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Adobe ePub [ 1.3 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Adobe Digital Edition [ 1.9 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Microsoft Reader [ 0.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.8 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Chapter OneSnake OilAugust 6, 10:11 A.M. The anaconda held the small Indian girl wrapped in its heavy coils, dragging her toward the river. Nathan Rand was on his way back to the Yanomamo village after an early morning of gathering medicinal plants when he heard her screams. He dropped his specimen bag and ran to her aid. As he sprinted, he shrugged his short-barreled shotgun from his shoulder. When alone in the jungle, one always carried a weapon. He pushed through a fringe of dense foliage and spotted the snake and girl. The anaconda, one of the largest he had ever seen, at least forty feet in length, lay half in the water and half stretched out on the muddy beach. Its black scales shone wetly. It must have been lurking under the surface when the girl had come to collect water from the river. It was not unusual for the giant snakes to prey upon animals who came to the river to drink: wild peccary, capybara rodents, forest deer. But the great snakes seldom attacked humans. Still, during the past decade of working as a ethnobotanist in the jungles of the Amazon basin, Nathan had learned one important rule: if a beast were hungry enough, all rules were broken. It was an eat-or-be-eaten world under the endless green bower. Nathan squinted through his gun's sight. He recognized the girl. Oh, God, Tama! She was the chieftain's nine-year-old niece, a smiling, happy child who had given him a bouquet of jungle flowers as a gift upon his arrival in the village a month ago. Afterward she kept pulling at the hairs on his arm, a rarity among the smooth-skinned Yanomamo, and nicknamed him Jako Basho, Brother Monkey. Biting his lip, he searched through his weapon's sight. He had no clean shot, not with the child wrapped in the muscular coils of the predator. Damn it! He tossed his shotgun aside and reached to the machete at his belt. Unhitching the weapon, Nathan lunged forward'but as he neared, the snake rolled and pulled the girl under the black waters of the river. Her screams ended and bubbles followed her course. Without thinking, Nathan dove in after her. Of all the environments of the Amazon, none were more dangerous than its waterways. Under its placid surfaces lay countless hazards. Schools of bone-scouring piranhas hunted its depths, while stingrays lay buried in the mud and electric eels roosted amid roots and sunken logs. But worst of all were the river's true man-killers, the black caimans -- giant crocodilian reptiles. With all its dangers, the Indians of the Amazon knew better than to venture into unknown waters. But Nathan Rand was no Indian. Holding his breath, he searched through the muddy waters and spotted the surge of coils ahead. A pale limb waved. With a kick of his legs, he reached out to the small hand, snatching it up in his large grip. Small fingers clutched his in desperation. Tama was still conscious! He used her arm to pull himself closer to the snake. In his other hand, he drew the machete back, kicking to hold his place, squeezing Tama's hand. Then the dark waters swirled, and he found himself star ng into the red eyes of the giant snake. It had sensed the challenge to its meal. Its black maw opened and struck at him. Nate ducked aside, fighting to maintain his grip on the girl. The anaconda's jaws snapped like a vice onto his arm. Though its bite was nonpoisonous, the pressure threatened to crush Nate's wrist. Ignoring the pain and his own mounting panic, he brought his other arm around, aiming for the snake's eyes with his machete. ![]() $0.53 Rewards
Street Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Audio Book (WMA) [ 213.0 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Listen to the MP3 excerpt of this title! Listen to the WMA excerpt of this title! Spring, 1086 The ravens were the first sign. As the horse-drawn wagon traveled down the rutted track between rolling fields of barley, a flock of ravens rose up in a black wash. They hurled themselves into the blue of the morning and swept high in a panicked rout, but this was more than the usual startled flight. The ravens wheeled and swooped, tumbled and flapped. Over the road, they crashed into each other and rained down out of the skies. Small bodies struck the road, breaking wing and beak. They twitched in the ruts. Wings fluttered weakly. But most disturbing was the silence of it all. No caws, no screams. Just the frantic beat of wingthen the soft impact of feathered bodies to the hard dirt and broken stone. The wagons driver crossed himself and slowed the cart. His heavy-lidded eyes watched the skies. The horse tossed its head and huffed into the chill of the morning. Keep going, said the traveler sharing the wagon. Martin Borr, was the youngest of the royal coroners, ordered here upon a secret edict from King William himself. As Martin huddled deeper into his heavy cloak, he remembered the note secured by wax and imprinted by the great royal seal. Burdened by the cost of war, King William had sent scores of royal commissioners out into the countryside, to amass a great accounting of the lands and properties of his kingdom. The immense tally was being recorded in a mammoth volume called the Domesday Book, collected together by a single scholar and written in a cryptic form of Latin. The accounting was all done as a means of measuring proper tax owed to the crown. Or so it was said. Some grew to suspect there was another reason for such a grand survey of all the lands. They compared the book to the Bibles description of the Last Judgment, where God kept an accounting of all mankinds deeds in the Book of Life. Whispers and rumors began calling the result of this great survey the Doomsday Book. These last were closer to the truth than anyone suspected. Martin had read the wax-sealed letter. Hed observed that lone scribe painstakingly recording the results of the royal commissioners into the great book, and at the end, hed watched the scholar scratch a single word in Latin, written in red ink. Vastare Wasted. Many regions were marked with this word, indicating lands that had been laid to waste by war or pillage. But two entries had been inscribed with crimson ink. One was on a desolate island that lay between the coast of Ireland and the English shore. The other entry Martin approached now, ordered here to investigate at the behest of the king. He was sworn to secrecy and given three men to assist him. They trailed behind the wagon on their own horses. At Martins side, the driver twitched the reins and encouraged the draft horse, a monstrously huge chestnut, to a faster clop. As they continued forward, the wheels of the wagon drove over the twitching bodies of the ravens, crushing bones and splattering blood. Finally, the cart topped a rise and revealed the breadth of the rich valley beyond. A small village lay nestled below, flanked by a stone manor house at one end and a steepled church on the other. A score of thatched cottages and longhouses made up the rest of the hamlet, along with a smatter of wooden sheepfolds and small dovecotes. Tis a cursed place, milord, the driver said. Mark my words. It were no pox that has blasted this place. That is what weve come to discern. A league behind them, the steep road had been closed off by the kings army. None were allowed forward, but that did not stop rumors of the strange deaths from spreading to the neighboring villages and farmsteads. Cursed, the man mumbled again as he set his cart down the road toward the village. I heard tell that these lands once belonged to the heathen Celts. Said to be sacred to their pagan ways. Their stones can still be found in the forests off in the highlands up yonder. A withered arm pointed toward the woods fringing the high hills that climbed heavenward. Mists clung to those forests, turning the green wood into murky shades of gray and black. Theyve cursed this place, I tell you straight. Bringing doom upon those who bear the cross. Martin Borr dismissed such superstitions. At thirty-two years of age, he had studied with master scholars from Rome to Britannia. In addition, he had come with experts to discover the truth here. Shifting around, Martin waved the others ahead toward the small hamlet. The trio set off atop their horses at a canter. Each knew his duty. Martin followed more slowly, studying and assessing all he passed. Isolated in this small upland valley, the village went by the name Highglen and was known locally for its pottery, forged from mud and clay gathered out of the hot springs that contributed to the mists cloaking the higher forests. It was said that the towns method of kilning and the composition of potters clay was a tightly guarded secret, known only to the guild here. And now it was lost forever. The wagon trundled down the road, passing more fields: rye, oats, beans, and rows of vegetables. Some of the fields showed signs of recent harvesting, while others showed evidence of being set to torch. Had the villagers grown to suspect the truth? As the wagon continued down into the valley, lines of sheep pens appeared, fringed by tall hedges that half hid the horror within. Wooly mounds, the bloated bodies of hundreds of sheep, dotted the overgrown meadows. Closer to the village, pigs and goats also appeared, sprawled and sunken-eyed, dead where theyd dropped. Off in a field, a large-boned ox had collapsed, still tethered to its plow. As the wagon reached the village green, the town remained silent. No bark of dog greeted them, no crow of rooster, no bray of donkey. The church bell didnt ring, and no one called out to the strangers entering the village. A heavy silence pressed down over the place. As they would discover, most of the dead still resided within their houses, too weak at the end to venture out. But one body sprawled facedown on the green, not far from the manor houses stone steps. He lay like he might have just fallen, perhaps tripped down the steps and broken his neck. But even from the height of the wagon, Martin noted the gaunt stretch of skin over bone, the hollow eyes sunken into the skull, the thinness of limbs. It was the same wasting as the beasts of the field. It was as if the entire village had been under siege and had been starved out. The clatter of hooves approached. Reginald pulled beside the wagon. Granaries are all full, he said, dusting off his palms on his pants. The tall, scarred man had overseen campaigns by King William in the north of France. Found rats and mice in the bins, too. Martin glanced over to him. As dead as everything else. Just like that cursed island. But now the wasting has reached our shores, Martin muttered. Entered our lands. It was the reason theyd all been sent here, why the village road was under guard, and why their group had been sworn to secrecy with binding oaths. Girard found you a good body, Reginald