The Far Dawn by Kevin Emerson Page A

Could we get the skull before anyone could react?
    But Lilly didn’t look like she could move. She was staring tragically at Evan, her lips trembling. I stepped back, starting to move her out of here. We’d need to regroup—
    â€œExcellent,” Paul was saying, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn . . .
    Right toward us. “And now we have everything we need.”
    I grabbed Lilly’s hand and started to retreat, only to feel the press of a gun barrel in my back.

7
    THE SOLDIERS PUSHED US FORWARD INTO THE skull light.
    â€œLilly?” Evan’s voice was weak, made uneven by the tremors racking his body.
    â€œGo to him,” said Paul, motioning casually. “He’ll be so happy to see you.”
    Lilly’s fingers grazed my arm and I met her eyes. She nodded and then rushed across the room, kneeling beside Evan. I couldn’t believe he was here. It meant part of what Paul had told us back in the desert was a lie. He had caught the CITs, but he hadn’t cut Evan open. At least there was that.
    â€œLil,” Evan croaked. “Is it really you?”
    â€œIt’s me, Ev.” Lilly sniffed, rubbing his shoulders. “It’s me. It’s gonna be okay.”
    â€œOwen, it’s nice to see you again in the flesh.” Paul grinned at me, his eyes whirring, and I hated him so much, but I didn’t reply. I wanted to give him nothing. He didn’t seem to care. “You look different,” he said. “Older. I guess you’ve had to grow up fast these last weeks.”
    Ignore him , I thought over and over, and yet I could feel myself shaking. I couldn’t take the bait. He wanted to see me lash out, I could tell, to break me down further. Instead I met his gaze and pointed to Evan. “What did you do to him?”
    Evan was still slumped on the stone floor, breathing hard. Lilly had her arm around him and was speaking quietly in his ear.
    â€œI altered him to suit my needs,” said Paul. “His DNA and brain wave composition, specifically, to make him a stand-in for Leech—well, an improvement: less attitude. I had a full recording of how Leech’s mind interacted with your skull, and how the skull interfaced with the brain, from back in EdenWest. I found that with a few tweaks to Evan’s DNA, I could make him a genetic duplicate, at least as far as the Atlantean skull is concerned.” He grinned at me. “They’re not perfect, as you know.”
    I didn’t respond, but I wondered if this meant that he knew all the skulls were calling to me.
    Evan started coughing again and doubled over, dry heaving. A thin line of spit dripped to the floor.
    â€œIt’s left him a little worse for wear,” said Paul.
    Lilly swore under her breath. Her face was murderous, but she rubbed Evan’s back and kept whispering to him, ignoring Paul.
    â€œThe last thing I needed to get into this place was Leech’s notes and the sextant,” Paul continued, “oh, and a fresh sample of his blood to activate the door. Luckily, he left plenty of that in Desenna.”
    I fought the anger inside me, fought to stay quiet. “So now what?” I asked.
    â€œNow.” Paul smiled. “We have everything we need. I have my three Atlanteans and the location of the Paintbrush of the Gods is now safely in Evan’s head. We’re close, Owen. Very close to the end of the one true quest, the oldest quest there is. So many explorers have died searching for what we are about to find. And don’t think I’m referring only to Atlantis. This goes further, from Ponce de León to Herodotus, back to the dawn of humankind.”
    His riddles filled me with the same mix of hatred and curiosity I now knew all too well, but I focused on a more important question. “What are you going to do with us?”
    Paul laughed, a short, dangerous burst. He looked at me like he was going to speak, but then a