The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery 2)

“Help me get him onto the table,” Chang said.

The European stepped closer to examine Martin.

Martin slowly turned his head to look at Kate. There was no expression, and he said nothing.

Chang stepped between the other scientist and Kate and Martin. “If you could… give us a moment. I need to talk with them.”

When he had left, Chang turned to Kate. “You’re Kate Warner, aren’t you?”

Kate hesitated. The fact that he suspected it and hadn’t turned her in… she thought she could trust him. “Yes.” She nodded to Martin. “Can you help him?”

“I doubt it.” Chang opened a steel cabinet and took out a syringe. “But I can try.”

“What is that?”

“Something we’ve been working on. The Immari version of Orchid. It’s still experimental, and it doesn’t work for everyone.” He focused on Kate. “It could kill him. Or it could give him a few more days. Do you want me to administer it?”

Kate glanced down at Martin, at his dying body. She nodded.

Chang stepped forward and injected him. He glanced at the door.

“What’s wrong?” Kate asked.

“Nothing…” Chang murmured as he focused on Martin.

CHAPTER 51

Immari Operations Base at Ceuta

Northern Morocco

David stared at the eleven men who stood around the armory room. “Gentlemen, I’m not here to give you a speech. Our cause is lost. But it is just. This base is the gate to Hell and the world the Immari seek to build. If we destroy it, we can give the people of Europe a fighting chance. However… we are outnumbered, outgunned, and sitting in the heart of enemy territory. We have three things: the element of surprise, the will to fight, and a righteous cause. If we see morning, we will win. Tonight will determine our fate and that of millions of others. Fight hard and don’t fear death. There are far worse things in life—one being living a life you aren’t proud of.”

He nodded to Kamau, who stepped forward and began issuing orders to each man.

Shortly after the tall African finished, the radio in the corner crackled and pierced the silence. “Fire purges everything.”

“It’s time,” David said.

David and Kamau ascended the catwalk with three of their men. The operations center for the base sat at the top of the tower, at the center of the citadel, far away from the walls, safe from any attackers but high enough to see exactly what was going on with a naked eye—or better yet, binoculars. It was smart. The base commanders didn’t want to rely on cameras, surveillance, and field reports—they could all fail or be compromised. They wanted to see the fight with their own eyes.

David paused at the landing and clicked the flashlight into the night, sending the signal to the regiments of Berber soldiers waiting beyond the far wall.

When the last flash faded from the light, he resumed his climb to the top, his men following closely behind him. The room at the top of the tower was as he remembered it: a mix of an air traffic control center and the bridge of a battleship. Four operations officers sat at control stations, staring at banks of flat-screen monitors, occasionally typing. A pot of coffee brewed in the corner.

The closest tech saw David, spun around, stood, and saluted nervously as if not quite sure how to handle the unexpected visit. One by one the other three followed suit.

“As you were, gentlemen,” David said. “It’s been a long day, and as you may have heard, Major Rukin won a great victory in the hills. He’s downstairs celebrating, getting what he deserves.” David smiled, a truly genuine smile. “Take a break. Join him in the mess. There’s food, drink… and the spoils of war. New arrivals.” David motioned to his men. “We’ll take this shift.”

The techs mumbled their thanks and hopped up from their stations. A colonel’s orders were the best opening they would get to skip out on a shift.

When the men had left, David’s soldiers took their places at the consoles. David looked at the screens suspiciously. “You sure you all know how to work these things?”

“Yes, sir. I worked the day shift for a few months when I was first transferred.”

Kamau circled the room, handing each of the soldiers a cup of coffee. He joined David and the two of them stood for a moment, staring into the night. David thought it spoke well of him that he said nothing. After a few minutes, Kamau simply held up his watch: twenty-two hundred hours. David activated his radio. “All stations report.” One by one, the men checked in, their voices crackling in David’s earpiece. He waited for the last piece of the puzzle to click. The men had taken names from the Trojan War; they had all decided that David’s call sign would be Achilles.

“Achilles, Ajax. The Trojans are in the banquet hall. We’ve begun the feast.”

Begun the feast was code for locked them in and deployed the gas.

“Copy, Ajax,” David said. He walked out of the command tower and down to the first landing. Again he held the flashlight up and clicked it. By the time he returned to the command center, the explosions along the perimeter had begun. Fire and plumes of smoke rose above the outer wall. The three men at the command station worked the radios and computers.

The screens revealed the scene. Waves of horseback riders besieged the wall. The automatic guns at the towers mowed rows of the riders down, but still they came, charging relentlessly.

A tech turned to David. “Tower Two wants authorization to use the rail gun.”

Kamau glanced over at David.

The rail guns would decimate the Berber forces. Authorizing their use, however, would be very convincing to the troops, would prove the base was at risk.

David pointed to the sniper rifle at Kamau’s side. “Take them after the first shot.”

David walked to the command chair and activated the microphone. “Tower Two, this is Colonel Wells. The major has turned over command to me. Go weapons hot on rail gun delta and fire at will.” He deactivated the radio and waited. The rail gun sent a streak of fire into the night and a geyser of earth and blood exploded into the air, leaving a black cloud where horses and soldiers had been a second before. Everything seemed silent for a moment after that. David hoped the Berbers would keep coming. He needed them to.

On the landing below, David heard three shots ring out in rapid succession. The rail gun fell silent.

David clicked the microphone on the control panel again. “Battalions one, two, and three, move into zone one. I repeat, Battalions one, two, and three, this is Ceuta Command, outer wall is at risk, move into zone one and take up position.”