The Atlantis Stone

CHAPTER 28

Elizabeth's day started with another blast from the tabloids about her so-called affair with Hood. She wasn't in the best of moods. The team had assembled in her office.

"What were you thinking?" Elizabeth said. "I had to call in a hell of a favor to get that sub tasked to you. You're lucky she was in the area."

"I didn't have a choice, Director. They had Selena and were about to disappear. I yelled, one of them drew on me, I shot him. What else was I supposed to do?"

Elizabeth's pen beat a tattoo on her desk.

"The Egyptians are pissed."

"What else is new?" Ronnie said. "They're always pissed, like everybody else over there."

Elizabeth gave him one of her looks. This one said you'd better keep quiet.

"I've used up my last chips with the Pentagon," she said. "The president wants to know why one of our submarines had to be diverted. What do you think I should tell him, Nick?"

"Tell him the truth. We were looking for a new energy source with implications for national security. The Russians didn't want us to find it and sent people to stop us. They called the shots, not us. Just don't tell him about Atlantis. That might be more information than he needs to know at this point."

The pen stopped tapping.

"Really? You don't think I should tell the president about Atlantis? That this energy source may or may not be nothing more than a legend? That we want to go looking for records that may or may not exist under thousands of feet of water? Why wouldn't I want to tell him that?"

The tips of Elizabeth's ears were turning red, a danger sign. Nick said nothing.

"Nothing more to say?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

"It's more than a legend," Selena said.

Harker turned to her. "This better be good."

"I have pictures of the inscriptions in the Egyptian Temple. I polished up the translation during the flight home. Atlantis isn't a myth. Now that we have an idea where to look, we can pinpoint it exactly. There must still be ruins. They'll show up on a scan of the ocean floor."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, making an effort to calm herself.

"How deep?"

"It depends on where it is. The average depth of the Atlantic is about 11,000 feet but there are plenty of places where it's a lot shallower."

"How are we supposed to get to it once we know where it is? The Navy isn't going to loan me one of their research vessels. Not after sending the sub."

"We don't need the Navy," Selena said. "We can search for the stone without them. If we find what we're looking for, the Pentagon will give you a submarine and anything else you want. You'll have lots of new chips to play with."

"What do you mean?"

Selena told Elizabeth about her friend with the deep-sea exploration gear.

"I already talked with him," she said. "He's off the coast of Egypt right now, exploring the ruins of Heracleion. He's willing to work with us."

Elizabeth was getting angry again. "Do I need to remind you this mission is classified?"

"I didn't tell him what we we're looking for. Only enough to get him interested. As far as that goes, he used to be a SEAL, an intelligence officer. He has to have a high security clearance. It shouldn't be hard to read him in on a limited basis."

"I suppose you have an idea about how I'm supposed to pay for this?"

"You don't have to. I will."

Elizabeth looked at her in surprise. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I can. Because if I didn't do it, I'd regret it for the rest of my life."

"I can't permit you to do that."

"You're not giving me much of a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't give me permission, I'll resign and do it on my own."

"You can't be serious."

Selena looked at her, her expression set.

Oh, shit, Nick thought.