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

by James M. Corkill

  He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone to call Alex, and after four rings, he was asked to leave a message. “This is Wesley. We just had a major event. Call me.”

  *

  POLAR ICE SHEET:

  Brilliant blue light suddenly filled the ice as a bolt of blue lightning shot up from the top of the pyramid, a thunderous crack echoing across the ice. The ice beneath their feet suddenly heaved up, tossing Sonja into the air and driving Tom down against the surface.

  Sonja slammed down onto the ice as the surface shifted in all directions, rolling her toward the edge. “Tom!” she yelled as her legs slid over the edge. She clawed at the ice with the tips of her gloves in a futile attempt to stop sliding over the edge. “Help me!” She screamed.

  Tom tried to stand to run over, but the movement tossed him back down. He rolled onto his hands and knees, desperate to grab one of her hands as she slid farther over the edge. Her face was a mask of terror, her eyes wide, and her mouth open in a silent scream.

  He drove his foot against the runner and shoved with all his might, sliding across the ice and curling his fingers over Sonja’s gloved hand as she slipped over the edge.

  “Nooooo!” He roared, dug his fingertips into her glove, and pulled back with all his strength, but he began to slide across the ice with her. He felt his foot hit the crossbar on the runner, so he curled his ankle around the bar, but their weight and motion threatened to tear his foot away.

  “Aaaaahhhhh!” he screamed against the pain, but kept his foot around the bar.

  Sonja could see the agony on Tom’s face. She gritted her teeth around the glove of her free hand and ripped it away, then swung her arm around with all her strength and grabbed his coat sleeve, struggling to keep from falling two-hundred-feet into the freezing ocean.

  The motion abruptly ceased and Sonja dragged herself over Tom’s shoulder, back onto the surface. She scrambled onto her knees, shoving her shoes against the slick surface, trying to gain traction away from the edge. She released Tom’s coat and pushed herself up off the ice.

  Tom released his foot and rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky while trying to catch his breath.

  Sonja dropped down on her knees beside him, taking deep gulps of air and trying to calm her frazzled nerves. “Are you all right?” she asked between deep breaths.

  Tom stayed on the ice and nodded vigorously. “Yeah. I’m okay. And You?”

  Sonja held his hand. “Yes. Thank you.”

  She remained kneeling next to Tom and stared out across the new ice sheet below, but the end of the new ice sheet was difficult to distinguish from the sky on the horizon.

  Tom noticed her staring into the distance, her mouth slightly open. “What is it?” She pointed south, and Tom rolled onto his knees and followed her gaze. “That’s something you don’t see every day.”

  Sonja looked at Tom and then started to laugh now that her adrenaline level returned to normal.

  Tom sat up and began to laugh with her, and after a few moments, he stood and grabbed her hand to help her up. “Let’s get out of here. Remind me not to use a hammer next time.”

  Sonja nodded, turned to get into the helicopter, and noticed her jar and lid on the ice. She bent down to pick them up, but stopped and turned to look at Tom and pointed at the helicopter’s runner. “Look.”

  Tom looked down at the small mound of ice crystals scrapped from the surface when the helicopter had slid on the ice, and then he looked up and gave her a puzzled expression. “Did I do that?”

  “I don’t know.” She knelt down, scrapped the ice into the jar, closed the lid, and then stood. “You are right. We should leave.”

  Tom walked around the helicopter and climbed into the pilot seat, and once Sonja was seated, he took off and pointed the helicopter toward the CHARS facility.

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  CAVE RANCH, SPARROW VALLEY:

  Robert Cave heard the thumping of small feet running across the wooden back porch just before the kitchen screen door slammed shut and Kristy Cave ran into the living room.

  “I felt an earthquake, grandpa!” Kristy said with the excited enthusiasm of a ten-year-old girl.

  Robert smiled at her tousled blonde hair and the smudge of dirt on her face. “It was just a minor tremor, sweetie. Nothing to worry about.”

