“Hurry, Professor, we’re almost there.”
Ampheres nodded, forcing himself upright by sheer will alone, the only thing keeping him going, the knowledge his family awaited. At the moment, he couldn’t care less about leading the students on board the vessel into a brave new future. He just wanted to hug his wife and children.
“Ampheres!”
He stared ahead and saw his wife waving from the deck of the large research vessel, and he breathed a sigh of relief, his body providing him a surge of energy as he sprinted past Mestor. He raced across a plank leading to the boat, Mestor on his heels, and two students immediately pulled it aboard.
“Let’s go!” shouted Mestor, and a group of students sprang into action, lines freed from the dock and sails raised, the boat underway within moments of boarding.
But all that went unnoticed by Ampheres as he held his wife and children, all sobbing with fear and relief.
“I was so worried you weren’t going to make it!”
He squeezed his wife tighter. “So was I.” He stared up at the sails, flapping overhead, the boat pulling away from the dock. Dozens of smaller boats were making their way toward the sea, but the numbers were pitiable.
And all but a handful would have no hope of navigating the seas, and even if they did, they likely lacked the provisions for such a journey.
We may actually be the only ones to survive.
The water rippled and the shoreline trembled as the rumble of another earthquake tore through the city, buildings in the distance collapsing as if mere children’s toys, knocked aside by a toddler’s swept hand.
Then the most horrific sight had them all gasping, even those manning the boat pausing for a moment to see. It was the Obelisk of Atlantis, the monument that marked the center of their city, where the ten kings had united eons ago to lay the foundation of what would become the most advanced civilization of the known world.
And it was no more.
Its ten stories of stone, topped by a massive torch encased in reflective stone, that stood as a beacon to vessels at sea at night, was cracked at its midpoint, the top half sliding to the ground and out of sight, a cloud of dust billowing up from behind the buildings that blocked their view.
If there were any that doubted this was the end, if they had witnessed what they just had, their doubts could be no more.
“Wait!”
Ampheres peered into the darkness and saw a woman sprinting along the canal, waving at them. He frowned as his chest tightened. They were likely only provisioned for an exact number, and if they took more on board, it could risk the entire mission. He closed his eyes as they burned with the knowledge that this was but the first of what would probably be many difficult decisions in the days and years ahead, and if he couldn’t make this one call, there would be no hope for any of them.
“We have to save her,” sobbed his wife. “She’s just one. We have plenty of room.”
The students all stared at him, and he felt faint. He sucked in a breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling. “We cannot save anyone but ourselves. There aren’t enough supplies, and if we stop for one, we risk being overwhelmed with more.”
The students seem relieved that a decision had been made, one they apparently agreed with. He turned to his wife who stared at him in horror, and it made him feel as if for the first time in her life, she were looking at him as less of a man, and it had his stomach tying itself in knots.
“Please, wait! Professor Gadeiros sent me!”
Ampheres spun toward the woman, now beside the boat, appearing to be nearing the point of exhaustion. He turned to the man operating the tiller. “Get closer!”
“Yes, sir!”
He pushed to the right, the boat steering slightly to the left, nearing the edge of the canal. The woman suddenly leaped through the air and reached out for the side of the boat. She slammed into the hull, her hands gripping the edge as several of the students rushed over, pulling her on board. She lay on the deck for a few moments, her stomach expanding and contracting as she caught her breath, then held up a hand, one of the students hauling her to her feet.
“Who are you?” asked Ampheres as he stepped forward. “Are you one of the professor’s students?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m Senior Enforcer Kleito.”
Ampheres tensed and took a step back. “What do you want?”
She raised a hand. “I’m not here for you, Professor Ampheres. Not anymore.” She pointed at the devastation behind them. “We have to stop this.”
Ampheres stared at her for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “I’m not sure I understand. There’s no way to stop this. Surely you know that.”
She dismissed his words with a violent shake of her head, the woman clearly convinced of the possibility of doing the impossible. “You don’t understand. This can all be stopped. I just need the trident!”
His eyes shot wide open. “You don’t think—”
“The gods are angry at us! They’re destroying us for having lost faith, for having tossed them aside. Your theft of Poseidon’s Trident was the final straw. The disrespect you showed finally forced them to act. If I return it to its resting place, and the people put their faith back in the gods, we can stop all this. Surely they’ll forgive us!”
Ampheres wasn’t certain what to say. The woman was clearly mad, though he didn’t blame her. It was to be expected that some would turn to superstition in these desperate hours, but the notion that returning an artifact handed down over the generations as a symbol of defying the gods and tossing off past superstitions, could somehow placate imaginary beings into stopping their wanton destruction, was laughable. She pulled a baton from her belt, gripping it menacingly.
“Give me the trident, Professor. All our lives depend on it.”
He held up his hands, taking another step back. “I understand you’re scared. We all are. But nothing can save them. It’s over.”
