“So you don’t know where they are?”
“They’re in a very secure place,” he allowed. “They are in the Negev.”
“Israel?”
“They traveled for a long time and were last held by monks in Ethiopia at one of the monasteries on Lake Tanaga. But they were not safe there, and the Israelis took them back to the Dimona archives bunker in the Negev Desert that also houses their nuclear weapons. It is supposed to be the most secure place on Earth.” He gave an evil smile. “But I have learned over the years that no place is totally secure.”
“And if you get them?”
“Then we can bargain. I’ll have something you want, while you have something I want. I almost had them once before, long ago, but they slipped through my grasp.”
“How long ago?”
“I have been walking this Earth since before the beginning of your human history.”
“How can you have lived so long?” Duncan asked.
Aspasia’s Shadow pointed at his head. “This — the knowledge, the experiences — have lived as long as Aspasia’s Shadow lived.” He tapped his chest. “This body, this shell, has a life span. I acquired this one forty-five years ago. It will be time to move on soon. This body is failing me.”
“I don’t understand.”
Aspasia’s Shadow pulled an amulet from underneath his black cloak. “This is the essence of Aspasia — of me. All that is missing are my experiences since I last updated it a month ago. It is called a ka. Think of it as a recording device for one’s life, for one’s memories. But it is more than that. When the time comes to pass on, as it is called, I will go to The Mission. There the ka will be updated to the present, then this body will be destroyed. The ka will be used to install my essence into the new body and my life will go on.”
“If you can do that, then why do you want the Grail?”
“Because the Grail can do more than that.”
“What more?”
“That information I cannot give you.”
Turcotte studied the information Quinn had gotten regarding Silbury Hill as the bouncer lifted off the floor and floated out the hangar doors. As soon as it was clear, the pilot accelerated and gained altitude.
“Do you believe Mualama’s information?” Yakov asked.
“He has the scars from the fire,” Turcotte noted.
“He also withheld telling us he was a Watcher for a long time,” Yakov said.
“We need a Watcher’s ring,” Turcotte said simply. “If there are no Watchers at Silbury, then I won’t believe him.”
“Do you have a plan?” Yakov asked. The two of them were the only occupants, beside the pilot and copilot.
“Not yet.”
“Should we knock on the side of the hill and ask them if they can spare us a ring?”
“Why don’t you do that?” Turcotte snapped.
“My friend, I think you are not seeing the forest for the trees.”
“Look,” Turcotte held out a photograph. “See how the side of the hill is indented right here?”
Yakov took the picture. “Yes.”
“Remember at Qian-Ling how there was an opening for a bouncer to go in and out on the side of the mountain?”
“Yes.”
Turcotte tapped the picture. “That’s where we’re going to knock.”
CHAPTER 8
Popeye McGraw and Olivetti simply sat in the zodiac, bobbing in the slight swell. As a SEAL they’d traveled all over the world and seen some pretty amazing sights, from the interior of whorehouses in the Philippines to the full fury of a Pacific typhoon to the northern lights off the shore of Alaska, but they’d never seen anything like the black wall that shimmered in front of their boat.
“Damn,” Popeye said, which pretty much summed it up. Olivetti spit over the side of the zodiac. “Yeah.”
Popeye grabbed his tanks and slid them on. He secured his weapon and equipment bag. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
Popeye did one last position check using the ground positioning receiver — GPR — confirming they were over the spot where they needed to be. He sealed the GPR in its waterproof bag. They turned the valves that connected the five chambers that made up the U-shaped outer hull, opening them to each other. Then Popeye opened a valve cap near the rear and air rushed out. He turned and opened another valve, attaching a hose from a CO2 tank secured on the floor of the zodiac securely to it.
Both men fit their mouthpieces, turned their backs to the water, sat on the transom, then flopped overboard. They bobbed in the water as the zodiac slowly settled lower and lower. They grabbed the hull nearest them and wrapped their arms over it, helping push out the last of the air. Popeye reached over and secured the valve cap as the zodiac reached less than neutral buoyancy and slipped beneath the waves. Olivetti attached a lead from the lifeline that lay on top of the buoyancy tubes to a line around his waist. Then both men dove.
They had worked together so often that they fell into a pattern as soon as they started diving, angling toward the wall — Popeye in the lead with his nav board held out in front, Olivetti right on his fins pulling the deflated zodiac behind him.
Popeye paused as he saw the black wall just ahead, then went vertical, diving straight down. He slowed as he saw the bottom. A large divot had been carved out of the bottom as if a large hand had scraped along the coral and rock.
Cautiously, Popeye settled down to the lowest point of the divot. There was a gap below the shield wall, about seven feet deep. He looked over his shoulder at Olivetti floating behind him, the zodiac slowly settling to the bottom. There was no question if they were going through.
Popeye finned forward, scraping his belly on the bottom. He went for several seconds, then rolled on his back. He was through. He floated up as Olivetti shoved the deflated zodiac through next. Popeye pulled it through, then the other SEAL followed.
Popeye grabbed Olivetti’s shoulder and gestured furiously. Ahead of them was a long gray wall, touching the bottom as it reached toward shore. The Washington. It was moving very slowly, the hull edging back into deeper water. Looking closer, the two SEALs could see that a black film covered the hull where it was touching the bottom, fluctuating as if it were alive. They’d heard the reports of how the ship had been taken over and had no desire to get closer.
Popeye jerked a thumb toward the surface. Olivetti nodded and twisted a valve on the CO2 canister. The zodiac began filling and ascending, the two SEALs following. By the time the boat reached the surface it was almost fully inflated.
Popeye’s head burst into the open air and he blinked. The Washington’s enormous bulk filled his vision. Something was different about the ship. He’d spent a lot of time aboard Nimitz-class carriers and he didn’t doubt his first impression. He scanned the ship from bow to stern, checking for the differences.
The first thing that struck him was that there was no one moving; not a single crew member. A ghost ship, slowly sliding into the ocean from the shore. But then he saw more. The island, which contained the ship’s bridge and operations center, was more streamlined. The various radar and communication masts were different too, although Popeye wasn’t sure what that meant. The bow, facing inland, was torn and twisted, but even as he watched, he could swear that it was being repaired, centimeter by centimeter, even though he could see no men working on it. He felt a chill watching the majestic carrier, the pride of the fleet, being controlled by forces he couldn’t understand.
He shifted toward the island. Six maoi statues gazed out to sea. Popeye rolled on board the zodiac, Olivetti following. They were a half mile away from the carrier, now afloat. Olivetti cranked the engine and they turned to the west to circle around the island. The first part of their mission was complete, although they weren’t exactly sure what their report would say.