The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery, #2)(13)

Antarctica


Dorian held his arms up, letting the case crash into the hard snow below. What did he expect his Immari comrades to do? He had just walked out wearing an Atlantean suit, holding a mysterious case. He would have already thrown the switch on the nukes.

The visor in the helmet was mirrored—they couldn’t see Dorian’s face inside. He needed some way to communicate with them, some method of sending a message. He scanned the ice room for something he could use. He couldn’t scratch a message in the ice—it was frozen solid. With his hand, he began motioning in the air, writing the letters: D - O - R - I - A - N. A second set of lights on the nukes came on. He traced the letters again. It wasn’t working. He cast a glance around the room, desperately trying to find anything that could— A body, almost buried in ice, lay against the wall. Dorian rushed to it and punched the ice around it, trying to dig it out. Maybe he could activate the suit’s radio. He wiped the ice from the helmet and instantly reeled back in shock. His father. Rivers of frozen blood framed the face. The cold had preserved him perfectly. They had killed him—left him here to the Bell. Why? Who? Dorian sat there, staring at his father’s dead body. He didn’t care about the bombs anymore.

At the end of the corridor, the sound of steel slamming into ice echoed through the chamber. Dorian turned. Beside the bombs, an iron cage sat waiting for him. The lights on the bombs stayed active, but they didn’t advance.

Dorian freed the rest of his father’s body from the ice, hoisted him up in his arms, and walked to the basket. He set his father down gently and stood over him. The basket began rising to the surface.





CHAPTER 12


Old Town District

Marbella, Spain


Kate could see it now: the eight animals weren’t wolves, they were dogs—mangy, emaciated, desperate…

Kate released her trembling hand from Adi’s and reached for the gun in her pocket. As she drew it out, first the larger dog, then its feral companion, bared his teeth and growled. Both dogs’ fur rose as they crouched to spring.

Martin’s hand went to Kate’s, and he slowly forced her to return the gun to her pocket, out of sight. He stared forward, but he didn’t make eye contact with either dog.

Slowly, the air seemed to flow out of the dogs. Their fur collapsed back into matted mounds on their backs, their white foaming teeth disappeared, and they began blinking again. Then they turned and traipsed back to the pack, and they swept out of the street without a sound.

Martin shook his head. “They’re forming packs, but they’re just out here looking for food.” He glanced around, trying to decide which way to go. “And there’s food here they can eat that we won’t.”

The sound of the helicopters was almost upon them now, and Kate saw a single spotlight carving into the sky above. What were they looking for?

Martin took Surya by the hand, and Kate and Adi chased after them. “There’s a church a few blocks from here. It’s close to our rendezvous point,” he said. “If we can last til morning, we can meet the SAS team at the extraction point.”

Kate pumped her legs faster, keeping pace with Martin. With every step, the last vestiges of daylight faded. Above, three lights now carved into the night.

Kate stopped in the street. The helicopters were dropping something. She and Martin practically dove into the nearest alley as the bombs descended. A large one exploded forty feet above them, raining down… sheets of paper all around them. Kate grabbed one. A flyer. The helicopters were dropping pamphlets. The page was in Spanish, but she turned it over and found an English translation.

To the People and Prisoners of Andalusia:

We have heard your call.

Freedom is at hand.

Immari International has come for you, to give you back the basic human right to liberty the Orchid Bloc has denied you.

Stand with us and reclaim your right to live and die as you choose.

Your dictators have revoked your right to select your own government.

Place bedsheets upon your roofs and show the world your choice.

We come in peace, but we will not turn away from war.

Kate scanned the horizon. White sheets drifted down from the helicopters, blanketing the city. The Immari were apparently rigging the “vote.” What would they do? Take satellite photos and show the world, justifying their invasion?

Kate realized Martin was already back in the street, pushing as hard as he could toward the church. Kate stuffed the page in her pocket and rushed after him.

Behind her, the thump-thump-thump of another group of helicopters filled the air. They were dropping something different this time. Parachutes attached to… soldiers? Paratroopers?

Martin glanced back at the helicopters, and for a brief flash, Kate saw the fear in his eyes.

Their heart-pounding escape from the coast and their pace since then had no doubt sent his blood pressure through the roof—not exactly ideal for anyone with a head wound. Kate could see the blood seeping from the gash at the back of his head. She would need to close the wound, and soon.

But they charged on. Block after block of the Old Town district passed, almost in a blur.

Up ahead, a parachute drifted down, silently swaying back and forth.

Martin and Kate stopped, bringing the boys to a halt beside them. They had nowhere to go, but… the passenger at the end of the parachute’s strings wasn’t a person. It was a metal barrel.