The Last Chamber (35 page)

Firth had been standing silent for the last few minutes, his fears
slowly subsiding. “If that isn’t the tree of life then where is it?”

“Thanks for your help by the way,” Sean said sarcastically. “That guy
almost killed me.” Firth hung his head ashamed for a moment. “I’m just kidding,
Doc. It’s okay. My guardian angel had it under control.” He smiled at Adriana.

His grin forced a small one onto her face. “That’s twice I’ve saved
you.” She drew close to him as she spoke.

He could hear the voice in the back of his head telling him to jump.
Despite having a bloody lip, he wanted so badly to kiss her.

Jabez’s voice interrupted the moment, though. “Yes, where is the tree
if this is not it?”

Sean pulled away from her and looked down at the stone in his hand.
“Lindsey said that in the diary, Drake mentioned that the wise will reach to
the heavens to find the path to immortality.”

“What does that mean?” Firth questioned, coming near as he cleaned his
glasses.

Sean ignored him and walked slowly past the tree, towards the far wall
where the river disappeared under the golden façade. Among the myriad of images
engraved into the yellowish surface, one stood out above the others. It was
unmistakable, as if someone had recently created the image. Eight planets
revolving around the sun, all in their designated orbits, were carved into the
golden wall. Where the sun was located, a shallow recession had been cut from
the surface. It was almost the exact size of the stone disc in Sean’s hand.

“Reach to the heavens,” he whispered quietly as the other three
gathered around.

He lifted the disc up and pushed it into the hole. A deep rumble began
from the depths of the mountain. The ground shook violently, causing the four
companions to widen their feet so as not to fall over. A seam opened in the
center of the golden wall, splitting it in half. The space continued to widen
as the two giant pieces of wall opened up like two double doors.

A minute later, the grinding rumbled had ceased, and the huge panels
had stopped moving. Beyond, they had revealed another chamber, smaller than the
one with the tree, but no less impressive. Cold air wafted out of the new room,
sending a cloud of chilly mist billowing over the astonished faces of the
visitors.

Inside, the walls were carved from the rock of the mountain, unlike
the gilded walls of the first chamber. Animals of every kind were represented
in strange drawings along the surface. What caught everyone off guard however,
weren’t the drawings. Shiny metal cabinets lined the walls, reaching up to five
feet high, and wrapping around the entire room.

“Those containers appear as if they’re made from chrome?” Sean
observed as he stepped into the chilly room.

“They look like something you would see in a laboratory,” Firth added.

“Or a morgue.”

The four cautiously moved forward, none knowing what exactly they were
looking at. The little river from the first room meandered through the second, leading
to a pool in the middle of the floor. The pool emanated an eerie, white light
that was reflected from the ceiling, casting the dim illumination all
throughout the chamber. Placed near each corner of the room were four massive,
stone tables. The heavy pieces almost looked like altars.

“What is this place?” Jabez whispered.

Sean stopped for a moment, scanning the room meticulously. He turned
to the left and stepped over to the nearest metal cabinet. It looked much like
a filing cabinet with four drawers. He reached out and grabbed the frigid metal
handle. The drawer opened easily, sliding out from the cabinet on chrome rails.
On the rack were sheets of glass, each about an eighth of an inch thick, and
each with an image etched into the top.

He warily pulled up one of the panes and examined it. The glass was
perfectly clear, with a yellowish piece in the center. Sean recognized it
immediately. Amber. But he couldn’t make out what the two blots were inside of
it.

“This is amber,” he stated. “But I’m not sure what this stuff is.”

The others huddled around, gazing at the artifact. Sean looked back up
at the top. The image was an odd looking animal. He placed the glass back in
its space, and pulled out another one. It was exactly like the last pane,
except that at the top a different animal’s image had been engraved into the
surface. Again, there was amber in the middle with two distinct blobs locked
within the hardened residue.

“Is that what I think it is?” Firth spoke up.

The other three turned to him with questioning faces. “It can’t be.
They didn’t have the technology or the knowledge to do that back then. How
would they have known?”

“Doc,” Sean cut into the one-person conversation Firth was having with
himself. “What are you saying?”

The professor moved closer to the opened drawer and withdrew a plate.
He put it back and repeated with the next one in the line, and again.

He turned back to the other three. “This is it,” he said, astonished.
“I can’t believe it.”

“Professor,” Sean pleaded. “What is it?”

Firth’s eyes were staring off beyond his three companions for a moment
before coming back to the present.

“Don’t you see? This is a genetic storage facility.” He took a few
steps over to another drawer and pulled on the shiny metal handle. The cabinet’s
contents were similar to the first’s. “They must have taken a sample from every
animal on the planet and stored it here.”

“Why would they do that?” Adriana wondered.

“They made a backup,” Sean realized. “Just like backing up a hard
drive. To ensure the survival of every species, they must have taken these
specimens and stored them here.”

“It is magnificent,” Jabez said as he stared in wonder at the ancient
facility. “But how is it powered? And how did they have the technology to do
something like this?”

Sean smiled. “I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to the scientists.”

Despite reveling in what would surely be the greatest archaeological
discovery in history, Firth still found a way to appear disappointed.

Sean noticed his demeanor. “What’s the matter, Doc? You should be
thrilled right now. You’ve just helped make the discovery of a lifetime.”

“I guess the tree of life isn’t here,” he said solemnly.

Sean put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s probably just as well, Doc. I
don’t know anyone on this planet that should live forever.” As soon as the
words passed his lips, he remembered that Biosure was still in possession of
the super virus.

