The Professor said, “There’s a strong correlation between earthquakes and the movement of the magnetic field.”
“And there has been a tenfold increase in the number and severity of earthquakes around the world in the past two weeks,” Billie said.
Sam thought about the reports of recent earthquakes and knew she was right.
“So, what makes up the physical structure of the Earth?” Sam asked, rhetorically. “The planet's inner core is made of solid iron. Surrounding the inner core is a molten outer core. The next layer known as the mantle is solid but malleable, like plastic. Finally, the layer we see every day is called the crust.”
He pointed toward the poles. “The magnetic poles can naturally switch places. By examining rocks on the ocean floor, scientists have been able to determine when this has happened because those stones retain traces of the magnetic field, similar to a recording on a magnetic tape.”
“When was the last switch?” Billie asked.
“About 780,000 years ago, give or take about ten millennia.” Sam glanced at his notes on his computer tablet. “It’s happened roughly 400 times in 330 million years. Each reversal takes a little over a thousand years to complete, and it’s known to take much longer for the shift to take effect at the equator than at the poles.”
Billie said, “So, based on that note, are we searching for the hidden temples at the poles or the equator?”
“I don’t know…”
Sam’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and talked for a few minutes. When he ended the call, Sam had a curious and wry grin. To the professor, he said, “Thank you for all of your assistance. You’ve been incredibly helpful. Can you gather any of your colleagues who you think might be helpful and keep trying to crunch the numbers to find the most likely position of the fulcrum? Also, I need you to work out a safe way to move the sacred stones. I don’t think moving the Göbekli Tepe pillar around to each of the hidden temples is really an option.”
“Yes, of course,” the Professor replied. “Where are you going?”
Sam said, “Billie and I are off to the Big Island, Hawaii.”
Billie said, “The same place where one of the blue sapphires from the stone tablet indicated the location of one of the hidden temples?”
“The very same place,” Sam confirmed.
“I thought Elise searched Big Island using satellite and recent bathymetric images. It all came back with nothing.”
“She did.”
“Then what’s changed?”
“There’s been some volcanic activity. A young man was killed bathing in a hot spring.”
Billie shrugged. “There are five active volcanoes on the island. Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea – and Loihi, which is a submarine volcano located twenty-two miles south of Big Island and nearly three thousand feet below the surface. There’s nothing extraordinary about a tourist getting burned in a hot spring.”
Sam’s voice was calm and emphatic. “This one’s connected to the four temples related to the four dark stones.”
“What’s your interest in the case?” Billie asked.
Sam took a deep breath “After the hot spring burned a tourist to death, it froze solid. At the center of the previously hot pool, a subterranean tunnel now stands. No one’s been willing to enter the ancient tunnel, but someone shined a flashlight inside, and it has ice lining its walls as far as the light could penetrate.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Big Island, Hawaii
It was a stifling ninety degrees Fahrenheit on the island, with humidity approaching eighty percent. A guide informed Sam Reilly that both of these were on the extreme ends of Hawaii’s average in terms of weather. He made his way along the short journey through the dense forest, feeling every bit of the lethargy that such weather extracted. Even Billie, who was generally more accustomed to the warmer climate, looked drenched in perspiration. He followed the guide past a set of large volcanic rocks, and stopped.
In front of him, what remained of the Phoiki Hot Pond appeared inviting.
Sam sucked in a deep breath of air. It was icy cold and deliciously refreshing as it breezed across his hot skin. The humidity dropped alongside the new temperature, as though he’d walked into an industrial freezer.
At a glance, his eyes raked the bizarre sight in front of him.
The jellybean-shaped Phoiki Hot Spring was frozen. Any moisture that had previously dripped from the leaves of the rainforest that lined the spring was now frozen in ice. The ground surrounding the pool was hard, as though permafrost had penetrated deep into the once warm and fertile soil. At the center of the spring, the ice tapered inward, like a giant frozen funnel.
He stepped to the edge of the opening and saw that the tunnel – just large enough for an adult to walk standing upright inside – seemed to descend farther than his line of sight.
Billie swallowed. “So, this is a vision of what’s to come?”
Sam nodded. “If we don’t find the remaining four hidden temples to deposit the sacred stones, it appears we’re all going to need to find some much warmer clothing.”
“Let’s find those temples.” Billie crossed her shivering arms. “I hate the cold.”
There were already more than thirty people working around the icy pond, taking samples, and trying to make sense of the unexplainable.
Sam turned to face his guide. “Who’s in charge here?”
The guide smiled. “That would be Demyan Yezhov – our resident Volcanologist on the island.”
He glanced at the man the guide pointed to. He was a big guy. Tall and heavily overweight, but also full of muscle. To Sam, it looked as though the guy had once been into heavy weightlifting at some stage, but then his lifestyle had changed, and as he became more focused on his work, his once muscular physique was now filled with adipose tissue after years of gluttony.
Sam approached the man. “Demyan Yezhov?”
