but you’ll die without answers.”
Orlando lunged just as the gun fired.
3.
“Room 2311,” Nina whispered, looking up from the terminal. They were in the business office, and Caleb stood by the door, nodding to passing guests, keeping an eye out for security—or suspicious parties.
“You sure?” he called back.
“Sure. Easy to hack into their reservation system. A lot of unsold rooms, bad economy and all, but this one’s the most out of the way, yet convenient to stairwells for an easy getaway.”
Caleb looked back and met her stone-cold eyes. “If there’s an abundance of rooms, we can each get one.” He smiled. “On different floors.”
Nina smiled back, a catlike grin. She picked up a card, swiped it on a nearby imprinter and held it up. “Sorry, darling. Only one key. And we’ve got to keep up appearances.” In a flash she was up, slipping her arm in his and leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Bring me back to our honeymoon suite, darling.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “Honeymoon? Seriously?” His free hand tapped the object strapped to his ribs. “I’ve got the most powerful object, potentially, in the world under my shirt, and you want to–”
“I want to live,” Nina whispered. “Long enough for us to use that thing and save the damn world.” She tugged him toward the elevators. “Now, let’s move.”
In their suite, spacious as far as cruise accommodations went, Nina sprawled out on the bed, kicked off her shoes and pulled up a map on her smartphone.
“Okay, the next stop is at Juneau. We can charter a plane from there and–”
“No more planes,” Caleb said, groaning. He was at the desk, bent over the spear point. Two lamps trained their lights on its surface, and Caleb reverently lifted it, one side up at a time, studying the markings. Every nick and scratch, every line of etched markings.
“Fine,” Nina said. “Although parachuting out over HAARP would be a hell of a lot easier than the driving close and then having to ditch the vehicle and hoof it through the ice and snow.”
“Stealthy approach is what we need.”
“But we’ve got
“Surely it can’t stop the whole arsenal available to such a heavily guarded installation.”
Nina shrugged. Turned over and arched her back in a long stretch. “Have it your way. I’m starting to think you just want to spend more time with me.”
Caleb gave her an acid stare.
“Come on,” Nina chided. “Now that you know we’ve created life? Brought not one, but two children into the world?”
Caleb stared at the spear, shaking his head.
“Come on,” Nina repeated. “I know that’s what did it for you and Lydia.”
Caleb’s eyes closed.
“She backstabbed you just as good and hard as I did, yet you took her back with open arms once she showed you pictures of little Alexander, the son you never knew you had.”
“That was different.”
“Was it?” She rolled onto her stomach now, then pivoted on the bed so she was facing him, chin cradled in her hands. “She was following orders from her Keeper father, following the rules. Playing you to get what they wanted. How was I any different?”
Caleb’s right hand settled on the lower edge of the spear; his fingers curled around it in a tight grasp and his lips trembled. He was about to turn when—
KNOCK.
They both froze, met each others’ eyes, then looked to the door. Another knock.
Nina was up in a flash, digging into her purse and retrieving her silver-plated Beretta. Finger to her lips, she approached the door. Caleb followed at a distance, the spear still in his shaking hand.
“What is it?” Nina called out, while eying the viewing hole.
From the other side of the door came a gruff young voice. “Delivery.”
Nina frowned, glancing back to Caleb, who was shaking his head. He whispered: “No one knew we were here, and this room was vacant. Don’t open it.”
But Nina was already unlocking the door. She slid the gun into her waistband behind her back and opened the door partway. Caleb saw the young man outside, dressed as a ship’s bellhop, holding a square box, which Nina promptly snatched out of his hands.
She dug into her pockets, but the bellhop backed away. “No need for a tip, just doing my job. And frankly, we’re all a little relieved down in the mail room.”
“What for?” she asked.
The bellhop looked around nervously. “Well, strange thing about this delivery…”
Caleb noticed now that the box was wrapped up tight with non-descript brown delivery paper, but covered excessively with yellow wrapping tape.
“…it was dropped off at our cruise director’s office three years ago. Addressed to this here room number, but—and here’s where it got really weird—instructions were that it wasn’t to be delivered until this date, which was, as I said—”
“Three years later,” Nina robotically answered. She gently shook the box, eyeing it from different angles.
“Yup,” said the bellhop, edging out of sight. “Apparently paid quite a sum for the instructions to be followed directly, and claimed he’d know if we didn’t do as he said. And he’d know if we opened the box.”
Nina looked at him. And the bellhop shifted back into view, eyeing the box, then Nina. “I uh, well… some of us, we wondered what’s in there. And well, the fact that this room only today got sold was weird enough, and well…”
Nina slammed the door on him. Locked it and turned around, facing Caleb. She hefted the box.
Caleb raised the spear. “Need a box cutter?”
They sat on the bed, the box between them.
“Is this smart?” Caleb asked, spear point poised over a seam.
“What, using a priceless ancient artifact to open a delivery box, or just the fact that we’re even considering opening it at all?
“Yes,” Caleb said, trying to be confidently humorless. “And you know as well as I, that we’re far too curious as to who sent this, and what it is.”
“Go ahead,” Nina said, nodding. “Although I think we can already guess as to
Caleb started sawing, gently slicing through tape and cardboard, freeing one side, then the next. “You’re thinking it’s from Montross.”
Nina smiled. “And if so, it can only mean that he saw something. Saw that—”
“We’d be here at this time.”
“And,” Nina continued as Caleb set down the spear, parted the cardboard and paper folds and reached inside with both hands, “that we’d need whatever it is that’s inside there.”
With some effort, Caleb lifted the object, just about the size of a bowling ball, and held it up to the light. Held it up so both he and Nina could admire its intricate gold and silver inlays, its detailed carved symbols unlike
