Weapon of Atlantis (12 page)

“This is
way
cooler than finding those boring ole pyramids,” Jack said, losing himself momentarily in the excitement.

Javi glared to his right and said, “Jack, those pyramids aren’t boring. They’re magnificent.”

“Compared to this, they aren’t,” he shot back, still mesmerized by the hologram.

He stretched out his hand, reaching for the lighted image of the spacecraft.

“
NO!
” Javi blurted abruptly. Seeing Jack’s startled response, he softened his tone and continued. “Sorry Jack, didn’t mean to scare you, but I think we better not touch anything just yet. One wrong move and we could be heading into outer space forever.”

Jack nodded, then said, “The suspense is killing me. How about I just get m
y hands close? I can always pull them away quickly.”

Javi glared once more, then reconsidered the request.

“I really shouldn’t be agreeing to this, but my curiosity is overcoming my logic. Just a quick test,” he said, regretting his words even as he spoke them.

Jack knelt down and placed his hands on both sides of the hologram. Slowly, cautiously, he moved them closer to the lighted image. With each movement, he paused and waited for a reaction. After several tries, his hands nearly cupped the image of the spacecraft.

“Jack, maybe you should stop there. We really don’t know what this thing’s capable of,” Javi warned anxiously.

Jack ignored the warning and moved his hand in closer. With his fingertips now touching the very edges of the lighted image, he began to fe
el substance.

“Javi, you’re not going to believe this, but I can actually feel the spacecraft. The holog
ram actually has mass,” he said excitedly.

“You’re kidding? How’s that even possible?” he blurted in surprise.

“I’m
not
kidding. I can feel the edges along the bottom.”

Jack moved his right hand in and rubbed the side of the craft. Without a response, he did the same with his left. A second later, he was moving the lighted image from side to side, and up and down.

“What the
hell
: no reaction… none at all,” he blurted in frustration. “I’m manhandling this thing and the spacecraft isn’t reacting at all.”

Javi thought for a moment, then responded.

“Hmm… I’m guessing at this point, we won’t see a reaction either. It’s probably the reason both Zeus and Poseidon never left.”

Jack turned and stared at Javi, the reality of his word
s registering in his mind.

“So this confirms it: the ship’s somehow broken,” he responded flatly, disappointment consuming his tone.

Javi nodded. “In a strange twist of irony, we should feel fortunate it doesn’t run. If it did, Zeus and Poseidon would have left and none of this, neither the pyramids, nor the spacecraft, would ever have been discovered.”

Jack stood up from the circular panel holding the hologram and studied the remaining lighted controls. Out of curiosity, he pressed several buttons. Instantly, the hologram changed its image, sequencing through other images corresponding to Jack’s previous commands. The image of his last command, sat on display, waiting for further instruction.

Both men stared in shock, the result of Jack’s actions coming as a complete surprise. Javi moved in closer. He reached out his hand and touched the hologram.

“I’ll be darned,” he said in wonderment.

The lighted image was rectangular in shape and stood a foot high and eight inches wide. On the front of the rectangle were hieroglyphics. He read them in his mind, then rubbed the flat surface of the rectangular image. Instantly, the face changed and displayed rows of hieroglyphs that covered the entire surface.

“Jack, do you know what this is?” he blurted in near hysterical tone.

“Is it a book of recipes?” he responded dryly.

Javi glared at him momentarily in remonstration, then continued, “You’re not going to believe this: it’s the logbook of this spacecraft… and specifically, Zeus and Poseidon’s mission.”

“Mission? What do you mean, mission? Like as in military mission?” he questioned.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. The first few lines of symbols classify their mission as a science objective and if I’m reading this correctly, I think they were sent here to develop some kind of weapon.”

“You’re kidding?” Jack shot back, nearly a loss for words.

Javi pointed to several symbols on the large rectangular page.

“Right here. It describes their duty: Biological Warfare,” he read aloud.

“Biological warfare? They were developing biological weapons?”
Jack blurted in shock.

“Apparently so,” Javi responded in surprise.

“So Zeus and Poseidon were scientists?”

“That’s how I’m reading this,”
Javi said, nodding reluctantly.

Jack stared at the hologram, then back a Javi. Both men’s faces seemed to read the same: fearful disbelief.

“I guess my next question is: did they actually develop biological weapons?”

Javi stared at the page of hieroglyphics. He flipped his hand across it, changing it to the next
page in sequence. Quickly, he flipped through dozens more pages, never reaching the end of the document. He turned back to Jack.

“This is going to take a while… and I’m almost afraid to read through it,” he said in ominous tone.

Jack stared coldly back. “Maybe you shouldn’t,” he responded bluntly.

“What do you mean?”
Javi asked, already knowing the answer.

“I can think of a dozen governments that’d kill for information li
ke that,” Jack said in grave tone.

Javi nodded in understanding. “We’re going to need to be very careful from this point forward,” he responded
.

