Trapped in the Hollow Earth Novelette Series Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 4)

by Peebles, Chrissy

  We must have been hiking for at least an hour down the mountain when a shimmer of light caught my attention. I squinted through my sopping wet hair. My jaw dropped as silver disks glided overhead in the stormy sky. The ships! A shiver shot through my body. Suddenly, two powerful beams of blue light shot out simultaneously and swung like a pendulum. Of course they wouldn’t leave us alone. That’d be too easy. But surely they had better things to do than pester a trio of lost teenagers.

  “They’ve sent the hounds after us,” said Mike, slicking back his wet hair.

  I grabbed Jack’s shoulder and pointed toward the thickening vegetation. “We gotta hide!” I took off through the trees, weaving and sliding my way along the thick carpet of fallen leaves. Several times, I stopped and peered behind to make sure the guys had followed, and then I sped off again.

  The silver disks still hovered above the forest. Dark clouds stood high on the horizon as I halted to hide behind a monster-sized log covered in bright green moss. Giant ferns towered over us. Gathering my breath, I wiped my palms on my shorts and peered up at the strange disks. I still couldn’t understand why they were so insistent on pursuing us. Aliens or not, they didn’t seem to take too kindly to interlopers, or maybe it was the military trying to silence us because we’d seen way too much and didn’t want us blabbing to The National Enquirer or on Facebook or YouTube about cloning experiments with modern-day woolly mammoths and saber-tooth tigers. I swallowed hard as beams continued to sweep back and forth across the forest floor.

  Mike dropped to the ground. “It looks like a helicopter floodlight, like it’s searching for something.”

  “Yeah—us!” I said, my voice wavering. Thunder cracked, and lightning bolts cast glowing webs across the sky. Rain dripped down my face and chin. The disk above whirred. I held in my breath as I gripped the log, hoping I’d miraculously morph with it.

  A shaft of light bathed me, jolting me back to reality, and I jumped. I sneaked a peek through a gap in the giant log. An entire armada of spaceships turned and headed straight in our direction.

  “Crap!” I yelled.

  “What?” Mike and Jack asked in unison.

  “They’ve seen us. RUN!”

  * * *

  I sprinted through the creeping vines that draped from the trees like braided rope. Rain poured, and thunder rumbled. I pushed the wet hair back from my eyes. I wondered briefly how the flying disks had found us anyway, but then my mind flashed back to the moment at hand. We needed a place to hide…and quick.

  Somewhere behind me, I thought I heard Mike calling my name, but I didn’t dare turn around for fear of what I might see. My feet crashed through giant ferns dotting the jungle landscape. I could hear the river close by as wet branches slapped against my body. The further south I moved, the louder the sound of running water became, until I finally saw the shore less than fifty feet away. Darting forward, I jumped over logs and zigzagged through the thinning trees, finally stopping where the soil turned into mud. What now?

  Hesitating, I took a tentative step. Swimming was out of the question, because I had never been interested in becoming the next crocodile hunter. I took a few paces down the shore when I slipped; the earth seemed to be sinking out from underneath me. Shrieking, I threw out my hands to catch my balance. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Mike and Jack approaching, but they were too late. My cry ended in a terrified scream when I landed with a thud, facedown, loosened debris raining down around and on top of me.

  I moaned, rolled over, and spat out a mouthful of dirt. My vision was blurred by dancing spots that looked like some kind of neon grape jelly oozing all over the place. My mom and dad had always taken me on adventurous vacations, but this one topped everything. The air felt a few degrees cooler. A damp, earthy smell filled my nostrils. My eyes adjusted to the dimness, and I recognized brown walls around me. Am I in a cave? I groaned and dropped back down. I reached out and touched a gnarled, exposed tree root and ran my hands along the walls. It was then that I realized the walls weren’t made out of solid rock, but soft dirt. Soil clung to my clothes, hair, and skin. Suddenly, I felt like Alice at the bottom of the rabbit hole—only this little Wonderland had saber-tooths instead of Cheshires.

  A soft groan and cough carried from my right. Jack and Mike stirred from beneath debris and undergrowth. I wasn’t thrilled to find out that all three of us were stuck down there, wherever “there” was.

