Babel Found (13 page)

Safe House

Blairsville, Georgia

Todd and Olivia couldn’t answer. The only audible reply was an unintelligible “ummm” from the both of them. They watched from Hank’s video feed, witnessing the creature that used to be the small statured Japanese waiter with the ambiguously funny name.

“He really is a monster,” Todd said still in awe. The beast just stood there in the knee-deep shallows, intimidating as all hell, looking like something straight out of a SyFy channel original movie.

“Todd?” he shook himself from his fanboy stupor, hearing Nicole click on. He cut his chat with Hank, seeing that he was a little busy.

“We’re here, Nicole.”

Her view was that of a humongous tornado and it threw lightning in every direction. Anu could be seen clearly at its center, directing each and every electrical discharge. His body was gray and seemed to swirl like the wind. His suit was gone, giving them a good look at what laid beneath. But regardless of how he looked now, if they could disrupt his concentration long enough to sneak a missile in, they might be able to take him out.

“Any ideas?” she asked. He quickly relayed what he’d just come up with to her.

“It could work,” she said. “Let me advise Carrack and I’ll get back to you.”

Todd could hear Nicole do as much and then she was back in his head. “Anything on Babel yet?”

Todd looked at Olivia with a defeated look. The only information they could find that was worth a damn was knowledge they were already aware of. It’s like the exact location couldn’t be agreed upon.

Or the people’s translations were wrong since no one spoke the same language!
It was a theory he hadn’t thought of yet. It’s happened in history before. You’ll get a different set of facts from the same event, but through the eyes and words of someone else. Primal translations and word of mouth were never an accurate representation. Then again, with Atlantis involved, he wouldn’t put it past them to go out of their way to erase it from history altogether.

“Nothing so far, unfortunately,” Olivia said, stepping in for Todd. “We have scoured the internet clean. Frost’s files haven’t come up with much either except something about an impact crater in the desert somewhere.”

“Impact crater?” Nicole asked, her voice perking up at the mention.

“Yes,” Olivia replied, hearing the uptake in the Swede’s voice. “Is it important?” She quickly glanced at a visibly distressed Todd. He’d obviously known about that, but hadn’t yet thought to look into it.

“Actually…it is,” Nicole replied. “Hank was told of the orichalcum based meteor strike by Thoth himself. He lived just outside the crash site, being the first to discover it. Do me a favor and crosscheck Frost’s notes with any mention of Iraq—Mesopotamia in this case. Center your search near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It’s where most cities were built back then. Get back to us if you find anything. I’ve got to go.”

“Will do,” Olivia replied, watching Todd’s fingers explode across his keyboard. He would have made an unbelievable legal secretary with those typing skills.

“So,” she said, turning towards Todd, “what exactly are we looking for?”

“Well,” he said, speaking as he typed, never looking down at his hands. He was literally triple tasking right then, getting an unnoticed impressed look from her, “we know Thoth came from a land to the west of Egypt.”

“Atlantis,” Olivia said.

“Yes, but we also know he came from a land to the east of Egypt before that. Hank and Ben had always thought Thoth was a part of the original migration from Babel, but it was just a guess. The Atlantean king was extremely old so it fit the bill.”

“We just never had a true connection until now,” Olivia added.

Todd nodded, still typing and reading. “It’s the meteor. It’s always been the meteor. It’s the key to everything.”

Olivia sat up straighter. “If we find the crater, we find Babel.”

Todd smiled. “Not quite, but close. The files say Thoth walked a day to the south from his home near the Euphrates. So—”

“We find Thoth’s village and measure a day’s walk to the south,” she smiled in triumph.

“Then, my young Padawan,” Todd said, grinning with satisfaction, “we dig some more with better intel and find that damn tower—or what’s left anyways.” He looked back at his screen. “It’s here, I just know it is.”

“Okay, Todd,” Olivia said, “tell me what you need me to do.”

He was about to answer but got cut off by an unexpected caller.

“Jenkins?” a voice asked, cutting through their
secure
comms. “You there?”

He and Olivia looked at each other in shock. Who could hijack their system? You needed a code only a handful of people had in the entire world.

