The Cydonia Objective (Morpheus Initiative 03) (17 page)

"Because," he said. "We need to know exactly what we're up against, and we need you to understand that what we're doing isn't because we're power-hungry elitists who want to jealously guard the truth from the pitiful masses."

"That's a relief."

"That's the truth," Temple said. "We have much bigger problems. Because whatever did this, whatever happened here, it's going to happen again if we don't get that Tablet back."

#

She saw it
on the way down the hill. Just a few steps from the first wall of red brick, the dust already kicked up by her shoes. Maybe it was the smell, the proximity to the ancient stone. The sudden feeling of
belonging
here. Being one of with Mohenjo-Daro's population. Seeing it-

-for the first time…  The sound, the bustling throbbing sound. A perfect cadence of voice and motion. People, such a mass of people. Bright colors, hats, silken scarves, elegant robes and practical coverings. Commoner and royalty, it seemed, merge as one in the streets and… flee.

Out of the city. Not a mob, but not so orderly as to be a ceremonious event. They're scared. Carrying some possessions, boxes, bags. A little girl carrying a dragon-shaped doll…

A rumbling in the earth.

Screams, people turning.

Something in the center of the city draws their attention. A tower, of sorts. Pyramid-shaped, glowing at its tip. The rumbling continues, intensifies—and a gathering light at the tip of the pyramid appears. Brighter and brighter, until the crowd moves slowly away, as if mesmerized by the sight, yet terrified of what might happen next.

There are things in the sky. Lights moving bright against the blue background, multi-colored orbs and flattened disc-shaped brilliances. They seem to be at war with each other. Some are spinning, dissolving, falling in snowflake-like patterns across the sky and over the mountains.

And the light from the pyramid turns darker, a deep indigo hue that in the blink of an eye blasts upward with a force that shatters the outer layer of stones from the pyramid and flattens nearby homes. Now there's a beam of light, pure nearly blinding light stabbing through the sky—and beyond. The air shimmers, people cover their eyes.

And as if in reply to this city's offensive, something comes down from the sky. Nothing entirely visible, but this nothing lands with an impact like a god's fist striking the ground. The earth trembles, the walls and buildings shake. But then the aftershocks, like concentric circles of energy, descend one upon the other, in widening diameters until the whole city, the entire plain is caught in its frequency.

A frequency that shatters living beings, flattening them like insects underfoot. The crowds, as one, are gone. Everyone still in the main center of the city—just pulverized. Whatever this force is, it spares the bricks, the earth, the structures, but leaves them smoking, simmering.

Everyone's gone except those who had just made it out of range. Stumbling away into a ravine, looking back in horror, back toward the beam from the pyramid. The beam that's flickering now. Fizzling, its power used up.

Amid the wailing, screaming and desperation, a last, lone look up at the sky…

And the tiny light, tinged in the approaching dusk with a light reddish hue. The only object in the sky above the pyramid. The only available target…

#

"What… the hell..." Phoebe clutched at Orlando's shirt, meeting his eyes with such lingering horror, "…was
that?
"

Orlando shook his head. "I didn't get enough. Just saw, I don't know, like I was in some structure, and I had a tablet. It might have been the same one you guys found. I was sitting in some throne-like contraption, and all these strange symbols and I don't know, equations or something, were whirling about my head. And it seemed they were directing this device, this coiled apparatus that had colored electricity sparkling from it, and-"

"Jeez," Phoebe backed away from him. "Where were you?"

He shrugged.

"Probably," said Temple, "you could find out with another vision. But not now. I think Phoebe saw what we needed her to see. Now, before we head back. There's one more target."

"Come on, man. Phoebe's been through enough. Let her rest."

"I'm fine."  She smoothed back her hair, stood up straight and turned back to the city's ruins, looking over the ancient walls, seeing for a moment the former glory of Mohenjo-Daro, and again feeling the crushing loss, the doom that was so decisively brought to them.

"I saw them! I don't know, it seemed like it was a war. In the skies, with lights attacking each other. But I think the people here, they got off a shot from some tremendous weapon. Maybe the same thing that hit them a moment later."

"A shot to where?"  Temple leaned in, focused.

"Dumb question," Orlando said. "If they launched a missile, it would go up straight, then follow the curvature of the earth as it approached its target."

"Let her finish."

Phoebe raised a finger to the sky. "It wasn't a missile or anything like that. It was a beam of light. So I'm guessing it went straight. The only thing I saw up there was a tiny light. Maybe it was a ship."

Temple was nodding, but looking at her closely.

"…or maybe it wasn't. It looked like a star. Or a planet. And… it was reddish-colored."

