"If I know Selena, she's working on it right now," Stephanie said.
"I'm sure she is."
"You need me for anything? I have a doctor's appointment."
"Is everything okay?"
"It's only a routine checkup. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
"Take your time."
"Thanks."
She left the room. Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and thought about how odd it was to be alone in the building during the day. Stephanie was always available for a talk over a cup of coffee. Aside from Stephanie and the team, there wasn't anyone else she could talk with.
During the day she was too busy with work to feel lonely. She loved interacting with the team. It was heady stuff to command the attention of the president. All of that was little consolation when she came home to her empty brownstone.
She thought about Clarence Hood. The trouble stirred up by the photograph was beginning to die down but a congressional inquiry was still a possibility, if for no other reason than to try and embarrass the president.
Maybe Clarence would like to have dinner this evening, she thought.
Elizabeth picked up her phone.
CHAPTER 39
By now Selena had a good grasp of the ancient language. She made rapid progress with the writing on the pyramid walls, working on the translation until it was past midnight. After a few hours of sleep, she went back to it. By morning she had a rough translation for most of one wall.
She sat with Nick in the wardroom, drinking coffee, a laptop open in front of her.
"When we found those murals in Tibet I thought nothing would top it," she said. "I thought no new find could possibly surpass it."
"Sounds like you've changed your mind," Nick said.
"What's down there changes world history. It's a record of a civilization everyone thought was a fable."
"So, it is Atlantis?"
"Yes. Only they didn't call it that, of course. Their word for it translates to 'us' or 'the people.' I don't know what's on those other walls but what I've already seen is enough to keep archaeologists and historians busy for years."
"Did you come across anything about an archive? Where it might be?"
"Not yet, unless that pyramid is it. But I found more about the stone that controlled the force they used to lift things. The Stone of the Gods."
"I still don't see how a stone could do anything like that."
"Modern technology uses stones. Diamond lasers, for example. They're powerful enough to cut through steel. Diamonds are a kind of stone."
"Yeah, but this is the twenty-first century. You know, electricity, microchips, things like that. Where did they get energy from?"
"However it worked, these people used it to lift blocks of stone weighing tons off the ground. Then they pushed them through the air and dropped them into place."
"That's hard to believe. Like everything else about this."
"These people might have built the pyramids in Egypt. The rulers used the same energy to get around. They rode on a kind of sled that floated above the ground."
"Mmm."
"Mmm? Is that all you have to say about it?"
"What do you expect me to say?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe 'wow, that's really something.' I just told you these people mastered gravity and all you can say is 'Mmm.'"
"Unless we can find out how they did it, it's a fairy tale," Nick said.
Selena looked at him and sighed. "There's a lot I haven't translated yet."
"While you've been doing this, Sexton is getting another ROV ready. He'll send it down after breakfast."
"What if the Russians interfere again?"
"Lamont has been talking with one of Sexton's divers. He was a SEAL, too. They're going to go over the side at the same time as the ROV. If the Russians try anything funny, those two will stop it from happening."
"I want to go down with them," Selena said.
"I thought you would but you've been up most of the night. You're tired and I need you up here. You're the only one who can work on the translation. We need to understand what else is on those walls."
Selena was about to argue. Then she said, "I know you're right. But I don't have to like it."
He looked at his watch. "Let's eat. It's going to be a long day."
A half hour later they were on deck, where Sexton was ready to launch the second ROV. He was going to try and retrieve the robot lost the day before.
Lamont and his new partner were suited up, ready to go over the side.
"This is Sam Heath," Lamont said. "He got out a few years before I did. We know a lot of the same people."
Sam had a broad Irish face, blue eyes and a shock of thick, red hair. He shook hands with Nick and Selena. His smile was genuine.
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Nick said. "You know what you could be getting into?"
"You mean the Russians? They don't bother me."
"Do you want us to take out their robot if they send it down again?" Lamont asked. "We could cut the tether."
Nick nodded. "They called the game. Let's raise the stakes."
"What if they put men in the water?" Sam asked.
"Good question. It depends on what they do. Try to avoid a confrontation. If they come after you, protect yourself."
"That's what I wanted to hear," Sam said.
Sexton came over. "We're ready to go."
"Let's do it," Lamont said.
Across the way on the Tolstoy, Katerina Rostov studied the bustle of activity on board the Sexton's Dream. The two Spetsnaz divers stood next to her.
"They're getting ready to put men in the water," Rostov said. "Now they're lowering an ROV."
"What are your orders?" Spassky asked.
"We're launching our own unit. The Americans may try to sabotage it in retaliation for yesterday. You will prevent that from happening."
"We can only follow it down so far," Spassky said. "As we go deeper, we have less time."
"The same is true for them."
"What are the rules of engagement?"
"If they cause no trouble, ignore them."
"And if they do?"
"You are to prevent anything that will interfere with this mission by any means necessary. Is that clear?"
"You are not concerned about consequences if we have to kill them?"
"You have your orders, Sergeant."
CHAPTER 40
Lamont and Sam wore full face masks equipped with voice communication. They could talk to each other while they were underwater and to Nick on board Sexton's Dream. Both men wore closed-circuit rebreathers and wetsuits. There would be no telltale bubbles on the surface as they approached the Russian ship.
At twenty feet down there was plenty of light. The surface above was clear blue, the sun a halo glow scattering streams of light through the water. Lamont never tired of the world that existed below the surface of the sea. Most people never saw the true beauty of the ocean.
The Atlantic this far out from land teemed with life. The area was famed with sports fishermen for its abundance of trophy fish. Blue marlin, swordfish and giant bluefin tuna were common. Plenty of fish meant plenty of sharks, including hammerheads, short fin makos and a throwback called the six gill blunt nose. Hammerheads were usually not aggressive unless provoked. The others were. As far as Lamont was concerned, any kind of shark was bad news.
A hundred yards away, the long hull of the Russian ship formed a dark shape on the surface of the water.
"Comm check," Lamont said. "Sam, how do you read me?"
"Five by five."
"Nick, you copy?"
Nick's voice came back through the earpiece. "Five by five, amigo. The Russians are about to put their robot over the side."
"Copy that."
Lamont and Sam dropped down to forty feet and moved silently toward the Russian ship. Visibility was still excellent, the water clear. A school of silvery-blue wahoo swam by, slim and lethal looking, their sharp teeth and spiny ridges a reminder of a time long before humans walked the earth.