Treasure of Babylon, page 12
part #2 of Avalon Adventure Series
Hagen sighed and narrowed his eyes. The mountain wind howled in the trees surrounding the complex. “Perhaps he needs a little more encouragement. Bring our new guest to the laboratory and we’ll see if that loosens his lips.”
They took an elevator down to the lower levels of the compound and when Hagen pushed open the lab’s doors, he was greeted by the anxious, angry face of Atticus Moore. The old professor was wearing his usual tweed jacket with elbow patches, and a cream shirt, his linen tie loosened at the neck. A pair of brown cords completed the package, and all of it was crowned with thinning white hair, swept back away from a deeply-creased forehead.
“Tor, you bastard.”
“How are you, old friend?” Hagen said.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why ever not? Are we not old friends?”
“I thought we were, yes, but then you had me beaten up and kidnapped by a human mountain.”
“Leif,” Hagen said wistfully. “A loyal servant, but not overburdened in the IQ department, I’ll admit. I could do better.”
“You had me drugged and flown out of Israel. I woke up here to find myself a prisoner, Tor – and you ask if we’re old friends.”
Hagen gave a nonchalant shrug. “Time moves on, I suppose. Once, we were good friends. I was disappointed when you refused to share your research on the Ark with me. Very disappointed.”
Atticus stared at him with disbelieving eyes. “And this is what you do when you don’t get your way?”
“I cannot allow anything to get in the way of progress, Atti.”
“Don’t call me that. Only friends call me that.”
“Stefan here has asked you to translate the symbols on the key and you have refused.”
“Of course.”
“I will ask you one last time, and then I will get nasty.”
“You can’t sink any lower, surely.”
“You would think,” Hagen said, and beckoned at someone standing behind the door. A moment later Kai Bloch walked in, and he was holding Selena Moore in his grip. She was gagged and blindfolded, and when Atticus saw his daughter like this, he lunged forward to help her, but Kurz beat him down with the grip of his pistol.
“Not so fast, Atticus,” Hagen said.
Atticus wheezed on the cold, polished tiles of the lab. “You bastard, Tor. How dare you do this to my daughter? She has nothing to do with this.”
“Translate the symbols, Professor Moore. Now.”
Atticus stared at his helpless daughter, and knew he was running out of options. “You’re bluffing, Tor. You’re not a killer.”
Hagen nodded and gave a heavy sigh. “I was expecting this… Lechner!”
The Austrian pushed a button and an internal door opened to reveal a monstrous machine that looked like a cross between an anti-aircraft gun and a laser.
“What the hell is this, Tor?”
Hagen beamed with pride. “You are looking at a directed-energy weapon, enabled by a superconducting generator. This one is powerful enough to bring down aircraft, but its power could be made much more devastating with the right materials.”
Selena gasped when she heard a terrible howl emanating from a nearby room somewhere else in the lab. “What was that?”
“Nothing that need concern you.”
“It sounded like something in pain.”
“I told you it was nothing,” Hagen snapped. He turned to Lechner. “Advise Dr Korhonen he has a problem in Lab 6.”
Lechner gave a nod and left the room.
Hagen said, “But let us return to the weapon. Let me show you what it can do by firing it at your daughter.”
“No!”
“Kurz, bring the girl over here and secure her in the firing range.”
“Please don’t!” Atticus cried out. “You’ll kill her!”
“First, a demonstration of its potential, I think.” Hagen gripped the firing handles and spun the laser turret around on its base until it was pointing at one his men in the corner. He opened his jaw in disbelief as his eyes settled on the menacing lens of the laser aimed right at him.
Hagen ripped the gag off. “Your father here refuses to help me, even when your life is in the balance.”
“Dad?” Selena cried out from behind the blindfold. “What’s going on?”
“It’s all right, Lena!”
“No, it is not all right,” Hagen said, turning to Atticus. “Translate the symbols or I will start killing!”
Atticus’s stricken face contorted with terror. “For God’s sake, Tor! Please!”
“That’s a no then.”
Without warning, Hagen fired at the man.
Atticus watched in shock as he just stood there and made no effort to save himself.
“Run, man!” Atticus yelled.
The laser beam crossed the room at the speed of light, and with a gentle turn of the turret, Hagen cut the man in two just above his waist. He fell to the floor in a spray of blood, his arms and legs still twitching as he died right before them.
Everyone screamed in horror at the move Hagen had just made, but the Norwegian was unfazed. “You will agree, I’m sure,” he said calmly. “That there are better ways to leave this world.” He swivelled the laser around until it was pointing at Selena. “Now, I presume your attitude has adjusted since the last time we spoke, Atticus. Will you help me locate the Ark, or not?”
Atticus Moore visibly slouched as the terrible reality of the situation finally struck him. He blew out a deep breath and sullenly nodded his head. “Yes, Tor, I will help you locate the Ark, but now you let my daughter go and you never threaten her again!”
A heavy silence settled over the laboratory for a few seconds while Hagen studied the old English professor for any sign of deceit or treachery. When he was satisfied that the threat against his daughter had broken him, he deactivated the DEW and gently picked up his cigar from the ashtray beside it. “I knew you would accept my terms in the end, Atticus.”
