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

by James M. Corkill

  “That’s right.”

  Arty walked up with a cup of coffee and set it in front of Bruce, but did not walk away.

  “Yesterday there was a cave-in at the caverns. The State Park office is closed until Monday, and I was wondering if you could stop by and tell us if it’s safe to let the tourists to go down inside?”

  Now Alex’s curiosity was aroused. Could the earthquake and the collapse of the caverns be connected the incident in Yellowstone? No, they couldn’t be connected, because Yellowstone is two hundred miles northwest of this town. Still, it was worth considering the possibility. “I’ll check it out after the funeral service, Sheriff.”

  “I’d appreciate it. You’ll drive past it on the way to the Okana ranch.”

  “Who should I talk to at the caverns?”

  “Philip Grady. I’ll tell him you’ll be stopping by. He’s the Park Ranger, though it’s not much of a park.”

  “Arty was just telling me about the old gold mine. Do you know what’s going on there?”

  Bruce gave Alex a grim expression. “It used to be a government research facility. It was leased to the DAR Corporation three years ago, but it wasn’t reopened until a few weeks ago. They have their own security force. I’ve run into a couple of them. I’m an ex-Marine and I’ll tell you what, those guys aren’t rent-a-cops. They’re mercenaries.”

  “What’s DAR stand for?”

  “Demolition And Reconstruction. They do a lot of contract work for the Federal and State Governments after major disasters.”

  “I wonder why they would need a research facility.”

  “I couldn’t say. Maybe they’re going to mine the micro-gold.” Bruce stood. “Thanks for the help, Mister Cave.”

  Alex gave Bruce a nod and watched him leave the restaurant.

  Arty sat down across from Alex. “That’s great you’re going to find out what happened. I still think it has something to do with the old gold mine. They’re a shifty bunch. The ones who stopped in here for dinner a while ago looked very mean. Listen, ah, if you wouldn’t mind, this is a small town and I’m sort of the local news center. Could you let me know what you find out?”

  Alex grinned. “Sure thing, Arty. I’ll stop by on my way back.” Arty’s expression was of a kid with a secret when he walked away.

  The breakfast was great and he left a nice tip for Arty before he walked to the counter to pay for the meal. A sweet looking little gray-haired woman was standing behind the antique push button cash register. He held out a twenty-dollar bill for the breakfast, but she just smiled.

  “Thank you Alex, but breakfast is on Arty and me. I’m his wife, Rose.”

  “Thanks. This is a great place you have here. It reminds me of an old saloon.”

  “That’s right. It used to be a saloon before Arty and I took over for my father some forty odd years ago. We had to upgrade the plumbing and electricity, but everything else is pretty much the same as when my grandfather first built it in 1826. He and his two older brothers were the first Patrick’s to immigrate to this area.”

  “Your husband seems like a nice fellow.”

  “Arty’s a sweetheart, but you’ll have to give him a little leeway when he tells you about something. There’s no end to his imagination.”

  Alex glanced over and saw Arty laughing with some customers. “I’ll do that, and thanks for the meal.”

  Alex walked out the door, climbed into his SUV, and drove down Main Street.

  On his way back to the four-way stop, Alex slowed down as he drove past the municipal building. The architecture had an early western style, and the large blocks of cut gray stone used for the exterior gave it the look of permanence in an ever-changing world.

  As he continued down Main Street, he noticed a small housing development behind the brick buildings. What a nice place to grow up, he thought. It reminded him of his own small town in Washington State. Perhaps that’s why he and Okana get along so well. They had worked together on secret missions for the CIA and always had each other’s backs, as if brothers. He turned right at the stop sign and headed toward the Okana ranch.

  * * *

  Chapter 7

  YELLOWSTONE:

  The night had passed slowly for Jerry as the gruesome scene from the hotel lobby replayed itself repeatedly in his mind. The nagging thought that the incident at Old Faithful might be a prelude for a major event was like an annoying itch that he couldn’t scratch.

