The Atlantis Gene: A Thriller

by A. G. Riddle

  “Partly. Clocktower was the perfect platform for me. I knew back then that Immari was behind 9/11, that they had made a fortune from the attacks, and that they were actively looking for something in the mountains of East Afghanistan and Pakistan. But they got to me before I could figure out the big picture. They almost killed me in Northern Pakistan. I was officially listed as killed in action. It was the perfect opportunity to exit. I needed a new identity and somewhere to continue my work. I had never heard of Clocktower before I was in-theater in Afghanistan, but I took refuge here. It was perfect. We all come to Clocktower for our own reasons; it was the key to my survival at the time and the tool I needed to finally learn the truth about Immari and TOBA. I never told anyone my real motivation, except the director. He took me in and helped me start Jakarta Station four years ago. I hadn’t made much substantial progress on the Immari question until a week ago when the source contacted me.”

  “That’s why the source picked you.”

  “Apparently. He knows about my investigation. He knew I would have this file. It may hold the key to decrypting the code. What I know is that Immari Corporation is somehow involved in 9/11, maybe in other terrorist plots before and after, and that they’re working on something much, much bigger. Toba Protocol. It’s why I chose Jakarta — the closest major city to Mount Toba. I think it’s a reference to where the attack will start.”

  “A logical assumption. What do we know about Toba Protocol?” Josh said.

  “Not a lot. Apart from a few references, there’s one memo about it. It’s a report about urbanization and the potential to reduce the total human population.”

  “That limits the possibilities somewhat. A terrorist attack that could reduce the total human population, it would have to be biological, maybe a drastic change in the environment, or inciting a new global war. We’re not talking about suicide bombers, it’s something bigger.”

  David nodded. “Much bigger, and probably something we would never expect. Indonesia and Jakarta is the perfect place to start an attack — the population density is high and there are tons of ex-patriots here, the start of an attack would send wealthy foreigners in Jakarta to the airport and from there to almost every country in the world.”

  David motioned to the bank of computer screens behind Josh. “The computers behind you are connected to Central, our own servers, and the remaining cells. They have everything we know about what’s going on around the world, the various terrorist groups and organizations we now know are fronts for Immari International. It’s not much. Start there, get up to speed, then move on quickly to the latest local intel. If there’s anything going on here in Jakarta, we have a responsibility to investigate it first. We will need to hand off what we know in case Jakarta Station falls. Think outside the box. Whatever is going on, it may not fit any normal patterns. Look for something we wouldn’t suspect — like Saudi Nationals taking flying lessons in Germany, then moving to the US; like someone in Oklahoma buying tons of fertilizer, someone who isn’t a farmer.”

  “What’s in the rest of the folders?” Josh said.

  David pushed a folder across the desk. “This folder contains the rest of the information on Immari that I collected before I joined Clocktower.”

  “It’s not in the computer?”

  “No. I never turned it over to Clocktower either. You’ll see why. The other envelope contains a letter, from me to you. You should open it when I die. It will provide you with instructions.”

  Josh started to say something, but David interrupted. “There’s one last thing.”

  David stood and retrieved a small case from the corner of the room. He set the case on the table. “This room and the outer chamber will give you some protection, and I hope, enough time to find something, hopefully to decode the message. Clocktower HQ is the last place they’ll be looking for you. Nevertheless, I doubt we have a lot of time. Send whatever you find to my mobile. The top-right monitor shows a camera feed. That camera is over the door — looking out into the server room, so you’ll know if someone is trying to get in here. As you know, there are no cameras in the main HQ, for security reasons, so you may not have much notice.” He opened the case and took out a handgun. He slid the magazine into the handle of the gun and placed it on the table in front of Josh. “You know how to use this?”

