Atlantis

Chapter 35

“Two guards,” Dane whispered into his communicator.

“I see them.” Kasey’s voice didn’t lose the serene quality it always held.

“Which one do you want me to take out?” Dane held his Walther ready to fire.

“We’ve got this one,” Greg said. “Cover us in case we get into trouble.”

Dane watched as two dark figures appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Greg took one out with a sharp strike to the temple and a knee to the forehead. Kasey eliminated her target with strike to the chin and a roundhouse kick to the head as he fell. They dragged the men away from the entrance, bound them with zip ties, and motioned for Maddock to join them.

Keeping to the shadows, they passed through the gate and headed toward the mining company’s main building.

They dispatched two more guards at the entrance. No need, Greg noted, to kill the men if they could help it. As far as they knew, these were locals and had no affiliation with the Dominion.

It wasn’t until they located the security office that they ran into trouble. Two men burst forth, spraying the hallway with automatic pistol fire. Greg and Kasey hit the floor and, before they could return fire, Dane took both men down with head shots.

“Wow!” Kasey said as he helped her to her feet. “I guess the SEALs’ reputations are deserved.”

“Sometimes.”

“Can Bones shoot like that?”

“Yep. Almost as good as me.” Dane winked. “At least, that what he claims.”

“I figured he was full of crap.” Kasey fell in alongside Dane as they followed Greg into the office.

“Oh, he’s definitely full of crap, but he’s also very good at what he does. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Do you think you two could manage to guard the door while you gossip?” Greg was already working on hacking into the computer system.

Dane and Kasey took up positions just inside the door where they could watch the hall in both directions.

“I have to admit, he handled himself pretty well in Paris.”

Dane looked at Kasey. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a thing for him. His ego doesn’t need to boost.”

“No. He’s just… interesting.” Kasey looked away, but Dane didn’t miss the way her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. Bones was going to eat this up.

“I’ve accessed the security cameras,” Greg called. “The good news is, I don’t see anyone between us and the entrance to the crystal caverns.”

“Going by the tone of your voice, it sounds like you’ve got some bad news to deliver,” Kasey said. “Spill it.”

“Interesting choice of words. Come see for yourselves.”

The heat assailed Robinson the moment he stripped off his useless cooling suit. The sudden wave of heat staggered him, but he smiled despite his weariness. Twenty minutes from now, he would be free of this hell and on his way back to Utah with the crystals that the Bishop so fervently desired. His triumph was certain to earn him a spot in the inner circle, one which he believed he richly deserved.

A harness hung at the end of a stout cable and he strapped himself in before pressing the button on the wall. Ten seconds later, a mechanical hum filled the shaft and he began to rise.

Two thousand feet deep, the Robin Hole was a ventilation shaft originally drilled by miners to ventilate lower chambers. When they broke through into this remote section, they widened the hole just enough to lower, or lift, a man through the hole.

The ascent seemed to go on forever as he scraped and banged against the stone walls. Sweat dripped from every pore of his body, and his breath came in gasps. It shouldn’t be taking this long, should it?

Finally, he felt cool air on his face and he rose from the shaft to see Rivera’s smiling face.

“You did as instructed?” Robinson asked as he removed the harness.

“I called the number you gave me and said what you told me to say. I also set off the charges I placed on the turbines.” Rivera frowned. “What about the rest of your men?”

“They won’t be joining us. Now, where’s the way out?”

“That tunnel over there.” Rivera pointed off to his left. “May I ask when I can expect the rest of my money?”

“Your money.” Robinson smacked himself in the side of the head. “I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me.” He reached into his bag and took out his 9 millimeter.

The expression on Rivera’s face turned from pleased to confused to panicked in the instant it took Robinson to pull the trigger.

“Pleasure doing business with you. Sorry to run, but I have a ride to catch.”

“What is it?” Dane’s eyes went to the bank of monitors on the wall and his throat clenched.

Water was pouring into the caves.

“The pumps are no longer working. The caverns will be flooded in no time.” Greg kept his voice calm, but strain was evident in his eyes as he pounded the keyboard.

