Extinction Countdown (Ancient Origins Series Book 2)
Copyright © 2018 James D. Prescott
Cover by Deranged Doctor Design
Edited by RJ Locksley
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. Any material resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
eISBN: 978-1-926456-23-2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Real life versus fiction
Quick Reference
Books by James D. Prescott
The Genesis Conspiracy
Extinction Code (Ancient Origins Book 1)
Extinction Countdown (Ancient Origins Book 2)
Coming this Fall!
Extinction Crisis (Ancient Origins Book 3)
Dedication
Once again, a special thank you goes out to Dr. Ricki Lewis (DNA Science blog) for enlightening me with her vast and impressive knowledge of biophotonics. To Lisa Weinberg, Rob Williams and the rest of the beta team for all of your terrific feedback. And finally to you, dear reader, for stopping by and for taking a chance.
Note to Readers:
As you may have already noticed in the table of contents, I’ve included some reference material on Salzburg along with a description of what each of the genes do and a short glossary of important terms. Feel free to flip back and forth as you make your way through the story.
Book Description
Dr. Jack Greer’s startling discovery beneath the Gulf of Mexico proved to the world we were not alone in the universe. But when images from the Voyager One space probe reveal an alien doomsday ship hurtling toward the earth, the human race seems marked for extinction.
As news of the approaching ship spreads panic around the globe, signs of a sinister plot begin to emerge—one that threatens to unravel the already fragile fabric of society and everything Jack and Dr. Mia Ward have fought for.
But could a mysterious signal emanating from inside Greenland’s ice sheet unlock the secrets hidden within our genome and prevent humanity’s destruction?
From the frozen fields of Greenland to the bustling Indian subcontinent and the cobbled streets of Rome, the race is on to stop the deadliest countdown to extinction the human race has ever known.
Returning Characters from Book One:
Jack Greer: A geophysicist in his early forties, Jack is at times impulsive and irreverent, but dedicated to pursuing the truth, no matter where it might lead him. His main weaknesses include cigarettes, gambling and anything else that requires a modicum of willpower.
Mia Ward: A brilliant geneticist in her mid-thirties, Mia has struggled to get her life back on track. She is determined to do everything in her power to save her daughter from the ravages of Salzburg syndrome.
Anna: An android powered by artificial intelligence, Anna is the first of her kind. She is caring and highly competent and struggles to understand the irrationality of human behavior.
Gabby Bishop: A matronly figure and accomplished astrophysicist in her early fifties, Gabby is Jack’s closest friend and colleague. Her level head is often a strong counterpoint to his tendency to jump in with both feet.
Dag Gustavsson: A Swedish paleontologist in his late twenties, Dag is a deep thinker who is quick to hide his vulnerable side with humor.
Grant Holland: At fifty-nine, Grant is a British-born biologist who’s not afraid of exploring the vague boundaries between science and mysticism.
Rajesh Viswanathan: At thirty-two, Rajesh helped to pioneer Anna’s creation, a move that has made him one of MIT’s rising stars. To him, she is more than a machine. In a way, she is the daughter he never had.
Eugene Jarecki: A theoretical physicist in his early forties, Eugene masks his fears and insecurities with arrogance and bravado.
Admiral Stark: In his mid-fifties, Stark comes from a long line of Navy men. He may be a hard man to impress, but he’s exactly the kind of guy you want on your side.
Ollie Cooper: Rugged and some might even say handsome, Ollie is a fifty-year-old former Sentinel agent eager to right his past wrongs. His greatest strength is loyalty. It might also be his greatest weakness.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
―Arthur C. Clarke
Chapter 1
The nineteen members of the Senate Intelligence Committee scowled down from the lofty heights of their oak bastions. Directly below them a line of photographers had taken up position, snapping hundreds, maybe even thousands of pictures as Jack Greer, Mia Ward and Admiral Stark struggled to hold firm under the incessant barrage of pointed questions.
“Then maybe you can explain to the members of this committee how agents of this group you call Sentinel were able to pose as naval intelligence and infiltrate a top-secret military operation?” Senator Al Johnson asked, his mouth less than an inch from the mic.
“We’ve been looking into that, Senator,” Admiral Stark replied, cutting a distinguished figure in his black Navy uniform. “Their credentials were spot-on. And at the time we believed the Atean ship was secure.”
