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

by James M. Corkill

  Robert stood up from the recliner. “I haven’t seen her. Did she go to the track meet?”

  “No. She’s smarter than that. She’s knows what could happen.”

  Robert walked into the kitchen. “We had better go to town and find her.”

  “The road is already flooding, Grandpa.”

  Robert continued walking outside, and Derek followed him across to the garage, where they climbed into an older model pickup. Robert headed for the bridge. Just over two-miles from the house, he slowed down for the water across the road and they stopped and climbed out to check the depth.

  “When I came across on the motorcycle, this was a lot lower.”

  “This is what’s makes this an island. This is always the deepest part when the river floods. It’s about five-feet-deep right here, and tapers up to the bridge. We’re too late to get across in the truck. Let’s go back and I’ll call Arnie.”

  *

  Jessica was right, nobody believed her. She climbed into her mustang and started the engine, then backed up and drove out of the parking lot. She turned the corner in front of the main school building, and picked up speed on the way to the highway.

  She recognized a small yellow backpack on the ground in front of a little girl standing in front of the building, and slammed on the brakes. The tires squealed to a stop and she shoved the shifter into park, then she threw open her door, climbed out, and looked over the top as she waved her arms. “Kristy! Over here!”

  Kristy slung her yellow backpack over one shoulder and ran across the grass. “I can’t find Derek, Jessica.”

  “How did you get here?”

  “I made the bus driver stop here at the school.”

  “Get in. We have to warn your grandfather that the ranch is going to flood.”

  They climbed in, and Jessica drove to the stop sign, then turned left onto the highway.

  Kristy stared through the right window. “I heard grandpa say he doesn’t need to leave the ranch because it’s on an island.”

  Jessica’s phone rang and she grabbed it out of her purse and handed it to Kristy. “Answer that for me, so I don’t have to stop.”

  Kristy smiled and took the phone. “Maybe it’s Derek?”

  “I doubt it. He doesn’t have a phone.”

  “My uncle Alex gave him a fancy one. He can reach all the way to Alaska.”

  “Answer it and find out.”

  “Oh. Right.” She flipped it open, and the screen read Danny. “I think it’s your brother.”

  “Put it on speaker.” Kristy did, and held it out toward her. “I’m here, Danny.”

  “Jessica called and said she tried to call you. What’s going on up there in the valley?”

  “Everything is going to be flooded, and nobody believes me.”

  “I didn’t understand everything she told me, except you should drive up to the park as soon as you talk to somebody named Derek Cave.”

  “Already done. I’ll call her when I’m on my way. Thanks, Danny.”

  Kristy closed the phone and set it on the seat, then stared out the side window. “I guess I should have stayed on the bus.”

  Jessica glanced over, Kristy had slumped down in the seat. “You’re safe, and that’s what matters. We’ll meet Derek at the ranch.”

  Kristy sat up as they approached the grocery store. “We might be too late, Jessica. The water is already all over the pasture.”

  “It looks like the road on the other side of the bridge is still good, so we’ll be okay.”

  Jessica turned onto the bridge, and noticed the water was ready to overflow the banks as she drove across. Once on the other side, she stepped on the pedal and the mustang shot forward, but it wasn’t long before she was stopped by the water over the road. “We’ll have to go back.”

  She backed up until she found a place to turn around, and then headed back to the bridge. When she arrived, the river was overflowing the banks, tearing massive chunks of asphalt from the road between her and the bridge, and rushing through the gap in the washout. She shoved the shifter into reverse when more of the road was washed away thirty-feet in front of the car. She backed up onto the shoulder to turn around, shoved the shift lever into drive, and stepped on the accelerator. The mustang didn’t move, so she shoved the pedal hard against the floor. The engine screamed, and the rear end of the mustang slid sideways off the shoulder.

  Jessica let off the gas and stared at Kristy. “We’re trapped!”

  “We can walk back and cross the other water. It wasn’t moving so fast.”

