Weapon of Atlantis (19 page)

“That’s ridiculous!” Jack blurted. “There’s no way we can get it done by then.”

“You’d better… for your relative’s sake,” Hammond responded unsympathetically. “Do we look like the type of people who bluff?”

Jack stared into their eyes. They were cold and icy. He shook his head, choosing not to push them further.

As they stepped out of the trailer and closed the door behind them, Price grinned to Hammond.

“Do we bluff?” he blurted out in humorous tone. “That’s a good one.”

“Nothing like a little intimidation to help seal the deal,” Hammond responded.

The grin disappeared from Price’s face. “Wor
ks for me,” he responded coldly.

Jack stared at the other four men from across the small conference table. Roger, Stan and Fred, as well as Javi, all carried the same expression on their faces: grim worry.

“I don’t see how it’s possible to find that damn lab in so short a time,” Jack spat angrily.

“It’s ridiculous. We don’t even know how to translate Araean hieroglyphics,” Fred responded. “I don’t know what those guys expect from us.”

“I’m guessing they expect us to keep the pressure up on Javi and Jack,” Stan answered.

“Don’t you guys know anyone else you can call in to help?” Roger asked, his tone near hysterical.

Javi shook his head. “I do, but I won’t involve anyone else in a matter like this. They’d eventually suffer the same trouble we’re all facing.”

“So what’s the plan?” Fred asked.

“Since there’re two holograms, I think we should break up into two teams: Jack and Roger on the right side hologram and you, Stan and myself on the left side hologram,” Javi answered. “Due to the sheer volume of data we’ll need to go through, Jack and I will be scanning the documents in our minds and reading aloud only the headers above the paragraphs. If anyone thinks there’s a connection between what you’re hearing and the secret lab, holler out and we’ll read the page aloud in greater detail. I’m figuring if we put in sixteen to eighteen hours a day, it’s possible we might be able to make a rough scan of the entire database by the week’s end.”

“You guys know the Araean’s better than anyone else. Do you have a gut feel for where the lab might be?” Roger asked.

Jack shook his head. “If we were talking about the Egyptians or Greeks, I’d say the lab would be located nearby because they never really ventured far from their homeland, but the Araean’s occupied a vast area: here in Greenland; southern Greece; the Mediterranean; and even parts of eastern Africa. On top of that, the term ‘deep underwater trench’ is such a vague term. No one knows what their definition of ‘deep’ really is. Unfortunately, we’re going to need more clues before we can even
start
to guess about its location.”

“You’re specialty is aerodynamics, Fred. Have you given any thought to
the spacecraft’s structures?” Javi asked.

“I know where you’re going with this,” he grinned. “If we know what the pressures the spacecraft can withstand, we can eliminate any ocean depth beyond that limit.”

“Exactly,” Javi responded simply.

“Unfortunately, the material seems to be something exotic and without doing an analysis on it, there’s really no way to guess what kind of pressures the hull can withstand,” he replied.

“Let’s just assume the material is made of titanium. How deep do you think it could go?” Javi asked.

Fred thought about the question for a moment, then answered, “Maybe a couple thousand feet.”

“That doesn’t seem very deep considering the term ‘deep water’. Most of the oceans of the world have depths far greater than that,” Javi responded.

“I’m sure the craft could withstand greater depths, but we have to keep in mind, it not only has to be able to descend, but also needs to be able to work at those depths safely and consistently. Considering the craft’s internal structures, I wouldn’t feel comfortable in it anywhere below two thousand feet. It just doesn’t look strong enough to withstand those pressures,” Fred sai
d confidently.

“Ok, assume Fred’s estimate is accurate, we should run a search on all ocean trenches from the surface to two thousand feet and see what we come up with,” Jack suggested.

“What defines a trench?” Stan asked. “That’s another loose term.”

“Anything that’s ‘U’ shaped,” Fred
responded in mild humor.

“Great! So far we’ve defined every stretch of coastline
on this planet,” Stan shot back unamused.

“While I agree there’s a lot of coastline to cover, I’m fairly certain we can rule out all areas except for the eastern coastline of Africa and Europe and of course Greenland. These are the lands we know the Araeans inhabited. We need to concentrate there first,” Javi suggested.

“Ok, once we’ve composed a list of possible locations, what next?” Stan asked once more.

“Next, we get the CIA to do some work,” Jack answered. “While we’re identifying the targets, they’ll have to run the physical searches. It’s the only way any of this can be accomplished in a week’s time,” Jack explained.

“Who’s going to be the one identifying the targets,” Fred asked.

“I’d say all three of you guys,” Jack responded. “While Javi and I are reading through the data, one of you guys can be running the searches from your laptop, while the other two are listening to Javi’s and
my reports. If you guys switch duties every few hours or so, it probably won’t be so painful and tedious.”

Roger nodded. “That’s a good call, Jack,” he said. Turning to the others, he groaned, “Who wants to be the first grunt?”

Fred raised his hand reluctantly.

With the work assignments set, Jack added one more duty to their list:

“I guess we need to inform the two goons of what’s coming,” he said.

“I’m curious to see the exte
nt of their actions,” Javi said in suspicious tone.

“Why’s that?” Roger asked
curiously.

“We’re assuming they have the power to follow through with the
ir threats on our families. If we inform them of the extent of the search they’ll need to orchestrate and they take a weak response toward it or none at all, we’ll know right then if they were bluffing with us.”

