Atlantis Stolen (Sam Reilly Book 3) (14 page)

Sam’s father’s
Gulfstream stood waiting for them at Sikkim’s Pakyong Airport, its pilots
preparing a route to Siberia. Opening his laptop, which he’d left aboard when
they first arrived in Nepal only a week earlier, he looked up the GPS
coordinates Billie had left for them. It instantly came up with another
reference. He opened up the document and stared at the name of the location.

Tunguska.

“That’s not
possible…”

“What?” Tom
asked.

“The Tunguska
event occurred in Siberia on the morning of 30 June 1908 at approximately 7:30
a.m. The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened
800 miles of forest and caused no known casualties. The cause of the explosion
is generally thought to have been a meteor. It is classified as an impact
event, even though no impact crater has been found; the meteor is thought to
have burst in mid-air at an altitude of 3-5 miles rather than hit the surface
of the Earth. Different studies have yielded varying estimates of the super
bolide’s size, on the order of 600 feet, on whether the meteor was a comet or a
denser asteroid. It is considered the largest impact event on Earth in recorded
history.”

“And that’s where
Billie sent us?”

“Right.”

“That’s one hell
of a coincidence isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’d say so
– if I believed in them.”

“What about
Elise? Did she find anything in the Dark Net?”

“According to
Elise the CIA went to great effort to cover up whatever it was the Russians
found back in 1908. In fact, the CIA and the Russians signed an agreement to
cover up whatever they found there. If you look closely at the images online,
they don’t match the ones taken in 1908. But the reason for the cover up was sealed
– not to be released until…” Sam scrolled through Elise’s secret files a little
further, and then swore.

“Not to be
released until when?”

Sam looked up at
him, the slightest hint of fear in his eyes. “Not to be released until next
month. Just under three weeks to be exact.”

“Now, that
is
a coincidence, isn’t it?” Tom said cheerfully.

Edward looked at
Jason. “Are you coming with us, or staying on the boat?”

“Are you kidding
me? There’s no amount you can pay me to enter that place. No thank you. I’ll
stay aboard my fortress, and provide aerial firepower if you need it.”

“All right. We’ll
see you in a few days.” Edward climbed on board the rubber Zodiac. He wore a
bullet proof, and more importantly, spear-proof vest. With a handgun holstered
to his side and a Mills 12-gauge shotgun in his arms, he looked back at Jason.
His voice was slow, and brutally honest. “If you leave us here, I will personally
drag you back here to let these local pygmies deal with you. Do you understand
me?”

“I certainly do
Mr. Worthington. You’ve paid very well for an exceptional experience. I can
assure you that money was well spent, and I will remain to provide those
services.”

“Good man.”
Edward tapped one of the mercenaries on his shoulder. The man turned the
throttle of the outboard and the Zodiac jumped into life, moving toward the
bank of the river.

There was no bank
to the river on which to drag the two rubber boats. Definitely no visible one
anyway. Mark, who’d been his bodyguard for nearly ten years now, and now acting
as the team’s official leader, made the decision to tie the boats to the branch
of one of the million trees that blurred the line of the river’s bank.

It was difficult
to even enter the jungle.

With no
documented exploration by Westerners, there were no roads, paths, or maps to
suggest what they should expect to find. No way to have known they had entered
a giant swampland. A mesh of water and jungle – its vegetation was so dense
that each of his team were soon forced to sling their M60 machine guns in
exchange for a machete.

Their movement
inside the jungle was slow. And no sooner had they entered it, than the thick
jungle coverings seemed to swallow them, removing all view of the outside world
from which they came. As though the jungle itself had a desire to keep them.

Edward could
immediately see why this was one of the most unexplored regions on earth. The
impenetrable rainforest canopy made satellite imaging useless, while the watery
ground below rendered an armored vehicle useless.

His mind returned
to the three ruined T72 Tanks blocking the river.
They must have been driven
up the river when it was shallow.
If this place was still inhabited by the
ancient pygmies, he could only imagine what they had done to the previous
owners of those battle tanks.

Ahead of him, Dr.
Swan jumped from one branch to another with the agility of a gymnast. She
alone, he noticed, kept her finger confidently fixed next to the trigger of the
M60.

He admired her
fondly. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. By far the most
intelligent person he’d ever met, and had an attractive smile with an exotic
and sporty figure to match. Although he could hardly fail to recognize her
physical attributes, he cared little for them. Instead he looked at her with
the fond pleasure a father might his daughter.

Billie looked up,
her intelligent, almond shaped eyes, actively avoiding his stare, before her
smile broke the awkward tension. Edward smiled warmly in response, and wished
he’d found her years earlier – before their time had nearly run out completely.
That was, unless they found the temple, and the second half of the code to
Atlantis.

“Are you still
confident it’s here, Dr. Swan?”

“You saw the
image as well as I did. The river must have changed unrecognizably over the
last 11,000 years, but there was no mistaking it – that was The Congo River.
And it was about a thousand miles inland. Obviously the jungle has engulfed
more of the river, and the river, in turn, has drowned some of the jungle, but
I’m certain we’re heading in the right direction.”

He smiled warmly.
She was right – he knew it. He didn’t even know how he knew it. But somehow
Edward was certain.

Billie stopped
and removed her pendant from her neck. It was made of orichalcum she’d found at
Atlantis. When she entered the Atlantean Archive in Tibet, she discovered an
interesting fact about orichalcum – the alloy was attracted to itself. Therefore,
you could take a piece of orichalcum and place it in water, and like a compass,
it would guide you to more orichalcum.

He watched her
study her pendant again.

Its needle remained
motionless. There was no sign they were on the right track at all.

She tapped it
several times, but still the needle remained motionless.

“Any idea what
the range of that thing is?”

