Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [138]
Eddie pursed his lips. ‘And that’s bad because . . .?’
‘There are different ways to do so,’ Glas said. ‘The Khmer Rouge ended conflict in Cambodia by murdering anyone it considered a potential opponent – over two million people.’
‘So that’s why the Group wants control of earth energy?’ Nina asked. ‘To use as a weapon?’
To her surprise, he chuckled. ‘No, no. Nothing that crude.’ His smile rapidly faded. ‘Are you familiar with the theory of exogenesis?’
The sudden change of subject left her briefly bewildered. ‘Uh . . . the basics, I guess. It’s the idea that the earth was seeded with the building blocks of life by comets and meteorites. Or, if you take things a step further, there’s the concept of panspermia – that life itself was actually brought to earth after developing somewhere else.’ Eddie tried to contain a smirk. ‘Oh, God,’ she said impatiently. ‘What?’
‘Come on. Panspermia?’
His past and current wives were briefly united in eye-rolling disapproval. ‘He never changes, does he?’ Sophia sighed.
‘I’m afraid not,’ Nina replied. Eddie just shrugged. She turned back to Glas. ‘The “sky stone” that ultimately caused Atlantis’s destruction, the meteorite – you think it was carrying exogenesitic material?’
‘Is that even a real word?’ Eddie said.
‘Shush!’
Glas nodded. ‘Life, we believe, was brought to this planet four billion years ago by a meteorite. One single, very specific meteorite. It contained not only the naturally superconducting metal needed to channel an earth energy reaction, but also the proto-DNA from which all life on the planet evolved. The unmutated, pure, original form.’
The words gave Nina an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. ‘That . . . that sounds an awful lot like Kristian Frost’s plan,’ she said. ‘To use a sample of pure Atlantean DNA to create a biological weapon.’
‘I know.’
‘You know, or the Group knows?’
‘Both. The Group considered Kristian Frost for membership, but chose not to approach him – partly because we distrusted his motives, but also because we knew the Brotherhood of Selasphoros was working against him. If the Group had known his true intentions before you uncovered them, it would have eliminated the threat.’
‘Eliminated him, you mean. Like you tried to eliminate me.’
‘I’m afraid that was the most direct way of stopping the Group’s plan. They are well protected, but you were the weak link in the chain. I would apologise, but I was doing what I believed necessary for the future of the world.’
‘You’ve got one idea for the world’s future,’ Eddie said angrily, ‘and the Group’s got another. So what are they?’ He raised the gun again. ‘Give me a reason why yours is so great and theirs is so terrible.’
‘As you wish.’ Again, Glas seemed unconcerned by the threat facing him, suffused by a calm confidence: the air of a man who believed utterly in his views and expected others to fall into line with them. ‘It is about . . . freedom.’
‘Freedom?’ said Nina. ‘That’s . . . kinda vague. What sort of freedom? Freedom of expression, of movement, of thought, Jonathan Franzen’s book, what?’
‘Every kind of freedom. That is how the Group seeks to eliminate conflict, Dr Wilde. Its goal is nothing less than the elimination of free will. Total control of every human being on the planet, now and for ever.’
Eddie frowned. ‘How? Using earth energy as a doomsday weapon – “do what we say or we’ll kill you”?’
‘As I said, they are not that crude. Earth energy is only of minor interest to them. It is the DNA in the meteorite that they want. It’s the key to their plans – to everything.’ His voice, his entire attitude, took on a new intensity. ‘The Group’s power does not come only from money. It comes