The Atlantis Scrolls

Chapter 31

Sam had nowhere to go, except for running aimlessly into the blackness of the smaller tunnel he was in. One oddity, though, was that he could hear the hum of the turbine much louder now that he was away from the main tunnel. In all the frantic rushing and the overwhelming thrashing of his heart, he could not help but admire the beauty of the well-groomed dog that had cornered him. Her black pelt had a healthy sheen even in the meager light and her mouth changed from a sneer to a droopy smile as she started to relax, just standing in his way, panting.

“Oh, no, I know your kind well enough not to fall for that friendliness, lass,” Sam objected to her docile manner. He knew better. Sam decided to make his way deeper into the tunnel, but at a normal pace. The dog could not give chase if Sam gave her nothing to pursue. Slowly, ignoring her intimidation, Sam tried to act normal and started down the dark corridor of concrete. But he was cut short in his endeavor by her disapproving growl, a menacing roar of warning that Sam could not help but heed.

“You are welcome to come with me,” he said cordially, while inside his veins adrenaline was flooding his system.

The black bitch was having none of it. Growling in a malicious sneer she reiterated her position and took a few steps closer to her target, for good measure. It would be foolish of Sam to try to run, even from just one animal. They were simply faster and deadlier, not an adversary to be challenged. Sam sat down on the floor and waited to see what she would do. But the only reaction his bestial captor exhibited was to sit down in front of him like a sentinel. And that was exactly what she was.

Sam did not want to hurt the dog. He was a stalwart animal lover, even to those who would rip him to shreds. But he had to get away from her, in case Purdue and Nina were in peril. Every time he moved, she would growl at him.

“My apologies, Mr. Cleave,” a voice spoke from the dark cavern deeper in from the entrance, startling Sam. “But I cannot let you get away, you see?” The voice was male, and spoke in a heavy Dutch accent.

“No, no worries. I’m quite the charmer. Many people insist on the thrill of my company,” Sam replied in his well-known sarcastic dismissal.

“I’m glad you have a sense of humor, Sam,” the man said. “God knows there are too many uptight people out there.”

The man came into view. He was dressed in overalls, just like Sam and his party. A very attractive man he was, and his manners appeared to match, but Sam had learned that the most civilized and learned of men were usually the most depraved. After all, the men of the Brigade Apostate were all highly educated and mannered men, yet they could resort to violence and brutality in a blink. Something about the man who confronted him told Sam to tread lightly.

“Do you know what you are searching for down here?” the man asked.

Sam remained quiet. In truth he had no idea what he, Nina, and Purdue were looking for, but he was not going to entertain the stranger’s inquiries either.

“Mr. Cleave, I asked you a question.”

The Rottweiler growled, moving closer to Sam. It was admirable, and terrifying, that she could react accordingly without any order.

“I don’t know. We only followed some blueprint we discovered under Wewelsburg,” Sam replied, keeping it as simple as he could. “And you are?”

“Bloem. Joost Bloem, sir,” the man said. Sam nodded. Now he could place the accent, although he did not know the name. “We should join Mr. Purdue and Dr. Gould, I think.”

Sam was puzzled. How did this man know their names? And how did he know where to find them? “Besides,” Bloem mentioned, “you’d have gotten nowhere up this tunnel. It is solely for ventilation.”

It dawned on Sam that the Rottweilers could not have entered the network of tunnels the same way he and his colleagues did, therefore the Dutchman had to know of another entry point.

They made their way out of the secondary tunnel back to the main hall where the lights still labored to keep the place lit. Sam thought of cold-cocking Bloem and face dealing with his pet, but before he could formulate any plans, three figures appeared in the distance. They were followed by the rest of the dogs. It was Nina and Purdue walking with another young man. Nina’s face lit up when she saw that Sam was intact and unscathed.

“Now, lady and gentlemen, shall we proceed?” Joost Bloem suggested.

“Where to?” Purdue asked.

“Oh, come now, Mr. Purdue. Don’t play with me, old chap. I know who you are, who all of you are, although you have no idea who I am and that, my friends, should make you very wary about toying with me,” Bloem explained as he took Nina gently by her hand and led her away from Purdue and Sam. “Especially when there are ladies in your lives who could come to harm.”

“Don’t you threaten her!” Sam sneered.

“Sam, take it easy,” Nina implored. Something about Bloem told her that he would not hesitate to get rid of Sam, and she was correct.

“Listen to Dr. Gould… Sam,” Bloem mocked.

“Excuse me, but are we supposed to be familiar with you?” Purdue asked as they started walking along the giant passage.

“You of all people should be, Mr. Purdue, but alas you are not,” Bloem replied amicably.

Purdue was reasonably concerned at the stranger’s remark, but he could not recall ever meeting him before. The man held firmly onto Nina’s hand like a protective lover, showing no hostility, though she knew he would not let her break away without considerable regret.

