The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery 2)

Janus just stood there, silently.

“Dorian has Ares’s memories. He’s captured Kate—that’s what Shaw’s mission was. I’m sure of it now. There were rumors at the Immari base in Ceuta. Dorian brought a case out of the structure in Antarctica. It created some kind of door. He’s taking Kate there. She’s in danger.”

“If what you say is true, Mr. Vale, we are all in danger. If they reach the portal, if she is delivered to Ares, every person on this planet, and many more, will likely perish.”

CHAPTER 90

St. Paul’s Catacombs

Rabat, Malta

David stepped to within arm’s length of Janus. The soft yellow light from the cube lit both their faces from below, giving the impression of two men sitting around a campfire, their faces lit from flashlights held just under their chins.

“Help me save her,” David said.

“No,” Janus replied, his tone now sharp and urgent. “You will help me save her.”

“What—”

“You have no idea what you are involved in, Mr. Vale. This is larger—”

“So tell me. Believe me, I’m ready for answers.”

“First, I require your pledge that you will follow my orders—that you will do what I say, when I say.”

David stared at him.

Janus continued, “I have observed that in high-stakes, high-stress situations, you prefer—or rather, demand—to be in charge. You have trouble taking orders—and taking risks, especially when lives are on the line, particularly Kate’s. This is a liability. It is not your fault. It is perhaps a result of your past—”

“I’ll pass on the psychoanalysis, thanks. Look, if you promise you’ll do everything you can to save her, I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”

“Believe me, I will do everything in my power. But I fear our chances are not good. Seconds will count, Mr. Vale. And we start now.”

Janus stood, held out his hand, and the glowing cube flew from it, diving into the stone wall. A cloud of dust radiated out from the center.

David stood and watched. The cube moved deeper into the tunnel, chewing through the stone like a laser.

David touched the wall. It was smooth—just like the hollowed-out path outside the structure in Gibraltar, the darkened tunnel he had walked out of. I really am way out of my league here, he thought.

“So that’s how you did that…”

“This little quantum cube has gotten me out of quite a few jams on my travels.”

David glanced back at the dust cloud floating out of the smooth tunnel. “Yeah, well, thank goodness for… quantum cubes…”

On the ground, Milo stirred slightly. David walked over to him and knelt. “Will he be all right?”

“Yes.”

David rolled Milo over. “How do you feel?”

Milo opened his eyes slowly. “Smushed.” He coughed, and David helped him sit up.

“Just take it easy, we’re getting out of here.”

“We?” Janus asked.

“Yes. We’re not leaving him here.” David stopped short and shook his head. This new command paradigm would take some getting used to. “Or rather, I respectfully submit, for your consideration, that we should bring him along. He is a member of the Immaru. He found the Ark before us. His knowledge could be useful, and he could help us.”

Janus walked closer and inspected the teenager. “Incredible. After all these years. How many of you are left?”

Milo looked up. “Just me.”

“A shame,” Janus said. “Yes, please join us…”

“Milo.”

“A pleasure, Milo. My name is Arthur Janus.”

Milo made the best bow he could manage from the sitting position.

At the opening to the room, the cube was cutting deeper into the new tunnel in the stone catacombs. The yellow light it emitted was fading as the cube moved farther away. David wondered how long it would take for the cube to reach the surface, and more importantly, if he could make it to Kate in time.

Kate had stopped struggling with Shaw and the guards at her side once the helicopter had lifted off. Where could she go now? She was trapped until they landed. Then what? Could she make a break for it?

They had strapped her in tight to the seat, and zip-tied her hands for good measure.

She stared at Dorian, who sat across from her. He seemed to have perfected the half-smile, half-smirk he always wore. It seemed to say: I know something you don’t, something bad is going to happen to you, and I’ll break into a full grin when it does.

She wanted to strike him. Shaw sat beside Dorian. He stared mildly out the helicopter’s window, like a kid amused by his first plane ride.

“You killed Martin.”

Shaw glanced up at her, as if he had just realized she was still there.

“You did,” he mumbled.

“You broke his neck—”

“He was dying the moment Orchid failed. You prolonged his agony, Kate.”

It was a lie. “Why, Adam?”

He tore his eyes away from the window for the first time. “I knew if he came to, he would recognize me, expose me. I’d assumed he would die without my help, but Chang’s therapy, it made him better. When you left to… join David, it was the first chance I had. I did what I had to—to complete my mission. Nothing personal.”

Dorian leaned forward. “Don’t listen to him, Kate. We both know this is personal. Has been for, what, seventy thousand years now?” He smiled. “That’s your big blind spot, isn’t it? People. You never can get a read on anyone. You’re clever as hell, but you never see the big betrayal coming. I just, God, I love that about you. It’s hilarious.”

Kate closed her eyes and willed herself not to react. She could feel the anger rising inside her. How could he always get under her skin? He manipulated her so easily. The monster seemed to know where every one of her buttons was. He pressed them with such ease, grinning the entire time, knowing exactly how she would react.

She tried to focus, tried to block him out. In the darkness, a voice called, “He betrayed us.”

Kate opened her eyes. She was in a steel room that held four standing tubes. A Neanderthal stood motionless in one. She was in Gibraltar, in the chamber her father had found in 1918. This was the last memory, the one she hadn’t quite been able to reach. Seeing Dorian, his words, had triggered it.

“Did you hear me?” the voice called again.

A video appeared inside Kate’s helmet. A head in a helmet just like hers: Janus. He was the other member of the Atlantean science team, her partner.