“Sir, they were here,” said Charles, indicating to the floor with his hand. “Their footprints are everywhere.”
“Can you see where they’ve gone?”
“Yes, sir, it looks like they took off toward another tunnel.”
“Good work. Keep the men moving; I don’t want them to get away.”
Charles tapped two men on their shoulders. “Graham, Nika, secure the entrance to that tunnel.”
The mercenaries nodded and carried on. They had barely gone two strides when the cavern was lit up by a blinding light. A split second later, a thunderous boom crashed through the cave.
Roth brought a hand to his eyes. He didn’t have to be told that one of his men had just tripped a stun grenade.
Disorientated by the blast, the mercenaries were helpless when two hand grenades, hidden among some fallen pillars, went off, showering the stunned mercenaries with thousands of pieces of jagged steel. The two closest men fell to the ground, dead. Three others screamed out in pain from the metal embedded in their hands and faces. In one swift move, a third of Roth’s men had been put out of action.
“Don’t anybody move!” yelled Charles. He spun on his heel, scanning the cavern for more booby traps. “All right, everyone, look at their feet and then search out a meter at a time. If you find another bomb, yell out.”
Roth clenched his fists and felt tension tighten the back of his neck. It would take at least half an hour for Charles’ men to sweep the cavern clean. The element of surprise was gone, and now time, like grains of sand, was slipping through his hands.
“What the hell was that?” said Hayes as the roar from the grenades detonating echoed through the passageway.
“That, my good man, means our friends just got a bloody nose,” replied Maclean.
“Hopefully, that will slow them down for a while,” said Grant.
Up ahead, the tunnel came out into a square room with a carved statue of a jaguar in it. On the other side was a set of stairs that led deeper into the mountain. Grant led on, while Maclean hid another stun grenade at the base of the statue. After ten minutes, the stairs came to another tunnel.
The troublesome feeling Grant felt the day before came back. He raised his hand to warn the people behind him to stop. With his SMG tight in his shoulder, Grant warily crept down the corridor. At the other end, the tunnel gave way to a massive cavern that stretched back farther than the eye could see. Grant moved his light around and saw row after row of symmetrical stone pedestals standing just over a meter tall. He guessed there must be thousands of them neatly arranged throughout the cavern. Grant shone his light at the bottom of the nearest pedestal and was surprised when he saw something on the ground reflect his light. Glass?
“You okay up there?” asked Maclean.
“Yeah, bring everyone up here with you.”
“Good God,” said Hayes when he saw the chamber. “What is this place?”
“I don’t know; I was hoping you could tell me.”
23
Gauntlet Headquarters
Colonel Andrews closed the personnel file on his desk, sat up straight, and inhaled deeply through his nostrils. His stomach churned at the thought of what he was about to do. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more—the fact that one of his people was a traitor, or that he had failed to see the signs himself before so many good men had needlessly died in Georgia.
There was a knock on his open door.
Andrews looked up and saw Captain Jones standing there. “Sir, you asked to see Master Sergeant Hancock and me at 1330 hours.”
“Yes, please come in.”
Jones and Hancock entered the office and stood at attention.
“At ease,” said Andrews. “Please take a seat.”
Both women sat down across the table from their commanding officer. Hancock was in her early thirties, with short, brown hair and a round face.
There was another knock on the door. “Sir, the MPs are waiting upstairs as ordered,” reported Mason.
“Thanks, Colonel. Please come in and join us.”
Mason nodded, walked in, and stood next to Hancock.
“Technical Sergeant Hancock, I’ve been reviewing your personnel file, and I have to admit that to date your service to the country has been exemplary,” said Andrews.
“Thank you, sir,” she replied.
Andrews watched her body language. She was as cool as a mountain glacier. He cleared his throat. “However, something very troubling has recently been brought to my attention.” Andrews reached over and handed her a piece of paper.
Hancock looked down at the information written on the paper. In an instant, the façade crumbled. Her cheeks flushed, and she began to shake.
“Technical Sergeant, this morning Lieutenant Colonel Mason, on my behalf, asked you to transmit a new set of movement orders to Captain Grant’s team in Bolivia. These orders were subsequently forwarded by your computer to an account outside of this base. Luckily, the orders were fake.” Andrews fixed his steely gaze on Hancock. “What made you do this? You have betrayed your country, and more inexcusably, you have sold out the people you work with.”
Mason reached over and placed a hand firmly on the sergeant’s shoulder, stopping her from making any sudden moves.
“Sergeant Hancock, I think you owe everyone in this room an explanation,” said Andrews.
Tears streamed from her eyes. Hancock struggled to find her voice. “Sir, it’s not like that. I didn’t set out to betray anyone.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Sir, I lost everything when my husband and I divorced three years ago. When my kid sister was diagnosed with leukemia, my parents used up their savings keeping her alive, so I helped out with what I had left, but it wasn’t enough. Then one day, out of the blue, a man approached me and said that he could help me if I would do him a small favor.”
Jones handed the sergeant some Kleenex.
