Savage Bay (18 page)

OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA

“Where are the Dragons that exited the sub?” asked Caine.

“They’re in the cargo bay,” Touchdown said. “They’re not advancing.”

“But Aiko knows that Titan Six will be trying to access the mainframe,” DJ speculated. “I don’t get it. We must be missing something.”

“Why wouldn’t they have destroyed the mainframe by now?” Quiz asked. “They already have the Genesis data.”

“Two possibilities,” said Caine. “They may believe, rightly or wrongly, that the mainframe still has information that isn’t on other computer systems at the base. Or they may simply be waiting for Titan to descend. A classic ambush.”

“Where exactly on Level Three is the mainframe?” Caine asked.

“It’s in the CompCenter,” said Cruz. “South side of the mountain.”

“Something’s wrong,” said Caine. “At least a few Dragons should be in the CompCenter already if they’re trying to stage an ambush. Touchdown, are there any life signs in the CompCenter?”

“Already accessing Manticore,” Touchdown said. “I show only one person there.”

“Peculiar,” said Caine. “Damn peculiar.”

TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY

“What can you tell us about the number eleven eleven?” Hawkeye asked.

Dominique shot a concerned look at Madison. The question had clearly caught her off guard.

“I told them only what I personally know about the number,” Madison said. “And how it has been showing up everywhere. Also how we postulated that it could be relevant to The Genesis Code. We found Emilio Gonzales in your office. I’m afraid he didn’t make it, but his last words were ‘Boren in eleven eleven.’  Does the number have any further significance to the Genesis Code that I’m not aware of?”

“We’ll discuss that later, Christian,” said Dominique. “For now, let’s get to Level Three.”

Madison’s face clearly showed concern — and puzzlement.

Shooter and Gator in the lead, the team began descending the stairs to Level Three.

It’s quiet
, Hawkeye thought.
Way too quiet.

OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA

Touchdown studied the video feed from the camera in the cargo bay. The Dragons stood immobile. That’s when he realized the truth.

“The Chinese forces have somehow altered that feed,” Touchdown said. “Look carefully. Every sixty seconds, the men go through the same very minor gestures. This is a feedback loop.”

“Which means that the Dragons are probably advancing to the south end of the tunnel,” Caine said. “If they’re not already there.”

“But I’m still showing nothing in the way of commandos near the CompCenter,” Touchdown said.

“Where the hell
are
they?” asked Caine, her voice agitated.

Touchdown took a deep breath. He knew his response wasn’t going to be well received. “They’ve disappeared.”

TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY

“Where are the Chinese forces?” Hawkeye asked. “I’m not just talking about the ones in the cargo bay?”

“We don’t know,” Catherine Caine answered in a chilly voice. “They’re. . . ” She paused and chose her words carefully. “ . . . unaccounted for at present.”

“I think they may be ready to pull out,” Dominique said.

The team and its entourage stood in a storage hanger on Level Three. The walls were lined with canisters and wooden crates.

“Follow me,” said Dominique. “Private quarters are located on this level, as well as facilities for repair and maintenance, electrical generators, environmental controls, and the like. Also the CompCenter.”

“Shooter goes first,” Hawkeye said.

Dominique swiped her Triad ID and the team entered a hallway that was intersected by others every ten yards.

“Any hostiles?” Hawkeye asked.

“Negative,” said Touchdown.

The CompCenter was located at the end of the hall. Dominique swiped her card again, and the team entered a spacious modern room with computer stations, servers, and plasma screens lining every wall. On the left was a large stainless steel structure, the digital mainframe. A male technician holding a clipboard was recording numbers from dozens of digital readouts.

“This beauty is Gencore,” explained Dominique proudly. “It’s where virtually every bit of Genesis research is stored. It also has a computing ability that would make the Pentagon jealous.”

Dominique turned and motioned to the right.

“On the other side of the room is Manticore,” the Project Director said. “It’s also a digital mainframe, but it monitors surveillance, other computer systems, security — just about every system on the base. It’s the nerve center for Savage Bay.”

Battenford walked up to the tech and began discussing various displays. He was unsteady on his feet.

“That’s Ted Pearson,” Dominique told Hawkeye. “He works under Nigel.”

“And if I understand correctly,” said Hawkeye, “Gencore holds information on The Genesis Code that will revolutionize humanity.” 

Hawkeye eyed Pearson suspiciously. Why was he working in the lab unhindered?

“You understand correctly,” affirmed Dominique. “What our team has uncovered is information passed down to us from a lost civilization that will enable mankind to make a quantum evolutionary leap.”

“We’re getting very close to solving the entire puzzle,” Madison added. “There are billions of
DNA
sequences in the human genome, and it has taken a long time to map many of the introns, or junk
DNA
sequences, that Joshua previously discovered. It’s no easy task, but when we finally correlate all the data from every intron, we will have a codex that represents an entirely new biological knowledge base for humanity.”

Dominique smiled and spoke in a voice that Hawkeye regarded as mildly condescending. “Actually, Christian, we’re pretty far along. We haven’t actually run conclusive experiments yet, but the mapping is advancing every day. We’ve even begun to read large sections of the Code.”  She motioned to Gencore. “The data is stored right there.”

“But Dominique,” said a shocked Christian Madison. “No one told me this!”

“Nobody has all the data thus far except me and Heidi Boren,” said Dominique. “She’s the first who came across certain algorithms that greatly advanced the work begun by Joshua. She knew exactly where to look and how to decipher the information on incredibly long strings of introns.”