----- ----- ----- -----

During the night, a thin blanket of fresh snow covered the landscape, once again softening the rugged scenery. Jack opened the door to the camp trailer and headed outside. A shiver instantly ran up his spine in the morning cold air. He zipped his jacket and walked toward the excavation site.

Standing at the rim of the sunken chamber, he stared down at the spacecraft now lightly covered in snow. Being the first to arrive at the work area, all was quiet and he took a moment to enjoy his solitude. He scanned the distant edge of the sea cliff a quarter mile away and recalled the harrowing crash that occurred more than a week before. Looking around, all that remained of the incident were the scars in the snow, caused by the skidding wreckage. He shook his head in amazement, then turned his attention back to the spacecraft.

Walking in heavy arctic boots, he made his way down the slippery narrow ramp that led into the pit. Along the way, he noted several sets of footprints, evidence that someone had already ventured in earlier. As he walked around the spacecraft, he studied the impressions in the snow. On the right side of the craft, the cockpit windows had been wiped clear where someone had peered inside.

“Hey Jack, you’re going to miss breakfast,” Javi shouted from the upper edge of the cavity, nearly forty feet above.

Jack jumped back, startled by the abrupt break in the quiet. He stared up at Javi and grinned.

“Geese Javi, you almost gave me a heart attack,” he shouted back.

“Sorry,” Javi yelled sincerely. “So are you coming up for breakfast or would you prefer us serving you down there?” he teased.

“Actually, can you come down here a moment? I want to show you something,” he yelled back.

Javi could tell the seriousness in Jack’s tone. He held up a wave in understanding, then hurried down the ramp into the pit. A minute later, the two stood on the right side of the craft and examined the disturbances in the snow.

“Did you send any of the guys down here earlier?” Jack asked, coming directly to the point.

“No, why?”

“Look at all these footprints. Someone was here after the snow fell,” he responded. Pointing to the side of the spacecraft, he continue
d. “And look at that cockpit window. Someone obviously wiped it clean to look inside.”

Javi studied the impressions in the snow as well as the window. He nodded in agreement.

“Maybe a couple of the guys got up early and came down here for a look. It
is
a pretty inspiring sight, you’d have to agree,” he commented.

Jack shook his head.

“That’s the thing. When I walked from our trailer to the edge of the pit, I don’t remember seeing any footprints in the snow. In fact, I remember remarking to myself how pristine the landscape looked with the fresh dusting of powder.”

“So wher
e’d they come from?” Javi asked with growing concern.

“Care to go for a morning strol
l before breakfast?” Jack asked sarcastically.

Javi nodded in understanding. He grinned and said, “You packing heat?”

Jack lifted his coat and exposed a Glock 38, .45 caliber handgun, holstered to his hip.

“Never leave home without it,” he joked. “Are you carrying yours?” he asked, now turning serious.

Javi lifted his own jacket to show the same handgun also holstered to his hip.

“I still can’t believe we have to carry these things. Over thirty years in archeology and never once have I ever touched a gun. I come up here and all of a sudden, I’m packing like John Wayne. I just hope I don’t shoot myself with this damn thing,” he complained.

“I just hope you don’t shoot
me
,” Jack teased. “Seriously though, that last run-in I had with a polar bear should be incentive enough to get over any discomfort you might have about carrying a weapon. Those bears are really dangerous,” he added.

“Don’t remind
me. I saw the size of that thing when they hauled it back into camp. Must have weighed fifteen hundred pounds,” he said.

“Just under that,” Jack responded. “But more impressive than its size were its claws and teeth. They were freakin’ huge!”

Javi stared at the tracks in the snow. He felt the bulge of the handgun through his jacket. With a bit of hesitation, he pointed the way.

“
Shall we?” he said simply.

Seeing Javi’s trepidation,
Jack took the lead.

For the next half hour, the two followed the footprints in the snow. They walked for nearly two miles across the frozen ice cap, heading west, away from their camp. At the far edge of the flat plateau, the terrain sloped slightly downward into a shallow valley. Still following the footprints, they eventually ended at the valley’s bottom.

“Look at the snow. It’s all brushed away where their footprints end. What do you make of it?” Javi asked.

“Helicop
ter rotor wash,” Jack responded bluntly.

“Impossible. We would’ve heard it land out here.
I’m sure of it,” Javi responded resolutely.

“I’m not. Look at those long impressions left in the snow. They were made by a helicopter’s landing rails. I remember seeing those exact impressions after helicopters took off while we were working on Zeus’ pyramid,” Jack responded.

“Just great!” Javi blurted in frustration. “Just what we need: tomb raiders.”

“If that’s all they were, I’ll be happy,” Jack respon
ded in mysterious tone.

Javi heard the tone of Jack’s voice and suddenly became alarmed. “So who do you think it could be?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but the fact that someone shipped a helicopter up to northern Greenland, landed it here at night while it was snowing, snooped around the spacecraft, then took off again, really speaks of a different class of criminal. Whoever did this is well funded and well trained?”