  Josh eyed the gun and leaned back in the chair. “Uh, yes. Well, I had basic training when I joined the Agency 12 years ago, but I haven’t used one since. So… no, not really.” He wanted to say, “If covert ops forces get in this room, what kind of chance do I really have?”, but he didn’t; he knew David was showing him the gun to make him feel safer. Not being scared to death would clear his mind and help him do his job, but Josh felt that was only half of the chief’s motivation.

  “If you need to use it, you pull the slide back. That chambers a round. When you’re empty, you click here, the clip slides out. You put another one in and press this button, the slide returns and chambers the first round from the new clip. But if that door is breached, there’s something you have to do before you use the gun.”

  “Wipe the computers?”

  “Exactly. And burn this folder as well as the letter.” David pointed to a small metal waste basket and handed him a small butane torch from the gun box.

  “What else is in the box?” Josh thought he knew, but he asked anyway.

  The Jakarta Station Chief paused for a seconds, then reached into the box and took out a small capsule.

  “Do I swallow it?”

  “No. If the time comes, you bite into it. The cyanide works pretty quick, maybe three or four seconds.” David handed Josh the capsule. “Keep it with you. I hope you won’t need it. This is a very hard room to get into.”

  David put the gun back in the box and returned it to the corner of the room. “Let me know as soon as you have something.” He turned and walked toward the door.

  Josh stood and said, “What are you going to do?”

  “Buy us some time.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Interrogation Room C

  West Jakarta Police Detention Center

  Jakarta, Indonesia

  Kate looked up as the interrogation room door opened, revealing a fat, sweaty man. He carried a folder in one hand and extended his other hand to her. “Dr. Warner, I am Police Chief Eddi Kusnadi. I ho—”

  “I’ve been waiting here for hours. Your men have interrogated me about useless details of my study, threatened to imprison me. I want to know what you’re doing to find those kidnapped children.”

  “Doctor, you don’t understand the situation here. We are a small department.”

  “Then call the national police. Or—”

  “The national police have problems of their own, Doctor, and they don’t include finding retarded children.”

  “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 peoples. 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 co-ed 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 mean time, I have some questions of my own. Our records say you bought a co
ndo here in Jakarta, paid cash, the equivalent of 700 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 300 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, 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… 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 jury 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 the 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 2 million dollars. Ah, US Dollars. But if I call in some favors, I think we can do it for 1.5 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.”

  “1.5 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 threw her blond hair. The woman in the mirror wall looked nothing like the hopeful scientist who had moved to Jakarta four years ago.

  The chief shut the door to the interrogation room. 1.5 million! He could retire. His whole family could retire. 1.5 million… Could he have gotten more, maybe 2, or 2.5? 3 Million? She could have more. Much more. She agreed to 1.5 instantly. Maybe he could go back and say he’d have to hire more people. It will cost 4 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.

  CHAPTER 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.

  Josh knew three of the locations well: they were Jakarta Station’s safe houses. These eighteen agents 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 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 99% 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 200 years. It was a subsidiary of the Dutch East India Company before World War II. It could be Immari’s major operating center here in South East 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 lab tech, Ben Adelson, killed during the incident. A rotating staff of nannies for the kids. Mostly locals, not connected. And the lead scientist,” he pulled up a file of Dr. Katherine Warner, “she arrived during the breach. Must have been incapacitated. No one left for over an hour. Local police have her now at a Jakarta substation.”

  “Have they put out any inter-agency alerts on the kids?”

  “No.”

  “Public APBs?”

  “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 autistic children, basically anyone with a developmental disorder.”

  “Doesn’t exactly scream international terrorism.”

  “Agree.”

  “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; this is 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.”

  “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. 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.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Immari Corp. Research Complex

  Outside Burang, China

  Tibet Autonomous Region

  Dr. Shen Chang tried to suppress his nervousness as the video conference 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 simply 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’ve entertained a few possibilities. And we’ve run tests on the children. We believe they do show sustained Atlantis Gene activation and clearly they survived the machine, which is proof in and of itself that they’re immune.”

  “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 — 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.”