The Thirteenth Legion (A James Acton Thriller, #15) (James Acton Thrillers) (33 page)

“Check
the system,” ordered Cooper. “See if there’s anything running that shouldn’t
be. We need to find whatever’s draining those batteries!”

Chaney
spun toward her, his pacing halted. “Advance another twenty millimeters. Now!”

Acton
turned to the readings on the monitor nearest him, the familiar reading showing
the power being generated now accompanied by a new reading indicating the
amount of draw on the batteries.

His jaw
dropped.

Wait
a minute!

Outside the Denier Installation, Iceland

The security lights rapidly faded then suddenly shut off, the bulk
of the light now coming from the opened roof of the contraption housing the
skulls and what Atlas assumed was some sort of control center. He was
fascinated by science, always had been, though unfortunately he never had the
opportunity when he was younger to pursue it.

Inner city
schools were no place to learn.

They
were places to survive then escape.

He had
graduated, his parents insisting, he thankful they did. His uncle was army and
his father had encouraged him to join, it the best way to escape the vicious
cycle repeated all too often on the streets he grew up in.

It was
the best decision he had ever made.

He loved
his job.

Loved
it.

And he
couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else. He had the best friends one could
imagine, a job that actually
meant
something, and he got to fire guns
and blow shit up every day, while learning things he never knew he was capable
of learning. If someone had told him when he was seventeen that he’d be an
expert hacker one day or that he’d speak several languages, he’d have asked for
some of what they were smoking.

Though
no one could have prepared him for some of the incredible things he had been
involved with over the past few years. Ancient crystal skulls? Two-thousand-year-old
cults? Tombs of Cleopatra? Kidnapped Popes?

It just
never seemed to end.

And he
wouldn’t have it any other way.

He
spotted what appeared to be a seam in the rock wall facing him. He pulled out
his flashlight and played it along the crack, it quickly clear the seam
extended all the way around, forming a rectangle.

Got
ya!

He
activated his comm. “Zero-One, Zero-Seven. We’re secure out here, over.”

“In the
middle of something! Could use a hand if you’re done doing your nails!”

Atlas
waved for the other teams to join him, it evident they were now alone and the
weapons systems apparently destroyed. He stepped back from the door and
launched a shell into it, taking cover behind a large boulder. The explosion
shook the ground under his feet, it suddenly clear this wasn’t rock he was
standing on, but something artificial. Peering out from behind his cover, he
smiled at the door hanging off its hinges.

“Zero-One,
Zero-Seven. We’re on our way!”

Vehicle Bay, Denier Installation, Iceland

Dawson leapt behind an SUV as gunfire sprayed at them from across
what seemed to be a large underground parking area, at least a dozen vehicles
of varying types and sizes parked in two neat rows, a ramp at the far end appearing
to lead to the outside.

This
would probably be their means of eventual escape, now that they had found it,
but for the two dozen guards they now faced.

He
rolled behind the rear tire, Niner taking up position at the front, Spock and
Leather still in the doorway, exchanging turns providing covering fire. He
looked over his shoulder at the others. “Conserve your ammo, choose your
targets! We don’t know how many more we’re dealing with.”

He
stretched out, prone on the cold concrete, peering through the scope on his MP5
and spotted feet behind a vehicle on the other side of the large vehicle bay.
He squeezed the trigger. Someone cried out and dropped to the floor, writhing
in agony.

Exposing
their upper body.

Dawson
squeezed again, silencing him.

Another
dropped, Niner’s weapon spurting disciplined shots across the way, Spock and
Leather delivering short bursts to keep their opponents’ heads down.

Dawson
searched for more feet, finding two pairs huddled together. A quick shot, then
another, had them both on the ground. Two additional shots thinned the herd
some more. He continued to scan, but found nothing.

They’d
wised up.

“Flashbangs!”

Niner
pulled one off his belt, Dawson doing the same. He looked over at Spock and
Leather, who both nodded. Dawson popped the pin. “Three… Two… One…” He lobbed
the grenade over the SUV and against the far wall, it hitting with a satisfying
clang before rattling to the ground, Niner’s landing a moment later.

The dual
eruptions were deafening in their concrete enclosure, the screams of the
victims echoing all around them.

“Let’s
go!”

All four
of them quickly advanced, Niner and Dawson taking the left, Spock and Leather
the right. As the smoke cleared, their opponents could be seen stumbling
around, hands over their ears, moaning in agony. He immediately squeezed the
trigger, clearing his arc of targets as the others rained hellfire on those who
remained.

“Behind
you!”

Dawson spun
at Leather’s warning and cursed, at least a dozen hostiles streaming into the vehicle
bay.

