She raised an eyebrow – the layout so far seemed to match the other fortress, just on a larger scale – but took the left path as suggested. Orichalcum and adamantium and crystal gleamed in her torchlight, the new passage curving out of sight. Nina followed it, the rest of the team behind her.
‘Ma-?’ said Cheng into his headset, frowning first in confusion, then rising concern. ‘Mom, can you hear me?’
A camera on one of the helicopters had relayed the exploratory team’s arrival at the hill to the control centre, but once they started digging, they passed out of sight over its crest. Eddie had spent the time since being as unobtrusive as possible, watching Macy show off what he had to admit were impressive yo-yo moves with her toy trikan while listening to Cheng’s progress reports. The worry in the young man’s voice made him hurry to his workstation. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Cheng. ‘Mom was describing what she saw as they went inside, then she just . . . stopped.’
‘It’s like the one in the ice,’ the Yorkshireman realised. ‘We lost radio contact with the ship, remember?’
Cheng called to one of the other staff, who spoke to someone via his own headset. ‘We can still talk to the chopper pilots and the soldiers guarding the site,’ he said after receiving a reply. ‘But they can’t reach the people inside either.’
‘We should get out there. If anything goes wrong, they’ll need help.’
‘I don’t think they’ll let us borrow a helicopter,’ Cheng told him unhappily, casting a glance at the hard-faced captain overseeing operations.
Macy came to her father. ‘Is Mom going to be okay?’
Eddie gave his daughter a reassuring smile. ‘She’ll be fine. Just a radio glitch, that’s all.’ He looked at the screen. The image had not changed, a handful of men visible around the hill. ‘She’ll be fine,’ he repeated, concealing his own disquiet.
Nina led the way around the curving passageway. The fortress’s interior was indeed a scaled-up replica of the one in the iceberg. Doorways opened into the same barracks-like rooms she had seen there, except these were larger, with more beds. If the similarities continued, she would soon reach the armoury. Was Gadreel deliberately taking them that way so he could grab a weapon?
But she was certain Colonel Wu was planning something too. The qi tracker’s presence proved that. What was he so keen to find that it couldn’t wait until the archaeological team had checked the entire fortress?
She put that question to the back of her mind as she reached a new opening. The armoury, as expected, her flashlight beam dancing across unsettling forms within. Towering suits of armour loomed over her, the black voids inside the helmets somehow more unnerving than faces.
Colonel Wu let out an exclamation, pushing past Hui to see for himself. Each suit was different, custom-made for an individual warrior. Some were dark metal, raw and unadorned; others were brightly painted with elaborate patterns worked into the plating. Helmets bore spikes, wings, horns, even the faces of grotesque beasts sneering down at the new arrivals.
Hui gasped in pure exhilaration. ‘These look like the “shining armour” of the Song dynasty!’ she cried. ‘The plate design, the decorations – they are very similar. Bigger, of course.’
‘The Chinese armour might have been a throwback to an earlier civilisation,’ Nina mused. ‘I’ve seen it before – like the carved ceiling in the Alhambra in Spain. The artwork was Islamic, but the actual design was taken from an Atlantean piece.’
Gadreel gazed at the armoury’s contents. Zan now needed no prompting to translate as he spoke. ‘They have not been used. My people have been safe for all this time, waiting for my return.’
Colonel Wu took an interest in something beyond the hollow platoon. ‘Wŭqì!’
Nina and Hui added their lights to his. A rack held dozens of the spear-like weapons Hui had called qiguns. ‘Baraka,’ said Gadreel.
Zan was apologetic. ‘It . . . it’s a word I don’t know.’
‘I do,’ Nina said, to the surprise of the others. ‘It’s a lot like the ancient Hebrew word for lightning.’
‘Hebrew?’ said Major Wu dubiously. ‘You mean the Jews?’
‘Nephilim is a Jewish word itself,’ the redhead pointed out. ‘Or more likely, it was a word the ancient Hebrews adopted to describe . . . giants.’ She indicated Gadreel. ‘Their name lived on even after they disappeared.’
