Andy Mcdermott - Temple of the Gods

‘You did make plans,’ said Eddie.

‘We did. By “we”, I mean the Group. It’s our business to plan for the future. Not just for the next year, or the next electoral cycle. We plan for decades ahead, generations.’

‘That seems a bit presumptuous,’ Nina said.

‘Only those who prepare for the future deserve a hand in shaping it.’

‘So the Group is a collection of merchant bankers?’ she asked. Eddie couldn’t suppress a smirk. ‘What?’

‘That’s Cockney rhyming slang,’ he told her. ‘For wan—’

‘Yes, thank you for that, honey.’

A small tic under Warden’s right eye betrayed his impatience. ‘Some of the Group’s members are bankers, yes. But I’m more of… an investor, you could say. An investor in the future. I put capital where it’s needed to ensure that the Group’s long-term goals happen. Not just here in the United States, but all over the world. The Group is an international organisation with one ultimate goal: global order.’

‘So you’re like the Bilderberg group?’

A dismissive snort. ‘The Bilderberg members just talk. We act .’ The limo paused at the airport’s outer gate for the barrier to be raised, then turned on to a road and headed for the distant lights of Washington. ‘We want to end human conflict.’

‘That’s kind of a grand plan,’ said Nina, deliberately challenging. ‘Everyone from Alexander the Great through Genghis Khan up to Hitler has had their own ideas on how to do it. And they’ve all failed. What makes yours any different?’

His answer shocked her. ‘You, Dr Wilde. You make our plan different. You make it possible .’

‘This is all coming back to those bloody statues, isn’t it?’ Eddie rumbled.

Warden ignored him, fixing his stern blue eyes on Nina. ‘Competition over resources is the cause of most conflict in the world. Specifically, energy resources. Wars are fought, lives destroyed, tyrants propped up just so that we can literally burn a mineral sludge — and the system of global politics and economics has become so warped by this fact that it’s now dependent on it. Governments can’t imagine things being any other way… but just as the recent economic crash was bound to happen, a total collapse is inevitable if things continue as they are.’

‘I know we have booms and busts,’ said Nina, ‘but a complete collapse? Really?’

Warden’s tone became more lecturing. ‘All the economic models that shape the world are based on the conceit that growth can be — must be — infinite. A child could point out the flaw in that idea, since we live in a finite world, but just as nobody wanted to believe that the debt bubble would burst while they were living the high life on the back of it, so no one wants to play the role of Cassandra now.’

‘Not even the Group? You seem to have a lot of influence, to put it mildly.’

‘We do, but not even we’re powerful enough to overturn the system. Until now, the most we’ve been able to do is guide it.’

‘Until now,’ Nina echoed. ‘By which you mean, you’ve got me.’

‘You make it sound as though you’re my prisoner,’ Warden said. The downturned corners of his mouth strained slightly upwards, which seemed to be as close as he ever came to an actual smile. ‘If you want to get out of the limo, just say so.’

‘We want to get out of the limo,’ Eddie immediately responded.

The tic returned. ‘After you’ve heard what I have to say.’

‘Thought there’d be a catch.’

The elderly man looked back at Nina. ‘The Group has been planning for this eventuality for a long time. But sometimes wild cards — Wilde cards, even, if you’ll excuse the pun — mean that major changes can happen very quickly. Earth energy is one of those cards, and you, Dr Wilde, are the one who holds it.’

‘How much do you know about earth energy?’ she asked.

‘As much as anyone. We have access to the IHA’s files, everything that Jack Mitchell did at DARPA, Leonid Vaskovich’s work, the repository at Silent Peak and more besides. The most important things we know about it, though, are firstly that a very particular kind of superconducting material is needed to channel it. And secondly, that a living organism is also needed for the process to work.’

‘You mean a person.’

He shook his head. ‘In theory, any kind of organism can generate the effect, as long as its DNA contains the specific genome sequence that makes its bioelectrical field compatible. In practice, though…’

‘There’s only me,’ Nina said grimly.

‘You’re the only known example. There must be thousands, even tens of thousands of people in the world who can also activate the earth energy effect. King Arthur and the Atlantean priestess Nantalas are two people from history who could, so it’s likely that their ancestors — and descendants — also had the gene. But nobody knows who they are.’

‘And it’s not exactly easy to test for ’em,’ said Eddie. ‘“Hey, would you mind holding these statues to see if they levitate and you have visions?” Might raise a few questions.’

‘Exactly. Which is why you, Dr Wilde, are so important to the Group’s plans — and why Harald Glas is determined to kill you to stop them.’

The reminder that she was still a target placed a cold stone in Nina’s stomach. ‘Why is Glas so opposed to you? Victor Dalton said he used to be a member of the Group.’

Warden’s permanent scowl somehow managed to deepen further. ‘Dalton,’ he said distastefully. ‘I’m hoping to have some news about him soon. But yes, Harald was one of us — until a few months ago. Your discovery of all three statues meant that a plan we’d thought of as merely a contingency, a kind of best-case scenario, suddenly had the potential to become very real. He was opposed to it. Violently opposed.’

‘Why?’ Nina demanded. ‘And what is this plan of yours?’

He leaned forward. ‘Unlimited power. If we can harness earth energy, then it ends at a stroke our reliance on fossil fuels, and thus the conflicts over control of them. Oil, coal, gas — they become unnecessary if you have limitless power generated by the planet itself.’

‘So that’s why Glas has a problem with it,’ said Nina, making the connection. ‘It’d put him out of business.’

The not-quite-smile returned. ‘Precisely. Harnessing earth energy would be a paradigm shift on a par with the invention of the automobile — and if your livelihood back then was making buggy whips, you’d very soon be out of business. But if an angry buggy whip maker had assassinated Henry Ford, some other car manufacturer would have taken his place. In your case, though… you’re irreplaceable.’

‘Wait, so this guy wants me dead just to protect his profits ?’ Nina cried. ‘Oh, that’s great. Yay for capitalism!’

‘We can provide you with full protection. You’re very important to us.’ The old man sat back. ‘So that’s the Group’s plan, Dr Wilde. As to how it can be accomplished, that depends entirely on your cooperation. And yours, Mr Chase. You said that this was about the statues. That’s true — they’re a vital part of what we hope to achieve.’ He turned back to Nina. ‘If you were to help us, you would use the statues to locate what the Atlanteans called the sky stone — a meteorite, of course, but one composed of a naturally superconducting material that channels earth energy. Once we have it, we’ll be able to build power stations around the world at confluence points. Not only that, but the potential of a diamagnetic material that can be made to levitate without needing a power source is incalculable. It would revolutionise air travel, for a start — aircraft could be made completely pollution-free.’