  It seemed he had just fallen asleep when the phone on the nightstand rang. He glanced at the clock and the display showed 8:15 AM. “Damn,” he mumbled as he snatched the phone next to the clock. He recognized the caller ID. “I’m here, Myra.”

  “Something is terribly wrong, Jerry. When I came downstairs this morning one of the maintenance workers said Old Faithful isn’t erupting.”

  Jerry bolted upright in bed. “I’ll be there as fast as I can. I’m going to close the park, Myra. Start evacuating your employees, contact the other contractors, and have them do the same with their personnel. I’ll have the park rangers assist with evacuating the campgrounds.”

  “Are you sure this is really necessary, Jerry? I’ll need authorization before I can implement a complete evacuation.”

  Jerry sighed and swung his legs off the bed, realizing Myra was right. He didn’t have the authority to order an evacuation. Am I just being overly paranoid? He wondered.

  “Are you still there, Jerry?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry, Myra. You’re right. I’ll call you once I know more about what’s going on.”

  He called Vivian and Paul and told them what happened at Old Faithful, and asked them to meet him at the office.

  *

  When Jerry walked into the seismic center, Vivian looked up from her computer monitor. “Anything new?” he asked.

  Vivian swung her chair around to face him. “Old Faithful still hasn’t erupted, but there isn’t any seismic activity in the park.”

  “I’m getting a bad feeling about all this Vivian. Old faithful has never failed to erupt on schedule. I’ll call the Director of the National Park Service in Washington and let her know what’s going on. If it were up to me, I’d start evacuating the park.”

  “It’s still early on the east coast, Jerry, and it’s Saturday. She won’t be at her office today.”

  Jerry knew Vivian was right. It was just a gut feeling, but something was going on in the park. He decided if things got worse, he would do what was necessary on his own. I am the supervisor, after all.

  His phone rang. “Hi, Paul.”

  “I’m here at the lake in Grant Village. We have a bunch of dead trout floating on the surface.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Jerry told Vivian about the newest event. “I’ll call you from the lake.”

  *

  When Jerry arrived at the Grant Village, Paul was standing on the dock and surrounded by a small crowd of tourists holding fishing poles. Dozens of fish lay belly up along the shoreline after being pushed across the surface by a light breeze.

  When Paul saw Jerry, he made his way past the tourists and along the dock to join him at the shoreline. “I’ve already packed a few specimens on ice for the biology specialists. Damndest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Jerry’s phone rang and he saw Vivian’s ID. “I’m here.”

  “One of the Rangers just called. The alkali pools at West Thumb Geyser Basin are overflowing faster than normal.”

  “Tell him I’m on my way.” Jerry gave Paul a troubling stare as he told him what happened. “I need to get over there, Paul. Could you take a water sample from this area for me?”

  “I’ll take care of it. Call me when you know anything.”

  “I will. I’ll meet you back at the station.”

  * * *

  Chapter 8

  STILLWATER:

  Alex drove for nearly an hour before he saw the sign, STILLWATER CAVERNS. NEXT RIGHT. According to his GPS, it was also the road to the Okana ranch. In the distance
on the left were the nearly vertical gray mountains he had seen in the pictures. He was curious why such an unusual formation would rise up in the middle of the desert. He turned right and parked on the shoulder to retrieve his maps from the back of the SUV. According to his survey map, the mountain range was the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. That makes sense, he thought. The volcano would have brought gold and other minerals to the surface, but why would the government turn it into a research facility?

  He put away the maps, climbed back into the SUV, and drove east across the desert. The temperature was climbing with the sunrise, so he rolled the windows down, and was greeted with the sweet smell of sage. Thirty minutes later, he saw the turn off for the cavern visitor center. The clock on the radio showed nine-fifteen, and the funeral service was not until noon. He grabbed his phone and pressed the speed dial for Okana.

  “Hey, Alex. I heard you made it in pretty late last night.”

