driver could demolish them, the panic in the park would be complete.
Grant found the wires leading to the on-board computer. He began snipping them one by one.
The truck burst through the outer fence.
Two wires to go.
Grant could see the huge wave pool pass to their left.
One wire left. With the last snip, the engine abruptly cut off. The sudden silence was deafening. The truck started to slow, but they were still rolling toward the water slides. The screams of those who were stuck on the staircase waiting area got louder as the truck closed the distance.
Then the emergency brakes kicked in. The truck lurched as if a giant had grabbed its rear. The truck crashed through two slides and ground to a halt just as it reached the teeming staircase, gently tapping it but nothing more. Grant whistled. Close call.
Now dripping with sweat from the heat, Grant climbed out of the engine bay.
Locke was above him standing at the top of the staircase, looking at the cab. Since he wasn’t being shot at, that meant only one thing.
“Don’t tell me,” Grant said. “He’s gone.”
Locke nodded, his frustration apparent. “And he took whatever he had with him. Must have jumped into the wave pool when we passed it. Probably lost in the crowd by now.”
“Lucky bastard,” Grant said, mopping his brow. “At least he got to go for a swim.”
THIRTY
The Tuesday evening news had been wall-to-wall coverage of the truck chase, and on Wednesday morning, the finger pointing had begun. The damage done to the Deer Valley portion of Phoenix had been extensive, but not as catastrophic as it could have been. Except for the construction warehouse, most of the destruction was contained at Splash World. At least 65 cars in the parking lot were totally destroyed, and another 50 damaged. The total bill for the damage would undoubtedly run into the millions. It was a miracle that the only deaths had been the one hijacker and the two deputies. Several people at Splash World were injured, but none seriously. Still, Gordian would now have to brace for the inevitable lawsuits.
Miles Benson had made the flight down Wednesday morning to survey the destruction first hand. Gordian was going to be blamed for not securing the Liebherr and allowing it to be used as a battering ram, and he had the ultimate responsibility. Using cranes, Gordian workers under Grant’s supervision were already stabilizing the water slide it had come to rest against and disassembling the truck for shipment back to the TEC.
“And you didn’t even get the guy?” Miles said, watching the bed being lifted from the Liebherr. “How the hell did this happen?”
Locke had returned to the TEC after the crash to assess the damage and investigate how someone had infiltrated the facility. Now he had an even tougher job: answering his boss’s questions. The work was stirring up dust. Locke coughed as if he was hacking up some of the dirt, but he was actually embarrassed by the slip-up.
“Here’s what we know so far,” Locke said. “We accounted for all of the people who entered the TEC yesterday except for two NTSB investigators. Maricopa County sheriff’s department raided their hotel room. The real investigators were both dead. Shot and put on ice in the bathtub. Do not disturb sign on the door. A quick job that would have passed for a day or two at most.”
“What did they get?”
“We matched the hangar’s remaining contents to the G-Tag inventory. They got away with a hard-side suitcase, green, the size of a carry-on. It hadn’t been opened yet by our team, so there’s no way to know what was inside.”
“Why bring so much attention to themselves?”
“I don’t think that plane was meant to make it back to the US. They expected it to go down at sea. That’s the only reason I can guess as to why they made such a risky and hasty plan to get at something in that wreckage. They never thought we’d find it if it crashed in the ocean.”
“Any leads?”
““The medical examiner is still pulling brick chunks out of one of the hijackers. Witnesses at the wave pool saw a man jump into the deep end as the truck passed, but he got away in the confusion. We’re checking to see if any vehicle in the lot was stolen, but that will take a while with all of the flattened cars out there. We’ve got the video from the camera at the TEC front gate. I’m having Aiden MacKenna run it to see if he can make an ID.”
“They went to a lot of trouble to make sure we didn’t open that suitcase,” Miles said. “And now it’s going to cost us a pretty penny.”
With a clunk, the dump truck’s enormous bed settled onto a flat bed trailer. Locke could still see part of the hurricane fence clinging to the lip.
“I’d worry more about their ultimate plans,” he said. “Miles, I know they built a bunker somewhere. They’re planning to use it as an ark. This is all a prelude to something big, and the Genesis Dawn has some part in this.”
“A field test for the bioweapon?” Miles was as sharp as ever.
Locke nodded. “Could be. Maybe they were through with lab testing and wanted to see if it actually worked in an uncontrolled environment. The Genesis Dawn will either be another test or their end game. Whoever
“The end of the world is at hand,” Miles said in an airy manner. “I just thought that was what crazies printed on pieces of cardboard.”
“Nobody spends $400 million dollars building a bunker unless they think they might need it someday. In this case, I think they
“Has your new companion, Dr. Kenner, figured out the link with Noah’s Ark yet?”
“She’s back at the TEC working on it. She’s convinced that her father found the actual Noah’s Ark. That it’s not just a metaphor for the Oasis bunker. She thinks that if we can find it, we might be able to tie all this together. To say the least, I’m not confident.”
“You don’t believe.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Come on, Miles. A 400-foot-long wooden ship that survived six millennia and now is part of some madman’s scheme to kill billions of people. You know me. I’m an empiricist. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“I have to say I’m skeptical as well, but something about Dilara Kenner’s surety in her father…Well, I tend to listen to my gut. Her belief eases my doubts.”
“And the big wooden ship that should have been rotted to dust by now?”
“Maybe your skeptical mind is latching on to the wrong thing. You should be asking yourself, how would Noah’s Ark last 6000 years? If you answer that, you might actually find it. And find the perpetrators of this god- awful mess. Now I’ve got a real stake in solving this problem. Gordian’s going to be on the hook for the damage from the Liebherr unless we find someone else to blame.”
“What about the Genesis Dawn? It sails on its inaugural cruise in two days.”
“From now on, that’s your responsibility. I’m counting on you to make sure the world is still here next week. Grant will finish up here. I’ll give you a lift back to the TEC. I’ve got a dozen lawyers and insurance adjusters to meet with.”
As he followed Miles back to the specially-equipped van he could roll into with his IBOT and drive, Locke for once wished his problems were as mundane as talking with attorneys about settling lawsuits. Instead, all he had to do in the next day was come up with a way to find Noah’s Ark, an archaeological treasure that had been hidden since the beginning of recorded history, while preventing the deaths of virtually every person on earth.
No pressure.
THIRTY-ONE