“And if they organize a massive search?”
Fred asked.

Javi’s eyes grew large with warning.

“Then I’d say these guys will indeed, make good on their promise.”

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

For the next two days, four men huddled around the screens of the holograms, analyzing hundreds of pages of data each day while a fifth man researched every mile of coastline from Greenland to the tip of Africa, pouring over charts depicting ocean depths, looking for the elusive ‘deep water trench’.

Every four hours,
Agent’s Price and Hammond appeared in the doorway of the spacecraft and demanded an update. With new information streaming in, they rushed off to their utility trailer and relayed the data to the parties involved in the ever-expanding search operations.

Armed with advanced and highly secretive radar platforms, ranging from satellite imagery to ground penetrating radar, the CIA’s search teams were able to cover vast areas of coastline as their fleet of Hercules C-130 reconnaissance aircraft crisscrossed over land and sea.

By the end of the second day, with the list of targets growing far greater than the two agents anticipated, they realized they needed to pay the team of five an uncomfortable visit. As the two entered the spacecraft doorway, they stood statuesque and pointed to Javi, their blunt gesture leaving no doubt about their intentions.

“Outside,”
Price demanded.

Both agents turned abruptly and waited just outside the spacecraft for Javi to appear.

Javi glanced to the others nervously, their sympathetic stares barely softening his fears. As he exited the craft, he stepped toward the two waiting men.

“Our men have been flying hundreds of targets every day and each day you add twice as many as the day before it. At the rate you guys are defining new targets, it might be months before we finish. Let’s mak
e sure we understand each other: the amount of targets you guys propose doesn’t relieve you of your deadline. By the end of this week, we better have some kind of concrete evidence of where that lab is located,” Price said sternly.  Staring coldly at Javi, he continued, “By the way, we’ve decided that your family will be the first the IRS will contact about ‘irregularities’ in their taxes. If another week goes by without results, they’ll be paying a visit to Jack’s parents next. Is any of this unclear?”

“You guys are monsters,” Javi spat angrily. “We’re doing our best. We’re working sixteen hours a day. What else do you think we can do?” he pleaded.

“I suggest you guys stop wasting our time and fine-tune your analyses. Most of the targets we’ve search could have been eliminated had you made an extra effort to refine your choices,” Price responded.

Javi was about to respond but was interrupted by commotion inside the spacecraft.
Turning, he saw Roger rushing from the entrance.

“Javi! Come quick. You’ve
got
to see this,” he blared loudly.

Price and Hammond brushed past Javi, meeting Roger as he hurried toward them.

“Come see what? What did you find?” Price demanded.

“This thing has a flight data recorder. We’ve found it!” Roger shouted.

Javi stared in stunned silence, then breathed a sighed with relief. “Thank goodness,” he said to himself in a low tone.

With Javi and the two agents listening intently, Roger continued:

“While I was waiting, I decided to go through some of the menus, reviewing the flight controls and other data. I then stumbled upon a strange icon. I selected it and
voila
: up pops the graphic image of the spacecraft’s lasts moments in flight. I backed up the time on the recording and it actually showed the thing crashing into the water and sliding up onto the beach… amazing,” he said, barely able to control his enthusiasm.

Suddenly, Stan exited the craft and began shouting in near hysterical tone:

“Guys, come quick! We’ve found something,” he yelled, waving his arms wildly.

As Javi entered the craft behind the two agents, Jack flashed him a sympathetic smile. Javi widened his eyes, signaling the gravity of his previous exchange. An uneasy expression crossed his face and he took h
is seat next to Roger.

Inside the cockpit, the seven men huddled around the right side hologram. Suspended above the circular platform, an image of the spacecraft hovered. On all sides, graphs and numbered displays showed as small data windows that gave the position of the craft relative to its location on Earth. At the very bottom of the hologram, a long bar stretched across the entire screen. Stan moved his finger up toward it.

“This bar at the bottom is basically a scroll bar. We’ve already moved backward in time manually, stepping through it second by second. It was kind of tedious, but then I found this button that plays the image in reverse,” he said, touching his finger on the button.

Instantly, the hologram came to life. The spacecraft began to fly back
ward in time along its previous path. As it did, the displays around it began to show its speed, course and altitude, as well as control input and the craft’s position relative to Earth. Stan pointed to a video display off to the left. The rectangular screen was segmented into four smaller displays, each one showing the video recorded path of the craft from various points around its structure.

“Keep an eye on this video screen,” he said with a knowing smile. “You’re about to get the shock of a lifetime.”

Javi stared anxiously, nearly sick with worry from his exchange with the two agents.

Starting from the point of the crash, the men watched the videos of the spacecraft flying in reverse. One video showed the view from the nose of the craft. Two videos showed the view from both sides and the last video recorded the rear view.

“Look, it’s obviously taking evasive maneuvers,” Price shouted excitedly, while pointing.

“But from what? I don’t see anything
in the rear camera,” Hammond added.

“Hang on guys, it’s coming,” Stan assured.

All eyes were glued to the action on the hologram. Nervous anticipation hung thick.

Stan grinned to the others behind him and warned, “Here it comes!”

He pointed to the rear camera. Instantly, the sight of a massive spacecraft appeared far behind the fleeing ship. Even at its distance to the smaller craft, the size was impressive: equaled to the size of a ten-story office building.