The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery 1)

“Don’t shoot him. Where is he now?” Dorian said.

The chief held up the tablet, pointing to a place on the map.

Dorian tapped another location on the map. “What is this room?”

“One of the reactor halls, just a passage way between reactors one and two.”

Dorian pointed at two large doors on opposite sides. “These are the only two entrances and exits?”

“Yes. And the room has 10-foot concrete walls on all sides.”

“Perfect. Drive him in there and close the door,” Dorian said. What was he missing? He waited while the security chief worked the radio. The children. “What’s the status of the children?”

The chief looked confused at the question. “In their holding cell.”

“Show me.”

The chief jabbed the tablet. Then looked up in surprise.

“Find them,” Dorian said.

The chief yelled into his radio. They waited a few moments, the radio squawked a few times and the chief typed into the tablet, handing it to Dorian just as another video came to life: Naomi, and with her, Kate Warner and the children. Was it the worst news ever or the best news ever?

The chief was screaming into his radio with the other hand.

Dorian thought. Could it be just the two of them?

“We’ll have them momentarily, sir. I don’t know how—”

Dorian held a hand up, not looking at the man. “Stop talking.”

What to do? Clearly there was still a security breach, a serious one. And there were only a few suspects. Dorian motioned to one of the staffers he’d brought with him. “Logan, send a memo to the Immari Council: China facility under attack. We are attempting to secure, but anticipate all research capabilities will be destroyed. As such, proceeding with Toba Protocol with all haste. Will post further updates as events develop. Include the videos of the man in the power plant and the two girls trying to extract the children. I want to know the minute anyone responds.”

The chief rocked back on his heels. “We have them, sir.”

“Great work, truly,” Dorian said derisively.

The chief swallowed and said with less confidence, “Should we…”

“Take the two girls to the Bell, put them in with all the other subjects that are ready, but make sure they get in. I want them at the front of the line. Then throw the switch as soon as possible — tell Chang no excuses.” Dorian paused. Kate Warner, in the Bell room, it was such sweet, sweet justice. And there was nothing Martin could do. There would be nothing anyone could do soon. It was actually working out better than he could have planned. Dorian motioned to Dr. Chase. “Are all the nukes on train cars?”

“Yes, except for the Belarus devices and… the portable—”

“Good.” Dorian turned back to the chief. “Put the kids on the train car with the nukes and move it out of here right now.” He swiveled on Dr. Chase. “And I expect you to be on that train as well, and by the time it reaches the coast, either those eggs will fit in a backpack or you will. You understand?”

Dr. Chase nodded and looked away.

The chief listened, then dropped the radio to his side. “The saboteur is locked in reactor hall two.”

“Alright. Make sure none of the remaining train cars leave. We need them to move something else.” Dorian walked over to Dmitry Kozlov, second-in-command of Dorian’s personal Immari Security unit.

“When the Bell is finished, load the bodies on those train cars and move them out,” Dorian said. “We need to set up a loading zone, probably Northern India, somewhere with access to airports.”

“What about the rest of the staff here?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Dorian said as he led Dmitry farther away from any of the other staff. “They’re a liability. We certainly can’t let anyone leave, at least not until Toba is in full swing. We have another problem. There are only 119 human subjects on-site.”

The man saw the implication immediately. “Not enough bodies.”

“Not even close. I think we can solve both issues, but it won’t be easy.”

Dmitry nodded and glanced over at the scientists milling around in the lab. “Process the staff through the Bell? I agree. It would require Chang’s team to operate the machinery… on their own people. Doable, but it could get ugly. There are at least 100 security personnel on site. They won’t go quietly, even if we segregate them and orchestrate it as a drill.”

“What do you need?” Dorian said.

“50, maybe 60 men. Immari Security or Clocktower field agents would be ideal. Immari Security is purging the New Delhi Clocktower station now. We might be able to task the remaining field operatives.”

“Make it happen,” Dorian said as he stepped away.

“Where will you be?”

“Someone inside Immari has to be working with Reed. I’m going to find out who it is.”

CHAPTER 57

Kate screamed as the security guards ripped the children from her hands and wrestled her to the ground. She scratched their faces and kicked. She couldn’t lose them again. She had to fight.

“No, to the train,” one of the guards said. The boys tried to wiggle free.

Kate reached out for them, but a man pinned her arms. Another man rushed to her and she saw the butt of a rifle coming at her face.

The room was dark and crowded. Kate was being crushed by people from every side. She elbowed people left and right but no one responded — they were dead on their feet. They would have fallen over if they weren’t squeezed in so tight.

Above her, Kate heard a loud boom. A huge metal device was descending from the ceiling. There were lights, flashing from the top now, with synchronized booms. She could feel the booms in her chest and in the bodies of the zombies crowded around her.

Were the children here? She scanned the room. She couldn’t see anyone, just blank faces, half-awake. Then — Naomi. The confident woman who had rescued her looked terrified.

The boom-boom-boom above grew deafening, the light blinding. Kate felt the flesh around her heat up. She raised a hand to brush the sweat from her face, but the hand was already so wet, covered in something thick, almost sticky, gritty — blood.

CHAPTER 58

The concrete doors to the reactor hall slammed shut with a loud boom. The sound was barely audible over the rumble of the massive reactors. David walked deeper into the room, surveying the site of his last stand. Maybe Kate got out.

He slid the clip out of his gun. Two rounds. Should he save the last round? The drugs they used on Kate were serious. Who knew what they could do. He knew valuable intel. That was the selfless reason, but there were others. He pushed the thought from his mind. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.