“What the hell was this?” he asked himself as he examined the two very different sets of finds. He checked the more modern Japanese rifles and saw that none of them had ammunition, a sorrowful discovery that lessened his chances of living through this. He tossed a broken bolt-action rifle down and then looked around the eerie setting. No remains were evident as he scanned the area with his bow at the ready.
Suddenly a memory occurred to him that had skipped his train of thought. He now remembered Sarah’s discovery during the search for the alien power plant that the Iranians had conducted experiments with the dimensional wormholes and had disrupted time to the point that they had succeeded in snatching Roman, Japanese, and even Chinese troops from their own planes of existence. These must be the remains of those lost souls. As he looked around the stockade he came to the conclusion that these differing warring entities came together for a common cause called survival. And from the looks of the stockade that mission failed and failed big time.
His boot kicked at a small bush that had entwined itself around an object that was solid. He reached down and cleared away the undergrowth and then his eyes widened in surprise. He lifted the heavy piece and examined it with a smile, knowing that the theory about the Iranian experiments were accurate. In his hands was that proof. The large golden eagle was ornate and tinged with mold but was otherwise intact. The shaft that once attached the eagle had long since vanished but the object was as familiar to Everett as his own flag. The Roman numeral for nine, IX, marked the eagle as the standard for the famous and very much ancient Ninth Legion of the Roman Empire. The very same legion that had mysteriously vanished during the occupation of Britain.
Carl allowed the eagle to slide from his hands as he felt the shudder of the earth beneath his feat. As he looked around at the growing darkness, the ashfall began in earnest.
The rumble of Mount Erebus proclaimed that if the animal life in Antarctica didn’t get him, the volcano would.
Carl Everett knew that he and the last continent on earth that wasn’t frozen over were now living on borrowed time.
Antarctica was beginning its death throes.
Jason Ryan tugged at the loose-fitting desert BDUs he was issued. Colonel Collins had issued orders that any field teams would go in the guise of Army Corps of Engineers as their cover, thus the desert BDUs with their computer-designed camouflage. He saw his reflection in the white plastic wall of the curving hallway as he made his way to the cafeteria. As well as the blue and red tattoo that seemed to make people, women especially, step a wide path around him, the new military clothing line did not meet with his approval.
He was about to step into the large eating area when he saw something that made him stop at the entrance and watch. The three women moved as if they were in the midst of a prison break. He shook his head as he watched Alice Hamilton, Sarah McIntire, and Anya Korvesky turn a corner heading for the bank of air-cushioned elevators. He started to walk in for his lunch and then decided what he had seen didn’t quite look right. He turned away and followed. At the corner he saw them enter the elevator and he watched from the rounded corner as the doors closed. He watched the elevator’s annunciator as it traveled down only two levels to nine. He went to the second lift and followed.
The knock on the clean room door brought Xavier Morales’s head up. He closed the electronic pad he was using and then looked at Charlie. He shrugged.
“If they don’t have clearance they will go away,” Ellenshaw said as he turned back to his own electronic pad and perused an old geology report on back-scanner results from the Antarctic.
Suddenly the door buzzed and it slid open.
“I guess whoever it is has the clearance,” Morales said as he watched the doorway.
Alice Hamilton smiled as she, Anya, and Sarah walked into the clean room. They had the required antistatic clothing and hairnets, which made them look like nurses. Xavier had reinstituted clean room policy until he got the kinks worked out on the nervous breakdown, as he called it, of Europa.
“Mrs. Hamilton, ladies, what may I help you with?” Xavier asked politely, not liking the smile on the older woman’s face.
“Uh, Niles would be hard-pressed to know why you’re here,” Charlie said timidly.
Alice only smiled and looked at Ellenshaw until he swallowed and turned away. Then Alice placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and leaned in.
“How many field assignments did I okay with your name on them when you weren’t cleared to go?”
Charlie looked at Xavier and half smiled.
“A few,” Ellenshaw said.
Alice squeezed a little on his shoulder. “Charlie, how many?”
“Six… uh,” he said as she squeezed again, the way Garrison taught her a million years before, “Ah, ah, okay, nine, nine.”
Alice looked at the two women with her. “Charlie’s adventures, I call them.” She turned and looked at Xavier. “Hello,” she said as she rolled a chair over and sat next to Morales’s own wheelchair.
“Mrs. Hamilton, I can guess why you ladies are here. And I have caught up on not only these members and their personnel files, but yours also. ‘Perused’ may be a better word. But on the advice of Director Compton I spent an inordinate amount of time on your particular personnel file, Mrs. Hamilton.”
Alice kept the smile on her face but inside she cursed Niles for his vision.
“What you have done for this agency and her charter is nothing short of amazing. You and former Director Lee, you could field volumes of adventure novels, but what you came for today cannot happen. I can guess, from listening to other Group members, and from your file that you are here to represent these ladies and argue that they should be listed on any field team action. That, I dare say, is out of my control.”
“We have a large stake in this mission,” Anya said, but then stopped when she saw Alice look her way and then imperceptibly shake her head. Anya got the hint. Sarah knew enough in her years at Group to let Alice handle the subversion tactics.
“You want Europa to insert your names into the mission profile if anything is found, right?” Charlie asked, and then looked away when Alice raised her beautiful eyebrow at him. He decided to allow Xavier to try to stop the unstoppable force of the Event Group.
“I believe both Anya and Sarah will complement any field team if and when they are a go,” Alice said as she eyed the young Morales. “There was one reason I was onboard when your name came up as a replacement for Pete, and Niles and Jack both agreed.”
“Because I’m handsome and the best computer man in the world?” Xavier asked with a wink and a smile.
“No, because you have a soul. You think outside of the box, as they say, as recently demonstrated by your unadvised foray into the world of worldwide drug cartels. You do what you think is right, no matter what the personal danger is to yourself.”
Xavier felt the trap as it slowly closed.
“And these ladies have the same right as yourself. They want to be on this mission, but Jack won’t allow it because, to tell you the truth, it’s just far too hazardous. We feel you can work your way around that stipulation somewhat.”
Xavier produced a list from his shirt pocket and then wheeled his chair around and handed the list to Anya. She looked it over and Alice and Sarah both saw the smile start to form on the young Gypsy’s mouth.
“What is it?” Sarah asked.
“It’s the mission roster that Europa recommended to Niles over an hour ago.”