He chuckled. “The quick extraction was for your own safety. We didn’t know where the pieces of 586001 Tuonela were going to fall.” The woman was very pretty, with wavy brown hair with hazel-brown eyes. If anyone had to be saved from the flight center, he was glad it was her. Even if it wasn’t altruism that brought her to his remote island.
“Well, uh, sir, thank you for getting me to safety, but I wanted to stick around until the end, you know? Those people up on the Petteri-2 were like family. I would have liked to see where the remains of their ship came down.”
Captain Davis and his crew had detonated their drive reactor to break apart the asteroid. He couldn’t imagine why he would care where the ship debris landed on Earth. Still, he was willing to lead with the carrot. “As I said, I needed to ensure company employees were taken out of the projected impact zone, so you, and the others, were taken to safety. As the boss of the entire operation, it was my first priority. Soon, I’m going to need our team members to go back to Texas and the disaster zone. TKM will be at the forefront of the recovery efforts. We have an obligation to humanity.”
She nodded, appearing to come around. “I’ll do whatever I can. I want to help. While I’m waiting, can I have my phone back? I want to call my brother and let him know I’m all right.”
“Your brother is named Asher, isn’t he?” Petteri asked in an offhand way.
“You know him?” she replied with misgiving.
“I make an effort to know all my high-profile employees. I read up about you and your brother while you were on your way here. Do you know where he is?”
That seemed to satisfy her. “Well, not really. I think he’s in Montana. After last night, though, I’m not even sure Montana is still on the map.”
Petteri smiled, seeing opportunity grace his presence once again. “I’ll make sure you get your phone as soon as the luggage comes over from the airport. Then, I would be forever grateful if you could ensure your brother is still alive. He’s one of my top geologists; I have some important tasks for him to do in the impact zone, assuming he’s already close to it, and safe, of course.”
“I really appreciate your offer to track him down.” Diedre smiled, but her eyes remained distant. Perhaps it was the late-night flight. He also considered there was something else behind that look. She was the leak responsible for getting information to her brother out in the field. She had to know she’d been brought to the island as more than a safety precaution, but the clever woman wasn’t letting on. It didn’t matter to him; she was right where he wanted her.
“You are most welcome. I’m always here to help.”
They stood there for a few moments before he motioned to the driver of the SUV, who had been standing near the vehicle. “Please take Ms. Creighton to one of the guest houses. Make sure she has everything she needs to be comfortable.”
“And my phone,” she added.
“And make sure her belongings all make it to her.” He didn’t mention they were too far from the nearest cell tower to get a signal. Unless she was connected to his private network, she’d have no access of any kind while on the island.
Petteri’s phone rang, giving him the perfect excuse to bid Diedre goodbye. He tapped his screen as she got back in the vehicle. “Hello?”
“This is Howard. I have some news from my man in Yellowstone.”
“Really? That’s perfect timing. I was just talking to Creighton’s sister.”
Howard laughed. “Misha left a report on my voicemail this morning. It came through, with about a hundred other messages, when the nationwide network limped back to life.”
“And?” he said impatiently.
“Sir, he said Asher and the park ranger have been terminated. Lost during the explosion caused by the falling debris.”
A hundred pounds magically lifted off his shoulders. It was a minor thing in the grand scheme of his disaster response plans, but he was saddled with a brain that thrived on doing things in the proper order, one after the other. Having Asher as a constant threat to his version of the truth made all the subsequent steps seem fraught with peril. Now, with the last problem of phase one out of the way, the next phases could proceed free and clear.
“Howard, my good man, I’m going to give both of you a big promotion.”
“Shall I tell him we were only kidding about hurting his family? He mentioned it a bunch of times in his call. I think it really motivated him.”
He’d used the Russian man’s family as a threat to get him to do as instructed, and it seemed to work beyond expectations. Why mess with a good thing? “No, let him sweat it out. Do we even know where his family is?”
“We know,” Howard said dryly on the other end of the line.
Chapter 11
Beartooth Highway, WY
“Don’t look down,” Grace joked as she pointed out her window. The falling snow and black clouds continued to make it seem like night, with just enough light to see over the edge of the cliff. She gripped the wheel with iron clamps as they made a hairpin turn up another switchback. They were near the pass, but as the road neared the top, she was dismayed to find cliff edges and deep valleys on both sides of the route.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t looked at anything except my hands since we passed the stopped car. No pictures, either.” Asher held his hands on the heater vent.
“This road is closed in wintertime,” she said dryly.
“I can see why,” he replied. “Snow and cliffsides are two things that should never go together. Plus, have you noticed there aren’t enough guardrails? Why wouldn’t they have guardrails along every foot of this highway?”
The headlights of the Chevy were barely able to cut through the soot-stained snow. Thankfully, the highway planners had placed tall poles on each side of the road, so she had a guide to follow. There were vague indications of tire tracks, too. Those were made by the vehicles ahead of her; they were probably already over the pass and going down the far side, where she wanted to be.
“We’re almost at the top. I’m going to stop and make sure everyone makes it. We’re getting too strung out.” She looked in the rearview mirror. Tessa’s police lights weren’t visible anymore, though flash bulbs of lightning peppered the dense clouds. Thunder rumbled with each burst.
