dungeonlike interrogation room. Something about being all alone made this fate seem worse.
“Be strong,” she whispered to herself. “Whatever comes, face it bravely.”
Janko arrived at an open room filled with an eight-pack of electrical generators. The squat, cylindrical- shaped devices were the size of industrial washing machines. They were arranged in two rows, and Hayley was marched between them to a door on the far side.
Janko pressed an intercom button beside the door. “I have the woman,” he said into the microphone.
Janko typed a code into the lock, and an electronic click was heard. He opened the door and ushered Hayley inside. She steeled herself for whatever lay ahead and stepped over the threshold.
This room looked different than the rest of the cave. The walls were finished in a high-gloss white plastic. Computers, control panels, and monitors were placed in various locations. Recessed lighting gave it a warmer look.
“Welcome to Master Control,” the man in the mask said to her.
The voice was distorted by the man’s damaged vocal cords, but she was fairly certain who was speaking.
“Max?” she asked. “Is that really you?”
The man stared at her for a moment and then looked at Janko. “Leave us.”
“She could be dangerous,” Janko replied.
“Not to me,” Thero replied.
Janko exhaled sharply and then stepped out of the room.
As the door closed, Thero stepped closer to her. He held out a hand. She saw that it was burned and scarred.
“It’s been so long,” Thero said. “We’ve been so lonely.”
Despite the fear she felt, Hayley’s mind was racing. “We?” she said. “Is George alive? Is he here with you?”
Thero nodded.
“Is he okay?” she asked, hopeful that George could help her put a stop to this madness and yet fearful that he might be horribly burned and scarred like Thero.
“He’ll be along shortly,” Thero said. “He knows you’re here. In fact, it was he who suggested we talk to you alone. That perhaps you might understand.”
She smiled genuinely. George was the only hope. “I’m thankful to hear that. What about Tessa?”
“No,” Thero said. “They murdered her.”
Hayley cast her gaze down. George and Tessa had been like siblings. She’d hoped somehow both were alive, though she’d doubted it was possible. At least George had survived. Maybe there was a chance, she thought. Maybe reason could triumph at this last moment.
“My heart breaks for Tessa,” she said, “though I’m thankful that you and George are still alive. How did you survive the explosion?”
“I’d begun working on a new theory,” Thero said. “By using a spherical projector instead of a dome-shaped one, I thought the wave might be more stable. We’d only just begun the excavation when the shooting began. George and I escaped and sealed ourselves in while they shot the others.”
She stared.
“There was nothing we could do,” Thero insisted.
“I know,” she said softly. “I understand.”
He glared at her for a moment before continuing. “After the shooting ended and we heard nothing but silence, we unsealed the door. Seconds later, the explosions flashed. I was burned badly, though George was mostly spared. He cared for me until we made it to a hospital. We paid enough to keep it quiet. I didn’t want them finding us after escaping with our lives. But we couldn’t stay long. We had to find a place where we’d be safe.”
“And you came here?”
“Not at first,” he said, “but eventually. We needed a place where no one would ever find us. A place with advantages. Here, we have geothermal power. We have food from the seals and the birds and the fishing grounds. And my study of geography proved most valuable when we discovered diamonds. A series of kimberlite pipes rich enough to fund our operations after the money Tokada had given us ran out.”
“Why not just take the money and run?” she asked. “Live your life. You’ve given so much already.”
“What life?!” he shouted. “We’re hunted wherever we go. Banished here as much by their jealousy and hatred as by our own need to work without interference. You see, the world was not willing to let my light shine upon them. So now I will blind them and burn them instead.”
She considered her precarious position and Thero’s obvious madness. She decided she’d better pander to his ego.
“The world is full of jealous fools,” she said. “But wouldn’t it be glorious to prove them wrong and become rich rather than begin a war that will only bring more death?”
“What good is wealth to a man who can’t show his face or breathe the air?” he said. “My lungs will burn without the proper humidity. My skin crawls if it meets the sunlight. I am no longer part of the world. I am doomed to live here on Tartarus, to live forever in darkness. So what good does the light afford me? Revenge is all I have left.”
“Revenge against Australia?”
“Against all of them,” Thero bellowed. “Against an entire world set against us. Against any who challenge me!”
Hayley shrank back. It only seemed to anger Thero more.
“You have no reason to fear me,” he insisted.
“I have plenty of reason,” she replied. “You’ve become a murderer. The man I knew was never like that. You wanted peace.”
“And this is what it got me!” He pulled off his mask to reveal a face horribly scarred by melted and burned skin. His nose had been burned off, the skin over his right eye scarred and twisted until that eye bulged grotesquely.
Thero stepped toward her angrily. She tried to back away but tripped and fell. Thero’s gaze flicked off to the right and then settled back on her.
“Why shouldn’t I?” he said aloud. “She’s a traitor. She betrayed us like all the rest.”
Hayley stared up at him, one hand raised to defend herself. She looked around but saw no one else in the room.
Still poised to assault her, Thero glanced over his shoulder. Finally, slowly, he lowered his hand and centered his gaze upon her once again. “They’re using you,” he told her.
“Who?”
“All of them,” he replied. “The ASIO, the Americans, the Russians. All of them are out to destroy us together.”
Thero’s paranoid delusions had always run to the grandiose. Strangely, his radical actions had now united much of the world against him.
“They forced me to come along,” she said, thinking quickly and playing to his thoughts. “They were going to put me in prison if I didn’t help. They claimed I was collaborating with you.”
Thero stared down at her. His scarred face showed no trace of emotion. She felt sorry for him in a way. Sorry and afraid and confused.
Thero glanced off to the side once again, staring into the distance. She found it frightening.
He shook his head as if responding to a question. “No,” he muttered. “No, I don’t agree. We must be cautious. What makes you think she can be trusted?”
Once again, Hayley looked in the direction of Thero’s gaze. There was no one there, not even in the distant shadows. Her mind whirled. She took a chance.
“George?” she whispered. “George, I promise I’ve come to help you.”
Thero turned her way again.
“I looked for you both,” she insisted, gazing up into his eyes, her face quivering. “I went to Japan after the
