Preview of Book 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Atlantis Rising Book Two of The New Atlantis Chronicles Myles watched the remaining members of the group arrive, each of the Knights accompanied by his protege. A handful of administrative and security staff remained outside the meeting room. There were not many, the venue was about as secure as a place could be - of all places in the country unlikely to be attacked, Freehold Mike Charlie was the least. Just over three years before, the League had provoked the government by assassinating three major political figures in a very public way. The reaction demonstrated that the government had known almost nothing about the Freeholds, and had no idea how to deal with them. After a disastrous attempt at retaliation against Mike Charlie, the government seemed convinced that further attacks would be not only futile but might set its agenda back considerably. Sir Roland was the last to arrive - some time after the others. He was apparently one of the older ones - even as an insider Myles did not know much about the Knights, including his own mentor, Sir Walter. He sometimes suspected some of them, perhaps all, were older than they appeared. Sir Roland had a bit of the preoccupied academic about him - often not focusing on much outside of his work. Always perfectly courteous, Sir Walter waited a few moments before rising to open the meeting. Not that Sir Roland noticed - he was already absorbed in his computer and a number of books and papers. The main interest of the attendees would be Sir Roland's presentation, so the first presentations were somewhat perfunctory. Sir Walter's briefing was primarily related to the state of affairs in the country. There was no expectation of improvement. The government, not knowing the extent of the League's influence, had become more cautious about extra-legal abductions and killings of citizens and attacks on dissident organizations. But during the intervening years, the political hold over the country had only grown tighter. The new constitution was now in the hands of the states, and approval was a foregone conclusion. The only threats of actual armed opposition were from a number of citizen militias, and those had long dismissed as an unorganized rabble. Those in the League knew better - they had long ago infiltrated some of the more competent organizations, helping them recruit experienced ex-military personnel and bringing in strategists to focus their objectives directions more likely to be successful. Some of them were quite large, with tens of thousands of members and considerable armament - some of it supplied by the League, with their loyalty encouraged by the promise of more support if needed. There would be no way to win a war against a guerilla force the size of the one that would be unleashed when the time came. And it would come. Already there had been some clashes between citizens and government operatives, and a growing wave of fear and anger was building underneath the surface of society. Fear and anger, thought Myles, was a deadly combination. And the fear, he knew, was often more dangerous. He realized he was not listening to Sir Walter's presentation, but he had helped write it - still, he turned his attention back, just in time for Sir Walter to finish. He answered a few questions from his colleagues, before turning the proceedings over to Sir Roland. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sir Roland was the expert on Atlantis, the other subject of the meeting. Although a scholarly man all his life, he had much of the same experiences of his peers. A military career followed by a couple of decades of successful investing had made him a wealthy man, sufficiently so that when recruited by some of his fellow retired officers to join the Freehold project, he was able to start the Westfall freehold with his own funds, and eventually become a financial sponsor to other new freeholds. He had become intrigued, some might say obsessed, with Atlantis about that time, and studied the subject intensely, and with the help of the November Alpha, which was a seaborne colony in the area where Atlantis was believed to be located, had monitored the area for years. The sea bottom in that area had been undergoing subtle changes for years - now they were not so subtle. As Sir Roland was explaining, the ocean depth had been decreasing for years, and at an increasing rate. More to the point, the bottom was rising, and would soon be above water. The Council, consisting of the nine Knights of Atlantis, had laid a sophisticated plan to claim the area when it became visible, declaring it a country and defending it if necessary. And with the vast resources of the League members, it was quite feasible against a chaotic world in which even the greatest nations were in disarray and any kind of unified attack on some newly formed land in the north Atlantic was unlikely. The expected attitude was that if a group of malcontents wanted to claim some lifeless, rocky islands as their homeland, why interfere. The hope expressed by the Council was that the emergence of the long-submerged continent would occur during the coming war in the Republic of North America, and there would be even less inclination to interfere. With the worldwide economic and societal chaos affecting Russia as well, China dealing with its own internal problems, and the increasing Moslem incursions all over the eastern hemisphere, the time was near perfect. And of course, as Sir Roland was now explaining, a sudden emergence of the largest part of the continent was likely to cause massive disasters all along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, affecting most of the world. The probable loss of life would be regrettable, but the accompanying chaos would greatly enhance their opportunity. As Mike Charlie, like all of the large and wealthy freeholds, would be one of those deploying assets to the new land, Myles was well acquainted with the plans. It would be another major disruption in his life, for a while, he thought. Likely Sarah and Tanya would be left behind for a while, with only occasional visits until the situation was stabilized. Still, they had accepted the situation as they became part of his life, and were willing to make the necessary sacrifices. In the end it would be worth it, not only for them but for those who came after.