as he lowered himself into a crate and pulled the flaps down.

  “You and me both, kid,” Dak grumbled.

  He folded the flaps over themselves to close the box and then, with Alex’s help, slid the box over to the loader.

  When the five crates were secured on the machine, Dak dropped back down to the ground and pressed the down arrow button.

  The hydraulic lift hissed, and the platform gradually lowered to its original position.

  Alex closed the cargo door, and the two emerged from behind the second truck, walking toward the maintenance lift.

  Dak noticed that the original guard was now accompanied by three others. He turned his head and whispered to Alex. “This is a one-way trip down,” he hissed.

  “What do you mean?” Alex wondered, concern spreading across his face.

  “I mean, they’re going to kill us once we’re down below. I’m guessing outsiders aren’t supposed to see this place.”

  “Or maybe they made us out as phonies.”

  “I doubt that, but it’s possible. Either way, once we get to the second elevator and are on board, we’ll have to act first.”

  “Okay,” Alex said, his voice littered with doubt.

  “Just relax. We’ll be fine.”

  Dak waved at Tommy and Sean, who stood waiting on the big lift as he guided the machine onto the platform and parked it in an opening near the right edge.

  Once everyone was on board, the guard who’d met them closed the gate and nodded to another who was at a control panel. The man pressed a button, and the winch above began to hum as the cables lowered the lift down into the mountain.

  46

  Svalbard

  A wiry man with a long birdlike nose and a hairline that had receded just beyond his forehead, stood at the back of the room. He wore a white lab coat and was poring over something on a tablet he held in his left hand.

  Magnus approached him and patted the man on the shoulder. “Any changes in the energy levels, Klaus?”

  “No, sir,” Klaus said, pushing up his brown-framed spectacles. “All the readings are still normal. Everything has remained consistent with very few changes.”

  “Any idea what may have caused those changes?” Magnus asked.

  Kevin watched the conversation, mesmerized. He wanted to ask what the two were talking about, but felt it prudent to let the men finish without interruption.

  “Could be magnetic fluctuations. We see similar anomalies with the aurora. When the planet’s magnetism tweaks even a little, we can see that reflected in the lights over the poles. We’re investigating a correlation between visible changes in the aurora and the times we have unique signatures in the energy readings. We should know more within a few days.”

  “Excellent.” He turned to Kevin and extended his arm. “This is Dr. Kevin Clark, archaeologist, and the man who discovered this.” Like a magician pulling a bouquet from his sleeve, Magnus produced the glittering crimson gem in his free hand.

  The scientist’s eyes widened at the sight. He tilted his head to the side and scanned the object, as if enchanted by it.

  “The stone from Russia?”

  Magnus nodded silently.

  “May I?”

  “Of course.”

  Klaus took the precious gem in his hand as gingerly as he would a baby bird fresh from its eggshell. He turned it in his palm, noting the drill holes through the surface.

  “The pyramid network map?” he asked
.

  “Just like the other eleven,” Magnus confirmed.

  He took back the gem and stuffed it into his jacket and patted it down. “Has the last delivery arrived?”

  Klaus tapped the home button on his tablet and scrolled through until he found the last checkpoint check-in of the day. “Yes. It looks like they made the drop-off.”

  “Good. Seal the main gate. We’re doing it now.”

  Surprised, Klaus scrunched his forehead at the command. “I’m sorry, sir. You want to initiate the systems now?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  After a breath of sterilized doubt, Klaus shook his head. “No. No, sir. No problem. I’ll get the team down in the pyramid to begin making preparations.”

  “Good.”

  “Do you want me to get someone to put the red diamond in place?” Klaus looked almost worried that the Swede would say yes.

  “No,” Magnus said. “I’m going to do it myself.”

  Klaus appeared both relieved and terrified. “Are you certain, sir? It may not be—”

  “It’s safe, Klaus. The design of the pyramid’s nerve center protects the one who activates it. I’ll be fine. Just make sure you monitor the power stream coming in.”

