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

by James M. Corkill

  Jessica didn’t climb inside, and watched him walk across the parking lot to his motorcycle. Why is he treating me this way? She wondered.

  When she heard the motorcycle engine roar to life, she climbed into the mustang and followed him down to the street. A few blocks farther, she saw the sheriff’s patrol car parked in front of the restaurant. She parked beside Derek’s motorcycle, climbed out, and grinned at him. “I told you.”

  They noticed the advertisement for the track meet tomorrow as they walked through the doorway, and when the bell tinkled, the three people inside turned to look at them. The sheriff was sitting at a table with the town’s Mayor, and Molly Moran, the owner.

  Molly stood from the table. “What can I get for you guys?”

  Derek started to speak, but Jessica cut him off.

  “I’m here to talk to you, Uncle Arnie. You need to cancel the track meet tomorrow. In fact, you should evacuate the valley.”

  Arnie and the Mayor laughed. “Are you insane, Jessica? What for?”

  “The dam is going to break and flood the valley.”

  Derek watched the Sheriff and the Mayor grin at each other. “When that dam breaks, it could kill everyone at the track meet, Sheriff.”

  Arnie studied Derek’s demeanor, he seemed sincere. “What do you know about it, Derek?”

  “I’m a friend of Wesley Patterson, Sheriff. He said the glaciers are melting, and the dam may not hold it back.”

  Arnie looked up at Jessica. “I can’t just cancel the games without some major repercussions, Jessica. Not on the word of a crazy old hermit.”

  Derek’s hands clenched into fists. “He knows what he’s talking about, Sheriff. He’s working with my Uncle Alex.”

  Arnie slouched in his chair. “Did he say when it would happen?”

  Derek knew where this was leading. “Just an estimate.”

  “Does that include today?”

  “Okay, but at least you’re aware of it now, so if you don’t do anything it’s your fault!”

  Arnie sat up and turned his back to Derek. “See you at the games tomorrow, Derek. Jessica.”

  Derek felt his fingernails digging into his palms as he fought hard to keep his anger in check. “Don’t just dismiss what I’m telling you, Sheriff. Haven’t you felt the earthquakes? You could be putting people’s lives in danger.”

  Jessica could tell that Derek was not going to back down. “You should get your head out of your butt, Uncle Arnie, and cancel the track meet.”

  Arnie and the Mayor laughed, and then Arnie turned back to Derek. “I’m not canceling the games on the word of that crackpot hermit.”

  Jessica saw the look in Derek’s eyes, and it scared her a little. “Let’s go, Derek.” She grabbed his arm to guide him out into the parking lot, but he jerked it away.

  “He’s not a crackpot, he a volcanologist. He’s been studying this mountain for years and he knows what he’s talking about. Haven’t you been listening to the news? Mount Baker is becoming active because of the earthquakes.”

  “Those earthquakes are not even close to us, Derek.”

  “Wesley knows what he’s talking about, you idiot! He cares about all those people that will be at the track meet. He’s trying to stop it from happening, not sitting around in restaurant acting like a pompous jerk.”

  Arnie stopped grinning and stood from the table, glaring at Derek.

  Derek saw the anger in the sheriff’s eyes, but wasn’t about to be intimidated. He glared back as he pulled his shoulders back and forced his chest out defiantly toward the sheriff.

  Arnie had seen that look before from the only person who defied his authority, and his face flushed in anger. “You had better leave before I lose my temper, Derek.”

  Jessica could see that Derek was not going to back down and put her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go, Derek. We’re going to be late for our next class.”

  Molly could tell this was not going to end well without some intervention and stepped between them, facing the sheriff. “Your burger is ready, Sheriff. Have a seat and I’ll bring it right out.”

  Arnie gave her a nod and sat down, but his jaw clenched in anger at the defiance from another member of the Cave family.

  Jessica grabbed Derek’s hand. “That’s all we can do for now, Derek. Let’s go.”