She advanced toward him.
“Even if I believed you, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have the trident.”
She stopped, her jaw dropping, confusion on her face as this was apparently not a contingency she had planned on. “You-you don’t have it?” Her shoulders slumped, her head drooping forward as all will seemed to leave her.
“Umm, Professor?”
Ampheres turned to one of the students. “Yes?”
“Sir, we have the trident here. We brought it with your family.”
An insane sense of hope surged through him for a moment, as if the woman’s crazed beliefs might actually be of sound mind, and he beckoned at the young man. “Bring it to her, quickly!”
The man disappeared below decks for a moment, then returned with the trident, still wrapped in the cloth Mestor had hidden it in earlier that day. Kleito stared at it, her eyes wide, then grabbed it from the student, quickly unwrapping it, gasping as the brilliant golden trident, something every school child saw at least once while learning the history of their great civilization, was revealed.
She turned to Ampheres, her wide eyes filled with the hope that had already left him. “Thank you!”
He smiled at her as one might a child, pity filling him as he regarded the naïve woman. “What will you do?” He pointed. “We’ve cleared the canals.”
She handed the trident to the student then quickly stripped down to her undergarments. “I can make it. I have to!” She grabbed the trident then leaped over the stern and into the sea that surrounded the island, swimming back toward their doomed city using only one arm, struggling with the weight of the relic. Ampheres stared after her, willing her to succeed, only so that she might survive a little while longer, filled with hope.
But it was a useless endeavor.
As the boat continued to put distance between them and the island, the cries of desperation and screams of terror continued to carry over the waves, hundreds of boats of varying sizes now filling the waters, giving Ampheres a hint of hope that perhaps more would survive than just t
he fifty some souls aboard this craft.
When suddenly all hope was lost.
A cracking sound unlike anything he could possibly imagine filled the air, and he felt his wife grip his hand tightly as she came up beside him.
“Oh no!”
He didn’t see what had her concerned at first, perhaps because he wasn’t willing to see it, perhaps because he couldn’t fathom what he was witnessing. The entire city was tilting toward them, slowly rising into the air, almost imperceptibly at first, but as each moment passed, it became more obvious what was happening.
He searched the sea for Kleito, to shout a warning, but couldn’t find her, the poor woman probably already drowned. Yet it wouldn’t matter. His eyes were irresistibly drawn to the horror unfolding, the crew of students joining them at the stern of the ship, their duties forgotten, as they witnessed the final, complete destruction of everything they had ever known.
In a manner Ampheres had never considered possible.
The greatest city ever created by man, the legendary Atlantis, was slipping into the sea, consumed by the oceans that had protected it from outside invaders, the very ocean that had allowed it to flourish for millennia, dedicating the resources of its people to self-improvement rather than war, to science rather than superstition, to love of life rather than greed and want.
His chest ached and his tears flowed freely as they stared in silence, the city tilted at an unimaginable angle, sliding out of sight, the screams and cries of his fellow citizens silenced.
Leaving nothing behind but those in the boats.
“What’s happening?”
Ampheres stared into the darkness of what once was, trying to make sense of what one of the students had noticed first. It was some sort of gaping hole in the water, where the city had once been.
“The sea is sinking as well!” cried someone, and Ampheres leaned forward, still trying to understand.
Then it all made sense.
The water was rushing to fill the void created by the missing land that had once been their home, and as the water surged into the empty expanse that had been the island, now reduced to the mountain still spewing destruction, a massive wave had been created—or perhaps that wasn’t it.
Perhaps it wasn’t a wave.
Yet it didn’t matter what it was.
The screams from the boats still closer to what had been the shore, were his first clue of the impending doom as the smaller craft began to be dragged into the void, easily dozens of stories deep, disappearing from sight as the first tugs of inevitability were felt on their own craft.
He spun, looking up at the sails, still full, but useless. “Everybody hang on!” He dropped to his knees, as did his wife, and he wrapped his arm around a rung of the gunwale, then gripped his wife and children. “I love you.”
His wife was sobbing, her eyes red, her cheeks stained from the tears and the salt of the sea, yet she said nothing for a moment, too terrified to speak. “I love you too.”
He hugged her hard as the boat tipped, gaining speed in the wrong direction. He held his children tight to him as they screamed. “Close your eyes!” He squeezed his own shut, and for the first time in his life, he prayed to the gods, decades of faith in science, rather than religion, thrust aside, as Poseidon took His revenge on the arrogant Atlanteans who had dared question His power over them.
THE END
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Acknowledgments
The concept for this book came from an idea I had of Niner walking out of the water and tossing an artifact on the beach, then declaring, “Hey, I think I just found Atlantis.” I thought it was a hilarious idea, and I was determined to figure out a way to bring this to life. The problem was how to tie the history and present day. That was solved through a dream—yup, a dream. I had the idea of somebody from Atlantis stealing an object, and it was that object that was later found thousands of years later. By focusing on the object, I didn’t need to link people into the equation, and then have descendants of Atlantis come knocking on Acton’s door. By focusing on stumbling upon the plot to blow up the undersea cables, it made the perpetrators the bad guys, rather than, again, Atlanteans.