said. Fresher than most. A boy. Hes set im up in the smithy. A heavy arm pointed to a wooden barn with a stacked-stone chimney. Martin nodded and climbed out of the wagon. He had to know for sure, and there was only one way to find out. As royal coroner, this was his duty, to discern the truth from the dead. Though at the moment, hed leave the bloodiest work to the French butcher. Martin crossed to the smithys open door. Girard stood inside, hunched before the cold forge. The Frenchman had labored in King Williams army, where hed sawed off limbs and did his best to keep the soldiers alive. Girard had cleared a table in the center of the smithy and already had the boy stripped and tied to the table. Martin stared at the pale, emaciated figure. His own son was about the same age, but the manner of this death had aged the poor lad here, made him seem wizened well beyond his eight or nine years. As Girard prepared his knives, Martin examined the boy closer. He pinched the skin and noted the lack of fat beneath. He examined the cracked lips, the flaky patches of hair loss, the swollen ankles and feet, but mostly he ran his hands over the protuberant bones, as if trying to read a map with his fingers: ribs, jaw, eye socket, pelvis. What had happened? Martin knew any real answers lay much deeper. Girard crossed to the table with a long silver blade in his hand. Shall we get to work, monsieur? Martin nodded. A quarter hour later, the boys corpse lay on the board like a gutted pig. The skin of the boy, splayed from groin to gullet, had been pulled and tacked to the wooden table. Intestines lay nestled and curled tight in the bloodied cavity, bloated and pink. From under the ribs, a brownish yellow liver swelled outward, too large for one so small, for one so wasted to bone and gristle. Girard reached into the belly of boy. The butchers hands vanished into the gelid depths. On the far side, Martin touched his forehead and mouthed a silent prayer of forgiveness for this trespass. But it was too late for absolution from the boy. All the lads body could do was confirm their worst fears. Girard hauled forth with the boys stomach, rubbery and white, from which hung a swollen purple spleen. With a few slices of his knife, the Frenchman freed the section of gut and dropped it on the table. Another whispery slip of blade and the stomach was laid open. A rich green mix of undigested bread and grain spilled over the board, like some foul Horn of Plenty. A fetid smell rolled out, ripe and potent. Martin covered his mouth and nosenot against the stench, but against the horrible certainty. Starved to death, that is plain, Girard said. But the boy starved with a full belly. Martin stepped back, his limbs going cold. Here was his proof. They would have to examine others to be certain. But the deaths here seemed to be the same as those on the island, a place marked in red ink as wasted in the Domesday Book. Martin stared at the gutted boy. Here was the secret reason the survey had been undertaken to begin with. To search for this blight on their homelands, to stamp it out before it spread. The deaths were the same on that lonely island. The deceased appeared to eat and eat, yet they still starved to death, finding no nourishment, only a continual wasting. Needing air, Martin turned from the table and stepped back out of shadows and into sunshine. He stared across at the rolling hills, green and fertile. A wind swept down and combed through the fields of barley and oat, wheat and rye. He pictured a man adrift in the ocean, dying of thirst with water all around him but unable to drink. Here was no different. Martin shivered in the wan sunlight, wanting to be as far away from this valley as possible, but a shout drew his attention to the right, toward the other end of the village green. A figure dressed all in black stood before an open door. For a moment, Martin feared it was Death himself, but then the figure waved, shattering the illusion. It was Abbot Orren, the final member of their group, the head of the Abbey of Kells in Ireland. He stood at the entrance to the village church. Come see this! the abbot shouted. Martin stumbled in the churchs direction. It was more a reflex than a conscious effort. He did not want to return to the smithy. He would leave the boy to the care of the French butcher from here. Martin crossed the village green, climbed the steps, and joined the Catholic monk. What is it, Abbot Orren? The man turned and headed into the church. Blasphemy, the Irish abbot spat out. To defile the place in such a manner. No wonder they were all slain. Martin hurried after the abbot. The man was skeletally thin and ghostly in his oversized traveling cloak. Of them all, he was the only one to have visited the island off the coast of Ireland, to have seen the wasting there, too. Did you find what you were seeking? Martin asked. The abbot did not answer and stepped back into the crude church. Martin had no choice but to follow. The interior was gloomy, a cheerless place with an earthen floor covered in rushes. There were no benches, and the roof was low and heavily raftered. The only light came from a pair of high thin windows at the back of the church. They cast dusty streaks of light upon the altar, which was a single slab of stone. An altar cloth must have once covered the raw stone, but it had been torn away and cast to the floor, most likely by the abbot in his search. Abbot Orren crossed to the altar and pointed to the bare stone with a trembling arm. His shoulders shook with his anger. Blasphemy, he repeated. To carve these heathen symbols upon our Lords house. Martin closed the distance and leaned closer to the altar. The stone had been inscribed with sunbursts and spirals, with circles and strange knotted shapes, all clearly pagan. Why would these pious people commit such a sin? I dont think it was the villagers of Highglen, Martin said. He ran his hand over the altar. Under his fingertips, he sensed the age of the markings, the worn nature of the inscribed shapes. These were clearly old. Martin remembered his drivers assertion that this place was cursed, how it was hallowed ground to the ancient Celtic people and how their giant stones could be found hidden in the misty highland forests. Martin straightened. One of those stones must have been hauled to Highglen and used to form the altar stone of the village church. If its not the people here who did this, then how do you explain this? the abbot asked and moved to the wall behind the altar and waved an arm to encompass the large marking there. It had been painted recently, and from the brownish red color, possibly with blood. It depicted a circle with a cross cutting through it. Martin had seen such markings on burial stones and ancient ruins. It was a sacred symbol of the Celtic priesthood. A pagan cross, Martin said. We found the same on the island, marked on all the doors. But what does it mean? The abbot fingered the silver cross at his own neck. It is as the king feared. The snakes who plagued Ireland, who were driven off our island by St. Patrick, have come to these shores. Martin knew the abbot was not referring to true serpents of the field but to the pagan priests who carried staffs curled like snakes, to the Druid leaders of the ancient Celtic people. St. Patrick had converted or driven off the pagans from Irelands shores. But that had been six centuries ago. Martin turned to stare out the church toward the dead village. Girards words echoed in his head. The boy starved with a full belly. < ;p>None of it made any sense. The abbot mumbled behind him. It must all be burned. The soil sowed with salt. Martin nodded, but a worry grew in his breast. Could any flame truly destroy what was wrought here? He did not know for sure, but he was certain about one thing. This was not over. * * * Present Day Father Marco Giovanni hid in a dark forest of stone. The massive marble pillars held up the roof of St. Peters Basilica and sectioned off the floor into chapels, vaults, and niches. Works of the masters filled the hallowed space: Michelangelos Piet, Bernini's baldacchino, the bronze statue of St. Peter Enthroned. Marco knew he wasnt alone in this stone forest. There was a hunter with him, lying in wait, most likely near the rear of the church. Three hours ago, he had received word from a fellow archaeologist who also served the Church, his former mentor at the Gregorian University in Rome. Hed been told to meet him here at midnight. However, it had proved to be a trap. With his back against a pillar, Marco held his right hand clamped under his left arm, stanching the bleeding along the left side. Hed been cut down to the ribs. Hot liquid flowed over his fingers. His other hand clutched the proof he needed, an ancient leather satchel, no larger than a coin purse. He held tight to it. As he shifted to peer down the central nave, more blood flowed. It splattered to the marble floor. He could wait no longer, or hed grow too weak. Saying a silent prayer, he pushed off the pillar and fled down the dark nave toward the papal altar. Each pounding step was a fresh stab in his side. But he hadnt been cut with any knife. The arrow had imbedded into the neighboring pew after slicing open his side. The weapon had been short, stubby, black. A steel crossbow bolt. From his hiding place, Marco had studied it. A small red diode had glowed at its base, like some fiery eye in the dark. Not knowing what else to do, Marco simply fled, staying low. He knew he would most likely die, but the secret he held was more important than his own life. He had to survive long enough to reach the far exit, find one of the patrolling Swiss Guards, and get word to the Holy See. Ignoring the pain and terror, he ran. The papal altar lay directly ahead. The bronze canopy over it, designed by Bernini, rested on twisted columns. Marco flanked to the left of it, aiming for the transept on that side. He spotted the massive Monument to Alexander VII and the doorway sheltered beneath it. It was the exit out onto Piazza Santa Marta. If only A punch to his belly ended any hope. He fell back a step and glanced down. No fist had struck him. A steel shaft tipped by plastic feathers stuck out of his shirt. Pain came a breath later, shattering outward. Like the first arrow, this crossbow bolt also glowed with a fiery eye. The diode rested atop a square chamber at the base of the shaft. Marco stumbled backward. A shift of shadows near the door revealed a figure dressed in the motley clothing of a Swiss Guard, surely a disguise. The assassin lowered his crossbow and stepped out from the sheltered doorway where hed lain in wait. Marco retreated to the altar and made ready to flee back down the nave. But he spotted another man garbed in a Swiss uniform. The man bent near a pew and yanked loose the imbedded bolt from the wood. With terror overwhelming the pain in his belly, Marco turned toward the right transept, but again he was thwarted. A third figure stepped out of the shadows of a confessional box, lifting another crossbow. He was trapped. The basilica was shaped like a crucifix, and