The Hunt for Atlantis (33 page)

Red light flooded the cave above her. Flares. She rushed back to the top of the steps to see over the wall.

A group of people—Qobras and his men, though fewer than before—were running towards her, firing wildly behind them at a larger force that was spreading out between the surrounding buildings. Muzzle flashes licked out from the new arrivals. One of the running men fell.

Other weapons fired, deeper thumps followed by explosions ahead of Qobras and his team. Their attackers were using grenade launchers! Debris flew in all directions. Nina ducked.

Qobras had been trying to reach the bomb. But he was now cut off from it, hemmed in by grenadiers who had his range.

The attackers had much greater firepower than the Brotherhood’s team. More weapons joined the fray, new notes added to the symphony of destruction. Dazzling bursts of light and piercing bangs came from flash grenades, blinding the defenders. Machine guns opened up, streams of bullets ripping into the ancient palaces and the men hiding behind them. More grenades exploded—followed by a thunderous crash as one of the buildings collapsed. Screams echoed through the cavern.

She heard Starkman’s voice over the din. “Cease fire! Cease fire!” Gradually the noise of guns died down.

They were surrendering!

Nina heard other men charging towards the temple. “Hey!” she cried, jumping down the steps two at a time. “Hey! I’m in here! Can you hear me? Get me out of here!”

More voices—then with a loud clank, a grapnel hooked over the top of the wall, shaking as somebody climbed up the cable.

A light shone over the top of the wall, a familiar face behind it. Balding, gap-toothed—and right now the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen in her life.

“Ay up, Doc,” said Chase, grinning down at her with unconcealed delight. “Did you miss me?”

Are you okay?” Chase asked as he lowered Nina from the golden wall.

“I’m fine. Thanks. And I’m glad you are too—I thought you were dead!”

“Takes more than a sinking ship to kill me.” His look of triumph quickly faded.

“What is it?” Nina asked, fearing the worst.

His jaw muscles clenched before he answered. “Hugo didn’t make it.”

“Oh …” She touched his hand. “Oh God, I’m sorry…”

“Yeah.” He was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “Kari’s okay, though. She’s on her way down.”

“Kari’s here?” Nina asked, excited.

“Yeah, I told her to keep back until the shooting stopped.”

She surveyed the scene, lit by flashlights and glow sticks. The eight survivors of Qobras’s team—including Qobras himself, Starkman and Philby—were kneeling with their hands behind their heads, surrounded by a dozen men in black combat gear and body armor. At least another ten men were patrolling the surrounding area. She didn’t recognize any of them. “Who are these guys with you?”

“Frost’s security; they work for Schenk at Ravnsfjord. Military backgrounds, most of ’em—not SAS level, but good enough. Everyone I could round up in a hurry. I didn’t know how much time we’d have, so I figured the sooner the better.”

“You’re not kidding.” She gestured at the bomb, a malevolent dull green cylinder the size and shape of a water heater. “They’d set that thing to blow up.”

“I know. We stopped the timer with about five minutes to go.”

“Five minutes?” Nina shuddered at the thought of how close to death she’d been. “I hope you’ve switched it off.”

“It’s just on pause. Don’t worry,” Chase added, seeing Nina’s worried look, “nobody’s going to muck around with it and accidentally set the bloody thing off.”

“How did you find me?”

Chase grinned. “I got your postcard, so to speak. Good job I remembered the name of that village. If I hadn’t, we’d have been screwed. Tibet’s a big place.”

“You found me just from that so quickly?” Nina had thought her clue to Matthews was a longshot, but anything more specific would probably have earned the captain—and maybe herself—an instant death sentence. “I never had a chance to tell anyone the information in the last inscription from Atlantis—how they traveled up the Ganges to the Himalayas, how to find the Golden Peak, any of that.”

“You didn’t need to. Kari’s old man used his pull with the Chinese government to get us into the country, and we came straight to Xulaodang in choppers. Turns out the people there remembered the last time some Westerners came looking for one of their local legends. Kari got them to give us the directions and we flew right here. Knew we’d found the right place when we saw Qobras’s helicopters. Which are now in about a million smoking bits, by the way.” Chase glanced over at the prisoners, frowning. “Pity that bastard wasn’t inside one of them. Would have been good payback for Hugo.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“No idea. Leave that up to Frost, I guess …”

“Nina!”

Nina looked around to see Kari practically sprinting towards her, dressed entirely in white with her blond hair streaming over the top of her fur collar. She skirted the captives and ran to Nina, embracing her. “Oh my God, you’re alive, you’re okay!”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine!” Nina replied. “And I’m glad you’re okay too! When Qobras sank the Evenor, I thought I’d never see you again.”

“You almost didn’t.” Kari gave her a final squeeze, then released her. “I wouldn’t have made it without Eddie.”

“Not ‘Mr. Chase’ anymore?” Nina asked, a little mischievously.