“How the hell
should I know? All I know is that the orichalcum has a high affinity with
itself. It was strong enough that it got us this far, but now it doesn’t seem
to be showing us much.” Frustrated, Billie replaced the device around her neck
like a necklace, for safe keeping.

“Well, I believe
you’re heading in the right direction. I don’t know why. I just feel it for
some reason that I can’t explain.”

“Thanks for the
vote of confidence,” Billie said, before jumping to another branch. “Now, it’s
my turn to ask some questions.”

“Go ahead. What
do you want to know?”

“If we find the
symbols that we’re looking for – the code to Atlantis, do you have any idea
what we’re going to do with them?”

“I have my
ideas.”

“That’s it? We’ve
traipsed right around the world to find them, and you’re telling me that you
simply have an idea what to do with them once we get them to Atlantis!”

“Yep, that’s it.
You’re a pretty bright young lady. If you happen to stumble upon a better idea,
be sure to let me know. Until then, let’s first see if we can find them in
time.”

“Agreed. Which
brings me to the now…” Billie stopped walking, and looked at him.

“Yes?”

“How confident
are you that you’ve brought enough people to ensure we don’t end up becoming a
warning to others not to trespass? Because frankly, I’d rather not have my head
on a spike.”

Edward smiled
reassuringly. “These ten men are a team of highly paid mercenaries. Experts in
their chosen profession.  Strategically recruited from around the world to
avoid any concerns about patriotism. I have NAVY Seals from the U.S., Commandos
from Australia, SAS from Great Britain, and even a German GSG 9.” He was forced
to put his shotgun on his shoulder while he tried to climb across the next
swamp. Having made it, he grinned warmly and said, “So, you see Dr. Swan, we
are very well equipped to deal with any natives who wish to interfere with our
mission.”

“And what about
the other person who wants what we know?”

“Andrew Brandt?”

“Yes.”

“Are you kidding
me? The man’s a moron. He’ll still be following Sam Reilly to Siberia!”

“And if he
already knows that the Russians destroyed everything of value there back in
1908, and comes looking for us instead? Then what?”

“Then I see if
the million dollars per head that I’m paying my men to look after us has been
well spent.”

He was surprised
to see that Billie wasn’t afraid. She was simply finding out more about the men
he’d employed to look after them.

She stopped
suddenly.

“What is it?”

“My orichalcum compass
started to work again.”

She took it off
her neck and stood still as she could until the needle stopped again. Taking
out his real compass, he noted that her device pointed to the west, on a
bearing of 285 degrees.

“So, we’re on the
right track,” Edward said. “Okay gentlemen. We have a compass bearing of 285 for
our target. We’re on a deadline here, so let’s get a move on.”

The small party
of explorers continued on, into the jungle – the pygmies’ jungle. The canopy
became thicker if that was possible, and despite the time being 2 p.m. the
light disappeared completely, so that each member of the team had to switch on
their shoulder lights just to continue.

With the
exception of Dr. Swan, all members of the team were grown men, not inclined to
be afraid of the dark. And yet, even Edward, who at his age no longer feared
death, felt it was a sign of the evil of the jungle itself.

He heard the
splash first.

Followed by the
loud German words, “Fick mich!”

It was the German
member of their team and ex-GS9 Officer, who had fallen into the water below.
Carrying his heavy equipment, the man sunk so that his head was below the water
for a moment until he was able to pull himself back to the surface using a
branch.

Mark was the
first one to reach him. Immediately climbing down onto the branch directly
above Zelig, he stretched his arm down and grabbed his fallen soldier.

“You okay?” Mark
asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll
be happier to be out of this damn swamp.”

“You and me
both.”

Three other
members of his team quickly attached a rope to Mark in case he fell in too.
Zelig began pulling himself up.

It was the eyes
of the creature that got Edward’s attention. They glowed almost golden in the
darkness of the forest. Zelig, the poor man in the water, saw them too! And
almost climbed out of the water on his own.

But he was too
late.

The crocodile
reached his leg.

It didn’t need
anything else. Zelig was pulled deep under the water by the massive and ancient
reptile. The soldier’s large figure looked more like a child compared to the
monster that had dragged him under.

“Fucking shoot
it!” Mark cried out.

Instantly, every
member of the team out of the water aimed their weapons at the two creatures
that were now too deep in the water for their weapons to be effective.

Zelig was
obviously alive.

Several feet
below the water, Edward could see the man using a knife to fight the animal,
which thrashed and spun him like a ragdoll in a drier. The force was so great
that Zelig lost his weapon.

Both man and
beast seemed to keep thrashing. There was nothing any of them could do.

And then the
thrashing stopped.

Zelig lay lifeless
in the water. The crocodile let him go for a second and then snapped its huge
teeth on the man’s head with a gut-wrenching crunch.

The monster moved
toward the surface to eat its meal, unaware or indifferent to the fact it had
an audience.

Edward had seen a
lot of men die over the years, but this was the first time he’d personally
witnessed one being eaten by a monster. It somehow made the reality of what
they were doing stick home more significantly. As though until now, he’d been
playing a game.

The sound of machine
gun fire interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up.
Mark had raked the crocodile with the entire contents of his magazine, and then
attached a second, only to be stopped by another one of his men.

“It’s dead mate!”
The Australian commando said. “I’m really sorry.”

Mark said
nothing. Instead, he reached down and dragged the remains of Zelig toward him.
By himself, he pulled the man’s corpse up into the tree.

A second
crocodile then made its attack.

Snatching Zelig’s
leg, it dragged the corpse into the swamp and disappeared for good. Edward had
seen enough. “All right gentlemen. No one goes in the water. Let’s keep going,
and see if there is any solid ground in this damn jungle!”