  “I had to make an unexpected stop on the way. I told the sheriff I’d check on a cave-in at the caverns on the way back from the funeral. I’m at the sign for the entrance right now, and I wondered if you would mind if I stopped here first?”

  “No problem. We’re still trying to get organized. Take your time.”

  “All right. I’ll see you when I’m finished.”

  When Alex arrived at the visitor center, the parking lot was nearly deserted. He parked near the front entrance and grabbed a flashlight from the back of the SUV before entering.

  In the middle of the large circular room was a raised, glass-covered display of some kind. Alex walked over for a closer look. Under the glass was a three-dimensional representation of the tunnels and adjoining caverns below. The displays on the walls gave a photographic history of the caverns and their discovery during the mining boom of the eighteen hundreds.

  There was no one at the front desk, so Alex walked into the gift shop. A young girl was sitting behind the counter filing her fingernails. He grabbed a tourist map of the caverns and cleared his throat to get her attention. She glanced up and continued filing her nails.

  “What can I do for ya, Mister?”

  Alex noticed her nametag. “Hi, Sarah. I’m looking for Mister Grady.”

  “He’s not giving any tours today. The only reason we’re open is because Philip is nice enough to let me get my forty hours of work in this week. I can barely get by on what they pay me to work here.”

  A moment later, a short young man in a dark green park service uniform walked into the gift shop.

  “You must be Mister Cave. The sheriff said you’d be stopping by after the funeral. I’m Philip Grady, but everybody just calls me Philip. I was surprised to hear there was a geologist in Stillwater. I don’t think the damage is too dangerous, but it’s nice to get a second opinion. We’ve never had an earthquake before. Follow me and I’ll take you to the cave-in.”

  They walked around a corner to the elevator and Philip inserted a key in the panel. The door opened and they stepped inside.

  “This elevator was installed in 1957, and then in 1964 they began paving the walkways.”

  When they reached the bottom seven hundred feet below, Alex followed Philip down a concrete walkway. “They found this tunnel four years ago. It’s amazingly straight for something natural. It goes all the way to a new cavern, but it’s a one mile walk to get there.”

  Philip did not stop talking as they continued along the tunnel. He began explaining the different rock formations as if he had forgotten Alex was a geologist. The tunnel slopped downhill at a shallow angle and it took fifteen minutes to reach the end, where a large waiting area had been cut out of the limestone rock. The overhead lights were off, but a few battery powered emergency lights illuminated the walkway.

  When they reached the end, Alex opened the tourist map and used his flashlight to show it to Philip. “Where are we exactly?”

  Philip looked at the map and pointed to a spot. “Right about here. The cave-in occurred just around the corner at the bottom of the steps.”

  Alex grabbed his pen and made a few notes on the map. “How deep are we?”

  “Just under eight hundred feet. Carlsbad Caverns are only sixty feet deeper than us,” Philip proclaimed proudly.

  Alex grinned and noted the depth on his map before they continued. The ghostly white beams from their flashlights danced around the tunnel, and the air had a familiar musty damp odor. The steps continued down, ending at an arched opening, ten-foot high, and eight-feet wide.

  When Philip cautiously stepped through the opening, Alex followed him into a large oblong cavern. He estimated the size of the cavern to be roughly seventy feet across, two hundred feet long, and over eighty foot high. The floor was covered with pieces of stalactites broken loose from the ceiling. As they slowly walked down the center, Alex pointed his flashlight up to study the damage.

  “This isn’t too bad,” he informed Philip. “The damage is mostly superficial.”

  On their return, Alex studied the sides of the chamber. “It looks like the worst of the cave-in is over, but I’m worried about these new fractures in the sides of the rock. There must be an aquifer nearby or the water wouldn’t be trickling out from the cracks so fast. You might have a problem with flooding down in these lower sections, so you should keep an eye on this area. You might want to have the engineers install a pumping system.”

  “I’ll let my boss know on Monday. Are you ready to head back?”

