LATER
At the bottom of the Indian Ocean, in one of the most remote regions of the world, there can be found a cluster of barren rocky islands.
The Kerguélen Islands are administered by France, while the Prince Edward Islands are claimed by South Africa. But south of them all, battered year-round by icy Antarctic winds and the rolling waves of the southernseas, is the Heard group of islands. They are administered by Australia.
One of the Heard islands is Little McDonald Island. It has no wildlife and little flora. There is literally no reason to go there. Which is probably why it was used during World War II as a resupply base for the Australian Navy, complete with fuel dumps, storage warehouses, and even a short landing strip.
By the 1990s, its use as a base was long obsolete and it was shut down in late 1991. Whole containers of canned food and diesel fuel had been left there, and in sixteen years, not a single can had been stolen. It wasn’t worth the effort to get there.
Which was why no one in the world noticed the Kilo-class submarine and the black Boeing 747 that arrived at Little McDonald Island two days after the high drama at the Second Vertex.
Of course, they knew the island by another name: World’s End.
The reunion of Jack and the team was a joyous occasion.
Lily leaped into Jack’s arms, hugged him tightly—then she ran over to Alby and hugged him even harder.
Zoe and Jack also embraced warmly, holding each other for a full minute.
“Alby told me all about what happened with the Neetha,” Jack said softly. “You must have been incredible.”
Zoe didn’t answer.
She just began sobbing on Jack’s shoulder, burying her head in his neck, unleashing the pent-up stress and emotion that had been inside her since her bloody encounter with the lost tribe of African cannibals.
When at last she spoke, she said in a hoarse voice, “Next time, let’s let somebody else save the world.”
Jack laughed, stroking her hair gently.
As he held Zoe, he saw Wizard and, with him, the archaeologist and Neetha expert, Diane Cassidy, plus the Neetha youth, Ono, who had helped them during their escape from the remote tribe.
Wizard smiled. “Clearly, it’s not the fall that kills you, Jack.”
“Right,” Jack said.
“Hey,” Lily said, looking around, suddenly alarmed. “Where’s Pooh Bear? And where’s Stretch?”
Once the reunion was complete and introductions made, the team went inside a decrepit old warehouse beside the island’s airstrip. Water was heated for showers; canned food was opened and eaten; and Jack explained to the others what had happened to him before he’d arrived at Cape Town.
He told them what had happened at the mine in Ethiopia, including the betrayal of Vulture and Scimitar, his own gruesome crucifixion, his and Pooh Bear’s bloody escape and the parting gift they’d received fromthe Ethiopian slave force there: the fabled Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis.
Jack pulled the two stone tablets from his backpack, which had been kept on the submarine during the events at the Second Vertex.
Wizard audibly gasped at the sight of them.
“If Thuthmosis was actually Moses,” he said, “then that would make these the Ten Com—”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“Goodness-gracious-Mother-of . . .”
“As for Stretch,” Jack went on, “Wolf didn’t bring him to the mine. Instead, he took him back to the Mossad in Israel, to claim the sixteen-million-dollar bounty on Stretch’s head.”
“Oh no . . .” Lily breathed.
Jack said, “After Pooh Bear and I escaped from that mine in Ethiopia, we headed south to the old farm in Kenya. But when I set out for Zanzibar to find the Sea Ranger, Pooh Bear didn’t come with me. He went off to rescue Stretch from the Mossad’s dungeons. That was nine days ago. I haven’t heard from him since.”
A solemn silence descended on the group.
Lily broke it.
“When we were in the Hanging Gardens,” she said, “Stretch defied an Israeli Army squad
At the bottom of the Indian Ocean, in one of the most remote regions of the world, there can be found a cluster of barren rocky islands.
The Kerguélen Islands are administered by France, while the Prince Edward Islands are claimed by South Africa. But south of them all, battered year-round by icy Antarctic winds and the rolling waves of the southernseas, is the Heard group of islands. They are administered by Australia.
One of the Heard islands is Little McDonald Island. It has no wildlife and little flora. There is literally no reason to go there. Which is probably why it was used during World War II as a resupply base for the Australian Navy, complete with fuel dumps, storage warehouses, and even a short landing strip.
By the 1990s, its use as a base was long obsolete and it was shut down in late 1991. Whole containers of canned food and diesel fuel had been left there, and in sixteen years, not a single can had been stolen. It wasn’t worth the effort to get there.
Which was why no one in the world noticed the Kilo-class submarine and the black Boeing 747 that arrived at Little McDonald Island two days after the high drama at the Second Vertex.
Of course, they knew the island by another name: World’s End.
The reunion of Jack and the team was a joyous occasion.
Lily leaped into Jack’s arms, hugged him tightly—then she ran over to Alby and hugged him even harder.
Zoe and Jack also embraced warmly, holding each other for a full minute.
“Alby told me all about what happened with the Neetha,” Jack said softly. “You must have been incredible.”
Zoe didn’t answer.
She just began sobbing on Jack’s shoulder, burying her head in his neck, unleashing the pent-up stress and emotion that had been inside her since her bloody encounter with the lost tribe of African cannibals.
When at last she spoke, she said in a hoarse voice, “Next time, let’s let somebody else save the world.”
Jack laughed, stroking her hair gently.
As he held Zoe, he saw Wizard and, with him, the archaeologist and Neetha expert, Diane Cassidy, plus the Neetha youth, Ono, who had helped them during their escape from the remote tribe.
Wizard smiled. “Clearly, it’s not the fall that kills you, Jack.”
“Right,” Jack said.
“Hey,” Lily said, looking around, suddenly alarmed. “Where’s Pooh Bear? And where’s Stretch?”
Once the reunion was complete and introductions made, the team went inside a decrepit old warehouse beside the island’s airstrip. Water was heated for showers; canned food was opened and eaten; and Jack explained to the others what had happened to him before he’d arrived at Cape Town.
He told them what had happened at the mine in Ethiopia, including the betrayal of Vulture and Scimitar, his own gruesome crucifixion, his and Pooh Bear’s bloody escape and the parting gift they’d received fromthe Ethiopian slave force there: the fabled Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis.
Jack pulled the two stone tablets from his backpack, which had been kept on the submarine during the events at the Second Vertex.
Wizard audibly gasped at the sight of them.
“If Thuthmosis was actually Moses,” he said, “then that would make these the Ten Com—”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“Goodness-gracious-Mother-of . . .”
“As for Stretch,” Jack went on, “Wolf didn’t bring him to the mine. Instead, he took him back to the Mossad in Israel, to claim the sixteen-million-dollar bounty on Stretch’s head.”
“Oh no . . .” Lily breathed.
Jack said, “After Pooh Bear and I escaped from that mine in Ethiopia, we headed south to the old farm in Kenya. But when I set out for Zanzibar to find the Sea Ranger, Pooh Bear didn’t come with me. He went off to rescue Stretch from the Mossad’s dungeons. That was nine days ago. I haven’t heard from him since.”
A solemn silence descended on the group.
Lily broke it.
“When we were in the Hanging Gardens,” she said, “Stretch defied an Israeli Army squad
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