This
is what happens when you don’t have proper intel.

Control Center, Denier Installation, Iceland

“Advance another twenty millimeters.”

The hum
was now a whine, high-pitched and approaching painful. The guards were staring
up nervously at the skulls, their weapons lowered, their duty forgotten as they
watched the objects they had coveted their entire lives deliver upon their
fabled promise.

Unlimited
energy.

But it
was all bullshit.

And
Acton could hold his tongue no more.

“It’s
fake!”

Everyone
in the room spun toward him, Chaney’s jaw dropping slightly, his eyes wide.

But
nobody said anything.

Acton
stepped forward, past the guards, pointing at the main display showing the
energy generated by the skulls and the draw on the batteries. “It’s fake! Look!
Don’t you see it? The battery power is being drained at almost the same rate
the energy is being generated! We never noticed it before because whatever
energy source you were using was enough to maintain the illusion, but now
you’re using the batteries to keep it going.” His eyes met Chaney’s. “It’s all
fake! The skulls are doing nothing!”

“That’s
a lie!” shouted Chaney, looking at the others. “Don’t listen to him! He doesn’t
know what he’s talking about!” He pointed at the guards. “Get them the hell out
of here!”

“Oh my
God! He’s right!” It was Cooper that said it, the guards freezing in their
tracks, the entire room’s focus now on the woman examining several displays,
her fingers flying over a keyboard. “The numbers match almost exactly. The
battery draw is equal to the amount of power being generated by the skulls plus
the expected draw from our equipment. Every time the skulls have moved closer
since the power failure, the drainage rate on the batteries has increased!”

Chaney
stabbed the air with his finger. “You’re relieved!” He motioned to the guards.
“Take her!”

The
guards remained still, staring at each other, not sure what to do.

But
Cooper did. She pointed at Chaney. “Seize him!”

The
guards hesitated, though only for a moment, before they marched toward Chaney.
Chaney leapt for a control panel to his right, slamming his hand down on the
kill switch several times then holding it in. An alarm sounded and he looked up
at the skulls, all eyes following his.

Acton
gasped as all thirteen skulls steadily advanced toward each other. “What the
hell did you just do?”

“What
needed to be done!”

They all
watched in horror as the skulls continued to advance, the high-pitched whine ear
piercing. Acton covered his ears, Laura doing the same as he squinted, trying
to see what was happening through tearing eyes.

They
touched.

All
thirteen in a circle, each touching the skulls beside them.

And
there was no explosion.

No disaster.

No
calamity.

Nothing.

The
high-pitched wail faded to a whine then a hum then nothing. The needles all
zeroed out, the draw on the main battery dropped to nearly nothing, the
remaining power estimate leaping.

And a
room filled with believers, suddenly didn’t know what to do.

“What
just happened?” asked Laura, taking Acton’s hand.

But
Acton knew. There was only one explanation for what had just occurred, and why.
He watched a defeated Chaney as the man dropped into a chair, the gun clattering
to the floor. “Why don’t you explain yourself?”

Chaney stared
at him then the others, Cooper standing in front of him, a mixture of shock and
anger on her face. “Please. What have you done?”

“What
needed to be done.” Chaney’s shoulders heaved and his head dropped as he bent
over. Cooper knelt in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Martin,
please, tell us what this is all about.”

Chaney
drew a deep breath and nodded, sitting up and wiping the tears from his cheeks.
He rose, squaring his shoulders as he looked at those that surrounded him,
those that he led. “You all deserve an explanation. This was a failsafe.”

“A
failsafe?”

Chaney
nodded at Cooper. “Yes. As Proconsul, I knew that if the skulls didn’t react as
we expected, everyone had to think they had. I had a failsafe designed into the
system that would kick in if nothing happened after the first few tests. I
didn’t want us to lose our resolve, perhaps stopping out of fear there might be
a sudden, large explosion, so I had the system designed to slowly ramp up the
readings, just in case.”

“And the
hum, the vibrations?” asked Cooper.

“All
part of the failsafe. I had hoped that eventually the skulls would begin to
generate their own power, and they might have, but we weren’t given the chance
to find out”—he turned to Acton and Laura, jabbing a finger at them—“because
your Bravo Team destroyed the tidal generators!”

Acton pointed
at the skulls pressed together in a circle. “They’re touching now, so wouldn’t
we be seeing something?” His eyes narrowed. “And what was that you did that
triggered them moving together?”

Chaney
glared at him, then his expression softened. “If was the final failsafe.”

“What do
you mean?” asked Cooper.

“It was
the only way to ensure we could reunite the Triarii and try again in the future.”