  “You’re right. Let’s go.”

  Jessica grabbed her purse, and Kristy her backpack, and they climbed out of the car. They hurried along the road as fast as Kristy’s short legs could move for nearly one hundred-feet, and then Kristy suddenly stopped and ran back along the road.

  “Where are you going?” Jessica hollered.

  “I left your phone on the seat. Be right back.”

  Jessica thought about following her, but Kristy was faster than she imagined, so she crossed her arms and tapped her foot while Kristy disappear around the mustang. She heard the door slam shut, and then watched Kristy run up onto the road, her little yellow backpack bouncing across her back.

  Jessica uncrossed her arms and smiled at how cute she looked, and then her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open when the mustang disappeared. “Kristy! Run!” she hollered.

  Kristy looked over her shoulder. The road was washing away behind her. “Jessica!” She screamed and tried to run faster.

  Jessica tossed her purse on the ground and ran down the road, desperate to reach Kristy as more of the road disappeared behind her. When they met, she grabbed the backpack from her shoulders and grabbed her hand, dragging her along the road.

  After several hundred-feet, she looked back over her shoulder and slowed to a walk, then stopped to catch her breath. “Whew. That was close.” She noticed the frown on Kristy’s lips and the fear in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Kristy looked up at Jessica and slowly nodded, then turned and started walking away.

  Jessica caught up with her in two long strides and placed her hand over Kristy’s shoulder as they continued toward the ranch.

  * * *

  Chapter 49

  THE ISLAND:

  Henry and David walked around the interior of the control room, studying the different consoles. “I recognize most of these controls,” David told him.

  “The one we want would be different on this ship.”

  Okana stepped into the spaceship with Lisa, Rita, and Mike. He was surprised to see that the four chairs spaced around a central control panel were designed to fit humans, but another thing bothered him. “If this thing crashed, where are the bodies, Doc?”

  Henry looked at David and then at Okana. “That is an interesting question.”

  *

  THE MOTORBOAT:

  Alex held the satellite phone up and stared at the screen, searching for a signal, and then one bar appeared. A moment later, he had two, and then four. He pulled the throttle back and shut off the engine. The cold wind was whipping across the water, and he took a moment to put up the canvas top.

  He sat on a bench seat, entered his code for messages, and waited. In a few moments, two appeared on the screen and he pressed play.

  “Alex, this is Sonja. Things are getting very bad. Please call me.”

  “Alex, this is Martin. The President wants an update, so call when you can.”

  Alex entered Sonja’s number first for more information, and she answered immediately. “I just got your message.”

  “It is starting, Alex. The earth’s axis has shifted seven degrees off center, and the wobble is increasing in magnitude. Our latest satellite image shows the ice almost down to the Aleutian Islands.”

  “I know. I’m just north of the islands right now. We found something that might help, and it’s only a matter of time. At this point, it’s up to my friends. There’s nothing more I can do.�
��

  “Thank you, Alex. Bye, love.”

  He entered Donner’s number and his receptionist answered. “This is Alex Cave. Is Martin available?”

  “He’s in a meeting with the President, Mister Cave. Can I take a message?”

  “Tell him Doctor Heinz has made entrance, and to sit tight.”

  “I’ll give him the message as soon as he returns. Should I have him return your call?”

  “He won’t be able to reach me. Just give him the message.”

  Alex turned off the phone and slipped it into his pocket, then started the outboard motor and headed back to the island.

  *

  MYSTIC:

  Joshua hated not being in contact with Bett and the others, and could not take his eyes of the wall of ice. And where was Alex? It’s been over an hour, and he should have returned by now. He looked out the right side window to check his distance from the island, and adjusted the thrusters.

  Brilliant blue light filled the bridge and blinked out just as suddenly. He looked north, where sunlight glistened off the surface of the water below the wall of ice. At first it was interesting, but something was wrong. It looked like the glistening was moving toward him and the island.