The final challenge was Atlantis itself. Since there’s no proof it ever actually existed, authors throughout history have written a wide range of things about it, and with the exception of the awesome Stargate Atlantis TV series, I haven’t read any of these other accounts. I was certain, however, that I didn’t want to write some science fiction version of Atlantis, yet I still wanted them to be more advanced than those civilizations surrounding them at the time. I had the epiphany of making them culturally advanced, rather than technologically advanced, though I did have a little fun with creative use of water power.
I hope you enjoyed my spin on Atlantis. The scenario laid out is plausible, and it does make you wonder what curiosities could be buried under the sea that have been lost for thousands of years, or perhaps far longer than that!
As usual, there are people to thank. My dad for all the research, Fred Newton for some nautical info, Bob Blizzard for some Goose Bay help, Brent Richards for some weapons help, Isabelle Laprise-Enright, Marianne Hossler, Jamie Waughtel, Amish Parekh, and Bob Eager for their suggestions for character names in the Facebook contest, and, as usual, my wife, daughter, and mother, as well as the launch team.
I’d like to take a moment also to thank my proofing team. I was very ill around the end of this process, and things were delayed to where there were literally only days remaining before the deadline. My proofing team came through for me, and I’d like to take the time to specifically thank Fred Newton, Malcolm Stone, Chuck Arnold, Sheelagh Rogers, Tony Daugherty, and Charlene Klasen for helping me meet the deadline.
To those who have not already done so, please visit my website at www.jrobertkennedy.com then sign up for the Insider’s Club to be notified of new book releases. Your email address will never be shared or sold, and you’ll only receive the occasional email from me, as I don’t have time to spam you!
Thank you once again for reading.
JAMES ACTON IS BACK!
James Acton returns in the international bestseller The Cylon Curse, now available everywhere!
In 632 BC, one man attempted to stop the birth of democracy.
And today, the innocent will pay once again for his actions.
When the Oracle of Delphi urges Olympic hero Cylon to stage a coup and seize control of Athens, he immediately attempts to fulfil her prophecy, but as history has recorded, not all went according to plan.
Almost three thousand years later, Archaeology Professor James Acton and his wife, Laura Palmer, are invited to one of the greatest discoveries in decades, an ancient burial mound outside Athens, Greece. But their invitation is issued under false pretenses, and they soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that quickly erupts into catastrophic violence, leaving an even deeper puzzle that must be solved before more innocent lives are lost.
From USA Today and million copy bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy comes The Cylon Curse, the latest installment in the action-packed globe-spanning James Acton Thrillers series, certain to leave you burning through the pages until the exciting conclusion. If you enjoy fast-paced adventures in the style of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, and James Rollins, then you’ll love this thrilling tale of archaeological intrigue.
Get The Cylon Curse today, and discover the history behind one of the most famous names from Ancient Greece, and how his actions still have consequences millennia later.
To sample or purchase, please visit Kobo, or click here for additional purchase options.
READ A SAMPLE FROM THE CYLON CURSE ON THE NEXT PAGE!
Sample from Acton #22: The Cylon Curse
Phaleron Delta Necropolis
Athens, Greece
Two days from now
Archaeology Professor Laura Palmer sprinted toward the screams of terror and the rattle of gunfire as her husband ushered their two young companions to safety. She couldn’t see what was going on, the dig site deep enough that anything beyond its edge was out of sight, but what she heard suggested an attack at the main gate.
An attack fiercely resisted by the newly arrived security team she was funding.
These were her people, and if anything happened to them, she’d be responsible.
Though that notion was foolish.
She rushed up the ramp leading to the parking area and the main gate, staring toward the gunfire. Several of the security team were writhing on the ground, the attackers obviously taking her team by surprise, the others continuing to resist valiantly.
Bile filled her mouth as she spotted one who couldn’t possibly be alive, but she had to know. She made for his still form when small bursts of sand and stone tore toward her and she froze for a moment, the scene unfolding as if in slow motion.
“Move!”
Somebody shoved her from behind and she hit the ground hard, the impact bringing her back to reality. She rolled out of the way then cried out as the bullets meant for her tore into the man who had just saved her life. He fell down the ramp and out of sight, and she scrambled toward the open pit to check on him when more gunfire cut off her foolishness. She pushed to her feet and leaped behind a car, using the wheel as cover.
“Professor! Are you okay?”
She glanced over and spotted one of the security team taking cover behind the next car. “Yes.” She held out her hand. “Gun!”
He tossed her a Glock and three magazines. “You know how to use that?”
Atlantis Lost Page 20
