league with Stikes tipped her feelings a little towards the latter.
Stikes’s presence was itself a concern. She was sure Takashi had lied about the mercenary’s being a mere delivery boy; he was involved with whatever was going on. As for what that might be, though…
Could she believe Takashi’s claims about the goals of his mysterious organisation? That Stikes was connected to it at all made her doubt its true commitment to ending global conflict, for a start — as a gun for hire, his livelihood depended on that. But someone else was opposed enough to take action to stop him. Drastic action. The helicopter attack had been intended to kill her, Takashi and Stikes alike.
And Eddie. Somebody wanted him dead too. But why? What was the connection?
The statues were the key, she was sure.
Takashi had known what to expect when the figures were brought together. But nothing Nina knew of suggested even remotely that the statues could use the planet’s own energy fields to counter the force of gravity — to say nothing of her extraordinary mental experience.
Which meant that someone, somewhere, had information that outstripped even the IHA’s discoveries. She only knew one group that might fit the bill. And that was why she had come to Rome.
‘Dr Wilde,’ said Nicholas Popadopoulos, turning her name over in his mouth like a piece of slightly unpleasant food. She had dealt with the stooped old man before. The Brotherhood of Selasphoros possessed an enormous trove of ancient texts concerning Atlantis; the organisation’s purpose had been to suppress knowledge of the lost civilisation.
It had done so by trying to kill anyone who got too close to the truth, which was why Popadopoulos’s antipathy was more than matched by Nina’s. She had been targeted, as had her parents. She had survived. They had not. The thought still caused a knot of anger to tighten within her.
She tried to suppress it. Her life might now depend on something in the Brotherhood’s archives. ‘Mr Popadopoulos,’ she replied, voice studiedly neutral. ‘Good to see you again.’
‘And you,’ he said, less than convincingly. ‘This visit is unexpected, though. We have cooperated fully with the IHA in providing anything it requested, so why you felt the need to come here in person…’
‘Your definition of “full cooperation” isn’t quite the same as ours,’ Nina said with a thin smile.
‘We are doing everything asked of us!’ Popadopoulos’s resentment was clear in every word. ‘We are the only people who know everything in the archives. It would take outsiders years just to understand how it is catalogued. Perhaps you think you can do it without us?’
Her smile turned colder. ‘I dunno, maybe we should try. You could have a nice long vacation… paid for by the state. What do you think?’
He glowered at her through his little round spectacles. What was left of the Brotherhood after the battles leading to Atlantis’s discovery had been forced to open its records under threat of being held to account for the organisation’s past crimes. ‘I will see if things can be done more… expediently,’ he conceded.
‘Thank you. Although that isn’t actually why I decided to pop in.’
‘What? Then why
‘No, I want some information. Expediently.’
The old man was annoyed at having his words turned back at him. ‘What information?’
‘I want to know if you have anything in the archives about Nantalas.’
‘The priestess?’
Nina arched an eyebrow. ‘Then I guess you
‘She was an important figure prior to the sinking of Atlantis.’ He leaned thoughtfully back in his seat. ‘She claimed to have visions, I remember. Of war, usually, but that was the major occupation of the Atlanteans. She also claimed to have magic powers.’
‘These powers — they wouldn’t have been connected to three statues, by any chance?’
Popadopoulos sat back up, surprised. ‘Yes. How did you know?’
‘We excavated some of the texts from the Temple of Poseidon.’
‘Ah, I see.’ His face tipped into a frown. ‘It would be nice to receive updates on the IHA’s progress in Atlantis. Anyone would think you did not trust us.’
‘Really,’ said Nina scathingly. ‘So what else do you know about the statues?’
‘It is many years since I last read the text, but I think they were how she received her visions. They were the keys to her powers… No, the powers were not actually hers. The statues were how she channelled them, but they came from something else, a stone… Wait, the
‘And what were these powers?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t remember. It was all magic, nonsense. I paid it no mind.’
Nina fought to keep her frustration in check. ‘And you didn’t think it might be worth telling the IHA this? You must have known that we had two of the statues.’
‘We provide exactly what is asked for,’ Popadopoulos told her. ‘Nothing less — and nothing more.’
‘Well, you might want to feel a bit more of the volunteer spirit in future,’ she snapped. ‘But in the meantime, I want to know everything about the statues. Even the stuff you think is nonsense.’
‘I told you, I would have to read the text again.’
‘Well, I’m not busy right now, and if you’ve got time to see me you can’t be either. So let’s go.’
‘You want to see the original text? In the archive?’ He appeared horrified by the suggestion.
‘Yep, pretty much.’
‘That was never part of the deal! It was agreed that the Brotherhood could maintain the secrecy of its archives.’
‘I don’t give a damn about your secrets. What I do give a damn about is that somebody else knows about the power of these statues — at least two groups of somebodies, in fact, and they’re already fighting over them. Did you see the news about that skyscraper in Tokyo?’
‘Yes, of course. They said it was attacked by a helicopter.’
‘I was in the penthouse!’ He regarded her in astonishment. ‘I had the statues, all three of them, in my hands. And something happened, something I didn’t understand — but something incredible. I need to know what it means. I think the answer’s in your archive.’
Popadopoulos sat back again, deep in thought. At last, with a decidedly conflicted expression, he stood. ‘Very well, Dr Wilde. But these are exceptional circumstances, yes? I am not willing to have other members of the IHA “pop in”, as you say, whenever they want.’
‘Just show me what you’ve got on the statues and I’ll be out of here.’
For the first time, he liked something she had said. ‘Come with me.’
The Brotherhood’s activities in Rome were hidden behind the cover of a law firm, its offices within sight of the high walls of the Vatican. Popadopoulos led her through the narrow corridors to one particular door on the ground floor. ‘In here.’
Nina eyed the interior dubiously. ‘Seriously?’ It was a closet containing shelves of cleaning products, a tiny barred window high on one wall.
He sighed and entered, waving her inside. She squeezed into the cramped space as the Greek closed the door and reached for a light switch. Instead of flicking it, though, he took hold of the casing and gave it a half-turn. A click, a muted hum from somewhere below — and Nina gasped as the floor began a slow descent down a shaft of dark old bricks.
Popadopoulos chuckled at her uneasiness. ‘Do you like our elevator?’
‘It’s, uh… different.’
‘It was installed over a hundred years ago. The Brotherhood has owned the building since it was built in 1785 — but the archives have been here for far longer. I hope you appreciate that I am actually giving you a very rare privilege,’ he went on. ‘The number of outsiders who have seen them in, oh, the past five hundred years can be counted on both hands. Even members of the Brotherhood were rarely allowed to enter if they were not involved with record-keeping.’
The elevator stopped around thirty feet below street level. A passage led off to one side, dim bulbs strung along its length. Heavier-duty electrical cables ran along the walls. ‘Follow me,’ said Popadopoulos.
After twenty yards the brickwork gave way to older and rougher stone. The tunnel continued ahead for some distance. Nina tried to get her bearings. ‘It’s a catacomb,’ she realised. ‘We’re going under the Vatican?’
‘Yes. The catacombs beneath the Holy See stretch for tens, maybe even hundreds of kilometres — they have
