“No,” replied Hedron. “Not precisely. We renovated it, shall we say. In fact, it was my sons who managed the project, to Lev and Roman’s specifications. You met them several years ago, in fact.” She couldn’t see his face behind the helmet, of course, but Marina could tell he wasn’t pleased. “It was because of you my son Bran died in a Canadian prison.”
Now it all made sense. Bran and George were the two men who’d abducted Marina and Gabe from Northern Michigan and taken them into Canada. Marina and Gabe escaped, and their captors were taken into custody in Canada, with the intention of being turned over to the American authorities. She knew one of them had escaped during a transfer, but… “I wasn’t aware Bran was dead.”
“Such a cloistered young woman you are,” Hedron replied bitterly. Then, abruptly, he returned to his guided tour. “The original building here, the one in which you entered earlier today, was the hideaway of an Ecuadorean drug lord a decade or more ago. The way I understand it, he heard the legend about a sacred place in the rainforest where electronics didn’t work properly, and there was supposedly an energy source—blah, blah, blah. Something like that. Apparently Rico—that was his name—built the house in this area, camouflaging it into the jungle, so he’d have a safe place to live and raise his family.
“He had no idea the reason electronics and radar didn’t work in this area was because of this massive quantity of copper, built into the ground in an underground sanctuary or temple. He had no idea until his workers came upon it one day while trying to dig into the side of the rocky mountain abutting the compound. No one realized the mountain was man-made, and they certainly didn’t realize our lovely cuprobeus bugs were living in there…
“You can imagine the rest of the story, I’m certain. The drug lord died—not from a gunshot wound or in jail, but from a little copper bug. And so did the rest of his crew. And that left this real estate available for us to take over back in the late nineties.”
“It’s amazing,” Marina said. “It’s a major archeological find.”
Hedron still held the gun, but it wasn’t exactly pointed at her anymore. He’d become more relaxed as he told his story, and his grip loosened a bit. “That might be the case, but it’s also the key to our work. The Skaladeskas long ago learned that Gaia always provides.”
“Provides?” asked Eli, who’d at last turned from the window. He began to edge toward the canister on the ground.
“Oh, yes. She provides the means—the weapons, the tools, the opportunity—for us to carry out Her will. To protect and save Her. And what an elegant weapon She’s given us here. Your uncle is infatuated with these little six-legged beasts, and for once, I cannot disagree with him.”
“What are you going to do with them?” Marina shifted so Hedron would turn slightly, giving Eli the opportunity to get near the metal can. Keeping her attention averted from her companion, she continued, “You’ve already caused a blackout—or wasn’t that intentional? Was it a test?”
“The blackout was a test—an unnecessary one, but my blasted nephew Varden convinced Roman it was the best way to move forward. He wanted to make certain the insects could be brought into the country and used in the manner we believed. A test run. I argued against it, but the Naslegi is blind and fawns over your uncle. They believe he can do no wrong. Now we’ve done nothing but alerted the authorities to our tactics. Surely they’re expecting another threat, and—”
Clanggg!
It happened so fast Marina didn’t even see Eli move until he swung up sharply. The canister smashed up and into Hedron just behind the ear. His gun went flying, and she dove for the firearm as it clattered to the ground.
But her speed wasn’t necessary, for Hedron, caught fully unawares and in the tender side of the head, had dropped to the ground like a stone.
“Nice job,” she crowed, surging into Eli's arms for a victory hug. That was followed by a quick kiss that could easily have turned into something more if there hadn’t been other things on her mind.
“You kept him talking,” he said, giving the man a nudge with his toe. Hedron didn’t stir. “He’s out.”
“Great. Let’s get out of here,” she said—then stopped. “You should put on that suit and get your specimen while we’re here. Then we can fly.”
“I like the way you think, Dr. Alexander. Among other things.” His smile confirmed he meant exactly what she thought he meant.
Marina shook her head, laughing a little as she began to tug a boot from Hedron’s inert foot. “You must wreak havoc on the hearts of all those co-eds at U of I. I can only imagine the waiting lists for your classes.”
Eli gave a snort as he yanked the helmet from Hedron and let the man’s head clunk to the ground with a satisfying thud. “They’re terrified of me, and that’s the way I like it. They’re much too young. I prefer to avoid drama and immaturity as much as possible, so I cultivate a terrifying persona.”
“I can’t say I find you all that terrifying.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, at least.” He laughed as she helped him into the suit.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready.” He showed her the small jar he’d either swiped from the clinic or brought with him, and then nodded toward the entrance through which Hedron had come. “You should go. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I go through that door.”
Marina looked down. “Guess I’d better take him too.” She went to the door, then stopped in front of it. Her heart began to thud, and she scrambled to pull her tiny light from the pocket of her shorts. “I don’t see any way to open this…” she murmured.
She stared at it, shining the light all over the smooth metal door, along its edges and around, only to find there was no hardware except three deep-set hinges. There had to be a way out. Of course there was a way to open the door…
There it was, embedded in the wall next to the entrance. A small door, no larger than the size of a garage door keypad. Trepidation settled over her as she fumbled it open to find exactly what she expected.