three of its legs were now blocked by assassins. That left only one direction to flee. Toward the apse, the head of the cross. But it was a dead end. Still, Marco hurried into the apse. Ahead rose the Altar to the Chair of Peter, a massive gilt monument of saints and angels that housed the wooden seat of St. Peter. Above it, lay an oval alabaster window, revealing the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove. But the window was dark and offered no hope. Marco turned his back on the window and searched around him. To his left sat the tomb of Urban VIII. A statue of the grim reaper in the form of a skeleton climbed from the popes marble crypt, heralding the final fate of all menand perhaps Marcos own doom. Marco whispered in Latin. Lilium et Rosa. The Lily and the Rose. Back in the twelfth century, an Irish saint named Malachy had a vision of all the popes from his century to the end of the world. According to his vision, there would be 112 popes in total. He described each with a short cryptic phrase. In the case of Urban VIIIwho was born five centuries after Malachys deaththe pope was named the lily and the rose. And like all such prophecies, the description proved accurate. Pope Urban VIII had been born in Florence, whose coat of arms was the red lily. But what was most disturbing of all was that the current pope was next-to-last on St. Malachys list. According to the prophecy, the next leader of the Church would be the one to see the world end. Marco had never believed such fancies beforebut with his fingers clutched tight to the tiny leather satchel, he wondered how close they truly were to Armageddon. Footsteps warned Marco. One of the assassins was closing in. He had only enough time for one move. He acted quickly. Stanching his bleeding to leave no trace, he moved off to the side to hide what must be preserved. Once done, he returned to the center of the apse. With no other recourse, he dropped to his knees, to await his death. The footsteps neared the altar. A figure moved into view. The man stopped and stared around. It was not one of the assassins. And not even a stranger. Marco groaned with recognition, which drew the newcomers attention. The man stiffened in surprise, then hurried over. Marco? Too weak to gain his feet, all Marco could do was stare, momentarily trapped between hope and suspicion. But as the man rushed toward him, his bearing was plainly full of concern. He was Marcos former teacher, the man who had set up this midnight rendezvous. Monsignor Verona Marco gasped, setting aside any suspicions, knowing in his heart that this man would never betray him. Marco lifted an arm and raised an empty hand. His other hand clutched the feathered end of the crossbow bolt still imbedded in his belly. A single flicker of light drew Marcos attention downward. He watched the red diode on the crossbow bolt suddenly blink to green. No The explosion blew Marco across the marble floor. He left a trail of blood, smoke, and a smear of entrails. His belly was left a gutted ruin as he fell to his side at the foot of the Altar to the Chair of Peter. His eyes rolled and settled to the towering gilt monument above him. A name rose hazily to his mind. Petrus Romanus. Peter the Roman. That was the final name on St. Malachys prophetic list, the man who would follow the current Holy Father and become the last pope on Earth. With Marcos failure this night, such a doom could not be stopped. Marcos vision darkened. His ears grew deaf. He had no strength left to speak. Lying on his side, he stared across the apse to the tomb of Pope Urban, to the bronze skeleton climbing out of the popes crypt. From its bony finger, Marco had hung the tiny satchel that hed protected for so long. He pictured the ancient mark burned into its leather. It held the only hope for the world. He prayed with his last breath that it would be enough. 1 October 9th, 4:55 am Gunfire woke Jason Gorman from a bone-deep sleep. It took him an extra half breath to remember where he was. Hed been dreaming of swimming in the lake at his fathers vacation house in upstate New York. But the mosquito netting that cocooned his cot and the pre-dawn chill of the desert jolted him back to the present. Along with the screams. His heart hammering, he kicked away the thin sheet and tore through the netting. Inside the Red Cross tent-cabin, it was pitch dark, but through the tarp walls, a flickering red glow marked a fire somewhere on the east side of the refugee camp. More flames licked into existence, dancing across all four walls of the tent. Oh, God Though panicked, Jason knew what was happening. Hed been briefed about this before heading to Africa. Over the past year, other refugees camps had been attacked by the Tuareg rebel forces, raided for food. With the price of rice and maize trebled across the Republic of Mali, the capital had been besieged by riots. Food was the new gold in the northern districts of the country. Three million people faced starvation. It was why he had come here. His father sponsored the experimental farm project that took up sixty acres on the north side of the camp, funded by the Viatus Corporation and overseen by crop biologists and geneticists from Cornell University. They had test fields of genetically modified corn growing out of the parched soils of the region. The first fields had been harvested just last week, grown with only a third of the water normally necessary for irrigation. Word must have spread to the wrong ears. Jason burst out of his tent in his bare feet. He still wore the khaki shorts and loose shirt that hed had on when hed fallen into bed last night. In the pre-dawn darkness, firelight was the only source of illumination. The generators mustve been taken down. Automatic gunfire and screams echoed through the darkness. Shadowy figures dashed and pushed all around, refugees running in a panic. But the flow was turbulent, heading this way and that. With rifle blasts and the staccato of machine gun fire arising from all sides, no one knew in which direction to flee. Jason did. Krista was still at the research facility. Three months ago, he had met her back in the States during his stateside briefing. She had begun sharing Jasons mosquito-netted cocoon only last month. But last night, she had stayed behind. She had planned to spend the entire night finishing some DNA assays on the newly harvested corn. He had to reach her. Pushing against the tide, Jason headed toward the north side of the camp. As he feared, the gunfire and flames were the most intense there. The rebels intended to raid the harvest. As long as no one tried to stop them, no one had to die. Let them have the corn. Once they had it, they would vanish into the night as quickly as theyd come. The corn was going to be destroyed anyway. It wasnt even meant for human consumption until further studies were done. Turning a corner, Jason fell over the first body, a teenage boy, sprawled in the alley between the ramshackle hovels that passed for homes here. The teenager had been shot and trampled over. Jason crabbed away from his body and gained his feet. He fled away. After another frantic hundred yards, Jason reached the northern edge of the camp. Bodies were sprawled everywhere, piled on one another, men, women, children. It was a slaughterhouse. Some bodies had been torn in half by machine gun fire. Across the killing field, the research camps Quonset huts stood like dark ships mired in the West African savannah. No lights shone thereonly flames. Krista Jason remained frozen in place. He wanted to continue onward, cursing his cowardice. But he couldnt move. Tears of frustration rose to his eyes. Then a thump-thump rose behind him. He twisted around as a pair of helicopters flew low toward the besieged camp, hugging the terrain. It had to be the government forces from the nearby republic base. The Viatus Corporation had cast bushels of U. S. dollars to insure extra protection for the site. A shuddering breath escaped Jason. The helicopters would surely chase off the rebels. More confident, he headed across the field. Still he kept low as he ran. He aimed for the back of the closest Quonset hut, less than a hundred yards away. Deeper shadows would hide him there, and Kristas lab was in the next hut over. He prayed shed kept herself hidden inside there. As he reached the Quonsets rear wall, bright light flared behind him. A brilliant searchlight speared out of the lead helicopter and swept across the refugee camp below. Jason let out a rattling sigh. That should scare off the rebels Then from both sides of the helicopter, the chatter of machine gun fire blasted out and ripped into the camp. Jasons blood iced. This was no surgical strike against invading rebel forces. This was a wholesale slaughter of the camp. The second helicopter swung to the other side, circling outward along the periphery of the camp. From its rear hatch, barrels rolled out and exploded on impact, casting up gouts of flames into the sky. Screams erupted even louder. Jason spotted one man fleeing off into the desert, naked, but his skin still on fire. The firebombing spread toward Jasons position. He turned and ran past the Quonset hut. The fields and granaries spread ahead of him, but safety would be found there. Dark figures moved on the far side of the cornrows. Jason would have to risk a final dash across the open to reach Kristas research lab in the next Quonset hut. The windows were dark, and the only door faced the open fields. He paused to steady himself. One fast dash and he could be inside the hut. But before he could move, new jets of flames burst forth on the far side of the field. A line of men bearing flamethrowers set off down the rows of corn, burning the fields that had yet to be harvested. What the hells happening? Off to the right, the single granary tower exploded in a fiery whirlwind that spiraled high into the air. Shocked, but using the distraction, Jason dashed to the Quonset huts open door and dove through it. In the glow of the fires, the room looked unmolested, almost tidy. The back half of the hut was full of all manner of scientific equipment used in genetic and biological research: microscopes, centrifuges, incubators, thermocyclers, gel electrophoresis units. While to the right were cubicles with wireless laptops, satellite uplink equipment, even battery back-up units. A single laptop, still powered by the batteries, glowed with a screensaver. It rested in Kristas cubicle, but there was no sign of his girlfriend. Jason hurried to the cubicle and brushed his thumb over the touchpad. The screensaver vanished, replaced with a view of an open email account. Again it was Kristas. Jason stared around the hut. Krista must have fled, but where? Jason crossed to the computer, the camps only means of communication, and quickly accessed his email account. He toggled the address for his fathers office on Capitol Hill. Holding his breath, he typed rapidly as he described the attack in a few terse sentences. In case he didnt make it, he wanted some record. Just before he hit the SEND button, he had a moment of