Atticus’s face darkened with hatred. “Take that blindfold off my daughter, now.”
Hagen snapped his fingers and Lechner obeyed.
“Dad!” Selena cried out. “I’m so glad you’re alive. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, glancing at Hagen with anger in his eyes. “Where’s this key, Tor?”
“In my study. We go there now.”
20
Selena Moore walked beside her father as Hagen led them through the complex toward his study on the upper levels. It was a strange place – half home and half medical research facility. Walls and floors were white, with clean lines and vaguely smelling of disinfectant, but black and white pictures of the Norwegian wilderness hung on the walls, and she even spotted a vase of roses on a table beside an elevator. Imagining Hagen rattling around such a place on his own in the middle of the Scandinavian winter made her skin crawl, especially when she thought about the mysterious Dr Korhonen.
For a time, the only sound was their footsteps on the shining white tiles as they marched through the labyrinth that was Hagen’s home, but then the Norwegian recluse turned to them and spoke.
“You could be part of the new empire,” he said. “Both of you. Going forward into such a brave new world I will need intelligent, educated people just like you to work with me on my projects. I have spent thirty years searching for the Ark, and you are both world-renowned in your field – why not join me?”
“I’d rather drown in a swamp,” Atticus said, the disgust palpable in his words.
Hagen turned to Selena. “And you? Would you rather drown in a swamp like your ignorant father or help me build a better new world?”
“My father is a brilliant scholar and brave man,” she said defiantly. “You are pond slime.” She crossed her arms over her chest and took a step toward Atticus. “There is your answer.”
Hagen nodded his head, a scowl forming on his creased face. “Very well, then you have made your choice. You will still help me find what I want, and then you will be executed. The level of assistance you offer me will determine the manner and speed of your death. Help me get what I want without hindrance and you will be killed quickly and painlessly, deceive me and I will make sure your deaths last weeks. Perhaps I’ll let Dr Korhonen introduce you to some of his experiments in the lower lab.”
Selena took a step closer to her father. “You’re despicable, Hagen.”
“I’m rich and powerful and I always get what I want. I advise you now – both of you – do not anger me any further.”
Selena was still struggling to believe that men like Tor Hagen could even exist in the world. He was a lethal mix of narcissism and egomania and the truth was he terrified her even more than Rakesh Madan and his insane pursuit of Shambhala. The fact he had toiled for over thirty years on his project to locate the Ark told her all she needed to know about his drive and determination, but there was much more about the man she wasn't sure she even wanted to know – starting with just what the hell Dr Korhonen was doing in the basement laboratory.
“Come on, Lena,” Atticus said at last. “We’d better get on with it and give him what he wants.”
Hagen smirked, but didn’t hear what Atticus said next when he leaned in closer to his daughter and dropped his voice to a whisper. “We just have to delay things as much as possible and hope to hell Riley and Decker get here before…”
He finished the sentence with a tight squeeze of her hand.
“Fine,” she said at last. “Let’s get on with it. I want this nightmare over as soon as possible. I’ve already been chased around London, knocked out in Jerusalem and nearly killed on a cable car in the Austrian Alps – I’m not sure what could be worse.”
As she finished, another agonized howl echoed up the stairs leading to the basement section of the laboratory. Hagen’s response was cold and impassive. He fixed his ice-blue eyes on them and then a dead smile appeared on his face. “Come – we have much to do and I’m sure Dr Korhonen would appreciate a little more privacy.”
They followed Tor Hagen along the corridor leading toward his study. Floor to ceiling window-walls lined each side of the corridor and each side offered a breathtaking view of the Norwegian landscape. The older man stopped when his cell phone rang and he took the call. When it ended, he gave them an apologetic smile. “I have some unexpected business to deal with. Lechner here will keep you entertained in the meantime, and then you will be brought to my office where you will translate the key.”
Selena shuddered and glanced over Hagen’s shoulder. To the left was an endless series of snow-capped mountain ridges receding into a hazy horizon, and to the right was the enormous fjord to the north of the compound. Sparkling turquoise water reflected the sunlight and dazzled her, and then she felt her father’s arm as he wrapped it around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring hug.
“We’ll be all right, Lena.”
“I hope you’re right, Dad.”
“Of course I’m right.”
*
Decker closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This mission had been a total disaster from the moment they had started on it, but at least Riley had managed to pass the GOS tracker to Selena on the cable car. Without that, they would never have known the exact detail of Hagen’s current location.
Outside, the wind was racing across the Norwegian Sea and blasting against the office windows of Politiførstebetjent Jens Olsen. Olsen was the equivalent of a British police inspector or somewhere between an American lieutenant and captain. He walked back into the office and sat opposite Decker and the others. He was fit with a lean face and the faint trace of a ski tan around his slate gray eyes.
“It seems you were telling the truth, Captain Decker.”
Decker opened his eyes and looked up at Olsen. “I already told you that.”
