Celtic Empire Read online

  TITLES BY CLIVE CUSSLER

  DIRK PITT® ADVENTURES

  Odessa Sea (with Dirk Cussler)

  Havana Storm (with Dirk Cussler)

  Poseidon’s Arrow (with Dirk Cussler)

  Crescent Dawn (with Dirk Cussler)

  Arctic Drift (with Dirk Cussler)

  Treasure of Khan (with Dirk Cussler)

  Black Wind (with Dirk Cussler)

  Trojan Odyssey

  Valhalla Rising

  Atlantis Found

  Flood Tide

  Shock Wave

  Inca Gold

  Sahara

  Dragon

  Treasure

  Cyclops

  Deep Six

  Pacific Vortex!

  Night Probe!

  Vixen 03

  Raise the Titanic!

  Iceberg

  The Mediterranean Caper

  SAM AND REMI FARGO ADVENTURES

  The Gray Ghost (with Robin Burcell)

  The Romanov Ransom (with Robin Burcell)

  Pirate (with Robin Burcell)

  The Solomon Curse (with Russell Blake)

  The Eye of Heaven (with Russell Blake)

  The Mayan Secrets (with Thomas Perry)

  The Tombs (with Thomas Perry)

  The Kingdom (with Grant Blackwood)

  Lost Empire (with Grant Blackwood)

  Spartan Gold (with Grant Blackwood)

  ISAAC BELL ADVENTURES

  The Cutthroat (with Justin Scott)

  The Gangster (with Justin Scott)

  The Assassin (with Justin Scott)

  The Bootlegger (with Justin Scott)

  The Striker (with Justin Scott)

  The Thief (with Justin Scott)

  The Race (with Justin Scott)

  The Spy (with Justin Scott)

  The Wrecker (with Justin Scott)

  The Chase

  KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURES

  Novels from The NUMA® Files

  Sea of Greed (with Graham Brown)

  The Rising Sea (with Graham Brown)

  Nighthawk (with Graham Brown)

  The Pharaoh’s Secret (with Graham Brown)

  Ghost Ship (with Graham Brown)

  Zero Hour (with Graham Brown)

  The Storm (with Graham Brown)

  Devil’s Gate (with Graham Brown)

  Medusa (with Paul Kemprecos)

  The Navigator (with Paul Kemprecos)

  Polar Shift (with Paul Kemprecos)

  Lost City (with Paul Kemprecos)

  White Death (with Paul Kemprecos)

  Fire Ice (with Paul Kemprecos)

  Blue Gold (with Paul Kemprecos)

  Serpent (with Paul Kemprecos)

  OREGON FILES

  Shadow Tyrants (with Boyd Morrison)

  Typhoon Fury (with Boyd Morrison)

  The Emperor’s Revenge (with Boyd Morrison)

  Piranha (with Boyd Morrison)

  Mirage (with Jack Du Brul)

  The Jungle (with Jack Du Brul)

  The Silent Sea (with Jack Du Brul)

  Corsair (with Jack Du Brul)

  Plague Ship (with Jack Du Brul)

  Skeleton Coast (with Jack Du Brul)

  Dark Watch (with Jack Du Brul)

  Sacred Stone (with Craig Dirgo)

  Golden Buddha (with Craig Dirgo)

  NONFICTION

  Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt

  Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt

  The Sea Hunters (with Craig Dirgo)

  The Sea Hunters II (with Craig Dirgo)

  Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed (with Craig Dirgo)

  CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  The Adventures of Vin Fiz

  The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy

  G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

  Publishers Since 1838

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  penguinrandomhouse.com

  Copyright © 2019 by Sandecker, RLLLP

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Cussler, Clive, author. | Cussler, Dirk, author.

  Title: Celtic empire / Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler.

  Description: New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, [2019] | Series: Dirk Pitt adventure; 25

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018056946| ISBN 9780735218994 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780735219007 (epub)

  Subjects: LCSH: Pitt, Dirk (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Action & Adventure. | FICTION / Suspense. | FICTION / Thrillers. | GSAFD: Adventure fiction. | Suspense fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3553.U75 C45 2019 | DDC 813/.54—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056946

  Endpaper and interior illustrations by Roland Dahlquist

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  CONTENTS

  Titles by Clive Cussler

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Cast of Characters

  Prologue: Nile Flight

  Part I: CascadeChapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Part II: AmarnaChapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Part III: Secrets of the LochChapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

/>   Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Part IV: Skellig MichaelChapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Epilogue: Queen of the AgesChapter 73

  About the Authors

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  1334 B.C.E.