“Um, who’s this?” Todd asked.

“It’s Daniel.”

“Daniel?” Todd asked stunned. “I thought you got buried under Site A?”

Ben’s son laughed at the other end. “We did, but a couple of the engineers survived the attack topside and just pulled us out. Thankfully, the heavy-duty winch system wasn’t too badly damaged.”

While that was good and all, Todd didn’t need to have another long-distance call from halfway across the world. He and Olivia needed to get to work right away.

“You need to see what I found,” Daniel said, getting both of their attentions.

“Okay, Daniel,” Todd said. “What do you have?”

“Dad gave me your info just in case something happened, but I need an email address to send you the pictures.”

Pictures?
Todd thought.

He gave Daniel his email and was pleasantly surprised to get it only a few short seconds later. He double-clicked the file and downloaded it, getting a bevy of images.

“What is all this Daniel?” Olivia asked, helping Todd sort them out.

“It was the last group of pictographs I was cataloging before the camp was leveled. Dad had mentioned a crater of some sort once, knowing I was really interested in astrology as a kid. I was kind of an alien freak growing up, loved the stuff. He thought it was a neat conversation. He asked me to send him anything related to an impact crater, but I can’t reach him.”

Todd and Olivia looked at each other as they pulled up the last of the images. It depicted a man praying over a stone, but it wasn’t the man or the stone that caught their eyes. It was the setting the man was in. He was kneeling in a bowl-like depression in the ground.

“That’s it…” Todd said, his voice trailing off.

“Daniel,” Olivia quickly said, going through the other slides, “is there another picture with the same man walking, maybe from a river or something of that nature?”

“Actually,” Daniel replied, “yes.”

Todd found it as soon as Daniel confirmed its existence.

It was a shot from above—the lay of the land. There was a river to the north, but also a lake to the west. It looked familiar, but he didn’t know from where.

“Daniel,” Olivia said, leaning in closer, “do you know where this spot is—the crater.”

“I do.”

Todd and Olivia halted their search and again looked at each other.

“Where is it?” Olivia asked.

“It’s Eridu,” he simply said. “Some say it’s the oldest known city in the world.”

“We found it,” Todd said, leaning back in his chair, eyes wide.

“Found what?” Daniel said, not following.

“We just found the Tower of
freaking
Babel.”

Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

The Blackhawk’s occupants watched Hank descend upon the water, bursting into a dazzling display of electric-green fire. Kane and Nicole had seen it quite a few times, but for Carrack and the pilot…this was something new.

“Hot damn,” the pilot said, whistling at the sight.

“Literally,” Kane replied. “It’s hotter than the surface of the sun.”

Nicole shook her head. “Don’t exaggerate.” Her mind was in two places at once, she didn’t need to be scolding Kane right now too. Hank was about to fight what could pass for a living god while Todd and Olivia tried to find Babel—a location no one in history has been able to find.

She watched as Hank struck the water—the same time the helo got sideswiped by a gust of wind, tilting them sharply. Nicole was tossed towards the open rear door but was caught before her upper half could follow her lower half. She kicked at the open air, trying to find the landing strut—just as something locked onto her lower arm. If she could, she’d be able to brace herself and push. She kicked out once more and happily found it with both her boot tips. She flexed her legs and pushed, barreling into Kane who still had a tight grip on her wrist, sending both of them to the metal floor.

“What the hell was that?” Kane asked from his back. Nicole was laying on top of him, her chest uncomfortably close to his face. Thankfully, Nicole quickly regained her footing and headed for the front of the chopper.

Olivia would have never let that go,
Kane thought, smiling a little. The grin wasn’t aimed at Nicole’s bust, though, it was at seeing Olivia blow her top over nothing. He really did enjoy making her pop.

Kane watched as Nicole turned back to him. “It’s Anu.”

His face fell flat. Then, he also stood, but instead of heading up front to join the others, he stumbled back over to the .50 caliber machine gun. He clipped himself on so he wouldn’t be thrown like Nicole had just been. Kane expertly yanked back on the loading mechanism and scanned the sky, looking for something to shoot.