insight. Kristas files were still up on the screen. He dragged them, attached them to his note, and hit send. She would not want them lost. The email failed to immediately transmit. The attached file was huge and would take an extra minute to upload. He couldnt wait. Jason hoped the battery pack would last long enough for the email to go through. Fearful of waiting any longer, Jason swung to the door. He had no way of knowing where Krista had gone. He hoped she had fled into the surrounding desert. That was what he was going to do. Out there were mazes of gullies and dry washes. He could hide for days if necessary. As he hurried toward the exit, a dark figure appeared and blocked the doorway. Jason fell back with a gasp. The figure stepped into the hut and whispered in surprise. Jase? Relief flushed through him. Krista He hurried to her, his arms wide to take her in. They could still both escape. Oh, Jason, thank god! His relief matched hersuntil she lifted a pistol and fired three times into his chest. The shots felt like punches, knocking him backward to the floor. Fiery pain followed, turning the night even darker. Distantly he heard gunfire, explosions, and more screams. Krista leaned over him. Your tent was empty. We thought youd escaped. He coughed, unable to answer as blood filled his mouth. Seemingly satisfied with his silence, she turned on a heel and headed back out into the nightmare of fire and death. She stopped, momentarily silhouetted against the flaming fields, then vanished into the night. Jason struggled to comprehend. Why? As darkness folded over him, he would have no answer to his question, but he alone heard one last thing. The laptop in the neighboring cubicle chimed. His message had been sent. 2 October 10th, 7:04am He needed more speed. Hunched over the narrow handlebars of the motorcycle, Commander Grayson Pierce flew the bike around a sharp corner. He leaned his six-foot frame into the curve, nearly shearing off his kneecap as he laid the bike low around the turn. The engine roared as he opened the throttle and straightened his trajectory. His target raced fifty yards ahead of him, riding a smaller Honda crotch rocket. Gray pursued on an older model Yamaha V-Max. Both bikes were powered by V-4 engines, but his motorcycle was larger and weighed more. If he was going to catch his target, he would need every bit of skill. And maybe a bit of luck. Theyd reached a short straightaway through the parklands of Prince William Forest. A dense line of hardwoods framed the two-lane blacktop. The mix of towering beech and aspen made for a handsome scenic drive, especially now, in October, when the leaves were changing. Unfortunately, a storm last night had blown most of those leaves into patches of slippery mire on the blacktop. Gray snapped the throttle wider. Acceleration kicked him in the pants. With the slightest wobble, the bike rocketed down the straight stretch, turning the center line into a blur. Unfortunately, his target was also taking advantage of the straight road. So far, most of Route 619 had been a rollercoaster ride of sudden turns, deadly switchbacks, and rolling hills. The hour-long chase had been brutal, but Gray could not let the other rider escape. As his target slowed for the next turn, the distance between them narrowed. Gray refused to let up. Maybe it was foolhardy, but he knew his bikes capabilities. Since acquiring the older bike, hed had one of the robotics engineers from DARPAthe Defense Departments research and development branchoutfit the motorcycle with a few modifications. They owed him a favor. Grays own outfitdesignated Sigmaserved as the muscle behind DARPA. The team consisted of former Special Forces soldiers who had been retrained in various scientific disciplines to act as its field operatives. One of the modifications to the bike was a heads up display built into his helmet. Across his face shield, data flickered on the left side, noting speed, RPM, gear, oil temperature. On the right side, a navigational map scrolled data that projected best possible gear ratios and speeds to match the terrain. From the corner of his eye, Gray watched the tachometer slip into the red zone. The navigational array blinked a warning. He was coming at the corner too fast. Ignoring the data, Gray kept hard on the throttle. The distance between the two bikes narrowed further. Thirty yards now separated them as they hit the curve. Ahead, the rider tilted his bike and roared around the bend. Seconds later, Gray hit the same turn. He sought to eke out another yard by hugging tighter around the blind corner, skimming the center yellow line. Luckily, at this early hour, the roads through here were empty of traffic. Sadly the same couldnt be said for the wildlife. Around the corner, a black bear crouched at the shoulder of the road with a cub at her side. Both noses were buried in a McDonalds bag. The first motorcycle sped past the pair. The noise and sudden appearance startled the mother bear into rearing up. Unfortunately, the cub acted on pure instinct and fledright into the road. Gray could not get out of the way in time. With no choice, he swung the bike into a hard skid. His tires smoked across the blacktop. As he hit the soft loam of the opposite shoulder, he let the bike drop and kicked away. Momentum slid him across the moist leaves on his back for a good twenty feet. Behind him, the bike hit an oak with a resounding crash. Coming to a stop in a wet gulley, Gray twisted around. He caught sight of the hind end of the mother bear hightailing it into the woods, followed by her cub. Apparently theyd had enough fast food for one day. A new noise intruded. The roar of a motorcycle, coming up fast. Gray sat straighter. Down the road, his target had swung around and was barreling back toward him. Oh, great Gray ripped away the chinstraps and tugged off his helmet. The other cycle rocketed up to his position and braked hard in front of him, lifting up on its front tire. The rider was short, but muscled like a pitbull. As the bike came to a stop, the rider pulled off his helmet, too, revealing a head shaved to the skin. He frowned down at Gray. Still in one piece? The rider was Monk Kokkalis, a fellow operative with Sigma and Grays best friend. The mans stony features were carved into concern and worry. Im fine. Hadnt expected a bear in the road. Who does? Monk cracked a wide grin as he booted his kickstand into place and climbed off the bike. But dont go thinkin of whelching on our bet. You set no rules against natural obstacles. Dinners on you after the conference. Porterhouses and the darkest ale they have at that steakhouse by the lake. Fine. But I want a rematch. You had an unfair advantage. Advantage? Me? Monk stripped off one of his gloves to expose his prosthetic hand. Im missing my hand. Along with a fair amount of my long-term memory. And been on disability for a year. Some advantage! Still the grin never wavered as Monk offered his DARPA-engineered prosthetic. Gray took the hand, feeling the cold plastic fasten firmly on him. Those same fingers could crush walnuts. Monk pulled him to his feet. As Gray brushed wet leaves from his Kevlar motorcycle suit, his cellphone chimed from his breast pocket. He pulled it out and checked the Caller I.D. His jaw tightened. Its H.Q., he told Monk and lifted the phone to his ear. Commander Pierce here. Pierce? About time you picked up. Ive called you four times in the past hour. And may I ask what you are doing in the middle of a forest in Virginia? It was Grays boss, Painter Crowe, director of Sigma. Fighting for some adequate explanation, Gray glanced back to his motorcycle. The bikes GPS must have betrayed his location. Gray struggled to explain, but he had no adequate excuse. He and Monk had been sent from Washington to Quantico to attend an F.B.I symposium on bioterrorism. Today was the second day, and Gray and Monk had decided to skip the morning lectures. Let me guess, Painter continued. Out doing a little joyriding. Sir The sternness in the directors voice softened. So did it help Monk? As usual, Painter had surmised the truth. The director had an uncanny ability to assess a situation. Even this one. Gray looked over at his friend. Monk stood with his arms locked across his chest, his face worried. It had been a hard year for him. He had been brutalized in a research facility, where a part of his brain had been cut out, destroying his memory. Though he had recovered what was left, there remained gaps in his memory, and Gray knew it still haunted him. Over the last two months, Monk had been slowly acclimating back to his duties with Sigma, restricted though they may be. He was on desk duty and offered only minor assignments here in the States. He was limited to gathering intel and evaluating data, often beside his wife, Captain Kat Bryant, who also worked at Sigma headquarters and had a background in Naval Intelligence. But Gray knew Monk was straining at the bit to do more, to gain back the life that had been stolen from him. Everyone treated him as if he were a fragile piece of porcelain, and hed begun to bristle at all the sympathetic glances and whispered words of encouragement. Refusing to do that, Gray had suggested this cross-country race through the park that bordered the Quantico Marine Corps Reservation. It offered a chance to blow some steam, to get a little grit in the face, to take some risk. Gray covered the phone with his hand and mouthed to Monk. Painters pissed. His friends face broke into a broad grin. Gray returned the phone to his ear. I heard that, his boss said. And if youre both done having your bit of fun, I need you back at Sigma command this afternoon. Both of you. Yes, sir. But can I ask what its about? A long pause stretched as if the director was weighing what to say. When he spoke, his words were careful. Its about the original owner of that motorcycle of yours. Gray glanced to the crashed bike. The original owner? He flashed back to a night two years ago, remembering the roar of a motorcycle down a suburban street, running with no lights, bearing a deadly rider, an assassin of mixed loyalties. Gray swallowed to gain his voice. What about her? Ill tell you when you get here. * * * 1:10 pm Washington, D.C. Hours later, Gray had showered, changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, and sat in the satellite surveillance room of Sigma headquarters. He shared the space with Painter and Monk. On the screen shone a digital map. It traced a crooked red line from Thailand to Italy. The path of the assassin ended in Venice. Sigma had been tracking her for over a year. Her location was marked by a small red triangle on a computer monitor. It glowed in the middle of a satellite map of Venice. Buildings, crooked streets, and winding canals were depicted in precise grayscale detail, down to the tiny gondolas frozen in place, capturing a moment in time. Even that time was marked in the corner of the computer monitor, along with the approximate longitude and latitude of the assassins location: 10:52:45 GMT OCT 9 LAT 4152'56.97"N LONG 1229'5.19"E How long has she been