“Thanks,” she replied, wiping the tears from her face. “Sir, he seemed like a nice guy. I thought the man was doing some research into Project Gauntlet for a book or TV show. At first, the things he asked me for were harmless, but after about six months, the requests became more serious. He wanted information on our personnel and our capabilities. I said no, but he threatened to cut off the money and give my name to the MPs. Right then and there, I knew I was in over my head.”
“You should have come to me as soon as this happened,” said Andrews. “We would have found a way to try and save your career and put an end to this blackmail. Now, however, things don’t look good for you.”
“I know, sir. I’m sorry.”
Andrews sat forward and stared intently into Hancock’s bloodshot eyes. “What you do and say next may help mitigate whatever sentence the judge advocate general decides to give you after you’re arrested and tried on charges of treason.”
Hancock nodded. “I’ll do what I can, sir.”
“First off, I want you to tell me who this person blackmailing you is.”
“Colonel, I don’t know his name. He called himself Mister Black, but I always knew that it was an alias.”
“When was the last time you met with this person?”
“It was three months ago, when he gave me the software that I installed on my workstation to record all of the info coming in and out of Project Gauntlet.”
“Could you recognize him if you ever saw him again?”
“No, sir, he wore a different disguise each time we met.”
“Could you get a hold of him and ask for a meeting?” said Mason.
“Yes, ma’am. I have his cell phone number.”
“Listen carefully, Miss Hancock, you’re going to arrange to meet this person as soon as possible,” said Andrews. “This time, however, you won’t be going alone. You’re not to leave Captain Jones’ side until I have this Mister Black in custody. Do you understand me?”
“Sir, he’s quite insistent on when, where, and how we conduct these rendezvous.”
> “That’s fine. Do precisely what he tells you to do. Jones and the MPs will be out of sight, waiting to arrest him.”
“What excuse should I give to arrange our meeting?”
Andrews smiled. “That’s easy. Tell him that I’ve ordered a complete sweep of our computer systems and that you’re going to have to erase the bug he gave you. If he wants to keep receiving information from you, he’s going to have to provide you with some newer and harder-to-trace software.”
Hancock nodded.
“If you try to do anything foolish, Sergeant, trust me, it will not end well for you. I’m authorizing Captain Jones to carry her sidearm at all times from now on.”
“Sir, there won’t be a need for that. I’ll do as I’m told.”
“Please forgive me if I don’t take you on your word.” Andrews stood. He turned his attention to Jones. “Captain, arm yourself, and work with the MPs to secure the arrest of Hancock’s contact on the outside.”
“Yes, sir,” said Jones firmly.
“Very good; you two are dismissed.”
Jones escorted Hancock from the office.
“Sir, shouldn’t we hand this over to the Office of Special Investigations?” said Mason.
Andrews shook his head. “They don’t know we exist. Besides, this happened on my watch, and I’d like to tidy it up without asking for outside help.”
Mason placed her hands behind her back. “Sir, this isn’t meant to be disrespectful, but you shouldn’t let your ego get in the way of doing things the way they are supposed to be done.”
“You didn’t get those men killed.”
“And neither did you, sir. I’ve read the after action report. You were led into a well-executed trap.”
“Perhaps.”
“Colonel, I hope Captain Jones is up to the task. We’ll only have one shot at this. If we don’t grab Hancock’s contact when we spring our trap, we’ll never hear from him again.”
“Then Jones had best get it right.”
“If only Captain Grant were back here. I’m sure he’d agree with me.”
“Speaking of him, have you heard anything from him, or any other member of his team, this morning?”
Mason shook her head.
“Odd. Have the comms section try and establish contact with them. If they can’t reach them, alert our people in Bolivia that they may need to go looking for them.”
“Will do, sir.” Mason came to attention, turned on her heel, and walked smartly out of the room.
Andrews felt tired and drained. Just when he felt he was getting a grip on the leak inside his organization, his only field team had inexplicably gone offline. A sinking feeling in his stomach told him things were about to turn a lot worse.
24
Mount San Fernando
“Jim, what have you got left in your bag of tricks?” asked Grant.
“I’ve got a couple more flashbang grenades and some C4 explosives,” replied Maclean as he rummaged through his pack.
“Keep the C4; we may need it to blast our way out of here. Place the flashbangs to slow our friends down while we find a way off the mountain.”
Maclean looked around. “They’ll be expecting them by the entrance. I’ll spread them out among the pedestals.”
“Good idea.”
Elena raised her voice. “David, please come and take a look at this.”
Grant joined the two professors as they sifted through the debris littered around one of the stone platforms. “Did you find something?”
Elena held up a piece of broken glass. “By the looks of things, each of these pedestals once held a glass vase on top of it.”
“A large one, judging by the amount of glass we’re finding,” added Hayes.
“Maybe they were for storing water?” said Grant.
“Ancient cultures almost never used glass to store water. Instead, they used pottery,” explained Hayes. “Glassmaking has been around since the third millennia BCE, but was widely used in jewelry, not for storage. This find is truly unique.”
“Everything about this place is unique,” said Grant.
