Free The Mountain: An Event Group Thriller by David L. Golemon Page A

you thought of our finds and artifacts,” Niles said as he placed his glasses on the tabletop and slowly raised his coffee to his lips.
    “The tour was cut quite short, as you well know, when you called about the event in the desert.”
    “Well, the senator and I would like to finish up that tour before you make your final decision on your appointment to this Group.” Niles placed his cup down and looked at Collins, who still hadn’t committed to anything. The deaths in the desert had really affected him.
    “Major, you have to understand what we do here far better than we have been able to explain thus far,” Lee said as he joined Compton in trying to persuade the major to give them a chance to show him why they needed his expertise so badly. If the fight in Arizona hadn’t explained it, they knew exactly what would. They were about to pull out the ace they had up their sleeves.
    Jack glanced up and saw that Alice was still watching them. He knew then that Alice was also a part of this plot, not just Compton and Lee.
    “I’m afraid young McIntire doesn’t know the full story. There are only three people in the world that have all the puzzle pieces, Major, and that is what we wish to finish up tonight. The right tour, the right artifact that will tie this whole thing together for you,” Lee said as he too looked back at Alice and then slowly stood with the aid of his cane. “Mind joining us, Major Collins?”
    “Okay, where to?” Jack stood along with Compton and started a journey into the past that he never would have dreamed about.
    “The largest, most secure depository in the United States. Level sixty-one, vault one,” Niles said as he led the way out of the cafeteria.
    Lee placed a hand on Alice’s shoulder and then turned to face Niles and Jack. “It’s story time, Major Collins, and you are about to get wowed.”
    Collins raised his eyebrows but followed them out the door, only pausing long enough to receive a knowing smile and wink from Alice Hamilton.
    “Wowed is just about right,” she said as she fell into line heading for the elevators.
    *   *   *
    The tube elevator operated on air-cushioned propellant and traveled close to fifty miles per hour. The four stepped off and went to the security arch, where one of Jack’s people accepted IDs and proceeded to send them through the eye-scan check, clearing them all for entrance into the vault level. Jack followed the three inside an enormous hallway that had the dreamlike facade of several hundred bank vaults—the most secure location outside of Fort Knox and the NSA building. Each vault contained an artifact from the history of the world, and Jack had not returned to the vault level since his mission to Arizona, simply because he never wanted the wonders of the vault levels to sway his decision about staying or leaving the Group. The magnificent finds had the ability to cloud the mind and could make the process of deciding his destiny far more difficult.
    Lee and Alice stopped at a familiar spot, the first vault Jack had seen at the Group. Lee had pointed it out to him the day of his arrival. He knew by the size of the reinforced steel door what artifact lay beyond—the Ark. The last time he’d seen it he hadn’t had time to explain to Lee and Compton that he was far from being a believer in the fantastical story of Noah and his Ark. Collins found it hard to believe in anything other than his own ability and keeping men under his command as safe as he could.
    “I suppose you need no explanation of what’s behind this door?” Lee said as Niles Compton scanned his ID into the reader and stepped back as a smaller access door opened beside the larger, impenetrable stainless-steel door.
    “I know what you claim it to be, but I’ve yet to be convinced, and to tell you the truth, gentlemen”—he nodded at Alice—“and lady, I am at least skeptical, and unbelieving at the most.”
    “That’s exactly how you should feel, Jack,” Niles