Speculator (High Ground Series Book 1) by Doug Casey & John Hunt

Author:Doug Casey & John Hunt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780985933241
Publisher: HighGround Books
Published: 2016-09-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Discoveries

Charles and Xander slid back into the darkness together. A demolished shed lay on top of the machine and chemistry lab that had successfully pushed the market cap of B-F to over $5 billion. Buyers wanted B-F shares because they were supposedly backed by a hundred million ounces of gold. It was a huge irony that the dollars quantifying B-F’s value were themselves once backed by gold, but were now backed with lies, just like B-F shares.

Through the rain, Charles saw a man prying himself out of the SUV on the far side of the collapsed shed. As the man staggered in front of the headlights, Charles saw who it was. Smolderhof took a few tenuous steps, then the remnants of the roof and walls blocked their view. Xander tugged at Charles.

“This way,” he whispered. “There’s something I want to check out back near the path. We have to be quick. It won’t be long before other guards are out looking for us.”

They moved through the jungle and the rain. Charles, unsure of how far or how long it would take, followed as Xander limped along the path. They arrived at the dirt road, and hurried across it into chest-high growth.

Xander turned to him. “Look. There. See that? Just over there.” Xander pointed and pushed through the undergrowth, Charles close behind.

Charles wiped the water off his face and searched through the darkness. He approached two shipping containers, set back fifty feet off the path, camouflaged with palm fronds and piles of brush. He pushed back the vegetation as best as he could to access one of the doors. It was locked.

“No problem!” Xander said. He reached into the small fanny pack that he kept attached to himself at all times in Gondwana. It contained the essentials for surviving in a place where they were most needed but least available. A fat Swiss Army knife, an LED flashlight, a butane lighter, a Space Pen and writing pad, a space blanket, a bandana, some parachute cord, a small first aid kit, and a small fishing kit, among other things. The only tool that was any good was the one you had with you when it was needed. He extracted a thin vinyl wallet containing implements like those in a surgeon’s kit, but designed to operate on locks.

“Some light, please,” Xander said.

Charles held the light as Xander worked the lock. This was not a cheap Chinese lock. It was a solid American device that would be nearly impossible to saw through. He worked first with two metal picks inserted into the key slot, and then a third. It was intricate work that required patience — three long minutes of patience — before Xander persuaded the mechanism to release with just the right combination of placement and motion. With a few heaves Charles pulled the door back against what was left of the concealing wall of palm fronds and squeezed through the gap. He shined Xander’s flashlight into the darkness. It was moist, hot, and smelled of wax, petroleum, and something else.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.