“I still should have been told!” Madison said, his voice rising. “What did Boren find?”

Dominique folded her arms and walked about the room nonchalantly. “I guess there’s no harm in telling you now, Christian. The Ancients have given us instructions on how to rewrite our own
DNA
. We can — ”  She paused. “You get the picture. There’s more, but for now, I think you can appreciate why the Chinese are interested in The Genesis Code.”

Dominique sat at a computer station and began typing. When she turned around, she was wearing a clear plastic mask over her nose and mouth. So was Ted Pearson.

“What’s going on?” asked Hawkeye.

Tank sank to his knees. “She’s released an invisible gas into the room,” he said. “We’ve been set up.”

Shooter and Gator went down next, followed by Battenford, Madison, and Pyro.

Hawkeye tried to cross the room, but his vision blurred five steps from Dominique. He collapsed.

Dominique and Pearson began removing large, clear chips from the mainframe.

OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA

“Oh my God,” Cruz said. She sat, the blood draining from her face.

“What’s wrong?” asked Caine.

“There’s a corridor that runs beneath the length of the tunnel,” Cruz said. “It’s accessible from the cargo bay at the north end and the storage area at the south end. It’s heavily shielded from all forms of radar. That’s where the Dragons are.”

“Titan Six appears to be unconscious,” Touchdown said. “But I’m still receiving audio and visual feeds from their helmets. Gator’s head is apparently cocked at an odd angle that will allow us to see what’s going on in the CompCenter.”

“Let’s have a look,” said Caine.

“Very well,” said Touchdown. “Dragons are entering the CompCenter now.”

COMPCENTER, SAVAGE BAY

Aiko entered the Computer Center, followed by six Dragons. Six more remained in the storage area. All Dragons carried HK416 assault rifles.

“Your skills are indeed formidable, Dominique Caine,” Aiko proclaimed. “I see Titan forces have been subdued.”

“They won’t be out long thanks to their BioMEMS systems. Pearson and I are removing the CL chips with the Genesis data.”

“CL chips?” asked Aiko, her thin eyebrows raised. “What are they and why didn’t we get them before now?”

“They’re Crystal-Linear chips, coated with clear plastic for protection against breakage. One hundred in all. I’ve been downloading final data streams and encryption keys from other systems to the CL chips for the past twenty-four hours. We need the redundancy, plus the chips have some final bits of information that Dr. Boren uncovered in the last month or so. I thought it wise to send it to Gencore at the last minute. Is the sub ready to depart?”

“We’re going to allow the radiation leak to continue for another fifty minutes,” said Aiko.

The Commander’s facial features were cold and dispassionate. It was clear she was a career soldier on a mission. “When we’re ready to leave, all personnel and troops will be inoculated with Thorian 18 to treat for radiation sickness.”

Dominique glanced at the motionless Titan team. “In another two hours, it will be too late for our worthy opponents. No treatment will reverse the cellular damage caused by the leak.”

“What about the door to the submarine bay?” the Chinese commander asked.

“I have an override code that can raise it through Maniticore,” Dominique said confidently. “I’m the only one who has it.”

“Return to the sub when you have the chips. My men will make a final sweep of the complex while you finish.”

“There are some Dragons in the chapel,” Dominique said. “They’re sedated.”

Aiko faced her men and spoke to them in Chinese. “Take the Titan bodies and tie them up. Bring them to the cargo bay and deposit them in one of the metal containers beneath the Rail Lift System.”

Titan Six, Madison, and Battenford were removed from the CompCenter.

OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA

Catherine Caine sat next to Cruz. “My daughter,” she said lowly. “She’s a traitor.”

“Maybe she was coerced,” Quiz said tentatively.

Caine shook her head. “My daughter would never surrender data pertaining to The Genesis Code under duress. It had to be voluntary. Now we understand the note Henry Garland was trying to write when he was interrupted by Dragons:
has asked me to cooperate . . .
Dominique apparently tried to enlist at least some of the Triad employees.”

She paused, choking back tears seldom scene by Titan personnel.

“We didn’t get a good look at the leader’s face from Gator’s helmet cam,” Cruz said, “but I presume that was Commander Aiko.”

“Affirmative,” said Touchdown. “Voice recognition verifies her identity. “As for her final orders, I have the translation. He told her men to — ”

“Thank you,” said Caine, “but I speak Chinese. Titan Six is being taken to a cargo container at the north end of Savage Bay.”

“Correct,” said Touchdown. “Titan reinforcements are approximately one hour away. Maybe less. Their C-17 Globemaster encountered bad weather over north Africa. Titan jets have scrambled, however, from our base in southern France. They’re over the Mediterranean.”

Caine turned to Ambergris. “How much Genesis data were you able to glean when we recorded double helixes in the lab on Level One?”

“Enough to know where to look for the most important part of the code,” said Ambergris. “But I didn’t get any details. Information stored on 100 CL chips is tantamount to a thousand encyclopedias. The Ancients must have been far more advanced than we originally imagined.”

“Unfortunately,” said Caine, “I don’t think the Ancients wanted their secrets to be decoded by a ruthless arm of a repressive government.”

COMPCENTER, SAVAGE BAY

Dominique Caine and Ted Pearson had finished storing the CL chips into an oversized briefcase with one hundred velvet-lined slots.

“Take these to the sub,” she told her subordinate.

As Pearson exited, Dominique sat at another of the many computer terminals in the center. She entered a password to access the base security directory and then typed several lines of code. At the opposite end of the complex, the steel door in the submarine bay slowly rose above the tail of the Chinese boat. The sub was free.