“Any chance we could ride with Tessa and Chester?” he asked. She assumed their truck was warm and toasty. She didn’t blame him for asking—she would have preferred to be there, as well. Nevertheless, the park service Chevy was her responsibility. Leaving it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
“You can ride with them, if you want,” she replied. “I’m going to stay with this one.” Grace guided the truck onto what looked like a broad parking area near the summit of the pass. There was already six inches of snow on the ground, but large rocks lined the edges of the lot, tracing how much room was available.
Asher turned to her. “You know I’m with you, but this ride is murder. I’m going to freeze to death in here.”
“At least we’re safe from lightning in this metal cage, right?”
He laughed. “Yeah. I guess you’re a glass half-full gal, huh?”
She pulled into the lot and went to the far end, so her beat-up truck would remain the first in the line when it was time to go down. The next car in line followed her tire tracks and stopped where she did. The rest of the convoy filled in behind them.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
“Leave the heater on,” he pleaded.
“Wow, you’ve never been out in the cold, have you?” she teased.
“I’ve been in the cold plenty of times, but I’ve always been dressed for it. This national parks uniform doesn’t do much to stop the biting temps, plus I’m sure you’ve noticed there aren’t windows or a back door on our truck.” He laughed. “That’s why I figured we could jump ship.”
“You still can,” she responded while opening the door. Grace didn’t tell him she hoped he would stay. Driving on the darkened roadway was frayin
g her nerves as it was. Doing it alone would be unbearable.
As soon as her foot touched the snow, a truck sped by on the road next to the lot.
“Hey, wait!” she shouted, trotting through the deep snow toward the roadway. A few others chased the lead truck, including a small RV with a mess of bicycles lashed to the rear ladder. Watching them drive away, she wondered if they even knew the main convoy had pulled over. By the time she reached the road to flag them down, the group of vehicles had disappeared into the false night.
“Good luck,” she called after them.
Unable to do anything for the cars, she squatted down to get a better look at the black snow. Grace scooped up a handful and mushed it in her palm, confirming it was a mixture of black dust and regular snow crystals. Despite the unusual color, it stacked up and slicked the road like normal snow; it was good information to have before going down the mountain.
“Grace, are you all right?” Tessa shouted from nearby.
She shot up. Tessa had driven along the center of the road, effectively blocking anyone else from going ahead of the convoy. The headlights were on, though the gathering snow blotted out the bottom half of each one.
“I’m fine,” she replied, walking along the flattened tire tracks until she reached Tessa. “You guys good in there?” Somewhere in the back was a man she thought might be Misha, though Tessa had said the guy had a gun. Misha had dropped his; it was now in her pocket.
Tessa nodded. “Me and Chester are good. I’d like to get this burn victim some help, though. He moans when he sleeps. I think he’s really in pain.”
She saw an opportunity. “Is he asleep, now?”
Tessa glanced over her shoulder to the back seat. “Yeah, looks like it.”
“I’m going to open the door and check him out. Maybe I can get a better handle on his burns, so I know how fast we have to drive out of here.” She celebrated the reasonable-sounding excuse, and if the man was hurt, she would do everything in her power to make sure he got help, but the real reason she wanted to see him had nothing to do with helping.
I have to know if it’s him.
“Knock yourself out,” Tessa said dryly.
The heavy snowfall muffled the running engines of all the cars over on the Beartooth Pass parking lot. She smelled them, however. The clean mountain air was saturated with exhaust. As she reached for the door handle, she put the sounds and smells out of her mind. All of her attention was on discovering who was in the truck.
Grace opened the back door and saw a familiar man in a black suit. Lightning flashed at the perfect time, brightening the compartment enough to see every detail of his clothing. He was sprawled out on the rear bench seat, but had his head propped up against the far door.
“Oh—” she started to say, before she saw the man giving her the “shush” sign with a finger over his lips. There was also a pistol partially hidden by his suit jacket that was pointed toward the woman in the front seat. Thunder rumbled to make his point.
Grace stood there in shock. Tessa had said the man was asleep, so she didn’t even have her pistol in her hand.
Misha managed to convey what he wanted without using words. He waved the gun, his hand, and used his eyes.
Get these two out of the truck, so we can talk.
Land Between the Lakes, KY
Ezra and Butch were able to contribute immediately, though Ezra was comfortable with admitting it was mostly the larger man. He brought a fresh eye to the men’s struggle, but when it came time to push, Butch did most of the work. In less than fifteen minutes they had the stuck Jeep out of the bog. Both rode in the cramped back seat of a Wrangler as the group drove a few muddy miles to the south. When they reached the campground, the men hooted and hollered out their windows.
“You guys have been out there for a long time, haven’t you?” he asked his driver, Colby, as they struggled out of the seat and hopped off the lifted, mud-covered Jeep.
“Not us, just the Jeeps. We’ve been trying to get them unstuck since the night before last.”
“You’ve been working on them since Paducah blew up?” he asked with surprise.