in Venice? Gray asked. Over a month. Painter ran a tired hand through his hair and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He looked exhausted. It had been a difficult year for the director. Pale from spending much of the day in offices and meetings, Painters mixed Native American heritage was only evident in the granite planes of his face and the streak of white through his black hair, like a tucked snowy feather. Gray studied the map. Do we know where shes staying? He shook his head. Somewhere in the Santa Croce area. Its one of the oldest neighborhoods of Venice, not very touristy. The area is a maze of bridges, alleys, and canals. An easy place to keep hidden. Monk sat back from the other two, adjusting the connection of his prosthetic hand. So why did Seichan pick that city of all the places in the world to hole up? Gray glanced to the corner of the monitor. It displayed a photo of the assassin, a woman in her late twenties. Her features were a mix of Vietnamese and European descent, possibly French from her bronzed skin, slender features and full lips. When Gray had first met her three years ago, shed almost killed him, shooting him point-blank in the chest. Even now he pictured her in that same turtle-necked black bodysuit, recalling how it had hugged her lithe form, hinting at both the hardness and softness that lay beneath. Gray also pictured her from their last association. Shed been captured and held prisoner by the U.S. military, badly bloodied and recovering from abdominal surgery. At the time, Gray had helped her escape custody, paying back a debt owed after she had saved his own lifebut her freedom had not come without a price. During the surgery, Grays boss had a passive polymer tracker secretly planted in her belly. It was a condition upon her release, extra insurance that theyd be able to monitor her location and movements. She was too important to let go, too intimately tied to a shadowy terrorist network known as the Guild. No one knew anything about the true puppetmasters of that organizationonly that it was well-entrenched and had tendrils and roots globally. Seichan claimed to be a double-agent, assigned to infiltrate the Guild and discover who truly ran its operations. Yet, she offered no other proof except her word. Gray had pretended to allow her to escape, while at the same time kept silent about the implanted tracker. The device offered U.S. intelligence services a chance to keep tabs on her and possibly discover more about the Guild. But Gray suspected her decision to come to ground in Venice had nothing to do with the Guild. He felt Painter Crowes gaze on him, as if waiting for Gray to come up with an answer. His bosss face was impassive, stoic, but a flicker in those ice-blue eyes suggested this was a test. Shes returning to the scene of the crime, Gray said and sat straighter. What? Monk asked. Gray nodded to the map overlay. The Santa Croce area also houses some of the oldest sections of the University of Venice. Two years ago, she murdered a museum curator in that city, one connected to the same university. Killed him in cold blood. She said it was necessary to protect the mans family. A wife and daughter. Painter confirmed the same. The child and mother do live in that area. Weve got people on the ground trying to pinpoint her location. But the tracker is passive. We cant narrow her location to less than two square miles. But in case she shows up, we do have the curators family under surveillance. With so many eyes looking for her, she must be maintaining a low profile, possibly using a disguise. Gray remembered the strain in Seichans face when she had tried to justify the cold-blooded murder of the museum curator. Possibly guilt, rather than the Guild, had drawn her back to Venice. But to what end? And what if he was wrong? What if this was all an artful bit of trickery? Seichan was nothing if not brilliant, an excellent strategist. He studied the screen. Something felt wrong about all this. Why are you showing me this now? Gray asked. Sigma had been tracking Seichan for over a year, so why the sudden urgency to call him back to central command? Word has filtered down from the N.S.A., passing through the new head of DARPA, and down to us. With no real intelligence gained from Seichans freedom this past year, the powers-that-be have lost patience with the operation and have ordered her immediate capture. Shes to be brought into a black ops interrogation center in Bosnia. But thats insane. Shell never talk. Our best chance of discovering anything concrete about the Guild is through this operation. I agree. Unfortunately were the only ones who hold that position. Now if Sean was still heading DARPA Painters words trailed off into a place of pain. Dr. Sean McKnight had been the founder of Sigma and the head of DARPA at the time. Last year hed been killed during an assault on Sigma command. The new head of DARPA, General Gregory Metcalf, was still fresh to his position, still dealing with the political fallout following the assault. He and Painter had been butting heads ever since. Gray suspected only the presidents support of Painter Crowe kept the director from being fired. But even that support had its limits. Metcalf refuses to ruffle any feathers among the various intelligence communities and has sided with the N.S.A on this matter. So theyre going to bring her in. Painter shrugged. If they can. But they have no idea who theyre dealing with. Im between assignments. I could head out there. Offer my help. Help to do what? Help find her or help her get away? Gray remained silent, his feelings mixed. He finally spoke firmly. Ill do whatever is asked of me, he said, staring pointedly at Painter. The director shook his head. If Seichan sees you or even suspects youre in Venice, then shell know shes being tracked. Well lose all advantage. Gray frowned, knowing the director was right. The phone rang, and Painter picked up the receiver. Gray was glad for the momentary distraction as he fought to settle his thoughts. What is it, Brant? Painter said. As the director listened to his office assistants reply, the crease between his eyes deepened. Patch the call through. After a moment, Painter held the phone receiver toward Gray. Its Lieutenant Rachel Verona, calling from Rome. Gray could not hide his surprise as he accepted the phone and placed it to his ear. He turned slightly away from the other two men. Rachel? He immediately heard the tears in her voice. There was no sobbing, but her normally crisp fluency was fractured into pieces, catching between words. GrayI need your help. Anything. What is it? He had not spoken to her in months. For over a year, hed been romantically involved with the raven-haired lieutenant, even talking marriage, but in the end, it had not worked out. She was too tied down to her job with the Italian carabinieri. Likewise, Gray had deep roots both professionally and personally here in the States. The distance proved too great. Its my Uncle Vigor, she said. Her words rushed out as if hurrying ahead of a flood of tears. Last night. There was an explosion at St. Peters. Hes in a coma. My God, what happened? Rachel hurried on. Another priest was killed, one of his former students. They suspect terrorists. But I dont they wont let meI didnt know who else to call. Its okay. I can be out there on the next flight. Gray glanced back to Painter. His boss nodded, needing no explanation. Monsignor Vigor Verona had helped Sigma in two earlier operations. His knowledge of archaeology and ancient history had proved vital, along with his intimate connections within the Catholic Church. They owed the monsignor a huge debt. Thank you, Gray. She already sounded calmer. Ill forward the investigative file. But there are some details kept out of the report. Ill fill you in once youre here. As she spoke, Grays attention settled on the computer monitor, specifically on the glowing red tracker in the center of Venice. The photo of Seichan stared back at him out of the corner of the screen, her expression cold and angry. The assassin also had a past history with Rachel and her uncle. And now she was back in Italy. A sense of foreboding jangled through him. Something was wrong with this whole situation. He sensed a storm brewing out there, but Gray didnt know which way the winds were blowing. He knew only one thing for certain. Ill be there as soon as I can, he promised Rachel. ![]() $7.99
Adobe ePub [ 1.3 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 4, 2006 Adobe Digital Edition [ 2.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 4, 2006 Microsoft Reader [ 1.0 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 4, 2006 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.5 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 4, 2006 eReader [ 0.5 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Chapter One 1945 Fortress city of Breslau, Poland The body floated in the sludge that sluiced through the dank sewers. The corpse of a boy, bloated and rat gnawed, had been stripped of boots, pants, and shirt. Nothing went to waste in the besieged city. SS Obergruppenführer Jakob Sporrenberg nudged past the corpse, stirring the filth. Offal and excrement. Blood and bile. The wet scarf tied around his nose and mouth did little to ward off the stench. This was what the great war had come to. The mighty reduced to crawling through sewers to escape. But he had his orders. Overhead the double crump-wump of Russian artillery pummeled the city. Each explosion bruised his gut with its concussive shock. The Russians had broken down the gates, bombed the airport, and even now, tanks ground down the cobbled streets while transport carriers landed on Kaiserstrasse. The main thoroughfare had been converted into a landing strip by parallel rows of flaming oil barrels, adding their smoke to the already choked early morning skies, keeping dawn at bay. Fighting waged in every street, in every home, from attic to basement. Every house a fortress. That had been Gauleiter Hanke's final command to the populace. The city had to hold out as long as possible. The future of the Third Reich depended on it. And on Jakob Sporrenberg. "Mach schnell," he urged the others behind him. His unit of the Sicherheitsdienst -- designation Special Evacuation Kommando -- trailed him, knee-deep in filthy water. Fourteen men. All armed. All dressed in black. All burdened with heavy packs. In the middle, four of the largest men, former Nordsee dockmen, bore poles on their shoulders, bearing aloft massive crates. There was a reason the Russians were striking this lone city deep in the Sudeten Mountains between Germany and Poland. The fortifications of Breslau guarded the gateway to the highlands beyond. For the past two years, forced labor from the concentration camp of Gross-Rosen had hollowed out a neighboring mountain peak. A hundred kilometers of tunnels clawed and blasted, all to service one secret project, one kept buried away from prying Allied eyes. Die Riese . . . the Giant. But word had still spread. Perhaps one of the villagers outside the Wenceslas Mine had whispered of the illness, the sudden malaise that had afflicted even those well outside the complex. If only they'd had more time to complete the research . . . Still, a part of Jakob Sporrenberg balked. He didn't know all that was involved with the secret project, mostly just the code name: Chronos. Still, he knew enough. He had seen the bodies used in the experiments. He had heard the screams. Abomination. That was the one word that had come to mind and iced his blood. He'd had no trouble executing the scientists. The sixty-two men and women had been taken outside and shot twice in the head. No one must know what had transpired in the depths of the Wenceslas Mine . . . or what was found. Only one researcher was allowed to live. Doktor Tola Hirszfeld. Jakob heard her sloshing behind him, half dragged by one of his men, wrists secured behind her back. She was tall for a woman, late twenties, small breasted but of ample waist and shapely legs. Her hair flowed smooth and black, her skin as pale as milk from the months spent underground. She was to... ![]() $7.99