Kari smiled, almost coy. “I think the employer-employee relationship changes somewhat after about the sixth time he saves your life.”

“Yeah, you can thank me with a threesome later.” Chase grinned. Kari jokingly rolled her eyes.

“I see some things haven’t changed,” Nina observed wryly. “But Kari, can you believe this? Can you believe what we’ve found?”

“What you’ve found,” Kari corrected. She gave an order in Norwegian to one of the black-clad commandos; he fired a flare, illuminating the buildings in the unearthly red light. “A re-creation of the citadel of Atlantis, almost intact…”

Chase glanced over at the collapsed remains of one of the nearby structures. “Er, yeah. Sorry about that.”

Nina patted his arm. “Considering the circumstances, I forgive you.”

“And another replica of the Temple of Poseidon as well,” said Kari. “It’s incredible.”

“Not as incredible as what’s in there,” Nina told her, indicating the much smaller temple inside the wall of gold.

“Is that the Temple of Cleito?” asked Kari.

Nina nodded. “Only it’s being used as a mausoleum. And guess who’s in it? The last king and queen of Atlantis!”

Sheer delight momentarily overcame Kari’s ability to speak. “Are you sure?” she finally gasped. “The actual bodies?”

“Well, I didn’t look, but that’s what it said on the sarcophagi—”

“Show me,” said a new voice, deep and full of authority. Nina looked around and was taken aback to see Kristian Frost, dressed in white cold-weather gear, striding towards her. He glanced at Qobras and the other prisoners before marching past, flanked by a muscular man whom Nina belatedly recognized as Josef Schenk, and a tall, square-jawed young guy with a blond military-style buzz cut.

“Father,” said Kari, her attitude immediately changing to one of respectful deference. Nina raised an eyebrow. Apparently here, Kristian Frost was 100 percent in charge.

Frost pointed at the Temple of Cleito. “Is it in there?”

“Yes,” said Nina, “but there’s no way in, you’ll need to climb over—”

Frost snapped his fingers. The blond man put down his backpack, quickly unzipping it and taking out an electric circular saw. He walked to the wall, sliding his fingertips over it as if feeling for flaws, then donned a pair of safety goggles and started the saw. It made a piercing squeal as the blade sliced through the gold.

“Well, that’ll work too,” Nina said, shocked, “but what about preserving the site? We should be trying to keep the place as intact as possible.”

“For now, my main concern is getting what I came here for,” said Frost. “How long will it take to cut through?”

“Just a minute or two,” the blond man told him.

“Enough time to take care of other business, then.” Frost pulled off his gloves, slowly slapping them against his palm as he turned around. “Giovanni. We finally meet.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t shake your hand,” Qobras snarled.

Frost walked to him, the circle of guards around the kneeling prisoners opening up to let him through. “What are we going to do with you? This would have been so much simpler if you’d been shot during the battle, but now…”

“Do what you will. You can’t hope to defeat the Brotherhood. Whatever you do, they will be there to fight against you.”

Frost laughed. “No. They won’t. Not after I take what’s in that temple.” He looked at the mausoleum for a moment. “You know, I’m almost tempted to let you go. Just so that you can fully realize how completely you and your organization have failed. Everything you’ve fought for, killed for … All for nothing.”

Qobras’s lips curled into a sneer. “You think that killing me will end the Brotherhood?”

“You really have no idea what’s going to happen, do you?” said Frost, laughing again. “I suppose I was more worried about your agents than I needed to be.”

“Just do whatever you’re going to do to me,” Qobras growled.

“I’m not going to do anything,” Frost said. “I think Dr. Wilde should have that privilege.”

“What?” Nina asked, confused.

Frost walked to her, his voice falling to a velvety burr. “Dr. Wilde … Nina. This man murdered your parents. He has to pay for what he’s done. Justice must be served.”

“The only criminal here is you, Frost!” Qobras shouted. One of the guards kicked him hard in the chest, leaving him gasping.

“Well, yes, but …” Nina looked at Qobras. “Shouldn’t he be put on trial for everything he’s done?”

“By whom? This man is above the law. He’s murdered with impunity for decades all around the world.” Frost unzipped his jacket and reached inside it. “The only justice he deserves is the same kind that he believes he delivers.” He pulled out a pistol, and pressed it into Nina’s palm. “For all the crimes he has committed, for everything he’s done to hurt you … you know what you have to do.”

Nina stared at the gun in disbelief, then looked up at Frost. There was no sign on his face that he was anything other than deadly serious.

“Hang on a minute,” said Chase, concerned. “I want this bastard dead as much as you do, but a summary execution? That’s not justice, that’s murder. And you can’t ask Nina to become a murderer!”

“Please stay out of this, Mr. Chase,” Frost said, almost dismissively. “This is a decision that only Dr. Wilde can make.”