  Kristy flopped onto the light brown couch and frowned at the dirt under her fingernails. “That didn’t feel like a tremor and the horses are acting weird, too. We should call Uncle Alex. He knows all about this stuff. How come he never comes around anymore? Is it because you hate him?”

  Robert sighed deeply. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  Kristy stood, walked over to his brown recliner, and put her arms around his neck. She loved the way he smelled and the feel of the stubble on his cheek, but when his salt and pepper hair tickled her nose, she let go to look into his dark blue eyes. “I love you, grandpa. That counts for something, right?”

  Robert gave her a hug. “It sure does. I love you, too.”

  Robert frowned when he heard the roar of a motorcycle coming up the driveway. His eighteen-year-old grandson, Derek, was in turmoil over the loss of his parents and being torn from his friends in the city to live with his grandfather on a ranch only made it worse. Robert was having difficulty balancing guidance and discipline with sympathy when he dealt with Derek’s belligerent attitude.

  “Derek’s home!” Kristy yelled as she ran across the living room and across the kitchen, letting the screen door slam shut behind her. She leapt over the two porch steps onto the ground, and ran to Derek as he stopped the motorcycle in front of the large covered porch. She adored her big brother, but he had changed since their parents were killed. He seemed angry with grandpa all the time and she didn’t understand why.

  “Did you feel that, Derek?” she yelled over the noise of the engine.

  Derek shut the engine off and smiled at his little sister while he removed his helmet. “Feel what?”

  “I don’t know for sure. Grandpa said it was a tremor, but I think it was an earthquake.”

  “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Didn’t you feel the ground move?”

  “No, I was trying to figure out where all the back roads go.”

  Kristy grinned at him. “Who were you with?”

  “I was alone. I always ride alone. Except with you, anyway.”

  “Yeah, right. I saw the way Jessica Parker looked at you in the mall.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “You see too much for your own good.”

  “I told grandpa we should call Uncle Alex. He knows about this stuff.”

  Derek frowned as he hung his helmet on the handlebars and set the kickstand. He was having a hard time deciding how he felt about his uncle. He had not seen him since the funeral in Arizona, and that was under stressful conditions. Robert would not even talk to Alex anymore, but wouldn’t tell him why.

  He swung his leg off the motorcycle, walked with Kristy up the two creaking steps, and into the shade of the back porch. They sat down on a well-worn wooden porch swing hanging from rusty chains and Derek gave them a push. “What did grandpa say?”

  “It just made him sad. He still blames Uncle Alex for mom and dad getting killed.”

  “I know. The cops said it was an accident, so I’m not sure what to believe. Robert won’t even talk to me about it.”

  “If we call Uncle Alex and ask him about the earthquake, he might come out and visit and we could ask him ourselves.”

  He looked over at Kristy and grinned. “Why are you getting so excited about an earthquake? In fact, how do you know what an earthquake feels like? We didn’t have any in Arizona.”

  “I just know what they’re supposed to be like. The ground shakes and everything falls down. Only this one fell up.”

  Derek laughed and leaned back in the swing. “How can something fall up?”

  “The ground pushed
me up, like when I’m in an elevator.”

  Derek stopped smiling and sat up. If Kristy was right, something was very wrong. “When did it happen?”

  “I felt it just before you got here.”

  “Did you explain that to Robert?”

  “He said it’s just a tremor.”

  Derek stood and grabbed Kristy’s hand. “I think we’d better explain it to him. If you’re right, we should call Alex right away.” He followed Christie through the screen door and let it slam behind him.

  Robert frowned and pushed himself out of the recliner. He was getting tired of the kids constantly letting the screen door slam shut. Just because they had lived in the city was no excuse for not obeying his rules. He turned toward the kitchen and stared at his grandkids. “What did I tell you about that screen door?”

  Derek and Kristy stopped and looked at each other, realizing they had forgotten about the door in their excitement. “Sorry, grandpa,” they said simultaneously.