‘They disappeared, but now we have found them again,’ said Hui. She spoke into her headset – but received no reply. ‘The radio is not working!’
The announcement raised alarm. The major took out her phone and saw it had no signal, then took a walkie-talkie from a soldier. Nothing came from it but static. ‘The same thing happened in the ice,’ said Nina. ‘As soon as we went inside, we got cut off from our ship.’
Wu rounded angrily on her. ‘And you did not warn us?’
‘It wasn’t exactly the foremost thing on my mind!’
The colonel also gave Nina a nasty look, but pointed impatiently along the passage. ‘We move on. Go.’
Nina again took the lead, following the corridor around. To her relief, no exploded human remains awaited. A flight of steps led up to somewhere behind the armoury, but Gadreel signalled for her to continue past. Side rooms turned out to be other barracks and storage areas, whatever they contained long decayed to dust, but at the end of the passage more stairs led upwards. She warily ascended.
Her footsteps started to echo as she neared the top. She shone the flashlight around. A throne room, on an even grander scale than the one she had seen previously. The domed ceiling was adorned with elaborate reliefs in precious metals, another egg-like chamber set behind three gold and orichalcum thrones. Several altars were arranged in a semicircle in front of the seats, facing the elongated crystalline windows. Only dirt and stones were visible beyond.
She advanced into the chamber, the others entering behind her. On the room’s opposite side she saw another set of stairs leading downwards – in the same relative position as in the smaller fortress. They would have reached the throne room much sooner had they turned right at the first junction. Her suspicion of Gadreel’s motives deepened. He would have known that – so why had he taken them the long way round? To make sure the armoury and its contents were still intact?
Before she could voice her thoughts, a harsh command from Colonel Wu made her turn. Gadreel had started towards the front of the throne room, heading for stairs that Nina assumed led to another mausoleum, only to halt when his escort raised their guns. The Nephilim regarded the commander with hostility as he spoke. ‘I want to see my people,’ Zan translated.
Colonel Wu’s reply was both negative and devoid of sympathy. He waited for the soldiers to place bright LED lanterns around the room, then signalled to the men carrying the qi tracker. They brought it to the central altar.
Major Wu took Nina by the arm, directing her towards it. She angrily tugged free. ‘What are you doing?’
‘You will use the resurrection key to activate the fortress,’ Wu replied, holding up a satchel containing the ancient artefact.
‘Like hell I will.’
‘If you do not, your daughter and husband will suffer.’
‘You fucking bitch,’ Nina snarled. She glared at the Chinese officer’s companions. Her father was stony-faced, having approved of the plan, or even conceived it. Hui, on the other hand, displayed shock at the turn of events. ‘What for? Why do you want to power it up?’
The colonel spoke. ‘To give China most powerful weapon in world.’
Nina blinked. ‘Okay, not the answer I was expecting.’
‘You have seen something like it before,’ Major Wu replied. ‘The American earth energy weapon.’
She remembered the container ship DARPA had secretly converted into a mobile weapons platform, able to direct a blast of the planet’s raw
power at a target thousands of miles away. ‘You know about that?’
‘Our spies are effective. But it was a crude toy compared to this.’ She gestured at the dark and silent fortress around them. ‘These crystals allow qi to be directed with great accuracy – and power. The potential of a large, flawless crystal to do this is almost limitless.’
‘And Nephilim records,’ said Colonel Wu, ‘say this fortress built around such crystal.’
Nina stared at him, dismayed, then turned to Hui. ‘So all the talk about changing the world was bullshit? You just want to use this thing as a big gun?’
‘It will change the world,’ Wu Shun said smugly before Hui could reply. ‘China will take its rightful place as the greatest superpower. No one will be able to challenge us.’
‘They bow to us,’ her father added, ‘or be destroyed.’
‘You’re crazy,’ Nina exclaimed. ‘You think America will bend over just because you’ve got a new weapon, however powerful?’
‘You will have no choice,’ said the colonel ominously.
