The Parallax Disc: An Alien Artifact Thriller (The Parallax Crisis Book 2) by Douglas Michaels

Author:Douglas Michaels [Michaels, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

For me, time seemed to slow down in the moments that followed. I knew everybody was waiting for me to answer, but I was too busy trying to make sense of what they had just asked of me.

I could hear a strange ringing noise in my ears, which crept up as if somebody was slowly turning up the volume, and I looked around for the source before I realized it was in my head.

“Chris?” Will asked.

My neck snapped to look at him. He seemed concerned, but everybody else appeared impatient. I reached instinctively for the case as though to pull it closer, but it was already gone. I had thought that when I handed it over, I would have played my part, and I’d get sent back to Florida.

But here I was, still trapped in a conference room in the Pentagon, surrounded by people who scared the hell out of me, if only because of the power they wielded. It turned out I wasn’t near the end at all. It was only the beginning.

“I heard you,” I said, but I cleared my throat so I could speak properly. “You want me to--”

“Go to Santiago,” Will interrupted. “It’s on display at the Chilean National Museum.”

“You want me to steal from a museum,” I said with a hollow laugh, although it wasn’t funny at all.

“They have an exhibit dedicated to the cultural anthropology of Easter Island,” Will said with a sheepish shrug. “I’m afraid there’s no other way. Once the disc is off display, it will be impossible to get. It's strictly controlled access.”

“As opposed to a National Museum,” I said.

“Yes,” Will said and nodded slowly. “That’s the idea. Right now, they don’t know what they have. But that certainly won’t last forever.”

I looked at my old friend searchingly. I knew there was a specific reason he was at the briefing, but I couldn’t have predicted this. When Will had greeted me so warmly, was he already regretting what he was about to do? I’d called him a good liar but not a great one.

I had to hand it to Will. He had sure fooled me, at least twice now, and it had me rethinking just how well I really knew him. He seemed to sense that, and another flash of guilt appeared in his eyes.

But I also knew if there were any real residual feelings of guilt, they would soon fade. Above all, Will was a loyal, dedicated soldier. His service to his country came before anything else. Including friendship, so it seemed.

It was a worthwhile mission, I wouldn’t deny that. Even if only half of the rumors were true, there was no way the Easter Island disc could be left in somebody else’s hands, especially since we knew for sure what the disc from the ice could do. I could only imagine what would happen if the two discs were reunited. I had no doubt they could be weaponized, and I completely agreed with everything they’d said right up until they pointed the finger at me.

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