The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery 2)

Kate eyed the dead man. “Why?”

Shaw nodded to her. “Seriously? You want to walk out of here in that? Any idiot can see you sliced up a chef’s jacket, and even if you can’t see it, by God you can smell it a kilometer away. You’re a walking compost heap.”

Kate raised her shoulder and tried casually to sniff the white coat. Yeah, it was less than fresh. The overwhelming stench in the kitchen had apparently numbed her to the smell for a bit.

Shaw handed her the man’s tunic, then stripped off the pants and held those up as well.

Kate hesitated. “Turn around.”

He smiled. “Let me guess, Kate. Two well-shaped boobs, an unnaturally flat stomach, and toned legs. I’ve seen it before, Princess. I had the internet before the plague.”

“Well my body isn’t on the internet, so turn around.”

He shook his head and turned his back to her.

Kate thought he mumbled something about “prudish Americans.” She ignored him as she slipped into the uniform. It was slightly too large, but it would do. “What now?”

“Now I complete my mission—to take you to London. You’ll complete the research, find a cure for this nightmare, and the world will live happily ever after. I’ll get a picture with the Queen, et cetera, et cetera. Assuming you don’t make any other stupid moves, we’ll be okay.”

Kate walked around the dead guard to face Shaw. “There’s a man in here—Dr. Martin Grey. He’s my adoptive father, and the man that made the deal with your government. We have to find him and take him with us.”

Shaw led Kate out of the hallway and into the stairwell. “If he’s in here, he’s either dead or dying. We can’t help him. You’re my mission, not him.”

“He is now. I’m not leaving here without him.”

“Then you won’t leave.”

“And you won’t accomplish your mission. No visit with the Queen.”

He snorted. “I was being facetious. This is serious.”

Kate nodded. “So is this. A man’s life is a stake.”

“No, Kate, billions of lives are at stake.”

“Well none of them raised me.”

Shaw exhaled deeply and motioned to the dead guard in the hall. “The other three are going to come looking for him soon. We need to get out of this building.”

Kate considered Shaw’s words for a moment. “That sounds to me like something you’re going to have to handle.” Kate thought for a moment. She could never search the entire building; she needed somewhere to start. Where would Martin go? He knew the layout of the buildings and the Immari invasion protocol. Her mind flashed to the hotel safe. Could it withstand the fall of the building? No, that would simply trap him there, and his food wouldn’t last—assuming anyone ever dug out the rubble, and that was a long shot. Food. Of course. “When you’re done with the guards, meet me in the kitchen.”

“The kitchen?”

“That’s where Martin is.” She started down the stairwell.

“Wait.” Shaw picked up the guard’s gun and belt, and fastened both around Kate. “Wear this, but try not to use it.”

“Why?”

“It draws attention, for one. And if you’re shooting at someone around here who has a gun, they’re probably a better shot than you are.”

“How do you know I’m not some gun-shooting expert?”

“I read your file, Kate. Be careful.” Without another word, he set off down the stairwell, practically leaping down the flights. He exited at the bottom before Kate could respond.

Kate followed at her own pace. At the lobby, the inhabitants—those still alive—scurried away from her, giving her a wide berth.

Through the glass revolving door, she saw Shaw talking with the three guards, waving his arms, the others laughing.

Kate made her way to the restaurant, which was similar to the other tower’s restaurant, but she thought maybe it had had a different theme, though it was too disheveled to make out at this point. There were people here, but far less than she had expected. They crawled away from her as her footsteps echoed in the dining hall.

She pushed against the doors to the kitchen, but they wouldn’t open. Something, maybe a bar, was blocking them. She pushed again, but they didn’t give. She peered in through the oval glass window.

Martin sat there on the floor, slumped against the stainless steel cabinet below the counter. A pile of empty water bottles lay at his feet. Kate couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.

CHAPTER 44

Immari Operations Base at Ceuta

Northern Morocco

The guard adjusted the binoculars, hoping to get a better look at the rider. The horse was one of theirs, the one the colonel had taken. The rider wore a bedouin headdress. The guard sounded the alarm.

Five minutes later, the guard stood side by side with the other men of the perimeter detail as the rider stopped before the city gate and slowly raised his hands in the air. He reached for the red cloth wrapped around his head and unwound it.

The guard turned back to the men. “False alarm. It’s the colonel.” Then he looked back at the man. Something was different.

David walked into the officer’s lounge and made a beeline for the major.

The major set down his cards, leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “The mighty horse warrior returns! We thought the savages might be having you for dinner.”

David took a chair from an adjacent table without asking and inserted it between two men at the major’s table, shoving them aside without a word. He opened his shirt, revealing the seared, inflamed flesh. “They tried. Too gamey for them.” David glanced at the men around the table. “Give us a little privacy here?”

The major nodded and the men all grudgingly rose from their seats, taking one last look at their cards before muttering and tossing them back on the table, as if each knew he had the winning hand and it was just his luck that he couldn’t play it out.

“I can solve your Berber problem.”

“I’m listening,” Rukin said.

“Return the chief’s daughter. The raids stop.”

The major turned his head slightly. “Who?”

“The girl. Nwella. The one you sent to my room.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true.”

“It’s a ruse.”

“Well, look, do you want to call Maury Povich for a paternity test or do you want to secure this station? That girl is all he wants. He’ll relent, stop the attacks, hell, he’ll even help us round up the other tribes. He’s set a time and place for the attack. He’ll serve them all up. But he wants his daughter and the other women first.”