The 6th Extinction (Sigma Force 10)

He clicked an icon to bring an image of the vehicle on the screen.

“An impressive beast,” Gray admitted.

“It was built to carry enough equipment and supplies to last an exploration team a full year, to operate with total independence, making it basically a mobile base.”

“What was its purpose?”

“Ah, now that’s when it gets interesting. While there was much publicity about the construction and transportation of this beast, once that cruiser reached Antarctica, everything went silent. Not only were Byrd’s orders for this expedition secret, but the very existence of those orders had been classified. Only years afterward did Byrd admit that the snow cruiser had explored nine hundred miles of unknown coastline, what he called the Phantom Coast. And that fifty-nine men had been left behind to carry on that exploration.”

“What were they looking for?” Kat asked.

Jason shrugged. “There are a lot of theories, some mundane, others pretty far out there. But Professor Harrington had copious notes and collated historical documents from that time. He believes the Germans discovered something incredible, something buried under the ice.”

“What?” Gray scoffed. “Like a UFO?”

“No, but you’re not as far off as you might think. Some old accounts support that the Germans had found a vast underground cavern system of warm lakes, vast crevasses, and tunnels.”

Gray must have let his skepticism show.

Jason glanced at Kat, who nodded as if allowing him to speak freely. “There’s some precedent for it,” he said, stammering a bit as if he had some personal knowledge of such matters.

Gray wanted to know more, but Kat waved Jason to continue.

He cleared his throat. “Actually recent geological surveys make the German claims seem less wild. Studies done over the past few years have revealed surprising anomalies deep under the ice. From ancient lakes and flowing rivers—both of which might be full of life—to trenches that dwarf the Grand Canyon. Even buried volcanoes have been discovered, some with lava flows melting a slow path miles beneath the ice.”

Gray tried to picture such a strange landscape.

“Either way,” Jason continued, “the belief in the existence of a Nazi base grew to national attention. Here’s an article published in the New York Times in 1945.”

Gray leaned over his shoulder and read the headline. “Antarctic Haven Reported.”

Kat made a small sigh of impatience. “Yes, but what does this have to do with Dr. Hess or the British Antarctic Survey?”

“Everything. Professor Harrington put great stock in these prior expeditions. You see the Brits were actually some of the most active explorers in Antarctica. They were the first to establish a base there, they named most of the major landmarks, and in the ten years after the war, they led a dozen expeditions across the continent, most of them conducted by an organization called the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey.” Jason looked up at them. “The group changed their name in 1962 to the British Antarctic Survey.”

“So it’s been the same group operating down there for decades,” Kat said, her expression turning thoughtful, weighing this information. “But why did they conduct so many expeditions, especially after World War II?”

“You have to understand that at the end of the war, most of the major players in Nazi Germany ended up in British hands. Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, and most important of all, the head of the German navy, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. The Brits had unfettered access to interrogate these leaders and their confederates, well before we or the Soviets did.”

Gray understood the significance in regard to their discussion. “And as navy commander, Dönitz would certainly have intimate knowledge of the U-boat activity around that southernmost continent.”

“He did, including knowing the location of the Neuschwabenland base and what the Germans discovered on that continent. Apparently it was something incredible. Here’s a quote from Admiral Dönitz during the Nuremberg Trials, where he boasted about Nazi discoveries in Antarctica. He says they found an invulnerable fortress, a paradise-like oasis in the middle of eternal ice.”

Jason let that fact sink in before continuing. “And what’s even more unusual is that this admiral, one so high up the Nazi chain of command, ended up serving only ten years in Spandau Prison in Berlin. So while others were put to death, the Nazi fleet commander escaped with barely a slap on the hand. Why is that, do you suppose?”

“Let me guess,” Gray said. “He made some sort of deal. A lighter prison sentence in exchange for information.”

Jason nodded. “That’s what Professor Harrington claims in his exchanges with Dr. Hess.”

“And this British group has been searching for this lost cavern system for decades?” Kat said. “Why is it so important?”

Jason took in a sharp breath. “That’s all there is about it in the history files, but Professor Harrington’s private notes hint at some secret papers—maybe a map—something once in the possession of Darwin.”

Gray couldn’t hold back his shock. “As in Charles Darwin.”

“That’s right.”

Gray pointed to the file name at the top of the computer screen.

D.A.R.W.I.N.

“Is that why the folder we copied from DARPA’s servers is titled like that?” he asked.

“Maybe, but it’s also apparently the acronym for the main philosophy shared by Harrington and Hess. They discuss it in several of their e-mails. It stands for Develop and Revolutionize Without Injuring Nature. The two researchers were united in an effort to seek a way to halt the current great extinction that’s sweeping the globe.”

The sixth extinction.

Gray remembered Dr. Raffee’s description of Hess’s mission: to try to engineer a way out of this mass extinction.

“But what does this past history have to do with Hess’s current synthetic biology project?” Kat asked.

“I don’t know, but I believe it all came to a head in 1999.”

“Why then?”

“Both scientists kept referencing a discovery made in October of that year, describing it as a breakthrough in both their pursuits. Harrington described it more ostentatiously, as the key to opening Hell’s gate.”

Gray didn’t like the sound of that.

“They were both very cagey when writing about it. But they did reveal what that key was.” Jason faced them. “It’s why I called you in here. I thought it might be important in regard to what’s happening in California.”