If their advanced weaponry wasn’t enough, each guard also carried a sword attached to their backplate, compounding the uncanny resemblance to the original knights from which they and their forebears ultimately descended. As with many things, the cycle of human advance had come full circle.
Out of the entire group, only Ruben remained unchanged, his brown monk’s habit standing out in stark contrast to the modernity that surrounded him.
Sarah couldn’t believe he would brave the elements in such apparel, although as she stared in his direction she noticed he now wore a white tunic beneath the archaic robe, and black leather breeches beneath that.
As Sarah gazed around at the weaponry on display, she recalled the words Zinetti had spoken before they left Rome: ‘Last year, an expedition was sent out to the site, which is located on the Siberian-Mongolian border. We received regular updates until we lost contact with them, three weeks ago.’
Perhaps the Australian-Japanese explorer, Chen, was not far off the mark when she’d questioned whether Avery had disclosed all that was needed.
As if she’d read Sarah’s mind, Chen confronted Avery with just such a question.
‘Are you expecting trouble, Cardinal Cantrell?’ Chen said, eyeing the red-clad Swiss Guard.
Avery gestured to her team. ‘Your explorers seem to be of the same mind.’
Chen shook her head. ‘We’re ready for trouble, not for a war. There’s a difference.’
Major Lanter removed his helmet and approached. ‘There have been reports of bandits operating in the area. We’re not taking any chances.’
‘And we might not be the only ones interested in our discoveries,’ Zinetti said, joining them. ‘We are here to secure anything the previous expedition found.’
‘A previous expedition no one has heard from for nearly a month,’ Chen said, looking unconvinced.
‘They’ve probably just been snowed in,’ Avery said.
‘Either that, or they’ve had problems with their satellite transmitters,’ Major Lanter said. ‘The dust particles in the upper atmosphere are still playing havoc with communications worldwide. The sunlight might be getting through, but there remains a residue of particulates that won’t go for some time.’
Chen remained unimpressed, but said no more. She moved away to converse with her team and it was then that Sarah chose her moment to voice her own concerns.
‘You said they’d be here.’ Sarah looked around the hangar as the expedition prepared to depart. ‘Where are my friends?’
Avery held up his hands. ‘I’ve been putting off telling you, as I know how this will look ...’
Sarah’s expression darkened. ‘Tell me.’
‘Due to the weather, the transport from their hotel has been diverted to base camp.’
The Irish cardinal fell silent, his expression suitably guilty as Sarah fixed him with an icy stare.
‘It’s my fault,’ Major Lanter told her. ‘I didn’t know about the Cardinal’s promise. I was the one who had them redirected.’
Avery looked at Lanter, his brow furrowing. ‘That’s not what Cardinal Zinetti told me.’ Avery turned to see the Italian cardinal had followed Chen and was now speaking to the explorer and her men. Avery turned back to the major. ‘And you made this decision by yourself?’
Major Lanter hesitated and then shook his head. ‘Cardinal Zinetti intimated it would be in the expedition’s best interest if Miss Morgan’s friends were to meet us at base camp. I concurred. Had I realised—’
The major fell silent and Avery’s eyes narrowed as he looked back at Zinetti.
‘Do you want me to delay our plans?’ Lanter said.
Avery shook his head. ‘No,’ he said after a pause, ‘time is short.’ He looked at Sarah. ‘All I can say is, you’ll be with your friends soon.’
Sarah studied Avery for a moment and then said, ‘If you’re lying to me—’
‘I swear on almighty God …’ Avery put his hands together as if in prayer. ‘I can say no more.’
Sarah grunted a response. She knew there was no love lost between the high-ranking cardinals, Avery having all but called Zinetti a Satanist to his face. But she didn’t care about their feud. All she knew was that he’d better be telling the truth, or she was taking the first plane back to England.
When Sarah failed to kick up a fuss, Lanter turned to his men and shouted something in Italian.
Shortly afterwards, rucksacks and weapons were shouldered and the hangar doors slid apart.