  Mike rubbed the back of his head. “What the heck just happened?” Blond hair tumbled in disarray as he scrambled up.

  I pulled myself into a sitting position and shot him a weak smile. “We fell into a giant pothole, courtesy of Mother Nature.”

  “Could our luck get any worse?” A pang of disappointment filled Jack’s voice. “We’re so close to the city…and now this.”

  I sighed. “Well, yeah. You weren’t supposed to follow my clumsy lead. But you know what?” I coughed from the swirling dust and looked around. “It might not be so bad. If the aliens didn’t see us fall in here, this might actually be the perfect hiding place.”

  “Yeah, it’s like a blessing in disguise,” said Mike, his hair hanging in muddy clumps.

  Groaning, Jack lifted his arm.

  “Hurt?” I asked.

  “I banged my hand pretty hard on the fall.” Jack wiped my cheek, a forced smile plastered across his lips, even though he probably wanted to wince in pain. “Are you okay?” I could see from the pinched expression on his face that he was hurting, but he was trying to downplay it for my sake.

  “I’m fine, thanks.” I softly touched his arm. “I’m sorry. Want me to—”

  “No, don’t even worry about me,” said Jack. “I’m just glad you’re okay. How about you, Mike?”

  “Give me a minute, and I’ll let you know.” He moved his arms and legs and groaned.

  “Besides my aching head and burning eyes, I’m just dandy.”

  I stared at Mike for a while, waiting. When nothing happened, I rolled my eyes.

  He blinked. “What?”

  “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. At least Jack cared enough to ask.” Mike was so dense when it came to being a gentleman. I puffed and turned away, wondering if there would ever come a day when he wasn’t so self-involved. Most of the hole was still dry. The dust in the air began to clear and settle, but my eyes still watered.

  Jack craned his neck. “Rain’s stopping.”

  “That’s good,” I said, feeling the hard ground beneath my body. “Hey, what did we land on anyway?”

  Mike shrugged. “Concrete?”

  I poked my hand under the foliage and started removing layers of grass, leaves, and twigs from the ground. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why a hole in the middle of a prehistoric jungle would have a concrete floor—just another thing that made absolutely no sense.

  “It’s probably just rocks,” said Mike, his back slumped against the wall.

  I barely peered at him as I continued my digging. Looking down, I noticed oval, greenish-brown speckled rocks, each the size of the melons we’d just eaten. What is that? Several twigs cut into my skin as I dived right in, sweat beading on my forehead. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Jack walking over and standing right behind me.

  His cold hand touched my shoulder. “Digging for gold?”

  I met his eyes briefly, smiling, and then returned my focus to the ground. “See these big speckled things? I’m trying to find out what they are.”

  “Speckled, huh? Let me have a look.” Jack knelt over, his warm breath brushing my shoulder as he huffed, “Hmm. That’s strange.”

  “They look like giant polished stones to me.” I frowned, wondering how semi-precious stones would have found their way to such a place. Even if they’d been rained on for ages, it would have taken forever to achieve that smooth look of a brilliant cut diamond. Gently, I brushed the dirt and loose rock aside from one, revealing more of the shiny, speckled surface.

  Jack’s bare arm touched my side as he moved nearer and
said, “You look like Indiana Jones—only much cuter.”

  I felt my cheeks turn to fire as Mike called over, “Let’s just hope your legs aren’t that hairy. Otherwise, I might confuse you with the giant spider we’re supposed to take down.”

  Jack tugged away at the stone, his biceps bulging against his t-shirt. “Always know the right thing to say, don’t cha, Mike? Anyway, our Casey here’s not into fighting spiders as much as finding some real cool artifact.”

  A short laugh escaped Mike’s mouth. “You’re turning her into the dirt detective. How exciting. Just make sure you have a shower nearby, ’cause I’m not into hugging a mud pie.”

  Jack winked. “Lucky for her, I’d hug her, mud and all.”

  If I’d hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn Jack was flirting with me, competing for my attention.

  Mike chuckled. “I’m kidding. Of course I’d hug her, mud and all. In case you’ve forgotten, Casey was covered in green slime after doing battle with that gigantic spider. And I hugged her then, spider guts and all.”

