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    ark—not the Ark of the Covenant, but Noah's Ark. It would make sense that a mothership would be called such a thing. Perhaps survivors from Atlantis were put aboard it? That would explain the legend of the Ark."
    "But the Nazis didn't find it," Turcotte noted.
    "We haven't gone through all the records," Quinn said.
    "Do it," Turcotte ordered.
    "Nor have I translated all of Sir Richard Francis Burton's manuscript," Mualama added. "He also was interested in the legend of Noah's Ark."
    "And I haven't pinpointed all the locations that Professor Nabinger translated,"
    Che Lu said.
    Turcotte rubbed his forehead. Despite all they had learned, they were still far behind the information curve. The truth of the present hinged on knowing the truth about the past and that was still largely unknown. But they did have more than they had started with. Did they have the time to process it all? he wondered.
    "And if we don't find and gain control of the Master Guardian?" he threw out.
    Quinn spoke up. "The military is marshaling a fleet in Hawaii. It's our last line of defense in the Pacific. They are considering attacking Easter Island."
    "They won't be able to break the shield wall," Turcotte said.
    "Unless we can access the Master Guardian and shut down the Easter Island guardian," Yakov pointed out.
    Quinn frowned. "There was something in that archive material you recovered underneath Moscow about a weapon and a shield."
    "What something?" Turcotte demanded, leaning forward.
    "I'll have to look at it again," Quinn said.

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    A sergeant came into the room and handed Quinn a file folder and just as quietly left the room.
    Turcotte finally considered the strategic situation. "Without a miracle—or us finding and controlling the Master Guardian—that fleet is not going to be able to get through the alien shield with any degree of effectiveness," he said. "And according to the status board, the ships the aliens have captured are heading toward Pearl. We'll be lucky if they don't seize Hawaii and our ships that we'd need to attack Easter Island. Major Quinn, send a message to the admiral in charge there and warn him of that."
    "Yes, sir."
    Turcotte's eyes were on Duncan, who seemed to be following the conversation. He turned to her, going back to the more immediate issue, or at least what he considered more immediate. "What happened to you?"
    Duncan blinked. "I—" She held her hand up, looking at it as if it were an alien object. "I put one of the stones in the Grail. Then I put my hand in the Grail.
    One end of the Grail," she added. "It burned. Up my arm. My entire body."
    "We need to get her to a doctor," Quinn suggested.
    Turcotte ignored the major. "So the legend is true—it grants immortality?"
    "It must be," Duncan acknowledged. She touched her torso, where the bullet had torn through her, still not believing the unmarred skin. "I'm here." She said it almost as a question. "And you say you saw me die."
    "How does it work?" Turcotte asked.
    She slowly shook her head. "I don't know."
    "It must do more than give immortality," Yakov said. "It brought her back to life."
    Turcotte thought for a few seconds, then rattled out more orders. "Major Quinn, you check the Nazi records we

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    brought back from Moscow to see if you can learn any more about the location of the ark/mothership. Also, I want you to go back through Majestic's records and see if there is anything on this shield wall—how it works, and if there is any way we can get through it on our own. Because if we can't, we're defenseless against Aspasia's Shadow and his forces.
    "Professor Mualama, you go through Burton's manuscript again and see if we missed anything regarding the location of the Master Guardian. Professor Che Lu, I think you need to get with Larry Kincaid and check all the locations that Nabinger recorded. Perhaps one of those is the second mothership. I'm going to try to send a message to Kelly to see if she can tap into the Easter Island guardian