A bitter wind howled through the opening. The temperature had already plunged fifteen degrees and it would drop even further before the night was out.
Left with little choice, Sarah clambered into an SUV alongside Avery, Ruben and Major Lanter of the Swiss Guard.
Zinetti attempted to follow, but Avery barred the door with his arm and said something scathing in Latin.
Zinetti glanced at Sarah, gave Avery a bitter smile, and then left them to it as he sought a seat in the next vehicle along.
Doors slammed closed, gasoline engines roared to life, and the convoy rolled out into the dark with lights ablaze, the first fall of snow drifting down from above.
The expedition had begun, but Sarah’s questions remained. Why had the previous team lost contact? Would Trish and Jason be waiting for her when they arrived at base camp? What would they find when they got there? And, more importantly, where were they headed after that?
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five
San Francisco, California.
The United States of America.
‘We wanted the president to activate martial law,’ the professor said, ‘it gives him greater control over the nuclear arsenal.’
‘Not if he’s assassinated, it won’t,’ Jessica said.
The small group of four outlaws sat around a makeshift table, their seats a variety of crates sourced from the abandoned warehouse they currently called home.
‘It’s happened,’ Brett said, chewing on a stale loaf of bread, ‘suck it up.’
Jessica gave the ex-FBI agent one of her looks. Sometimes Brett made her want to scream and she wished she could go one day without seeing her smug face. Or even better, Jessica thought, a year.
‘John Henry can’t win, whatever he does,’ Steiner said. ‘The GMRC have run all the permutations, there’s no way out.’
‘Except one,’ Bic said, his image still displayed on one of the screens.
‘And what’s that?’ Jessica said, between mouthfuls of an out-of-date tin of something that looked like meatballs and beans, but tasted like something she wouldn’t feed to a dog. She picked something hard out of her teeth. A dead dog, she thought, and flicked the offending gristle onto the floor.
‘Da Muss Ich, of course,’ Eric said cheerfully, the young German the only one able to maintain a positive outlook.
Jessica wished she could be so upbeat, but, unlike Eric, she had a family to consider. The orphaned hacker from Berlin knew no such ties, a reality that made Jessica feel for the young man. He was wise in many of the world’s darker aspects, but naive when it came to the burden of responsibility and the joys that came with it.
Jessica glanced at the professor, who remained pensive, his earlier confrontation with Bic having sent him back into the silence he’d displayed during her absence.
‘Professor Steiner,’ Bic said.
The professor turned his head to look at the hacker’s screen.
‘It is time for us to talk,’ Bic said. ‘If you need to say your piece to the others, say it now.’
The professor nodded and looked at Jessica, his expression stern.
‘Say what?’ Eric said, curious.
Jessica held Steiner’s gaze and knew what he was about to ask them. She didn’t know how she knew, she just knew. Perhaps it was because he’d raised the subject a few times in the past, but as the countdown to impact approached it was time to address it again. ‘If you think I’m leaving now,’ Jessica said, ‘think again.’
&nbs
p; ‘It’s safer if you weren’t here.’ The professor looked at Eric. ‘It’s safer for you both.’
‘You need us,’ Eric said, not noticing the gravity in the professor’s voice. ‘We’re here to save the world.’
The professor didn’t reply, but Jessica saw him glance at Brett, who remained silent as she continued to eat.
‘You can help us from a safer location,’ Bic said. ‘It has been agreed.’
‘Agreed?’ Jessica said, glaring at Steiner.
‘It’s for the best,’ the professor said. ‘Transport has been arranged to take you both out of the country. You’ll be taken to Mexico and down into South America, where you’ll be well outside the fallout zone if we fail.’
Eric stood up, his face a mask of shock. He looked over at Bic and then at Steiner. ‘But the asteroid is almost here. You need us, you need us to carry out the plan.’
‘We don’t need you,’ Brett said. ‘You’re dead weight.’ She looked at Jessica. ‘You always have been.’
‘But the asteroid is almost here!’ Eric said. ‘Professor?’
Steiner avoided their gaze as he stood up and walked over to his computers. ‘It’s for the best,’ he said, as he tapped at some keys.
