The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set

by James M. Corkill

  “All right. I’ll tell Discovery to get started.”

  * * *

  Chapter 9

  SEATTLE FEDERAL BUILDING. USGS HEADQUARTERS:

  Patrick Chandler lightly tapped his knuckles on the window of Sharon’s office and waited until she looked up from reading the morning reports. “You’re not going to believe this. Patterson’s on line three, and will only talk to you.”

  Sharon waved Patrick into the room and pressed the button for the phone speaker. “Hello, Wesley.”

  “Was that Chandler who answered?”

  “Yes. He’s listening to us.”

  “Tell him to leave.”

  Sharon looked up at Chandler’s stunned expression. “Can I ask why?”

  “Mount Saint Helens.”

  “That was a long time ago, Wesley. He admitted to his mistake. Haven’t you ever made a wrong decision?”

  “Not when people’s lives are at stake. That’s the only reason I’m calling.”

  Chandler leaned across the desk to the phone. “Okay, I made a wrong decision. I’m sorry.”

  “Fine. Just shut up and listen. There is a research ship conducting an experiment sixty-miles west of Vancouver Island, and they might know what happened. I’m working with Alex Cave, and he’s on it right now.” He explained about the seismometer jumping off the paper and his theory about the tectonic plate movement. “Baker and Rainier are showing some activity because of those events, Sharon.”

  Chandler shook his head at Sharon and leaned across the desk. “That’s impossible, Patterson. Nothing can create that much force and we didn’t detect any activity on the mountains. This Cave person, what’s his background and why should we trust him?”

  “Good bye, Sharon.”

  Sharon turned off the phone and stared up at Chandler. “You’re an idiot, Patrick. I called Mister Cave and asked for his help. You said it yourself. You don’t have any idea why these seismic events are so precise and do so much damage for their size.”

  “I know, but you can’t believe a crazy theory like that could really be possible, do you?”

  “Unless you can give me a better explanation, I’m not going to dismiss his idea. I just hope he calls me back after Mister Cave returns from the ship.”

  *

  MYSTIC:

  Okana stood from the table. “This might take a while, Alex. Let’s go out on deck and reminisce.”

  Alex stood and followed Okana out of the lounge and along the walkway to the stern, and they stopped next to the hoist and stared out across the water. The cool breeze off the water felt nice compared the heat on the mainland.

  “Sorry to hear about your brother and his wife, Alex. Donner let me read the file.”

  “I just hope it’s over. My nephew and niece are staying at my father’s place. The ranch is registered under my mom’s maiden name, Parker, so hopefully the Russians don’t know anything about it.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  Alex slowly shook his head. “After what I did in Russia, I’ve lost all my connections. Donner promised to let me know if anything comes up.”

  “I still have contacts in the agency. I’ll check around.”

  “You’ve always had my back, Okana. If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know.”

  “You could tell me what really happened during the Dead Energy operation.”

  Suddenly Alex thought about what Menno Simons had told him that night in the Nevada desert and looked at Okana. “I just had the craziest idea you could ever imagine. How long until you start drilling?”

  “I don’t know. I’m new here. Mike hired me two months ago.”

  “What do you know about the crew?”

  “I did some checking and Mike seems to be all right. He doesn’t care about money. He just likes the research his wealth gives him. Lisa comes from a modest background and doesn’t have a criminal record. Joshua spent some time in therapy for temper management, but other than a few bar scuffles, he’s never been in much trouble. Our first mate is just an old sea dog, and from what little records exist, he’s spent most of his life on ships traveling the world. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the deckhand’s background, but our Captain has me a little worried. His background is too clean. Someone has created it for him. So what’s this crazy idea of yours?”

  Before he could answer, Alex noticed the tall woman dressed in faded blue jean shorts and a tight fitting white tank top walking in their direction. Her damp red hair hung in natural curls to just above her shoulders.

