The Covenant of Genesis

active. If there’s steam rising, it might melt parts of the ice.’

‘But you definitely think you can get your robot through the dam?’ Nina asked.

‘In theory, yeah. The cable’s easily long enough, and we’ve got plenty of power.’ He looked worried. ‘It’s just that if the dam isn’t just earth, if it’s filled with rocks, then Cambot won’t be able to drill through - and we won’t be able to get him back out.’

Nina put a hand on his arm. ‘You’ve already done a hell of a lot for us, Matt. If you don’t want to risk it . . .’

He pointed at the structures on the screen, entombed below them. ‘Nah, I think it’ll be worth it. Hell, this is easily as big as Atlantis, maybe even bigger. And maybe I’ll get on the cover of Time with you this time - or at least Popular Mechanics!’

‘So you’ll do it?’

Trulli grinned. ‘Get me a coffee, and I’ll see what I can do!’

As Trulli had thought, the piled soil of the earth dam was indeed easier to drill through than the hardened ice above the lake, Cambot progressing at over a metre and a half per minute. Even so, it still took the better part of two hours before the robot cut all the way through the base of the dam and reached the ice beyond. By this time, Bandra had found out what was going on and become even more livid, but also resigned to the fact that it was an all-or-nothing operation: the only way to retrieve the expensive submarine now was for it to reach the crevasse.

Trulli, Baker and Rachel took turns to monitor Cambot’s progress, the others going back and forth to the tilt- rotor to find respite from the chill wind in its cabin. Nina was idly wondering how much longer the expedition’s supply of coffee would hold out when Rachel, at the controls, waved frantically. Everyone hurried over, Trulli taking back the laptop to check the readings.

‘We’re almost through!’ he said excitedly. Nina watched the screen. With nothing to see while the robot was drilling, Trulli had switched off the cameras, but now he reactivated them. Although the image was obscured as icy slush swept along Cambot’s cylindrical body, the glow of daylight through the ice was clear.

And it was not the blue of deep, thick ice. This was a pure white, coming through only a few metres, if that . . .

A sound like a muffled gunshot rolled across the plain from the direction of the crevasse. The image suddenly flared as Cambot was flung out into the light of day. A blue-white cliff face blurred across the screen before being obscured by churning water. Another crack of ice came from the edge of the plain, almost drowned out by a hissing roar.

The winch shuddered, cables zipping rapidly into the umbilicus as Baker hurriedly pulled a lever to let it run freely. Rachel watched the spinning reel nervously, hand poised over a control on the generator to detach the power line if needed, but then it stopped with surprising abruptness. The view from the video camera jolted violently.

Chase winced. ‘Bloody hell. Even though it’s a robot, I still felt that.’

Warning signals flashed red on the laptop’s screen. ‘I think he hit something,’ Trulli said, dismayed. ‘How wide was that crevasse?’

‘Eighty, ninety feet.’

Now it was Trulli’s turn to wince. ‘There you go, then. He just got blown into the wall on the other side. Christ, that waterspout must be bloody powerful.’ He turned to look. A cloud of spray rose above the edge of the plain, sunlight glinting off billions of ice crystals as the water began to freeze in mid-air.

‘How badly is it damaged?’ Bandra demanded.

‘The hull’s still intact, and the internals survived well enough to give us telemetry,’ Trulli told him, flicking through different screens for more information. ‘Looks like we lost the LIDAR turret and some of the fins, though.’

Bandra glowered at Nina. ‘I hold you personally responsible for the damage, Dr Wilde.’

‘Bill the IHA,’ she told him curtly. The noise of escaping water was a constant thunder, thousands of gallons being blasted out of the shaft every second. But how long would it take to drain the entire lake?

There was no way to know. All they could do was wait for nature to take its course. ‘I think,’ she announced, ‘that pretty much wraps it up for the day.’

Chase entered the small cabin aboard the Southern Sun, finding Nina and Sophia examining photo printouts of the inscription within the buried chamber in Australia. ‘Ay up.’

‘Where’ve you been?’ Nina asked.

‘Listening to Bandra shout at Matt. Surprised you didn’t hear him down here, he was pretty pissed off.’ He picked up a page of Nina’s notes. ‘What’re you up to?’

‘Trying to translate the inscription,’ Sophia told him.

‘Any luck?’

‘Some,’ said Nina. ‘We’ve been concentrating on the parts about the city, to see if we can get an idea of what’s down there. For a start, the “tree of the gift” that Ribbsley mentioned? Whatever it was, it’s not unique. The city has one too.’

‘And it’s not the only tree they made a big song and dance about. Here.’ Sophia indicated one particular section of the ancient text.

Nina looked more closely. ‘Something about . . . “lowering” themselves to their god to reach the tree of the gift? Kneeling in supplication, maybe?’ Sophia nodded. ‘Then some stuff about prophets, and a gate to the tree of . . .’ She pointed at the word. ‘I don’t know what that means.’

‘It’s “life”,’ Sophia told her. ‘The tree of life.’

‘The tree of life?’ Nina repeated, startled. ‘As mentioned in the Book of Genesis? No wonder the Covenant want to find it.’

‘It was certainly very important to the Veteres - some kind of link to their god.’ Sophia pursed her lips. ‘Interesting that they were monotheistic. Primitive cultures were usually polytheist.’

‘Not necessarily. Zoroastrianism dates back to at least the ninth century BC.’

‘They worshipped Zorro?’ Chase said, miming the swipes of a sword in a Z-shape. ‘That’s my kind of religion!’

Nina and Sophia gave each other tired looks. ‘And you want to marry him,’ Sophia said.

‘You did marry him.’

‘Life is a series of right and wrong paths.’

‘Oi!’ Chase protested. ‘Anyway, this lot aren’t exactly primitive. I mean, look what they built.’ He indicated a LIDAR printout of several dome-shaped buildings, then added with a cough, ‘Helpedbyaliens.’

‘Will you shut up about goddamn aliens?’ snapped Nina. She turned back to Sophia. ‘Does it say anything more about what this tree of life actually is?’

‘Not that I can see - or at least that I can translate.’

‘You’re doing okay at the translation,’ Chase said to Nina.

‘I’m a quick study,’ she replied.

‘Yeah, I know. Keep this up and you won’t even need Sophia.’

Nina arched an eyebrow. ‘Wouldn’t that be a shame?’ Her expression became more suspicious as she regarded the Englishwoman. ‘You wouldn’t be holding back on anything to keep yourself useful, would you?’

Sophia sighed, somewhat sarcastically. ‘What would that gain me? My interests are best served by helping you and Eddie.’

‘And our interests would have been better served if you’d given me Ribbsley’s notes when I asked,’ said Nina. ‘At least he doesn’t have them either. Unless that Winnebago had a fireproof safe.’

‘That Ribbsley bloke,’ Chase asked Sophia, ‘what do you see in him, anyway? He’s not rich, he’s not a sexy hunk like me.’

Sophia appeared irritated. ‘He’s an intellectual equal. Which of course you could never appreciate.’

‘He’s more on your moral level as well,’ said Nina. She looked back at the photos. ‘If there’s nothing more