  “Kristy just told me about the earthquake. I really think we should call Alex, grandpa. Something isn’t right about what Kristy told me. You must’ve felt it, too?”

  Robert waved off the idea and turned back to the TV. “It was just a tremor. I’m not going to call Alex about it.” He plopped down into the recliner. “He’s a busy man and we should leave him alone.”

  Derek walked around the recliner to look at him. “You may not want to talk to him, but I do. This is very important and you shouldn’t let your hatred make you blind about the danger.”

  “Fine!” Robert growled. “You talk to him. His number is in the address book on the kitchen counter.”

  Derek turned, stomped into the kitchen, grabbed the address book and cordless phone off the counter, and then stomped out onto the back porch.

  Kristy ran across the kitchen, barely managing to grab the edge of the screen door before it slammed shut. She let out a soft sigh and walked outside. Derek was sitting in the porch swing, looking through the address book, and she stood in front of him and leaned back against the wooden handrail. She could tell by his scowl and his bunched together eyebrows that he was mad at grandpa. They didn’t get along like they did before the accident.

  Derek handed the address book to Kristy. “The old man’s a dinosaur. No cellphone and no computer. Read the number for me so I can dial.”

  Kristy looked at the page for C’s and saw the names of their parents in her grandmother’s writing. They said she had some bad cancer when she passed away two years ago. Now things were different here on the ranch without her. “Here it is. Ask him to come out here, Derek.”

  Derek punched in the numbers and put the phone against his ear. “He’s in Montana, Kristy. He can’t just stop everything he’s doing and come out here. I just hope he knows about this.”

  Derek let the phone ring several times and was told to leave a message. “Alex, this is Derek. The ground is doing some weird things out here, so could you give me a call? I’m at grandpa’s house.” He pressed the end button and looked at Kristy. “He’s not at home. I don’t know what the time difference is, so maybe he’s still teaching.”

  “He’ll come out to see us. You’ll see.”

  Derek stood and handed the phone to Kristy. “Don’t get your hopes up, Kristy.” He walked down the steps and grabbed his helmet from the handlebars. “I’m going for a ride. There’s nothing to do here anyway.”

  Kristy sat on the porch swing and watched Derek drive away. “He’ll come and see us,” she whispered. “I know he will.”

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  THE SUB.

  Okana lay sideways in the darkness with his head and shoulder against the wall. He ran his fingers across the instrument panel, flipped the switch for the emergency lights, and the interior was bathed in red light. “Alex?”

  “I’m okay. I’m glad this thing has seatbelts. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. There’s a circuit breaker panel near your head, on the wall. Try resetting them so we can find out what condition we’re in.”

  Alex pushed his shoulder away from the wall and opened the panel, then flipped the breakers on, one at a time. The first one clicked into place and the main lights came on, the second one clicked on and they could hear a quiet whirring sound, but the third one would not reset, and the fourth one clicked, but nothing happened. “That’s all of them.”

  “Let me try the thrusters.” He wrapped his fingers around the control arm, twisted the handle, and felt the sub rising off the bottom. He pressed the thumb throttle forward and the sub slowly became level in the water. “So far, so good.”

  “I expected this clay pot to shatter when we hit the ground.”

  Okana reached up and touched the knot on his head, just back from the scalp line, and looked up to see Alex in the mirror, but it was gone. He studied the instrument panel, and many of the indicator lights were off. “The carbon dioxide scrubbers aren’t working and only two of the batteries are still connected. She’s tougher than she appears. Okay, we have an hour worth of air left without the scrubbers, but the pressure is holding steady at six atmospheres.”

  Okana slid his headset on and pressed the button. “Can you hear me, Lisa?” His speaker was silent. “Calling the Mystic. Anybody there? Try yours, Alex.”

  Alex felt around the floor, found his set under his seat, and put it on. “Calling Mystic. Do you read?” No one answered. “Mine’s not working, either. Can we get back to the ship?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Okana pushed the control arm forward and they felt the sub moving, but he had to hold the arm slightly to the right to move in a straight line. “We’ve only got one thruster operating, but it should get us back to the surface. It’s just going to take a little longer.”