Jack couldn’t help but smile at the admiral’s use of the now-popular social media moniker to describe Earth’s only known cosmic neighbors. Pronounced ‘Ah-tea-in,’ the nickname had originally been coined by a blogger who had based it on the close resemblance the aliens bore to praying mantises.
Beside him, Admiral Stark continued doing his best to punch his way out of a cardboard box.
“In summary, we suspect they might have had help from someone on the inside.”
A buzz ran through the audience.
Committee chairman Hatfield crossed his arms and leaned forward. “Can you be more specific?”
Stark shook his head. “At this point I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Well, as a former Navy man myself,” Senator Johnson cut back in, “I can tell you I’ve never seen such gross incompetence.”
Senator Johnson pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and rubbed at his right eye. “That may be so, Admiral, but it still does not unwind the damage you people have already done. This body has been convened, at least in part, to determine which of you folks allowed a group of terrorists free rein within perhaps the most sensitive discovery of our time.”
Jack glanced over at Stark and watched as beads of sweat gathered on his brow. “With all due respect, Senator,” Jack interjected, “we were hundreds of meters beneath the Gulf of Mexico, facing about as chaotic a situation as you can imagine. I don’t think checking people’s IDs was first and foremost on anyone’s mind.”
“That may or may not be, Dr. Greer,” Johnson replied. “But nevertheless, these Sentinel folks were not only able to abscond with advanced technology”—he glanced down, flipping through the report Jack and Mia had put together on the mission—“they were also allowed to destroy a piece of machinery that might have been decades if not centuries ahead of anything we possess.”
“I would remind the senator,” Jack shot back, shifting in his seat, “by that point the blast wave was already destabilizing the limestone foundation upon which the ship was resting. Even if Sentinel had never set foot on that ship, the rock shelf would have collapsed all the same.”
“And yet what do we have to show for it?” Johnson asked, removing his glasses.
“Excuse me, sir?”
The senator stared at Jack. “By your own admission, Sentinel was able to remove pieces of advanced technology. My question to you is, what was the United States government able to salvage?”
Jack shook his head. “Nothing, I’m afraid. Our mission was to understand who these beings were and why they had come to earth.”
Mia put a hand on his leg, warning him he might be walking into a trap.
“I see. Thank you for that clarification, Doctor,” Johnson said gleefully. “And what did you learn in that regard?”
The tie around Jack’s neck was beginning to feel more like a noose. “Not nearly as much as we would have liked. We can say with confidence that the Atean ship impacted our planet approximately sixty-five million years ago, wiping out anywhere from seventy-five to ninety percent of the species on Earth. We know they were responsible for introducing new life into Earth’s ecosystem, including a small, furry-tailed mammal that would eventually evolve into human beings. And we also discovered that a tiny error in the genetic replication process helped to create a gene in humans responsible for violence and aggression.”
The murmurs from the audience grew.
“I regret to inform you, Dr. Greer, that my God isn’t a little green man from Mars,” Johnson said with stinging disdain in his voice.
“If I may, Senator,” Mia cut in, “we don’t know what color they were. The bodies we found on board had been dead for many millions of years. That being said, I suppose the closest resemblance to a species classification on Earth would be an arthropod. And I can assure you, they were definitely not from Mars.”
“Are you mocking this committee?” Johnson asked, a line of redness moving up his neck.
“No, sir,” Mia replied. “I’m merely attempting to highlight that the scientists who descended to investigate the Atean ship did so without any preconceived notions about what they would find. Their personal beliefs, no matter how firmly held, would only have gotten in the way.”
“I’ve gone over your report,” Johnson said, holding up the thick stack of papers, “and it seems that none of you can tell me with any degree of certainty where these beings came from or why they chose the Earth as the site for their holocaust.”
Mia shook her head. “Given the short time we had on board the ship…”
“More to the point,” he went on, “you can’t give the American people or the citizens of the planet earth any sort of assurances these creatures aren’t intending to wipe us out the first chance they get.”
“You’re right,” she admitted. “As of yet, there was nothing we came upon that shed any light on a possible motive.”
“Dr. Ward, you’ve also testified earlier that the pulses of light emanating from the ship were largely to blame for the rash of medical complications experienced throughout the world.”
“That’s correct.”
“But once again, you can’t tell us how these alien beings were able to remotely alter the genes inside our bodies nor for what end.”
Once again, Mia shook her head. “We’re working on it.”
