The Atlantis Stone

CHAPTER 15

Morning light streamed through the patio doors of Elizabeth's office. Ronnie and Lamont sat next to Nick and Selena on the couch in front of Elizabeth's desk. Stephanie took a seat nearby with her laptop.

Steph looks radiant, Selena thought. I wonder if she's pregnant again?

"I tracked down Sokolov," Stephanie said. "He's legitimate, regarded as a reliable researcher in Russian academic circles. He got in trouble once for speaking out against government restrictions on sharing research with academic colleagues in the West."

"Was he a political dissident?" Elizabeth asked.

"I suppose it's possible, but he still had his job at the Institute. He disappeared eight days ago. Selena said his letter was postmarked from Amsterdam. I searched through the newspapers from around the time it was mailed and found an article about an unidentified victim who was murdered in his hotel."

"You think it was Sokolov?" Elizabeth said.

"It fits. The man was tortured. It seems like too much of a coincidence."

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. "I knew it. If he was alive, he'd have shown up to talk with Selena."

Elizabeth picked up her pen and began tapping it on her desk. She caught herself and set it down.

"Selena, you look like the cat that ate the canary."

At the word cat, an enormous orange tomcat lying on the couch next to Selena looked up expectantly.

"No, Burps, it's not time for lunch."

Selena reached down and scratched the cat behind his ear, triggering a rumbling purr that vibrated under her touch.

"What I found will be challenged as a hoax. But I'm convinced that tablet is genuine and from Atlantis. No one could fake that language."

"Atlantis was real?" Lamont asked.

"If you believe what's on the tablet. It's a narrative of what the author calls the homeland. I think he was recording a contemporary history."

"I have a hard time believing any of this," Ronnie said.

"You're not the only one," Lamont said.

"Don't forget the pillar found in Egypt. That inscription fits with the stories about Atlantis."

"Still doesn't prove it." Ronnie crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, it doesn't. But what's on the Paris tablet ups the possibility. The scribe describes two different groups called the Sages and the Archons. He was in the first group."

"Sounds like something Hollywood would dream up," Lamont said.

"Give it a break, Lamont," Nick said. "Let her tell us the rest."

"Their government seems to have been a quasi-democratic monarchy. When the tablet was inscribed, the Archons were the dominant group. That's interesting because Archon is a Greek word for ruler or magistrate. Anyway, the two groups argued about how to use the power Sokolov talked about in his letter."

"What did they argue about?" Nick asked.

"The Archons wanted to create a weapon by increasing the power of the force they used to lift things. There's nothing on the tablet about why they wanted to do that or who they were going to use it against. The force was unstable. The Sages thought increasing the power would cause uncontrollable destruction. The Archons were determined to do it anyway."

"What happened?" Ronnie asked.

"The Sages couldn't stop what was happening. They built an archive to preserve the knowledge of the society in case something went wrong. That confirms what was written on the pillar in the photograph."

"And?" Elizabeth asked.

"The narrative ends there. It's incomplete."

"So we still don't know where this archive was."

"No."

"Then we're no better off than before."

"The Archons must have succeeded in what they were trying to do," Selena said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Something terrible happened to Atlantis. They were trying to build a weapon. I think they destroyed themselves with it."

"A weapon that got out of control," Nick said.

"Whatever that force was, it must've had enormous destructive power. There would be records of it in that archive. If there's any chance it still exists, we have to find it before the Russians do."

"Anything with that kind of possible weapons application has to be kept out of Russian hands," Elizabeth said. "Selena's right. We have to find that archive."

"Where do we begin looking?" Nick asked.

Selena brushed her hand across her forehead. "There could be another tablet with the location. Something that continues the narrative."

"The French tablet was discovered near the town of Marsá Matruh, the same place Sokolov mentions," Stephanie said. "I looked at satellite photos of the area. There are ruins of an Egyptian temple complex near there, right about where that mark is on the map. If there's another tablet, that's a good place to start looking for it."

"I was thinking," Ronnie said.

"Oh, oh," Lamont said.

Ronnie ignored him. "Sokolov would have told the Russians what's on the map."

"Maybe not," Nick said. "He could've died before they got it out of him. If they know what's on it, why try to steal it from Selena?"

"They'd want to be sure Sokolov told them the truth. That he wasn't lying to make them stop."

"If he told them what was on the map, the Russians will have the same idea I did," Stephanie said. "They'll go to Marsá Matruh to look for more information. It's a popular tourist destination. There are guided tours to the temple. At least there used to be."

"Used to be?"

"ISIS changed that. Marsá Matruh is a resort town. There are still tourists but almost no one goes out to those ruins anymore. They're close to Libya. It's not worth getting your head hacked off with a dull knife for the sake of a few pictures. ISIS is well established in Libya and they come and go as they please. You don't hear much about it because the tourism board doesn't want to scare people away."

Elizabeth picked up her pen. Nick waited for her to begin tapping it on her desktop.

"We have to take a look at those ruins," Selena said.

"People have been climbing over them for years," Ronnie said. "If anything's there, it would've been found by now."

"Not necessarily. It would be just another piece of stone with writing on it."

"I suppose it's possible," Nick said.

"You sound doubtful."

"It seems to me someone would have noticed by now if another tablet was there."

"You could be right," Elizabeth said, "but we need to check it out."

"It's a real long shot," Nick said.

"It's the only shot we've got."

"Am I in on this one?" Lamont asked.

"No. I want you healthy before you go back out in the field. There's plenty for you to do here." Elizabeth turned to the others. "Nick, you and Selena and Ronnie will go. Keep an eye out in case the Russians decide to follow up. Be careful. I don't want any of you showing up in one of those ISIS videos."