Atlantis Stolen (Sam Reilly Book 3) (24 page)

The second ROV
was ready to launch twenty minutes later. It was slightly larger, and Edward
explained that he was worried the submersible may have trouble accessing the
temple of Poseidon, especially if some of the challenges were still intact. Zanzibe
had assured them that the temple of their Gods was left unarmed while it sunk
into the river so they could study it and try to replicate it as best they
could.

Lowered into the
water by a load-carrying umbilical cable, the second ROV remained in its tether
management system, known as a TMS, until it reached the bottom of the river. The
TMSwas a garage-like device, which housed the ROV during the lowering process
through the splash zone and then worked to lengthen and shorten the tether so
the effect of cable drag where there were underwater currents was minimized.

The TMS stopped
just short of the bed of the river, so that no additional silt was stirred up
by the ROV’s propellers.

“Well, that’s
something at least,” Billie said. “Can you turn the main LEDs on?”

“As you wish,”
Edward replied and flicked the powerful lights on.

The place was
completely lacking in environmental light, and reminded Billie of the time not
so long ago when Sam Reilly had dragged her from her research in the Antarctic
to help his friend, Tom Bower, explore a Mayan Pyramid nearly half a mile under
the ocean.

Surreal in its
isolation, the place where the ROV now explored was more distant than nearly
every other place on earth. At first it appeared devoid of all marine life, but
when Edward displayed the view of the downward camera, the riverbed seemed to be
swarming with giant fresh water-crayfish. Although what they were eating to
sustain themselves, she had no idea.

“Any sign of our
temple yet?” she asked.

“Not yet. I’m
just waiting for the sonar to come into view.” Edward grinned. “There she is!”

Zanzibe sat still
and watched the computer screen. Although he said nothing, his face depicted
bewilderment and awe at the first sight of his God’s true temple, a sight which
no one had seen for nearly eleven thousand years.

The ROV began
moving toward the temple. Its powerful electric motor propelled it at a speed
upwards of 30 knots. The TMS was attached to the rear deck of the Andre Sephora
via a full umbilical system, and then the TMS ran a separate tether to the ROV,
making it much more versatile, while providing it with infinite power to
exhaust.

The real dome
cover of the temple of Poseidon came into view, and for a moment, Billie found
herself holding her breath. Like the replica which the pygmies had constructed
many years ago, the dome of this one was covered in orichalcum, and stood at
the center of several deep indentations, each one progressively getting deeper.

Somewhere inside
there would be an open doorway to the answers they needed. She forced herself
to breathe out and consciously remember to breathe in. Looking around the room,
she noticed that the temple had a similar effect on everyone else in the room.

Only Edward, who
was so focused on the need of their mission, appeared immune to its glory.
“Okay, Zanzibe, do you have any suggestions where our door is going to be?”

“I’ve never seen
it, but if it’s anything like ours, then the door should be down there, at the
end.”

The ROV moved
quickly toward the end of the deepest moat, where the large stone opening stood
without its door.

Edward looked at Zanzibe.
“Thanks.”

There it moved
through the first tunnel and into the challenge of strength. With the
mechanisms of each of the challenges long since corroded or rotted away, Edward
was able easily navigate through to the next room. The memory of trying to beat
the challenges the pygmies had set out in their replica appeared fresh in his
mind as he navigated the ROV through the temple’s entrance. Its eerie light
scattered in the dark rooms, and Billie watched as Edward’s hands began to
shake at the recent memory they stirred.

Propelling itself
over the chasm that had long ago lost its bridge and then finally past the
pendulum of sacrifice, the ROV quickly made its way toward the temple of
Poseidon. Billie placed her hand on Edward’s shoulder. She didn’t say anything.
Nor did she have to. They were both there. The sight instantly brought back the
memory of him preparing to sacrifice his life for hers. In the end, the test
had been merely to see if one person would willingly sacrifice themselves so
the other person could live, and consequently, he had not been killed in the
process. It was still one hell of an offering.

The ROV turned
the last corner and entered the ancient temple dedicated to Poseidon – the God
of the Sea.

And there it
stopped.

“What the hell
happened?” Billie asked.

Edward reversed
and then plugged in a separate controller. “I was worried this might be the
case.”

“What is it?”