  Okana turned to see what Alex was looking at. “That’s our mechanic, Rita Harrow.”

  Rita had just finished a shower and returned to the lounge, and heard Lisa talking about their new guest. She smiled warmly and reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Rita Harrow, Mr. Cave.”

  Alex accepted. “Just Alex, will do.”

  “I understand you study rocks,” she said jokingly.

  “Don’t let her fool you, Alex. She has a Master’s degree in electronics and mechanical engineering. She’s also our mechanic.”

  “I must say, Ms. Harrow. You’re the prettiest grease monkey I’ve ever seen.”

  The trio smiled and turned in unison when they heard footsteps coming their way. Lisa, Mike, and Dieter were walking in their direction.

  When Lisa saw Rita standing with the men, she positioned herself next to Alex so Rita understood her intentions.

  Mike did the introduction. “This is our Captain, John Dieter.”

  Alex held out his hand, but Dieter hesitated before accepting and he could sense that Dieter was not happy to have him on the ship.

  Mike noticed Dieter’s reaction and wondered why, but let it drop. “The Discovery will be in position to send down the drill head in three hours. Once Celeas anchors the drill head above the methane, I’m going to send down our experimental high-pressure steam drill. It’s similar to an ice core drill, but we send steam down to melt the ice for an optical lens. We’ll be able to see the picture from the Discovery in Lisa’s laboratory.”

  “Who’s Celeas?” Alex asked.

  “She’s our robotic workaholic on the Discovery,” Rita told him. “It’s an unmanned prototype I designed for underwater research. She is similar to the rovers I designed here, on the Mystic, but she is much larger and more powerful. We can attach a variety of tools for working deep underwater, and she’s remotely controlled from the ship, using the new technology developed for the ultrasound system, so she doesn’t need a long control cable.”

  Alex walked over to the white submarine in the brackets on the left side of the stern. Two mechanical arms were folded back along its length and four high intensity lights were attached to the front, above the clear bubble shaped window. “What’s this one do?”

  Okana followed him. “This is my baby. She can hold two people and we use it for observation and investigation to collect samples. Mike and I were in her when we were tossed along the ocean floor.” He looked over at Mike. “Mind if I take Alex down with me to watch the drilling?” Mike gave him a nod.

  “Not at all. He should find it interesting.”

  Okana looked at Alex and grinned. “You’re going to enjoy this. We’ll wait until Celeas is done setting the drill head in place, and then we’ll go down to watch.”

  “I missed breakfast. Do you have a snack machine?”

  “I can make you something from the kitchen,” Lisa offered.

  Alex gave her a nod, then followed her across the deck and into the ship.

  Rita put her hand on Okana’s shoulder. “I think she has a crush on your friend.”

  Dieter stared at Cave’s back until he disappeared into the ship, and then looked at Okana. “Your friend sounds like an educated man. What is his profession?”

  Okana could sense that Dieter was not happy about Alex joining the crew and was searching for information. “He teaches geology at a college.”

  Dieter locked stares with Okana. He was the Captain on th
is ship and Okana was just another new employee who needed to be under his command. The moment dragged on, but Okana did not even blink. He decided to find out more about this geology teacher from his contact on the mainland. He turned and walked across the deck to the stairs, and up to the bridge.

  Mike thought this might happen. From the little time he had spent with Okana in San Diego, he was a man that would not be intimidated. He noticed Okana still staring at Dieter’s back. “Well, Okana. In a little while we’ll be able to see what that mysterious object is at the bottom of the ice.”

  Okana looked down at Mike and gave him a nod. “What’s up with Dieter?”

  “He thinks he’s in charge. Don’t worry about it. Let’s find out what’s in the ice.”

  An hour later, Alex followed Okana up the ladder, to the top of the sub, and they climbed down inside. Alex closed the hatch, sat in the seat behind Okana, and fastened his seat belt. Five minutes later, they were in the water.

