Ancients

TARGET AREA 1: VLADIVOSTOK

The men of the battle cruiser Admiral Nakhimov were making ready to get under way when the harbor waters started to recede. At the same time, warning sirens sounded throughout the naval base. The above-deck crew ran to the railing and watched in amazement as the sea rolled out from under them and her sister vessel, Petr Velikiy, as both giant vessels strained at their many mooring ropes. As the two great warships groaned and creaked, their heavy bulk settled into the dark mud of the harbor. Smaller warships of the fleet were torn from their moorings, kidnaped by the retreating waters of the Pacific.

Onshore the quake hit with devastating power. Buildings constructed to withstand direct bomb hits were knocked flat with no warning. Streets buckled and fell into voids created by ancient riverbeds collapsing underground. Thousands of people were crushed to death as cranes and material in the dry dock area broke and fell. Giant cruisers rolled over and crushed the lives of seamen as they tried in vain to make it over ships railings.

Men aboard the Admiral Nakhimov were knocked from their feet as thick, viscous mud erupted like lava from the harbor floor. The giant ship rippled as the mud below waved up like a maddened sea. At that moment, the men heard the most horrible of sounds. It rumbled even above the noise of the quake. It was the return of the sea.

'Abandon ship, all hands abandon ship!' the loud speakers on both vessels bellowed.

The horrible roar grew from the east and the sea beyond. The sun was blotted out as the giant wave built as the ocean rushed back in to fill the land vacated in its backlash. As the sea started to crest, just one mile south of the port of Vladivostok another quake, of greater magnitude, struck. The air itself became a living thing as scared people became disoriented and fell to the undulating ground. Then the water was returning just as if hell itself had opened its gates.

The crew of the Nakhimov knew they were about to die as the wall of water was seen taking out the city before them. Entire buildings were knocked free of their foundations, their debris joining the onrush of destruction. The wall of water hit the two great ships. They were smashed and then lifted and flipped over like toys in a tub as they cascaded into the eastern end of the port city.

The Petr Velikiy disintegrated like it had been made of wood. The thick steel plates made to withstand a standard torpedo strike caved in and fell apart as easily as if made of the finest crystal. The Nakhimov was flipped end over end three times before it struck the roiling waters below, breaking the ship into three pieces. Still the waters rushed inland.

The Wave had created an earthquake with its accompanying tsunami the likes of which the modern world had never seen. The quake struck in Sydney, killing seventeen people when one of her older bridges collapsed. The tsunami, though diminished by that time, struck northern Japan and destroyed two small villages.

The American carrier force sent to help the Second Infantry Division lost one supply ship and two destroyers, as the sudden surge of ocean had caught the smaller ships in a wide turn. The carriers themselves suffered only minor damage.

By far the second-largest devastation and loss of life occurred in China, where it struck as far inland as Beijing. One hundred thousand Chinese lost their lives to Thor's Hammer.

The target city of Vladivostok was destroyed. Not a single human life survived the quake and tsunami that followed Thor's Hammer. The water reached as far inland as Mongolia and wiped out mining operations in Siberia. All told, the death toll in Russia would exceed one million people. The Russian Pacific Fleet, which was preparing to monitor the American response to North Korea's actions, was gone forever.

Now, the one thing not expected by Tomlinson and the younger Coalition members was the fact that a Russian and Korean monitoring station had picked up the initial trigger broadcast that activated Thor's Hammer. The president of Russia, after finding this out, grew suspicious and suddenly the ravings of Kim Jong Il didn't seem so far-fetched. The Russians and Chinese for precautionary reasons brought their military forces to red alert.

The Doomsday Clock had started.

PART TWO ON THE TRAIL OF THE ANCIENTS 4

HEMPSTEAD BUILDING CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

William Tomlinson accepted the drink from his assistant as the other members of his inner circle waited. On the large liquid-crystal screen was a broad view of the conference room in Norway. A test of wills was so palpable that the air was as thick as molasses.

'You have missed the point entirely, sir. The weapon has caused damage to the two American carrier groups en route to the Sea of Japan. This is jeopardizing the American and Korean lines of resistance if the North attacks. They will be overrun, and that, regardless of your bravado, is not now nor ever was the goal of the test strike. And your blatant disregard for the loss of life in Japan and China was never in the Russian plan.'

Tomlinson did not even look up from his drink as the Austrian spoke his condemning words.

'We weaken the old enemies, not destroy our own governments. We need them, for the time being!'

'You gentlemen may need them; we, on the other hand, do not.' Tomlinson placed his drink on the polished tabletop and stood, knowing that the camera would stay on him. 'This organization made the fatal mistake three times in three hundred years of trusting existing governments to bend to our will, only to have these power-mad individuals balk at our orders and deviate from our hard work and intricately detailed plans. This,' he turned and faced the camera lens with steady eyes, 'will never happen again. The plan has evolved from our original strike plan and this executive council has overruled the initial strategy in favor of utilizing the drought and flooding in Russia and China and forging ahead. We will bring down those who would eventually stand in our way, just ahead of the schedule we had deliberated upon.'

'Have you all gone completely mad? Who will control these governments when anarchy tears them apart?' Zoenfeller exclaimed, slapping his hand on the conference table. 'Russia first, after we have the Atlantean Key. You went against our vote and struck anyway!'

'May I say a word?' A smallish man stood and buttoned his jacket.

Tomlinson had coached him on when to talk and what to say. He gestured to the owner of a large consortium of Japanese electronics firms.

'You are judging our small enclave too harshly. Yes, we have changed small parts of the offensive to take advantage of Russia and China's weaknesses in the present time. The weapon was precise and did no more damage than a natural quake would have caused in the same target area. It was, after all, part of my own nation's coastline that sustained damage by the residual effects of the wave. Yet I am still wholeheartedly onboard this accelerated plan.'

'That does not give you the right to--'

'Russia, along with China must be out of our way. Let us do it now. This is the moment to act. As soon as the Atlantean Key is in our possession, we can get back on schedule and deal with the western governments. Then, when countries start crumbling from natural disasters, it will be our corporations and leadership worldwide that step in. We will be hailed as deliverers of new hope and then we will all at last have total control. Now is the time for resolve,' the Japanese council member waved his hand toward the video screen, 'not for timidity. The Juliai and Caesarean Reich will prevail.'

The sixteen council members of the inner circle patted their hands on the conference table in total agreement as the Japanese representative bowed and sat down.

The next person was an elegant woman from Great Britain who slowly stood and smiled. She looked at Tomlinson and then spoke.

'Ethnic purification, economic control, and the elimination of formal governments have always been the goal of the Juliai. Regardless of who is struck and when, it cannot help but destabilize the West. As Mr. Tomlinson has stated repeatedly, we have our people ready to step in and take control, but we cannot do so until the destabilization process has begun.' Dame Lilith opened her folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. 'Germany,