The Atlantis World (The Origin Mystery, Book 3) (11 page)

David, Sonja, and Milo were huddled at the end of the raised table, sorting their MREs, weapons, and supplies. Paul spoke to David first. “Thank you again for saving us out there.”

“No problem.”

“We’d like to share something, the reason we came here,” Paul said, then nodded to Mary.

Mary introduced herself and her background: a radio astronomer focused on finding and analyzing signs of extraterrestrial life.

“About two weeks ago, the radio telescope picked up an organized signal. A code.”

“That’s impossible,” Kate said.

“I verified it myself.”

“You have a copy of the signal?”

“Yes.” Mary held up a USB key. “It has two parts. The first part, a binary sequence, is two numbers: Earth’s exact location. The second part is a code made from four values.”

Kate tried to access Alpha’s link to the beacon, hoping to verify the signal.

David seemed to know what she was doing. He gave her a look that said,
Pay attention to our guests
.

Paul spoke before she had a chance. “Why did you say it was impossible?”

“Two Atlantean scientists came here one hundred fifty thousand years ago to study the early humans on this planet. As part of their routine procedures, they deployed a beacon. It filters the light we can see and blocks any signals either to or from Earth.”

Kate thought Mary was on the verge of crying. “What’s wrong?” Kate asked.

“Nothing… that’s just my soul collapsing like a neutron star,” Mary said.

Kate thought the comparison was a little dramatic.

“Why did they deploy a beacon? Why hide?” Paul asked.

“Protection. The scientists were aware of several threats in the galaxy—”

“What kind—” David began, but Kate cut him off. “I don’t know. Not part of my memories.”

Before anyone could ask, Kate explained that through a twist of fate, she had been born in 1978 with one of the Atlantean scientist’s memories—the ones the other scientist, Dr. Arthur Janus, had wanted his partner to resurrect with.

“So…” Mary said. “The scientists or you—”

“The scientists,” Kate corrected. “I’ve only seen memories of what they did.”

“Right. Were they protecting us or themselves with the beacon?”

“Both.”

“So how did this signal get through?”

Kate used her link to Alpha to connect to the beacon. The orbiting communications station had recorded an incoming signal and allowed it to pass. And there was something even more surprising. “It’s true, there was a transmission two weeks ago. One outgoing. A message sent from the beacon.”

“Who?” David asked.

“It had to be Janus,” Kate said. “When you and he entered the Atlantean ship to rescue me. When Dorian rescued Ares.”

“Can you see his transmission?” David asked.

“No. I should be able to, but access to the message is restricted from here. I don’t know why. The damage to the ship may have disrupted the interface.”

“What’s the other signal?” Mary asked.

Kate tried to access the entry on the beacon, but it too had restricted access. But… “It’s Atlantean.”

“How is that possible?” David asked.

“It’s not.” Kate explained that the Atlantean homeworld had fallen fifty thousand years ago, and the sole survivors of the war had sought refuge here on Earth, under the protection of the beacon, where their enemy couldn’t find them. General Ares, an Atlantean soldier, had brought the refugees here. Ares had joined the two scientists, colluding with Janus’ partner in secret to control human evolution. Ares had ultimately betrayed the scientists, killing Janus’ partner and injuring and trapping Janus.

“So Janus sent a transmission to someone—presumably an Atlantean,” David said, “and it sounds like he got a response—that’s how it got past the beacon.”

“Yes,” Kate said.

“Any ideas who it’s from or what it is?” David asked.

“No.” Kate said, lost in thought.

“It could be an ally,” Sonja said. “Help.”

“The world could use it.” Paul proceeded to share his experience with the group, how the American government had tried to use Continuity to eliminate people it felt were too weak to fight or fend for themselves. “I assume other nations are looking at the same scenario. The global flood would presumably increase the urgency.”

“Makes you wonder who to even pull for in this war,” David said.

“Indeed.”

“What’s our status here?” David asked Kate.

“Dire. The ship is more or less offline. The main computer core is gone. We’ve got emergency power and communications; that’s how I could access the beacon. We’ve got hull breaches all along the perimeter. The shaft leading out of the mountain is completely flooded.

“Assuming any of the mountain is still above sea level, we’d have to swim for it.” Kate read David’s expression. “No, there are no oxygen tanks down here. There are plenty of EVA suits, but they’re in these sections.” She brought up a map on the screen. “They were destroyed in the blasts.”

“We’re trapped,” David said.

“Almost. There’s a portal room at the other end of the ship.”

“Similar to the one in the other section—that connected to the ship in Antarctica?”

“Yes. The portal can conceivably take us to two locations. Antarctica or the beacon. But access to Antarctica is closed from that end.”

“Going there would be too dangerous anyway,” David said.

“I agree. Ares would know the second we stepped through the portal. But we can go to the beacon. If we make it there, we can see the messages and send a response.”

“I like it,” David said. “A lot better than drowning.”

“Me too. But, there may be a… slight problem with getting to the portal.”

C
HAPTER
15

Immari Operations Base
Prism
Antarctica

Through the habitat’s large picture window, Dorian watched the Immari crews disassembling the white caterpillar shaped buildings, along with the rest of Fortress Antarctica. Ares’ order to break down the camp was nearly as surprising as what he wanted them to do with it: drop it into the ocean.

For hours, the crews had been tearing apart the rail guns, buildings, and everything in between, loading the parts into the fleet of planes on the ice runway for disposal at sea.

Why?
Dorian wondered. It made no sense—to build all this then toss it in the sea.

Ares had ordered Dorian to evacuate the remaining staff to the mountains of South Africa, where the new Immari headquarters would be established.