  Alex felt the rear thruster pushing the sub forward, and for the moment, there was nothing to see as they followed the flexible, six-inch diameter orange hose for the optical drill down to the ocean floor.

  *

  CHARS:

  The increased size of the ice sheet was affecting the weather patterns in northern Canada and eastern Siberia, and speculation about the ice sheet had spread quickly throughout the facility. Everyone was contacting their various countries, asking for assistance to figure out how something of this magnitude could be possible. So far, no one had a plausible explanation, although several physicists were grandstanding their egos with wild conjecture.

  Sonja and Tom had left the facility nearly an hour ago in order to fly to the southern end of the ice sheet to collect a sample of the strange clear ice, and could see the pyramid in the distance.

  Tom glanced over at Sonja. “Is it my imagination, or has that pyramid moved farther south?”

  Sonja stared into the distance at the ice pyramid, and the angle of the sun was shining down through the ice like a prism. She noticed a dark area, deep beneath the surface, and directly below the top of the pyramid, but as they drew closer to the top, the angle changed and the dark area was gone. “What is our current GPS location compared to the last time we were here?”

  Tom looked down at the instrument panel. “I was right. The pyramid is over three-hundred-miles farther south than the last time we were here. It must be moving when the ice on the northern end expands and forces it further south.”

  Tom continued flying south and they flew past the red and white cargo ship locked in the ice, and it appeared to be deserted.

  Sonja nodded through the front window. “Once the ice stopped rising out of the ocean, those people on the cargo ship did not freeze to the surface, so we should be okay to land without getting stuck again.”

  Tom hoped Sonja was right as he cautiously set down on the southern edge of the ice sheet and brought the engine speed down to idle. When she reached for the door handle, he reached over and placed his hand on her arm. “Be careful, just to be sure.”

  Sonja opened the door and felt the freezing wind flowing across the ice sheet. She cautiously touched the ice with the tip of her shoe, quickly pulled it back, and smiled at Tom. “I will be fine.”

  She stepped down onto the runner of the helicopter and across the ice, to the edge, and looked down. The wall of ice dropped straight down into the ocean, two-hundred-feet below. She stepped back, pulled a plastic jar from her pocket, and removed the lid, then knelt down to use the lid to scrape some of the ice into the jar. The ice was so hard, the plastic lid just slid along the surface without leaving a scratch on the surface.

  She stood, walked back to the helicopter, and leaned in past the open door. “The ice is exceptionally hard, Tom. I need a knife.”

  Tom climbed out and opened one of the storage doors. He dug around in a small plastic toolbox and found a small hammer. He knelt down and banged it against the surface, but it bounced up without leaving a mark. “What the hell is this stuff, Sonja?”

  “Try it again.”

  Tom raised the hammer above his head and slammed it down onto the surface.

  * * *

  Chapter 10

  THE SUB:

  “Nice job you have, Okana. What’s up with you and Rita?”

  “Just friends, for now. It’s not a good idea to have a relationship with someone you work with. Especially when living on this ship so much.” He glanced up at the rear view mirror and saw the sad expression in Alex’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

  “That’s okay. And you’re right. Sevi would be alive and on some photographic assignment right now if we hadn’t fallen in love.”

  “I’m just glad it was me who managed to extract you from Russia. Our orders were to stop you, period. Some of our people would have shot you on sight.”

  “In that case, I’m glad, too.” He glanced around the inside, at the exterior walls, and the coating appeared to be glazed on, not painted. “How deep does this thing go?”

  “It’s rated at six-thousand-feet, but I sure as hell don’t want to test it.”

  “I don’t recognize this material on the walls. Some new metal alloy?”

  “No, the pressure hull is ceramic.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Welcome to the New World, my friend.”

  Alex grinned and lightly shook his head. “Great. I’m diving to the bottom of the ocean in a clay pot.”

  Okana looked at Alex’s reflection in the mirror. “We’re coming up on the drill head. Take a look.”

