“Maybe a little,” Kirby admitted. “But then I grew up, graduated, and real life became more important that a fantastical dream world. Hey, now I’d rather hit the gym than pick up a Kindle. Ya know?”
Hayden nodded at his physique. “I can see that.”
Kirby grinned. “Membership includes a free guest if you’re interested.”
“Maybe some other time.” Hayden rose, ignoring Kinimaka’s puppy-dog look. She was about to shake Kirby’s hand when an unanswered question poked at the back of her mind.
“Sorry. Just one more thing. Did your grandpa ever say what happened to the Niven Tablets after he lost the captaincy of the sub?”
“It unloaded its secret and looted cargo onto a United States destroyer in the dead of night. Very clandestine stuff. Unbelievable really. Spies and conspiracies and super government agencies. It’s only now that real people are beginning to believe that all this stuff really does go on.”
Hayden said nothing.
Kirby continued, “Grandpa John may have been disgraced in the eyes of the world but he was still the true captain of that submarine. He took one for the team, so to speak. He had an interest in the tablets, since he’d followed their directions so far. The archaeologist who looked after them — I don’t know his name — told Grandpa that they would be sent back to America and locked away until they were needed again. They had to let the dust settle, you see, and keep the tablets safe.”
“It wouldn’t do for another US sub to be spotted in the exact same area,” Smyth hypothesized.
“Exactly. Well, they were sent to some vault somewhere and then forgotten about, I guess. Who knows? There are so many secrets these days, layers upon layers, like old skeleton bones crushed beneath the passage of so many years.”
Hayden raised an eyebrow as he waxed lyrical. “Thanks for your help, Mr. Kirby. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
On their way back to the car, Hayden stopped and turned to the other two. “You guys thinking what I’m thinking?”
Smyth cast his gaze down. “Not unless you’re thinking about texting a thousand-dollar hooker called Lauren.”
Kinimaka glared. “Or about jamming that guy’s gym bag up his own—”
“Okay, okay,” Hayden interrupted quickly. “So maybe we’re not all reading from the same script. But Dudley’s looking for a second vault, right? He’s already grabbed one of China’s great treasures — the Peking Man, which is linked to Mu and the tablets. Could it be that he’s now after their greatest — the Lost Kingdom?”
“By using the tablets,” Smyth barked. “But why? Kirby said there were rubbings that still exist.”
“But not as accurate. Which the Pythians need. And maybe he just wants to destroy the tablets, who knows? Either way, guys, we have to find out where those tablets were stored and we have to go there. Right now. Dudley and his crew need to be stopped.”
Smyth reached the car first. “Theory’s sound,” he said. “I’m all the way in.”
Hayden reached for her phone as she climbed inside. Her first call was to Karin Blake, who would make high-level enquiries as to the whereabouts of the Niven Tablets. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t feel the chill that hit her full in the face — the air vent aimed right at her.
Not for the first fifty miles anyway.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Former limestone mines are now used throughout the USA as secure vaults. The more you pay the more secure your valuables become. Bill Gates uses a refrigerated cave over two hundred feet below ground. Princess Diana’s will rests in a vault below a reinforced mountain entrance. Other safeguarded riches include the original recordings of Frank Sinatra, law firm client files, the mysterious Mormon Vault. The servers of WikiLeaks are secured behind a forty-centimeter-thick door that’s accessible through only one tunnel and capable of withstanding a hydrogen bomb. The JP Morgan vault, one of the largest in the world, the Vatican and of course the KFC vault, where the Colonel’s original recipe is hidden.
An abandoned mine in Pennsylvania houses none of these treasures; rather it is less famous, dustier, and quieter. Instead of the usual all-embracing entry procedures which include two forms of ID, special clearance and blood-taking, a twenty-eight-ton, triple-timed lock and a quarter of a mile trip below the surface, this facility is touted as less illustrious than its big brothers, almost antiquated, and thus unworthy of much attention. There are no fees for storage; prospective clients are generally pointed elsewhere.
A gray-haired man wearing a tatty reflective jacket meets you at the gate and sends you on your way; he’s never had to explain to anybody that he’s ex-Special Forces.
Hayden, Kinimaka and Smyth arrived back in Washington DC in time to hear Karin trying to use Robert Price’s influence and the SPEAR clearance level to learn the whereabouts of the Niven Tablets. Karin told Hayden she was sure nobody was trying to pull the wool over her eyes — it was more a problem of finding anyone who remembered them. No computer stored their file, no filing cabinet contained their folder. The best way to hide something you don’t want found was to lose every record that it ever existed.
And create the backstory that they had gone “missing; somewhere between Mexico and the US”.
Hayden heard most of what Karin told her. A small part of her mind still dwelled over the air-vent incident. Had she moved it before she left the car, even accidentally? Had Mano or Smyth moved it? She felt a little embarrassed to ask them.
Or am I losing my mind?
Maybe it was the gunshot wound. A virus. Damn, most likely she needed a vacation. To get away from all this. As soon as we bag the Pythians.
Barely believing her own promise, Hayden perked up as Karin swung around. “Nailed it. There’s a curator works at the old Steel Mountain facility in Pennsylvania, near the city of Butler. Pretty much a forgotten records facility, he knows of more than a few dusty old treasures that were stored down there between 1940 and 1960. Records don’t exist for these pieces and I guess once the older guys who know about them retire or lose interest then their existence will just pass to legend.”
Hayden rose to her feet. “So what are we—”
“One more thing,” Karin said. “The curator mentioned someone else making the same inquiry only a few days ago.”
“Who?” Kinimaka asked. “Dudley?”
“No. This person came across as well-spoken, highly educated and powerful. And possessed a clearance level beyond ours.”
Hayden narrowed her eyes. “What? But that’s… did he get a name?”
“Names weren’t passed, no. Just the clearance level protocol.”
“Are we thinking — Pythian?” Komodo wondered.
Hayden nodded slowly. “Who else could it be? They’re a downright sneaky bunch. Always a step ahead.”
Karin tapped her keyboard. “They’re only ahead because we don’t know what they’re planning next. It might be an idea to place someone permanently on the inside.”
“A mole?” Hayden said. “A Pythian mole? Great idea, but we don’t know where they are. We could ask Lauren. She said that Nicholas Bell didn’t seem the sort. What do you think?”
Kinimaka and Komodo were already gearing up. Smyth shrugged into a vest beside them. “Shall we discuss all that later?” he said. “We have a robbery to stop.”
Less than two hours later the team exited their plane and were approaching the storage facility by car. The skies were dark, the roads picked out by full beam. The mood inside the car was grim as the soldiers prepared for a fight.