The Nemesis Program

Chapter Thirty-Eight

‘What do you mean, “the big one”?’ Ben asked with narrowed eyes.

‘In energy terms, the Mongolia event is estimated at over nine point five on the Richter Scale,’ Daniel explained. ‘That far eclipses what happened at Tunguska in 1908, close on the equivalent of three gigatons of TNT. The biggest thermonuclear device ever detonated tips the scale at only fifty megatons. By comparison to this Mongolia incident, the Taráca quake was just a ripple.’

Roberta was frowning. ‘So what are you saying, that they’re increasing the power as they go?’

Daniel nodded. ‘Assuming that the devastation in the Altai Mountains was not a natural event, and it’s too strange and coincidental to assume otherwise, then that would appear so, yes. They’re cranking up the volume bit by bit, testing the capabilities of the technology. I believe that what we’ve seen up until now was just a dry run, if you will. A rehearsal.’

‘A rehearsal for what?’ Roberta asked, her frown deepening.

Daniel spread his hands. ‘I don’t know. Neither did Claudine. But I think that Mitch Shelton probably did.’

‘Okay, and who’s he?’

‘According to our sources, Shelton was a CIA operative allegedly also employed by the classified agency that may or may not be directly behind this. Seems he found out a little too much of what was going on, became alarmed and confided some of what he’d discovered to an American journalist and conspiracy investigator called Chester Guardini. When Claudine and I met Guardini at a Free Earth symposium in Frankfurt last October, he seemed terrified. Kept looking over his shoulder. Wouldn’t say much, except that something big was in the offing.’

‘Something big?’ Roberta said. ‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know. He kept talking about something called Nemesis. Some kind of secret program. He wouldn’t say more, just that he and Shelton were planning to blow the lid off real soon. Said it would be the biggest thing since … well, the biggest thing since ever. But it never happened. And it never will. Just days after we spoke to him, we heard that Guardini’s car had been totalled by a truck back home in Chicago. With him in it, that is. Pronounced dead at the scene. Around the same time, Mitch Shelton drowned accidentally on a fishing trip near Miami. Believe that if you can. Coincidence? I don’t think so.’

‘So with all the potential witnesses gone, we basically have no idea what this Nemesis program is?’ Ben said.

‘Pretty much none,’ Daniel replied. ‘And they’re serious about keeping it that way. After we heard about the deaths of Guardini and Shelton, I started getting scared. Claudine and I had been right there with him, talking in a public place. Who was to say we hadn’t been watched, followed, caught on camera? I told her it was getting too dangerous, that we should back off. If we get in too deep, I said, we’ll never get out again. But she wouldn’t listen. We argued.’

‘She was wilful that way,’ Roberta said. ‘Once she got an idea in her head, that was it.’

Ben looked at her and felt like saying ‘Claudine wasn’t the only one’, but he kept his mouth shut. A movement from the window caught his eye and he glanced outside to see that more birds had flown down to join the little flock greedily crowding around the food in the dirt. A shred of ham went flying; a crumb was snapped up by a darting beak. At least somebody was having a good time.

Daniel’s face cracked. He bowed his head and he started to weep pitifully. ‘I should have done more to persuade her,’ he sobbed, his shoulders quaking. ‘I should have been more forceful. Now she’s dead and it’s my fault. And next,’ he sniffed, wiping his tears, ‘they’ll come after me. I know it. What am I going to do? I found a safe place out here. I leave, they’ll zoom in on me and I’m history.’

With a sympathetic expression Roberta went over to Daniel and put her hand on his shoulder. ‘We can get you out of Sweden without them knowing, Daniel. Can’t we?’ she added, turning towards Ben. Daniel’s face seemed to brighten a little. ‘You can? But how?’

‘By flying right under those sonsofbitches’ radar,’ she replied. ‘That’s how we got here unnoticed. We have a plane.’

‘You have an aircraft? Where?’

‘At an airstrip, a little way south of here,’ she said. ‘We could get there in just a few hours in your Land Rover.’

‘I’m ready to leave any time,’ Daniel said.

‘Ben? What do you say?’

‘Two questions,’ Ben said. ‘The first, where are we supposed to take him? The second, where are we going ourselves? It looks to me as if we’ve hit a dead end.’

Daniel paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, then said, ‘Maybe not. I haven’t told you everything I know.’

But Ben had suddenly lost interest in what Daniel knew. Another movement outside had distracted his attention. The flock of birds gathered to peck at Daniel’s tossed sandwich had suddenly scattered, erupting like a small explosion and flying away in all directions for the safety of the trees. Ben jumped up and strode quickly to the window.

‘What is it?’ Roberta said, her eyes widening in alarm.

He stared intently at the trees. Nothing moved. The forest seemed perfectly still. It could have been anything. The approach of some predator, a fox, maybe. Even just a ripple of wind through the branches could have frightened the wary birds.

And yet …

Ben’s senses were jangling. Something was wrong.

‘Ben?’ Roberta asked anxiously. ‘What have you seen?’

‘Somebody’s out there,’ Ben said.