Behind him, a small group of middle managers, morons, and scientists argued over the details. Dorian had bowed out of the conversation early, unable to justify wasting his time. Their planning was pointless. They were simply doing Ares’ bidding. He had planned this sequence of events thousands of years ago, and he didn’t care to share any particulars of it, didn’t think Dorian was worthy.

“If the Isthmus of Panama is underwater, the Atlantic and Pacific have been joined again. All our models are wrong. Global sea currents are…”

Their models
, Dorian thought, smiling.

“The axis is a bigger issue. We know the weight of the ice at the South Pole tilts the earth. If we’ve lost enough, the axis will shift. The equator moves—”

“Which would melt more ice.”

“Yes. We could be looking at a complete melt off. That could be the reason for the full evacuation.”

“Should we call up more personnel?”

“He didn’t say to—”

“It’s implied in our mandate. Full evacuation at best speed possible.”

A technician approached Dorian. “General Ares has asked for you to join him in the ship.”

Dorian desperately wanted to tell “Lord Ares” where to shove his summons, but he simply trudged out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later, he was two miles below the surface, inside the expansive Atlantean ship, standing in a room he had never seen before. Ares stood at a terminal that scrolled text in a language Dorian couldn’t read.

“I know you’re not happy with me, Dorian.”

“I salute your penchant for understatement.”

“I saved lives today.”

“Really? I’m sure my primitive earthman math can’t hold a candle to your advanced Atlantean calculus, but I count millions of bodies floating in a toxic soup all over the planet as
lives lost
. But hey, that’s just me, your humble pet caveman here.”

Dorian sensed that Ares wanted to reprimand him, strike back at him as he had in the corridor, but the Atlantean restrained himself.
He needs me for something
, Dorian thought.

“I didn’t tell you the plan because you would have tried to stop me.”

“No. I would have killed you.”

“You would have tried. So in not telling you, I’ve saved your life—once again.”

“Again?”

“I’m counting my genetic interventions that led to your species in the first place. Now for the matter at hand. We control the world, Dorian. We have won. Now we will build an army and win the future. There is an enemy out there. It’s only a matter of time before they find this world. You will not survive—unless we work together. We can save the survivors of this flood. We can lead our people off this world to meet our enemy, surprising them, winning our right to exist in the universe.” He turned, pacing away, letting the words sink in.

When Ares spoke again, his tone was gentler. “If I hadn’t done what I did today, every person on this world would have perished. We’ve sacrificed lives today, but in war, you must sacrifice lives to win—and you must win to preserve your civilization and your way of life. Losers don’t write history. They’re burned, buried, and forgotten.”

“You started the war out there.”

“The war out there started thousands of years ago; you just can’t see the battle lines. They reach the length of this galaxy, crossing every human world.”

“What do you want from me?”

“You have a role to play, Dorian. You’ve always known that. When we’ve defeated our enemy, you can return here and do whatever you want with this world.”

“Wow. Let me just thank you for slaughtering millions of my fellow humans and giving me our screwed up world. You’ve been so helpful.”

Ares exhaled. “You still don’t grasp the magnitude of what you’re involved in, Dorian. But you will soon. Very soon.”

“As much as I appreciate this post-apocalyptic pep-talk, I’m getting this sneaking suspicion that I’m here because you need me to do something. And that’s the
only
reason I’m here.”

“I’ve never lied to you, Dorian. I’ve kept things from you—for your own good. You’re here because we have a problem.”

“We or you?”

“My problems are your problems. Like it or not, we’re in this together now.”

Across the room, a panel flickered to life, and an image of what Dorian thought was a dark gray space station appeared.

“What is that?”

“The beacon.”

“Beacon?”

“It’s a specialized communications array. Research teams and our military deploy them. They shroud worlds, blocking all incoming or outgoing communications and light, essentially hiding what’s occurring on that world. This beacon has been orbiting Earth for the last one hundred fifty thousand years. It’s the only reason any of us are still alive.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that our enemy is trying to disable it. And if they succeed, if that beacon is destroyed or turned off, they will be here in days, and they will slaughter every last one of us.”

Dorian stared at the floating gray station. “I’m listening.”

Ares walked closer to Dorian. “Let’s try this your way. What would you like to know?”

“Why now?”

“A message was sent fourteen days ago.”

“Janus.”

“He used his access codes to send a message when he was on the scientists’ deep space vessel just before he destroyed it.”

“A message to our enemy?”

“I doubt it. I can’t see his message, but I assume it was intercepted by our enemy. They likely know the general vicinity it came from but not the exact world. They sent their reply to every suspected world, customizing the address to make the recipient think it was tailored for them. They’re just waiting for a response or for one of the beacons to go out. You have a term for this?”

“Yeah. Shaking the bushes.”

“They’re shaking the bushes,” Ares said.

“What’s the problem? As long as we don’t respond or disable—”

“The problem is that someone just tried to access the beacon from the
Alpha Lander
—the scientist’s ship off the coast of Morocco. What’s left of it.”

“Kate and David.”

“I assume so. If I’m right, they’re on their way to the beacon right now. There’s a portal with access within the section of the ship they’re confined to.”

“Confined?”

“They should be completely submerged by now.”

“If they reach the beacon…”

“They could either send a reply message—directed at the origin—or simply disable the beacon. If they do that, our enemy will be upon us in days. You must stop them from reaching the beacon.”

“They have a head start.”

“Yes. If you can’t intercept them in the
Alpha Lander
, follow them to the beacon. The portal in the
Alpha Lander
is keyed for your Atlantis Gene print.”