The Cydonia Objective (Morpheus Initiative 03) (27 page)

Chunks of stone, fused metal and pieces of glass tumbled free and slammed into a bank of shelves. Alexander jumped up, snatched the laptop and retreated to the far edge of the chamber, shrinking into a corner where a section of the wall had collapsed. He thought momentarily about throwing the laptop on the ground, picking up a sharp hunk of concrete, and bashing it in, rather than let them get its secrets too. But that file… something his mother had been working on, something Dad had never seen…  And what could hold the answer to everything. He couldn't let it go.

He had to save something from down here.

A shaft of light stabbed inside as if a giant had just poked its finger through the top of a cave and let in the sun. In the uncomfortable brilliance, Alexander could see two ropes descending, followed quickly by dark-clad men.

Surprisingly, he discovered he was experiencing relief as much as fright.
At least I won't suffocate to death, alone in the dark.

Two flashlight beams struck out in opposite directions, spraying the walls and the rubble. One hesitated on the face of the dead Rashi, then joined the other, converging, moving as one to the farthest corner. Both of them froze, highlighting their prey.

"We have him," said a voice.

#

The two lights
blazed in his eyes, and Alexander couldn't make out anything but vague outlines of the men standing over him. He heard a familiar voice, but it came from a speaker, crackling.

"Does he have the keys?"

"Boy," said the man behind the closer light. "Where are they?"

Raising his hands before his eyes, Alexander said, "What if I told you they were under that pile of wreckage over there, and good luck finding them?"

A moment of quiet, and then the man chuckled. "I'd say you were bluffing. Your brothers seem to think you've kept them around your neck."

The other one coughed. "Care to show us?"

"All right, all right, I've got them here."  Alexander reached under his dusty shirt and withdrew the cord. The three pyramid-shaped keys reflected in the light, sparkling green.

"We'll take those."

"Let him keep it on. Calderon said we're taking him with us."

"Fine. Okay kid, rescue time. Get up."

Alexander rose, still half-blinded. He bent down, reaching for the laptop, but suddenly one of the men snatched it up first.

"I'll take this too. Since you were keen on protecting it."

"Move it, kid."

Alexander let himself be led back to the ropes. Strong arms scooped him up under his armpits, something was clasped into the man's belt, and then—they were rising. About halfway out of the crater, Alexander's eyes adjusted—and he wished they hadn't. What he saw bore no resemblance to the place he had spent most of his young life. The world's largest library, a wonder of the modern age, gone in an instant.

His eyes welled up and tears cut through the layers of dust on his cheeks and fell back into the pit, to the vault still filled with the broken dreams of the ancients.

Something at eye-level caught his attention, and as the crane swung them over the drilling equipment and to a makeshift platform, he saw two boys standing on the edge, impatiently waiting to greet their brother.

#

"He doesn't look
like he's all that special," one boy said, circling Alexander. "Does he, Jacob?"

Hugging his shoulders, he tried not to stare at the boys. Jacob stood right in front of him, looking at him like he was a sideshow exhibit, and Isaac moved around, inspecting him from all angles. But Alexander tried to stay strong. "Didn't say I was."

His two rescuers had moved to a position back near the black Hummer waiting at the other side of the platform. Alexander squinted and tried to see in there, but was too distracted.

"Ah but you're the promised one," Isaac said.

"The one who opened the door first," Jacob added.

"Found the great old box you did," Isaac sneered. "Just didn't open it. Now we have you. Got the box, the secret books, and the keys."

"Keys to the universe," Jacob said.

Alexander's hand went to his necklace. He held the three stones, immediately feeling a twinge of something vibrating into his fingers and up his arm. "It won't help you. Not after what I just learned."

"And what," said a new voice, "did you learn down there?"  Mason Calderon had come around from the side, behind a line of rescue vehicles, their lights flashing. Further in that direction, barricades held back a surging crowd growing larger by the minute, a sea of desperate faces.

Calderon came strolling forward, leaning only slightly on his cane. His suit coat waved in the wind around his back as he moved. His face, Alexander thought, was smoother, glossy and wax-like, as if he'd just been rejuvenated. His eyes sparkled as he came right up to Alexander, then stopped and looked at all three of the boys.

"A family reunion!  Isn't this just grand. Boys?  Did you introduce yourself to your long-lost brother?"

"He knows," Isaac said bluntly.

"Obviously," Jacob added.

Alexander resisted his curiosity at studying these kids and instead turned his glare to Calderon. "My uncle Xavier thinks you're going to destroy the world. So if these keys are going to help you, then forget it. I won't help."

"Then what?"  Calderon spread out his arms, with the cane's dragon head pointing up to the clouds. "Are you going to jump back into the hole?  We'll just fish out your body and get those keys your family worked so hard to obtain. And as for destroying the world…"  He shook his head. "Don't be silly. I intend to save it."

