David Golemon - Legend

"If you're a religious man, Mr. Everett, now's the time to pray whatever this stuff is has deteriorated over the centuries and has become inert; if not, I'm afraid there's one hell of a cleanup ahead of us."

Carl didn't respond; he had been silent throughout the entire procedure. Ever since he had fallen through the rotted decking of the junk, he had been keeping his eyes open and thinking a few things over. He had studied Dr. Kowalski's dossier that Niles Compton had forwarded from the Group in Nevada, and it had said nothing about the good doctor's speaking French. The information didn't seem critical, but the dossiers were made up by the National Security Agency and they left nothing out. Still, he would be on the alert now for other slips.

As Andrea slowly pulled the small rubber cork from the gasket, she quickly plugged it again with the telescopic probe, then began cautiously to inch it into the porcelain container. Carl could hear her short, controlled breaths as she held her arm steady. She inserted the probe into the container until she met resistance and then she let go and shook her hands as if they had fallen asleep.

"Whatever is in there has hardened over the years. That's good news; it means it may not be a powder any longer and easier to move if it proves active."

"Makes me all giddy inside to know that, Doctor," Carl said, keeping his eyes on Andrea and the container.

Andrea frowned behind her faceplate and then retrieved her portable analyzer from the table. She took two small electrical leads that protruded from the steel probe she had placed in the porcelain container and attached them to her laptop computer. Next, she took the 1/8-inch clear rubber tube on the probe and also inserted that into the side of her analyzer. Then she took a deep breath of her oxygen and started tapping commands on the keyboard. Suddenly the analyzer beeped three times in rapid succession. The indicator in the upper right corner of the analyzer flashed red.

"Well, that doesn't look or sound too good," Carl said.

Andrea didn't respond. She laid the analyzer down slowly, leaving the probe in the container, and carefully stood. She backed away slowly and keyed her radio on the yellow sleeve of her chemical suit.

"Well, what is it?" Carl asked as Andrea backed away from the container.

"Professor Fallon? I don't fully understand how the Chinese did it seven hundred years before they were supposed to be able to, but they managed to—"

"Dr. Kowalski, Mr. Everett, would you be so kind as to join us up on the scaffold please," ordered a familiar voice. "I don't wish to be unpleasant to your colleagues."

Andrea looked at Carl.

"May I assume you have a weapon on you, Mr. Everett?" Andrea whispered as she reached into a small satchel attached to her side and brought out a Beretta nine-millimeter automatic pistol.

Under his faceplate Carl raised his eyebrows. "Is that standard CDC issue, Doctor?" he mouthed as he reached into his satchel and brought out a Colt.45 automatic.

"Is that Asaki, the nerd from the Okinawa government, talking?" Andrea asked quietly.

"Yes, and I don't think I care for his tone," Carl replied as he steeled himself for confrontation.

"Mr. Everett, if you are armed, please toss your weapon out onto the upper deck before you appear, or I'm afraid our friends here will do something distasteful," Asaki warned.

Carl gestured for Andrea to slide her pistol into her chemical suit. Without hesitation she quickly released the Velcro, unzipped her suit, and plunged her Beretta inside; it was almost as if she had anticipated Carl's order.

"We can remove the protective suits for now, there's no trace of any airborne particles," Carl said loudly.

He removed his hood and faceplate, tossed his.45 through the opening he had made when he fell through the deck, and then turned back toward Andrea.

"So, what agency are you with, Doctor? NSA, CIA, or is it someone else?" he whispered.

"Please come out on deck, so we may finish our business," Asaki ordered. "Any untoward antics and we will begin harming your friends, starting with the students."

Carl took a deep breath and waited for Andrea.

As she passed him, she removed her faceplate and hood, then shook out her red hair. She stopped long enough to retrieve her glasses from the small table. Then she turned and faced Carl as she put them on.

"In answer to your question, Mr. Everett, I guess you could say you know my husband, or ex-husband to be more accurate. You see, Mr. Everett, I also know you are no field security man contracted for the university at Riverside, but actually the number two man in the security department for what is known in very private circles as the Event Group," she whispered. "My name is Danielle Serrate, formerly Mrs. Henri Farbeaux. Now I'm afraid we must do as they say before we get one of those innocent kids killed."

Carl couldn't move for a moment. He expected something, but not the former wife of the Group's number one enemy. Now he knew why she cursed in French when she was caught off guard. Colonel Henri Farbeaux had been a thorn in the side of his organization for the better part of fifteen years. Farbeaux was far better at gleaning the historical record than most nations gave him credit for. Although ruthless in his pursuit of antiquities and technology, not necessarily in that order, he was a man who rivaled Group director Niles Compton in the IQ department, which was why he was so dangerous and had a death warrant out for him by at least five countries.

"No wonder you were such a bitch," he mumbled to himself as they started up.

Carl immediately took in the situation and knew from a military, or defensive, standpoint, he was going to be like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. With the way the bad guys were deployed in and around the cave, he could see he was hamstrung. Asaki had a crew of his own men and had organized six different areas in which he was holding the field team inside the cave. Carl knew Asaki had to have additional men, either in the larger cave or outside, more than likely both. Sarah and Professor Fallon, along with the old soldier Seito, were standing next to the Okinawa field representative, which Asaki obviously wasn't or, worse, he was pulling double duty as a thug and bureaucrat; moreover, standing next to him, holding his very own Colt.45, was the old man's interpreter.

"Please step aside and let Dr. Kowalski join us, Mr. Everett, we have much to do and a very short time to do it," Asaki admonished while waiving a small pistol of his own.

Carl allowed the newly disclosed Danielle Farbeaux, or as she said, Serrate, to step up from behind him. He still wasn't sure she wasn't a part of what was happening here.

"Very good; as you can see, things are not as they seem. Your situation has turned from one of discovery to that of cooperation. Do this and I assure you no one will be harmed," Asaki said loudly enough for all in the cave to hear, his voice carrying easily in the small enclosure.

"You… are a… dishonor," said Seito in halting English.

Asaki ignored the old man and gestured for Danielle to come forward.

"Now, what sort of biological agent are we dealing with, Doctor?"

"I haven't completed my analysis yet."

"I think you are lying, but have no fear, Doctor, we have people for that; we will remove the weapon first and then—"

Andrea cut him off. "If you make one mistake, you could doom yourselves to a horrible death," she hissed as she stepped directly on the remains and tattered uniform of the World War II army colonel. Her foot had come down on the colonel's samurai sword. "Just why are you doing this?"

"The man you are so casually standing on is my grandfather. My real name is Yashita," said the man they knew as Asaki.