“We can get an estimate of its age by judging how deep the rope is embedded within the stalagmite. Looks to be about nine to ten feet in; these things grow at about two millimetres per year, so I reckon that took around ten to twelve thousand years to build up.”
“That sounds about right; there haven’t been any plants like the agave or any of its ancestors here for over ten thousand years,” Matt said, nodding to Aimee. “It could be the brothers again. They could have used the rope to climb down.”
“What brothers? Would you like to share your theories with us, Dr. Kerns?” snorted Silex from the rear of the group.
Matt got to his feet and wiped the dust from his hands. Using both his helmet and hand torch he scanned the near walls; soon enough he found what he was looking for — the seal of the warrior brothers. He turned to Silex. “From what I’ve been able to translate, it seems long ago there was some kind of civilisation here. Before the ice covered everything up it might have been the father and mother of all our civilisations. I think it was being plagued or attacked by something they called the
“Captain. Captain.” Silex was clicking his fingers in the air as though calling a waiter to his table. “Captain Hunter, it’s like trying to read Swiss cheese from up here. You are going to have to get us down lower so we can obtain better readings. Thank you, Captain, that’s all.” Tank snorted and Mike looked at his brother and winked.
Alex ignored Silex and walked past him a few paces into the darkness. Alex could sense them now; several of them were coming fast the way they had just come. If not Benson, then who? He closed his eyes and tried to picture the tunnels in his mind.
When Alex had been talking to Hammerson about his strange new abilities the Hammer had given him a copy of a secret naval report titled “Anomalous Cognition in Marine Mammals.” The navy had been using dolphins for all manner of experiments since the 1950s due to their uncanny ability to predict or sense danger. The scientific basis was that their unique brains could pick up everything from electromagnetic disturbances to sensitive seismic vibrations long before other animals. Hammerson’s inference was clear; he believed Alex was developing this ability. Alex opened his eyes; there they were. Their presence became clearer — four of them, no three, but one of them large. Alex made a decision.
“Ms. Jennings, can you get us down there quickly?”
Monica had been leaning far out over the edge, shining her torch along the wall to the cave floor. “It’s a basin. A piece of cave floor that has dropped due to ancient volcanic activity or from water passing over softer material. More likely water by the look of how the cave floor down there has been smoothed and the walls are surrounded by more cave exits. No problem. A straight drop by harness rope; all down in thirty minutes. OK?”
“Make it twenty minutes and drinks are on me.” Alex turned away from Monica and called Tank, Takeda and Mike in close. “We’ve got company, only about an hour out. Not sure if they’re hostile, but just in case I don’t want to be caught here with our back to this drop, or at the base of the cliff. We drop down, get under cover and take one final look for Johnson and the Hendsen party. Be alert but stay cool; we don’t want a stampede down here.”
None of the HAWCs asked how Alex knew about the contact; it didn’t matter, his judgment and orders were final.
The creature waited. Its great spread-out mass could feel the light footsteps of the little warm bloods through the miles of stone. It sensed more of them moving towards the larger group. It moved upwards once again in anticipation of the attack.
Twelve
Monica had them all on the lower cave floor within twenty minutes. The area was a cavern junction system where many caves fed into the large lower cathedral where they now stood. Alex moved them briskly out of the open area of the cavern floor and to the south. His equipment told him he was now nearly a mile under the rock and ice and this was as low as he was prepared to go.
Alex ordered Mike to scout further down the main cave to provide forward cover and some initial recon for any further Hendsen party clues. He didn’t expect to find anyone alive, especially not Lieutenant Johnson. He knew a HAWC would only release his gun when he was dead, and even then under protest. Against his better judgment, he allowed Matt Kerns to accompany Mike so he could satisfy his curiosity in regards to any archaeological artifacts in the lower caves. However, he told the young archaeologist that the HAWC was authorised to shoot him if he disobeyed his instructions.
“Phew, it’s getting hot now,” said Margaret Anderson, wiping a sheen of perspiration from her cheeks and forehead.
“Not really,” said Monica. “Heating up, sure, but it’s still only about forty degrees down here. Unfortunately, our suits are thermally lined and we weren’t expecting anything much above freezing.”
“Well, it feels like a hundred degrees in this suit. We didn’t bring a lot of water and with the low humidity and unexpected heat, fluid loss is going to start to be a problem.” The medic was right; Alex knew he needed to watch the liquid consumption.
Over to the side of the group, Alex watched Silex wrench a sheet of clear material from a flat electronic device he had set up on the floor of the cave basin. He balled it up and threw it angrily into the dark. He watched as Monica put her hands on her hips and glared at him with an ill-disguised contempt for his defilement of the pristine cave environment. Silex typed furiously onto a miniaturised keyboard, all the while shaking his head at the results on the small screen.
Alex noticed Aimee standing slightly back from the lead scientist. She was watching him with a look of concern on her face and he walked silently over to join her. “What’s his problem?”
“That device is Silex’s own design — the supposed next generation of stratigraphic imaging technologies. Where most stratigraphs give you an interpretation of the different densities and morphologies of the stone and can highlight petroleum beds, they still have a high degree of uncertainty. Dr. Silex thinks he has solved the uncertainty equation by generating high-resolution seismic images using a form of spectral decomposition. Theoretically, if there’s an oil reservoir, it’ll be displayed in 3D with colour-coded rock morphologies, depth and even the reservoir target boundaries — degree of uncertainty: point zero zero one five.” Aimee could see some of the jargon was being lost on Alex, so she broke it down further.
“Have you ever seen an ultrasound picture? Well, imagine that grainy, black-and-white image sitting next to a high-resolution colour photograph. According to Dr. Silex, that will be the clarity differential.”
“Looks like there are still a few bugs.” Alex nodded at Silex who again screwed up another piece of the clear film paper and squeezed it in his fist.
Aimee looked up at Alex and nodded slightly. “Maybe. Mining and oil exploration is a multi-trillion-dollar business; that device could be worth billions. He really needs a successful field test.” She shook her head and her eyes softened slightly. “I can’t help him. I can determine the purity of any reservoir, its approximate biological decomposition age and even calculate its potential yield. But we’ve got to find it first. That’s Dr. Silex’s job.”
Alex looked back at Silex in time to see him throw another ball of paper into the gloom. This time Monica set her jaw and headed towards him. Alex groaned and excused himself from Aimee. He moved quickly to head Monica off.
Alex and Monica arrived at the same time Silex was pulling another sheet of paper from his imager. He looked up, and as Alex expected only saw the HAWC’s large frame. He came quickly to his feet.
“We need to get deeper, Captain.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Silex, we’re around a mile down; that’s as deep as I feel we can safely go. Might not feel like it
