Atlantis: Gate (16 page)

“What was noted was that as one got further away from the epicenter of an earthquake, there was a drastic change in readings of these waves at a certain distance, at an angle of approximately one hundred and five degrees between the earthquake and seismograph. At this angle S waves disappeared, while P waves eventually made their way around the surface. What this meant was that the direct S waves must have hit liquid and been stopped. Thus, extending this angle through the planet—” on the screen a line appeared—“one has to deduce that there is a molten layer of material inside the planet and beneath the mantle. This is the outer core.”

“On top of this, the fact that the planet has a magnetic field also indicates there is a molten layer inside that is in flux. The Moon and Mars have no magnetic field because both are cold planets and solid inside. And the Earth cannot be magnetic in stasis because magnetic minerals lose their magnetism once they are heated above five hundred degrees Celsius. The only way to explain the Earth’s magnetic field is if there is a circulating electric current inside of the planet. Thus convection of molten iron in the Earth’s outer core must be the source for our planet’s magnetic field.” Ahana’s voice sharpened. “Please keep this associated electric field in mind as I continue.”

“Few people know that the magnetic field to which our compasses point is not a constant. Indeed, it is strongly believed that it has switched directions many times over the course of time.

As recently as twenty thousand years ago compasses probably would have pointed to the South Pole rather than North. Think of the immense changes in power given off by such a planet-wide switch.”

“The convection in the outer core affects the mantle, which in turn affects the crust and causes the movement of the crustal or tectonic plates. You all remember learning about Pangea and how the seven continents started out as one and how they rest on plates that have been moving for a very long time. The Earth’s crust is only a thin skin that constitutes less than point two percent of the planet’s mass. And there is a difference between the crust underneath the continents and that under the ocean. The crust under land averages about five times more thickness than that beneath the ocean.”

“Except—” the word hung in the air for several seconds—“at Nazca. The crust is less than two kilometers in thickness at that point and below it there appears to be lines of conductivity that lead deep into the Earth.”

“That is Doctor Reizer’s suspicion,” Dane said.

Reizer leaned forward and spoke at the computer screen. “How have you confirmed this?”

Ahana was in her lecture mode, which Dane had seen before. “Geologists can use P and S wave scans of the planet to map it much like a CAT scan of the brain does a similar thing. The boundary between the crust and the mantle is called the Mohorovicic Discontinuity or Moho for short. At Nazca, the Moho has a hole in it and extending down from that hole is a channel that leads to the molten outer core.”

“How come no one has noticed this before?” Dane asked.

“It has been noticed,” Ahana said. “No one thought it was important before.”

“I’m confused,” Dane said. “If the crust is so thin and there is a channel to the outer core, wouldn’t that be like a perfect set-up for a volcano?”

Ahana nodded. “Yes. Exactly. Except there aren’t any.”

“Why not?” Dane asked.

“I am not certain,” Ahana said. “Looking at the data from satellite over flights and various imaging, it appears as if the crust at Nazca is thin but very dense, almost like a cap placed on top of this channel. I do have a theory on how this cap was formed, but please wait while I explain something else.”

“Moving to the center of the planet, beneath the molten outer core, we come to the inner core. The inner core has a radius of only thirty-five hundred kilometers, but it contains a good percentage of the planet’s mass given its small size. And unlike the outer core, the inner is solid.”

That didn’t make sense to Dane. “Shouldn’t it be even hotter at the inner core?”

“Yes, and it is,” Ahana said. “The temperature of the inner core is estimated to be around four thousand degrees Celsius.”

“Then shouldn’t the rock be melted?” Dane pressed.

“It should be except for the fact that it is under such extreme pressure that the rock remains solid.”

Something was bothering Dane, something Ariana had said. “What kind of rock is there in the inner core?”

“Good question,” Ahana said. “That is exactly what I have been researching. Because while it appears that the lines of power are flowing along the lines of convection and plate boundaries, we have discovered that the strongest line, the most powerful thread of power, so to speak, is going into the inner core of the planet itself.”

