Read Online Alien Invasion 04 Annihilation by Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant - Free Book Online
Authors: Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant
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Thor’s Hammer since that time, in the last two-plus years.”
Nathan looked at Charlie. “Shouldn’t you be doing this rather than Cameron?”
“He said I knew where it was,” Cameron said, a trifle shortly. “On the ride to Cottonwood.” He looked at Piper and related what she’d just told Charlie. As far as historical jokes go, it’s a doozy.
“So where is it, Professor?”
Cameron shook his head. “Somewhere we went together, I guess. But we went so many places. We went to Giza. We went to Aztec and Mayan settlements, to Turkey, to the Painted Desert. We saw the Olmec heads, all over Europe, the Rose Stone. I was like luggage to my father. He had places to go, so my mom and I went too. After a while, she stopped going and stayed home. That was the beginning of the end, and I’d chosen my father by default because he kept dragging me along. When she finally left him, I was in the middle. So I spent a long time turning my back on what now, I’m supposed to see as obvious.”
“Egypt,” said Andreus. “That seems logical.”
“I guess we’ll hop on a plane,” Charlie said.
“There are ways.”
“Especially when there’s so much evidence to support such a long, dangerous trip.”
“Hey,” Andreus said, his brow pinching, “you were the one who said they want us to find it.”
Cameron raised a hand for calm. “When we were at Cottonwood, their little spy device went inside my satchel. It saw our key.” He nodded toward the mothership. “So what’s stopping them from taking it?”
“They tried to take it from you plenty in the mountain,” Andreus said.
“I think they were angry in the mountain.” Behind Andreus, Grace had emerged from the RV. He nodded toward her. “And what Grace said about their behavior in the lab proves it. In two years, we’ve never seen them react impulsively … until then. Reptars will rip people apart, but they do it efficiently, like duty. Titans smile. Everything is always precise and intentional. But we surprised them in there. We caught them with their intergalactic pants down — surprised them enough that they broke from what was precise and intentional and showed us their shape-shifting trick. But where’s that anger now?”
He looked at the mothership.
“Back to sensible. Back to waiting and watching. Seeing what we’ll do next, because they have all the time in the world.”
Cameron gestured to the laptop screen.
“I know how my dad was. He got excited, and he wasn’t good at containing his enthusiasm. Or at sitting on problems while dying to solve them.”
Piper looked at the images, not understanding.
“How often, once we discovered that little BB watching everything we did, did Benjamin ask to borrow your signal detector, Nathan?”
Nathan blinked as all eyes turned to him. Whatever he’d been expecting Cameron to say, that wasn’t it.
“A few times. How did you know?”
“I sorted everything on this drive by file modification date and began at the end, just to see what he’d been working on most recently. Say, after reading that Templar tablet. With your detector at his side, doing his thing whenever it told him he wasn’t being watched.”
Charlie crossed his arms beside Piper. He looked at the ship, and there was a small nod, as if something had suddenly made sense.
“The Apex,” Cameron said, still pointing at the screen. “The last subject of my father’s obsession was the blue pyramid in Heaven’s Veil. And seeing all these images and soundings and schematics makes me wonder: Why would the Templars hide the key in Little Cottonwood Canyon rather than Thor’s Hammer itself … unless they never intended to hide the Hammer at all?”
“You’re kidding,” said Andreus, realization dawning.
“What better grand historical joke could the Templars have pulled,” Cameron asked, “than to conceal the thing the Astrals lost — in the
Nathan looked at Charlie. “Shouldn’t you be doing this rather than Cameron?”
“He said I knew where it was,” Cameron said, a trifle shortly. “On the ride to Cottonwood.” He looked at Piper and related what she’d just told Charlie. As far as historical jokes go, it’s a doozy.
“So where is it, Professor?”
Cameron shook his head. “Somewhere we went together, I guess. But we went so many places. We went to Giza. We went to Aztec and Mayan settlements, to Turkey, to the Painted Desert. We saw the Olmec heads, all over Europe, the Rose Stone. I was like luggage to my father. He had places to go, so my mom and I went too. After a while, she stopped going and stayed home. That was the beginning of the end, and I’d chosen my father by default because he kept dragging me along. When she finally left him, I was in the middle. So I spent a long time turning my back on what now, I’m supposed to see as obvious.”
“Egypt,” said Andreus. “That seems logical.”
“I guess we’ll hop on a plane,” Charlie said.
“There are ways.”
“Especially when there’s so much evidence to support such a long, dangerous trip.”
“Hey,” Andreus said, his brow pinching, “you were the one who said they want us to find it.”
Cameron raised a hand for calm. “When we were at Cottonwood, their little spy device went inside my satchel. It saw our key.” He nodded toward the mothership. “So what’s stopping them from taking it?”
“They tried to take it from you plenty in the mountain,” Andreus said.
“I think they were angry in the mountain.” Behind Andreus, Grace had emerged from the RV. He nodded toward her. “And what Grace said about their behavior in the lab proves it. In two years, we’ve never seen them react impulsively … until then. Reptars will rip people apart, but they do it efficiently, like duty. Titans smile. Everything is always precise and intentional. But we surprised them in there. We caught them with their intergalactic pants down — surprised them enough that they broke from what was precise and intentional and showed us their shape-shifting trick. But where’s that anger now?”
He looked at the mothership.
“Back to sensible. Back to waiting and watching. Seeing what we’ll do next, because they have all the time in the world.”
Cameron gestured to the laptop screen.
“I know how my dad was. He got excited, and he wasn’t good at containing his enthusiasm. Or at sitting on problems while dying to solve them.”
Piper looked at the images, not understanding.
“How often, once we discovered that little BB watching everything we did, did Benjamin ask to borrow your signal detector, Nathan?”
Nathan blinked as all eyes turned to him. Whatever he’d been expecting Cameron to say, that wasn’t it.
“A few times. How did you know?”
“I sorted everything on this drive by file modification date and began at the end, just to see what he’d been working on most recently. Say, after reading that Templar tablet. With your detector at his side, doing his thing whenever it told him he wasn’t being watched.”
Charlie crossed his arms beside Piper. He looked at the ship, and there was a small nod, as if something had suddenly made sense.
“The Apex,” Cameron said, still pointing at the screen. “The last subject of my father’s obsession was the blue pyramid in Heaven’s Veil. And seeing all these images and soundings and schematics makes me wonder: Why would the Templars hide the key in Little Cottonwood Canyon rather than Thor’s Hammer itself … unless they never intended to hide the Hammer at all?”
“You’re kidding,” said Andreus, realization dawning.
“What better grand historical joke could the Templars have pulled,” Cameron asked, “than to conceal the thing the Astrals lost — in the
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