David Sakmyster - The Cydonia Objective

One that would only be possible if he knew about the other exit from the vault, and if he knew that Alexander might actually be okay. Or at least reachable quickly.

Caleb knew it had to be true. After all, Mason Calderon was not without his own resources. Resources that could see, most likely, as well as anyone on the Morpheus Initiative.

Caleb’s other boys.

Cairo

Mason Calderon put away his cell phone, slipped it inside his suit coat pocket, and turned back to the twins, standing on either side of their mother.

“It’s done. If your visions were right, your brother is now buried under the sadly short-lived Bibliotheca Alexandrina .”

Isaac shrugged. “We no more doubt our visions than you doubt when you look up into the sky and say it’s blue.”

Mason took a moment. “A shame really, about their library. Such noble endeavors for the sons of Thoth, but in the end, what is it I always tell you boys?”

Jacob looked at his brother, and they both intoned the mantra at once: “Nothing ever lasts, least of all knowledge.”

Calderon smiled, a grin that lingered despite the concern he saw on Nina’s face. “Don’t worry, my dear. I’m sure you’re old lover has managed to survive. Although what he’s feeling right now, I can hardly guess. To actually be witness to the destruction of the great library on both occasions, and with his fondness for wisdom…”

Nina’s lips curled up at the edges. “I still have a score to settle with him. So, are we going?”

The boys looked up at her with something like flashing respect. She was all business, a quality they understood.

Calderon nodded, motioning the soldiers to carry up the heavy chest and prepare to take it away. He addressed the senior guard. “Seal the door when we’re gone. I want no evidence of this entrance, and no further questions. Tell the press the situation is controlled. The bomb threat was a false alarm.”

Nina followed, lost in her thoughts amid confusion about her feelings for Caleb. Feelings now that seemed mired in shifting sands. Caleb and Nina shared something now, a connection to a line of heredity. Their genes, their individuality merged in these two living beings. She never imagined she’d feel this responsibility, this curiosity, or this stake in the future of other beings. Halfway up the stairs, she realized that Jacob was holding her hand, as naturally as if he’d been with her all his life.

Two more steps, and Isaac noticed. Scowling at his brother, he took Nina’s other hand and led her up the last few steps impatiently.

“Come on,” he said, manic glee in his voice. “I want to meet my father. Let’s go dig them out.”

“And get those keys,” Calderon said over his shoulder as he headed for the helicopter. “And then…” He held the briefcase in a tight grip, feeling the handle tremble with the power of the Emerald Tablet inside. Another step and he paused and looked around the perimeter to the armada of jeeps, soldiers and onlookers. Then, back to the imposing sight of the Great Pyramid rising from beyond the Sphinx’s back.

The Shepherd’s tool was blunted, useless. But a new one was operational, halfway around the world. His gaze shifted and he looked up, beyond the pyramid’s hulking outline, to the shining half-moon.

Soon… His destiny was just a translation away.

Washington State

Phoebe woke with a start. Something wasn’t right.

She stifled a yawn then lifted up the window shade, expecting to see they were still over the desert. Instead she was greeted with a majestic view of snow-peaked mountains, one in particular: a massive peak, level with their plane, appearing to be their destination.

Someone was in the seat next to her, and it took a moment for Phoebe to clear out the debris of her cluttered dreams and remember the events of the last day. The girl, the Hummingbird. Aria was sitting on her knees beside her, big blue eyes wide open and trembling.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered, laying a hand on Phoebe’s arm. Behind her, Orlando’s neck was bent awkwardly, his forehead pressed into a flight pillow and a little blanket bunched up around his ear.

“What’s wrong?” Phoebe’s heart fluttered. Pieces of the dream came back to her: The night sky was falling, the stars tumbling down upon her. And books, thousands of books, millions, crying out in pain…

“Your brother is safe.”

Phoebe put a finger to her lips. “Alexander too?”

Aria nodded, just as the cabin door opened and Temple emerged. His ashen face told a story Phoebe didn’t want to read.

He reached for the TV’s power button. “No easy way to say this.” On the screen emerged a scene of devastation. Phoebe leaned over and shook Orlando, who only grunted and pressed his face farther into the pillow.

“Alexandria was hit today with a seismic event.”

“An earthquake?” Phoebe whispered.

“Seven-point-three magnitude. But…” Temple muted the TV as the camera zoomed in on a section of twisted iron framework that had once supported part of the glass dome. “…it only hit the library complex. Concentrated in that one area… Destroying it completely.”

“Oh my God.”

“Over a hundred dead, so far. Three hundred more injured. Some buried and calling for help. Some…”

“…farther down.” Phoebe was only dimly aware that Aria was holding her hand, squeezing it and whispering, “They’re okay.”

“We need to RV them, see if Caleb and Alexander were there!”

“Already done,” Temple said. “As soon as we got the news. My team relayed information quickly back here that they saw the vault. It’s damaged badly. And several of the Keepers are dead, but your brother and your nephew appear to be unhurt. Although trapped.”

“We’ve got to get to them.” She scowled over at Orlando, who still hadn’t stirred.

Temple shook his head. “Won’t make it before they do.”

“What? Why not? Can’t you get the Egyptian authorities to control the site, keep out Calderon’s people?”

“Sorry, Calderon’s inserted himself and his people into high-level positions at major disaster-relief agencies. We’d been puzzled by that for several months, trying to work out his motives. But now it’s obvious. If they’re testing some sort of weapon, then they need to have control, feet on the ground so to speak. Believe me, if this was him, and we’re ninety-nine percent sure, then it’s too late. They’re already tunneling down there. They’ve got their own psychics–”

“The twins.”

“–who will tell them where to dig, and how to retrieve the artifacts they need.” Temple let the news run a few more seconds, before the feed shifted from scenes of destruction and tragedy to interviews with survivors.

Phoebe squeezed the girl’s hand gently. “So there’s no hope?”

Aria squeezed back and answered first. “Always hope.”

“She’s right,” Temple agreed. “And right now, I hate to say it, but we need you focused on the bigger picture.”

“Which is?”

“Mars,” said another voice. Orlando, his eyes still closed, but flickering rapidly. “And… something else…” His eyes flashed open and he sat up straight. And Phoebe realized he hadn’t been sleeping, not exactly. Dreaming, deep in a trance, focusing his inner sight on what Temple intended for them.

“Damn,” said the colonel. “This is why it’s so hard to work with psychics. I can never do things according to my own timeline.”

“Stow it,” Orlando said, almost under his breath. “We need to know what this is about, now . What’s up there? How much do you guys really know, and why is it you need us to remote-view something on…” he cocked his head, squinting, trying to recapture the vision.