He immediately found that something…

Anu was hovering just west of the camp, sandwiching them between him and Susanoo. “Over there!” Kane shouted against the gale. “He’s over there!”

The Blackhawk banked, facing the incoming twister.

“All eyes on the tornado coming in from the west!” Carrack yelled as they got thrown again, losing altitude. Military chopper pilots were some of the best in the world, however, and they trained to fly while under duress. They quickly straightened out and Carrack continued his instructions. “Halfway up. Fire!”

Kane watched as the other airborne craft let loose into the storm, sending whatever they could into its heart. Into Anu. He hoped something would hit home and at least knock the bastard out of the sky. He knew the assault wouldn’t kill him, but at least they might be able to delay or maybe disable him for a while.

Like Hank did to Susanoo in Miami,
he thought, remembering how Nicole had broken his body enough to get away. That’s all they could hope for now. Between the water and the wind, Camp Arifjan was about to become a total loss. It’s something the United States, as a whole, couldn’t afford to let happen. Their success in the Middle East depended on this fortification. It was also a beacon of hope to the people of Kuwait.

Regrettably, most of the projectiles were thrown off course by the gusting winds, but some did thread themselves through. Three explosions rocked the interior of the cyclone, but Kane wasn’t sure if they were direct hits, or just glancing blows.

“Sir,” the pilot said in their ears, “we have the
USS George H.W. Bush
carrier on the horn. Said they may be able to help.”

Kane turned his head and watched his uncle as he spoke into his headset. They could all hear the communiqué as well, being on the same frequency.

“This is General Carrack, go ahead carrier.”

“General Carrack, this is Admiral Franklin, we have a destroyer with us that may be able to help.”

“Tell me what you have Ned,” Carrack replied, obviously knowing the man well.

“She’s of the Zumwalt-class, Steve.”

Kane perked up. “No shit?”

Nicole cocked her head to the side, not understanding the military terminology.

“Send it in, and Ned… Thanks.”

“Ever see the movie
Eraser
?” Kane asked, gripping the machine gun harder as they jerked to the right, narrowly avoiding a lightning bolt.

After thinking for a second, Nicole understood the significance of the movie reference. Kane and Hank loved the part when Arnold Schwarzenegger lugged around two mini—

“Railgun,” Nicole said.

Kane nodded, smiling. There was literally nothing that could defend against the might of an electromagnetically launched projectile. Each round had the same explosive force as eleven pounds of C4. Kane knew from experience that a pound of the stuff, give or take, could demolish a large truck.

“Damn right we have a railgun!” Kane shouted, pumping his fist.

Nicole was impressed, but until she saw it work, she’d have to reserve her enthusiasm. She tried to look back and see Hank, but they had moved off too far to the west and even higher. Her vantage point was blocked by the rear of the chopper. She’d just have to continue to hold out hope for him.

She joined Kane at the left side rear door and clipped on next to him, getting her VECTOR assault rifle ready. Kane watched as her muscular arms manhandled the intimidating weapon, showing no signs of the pre-battle jitters. Nicole had become a cool and collected warrior in a very short amount of time.

Kane’s confidence in them succeeding grew even more with Nicole sitting next to him. Hank was their unwilling leader but did a good job. He’d known him long enough to know he was truly uncomfortable ordering people around, though. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for someone’s life. It’s why Kane tended to take over when they saw action. It was in his nature. He led an ultra-elite Army Ranger squad a few years back for a reason. He was a born leader. It’s why his uncle suggested Ranger school after Matt died.

Nicole and he were Hank’s muscle in essence, even though Hank didn’t really need the help anymore. But he did need the moral support. Hank was emotional and always second-guessed himself. Their jobs were to be by his side, supporting him whenever necessary. Yes, Hank was Kane’s close friend, but he really did care for the digger—like he did Matt once upon a time.

“You ready?” Kane asked.

Nicole nodded. “Always.”

They both nodded to each other and cut the chitchat. It was about to get really crazy as the Blackhawk continued its trek west. Attack choppers similar to that of Aegis-One back in D.C. roared past them, going in for the kill.

