Carpathian (43 page)

Will nodded and he and Denise Gilliam left to load their equipment.

“What’s wrong, Niles?” Alice asked.

Compton turned away from watching the two Army Humvees being loaded with surveying equipment.

“The radios, the satellite hookup with Europa, Captain Everett and Charlie coming up missing, Sarah sees something wrong geologically in this valley, and now we have one of the largest storms of the year heading our way.” Compton looked up and into the crystal blue morning sky and shook his head. “First we lose our Romanian military escort, our Airborne element has been cut down to nothing, and the fact that they have no weapons whatsoever.” He smiled at Alice. “I would say things could be going better.”

Alice Hamilton returned the smile and patted Niles on the shoulder.

“Garrison told me once that sometimes after all the power, all the expensive equipment, and having the smartest people in the world working for you, sometimes all we have in the end is your brain and your…” Again she smiled and winked. “Balls.” She turned away as Niles watched her. “In other words you can be the king of all you survey one moment and then you realize that the only real thing you have going for you is the fact that you are still sitting on nothing but your own ass in that exalted throne.”

“Just what in the hell is that cryptic statement about?” he asked her.

Alice stopped and fixed Niles with her eyes.

“It means sometimes we just have to do this without all the fancy toys and do it in an environment that bodes ill for those who fail. Now you know what being the director of Department 5656 is all about. Making it work no matter what.” She smiled and turned away to gather her notes and history of the pass. “And you just happen to be extremely fortunate, Niles my boy.”

“And why is that, Mrs. Hamilton?” Compton called after her.

“Because you have the best people in the world working for you, and you know what? They always get it done. And you will, too. Now let’s go see if this old woman’s cheese has totally slid off her cracker, or see if there be werewolves in them thar mountains,” she said in her best hillbilly accent.

Niles smiled as he watched the most brilliant woman he had ever known leave and get ready to fulfill her long dream of finding the Jeddah and then he turned and looked at the mountain high above.

“To tell you the truth, Alice old girl, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of finding up there.” He shook his head as the Humvees started their engines. “Damn it, Carl, where are you and Charlie?”

11

THE EDGE OF THE WORLD HOTEL AND RESORT CASINO, PATINAS PASS, ROMANIA

The restaurant was somewhat crowded, mildly surprising Jack and Sarah. As they were led to a table Collins saw Jason and Pete as they entered from the far end. Their eyes met for the briefest moment and then Jack sat at the table and was handed a menu. As he sat he looked up and saw that the waitress was leading both Pete and Ryan right to their own table. Ryan had a troubled look on his face and Pete just looked lost.

“Excuse me, but I see plenty of empty tables,” Ryan said as he ignored the menu offered by the waitress.

“Mr. Zallas left strict instructions to the restaurant staff that the four of you should be seated together.”

Collins listened to the exchange and at that moment he knew their cover was truly blown, or at the very least Zallas suspected that something was afoot with the Americans.

“Is there any particular reason for that request?” Jack asked, looking at the young girl.

“We were only left the instructions, sir.” She finally got Pete and Ryan to accept their menus as they acceded and sat at the table as the waitress poured coffee for the two newest guests while the hostess stood over them. The two waitstaff finally left.

“Well, this can’t be good,” Ryan said as he opened his menu.

“Very little is good at the moment,” Collins said as he sipped his orange juice. “It seems Mr. Everett and our good buddy Charlie Ellenshaw came up missing last night.”

“What in the hell—” Ryan started to say but Jack held up his hand to stay the question.

“We don’t know. The radios are crapping out on us. We also have a major storm heading this way and the Romanian army pulled out late last night to handle flooding in the south. I won’t even mention the fact we have missing trucks with our equipment inside of them, including our Sat system, so we don’t even have the fallback of communicating with Nellis.” He shook his head and then let out his breath in exasperation. “So that leaves us with twenty unarmed 82nd Airborne boys and two Humvees as backup if needed.”

Sarah shook her head and then reached for her cup of coffee. As she did the deep, dark liquid in the cup shook and then settled, and then the cup vibrated once more and the brew moved again and then stopped. The geologist studied the tabletop and waited but the tremors didn’t continue.