“Yes?” The man answered with the deep resonance of an American accent, and no trace of a Russian heritage. “Who are you?”
“Sam Reilly.” He offered his hand. “And this is my associate, Billie Swan.”
Demyan took it and met his eye with an engaging smile and recognition. “It’s good to meet you both. I was meaning to contact you earlier, and then this happened.”
“Contact me?” Sam asked. “Have we met before?”
“No. I read about your exploits in the Aleutian Portal. Interesting stuff. It defies most logic regarding volcanic eruptions and their subsequent lava tubes.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help explain any of the science behind how the damned thing formed. I’m just glad it did, and we got out alive.”
“No. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Really, what then?” Sam asked.
“After I heard about the Aleutian Portal I read up about you. You’ve led an interesting life, and that brings with it some unique perspectives.” Demyan smiled. It was an engaging smile, and Sam guessed the man would have been considered quite attractive before gluttony and his work took over his life. “I needed to talk to you about your dissertation on climate change and the movement of the magnetic poles.”
Sam felt the icy wind sucked out of his chest. The last person who was interested in his dissertation had tried to kill him. “What did you want to know?”
Demyan swallowed hard. “How you predicted what was going to happen this week.”
Chapter Forty
Sam paused for a moment, waiting for Demyan’s statement to really sink in.
His mind returned to the dissertation that he and Billie had written in an attempt to draw out those who really knew the truth. It focused on the correlation of any sudden shift in magnetic poles and a disruption of the thermohaline circulation that regulated the entire global temperatures. In the paper, he’d discussed that such an event would lead to widespread natural disasters, ranging from a series of progressively worsening earthquakes through to absurd wea
ther patterns as the poles shifted.
Sam looked at the frozen hot spring. “I didn’t predict this.”
Demyan grinned. “No. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this. But the rest of your dissertation has come true.”
“Really?” Sam knew that there had been a number of signs that the cataclysmic prophecy had come into effect, but wasn’t aware it had become obvious to the mainstream media or scientists. “What, exactly, has happened?”
“Globally, there have been more earthquakes in the past seven days than last year. Volcanoes across the globe that were considered dormant or extinct have started to become active. More than a hundred wild fires rage between North and South America, Europe has indicated both the hottest days on record and the coldest.” Demyan turned to look at the frozen hot spring. “And now, a stream previously fed by a volcano has become frozen in ice.”
“I’ll admit it’s been a pretty bad week.” Sam squatted down and touched the edge of the pond, even putting his hand near the ground sucked the warmth out of his hand. “Any idea what caused it?”
“None whatsoever. I was hoping you two might shed some light on it?”
“I’m a marine biologist and Billie’s an archaeologist. What assistance do you think the two of us could provide?”
“I have no idea, but you tend to know about some sort of impending cataclysmic event. I have no idea what’s causing it, but whatever it is, I’m telling you now – it has begun.”
Sam listened to the words. If Demyan only knew how right he was. “All right, what about this ice tunnel. Has anyone been down it yet?”
“Down it?” Demyan shook his head. “Why would anyone want to do that? A young man was burned to death in the pond. You can still see his bones, frozen in the ice. His fiancé told me he’d brought her here to propose just this morning.”
Sam looked at his watch. It was 3 p.m. and somehow in that short time the pond had gone from boiling to freezing. Something about the thought stuck with him. “Why is the pond still freezing? Why hasn’t it thawed?”
“I know. It’s nearly ninety degrees Fahrenheit outside, so why hasn’t the pond started to thaw?” Demyan took a deep breath. “The temperature coming out of the tunnel is nearly thirty degrees below freezing.”
“You got any explanation for that?”
“No.”
Sam looked around, the area was riddled with scientists. “Where’s the girl, now?”
“Who?”
“The unlucky fiancé.”
“She’s over there.” Demyan pointed to the other end of the pond.
Sam glanced at the woman. She was tall and athletic, with pale white skin that looked like it was rarely exposed to the sun. She was reading something. Apart from the slight reddening around her eyes where she had no doubt been crying earlier, she appeared well composed. She had a strong face with a well-defined jawline. If he’d met her in any other circumstance, his first impression would have been that she was pretty. Instead, all he saw was the tremendous burden of fatigue and guilt now etched on her face, as though she should have somehow foreseen the danger. He wished someone had contacted one of her friends or family, someone she knew well, who could take care of her.
He asked, “Why is she still here?”
Demyan shrugged. “Says she wants answers. Adamant she’s not leaving here until someone can find a scientific explanation for the impossible.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth. I have no idea.”
Sam glanced at the deep funnel of ice. “Any guess how deep that thing goes?”
Demyan smiled. “Look. I’ve seen a lot of things happen that I never thought would be possible. But none compare to this. I mean, this entire island is full of hot magma. There are five active volcanoes on the island and one submarine volcano to the south. Whatever opening ripped through the Earth, it’s deeper than the roots to this island. Heck, the closest climate cold enough to cause this sort of thing would be above the Arctic Circle – but it beats me how this tunnel should reach there. If you’ll excuse me, I want to take another set of samples from the ice. We’re measuring the gasses inside – it might give us some indication of where this tunnel originates.”
