The Covenant of Genesis

‘Think fast, Malkovich. You’re flying out tomorrow. Oh, and we’ll be coming as well. Me, Eddie and . . . someone else.’

‘What?’ Trulli demanded, sitting up sharply. ‘Oh, come on! I can’t do that!’

She fixed him with an intense, determined gaze. ‘If you’re worried about supplies, we’ll bring everything we need. Hell, I’ll pay for any extra fuel myself if I have to. But I’ve got to be there. I have to see it for myself. You know I do.’

He pressed a hand to his forehead. ‘Okay. I’ll see what I can do. The ship does have some free space - there’re fewer people involved in the test stage than there will be at Vostok. But you can deal with Bandra when he starts complaining. And he will start complaining.’

‘I can handle him,’ she assured him, before kissing his cheek. ‘Thanks, Matt. I knew I could rely on you.’

‘I’m just a sucker for redheads, aren’t I?’ he said, sighing.

Chase and Sophia arrived at Trulli’s apartment half an hour later. Trulli greeted Chase warmly, before regarding his companion with interest . . . and a hint of puzzled recognition. ‘I’m Matt,’ he said. ‘Matt Trulli.’

‘Yes,’ Sophia replied, somewhat dismissively. ‘I know who you are.’

‘You do?’

‘Of course. You used to work for my husband. My late husband, I mean.’

Nina shot her an exasperated glare as the gears turned in Trulli’s head, making him step back in shock. ‘You remember that part where we said about keeping your mouth shut?’

Trulli turned to her, jabbing a finger nervously over his shoulder at Sophia. ‘That’s - that’s Sophia Blackwood!’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Nina answered.

‘She tried to kill you!’

‘I know!’

‘The news said she was dead!’

‘The reports were premature,’ Sophia told him, with a wolfish smile. Trulli backed away still further.

‘Sadly premature,’ said Nina. ‘Still, it doesn’t matter. We’ll be moving on tomorrow.’

‘Where to?’ Chase asked.

‘Antarctica.’

He was surprised. ‘And how’d you arrange that?’

‘Matt agreed to help us. He’s flying out tomorrow, and we’re going with him.’

‘Just like that?’

She grinned. ‘You’re not the only one who can be charming and persuasive.’

‘Right,’ he said, sounding distinctly dubious.

Nina wasn’t keen on his tone. ‘What?’

Chase turned to Trulli. ‘Matt, can you keep an eye on Sophia while I have a word with Nina in private? Just don’t let her get hold of anything sharp and pointy.’

‘Uh . . . sure,’ Trulli said uncertainly, leading Sophia into the next room.

‘So Matt’s taking us to Antarctica, is he?’ asked Chase when they had left.

‘Yeah. Look.’ Nina pointed out the lake on Trulli’s computer. ‘I think that’s where the lost city is - it matches everything I’ve worked out from the inscription.’

‘And he’s okay with changing his plans so you can take a look?’

‘Apparently so, seeing as he said yes.’ Nina folded her arms. ‘What’s up with you?’

‘I’m just a bit worried.’

‘About what?’

‘About you.’

‘Me?’ Nina said, surprised. ‘Why?’

‘Don’t you think you’re pushing things too hard?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, twisting Matt’s arm to get him to take us to Antarctica at five minutes’ notice. What about everybody else there? They’re not going to be quite as happy to help when three new people turn up and start pissing around with their expedition - especially when one of them’s a bloody terrorist!’

‘Matt’s in charge, and he says it won’t be a problem,’ Nina insisted. ‘And I didn’t twist his arm. I just asked, and he agreed to help. Like he always does.’

‘And what happens when the other people on the expedition complain? He’ll get fired.’

‘Matt’s a smart guy. He’ll be able to find other work with no trouble.’

Chase made a disbelieving noise. ‘That’s not the bloody point! Have you heard yourself ? You’re so determined to find this place, you’re not even thinking what might happen to anyone else. Yeah, Matt could get fired - or a fuck of a lot worse. Did that even occur to you?’

‘Of course it did,’ said Nina, offended - and, for a moment, uncertain whether or not it had. It must have done, she quickly rationalised. If it hadn’t, that would make her as bad as Sophia . . .

‘And what about you working with Sophia?’ Chase continued, as if picking up her thoughts. ‘For fuck’s sake, you want each other dead.’

‘I don’t like it either. But we need her, and I gave her my word.’

‘You think she cares about that?’

‘Probably not. But I do. We’ve got more chance of figuring out what the Covenant are doing with her help - and if we do that, it gives us the advantage. We can expose them to the world and get our lives back.’

‘From what Sophia said, these people are basically religious fundamentalists,’ Chase said grimly. ‘I’ve been in a war against one lot of ’em, and they’re not exactly good losers. So three of them, working together? Even if we do beat them to this lost city, I don’t think they’ll leave it at that.’

‘And what would you rather do?’ Nina countered, growing angry. ‘Nothing? We can’t hide from them for the rest of our lives. And I wouldn’t want to even if we could.’

‘I’m not saying we should. I’m just saying that maybe you’re running into this so fast, you’re not thinking about the consequences. For other people, as well as us.’

Her expression softened slightly. ‘You’re thinking about Mitzi, aren’t you?’

‘Yeah,’ said Chase, jaw clenching at the memory of a dead friend. ‘She got killed because I rushed her into a situation without thinking it through. I don’t want that to happen again. And I don’t want you having to learn the same way I did.’

She took his hand. ‘Eddie, you know I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Not Matt, not anybody. Hell, I don’t even actively want anything bad to happen to Sophia.’ The small joke prompted the very slightest upward twitch of Chase’s mouth. ‘But if we don’t do something about the Covenant, then there’re only three things we’ll ever be able to do - we run, we hide . . . or we die. And I don’t like any of those options. Especially the third one. That really sucks.’

Again, his mouth curled into a near-smile. ‘You’ve got a point.’ He gently squeezed her fingers. ‘But I want to make sure you know what kind of risk you’re taking. We don’t have any backup this time; no IHA, no rich guys. If anything goes wrong, we’re on our own.’ He looked at the Antarctic map on the computer. ‘And in about the worst possible place to get in trouble on the entire bloody planet.’

‘Then we’ll just have to make sure that nothing does happen.’

‘Right, like that’s ever worked for us.’

‘There’s a first time for everything,’ said Nina. She smiled, then took his other hand. ‘We can do this, Eddie. The city’s there, I’m certain of it.’

‘Hope you’re right.’

‘I am. I promise.’

‘Can I get that in writing?’ The threatened smile finally broke through. ‘All right. If you think freezing our arses off with Pingu is the only way we can beat these wankers, then we’ll have to do it. But you just be really careful.’