The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery, #2)(110)

David coughed. “An Atlantean.”

“What you call an Atlantean, yes.”

David studied Janus’s face. Yes, he knew it. He had seen Janus before. In Antarctica, days ago, when David had been in the tube, he had seen that face starting at him at the end of the chamber. Then the face had disappeared. “It was you—in Antarctica.”

“Yes, though not in person. What you saw in Antarctica was my avatar, a remotely controlled representation of me.”

David sat up. “You saved me. Why?”

“I’m afraid I need to be going, Mr. Vale.”

“Wait.” David stood and glanced at the rifle, considering whether to pick it up. No. Janus had incapacitated the soldiers with the cube. He could do the same to David. And Janus had saved his life—twice now. “The cure you sent to Continuity. It’s a fake, isn’t it?”

“It is quite real—”

“Does it cure us?”

“It cures what ails humanity.”

David didn’t like the sound of that, or Janus’s demeanor, which said: this conversation is over.

Janus focused on the cube in the palm of his hand. He stuck his other hand into the light that radiated outward from the cube and began wiggling his fingers. It was as if he was programming it.

David considered his situation. Someone had planted bombs and set them off down here; it wasn’t a bomb from above. During World War II, the Germans and Italians had dropped countless bombs on these catacombs and had not brought them down. Shaw. He closed the catacombs. And he would have Kate. Had he already delivered her to Dorian?

“Shaw has Kate,” David said.

“Yes, I imagine so.” Janus said, not looking up.

“She has your partner’s memories.”

“What?” Shock spread across Janus’s face—the first emotion David had seen him display.

“The memories started coming several days ago, first in her dreams, then when she was awake, as if she couldn’t stop them.”

“Impossible.”

“She said there was a third person that joined your expedition—a soldier. She colluded with him to change the genome. She said his name was Ares.”

Janus just stood there, silently.

“Dorian has Ares’s memories. He’s captured Kate—that’s what Shaw’s mission was. I’m sure of it now. There were rumors at the Immari base in Ceuta. Dorian brought a case out of the structure in Antarctica. It created some kind of door. He’s taking Kate there. She’s in danger.”

“If what you say is true, Mr. Vale, we are all in danger. If they reach the portal, if she is delivered to Ares, every person on this planet, and many more, will likely perish.”





CHAPTER 90


St. Paul’s Catacombs

Rabat, Malta


David stepped to within arm’s length of Janus. The soft yellow light from the cube lit both their faces from below, giving the impression of two men sitting around a campfire, their faces lit from flashlights held just under their chins.

“Help me save her,” David said.

“No,” Janus replied, his tone now sharp and urgent. “You will help me save her.”

“What—”

“You have no idea what you are involved in, Mr. Vale. This is larger—”

“So tell me. Believe me, I’m ready for answers.”

“First, I require your pledge that you will follow my orders—that you will do what I say, when I say.”

David stared at him.

Janus continued, “I have observed that in high-stakes, high-stress situations, you prefer—or rather, demand—to be in charge. You have trouble taking orders—and taking risks, especially when lives are on the line, particularly Kate’s. This is a liability. It is not your fault. It is perhaps a result of your past—”

“I’ll pass on the psychoanalysis, thanks. Look, if you promise you’ll do everything you can to save her, I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”

“Believe me, I will do everything in my power. But I fear our chances are not good. Seconds will count, Mr. Vale. And we start now.”

Janus stood, held out his hand, and the glowing cube flew from it, diving into the stone wall. A cloud of dust radiated out from the center.

David stood and watched. The cube moved deeper into the tunnel, chewing through the stone like a laser.

David touched the wall. It was smooth—just like the hollowed-out path outside the structure in Gibraltar, the darkened tunnel he had walked out of. I really am way out of my league here, he thought.

“So that’s how you did that…”

“This little quantum cube has gotten me out of quite a few jams on my travels.”

David glanced back at the dust cloud floating out of the smooth tunnel. “Yeah, well, thank goodness for… quantum cubes…”

On the ground, Milo stirred slightly. David walked over to him and knelt. “Will he be all right?”

“Yes.”

David rolled Milo over. “How do you feel?”

Milo opened his eyes slowly. “Smushed.” He coughed, and David helped him sit up.

“Just take it easy, we’re getting out of here.”

“We?” Janus asked.