“We need to get back to the surface,” he said urgently.

Armenian Mountains

“The situation has been neutralized,” Emily said through the speaker
on Sean’s satellite phone. “I called in a favor with the director of the CIA,
explained to him what Jenny had discovered, and he called in the cavalry. Every
Biosure facility in the country is locked down, and research teams are going in
to extract samples.”

“Nice,” Sean was impressed.

“Well, the guy owed me one for saving his boy when no one else would.”

“Yeah. I’m starting to think I owe you a few myself.”

There was a momentary pause before Emily spoke up again. “Well, you
could erase that debt by coming back to work for Axis.”

She was so predictable. He knew that request was coming.

“I don’t know, Em. I kinda got the crap beat out of me earlier. I
think I’m losing a step or two.”

She laughed. “Nothing a little re-training couldn’t fix.”

He refocused the conversation. Both of them knew he wasn’t going back
to work for the government.

“Are Joe and Helen okay?”

Another laugh came through the line. “Oh, those two are fine. In fact,
if you won’t come back to work for me, I may just have to persuade the two of
them to sign up.” He didn’t know what exactly she meant by that, but he had a
feeling he would be hearing all about it when they arrived back in Atlanta.

“Thanks again, Em. You realize you saved the world today?”

She let out a deep sigh on the other end of the line. “It’s why we’re
here, buddy. I’ll catch you when you come back stateside.”

“See you then.”

He ended the call turned around, surprised to find Adriana standing
right behind him. She gazed up into his gray eyes with her chocolate brown
ones. The sky was perfectly clear, a warm sun beating down on them from high
above. She drew closer, putting her hands on his arms.

“Are you sure there is nothing going on with you and your friend,
Emily?” she asked playfully. A sly grin swept across her full lips.

“Positive,” he replied, putting his hands on her shoulders.

Inside his head, he heard the voice again. He’d been ignoring it for
too long. He remembered the pool in high school, and every other chance he’d
never taken in life. As he leaned forward and pressed his lips into hers, he
could still hear Tommy yelling at him.

“Jump.”

Atlanta, Georgia

Sean had been packing up things in his office for the last hour. He
tried not to be sentimental about it, but the years working for IAA had given
him a lot of great memories. He picked up a picture of him and Tommy on a boat
off the coast of Italy. They’d been there a few years prior, investigating a sunken
ship speculated to date back to the time of the Trojan War. He smiled as he
gazed at the image.

“You sure you want to leave, buddy,” a familiar voice asked through
the doorway.

Sean turned around and found Tommy standing there. His arm was in a
sling, and he had several little bandages on his face.

“I’m sure, pal. I’ve seen too much action for five lifetimes.”

Tommy stepped into the room and helped himself to a seat. “Well, now I
know how Emily feels,” he joked. Both of them shared a quick laugh at the
comment. “But I understand.”

Sean placed the picture frame in one of the boxes and leaned against
his desk, crossing his arms as he did.

“So, you’re off to Destin, huh?” Tommy asked.

“For now,” Sean nodded. “I plan on spending a little time there first
while my cabin is being built over in Blue Ridge. Don’t get all sentimental on
me. I’ll be back plenty. And I expect you to come visit me at the beach. We can
do a little ocean kayaking together.”

Tommy smiled, letting out a deep sigh. “Sounds good, brother.” He
paused for a few seconds before speaking up again. “Sean, I just wanted to say
thank you…for everything. You’ve been just like a brother to me…ever since mom
and dad died. And if you ever need anything—”

“I told you not to get sentimental,” Sean stopped him. “But thanks. I
will call you if the need arises.” He waited for a few seconds before speaking
again. “I thought you were going to die.”

Tommy nodded and stood up. “I know. I would have thought the same
thing. But we’re okay, buddy. And I can’t thank you enough for watching out for
me. If you hadn’t been there, I might have died.” The two stepped towards each
other and embraced for a few seconds in firm hug. When they let go, both had
watery eyes.

“You be good to that Spanish girl,” Tommy ordered as he headed out of
the room. “She’s definitely a keeper.”

Sean snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I know. And I will.”

Destin, Florida

The clear blue waves splashed gently up onto the perfect white sand.
During the winter months, there weren’t many tourists in the panhandle region
of Florida, so the beaches were almost completely empty.

Sean stared into the blue sky at a few streaks of white clouds
hovering overhead from behind his trademark pair of black Oakleys. The constant
sea breeze blew his dirty blonde hair around like cattails in a summer storm.

He turned his head to the left, taking in the vision of the Spanish
woman next to him. Her dark hair cascaded down to her shoulders where the black
strings of her bikini top met her neckline. She was reading through the same
book she had been reading a few weeks before in Armenia.

“Still investigating that Greek mechanism?” he asked with a smile.

They’d spent the last few days setting up Sean’s new bungalow on the
beach, moving furniture and other belongings. It was the first day they had
taken some time to relax since arriving in the sunshine state.

She returned the smile and nodded. “Yes,” she answered in her
seductive accent. “There is just something I cannot figure out about this
device.”

“Oh?”

“It seems the Greeks had several of them. And while the accepted
theory is that they were used for navigating the seas, something just doesn’t
add up.”

He scooted his beach chair closer to hear what she had to say.

“While the devices seem to account for celestial bodies, this book
says they served another purpose.”

“And what would that be?”

He was close to her now. The wind picked up and blew a strand of her
hair across his face. She unconsciously set the book down in her beach bag,
pulling closer to him.

“It can wait.”