“David, there’s more,” said Elena, handing Grant a piece of corroded metal. “I can’t be sure, but it looks like whatever was in these vases was powered by an electrical circuit.”
“What, like the Baghdad battery?” said Maclean, joining the conversation.
“The what?” said Grant, shaking his head.
“It’s a pot that was found in the late 1930s in Baghdad and was dated to have come from around two hundred BCE. It was one of three items found together that could have been used as a rudimentary battery.”
“Please, Sergeant, you’re reading all the wrong books,” said Hayes. “If anything, it was used to electroplate gold onto silver objects.”
“Okay, Jeremy, but look around, there are thousands of pedestals in here. Assuming each one once supported a glass vase, that’s an awful lot of electroplating. And I don’t recall ever reading about electroplated jewelry in this part of the world.”
Grant raised his hands. “Folks, we can argue this until we’re blue in the face once we’re safely back at the Bolivian air base. Jim, double back to the rear of the cavern, and see if there’s a way out of here.”
“Will do,” replied Maclean, taking off running.
“Jeremy, Elena, take a couple of quick pics, and grab what you can in the next sixty seconds. After that, we’re on the move as well,” said Grant.
“That’s nowhere near enough time,” protested Hayes.
“Professor, right now, I don’t care,” Grant pointed at his watch. “The clock’s ticking as we speak.”
Elena took her colleague by the hand. “For God’s sake, Jeremy, do as he says. There are men after us. I don’t want to die. Do you?”
“No, but—”
“There are no buts. You take the pictures, while I gather up what I can.”
Grant stepped to one side and shone his light over one of the pedestals. Carved into the top was a symbol that looked like the star he found on the wall of the temple. Driven by an urge from somewhere in the back of his mind, Grant removed a glove and held his hand over the carving, unsure what he should do next.
In the dark, he heard Susan’s voice, as clear as if she were standing right beside him. “It’s okay, you big silly; you can touch it.”
Grant dropped to one knee and took a breath before lowering his palm onto the symbol. In an instant, the cavern became as bright as day. Grant felt a rush of fear and tried to pull his hand back but found that it wouldn’t budge. In front of him on the pedestal stood a one-meter-tall glass vase full of a clear liquid. To his horror, inside, suspended by a cord, was a human child that looked almost ready to be born. Grant turned his head and saw thousands of vases, each one containing an unborn child. His heart began to race when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small, darkened figure moving from vase to vase, inspecting the contents. Grant opened his mouth to scream. Instead, the image vanished, and he found himself lying on the ground, looking up at the faces of his companions.
“Are you all right?” asked Elena, helping him to sit up.
“Yeah, I think so,” Grant replied, feeling lightheaded and disoriented. “Although I’m not sure how I ended up on the ground.”
“We were about to pack up and leave when we heard you cry out and tumble to the floor,” explained Hayes. “Can you recall what you were doing before you blacked out?”
“I put my hand on a pedestal and then my head was filled with these images of the cavern, and what was going on in here a millennia ago.”
“What did you see?” asked Elena.
“A factory. This place was a factory.”
“What kind of factory?”
Grant took a deep breath. “I know you’re both going to think I’m losing it, but I’m positive this place was a plant for making children.”
“It’s not unheard of,” said Elena. “Some abductees claim to have been taken to secret undergrou
nd locations they say were filled with incubation chambers.”
Hayes helped Grant get to his feet. “It could be the altitude affecting your mind. All of the alien abduction nonsense Elena has been filling your mind with, combined with the thinner air, could have triggered what happened to you.”
Grant shook his head. “To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never been abducted. I don’t know how, but my heart tells me that Susan continues to be behind this. I even heard her voice speak to me.” He saw the puzzled look in his colleagues’ eyes. “Look, I can’t explain it. So right now, let’s just worry about getting out of here alive.”
“Oy, Captain, I think I’ve found something!” yelled Maclean.
“Time to go,” said Grant.
At the back of the cavern was yet another tunnel that angled down slightly. With Maclean in the lead, they jogged along the passage until it came out into another wide cave. Grant and Maclean shone their lights around. Unlike the last room, this one was cluttered with rocks and debris that had fallen from the ceiling in the past.
“Keep moving,” ordered Grant.
Maclean led the small group around the larger stones to the other side of the cavern. Halfway across, he stopped in his tracks.
“What’s wrong?” asked Grant.
“This,” replied Maclean, shining his light off the smooth, metal skin of a disc-shaped craft.
“Oh, my God. Jeremy, hurry and get a picture of this,” said Elena to Hayes.
Grant stood there, frozen and wide-eyed. The disc was the spitting image of the one he had seen dug out of the Iraqi desert, except this one stood on three legs. The flash from Hayes’ camera shook him out of his reverie. He took a couple of steps forward and placed a hand on the outer skin. It was cool to the touch. He walked along the side of the ship, trying to find a door or portal that could let him see inside.
“Captain, I’d stop doing that if I were you,” warned Maclean.
Grant turned around. The surface of the ship, where his hand had touched, was beginning to glow. He pulled his hand back and watched as the light began to grow brighter and spread along the hull of the craft.
The Founders Page 12
