Andy McDermott - The Hunt For Atlantis

Kari staggered back to the cockpit, blood running from her wounds. If she could reactivate the autopilot, the computers could still bring the A380 back to an emergency landing.

But as she entered, she realized she was too late.

Her home flashed past to the right. Coming up below were the ruins of the biolab, and directly ahead were the mountainside and the expansive windows of her father’s office-

She screamed.

Frost was paralyzed with shock by the sight of the airliner as it flew over the fjord, charging right at him. Now movement returned, the primal urge to flee overpowering all other thought, but there was nowhere to go, and no time…

Chase kicked with his good leg, throwing himself clear of the tumbling bike. Nina did the same. Together they plunged towards the water-

The Airbus plowed into the mountainside at over a hundred miles per hour.

Five hundred tons of metal and composites and jet fuel was more force than even the reinforced containment area could withstand. The four massive engines ripped free on impact, tearing through the walls of concrete and steel like bombs. Behind them, fuel ignited as the wings disintegrated. A wave of liquid fire swept through the complex and incinerated everything it touched.

The inferno reached every corner of the containment area. The lab in which the virus had been developed and stored was blown open, searing flames consuming everything within and finally ending the tortured life of Jonathan Philby. Then the mountain itself collapsed, reclaiming the space carved out of it and sealing the virus beneath millions of tons of rock forever.

Chase knew that falling onto it from a height, water becomes as hard as concrete.

Unless something breaks the surface first.

The heavy motorbike hit the water, kicking up a huge plume of spray. A fraction of a second later, he and Nina plunged in after it.

Broken surface or not, it felt like he’d just thrown himself from a building. Agony speared through him as his wounded leg buckled. And the water was cold , almost freezing.

More pain as he hit something else. Not water, something solid.

The bike-

It had landed on its side, water resistance slowing its descent. And now he’d smashed down right on top of it!

More pain, so intense that he almost blacked out.

Almost. Through his agony he just about managed to keep focus on his goal-staying alive. He was under the water. He had to swim, break the surface, breathe.

More pain from his injured leg, now completely useless-and his other leg was caught on the bike.

His clothes were snagged on part of the machinery. He kicked, trying to tear himself free. No good. He couldn’t get enough leverage. The bike was sinking, an anchor dragging him to the bottom of the fjord.

Panic rose despite his training. He thrashed frantically, ignoring the pain, but still couldn’t break loose.

He was going to drown!

After everything he’d been through, everything he’d survived, this was it-

Someone grabbed him.

Nina!

Chase felt her hands on his leg, tugging at the material of his jeans. It ripped. The bike plunged into the cold darkness below as Nina swam with all her strength, hauling him upwards.

He breached the surface and drew in a long, anguished breath of cold air. “Oh God!” he gasped. “I thought I was dead there!”

“Just returning a favor,” said Nina. She supported him from beneath as she swam for the nearest bank of the fjord. “Jesus, I can’t believe we made it!”

“Are you okay?”

“I hurt like hell all over, but I don’t think I’ve broken anything. What happened to the plane?”

Chase tried to raise a hand to point, but was too weak. Instead, he tipped his head down the fjord to the east. A thick, oily column of black smoke roiled into the sky. “Hard landing.”

“The virus?”

“Fried. Along with everything else.”

Nina looked sadly at the dark cloud. “Kari…”

They reached the rocky shore, Nina dragging Chase from the water. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed when she saw his leg. She pressed her hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. “We’ve got to get you to a doctor.”

“Right,” said Chase, through gritted teeth. “There’s a clinic at the top of this cliff, in the company headquarters. Too bad it belongs to the bloke we just blew up. I don’t think they’ll be happy to see us-”

Almost as if in reply, a rock beside Chase suddenly shattered. The crack of a rifle shot echoed around the fjord.

“No kidding!” Nina yelped. She looked for the shooter. On the opposite bank, she saw several men silhouetted against the sky, pointing down at them.

Another bullet smacked into the ground close by, chipped fragments of rock spitting into their faces. “Get into cover!” Chase ordered.

“I’m not leaving you!” Nina protested. She bent down to drag him with her.

“Nina, don’t!”

“I’m not leaving you!” she repeated, holding him under his arms and pulling him over the rocks.

Something shot past her, whipping up her hair. Another stone burst apart right behind her. “They’ve got us,” Chase groaned. They looked up at the figures on the cliff top, catching a glint of light reflected from a telescopic sight.

Nina crouched, squeezing Chase more tightly and pressing her cheek against his face. “Eddie…”

Gunfire-but not from the rifles across the fjord.

Machine-gun fire, somewhere above. Dust and dirt kicked up from the top of the far cliff. One of the men fell over the edge, screaming all the way down until he smacked sickeningly onto a rocky outcrop.

“What t h e fuck?” Chase said in wonder.

The answer came a second later as three helicopters in the colors of the Norwegian army swept over the top of the cliff, gunners visible in their cabins. Two of the choppers continued across the fjord, moving to circle the gunmen, while the third dropped towards the water, turning to face Nina and Chase.

“Where did they come from?” Nina gasped.

“Somebody must have called the fire brigade. The Norwegians probably wanted to know why so much of Kristian Frost’s property was getting blown to buggery.” A voice boomed from a loudspeaker aboard the helicopter. “You speak Norwegian?” Chase asked.

“Not a word.”

“Me neither.” Chase painfully raised his hands as high as he could. “You’d better put your hands up too. You don’t want to have gone through all this only to get shot by some trigger-happy Norseman.”

“Not really.” She lifted one hand, keeping the other in place to support him. Her cheek was still against his. “Oh, and Eddie?”

“What?”

She kissed him. “Thank you for saving my life. Again.”

He returned the kiss. “Thank you for saving mine. Even if…” he grinned his gap-toothed grin, “we’re not exactly level in the whole lifesaving stakes.”

Nina smiled. “Tchah. That’s bloody gratitude for you.”

They kissed again as the helicopter moved into a hover, men rappelling down.

Nina opened her apartment door and walked wearily inside. Everything was as she’d left it, weeks earlier.

She dropped a stack of mail onto the kitchen counter and filled the kettle. Her coffee would have to be black. She couldn’t even imagine what state the contents of her fridge would be in after so long. Maybe it would be safer just to throw the whole thing out without daring to open it and buy a new one.