Celtic Empire
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
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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.