Olsen looked vaguely apologetic. “You understand why we have to check. When a team of foreign treasure hunters walks into your office and tells you one of their own has been kidnapped in the search for the lost Ark of the Covenant, it’s not exactly the sort of thing you just accept.”
Decker was sounding wearier by the second. “I guess not, but we’re still in a hurry.”
“You are not in the Wild West here,” Olsen said quietly. “You are in Norway, and in Norway there is a correct way to do things. As foreigners, you must realize you have no jurisdiction to go around harassing and arresting Norwegian citizens.”
“We understand that,” Charlie said.
“Yeah, we’re not fu—… we’re not idiots,” added Riley.
“More than that, the man you are accusing of this crime is not exactly a normal citizen. Tor Hagen is one of Norway’s richest men, world-famous in the international scientific community and is on first name terms with the highest of our society. Just last year he was awarded the Medal for Outstanding Civic Service in Oslo by King Harald himself.”
“That may be the case,” Decker said patiently, “but we know he’s behind the kidnapping because we found the evidence of it ourselves. Right now, up in his little cabin in the mountains, he is holding two of our friends – Professor Selena Moore and her father Atticus against their will.”
“That’s presuming they’re still alive,” Charlie said.
“Yes, I understand. You have already told me this – I have made a note of everything you have said.”
“So what do you propose to do about it?”
Olsen sighed and crossed his hands behind his head. “All right, all right. I will send an officer up to his little cabin, as you put it.” He started chuckling at his words.
“What’s so funny?” Diana said.
“Hagen’s country retreat is one of the most expensive private properties in the country. It’s a vast complex built into the side of the mountain with views stretching right out over one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway. It’s not only where he lives for part of the year, but he also has extensive laboratories up there. He calls it Valhalla.”
Decker shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Captain Olsen, I wouldn’t recommend sending a single officer up there, if that’s what you’re intending to do. We’re almost certain there are a number of heavily armed Austrian mercenaries up there protecting a woman named Ursula Moser. She runs an international church.”
“This is a not a big American city and I don’t have the resources to send an armed troop up to Valhalla to investigate church leaders and scientists who you claim have kidnapped your friend. Having said that, it is my responsibility as the police chief here to take any accusations very seriously, so I will send two constables up with the sergeant.”
“And allow us to accompany them?”
“I can’t stop you travelling up to Valhalla with them. Norway is a free country. However, I can insist that you do not interfere with my officers as they carry out their duties and you do not trespass on Hagen’s property.”
“Sounds like we have us a deal, mate,” Riley said.
Golan looked less impressed. “We will do whatever we have to do in order to bring the contents of the Angel of God back to Israel.”
Olsen looked doubtfully at them, and then buzzed his assistant. They spoke in Norwegian for a few seconds and then a young woman knocked on the open door. Olsen called her into the office and introduced her.
“This is Politibetjent Karin Larsen,” he said.
Karin noticed the look on their faces when Olsen introduced her rank. “It’s Sergeant Larsen.” She tossed some car keys in the air and caught them with a wink. “Let’s get out of here.”
They walked to the car park and climbed back into the hired Volvo XC90. Buckling up in their seats, Diana spoke first. “Mitch, heater please!”
Decker fired up the powerful engine and turned the heat up to full. It was around zero degrees outside and the westerly coming off the sea pushed it considerably lower than that. Warming their hands as they watched Karin Larsen and her two constables climb into their police-marked VW Passat, Decker gently pressed the throttle and followed the Norwegian police officers out of the subterranean garage and up into the watery daylight of downtown Stavanger.
They followed Larsen south through the city, passing expensive well-maintained properties and tree-lined park-lands before disappearing inside a long tunnel. They emerged at the other end to find themselves outside of the city and driving through an industrial district. After a brief glimpse of an outer belt of suburbs they turned east and quickly moved into the countryside. Here, the hills either side of the road started to grow into mountains, and the snow increased in speed and volume until Decker was forced to put the windshield wipers on full.
“How far is this place, d’ya reckon?” Riley asked
Decker shook his head. “On these roads, hard to say. But if it wasn’t for Larsen up ahead we’d never find it. That’s for damned sure.”
“Speak for yourself,” Golan grumbled.
Charlie grunted, crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. “Wake me up before you go-go, yeah?”
“Sure,” Decker said sarcastically. “Have a nice sleep.”
21
After an hour and a half of kicking their heels in what was little more than a jail cell, Bloch released Selena and her father, and they stepped out into the corridor to see Tor Hagen once again.
“My apologies, but I had to speak with a local police chief I know.” He gave them a faint smile. “But now we go to business.”
Selena watched the lithe, dark-suited frame of Tor Hagen as he marched with purpose along the corridor a few meters ahead of them. Sunlight diffused by the tinted glass shone on his silvery hair and now he raised his watch to check the time. “We must hurry.” Any thought of attacking him was ended abruptly by the presence of Bloch who was still walking behind them with a gun in his holster.
Selena lowered her voice. “But what if they’re not coming, Dad? They snatched me in Innsbruck and there’s no way to know Riley or Mitch or any other others even knows where I am.”
