Atlantis

There’s also a glimmer of hope on the scientific side. The Turkish National Oceanographic Commission is considering an offer from the Georgian Academy of Sciences to collaborate on a survey that would include that island.”

“But no hope of a protection force,” Costas said.

“Nothing pre-emptive. The situation’s way too delicate. The ball’s in our court.”

The sun had set and the forested slopes behind the lights of Trabzon were shrouded in darkness. Jack and Katya were walking slowly along the pebbly beach, the crunch of their footsteps joining the sound of the waves as they gently lapped the shore.

Earlier they had attended a gathering at the residence of the vice-admiral in command of Blackseafor, and the lingering scent of pine needles from the outdoor reception followed them into the night. They had left the eastern jetty far behind. Jack was still wearing his dinner jacket but had loosened his collar and removed his tie, pocketing it along with the Distinguished Service Cross he had reluctantly worn for the occasion.

Katya was wearing a shimmering black gown. She had loosened her hair and removed her shoes to walk barefoot in the surf.

“You look stunning.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” Katya gazed up at Jack and smiled, gently touching his arm. “I think we’ve come far enough now.”

They walked up the beach and sat together on a slab of rock overlooking the sea. The rising moon cast a sparkling light on the water, the waves dancing and shimmering in front of them. Above the northern horizon was a band of pitch-darkness, a storm front rolling down from the Russian steppes. A chill breeze brought early intimation of an unseasonal change that would alter the face of the sea over the coming days.

Jack drew up his legs and folded his arms over his knees, his eyes fixed on the horizon. “This is always the most intensive time, when you know a great discovery is within your grasp. Any delay is frustrating.”

Katya smiled at him again. “You’ve done all you can.”

They had been discussing arrangements for joining Seaquest the next day. Before the reception Jack had spoken to Tom York on the IMU secure channel. By now Seaquest would be making her way at top speed towards the Bosporus, having left the wreck excavation in the safe hands of the support vessel. By the time of their projected rendezvous by helicopter the next morning, Seaquest would be in the Black Sea. They were anxious to join her as soon as possible to ensure the equipment was fully prepared.

Katya was facing away from him and seemed preoccupied.

“You don’t share my excitement.”

When she replied her words confirmed Jack’s sense that something was troubling her.

“To you in the west people like Aslan are faceless, like the enemies of the Cold War,” she said. “But to me they’re real people, real flesh and blood. Monsters who have made my home an uncharted wasteland of violence and greed. To know it you must live there, a world of terror and anarchy the west hasn’t seen since the Middle Ages. The years of suppression have fuelled a feeding frenzy where the only pretence at control is provided by gangsters and warlords.” Her voice was filled with emotion as she looked out to sea. “And these are my people. I am one of them.”

“One with the will and strength to fight it.” Jack was drawn irresistibly to her dark silhouette as she sat framed against the lowering horizon.

“It’s my world we’re about to enter, and I don’t know if I can protect you.” She turned to face him, her eyes fathomless as she stared into his. “But of course I share your incredible excitement.”

They drew together and kissed, at first gently and then long and passionately. Jack was suddenly overwhelmed by desire as he felt her body against his. He eased the gown off her shoulders and pulled her closer.

CHAPTER 11

Holding steady on three-one-fiver degrees. Depth sixty-five metres, ascent rate one metre per second. We should be seeing the surface soon.”

Jack peered through the Plexiglas dome to his left. Despite the gloom he could just make out Costas beneath an identical dome some fifteen metres away, his head seemingly disembodied in the eerie glow cast by the instrument panels. As they rose higher the submersible came into clearer view. The dome capped a yellow man- sized pod, the casing angled forward so the pilot could sit comfortably. Below were pontoon-like ballast tanks, and behind was the housing for the battery which powered a dozen vectored water jets positioned around an external frame. Two pincer-like robotic arms gave the submersible the appearance of a giant scarab beetle.

“There she is now.”

Jack looked up and saw the silhouette of Seaquest twenty metres above. He adjusted the water ballast discharge to slow his ascent and looked again at Costas, who was manoeuvring alongside in preparation for surfacing.

Costas beamed at his friend. “Mission accomplished.”

Costas had every reason to be pleased with himself. They had just concluded the sea trials of Aquapod IV, the latest one-man submersible his team had designed for IMU. It had a maximum operational depth of fifteen hundred metres, almost twice the previous marque. The hypercharged lithium-anode battery had a life of fifty hours at an optimal cruising speed of three knots. Their one-hour dive that morning to the bottom of the Black Sea had shown the equipment was well up to the task ahead, an exploration along the line of the ancient coast further east than they had ever gone before.

“Seaquest, this is Aquapod Alpha. We are coming in safe and sound. Over.”

They could already see the four divers waiting just below the surface to guide them in. With ten metres to go they stopped to lock the Aquapods together, a standard procedure to prevent them crashing into each other in rough seas. While Jack remained stationary, Costas gingerly manoeuvred until the locking pinions aligned. With the flick of a switch he fired four metal rods through the cleats on the outer frame.

“Locking secured. Haul us in.”

The divers quickly descended and attached the lifting harness. Jack and Costas switched to standby and disengaged the balance adjustors which kept them horizontal. As the divers swam away to safety positions the winch operator smoothly drew the submersibles up into the hull.

They broke surface inside a floodlit chamber the size of a small aircraft hangar. Seaquest was equipped with a fully internalized docking berth, a useful feature when the weather was too rough for operations from deck or they wished to remain concealed. The hull had opened up like the bomb doors on a giant aircraft. As the two sections closed, Jack and Costas unlocked the domes which also served as entry canopies. A platform slid under them and rose like the elevator on an aircraft carrier, locking tight once the last of the water had drained off.

Tom York was on hand to greet the two men as they clambered out.

“Successful trial, I trust?”

Jack was the first to drop on deck. He spoke quickly as he stripped off his survival suit.

“No problems to report. We’ll use the Aquapods for our reconnaissance this afternoon. The robotic arms will need to be replaced by the digital videocamera and floodlight pods.”

“It’s being done as we speak.”

Jack glanced round and saw the maintenance crew already hard at work on the submersibles. Costas was hunched over the battery recharging unit deep in conversation with one of the technicians. Jack smiled to himself as he saw that his friend had neglected to remove his headset in his enthusiasm to discuss the submersible’s performance with his engineering team.

Jack spoke to York as he strode forward and stowed his suit in one of the lockers that lined the chamber.

“We have an hour before Seaquest is in position. It’s a chance to review our options one last time. I’d like all personnel in the bridge console at eleven hundred hours.”