Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [150]
Nina saw that not a single member of the Group showed any regret over Takashi’s death. To them, it was a mere inconvenience – nothing to become emotional about. ‘Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,’ she said dismissively.
That produced emotion: muted shock, constrained outrage at the minor yet unmistakable challenge. They had assumed she was there to become a willing part of their plan; resistance was evidently not on the agenda. ‘Is there a problem, Dr Wilde?’ asked Meerkrieger, his aged voice creaking like tree bark.
‘I have a few questions I’d like answered first.’
‘Of course,’ said Warden smoothly. ‘We want you to be completely comfortable with your role. What would you like to know?’
‘More about the meteorite, the Atlantean sky stone, first of all. You think it’s composed of a naturally superconducting material, yes?’
Warden nodded. ‘That’s right. We don’t know how big it is, but hopefully it’ll allow the extraction of enough of the metal to supply multiple earth energy collection stations.’
‘But there’s more to it, isn’t there? The connection I felt to it when I put the three statues together in Japan suggests that the stone has some intimate link with life on earth, as if it’s somehow integral to its creation.’
No words were spoken by her audience, but Nina immediately sensed a change in attitude from the watching billionaires. Eyes fractionally narrowed, forehead furrows deepened almost imperceptibly. Caution, concern, even outright suspicion that she knew more than she was supposed to. ‘Don’t you think?’ she added, trying to prompt a response.
‘That’s our theory, yes,’ Warden eventually said. ‘The basic building blocks of life were seeded by comets soon after the planet’s creation, but the sky stone brought something more . . . complex. We don’t know where it came from – Mars, maybe Venus before it overheated, some other planet that doesn’t even exist any more. It doesn’t matter. What does is the end result. Through whatever chain of events, life began on earth after that meteorite fell, perhaps even jump-started by earth energy. It’s part of our world – and it’s part of us.’
‘Mm-hmm.’ Nina nodded. ‘But your interest in that side of things is purely scientific, right? Your primary goal is harnessing earth energy.’
‘That’s right,’ said one of the Bull brothers. ‘What else could it be?’
‘Are you suggesting we’ve got another interest?’ the other asked in an accusatory tone.
‘Maybe you can tell me. You see, I had a private chat with one of the Group’s members before coming here.’ Her words immediately set the cat amongst the pigeons, paranoid glances shooting back and forth. She enjoyed their discomfort before clarifying, ‘A former member, I should say.’
‘Glas,’ Warden hissed.
‘Yeah.’
‘Where did you talk to him?’ Brannigan demanded sharply.
‘On his submarine.’
That produced mutterings around the circular table. Gorchakov banged a fist. ‘I knew it! It was the only way he could have disappeared completely. I told you to have the American navy find it!’ he said to Warden.
The Group’s chairman held up his hands in an attempt to restore order. ‘The oceans are rather large, Anisim,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t exactly ask President Cole to divert half his carrier groups on your hunch, could I?’ As the consternation settled, he turned back to Nina. ‘So, you spoke to Glas. What did he tell you?’
‘Well, once we got past the initial awkwardness about the whole him-trying-to-kill-me issue, he was very talkative. He told me why he’d been trying to kill me.’
‘So that you couldn’t help us,’ said Warden. ‘I told you, he was desperate to maintain the profits of his energy business.’
‘That’s strange, because these two guys here –’ she indicated Gorchakov and al-Faisal – ‘should be in the same boat, but they don’t seem at all worried. No, what Glas told me was that there’s more to your plan than just gaining a monopoly