“We need to find the factory,” he said. “I’m thinking we follow the power lines.”

They moved along a tunnel, tracking the conduits. It led them to a larger hallway, wide enough to drive a car through. A pair of men dressed like them walked toward them, coming from the opposite direction. Kurt forced himself to remain relaxed as they approached. Nevertheless, he was ready for a fight. But they passed without a word, and he breathed a little easier.

At the end of the tunnel they came to an open section of the cave. Concrete flooring had been put in, and a dozen tables surrounded by chairs filled the space. It was lit up brightly. A far wall had refrigerators and sinks stacked against it.

“Congratulations,” Kurt said. “We’ve found the mess hall.”

“And I’m finally not hungry,” Joe said.

Groups of men sat at three of the tables. Strangely, they looked nothing like Jinn’s men.

“All kinds of people here,” Kurt whispered. “We better keep going.”

They moved on, following the pipes and conduits until they reached a glass wall. It looked down into a cavernous space. The lighting was low, but from what they could see it looked like an Olympic-sized pool sat down below. A large shape took up the middle.

“What is this, a health spa?” Joe whispered.

“It won’t be if we get discovered.”

“That’s a big tank,” Joe said. “Reminds me of our simulation tank back in D.C.”

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Kurt said, quoting Alice from the Lewis Carroll classic. “These guys must be modeling something. Currents or waves or something.”

“What’s with the setup in the middle?”

“No idea,” Kurt said. “But let’s get a closer look.”

They found a door and slipped through it. Stairs led down to a locker room of sorts. White hazmat-style uniforms hung in stalls.

“Time for a wardrobe change,” Kurt said.

“You think these are necessary?”

“For camouflage,” Kurt said. “And if there are any of those microbots down here, it might be good to have a protective layer on.”

In a minute, Kurt and Joe had each donned hazmat suits, pulling them on over the uniforms they’d stolen from the guards.

They moved out onto the pool deck and stood at the surface level. Kurt noticed the object in the center was not a model ship or even the depiction of some coastline but a wide curving object wedged between the two sides. The water level was high on one side of it but far lower on the other side and constricted to a narrow, irregular channel.

He and Joe descended one more flight of stairs and opened a door. They now stood below the water level, looking into the tank and the cross section of the obstruction through the tank’s clear acrylic side.

“I’ve seen this before,” Kurt said. “It’s an embankment dam. The top layer is crushed rock and sand. The gray core in the center is most likely waterproof clay. The bottom liner is known as a cutoff curtain. It’s usually made of concrete, designed to keep the water from seeping under the dam.”

He pointed to the high water behind the dam. “They’re even filling the high side like it’s a reservoir.”

/> “Why would these guys be modeling a dam?” Joe asked.

“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we’re not going to like the answer.”

The sound of a generator starting up caught their attention. A moment later the main overhead lights came on and the room brightened. Through the water Kurt saw the distorted shapes of other men in white hazmat suits on the far side of the pool.

“We better look busy,” Kurt said.

Joe grinned. “I’m pretty sure there’s an exit sign I need to inspect.”

“That sounds like a job for two.”

They climbed back up the stairs and slipped out of the observation dugout. Back on the pool deck, they waved to the men across from them in identical suits, received a wave in return and then entered the locker room once again.

Tags: Clive Cussler NUMA Files Thriller
Source: readsnovelonline.net