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MYSTIC:
Okana stands from the table. “This might take a while, Alex. Let’s go out on deck and reminisce.”
Alex gets up and follows Okana out of the lounge and along the walkway to the stern. They stop next to the hoist and look out across the ocean. The cool breeze off the water feels nice, compared the heat on the mainland.
“Sorry to hear about your brother and his wife, Alex. Martin let me read the file.”
“I just hope it’s over. My nephew and niece are staying at my father’s place. The ranch is registered under my mom’s maiden name, Parker, so hopefully the Russians don’t know about it.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
Alex indicates there might be. “After what I did in Russia, I’ve lost all my connections. Martin promised to let me know if anything comes up related to my family.”
“I still have contacts in the agency. I’ll check around.”
“You’ve always had my back, Okana. If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know.”
“You could tell me what really happened during the Dead Energy operation.”
Alex suddenly thinks about what Menno Simons told him that night in the Nevada desert and looks at Okana. “I just had the craziest idea you could ever imagine. How long until you start drilling?”
“I don’t know. I’m new here. Mike hired me two months ago.”
“What do you know about the crew?”
“I did some checking and Mike seems to be all right. He doesn’t care about money. He just likes the research his wealth gives him. Lisa comes from a modest background and doesn’t have a criminal record. Josh spent some time in therapy for temper management, but other than a few bar scuffles, he’s never been in much trouble. Our first mate is just an old sea dog, and from what little records exist, he’s spent most of his life on ships traveling the world. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the deckhand’s background, but our Captain has me a little worried. His background is too clean. Someone created it for him. So what’s this crazy idea of yours?”
Before he can answer, Alex sees a tall woman dressed in faded blue jean shorts and a tight fitting white tank top walking in their direction. Her damp red hair hangs in natural curls.
Okana turns to see what Alex is looking at. “That’s our mechanic.”
She smiles warmly and reaches out to shake Alex’s hand. “I’m Rita Harrow, Mr. Cave.”
Alex accepts. “Just Alex, will do.”
“I understand you study rocks,” she says with a grin.
“I must say, Ms. Harrow. You’re the prettiest grease monkey I’ve ever seen.”
Okana smirks at his best friend. “Don’t let her fool you, Alex. She has a Master’s degree in electronics and mechanical engineering.”
They smile and turn in unison when they hear footsteps coming their way. Lisa, Mike, and Dieter are strolling in their direction.
When Lisa sees Rita standing with the men, she positions herself next to Alex to make sure she understands her intentions.
Mike does the introduction. “This is our Captain, John Dieter.”
Alex holds out his hand, but Dieter hesitates before accepting, and he can sense Dieter is not happy to have him on the ship.
Mike notices Dieter’s reaction and wonders why, but lets it drop. “The Discovery will be in position to start the procedure in three hours. Once Celeas anchors the drill head above the methane, I’m going to send down our experimental high-pressure steam drill. It’s similar to an ice core drill, but we send steam down to melt the ice for an optical lens. I use it for my arctic research. We’ll be able to see the picture from the Discovery in Lisa’s laboratory.”
“Who’s Celeas?” Alex asks.
“She’s our robotic workaholic on the Discovery,” Rita tells him. “It’s an unmanned prototype I designed for underwater research. She is similar to the rovers I designed here, on the Mystic, but she is much larger and more powerful. We can attach a variety of tools for working deep underwater, and she’s remotely controlled from the ship, using the new technology developed for the ultrasound system, so she doesn’t need a long control cable.”
Alex walks over to the white submarine in the brackets on the left side of the stern. Two mechanical arms are folded back along its length, and four high intensity lights are attached to the front, above the clear bubble shaped window. “What’s this one do?”
Okana follows him. “This is my baby, the Wizard. She holds two people and we use it for observation and investigation to collect samples. This is what we were in when we got tossed along the ocean floor.” He looks over at Mike. “Mind if I take Alex down with me to watch the drilling?”
“Not at all. He should find it interesting.”
