“We’ve got maybe four seconds,” Turcotte said.
The image blanked out, then returned, showing the island unchanged. “What happened?” Kelly asked.
* * *
On the Lincoln the admiral was asking the same question of his staff on the battle bridge. He ignored General Gullick’s screamed demands as he talked to the officers working there.
“Near as I can tell, sir, there’s some sort of force field around the volcano. The Tomahawks were destroyed when they hit it.”
The admiral rubbed his forehead. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. He’d already lost six multimillion-dollar fighters, and now four Tomahawks.
“I demand you launch another strike!” Gullick was yelling on one frequency.
“Sir, I’ve got communication with someone claiming they are inside that volcano,” one of the men said.
“Give me that frequency,” the admiral said, ignoring Gullick. He picked up a mike. “This is Admiral Springfield.”
“Admiral, this is Lisa Duncan, the President’s science adviser. You’d better listen up and listen good. Who authorized you to attack this place?”
“General Gullick, ma’am.”
“General Gullick is insane.”
“He had the proper authorization codes and—”
“Admiral, I want you to get me a direct line to the President. I’ll give you my authorization codes to get that call through, and we’ll get this all sorted out. Clear?”
The admiral gave a relieved sigh. “Clear, ma’am.”
* * *
The golden tendril unwrapped itself from around Nabinger’s head and returned to the orb. The orb pulsed and seemed to grow larger.
“What’s happening?” Kelly asked.
“I don’t know,” Nabinger replied. “As much as I’m getting information from the guardian, it’s getting information from me.”
* * *
On Easter Island, Gullick was still yelling into the radio in the back of the helicopter when the navy lieutenant took off his headset and looked at the general. “Sir, I’m under orders to take you into custody.”
Gullick’s face twitched and he ripped off his own headset. “What? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I have orders to take you into custody,” the lieutenant repeated. He laid a hand on Gullick’s arm and Gullick ripped it away.
“Don’t you dare! I had served my country for over thirty years. This cannot happen. We must succeed. We must fly the ship.”
The lieutenant had almost lost friends on the previous night’s F-16 mission and he had his orders. He drew his pistol. “Sir, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way.”
Gullick drew his pistol. The lieutenant froze, stunned that his bluff had been called.
Airspace, Dulce, New Mexico
From its perch watching the mothership hangar the foo fighter came out of the north at over five thousand miles an hour. It stopped abruptly and hovered, three miles over the mountain housing the Dulce facility. A tightly focused beam of golden light came out of it, aimed straight down.
It passed through the mountain as if it didn’t exist.
On the bottommost level the small pyramid was touched by the beam and instantly imploded. The layers of the facility pancaked on top of each other and the entire facility was destroyed in less than two seconds.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Gullick turned to the north and his mouth opened wide. A high-pitched scream came out. He fell to the floor of the helicopter, dropping the pistol and pressing both hands against the side of his head. Dark red blood flowed out his ears and nose.
The lieutenant stepped back, shocked by what he was watching. Gullick reached a hand up, the fingers twisted in pain, in a gesture of supplication. Then he collapsed in a fetal position and was still.
The lieutenant stepped forward and rolled the body over. Lifeless eyes stared up at the morning sun.
CHAPTER 35
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The view from the rim of Rano Kao was spectacular.
Waves roared into the rocks a thousand feet below and the sea stretched out to the horizon, the setting sun creating hundreds of sparkles in the wave crests. The only thing marring the view was the silhouette of an aircraft carrier six miles off the coast.
A jet roared past, carrying another load of politicians.
The Abraham Lincoln task force was spread out around the island and the local airfield was packed with incoming aircraft. Turcotte squatted and picked up a rock, tossing it up and down in his hand. Kelly was standing nearby.
Von Seeckt and Nabinger were still down in the cavern, studying the guardian computer. Nabinger had found the control that opened a shaft to the rim of the crater shortly after briefing them about the history. Then the others had begun to arrive, Duncan taking them down to see what had been found.
Nabinger had communicated with the guardian again.
There was so much information. Medical theory; physics; the universe; even the instructions on how to fly the mothership. It was all there.
“So what now?” Turcotte asked.
“We’re sitting on the biggest story of the century,” Kelly said. “Hell, it’s the biggest story of the last two thousand years.”
She and Turcotte had seen Gullick’s body. He told her his theory that Gullick had been controlled by the pyramid uncovered in Mexico. That Gullick had turned it on and powered it up, but then it had taken over. It all fit together now, and Kelly would very shortly have to leave to do her job and tell the rest of the world the story.
“I miss Johnny,” she said. “This is his story more than mine.”
“His death wasn’t in vain,” Turcotte said.
“He helped bring to light the greatest story in history,” Kelly agreed.
Turcotte threw the rock out toward the ocean and watched it disappear. “I think about that alien commander so many years ago. Aspasia. The decision he had to make.”
“And?” Kelly asked.
“And it took a lot of guts.” Turcotte stood. “And he made the right decision. It was what was meant to be.”
“I didn’t know you had this philosophical side to you,” Kelly said.
“This all had to happen. I grant you that. But”—Turcotte looked out to sea—“but I don’t know if we’re making the right decision to continue down there with the guardian. I don’t know if this is meant for us, this knowledge, this technology ahead of our time. I talked to Von Seeckt. He said they’re already giving the guardian more power, putting it totally on line.”
“You sound…” Kelly hesitated.
Turcotte looked at her. “Scared?”
She nodded.
“I am.”
EPILOGUE
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
It felt the power come in like a shot of adrenaline. For the first time in over five thousand years it was able to bring all systems on line. Immediately it put into effect the last program it had been loaded with in case of full power-up. It reached out and linked with sensors pointed outward from the planet. Then it began transmitting, back in the direction it had come from over ten millennia ago, calling out: “Come. Come and get us.”
And there were other machines out there and they were listening.
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