“Can you turn them back on?” Kasey asked.

“I thought I might be able to, but check this out.” He pointed to a screen showing what looked like a cavern filled with scrap metal.

“What is that?” Dane asked.

“Those are the turbines. Somebody didn’t just shut them down; they blew them up.”

“Joel and Matt?” Kasey’s voice trembled.

Greg turned away from her, his posture rigid. He gazed at the bank of monitors for a second before finally giving his head a single shake.

“There’s no hope.”

The jagged outcropping sliced into Matt’s hand as he hauled his weight ever upward. He didn’t know if this crevasse would lead him out of the cavern, but it was his last hope. When Robinson blew the crystal bridge, damaging Matt’s cooling suit in the process, the way back had been eliminated as a possibility. The gap was too wide and the sides too sheer to climb. Any thoughts of playing Superman were dashed with a single glance down at Logan’s remains, now shredded by the grenade blast, still impaled on the crystal spike.

For a moment, he’d considered giving up, but then he thought about the man who’d found this cavern. Somehow, he’d made it to this cavern and out again. It was possible he could have made it to the cavern before his cooling suit gave out entirely, but there was no way he could have survived the return trip.

Unless he’d found another way out.

Matt had searched the cavern and found this narrow crevasse which, promisingly, climbed upward at a steep angle. His damaged suit would hinder his progress, so he’d removed it, chipped away a few remnants of what he now thought of as Atlantean crystal, and pocketed it, before beginning the climb.

Twenty minutes later, his strength flagging, he found himself flat on his stomach, feet pressed against the sides of the shaft, inching his way upward. His body, slick with sweat and blood, burned with the effort, and the heat, though intense, had abated somewhat. He felt like he was back in the midst of a firefight in some unknown patch of jungle, which was an improvement over crawling through the Fifth Circle of Hell.

He pressed his fingers into a crack in the rock and tried to pull himself up, but the stone crumbled in his grasp and he slid back. He tried again, and again his handhold crumbled. He lay there, gasping for breath, feeling the last of his strength melt away. He couldn’t go on any more. He’d just lie here and gaze at the stars.

The stars! Up ahead, in the midst of unrelenting darkness, Orion’s belt shone in a sliver of gray light. The way out!

Calling upon reserves he hadn’t realized he possessed, he resumed climbing. Inch by painful inch, he moved toward the twinkling lights. They seemed to inch ever closer until he thought he could almost reach out and take hold of him. As if in a dream, he extended his hand.

A cool breeze raised goose bumps on his exposed flesh. He dragged himself out into the night air and rolled over on his back, relishing the shivers that racked his body. He was free.

He lay there, eyes closed, listening to the wind… and the roar of an approaching engine. He opened his eyes and spotted the approaching craft: a Russian Kamov Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter. He staggered to his feet and watched as the chopper landed atop a nearby hill. A man carrying a backpack came running out of the darkness. Robinson!

Matt’s hand went to his hip, reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. Cursing in impotent rage, he started running toward the chopper. There was nothing he could do, but he couldn’t bear just standing there and watching the murderous Dominion operative escape.

It seemed someone else had the same idea. As the Ka-52 rose into the air, gunfire erupted from the direction of the mine. Who could be firing on the chopper? He strained his eyes, but could not make out the figures, only the muzzle flashes, always in different places, as the shooters remained on the move.

Undeterred, the chopper rose into the air, fired off a single burst in the direction of the shooters, turned, and zoomed off into the night.

Matt’s knees went weak and he crumpled to the ground. Joel was dead, Robinson escaped, and the Dominion now possessed the crystals it needed to unleash their weapon.

Over the sound of his own ragged breathing, he heard shouts and the cries of someone in pain. At least one of the attackers was down. He could just make out some of the words.

“Hang on, Kasey! Help’s on the way.”

He knew that voice.

It was Maddock. And that meant they were another man down. Forcing himself to move, he headed toward his friends. How, he wondered, had this mission gone so wrong?