The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery 1)

“Why?”

“It’s a Protectorate of the Immari Imperium.”

“Immari Imperium?”

“You’ve been gone for two months, Kate. The world has changed. And not for the better.”

Kate continued searching the coastline. Gibraltar was dark, but so was Northern Africa. All the glittering lights she’d seen on that balcony last night, the night when David had caught her…

Kate stood for a while without saying anything. Finally she did see some lights, moving at the coast. Or was it a city? No, the lights were moving. “The lights in Northern Africa…”

“There are no lights in Northern Africa.”

Kate pointed at the faint twinkling lights. “They’re right—”

“A plague barge.”

“Plague?”

“The Atlantis Plague,” Martin said. He sighed, suddenly looking even more exhausted. “We’ll get to all that.” He leaned against the rail and gazed toward Gibraltar. “I had hoped to see your father again. But this… this is an end he would have liked.” He continued before Kate could speak. “Your father was a very remorseful man. He blamed himself for your mother’s death. And for leading the Immari into the city of Atlantis. A death, to save your life, to save the Atlanteans, and to keep the Immari from accessing the portal he found, to keep them out of the structure in Antarctica… it’s fitting for him. He would want to die in Gibraltar. Your mother died in Gibraltar.”

As if on cue, a geyser of water and light rose into the air and a sonic boom broke over the sky and echoed in her chest.

Martin put his arm around her. “We must get below. The wave will be here soon. We have to dive.”

Kate took one last look back. Through the light of the blast, she saw the Rock of Gibraltar crumbling, but not all of it. One last shard still held on, rising just above the water line.

CHAPTER 153

The lab tech walked into Dr. Shen Chang’s office. “Sir, we didn’t receive any data from Gibraltar.”

“The blast interrupted it?”

“No. The transmission never began. They never got a sample from Pierce. But we’ve had another break. Craig left a letter. He wouldn’t let Pierce bury Helena Barton’s body for a reason — Craig actually kept it in case it could be useful some day. It’s in a locker in San—”

“Have you gotten a sample?”

The tech nodded. “We’re running it through the simulation with the fetus and the data from Kane now. We’re not sure if it will work since—”

Chang tossed the tablet on his desk. “How soon will we know?”

“We’re not sure—” the tech’s phone buzzed. “Actually, it’s in.” He looked up. “We’ve found the Atlantis Gene.”

EPILOGUE

David opened his eyes. The view was distorted. A white haze. The curve of glass. He was inside a tube. His eyes were adjusting, as if he were waking up from a deep sleep. He could see his body now. He was naked. His skin was smooth — too smooth. The chest and shoulder wounds were gone. As were the scars on his arms and chest, where the burning pieces of metal and rock from the collapsing buildings had dug into him so long ago.

The white fog was clearing now, and he looked out of the tube. To his left, a light shone into the vast chamber. It was the light from the corridor… the corridor where he had retreated and Dorian had shot him. Killed him. David strained to see. There he was. His limp body, lying there in a pool of blood. There was another body lying across him.

David looked away from the scene, trying to comprehend it. To his right, as far as he could see, up and down, right and left, were tubes. They were all asleep. Except for him. And there was one more. One more set of eyes scanning the distance beyond. Directly across from him. He wanted to lean closer to see them, but he couldn’t move. He waited. A cloud of mist passed, and he saw the eyes and the face in the other tube. Dorian Sloane.