  “Yes, sir. We will. The Quantium core is still producing the prescribed amount of energy to activate the protocol. We also have satellites in place to monitor the impact on the population above. If this works like we believe, it should be nearly instant and with minimal collateral damage to infrastructure.”

  “That will change when people panic,” Magnus commented. “But there’s nothing to stop that.”

  “Commence initiation sequence. I’ll see you back here once it’s done.”

  Klaus bowed his head and stepped back, returning his eyes to the tablet and the data flowing across the screen.

  Magnus turned and ushered Kevin through the room to a giant window on the front side. Through the glass, a stunned Kevin looked out upon the most incredible thing he’d ever seen in his life.

  A mammoth pyramid rose up from a deep, terraced pit. The tip of the megastructure glowed with a blue hue that radiated from something fixed to the top of it. Kevin narrowed his eyelids and peered at what appeared to be an orb fixed to a golden rod. The top of the rod branched out in four curved arms that seemed to cradle the sphere.

  “You excavated the entire pyramid?” Kevin asked in disbelief.

  “Of course. We had to if we wanted the thing to work.”

  Kevin’s eyes drifted up to a shaft cut into the rock directly over the orb. “Did you drill that?” He pointed at the hole, wondering if it went all the way to the surface.

  “No,” Magnus said honestly. “Most of it was already here. Over time, some of the shaft was filled in by erosion. We cleared out the debris, most of which was at the top. Best we can figure, it was frozen in place, and when the frost melted, the moisture compacted everything over the opening. It didn’t take much to open it up.”

  “So, it does go all the way to the surface.”

  “Yes.” Magnus waved his right hand around the room. “This place is safe from whatever power that thing will generate, though based on our calculations it is going to send a beam up through that shaft. There should be minimal if any radiation.”

  “Radiation?”

  Magnus turned to Kevin after staring at the pyramid for a few breaths. “Yes. But not to worry. As I said, we will be safe here. According to the texts we discovered, the beam is quite focused. It will fire into the shaft and, when it reaches the top, will be dispersed by a similar orb fixed to an antenna at the top of the mountain.”

  “You’re going to kill billions of people with radiation?” Kevin realized he sounded disappointed and tried to correct himself. “I mean, how does it work? What’s that thing on the top of the pyramid? And you said there’s another orb?”

  “The Scepter of Thoth,” Magnus said. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

  Magnus motioned to his guest, and the two walked through the room behind the front row of workers diligently monitoring energy levels on various screens and gauges.

  They entered a white hall with a black floor and continued until they arrived at an ordinary steel elevator door.

  Magnus pressed the button and waited. “The scepter is something we learned about long ago, mostly from hieroglyphs we discovered that feature the deity. He is often depicted holding an abacus.”

  The elevator door opened, and the two men stepped inside. Magnus pressed the button on the bottom of three, and the doors closed once more.

  “Then there are other pictures of him holding other objects. Sometimes barley grain, sometimes palm branches, and very often, a piece of papyrus with a stylus.”

  “Because that was one of the powers he ruled over,” Kevin added.

  “Yes, of Thoth’s many jobs or titles, the god of writing was one of them. But when we discovered the images of him holding the scepter, it made me wonder. As the leader of the Fellowship, it was my duty to investigate, to better understand what this thing was that our patron deity clutched in his fingers.”

  The elevator slowed to a stop, and the door opened again. The two stepped out into a corridor that forked in three directions. Magnus walked straight ahead and stopped at the first door on his right. He pulled the ID card from around his neck and swiped it on the access panel next to the doorframe, then waited for the door to open.

  In seconds, the lock clicked, and a robotic woman’s voice said, “Welcome, Dr. Sorenson.”

  Magnus stepped through the opening and waited on the inside for Kevin to join him.