  Alex leaned forward and around Okana’s chair to stare through the front window. The lights illuminated a two-foot thick, by six-foot-diameter stainless steel disk on top of the massive slab of methane. Four separate one-inch steel cables were attached to the outside of the disk, and looked like long black spider legs disappearing into the darkness. The orange tube was attached to the hole in the middle of the heavy steel disc, and he noticed it swaying with the current, flattened in some areas. “Is the tube supposed to be flat?”

  “The tube is just a guide for the steam drill and fiber optic cable. It’s full of sea water, so the pressure is equal to the outside, so the tube won’t collapse under the pressure.”

  They heard a voice in their headphones. “Okana, this is Lisa. How do you read?”

  “Loud and clear. How’s the picture?”

  “Your camera is good. I can see the transmission from the fiber optic lens, so we’re ready to start melting the ice. Are you sure you want to stay down there? You won’t be able to see the pictures from the lens.”

  Okana looked in the mirror at Alex. “I’d like to stay down until I’m sure the drill head and optical lens are working properly.”

  “I’m fine. This is exciting compared to my usual work day.”

  “We’ll stay for a while, to make sure everything goes as planned, Lisa.”

  “Okay. We’re starting the steam now.”

  From their point of view in the sub, the only noticeable changes were the white bubbles wobbling up out of the methane. The bright white light from the optical cable was reflecting through the methane ice like a prism, putting on a light show on the outside edges, similar to the illuminated end of a glass rod.

  “Hey guys. What does it look like down there?” Lisa asked.

  “Everything looks okay.” Okana answered.

  “I’m starting to go through that dark material.”

  Alex and Okana noticed the light in the ice begin to flicker and then tumbling red bubbles boiled out from the methane around the drill head. It lasted several minutes before the red bubble stopped and the white bubbles reappeared.

  “It just punched through and the ice is so clear I can see the object down at the bottom. It’s a long cylinder, but I’ll need to go deeper to determine the size. It appears to be gray in color. Probably some type of metal.”

  Alex covered his headset microphone with his hand and leaned forward, close to
Okana’s ear. “Remember that crazy idea I told you about? It may not be so crazy after all.”

  Okana glanced over his shoulder. “Okay, I’m waiting. Tell me about it.”

  Blinding blue light suddenly flashed in front of the submarine for a fraction of a second, both men blinking furiously to clear their vision.

  When the pressure wave slammed into the sub, the front window became vertical before flipping upside down. The seat belts dug painfully into their waists, keeping them from smashing into the ceiling. The sub flipped end over end above the seafloor as the wave carried them away from the drill head.

  Okana struggled to regain control, but the thrusters could not overcome the power of the wave and the sub kept tumbling.

  Alex grabbed the back of Okana’s seat with both hands as he was hurled forward against the back of Okana’s chair. The sub hit the ground and his shoulder slammed against the wall. The sub began tumbling in every direction, and Alex was tossed from side to side, with only the seatbelt to keep him from being tossed out of the chair.

  The front window suddenly slammed down onto the seabed and the lights blinked. Alex’s head bounced off the video screen on the back of Okana’s chair, and then the sub slowly leaned over onto its side in a billowing cloud of silt.

  *

  THE CABIN:

  Wesley was watching the news reports and footage from the rescue efforts in the islands when he felt his recliner rise up and down a fraction of an inch. Suddenly the alarm for the seismometers in the barn began beeping. “Oh, crap!”

  He leapt out of the chair, ran through the kitchen and out the back door, and across to the barn. He yanked the door open and ran to his desk, and remained standing as he used the mouse to zoom in on the readout from the seismograph. The needle had jumped off the paper again, but this time the gap was nearly one quarter-inch-long. He heard two separate beeps and changed the picture to his sensors from Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier. The lines on the readouts started as small wavy lines, which increased to two-inches-wide before tapering back to zero. “Oh, crap,” he whispered.