“That wouldn’t be the only way to move the French,” Smith said. “If you continue reading the third page, you’ll find that D’erlon Enterprises has connections with Iran.”
“Go on,” Mrs. King said.
“What sort of clandestine endeavors are D’erlon Enterprises and Iran involved in?” Smith asked. “Why this secrecy in hiding their energy usage? Perhaps there wouldn’t even be a need to mention the antimatter.”
“So…?
“So instead of speaking to the National Intelligence Director to give you an appointment with the President,” Smith said, “you could have a private chat with the head of French Intelligence. Given some of these salient facts concerning D’erlon Enterprises, the French might want to make a snap inspection of the Ardennes plant.”
“Ah. You sly devil,” Mrs. King said. “The Iranian connection means a possible nuclear link. That would interest the French and motivate them to go to the plant, possibly tonight. I like it.”
She pressed a switch on her desk. A section on it opened and a computer screen rose into view.
Smith turned to go.
“No,” Mrs. King said. “I’d like you to stay. I may need your expertise.”
Deputy Secretary Smith sat down before the desk.
Mrs. King glanced at the folder again, took a deep breath and began to open a channel.
-24-
UNDERWATER
OFF THE COAST OF SUMATRA
Selene heard a burbling speedboat before she saw it. Raising her head, she spied the sleek machine. It didn’t fly across the waters as she’d seen before with the front lifted. Instead, it trawled along.
She watched it for a time. Finally, barely, she could make out a standing man with binoculars. He appeared to be scanning the ocean.
A cold knot tightened in her stomach. He must be looking for me. They must have found Forrest’s body and the dead Chinese man in the dome. Now they’re going to—
With a start, Selene realized the tip of her snorkel was orange-colored. She ripped the rubber tube from her mouth and mask from her face, holding them underwater.
She watched him, growing more terrified by the minute. A premonition touched her. Could her staring create a psychic energy he could sense? Surely, that was ridiculous. Nevertheless, Selene no longer started directly at the speedboat, but watched with her peripheral vision.
Time passed slowly. The man seemed thorough. With the engine barely above idling, the boat crept through the sea. Finally, he dwindled, becoming no more than a speck.
At that point, Selene slid the mask onto her face and put the rubber mouthpiece against her teeth. She used her legs, propelling the extra-large fins in a languid manner.
There was no sense hurrying this. The fins were designed for long swims underwater. They worked just as well near the surface. This was a long-distance contest, not a sprint.
The wetsuit made her buoyant and the snorkel allowed her to keep her head down, saving energy. She only looked up to check the sun. Its journey across the sky helped her navigate toward the western coast of Sumatra.
I can do this. I don’t have any choice if I want to live.
Her resolve firmed. Nothing was going to stop her.
-25-
D’ERLON ENTERPRISES
ARDENNES FOREST
Marcus set the D17 device on a table. Beside it were the dead agent’s other items, the ones found in the two bags. An assortment of black garments, night vision equipment, suppressed weapons, knives, boots and various paraphernalia littered the large table. He had already inspected the dead case officer.
A woman wearing a D’erlon Security cap poked her head through the door. “The superior is ready,” she said.
Marcus looked at the woman. She quailed, making no pretense of being able to withstand his gaze. Without a word, he stalked from the room, passing the trembling woman.
A few minutes later, Marcus sat down before a blank computer screen. He had to do this to Mother’s specifications.
“Well,” the robotic voice asked from the seemingly blank screen. “Is the report correct?”
Marcus expanded his broad chest before answering. “I have checked carefully. The device recorded the antimatter and the magnetic fields.”
“Did the agents communicate with someone outside the site?”
“I don’t have concrete evidence but I think we must conclude that they did.”
“You failed me, Marcus.”
The words bit into his heart. He hated them, and he refused to accept them. “I did not fail. I gave the warning because my excellent memory recalled the D17 agent. Because of me, we know why the French military is racing here for a snap inspection. Otherwise, we would be in the dark as to why this is happening.”
“That’s only partly true. I have received word of the event from a…mole in the French government. Still, perhaps you have a point.”
He had more than a point. Marcus made a fist and banged it on the desk, making the screen jump. “It would be easy to stop the convoy. We must have more than enough antimatter now—”
“Marcus,” the robotic voice said.
He stopped talking.
“You must learn patience,” the robotic voice said. “I have. It is one of my greatest powers.
“I thought we were close.”
“We are, my darling boy, closer than you realize. I want those 900 grams. You are to send the trucks immediately. Afterward, you will initiate a slowdown procedure. Because The Day is almost upon us, I want all the technicians down there. No one will spoil the event I’ve waited—listen to me. I’m more excited than you can realize. Do you understand about the technicians?”
“That seems so wasteful.”
“Don’t question me, my hero. I will not leave the inquisitive a trail to follow. By the way, who does the dead man belong to?”
“He tried to pass himself off as a Russian from IZENOV.”