  Meritaten Egyptian princess, daughter of Pharaoh.

  Gaythelos Meritaten’s husband.

  Osarseph Prophet aided by Meritaten.

  Ahrwn Osarseph’s brother.

  2020

  NUMA TEAM

  Dirk Pitt Director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency.

  Al Giordino Director of Underwater Technology, NUMA.

  Rudi Gunn Deputy Director, NUMA.

  Zerri Pochinski Pitt’s longtime secretary.

  Michael Cruz Marine engineer and salvage expert, NUMA.

  Dr. Rodney Zeibig Marine archeologist, NUMA.

  Summer Pitt NUMA Special Projects director and daughter of Dirk Pitt.

  Dirk Pitt, Jr. NUMA Special Projects director and son of Dirk Pitt.

  Hiram Yaeger Computer Resource Center director, NUMA.

  James Sandecker U.S. Vice President and former Director of NUMA.

  OFFICIALS, POLITICIANS, AND BUSINESSPEOPLE

  Loren Smith-Pitt Dirk Pitt’s wife and congresswoman from Colorado.

  Senator Stanton Bradshaw Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

  Evanna McKee CEO of BioRem Global Limited.

  Audrey McKee Field manager with BioRem Global Limited and daughter of Evanna McKee.

  Rachel Associate of Evanna McKee.

  Ross FBI agent protecting Elise Aguilar.

  Abigail Brown Former prime minister of Australia.

  Gavin Operative working for Evanna McKee.

  Ainsley Operative working for Evanna McKee.

  Irene Operative working for Evanna McKee.

  Richard Operative working for Evanna McKee.

  HISTORIANS, EXPERTS, AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

  Elise Aguilar Scientist with United States Agency for International Development in El Salvador.

  Phil Scientist with United States Agency for International Development in El Salvador.

  Rondi Salvadoran villager aiding the U.S. scientists.

  Dr. Stephen Nakamura Epidemiologist, University of Maryland.

  Dr. Susan Montgomery Head of the Environmental Health Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control.

  Dr. Miles Perkins Scientist, Inverness Research Laboratory.

  Dr. Harrison Stanley Emeritus professor of Egyptology from Cambridge University.

  Riki Sadler Biochemist and archeologist and daughter of Evanna McKee.

  Dr. Frasier McKee Biochemist and deceased husband of Evanna McKee.

  Aziz Egyptian Antiquities Ministry agent.

  St. Julian Perlmutter Nautical historian and longtime friend of Pitt.

  Byron Lab Research director, Centers for Disease Control.

  Dr. Eamon Brophy Former archeology department head, Dublin University.

  OTHER

  Manjeet Dhatt Father of ill boy in Mumbai.

  Pratima Dhatt Mother of ill boy in Mumbai.

  Ozzie Ackmadan Proprietor of the Abu Simbel Inn.

  Friar Thomas Franciscan Friary of Killarney.

  Captain Ron Posey Captain of the Mayweather.

  Gauge Second officer of the Mayweather.

  PROLOGUE

  NILE FLIGHT

  MEMPHIS, EGYPT

  1334 B.C.E.

  Wails of grief drifted over the city like a black aria. The mud brick dwellings burst with anguish, as the sorrow swirled into the night desert. But the winds ferried more than just the cries of mourning.

  They carried the stench of death.

  A mysterious scourge had descended upon the land, striking at nearly every household. The young were most afflicted, but not exclusively. The claws of death had grasped even the royal family, snatching the Pharaoh himself in their cold grip.

  Crouched in the shadows of the Temple of Aten, a young woman tried to block the din and odor. As the moon slipped from behind a cloud, casting its glow over the landscape, she rubbed a heavy gold amulet on her chest and listened for sounds of movement. The rustle of leather soles on stone pricked her ears, and she turned to a figure running toward her across the temple’s front portico.

  Her husband, Gaythelos, was tall, with dark curly hair and broad shoulders. His skin was damp in the hot night air as he grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. “The way to the river is clear,” he said in a low voice.