“I’m guessing you don’t know the code.”
She shook her head, staring at the keypad numbers as if they would somehow present themselves to her in the order in which they must be pushed. “I haven’t any idea. And I don’t think…well, how many chances would it give us before sending up an alarm—or worse?”
“An alarm might not be a bad idea—they’d come and let us out of here, right? You’re some sort of royalty, aren’t you?” There was a little teasing in his voice.
“Probably. But maybe not. I know Roman wouldn’t hurt me, but obviously Hedron would. There might be others who would be threats as well.” She hesitated, reached to touch one of the buttons, then dropped her hand. “Get your specimens. I’ll think about this while you’re doing that. Just don’t let any of those beetles in here when you open the door.”
He hadn’t donned the helmet yet, and his face looked serious. “I don’t know if I should take that chance. What if they all swarm in here when I open the door?”
Marina patted her pocket. “Well, I have the antibiotic. I think.”
Eli shook his head, his face grim. “Not sure that’s a good idea. We don’t even know for sure if that’s what it is. But…let me look at this first.” He went over to the door that led into the underground temple. There was also a window in it. “Looks like there’s a curtain on the other side of the door. That’s probably what they do—go through the door, close it, then step out from behind the curtain so the insects don’t see the light and fly through. Okay?”
“Sure. Go for it. I’ll…see what I can think of while you’re in there.”
Eli pulled on the helmet, and she made certain not a centimeter of skin showed from beneath the suit. Then, standing in the farthest corner, she watched as he opened the door—apparently this one didn’t need a lock—and quickly stepped through. The door closed behind him, and through the window, she saw the flutter of the black curtain.
And the
n he was there, on the other side of the window, in the white suit.
THIRTY-TWO
When Eli slipped back into the chamber where Marina was waiting, even though he was cloaked in the white suit, she could tell he was ready to burst.
“We have got to get out of here. Stat!” he said, whipping off the protective helmet.
Her heart lurched. “What happened? What did you find?”
“It’s amazing. They’re amazing! My paper isn’t going to just be in an ESA journal—Nature’s going to want it—maybe Science too.” His eyes were dancing; he was practically dancing. “Those darlings are amazing! They’re clearly social—there’s obviously a reproductive caste, and I identified a specimen from a defensive caste too—which isn’t terribly common with coleops, you know. The mandibles on the defensives are fascinating—of course, I couldn’t see very well in that light in there, but I saw enough.”
Marina exhaled with relief. “I thought you’d found something wrong.”
“Wrong? There’s not one thing wrong! This is definitely not only a new suborder, but it’s going to be beyond anything I’d imagined. Everyone’s going to want to see them, pathogenic bacteria aside. And once I get to observing their social behavior—even in the few moments I had in there, I could see clearly they have social, possibly even eusocial characteristics—yes, you heard me right, eusocial—it’s going to be a bombshell. It’s going to change the way we look at coleops! I’ll probably be featured in National Geographic—” He stopped, looked around, and came back to earth. A sheepish grin spread over his face. “Whoa. Sorry. I guess we’ve got other things to think about. Like getting out of here safely.”
She shook her head, unable to keep from smiling. “I felt the same way when I saw the library.”
“Library?”
Marina exhaled a long breath, then shook her head. “I’ll explain later. Let me just say, I feel your pain—such as it is.”
“All right.” He seemed much calmer now, more focused. “No luck with the keypad?”
“No. I didn’t want to try too many times, because I was afraid of setting off an alarm—although, like you said, I’m not certain that would be such a bad thing. I did try my grandfather’s birthday as a code, thinking that might be it—but no go. And he”—she gestured at Hedron with a toe—“hasn’t moved. I checked his pulse—he’s alive, but it’s weak.”
“So we can wait until someone comes to let us out or until he wakes up.” Eli’s attention slid toward the window, where the beetles still shuttled over the glass. “If he does.”
“I think those are our only choices.” Marina looked out into the copper temple as well. She’d really like to take a look on the other side of the window too. “Can I borrow that suit? I want to look around. There might be an entomological anomaly in there, but I suspect it’s also a major archeological find.”
Eli peeled off his gloves. “Hey. Did you happen to check him for a cell phone?” he said suddenly.
With an irritated huff, Marina dove toward Hedron’s inert body. “Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.” The man’s tunic was long and plain, but she rifled through the pockets of his loose trousers, and with a crow of triumph, produced a sleek, state-of-the-art smartphone. “The question will be…does it work down here.”
Eli, who by now had stepped out of the protective suit, helped her to her feet and watched as she tapped the phone’s touchscreen.
“And the answer would be…no. Damn. Not one bar. But the battery is completely charged, so we’ll keep it.” She shoved the phone in her cargo shorts pocket and Velcroed the flap closed. “So how about I put on that suit, since it doesn’t look as if we’re going anywhere soon.”
“You know,” he said as he handed her the white garment, “I’m pretty covered up—wearing pants and shoes. Only my arms would be exposed if I went in there without the suit on.”
“And face, and neck, and head, and hands,” she said, giving him an are-you-nuts look. “I don’t think you should chance it.”