“Yep. There were ten rigs in our group. Me and some of the more daring guys saw the mud pit and knew we had to get through it, so we went at it hard. A couple Jeeps went all the way through, but three of us were right in the thick of it when the lights started up. When the blast of air came through, a big wave of water came with it. That made everything ten times worse.”
“Was the lake close by?” He’d gotten turned around during their run from the bikers, so he couldn’t remember if they were close to, or far from, the water.
“No, we were a quarter of a mile away. It was more of a tornado of water, if you know what I mean. We were left standing in six inches of the stuff, in addition to the thick mud already there.”
“So, your people left you?” Butch interjected.
“Some of them did, yes. Said they had to get back to Paducah. A couple others claimed they were too scared to stay out here in the woods, so they headed off into the night. Luckily, a few of the guys stuck around. They ferried us back to the camp to get more help. That’s why we have the dirt bikes and our wives and girlfriends with us.”
Colby acted like he was going to lean against the rear quarter panel of his Jeep, but he thought better of it when he saw how much mud was splattered on it. Instead, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “You two look like you can take care of yourselves. You said you were going to Yellowstone, right?”
Ezra nodded.
“I thought you were yanking our chain, but I haven’t seen any reason to suspect you made it up. Anyway, you helped us a little…maybe you’d be willing to help us some more.”
He’d been waiting to get the bill since they first ran into the Jeepers. “What do you have in mind?”
Colby opened his cigarette pack, but his smokes were soggy. He turned his nose at it, then shoved it back in the box. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this wet,” he lamented.
“Us, either,” Ezra said to be friendly, though he was beginning to wonder if the men were going to ask for one of his Bushmasters as payment for safe passage. The camp was made up of only five or six Jeeps, including the three filthy ones they’d just helped extract from the mud, but there were at least fifteen grown men standing around. The women on the bikes were still out in the woods.
“So, here’s the deal. We’ve been here for almost two full days, with barely a word of contact with the outside world. We’re ready to go home. The problem is, the bridges east and west are both closed due to all the cars stuck on them. We can’t go north because of the forest fires. That’s where our women were coming from, when they found you.”
“So, you want to go south, like us?” he guessed.
“You got it. Most of us left are from Murray and Paris. We didn’t rush home since we live the closest. But the joke was on us; not only did we get stuck in the mud, we were way too late to go over the bridge a mile away. A couple guys tried it on dirt bikes, but some men at a roadblock turned them back.”
Butch chuckled. “Same here. We tried to go through and the guys at the roadblock told us to pound sand. People like them probably have the roads blocked everywhere.”
“That’s why I want you two to help us. First, I have to ask; is there anything I can offer for those guns? Those are what we really need: a way to protect ourselves from the unexpected out there.” Colby’s eyes went to the Bushmaster slung over Ezra’s back. In response, he gripped the sling taut against his shoulder.
“I’m afraid not,” he said warily, wondering if he was about to be relieved of it anyway. He considered whipping it off and daring anyone to take it, but then he would ruin any chance of cooperation.
“I figured as much. Then would you be willing to ride a dirt bike, assuming you know how, down south, across the bridge, and to my home in Murray?”
Ezra was taken by surprise. They’d intended to go through Murray anyway, so being offe
red a ride there was fantastic. He couldn’t ask for a better deal, but there was still an element of distrust he had to quell.
“Why?” he blurted.
Colby checked around him, then pulled Butch and Ezra closer. “I’ve got a problem. Half these guys have fifty or sixty thousand dollars invested in their rigs. Lifts. Engine mods. Roll cages. Custom axles. They won’t leave them here in the woods.”
“They’re crazy,” Ezra replied. “Unless the paved route to the south is clear, you’re going to be stuck here. Maybe for a very long time.”
“That’s just it. The highway to the south isn’t open. The girls told me trees came down all over the road, worse than they are around here. My wife thinks a meteorite fell somewhere to the south.”
With the nimble Jeeps, they were able to go around many of the fallen trees, but with so many down, it might take forever to get through them. In fact, the way might be completely impassable closer to the impact zone.
Butch scoffed. “So, you guys are going to wait with your fancy-pants Jeeps until cutters come through and clear the way for you? That’s no good. You’ve got to hoof it out, brother.”
“I know it’s insane,” Colby said quietly. “Now you know why I’m asking you two to ride with the women and get them to safety. The rest of us will stay behind until help arrives. In fact,” he pulled out his phone, “I’m going to call my family in Murray to tell them the ladies will be there, soon.”
Ezra’s eyes lit up at the sight of the phone. “Hey, before we agree to anything, you mind if I make a call?”
A lead weight dropped into his stomach with a heavy clunk. Getting a free ride thirty miles down the road would be an incredible stroke of luck, given all they’d been through, but he still had a terrible duty to perform.
I have to tell Grace her mother is dead.
Chapter 12
Beartooth Pass, WY
“Hey, Tessa, would you and Chester please go inform the drivers we’re going to be heading down the other side of the mountain in a few minutes? I’ll keep an eye on this man, to be sure he’s okay.” Misha’s hand remained on his pistol.
Impact (Book 2): Bounce Page 9