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The man who had fired the pistol from the ramp walked calmly up the length of the cargo bay toward them. The second figure, the one that had nearly been run down, was also advancing and as he approached, he pushed back his hood and removed a full-face ski mask, unleashing a long cascade of black hair.
“He” was actually a she, and Maddock recognized her instantly.
Bones spoke first, his voice evincing the same disbelief that Maddock felt. “Jade?”
Jade Ihara, the half-Japanese, half-Hawaiian archaeologist, who happened to be Dane Maddock’s ex-girlfriend, offered a half-smile. “That was quite an entrance.”
“Jade.” Maddock pulled the scarf away from his face. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I was in the neighborhood. Lucky for you.”
“Never thought I’d say this,” Bones chortled. “But damn it’s good to see you.” He looked past her to the other man. “Prof, is that you?”
Pete Chapman, who had earned the nickname “Professor,” had served with Maddock and Bones when they were SEALs, and was currently working with Jade as a facilitator and sometimes-bodyguard, though his actual employer was the U.S. government, and specifically, Tam Broderick’s Myrmidons task force.
But the man walking toward them stripped off his cold-weather covering, revealing medium-length wavy dark hair, a full beard, and an unfamiliar face.
“Actually,” Jade said, “Pete’s off doing a favor for Tam. So are we, I suppose. She’s the one who put us on your trail.”
Maddock frowned. He was starting to remember why Jade was his ex-girlfriend. “Who’s ‘us,’ Jade? You obviously know a lot more about what’s going on than I do.”
“For a change,” Jade shot back.
“Is there something going on between you two?” asked the bearded man.
Bones laughed. “Duh.”
Maddock ignored him and faced the stranger. “Maybe you’re who I should be talking to.”
“Probably.” The man looked past him to Rose and the black metal sphere in her arms. His eyes widened in surprise. “You found it?”
“You know what that thing is?” Bones asked.
“Not really. I know that they call it ‘the anomaly,’ but not much more than that.”
“But you know who ‘they’ are?” Maddock said. “The guys that just tried to kill us...The Dominion?”
The man shook his head. “They call themselves ‘Prometheus.’ They’re very secretive, and very powerful.”
Bones snorted. “Great. Just what we needed. It’s like we got put on some kind of mailing list for Villain-of-the-Month Club.”
“What do they want?” Maddock pressed.
“What everyone with power wants; more power. They want to rule the world. And they want control of things like that.” He pointed at the orb. “Unfortunately, that’s about all I can tell you about them, and I’ve been hunting them for twenty-five years.”
“Since kindergarten then?” Bones said. It wasn’t much of an exaggeration. Beneath his beard, the man looked like he might be in his early thirties.
“It’s a long story,” the man replied.
“I’m guessing you’ve got a few of those,” Maddock said. “You got a name?”
The man stuck out his hand. “Nick Kismet.”
Bones laughed again. “Is that like, your stage name?”
Jade rolled her eyes. “Way to call the kettle black, Bonebrake.”
Kismet laughed, too. “That’s another one of those long stories. Actually, I work for a UN cultural preservation agency. My job is to protect antiquities. Keep them out of the hands of people like Prometheus.”
Maddock nodded in Rose’s direction. “So you’re here for that? The anomaly. Take it. It’s all yours.”
Kismet and Jade exchanged a look, then the latter spoke. “Maddock, the anomaly is just the—”
“Don’t say it,” Bones cut in.
“—tip of the iceberg,” Jade finished.
“She said it,” Bones groaned.
“It’s true, Mr. Maddock,” Kismet confirmed. “Prometheus has begun their endgame, and it’s up to us to stop them. All of us. This is just the beginning.”
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The End
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The story continues with Arcanum, book two of the Elementals trilogy.