Cold Energy by James M. Corkill

Author:James M. Corkill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Alien technology, Alien artifacts, Alien contact, Climate catastrophe, Human extinction, Ice age, pirates, spaceships, Techno-thriller, Science Fiction Mystery
Publisher: James M. Corkill
Published: 2015-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

MYSTIC:

Okana steers the sub underneath the Mystic and stops fifty-feet from the wall as they slowly descend to the bottom of the ice.

A few minutes later, Okana looks at Alex in the mirror. “Do you believe that?”

When Alex leans forward around Okana to see out the window, the bottom of the ice wall turns ninety-degrees at a sharp edge back under itself. The flat bottom of the ice acts as a lens, bringing light down from the surface and illuminating the water as if in daylight. “That is amazing.”

The bottom of the ice continues to be flat for another fifteen minutes, then Okana has to slow down for another wall of ice. Alex leans over his shoulder. “This is not good. If this mirrors the surface, this will be an upside-down pyramid.”

Okana repeats the process two more times before they are at the bottom of the iceberg. “I’m going to bring the nose up so we can see what’s above us. I’m giving you a warning since you’ve never done this before. You’ll be lying on your back in the seat.”

Okana maneuvers the submarine as if it’s an extension of his body, and the nose slowly rotates as he drops lower to increase their upward view. “There it is,” he says over his shoulder as he brings the submarine to hover directly below a dark object high up in the ice.

Alex is leaning forward by grabbing the back of Okana’s chair, but when he sees the device is nearly the same size as it appeared on the surface, he leans back in his chair and sighs in frustration. “Damn!”

“I’m sorry, Alex. Do you want me to head back?”

“You might as well. It looks to be about the same size we saw from on top. That means it’s directly in the center and we could never get it out.”

Okana notices a clear liquid dribbling down between his feet and reaches under the instrument console for the main hydraulic manifold. One of the high-pressure hose fittings feels slippery and the connecting nut turns easily in his fingers. He tightens it as best he can, then levels the sub and sets a course back to the Mystic. When they get close, the radio starts working, and he calls to inform them the mission is a failure and they are returning to the surface.

***

Bett is on the bridge with Dieter when Okana tells them the bad news and sees the rage in his eyes when he learns they are alive. When he spins around to go out the door to the stern, she grabs the microphone for the intercom. “The sub’s almost here.”

When Dieter reaches the bottom of the stairs, he looks around to make sure no one else is on the stern as he stomps across the deck to Bartram, sitting on the sub’s storage bracket.

“They are coming back. Did you do what I told you?”

Bartram jumps down onto the deck. “I did just like you said, Captain. I don’t know what went wrong.

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