we were married?”
Paul could see where this was going. “I’ve known for twenty years—”
“You… knew about an alien spacecraft, buried outside Gibraltar, for twenty years, including the entire time we were married, and you said not one word about it to your astronomer wife who spent day and night searching for any shred, any minute sign of alien life?”
“Mary—”
“The sort of betrayal and lack of trust—”
“I took an oath, Mary. I knew the vessel existed, but I’ve never been inside until now. I knew nothing about it. I still don’t. My part of the Continuity consortium was fighting the plague.”
“They’re connected?”
“Yes. The plague originated from this vessel, from the sentry device. It was extracted in 1918.” Paul paused, watching Mary take off her clothes. “I’ll wait outside.”
“Stay. I want to hear this—while we’re alone.”
“I can…”
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, Paul.”
Paul turned around just the same, and he could almost feel Mary smiling at his modesty.
“So whoever built this vessel caused the plague?” she asked.
“Yes. The Atlanteans have been conducting genetic experiments, guiding human evolution for seventy thousand years—since the Toba Catastrophe that almost caused humanity’s extinction. We think the Spanish flu in 1918 was a mistake on their part, caused by the radiation from one of their devices, the Bell. Kate Warner, the woman you met, cured the plague. She’s the daughter of a World War I soldier who found the Bell. During the Spanish flu, he placed her mother, who had died during the outbreak, in a resurrection tube in another section of this vessel. Kate was born in 1978. Her father went missing in the eighties. Dr. Martin Grey adopted her. He was the organizer and chairman of the Continuity group. He recruited me in the early nineties at a conference I attended. He died during the plague.”
“You trust these people?”
Paul glanced back. “Yes. Well, Kate and after the rescue on the mountainside, I’d say I trust the others as well.”
“You think we should share what we know with them?”
“I do. There’s something else. Continuity, the plague, that’s what I was always working on.”
Mary was silent for a moment. “In that case, I would say it was worth it.”
Paul watched her glide through the double doors and out into the corridor.
He had been certain that it was worth it too—until this moment.
Kate was reviewing the results of a full ship diagnostic when Paul and Mary entered the conference room wearing the dry clothes she had provided.
David, Sonja, and Milo were huddled at the end of the raised table, sorting their MREs, weapons, and supplies. Paul spoke to David first. “Thank you again for saving us out there.”
“No problem.”
“We’d like to share something, the reason we came here,” Paul said, then nodded to Mary.
Mary introduced herself and her background: a radio astronomer focused on finding and analyzing signs of extraterrestrial life.
“About two weeks ago, the radio telescope picked up an organized signal. A code.”
“That’s impossible,” Kate said.
“I verified it myself.”
“You have a copy of the signal?”
“Yes.” Mary held up a USB key. “It has two parts. The first part, a binary sequence, is two numbers: Earth’s exact location. The second part is a code made from four values.”
Kate tried to access Alpha’s link to the beacon, hoping to verify the signal.
David seemed to know what she was doing. He gave her a look that said, Pay attention to our guests.
Paul spoke before she had a chance. “Why did you say it was impossible?”
“Two Atlantean scientists came here one hundred fifty thousand years ago to study the early humans on this planet. As part of their routine procedures, they deployed a beacon. It filters the light we can see and blocks any signals either to or from Earth.”
Kate thought Mary was on the verge of crying. “What’s wrong?” Kate asked.
“Nothing… that’s just my soul collapsing like a neutron star,” Mary said.
Kate thought the comparison was a little dramatic.
“Why did they deploy a beacon? Why hide?” Paul asked.
“Protection. The scientists were aware of several threats in the galaxy—”
“What kind—” David began, but Kate cut him off. “I don’t know. Not part of my memories.”
Before anyone could ask, Kate explained that through a twist of fate, she had been born in 1978 with one of the Atlantean scientist’s memories—the ones the other scientist, Dr. Arthur Janus, had wanted his partner to resurrect with.
“So…” Mary said. “The scientists or you—”
“The scientists,” Kate corrected. “I’ve only seen memories of what they did.”
“Right. Were they protecting us or themselves with the beacon?”
“Both.”
“So how did this signal get through?”
Kate used her link to Alpha to connect to the beacon. The orbiting communications station had recorded an incoming signal and allowed it to pass. And there was something even more surprising. “It’s true, there was a transmission two weeks ago. One outgoing. A message sent from the beacon.”
“Who?” David asked.
“It had to be Janus,” Kate said. “When you and he entered the Atlantean ship to rescue me. When Dorian rescued Ares.”
“Can you see his transmission?” David asked.
“No. I should be able to, but access to the message is restricted from here. I don’t know why. The damage to the ship may have disrupted the interface.”
“What’s the other signal?” Mary asked.
Kate tried to access the entry on the beacon, but it too had restricted access. But… “It’s Atlantean.”
“How is that possible?” David asked.
“It’s not.” Kate explained that the Atlantean homeworld had fallen fifty thousand years ago, and the sole survivors of the war had sought refuge here on Earth, under the protection of the beacon, where their enemy couldn’t find them. General Ares, an Atlantean soldier, had brought the refugees here. Ares had joined the two scientists, colluding with Janus’ partner in secret to control human evolution. Ares had ultimately betrayed the scientists, killing Janus’ partner and injuring and trapping Janus.
“So Janus sent a transmission to someone—presumably an Atlantean,” David said, “and it sounds like he got a response—that’s how it got past the beacon.”
“Yes,” Kate said.
“Any ideas who it’s from or what it is?” David asked.
“No.” Kate said, lost in thought.
“It could be an ally,” Sonja said. “Help.”
“The world could use it.” Paul proceeded to share his experience with the group, how the American government had tried to use Continuity to eliminate people it felt were too weak to fight or fend for themselves. “I assume other nations are looking at the same scenario. The global flood would presumably increase the urgency.”
“Makes you wonder who to even pull for in this war,” David said.
“Indeed.”
“What’s our status here?” David asked Kate.
“Dire. The ship is more or less offline. The main computer core is gone. We’ve got emergency power and communications; that’s how I could access the beacon. We’ve got hull breaches all along the perimeter. The shaft leading out of the mountain is completely flooded.
“Assuming any of the mountain is still above sea level, we’d have to swim for it.” Kate read David’s expression. “No, there are no oxygen tanks down here. There are plenty of EVA suits, but they’re in these sections.” She brought up a map on the screen. “They were destroyed in the blasts.”
“We’re trapped,” David said.
“Almost. There’s a portal room at the other end of the ship.”
“Similar to the one in the other section—that connected to the ship in Antarctica?”
“Yes. The portal can conceivably take us to two locations. Antarctica or the beacon. But access to Antarctica is closed from that end.”
“Going there would be too dangerous anyway,” David said.
“I agree. Ares would know the second we stepped through the portal. But we can go to the beacon. If we make it there, we can see the messages and send a response.”
“I like it,” David said. “A lot better than drowning.”
“Me too. But, there may be a… slight problem with getting to the portal.”
CHAPTER 15
Immari Operations Base Prism