‘For who?’ Jessica said. ‘Who is this best for?’ She looked at Brett. ‘You put him up to this!’
‘It wasn’t Brett,’ the professor said, ‘it was my decision.’
Jessica stood up next to Eric. ‘Well, it’s not your decision to make,’ she said. ‘It’s ours.’
Eric nodded. ‘Ja, ours.’
The professor turned to face them. ‘I know you think you’re helping, but you’re not. I can’t worry about the both of you and do what I need to do.’
‘But we saved your life,’ Eric said. ‘We rescued you to help us ...’
‘When did you decide this?’ Jessica said. ‘While I was away?’ She shook her head as she realised. ‘No … You knew about this all along, didn’t you? This was always the plan, wasn’t it?’
The professor couldn’t look Jessica in the eye. ‘Just do as you’re told ...’
‘But the asteroid is nearly here,’ Eric said again.
‘YES!’ Steiner said angrily. ‘It’s almost here! Do either of you know the chances of us succeeding?’ He fixed them with wide, staring eyes.
Jessica had never seen him so incensed.
‘Do you?!’ he said.
Jessica and Eric didn’t reply.
‘The chance of success,’ Bic said, ‘is estimated at a one per cent probability at best, and a point zero zero zero one per cent at worst.’
‘Zero zero zero one per cent,’ Eric said.
‘A one in a million shot in the dark,’ Brett told him.
Eric glared at her. ‘Jessica is right, this is your doing.’
‘Think what you like, little man,’ Brett said. ‘This has nothing to do with me. I couldn’t care less whether you die or not.’
‘Now do you understand?’ the professor said to Jessica. ‘There’s no point in all of us dying. And Bic will still be able to help you get your family to safety if – when – the impact happens.’
‘We will still have, what?’ Jessica said. ‘Fourteen days until impact, after you make your move on the president? That’s plenty of time for us to get to safety.’
‘And plenty of time to get killed,’ Steiner said. ‘We have one chance of getting to John Henry: his meeting with the Chinese and EU leaders. After we convince him of the facts, and he sees the events we predicted would happen before the meteorite strikes, he’ll back our plan, he’ll have no choice. If anything, that’s the easy part; the days following will be the most dangerous, as the GMRC will be gunning for us, and him, and that’s if they don’t get to him before.’
Jessica shook her head. ‘What are your chances if we stay?’
No one replied.
Jessica strode past Steiner, and placed her hands down on either side of Bic’s screen. She stared into the hacker’s eyes. ‘What are the chances?’
Bic blinked, but didn’t say anything.
‘Just as I thought; the odds are improved, aren’t they? Why else would you not tell me? You’ll have to drag me out of here.’ She jabbed a finger at Steiner. ‘Kicking and screaming.’ She folded her arms and sat down on a crate. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
Eric sat down next to her and also folded his arms in defiance.
The battle lines were set and neither side was prepared to budge.
♦
Professor Steiner sighed and glanced at Bic, who remained unusually silent. He would get no help from that quarter and Steiner wondered if this is what the hacker had planned all along, in order to drive another wedge between them. Steiner didn’t trust Bic any more than he trusted Malcolm Joiner to do the right thing, which meant only one thing ... he didn’t trust him at all. Although, unlike with Joiner, Steiner was forced to at least maintain the facade of trust with Bic and, as much as Steiner hated it, he was relying on the hacker to help them when it came to their end game. So, you do trust him, Steiner thought to himself.
The concept was as disturbing as their chances of survival. He opened his heart and released the pent-up bitterness that sought to steal his soul. The slight burning sensation in his chest felt good as the negative energy dissipated and Steiner felt his calm returning. He refused to let Bic control his mental state.
He had long been testing the hacker’s credentials as the self-proclaimed saviour of the planet. Over a period of months, Steiner probed with questions and carefully devised actions to expose Bic’s true intentions. But the unspoken battle had proved fruitless, as Bic seemed alert to Steiner’s every effort, the hacker responding in ways to support his claims that he was on their side. To Steiner this meant only one thing, Bic was hiding something, something big, and Steiner had to find out what that was, preferably before he was vaporised by the approaching asteroid.