“Well, I just got dosed with an antibiotic—or some sort of antidote. Maybe I’ve got immunity for a while.” He flashed that hopeful grin and she shook her head.
“For a renowned coleopterist, you sure are crazy. It’s not worth the risk. I won’t be long. If he begins to wake up, knock on the glass and I’ll come right back in,” Marina said, yanking on the gloves. “I promise not to step on any of your darling beetles.”
Eli gave a little laugh, but the last thing she saw when she slipped through the door into the curtained alcove was him looking wistfully through the window.
Inside the temple, as she had begun to think of it but actually hadn’t confirmed, Marina found herself enclosed in a hazy green light that filtered up from the corners of the chamber. The air was damp and moist, and smelled of earth and metal, and something else she couldn’t define.
What if the bacteria was also airborne…and one could breathe it in through the nose? She shivered. Yet another reason it wouldn’t be smart for Eli to come in here without protective covering.
The ceiling was eight feet above the ground, and it too glowed dull sea-foam green. There were four electrical lights spaced out along two of the walls, casting an olive glow from the floor up and into the space. Now that she was inside, Marina could tell the temple wasn’t simply a large rectangle, but in the shape of a T. She was entering from one of the crossbars, and could see straight along across the top of the T. But the dais where the small altar had been constructed was in the center, where the crossbar and leg met. There didn’t seem to be any lights other than in this immediate area.
There were beetles on every surface, but there weren’t so many she found it impossible to avoid stepping on them. They crawled along the walls and in areas of the floor, but as she walked through, they scuttled out of her path. She had her small squeeze light, but hesitated to use it unless she found it necessary. Even enclosed in the safe white suit, she saw no reason to send the little beasts into a frenzy. Besides, Eli would probably go through the glass window if he saw his little “darlings” get stirred up like that.
She picked her way carefully to one of the foam-green walls and, avoiding rushing beetles, brushed her hand over the smooth, oxidized metal. It would have been gorgeous when it was first constructed: all gleaming copper, shining in the dim light like a new penny. Not surprising, the wall was mottled with black residue, and when she pulled her hand away, the glove was streaked with what could only be the deadly bacteria.
Marina grimaced and wiped her hand on a pant leg. She refrained from touching the surface again, but instead leaned close to the wall near one of the greenish lights to see if she could tell how the wall was constructed (blocks, slabs of metal, tiles, or something else), and whether there were any sorts of drawings, text, or other designs on the copper.
It was too dark to tell, and after a moment of hesitation, Marina pulled out her squeeze light. Cupping one hand around it to keep the illumination to a minimum, she activated it. A small circle of white light burst into the chamber, focused on the wall directly in front of her. Beetles erupted into action, scattering like a cloud of disrupted bats and swirling around her. They thudded into her arms and helmet, seemingly incensed by the simple addition of white light.
After glancing guiltily toward the glass window, where Eli was surely watching her terrorize the insects, Marina scanned the wall in front of her before letting the light go out.
She noticed two things before doing so: only the beetles touched by the white light, or near the edge of it, flew into a frenzy, and the wall seemed devoid of markings or design.
That didn’t mean this wasn’t a find. This whole man-made space would be fascinating to any archaeologist or historian.
Marina shot a look toward the window, and Eli gave her a thumbs-up. Apparently he hadn’t seen the cyclone of beetles, Hedron was still out cold, and she had more time.
Great. She’d take it.
She picked her way over to the s
mall dais and its altar. They were nothing more than a two-meter square for the base, and a tall, slender rectangle topped by a wider, thick one. If there had ever been anything on the surface—offerings, vessels, or statues—it was long gone. But here could be a place with writings or images too—or some sort of decorative design that might help identify the peoples who’d built the copper temple.
Marina crouched next to it, and turned on the squeeze light once more. The beetles spun into a ferocious maelstrom around her again, and she ignored the angry thuds as they ricocheted into her protected head, arms, and back. Instead, she peered at the weathered altar, tracing the edge with her light.
Working her way around the dais, she examined the base as closely as possible, glancing back regularly to make certain Eli wasn’t trying to catch her attention. Her knees and ankles were protesting when she finally stood, having been unable to find any sort of markings in the copper on this first perusal. That didn’t mean there weren’t any—again, there was black residue streaking the damp, oxidized copper, and the light was faulty.
Now she was facing the vertical leg of the T, and it stretched away, long and dark. No one had installed lights down that leg of the chamber, so of course Marina wanted to explore there. Maybe it led to another way out of the temple, and she and Eli could escape that way.
Although how would they both make their way through without two protective suits?
Still, she inched her way along carefully, using the green glow from the four lights to supplement her small white one. Hands cupped around it to keep the beetle disruption to a minimum, she took her time—especially when she felt a distinct crunch beneath one foot.
Marina winced. Eli wouldn’t be pleased if he knew she’d just murdered one of his darlings. Not that there weren’t plenty to go around…
By now she was ignoring the frantic insects that zipped around like mad fleas, and moved along at a more comfortable pace. Her light indicated another T-intersection, and when she reached the juncture, Marina paused. Which way?
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