“The dome’s dry.
Don’t you remember in the pygmy replica, the temple of Poseidon remained dry?”

“Of course, why
didn’t we think of that? I don’t suppose your ROV has a pair of wheels?”

Edward grinned.
“No, but it’s got a killer set of tank tracks!”

A new sound could
be heard coming from the ROV’s audio – it was the grating noise of its tank
tracks turning. A moment later, the ROV punched through the water and entered
the dry world of Poseidon’s temple.

It was larger
than what the pygmies had recreated. Nearly twice as long and more than that
high. As the ROV shined its exterior lights on the temple, the gold reflected everywhere.

“My God, there’s
enough gold there to make St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican appear poor,”
Edward said in awe.

Spotting the
golden statue of Poseidon himself, still standing on top of his chariot and
drawn by the massive six winged horse, Edward drove the ROV toward what they
had come for. Edward then changed the view to one of the cameras mounted above
and designed to look up.

The entire roof
was covered in intricately carved ivory, depicting a battle of the Gods so
great it would have terrified the strongest of mere mortals. Protected by
eleven thousand years of isolation within the vault, the carvings appeared
perfectly intact. They were curiously wrought with gold, silver and orichalcum.
Next to the monstrous horse’s head, which nearly struck the ceiling, was a
placard made of pure orichalcum.

Edward pressed
the zoom button, and it came into focus.

“There it is
gentlemen – and my dear Dr. Swan – the code to Atlantis.”

After making
several copies, Billie superimposed it on the second half of the code to
Atlantis, completing the image.

“This is it! We
have it. This is the missing link for the code to Atlantis!”

Edward embraced
her. “I knew you were the right person for the job Dr. Swan! Thank you!”

Jason, the
skipper, burst through the door. “We’ve got company.”

Billie and Edward
moved to the window. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, Billie zoomed in on the
boats moving toward them. There were two of them. Both inflatable military
watercraft – most likely Zodiacs – and closing in on a quarter of a mile up
river.

Aboard were
several men carrying AK47s.  

Edward swore. “It’s
probably someone from any number of Congo’s rebel armies.” Placing his binoculars
back on their holder, he said, “Jason, get us out of here. The Andre Sephora
will outrun these petty war criminals.”

“I’m already on
it,” Jason replied, kicking the sports craft’s engine into gear.

Edward looked at
Mark. “Ready the team. Make certain they’re ready to repel boarders if they do
reach us.”

“Understood,”
Mark replied, leaving the room.

Billie felt
reassured as the Rolls Royce water jets kicked into life and the Andre Sephora
stood up on her bow wave. It would be impossible for the rebels to keep up with
them once they reached their cruising speed.

“I told you we’d
be all right,” Edward said.

Billie went to
acknowledge him, but right then, the engines cut out and the Andre Sephora sunk
its bow back into the river.

A helicopter flew
toward them from the opposite direction. It was covered in military camouflage,
but showed no sign of country of origin. Edward was reassured by the knowledge
that none of the rebels in the area possessed such machinery.

“Mark! It looks
like we’re going to need our plan B! I want the Gatling guns ready to fire, and
I want someone to prepare the antiaircraft rockets to fire when that thing gets
closer!”

“Already on it
boss!”

At the edge of
the room, Dr. Swan typed rapidly on her laptop, downloading all the information
she would need to reach the inner sanctum of Atlantis, including the now
complete code to Atlantis.

Edward smiled at
her resilience as he watched Dr. Swan hide the contents on a device no larger
than a fingernail. She then prepared to destroy her entire workstation,
including her laptop, if the worst were to happen.

Edward could only
imagine what would happen if the code to Atlantis fell into the wrong hands.
Behind them, he could see that the two zodiacs had slowed down and the men were
preparing to board. He saw the men at the front, carrying AK47s, swing grappling
hooks while yelling war cries in their native language. Others simply fired at
his hull.

Surely they
must know that a vessel like his would never enter the Congo without arming
herself well enough to defend herself!

“Okay Mark, time
to destroy them all!”

Edward brought up
the automated defense system, and placed an asterisk over each of the zodiacs.
The computer system then highlighted the perfect angle of firing, and a
microcomputer fired.

The rattle of the
four Gatling guns turning filled the room.

But no rounds
were fired.