Okana turns to Alex and grins. “You’re going to enjoy this. We’ll wait until Celeas is done setting the drill head in place, then we’ll go down to watch.”
“I missed breakfast. Do you have a snack machine?”
“I can make you something from the kitchen,” Lisa offers.
Alex smiles and follows her across the deck and into the ship.
Rita puts her hand on Okana’s shoulder. “I think she has a crush on your friend.”
Dieter stares at Cave’s back until he disappears into the ship, then looks at Okana. “Your friend sounds like an educated man. What is his profession?”
Okana also sensed Dieter isn’t happy about Alex joining the crew and is searching for information. “Don’t worry, John. He teaches geology at a college.”
Dieter locks stares with Okana, who considers himself an equal. He’s the Captain on this ship, and Okana is just another new employee who needs to be under his command. The moment drags on, but Okana doesn’t even blink. He decides to learn more about this geology teacher from his contact on the mainland. He breaks eye contact, stomps across the deck to the stairs, and hurries up to the bridge.
Mike thought this might happen. From the little time he spent with Okana in San Diego, he’s a man that won’t be intimidated. He notices Okana still staring at Dieter’s back. “Well, Okana. In a little while, we’ll be able to see what that mysterious object is at the bottom of the ice.”
Okana looks down at Mike. “What’s up with Dieter?”
“He thinks he’s in charge. Don’t worry about it. Let’s find out what’s in the ice.”
***
An hour later, Alex follows Okana up the ladder to the top of the sub, and they climb down inside. Alex closes the hatch, sits in the seat behind Okana, and fastens his seat belt. Five minutes later, they are in the water.
Alex feels the rear thruster pushing the sub forward, and for the moment, there is nothing to see as they follow the flexible, six-inch diameter orange hose for the optical drill down to the ocean floor.
***
CHARS HELICOPTER:
Tom approaches the southern end of the ice sheet so Sonja can collect a sample of the strange clear ice and see the transparent pyramid in the distance. “Is it my imagination, or has that pyramid moved farther south?”
Sonja stares into the distance at the strange site, and the angle of the sun shining down through the ice acts like a prism. She notices a dark area, deep beneath the surface, and directly below the top of the pyramid, but as they draw closer to the top, the angle changes, and the dark area is gone. “What is our current GPS location compared to the last time we were here?”
Tom looks down at the instrument panel. “I was right. The pyramid is over three-hundred-miles farther south than the last time we were here. It must be moving when the ice on the northern end expands and forces it further south.”
Tom continues flying south and they soar past the red and white cargo ship locked in the ice, and it appears deserted. They were lucky to lose only one person.
Sonja nods through the front window. “Once the ice stops rising out of the ocean, those people on the cargo ship did not freeze to the surface, so we should be okay to land without getting stuck again.”
Tom hopes she’s right as he cautiously sets the helicopter down on the southern edge of the ice sheet and brings the engine speed down to idle. When Sonja reaches for the door handle, he reaches over and places his hand on her arm. “Be careful, just to be sure.”
Sonja opens the door and feels the freezing wind flowing across the ice sheet. She cautiously touches the ice with the tip of her shoe, quickly pulls it back, and smiles at Tom. “I will be fine.”
She steps out of the helicopter, moves across the ice to the edge, and looks down. The wall drops straight down into the ocean, two-hundred-meters below. She steps back, pulls a plastic jar from her pocket and removes the lid, then kneels to use the top to scrape some ice into the jar. The ice is so hard, the plastic lid just slides across without leaving a scratch on the surface.
She stands, walks back to the helicopter, and leans in past the open door. “The ice is exceptionally hard, Tom. I need a knife.”
Tom climbs out and opens one of the storage doors. He digs around in a small plastic toolbox and finds a hammer. He kneels down and gently bangs it against the surface, but it bounces up without leaving a mark. “What the hell is this stuff, Sonja?”
“Try it again.”
Tom raises the hammer above his head and slams it down onto the surface with all his strength.