The Atlantis World (The Origin Mystery, Book 3) by A.G. Riddle Page B
Authors: A.G. Riddle
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Antarctica. It opened for him as he drew close, and he and his men rushed in, out of the darkness.
The airlock flushed the water out, and Dorian shed his suit and approached the control panel. The green cloud of familiar light emerged. Dorian worked his fingers inside it, and the display flashed.
General Ares
Access Granted
Dorian pulled up a schematic of the ship.
It had been badly damaged, either from the nuclear blast Patrick Pierce, Kate Warner’s father, had unleashed or by the mines. Entire sections were decompressed and flooded. The ship was on emergency power, and most importantly, there was only one route to the portal room.
Dorian pointed to the map. “Arc 1701-D. South entrance. That’s our destination.” Dorian chambered the first round in his automatic rifle. “Shoot to kill.”
C HAPTER 18
David was covered head to toe in dirt. His muscles had ached, and now they burned, but he kept digging, throwing shovel after shovel of dirt and rock down the tunnel where Milo, Mary, and Kate waited to haul it out, pail after pail.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to find Sonja. “Take a break,” she said.
“I can go another—”
“And then you’ll be exhausted, and I’ll be exhausted, and Paul will be exhausted, and we’ll all have to wait.” She took the shovel from him and began digging into the hard-packed ground, maintaining the upward slant they hoped would lead to the surface—an opening into the arc.
Kate had been right: the contents of the arcology had shifted over the last thirteen thousand years and not in their favor. The door was underground now, the earth having slid to one side. How far under, they didn’t know. It could be ten feet or a hundred. David wondered how long their meal rations would last, and what they would do if they didn’t see the arc’s artificial daylight soon.
At his and Kate’s bedroom, he collapsed on the chair by the small metal table and dug into the MRE Kate had left out for him.
He was famished. He stopped eating only to breathe.
Kate entered and threw another MRE on the table.
“I’m not eating your ration,” he said.
“Me either.”
“You need your strength.”
“You need it more,” she said.
“I wouldn’t if you could get that quantum cube Janus gave to Milo to work.”
“We’ve been over this. Gaps in my knowledge. Big ones.”
David held the fork up defensively. “Just saying.” He finished the first MRE and eyed the second. “I feel like Patrick Pierce tunneling under the Sea of Gibraltar.”
“That’s a bit dramatic. I don’t see why you don’t use the explosives.”
“Don’t have enough. We used half to get in. Barely broke through. We’ll need the other half—assuming we ever make it across.”
Kate opened the second MRE. “Eat it, or it will go to waste.”
She left before David could say a word. He exhaled and continued eating. He would pull a double shift next go round, whether Sonja stopped him or not.
The door slid open, and Milo rushed in. “Mr. David!” The teenager smiled. “We’re through.”
“Water break!” David called, halting the line of six that snaked through the dense rainforest. All of them took out their canteens, some drinking more liberally than others. They were all exhausted from the three-hour march, which had been mostly uphill.
David handed the machete to Paul, who took the lead position, ready to continue cutting their path through the thick green, red, and purple plants and vines that webbed between the trees which stretched to the dense canopy, blocking out much of the artificial sun. Or two suns in this case.
David studied the shadows on the forest floor, trying to get an idea of how much daylight they had left. Night will be dangerous , Kate had said.
“What do we call the flying invisible reptiles?” David asked her.
“Exadons.”
“If we make camp here, will they attack us? In the thick forest?”
“I don’t know. Possibly.”
David sensed that
The airlock flushed the water out, and Dorian shed his suit and approached the control panel. The green cloud of familiar light emerged. Dorian worked his fingers inside it, and the display flashed.
General Ares
Access Granted
Dorian pulled up a schematic of the ship.
It had been badly damaged, either from the nuclear blast Patrick Pierce, Kate Warner’s father, had unleashed or by the mines. Entire sections were decompressed and flooded. The ship was on emergency power, and most importantly, there was only one route to the portal room.
Dorian pointed to the map. “Arc 1701-D. South entrance. That’s our destination.” Dorian chambered the first round in his automatic rifle. “Shoot to kill.”
C HAPTER 18
David was covered head to toe in dirt. His muscles had ached, and now they burned, but he kept digging, throwing shovel after shovel of dirt and rock down the tunnel where Milo, Mary, and Kate waited to haul it out, pail after pail.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to find Sonja. “Take a break,” she said.
“I can go another—”
“And then you’ll be exhausted, and I’ll be exhausted, and Paul will be exhausted, and we’ll all have to wait.” She took the shovel from him and began digging into the hard-packed ground, maintaining the upward slant they hoped would lead to the surface—an opening into the arc.
Kate had been right: the contents of the arcology had shifted over the last thirteen thousand years and not in their favor. The door was underground now, the earth having slid to one side. How far under, they didn’t know. It could be ten feet or a hundred. David wondered how long their meal rations would last, and what they would do if they didn’t see the arc’s artificial daylight soon.
At his and Kate’s bedroom, he collapsed on the chair by the small metal table and dug into the MRE Kate had left out for him.
He was famished. He stopped eating only to breathe.
Kate entered and threw another MRE on the table.
“I’m not eating your ration,” he said.
“Me either.”
“You need your strength.”
“You need it more,” she said.
“I wouldn’t if you could get that quantum cube Janus gave to Milo to work.”
“We’ve been over this. Gaps in my knowledge. Big ones.”
David held the fork up defensively. “Just saying.” He finished the first MRE and eyed the second. “I feel like Patrick Pierce tunneling under the Sea of Gibraltar.”
“That’s a bit dramatic. I don’t see why you don’t use the explosives.”
“Don’t have enough. We used half to get in. Barely broke through. We’ll need the other half—assuming we ever make it across.”
Kate opened the second MRE. “Eat it, or it will go to waste.”
She left before David could say a word. He exhaled and continued eating. He would pull a double shift next go round, whether Sonja stopped him or not.
The door slid open, and Milo rushed in. “Mr. David!” The teenager smiled. “We’re through.”
“Water break!” David called, halting the line of six that snaked through the dense rainforest. All of them took out their canteens, some drinking more liberally than others. They were all exhausted from the three-hour march, which had been mostly uphill.
David handed the machete to Paul, who took the lead position, ready to continue cutting their path through the thick green, red, and purple plants and vines that webbed between the trees which stretched to the dense canopy, blocking out much of the artificial sun. Or two suns in this case.
David studied the shadows on the forest floor, trying to get an idea of how much daylight they had left. Night will be dangerous , Kate had said.
“What do we call the flying invisible reptiles?” David asked her.
“Exadons.”
“If we make camp here, will they attack us? In the thick forest?”
“I don’t know. Possibly.”
David sensed that
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