  She gazed beyond him. “Where are the others?”

  “Securing the boats. Come, Meritaten, let us delay no further.”

  She turned to the shadows behind her and nodded. Three men emerged from along the temple wall, armed with spears and heavy khopesh swords. As she followed her husband, they took up a triangular defensive position around her.

  Gaythelos led them away from the temple entrance and down a side street, their sandals kicking up dust. Despite the late hour, many houses showed the gleam of burning oil lamps through cracks in their shutters. The group moved at a quick pace, keeping silent as they crossed the former capital city.

  The road sloped gently toward the riverside, where rows of small merchant boats were tied to a dock. As they moved along the bank, two men arose from the reeds. They wore long gray beards and were dressed in shabby linens.

  The escorts raised their spears and sprang forward.

  “Guards! Cease!” Meritaten cried.

  The armed men froze.

  She stepped past them and greeted the two men. “Osarseph, Ahrwn, what are you doing here? Why have you not departed?”

  The younger of the two men stepped forward. His eyes held a determined look, shrouded by a weathered face. “Meritaten,” he said, “we could not taste freedom without offering you our thanks. Your influence with Pharaoh was instrumental in his edict. I am saddened for you to learn of his passing at Amarna.”

  “My influence was debatable,” she said. “What is not questioned is that Pharaoh’s high priests are now in control of our lands—and have blamed the royal family for the sorrows brought upon Egypt.”

  “You are guilty only of having an open heart for the downtrodden.” He slipped a goatskin bag from around his neck and passed it to her. “You saved us from the tainted waters of the Nile. I pray it is now time to save yourself.”

  “You took heed where Pharaoh did not. It is Gaythelos you should thank, not me.” She nodded toward her husband. “He knew the power of the apium.”

  Osarseph turned and bowed to the man. “You will join us?” He waved an arm toward the river. On the opposite bank, the glow from a thousand campfires dotted the horizon.

  “No,” Meritaten said. “We will cast our fate to the sea.”

  The old man nodded, then knelt before her. “My brother and I shall carry your deeds close to our hearts. May you live in peace for the life of the star
s.”

  “And you as well, Osarseph. Good-bye.”

  The two men climbed aboard a small raft, pushed into the dark river, and paddled for the opposite bank.

  “Perhaps we should join them?” she whispered.

  “The desert brings nothing but hardship, my love,” Gaythelos said. “More hospitable lands await. We must delay no longer.”

  He led the company along the shoreline, turning away from the vessels at the town’s landing to a trio of boats hidden in the reeds downriver. As they approached, they were challenged by armed sentries, who then guided them aboard one of the boats.

  Meritaten and Gaythelos took a seat on a bench beneath the lone mast as the boat was released from its mooring. Crewmen rowed away from the bank, following the other two vessels to the Nile’s center.

  Meritaten cast an uneasy eye about the boat. It was less than 100 feet long and open-decked, with an upward-curving hull stem and stern. Pots and baskets filled with provisions littered the deck. Soldiers lined the gunwales, most rowing with short oars. The other two boats, veteran merchant ships that had crossed the Mediterranean many times, sat equally low in the water.

  Square mainsails were partially raised and rigged fore and aft for maneuvering as the boats navigated north, propelled by the current. Small oil lamps dangled off the prows, providing faint light to the dark waters ahead. Leaving the city of Memphis in their wake, the boats sailed silently, except for the slap of water against their hulls and the dip of oars into the river.

  Twelve miles downriver, murmurs rippled through the boats. Ahead, a string of lanterns had appeared. It was a vessel moored in the center of the river.

  Meritaten squinted at the illuminated barge. Ropes stretched from it to either shore, to serve as a ferry during daylight hours, while at night it served as a tax station for passing merchant boats. But shouts of alarm from the barge revealed it was prepared this night for more than tax duty.

  “Extinguish the lantern!” called the captain of Meritaten’s boat, a gruff man with a clean-shaven head, and looked to the other boats.

  Too late. All three had been seen. A team of archers assembled on the barge let loose a barrage of arrows.

  Gaythelos shoved Meritaten to the deck. A crewman screamed and grabbed his neck where an arrow had struck.