Area 51 #07 - The Truth by Bob Mayer

Area 51 #07 - The Truth by Bob Mayer

Author:Bob Mayer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2012-12-10T11:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 12: THE PRESENT

CAMP ROWE, NORTH CAROLINA

"Nikola Tesla." Quinn held up a black-and-white photograph of a young man with pale skin, dark hair parted in the middle, and sporting a thick mustache. "He was an electrical engineer and scientist who was born in 1856 and died in 1943. He's known for some very innovative work on electricity and magnetism." Quinn put the photo down and picked up another old black-and-white image, someone Turcotte recognized. A savage-looking man with scars on both cheeks and intense black eyes. "Tesla met Burton."

"How do you know that?" Turcotte demanded. Quinn held up a leather-bound manuscript — the lost manuscript of Burton that Professor Mualama had tracked down. "It's in here."

Yakov spit. "Another thing Mualama didn't tell us."

"And?" Turcotte gripped the arms of his chair, trying to keep his anger toward the archaeologist under control. The man, after all, had been infected by a Swarm tentacle. His actions had not been of his own volition. And he had paid the ultimate price. Turcotte could still see the archaeologist tumbling from the face of Everest in his final act of resistance against the Swarm's attempt to use him to stop Turcotte from reaching Excalibur.

"I found a scholar who could translate Akkadian," Quinn continued, "and had her work on the manuscript via fax. Do you want Burton's words verbatim, or do you want my summary?"

"Summarize," Turcotte said, checking his watch.

"Burton was being chased by the Watchers, who were afraid his investigations might cause problems and upset the truce. Also, he was being tracked down by the Ones Who Wait and Aspasia's Shadow."

"Sounds like he wasn't making any friends," Yakov said.

"Because he thought for himself," Turcotte said. "That's been a rare commodity throughout history, it appears."

Quinn continued. "Shortly before his death, Burton ran into Tesla in Paris, acting on a tip he received. It turns out that Tesla was a member of a group that traced its beginning back to Myrddin —

Merlin as he is more commonly known."

"But I thought Merlin had been a rogue Watcher?" Yakov pointed out. "A onetime thing?"

"True, Merlin was a rogue Watcher," Quinn said. "But it doesn't look like it was a onetime thing. It appears that Burton was occasionally aided by a clandestine group of rogue Watchers who actually claimed the mantle of being the real Watchers."

"What?" Turcotte asked irritably. Another thing that wasn't as it had originally appeared.

"Like the Roman Catholics and the Protestants," Quinn said, "it appears there was a schism among the ranks of the Watchers precipitated by Merlin's actions or perhaps even earlier. Burton himself wasn't really sure about the timing, but he does write that there was a split between those who believed in the original edict as decided at Avalon after the destruction of Atlantis, to remain a neutral group dedicated simply to watching, and a more progressive group, initiated perhaps by Merlin, that dedicated itself to more active measures against the aliens."

"They haven't been very helpful," Yakov muttered.

Quinn shrugged. "How do you know that?" He didn't wait for an answer.



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