The Atlantis Trilogy Box Set- The Complete Series

by A. G. Riddle

  “Don’t call them retarded.”

  “They’re not retarded?” He flipped the file open. “Our notes say your clinic is testing a new drug for retarded—”

  “They’re not retarded. Their brains work differently than other people’s. Just like my metabolism works differently than yours.”

  The corpulent chief looked down at his body, as if trying to find his metabolism to examine and compare it with Kate’s.

  “You either begin searching for those children, or release me so I can.”

  “We can’t release you,” Kusnadi said.

  “Why not?”

  “We haven’t ruled you out as a suspect.”

  “That’s absurd—”

  “I know, Doctor, I know, trust me. But what would you have me do? I can’t tell my investigators who is and is not a suspect. That would be improper. I have, however, convinced them to keep you in this holding cell. They insisted I move you to the common holding area. Those are coed and, I’m afraid, not well-monitored.” He paused a moment, then opened the file again. “But I think I can at least delay that for a while. In the meantime, I have some questions of my own. Our records say you bought a condo here in Jakarta. Paid cash, the equivalent of seven hundred thousand US Dollars.” He looked up at her, and when she said nothing, he continued. “Our bank contact says you keep a checking account with an average balance of three hundred thousand, US-equivalent, dollars. That account receives periodic transfers from a bank in the Cayman Islands.”

  “My bank balance has nothing to do with this.”

  “I’m sure it doesn’t. But you can see how it looks to my investigators. How did you get so much money, if I may ask?”

  “I inherited it.”

  The chief raised his eyebrows and seemed to brighten. “Ah, from your grandparents?”

  “No, from my father. Look, we’re wasting time here.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Who?”

  “Your father.”

  “Banking, I think, or he was an investor. I don’t know, I was very young.”

  “I see.” The chief nodded. “I believe we can help each other, Doctor. We can convince my investigators that you are not involved in the kidnapping and give my department the resources it desperately needs to find these re—these, ah… helpless children.”

  Kate stared at him. It all made sense now. “I’m listening.”

  “I believe you, Dr. Warner. But as I say, my investigators, they look at the evidence, and they know what a judge will think, and between me and you, Dr. Warner, I think maybe, a little bit, they dislike foreigners, maybe especially Americans. I believe the only way to really ensure your safety and to get what we both want is to find these children. That will clear your name.”

  “So what are you waiting for?”

  “As I said before, Dr. Warner, we are a small department. Finding these children… I would need more resources, people outside my department. But, I am sorry to say, an investigation like this would cost a lot, probably two million dollars. Ah, US Dollars. But if I call in some favors, I think we can do it for one point five million. But time is of the essence, my dear Doctor. The children could be anywhere by now. I can only hope they are still alive.”

  “One point five million dollars.”

  The chief nodded.

  “You’ll have it. But you release me first.”

  “I would like nothing more, Doctor, believe me. But promises made by suspects in interrogation rooms…” He lifted his hands.

  “Fine, get me a phone and the details of your—the bank account. And get me a car.”

  “Right away, Doctor.” He smiled, stood, and left.

  He left Kate in the interrogation room alone. She sat at the table again, put a knee up in the chair, and ran her hand through her blond hair. The woman in the mirrored wall looked nothing like the hopeful scientist who had moved to Jakarta four years ago.

  The chief shut the door to the interrogation room. One point five million! He could retire. His whole family could retire. One point five million… Could he have gotten more, maybe two, or two point five? Three million? She could have more. Much more. She agreed to one point five instantly. Maybe he could go back and say he’d have to hire more people. It will cost four million. He would have taken $250,000; he had expected to get less. He stood in front of the interrogation room and pondered what to do.

  He wouldn’t go back immediately. He could soften her up even more. A few hours in the drunk tank, with the cameras off. He’d have to be careful—he didn’t want her running to the US Embassy afterward—but if he was careful, he could make some real money today.

  16

  Secure Comms Room

  Clocktower Station HQ

  Jakarta, Indonesia

  Josh glanced at the red dots on the positioning screen. In the hour since David had left, the twenty-four red dots—representing all of Jakarta Station’s field operatives—had moved from Station HQ to locations across the city. Now the map showed four groups of six dots each.

  Josh knew three of the locations well: they were Jakarta Station’s safe houses. The eighteen agents at these locations must be on David’s suspect list. The dots at the safe houses moved about slowly, turning back when they reached the walls that held them, like an accused man pacing a holding cell, waiting to hear his fate.

  The strategy was sound: David had divided the possible enemy forces and given himself time to see them coming if they did attack. When they attacked. Seeing the dots on the map had given Josh a sense of dread, had made the threat real. It was happening. The battle for Jakarta Station was only a matter of time. At some point, the dots would break free from the safe houses, descend on David’s group of six soldiers, then come back to HQ to take care of Josh.

  David had simply bought them time. Time for Josh to sift the day’s local intel and work on the code—to find something. And he wasn’t sure if he had.

  He watched the sat video again. It was all he had. What if he was wrong?

