The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery 1)

Kate wanted to tell him now, to see the look on his face. “Cord blood.”

“What?” Dorian took a step away from her.

“I lost the baby. But a month before I did, I had embryonic stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord, just in case the child ever developed a condition that required stem cells.”

“You’re lying.”

“It’s true. I used an experimental stem cell treatment on the children, using stem cells from the embryo of our dead child. I used them all. There aren’t any more.”

CHAPTER 113

Immari Tunnels

Gibraltar

David pulled the trigger again. Another click.

“I removed the firing pin,” Craig said. “I knew you would be able to tell the difference between a loaded and unloaded gun, so it was the best choice. And I needed to get you down here.”

“Why?”

“I’ve already told you. I’m here to recruit you. By the time we’re done talking, you’ll know the truth and you’ll finally—”

“I won’t. You can kill me now—”

“I’d rather not, David. Good men are hard to come by. There’s another reason: you know more than anyone else. You’re in a unique position to—”

“You know why I joined Clocktower, what the Immari took from me. What you took from me.”

“Not me. Dorian. Dieter. Granted, I used Clocktower to make sure no intelligence agencies got wind of the plot, but he planned 9/11. It was his brainchild. He was obsessed with searching those mountains for his father. He desperately needed some kind of closure. It wasn’t the only reason. As I said before, our organization was in shambles when I awoke in 1978, and we were still recovering in 2001. We needed money and a global cover to resume our work.”

“Impossible. Dorian Sloane is Dieter Kane?”

“It’s true. When I awoke in 1978, I ordered his tube opened, and he walked right out, as healthy as he could be. The tube must also be some sort of healing device, a medical treatment pod of some sort. But its powers are limited to treating the living. I watched as Patrick Pierce, who had been as stoic as a judge for the past 20 years, crumbled into unimaginable grief as they pulled Helena’s still-dead body from the tube. He relived her death all over again. But medical technology had come a long way, and we were able to save the child inside her.”

“His child?”

“Daughter. But you know her already. Kate Warner.”

CHAPTER 114

Immari Research Base Prism

East Antarctica

Kate studied Dorian’s face. Confusion? Disbelief? Regret? He stared at the point where the wall met the floor, thinking.

Then he focused on her, grinning an evil, unkind grin. “That was very clever, Kate. Of course you are very smart — when it comes to science. But not when it comes to reading people.” He turned away from her and paced toward the door. “You’re just like your father in that way. Brilliant, but foolish.”

What was he talking about? Her father died 28 years ago. Dorian, or Dieter, or whatever his name was… he was a madman. “You’re the only fool here,” Kate said.

“Am I? All of this is your father’s fault. He unleashed all of this. He killed my mother and brother and forced my father to undertake a risky mission to save the world, a mission from which he never returned. There’s your why Kate. I’ve dedicated my whole life to finishing my father’s work and to righting the wrongs your father did to my family; and today, you’ve given me the keys to finally do that.”

Before Kate could react, an alarm rang out.

A security guard, or some sort of soldier, burst in the door. “Sir, we’re under attack.”

CHAPTER 115

Immari Tunnels

Gibraltar

David’s mind raced. He said his thoughts aloud, almost mumbling them. “Kate Warner is Patrick Pierce’s daughter? How—”

“I thought new names were in order. If anyone ever connected us to the events during and after World War I, it would have… complicated our lives. Pierce took the name Tom Warner, and Katherine for his newborn daughter. He told her that her mother had died in childbirth, which was actually the truth. Dieter became Dorian Sloane, and he became obsessed with the past and his father’s legacy. He was a hateful child. He had seen so much pain, and he was all alone in an age he didn’t understand. Imagine, a seven-year-old boy going to sleep in 1918 with the flu, when his parents and brother were alive, and waking up 60 years later, in 1978, healthy and all alone in a strange world. I tried to be a father figure to him, but he was so troubled, so isolated. Like you, he dedicated his life to striking back at the people who had taken the ones he loved, to killing the people who had changed him and ruined his life. For him, that was Tom Warner and the Atlanteans. Unfortunately for all of us, Dorian is very capable. And he had support within the Immari organization. To the Immari, he was the heir and savior returned, living proof that the plague and the Bell could be beaten, that the human race could survive. It all went to Dorian’s head. He grew into a monster. He’s planning to reduce the human race to a select few, the genetically superior, what he believes is his tribe. He’s already unleashed the plague. The apocalypse is happening now, as we speak. But we can stop him. You can kill him, then I alone will run the Immari organization, with you at my side.” Craig watched David, hoping for some indication of how his former apprentice would react to the offer. “I’ll take you in as a prisoner. I know him. He’ll want to gloat, to debrief and torture you himself. I’ll give you a means to kill him when you’re left alone with him.”

David shook his head. “That’s what you want? This whole charade? You want me to kill Sloane — to put you on the throne?”

“Don’t you want to? He was responsible for 9/11. He’s your enemy. And you can save Kate. She’s there with him now. He will hurt her. He hurt her before, in San Francisco. The baby — it was his. There’s more, but the bottom line is that you can save her. Only you can save her.” Craig let the words sink in for a long moment, then turned and paced the room. “Think about it, David. You know you can’t win. You can’t fight us. The gunfire in the tunnels, those were the sounds of my Immari Security agents killing the last of the Clocktower loyalists. They’re all dead. You’re all alone down here. You can’t defeat the Immari. No one can. The world is already fighting the plague. You can’t prevent catastrophe. But we can change things, from inside Immari. We can shape the world to come.”