  Alex looked around the cavern one last time. “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go.”

  When they returned to the visitor center, Alex indicated the diorama of the caverns and walked over to look at it with Philip. “What’s the scale of this model?”

  “If I remember right, it’s five hundred to one.”

  Alex used the spread between the tip of his thumb and the tip of his little finger to estimate the distance from the cave-in to the outside edge of the diorama. When he looked up, Philip must have seen the concerned look in his eyes.

  “Is there something wrong with the display, Mister Cave?”

  “I’m not really sure. It’s just that we’re only four miles from the mine the sheriff told me about.”

  “Do you think they caused the earthquake?”

  “I can’t imagine how.”

  “You’re the expert. Thanks for checking this out for me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Alex returned to his SUV and climbed into the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the engine and just leaned back to think. According to the diorama, the tunnel to the cavern was in a direct line to the mine. He saved the location of the cavern in his GPS.

  When he started the engine, the digital clock showed it was 11:47 AM. “Crap!” He shoved it in gear and raced out of the parking lot.

  * * *

  Chapter 9

  USGS. YELLOWSTONE.

  When Jerry walked into the office with fresh coffee, Vivian looked up from her desk monitor. “You’re a God’s send. I still can’t find a reason for the tremor yesterday afternoon.”

  Jerry set one of the plastic mugs in front of Vivian. “Paul’s checking out a report from one of the rangers about the lake. This morning he noticed the volume of water in the outflows has increased significantly.”

  Jerry studied the GPS indicators on the wall monitor. “I’m getting a bad feeling, Vivian. The extra outflow from the lake could mean the elevation has increased significantly.”

  “I know what you mean. I’m getting a little nervous about all this, too.”

  Suddenly the alarm from one of the GPS units began flashing on the wall monitor. Vivian quickly typed the number into her computer. “That’s the Thumb basin. The elevation just increased by half an inch.” More GPS warning lights began flashing as Vivian typed numbers into the computer. “They’re coming from all the geothermal areas in the park, Jerry!”

  Jerry grabbed his phone and entered Mira’s number. After eight rings he was about to hang up when he heard her voice when
she answered. “Tell me what’s happening with the geyser.”

  “Old Faithful just keeps erupting, Jerry. What should I do?”

  “Get everyone out of the area, Mira. We have alarms going off all over the park, so just leave, Okay?”

  “Of course! Thank you for calling. Please let me know what you find out!”

  “I will.”

  Jerry told Vivian what happened. “Let’s start making some calls. We need to evacuate the park and it will take some time. Until we know what’s going on, this park is closed.”

  * * *

  Chapter 10

  STILLWATER:

  The asphalt ended abruptly, but the gravel road had been well maintained and Alex was able to continue at a decent speed. Barbed wire fences ran parallel to the road for several more miles before ending at two large posts supporting the dark wooden sign. OKANA LAND AND CATTLE COMPANY was spelled using pinewood branches.

  Alex slowed down as he entered the large open graveled area between the main house and the out buildings. Several vehicles were parked in the center, so he parked on the end, climbed out, and eased the door closed.

  Two hundred feet past the two-story house, large leafed trees provided shade over a small graveyard. A small crowd of mostly Native American men, women, and children, were standing around a grave. He quietly walked over to the outside edge of the group.

  Okana had told him to dress casually for the funeral, and now he understood why. None of the men wore suits, only slacks or jeans and lightweight shirts. The women wore patterned dresses or slacks and loose fitting blouses. A small girl with wavy dark brown hair wore a light blue dress.

  Alex could see the back of Okana’s tall lean figure and shaggy blond hair standing in the front row of people. A tall woman with long shiny black hair stood to his right, and a smaller woman with blond hair on his left. On the other side of the grave, a woman wearing a long white leather dress stood clutching a tan leather bag against her chest. It was the woman from the motel office, speaking in an Indian dialect. A moment later, she stepped aside and Okana walked forward to take her place.