  He ran his hand through his hair. It was certainly outside the box. But if it was nothing…

  Intelligence work often came down to instinct. The van, the operation, it didn’t feel right to Josh.

  He dialed David and said, “I think I have something.”

  “Go ahead,” David said.

  “A kidnapping—two kids from a medical clinic. Reported to Jakarta PD several hours ago. Clocktower flagged it as a low-priority local incident. But the van is a commercial vehicle registered to a Hong-Kong-based dummy corporation that is a known Immari front. And frankly, it doesn’t look like locals; this was a professional kidnapping. Usually we’d file it under standard kidnapping and ransom, but Immari wouldn’t bother with a K&R. I’m still digging, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure this is an Immari operation, and a high-priority one given how overt it was—grabbing the kids during the day, and with a van they knew we would trace. It means they couldn’t wait.”

  “So what does it mean?”

  “I’m not sure yet. The strange thing is that it looks like another Immari company, Immari Research, funds the clinic. The money for the building and its monthly expenses is paid from a Jakarta-based holding corporation: Immari Jakarta. There are several references to it in your files. The company’s history dates back almost two hundred years. It was a subsidiary of the Dutch East India Company during the colonial era. It could be Immari’s major operating center here in Southeast Asia.”

  “Doesn’t make sense. Why would one Immari unit take kids from another? Maybe an internal feud? What do we know about the staff at the clinic?”

  “Not much. There aren’t many of them. A few lab techs, one of them killed during the incident. A rotating staff of nannies for the kids. Mostly locals, not connected. And the lead scientist,” Josh pulled up a file of Dr. Katherine Warner, “she was there during the breach, possibly incapacitated. No one left for over an hour. Local police have her now at a Jakarta substation.”

  “Ha
ve they put out any interagency alerts on the kids?”

  “No.”

  “Public APBs?” David asked.

  “Nope. But I have a theory. We have a source in the West Jakarta Police. He filed a report fifteen minutes ago, says the police chief is extorting an American national—female. I assume it’s Dr. Warner.”

  “Hmm. What does the clinic do?”

  “It’s a research facility, actually. Genetic research. They’re studying new therapies for children with autism, basically anyone with a developmental disorder.”

  “Doesn’t exactly scream international terrorism.”

  “I agree,” Josh said.

  “So what’s the working theory here? What are we looking at?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. I haven’t gotten too deep into the weeds on this one, but one thing jumps out: the study hasn’t filed any patents.”

  “Why is that significant? You think they’re not doing research?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure they are, just based on the equipment they’ve imported and the setup. But it’s not for the money. If they wanted to commercialize what they’re studying, they would patent it first. That’s standard procedure for clinical trials. You find a compound in a lab, patent it, then test it. The patent prevents the competition from stealing a sample from a trial and patenting it first, cutting you off from the market. You would only test something without a patent if you didn’t want the world to know about it. And Jakarta makes sense to do that. A US-based trial with any patients would legally require an application to the FDA and disclosure of the trial therapy.”

  “So they’re developing a bio weapon?”

  “Maybe. But before today, the clinic hasn’t had any incidents. They’ve registered no fatalities, so if they are testing it on the kids, it would make it the least effective bio weapon of all time. Based on what I can see, the research is legit. And well-intentioned. In fact, if they did achieve their research goal, it would be a huge medical breakthrough.”

  “Which would also make it a great cover. But one question: why steal from yourself? If Immari funds the clinic and runs the clinic, why would they need to use their own people to steal the kids? Maybe the researcher got cold feet about the weapon, about what they’re doing?” David said.

  “Could be.”

  “Does the source at Jakarta PD have the authority to release the doctor?”

  “No, apparently he’s a little lower on the totem pole,” Josh said.

  “Do we have a file on the chief?”

  “Stand by.” Josh searched Clocktower’s database, and when the chief’s file appeared, he leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, we’ve got a file. Wow.”

  “Send it to my mobile command center. Have you gone through all of the local intel yet?”

  “Yeah, this was the only thing that really jumped out. But there is something else.” Josh had debated whether to mention it, but like the video of the kidnapping, it didn’t feel right. “None of the other cells have reported being attacked, and Central hasn’t released any advisories. There’s been nothing in the news either—nothing since the fighting in Karachi, Cape Town, and Mar del Plata. All the cells are quiet, releasing routine reports as if nothing is going on.”

  “Speculation?” David said.

  “Two possibilities: either they’re waiting for something, maybe our next move, or…”

  “The rest of the cells fell without a fight.”

  “Yeah. We may be the last major cell,” Josh said.

  “I want you to work on the code—as quickly as you can.”

  17

  Immari Corp. Research Complex

  Outside Burang, China

  Tibet Autonomous Region

  Dr. Shen Chang tried to relax as the videoconference connected.

  When the man appeared, Chang swallowed hard and said, “The project director ordered me to contact you, Dr. Grey. We followed the protocol and research provided—to the letter—I don’t know what—”

  “I’m sure you did, Dr. Chang. But the result was very surprising. Why did the children survive and not the adults?”