Everything was at risk: his life, the lives of everyone on and below the surface, along with all life on Earth. He felt his chest tighten at the thought, but this time he was unable to release the tension, which spread to his gut and tightened into a knot. ‘Everything rests on you, old man,’ said the voice in his head, a voice strangely similar to Brett’s father. He glanced at the FBI agent. ‘The world is in your hands, the question isn’t about who you can trust, it’s about if you will let everything burn.’
I’m not sure I can stop it, Steiner thought, his despair overwhelming, there’s too much that can go wrong. His thoughts returned to the question at the heart of his torment. I don’t know if I should even try and stop the asteroids.
‘Do what you think is right,’ said the other voice in his head. ‘That’s all you can do, do what you think is right. And don’t forget, there’s no need to worry if you can’t do anything about it, and if you can do something about it, then there’s also no reason to worry.’
That’s easy for you to say, Steiner thought, and then wondered who he was actually talking to, himself or someone – or something – else. Give me the strength, Lord, he prayed, to do your bidding. His eyes strayed to Bic’s on-screen image. Whatever that might be.
‘I need to speak to Bic alone,’ Steiner said.
‘We’re not leaving for Mexico,’ Jessica said, her expression as fierce as her voice.
Eric stood up. ‘Over our dead bodies.’
Steiner considered them and knew he was fighting a losing battle. Did you expect anything else? he thought. No, was his answer, but it had still been the right thing to do. Trying to save the lives of those he cared for was not a sin, and he’d never apologise for it. ‘Just let me talk to Bic,’ he said, wearily.
Brett moved to usher Jessica and Eric from the room. The two of them initially resisted, but eventually gave in as Brett persisted. Steiner gave the FBI agent a nod of thanks as she closed the door behind them, leaving Steiner alone with the hacker in an otherwise empty room.
‘I need to ask you a favour,’ Steiner said, lowe
ring his voice so they couldn’t be overheard.
‘Name it, Professor,’ Bic said.
‘I need to know Jessica and Eric will be safe before ...’
‘Before the end,’ Bic said.
An image of the meteor strike from two years before flashed into Steiner’s mind. ‘Yes.’
‘I cannot guarantee I can save them.’
Steiner frowned.
‘But,’ Bic said, ‘I will do all that I can to keep them safe.’
Steiner knew Bic had soft spots for Eric and Jessica, he just hoped that bias would ensure the hacker would stick to his side of the bargain.
‘But this is not what you wanted to talk to me about,’ Bic said. ‘Is it?’
Steiner shook his head.
‘You speak of our pact of secrecy?’
‘Yes.’ Steiner hesitated, and then added, ‘And no.’
‘It remains as we agreed,’ Bic said in answer to Steiner’s ‘yes’.
Steiner nodded in acceptance.
‘You have something else to say?’
‘Your gamble paid off with the president,’ Steiner said.
‘It did. John Henry needed to see us during his abduction to form an initial bond, it will be crucial to gaining his trust when the time comes.’
‘He’s put a bounty on our heads. Your killings have jeopardised,’ – Steiner struggled to maintain his calm – ‘everything.’
‘Without affirmative action we would never have been able to speak to John Henry alone.’
‘Murdering over twenty agents wasn’t part of the plan!’
‘Yes, Professor Steiner, it was. You just didn’t want to accept the truth.’
Steiner felt his hackles rise. ‘The truth? What do you know of the truth?’
Bic held his gaze. ‘More than you will ever know, Professor Steiner.’
Steiner felt a stirring of unease at the comment. He stared into the hacker’s dark eyes and wished he knew what plans the insidious mind behind them was concocting. Steiner had never felt so out of his depth as he did at that moment. He was relying on Bic more than he cared to admit and he wondered if it was he who was being tested, rather than the other way round. Trust your gut, Steiner told himself, it’s never wrong.
Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2) Page 73
