The Thirteenth Legion (A James Acton Thriller, #15) (James Acton Thrillers) (34 page)

Acton
suddenly felt a pit form in his stomach. “What did you do, Martin?”

Chaney
looked at him. “You’re too smart for your own good, Professor. Now that the experiment
has failed, and the deception has been discovered, no one can be allowed to
live.” Laura’s grip tightened on Acton’s hand. “The others are out there, I
know they are. This facility will be destroyed, and we will all die.”

“What’s
the point of that?” asked Laura, fear in her voice, a voice also laced with a
hint of anger.

“I have
shaped the blast so that it will appear the skulls are once again responsible.
It will inspire future generations to try to succeed where we failed.”

Acton
shook his head in frustration. “But they’ll fail too! It didn’t work!”

“No!”
cried Chaney. “There was obviously a flaw in our experiment, a misunderstanding
of some sort.” He pointed at the skulls overhead, rising from his chair. “The
skulls have power, just not one that we understand yet. We had assumed it would
be some sort of energy we could measure and tap, but it wasn’t. There’s
something else at play here.” He lowered his voice, approaching them. “Jim, you
know that. Laura, I
know
you do. You’ve felt its affect on you every
time you shiver. There’s something there, but we’re obviously not ready to
understand it.”

Acton
sighed, nodding toward the skulls. “Shouldn’t they have exploded?”

“Yes!”
exclaimed Chaney, whipping around and striding into the midst of his stunned
brethren. “Yes! There should have been a massive explosion, even if we weren’t
able to tap their power. We know that from our own history.” He looked at
Cooper. “It means what we did here worked somehow, we somehow were able to
prevent that explosion. It means we’re getting closer to discovering the
answers to the questions we’ve had for two thousand years.” He placed a hand on
Cooper’s shoulder, then moved on to the next person, patting their cheek,
surveying the room. “I can see it in your eyes. You think we’ve failed, but
search your hearts. You know we haven’t. You know our history, you know why
we’re here, and you still have your faith.

“Do
Christians say God isn’t real just because they’re prayers aren’t answered? No!
They realize that not all prayers are answered, and they continue on, their
faith remaining strong knowing that the day they truly need that prayer
answered, the day they are truly worthy, it will be.

“And the
same is true for us, for the Triarii. One day our prayers, our questions, will
be answered.” He frowned, his head bobbing slowly. “But not today. And not for
us.” He paused, putting an arm around the woman who Acton had sensed some
history with. “We failed here today, and if word were to get out, it would
shake the faith of the entire legion, just as it has shaken our own faith. It
could mean the death of the Triarii, the death of the descendants of the
Thirteenth Legion that sacrificed everything. I refuse to believe that it was
all for nothing! I refuse to believe that I dedicated my entire life to
nothing!” He spun, staring at Acton. “And I refuse to let
my
failure
here today destroy two thousand years of tradition.”

Chaney
lowered his voice, taking a more comforting tone. “My friends, we will die here
today, and the mystery will continue. Our brothers and sisters will come and
collect the skulls, they will see the evidence I want them to see, and assume
the skulls are indeed the cause, and things will continue with the knowledge
that mankind is still not ready to harness their power. This is something we
know, for we weren’t able to do it today. And in the future, someone, somewhere,
will make the courageous decision once again, like you all did, to unite and
try again.” He smiled, everyone now huddled together in the center of the room,
arms around each other, heads pressed together, almost a mirror image of the
skulls overhead. “The Triarii will live on. The Thirteenth Legion will live on.
And we will never be forgotten for our sacrifice.”

To
hell with this.

 Acton
grabbed the gun Chaney had dropped on the floor and aimed it at the guards.
“Deactivate the bomb. Now!”

The cult
turned toward him, though no one advanced, even the guards standing with their
hands to their sides, their weapons draped across their chests, untouched.

Chaney
smiled, shaking his head slowly. “That’s not going to happen. I am prepared to
die here today, as we all are.” Murmurs of agreement accompanied by the bobbing
heads of indoctrinated psychos sent a jolt of panic through Acton.

There’s
going to be no reasoning with them.

“Professors.”
Chaney paused, his smile broadening. “Jim. Laura. We knew the risk when we came
here. We knew something could go terribly wrong and that we could all die. We
were prepared for that. Now we die for another reason. We die to preserve the
legacy so that future generations may try again where we failed.”

Acton
looked at Cooper, who he had thought was a true scientist, motivated by a
thirst for knowledge, not proof in the supernatural. “Surely you can’t agree
with him! You’re willing to die to cover up the fact you failed?”

She
stepped forward, stretching out her hand toward Chaney, who took it. “He’s
right. The Triarii
must
go on, the skulls
must
go on.” She stared
at Chaney, a smile spreading across her face. “I happily sacrifice myself so
the Thirteenth can live.”

“Well,
we don’t.”

Chaney
motioned toward the guards who immediately advanced. “I’m afraid you must,
Professors. You are aware of our secret.”

Acton
aimed at the chest of the approaching guard, firing two rounds, the large man
dropping in a heap as Acton fired two more rounds into the second guard,
returning his aim to the group of scientists.

