The Aleutian Portal (Sam Reilly Book 8) by Christopher Cartwright

Author:Christopher Cartwright [Cartwright, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ashton Publishing Group
Published: 2017-10-11T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Six

Tom removed his backpack and threw it into the back seat of the Humvee, before climbing into the driver’s seat. He flicked the ignition switch to the start position and the powerful 6.5L turbo diesel turned over and rumbled into life. He switched the headlights on and made a sharp three-point turn before heading back the way they’d come.

Sam was silent in the passenger seat. Tom guessed he was most likely thinking over the complications of the note they’d discovered inside the shipping container and the logistics of removing the ancient megalithic stone.

Content in the silence of his own thoughts, he concentrated on maneuvering the cumbersome vehicle through the constantly undulating and twisting ancient lava tube. He was able to drive faster on the returning trip, no longer having to take into account any unexpected obstacles.

Twenty minutes into the trip he spotted the short and steep forty-foot hump in the tunnel they’d climbed and dipped down into earlier on the drive in. It reminded him of a short roller coaster with its sharp upward section, short narrow crest and steep descent. He planted his foot down hard on the accelerator and the heavy Humvee picked up speed for the approach.

He hit the steep section at speed and the Humvee rapidly cruised to the top, slowing down as it reached the crest. Tom grinned. It was hard not to enjoy the ride. And then everything changed – because a pool of dark liquid had formed on the road.

“Stop, stop!” yelled Sam.

Tom jammed his foot on the brake, and the Humvee slid to a stop. “What did you see?”

“Back up, back…”

“What is it?”

“You didn’t see it?” Sam asked. “Back up to the peak, just before the crest.”

Tom shoved the Humvee into reverse and planted the accelerator again. The engine whined under the restraint of the lower gearing ratio.

“Okay. Stop!” Sam said.

Tom stopped the Humvee and pulled up the handbrake. “What do you see?”

It was unlike Sam to get so rattled all of a sudden. His eyes studied the ground in front of the hood. It was covered in more of that strange reddish-brown dirt they’d found at the base of the volcanic dome. In the middle of the tunnel, a small patch of dark liquid had been soaked up by the soil. At a guess it could have been anything from water to oil.

“Well… how do you suppose that occurred?” Sam asked, unclipping his seatbelt.

Tom shrugged. “The liquid could be anything.”

“Liquid? What liquid?”

“On the crest of the hill, there’s a darkened area of soil. I thought that’s what you were getting so excited about. What were you looking at?”

Sam opened the door and pointed to the ceiling above. “That!”

Tom followed him. His eyes darted to the volcanic ceiling above, where two sections of the lava tube had come together to form a rocky gap. Wedged into that crevasse were the remains of some unfortunate individual.

His eyes narrowed and his mouth opened as he turned to face Sam. “How in heck does

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