“Boys, English, please,” Carter said.

His eyes still scanning the screen as Allanon brought up different pieces of information he was able to recover, Burke said, “If they were actually able to create a battery like this, the ramifications would touch nearly every aspect of our lives. We’re talking about world-changing technology.”

“They killed Strom and all those people to steal a big battery?” Nic asked.

Burke turned to his companions, eyes wide with wonder and excitement. He could feel his heart racing and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “Don’t you see what a battery like this could do? First of all, say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. That’s gone the way of the dinosaur because you could drive across the whole country without ever stopping to charge up. Then take it another step. Instead of being connected to the power grid and having power lines crisscrossing our skies and streets, a company comes in with a truck and switches out a box the size of a central air unit that powers your whole house for months.”

Carter nodded. “Something like that would be worth billions.”

“Probably more, and people will kill over a whole lot less than that.”

Allanon’s face went dark, and his eyes narrowed. “But I also learned from the hard drives that these batteries weren’t designed for use by consumers. Number one, they’re too expensive right now. But number two …”

Allanon brought up another set of concept renderings and schematics. This time, the screen didn’t show a revolutionary power source, but a weapon of war.

Chapter 85

Kruger stared out the high-rise window at the dazzling lights of Las Vegas. He knew that the place had once been called Sin City, and it still had its share of debauchery, but most of the attractions had now become more like amusement park rides and scenic vistas. He wondered how many families in South Africa and Mozambique could be fed with only one night’s profits from a single one of the neon monstrosities. Yet, these people would be among the first to call him a monster, to judge his actions.

The window ran from the floor to the ceiling. The floor was carpeted, but the ceiling was still a mass of exposed pipes and wiring. Some of the rooms on this floor had unfinished drywall hung while others were bare studs. Verbeek had told him that before the investors went bankrupt, this casino was to be the third largest on the strip with over 4,000 rooms. It was to be called The Jade Dragon and showcase the wonders of imperial China. He had seen the replicas of the famous terra-cotta army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, in the condemned casino’s massive entry hall, the soldiers lined up as if preparing for a war that would never come.

The room was dark, since they didn’t want to take any chances of alerting someone to their presence. Kruger could see his own reflection in the glass. He felt like one of those terra-cotta statues, already dead, buried in stone for 2,000 years. Everything had gone as planned, but somehow he felt even more dejected than before. The depression felt like weights dragging him down to his knees. A part of him welcomed death, but a more dominant part of him feared it more than anything.