“Another friend of yours, Purdue?” Sam asked with a corrosive edge.

“No, Sam,” Purdue barked back, but before he could dissuade Sam’s assumption, Bloem addressed the journalist directly.

“I am no friend of his, Mr. Cleave. But his sister is a close… acquaintance,” Bloem leered.

Purdue’s face grew ashen with shock. Nina held her breath.

“So please try to keep things between us affable, yes?” Bloem smiled at Sam.

“Is that how you found us?” Nina asked.

“Of course not. Agatha had no idea where you were. We found you courtesy of Mr. Cleave,” Bloem revealed, basking in the blooming distrust he saw growing in Purdue and Nina toward their journalist friend.

“Bullshit!” Sam exclaimed. He was livid, seeing the reaction of his colleagues. “I had nothing to do with this!”

“Really?” Bloem asked with a devilish grin. “Wesley, show them.”

The young man who walked at the back with the dogs obliged. From his pocket he brought out a device that looked like a cell phone without buttons. On it was a compact view of the area and surrounding gradients to signify the terrain and ultimately the maze of structures they were traversing. Only one red spot throbbed, moving slowly along the coordinates of one of the lines.

“Look,” Bloem said, and Wesley stopped Sam in his tracks. The red dot stopped on the screen.

“You son of a bitch!” Nina hissed at Sam, who shook his head in disbelief.

“I had nothing to do with this,” he said.

“Odd, since you are on their tracking system,” Purdue said in condescension that had Sam fuming.

“You and your fucking sister must’ve planted this on me!” Sam screamed.

“Then how would these guys get the signal? It has to be one of their trackers, Sam, to show up on their screens. Where else would you have been tagged if you had not been with them before?” Purdue insisted.

“I don’t know!” Sam retorted.

Nina could not believe her ears. Confounded, she stared mutely at Sam, the man she trusted with her life. All he could do was to vehemently deny involvement, but he knew the damage was done.

“That aside, we are all here now. Best cooperate to avoid anyone getting hurt, or killed,” Bloem grinned.

He was pleased at how easily he could wedge a chasm between the companions by the perpetuation of a little distrust. It would defy his purpose if he revealed that the council tracked Sam by way of the nanites in his system, similar to that which Nina’s body contained in Belgium before Purdue gave her and Sam vials to swallow, vials that held the antidote.

Sam did not trust Purdue’s intentions and made Nina believe that he had also taken his antidote. But by not taking the fluid that could neutralize the nanites in his body, Sam had inadvertently allowed the council to comfortably locate him, and to follow him to the site of the Ernaux secret.

Now he was effectively labeled traitor and he had no proof to argue otherwise.

They came to a sharp turn in the tunnel, faced with an enormous vault door fixed into the wall where the tunnel ended. It was a tarnished gray door with rusty bolts that reinforced it along the sides and across the middle. The group stopped to examine the massive door in front of them. Its color was a pale gray cream hue, only slightly different to that of the walls and floor of the tubes. On closer inspection they could see the cylinders of steel that latched the heavy door to the surrounding doorframe set in the thick concrete.

“Mr. Purdue, I’m sure you can open this for us,” Bloem said.

“I doubt that,” Purdue replied. “I didn’t pack any nitroglycerine.”

“But you surely have some sort of genius technology in that bag of yours, as you normally do, to hasten your passage through all the places you always stick your nose in?” Bloem insisted, his tone clearly more antagonistic as his patience waned. “Do it for the sake of restricted time…” he told Purdue, and worded his next threat clearly, “do it for your sister.”

Agatha could well be dead already, Purdue thought, but he kept a straight face.

At once all five dogs began to look agitated, yelping and moaning as they stepped here and there.

“What is it, girls?” Wesley asked the animals, rushing to calm them.

The party looked around, but saw no danger. Perplexed, they watched the dogs grow exceedingly rowdy, barking into the air before starting to howl incessantly.

“Why are they doing that?” Nina asked.

Wesley shook his head, “They hear something we cannot. And whatever it is, it must be intense!”

Obviously the animals were extremely irritated by a subsonic pitch that the humans could not pick up on, because they started howling desperately, maniacally twirling and turning in their tracks. One by one the dogs began to retreat backward from the vault door. Wesley whistled in myriad variations, yet the dogs refused to obey. They turned and ran as if the devil was at them and quickly disappeared around the bend, away into the distance.

“Call me paranoid, but that is a sure sign that we are in trouble,” Nina remarked, while the others frantically scanned their surroundings.

Joost Bloem and the loyal Wesley both drew their sidearms from under their jackets.

“You brought guns?” Nina frowned in surprise. “Why bother with the dogs then?”

“Because getting torn up by feral animals would make your deaths accidental and unfortunate, my dear Dr. Gould. Untraceable. And shooting off in these acoustics would just be stupid,” Bloem explained matter of factly as he pulled back the hammer.