The Atlantis Gene

Wearing space suits for protection, Grey and Sloane enter the submarine. As they make their way through the narrow corridors, they encounter frozen, bloody corpses. The bodies belong to victims, Grey suspects, of “Bell radiation.” They reach a compartment near the crew quarters and look inside. They find some old photographs and journals, but not the major discovery Sloane hoped for.

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.