“Nobody
moves.”

Laura
grabbed one of the guard’s weapon and they backed toward the door.

“You’re
too late, Jim.”

“We’ll
see about that.”

Chaney
pointed toward the display showing the energy generation and the battery draw.
Acton looked, the first readout still zero, though the draw on the batteries
higher than earlier. “When the batteries run out of power, this facility will
be destroyed. There’s no stopping it.”

Acton
grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, Laura stepping through. He glanced back
at Chaney.

“Martin,
sometimes a shiver is just a shiver.”

Exterior Entrance Stairwell, Denier Installation, Iceland

Atlas charged down the stairs, the others behind him, the sound of
gunfire getting louder, his concern growing. He came to a halt at a door,
waiting for Moore and the others to gather at the bottom. “Ready?”

Everyone
nodded and he pulled open the door slightly, the din of gunfire suddenly
deafening. He peered through the crack, quickly assessing the situation, the
distinctive sounds of MP5s coming from the far right, FN P90s pretty much
everywhere else.

He
stepped back so the others could hear him. “It’s some sort of large garage.
Half a dozen vehicles close to us, another half dozen on the other side. We’re
at the one-two corner. Friendlies are to the right, near the one-four corner,
hostiles concentrated on the opposite side on the number three and four walls.”
He activated his comm. “Zero-One, Zero-Seven. Friendlies at your nine o’clock,
over.”

“About
time you arrived. Join the fun, try not to shoot Niner.”

“No
promises.” Atlas pulled the door open and stepped out, weapon raised toward the
far wall. He held his fire, the hostiles apparently not yet noticing them.

Flanking
opportunity.

He
ducked behind the nearest vehicle, some sort of large loader, the others
joining him, the door closing behind them. He pointed at two of Leather’s men,
indicating they should remain and provide covering fire, the others to follow
him. He peered out from behind the front of the vehicle then sprinted across
the way, diving behind the row of vehicles on the far side, clearing the thirty
feet unnoticed. He took up a covering position and Moore followed.

The MP5
fire from Dawson’s position had increased, the intense distraction working, Moore
clearing the distance easily, the remaining of Leather’s men following, again
unnoticed.

Atlas
peered around the vehicle and saw at least a dozen Triarii hiding behind
vehicles about a hundred feet away.

All in
plain sight from his angle.

He
motioned for Moore to take a position on the floor, under the rear bumper,
giving him a clear shot from a low angle. He looked at the others and they all
indicated their readiness.

“Now!”
he hissed, stepping out and taking a knee, the others leaning on the trunk of
the vehicle, using it as cover. Lead belched at the unsuspecting men at the far
end of the vehicle bay, bodies dropping quickly. The sound of the MP5 fire shifted,
Dawson apparently pressing the momentary advantage.

Moore was
firing below him, Atlas noting that the man was taking out targets trying to
hide behind the vehicles, giving them no quarter as their numbers dwindled from
dozens to a dozen, then half, then none.

Then
silence.

Atlas
rose, rushing toward the enemy position, the others on his six. Reaching the
downed hostiles, there was little movement. A few moaned and he quickly kicked
the weapon away from one, Moore doing the same.

The
threat had been eliminated.

He
looked over to where Dawson had been. “You boys can come out now!”

Niner
poked his head up. “Am I still on your hit list?”

“I’m
saving it for the ring.”

Niner’s
eyes flashed.

Hmm.
Fear?

He
smiled.

Nobody
talks about my mama’s hips.

Dawson
and the others approached and Atlas motioned toward the dimming lights. “Looks
like they’re running out of power.”

“Batteries
must be dying quickly,” agreed Dawson. “Doesn’t make much sense for a facility
this size to have less than fifteen minutes of backup power.”

“Must be
that experiment they’re running.”

“Must
be.”

Atlas
looked about. “Any idea where the professors are?”

Dawson
shook his head. “Nada.” He pointed at the ramp. “That looks like it leads
outside, so I’m guessing those doors over here”—he pointed to a set of doors
nearby—“lead somewhere important, since they’re the only doors one of us hasn’t
come through already.”

Suddenly
the doors burst open and eleven MP5s were directed at it.

“Hold
your fire!” shouted Dawson as Acton and Laura emerged, skidding to a halt as
they raised their hands in the air.

Atlas
shook his head with a smile, the two of them armed.

How
the hell do they do it?

“Hello, Professors,
good to see you,” said Dawson, stepping toward them.

Acton
waved him off, pointing at the rapidly dimming lights.

“We’ve
gotta get the hell out of here, now!”

Control Center, Denier Installation, Iceland

“Has the transfer been completed?”

The tech
nodded. “Yes, sir. All the funds have been successfully transferred back into
accounts controlled by London.”

“And the
data streams?”

“Wiped.
There will be no record of what happened here tonight.”

“Excellent
work.” Chaney smiled at his people then sat down on the floor beside Annette, a
woman he had wished he had more time to get to know. She had been fantastic
this past year, a friend who had grown into much more, though only recently.
Perhaps it was a relationship built purely on adrenaline, yet at the moment, it
was the only one he had. He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her
head on his.