“If our cover here is blown I see no reason why we shouldn’t leave and get out there and find the captain and Charlie. I mean we’re back in the stone age here and believe me this Group isn’t used to that. Our well-planned Event has suddenly turned into a royal cluster—”

Jack looked at Ryan, successfully cutting off the profanity-laced finish. But Collins knew the new naval lieutenant commander had a point. It was dangerous being in a place where the host suspects that you are not who you pretend to be. And now you have people missing in the field and no way to talk to anyone
. Yes, the stone age
, he thought. Jack took a sip of his coffee. He set the cup down and then he felt it. He placed his hands palm down upon the wood. He looked at Jason, Pete, and Sarah, each in turn.

“I think the mission parameters have changed in the last twenty-four hours, and priorities have—” Pete started to say as he dabbed his mouth with his napkin.

“Not now,” Jack said. Collins threw his napkin on the table and started to stand.

“Where are you going?” Sarah asked.

“You and I are going to Patinas. The least we can do is make Zallas and his henchmen work that much harder to keep track of us. We’re splitting up. You two stay and keep an eye out for Alice’s artifacts. If Zallas starts to get cocky head north to the pass. I love Alice but getting people killed over this is a little much. And I’m afraid our Mr. Zallas may be a little more deadly than even the Interpol reports say he is.”

“Why are we going to Patinas?” Sarah asked as her chair was pulled out by Ryan.

“Just as you did a few minutes ago, I felt the tremor.”

Sarah was surprised that Jack had felt the earth move also before she had a chance to say anything.

“And besides, I have something else to show you, come on.”

The others followed Jack out of the restaurant and as they moved they all saw the two men follow who had been sitting at a table away from the group of Americans. Collins allowed the others to catch up as he stepped toward the large escalator that moved people to the top of the atrium. Jack walked to the base of the 170,000-ton people mover. He acted like he was tying his shoe and knelt over.

“What do you make of this?” he asked Sarah.

Pete and Ryan crowded around so most of the patrons moving between the restaurant and the casino couldn’t see what she was doing. Sarah knelt and examined the spot Jack was indicating.

“I saw that yesterday,” Collins said as he finished with the act on his shoe. He stood and waited while Sarah examined the concrete that made up the base of the giant escalator.

“This concrete and the reinforcement steel are only a few months old.” She ran her hand along the large crack in the concrete and then ran her small fingers deeper into the crevice and frowned. “Damn, this fault has to go all the way through to the rebar.”

“As serious as I thought?” he asked.

“That is not normal expansion of drying concrete. That fault is not natural, you can see where the two halves don’t line up and that means the entire escalator has shifted at its base and that indicates earth movement.” She pulled Collins away from the spot and she waited for Ryan and Pete to join them. “Jack, this entire valley is shifting for some reason.”

Collins watched Sarah walk over to the waterfall and the hot springs bath beneath it. Without hesitation McIntire knelt once again and tested the water with her fingers, frowning only momentarily before removing them.

“My best guess would be a five-degree rise since yesterday.”

All four Event Group members knew time was running short.

PATINAS PASS

Everett waited for the large wolf to limp by him and Charlie. Anya was sure to walk between it and the two wide-eyed men. Mikla growled as it slowly slipped past. As it did, so, the two men had a chance to study the animal close up, something that would forever be etched in their memories.

Charlie nudged Carl and nodded toward the ground where the Golia laid its paws. For the first time they saw the one thing that made all of the legends, fairy tales, and myths come true for both of them—they could actually see the tightness of the fingers as they were folded into a paw form with the thumb tucked neatly inside. The pads were on the outside of the fingers and served as the contact point for the feet while on all fours.

Everett’s eyes went from the strangely folded-in fingers to the right hind ankle of the muscled animal. He saw the swelling under the weed-, straw-, and cloth-wrapped leg. He could clearly see that the pain of walking was sapping the giant’s strength.