Adobe ePub [ 1.0 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Adobe Digital Edition [ 2.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Microsoft Reader [ 0.6 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.6 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Chapter OneNautilusJuly 24, 3:35 P.M. Jack Kirkland had missed the eclipse. Where he glided, there was no sun, only the perpetual darkness of the ocean's abysmal deep. The sole illumination came from a pair of xenon lamps set in the nose of his one-man submersible. His new toy, the Nautilus 2000, was out on its first deep-dive test. The eight-foot titanium minisub was shaped like a fat torpedo topped by an acrylic plastic dome. Attached to its underside was a stainless steel frame that mounted the battery pods, thruster assembly, that mounted the battery pods, thruster assembly, electrical, can, and lights. Ahead, the brilliance of the twin lamps drilled a cone of visibility that extended a hundred feet in front of him. He fingered the controls, sweeping the arc back and forth, searching. Out the corner of his eye he checked the analog depth gauge. Approaching fifteen hundred feet. The bottomof the trench must be close. His sonar reading on the computer screen confirmed his assessment. Nomore than two fathoms. The pings of the sonar grew closer and closer. Seated, Jack's head and shoulders protruded into the acrylic plastic dome of the hull, giving him a panoramic view of his surroundings. While the cabin was spacious for most men, it was a tight fit for Jack's six-foot-plus frame. It's like driving an MG convertible, he thought, except you steer with your toes. The two foot pedals in the main hull controlled not only acceleration, but also maneuvered the four one-horsepower thrusters. With practiced skill Jack eased the right pedal while depressing the toe of the left pedal. The craft dove smoothly to the left. Lights swept forward. Ahead, the seabed came into view, appearing out of the endless gloom. Jack slowed his vehicle to a gentle glide as he entered a natural wonderland, a deep ocean oasis. Under him, fields of tubeworms lay spread across the valley floor of the mid-Pacific mountain range. Riftia pachyptila. The clusters of six-foot-long tubes with their bloodred worms were like an otherworldly topiary waving at him as he passed, gently swaying in the current. To either side, on lower slopes, giant clams lay stacked shell-to-shell, open, soft fronds filtering the sea. Among them stalked bright red galatheid crabs on long, spindly legs. Movement drew Jack's attention forward. A thick eyeless eel slithered past, teeth bright in the xenon lamp. A school of curious fish followed next, led by a large brown lantern fish. The brazen fellow swam right up to the glass bubble, a deepsea gargoyle ogling the strange intruder inside. Minuscule bioluminescent lights winked along the large fish's sides, announcing its territorial aggression. Other denizens displayed their lights. Under him, pink pulses ran through tangles of bamboo coral. Around the dome, tiny blue-green lights flashed, the creatures too small and translucent to be seen clearly. The sight reminded Jack of flurries of fireflies from his Tennessee childhood. Having lived all his young life in landlocked Tennessee, Jack had instantly fallen in love with the ocean, enthralled by its wide expanses, its endless blue, its changing moods. A swirl of lights swarmed around the dome. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself, wearing a wide grin. Even after all this time, the sea found ways to surprise him. In response, his radio earpiece buzzed. "What was that, Jack?" Frowning, Jack silently cursed the throat microphone taped under his larynx. Even fifteen hundred feet under the sea, he could not... ![]() $7.99
Adobe ePub [ 1.0 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Adobe Digital Edition [ 2.1 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Microsoft Reader [ 0.5 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.5 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Monday, August 20, 11:52 A.M. Professor Henry Conklin's fingers trembled slightly as he unwrapped the final layer of blankets from around his frozen treasure. He held his breath. How had the fared after the three-thousand-mile trip from the Andes? Back in Peru, he had been so careful to pack and crate the frozen remains in dry ice for the trip to Baltimore, but during such a long journey anything could have gone wrong. Henry ran a hand through his dark hair, now dusted with a generous amount of grey since passing his sixtieth birthday last year. He prayed his past three decades of research and fieldwork would pay off. He would not have a second chance. Transporting the mummy from South America had almost drained the last of his grant money. And nowadays any new fellowships or grants were awarded to researchers younger than he. He was becoming a dinosaur at Texas A&M. Though still fevered, he was now more coddled than taken seriously. Still, his most recent discovery of the ruins of a small Incan village high in the Andes could change all that -- especially if it proved his own controversial theory. He cautiously tugged free the final linen wrap. Fog from the thawing dry ice momentarily obscured his sight. He waved the mist away as the contorted figure appeared, knees bent to chest, arms wrapped around legs, almost in a fetal position, just as he had discovered the mummy in a small cave near the frozen summit of Mount Arapa. Henry stared at his discovery. Ancient eye sockets, open and hollow, gazed back at him from under strands of lanky black hair still on its skull. Its lips, dried and shrunken back, revealed yellowed teeth. Frayed remnants of a burial shawl still clung to its leathered skin. It was so well preserved that even the black dyes of the tattered robe shone brightly under the surgical lights of the research lab. "Oh God!" a voice exclaimed at his shoulder. "This is perfect!" Henry jumped slightly, so engrossed in his own thoughts he had momentarily forgotten the others in the room. He turned and was blinded by the flash of a camera's strobe. The reporter from the Baltimore Herald moved from behind his shoulder to reposition for another shot, never moving the Nikon from her face. Her blond hair was pulled over her ears in a severe and efficient ponytail. She snapped additional photos as she spoke. "What would you estimate its age to be, Professor?" Blinking away the glare, Henry backed a step away so the others could view the remains. A pair of scientists moved closer, instruments in hand. "I ... I'd estimate the mummification dates back to the sixteenth century-some four to five hundred years ago." The reporter lowered her camera but did not move her eyes from the figure cradled on the CT scanning table. A small trace of disgust pleated her upper lip. "No, I meant how old do you think the mummy was when he died?" "Oh...' He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher on his nose. "Around twenty ... It's hard to be accurate on just gross examination." One of the two doctors, a petite woman in her late fiftieswith dark hair that fell in silky strands to the small of herback, glanced back at them. She had been examining themummy's head, a tongue depressor in hand. "He was thirty-two when he died," she stated matter-of-factly. The speaker,Dr. Joan Engel, was head of forensic pathology at JohnsHopkins University and an old friend of Henry's. Her position there was one of the reasons he had hauled his mummyto Johns Hopkins. ![]() $7.99
Adobe ePub [ 1.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Adobe Digital Edition [ 6.5 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Microsoft Reader [ 1.4 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.8 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 eReader [ 0.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 A.D. 398 Mount Parnassus Greece They had come to slay her. The woman stood at the temple's portico. She shivered in her thin garment, a simple shift of white linen belted at the waist, but it was not the cold of predawn that iced her bones. Below, a torchlight procession flowed up the slopes of Mount Parnassus like a river of fire. It followed the stone-paved road of the Sacred Way, climbing in switchbacks up toward the temple of Apollo. The beat of sword on shield accompanied their progress, a full cohort of the Roman legion, five hundred strong. The road wound through broken monuments and long ransacked treasuries. Whatever could burn had been set to torch. As the firelight danced over the ruins, the flames cast a shimmering illusion of better times, a fiery restoration of former glory: treasuries overflowing with gold and jewels, legions of statues carved by the finest artisans, milling crowds gathered to hear the prophetic words of the Oracle. But no more. Over the past century, Delphi had been brought low by invading Gauls, by plundering Thracians, but most of all, by neglect. Few now came to seek the words of the Oracle: a goat herder questioning a wife's fidelity, or a sailor seeking good omens for a voyage across the Gulf of Corinth. It was the end of times, the end of the Oracle of Delphi. After prophesying for thirty years, she would be the last to bear the name Pythia. The last Oracle of Delphi. But with this burden came one final challenge. Pythia turned toward the east, where the sky had begun to lighten. Oh, that rosy Eos, goddess of dawn, would hurry Apollo to tether his four horses to his Sun chariot. One of Pythia's sisters, a young acolyte, stepped out of the temple behind her. "Mistress, come away with us," the younger woman begged. "It is not too late. We can still escape with the others to the high caves." Pythia placed a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder. Over the past night, the other women had fled to the rugged heights where the caves of Dionysus would keep them safe. But Pythia had a final duty here. "Mistress, surely there is no time to perform this last prophecy." "I must." "Then do it now. Before it is too late." Pythia turned away. "We must wait for dawn of the seventh day. That is our way." As the sun had set last night, Pythia had begun her preparations. She had bathed in Castilia's silver spring, drank from the Kassotis spring, and burned bay leaves on an altar of black marble outside the temple. She had followed the ritual precisely, the same as the first Pythia thousands of years ago. Only this time, the Oracle had not been alone in her purifications. At her side had been a girl, barely past her twelfth summer. Such a small creature and of such strange manner. The child had simply stood naked in the spring waters while the older woman had washed and anointed her. She'd said not a word, merely stood with an arm out, opening and closing her fingers, as if grasping for something only she could see. What god so suffered the child, yet blessed her just the same? Surely not even Apollo. Yet the child's words thirty days ago could come only from the gods. Words that had plainly spread and stoked the fires that now climbed toward Delphi. Oh, that the child had never been brought here. Pythia had been content to allow Delphi to fade into obscurity. She remembered the words spoken by one of her predecessors, long dead for centuries, an ominous portent. Emperor Augustus had asked of her dead sister, "Why has the Oracle grown... ![]() $7.99