  “Shit!” He jabbed his finger on the horn button, and kept pressing it repeatedly while staring out the side window, hoping they could hear him and walk over the top of the crater.

  Suddenly, Okana was waving at him and he used the thrusters to move closer to the beach. He ran out from the bridge to the railing, and jabbed his finger toward the ice. “It’s coming our way!” he yelled.

  Okana waved both arms away from the ice. “Get out of here!” he hollered back.

  Joshua hesitated, rocking from foot to foot. His friends could be trapped in the ice if he left the island.

  “Just go!” Okana shouted. “Get the Mystic out of here, or we’ll all be stuck!”

  Joshua ran inside the bridge and used the thrusters to spin Mystic around, away from the approaching ice, then switched from thrusters to turbines. If the ice continued and reached the island, he was ready for a fast getaway, but he would not leave his fiends until absolutely necessary. He held the joystick and stared through the rear window. Maybe it would stop before reaching the island, he hoped.

  *

  Alex saw the flash of blue light on the other side of the island, but he was already at full throttle and still four-miles away. All he could do was hope the ice did not reach the island, or at least he could reach his friends and get them off the island before they were trapped. In the distance, he saw the Mystic off to one side and knew Joshua was being cautious of the approaching ice, but from his low elevation, Alex could not tell what the ice was doing, and relied on the actions of the Mystic as guide for what was going on. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, frustrated at not closing the distance fast enough.

  “Come on, come on!” he grumbled as he gained another mile, but it was agonizingly slow closing the gap.

  Suddenly, the Mystic was racing away. Joshua must not have seen him approaching or would have moved in this direction. Then he saw the sun sparkling on the surface of the water, moving straight at his boat at an incredible speed. Before he could turn away, the boat abruptly stopped, hurling him against the steering wheel and nearly driving his head through the plastic windshield.

  He pushed himself back onto the seat, and heard the engine screaming, then it quickly overheated from lack of liquid water, and died. He stood, ran to the rear canvas, unzipped the plastic flap, and then stepped out onto the rear deck. “Son of a bitch!”

  He held his palm up against the glare and could see that the top of the island was still another three-miles in front of the boat.

  Suddenly, he was thrown off his feet and crashed onto the deck. He felt the ice rising into the air, and stared at the island as it slowly sank out of sight under the sheet of ice. When the ice stopped moving, he leaned back and shook his fists at the sky. “Noooooo!” he roared.

  He felt emotionally drained as he brought his fists down and opened his hands, then stared across the empty expanse of ice.

  *

  Okana watched the Mystic race away across the water, but he could not see what was going on, and remained on the flat area above the beach. He jumped back, nearly falling over the edge as the water near the beach turned to ice. “Oh, shit!”

  He climbed down the steps, onto the dry section of beach, covered his eyes against the glare, and looked across the frozen expanse in all directions. Several miles away, he saw the small outline of the Mystic on the horizon.

  He heard Mike hollering his name so he climbed back up to the V, then stared down into the crater at Mike and Bett at the bottom of the gangway. “We’re trapped in the ice,” he hollered down. “I think the Mystic managed to stay ahead of it, but she’s a long way from here. It looks like we’re on our own.”

  The sound of crackling and popping echoed inside the crater. Okana spun around, and then fell back onto the ground as a wall of ice rose up from the beach. He could feel the ground shake as the ice wall crawled higher. If it was like the others, it still had a long way to go to reach one hundred-feet.

  A few moments later, the ground stopped shaking. The wall of ice had remained outside the crater and only ten-feet above the top. He stood and looked down at Mike and Bett getting up off the gravel. “Is everyone all right?” Bett and Mike waved up at him, and he looked over at the spaceship. The rest of his friends ran out onto the beach from it, and stopped to stare up at him. “It seems we’re going to be here for a while,” he hollered.

