Gears of a Mad God Omnibus by Brent Nichols

Author:Brent Nichols [Nichols, Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2014-01-14T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4 – The Metal Man

Carter, Maggie, and Colleen held a council of war in their hut the next morning. It seemed clear that the cult wanted the stone tablet for some reason. Their priority, then, was to get the stone off the island as soon as possible. That meant waiting for Libertad and the Persephone to return.

In the meantime, Maggie wanted to continue the dig. Who knew what they might uncover? Abandoning the site meant leaving it all to the cult.

Carter nodded. "I agree. We need to carry on if we can. The question is, will we still have any diggers, now that things have turned dangerous?"

They walked out the front of the building and found the diggers gathered in a ring around the front door. Carter stood on the step, put his hands on his hips, and spoke to the group.

"You all know what happened here last night. Well, those men didn't get what they wanted, so they will most likely be back. I realize that this isn't what any of you signed up for. If anyone wants to leave, step up and I'll pay you your wages. I'd like to continue the dig, so there's a job for anyone who wants to stay. I have to tell you, though, you're probably better off leaving."

Carter fell silent. Nobody moved.

Carter scratched his head. "Do you understand what I'm saying? They have at least one gun. That's one more gun than we have. Are you sure you want to stay?"

Someone at the back said, "We gonna work today, Boss, or we gonna stand around talking?"

Others chuckled, and Bill said, "That was Reggie Bones with them last night. He's been trying to push me around for twenty years now. I never let him do it yet. I'm not gonna start now."

Several people nodded in agreement. Then a small, wiry man piped up. "Those guys last night was scary, but let me tell you, my wife is worse. You think I wanna go home and tell her I quit my job?" He shuddered theatrically. "Give me a man with a gun any day, Boss."

The others laughed and clapped him on the back, and the meeting broke up, men drifting over to the dig site and picking up tools. Colleen, Maggie, and Carter looked at each other, bemused. Maggie shrugged and said, "I guess I better start supervising. They're clearly going to dig."

Carter and Colleen watched them walk away, and then Carter said softly, "I think you and I have a little job to do this morning."

In a back corner of the blue hut they found some crates that had once held food supplies. They brought a crate outside and, in plain sight of anyone who cared to look, lined the crate with fronds, put the stone tablet inside, added more fronds for padding, and nailed the crate shut. They lugged the crate back into the blue hut.

Once inside, safe from prying eyes, they pried the lid off of the crate, took out the tablet, threw in some rocks for weight, and re-sealed it.

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