Johnson moved the mic closer to his lips. “So let the record show that in spite of the tome you and your colleague Dr. Greer have created for the committee, outlining the mission and the handful of discoveries you made, the most important question of all remains unanswered. Namely, why has the human race been earmarked for destruction by an alien species we’ve never met?”
The room erupted in a cacophony of shouts.
“We’ve given you the facts as we know them,” Jack said, raising his voice over the noise. “Telling you we don’t have an answer yet isn’t a license to insert conjecture. We’re dealing with probably the most important event in human history. Forcing the scientific community to fill in the blanks simply because it’ll put the public at ease would be irresponsible in the extr―”
The chamber doors burst open and six figures in black hoodies charged in holding what looked like hand grenades. Not far behind them were a dozen security guards as well as members of the capitol police. As the individual leading the group raised his hand to pull the pin, Jack rose from his seat and leapt through the air. His shoulder thudded into the man’s ribs, knocking him to the ground, but the others behind him managed to pull their pins and chanted, “Wipe Earth clean!” before lobbing them. Even as the grenades spun through the air, thick streams of white smoke hissed from each of the canisters, filling the Senate hearing chamber with tear gas and chaos.
Chapter 2
The rain drummed against the black Cadillac’s roof as it pulled up to the White House checkpoint. Crowds of protesters were outside, being held back by rows of police in riot gear. Some had signs reading, “Give peace a chance,” while others toted an alien doll with a noose around its neck, shouting, “Human survival comes first.” One guy even had a shirt with the words, “Never forget: How to Serve Man was really a cookbook.”
The driver’s window lowered and he addressed the White House security guard at the gate.
“Dr. Jack Greer and Dr. Mia Ward here to see the president.”
The guard scanned the clipboard in his hands and then paused to peer into the back seat of the limo where Jack and Mia were waiting, both of them a bundle of nerves.
The guard then checked his watch. “Yeah, go ahead, POTUS should be arriving any minute now.”
“The Senate hearing could have gone better,” Jack said. His eyes were still red from the tear gas and his clothes bore a distinctly acrid smell.
Mia smiled at Jack’s attempts to cheer her up. The truth was the hearing had been an unmitigated disaster. She understood people were scared and the senators were attempting to create the illusion of control over a situation that was anything but controlled.
She glanced out the back window, half expecting the Beast, as the president’s limo was affectionately called, to be pulling up behind them. It wasn’t. But over the pattering rain came the distant sound of a helicopter, a sound that grew louder as they approached the entrance to the West Wing, a three-story white structure that served as the office for the president and his staff.
Jack stepped out of the limo and watched Marin
e One fly in low and settle onto the South Lawn.
A young woman in a stormcloud-gray suit appeared from inside and ushered them out of the rain and into the building. From there, she led them down a long corridor. The offices on both sides were buzzing with frenetic activity. Ever since they had discovered and then lost the alien craft in the Gulf of Mexico, White House staff had been scrambling to respond to the veritable tsunami of media attention the Sentinel leaks had generated. And it hadn’t only been the American press. News outlets from around the world wanted to know who the aliens were and what they wanted. Jack couldn’t blame them. He wanted to know as well.
The aide came to a stop before the Oval Office and spun around. “Would either of you like something to drink?” she asked with the hint of a Southern accent and an equal amount of Southern hospitality. “Water, tea, coffee?”
“How about some bourbon?” Jack asked, feeling his throat go dry.
The aide smiled, a streak of red lipstick smeared on one of her front teeth.
It wasn’t every day you got a chance to brief the president. Jack glanced over at Mia, whose hands looked like a pair of squids battling for dominance. “You clean up good,” he told her, grinning.
Mia glanced down at the navy-blue V-neck dress she was wearing. “Was all I could get on short notice.” Her shoulder-length flame-red hair brushed against her cheeks. Her skin was still slightly bronzed from the brief time they’d spent on the USS Grapple following the mission. Mostly they had been compiling a detailed and top-secret report for the president and his cabinet. As important as that had been, Jack couldn’t help but lament he hadn’t gotten more time to get to know her.
“Nonsense, you look great,” he said, nodding to the aide, who proceeded to swing open the door to the Oval Office and wave them inside. For some reason, Jack had expected they would be alone with the president, but quickly realized that particular calculation had been off base by a factor of ten. Nearly thirty men and women were standing in the Oval Office before them, half dressed in military uniforms, the rest in suits. Among those in suits were Vice-President Millard, the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Defense, and the Speaker of the House. Added to that were two dozen other folks Jack recognized by face, but not by name or position.