“And?”
“The dead man is an American. I’ve run an analysis. He belonged to Detachment 17.”
“Again D17 creates trouble for me,” the robotic voice said, “twice in one day.”
“Will you finally let me destroy them?”
“Marcus, Marcus, Marcus, you have such a murderous and wasteful rage. That is not how I maneuver. It isn’t needed.”
“You said this is the second time—”
“Marcus,” the robotic voice said, sharply. “You have talents. I am quite aware of them. However, we will always do this my way. Do you understand me?”
He wanted to spit or even to refuse to answer like a petulant child. But that would be a waste because Mother would find a way to discipline him for his insolence. No. He must continue to obey her.
“I understand,” he rumbled.
“Then go, do as I have instructed.”
“What should I do about the hound?” he asked, realizing he was hesitating to commit the foul deed.
“Explain your question.”
“Your experimental creature sought to trick me,” Marcus said. “The hound let the D17 agents into the complex.”
“It is my understanding the hound destroyed one of them and brought the device to you.”
Marcus would have liked to know which of his security people had already reported to Mother. “The beast did that,” he admitted.
“Listen to me, my child. Of course, the hound attempts trickery. It is part of the process. You will of course take the hound with you when you leave. I have plans for it.”
For just a moment then, Marcus wondered if Mother treated him in the same way she did the experimental hound. Did she realize he—Marcus—had ulterior plans? The idea frightened him, something he hated beyond death.
“You must hurry, my boy. The convoy rushes to the site, hoping to catch us by surprise. I want everything in order by the time they arrive.”
“It will be so,” Marcus said. “The first trucks have already departed with the antimatter.”
“Yes, you are a
good boy. I trust you, Marcus. Do not let me down.”
The connection cut, leaving him to wonder if she toyed with him. More than ever, he yearned to know her final objective. Why was Mother so secretive? How could he win her trust the way Frederick and a few of the others appeared to have achieved?
He stood. First, he had a hard task to perform. Then, he had to leave before the French military convoy arrived.
***
Marcus scanned the throng of scientists and technicians down there in the basement chamber. He used the same door Jack and Simon had used earlier.
The people worked although not as efficiently as usual. A woman looked up at Marcus. She stared for a moment before looking down. She must have whispered because soon others looked up at him. Within seconds, everyone in the antimatter production chamber peered up at him.
Marcus sighed, closing the heavy steel door. He walked to a portable screen. No one else was with him for this grim task. The scientists and technicians did not go back to work down there. Instead, they turned to each other, no doubt asking why they had stayed for an extra shift. That hadn’t ever happened before.
This was distasteful. Marcus didn’t want to do it. He didn’t sweat, though, nor did his heart hammer.
I will make a name for myself. The world will know that Marcus has walked the Earth.
The central conviction of his existence brought calm, smoothing the icy trickle in his gut. He could perform the hard tasks. Mother trusted him, he believed, because he could do the difficult chores without complaining or becoming a drunk who drowned out a soft conscience.
The trick was to do this without taking delight in it. That way laid sadism and other harmful psychoses. He must remain the soldier, a warrior with valor and superior élan. A butcher lacked heart. That would never be his problem. He had to admit, though, that to date he’d hadn’t found a worthy opponent. That troubled him. How was a warrior supposed to prove himself without worthy foes?
Marcus raised a ham-like hand, pointing a blunt-tipped index finger. Time was wasting. The military vehicles and French Secret Service agents would be here soon.
“The hell with this,” he muttered. Marcus pressed a red button.
Before him, on the viewing screen, grams of antimatter joined an equal amount of matter. It was like a nuclear explosion, which would have destroyed the entire complex with Marcus included if he hadn’t used a special dampener, unknown to anyone else on Earth.
Down there in the basement behind magnetic containment fields was a terrific and annihilating explosion. The floor under Marcus shook, as did the walls. Everyone and everything on the screen vaporized except for the magnetic force field that contained the dampened antimatter blast. All the scientists, the technicians, their clothes, bones, shoes, hair and all the equipment had ceased to exist.
Now, all Marcus had to do was take down the magnetic generators. He still had enough time to hide those. The French Intelligence people weren’t going to find anything in the complex.
-26-
UNDERWATER
OFF THE COAST OF SUMATRA
In time, the sun sank into the western horizon. The stars began to appear and then the moon. The dark waters frightened Selene. For the first hour, she peered intently into the inky depths. She expected a shark to appear any second. They loved to hunt at night.
After a tense hour of watching, she finally told herself, “I can’t keep going like this.” If a shark was going to bite her, it was all over anyway.
The next hour proved much easier, the third even more so. Then, she saw a gliding shape, a huge monster.
Every muscle tightened in her. Selene gasped for air as her heart began hammering. The creature glided toward her, no doubt to inspect the prey.
Yes, she had the tuning fork thing. But what if she pressed the wrong button? What if those hunting for her could tune in on its frequency it if she turned it back on? Thus, she’d first try this the old-fashioned way.