"But Xavier
saw…
"

"I believe he saw what would happen if I didn't succeed. If he didn't join me and help me unlock the secrets of the Emerald Tablet. To annihilate the true, secret enemy of mankind."

"He's joined you?" Alexander felt the energy leaving his voice. The keys now felt like heavy iron chunks. Calderon stepped to the side and Alexander could see a man with red hair standing by the back of the Hummer, opening the trunk. The two soldiers were with him.

"Come on," Calderon said as he turned his back to the boys. "Let's get this damn box open and see what we've won."

"But-"

"Move it," Isaac said as he jabbed his elbow into Alexander's side. "And give me those!"  He reached out like he was going to strangle Alexander, then snatched at the pendants, caught a hold of the cord and yanked it free.

"Hey!"

Isaac skipped ahead, twirling around, holding the keys high. After a moment's hesitation, Jacob followed, glancing back once to Alexander. "Come on," he said in a low voice, and waved his hand.

Sorry, Dad.
Hanging his head, Alexander followed, and the only thing keeping him going was the belief that maybe Xavier knew what he was doing. He was always a step ahead of everyone. Maybe this time, he had Calderon right where he wanted him.

But when Alexander made it to the Hummer and saw Xavier shoved aside by the guards, his head down in resignation, all hope fled.

"The Keys," said Calderon, and took a step back. "You boys do the honors."

Isaac quickly stepped up. He slid the stones off the cord and held them all in his hand, gazing at them longingly. Alexander wondered if he even appreciated who had held those objects. Cyrus the Great, Genghis Khan, Alexander…  The greatest leaders and conquerors in history; and now, this kid was handling them, roughly inserting one into the slot.

"What about me?" Jacob asked, moving in.

"Snooze you lose," Isaac replied, fitting in the second.

"Hope it zaps you," Alexander said.

Isaac glanced back before inserting the third. "Right…  Hmmm, why don't you do the last one?"  He held out his hand.

Alexander glanced over at Xavier, who had raised his head and was watching Alexander. He gave a nod, indicating he'd be safe, as Alexander thought. There was no danger at this point to anything other than the contents of the box. But his visions had shown that the three keys alone would do it.

The hand bobbled. "Come on, brother. Honor's all yours."

"Somebody just do it," Calderon snapped.

Alexander sighed. "Let Jacob do it. I'm tired."

Jacob flashed his eyes at him—whether in anger or gratitude Alexander wasn't sure. But then he snatched up the key from his brother and slipped it into the slot. The twins jumped back with a cry as a flash of light erupted from around the crack in the lid. A hiss of steam shot out in all directions, and then the cover propped up an inch.

Calderon stepped through them, put the cane under his arms, and with the brazen confidence of a man fulfilling his believed-in-destiny, he lifted the lid up and off.

He peered inside and smiled.

Alexander couldn't see at this angle, and then the twins were climbing up, gathering around and looking inside.

"Just a bunch of clay tablets," said Jacob.

"Goofy writing," Isaac added. "Boring!"

"Have some respect, boys."  Calderon lifted one tablet out, holding it up. The script was familiar in places, Alexander saw. With alternating lines of ancient Greek and then the familiar script that was on the Emerald Tablet—which Alexander realized now was slightly reminiscent of the Rongo-Rongo carvings his mother had translated, the ones at that Mohenjo-Daro place, and Easter Island.

"Hey," Alexander said. "That-"

But then the scene melted away and he was on an island, standing on a flat grassy hilltop under a pure blue sky. Below, miles from the waves that caressed the rocky shore, a hundred workers toiled in a quarry, hacking at the black granite chunks. Molding them into giant
Moai
that would be aligned into sacred patterns and stand guard, warding off the annihilation that comes for men when they become too advanced.

"We will be safe here?" someone asks. And there is a woman, beautiful and shapely. Tall, with long black hair blowing in the breezes around her face, obscuring her eyes. She holds a smooth piece of driftwood in her hands. On it is written that script in alternating rows, front and back.

Instructions set to animalistic myth. Instructions on how to hide. To live simply and to protect themselves.

And wait.

Wait for salvation.

"Will it be long?" she asks, her voice cracking in the wind.

"Undoubtedly," the chief replies. "Many, many generations."

He looks to the sky, to the defiant moon hanging high and triumphant, stubbornly refusing to yield to the rising sun. And he trembles, recalling the legends.

She notices his gaze.

"How can we think to hide?"

"We just do as we were brought up. Just as there is evil, there is good. Darkness and Light. We must hope the light will protect us." He sighs and reaches for her hand. "But come, enough of this melancholy. We have much living to do before we pass on."

#