Adobe ePub [ 1.2 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Adobe Digital Edition [ 2.6 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Microsoft Reader [ 0.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 MobiPocket (OD) [ 1.0 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 eReader [ 0.7 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Chapter OneBlood LureApril 6, 2:56 P.M. Always respect Mother Nature ... especially when she weighs four hundred pounds and is guarding her baby. Matthew Pike faced the grizzly from fifty yards away. The massive she-bear eyed him back, chuffing into the breeze. Her yearling cub nosed a blackberry briar, but it was too early in the season for berries. The cub was just playing in the brambles, oblivious to the six-foot-two Fish and Game officer standing, sweating, in the afternoon sun. But the youngster had little to fear when watched over by his mother. Her muscled bulk, yellowed teeth, and four-inch claws were protection enough. Matt's moist palm rested on his holstered canister of pepper spray. His other hand slowly shifted to the rifle slung on his shoulder. Don't charge, sweetheart ... don't make this day any worse than it already is. He'd had enough trouble with his own dogs earlier and had left them tethered back at his campsite. As he watched, her ears slowly flattened to her skull. Her back legs bunched as she bounced a bit on her front legs. It was clear posturing, a stance meant to chase off any threat. Matt held back a groan. How he wanted to run, but he knew to do so would only provoke the she-bear to chase him down. He risked taking a single slow step backward, careful to avoid the snap of a twig. He wore an old pair of moosehide boots, hand-sewn by his ex-wife, a skill learned from her Inuit father. Though they were three years divorced, Matt appreciated her skill now. The soft soles allowed him to tread quietly. He continued his slow retreat. Normally, when one encountered a bear in the wild, the best defense was loud noises: shouts, catcalls, whistles, anything to warn the normally reclusive predators away. But to stumble upon this sow and cub when topping a rise, running face-to-face into Ursus arctos horribilis, any sudden movement or noise could trigger the maternal beast to charge. Bear attacks numbered in the thousands each year in Alaska, including hundreds of fatalities. Just two months ago, he and a fellow warden had run a tributary of the Yukon River in kayaks, searching for two rafters reported late in returning home, only to discover their half-eaten remains. So Matt knew bears. He knew to watch for fresh bear signs whenever hiking: unsettled dung, torn-up sod, clawed trunks of trees. He carried a bear whistle around his neck and pepper spray at his belt. And no one with any wits entered the Alaskan backcountry without a rifle. But as Matt had learned during his ten-year stint among the parks and lands of Alaska, out here the unexpected was commonplace. In a state bigger than Texas, with most of its lands accessible only by floatplane, the wildernesses of Alaska made the wild places of the lower states seem like nothing more than Disney theme parks: domesticated, crowded, commercialized. But here nature ruled in all its stark and brutal majesty. Of course, right now, Matt was hoping for a break on the brutal part. He continued his cautious retreat. The she-bear kept her post. Then the small male cub -- if you could call a a hundred-and-fifty-pound ball of fur and muscle small -- finally noticed the stranger nearby. It rose on its hind legs, looking at him. It shimmied and tossed its head about, male aggression made almost comical. Then it did the one thing Matt prayed it wouldn't do. It dropped on all fours and loped toward him, more in play and curiosity than with any aggressive intent. But it was a deadly move nonetheless. ![]() $0.25 Rewards
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Chapter OneBehind the Eight BallJULY 24, 4:34 A.M. The saboteur had arrived. Grayson Pierce edged his motorcycle between the dark buildings that made up the heart of Fort Detrick. He kept the bike idling. Its electric engine purred no louder than a refrigerator's motor. The black gloves he wore matched the bike's paint, a nickel-phosphorous compound called NPL Super Black. It absorbed more visible light, making ordinary black seem positively shiny. His cloth body suit and rigid helmet were equally shaded. Hunched over the bike, he neared the end of the alley. A courtyard opened ahead, a dark chasm framed by the brick-and-mortar buildings that composed the National Cancer Institute, an adjunct to USAMRIID, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Here the country's war on bioterrorism was waged across sixty thousand square feet of maximum-containment labs. Gray cut the engine but stayed seated. His left knee rested against the satchel. It held the seventy thousand dollars. He remained in the alley, avoiding the open courtyard. He preferred the dark. The moon had long set, and the sun would not rise for another twenty-two minutes. Even the stars remained clouded by the shredding tail of last night's summer storm. Would his ruse hold? He subvocalized into his throat mike. "Mule to Eagle, I've reached the rendezvous. Proceeding on foot." "Roger that. We've got you on satellite." Gray resisted the urge to look up and wave. He hated to be watched, scrutinized, but the deal here was too big. He did manage to gain a concession: to take the meeting alone. His contact was skittish. It had taken six months to groom this contact, brokering connections in Libya and the Sudan. It hadn't been easy. Money did not buy much trust. Especially in this business. He reached down to the satchel and shouldered the money bag. Wary, he walked his bike over to a shadowed alcove, parked it, and hooked a leg over the seat. He crossed down the alley. There were few eyes awake at this hour, and most of those were only electronic. All of his identification had passed inspection at the Old Farm Gate, the service entrance to the base. And now he had to trust that his subterfuge held out long enough to evade electronic surveillance. He glanced to the glowing dial on his Breitling diver's watch: 4:45. The meeting was set for fifteen minutes from now. So much depended on his success here. Gray reached his destination. Building 470. It was deserted at this hour, due for demolition next month. Poorly secured, the building was perfect for the rendezvous, yet the choice of venue was also oddly ironic. In the sixties, spores of anthrax had been brewed inside the building, in giant vats and tanks, fermenting strains of bacterial death, until the toxic brewery had been decommissioned back in 1971. Since then, the building had been left fallow, becoming a giant storage closet for the National Cancer Institute. But once again, the business of anthrax would be conducted under this roof. He glanced up. The windows were all dark. He was to meet the seller on the fourth floor. Reaching the side door, he swiped the lock with an electronic keycard supplied by his contact at the base. He carried the second half of the man's payment over his shoulder, having wired the first half a month before. Gray also bore a foot-long plastic, carbonized dagger in a concealed wrist sheath. His only weapon. He couldn't risk bringing anything else through the security gate. Gray closed the door and crossed to the stairwell on the right. The only... ![]() $0.69 Rewards
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Adobe ePub [ 1.3 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Adobe Digital Edition [ 2.9 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Microsoft Reader [ 0.8 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 MobiPocket (OD) [ 0.9 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 eReader [ 0.8 Mb ]Street Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Chapter OneFire and RainNovember 14, 01:33 A.M. Harry Masterson would be dead in thirteen minutes. If he had known this, he would've smoked his last cigarette down to the filter. Instead he stamped out the fag after only three drags and waved the cloud from around his face. If he was caught smoking outside the guards' break room, he would be shit-canned by that bastard Fleming, head of museum security. Harry was already on probation for coming in two hours late for his shift last week. Harry swore under his breath and pocketed the stubbed cigarette. He'd finish it at his next break ... that is, if they got a break this night. Thunder echoed through the masonry walls. The winter storm had struck just after midnight, opening with a riotous volley of hail, followed by a deluge that threatened to wash London into the Thames. Lightning danced across the skies in forked displays from one horizon to another. According to the weatherman on the Beeb, it was one of the fiercest electrical storms in over a decade. Half the city had been blacked out, overwhelmed by a spectacular lightning barrage. And as fortune would have it for Harry, it was his half of the city that went dark, including the British Museum on Great Russell Street. Though they had backup generators, the entire security team had been summoned for additional protection of the museum's property. They would be arriving in the next half hour. But Harry, assigned to the night shift, was already on duty when the regular lights went out. And though the video surveillance cameras were still operational on the emergency grid, he and the shift were ordered by Fleming to proceed with an immediate security sweep of the museum's two and a half miles of halls. That meant splitting up. Harry picked up his electric torch