The Covenant of Genesis

struck the back of his seat - but didn’t pierce the metal, the flattened round clanging to the floor. Other shots thunked round them, then the firing stopped as the aircraft transitioned to flight mode and sped out of range.

‘Are we damaged?’ Trulli asked. ‘Can we still fly?’

Larsson hurriedly checked the instruments. ‘I think so. But who were they? What the hell is going on?’

‘Tell you in a minute.’ Trulli turned his attention back to the walkie-talkie. ‘First, I’ve got to get this radio working!’

Zamal watched the tilt-rotor retreat into the distance. ‘They’re getting away!’ he yelled.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Callum told him, unconcerned. He looked at the hole in the ice. ‘We’ve still got Wilde and Chase trapped. And Blackwood.’

‘I want Sophia alive,’ Ribbsley said firmly. ‘If you want my help, that’s the deal.’

Vogler smiled sardonically. ‘Professor Ribbsley, do you know how far we are from the nearest ice station?’

He looked puzzled. ‘No?’

‘About two hundred kilometres,’ said Hammerstein, lighting a cigar.

‘Quite a walk,’ Vogler continued. ‘And since we only have enough seats in the paracraft to take us all back there,’ he gestured at one of the four-seater vehicles, ‘if we decided to bring Ms Blackwood with us, one person would have to give up his place and make that walk. And I assure you, that person will not be any of my men.’

‘Nor mine,’ said Hammerstein.

Zamal grinned. ‘Or mine.’

‘And I doubt Mr Callum will volunteer either. So, Professor, you may want to reconsider your position.’ Vogler gazed into the distance. ‘It really is quite a walk.’

Ribbsley turned away with an irritable, defeated growl. Vogler regarded him with brief amusement before calling to one of the soldiers. ‘Situation report!’

‘The paracraft are all ready, sir,’ the man replied.

‘And the ice-burners?’

The soldier indicated a pair of heavy objects the size and shape of oil drums, which were being lifted upright alongside two of the paracraft. ‘Ready to be moved into position.’

‘Then let us begin.’ Vogler faced the other Covenant leaders.

‘Hammerstein, take your squad down the shaft there,’ he said, nodding at the winch. ‘Zamal, get your men to set up the first ice-burner over the centre of the lake and proceed from there. My team will take the second to the southern end. Mr Callum, Professor Ribbsley, come with me.’ He took his rifle from his shoulder, pulling back the charging handle to load the first round. ‘Dr Wilde’s search is over.’

The second cylinder was on the spindle. ‘All right,’ said Nina, ‘let’s see what this one has to say.’

‘What was it called again?’ asked Chase.

‘“The path from . . .” whatever that name is,’ Sophia said, pointing at the unknown word on the inscription, then moving her finger to the starting point of the map. ‘Presumably this place in Africa.’

Nina turned the wheel. An ancient voice echoed from the speaker cone, reciting the cylinder’s title. ‘We’ll take a look after we’ve played—’ She stopped as she heard what it said.

Chase and Sophia were equally dumbfounded. Though the language was strange, one word stood out clearly from the others. A name.

A name they all knew.

Nina stopped the wheel. Chase jabbed a finger at the cone. ‘Did that just say what I think it said?’

‘Play it again!’ Sophia ordered, but Nina didn’t need any prompting, already moving the needle back to its starting position. She spun the wheel again.

Again, the unfamiliar words emerged from the speaker . . . followed by one they couldn’t mistake.

Eden.

‘“The path from Eden”?’ Chase almost shouted. ‘Are you telling me these buggers came from the Garden of fucking Eden?’

‘It can’t be,’ Sophia protested, even as Nina reset the needle once more. ‘The Garden of Eden is pure myth!’

‘So was Atlantis,’ Nina reminded her as the ancient recording played again.

Eden. The same word. Unmistakable. Undeniable.

‘That’s the Covenant’s secret,’ said Nina, stunned. ‘The Covenant of Genesis . . . they took their name from the agreement, the covenant, between the three religions to protect Genesis, to protect Eden, and make sure nobody ever finds it.’

‘Why?’ Chase asked, mystified. ‘If they say, “Hey, look, we found the actual factual Garden of Eden!” wouldn’t that prove they were right all along?’

‘Not if scientific analysis confirmed that what was written in Genesis is wrong. The story told in Genesis is the foundation stone of all three religions - kick it out, and they’re all weakened. They can’t allow that to happen.’

Sophia surveyed the map. ‘So do they know where Eden is?’

‘They can’t, otherwise they would have dealt with it already.’ She raised her hands to take in the room and its contents. ‘But they don’t have any of this. We do, and the Covenant don’t know where we are - so we can find Eden first!’

Chase was about to say something when his walkie-talkie squawked. ‘Matt? That you?’ The only response was a stuttering electronic screech. ‘Walls must be too thick for the signal to get through,’ he said, ducking back through the passageway. ‘I’ll try it out here.’

He emerged in the ice-blocked hallway, where the red flare was still fizzing away. Trulli’s voice became clearer, though still heavily distorted. ‘Nina! Eddie! If you can hear me, for Christ’s sake answer!’

‘I’m here, Matt,’ said Chase. ‘What’s up?’

‘Eddie! Oh, thank God! Listen, they’re here, the Covenant! They killed Davo and Dr Bandra!’

Chase was silent for a moment. ‘Oh, arse,’ he finally said.

‘Eddie! Did you hear me?’

‘Yeah, I heard you. Where are you?’

‘We’re in the plane. Listen, you’ve got to get out of there!’

‘No shit, Sherlock,’ muttered Chase as the women scrabbled through the passage, Nina clutching the cylinder containing the song. ‘Nina, you know you just said that the Covenant don’t know where we are?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Guess what?’

Nina’s face fell. ‘You gotta be kidding me!’

‘Matt,’ he said into the radio, ‘we need to find another way back to the winch.’ He paused. ‘They’re at the winch, aren’t they?’

‘Yeah,’ came the crackling reply.

‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ Another moment of thought. ‘Okay, then the only other way out’s through the drainage shaft - if it hasn’t frozen up. If we get out, I’ll radio you so you can pick us up. But if you don’t hear anything from us in . . .’ he looked at his watch, ‘in the next hour, then get the fuck out of here, because I don’t think we’ll be coming.’

‘We’ll land and wait for you,’ Trulli assured him. ‘Good luck.’

‘Thanks.’ Chase lowered the radio. ‘Okay, we need another way back down to the ground - but first things first,’ he said as an idea struck him, crouching and hurrying back through the passage.

‘What are you doing?’ Nina asked, pocketing the cylinder and following him.

‘Give me your camera. Quick.’ She extracted it from its pouch and handed it to him. He took several pictures of the African section of the map.

Sophia entered. ‘What is it?’

‘We’re the only people who’ve seen this, right?’ he said, closing the camera’s cover and stuffing it into one of