All four Gatling
guns had had their rounds removed from their rollers.

For the first
time, since the arrival of the rebel army, Edward felt genuine fear.

His heart pounded
as he realized he had a traitor aboard.

“Quick Mark! Get the
men on deck!”

“I’m afraid I
can’t do that Mr. Worthington.” Edward looked up, only to see that Mark had
unlatched the safety on his own weapon and pointed it directly at him.

Edward looked
around the deck of his ship for his other men. Then it struck him – no one had
come to his aid, because they couldn’t. They were locked below the deck. His
most trusted bodyguard had betrayed him.

“I have to know,
Mark. Why?”

Mark grinned.
“I’m sorry, but in my profession loyalty is only ever to the highest bidder.”

“But you set the
price and I always happily paid for it!”

“Yes, and I was
happy with that price. But then, along came Atlantis. And that, my friend, can
offer me more than all the gold in the world. It can offer me unlimited power.
Even if half the crap that you and Dr. Swan have discussed over the past few
weeks ends up being correct, I’m going to be a very rich man.”

Edward looked at
him and tried to speak. He faltered, unable to find words to make any sense of
the betrayal, and then he didn’t have to.

Three shots fired
in rapid succession.

Looking up,
Edward was surprised to find he barely felt them. Then he saw the three clean
bullet holes open up in a narrow grouping between Mark’s eyes – it wasn’t his
own life that had just ended.

Behind him, Billie
had already lowered her Glock.

“That was close.
Again, Dr. Swan, I believe I owe you my life.”

Billie gritted
her teeth. The boarders had already secured the Andre Sephora. “I’m not sure
I’ve done you any more good than to prolong the inevitable.”

Several men came
in and grabbed them. He noticed, thankfully, that Dr. Swan hadn’t felt the need
to fight to the death. So long as she was alive, there was still hope.

The helicopter
hovered just above the front deck of the Andre Sephora. A man stepped out of
the aircraft. Edward recognized the man instantly. How could he not? After all,
that man might just be the most dangerous man on earth.

“Andrew Brandt! I
should have guessed you were behind this attack!”

“Mr. Edward
Worthington.” Andrew looked at Billie, struggling to get free from the soldier
who held her head in an arm lock capable of killing her in seconds. “And Dr.
Swan. How nice to finally meet you. I cannot say how pleased I have been with
your efforts. I could never have deciphered the code to Atlantis on my own.”

He then looked at
Mark lying dead on the ground. “I see that you found the employment of my
associate, Mr. Mark Armel, unsatisfactory.” Andrew laughed at his own joke. “No
matter, he has served my purpose already.”

The commander of
the soldiers who held them approached Andrew. “What do you want me to do with
all of them?”

“I’ll keep the
girl. You never know when she might be useful.” Andrew grinned lasciviously. “As
for the rest of them, kill them.”

Billie swore at
Andrew. “You’ll never work it out. I’ll die before helping you.”

“Don’t worry, my
good Dr. Swan. Your death is certainly on the cards, but first there are a few
things I’d like some help with.”

Several shots
were fired before anyone knew where they’d come from. Zanzibe, the little pygmy
king, had taken refuge in a fishing box, too small from any normal sized person
to squeeze. He’d then, released three quick bursts from his Uzi. Edward then
felt the man’s strong hands pull him free from his now dead captor.

In front of him,
Andrew had already moved to take Dr. Swan.

The soldiers at
the front of the boat quickly moved to take the back of the Andre Sephora.
Machine gun fire pelted through the inner workings of the ship.

“We have to go,” Zanzibe
said.

Edward followed
him to the back of the ship. “What about the rest of my men? Those trapped
below deck?”

“No one’s
trapped. They all worked for Mark.”

“Then where can
we go?”

Edward followed
Zanzibe to the back of the ship. “I’ve laid explosives. The ship’s going to
explode any moment now!”

The two dived
into the water.

Before their
heads resurfaced, the echo of a massive explosion, sent a shockwave ringing
through their ears.

Edward and
Zanzibe swam as long as their breaths would hold them before breaking the
surface again. He looked back at the Andre Sephora. There was nothing left.
Already three hundred feet away, Andrew’s helicopter departed. “There goes the
code to Atlantis – and more important, the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”