The Covenant of Genesis

‘Maybe they weren’t entirely destroyed,’ said Nina. ‘They survived as memories, at least - they might have lived on at a genetic level too. Maybe there was some interbreeding, just as there was between humans and Neanderthals. It might explain why I could affect the earth energy fields and you couldn’t. Like I could with Excalibur.’

Sophia sneered. ‘Oh, are you also saying your superior intellect comes from you being a descendant of these creatures?’

‘No,’ Nina replied tightly. ‘But there’s obviously some connection between the Veteres and the Atlanteans, because they used the same numerical system. And I am descended from the Atlanteans. So in answer to your question: bite me.’

Chase moved between them. ‘Okay, so what do we do now?’

‘This is our proof,’ said Nina, indicating the body. ‘DNA and carbon-dating tests will provide absolutely irrefutable evidence of an intelligent species that pre-dated humanity. If we can get this out of here and keep it out of the Covenant’s hands, then we still have a chance to expose them to the world—’

‘It sounds,’ said a Swiss-accented voice, ‘as though you are going back on our deal, Dr Wilde.’

Nina, Chase and Sophia whirled to see Vogler in the doorway, a gun in his hand.

‘I thought you didn’t make a deal with them,’ Chase said accusingly.

‘Not the time or the place, Eddie,’ Nina replied as she raised her hands.

Vogler stepped into the room, regarding the sarcophagus and its contents with interest. ‘So they really were another species.’

‘You knew?’ Nina asked.

‘After the structure of DNA was discovered in the 1950s, the Vatican secretly had the remains obtained by the Covenant’s predecessor organisation analysed. Even though the tests at that time were primitive, the evidence pointed towards it - which led to the creation of the Covenant itself. But they were only small samples; we never found a complete body - until now.’

‘And now that you have one . . . what are you going to do with it?’

Vogler stared at the corpse. ‘A good question. But for now, come with me.’ He waved them towards the door with his gun. ‘Professor Ribbsley is about to arrive.’

Vogler took them back into the field of flowers, where Callum was waiting, along with two more Covenant troopers. Trampled trails led to the edge of the plateau, where Chase saw several carbon fibre hooks on the rocky edge. Rather than running the gauntlet of the temple, Vogler’s team had fired grappling hooks up the cliff and scaled the lines attached to them. ‘This all you’ve got left?’ he asked mockingly. ‘The Covenant’s goon platoon must be pretty short-staffed by now.’

‘There will be more to replace them,’ said Vogler. He looked at Nina. ‘But . . . there may be no need.’

A loud noise caught everyone’s attention: a helicopter hovering above the largest hole in the ceiling. The gap was tight, at one point little more than a metre’s clearance to each side of the blades, but the pilot skilfully brought the aircraft through. As it turned towards the plateau, a flash of white clothing in the cockpit revealed the pilot’s identity: Ribbsley.

Petals whirled like a scented snowstorm as the helicopter descended, settling near the top of the cliff path. Ribbsley emerged and walked through the flowers as if out for an afternoon stroll. ‘I must say,’ he called as he approached the waiting group, ‘this is rather impressive. The actual Garden of Eden, an entire self-contained ecosystem, right in the middle of one of the most awful wastelands on the planet. Remarkable!’ He gave Vogler a quizzical look. ‘Your numbers seem to be rather thinned, Killian. And where’s Zamal?’

‘Dead,’ Vogler told him.

‘Ah. Terrible shame.’ There was not even the pretence of sincerity in Ribbsley’s voice. ‘Good job I decided to stay in Khartoum until you found this place, then.’ He turned to Nina. ‘Or, I suspect, until you found it, Dr Wilde. Congratulations.’

Nina’s reply was equally insincere. ‘Why, thank you, Professor. That makes it all worthwhile.’

He smiled, barely giving Chase a glance before moving on to Sophia, his relieved response now genuine. ‘Sophia, thank God. Are you all right?’

‘A little bruised,’ she said with a smile, ‘but still alive and kicking.’

‘Thank God,’ he repeated, taking her hands in his and gazing into her eyes with a mixture of longing and lust before embracing her tightly and whispering something into her ear. She replied in kind; Nina couldn’t make out what either had said, but as they moved apart she caught a flicker of expression on Sophia’s face.

Anticipation?

Nobody else had noticed, Ribbsley blocking their view. He turned back to Vogler. ‘So, I understand that we have an interesting find. Show me.’

‘This way,’ said Vogler. He gestured for his men to bring the prisoners before heading back to the mausoleum. Ribbsley followed, Callum at the rear of the line, briefly reaching into his jacket.

While the soldiers watched over Nina, Chase and Sophia in the main room, the others went into the burial chamber to examine the body, emerging a few minutes later. Ribbsley turned his attention to the inscriptions on the walls. ‘So the story of the expulsion from Paradise in Genesis really was true . . . from a certain point of view. I suppose we’ll never know how much of the distortion of events was deliberate and how much was down to Chinese whispers, but it’s not important right now. What is important,’ he said to Vogler, ‘is what the Covenant plans to do about it. You’re the only member of the Triumvirate still alive, so it seems to be entirely your decision.’

‘So it does,’ said Vogler. He stared through the doorway at the body before turning away - not to Ribbsley, but to Nina. ‘In the past, things would have been very simple. The Covenant had a specific purpose: to locate and destroy all evidence of the Veteres and their civilisation - anything that could undermine the creation story in the Bible and the other holy books. We would simply have obliterated this entire place.’

‘So what’s stopping you now?’ Nina asked, challenging.

‘I think you know.’ Vogler pointed at the doorway. ‘Out there is the greatest, the holiest place in history. The Garden of Eden, Dr Wilde! Paradise on earth, where God himself once walked! Destroying it would be . . . blasphemy. A mortal sin.’

‘What, worse than all your others?’

He prickled at the barb, but didn’t respond to it. ‘The discovery of the Garden of Eden doesn’t undermine Genesis,’ he said. ‘It confirms it. If Eden is revealed to the world, then it will show the faithful that they were right to believe.’

‘You might be right,’ said Nina. ‘Except for one minor inconvenience.’ She indicated the ancient body. ‘The Garden of Eden was his paradise, not ours.’

‘Which is why I have a dilemma - and why you may be the one to help me solve it.’

‘Why her?’ Ribbsley demanded. ‘In fact, why is she even still alive?’

‘A good question,’ Callum added. His gaze fixed on Sophia. ‘Why are any of them still alive, Vogler?’

‘Because she will be believed,’ said Vogler. ‘The world’s most famous archaeologist, the discoverer of Atlantis, and the tombs of King Arthur and Hercules? If she is the one who reveals that Eden has been found, everyone will accept her story.’

Nina gave him a humourless half-smile. ‘But if I tell the world about finding Eden, I’d tell the whole story - including the part about the Veteres being its original occupants. It’d be kind of hypocritical otherwise.’

‘But you’re already a practised hypocrite, Dr Wilde,’ Vogler countered. ‘You lied to the world about the real reasons behind Kristian Frost’s search for Atlantis. And I’m sure you lied in your official report to the UN about Excalibur being lost at sea.’

‘That - not telling the whole story about Atlantis was for security reasons,’ said Nina, wrong-footed, and trying to avoid Callum’s accusing stare. ‘If I’d announced that the discovery of Atlantis led to the world coming this close,’ she held her thumb and forefinger a bare inch apart, ‘to having a plague unleashed on it, there would have been total chaos!’

‘And what do you think will happen if you tell the billions of people who follow Christianity or Islam or Judaism that you have undeniable proof their beliefs are wrong?’