At first he saw nothing, then, near the nose, he spotted a clamp to one of the Talons withdrawing, slamming back into the hull of the ship, just as a fourth thud announced the action. The rapierlike ship floated free of the mothership and rose a few meters. Yakov tried to access a connection with the Talon via the guardian but he reached a dead end. He realized the Kortad must have cut any control the Master Guardian could have over the warship.
But they were still trapped in the chamber, Yakov knew, as he turned his attention to any controls for an exit from the large cavern. At that moment, a golden beam lashed out of the nose of the Talon and struck the side of the cavern.
Turcotte looked down on Mount Ararat, noting the still-smoldering ruins of armored vehicles on the lower slopes. He could see other tanks and armored personnel carriers on the roads approaching the mountain. Several helicopters with Turkish markings flitted about, but he ignored them.
He’d gotten the coordinates for the mothership cavern from Quinn and he edged the bouncer up the Ahora Gorge toward the spot. As he got close to a half-mile-high rock wall, he abruptly pulled back on the controls as the rock exploded outward with a thunderous roar.
A car-sized boulder hit the left side of the bouncer and the craft flipped from the impact. Turcotte had both hands on the controls and he stopped the rotation and leveled out, just as the nose of a Talon appeared in the large hole that had just been blasted.
He held the bouncer still as the entire two hundred meters of alien craft carefully exited. It had the same black metal skin as the mothership and was thirty meters wide at the base, tapering forward with a slight bend to a needle point at the front. Once clear of the mountain, the Talon turned to the east and accelerated away.
Turcotte keyed the radio. “Quinn, this is Turcotte. A Talon just exited Ararat and is heading east. I need you to get Space Command to track it. Over.”
“I’m on it,” Quinn responded.
Turcotte pushed forward on the controls and entered the cavern, seeing the mothership below, partly covered with debris near the front. He saw the other Talons parked on the outside and the empty space where the one that had just left had been stored.
Yakov “saw” the bouncer enter through the hole the Talon had just exited. He accessed controls for the mothership and opened a hatch to a cargo bay not far from the room he was in. Then he headed for the exit to the Master Guardian room.
Turcotte saw the hatch opening on the side of the mothership and guided the bouncer to it. He entered the mothership, the hatch closing behind him. He set the bouncer down and unbuckled from the pilot’s spot. He held Excalibur in one hand and the MP-5 in the other as he climbed the ladder and exited the bouncer.
The cargo bay was practically empty except for some debris littered across the floor. Turcotte walked over to the nearest pile. Broken clay pots and a leather sandal. Very old. He frowned, wondering how that had gotten in here. A door slid open and he smiled as he saw Yakov’s massive form filling the opening.
“Old friend,” Yakov called out. He walked forward, arms spread wide, and Turcotte allowed himself to be caught in the Russian’s embrace.
Yakov let go and stepped back. He saw the sword. “Excalibur?” Turcotte nodded. “Yes.”
“Stupid question,” Yakov said. “If you did not have it, I would not have been able to accomplish what I did.” His smile grew broader. “We have defeated the bastards finally.”
“Who was in the Talon?” Turcotte asked.
Yakov spit. “Airlia. I would assume from Qian-Ling as there were Chinese forces with them. They came here to get the Master but we beat them to it.”
“Where are the others?”
Yakov’s smile disappeared. “All dead. The Airlia and the Chinese almost defeated us. Many brave men gave their lives.”
More casualties. Turcotte had lost count of how many had died battling over control of Airlia artifacts. He silently made a promise to those who had given their lives that once this war was finally resolved, he would make it his mission to ensure that the Airlia legacy did not interfere ever again with the human race.
“There’s a problem,” Turcotte said.
“There is always a problem,” Yakov lamented. “It is something a Russian learns to accept as a child. What is this new problem?”
“The Airlia on Mars are building what Kincaid thinks is a communications array on Mons Olympus. He doesn’t think it’s quite done yet, but it’s close to being finished.”
Yakov considered that information. “So. If Artad gets on that Talon and makes it to Mars, and they finish the array, he can communicate with his home world and bring more Airlia here.”
“Yes.”
“That is a problem,” Yakov acknowledged.
Turcotte felt faint and staggered, the Russian grabbing his shoulder and steadying him. “Are you all right?
Turcotte ran his hand across his forehead, feeling the perspiration. He was burning up. “Just a little woozy.”
“‘Woozy’?”
“Too much altitude and temperature change, too quickly,” Turcotte said. “Where’s the Master Guardian?”
Yakov indicated for Turcotte to follow him as he turned and headed down the corridor, staying close by his side. “What about Aspasia’s Shadow and the Grail?”
“The nanovirus is nonfunctional,” Turcotte said.
“I know. I shut down his guardian, which controlled it. All the subordinate guardians are shut down, including the one on Mars. That should delay their efforts there.”
“My navy has regained control of the two lost task forces. The combined fleet is heading toward Easter Island. Without the guardian, Aspasia’s Shadow has no shield and little power. Quinn says he’s fled the island on a bouncer, but they are tracking him. We ought to be able to deal with him and recover the Grail. The fleet can rescue Kelly Reynolds.”
Yakov frowned as he reached the door to the Master Guardian chamber. “You should not underestimate Aspasia’s Shadow. He has been around for a very long time and faced adversity before. Plus, we must assume he has partaken of the Grail and is now immortal. Also, what about the Guides? Even with the Easter Island guardian shut down, they still have the mental programming they received. And I am sure there are more scattered around the world.”
“The Guides are few in number,” Turcotte said as he paused in the entrance, looking at the glowing red pyramid. “Without the nanovirus, their power is limited.” His thoughts went to Lisa Duncan, who had also partaken of the Grail and then been kidnapped, by who, he had yet to find out. “Have you picked up anything on Duncan’s whereabouts from that thing?” he asked.
“I have not tried,” Yakov said. “I have been busy with other matters. I will also check to see if there is any information on this array.” He walked across the gangway to the pyramid and placed his hands on one side.
Turcotte had no desire to meld with the Master Guardian. He’d touched a regular guardian once before, in the secret base at Dulce where Majestic had been conducting bio-experiments on people they abducted. The direct contact between his mind and the alien machine had repelled him on a visceral level.
“Nothing,” Yakov said after about ten seconds. “The only thing”—he frowned, his eyes closed—“strange. Very strange. I’m getting some images that were relayed from the other guardians once the Master activated before I shut them down.”
“Images of what?” Turcotte asked.
“Something in the sky. Moving. Black. Spherical main body with six extensions. Some kind of spacecraft.” Yakov paused, then continued, “It’s exploding. High over endless forest. Ah, I have seen forest like that before. I know what this is.” He let go of the Master Guardian and stepped back, turning toward Turcotte. “Remember General Hemstadt on Devil’s Island?”