The Atlantis Gene: A Thriller by A. G. Riddle Read Free Book Online

been twenty feet tall and heavy because the four cables that lowered it were huge, maybe twelve inches around. When it was about ten feet off the ground, it stopped and two of the cables moved down the wall along a track Jin hadn’t noticed before. They stopped about level with the huge machine and seemed to tighten, anchoring it at each side. Jin strained to look up. There was another cable running from the top of the machine. It was even fatter than the ones at the sides. Unlike the others, it wasn’t metal, or even solid. It seemed to hold a bundle of wires or computer cables, like some sort of electronic umbilical cord.
    The children had stopped in the middle of the crowd. All the adults tried to look up.
    His eyes adjusted, and Jin could just make out a marking etched into the side of the machine. It looked like the Nazi symbol, the—. He couldn’t remember the name. He felt so sleepy.
    The machine was dark, but Jin thought he could hear a faint throbbing sound, like someone rhythmically beating on a solid door — boom-boom-boom. Or maybe the sound of the picture machine. Was it a different picture machine? A group picture? The boom-boom-boom grew louder with each passing second, and a light emerged from the top of the giant pawn — its head apparently had short windows. The yellow-orange light flickered with each pulse of the boom, giving it almost the effect of a lighthouse.
    Jin was so entranced by the machine’s sound and light pulses, he didn’t notice the people falling around him. Something was happening. And it was happening to him too. His legs felt heavier. He heard a sound like bending metal — the machine was pulling against the cables at each side; it was trying to lift.
    The pull of the floor got stronger with each passing second. Jin looked around but couldn’t see the children. Jin felt someone grab his shoulder. He turned to find a man holding on to him. His face had deep wrinkles, and blood ran from his nose. Jin realized that the skin from the man’s hands was coming off on Jin’s clothes. It wasn’t just skin. The man’s blood began to spread over Jin’s shirt. The man fell forward onto him, and they both collapsed to the ground. Jin heard the boom-boom-boom of the machine blend into one constant drone of sound and solid light as he felt blood flow from his nose down his face. Then the light and sound suddenly stopped.

    In the control room, Dr. Shen Chang and his team stood and watched as the test subjects collapsed into a pile of wrinkled, bloody bodies.
    Chang slumped into his chair. “Okay, that’s it, shut it off.” He took his glasses off and tossed them on the table. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “I have to report this to the director.” The man would not be happy.
    Chang rose and walked toward the door. “And start the clean-up, don’t bother with autopsies.” The result had been the same as the last twenty-five tests.

    The two-man cleanup crew swung back-forth-back-forth and released the body, hurling it into the rolling plastic bin. The bin held around ten bodies, give or take. Today would probably mean three trips to the incinerator, maybe two if they could stack them on top.
    They had cleaned up a lot worse; at least these bodies were intact. It took forever when they were in pieces.
    It was hard to work in the hazmat suits, but it was better than the alternative.
    They lifted another body and swung forward, then—
    Something was moving in the pile.
    Two children were struggling under the bodies, fighting to crawl out. They were covered in blood.
    One man began clearing bodies. The other turned to the cameras and waved his arms. “Hey! We’ve got two live ones!”

CHAPTER 12
    Brig
Clocktower Station HQ
Jakarta, Indonesia
    “Josh, can you hear me?”
    Josh Cohen tried to open his eyes but the light was too bright. His head was throbbing.
    “Here, give me another one.”
    Josh could barely make out a blurry figure sitting by him on a hard bed.