Selene knew the hunters of the sea usually made several passes of inspection before they actually used those teeth. All bets were off with blood in the water—the reason for the frenzy earlier.
Get a grip, Selene.
She forced herself to breathe normally as she kept watch. The shark, an eight-foot creature, swam close the first pass and even closer the second. At the third, Selene pivoted in the water and kicked with her heel, connecting with the sandpaper skin.
The shark flashed its tail, heading down.
The next few minutes Selene swam as slowly as she could manage, watching everywhere. The minutes continued to tick by with agonizing slowness. Finally, she realized the shark was gone. She’d frightened it away.
Selene journeyed throughout the night. It rained once. She bobbed in the sea with her mouth open, catching drops. She also held her mask up, sipping when it collected enough water. Finally, the rain stopped and she continued swimming.
In the middle of the next morning, she spied a smudge of land on the horizon. She laughed with exhaustion. She had traveled one hundred miles in record time.
I’m going to make it. I’ve survived this part of the ordeal, at least.
She had done much soul-searching during the lonely hours. Someone had built the underwater dome and gone to murderous lengths to hide the fact. That meant several things. These people must have money, as in billions at least. They also had incredible reach and deadly intent. Would they stop coming after her if they knew she was alive?
Selene didn’t think so. What did that mean to her? She would need to take precautions obviously. Until she knew more, she was going to keep a low profile. Her friends had become shark food. She could be next on the list.
This could be the greatest mystery on Earth.
Selene thought about that as she neared shore. She had begun life as a loner, an orphan. She could go that route again if she had to. She had a hefty sum of money saved. Before she raised her head, as it were, telling authorities what she knew, she wanted to have something concrete to show them besides just the tuning fork thing.
This must have something to do with the hum. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t heard from Claire. What had happened at Angkor Wat?
Should I go there and find out?
Maybe Claire had found something terrifying at Angkor Wat just as she had here. If that were true, what would Claire do next? She wouldn’t just come running home. Claire had an insatiable curiosity. She would want more data. Thus, Claire would go to the next site on the list.
Selene knew her friend. They had stayed up many long nights discussing extremely low frequencies combined with magnetic waves and geological oddities. One of the more interesting and perplexing hums had begun at the Siwa Oasis in Egypt. Study had shown it was a recent phenomenon. Claire had almost gone there instead of Angkor Wat.
Claire had talked about the Old Man, a conspiracy theorist of the first order. She’d been in contact with him for some time. The Old Man had weird ideas, but he heard the Siwa Hum all the time. Claire had planned to investigate the oasis after Angkor Wat.
As she swam toward shore, Selene realized she’d already been thinking about Philip Khios subconsciously. He’d worked with her in the past. She might have dated him if she hadn’t already been involved with Danny. Philip was in Athens, Greece, his hometown. She was sure he would be willing to help her. Philip had made several trips to Egypt.
Selene was beginning to feel better. If anyone knew what to do with the stolen tuning fork device and underwater dome, it would be Claire. Before Selene went public with her knowledge, she would first go to Egypt. Maybe Claire was on the run from these secret people too.
With renewed confidence, Selene began working on what she would say to Philip Khios.
-27-
SOMEWHERE ON EARTH
“D17 has become too intrusive,” Mother said.
“We have—”
Mother glowered at the speaker. The other hastily fell silent.
“The Day approaches,” Mother whisper
ed. “After all this time… There are loose ends. You know I do not approve of loose ends.”
“I know.”
“This Dr. Selene Khan entered Station Thirteen and stole a hummer. The D17 agent, Jack Elliot, saw too much in the Ardennes. No, no, I do not approve. The worst is that spider in Washington. Secretary King has become too meddlesome. It is time to remove her from the board.”
“Then…”
“Send Mouse to Washington. It is time the head of D17 had an accident. At this late date, we will keep everything simple. Afterward…well, it won’t matter what any of them knows then.”
PART TWO:
RUNNING WITH THE HORSEMEN
-28-
36 HOURS LATER
SIWA OASIS
EGYPT
“You’re never going to believe this, sir.”
“With that smirk on your face, I’m not sure I want to hear it.”
“It’s about Dr. Selene Khan.”
“You’ve found her? Where is she hiding, in the middle of a Sumatra jungle?”
“She’s in Africa, sir.”
“Impossible!”
“She’s been clever, but she slipped up as we knew she would.”
“No! Don’t be arrogant. She’s proven more elusive than anyone thought possible. In Africa, you say? The woman is remarkable. She’s slipped through our fingers several times already. It is unwise to underestimate her.”
“This time, she’s ours, sir.”
“Go ahead. Give me the report. The last two days searching the net, every Southeast Asian airport manifest—”
“She’s given us a chase, sir, that’s true. Now, she’s in the Siwa Oasis.”
“The Hell you say?”
Artifact Page 10
