assisted with this research. Their third shuttle, six years ago, made radio scans of the earth's crust, looking for oil fields and other such pockets. I commissioned a scan of Mount Erebus and found some amazing things.'
He tapped the button, and a cross-sectional diagram of the crust under the volcanic cone appeared on screen. A murmur arose from the crowd. 'As you can see, an intricate cavern system was discovered below Erebus, spreading hundreds of miles.'
He clicked to the next slide. 'Closer investigation with sonar and radar revealed a huge cavern separated from the deepest rift by a mere six hundred meters of stone.' He guided a pointer to show the network of rifts that led to the massive pocket. 'We named this cave Alpha Cavern. Almost five miles in diameter, the cavern floor was plumbed at two miles below the surface of the continent. Almost three times deeper than man has ever stepped foot.'
The next picture showed a group of smiling men, faces encrusted in dirt and dust, posing in front of a large raw-edged hole. 'After three years of work, we blasted and mined our way into this chamber. It took another year to wire and set up a camp on this chamber's floor.' A spot-lighted set of Quonset huts and tents appeared next on the screen. A three-story wooden building protruded from the middle. A second, similar building, a mere skeleton of wooden framing and scaffolding, was under construction. 'Alpha Base,' he noted. 'We worked in secret. Access restricted to those with the proper clearance.'
The next slide caused his audience to gasp. Blakely smiled slightly. 'Ladies and gentlemen, I present a mystery.'
Ashley, who had been rubbing her eyes and yawning, wondering what all this talk of volcanic activity and mining had to do with her, bolted out of her seat. It had to be a hoax. What she saw blew a mile-wide hole in accepted anthropologic theory.
The photograph projected on the screen revealed a spot-lighted section of the cavern wall. Dug into the wall was a network of cliff-dwelling homes, rising several hundred feet up the wall. Unlike the organized Anasazi cliff dwellings she had studied in New Mexico, dwellings with distinct terraces and geometric conformations, these cavern dwellings were more rudimentary, crude, a haphazard series of rough caves.
Blakely continued after the audience's reaction had subsided to a quiet murmur. 'Unfortunately, no one was home'-nervous laughter tickled across the room-'but we discovered a few scattered artifacts.' He clicked through the next series of slides. One of the slides was the diamond fertility figurine.
Ashley was numb as she settled back into her seat. She raised her hand. 'Excuse me, Dr. Blakely.'
He acknowledged her with a wave, then paused to sip from a glass of water.
'Has the site been dated?' she asked.
He swallowed, nodding. 'We did some cursory radio-carbon dating. As near as we can tell, about five-point- two million years.'
'What!' Ashley jumped out of her seat a second time. 'That's impossible.'
'It's been repeated at several labs,' he replied, his smile condescending.
The eyes of the auditorium were now upon her. Some lighting technician even highlighted her with a small spot. She shaded her eyes with a hand. 'But the first hominids, the earliest ancestor of modern man, only appeared on the planet four million years ago. And these early hominids did not have the tools or social structure to build anything like this.'
He shrugged. 'That's why we're here.' He clicked for the next slide: a photograph of a tunnel in the base of the wall. 'These tunnels leave this colossal chamber in many different directions, connecting to other caverns and tunnels. We believe that down one of these passages lie the answers to the questions raised by Professor Carter. Who built the dwellings? Who made the carvings? Where are they now?'
The audience remained stunned, silent. Ashley sat back down, still in shock.
'I have put together a small team to begin that exploration. To venture deeper into the maze of tunnels and discover what else may lie below. The group will be led by Professor Ashley Carter, an expert in paleoanthropology and archaeology. The others on the team are leaders in their respective fields.'
He pointed to a blond-haired woman seated several chairs over from Ashley. 'Accompanying the team will be Professor Linda Furstenburg, a biology professor from the University of Vancouver, to study the unique biosphere we've discovered down there. Also a geologist, Khalid Najmon,' he said with a nod toward an Arab gentleman seated with his legs crossed to Linda's left. 'He, as many of you know, will be assisting us in mapping the riches below Antarctic ice. His findings may alter our view of this continent.'
Blakely finished by pointing out the other two men seated in the front row. 'All the way from Australia, Benjamin Brust, a world-renowned cave explorer, will be mapping the intricacies of this unique cavern system. And that smartly dressed man in the uniform is Major Michaelson of the U.S. Marines, who, with two other trained military men, will be accompanying the team to aid in logistics and protection.'
He waved his arm to encompass the group before him. 'Ladies and gentlemen, here is your team.' A murmur of applause spattered across the crowd.
Ashley tried to sink deeper into her seat.
After some further details were explained and a handful of questions answered, the meeting ended. Satisfied, Blakely left the podium.
In the adjacent room, he sighed and loosened his tie. The first part was over. Roland, who had been his assistant for over fifteen years, entered with the slide tray. Blakely nodded to him.
'That went very well, sir,' Roland said as he boxed the slides. 'The government representatives and your other financial backers seemed very pleased.'
'Yes,' he said with a tired smile. 'I think so too.' He pulled off his jacket and let it drop on a nearby chair. He sat down in another.
Roland placed the slide carousel in a cardboard box. 'No one even suspected there was a previous exploration team.'
He shrugged. 'They have no need for that information right now.'
'But what if-'
'We're much better prepared this time. Don't worry. We won't lose this team.'
FOUR
FOR THE SECOND TIME IN AS MANY MONTHS, ASHLEY stuck her nose in Major Michaelson's face. Even now, outfitted in his dress blues, she recognized the same blue-eyed plastic soldier boy who had escorted Dr. Blakely to her doorstep. 'I don't care if you and your two goons come along with my team,' she said, accosting him just outside the auditorium. 'I want it made perfectly clear right now. This team is
He stood straight, not pulling an inch from her face. 'Ma'am, I have my orders.'
She hated surprises like these. Blakely should have forewarned her that there would be armed escorts accompanying her team. 'This is a scientific mission. Not a military one.'
'As Dr. Blakely explained, we're merely going along for defensive reasons. For safety.'
'Fine,' she said, staring him square in the eyes. 'But you remember, even though you may be carrying the guns, I give the orders. Understood?'
He did not blink, just nodded slightly. 'I have my orders, ma'am.'
She ground her molars, squelching an outburst. What could she do? She stepped back. 'As long as we understand each other.'
'Is there some trouble, ladies?' Ben had appeared at her elbow. He smiled, but there was a tightness to his lips as he eyed the major.
Ashley sensed Ben's edginess, nothing like his earlier casual attitude. Probably isn't too keen on the idea of being surrounded by guns either, she thought. 'No,' she said aloud. 'We're just clearing up a few points.'
'Good. We're going to be buried together for the summer in a hole two miles deep. Let's start out friends.' Ben stuck out a hand toward the officer.
Major Michaelson ignored Ben's hand. 'You do your job, and I'll do mine.' With a nod toward Ashley, the major turned and strode away.
