Aboud allowed himself to smile briefly. “That is good. We can institute a breeding program, of course, but that will take time. Initially, I will need a very large quantity to test my experiments.”
“It’s a shame your work was interrupted during the war.”
The doctor shot Metcalf an incredulous look. The old man seemed to be trying to make conversation. This was hardly a pleasant topic to choose. Aboud thought back to his final days in his homeland. He had been forced to flee his country, one step ahead of the troops. His laboratory was destroyed and with it his hopes of completing his research. He gave a humorless laugh. “Not only my work was interrupted. My life as well.”
“I realize it must be difficult adjusting to a new place,” Metcalf offered consolingly.
Aboud shrugged philosophically. “Here, there. The science is the same. What you are planning to build for me here is much better than what I had in my own country. I can accomplish more in a facility like this one.” He continued to trace the outline of the structure, but then his finger stopped. “There is one thing missing from this plan.”
“Yes?” Abraham asked anxiously.
“I will need an incinerator. A very large one.”
Chapter 44 – Cliffhanger
Faye carried a tray over to the coffee table in her conference room at the vault. She sat down and added Darjeeling leaves to the pot of hot water.
“Good, you’re here.” Maddie breezed through the open door and dropped down across from Faye on one of the leather couches.
“Any word from our intrepid team?” Faye inquired as she stirred the liquid in the pot and replaced the lid.
Maddie shook her head. “Just my luck I was out of the office when they finally phoned. But I got a voice mail from Griffin saying they were planning to arrive back at the vault this morning with a full report. That’s why I called you to come over.” She gave her superior an arch look. “At least this time you answered your phone.”
Faye smiled serenely. “My little world has been restored to order now that Zachary has been bundled off to his home. I am happy to announce that I am once more ‘online’ and fully functional as the saying goes.”
“Let’s hope the world of the Arkana is about to be restored to order too,” Maddie commented worriedly. “I’ve been on pins and needles fretting over this business with Erik. I keep telling myself that it’s no use bleeding before I’m cut.”
“A wise practice,” Faye concurred. “Any number of things might have happened, and there’s no point speculating. Imagination has a way of amplifying any problem the real world can provide.”
“Guess we’ll know soon enough.” Maddie reached for a cigarette but saw the look of mild reproach that Faye gave her. She threw the pack on the coffee table and smiled contritely. “Sorry. Force of habit. I really need a smoke to settle my nerves, but I’m afraid if I climb up to the chimney, they’ll get here while I’m gone.”
“What time did Griffin say they’d arrive?” Faye checked the color of the brewing tea.
Maddie consulted her wristwatch. “Right about now.”
“Have some tea, dear. That might steady you a bit.” She poured servings for both of them and handed one to Maddie.
“Might as well.” Maddie accepted and drank the hot tea in a few gulps.
“My goodness,” Faye said. “Would you like another?”
The operations director took a deep breath. “Nope, that’ll do me for now.” She set the cup down and began to drum her long fingernails on her knee. “I just wish they’d get here already.”
“Your wish is our command,” Griffin announced as he walked through the door trailed closely by Cassie. Bringing up the rear was Erik.
“Erik! Thank goddess!” Maddie cried. Springing off the couch, she engulfed the security coordinator in a smothering embrace.
He squirmed and tried to disentangle himself. “Maddie, let go. I can’t breathe.”
She stood back, holding him at arms length. Her joyous expression rapidly turned to a scowl. She shook him by the arms like a rag doll. “What the hell is wrong with you? You had us both worried to death! I swear I could kill you myself!”
Cassie and Griffin shrank back against the wall, but Erik took the tirade far more calmly than he’d taken the hug. He grinned and extricated himself from Maddie’s grip. “Relax, chief. It’s all good.”
The operations director wasn’t ready to calm down. “Why the hell didn’t you call?”
Griffin cleared his throat. “If I may, that was my idea. We were afraid the Nephilim might attempt to retrace Erik’s trail once they knew he’d been hunting the relic. They might have made inquiries and stumbled across us. We didn’t want to lead them straight to HQ via telecom, so we thought it best to leave the country as quickly as possible and provide explanations later.”
“Oh, you’ll be doing that alright.” Maddie glared at the Brit. “Right now, as a matter of fact. All of you, sit down and explain yourselves.”
During this interchange, Faye had remained silent. She’d busied herself with pouring out cups of tea for the new arrivals and distributing them around the table.
The trio filed dutifully around the couches and sat.
“I don’t know what you’re fussing about,” Erik objected.
“We thought you were dead!” Maddie shot back.
“But how did you—”
She cut him off. “We got a hold of Hunt’s last call to Metcalf. He said he’d had some trouble on the mountain. From the description he gave, it sounded like he’d killed you.”
Erik looked sheepish. “Jeez, I’m sorry, Maddie. It never occurred to us you’d hear about that.”
“Especially not under those circumstances,” Griffin added. “We’re all terribly sorry.”
“Yeah,” Cassie concurred. “We would have called if we’d known.”
Maddie seemed to have vented most of her frustration by this time. The looks of apology mollified her temper. “OK, so now you know,” she grumped.
Faye took charge of the
