The Covenant of Genesis

where the chart takes you. Whoever these people were, they reached as far as Australia. A long time before anyone else. The earliest known signs of human occupation only date back fifty thousand years. These people were there over eighty thousand years before that.’

Chase looked at the computer map. ‘They took a big risk, going straight across the sea like that. They could’ve just kept going along the Indonesian coast.’ The lower sea level meant that the eastern islands of Indonesia reached practically all the way to Australia, which itself had merged with New Guinea to extend the continent northwards to the equator.

‘They didn’t need to,’ Nina realised. ‘Why would they? They had the sailing skills and navigational abilities to cross the sea directly. It’d save them days, maybe even weeks. And they kept going.’ There were still more bearings on the tablet. A few more minutes, and the rest of the course was revealed, travelling down the western coast of Australia and using Shark Bay’s vast dogtooths and the Houtman Islands as landmarks before finally terminating at a point over a hundred miles north of the city of Perth. On the modern map, there was nothing of note about the spot, even the nearest small town a good twenty miles away.

‘That’s it?’ said Chase, unimpressed. ‘There’s not a lot there.’

‘There must have been something there,’ Nina said, more excited. ‘A settlement, maybe, or a port - something worth travelling all that way for.’ She zoomed in on the sea level map, bringing up the present-day position of the coast as a yellow outline. ‘It must have been in this bay - it’d give them shelter from the sea, and there’d be fresh water from this river.’ A closer zoom revealed individual contour lines. ‘Look how steep the sides of the bay are. They couldn’t have built a settlement right on the shoreline, they’d need somewhere flatter . . .’

She scrolled further inland. ‘Somewhere like that.’ Above the eastern end of the small bay was a gently sloping plain. ‘If you were building a settlement, it’s got everything you need - water, farmable land, sheltered access to the sea . . .’ Enthusiasm rose in her voice. ‘It was above sea level back then, and it’s still above sea level now . . . so if there was a settlement there, we might still be able to find it!’

‘You think it’s buried there?’

‘Yes! Absolutely! If we go there, we might be able to excavate it!’ She leaned back, already compiling a mental list of everything she might need.

‘Not wanting to piss on your chips,’ said Chase, ‘but I don’t think the IHA’s going to go for that right now.’

Nina snorted. ‘Who needs the IHA? This’d be proper archaeology, just a map and a shovel and a brush, no need for computers or submersibles or millions of dollars of hardware. I’ll show that shrivelled old bitch what being an archaeologist is really all about,’ she added, more to herself than to Chase.

‘Calm down, Lara,’ he said. ‘So you want to jet off to Australia to find the lost city of . . . of whoever the hell these people were?’

‘Why not? It’s not as though we’ve got anything else to do right now. We’re both suspended, remember?’

‘Yeah, but there was one thing the IHA was handy for - paying for everything!’

‘That’s what credit cards are for,’ said Nina. Chase decided not to tell her how much his flights had cost. ‘Come on, we can do this! We fly to Australia, check out the site, do some digging - the worst that can happen is that we don’t find anything, and even then at least we had a vacation to take our minds off everything.’ She stood, hands pressed together eagerly. ‘Whaddya say?’

He could tell from the almost manic glint in her eyes that she was not going to take no for an answer. ‘You do remember that there’s someone else trying to find it as well, right?’

‘The Covenant of Genesis? Maybe, if they’re even capable of figuring out where to look.’

‘We just did it in half an hour,’ he pointed out. ‘They’ve got the original tablet to work from, and you even told that Ribbsley guy about the numbers on it. What if that was the only thing they were missing?’

‘All the more reason to find it before them. Come on, Eddie! A few days, that’s all I’ll need. If there’s nothing there, then fair enough, that’s the end of the line. But if there is something there . . .’

‘Great. More flying,’ Chase complained. But she had a point; if there really was anything at the new site and the Covenant found it first, they would presumably destroy it, making all the deaths aboard the Pianosa even more meaningless. ‘Oh, all right. Let’s go to a land down under.’

Nina kissed him. ‘Thanks, Eddie.’

‘Just one thing, though - I’m not doing all the bloody digging!’

13

Australia

Shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare, Chase stepped out of the Land Rover Defender and surveyed the landscape. ‘As the Aussies say . . . crikey.’

Nina joined him, tugging down the brim of her baseball cap until it almost touched her sunglasses in order to shade her pale face. ‘I can see why.’

It was three days since their decision to make the long trip across the Pacific to Australia; three days of intensive preparation and expensive travel arrangements. But now they were finally there, having driven north from Perth, turning westwards off the main highway on to a rough track . . . and into a spectacular desert landscape. The rolling sands were a vivid yellow, almost like a child’s crayon drawing, and protruding from the dunes were dozens of angular limestone pillars, ranging from knee-height to some that towered over Chase. ‘They look like film props,’ he said, touching one to check that it wasn’t made of polystyrene and plaster.

Nina consulted her guidebook. ‘We’re fairly close to the Pinnacles Desert. It says it’s full of these formations - some of them are four metres tall. Must be a hell of a sight.’

‘We could take a detour and have a look,’ Chase suggested.

She regarded the strange rocks for a moment before shaking her head. ‘Let’s find the place we’re looking for first. Besides, it’s a national park - they might not want us carving it up in a jeep.’

‘Oh, so when you want to look at bits of old rock it’s a national emergency, but when I do . . .’ He grinned at her as they climbed back in. ‘Okay, so how much further to this place?’

‘The map says about . . . seven kilometres. Just over four miles.’

Chase looked at the track, which though winding and bumpy had so far been relatively easy for their 4x4 to negotiate. ‘Shouldn’t take us too long. What was the name of the place again?’

‘Trouble Cove,’ she said, with another look at the map. ‘Australia has such great place names! Hangover Bay, Useless Loop, Billabong Roadhouse . . .’ A cheeky glance at Chase. ‘Bald Head . . .’

‘Oi,’ he warned, swatting at her with one hand as he started driving. She giggled. ‘So what do you want to do when we get there?’

‘We should have plenty of time before sunset to look around before putting up the tent.’ Nina examined her notes, serious again. ‘If we concentrate on the area near the edge of the bay, that’s the most likely site.’

They continued along the track, desert sand gradually giving way to patches of vegetation as they drew closer to the coast, heathland speckled with bright flowers and low, wind-sculpted trees. Wildlife also appeared, a small group of kangaroos pausing in their leaping travels to watch the passing vehicle, and an emu popped its head up suspiciously from behind a bush before scurrying away. Though hot, it was certainly one of the most picturesque wildernesses they had travelled through.

Finally, they crested a rise, and saw the shimmering turquoise ocean. ‘Wow, look at that,’ said Nina, taking off her sunglasses for a better look. ‘That’s really—Aah!’ She jolted forward in her seat as Chase stamped on the brake, bringing the Defender to a sudden crunching halt. ‘Eddie! What the hell?’

He hurriedly reversed over the rise and pulled to a sharp stop. ‘Remember how I said the Covenant would be trying to find this place too?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I think they already have.’ He jumped out and hurried to the rear door, opening it to take a pair of powerful binoculars from their gear. ‘Come on. But keep low.’