  Derek slowly turned, glaring back at the sheriff until Jessica pulled on his hand, and then he looked away and followed her out of the restaurant.

  “We’re going to be late, Derek. I’ll follow you back to the school.”

  “You go ahead. I need to go for a ride to clear my head. I’ll see you later.”

  Jessica knew it would be useless to argue with him right now. “All right. I’ll talk to the principal about it. He married into our family, too, so maybe he’ll listen to me. I’ll see you back at the school.”

  Derek climbed onto his motorcycle and started the engine, then gunned it and squealed the rear tire defiantly for the sheriff’s benefit as he drove away.

  Jessica watched him race down the road and was worried about the ramifications of his confrontation with her uncle Arnie. The only other person that acted that way toward the sheriff was his grandfather, and they fought all the time, but he was an adult and had lived here most of his life. Derek was a newcomer to the valley, and now uncle Arnie had a reason to harass him whenever he wanted. Sure uncle Arnie was a conceited son of a bitch, but he was still the sheriff.

  * * *

  Chapter 33

  DISCOVERY:

  Carl had been sitting in the recliner for over an hour as he concentrated on the image in his visor, showing the two mechanical arms illuminated by the lights on Celeas. He woke up early knowing he would have to bring new cables down to anchor the drill head and it would be very time consuming.

  He attached the orange hose to the drill head, above the clear ice, and he was done. He loved his robotic girlfriend, and smiled proudly as he set her on automatic hover.

  He pulled his hands free of the controls and reached up to remove his visor, then looked up at his three teammates. “Ready when you are, Doctors.”

  The four of them stood and walked out to the stern deck, then stopped to look over the railing, into the hole. Ten-feet below, two people stood on a three-foot-wide walkway around the inside of the opening. They disconnected the nearest coupling on the orange hose, attached it to a guide cable, and then climbed out of the hole. The supervisor standing at the railing pressed the control button and a thick metal iris slowly closed around the hose connection.

  The supervisor looked over at Carl, waiting for instructions, and when Carl nodded to proceed, he began the process of inserting the optical cable and the steam line down through the hose.

  Carl looked at the three doctors. “The lens and the steamer are on the way, and we should see the ice in about fifteen minutes. I missed breakfast, so I’m going to grab something to eat.” He turned and walked back into the ship.

  Janice slipped her arm around Henry’s. “Let’s get some coffee before we go back to work.”

  Henry smiled and put his hand over hers. “Very kind of you.”

  Victor slowly shook his head as he watched them walk through the doors. They don’t have any concept of discipline, he thought.

  Twenty minutes later, Carl, Henry, and Janice returned to the observation room and found Victor leaning against the window with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

  “None of you have any concept of the time restraints we’re under,” Victor snarled. He stood and pointed at the recliner. “Get in that chair and do your job, Mister Gregory.”

  Janice and Henry were stunned by Victor’s outburst, and looked over at Carl.

  Carl glanced over at Janice and Henry before staring at Victor. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack, Victor. You need to learn to chill out once in a while.”

  Victor’s shoulders sagged and he nodded at Carl. “I’m sorry, Carl. You just don’t understand the pressure I’m unde
r for the success of this mission.”

  Carl nodded, sat down in the recliner, and then put on the visor and slipped his hands around the controls. “Here we go.”

  Carl felt pressure from the recliner against his shoulders and the image from Celeas on his headset showed he was backing away from the drill head. “You can start the steam.”

  Henry, Janice, and Victor stared at the two video screens in the observation room. One screen was the picture from Celeas, showing the progress of the melting ice being ejected into the ocean, they could see the difference in salinity as the clear water began mixing with the salt water. The other picture was from the optical lens next to the steam nozzle, at the bottom of the orange hose.

  Victor was controlling the depth of the steam and the lens with a joystick type handle and could move them in any direction as the steam melted the ice.