  “I did too,” said Jack. “My shirt was covered with the green stuff.”

  Mike chuckled. “Lucky for us that gross goo came right off in the river.”

  I smiled at them. “You guys are awesome! I couldn’t ask for better best friends.” They grinned and I started digging again. “You know what? I don’t mind being the dirt detective, as long as I don’t have to deal with all those slithering snakes and wicked curses.”

  “Or big-time booby traps,” said Mike, “and if you just happen to find the Ark of the Covenant and some dudes have opened it—”

  “Yeah, I know. Don’t look at it!” I interrupted. “Keep your eyes glued shut like Indy, and the ghosts can’t get ya.”

  Mike shot me his movie-star smile. “Looks like you didn’t set off any booby traps yet. Guess you’ll have to try a bit harder.”

  “Nah, I don’t want to press my luck.” I nudged Mike with my elbow. “What is it again you expect to happen if I were to trigger one of these so called traps? Spikes to come up from the ground?”

  “Whizzing poisonous darts, falling rocks, and collapsing walls?” asked Jack.

  “A giant bowling ball rock…” I looked around. “…to come rolling from who-knows-where?” I paused in my digging for a moment.

  Mike shook his head, inching closer. “You two are funny. So what is it anyway?”

  My hands wrapped tightly around the smooth object, slipping in places. I searched for any edges but found none. “Don’t know. I can’t get it out,” I mumbled under my breath. Digging my nails into the ground, I scratched and pulled harder. The earth gave way slowly until the object came loose and I fell back, landing on my butt with a thud.

  Jack rushed over. “Okay?”

  I shook my head with a chuckle, regarding the smooth object in my hands. “I’m fine, thanks.”

  “I’m dying to know what it is,” said Mike.

  Jack huffed as he clawed at the ground, pulling another one out. “It’s not Indy’s golden idol, that’s for sure.” He scratched his head, spreading dirt across his forehead. “Maybe we can stack the rocks up to give us a boost to the top. I know they’re oval, but it could work if someone held them. It’s not like we have a whole lot of options anyway.”

  I nodded as Mike shook his head. Jack made a great point and it was definitely worth a try. We pulled out rock after rock. Wet dirt stuck under my fingernails, reminding me of the days when I used to garden with my grandma, wearing her big straw hat and apron.

  Mike chuckled. “You know, if we keep going like this, we’ll hit California by nightfall.”

  “Either that, or we’ll unbury a dead body,” I said. Finding a skeleton was almost a given on any excavation site—at least when Steven Spielberg had anything to do with it.

  Jack glanced up, his blue eyes shining. “If you find my great-great-great grandpa, let me know.”

  I let out a soft chuckle. Glancing around, I noticed thick droplets trickling through the dirt from where we had just pulled out the rocks. “Oh, crap. I think we’ve sprung a leak.”

  Mike started hauling a stone and rolling it into the puddle that had already formed. “Let’s put those fossil rocks right back where they came from.”

  Sunlight spilled in and tiny dust particles danced in the air. I could have sworn that out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the rocks roll to the left. I glanced up at Jack for validation. “Did you see that?”

  “I really wish I could say I didn’t, but that’d be a lie.”

  I turned and called over my shoulder, “Mike, look! Is that some kind of…egg?” With trembling fingers, I touched the smooth, warm shell, then pressed my ear close to listen. The scratching sound inside made me flinch.

  Eyes wide, Mike rubbed his hands across the egg. “Dude, are we actually having a real-life Eragon moment? You know, when that kid found a dragon egg? You remember, right?”

  “All too well,” said Jack.

  “Something’s in there,” I whispered. “Oh my gosh! They are some kind of eggs. We’re in a nest. We’ve got to get out of here before we turn into baby food.”

  Mike’s jaw dropped. “Dude! One of ’em is big enough to cook an omelet for—I dunno—like the entire football team, including the cheerleaders.”

  “You mean, once they hatch they’ll be big enough to eat the entire football team, including the cheerleaders.” I punched his shoulder. “That reminds me. Why did you have to fall in too? Now there’s no one out there to pull us up.”