“It has been speculated, based on the available data, that the core consists of iron, but I think that is only an outer surface. I believe that the densest and hardest material on Earth has been collected at the very center of the planet under extreme temperature and pressure.”

“Diamonds,” Dane said.

Ahana nodded. “Yes. Diamonds are a mineral form of carbon and the hardest material known to man, rating a ten on the Mohs hardness scale. There are four known types of diamonds: a diamond proper, bort, ballas and carbanado. A diamond proper is one that is a crystallized gemstone. Bort is an imperfectly crystallized diamond that is dark in color. Ballas is a cluster of tiny diamond crystals of great hardness. Carbanado, which some call a black diamond, has no cleavage, which means it can’t split along a definite plane. What if there were a fifth form of diamond, one that humans have never seen?”

“I think there is a crystalline object at the center of the Earth. A diamond or cluster of diamonds on an unimaginable scale. And crystallized in a structure we have never seen or even postulated.”

Dane was beginning to see a connection: the crystal skulls that were used to channel power from the pyramids to stop the gates. Did the pyramids draw power from deep inside the Earth? But how could living tissue turn into crystal, he wondered?

Foreman’s voice cut into his thoughts. “If there is something like this in the center of the planet, what does it mean?”

“Diamonds are excellent conductors of heat,” Ahana said, “but poor conductors of electricity and become highly positively charged when exposed to electromagnetic forces. There is a conductive layer between this center crystal and the inner core that has a dynamo effect when combined with the Earth’s rotation, the magnetic field of the outer core, and the convection of plate tectonics. Since the core crystal will absorb the heat but not the electromagnetic forces being generated, there is a mind-boggling amount of energy there, just waiting to be exploited. This is the ultimate power the Shadow is now beginning to tap through Nazca.”

There were several moments of silence as each absorbed this summation, then it was Kolkov who broke the silence. “We are aware of the effects of the disasters that will happen because of the tectonic plate energy being drained by the Shadow. What will the effect of this inner core crystal being tapped?”

“I am not certain,” Ahana said. “I have been running several simulations on the computers. You do have to understand there are numerous variables and forces involved.”

Dane leaned forward toward the computer. “Your best guess. Worst case scenario,” he added.

“Worst case scenario is that the intrinsic structure of the planet becomes unstable,” Ahana said.

“Which means?” Dane asked.

“The planet will break apart. Earth will become the collection of fragments it was in the beginning.”

Dane summed it up. “So one way or the other—tectonics or core crystal—we’re doomed.”

“Unless we can stop the tap,” Ahana said.

“Which means we have the same problem,” Dane said, “which is we have to stop the portal the tap is running through.”

“And do you have a plan to do that?” Kolkov’s voice was harsh.

A long silence reigned.

“My government,” Kolkov continued, “is in the process of evacuating Moscow. There is little patience.”

“I think—” Dane began, but fell silent.

“What?” Foreman pressed.

Dane chose his words carefully. “The path we must follow is not clear but I know I must get Sin Fen’s skull and then the Naga staff. I haven’t been shown the step after that.”

“I can’t go to my superiors with that,” Kolkov said. “I am sorry.” The half of the screen he had been on went blank.

THE SPACE BETWEEN

Amelia Earhart looked at the smooth skin on Fred Noonan’s chest and frowned. Even if he had survived the kraken—and enough time had passed for the wound to heal—there should still be some scarring. Her navigator’s condition was worsening and he had not regained consciousness.

She looked up and saw Taki watching her closely. She had explained Noonan’s message as clearly as she could to him and the samurai had made no comment. She’d found the lack of dialogue with the samurai to be disconcerting at first, but had quickly grown used to it.

She found it an ironic twist, given that a secondary mission of her around the world flight had been to spy on Japanese installations in the Pacific and forward that information to the US Navy. She had even learned a smattering of Japanese in preparation for the flight, which had stood her in good stead when she ran into the samurai here in the space-between. They had latched onto her as their new Lord and would do what she said, no questions asked.

