Day of Doom (20 page)

Sinead  said,  “But  what  is  soimportant about the numbers?”

Dan said, “They showed that theperfect location for the Doomsday devicewas the Cascade Mountains. But if youtake away the alterations that Isabel did,

the longitude becomes one hundred and six degrees west.”

Amy said, “And the latitude would be forty degrees north, right?”

“Right,” said Dan. He took off the goggles and they turned the compartment lights back on.

All eyes turned to Jake, who had opened up his laptop once more.

Amy said, “So, where are those coordinates?”

“Give me one sec,” replied Jake, his fingers flying over the keys.

He stopped typing and stared at the screen, a confused look on his face.

“What is it, Jake?” exclaimed Amy. “Where are those coordinates?”

He looked up. “It’s the Rocky Mountains. And I used a geo-locator

tagged to our position.” He paused. “That

spot is exactly where we are right now.”

They all stared at one another.

“Here?” asked Amy. “Right wherewe are? How is that possible?”

Dan   said,   “But   what   aboutsubduction zones? Wasn’t that the whole

point?”

Jake looked at his laptop. “That’s right. That doesn’t make sense. The subduction zones make the power of the Doomsday device immeasurably greater.”

“Then there has to be something that we’re missing,” said Amy.

The PA system came on. A voice said, “Thank you for your patience. We will be moving very soon.”

“Well, we don’t have much time to figure it out,” warned Sinead.

She sat down next to Jake and started hitting keys on the laptop.

“What are you doing?” asked Jake.

“Trying to make sense of the inexplicable,”   she   shot   back.   “If subduction zones are important, then we need to understand what this area has that

the Cascade Mountains don’t.”

Her fingers flew over the keys, bringing up screen after screen.

As Amy watched her she was reminded that Sinead was unbelievably

intelligent and her computer skills were

second to none.

But can I trust her?
 
wondered Amy.

Her answer was automatic.

No, I can’t.

Sinead stopped clicking keys andlooked up.

“I think I’ve got it.”

Jake studied the screen and Amy and Dan drew closer.

Sinead said, “Apparently, there’s ageological quirk in the composition of thebedrock underneath the Rocky Mountains. These   mountains   sit   over   a   vast

subduction zone. From what I’ve been able to find out in the last few minutes, that zone makes the Cascades look paltry by comparison. And because the Rockies are approximately in the middle of the

country, any disruption of that zone could be potentially devastating to the entire country, not just the western part. One zone runs out due west and the other runs

out due east.”

Amy studied the images on thelaptop’s   screen.   “They   look   likeunderground rivers,” she said.

“That’s pretty much what they are,”

said   Sinead,   and   Jake   nodded   in agreement. “You start the power source at one end and the ramifications are felt at the other. Like a tsunami building and then crashing in a far-off place.”

Amy said, “So this spot really is the perfect place for the Doomsday device?”

Dan added, “It sounds like it’s subduction zone heaven.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Sinead.

Jake said, “And that was why Isabelaltered the compass numbers on the backof the Lewis and Clark box. Just in casewe found out and were trying to locate thatheading?”

“And it almost worked,” said Sinead. She looked at Dan. “If Dan hadn’t insisted

on taking another look at it with those goggles, we’d be clueless.”

Dan said, “Well, I was just being my typically brilliant self.” He added, “But if you’re trying to get on my good side by pointing out my obvious genius, it won’t work. You’ve done too many bad things.”

Sinead glanced away, her features

dark.

Jake rose and slipped his laptop inhis bag.

“Okay, we have to get off here.

That’s why the train stopped. Isabel
 
is
getting off. And she has Att with her.”

It was merely a speck in the sky. But itsoon came into sharper focus.

The lightweight experimental aircraftwas flying at barely two thousand feet offthe ground. Its speed was approximately 120 knots. It looked like a helicopter, onlywith wings.

The single pilot looked through theegg-shaped glass covering him.

Damien Vesper smiled as the terrainflew beneath him and the skies overhead

crackled with unusual power. Though the winds were buffeting the aircraft and coming at odd angles, and lightning

cracked upward, and the sky still looked purple, Damien piloted his aircraft with a practiced hand. He was not scared by the daunting elements; he was enjoying the show!

This was the time he had spent hiswhole life preparing for.

The Doomsday device was in placeand partially active. He looked down atthe small box that rested at his feet. Insidethere was the last piece of the puzzle. Itwas the Madrigal ring that was actually agear. Once he placed that on his deviceand cranked it to full power, the worldwould understand what it truly meant tofear.

His phone buzzed. He pressed abutton and put on headphones.

Sandy Bancroft’s recording spilled

into his ears.