  Suddenly, both video screens changed. The one from Celeas showed large white bubbles boiling up around the bottom of the drill head, and the one from the optical lens showed fast moving clear liquid rushing past the lens as the ice began to melt.

  Victor slowly increased the depth and watched the readout on the upper right edge of the video screen. When the readout showed three-feet in depth, he rotated the lens to check the progress. A three-foot-diameter bowl had been melted into the ice.

  Janice grabbed Henry’s hand. “It’s working just like we planned. At this rate, we should reach the device in six hours.”

  “I hope you two are watching how I do this,” Victor told them. “One of you will need to trade with me in a little while.”

  Janice looked over at him. “You make it sound so difficult. You’re always so serious, Victor. Take Carl’s advice and lighten up a little.”

  Victor looked up from his video screen. “I have to be serious, since neither of you realize the scope of what we need to accomplish.”

  “Everything looks good from here,” Carl informed them. “I don’t know if you can see it, but the anchor block is floating up from the water pressure of the melting ice. The cables appear to be holding it in place without any problems.”

  Victor looked up from the video screen. “This is going to take some time. The rest of you might as well go relax and relieve me in a couple of hours.”

  Carl set Celeas on automatic and removed his visor. “I’ll keep you company, Victor. Let me know when you need a break.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  Janice slid her arm around Henry’s. “You haven’t seen the view from the top of the ship yet. Let’s leave this to these young people and go for a walk.”

  “I saw the view when Carl brought me here, but I did not take the time to enjoy it. That would be nice.”

  *

  Five hours later, when Henry and Janice walked into the observation room, Victor was still holding the control handle for the steam line. Carl had offered to relieve him an hour ago, but he refused, stating he didn’t trust anyone else to do it correctly.

  Janice turned her head close to Henry’s ear. “I think he’s enjoying himself.”

  Victor could see their reflections on the video screen. “I heard that. I’m almost to the device. Take a look.”

  Henry sat in front of the video screen, with Janice looking over his shoulder, and could see the device another two-hundred-feet below the lens.

  Janice went over to the recliner. “How are you holding up, Carl?”

  Carl was watching the two video screens on the wall straight ahead, in case he needed to take control of Celeas.

  He smiled up at Janice and accepted the fresh cup of coffee she offered. “Everything looks good.” He nodded at the picture from Celeas. “Victor is doing a great job. The hole down through the ice is thirty-feet-wide. That leaves plenty of room to bring the device to the surface.”

  Henry was getting a strange intuition about what might happen and swung his chair around. “Excuse me, everyone. I think we should stop for a while. We have made great progress, but we need to step back and think about this before we do something wrong.”

  Victor looked at Henry and shook his head. “We can’t stop now. We’re almost there. If it starts to freeze the water again, we’ll have to start over.”

  “I’m sorry, Victor, but I must insist that we stop.”

  “You’re not in charge, Henry. I am. We keep going.”

  Henry stood up next to Victor. “Mister Donner assigned this task to me, Victor. I am in charge. I insist that you stop.”

  Victor jerked his head around to face Henry, and was about to argue the point.

  Henry put his hand on Victor’s shoulder. “You have been at this a long time, Victor. We know how to melt the ice again. I think you need a break.”

  Victor sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You’re right. I’m just worried that we might not get it out in time.”

  “I know, I will call Alex and tell him about our progress. Maybe he has some good news.”

  Victor moved the optical lens to the center of the hole and pointed it down at the device, and then stood. “I’m going to the kitchen to get something to eat.”

  Carl did not know how long it would be before they would start again, so he instructed Celeas to come home and followed the group out of the room. Halfway along the corridor, Victor turned into the dining area and Carl continued with Henry and Janice to the conference room.

  Henry sat at the end of the table and looked in his notebook for Alex’s number, then pressed the buttons and turned on the speaker. After ten rings, he pressed the end button and looked over at Janice and Carl. “That was his satellite phone number, so he must be out of range, on the ice cap.”

