Dragons of Kilauea. (A Kathy West National Park Adventure Book 2) by Russell James

Author:Russell James [James, Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2020-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Nathan coughed as he dragged himself to his knees. The tube was pitch black and the air was so thick with basalt dust he could barely breathe. Stones and dirt rolled off his back. His helmet felt loose on his head, though the chin strap had stayed secure through the explosion.

He rewound the last few minutes of his life. Explosion, not a cave in. A bomb had gone off. He was sure of that because when it had, he’d had another one in his hands.

He ran his fingertips across the rubble on the tube floor in search of the flashlight he’d been holding when the explosion happened. All he felt were bits of rock. Then he touched the flashlight’s rectangular plastic cover. He grabbed it and flicked the on switch. Nothing happened. He shook it and it rattled. Destroyed. Just because he’d made it through the explosion didn’t mean the flashlight would.

He remembered the smaller light on his belt, retrieved it and turned it on. The tiny beam could barely penetrate the thick, swirling dust. He stood up into clearer air and sent the beam back in the direction of the tunnel exit. The passage was now a mass of rubble. Even if he could move the largest of the stones, which he couldn’t, there wasn’t any guarantee the rest of the tube wouldn’t collapse on top of him doing it.

He took his flight helmet off. It came apart in two pieces. It might not have had to save anyone’s life in Vietnam, but it had certainly saved his. He remembered there was a bomb somewhere in the tube ready to give killing him a second try. He dropped the helmet sides on the floor and sent his flashlight beam across the rubble. He spied the shredded paper bag a dozen feet away.

He stepped over to it. With one finger, he opened the bag. The cardboard block of explosives was still in there. The timer and what he guessed had been the detonator were gone, probably ripped out during the explosion. The first near miss detonation had saved him from certain death from the second.

But that had been the plan. Seal the tube with the first charge, kill him with the second charge when he went back to investigate. Terrorists used the same tactic to enhance casualty rates. Then a horrible realization hit him like a punch in the gut.

Suzi had done this. She’d backtracked down the tube, set the charges to kill him, and escaped.

He leaned back against the wall, consumed by a sense of betrayal. How could she do that? She seemed so nice, so genuine. Then he asked himself why she would do it. He didn’t know her well enough for it to have been personal, which meant she had to be part of whatever plot was trying to set the Kilauea dragons free from the park. Which meant no one could be trusted. He needed to get out of here and warn Kathy. He carefully put the explosive charge on the ground.

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