Fitzpatrick bowed his head slightly. “Follow me.”
Cross walked around behind me and placed the tip of his gun barrel into my lower back. When he nudged me, I started up the steps towards the hatch, Cross right behind me.
The area just inside the entrance was quite large, though there wasn’t much headroom. It appeared to be a control centre. There was a soft glow in the room, but no distinct light source, as if the very material the room was constructed from was emitting the light. The area was circular, like the interior of an egg, with three doorways spaced evenly to the left. One doorway was open, and a reddish light was blinking from beyond. The control centre had no seats, though what appeared to be consoles lined about a third of the conference on the right. No switches or buttons were visible, only flat surfaces with markings on them.
Fitzpatrick’s voice interrupted my examination. “We are standing in the midst of history. Those who came with this ship may have been our forefathers. If not the fathers of our race, they at least were guardians and guides to our ancestors. This is a holy place.”
He turned his gaze past me, toward Cross. “You would sell this. How can money mean so much to you? If I could, I would preserve this, to show what our civilisation might become when we are wiser and more prudent. It is a pity that we are not even close.”
Cross laughed Crawley. “You and Murphy are full of pretty words today, aren’t you?” he motioned toward the red light. “What’s in there?”
Fitzpatrick appeared reluctant to say anything, but answered. “The main power cell.”
Cross pushed the gun painfully into my spinal column. “Let’s go take a look, shall we?” As we entered the chamber, I saw that the source of the light was mounted on a small pedestal. The room was only ten to twelve feet in diameter, with a pedestal against the far wall. Just inside the door, Cross pushed me to the right. “Stay right there. You, old man, stand beside him.”
While Cross waited for Fitzpatrick to get in place, Regan entered the chamber and walked straight to the light source. Cross’s eyes left us for a moment and followed her to the pedestal. Fitzpatrick’s elbow touched my ribs. He lifted a finger, then made an almost imperceptible motion toward the door. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed he wanted to make a run for it when the opportunity presented itself. I didn’t know how we could possibly get away, but we were going to die anyway.
Cross looked back at us. We haven’t moved a step. He moved slowly toward a pedestal, trying to keep one eye on us and one on the red light. When he’d gotten close, he leaned over to get a better view. Fitzpatrick nudged me. I turned and bolted through the door. Behind me, I heard a slamming sound and the same hydraulic hiss I’d heard before. Suddenly, Cross’ s gun went off, and I turned to see Fitzpatrick hit the floor as the door closed behind him. I rushed over to the old man. He was hurt badly.
“C’mon, we’ve got to get out of here and get you to a doctor.”
Fitzpatrick looked up at me. “There is no need for a doctor. I’ll live long enough to fulfil my destiny.” “What do you mean?”
The old man gasped for breath. He didn’t have long. “I’m going to navigate the ship off the planet and destroy it. I have the explosive set. You must get off now, while you can.”
“You know how to fly this? How do you know it even works?”
Fitzpatrick smiled weakly. “Trust me, Tex. The power cell you retrieved from Roswell allowed me to regenerate the ship’s power. It will work.” “But you’re not gonna make it. Tell me what to do.”
The dying man gasped. The colour was training quickly from his face. “Find the sun symbol and press it. That will activate the navigational console. Then press V, Red, Left Half-Moon, 11, Triangle, Helix, Green, Right Half-Moon, X, Double Circle.”
Each word was more difficult to hear. On the word “Circle,” Fitzpatrick shuddered and exhaled loudly. He was dead.
I turned to the console, hoping that the dead man hadn’t passed on before completing the instructions. A gunshot rang out, and a bullet ricocheted off the console to my right. Cross had managed to get his gun barrel in the path of the door. It was wedged tightly and, luckily, it wasn’t pointed at me. Behind the door, Regan and Cross were yelling at each other. Cross’s fingers slipped through the gap and above the wedged gun.
I turned back and scanned the console wildly, looking for the sun symbol. In my head, I was repeating over and over: V, Red, Left Half-Moon, 11, Triangle, Helix, Green, Right Half-Moon, X, Double Circle. V R Moon E T H G Moon X Double Circle V R Moon E T H G Moon X Double Circle
I finally located the sun symbol and touched it. The console burst to life. When I pressed the V symbol, four coloured areas appeared. I touched the red spot. My eyes ran over the surface. What was next? I saw two half-moon symbols and pressed the left one. Try to remember. V, R, Moon, E. What was E? Eleven! Close by, I saw a figure of two parallel vertical lines and touched it. A whirring sound ensued. OK. V, R, Moon, E. Now T — Triangle, then H — helix. The to symbols worn the same section of the console. All right, so far, so good.
Now G, Moon, X, Double Circle. G for Green. I moved back to the four-colour display and touched the green spot. The whirring sound stopped. Behind me, I heard a metallic clang and spun around to see that Cross had widened the gap in the door. I moved back to the half moon symbols and touched the right one. The ship shuddered. What was the next symbol? My eyes ran over the console frantically. No, no, no…X! I pressed the X symbol. Finally, I needed to find the Double Circle. It was placed directly in the centre of the console, like a target. I pressed it and heard something mechanical kick in.
The second I touched the Double Circle, I raced to the hatch. A loud, hydraulic hiss hit me in stereo. The hatch was starting to close, and I was fairly sure that Cross had pried the door open at the same instant. With no time to lose, I vaulted through the hatch, down the steps and away from the spacecraft. A barely detectable humming escalated into a low roar. After several seconds, the ancient ship began to lift off. I watched it shoot straight up toward the sky. Higher and higher it rose, until I could no longer see it. I continued to stare skyward for several minutes. Suddenly, a white flash appeared, brighter than any light I’d ever seen. It filled the sky for several seconds. Then a massive boom echoed from above, shaking the very roots of the stone cavern. It was over.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jackson Cross’s Black Avatar was hidden a short distance from where the spacecraft had been. I couldn’t find a second speeder and, after a quick search of the area, determined that Fitzpatrick must have been dropped off and that no one had stayed with him. My flight home, courtesy of the NSA, spoiled me for life with regard to speeder quality. To my everlasting regret, when I reached the States, I dumped the avatar and took a commuter flight back to San Francisco. Cross may have had his own agenda and been in Peru on private business, but I certainly didn’t want to start an ongoing feud with the NSA. Joyriding in one of their special vehicles would probably fall somewhere between an irritation and an outright breach of decorum.
After I returned, Elijah Witt paid me a visit. I filled him in on everything that happened in Peru, and we sorted out the rest of the details. Witt told me that Fitzpatrick had been one of the scientists at Roswell who’d figured out how to work the particle accelerator. His story of meeting Malloy in China was just a little fiction to disguise his Roswell connection. After the military had used his work to make the world a more toxic place, Fitzpatrick had felt solely responsible.
Apparently, Fitzpatrick had taken off for Peru last night, immediately after I left the Savoy. Witt had discouraged him from going alone, but the old man insisted. Fitzpatrick’s death wasn’t something to be mourned, Witt told me. He had died at peace with himself, having atoned for his self-perceived misdeeds.