‘We can destroy your entire nuclear arsenal in minutes,’ his daughter elaborated. ‘And you will not even know who did it, or how.’
‘That’s why you want it, isn’t it?’ the redhead realised. ‘It’s a stealth weapon. No warning, no defence – and no way to know where the attack came from.’
The major nodded. ‘America planned to do the same thing. So do not lecture us. It only exposes your own hypocrisy.’
‘Not my hypocrisy. I blew the damn thing up! And I’ll do the same to yours if I get the chance.’
‘Our weapon is not as vulnerable as DARPA’s. There are no masts or antennas—’
‘Antennae,’ Nina corrected.
The Chinese woman gave her a cold glare for her sarcastic pedantry, then continued. ‘The earth itself is the antenna. The qi tracker is more than a detection device. When connected to the large crystal, it will not only show us the flows of qi; it can redirect them, force them together at a target until the energy that builds up is released – as an explosion. The Nephilim spear weapons do the same, but only on a limited scale.’ She gestured at Gadreel. ‘Your daughter asked: what was the second thing he was known for? He was the creator of weapons of war! He designed them, he built them. But we improved upon them.’
‘We can destroy a building,’ added Colonel Wu, ‘or a city.’
‘And you need me to start the whole thing up, huh?’ said Nina, disgusted. ‘Well, screw you. I’m not helping you do a damn—’
Major Wu abruptly punched her hard in the stomach. Nina folded in breathless pain. Hui gasped. ‘You will do as we say,’ the major hissed. Two of Gadreel’s guards hurried over and grabbed Nina’s arms, then Wu held the key up before the American. ‘You will power up the fortress.’
‘Fuck you,’ Nina wheezed.
Wu drew back her arm as if about to hit her again, then scowled and gave another order. The soldiers hauled Nina to the central altar. Like the one in the first fortress, it had a recess in the ornate surface. Wu Shun placed the metal disc into it. She did not even offer her prisoner an ultimatum, instead forcing her hand towards it. Nina struggled, but the soldiers were too strong. She clenched her fist to stop her palm from being placed against the key—
It made no difference. Her knuckles were pressed against it – and she felt the almost electric shock of contact as earth energy was channelled through her. She jerked back. The men pushed her hand down again, but Wu Shun spoke, and they released her.
She had served her purpose, providing the spark that would re-energise the ancient structure, bringing its deadly secrets back to life. Fear rose inside her. If the Chinese decided she was no longer necessary, they wouldn’t need to keep Eddie or Macy alive either . . .
Wu Shun’s cold eyes were fixed upon her. Nina retreated from the altar, expecting a fatal order to be snapped out—
It didn’t come. The major gave her a last dismissive sneer, then turned to the qi tracker. Its operators began to set it up.
With nowhere else to go, Nina rejoined Hui.
‘I – I am so sorry,’ the scientist said, appalled. ‘I did not know any of this would happen!’
‘Cram it,’ Nina growled. ‘What did you think was going to happen? The Chinese army was going to use all this to spread love and harmony around the world?’
Hui seemed about to protest, then sagged in defeat. ‘I . . . Yes, you are right. I should have known. I . . . did know. But I denied it to myself.’ She straightened, drawing in a determined breath. ‘I will try to make it right. Colonel Wu!’ She turned to the commander and spoke in firm Mandarin.
Nina noticed Zan talking quietly to Gadreel, but her attention was dominated by Colonel Wu’s fiery response to Hui. The officer did not like what she said, nor was he shy about letting her know. She tried a couple of times to reply, but his verbal steamrollering could not be stopped. Only when he paused for breath did Hui manage to interject, the word ‘Beijing’ the only one Nina understood – she guessed the scientist was threatening to take the matter to his superiors.
If Hui had hoped he would back down, she was completely mistaken. A cold, frightening anger entered the colonel’s voice, the tone of someone used to wielding power – and who would not hesitate to use it. The archaeologist shrank back as he jabbed his finger at her, voice rising with each stab. A final outburst, almost roared into her face, then he shouted an order to his daughter. She hurried over, the soldiers who had forced Nina to the altar going with her, and they took up menacing positions around Hui.