  “We’re not sure. We’ve run tests on the children. They do show sustained Atlantis Gene activation.”

  “Is it possible the therapy won’t work on adults?”

  “Yes, perhaps. The therapy is a retrovirus that inserts a gene into the subject’s genetic code. It’s not a significant genetic change, but it does have a cascade effect at the epigenetic level, turning on and off a series of other, preexisting genes in the host. There are no physiological effects—not that we’ve been able to observe—but there is a massive change in the brain. The gene essentially re-wires the subject’s brain. Neuroplasticity, the ability for the brain to re-wire or adapt, decreases with age—that’s why it’s harder to learn new things as we grow older. We’ve explored the idea that adults won’t respond to the therapy because the gene activation can’t trigger the changes in the brain—essentially, the genetic therapy virus tries to re-wire the brain, but the circuit boards are already hardwired. Have been since shortly after childhood.”

  “Is it possible that the adult subjects didn’t have the precursor genes to affect the brain changes?”

  “No, all the adult subjects had the cascade genes. As you know, we have known about these genes for some time, and we test every subject at our hiring facility in China. The adults should have survived the test.”

  “Is it possible the therapy only works on brains affected by autism?”

  Chang hadn’t considered this possibility. Dr. Grey was an evolutionary biologist with an interest in paleobiology, and he was Chang’s boss’s boss, all the way at the top of the Immari food chain. Chang had assumed this call wouldn’t focus on the science. He had expected a tongue-lashing from this über-boss for his failed efforts.

  He focused on Grey’s hypothesis. “Yes, it certainly could be. Autism is fundamentally a disorder of brain wiring, especially in the areas that control communication and social understanding. And other areas are affected. Some affected individuals are highly intelligent with special abilities; others are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum: they can’t even live independently. Autism is really a catch-all category for a variety of differences in brain wiring. We would have to look into this, and it could take some time. We would likely need more test subjects.”

  “Time we don’t have, but we might be able to get more children. Although these are the only subjects we know of with Atlantis Gene activation. Let me look into that. Is there anything you haven’t told me? Any other theories? There are no bad ideas at this point, Dr. Chang.”

  Chang did have another idea. Something he hadn’t voiced to the rest of the team. “I’ve personally wondered whether the adults and the children were treated with the same therapy.”

  “A problem with replicating Dr. Warner’s research?”

  “No. As I say, we followed her protocol to the letter—I stand by that. I’m wondering if Dr. Warner… treated these children with something different, something not in her official notes or the trial protocol.”

  Grey seemed to consider Chang’s idea. “That’s very interesting.”

  “Would it be possible to speak with Dr. Warner?”

  “I’m not sure… let me get back to you on that. Have any of the other team members voiced this concern?”

  “No, not that I know of.”

  “For now, I’d like for you to keep your suspicions about Dr. Warner to yourself and to contact me directly with updates. We need to keep a tight lid on this. I’ll inform the project director that you and I are working together. He’ll support your efforts—no questions asked.”

  “I understand,” Dr. Chang said, but he really didn’t. The call had raised more questions, and he was now convinced of one thing: they had used the wrong therapy.

  18

  West Jakarta Police Detention Center

  Jakarta, Indonesia

  Chief Kusnadi was about to reach for the interrogatio
n room door when a man blocked his path. He was an American, or maybe European, definitely a soldier of some sort. He had the build… and the eyes.

  “Who are you?” Kusnadi asked the man.

  “That’s not important. I’m here to pick up Dr. Katherine Warner.”

  “Ah, funny man. Tell me who you are before I throw you in a cell.”

  The man handed him a manila envelope and said, “Take a look. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

  The police chief opened the envelope and looked at the first few pictures. He couldn’t believe his eyes. How? How could they have—?

  “If you don’t release her right now, you won’t be the last to see those.”

  “I want the originals.”

  “Does this sound like a negotiation to you? Release her or my organization will release the contents of that envelope.”

  Kusnadi’s eyes looked down, then darted side to side, like a cornered animal deciding which way to run.

  “And just in case you’re considering throwing me in a cell, if my people don’t get my call within three minutes, they’ll release this file anyway. You work for me now. You want to be Chief of Police or not?”

  Kusnadi had to think. He looked around at the department. Who could do this?

  “Time’s up.” The man turned to leave.

  “Wait.” The police chief opened the door to the interrogation room and motioned for the woman to come out. “This man will escort you out.”

  The woman paused at the door and looked at Kusnadi before looking the soldier up and down.

  “It’s okay, this man will take you now.”

  The man put his arm around her back and said, “Follow me, Dr. Warner. We’re getting out of here.”

  Kusnadi watched them walk out of the station.

  Outside the police station, Kate stopped and turned to the man who had rescued her. He was dressed in black body armor—eerily similar to the man who had taken her children. And so were his men—she saw them now—five of them, standing in front of a large black truck, like an oversized UPS delivery truck, and a black SUV with dark tinted windows.