and aimed it down the hall. He hated doing rounds at night, when the museum was lost in gloom. The only illumination came from the streetlamps outside the windows. But now, with the blackout, even those lamps had been extinguished. The museum had darkened to macabre shadows broken by pools of crimson from the low-voltage security lamps. Harry had needed a few hits of nicotine to steel his nerve, but he could put off his duty no longer. Being the low man on the night shift's pecking order, he had been assigned to run the halls of the north wing, the farthest point from their underground security nest. But that didn't mean he couldn't take a shortcut. Turning his back on the long hall ahead, he crossed to the door leading into the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. This central two-acre court was surrounded by the four wings of the British Museum. At its heart rose the great copper-domed Round Reading Room, one of the world's finest libraries. Overhead, the entire two-acre courtyard had been enclosed by a gigantic Foster and Partnersdesigned geodesic roof, creating Europe's largest covered square. Using his passkey, Harry ducked into the cavernous space. Like the museum proper, the court was lost to darkness. Rain pattered against the glass roof far overhead. Still, Harry's footsteps echoed across the open space. Another lance of lightning shattered across the sky. The roof, divided into a thousand triangular panes, lit up for a blinding moment. Then darkness drowned back over the museum, drumming down with the rain. Thunder followed, felt deep in the chest. The roof rattled, too. Harry ducked a bit, fearing the entire structure would come crashing down. With his electric torch pointed forward, he crossed the court, heading for the... ![]() $4.99
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| This is an attempt to explain why African Americans can't realize their potential as a race, and what to do about it. |
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A master at combining historical and scientific intrigue with cutting-edge adventure, New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones and Black Order James Rollins returns with his most relentless, high-octane thriller to datea terrifying story of an ancient menace reborn to plague the modern world . . . and of an impossible hope that lies hidden in the most shocking place imaginable: within the language of angels. From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind a disease that's unknown, unstoppable . . . and deadly. But it is merely a harbinger of the doom that is to follow. Aboard a cruise liner transformed into a makeshift hospital, Dr. Lisa Cummings and Monk Kokkalis - operatives of the shadowy covert organization SIGMA Force - search for answers to the bizarre affliction that has inexplicably washed ashore. But there are others with far less altruistic intentions. In a savage and sudden coup, terrorists hijack the vessel, turning a mercy ship into a floating bio-weapons lab. At a Fourth of July celebration a world away, SIGMA's commander Gray Pierce thwarts the murderous schemes of a beautiful assassin - a would-be killer who holds the first clue to the discovery of a possible cure. With the fate of every man, woman, and child on Earth hanging in the balance, Pierce joins forces with the woman who wanted him dead, and together they embark upon an astonishing quest - one that winds through Venetian tombs, Byzantine cathedrals, and jungle-encrusted ruins - following the trail of the most fabled explorer in history: Marco Polo. But time is an enemy as a worldwide pandemic grows rapidly out of control. And as a relentless madman dogs their every step, Pierce and his unlikely ally are being pulled into an astonishing mystery buried deep in antiquity and in humanity's genetic code. And as the seconds tick closer to doomsday, Pierce will realize he can truly trust no onenot the bewitching enigma who runs at his side or even those who are closest to himfor any one of them could be . . . a Judas. |
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eReader [ 0.8 Mb ]Chapter One
1293
Midnight
Island of Sumatra
Southeast Asia
The screams had finally ceased.
Twelve bonfires blazed out in the midnight harbor.
"Il dio, li perdona..." his father whispered at his side, but Marco knew the Lord would not forgive them this sin.
A handful of men waited beside the two beached longboats, the only witnesses to the funeral pyres out upon the dark lagoon. As the moon had risen, all twelve ships, mighty wooden galleys, had been set to torch with all hands still aboard, both the dead and those cursed few who still lived. The ships' masts pointed fiery fingers of accusation toward the heavens. Flakes of burning ash rained down upon the beach and those few who bore witness. The night reeked of burned flesh.
"Twelve ships," his uncle Masseo mumbled, clutching the silver crucifix in one fist, "the same number as the Lord's Apostles."
At least the screams of the tortured had ended. Only the crackle and low roar of the flames reached the sandy shore now. Marco wanted to turn from the sight. Others were not as stout of heart and knelt on the sand, backs to the water, faces as pale as bone.
All were stripped naked. Each had searched his neighbor for any sign of the mark. Even the great Khan's princess, who stood behind a screen of sailcloth for modesty, wore only her jeweled headpiece. Marco noted her lithe form through the cloth, lit from behind by the fires. Her maids, naked themselves, had searched their mistress. Her name was Kokejin, the Blue Princess, a maiden of seventeen, the same age as Marco had been when he started the journey from Venice. The Polos had been assigned by the Great Khan to safely deliver her to her betrothed, the Khan of Persia, the grandson of Kublai Khan's brother.
That had been in another lifetime.
Had it been only four months since the first of the galley crew had become sick, showing welts on groin and beneath the arm? The illness spread like burning oil, unmanning the galleys of able men and stranding them here on this island of cannibals and strange beasts.
Even now drums sounded in the dark jungle. But the savages knew better than to approach the encampment, like the wolf shunning diseased sheep, smelling the rot and corruption. The only signs of their encroachment were the skulls, twined through the eye sockets with vines and hung from tree branches, warding against deeper trespass or foraging.
The sickness had kept the savages at bay.
But no longer.
With the cruel fire the disease was at last vanquished, leaving only this small handful of survivors.
Those clear of the red welts.
Seven nights ago the remaining sick had been taken in chains to the moored boats, left with water and food. The others remained on shore, wary of any sign among them of fresh affliction. All the while, those banished to the ships called out across the waters, pleading, crying, praying, cursing, and screaming. But the worst was the occasional laughter, bright with madness.
Better to have slit their throats with a kind and swift blade, but all feared touching the blood of the sick. So they had been sent to the boats, imprisoned with the dead already there.
Then as the sun sank this night, a strange glow appeared in the water, pooled around the keels of two of the boats, spreading like spilled milk upon the still black waters. They had seen the glow before, in the pools and canals beneath the stone towers of the cursed city they had fled.
The disease sought to escape its wooden prison.
It had left them no choice.
The boats—all the galleys, except...

In Washington D.C., a homeless man dies in Commander Gray Pierce's arms, shot by an assassin's bullet. But the death leaves behind a greater mystery: a bloody coin found clutched in the dead man's hand, an ancient relic that traces back to the Greek Oracle of Delphi. As ruthless hunters search for the stolen artifact, Pierce discovers the coin is the key to unlocking a plot that threatens the very foundation of humanity. For an international think-tank of scientists has discovered a way to bioengineer autistic children who show savant talents into something far greater and far more frightening — all in hopes of creating a world prophet for the new millennium, one to be manipulated to create a new era of global peace . . . a peace on their own terms. From ancient Greek temples to glittering mausoleums, from the slums of India to the radioactive ruins of Russia, two men must race against time to solve a mystery that dates back to the first famous oracle of history — the Greek Oracle of Delphi. But one question remains: will the past be enough to save the future? |
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| ACTION/ADVENTURE SPY THRILLER THE VOYNICH PROJECT: NEPHILIM RISING AN ?MEGA FORCE CONSPIRACY THRILLER FOR SOME, IT'S AN ELEGANT ENIGMA . The past: For centuries, the Voynich manuscript has remained a mystery. The Lost Magical Diary of C. G. Jung--The Red Book--holds the key to unlocking its secrets. In 1940, aboard the Orient Express, Jung encounters the Nazi leader of the Vril Society, who is hell-bent on harnessing its powers and whose motto is "Not all good comes from above." THE KEY TO FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH The present: The mission--Abduct or kill al-Dajjal, a coldblooded war criminal who is committing mass genocide. But on their failed covert operation deep with the Syrian Desert, Major Brody Devlin and his special ops team--the OMEGA FORCE, encounter a horrific discovery, bizarre experiments in genetic engineering. Meanwhile, on a dig in the Middle East, Dr. Blair Kelly--a beautiful but tough-as-nails archaeologist--rescues Wendy, a young orphan, from the clutches of the mad assassin, al-Dajjal. But it just so happens that our heroine, Blair, is a Celtic High Priestess and Wendy is an Indigo Child, who possesses fantastic powers. Together with the help of an ancient order of Druids, The Daughters of Awen, Blair must decode the Voynich manuscript. But the answer found in the lost diary of Carl Jung unlocks a dramatic childhood secret and reveals Blair's strange bond with the child. FOR OTHERS, IT'S A CURSE . THE DEVIL'S LOOKING-GLASS Back in London when Blair's brother--an alchemist--and Wendy are kidnapped, Blair and Devlin are plunged into an evil conspiracy of Neo-Nazis. The Indigo Children, Wendy and the Lost Boys, are being held prisoner at Eden School, where they are examined as unique specimens, the fountainhead of a new master race. In a daring commando raid on the British Museum, the Voynich manuscript and the mysterious Crystal Skulls are stolen. Using Blair as a decoy, Devlin and his team dive headlong into an ancient quest that dates back to the Nazi Occult Bureau. "A spiraling, high-octane adventure ..." Steve Berry "Rollins is one of the most inventive storytellers writing today." Lincoln Child "While Clive Cussler maintains the gold standard in action lit, Rollins has a firm grasp on the silver." Publishers Weekly |
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