Hunt Beyond the Frozen Fire by Christa Faust, Gabriel Hunt Page B
Authors: Christa Faust, Gabriel Hunt
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the blood-sucking bombers we got back home.”
“There are no mosquitoes of any size at the South Pole,” Nils said. “No insects at all, in fact.”
Millie looked down at the minuscule corpse in his hand.
“Should we try to preserve it or something?” Millie asked. “I feel kinda bad now for squashing the only living insect ever found at the South Pole.”
“Guys,” Rue called from the depth of the tunnel. “I really think you ought to see this.”
While the other four were marveling over the unfortunate mosquito, Rue had followed her curiosity down the tunnel. She had turned a sharp corner, so she could be heard but not seen.
Gabriel twisted sideways and entered the tunnel, motioning for the others to follow. Inside the tunnel it was not just warm, it was humid, as utterly the opposite of the bone-dry chill aboveground as could possibly be imagined. The air had an odor, a rich green loamy smell that told Gabriel that Dr. Silver had not been hallucinating in his final transmission. When he came to the dogleg bend in the tunnel, his eyes confirmed what his nose had already told him.
The tunnel widened to a broad triangular opening. Rue was standing in the opening, hands on her hips. The other four joined her and stood together in awed silence, regarding the valley below. It was green. Lushly, verdantly, impossibly green.
Chapter 14
From where the team stood, they could see the rippling, leafy canopy of what looked like thick, tangled jungle below them, surrounded on all sides by sheer granite cliffs. About ten feet down from the ledge on which they were gathered, the river spewed out of the cliff face as a misty, ethereal waterfall, spilling down into a clear green pool below. High above their heads was a vaulted ceiling of the curious red ice, giving the daylight filtering through it a ruddy, perpetual-sunset hue. In the distance, at the far end of the valley, there was a large, jagged crack in the rooflike ice dome, through which a bright slash of ordinary daylight spilled in. It was hard to judge its length from this distance, but the crack looked to Gabriel to be at least twenty feet wide and a hundred feet long. It also looked as if several massive plates of ice overlapped at that point, forming a kind of covered ramp leading up to the frozen world above. It could be a way out, but it was easily a half a mile above the ground. Even if they were able to scale one of the sheer cliff faces and reach the frozen ceiling, they would still need to somehow travel upside-down, gecko like, across the curved ice to make their way to the crack.
“You see?” Velda asked, breathless and husky with emotion as she took in the sight before them. “I knew it!”
“I see it,” Nils said, his faded blue eyes wide. “But I don’t believe it.”
“How can a place like this exist?” Gabriel asked. He reached down to grab a handful of crackling fallen leaves. He let the warm wind swirl them away. “How has it been able to escape satellite detection for so long?”
“Perhaps the red ice covering this valley has properties that allow it to deflect geothermal imaging?” Nils said. “I don’t know.”
“What we do know,” Velda said, “is that my father wasn’t crazy. Can you imagine how much a discovery like this might be worth?”
“It’s worth nothing if we don’t get out of here alive,” Rue said.
“What are you thinking, boss,” Millie said, “make our way over to that crack there?”
“One step at a time,” Gabriel said. “First let’s get ourselves down from here.”
Driving a piton to anchor their remaining rope, the team carefully rappelled down the cliff, following the edge of the waterfall to the jungle floor.
Once they were on the ground, Gabriel was able to take a closer look at the foliage surrounding the water. The majority of the tallest trees were a species of fragrant, silvery eucalyptus that Gabriel had never seen before. In the shorter scrub layer, he thought he recognized
“There are no mosquitoes of any size at the South Pole,” Nils said. “No insects at all, in fact.”
Millie looked down at the minuscule corpse in his hand.
“Should we try to preserve it or something?” Millie asked. “I feel kinda bad now for squashing the only living insect ever found at the South Pole.”
“Guys,” Rue called from the depth of the tunnel. “I really think you ought to see this.”
While the other four were marveling over the unfortunate mosquito, Rue had followed her curiosity down the tunnel. She had turned a sharp corner, so she could be heard but not seen.
Gabriel twisted sideways and entered the tunnel, motioning for the others to follow. Inside the tunnel it was not just warm, it was humid, as utterly the opposite of the bone-dry chill aboveground as could possibly be imagined. The air had an odor, a rich green loamy smell that told Gabriel that Dr. Silver had not been hallucinating in his final transmission. When he came to the dogleg bend in the tunnel, his eyes confirmed what his nose had already told him.
The tunnel widened to a broad triangular opening. Rue was standing in the opening, hands on her hips. The other four joined her and stood together in awed silence, regarding the valley below. It was green. Lushly, verdantly, impossibly green.
Chapter 14
From where the team stood, they could see the rippling, leafy canopy of what looked like thick, tangled jungle below them, surrounded on all sides by sheer granite cliffs. About ten feet down from the ledge on which they were gathered, the river spewed out of the cliff face as a misty, ethereal waterfall, spilling down into a clear green pool below. High above their heads was a vaulted ceiling of the curious red ice, giving the daylight filtering through it a ruddy, perpetual-sunset hue. In the distance, at the far end of the valley, there was a large, jagged crack in the rooflike ice dome, through which a bright slash of ordinary daylight spilled in. It was hard to judge its length from this distance, but the crack looked to Gabriel to be at least twenty feet wide and a hundred feet long. It also looked as if several massive plates of ice overlapped at that point, forming a kind of covered ramp leading up to the frozen world above. It could be a way out, but it was easily a half a mile above the ground. Even if they were able to scale one of the sheer cliff faces and reach the frozen ceiling, they would still need to somehow travel upside-down, gecko like, across the curved ice to make their way to the crack.
“You see?” Velda asked, breathless and husky with emotion as she took in the sight before them. “I knew it!”
“I see it,” Nils said, his faded blue eyes wide. “But I don’t believe it.”
“How can a place like this exist?” Gabriel asked. He reached down to grab a handful of crackling fallen leaves. He let the warm wind swirl them away. “How has it been able to escape satellite detection for so long?”
“Perhaps the red ice covering this valley has properties that allow it to deflect geothermal imaging?” Nils said. “I don’t know.”
“What we do know,” Velda said, “is that my father wasn’t crazy. Can you imagine how much a discovery like this might be worth?”
“It’s worth nothing if we don’t get out of here alive,” Rue said.
“What are you thinking, boss,” Millie said, “make our way over to that crack there?”
“One step at a time,” Gabriel said. “First let’s get ourselves down from here.”
Driving a piton to anchor their remaining rope, the team carefully rappelled down the cliff, following the edge of the waterfall to the jungle floor.
Once they were on the ground, Gabriel was able to take a closer look at the foliage surrounding the water. The majority of the tallest trees were a species of fragrant, silvery eucalyptus that Gabriel had never seen before. In the shorter scrub layer, he thought he recognized
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