“Attention carrier group,” Carrack said in their ears, “ready your battleship. We are going in for a second run. On my signal.”

“We read you,” a voice replied. “We’ll be waiting.”

Nicole and Kane watched as the six Vipers surrounding them let loose with another barrage of missiles, all in various sizes and payloads. There had to be at least two or three from each helo this time, making their way towards the approaching twister. But in her gut, she knew the totality of the assault wouldn’t be enough.

*

She waited for the signal, then she’d come up to the surface and attack. Her job was simple. She was confident she could follow through…but did she want too? Did she want to do any of this? She knew she didn’t.

Terra was different from her siblings. While they laid in wait—for years at a time in some cases—until called upon, only showing themselves when they thought necessary, she lived every moment of every hour that she’d been
alive
. She’d seen things that the modern world thought as myth. For instance, Nessie just wanted to be left alone and was quite benevolent in nature. Terra also witnessed other things, like the building of Stonehenge and the Pyramids at Giza. She’d secretly helped in both, lessening the load on the primitive people from below.

I became more human than god,
she thought, looking at the earth around her. As far back as she could remember she was revered like a deity, someone to praise and give sacrifices to. Every time she appeared and helped, that culture made her a god, or her influence did. As the years went by, the planet’s population—its innocence—had rubbed off on her. She closed her eyes and focused on the light vibrations traveling through the ground between her and them. Boyd’s group
knew
they could handle whatever attack was coming. They were confident in their abilities.

If only they knew the truth…

She and the other Judges were to eliminate everyone. Boyd’s team could not survive the day. If they failed here, it would mean their deaths. The master had even said as much.

He was a mysterious man if you wanted to call him that—a man. He may have been at one time or another. She actually knew very little about him except that he was extremely old and held knowledge that no one else on Earth possessed. She had heard rumors mostly, but some of them she believed to be accurate. He was a genius as well as a psychopath. Everyone, even Anu and Phoenix—the most callous of them—feared him.

Terra didn’t want to think about it anymore. If those two, as well as Susanoo, were frightened of the master, she was downright terrified. She even had nightmares about encountering him. She’d never even met him before—none of them had.

Her dreams horrified her actually. It was a reason she stayed awake and lived, unlike the others. Some of the things she’d seen, some of the things
she’d
done, they still affected her psyche after all those long millennia.

After the fall of An’tala, she fled with the surviving citizens until the Judges were called upon by their master. They were told to wait for Nannot or Coaxoch to find them, but they never did. Their parents never came back. Hank Boyd had eventually killed them both.

While they really were her parents, Terra didn’t feel any angst over their deaths now. If it had been centuries ago, she would have been much more perturbed by it. But like her own feelings towards humanity, she also began to resent her origins—her parents included. They were truly foul people, claiming themselves to be gods instead of just gifted individuals.

Everyone in An’tala was gifted in one way or another.

With her father’s immortal soul imprisoned and her mother on the lamb doing as she pleased in Central America, it was the master who found them one by one. He had secretly trained her parents in the dark arts right under Thoth’s nose—a man he was all too familiar with. It was a brilliant scheme really. The king was so blind to what was going on within his own kingdom that he essentially let it happen. By not destroying Nannot’s soul when he had the chance, he unknowingly condemned the world by showing his son mercy. Without Nannot’s presence, none of this would have come to pass.

Hank would have never been called to investigate the find.

Dr. Boyd would still be alive.

Terra would still be in Italy, living among the humans in peace.

The death of one to save the many. It was a common conundrum throughout the world. Whether it be by murder or sacrifice, the theme was ever present in a variety of the planet’s cultures, both now and in the past.

But the master shows no such mercy.
Her skin broke out in goosebumps again.

“Go forth,”
a voice said in her head.

Terra closed her eyes and grunted, raising her hands. She then pushed with all her might, feeling the pressure around her build and the land begin to bulge.

Her eyes flashed open, sparking with a white-hot glow as the earth above her started to open. Soon it would reach the surface, and when it did…the day would be won.