“I just have one question, Old Man. Why? I’ve collected all these threads you’ve spun, but I still don’t see your end game.”
“I haven’t betrayed my oath. My goal is our goal: to prevent a war we both know we can’t win.”
“Then we agree. The time has come. Toba Protocol is in effect.”
“No. Dorian, there is another way. It’s true, I’ve kept these… developments to myself, but for good reason — it was premature, I didn’t know if they would work.”
“And they haven’t. I read the reports from China, all the adults died. We’re out of time.”
“True, the test failed, but because we used the wrong therapy. Kate used something else; we didn’t know it at the time, but she will tell me. We could walk into the tombs by this time tomorrow — we could finally learn the truth.”
It was a long shot, and Martin was almost surprised when Sloane broke his unblinking glare. His eyes looked away, then down. A moment passed and finally, he turned around, pacing back toward the windows, taking up his original position when Martin had entered the room. “We already know the truth. And as for Kate and the new therapy… You took her children. She won’t talk.”
“She will to me.”
“I believe I know her better than you.”
Martin felt his blood rising.
“Have you opened the sub yet?” Sloane’s voice was quiet.
Martin was surprised by the question. Was Sloane testing him? Or did he think…
“No,” Martin said. “We’re following a more extensive quarantine protocol, just to be on the safe side. I’m told the site is almost secure.”
“I want to be there when they open it.”
“It’s been sealed for over 70 years, nothing could have—”
“I want to be there.”
“Of course. I’ll inform the site.” Martin reached for the phone. He couldn’t believe this break. The hope felt like a breath of fresh air after being under water for three minutes too long. He dialed quickly.
“You can tell them when we get there.”
“I’d like nothing more—”
Sloane turned away from the windows. The bloodthirsty stare had returned. His eyes burned holes in Martin. “I’m not asking. We will open that sub together. I’m not letting you out of my sight, not until this is over.”
Martin put the phone down. “Very well, but I must speak with Kate first.” Martin inhaled, straightening his back. “And now, I’m not asking. You need me, we both know it.”
Sloane looked at Martin through the window’s reflection, and Martin thought he saw a small smile cross his lips. “I’ll give you ten minutes with her, and when you fail, we’ll leave for Antarctica, and I’ll leave her to people who will make her talk.”
CHAPTER 31
River Village Slums
Jakarta, Indonesia
David watched the Immari Security officers pivot and then run into the five-room plaster home on the corner of the row. He had picked this home specifically because of its layout.
The men swept the rooms, moving in swift, mechanical motions, entering each room with their handguns held in front of them, jerking left, then right.
David listened from his hiding place as the men reported. “Clear. Clear. Clear. Clear. Clear.” He heard their pace slow as they walked out of the now “safe” residence.
When the second man passed him, David silently slid behind him, covered his mouth with a damp cloth, and waited for the chloroform to fill his mouth and nostrils. The man thrashed about, trying desperately to grab David as he lost control of his limbs with each passing second. David held tight at his mouth. No sound escaped. The man slumped to the ground, and David was about to turn his attention to the other man when he heard the radio in the next room crackle to life.
“Immari Recon Team Five, be advised, Clocktower reports a field locker in your area has been accessed. Target believed to be in close proximity and could be in possession of weapons and explosives from the locker. Proceed with caution. We’re sending backup units.”
“Cole? Did you hear that?”
David squatted over the man he had just incapacitated, apparently Cole.
“Cole?” the other man called from the next room. David could hear the dirt grinding below the soldier’s boots. He was walking slowly now, like a man marching through a minefield, where any step could be his last.
As David rose to his feet, the man burst through the doorway, his gun pointed at David’s chest. David lunged for him. They collapsed to the ground and fought for the gun. David slammed the man’s hands into the dirty floor, and the gun skidded to the wall.
The man repelled David off of him and began crawling for the gun, but David was on him again before he got far, gripping the man’s neck with the crook of his elbow in a tight strangle hold. He placed the heel of his hand on the man’s upper back to get more leverage. He could feel his prey’s airways close. Not much longer.
The man flopped back and forth and clawed at the arm around his neck. He reached down, trying to grasp… what? His pocket? Then the man had it — a knife from his boot. He stabbed back at David, connecting with his side. David heard his clothes rip and saw the blood on the knife, which was coming at him again. He slid to the side, barely missing the second jab. He moved his hand from the man’s back up to his head and using the cross-grip with his arm around the man’s neck, he ripped hard. The loud snap rang out and the man slumped to the floor.
David rolled off the dead mercenary and stared at the ceiling, watching two flies chase each other.
CHAPTER 32
Immari Jakarta Headquarters
Jakarta, Indonesia
Martin’s men had taken Kate deep underground, then led her down a long corridor that opened onto what looked like a large aquarium. The glass window was at least fifteen feet tall and maybe sixty wide.
Kate didn’t understand what she saw. The scene beyond the glass was clearly the bottom of The Bay of Jakarta, but it was the creatures moving about that puzzled her. At first she thought they were some sort of illuminated sea creatures, like jelly fish, drifting down to the bottom then floating back to the surface. But the lights were wrong. She walked closer to the glass. Yes — they were robots. Almost like robotic crabs, with lights that swiveled like eyes and four arms, each with three metallic fingers. They burrowed into the ground, then emerged with items in their mechanical hands. She strained to see, what were the items?