“I need some water,” Ridley said.
Queen looked up at Bishop. The big man stepped over and kneeled, pouring water again from his plastic hose, directly into Ridley’s mouth. The regenerating man swallowed in huge gulps, like a man who had just crossed a desert.
“Thank you. This facility was for genetic research initially, but it eventually became a storehouse for archeological finds and artifacts as well. It has three levels, which you would have seen some of to get here. We are on Sub Level 3, which consists of this cell, the outer security room, a loading dock, storage, and a lounge. There’s also a natural cavern that predates the Roman occupation. That’s at the end of the hall. Second floor is all offices and a meeting room. Plus my office. Oh yes, there’s a little kitchen up there too. Sub Level 1 is the labs, and living quarters for the staff. Two ways in and out of the facility: the loading dock and the secret door through the janitor’s closet at the back of the bio lab, on Sub Level 1.”
“We came in that way,” Queen nodded. “What else?”
“Well, from that closet, you might have come in one of two ways: the stairs from the amphitheater, or the tunnel that leads to the parking garage. The garage connects with the loading dock also. From the garage, you have two ways in or out. The vehicle tunnel takes you to the American Cemetery. There’s an emergency ladder from the garage to the unused fountain on the surface, next to the mosque’s parking lot.” The man no longer had sweat popping out all over his head. Queen noticed that his body appeared nearly whole, although he was hardly as muscular as he used to be. Still, he looked like he might be able to walk again soon.
“We didn’t know about the fountain. Nice to see you’re telling the truth,” she told him.
“Why wouldn’t I? I want what you want right now: Alexander.” Ridley pushed his torso up with his newly formed arms. He didn’t have quite enough strength to sit up fully, so he rested on his elbows, looking relaxed and assessing the growth of his legs.
“May I?” Seth asked Knight, attempting to remove his linen jacket. Knight gave a grim nod.
Seth stepped forward into the room, and removed his cream colored linen jacket, gently draping it over Richard Ridley’s exposed genitals.
“Thank you, Seth,” he said. The duplicate nodded, and stepped back.
“How can you tell them apart?” Queen asked. She had only been able to remember Seth based on his being the only one who spoke and by keeping mental track of where he was in the room.
“I created him. And the others. I know them.”
“How many more are there?” Queen asked, pointing to Jared.
“Sadly, these three are the last, but they are my favorites.”
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Knight quickly swiveled his weapon toward it. On the other side of the room, Bishop had his weapon up and trained on the door as well. Rook kept his weapon trained on the three duplicates, despite the sudden intrusion into the room. They had discussed close quarters strategies like this on the plane. They each knew their jobs, and Rook’s was to never take his eyes off the duplicates.
Queen swiveled her head toward the door, then stood up and away from Ridley on the floor.
Standing in the doorway was Asya Machtchenko. Pawn. The team had come to know her and love her as family, since discovering that she truly was King’s sibling. Originally attaching herself to Rook on a ship in the Barents Sea, she had proven herself a worthy ally, first with Rook in Norway, and later in a pitched battle involving the whole team. In the year since then, she had been constantly helping King look for their parents. On the few times when she had been back at headquarters, Queen had seen the woman bonding with King’s girlfriend, Sara Fogg, and his foster daughter, Fiona Lane. Asya had very quickly become an unofficial part of Endgame, but a well liked and well loved part.
The woman stood in the doorway with tear-streaked mascara on her cheeks, looking distracted and surprised to find the whole team in the room with four Ridleys.
Queen walked quickly to the woman. “Pawn? Are you okay?”
Asya stood silently, her eyes wide, clearly in shock more than surprise, now that Queen was close enough to the woman.
Queen gently placed a hand on Asya’s shoulder. “Asya?”
Asya blinked, twice. “King is dead.”
TWENTY-FIVE
King and Alexander smashed into the wall of the cavern, a halo of electric blue light dancing around the ceiling of the space. The men slid down the rough stone wall, and the crackling light winked out, plunging the entire cavern into darkness.
Lying on the floor, King groaned, his ribs having been spared a direct impact, but still protesting from the fall to the floor. “Son of a bitch.” King’s will to fight disappeared with the light. Wherever Alexander had taken him, the way back was closed. His only chance of returning to his family was to stay calm and use his brain before his brawn. The latter wouldn’t do much when it came to a man who could heal from nearly any wound.
Alexander laughed good-naturedly in the dark. “Actually, my mother was kind of a shrew.”
“Alcmene?” King asked, cradling his chest with an arm. He had studied ancient history extensively, and Hercules especially.
Alexander grunted. “You can’t believe everything you read in modern history, Jack. Things get distorted over centuries. Sometimes by accident, but more often by design.”
A brilliant light flared in the dark.
King shielded his eyes for a moment, and then saw that Alexander held a small LED flashlight in his hand. It was tiny — like a keychain light.
“Take me back.”
Alexander smiled. “I need your help to save a woman, Jack. She desperately needs help, and I can’t do it alone.”
Despite his anger, King felt Alexander was being forthright, and his natural instinct was to want to help save a life, but he remained skeptical.
“Where?”
“We are still in Carthage. In the very same cavern.”
King looked around the echoing space. The shape of the room looked similar, but the machinery was all gone, the floor of the room was rough and unfinished, and he couldn’t see the doors in the distant shadows.
“Bullshit.”
“Listen. What do you really know about that technology you appropriated in Norway? About quantum tunneling and dimensions?”
“We didn’t have much time to study that tech before you stole the plans and left your threatening note.”
“Sorry about that. The note did serve its purpose, though. You are here with me, as intended.” Alexander chuckled.
King’s patience waned. He pulled the Sig Sauer pistol and pointed it at Alexander. “I saw what was on the other side of that portal in Norway, and I watched globes of energy destroy entire cities. I’m not going to let you do the same.”
Alexander waved casually at the handgun. “You know that can’t kill me.”
“I can make you hurt,” King countered.
“You might want to conserve your ammunition,” Alexander said. “It’s going to be a long time before you have a chance to find more.”
King, deflated, lowered the pistol to the cavern floor and slumped with his back against the wall. The AK-47 dug into his back, and he pulled the strap off over his head, wincing a bit as he did, but appreciating the fact that the ibuprofen was finally kicking in some.
“Let’s start with Einstein. You know his theory of relativity?” Alexander asked, sitting on the floor cross-legged in front of King. His posture was completely non-threatening now, so King relaxed his guard.
“Math isn’t my strong suit, but I get the basic gist.”