Part 29 (1/2)

Zandak strode up to him and spoke a few words in a language Flinders couldn't understand. But to her ears it sounded like Crimean Tatar.

The taller man nodded in grave appraisal, then turned to address the group. ”My name is Koyasan,” he announced in English with a barely-perceptible accent. In the cavernous room his voice boomed out, low and sonorous. ”I am in command of this fortress, the stronghold of what will soon be the survivors of the destruction of the human race.” Again his gaze a.s.sessed the group, coming to rest on Belisarius. He made no effort at hiding his disgust at the sight of the ruined skin on his face. ”You are here because you have the Emerald Tablet. And the location of more of the orichalc.u.m bars, which we will need for our plans. The Tablet is in that case?”

”It is,” Belisarius answered.

To the rest of the group he said, ”You are here at the request of Mr. Tomilin.” He stated the obvious in a tone that clearly expressed his displeasure. ”I'm told that he has already informed you of our plans. This compound, which extends on several layers inside the mountain, functions as a military and communications center. You will be a.s.signed accommodations and will stay here until our mission is completed. Then we will move to the new city of Atalatarte on top of Mount Roman-Kosh to wait for the waters to subside and the survivors to die off.”

Flinders made a strangled noise in her throat. ”How can you do that? Just murder all those people?”

Koyasan ignored her as if she weren't present in the room. ”Follow me,” he said, and strode away, heading for the far end of the hall.

Pa.s.sing the marching lines of the columns, Flinders could see that doorways interrupted the walls in the middle of the chamber on both sides, with staircases leading down into the depths of the mountain.

”This fortress has been modeled on traditional stories of what Atalatarte-what you call Atlantis-looked like. This is the Great Hall, which leads to the throne room of Dhw, our priest-king who first inscribed the words on the Emerald Tablet. He is the one you call Thoth.”

Footsteps echoed behind them. Flinders turned to see four armed soldiers in pale red jumpsuits trailing along in their wake.

Jaz looked back as well and grinned. ”You don't trust us, Koyasan?”

The commander stopped dead in his tracks and swung around. His face was a mask of stone. ”This is holy ground. And as far as I'm concerned, you are trespa.s.sers on what is sacred to us.”

Then he turned and marched forward.

At the end of the hall another ma.s.sive copper door blocked their way, centered between two columns. Koyasan pushed it open, revealing a rectangular-shaped chamber, carved out of the natural limestone and lit by the dancing light of flickering torches. Stepping inside, Flinders immediately coughed as the harsh scent of burning oil seared her nostrils.

But then she froze in wonder. Sitting on a throne fas.h.i.+oned from green crystal was the mummy of Thoth-the same mummy they had discovered inside the mountain at Cape Fiolente. On either side of the throne stood the inscribed pillars the Atlanteans had removed from the Oracle of Siwa.

”Give me the Tablet,” Koyasan ordered.

Belisarius didn't hesitate. His face impa.s.sive, he handed the metal case to the commander. The Atlantean grasped the handle, then laid the case on the throne's limestone pedestal and opened it. A tremor shook him as he saw the Tablet inside. Emotions stormed across his face, but he visibly wrestled them down. Picking up the Tablet with both hands, he climbed a set of stairs to the throne and set the artifact inside the crossed forearms of the mummy.

For a least a minute Koyasan stood in place, staring at the Tablet held in the withered arms of Thoth. Then he turned back to the group and walked down the stairs.

His eyes snapped to the soldiers. ”Take them to their quarters.” He turned back to the group. ”You will be allowed complete access to the living quarters, entertainment areas, and dining area, but you are forbidden to set foot on this floor from now on or to go outside the walls of this compound.” He pointed at Flinders. ”This woman is to be taken to a confinement room.”

”We're roomies,” Jaz spoke up. ”Put me in the same room. Only I get the key.”

Flinders struggled as Jaz grabbed hard on her bicep. ”No!”

Irritation darkened Koyasan's face. He turned to Belisarius, handing him the empty case. ”These are your people. I'll leave their disposition up to you. I just don't want this one killed-she can translate the original writings. Other than that, I don't care what you do with her.”

With that, he turned his back to them and strode off to the great hall.

Flinders stared after him in horror.

The soldiers lifted their rifles, motioning them out. Moving back into the hall, they saw Tomilin approaching them. He barked out a sharp command in Russian to the soldiers, who backed off, forming a circle around the newcomers.

”Welcome to Atlantis,” he said, addressing Belisarius as if the others weren't there. ”Did Koyasan show you around?”

”Just barely,” the older man answered.

”Don't mind him,” Turner said. ”He's got a stick up his b.u.t.t about this place. Have you seen the gold?”

Greed glinted in Belisarius' eyes. ”No. Where is it?”

Tomilin started for the throne room, but Belisarius stopped him, indicating his daughter. ”First,” he said, ”I want her secured and out of my sight.”

Nodding, Tomilin motioned to the nearest soldier and gave him a command. The soldier grabbed Flinders' arm and dragged her away.

They entered the throne room. Crossing through it, Tomilin led them to another chamber that branched off the northern wall of the room. ”Each end of the great hall forms a T,” he explained. ”At this end there are storerooms for Atlantean artifacts. The other end is the command center for the flood operation. Moving into a darkened doorway, he flicked on overhead lights. ”Take a look.”

Belisarius gaped at the sight before him. The glint of gold was everywhere, from floor to ceiling: stacks and stacks of crude ingots, statues of kings and G.o.ds, s.h.i.+elds, cups, plates, bracelets, huge disks engraved with the Atlantean script, and even tables made of solid gold.

Tomilin showed him a knowing smile. ”This is just part of it. There are more rooms just like this. Some with piles of jewels as well. And more on Roman-Kosh. It's the treasure trove of ancient Atalatarte. And it's just what the survivors managed to save before the flood inundated the city.”

A tremor of heady avarice shook Belisarius. He spun around to Jaz, who was cooly contemplating the vast treasure.

Without changing expression, she saw the look in his eye.

She knew what he wanted her to do.

___.

When Pteor shut the door and the electronic lock clicked into place, the first thing Rachel did was to recon the room. Maybe twenty by thirty feet, no windows, small bathroom connecting to the west end of the room. A single bed was the only furniture. No television, radio, or books. Light came from an unseen source around the perimeter of the ceiling. A narrow closet next to the door with open shelves stacked with underwear, slipper boots, and folded red jumpsuits. Electronic lock with keypad.

When Tomilin's plane had landed at the fortress, Pteor had brought her to this room, into the bowels of the mountain. The man terrified her. With a single touch he had reduced her to a blob of quivering jelly.

Her response repulsed her.

But she'd never been so scared in her life.

She crossed to the bathroom. Here she found soap, shampoo, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. No make-up. Toilet paper and a box of tissues. Could she fas.h.i.+on the toothbrush into a weapon? Maybe. She picked it up. It was made of hard rubber-impossible to snap off or to whittle down into a sharp point. She set it back down.

Moving back into the main room, she lowered herself to the bed. The situation looked bleak. Even if she were to escape from this prison, she had seen on the flight in that she was on a s...o...b..und, remote mountaintop high above a plateau. Mount Tavrida on the Crimean Peninsula, Tomilin had told her. The middle of nowhere. Even if she could escape the fortress, she had no winter clothing, no food, no weapons, and no way down.

But it wasn't like her to give up. And she sure as h.e.l.l wasn't going to spend the rest of her life in the bed of a traitor to the American flag.

She'd rather be dead.

Her eyes flicked over to the lock and the keypad. That was the way out.

Somehow she had to find a way to open that lock.

____.