“All right.” Sam looked at Billie. “You got any ideas what we’re doing here?”
She shook her head. “Beats me. The coincidence between this location and the one we spotted on the stone tablet we retrieved from the Tepui Mountains is too much to be just that. But I can’t see how there could be a temple anywhere near here. Unless you want to go walking down that tunnel to the frozen center of the Earth.”
Sam looked up at the sky through the filtered canopy of the jungle. It was a light blue, without any signs of an afternoon rain. It was going to be a nice afternoon, despite their icy location. “From what Demyan tells us, that tunnel might well be as long as the Aleutian Portal and defy the logic of science just as much.”
“So, what are we supposed to be doing here, while the sands of time are running out?” Billie asked.
“I don’t know. There must be something. I’m going to go talk to the girl.”
“Who?” Billie asked.
“The tourist. The one who just got engaged.”
Billie bit her bottom lip. “I believe her fiancé got boiled alive and then frozen today.”
“Even so. With the exception of her fiancé, she’s the only person who was here when this happened. If there is anything to be learned from being here, she might be the only one to tell us.”
“You think that’s wise?” Billie asked.
“No. But I’m not leaving here until we’re certain this event isn’t connected to the missing temples.”
“Suit yourself.”
“You coming with me?” he asked.
Billie shook her head. “To speak to the woman who just lost her fiancé? Hell no.”
Sam shrugged and walked around the frozen spring. He noticed that the unlucky tourist was rapidly scanning a book on the history of volcanoes in the region. She was transfixed in its pages, as though within them, answers might be revealed.
She spotted him glancing at her, and looked up. Her dark brown eyes examined him like a scientist dissecting her specimen. She smiled – without attempting to hide the fact that it was forced – but he guessed it would have been usually quite stunning. “May I help you?” she asked.
He offered his hand. “I’m sorry. My name’s Sam Reilly. I was told you were here when this happened.”
She took it without hesitation. Her handshake was firm. “I watched my fiancé burn to death.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said, hopelessly. “I understand nothing I, or anyone else is going to say to you will ever make that any better.”
She asked directly, “What can I do for you, sir?”
“I realize you’ve already told your story to a dozen or more people, but I’d like to ask you some questions about when this happened.”
“Why?”
“Same reason you’re still waiting here. I want answers.” He sighed. “And right now, I can’t even guess where they might come from.”
“Okay.” She smiled at his honesty. It looked genuine. “What’s your role here?”
“I was asked to come here for my unique insight into the highly unusual phenomenon.”
“You’re a volcanologist?” she asked.
“No. A marine biologist.”
“Really?” Her face scrunched up in a gesture of surprise. “What’s a marine biologist know about seismic activity?”
“Nothing.”
“So why are you here?”
He answered her question with one of his own. “Have you ever heard of thermohaline circulation?”
“Sure. It’s a system of currents throughout the Earth’s oceans, trying to achieve temperature equilibrium. Warm water to cold areas and vice-versa.”
“Exactly.” Sam was surprised by the confidence of her response, and instantly wondered about her background, but though
t better of asking her – it wasn’t directly related to their problem. “In the past two weeks, the magnetic poles have moved farther away from their respective positions and closer to the equator. This has effectively altered the course of the thermohaline system.”
“You think the direction of the current’s changed, meaning that instead of warm volcanic water running beneath the Phoiki spring, it’s drawing its water from the Arctic?” she asked.
The question was astute, one that Sam himself had considered. “The thought’s crossed my mind, but it’s pretty farfetched. But I don’t have any other theories.”
Her dark brown eyes fixed on his with defiance. “Why are you really here, and why did you bring an archaeologist?”
“Who said I brought an archaeologist?”
“You did, while you were talking to Demyan Yezhov, the volcanologist.”
“You have good hearing.” Sam looked down and then met her piercing eyes. “You really want to hear my story?”
“Look. I’m not blaming anyone for Adrian’s death. It was a freak accident, nothing more. I just want to know how it happened. You’re not the first person to lie to me today. But I have a feeling you might just be the first to tell me the truth.”
“Okay. The truth is, I have no idea what caused this bizarre event.” Sam sighed, heavily. “Yesterday my friend and I were examining an ancient stone tablet we believed to be a map of four very important temples. It depicted a set of stars that matched a constellation. Another friend of mine is a mathematical genius. She superimposed the map, the constellation, and an image of the world. Only one of the locations was over land – which isn’t all that surprising, given that seventy percent of the globe is covered in ocean.”
“You came here because an ancient map told you to come?”
Sam’s lips curled in an incredulous and wry smile. “Yeah, well you can imagine our surprise when we found out what happened today.”
Code to Extinction Page 18