David Sakmyster - The Mongol Objective

“But that wasn’t enough,” Caleb said.

“No. But I knew it would buy us time. Robert was going to find it soon himself if I didn’t trick him and take it first. He would have used Alexander against you and made you open the vault. So I had to do it my way.”

“You could have destroyed it,” Alexander said in a shaky voice, as if fearing even by voicing such an option he might be committing the worst sacrilege.

Montross shook his head. “It’s nearly indestructible.”

“What about going all Lord of the Rings on it and tossing it in a volcano? That should do the trick.” Alexander beamed at the concept. “Or-like in The Incredibles, remember, Dad?”

“What?” He frowned, trying to follow.

“The only thing that could break through the metal skin of the indestructible enemy robot?”

“Oh yeah,” Caleb said, remembering. “Itself. Something made of the same material.”

“Maybe,” Montross said. “But the point is moot now, since we don’t have it.”

“But,” Alexander said, still giddy with the thought of a new quest, “once we get it back, we need to be ready. And can’t let it get in their hands again. I say destroy it.”

“We could hide it,” Caleb offered. “I don’t want to lose such a gift, if possible.”

Montross shook his head. “No, it gives off radiation. Minimal, but enough to locate it if you’ve got the right equipment. Satellites could locate its signature. Can’t bury it. Can’t drop it in the ocean. No, short of launching it on a rocket to the sun, I had to find another way.”

“So you knew there were two components. The tablet alone wasn’t enough. No one today could still read it.”

“I needed the translation, the cipher.” He pointed to the box. “Located here.”

“Well,” said Caleb. “We’ve secured it, stopped them.”

“For now. But they’re coming.”

Alexander’s face brightened. “Can we destroy these things? The books in the chest? Or the keys themselves?”

“The keys, no. They’re made of the same stuff as the tablet. But the books? I would assume we can demolish those.”

“Then let’s do it!”

“The only problem,” said Montross, “is that we might not be able to open the chest.”

“But we have the keys.”

“Try them.”

Alexander glanced at Caleb.

“Trust me,” Montross said. “We don’t die now. I just think it won’t open.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Kind of like the door outside, I’d wager. Having the keys gets you to the event, but you still have to ask the right girl before you get to dance.”

Alexander frowned. “You mean, I have to ask the right questions? RV something else-maybe inside the box?”

“I don’t think so. I believe you were right before. All three of you are needed.”

Alexander looked crushed. “Well, so what do we do? The box looks pretty heavy, we can’t take it with us. If there even is a way out of here.”

“There’s a way,” Caleb insisted. “I saw it.”

“We have to leave the box,” Montross said.

“Can we blow it up?” Alexander asked. “Shoot it open, throw a grenade at it?”

“Don’t have guns,” Montross replied. He shined his light on Marco’s body. “And no grenades on our friend here.”

“Then we’re screwed,” Alexander said, glancing at his father. “Sorry. Anyway, they’ll just bring the other two here. My brothers. And they’ll open the door.”

“But they won’t have the keys,” Caleb said excitedly. “We’ve got them, and we’re going to get out.” He pointed the light at the corner again, and this time moved in closer, finding the outline of a door. He closed his eyes as he touched the wall. Furrowed his brow, and let his mind break free, scatter into the infinite and pluck the answer from tangle of his visions.

“Damn it,” Caleb said after a moment, holding his head. “This means that Waxman was right after all.”

Alexander frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Waxman believed the Emerald Tablet was the greatest threat to the security of humanity, and now I realize he was right after all. He just didn’t know the true nature of the threat, didn’t know what it would be used for. But another one of his psychics had foreseen this and warned him. Which is why he spared no effort to get into the Pharos Vault.” He shook his head. “Maybe I should have let him succeed.”

“But he wouldn’t have been able to burn it like the other scrolls,” Montross said. “You did the right thing. Now it’s up to us to finish it.”

Alexander pouted. “But, what about Aunt Phoebe and Orlando?”

“They’ll be ok,” Caleb said. “If I know my sister, she’s already figured a way out of there, and they’re on the run, somewhere safe.”

“And Nina?”

Caleb paused. “She’s got other priorities now.”

Montross shrugged. “She’s inscrutable. She owed me for breaking her out of that facility, but that debt’s been repaid many times over. My guess is that she’s going to side with her boys. You know how she was always drawn to power, and she’s just been elevated to their high queen, the mother of the messiahs. At least in their minds.”

Caleb shook his head. “Then let’s go. This isn’t over.”

“But what can we do?” Alexander asked. “Even if we make it through the maze that I know is waiting for us under the pyramids, probably loaded with more traps and things to squash us or impale us, how do we stop the end of the world?”

Glancing from Alexander back to Montross, Caleb smiled hopefully. “I keep coming back to that image the Morpheus Initiative had been seeing every time we asked about the tablet, asked to be shown its origin and its function. There’s something else we’re missing, some piece that I have to believe we’re being drawn to because it might help us.” He thought again for a moment. “Remember, Marduk wasn’t the only one with followers. Thoth had his believers, scholars and philosophers who, knowing the threat, may have secreted something else away. Something that we can use to counter what the other side is planning.”

Montross’s eyes sparkled with sudden vigor. “Yes. I hadn’t thought back on this. Hadn’t considered this aspect. Instead, I just used it as a lure to get you away from guarding the tablet. But you’re right.”

“What are we talking about?” Alexander asked.

“The head,” Montross said. “The crowned head we’ve been seeing and searching for.”

“Nina said something,” Montross whispered, “about the Statue of Liberty.”

“Yes,” Caleb said. “The twins were there. With someone. Why?”

“I don’t know,” said Montross. “But if something we need is on Liberty Island, we’ve got to get it before they do.”

“Something else to RV when we get the chance,” Caleb said, then paused, frowning.

“What, Dad?”

Caleb nodded to himself. “I just thought of something. I may know what it is-what they’re looking for.”

“What?”

“You jogged my memory just now. The Incredibles… the sharp claw-thing used by Mr. Incredible to tear through the robot’s shell.”

“Yeah,” Alexander said. “So what?”

Montross’s eyes went wide. “I think I know, too.”

Caleb smiled. “The symbol of Marduk. The slaying of the dragon. He had-”

“ A lance! ” Montross licked his lips and then swooned, holding his head.

Alexander glanced around helplessly as Montross slowly recovered.

“Later,” Montross said. “I’ll tell you later. Now we need to get out of here. Fast.”

Caleb went to the first pillar and turned it clockwise, then went to the second, twisting it in the other direction for three rotations.