Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

some kind of uh, well, I don’t know. I almost didn’t recognize him.”

“Is that a bad thing?” De Cremonese asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s follow him and see.”

Fawcett turned again into another hallway that, after a minute or so, ended at a stairwell. A spiral staircase took them down to a door with a sign above it that read, ‘Ground floor.’

“Don’t let the sign fool you,” Fawcett warned. “You’re actually about three hundred feet below the surface at the lowest level of the structure.” He opened the door, and on the other side of a short corridor, a sign above an open door read, ‘Crew quarters.’ They walked through it, and after passing another few doors, they stopped at the door labeled ‘11.’ Fawcett banged on the door. There was a clang, followed by a screeching sound, and the door opened.

Fawcett stepped aside.

Bishop’s mouth opened wide, speechless.

“Hello, professor,” Jennifer said, smiling brightly, extending her arms.

Chapter 34 – Lemuria

Bishop, frozen in place, slowly closed his mouth.

“Father.” Jennifer gave a tiny bow in De Cremonese’s direction.

“I suggest we get all in,” Fawcett advised as he took Bishop and De Cremonese by the shoulders and pushed them into the room.

Bishop accepted Jennifer’s invitation and stepped into her arms.

Holding her tight, he spoke into her ear. “How are you? What the hell happened? What’s going on here?” He took her by the shoulders, held her in front of him and stared at her face. ”Damn, it’s good to see you. You’re in good health?”

“I am, and it’s good to see you too, professor,” Jennifer said with watery eyes. “It’s good to see you too, Father.” She shook De Cremonese’s hand. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Please sit down for a moment.” She pointed to two seats at a desk. She sat down on the bed, Fawcett sitting down next to her. “I’m so glad you’re here. You have no idea how much I doubted whether you’d find any of my clues. Fortunately, Nigel here told me he met you in Indonesia where you were looking for the Dubois dig. Then I knew for sure you were on the right track.”

“You knew where Jennifer was all the time?” De Cremonese asked Fawcett.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” Bishop asked.

“I didn’t even know about her existence the first time we met,” Fawcett answered. “I’m with British Intelligence and was working undercover with Eldin Mulder, whose trust I more or less gained. He ordered me to keep an eye on you at that time. So I had some friends of mine follow you on your trips and keep me updated. Now, listen, I’m thrilled to explain everything in great detail at a later time, but I think we better first plan our next step.”

“And what’s that?” Bishop asked.

“Does anyone know you’re here?” Fawcett asked.

“Friends of ours are on Santa Cruz,” Bishop answered. “They’re with Mulder’s assistant who showed us the way here. They know we’re on the island, but I’m not sure what they know about this secret location, or what’s going on here.”

“So no one is coming?” Jennifer asked.

Bishop and De Cremonese shook their heads.

“How did you know we were here?” De Cremonese asked.

Fawcett walked up to the window and tapped the lower right corner. The view over the island instantly changed to that of a security camera menu with big colored icons showing options like ‘General feed,’ ‘Field,’ ‘Park,’ ‘Site,’ and ‘Entrance.’ He pressed the last one. On the screen, an eight by four multi-camera view of the entrance and main objects inside the structure appeared. Fawcett put a finger on the display and swiped left. The image began to rewind. After a few seconds, Bishop and De Cremonese appeared on the screen, seen entering the building, carefully probing the walls. Nigel removed his finger from the screen, and after a few seconds, the video feed changed to a live overview of the hallways and spaces.

“Nigel accidentally noticed you when you were looking for the entrance,” Jennifer explained. “From there, we followed you as you found your way inside the building. As soon as it was clear you were on your way to the assembly hall, we decided it was safe enough for Nigel to come pick you up.”

“Does anyone else know we’re here?” Bishop asked.

“We don’t think so,” Jennifer replied. “As soon as we noticed your arrival, Nigel changed the camera angles each time you neared a specific location. He’s kind of handy with that.”

“So we’re on our own,” Fawcett concluded.

“What are you doing here?” Bishop asked Jennifer as if suddenly awoken. “I mean, how did you get here and why?”

Jennifer grinned. “Jeez, of course. Well, that’s kind of a long story. What do you know?”

“I know you disappeared from the hospital after you collapsed during a lecture. Through friends of mine in the government, I found a clue in Peru, and from the father here, I know you worked with Eldin Mulder. But why? And why are you held against your will, and why is British Intelligence is involved?”

“Doctor Porter,” Fawcett interrupted. “All fair questions. But it seems—”

Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded, blaring through the room and from the hallways. On the screen, interchanging green and red lights lit the halls and larger spaces. Startled, everyone looked at the screen.

“Is that for us?” De Cremonese asked.

Fawcett gave the screen another close look. “No, it isn’t.”

“It started?” Jennifer asked.

“I believe so.” Fawcett’s face glistened with sweat. “Professor, I know you have a lot of questions and that you’re at a disadvantage regarding information. Still, I’d like to suggest we leave the questions and, for now, work together to attend to the more pressing matter of preventing the rockets from launching.”

“Rockets?” De Cremonese’s eyes widened.

“As far as we can tell, Mulder has multiple launches scheduled for today.”

“You don’t know for sure?” De Cremonese rose from his chair and grabbed Fawcett at the shoulder. “I thought you were his confidant.”

“Relax, Father.” Fawcett took De Cremonese’s hand from his shoulder. “Mulder isn’t