  “Will we have enough air, or should I hold my breath?”

  “Depends on how long you can hold it. It’s going to be close, so let’s keep the conversation to a minimum.”

  “Wake me when we get close to the surface.”

  *

  THE MYSTIC:

  Lisa paced across the stern deck while the hoist seemed to move in slow motion, bringing the submarine out of the water. It had been over an hour since they had lost contact with Okana and Alex, but a few minutes ago Harrison had seen the white sub bobbing on the surface near the stern, and notified everyone on the intercom. Everyone except Dieter and Harrison ran out onto the stern to watch the retrieval, grateful the sub had come back to the ship. Since the sub was programed to return on its own, if possible, they didn’t know if Alex and Okana were still alive.

  She stopped pacing and stepped out of the way of a trail of water dribbling across the deck as the sub swung around into the storage bracket. Bartram quickly set the ladder against the sub, and a moment later, the hatch opened. Alex and Okana casually climbed out as if nothing had happened. Lisa released the breath she had been holding. “Oh, thank Goodness!”

  After they climbed down, Lisa wanted to throw her arms around Alex’s neck, and saw the blood trickling down around the side of his left eye. “Oh my gosh. What happened to your head?”

  Alex reached up and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead and felt a sticky substance. He looked at the back of his hand and frowned. “I guess I bumped it against something.”

  Rita wrapped her arms around Okana’s neck and pulled him close for a hug. “I was so worried that I’d never see you again.”

  Lisa grabbed Alex’s hand to pull him across the deck. “I have to clean that wound before it gets infected.”

  Alex gently pulled his hand back. “I’m fine, Lisa.”

  Rita let go of Okana and stepped back, and Mike reached out and shook his hand. “You had us worried, Okana. What happened?”

  “The same thing that happened to us, Mike. The blue light flashed and the pressure wave slammed into the sub. We lost one of the thrusters and communication, and the scrubber failed. We barely made it back to the surface.”

 
*

  Dieter stared down at the stern through the rear bridge window. “Damn. They are still alive, Sam.”

  “At least we got the sub back in one piece.”

  “We may not even need the sub. I would rather they did not return at all. I will be in the lounge.” He turned and walked down the inside stairs.

  *

  Joshua shook Okana’s hand, and then Alex’s. “I’ve got the recording set up in the lounge.”

  Alex gave him a nod. “I’m anxious to see it.”

  Everyone followed Joshua into the lounge, where Dieter was casually leaning against the wall. From his expression, Alex could tell Dieter was not happy about something and remained standing while everyone but Lisa sat down at the table.

  Lisa grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen, and then stood next to Alex holding a gauze pad out in front of him. “Bend over so I can clean your wound.”

  Alex wanted to study Dieter and pushed her hand away. “Not now, Lisa. I’m fine.”

  Lisa sat down on a chair and stared up at Alex. Did I do something wrong? She wondered.

  Joshua held the remote control and waited until everyone was ready, then pressed play. The television screen was dark for a moment before they saw the lens easily enter the discolored methane. A few moments later, the lens entered the thick black area and it was obvious the drill was having difficulty punching through. The black material itself seemed to be slowly turning red.

  “Alex and I saw red bubbles boiling out of the hole when that happened.” Okana explained. “Any idea why they were red, Lisa?”

  “Pause that, Josh.” Lisa instructed. “I don’t know, but that black material must be extremely hard. Go ahead, Josh.”

  After several minutes, the lens entered the clear ice, and they could see both sides of the crack in the seafloor as if magnified, just as Lisa mentioned. One thousand-feet below the lens, a grey cylinder was lying horizontally across the bottom of the crack.

  Joshua pressed pause. “I finished writing a new computer program to enhance that cylinder. It’s flat on one end and pointed on the other. The picture may not be perfect, but watch as I bring it up for a closer view.”