He listened to the Wyoming idiots plotting   against  him.   He   was   not surprised. They were utterly lacking in what it took to be true leaders. They had served their purposes. Now they were expendable. He would deal with them shortly.

A while later he landed his aircraft

in a field where a black SUV was waiting to pick him up. Up ahead of him soared the mighty Rockies.

From here it would all begin. His master plan had finally come to fruition. His ancestors would be so proud. But of all the Vespers that had come before, he was the only one who had actually succeeded.

The box stowed safely in his bag,

Damien climbed into the SUV and wasimmediately driven off.

One   more   piece.   Archimedes’precious gear.

And then it all could truly begin.

And end.

Spectacularly.

Cheyenne had driven the truck into a vastchamber that had been carved into themountain. A large overhead door hadopened and closed automatically as thetruck approached.

Cheyenne,   Sandy,   and   Casperclimbed out of the truck cab and headed

for the rear of the truck.

“Let’s hurry up,” Sandy ordered

Casper and Cheyenne.

Cheyenne glared at him. “Who diedand made you boss?”

“In case you forgot, Cheyenne, in the Vesper pecking order, I rank above you.” Sandy gazed at Casper. “And you’re noteven in that pecking order.”

“Yeah, well, pecking orders canchange!” snapped Casper.

“Maybe in your fantasy world,”replied Sandy. “Your problem is you’renot content to just be a follower. But yourabilities are perfectly suited to such astatus.”

Cheyenne said, “Hey, Casper, I thinkhe just insulted you.”

Casper balled up a large fist and saidto Sandy, “You’re a fancy-pants weatherguy, right? Predict stuff?”

“I     prefer     ‘world-class

meteorologist,’ but let’s not quibble over titles. Yes, I predict things.”

Casper popped him in the face. “So how come you didn’t see that coming?”

Sandy held his bloody nose while Cheyenne laughed.

“Open the truck door,” yelled Sandy between his fingers. “Now!”

“Sure thing,
 
boss
,” snorted Casper.

He unlocked the padlock and pushed up the truck door.

“AAAAGGGHHH!”

The hostages, led by Hamilton, Evan, Reagan, and Fiske, leaped out, still chained together, and fell on top of Sandy, Cheyenne, and Casper.

When Casper stood and started swinging, Reagan leveled him with a wicked spin kick.

“Sweet,”   exclaimed   Reagan   as Casper crashed to the floor. “Been wanting to try out that move, doofus.”

Cheyenne jumped to her feet and caught Evan with a jab and an uppercut. He went down, but Hamilton slammed into Cheyenne and sent her flying against the wall. She hit it and slid down, unconscious. Hamilton towered over her

and flexed his biceps.

“Man, that felt good,” he said. “What I live for. Winning and creaming people.”

Casper got back up only to be leveled by a right cross and vicious uppercut thrown by Fiske Cahill.

As Casper collapsed backward, unconscious, Fiske said, “Been wanting payback since that little thrashing you gave me in Switzerland, you punk.”

Sandy got to his feet and ran, but Fiske, using his wrapped chain as a lasso,tossed it around Sandy’s neck and jerkedhim backward.

“Haven’t finished with you yet, old boy,” said Fiske. “It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to pummel someone closer to my own age.”

Sandy turned to him, gurgling, his eyes popping as he gripped the chain.

“What’s that you say?” asked Fiske mockingly. “Oh, you want me to hit you very hard in the mouth? Delighted.”

Fiske slammed his fist into Sandy’s face and the world-class (in his own mind)  meteorologist  slumped  to  the ground, knocked out cold.

“We need a key!” called out Nellie, who had been flung all over the place

while the others were fighting. She held her injured shoulder and was trying hard not to scream in pain.

Hamilton dug into Cheyenne’s jacket pocket and held up the key to the shackles.

“Got it.”

“Someone’s coming,” warned Ted, who’d been listening intently for this very thing.

“Quick,” said Fiske. “Out this way. We can unlock the chains later.”

He looked down once more at Sandy and gave him an extra kick in the side.

“That’s for Alistair, you evil little man!”

They rushed through a doorway and entered a rock tunnel. To the left, they heard the sounds of people approaching. Still all chained together, they headed to

the right with Hamilton in the lead. He was so tall and his strides so long that some of the shorter people fell to the floor.

“Let’s get in sync,” said Reagan. “Or we’ll just be captured again. Come on, one-two, one-two, one-two. Left-right, left-right.”

They left the tunnel, turned right, and kept going. Once they could no longer hear the sounds of people rushing down the tunnels,  they  stopped   and  Hamilton unlocked the chains with the key he’d taken from Cheyenne.

They all looked around while they caught their breath.

“Where are we?” asked Nellie.

The other nine hostages, suddenly free, but far from safe, looked at one