  Carl shook his head. “No, the satellites can reach anywhere on the planet. There has to be another reason. I’m sure he checks his cellphone voice messages, so tell him to call you.”

  “Good idea.” Henry left the message, and then stood. “Let us join Victor and discuss our options.” When Janice and Carl stood, he led them out of the room and down the hallway to the dining room.

  * * *

  Chapter 34

  THE MYSTIC:

  Rita heard Okana yelling at Dieter and ran up the stairs to find out what was going on. By the time she arrived, Alex and Okana were glaring at him. “What happened?”

  Alex nodded at Dieter. “The captain has been holding out on us. He nearly got us killed trying to recover the device from the ice sheet, when he knew there is another device. He was just explaining that he wants to show it to us. Isn’t that right, Dieter?”

  Dieter knew he didn’t have much choice and nodded at Rita. “That is correct. If all of you will follow me down to the lounge, I will play it for you.”

  “Where are we headed, Dieter?” Okana demanded.

  “Set a course back to the Aleutian islands.”

  Okana looked south, across the water, but could not tell if there were any more slabs of ice ahead of them. He walked into the bridge, entered the coordinates into the computer, set the thruster speed to slow ahead, and then looked out through the doorway. “Let’s go, Dieter.”

  Alex and Rita followed Dieter into the bridge and down the stairs, Okana followed them down and into the lounge.

  A moment later, Mike walked into the lounge and looked around, with the others right behind him. “What’s going on?” Mike asked.

  “Dieter is going to show us a movie, Mike.” Alex told him. “He knows where we can find another device.”

  Mike gave Dieter a questioning stare. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We barely escaped that ice sheet and I was almost killed, John. What were you thinking?”

  “I did not know that would happen, Mike. We were not supposed to make it past the islands, but the professor ruined my plans by saving us from the pirates. If anyone is to blame, it is him.”

  Okana’s face flushed as he stomped across the room, and he would have driven his fist into Dieter’s face if Alex hadn’t stepped in his way. “You heard him, Alex. Let’s take his movie and I’ll th
row him over the stern.”

  “Not yet, my friend. Let’s find out what he’s not telling us first.”

  Dieter looked around at the expectant faces. “Last year, I was working in the Netherlands and discovered information about my grandfather. He was a Nazi opportunist and captain of a German U-boat. Evidently, he had smuggled large amounts of precious metals and gems out of the Netherlands before the end of the war and was never heard from again. I paid a very large sum of money to obtain this movie that will show us the location where he hid his plunder.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Alex told him. “What has that got to do with finding the device?”

  Dieter reached into his coat pocket and brought out the plastic case. “In this movie, you can see one of the devices on the same island where he hid his treasure.”

  When Okana reached out to take the plastic case, Dieter gave him a wry grin and slowly held it out to Joshua.

  Joshua yanked the case from Dieter’s hand, glaring at him before walking to his desk and inserting the disk into the player. He turned on the television and pressed play.

  The television screen was white for a few seconds, and then the movie began. It was like watching a director’s cut of a major motion picture. The camera was focused on a small island protruding above the surface in a vast expanse of ocean. The screen turned white again, and then the camera zoomed in on a large ‘V’, in the top of the island, about fifty-feet in front of the ship. The white screen appeared, and then the sound came on as the movie showed two men standing at the railing of a small cargo ship, next to the wheelhouse. A slender man was wearing a dark brown leather jacket and a white captain’s hat, and the other man wore a German officer’s uniform.

  ___* * *___

  Captain Jim Burk turned to face the German Officer. “Damn it, Colonel. Do you have to film everything?”

  Colonel Eric Dieter smiled as he continued staring at the island. “We are going to be very wealthy men when Hitler loses this war. The new economic system will be driven by science. New inventions and discoveries will make a few men into millionaires, and I will be one of them. That is why I need documentation about my discovery.”