“He will die.”

Earhart couldn’t tell if Taki’s words were a statement or question, but she nodded anyway.
“Yes.”

“The Naga staff will not come to us. We must go to it.”

Earhart stood and signaled to Taki, circling her hand over her head and then pointing toward the center of the space-between. He nodded and yelled commands to his men. They gathered round as Earhart grabbed her sword. She paused, looking down on Noonan’s blistered face, then she set out.

They traveled through a low area between two ridges of black. Amelia Earhart had no idea how large the space-between was. There was the surrounding wall that curved out of sight overhead and once she had followed it one direction as long as she could, before having to head back to her base-camp for food. While on that journey she’d had the eerie sensation that the ground was extending in front of her and that she could go forever and never come back to her start point, even though her best guess was that she was traveling in a circle around the center lake.

The temperature was mild and unvarying, about sixty degrees Fahrenheit as near as she could guess. The air tainted with a distasteful odor that she couldn’t identify but one that despite all her time here she hadn’t quite gotten used to.

After several miles, Earhart raised her hand and her small band came to a halt. She got on her belly and edged her way up the slope to the right, ignoring the gritty sand that rubbed against her and slid into her flight suit. She moved more slowly as she reached the top and edged up enough to see over. They were near the lake that filled the center of the space-between.

The first thing she saw was a wide pillar of black that extended toward the roof far overhead—a portal. She slithered up further to get a better view. She could see the surface of the water-- flat black, extending out as far as she could see. To the left and in the distance she could see another portal.

She scanned the shoreline. She sensed someone crawling up next to her and spared a glance. Taki, sword drawn, was at her side. She turned back to the shore.

She reached out and grabbed Taki’s shoulder, pointing with her other hand.
“There.”

There were five limp forms scattered along the shore. Earhart began to stand when an abrupt jerk on her right arm pulled her down into the black sand. She turned angrily toward Taki, but the samurai’s focus was to the left. Earhart followed his gaze. A half-dozen white figures were floating above the black ground. Their faces were featureless except for ruby-red eyes.

Earhart bit down, grinding her teeth together, feeling the futility of her position. Five of the Valkyries scooped up bodies. The sixth stood by. With the bodies secured, the Valkyries began heading back the way they had come. The sixth followed, then paused. It turned, facing the ridge behind which Earhart hid. She stopped breathing. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Taki and it was her turn to grab his arm, keeping him from doing something foolish.

After several minutes, which seemed like hours, the Valkyrie finally turned and followed its mates, sliding along the beach. Earhart watched until it disappeared. Then she stood.

“Come,”
she said to Taki as she headed down the slope in pursuit. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Taki and the rest of his samurai following.

**************

Since its launch in 1986, Mir has circled the planet over 85,000 times. Astronauts from dozens of nations have lived and worked in the station. Since the end of the Cold War eleven American shuttle missions had rendezvoused with the space station. Both NASA and the Russian Space Agency had touted the station as a sign of international cooperation. It was all a lie.

Launched while Ronald Reagan was still President, Mir had been Moscow’s reply to Star Wars. If Reagan wanted to throw down the gauntlet and develop space weapons, Moscow, in its basic working class way, had picked up the challenge. Heavy boosters rockets lifted the components of Mir into space and hardy cosmonauts bolted them together, including a section that contained a half-dozen multiple warhead nuclear rockets.

There was little the United States administration could protest about given Star Wars, so the entire matter was kept classified. When the Cold War ended, the rockets were still up there along with their warheads and it became the thing no one talked about among those in the know. The danger of bringing the warheads back to Earth was considered too great, so that section of Mir was sealed off. The United States invested considerable time and money into making sure Mir stayed operational and in orbit while the Russian Space Agency deteriorated and was unable to provide the maintenance required.