‘What are you doing?’ Nina demanded. Hui might have been naïve – or wilfully blind – but she had still tried to stand up for her.
‘Colonel Commandant Wu has removed Dr Hui as director of the archaeological project,’ Major Wu told her stonily.
‘You can’t do that!’ She looked back at Hui. ‘You’re in charge! He doesn’t have the authority!’
But Hui, utterly crushed, had nothing to say. ‘Take her away,’ said the colonel – in English, to make it absolutely clear to Nina who was in control. Major Wu and a soldier led the scientist from the throne room.
Colonel Wu watched them leave, and was about to turn back to Nina when something caught his eye. He looked around the chamber. Nina did the same, seeing faint swathes of light in the shadows; the crystals in the walls had started to glow. Only faintly – but they were growing steadily brighter. ‘It’s happening more quickly than in the ice fortress . . .’
‘This place at meeting of many lines of qi,’ the colonel replied. ‘More energy here, it charge faster.’ He went to the tracker. The device was now fully set up, several cables running to the key upon the altar. A custom-made clip secured them to the artefact.
Gadreel spoke with barely restrained anger. Colonel Wu gave a dismissive reply, which Zan passed on with obvious nervousness. ‘He demands to see his people,’ the translator then told Nina. ‘The colonel said . . . he does not take orders from monsters.’
‘Yeah, I can tell that went down well.’ The Nephilim had the same look of cold fury Wu himself had displayed just minutes earlier – but rather than unleash his anger, he contained it, fuel for his next action.
And Nina knew he was planning that action, waiting for the right moment. But to do what?
One of the technicians ran a program on the tracker’s laptop. Status reports flashed up. She couldn’t read the text, but the numbers were clear – as were their colours. The majority of the results were in either orange or red, falling short of some desired level. The technicians exchanged worried looks, then reported their findings to the colonel.
He was not pleased, marching to the machine as if his glare could force all the numbers into the green.
‘Got a problem?’ Nina asked.
Colonel Wu ignored her, making demands of the technicians as he looked over their shoulders. She
turned to Zan. ‘They ran a test program,’ he said. ‘It . . . didn’t work.’
‘Really? Oh gee, I guess we’d all better go home and forget this happened.’
Wu did not appreciate her insolent tone. ‘It should work. But it did not. Something missing.’ He advanced on her, signalling for the remaining guards to block her retreat. ‘You! Americans needed you to make their weapon work. So you make our weapon work.’
‘The hell I will,’ Nina replied. ‘I didn’t let DARPA use me to start a war, and I won’t let you do it either.’
‘Then your family pay.’ The colonel’s eyes turned more pitiless than ever. ‘Choose your husband, or your daughter. One will live – and other will die!’
29
‘They’re coming out,’ said Eddie. Figures crested the hilltop on the control centre’s screen.
‘There’s Mom,’ said Cheng with relief. ‘Major Wu’s with her.’
‘Where’s my mom?’ Macy asked.
‘I don’t see her,’ Eddie replied. The little group moved clear of the buried entrance. Nobody else followed.
‘I’ll call her,’ said Cheng. He spoke into his mic. On the screen, his mother reacted by raising her head, then starting to talk – but Major Wu yanked off her headset.
Eddie watched with growing concern as the officer donned it herself. ‘What’s going on?’
Cheng listened in as Wu spoke to the captain in charge of the control centre – then drew a shocked breath. ‘They – Mom’s been removed from her post!’ he whispered.
‘What? Why?’
‘I don’t know. The major says—’
Everyone looked around in surprise as a young officer ran into the room, urgently shouting in Mandarin. The captain quickly patched him through to Wu. Cheng let out a startled exclamation.
‘What the hell’s happening?’ Eddie demanded.
‘Mrs Miller just gave up the name of her spy,’ Cheng told him. ‘It’s Zan Zhi!’
‘The translator?’ Eddie looked back at the screen in alarm. ‘But he’s still in there with Nina!’
The Resurrection Key Page 31