  Kevin’s eyes widened at the marvels spread out before him. The room was one hundred feet long and nearly as wide. Steel tables were arranged in neat rows with white sheets covering most of them. Glass cases covered many of the tables that housed artifacts unlike anything Kevin had ever seen before.

  Gold vases encrusted with diamonds were the first thing that caught his attention. Then he broke free of the spell and panned the rest of the room as he unconsciously meandered through the rows, inspecting clay tablets with Sanskrit engraved onto them in complete, unbroken lines. Ancient scrolls occupied some of the encased spots, these written in the earliest forms of Egyptian, but with other characters included that Kevin could not decipher.

  Other tables contained weapons: curved blades, arrows and bows, long spears, and shields. “Are those made from steel?” Kevin asked, pointing at the weapons.

  “Yes,” Magnus said. “Those are made from steel. Not just any steel, though. That steel is twice as hard as any we can produce in steel mills around the world. And it predates modern steel by about ten to eleven thousand years.”

  “The thirteenth century,” Kevin said absently. His eyes wandered, as if on their own accord, to huge images that covered the walls. They were printouts, replicas of various scenes from Egyptian accounts of history via hieroglyphs. Thoth featured heavily in most of the images and, as Magnus had described, was holding one of the three items the Swede mentioned.

  “I’ve seen some of these,” Kevin whispered. “Some not.”

  “You wouldn’t be alone in that. Most of what’s on the wall was taken from known sites, places that were excavated long ago or by prominent archaeologists. That one,” Magnus pointed at a huge square section in the center of the front wall, “has never been seen by anyone outside of the Fellowship.”

  “An original,” Kevin breathed. “Where is it?”

  Magnus grinned with pride. “Let me show you.”

  Kevin lingered in the first row for a long couple of seconds while Magnus strode to the door and pushed it open. The Swede chortled. “The treasures and questions this room offers can wait, Dr. Clark. We have a date with destiny, and a new world to create.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Kevin dragged himself away from the treasures splayed out before him and walked out the door.

  Magnus turned back down the corridor and turned right, heading away from the
elevator. They passed several gray doors in the sterile hallway. It reminded Kevin of images and movies he’d seen featuring psychiatric asylums. Plain white walls and floors were used to prevent additional psychological issues from arising, and the gray doors were least stimulating of all.

  Straight ahead, the last gray door stood at the end of the corridor. Beyond it, bright lights shone through the window in its center.

  Magnus swiped his ID card at the panel again and then pulled open the door. He stood at the threshold for a second and looked hard into Kevin’s eyes. “What you are about to see is going to be…difficult to believe.”

  “I’ve been to the pyramids, Dr. Sorenson. I’ll be okay.”

  “No,” Magnus corrected, his voice abruptly dark and foreboding. “You haven’t been to a pyramid like this. I would imagine for the uninitiated, it would be jarring.”

  Kevin stared back into the man’s cold blue eyes, then nodded. “Okay. Thanks for the warning.”

  And like that, the moment was gone. Magnus nodded once and walked through the doorway and into another world.

  The two men stood in the largest underground chamber Kevin had ever seen. From the base of the enormous pyramid all the way to the ceiling was at least five hundred feet. The tip of the megalithic structure reached up to about thirty feet below the shaft cut into the rock overhead—which made this pyramid taller than even the Great Pyramid in Egypt. The enormous man-made cavern stretched out the length of three or four football fields in every direction.

  “Incredible,” Kevin gasped. “Simply incredible.”

  “Yes,” Magnus agreed.

  “How did they get this rock here?” Kevin asked as he approached the pyramid’s foundation at a corner. “This did not come from the archipelago.”

  “No. It didn’t,” Magnus confirmed. “It was brought from far away. We suspect the Mediterranean. That’s the best guess our geologists can come up with based on the composition of the stone."

  “How did ancient people from thirteen thousand years ago move so much heavy stone over such a great distance?”