Orlando closed his eyes. "Mars."  He shook his head and stepped in front of Phoebe, facing Temple. "You know more about this than you're telling us. Come on, spill it."

"Not here. And anyway, you need to see one more thing. Final pop quiz, if you like. Before you join us."

Orlando let his shoulders sag, but his fists were clenched. "You're really pissing me off."

"I can live with that. Now here goes. It's a trick that seems to work well with the other recruits. Kind of like free association. I'll give you the target, you give me the first thing that comes to you, the first thing you see."

Phoebe sighed. "Sure, let's get it over with."

"Okay," Temple said, taking a step back. He lifted his face to the sun and closed his eyes. "Here's the target:
Seven-seventeen AM, central Siberia. June 30
^th
, 1908."

Phoebe heard Orlando make a choking sound, but it was lost in a tremendous roar, a deafening explosion of sound and fury.
She stood on a muddy hill looking down toward a river. But in a miles-long stretch of terrain, the forest was decimated: trees flattened, others blackened, the ground churned up, smoking. A huge swath cut through the wilderness.

And then: it was as if the viewing reversed. A rumbling, which rose and rose to such horrific volume and intensity until it swallowed up the world, the trees rising, filling, turning green just after an immense light retracts into a glowing wave of energy, rippling backwards and up at an oblique angle into the sky…

Orlando was doubled over. "Tunguska," he whispered. "Another target Caleb should have put on the list."

"What was it?" Phoebe asked, her lips now parched.

"No one's really sure," Orlando said, after it was apparent Temple wasn't going to speak. "At the time, they thought it was a meteor. But after several scientific teams got there and searched, they found no impact crater and no evidence of meteorite elements. But something sure hit that area with a force like a meteor."

"Good enough for me," Temple said. "You passed the quiz. Now back in the plane and let's get to work."

"So we're in?" Phoebe voiced. "Past the bullshit?  No more secrets, no more games?"

"Or freakin' quizzes?" Orlando added.

Temple grinned. "No more quizzes. But as for the secrets… In time I'll let you in. Don't want to blow your minds all at once. Then you'd be no good to me. Or your friends."

"Our friends," Orlando whispered. "How are they?"

"You can find out soon. Get on the plane and let's head back to our facility."

"But…" Phoebe looked back to the ruins, silent and desolate. "But this city was so ancient. And Tunguska was only a hundred years ago. What's going on?"

"They're both related."

"And Mars?"

"We'll get to that."  He stepped back into the plane. Orlando met Phoebe's eyes, and saw all her confidence fleeing. Saw her teetering on the edge of exhaustion, overcome by the weight of such visions and responsibility.

He felt the same things, but right now he feared something far more personal. If he didn't get her out of this, she might never come back. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He took her hand, pulled her close. And kissed the dust from her lips.

11.

Alexandria

Caleb hadn't been back here, to the modern library, for almost five months. The last time, he and Alexander had spent a couple days in the city, visiting all the tourist spots and sailing in the harbor, where Caleb had pointed out the place where he had nearly drowned that fateful day he had his first vision of the Pharos. They visited Qaitbey's Fortress, and Caleb had a difficult time keeping Alexander from finding the secret lever that would open the door to the sub-chambers… and the great seal guarding a now-empty vault. The boy wanted to see, and Caleb couldn't blame him. Someday, he promised, they'd come back when it was safe, when they wouldn't get caught.

He had vowed that they would do it together, with Lydia. The next time all three were in Alexandria together. The next time…

Caleb had to stop and hold onto a pillar as a rush of images burst into his skull. Like she was still there, still waiting.

"Let's take him," Lydia says while propped up on her elbow on the bed beside him. "Tomorrow. He's ready!"

"Isn't one vault enough?  He's got enough to do here."

"What are you worried about?  The danger down there…"

"Is still real. It's not like the traps don't work anymore."

"He just wants to see. He's proud of you. Proud of us—what we did. It's something before his time, and he feels left out."

"Well, he wasn't. He was a big part of it. If it wasn't for him…"

"You and I would not have been apart. And you might not have found the way in with me holding you back."

Her eyes are so profoundly large, green like the Emerald Tablet, so deeply resonant and magnetic. It's as if she knows he's lied to her. Knows he's hidden it away, told her it was lost. Should he tell her?  Is now the time?

He opens his mouth, but she's leaning in. Her lips against his, silencing his voice. She pulls back, only for an instant. "Just think about it. We're running out of time. A boy's only a boy for so long."

Caleb caught his breath and looked up to see Alexander and Rashi staring at him, both concerned. They stood between a gap between two enormous rows of shelves. Books as far as he could see in any direction.

"I'm okay. Just had a moment."

Alexander moved forward. "Was it Mom?"