The wolf moved through the underbrush and disappeared behind the boy and Anya. Carl tried his radio and for a moment thought he got the colonel. When he didn’t raise him he reported their situation anyway in hopes Jack could hear.

*   *   *

Sarah, Ryan, and Pete stood in a half circle around Jack as he dipped his head trying to listen to his radio, which had suddenly come to life. Luckily he had the volume turned low so the passing crowd of mobsters, thieves, and killers couldn’t hear. Collins was half in and half out of a small alcove that had a bust of Julius Caesar on a pedestal. Sarah heard Jack’s frustrated voice as he tried to communicate with whoever was calling. Finally he hissed and stepped out from behind the group.

“Billions of dollars in budgeted money, the most brilliant men and women in the world, the best equipment money can buy, and now we have to search for a pay phone, of which there probably isn’t one, all because we have these and no way to talk with any of our people.”

“Who was it?” Sarah asked.

“It was Carl and from what I could make out he and Charlie are all right and heading for the small village below the pass, and before you ask that is all I got besides something very cryptic that I’m not sure I want to clarify at the moment. In any case, Jason and Pete, you’re going hiking. Ascertain the situation with Mr. Everett and Ellenshaw if possible; if not, reconnoiter as far up as the castle. Report back the best way you can, if not, return.”

“What was the message, Colonel?” Ryan asked as he and Pete leaned in closer to Jack and Sarah.

“The captain said to tell Alice that the three little pigs do have something to worry about on the mountain.”

“What does—” Pete started to ask and then Ryan frowned and cut him off by holding up his hand.

“Who was the nemesis of the three little pigs, Pete?”

Light dawned in Golding’s eyes.

“The Big Bad Wolf.”

*   *   *

Everett stopped and listened when the birds stopped chirping and the insects went quiet. Charlie was starting to pick up on the vibes Carl was putting out that something wasn’t right. It had been ten minutes since they were separated from the boy, Anya, and the Golia they called Mikla. Everett knew they couldn’t have gone far, as he and Charlie were only separated from them for the few minutes they tried to reach Jack on the radio and satellite link.

“There are two scatterguns aimed at your backs and I would take it seriously when I tell you do not move.”

Everett froze at the sound of the voice. Whoever it was that came upon them unnoticed was well practiced at doing so. He never heard as much as the laying down of a footstep. Carl slowly turned and he felt Charlie behind him do the same.

The eyes were the first things Everett saw when he turned to face the man, eyes that were as dark as the night. The man raised the ancient sawed-off shotgun a few inches to make sure Carl knew that one wrong move and he would find out just how serious this man was.

“Why are you here?” Marko Korvesky asked the two men.

Everett waited while three more men came into view and all were carrying the shotguns. Carl sensed even more men hidden in the trees.

“We’re looking for someone we lost; a woman and a young boy.”

The man in the brightly colored garb said nothing at the information provided. He tilted his head and looked from Carl to the crazy white-haired Charlie Ellenshaw, who, to Everett’s immense pleasure had kept silent as he held his hands in the air.

“I too seek a young boy and a woman, they are from my village.” The man continued to look at Everett but did not lower the lethal-looking shotgun.

“Hello, Marko,” said a feminine voice from the direction of the tree line.

Carl saw the look come over the man’s face as Anya spoke. He didn’t know if the look was one of pleasure or one of stunned recognition. The man slowly turned and faced the woman who stepped into the small clearing. The captain relaxed when he saw the genuine smile of a man who was pleased, uncomfortable but pleased, to see the girl. The man lowered the shotgun and took a step toward her.

“Hello, baby sister. I would have expected you to come home with a bit more fanfare and not being chased through the woods by this rather large American.”

Anya smiled. It was a tired expression on an even more tired body as she took the remaining steps to her brother and wrapped her arms around him.

“I didn’t know how I would feel seeing you after so long. How I would feel about you being sent away and me having to stay.” He smiled and hugged her again. “But I was wrong. It is good to see you again.”

“Marko, what is happening here? There are more people who know about us now than there has been in the history of our people. What has happened?” she whispered as even more villagers came in. Carl counted seven men altogether and they were all armed.