The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery, #2)(94)

The elderly alpha nodded. Two males rushed from the hovel and returned with two large green leaves filled with a thick burgundy liquid. Kate thought it was crushed berries at first, but then she realized what the leaves held: blood.

The males began painting the gray stone walls with it, copying the symbols she projected.





Kate opened her eyes. She was back in the helicopter with David. The door was open and the sea glistened below. The breeze filled her lungs and she realized how much they hurt. She wiped a sheet of sweat from her forehead. David’s eyes were on her.

He pointed to the headset hanging in the middle of the space. Kate lunged for it and pulled it over her ears. He leaned forward and clicked the dial.

“We’re on a private channel now,” he said.

She involuntarily glanced at Chang and Janus sitting across from them.

“What’s wrong?” David asked, focusing on her, ignoring the scientists who sat impassively.

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t know.” Kate wiped another layer of sweat off her face. “The memories are coming; I can’t stop them now. I’m reliving them… it’s like they’re… taking over… I think, I don’t know. I’m scared that I’m losing… some of myself.”

David’s eyes raked over her, as if he were not sure what to say.

Kate tried to focus. “Maybe I’m at the age when the Atlantean therapy, whatever the tube does, the memory restoration, takes over and—”

“Nothing is taking over. You’re going to stay exactly the way you are.”

“There’s something else. I think we’re missing something.”

David cut his eyes to the two scientists. “What?”

“I don’t know.”

Kate closed her eyes, but no memories came this time. Only sleep.





CHAPTER 78


Over the Mediterranean Sea


Kate awoke to vibrations on her thigh. The first thing she saw was David’s eyes.

She took the vibrating phone from her pocket and glanced at the number. It was a 404 area code. Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC. Continuity. Paul Brenner. The revelations washed over the stupor of her sleep as she answered the call. She listened. Paul Brenner was panicked now. He spoke quickly, the phrases hitting her like punches. Trial failed. No alternative therapies. Euthanasia Protocol has been authorized. Can you help?

“Hang on,” she said into the phone.

She sat up. “It didn’t work,” she said to David, Chang, and Janus.

“There’s more, Kate. Another piece of the genetic puzzle,” Janus said. “We need more time.”

“We have something,” Kate said into the phone. She listened, then nodded. “Yes, okay. What? Okay, no, we’re…”

She looked at David. “How close are we to Malta?”

“Malta?”

Kate nodded.

“Two hours, maybe a little less at top speed.”

“The Orchid Districts in Malta—they report no casualties. Something is happening there.”

David didn’t say a word. He climbed past Chang and Janus in the seat across from her and began talking to Shaw and Kamau in the cockpit—setting a course for Malta, Kate assumed.

Kate rubbed her head. There was something different about the way she felt. She was more… detached, clinical, numb. Almost robotic. She had full command of her mind; she just experienced the scene as if it were happening to someone else. The danger was intense—the annihilation of ninety percent of the human race… yet she felt as though she were in the middle of a science experiment, where the outcome was uncertain but would have no impact on her. What’s happening to me? Her feelings, her emotional core seemed to be slipping away.

When David returned, he slumped back onto the bench beside Kate. “We can be in Malta within two hours.”

Kate held the phone to her ear and began conversing with Paul. We’re going to check it out—Can you hold them off—We don’t know what’s there—Do your best, Paul—This isn’t over.

She ended the call and focused on the group.

Janus spoke before she had a chance. “It was here the entire time, under our noses.” He pointed to the page containing Martin’s note. “Missing Alpha Leads to Treasure of Atlantis. MALTA.”

Kate watched as David scanned the code. His face changed. What was that: guilt?

She interrupted the pause. “Martin had been looking for it—whatever it is—for a long time. He thought it was in southern Spain, but he told me he had been wrong about the location. He must have added the last note—regarding the treasure and Malta, the location, after the fact.”

“Do you know what it is?” Janus asked. “The Treasure of Atlantis?”

Kate shook her head.

David pulled her close to him. “We’ll know in a few hours.” The look in his eyes said something different, however: Do you remember? Kate closed her eyes and tried to focus.





The rustle of the suit under the pressure of the decompression chamber was unmistakable.

The voice in Kate’s helmet was crisp. “There are two settlements now.”

“Copy.”