The Atlantis Gene

Warner is taken to an underground chamber deep below Immari headquarters. There, she sees a massive glass wall beyond which lies the Bay of Jakarta. Small robots excavate the bay floor, carrying recovered objects to the surface. Grey returns, asking her once again about the therapy she used on the kidnapped children. When Warner presses him to explain, he claims that her research is the key to protecting humanity from a weapon capable of destroying it. He turns her attention to the robots, excavating artifacts from sunken coastal cities, lost after melting glaciers caused sea levels to rise 400 feet. This cataclysmic event, he argues, is corroborated by the Biblical story of The Flood and countless other cross-cultural flood myths. The current incarnation of the human species, Homo Sapiens, survived by killing off its two main competitors, Neanderthals and another, smaller subspecies. This survival instinct, he claims, is hardwired into the human brain and is the cause of war, strife, racism, and all other social problems. Grey theorizes that brains belonging to people with autism may be the next step in human evolution, paving the way for a more advanced subspecies that might want to kill off the current incarnation, Homo Sapiens, to ensure its survival. Warner finds the argument “delusional,” but Grey refuses to elaborate. She asks about his involvement in the Toba Protocol, but he refers to it as a “contingency plan” that is unnecessary if she will cooperate. Just then, armed guards enter the room and drag her away. 

As the unconscious soldier, Cole, wakes, Vale questions him. He has strapped an explosive to the soldier’s back—inside his body armor to prevent collateral damage—threatening to release the “dead man’s trigger” (122) if he does not cooperate.

Atop Immari’s 80-story office building, Sloane and Grey debate how to proceed with Warner. Grey insists she will divulge her treatment methods in time, but Sloane argues that they don’t have more time, and that his men can force the information out of her faster. Sloane drops a cryptic reference to what Warner “did to my family” (123), but Grey defends her. Sloane finally agrees to delay the Toba Protocol until Warner comes clean with the information they seek, giving them the ability to test an Atlantis Gene retrovirus. Having reached a temporary compromise, they board a helicopter to Antarctica to open the submarine.

Cole, with the explosive still strapped to his back, drives Vale to Immari’s Jakarta campus. They park near an unguarded loading dock, and Vale places a series of explosive charges inside the building. Cole tells him the location of the holding cells where Warner is likely being kept. Vale lights a fire for further distraction, and the two men head up an unmonitored stairwell. Vale promises to spare Cole’s life once he gets Warner back safely.

Warner is taken to a room and strapped into a chair. Tarea enters, threatening to torture her until she talks. Another man enters with a syringe, claiming, “We use the drugs first” (128). He injects her with the drug and leaves her alone with Tarea.

Warner is disoriented from the drug and cannot coherently answer Tarea’s questions. Warner hears gunfire, and Tarea is shot as Vale and Cole burst into the room and free Warner. Through her drug-induced haze, she is vaguely aware of being carried through a corridor, gunfire, and exploding walls. She feels herself parachuting from the building, held by Vale. From the ground, guards fire at them, but the timed explosions go off, sending shards of glass and shrapnel into their ranks. Vale steers the parachute out over the bay. They reach land, and Vale takes Warner to a small cottage, placing her in a bed and removing her wet clothes, although she refuses to let him take off her shirt; she is self-conscious of a scar.

A bomb technician works to defuse the explosive on Cole’s back. The technician peels away his armored vest and finds no explosives but a rolled-up t-shirt instead.

Harto and his family stand on a dock admiring a 60-foot mini yacht, a gift from Vale. With the new boat, Harto plans to quit fishing only for himself and start a business taking others out to fish.

Warner wakes up in the cottage, her body ravaged by pain and nausea. She runs to the bathroom and throws up.

Grey and Sloane fly over Antarctica, observing the submarine jutting from the iceberg. Sloane wants to enter it immediately after opening it, but Grey advises against it. Just then, Sloane receives an urgent call informing him of Warner’s escape. Sloane orders all available men and resources dispatched to find her and kill Vale. Grey speculates that the structure in the ice below the sub may be the ruins of an alien spacecraft.

As Vale watches Warner sleep, he thinks about the coup against Clocktower and the importance of Warner’s safety. He retreats to the bomb shelter beneath the cottage and contemplates contacting Howard Keegan, his mentor and the director of Clocktower Central. Needing money, Vale checks his bank account, which is nearly empty, confirming that Cohen executed the wire transfers he requested. He then notices a series of small transactions, the numbers of which appear to be a code indicating an IP address. He types in the address and finds a letter from Cohen.

Cohen’s letter recounts the attack on Clocktower’s Jakarta station as well as a link to the messages he decoded. He also informs Vale about the contact passing messages through Craigslist. Vale checks Craigslist and finds a message from his source, asking to cut off all contact, but the message also contains a series of random numbers—another code. Some of the numbers are GPS coordinates, followed by a date, a time, and the message: “I have to cut the power on this and save my kids. It’s the only responsible thing to do” (148). Vale fears a trap but eventually decides to trust his gut and follow the coordinates at the appointed time. He hopes Warner will be safe if he leaves her alone. He then hears Warner’s footsteps in the cottage above.

Al Jazeera reports that Indonesia has deployed much of its National Police Force in pursuit of suspects involved in the “terrorist” attacks in Jakarta. The report lists Warner as a suspect, and a Jakarta police inspector theorizes that Warner’s clinic was “a front for child-trafficking” (150).

Warner wakes up a day later, confused about recent events. Vale offers her food while they discuss their options. He needs to check out a lead and instructs her to remain behind. She refuses, arguing that he needs her and that she is safer with him than alone. Suddenly, Vale hears sounds outside; there is a helicopter flying overhead and a searchlight sweeping across the beach. He pulls Warner to a closet with a secret door leading to the bomb shelter below. After removing all signs of habitation in the cottage, they descend to the bomb shelter and wait. Moments later, they hear footsteps above.