“Kari!” Chase looked at her for support. She seemed torn, glancing between Frost, Nina, Chase …

“It’s … my father knows best,” she said eventually, not sounding entirely sure of her words.

Frost put his hands on Nina’s arms as he dropped his voice almost to a whisper. “It’s up to you, Nina. You know what he’s done, you know that he has to pay.” One hand closed softly around the gun, squeezing her fingers on the grip. “He killed your parents, Nina. He murdered them, right here inside this mountain. You should take from him what he took from you. Do it.”

Nina’s eyes filled with tears. Lips clenched tight, jaw trembling, she looked past Frost at the kneeling figure of Qobras.

“Far …” Kari began, but a single look from Frost silenced her. He released Nina and moved back.

Nina took a step forward, every muscle and tendon taut. The gun felt cold and heavy in her hand. Qobras watched her, the expression on his face one not of fear or anger, but cold contempt.

The burning pain in her heart transmuted, taking on form. Hate.

“Nina!” Chase called behind her, but she barely heard him.

She raised the gun, pointing it first at Qobras’s chest, then, more decisively, at his face. Starkman tensed, but remained still, his one eye watching warily.

Qobras stared silently back up at her. The man who had tried to kill her and her friends. Who had killed her friends, Castille and the crew of the Nereid.

Who had killed her parents, her family, the people she loved …

Tears blurred her vision. She blinked them away, feeling them turn cold as they ran down her cheeks. Qobras swam back into sharp focus, still regarding her icily.

Her finger tightened on the trigger. The pistol’s hammer drew back slowly, only the tiniest amount of extra pressure needed to fire …

Then it stopped.

Eyes brimming with tears once more, Nina stepped back, lowering the weapon.

“I don’t know who you think I am,” she whispered, “but you’re wrong. My DNA doesn’t control who I am or what I do. I wanted you to know that.” She carefully eased her grip on the trigger, the hammer returning to its original position, then walked back to Frost. “I can’t kill him. I won’t.”

To her surprise, Frost’s tone was light. “Well of course you can’t!” he exclaimed, taking the pistol back. “I didn’t think you could. But just in case you surprised me … it’s not even loaded.”

“What do you …” Nina gaped. “You were testing me?”

“I’m sorry. But I wanted to be sure of the kind of person you really are.”

Kari hurried over to Nina, standing almost defensively between her and Frost. “You had no right to do that to her! How could you not trust my judgment?”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “As I said, I wanted to be sure.”

The screech of the saw ceased abruptly. A moment later came a heavy bang as the section cut out of the wall fell to the ground.

“Watch them,” Frost ordered his men of the prisoners, before crossing to the wall and peering through the new gap. He took a flashlight from the blond man, then clambered through the narrow hole and looked back at Kari and Nina. “Come on.”

Sharing a look, the two women slipped through after him. Chase followed without being asked, which Nina noticed earned him a somewhat irritated frown from Frost. Schenk then entered, the blond man moving in front of the hole as if guarding it.

Frost hurried up the steps into the temple. By the time Nina caught up, he was already examining the lid of the king’s sarcophagus, probing for gaps. “Help me with this,” he ordered. Schenk pushed past her, wielding a crowbar. Chase joined them to heave at the top of the sarcophagus.

The three men strained, Schenk pulling down on the crowbar with all his weight. The lid shifted slightly.

“Come on, you bugger!” Chase groaned. “One, two, three!”

They all strained again—and this time the lid lifted enough for them to slide it aside. Another push and the interior of the coffin was exposed; a third, and the stone slab crashed to the floor of the temple and broke in two. Nina winced at the destruction.

Frost picked up his flashlight and leaned eagerly over the side of the sarcophagus. “My God, look at it!”

Nina and Kari joined him. Nina felt an involuntary flash of fear at the sight, a literal face of death staring up at her like a refugee from a nightmare. The body inside the sarcophagus, sealed in the stone container for thousands of years, was blackened and shriveled, the remains of the long-rotted lips twisted back into a malevolent sneer around jutting teeth.

“Hello, mummy,” Chase whispered, grinning. Nina jabbed him with her elbow.

Frost examined the corpse more closely. “The last king of the Atlanteans … still intact.” He took a small pouch from his coat and removed a needlelike probe from it, poking carefully at the wizened skin. “Open the other one, quickly,” he told Schenk and Chase.

“What’s the rush?” asked Chase. “It’s not like they’re going anywhere.”

“Just do it,” Frost snapped. He switched the probe to his other hand, taking a scalpel from the pouch and bending down over the dead king’s face like a surgeon about to operate.

“What are you doing?” Nina asked, concerned. “This isn’t anything like standard practice.”

“I need to get a DNA sample,” said Frost, as if that explained everything. The faint scrape of the scalpel cutting through the mummified flesh was drowned out by the crunch of stone against stone as Chase and Schenk lifted the lid of the other sarcophagus.