and they may be caused and activated by--'
'Sound?' Jack said, cutting off her dramatic news.
Sarah skidded to a halt. 'How in the hell did you know that?'
'Two Ancient Atlanteans told us,' Everett said as he continued walking. Sarah watched the two men hit the elevator button and she ran to catch up.
'I think you have to explain that 'Ancient Atlantean' crack to me, boys.'
Virginia felt out of place as she sat at Nile's Compton's desk. She was looking at a monitor that showed the faces of Martha and Carmichael and shook her head as Jack explained.
'And you're convinced they're speaking the truth?' Virginia said, not taking her eyes off the old couple.
Jack tossed a rubber-band-restrained scroll of paper onto her desk. 'According to voice-stress polygraph, yes.'
'We have to get this off to Niles and hope he can convince the president of its validity.'
Virginia finally turned away from Martha and Carmichael on the wall-mounted monitor and tapped in her commands on the computer. After a moment, another monitor came to life and Niles was there, looking haggard and worn.
'What have you got?'
'Niles, as you know, Sarah here has come up with the way the earthquakes could have been initiated. But Jack here has just confirmed the theory
'What?'
Collins stepped to Virginia's side to see Niles. Sarah was biting her lower lip as she looked at Carl, who stood grim faced.
'Niles, get to the president and make him understand that we now know something of the people who are responsible for all the unnatural phenomena happening around the globe. They are also the ones that hit our team in New York and also murdered Agent Monroe and his wife.'
'I'll do my best, but Jesus, this is like something out of a bad spy movie.'
'Maybe, but I believe them, Niles.'
Niles just nodded and then the picture went blank.
An hour later, Alice brought in coffee for the four people in the conference room. She stood next to her seat and looked from Sarah to Jack to Carl.
'You three did a good job. If you don't need this old woman, I think I'll stroll down to security and take our guests Martha and Carmichael to the cafeteria. I'm sure they think our hospitality is left wanting to some degree.'
'Just call and ask them to meet you there; they just may already have the keys to all the doors anyway,' Carl quipped.
'What do we do now?' Virginia asked, as she sipped her coffee and grimaced, finding out that she didn't want it at all.
'We have alerted the National Parks Service in Honolulu and they will add on extra security until a detachment of marines arrives on station. The navy will provide around-the-clock surveillance and backup, and Carl and I are going there in about thirty minutes. Carl has asked for SEAL Team Six to standby also. These people do not mess around when it comes to getting what they want. Ask Niles to get his old friend the president to get clearance to dive on the old girl. The Parks Service is cooperating fully but is still very picky when it comes to the
'Well, it is a naval gravesite,' Sarah said.
'Nonetheless, we have to dive on her. We must secure that plate map for two reasons. One--it proves that the Coalition is behind this mess, and two--we can't let these power-mad people get their hands on it.'
'Good luck. In the meantime, I'm sure the FBI and the rest of law enforcement are going to be quite anxious to get the names of the men and women of this so-called Juliai Coalition,' Virginia said as she finally slid her coffee cup away.
'Carmichael and Martha only have the name of one American Coalitionist that they know of through rumor only, a William Tomlinson. They think he's a pretty high up in their ranks, but are not sure. That's it.'
'Lieutenant Mendenhall is about to throw the hatches of this place down tight, no one in or out. We just don't know how much knowledge these people have and what information they gained by torturing our people in New York. We have to base our reactions on the message left to us at the warehouse,' Everett said, as he and Jack stood to go.
'We have redistributed the brain power around here now that we're relieved of the earthquake question. Sarah and the rest will be put to use with historical forensics, engineering, and reading ancient languages and deciphering the scrolls and maps. We need to know exactly what kind of science we are dealing with here.'
'Well, if anyone can get a jump on fifteen thousand years of history, it's this Group,' Jack said, standing up to leave.
'You two be careful, I know how much bullets are attracted to you. One of these days one may get up close and personal,' Sarah said as she locked eyes with Jack.
'Are you kidding? We're faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a loco--'
'Go catch your plane,' Sarah said, cutting off Everett's teasing.
PART THREE
ANCIENTS RISING
10
William Tomlinson sat in his ornate study with several of the key Coalition members. One fellow was an American named August Nelson, a former World Bank president who had been on the Coalition's payroll since 1969. He had funneled billions of American dollars and euros through the world's checks and balances in order to finance the immense payroll outlays for a private military the size of the Japanese defense force.
There were others of the Coalition inner workings who were key to the final plans being made, but it was the Englishwoman, Lilith Anderson, better known in the inner circle as Dame Lilith--which was a title actually bestowed by the queen herself--who brought the concluding stages of the Mediterranean operation to a resoundingly satisfactory finale.
'Dame Lilith.' Tomlinson raised his glass of hundred-year-old whiskey. 'Your Crete operation has gone off without a hitch. The way you have hidden our real intent on the island is astounding. I toast you, my dear, dear lady.'
The magnificently dressed woman of fifty nodded her head and returned the gesture, smiling.
Tomlinson lowered his glass and looked at the eight-by-ten photos once again. 'Unbelievably, there are entire sections of the dome still intact. I can even see columns inside it.'
'As you can imagine, a great percentage of the dome didn't hold up to the tremendous forces that destroyed the island, but there are clear areas that were protected by the magma flows at the time of the island's demise. The old maps transcribed have shown us invaluable spaces that may hold some fascinating variables as far as possibly discovering the third Key--a nice backup just in case your operative, Dahlia, has any--misfortune in Hawaii. For instance, we believe the ruins of the large building, very hard to see in the initial photographs, may be what was described as the Empirium Chamber, the very seat of their government.'
'Magnificent! And when do you think we'll get more than just a probe inside the dome?' Tomlinson asked, ignoring the slight about Dahlia's and her chances.
'We estimate sixteen hours, and we'll have people inside,' answered Dame Lilith as she placed her drink on the table to her right. 'But I must caution you that the initial testing of the air quality is disappointing. The environment is toxic to the extreme, but thanks to the tunnel opening we are starting to pump fresh air into the city.'
'We expected as much. We could not very well expect part of an ancient city covered by magma and a trillion