  Jack touched the glossy surface. “I definitely feel movement. Let’s cover them back up.” He started throwing moist dirt on top of the eggs as he shuffled backward.

  Mike tossed an armful of twigs over the dirt pile while I scooped up handfuls of earth and tossed them across the floor. With no weapons and no exit sign, burying the eggs did sound like a good choice—at least better than waiting for the things to hatch, hungry for breakfast.

  The scratching grew louder. For a second, I stopped my earth-throwing to listen, then crept toward the mound we had made. The pile of dirt started to shake and shift, and I was terrified the eggs were hatching.

  Mike pointed down. “Oh no!”

  “More dirt!” I yelled.

  I wondered if I was about to experience Night of the Living Dead meets Jurassic Park. Even worse, some snakelike alien creature dripping with acidic slime would come back to protect its young. All kinds of horrific scenarios raced through my mind. After all, judging from the sound, those things could crawl out any minute. The thought of some baby Godzilla, roaring and sinking its fangs straight into my ankle like a giant drumstick made me shudder. Gosh, Casey! I scolded myself. Just switch it off already...and note to self: Stop watching so many horror movies!

  Debris flew in all directions as we frantically dumped tiny rocks, sticks, and leaves over the pile.

  Jack brushed off his hands. “There. That oughtta do it.”

  “The saucer has to be gone by now,” I said, letting out a breath. “Let’s get outta here.” I sprinted, and with a giant leap, I sprung up into the air, gripping the dirt wall and digging my feet in with every ounce of might I had. My lips twitched as I felt myself sliding back down, followed by Jack, and then Mike.

  Mike scrambled up; his clothes were soaked and splattered in mud. Shaking his head, he wiped off his dirty hands on his shirt.

  “We’ve gotta keep trying.” With a groan, Jack strained his arms, muscles bulging, and pushed himself upward, grunting as he landed roughly on the ground of the pit. “Almost!”

  Cold water soaked through my socks and tennis shoes in seconds, and a shiver ran through me, making the hairs on my arms stand. The memory of my feet immersed in seawater as the boat sank flashed through my mind.

  Mike’s eyes grew wide. “What’s happenin’?”

  Jack spun in a slow circle through an inch of muddy water, running his hands across the wall. “It looks like the nest is slowly flooding.”

&nb
sp; “Oh, man.” I placed a hand over my heart, fighting to calm its racing beat.

  Mike’s gaze darted about. “I knew this place was booby trapped!”

  “It was us, you big goof,” said Jack. “By removing the eggs, we caused the wall to cave in. We’re right by the river.”

  Mike turned to face me. “Why did you have to touch them anyway?”

  “Curiosity, I guess. And like you even have room to talk. Your curiosity gets us into all kinds of trouble…all the time.”

  He had no comment and I focused my attention back on the water swirling around the giant mound of dirt and leaves where we had buried the speckled eggs. Sweat coursed down my back. I felt bad for disturbing the eggs and landing them in such a mess—even if they were little monsters straight out of some horror movie. Once I was out of this hole, maybe I could help them somehow.

  Wiping my brow, I took a few steps back. Peering up, I noticed a long, fibrous mass snaking through the dirt wall. I pointed upward to the rim of the pit. “There’s a white tree root sticking out. If you guys give me a lift, I think I could reach it.”

  Jack took a step back and peered up. “Yeah, that just might work. Great idea!”

  I placed a hand on their shoulders, steadying myself as they grabbed the bottom of my feet and legs. Slowly, they lifted me up over their heads. “Okay, guys. Nice and steady.” Cheerleading pyramids had never been my thing. I reached up for the root, but my body began to wobble, and my foot began to slide. “Crap!” I flung out my hands to regain my balance, but I fell backward.

  Jack caught me and cradled me close. “Gotcha!” he said, grinning.

  “Thanks. Now you know why I never joined the cheerleading squad.” I stared up into his blue eyes, glinting with amusement. My breath halted as my gaze drifted to the curve of his lips. I looked away, hoping Mike hadn’t noticed the flush of heat rushing to my cheeks.