The Atlantis Gene

Hours later, Warner wakes up on a small cot in the bomb shelter. Vale is asleep on the floor. She rouses herself and turns on the light. Vale wakes and informs her that the men searching the cottage left 90 minutes ago, but they could still be waiting outside. They decide to leave together under the condition that Vale is in charge. He gives Warner a change of clothes and a folder containing all the information he has about the kidnapped children, including the message with the GPS coordinates.

On board his plane, Sloane contacts Dr. Chase at the Immari office in Tibet, inquiring about the status of nuclear weapons. Chase responds that they have “‘fifty, or forty-nine operational’” (165). Sloane wants more, but Chase informs him that neither India nor Pakistan will sell them anymore. He tells Chase to make a few of the weapons “portable,” weighing about 15 pounds.

Robert Hunt leads a team drilling for what he assumes is oil beneath the Antarctic ice. The site, however, doesn’t make sense. There are more accessible and cheaper places to drill for oil than Antarctica.

In a seaplane used for their escape, Vale and Warner circle over a lake near western China. Vale guides the plane down over the lake. They unload the plane and cover it with a tarp to prevent detection from the air. They eat and then set out to the rendezvous point specified in the encrypted message. As they hike through the forest, Vale asks about Warner’s research, and about why Immari would want her two test subjects. She tells him about Grey’s wild speculations concerning autism and human evolution, lost coastal cities, and the creation of a weapon to wipe out humanity. Soon, they reach the edge of the forest and come to a train station, the location specified by the GPS coordinates.

Inside the Immari research facility, Sloane observes another cohort of test subjects weakened by the treatment. Sloane takes charge of the project from Grey and orders Chang, the lead researcher, to fill him in. Chang follows with a brief history of genetic research, including the damaging effects of Bell radiation from a rumored Nazi weapon, Die Glocke. Chang’s research is attempting to isolate “The Atlantis Gene,” which could provide immunity to the Bell’s effects. Years of failed tests, however, cause Chang to doubt the existence of the gene. The survival of the two boys is a riddle Chang and his team have not solved, although he suspects Warner’s therapy has created in them a genetic mutation which allows them to withstand the Bell’s effects. He then explains the theory of “epigenetics,” comparing it to a piano with varying sheet music. The piano, the human genome, is static, but the sheet music is how humans “express” their genetic codes, and that is the variable. Impatient for results, Sloane orders Chang to “process” all remaining test subjects as quickly as possible.

Armed with fake credentials and uniforms, Vale and Warner board a high-speed train and formulate a plan to rescue the children from the Immari research facility. When the train arrives at the facility, Vale hustles Warner into the corridor with the other “white coats.” He heads in the opposite direction. Outside the facility, Warner waits in a long queue, trying to stay calm and remember her false identity—Dr. Emma West, “research associate in Bell Primary: Genetics Division” (181).

Warner follows a doctor, Barnaby Prendergast, hoping for guidance, but his questions only confuse her. She finally blurts out that she’s doing autism research with Dr. Grey and “two children.” Prendergast seems satisfied with her explanation; her research, he claims, is very “cloak-and-dagger.” When he mentions that the survival rate in those trials is “zero,” Warner fears the children are dead. Her panicky behavior alerts Prendergast, and he tries to verify her identity. Her only option is to tell him the truth: She is searching for two children being held in the facility. She pleads for his help. Across the corridor, a security guard witnesses the exchange between Warner and Prendergast and suspects a problem.

Stunned by the sheer size of the compound, Vale swipes his badge and enters the building. A load of explosives concealed in his backpack, Vale manages to pass through security and enter the power plant. He makes his way deeper into the plant until a guard stops him, drawing his weapon.

Prendergast escorts Warner to the residential wing. Several armed guards appear, their guns trained on her.

Vale improvises a story that convinces the guard to holster his weapon, and when his attention is turned, Vale knocks him out cold. Now, he must decide how to cut the facility’s power. Inside the circuit room, he places explosive charges along a series of conduits and metal cabinets. As he places the last charge, he sees three guards running toward him.

As the guards take Warner away, Sloane’s girlfriend, Naomi stops them. Pulling rank, she insists on bringing Warner to Sloane herself. Once free of the guards, Naomi whispers to Warner, “Be quiet and follow me” (194). She also tells Warner that her objective is the same: to rescue the children. She leads Warner to a room where the boys are being kept. After a moment of reunion, Naomi hustles them out of the room.

Sloane and Chase discuss the recent nuclear warhead acquisitions, which number 126 total. A lab assistant then brings in the “portable” warhead Sloane requested, but it is still too large. Suddenly, a guard alerts Sloane to an “issue” in the power plant. Looking at a video feed from the circuit room, Sloane recognizes Vale as “Andrew Reed,” a former CIA operative whom he left for dead four years ago in Pakistan. Sloane orders Vale to be secured in a corridor between two reactors. Then, checking the status of the children, he finds their holding cell empty. Another video feed shows Naomi and Warner escaping with the children. Sloane sends a message to the Immari Council indicating the facility is under attack, and he intends to initiate the Toba Protocol immediately. Security reports they have apprehended Naomi and Warner, and Sloane orders them placed in the “Bell” with the other test subjects.

With most of the nuclear devices loaded onto train cars, Sloane directs Chase to board the train with the children. Since there are still too few bodies for an effective test, Sloane orders his security officer to begin “processing” Immari staff in the Bell along with the test subjects.

The guards wrest the children from Warner and take them to the train. Warner and Naomi are forced into the testing facility which is crowded with test subjects. The “Bell” is lowered from the ceiling, lights flash, and Warner feels her flesh get hot; she wipes her face, and her hand is covered in blood.

Locked in a concrete room between the two reactors, Vale searches for a way out. A voice booms over a loudspeaker addressing him as “Andrew” and telling him, “We have the girl. And we found your bombs” (201). The voice asks Vale how he knew the children were in this facility. He promises to give Warner a “quick death” in return. Vale, however, now recognizes the voice from his past: Sloane was the Immari “field commander” in Afghanistan when Vale served there. With Warner’s life in jeopardy, Vale refuses to talk, claiming he has nothing to lose. A door opens, and Vale runs for it, but Sloane enters with a gun and shoots him in the shoulder. Suddenly, an explosion blows through the wall, spraying dust and concrete everywhere. Another explosion goes off, and Vale crawls through the chaos, trying to escape. Blinded by the dust, Sloane begins shooting indiscriminately, occasionally hitting his own men as they try to evacuate the reactor room.