  * * *

  Chapter 50

  RANGER STATION:

  Jamie could not stand still so she paced in front of the counter. She did not want to leave the station in case Wesley showed up, but staying here meant that she felt helpless and frustrated, and kept wondering if she could have saved him somehow. Larry was in his office taking phone calls, and Frank was sitting at his desk on the other side of the counter answering his phone, but she had nothing to do and it was driving her crazy. She could not even search for Wesley without knowing where to start.

  She stopped pacing when Larry jumped up from his desk and walked up to the counter.

  “I’ve just received a report that a wall of water is rushing down the river. It seems someone opened the dam.”

  Jamie felt a sense of hope. “It was Wesley’s idea to open the dam. It has to be him. I need to get up there.”

  Larry nodded vigorously. “Go. Go. Take Frank’s SUV. I’ll call the Sheriff and tell him what’s going on.”

  Jamie spun around, ran out of the building, and climbed into a Park Service SUV, then raced out of the parking lot and up the road to the dam.

  *

  TRACK MEET:

  Arnie sat on the bleachers and stared at the parking lot. He hadn’t seen this big a turn out in five years. That was the last time Sparrow Valley was in the championship playoffs with Darrington.

  The Darrington buses had arrived thirty minutes ago, and the athletes were warming up at their various events. Both schools’ cheerleaders were practicing in front of the bleachers.

  He heard his phone ring and pulled it from his shirt pocket, but did not recognize the number. “Sheriff.”

  “This is Larry, up at the park. They’re opening the dam so the river’s going to flood. You should start sending people down the mountain before the main bridge washes out.”

  “Who the hell is opening the dam?”

  “Your niece, Jamie, and Patterson.”

  “Patterson? Get up there and stop him, Larry. We’ve got a competition going on.”

  “It’s not just the flooding, Sheriff. If that dam is destroyed, it’s all coming down the mountain into the school grounds.”

  “That Cave kid told me about Patterson’s paranoia.”

  “I’ve seen it myself, Sheriff. If it breaks, it’s coming down the mountain, so you had better do something.”

  Arnie turned off
his phone and stood to look around. Damn! He thought. Cave was right.

  He hurried down the stairs and across to the parking lot. Two of his fishing buddies were getting out of a pickup, and he walked over. “I’m evacuating the valley, and I need your help.”

  “Is that a joke, Sheriff?”

  “I’m serious. What did the river look like down the mountain?”

  “It was close to overflowing down past the bridge. We were wondering why.”

  “Listen, we’ve got to get these people out of here. One of you stays here with me and starts telling people to leave. The other one goes down to the bridge and stops more from coming up. I’ll send the cars down in both lanes.”

  “They’re going to want to know why, Sheriff.”

  “Just tell them the valley is going to flood.” His phone rang, and his friends walked away to help him with the evacuation.

  He recognized the phone number as Cave’s. He probably wants to gloat that he was right. “Hey, Cave. The bet’s off.”

  “I don’t give a damn about your bet, Arnie. I’m trying to locate my niece, Kristy. Have you seen her?”

  “Uh, no, I haven’t. Listen, Robert, you were right, and I’m trying to get people to leave. I’ll tell everyone to keep an eye out for her.”

  “Thanks.”

  Arnie watched two motorhomes drive into the parking lot. This is going to be impossible, he thought, and walked over to tell them to leave.

  *

  THE DAM:

  Wesley heard the sound of a car engine gradually getting louder, and watched a cloud of dust billowing up into the air through the trees down below. Suddenly, a green Park Ranger vehicle raced up the road and slid to a stop in front of the concrete building. He stood when a car door slammed shut and Jamie ran around the corner.

  Jamie was all smiles as she ran up to Wesley and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close and hugging him tightly. “I was so worried that I lost you forever, Wesley. What happened to you last night?” She heard a soft groan and let go. “I’m so sorry. I forgot about your injury.”

  “I’m okay. I spent the night in the ladies room at the campground.”