Petrichor

by R J Johnson

  Alex slumped again. She was right. Of course she was right. What right did he have to ask her to continue on?

  “I’m…” he started, but he didn’t know where to start. “I think things got out of hand.”

  “You could say that…” Emily waved her hand to the TV that was still showing the headlines from Alex and their misadventures through Southern California. A lot of people were panicking.

  “My point is I think you need to call in the big dogs,” Emily said. “I’m guessing your faked death or whatever meant you were in with some heavy hitters. Right?”

  “I know some people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, sure.”

  “Then hire them to take on Kline!” she pleaded. “Like your friend was going to do. You’ve got the money, you’ve got the contacts. Why not hire a bunch of badasses to help us?”

  Alex was stumped. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, but who did he know that would also be able to understand the implications of the stones. Alien life? His ability to heal?

  No, anyone he knew he could hire would try to steal the stones for themselves. His experience with mercenaries over the years hadn’t exactly been positive. Besides, the word was out among the people Alex might contact. If he contacted the wrong person, Ash would know he was alive within hours.

  “It’s more complicated than that,” he said. “These are people who if they knew where I was, or what I was up to…”

  “Yes, yes, I know. They’re chasing after you and the money,” Emily said. “The problem is, if these stones really are from an alien race and were sent here on some mission to save the world, then we ought to be concerning ourselves with that before there’s nothing left to save from Kline.”

  She grabbed his hand again, “But I do think we can still help.”

  His head popped back up.

  “We?”

  Emily sighed, “I have an idea.”

  “I’m all ears,” Alex said, feeling hopeful.

  “We’re operating under the assumption that wherever these stones come from, they’re alien in nature. I saw as much in the crystal cavern under Joshua Tree. The interview this morning with Max’s grad student talked about something similar too.”

  “Wait, what?” Alex asked, confused.

  Emily nodded, “One of his graduate students from his dig. Rachel Quinn. She was there when Max killed the professor and the detectives. She was on Good Morning America earlier and mentioned the stone.”

  Alex looked panicked, “The media knows about the stones?”

  Emily hesitated, “With the way things were going the last few days… did you really think they’d stay under wraps? But, she didn’t know what it was. All she said was that he came out Peru a changed man, with the ability to create fire.”

  “Have they found the chamber in Peru yet?”

  Emily shook her head, “I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet.”

  “What’s your idea to help?” Alex asked.

  “I thought I’d start by looking for this planet that’s supposed to blow us up,” Emily said, perking up. “If I can find the star that Siobhan told you was about to blow us up, well…” she shrugged, “I’m not really sure how that can help, but it’s all I can think of. What I do know is I can’t take another near miss or gun battle. I can’t even play video games or kill computer bad guys without feeling anxious…”

  Alex sighed, “If you’re out of my eye line, I can’t heal you. I don’t like the idea of you being off by yourself. If Kline finds you…”

  “Kline’s a bar-be-que,” she said with disdain. “He’s got bigger problems right now.”

  He shook his head. Alex knew he was sounding desperate, but there had to be another way, a better way. He couldn’t be left alone to deal with this. “What about the government? They know you’re associated with Collier,” he replied.

  And suddenly with that realization he was struck dumb. When they figured out she was connected to Collier, Emily would instantly whisked away by the authorities and forced to answer question after question about the stones. He didn’t think Emily would give up his secrets willingly, but, if Collier was being called a terrorist, Alex had a feeling extraordinary measures would be called for during her interrogation.

  And he couldn’t live with that.

  “You need to disappear…” he whispered.

  “I need to disappear,” she repeated nodding. “And I know exactly where we can go.”

  Alex looked at her and couldn’t decide if he should feel grateful or mad.

  Either way, they’d need his help.

  “What did you have in mind?” he asked, his voice sad.

  Chapter Ten

  Lorelei Decklund was breathing hard by the time she summited the top of Skógafoss waterfall. It wasn’t as if she was in terrible shape, quite the opposite. But, the long journey and heavy climbing equipment she’d brought with her was tiring her out.

  Pétur looked at Lorelei with respect. “There are not many tourists who would make the climb to the top.”

  “I’m here on a mission Pétur,” Lorelei answered, sounding only slightly out of breath now.

  “It’s a hard climb, even for the experienced, I’m surprised you’re doing as well as you are,” Pétur replied.

  “I’m always surprising people. It’s my husband’s biggest complaint.” Lorelei breathed out slowly, catching her breath, allowing a moment to enjoy the incredible scenery.

  Accompanying the nearby roar of the large waterfall, Lorelei was treated to an unrivaled vista of clear blue skies, green rolling hills, and the distant dark blue of the cold Atlantic Ocean.

  Far below, a crowd of tourists milled about the mouth of the waterfall, each of whom were taking pictures or playing games while experiencing the natural beauty of the area.

  For his part, Pétur had begun tying off the heavy climbing rope they would use to rappel into the waterfall itself. Lorelei stripped off her heavy jacket and put on the neoprene wetsuit she would need to survive the freezing water.

  There was a slight overhang Lorelei planned on using in order to rappel behind the waterfall itself. Previous examination of the site with ground penetrating radar revealed that there was a vast cavern behind the sheets of water destined for the Atlantic. Fortunately, they an easy way into the cavern without risking her life… too much.

  Removing the compact raft stored in her backpack, she pulled the tab that inflated the raft within a few seconds. She worked the large plastic sheet loose from underneath everything else, spilling the contents of her pack onto the ground. She muttered a small curse and began gathering them back together in the pack as the raft next to her finished inflating.

  Pétur brought over the plastic barrel from the loader he’d been pulling behind them, and opened it. Lorelei pulled out several large fan blades that would attach to the front of the raft. She began pulling the fan blades over each other, linking them together into a solid plank of plastic that extended out nearly ten feet in front of her.

  Lorelei attached the support beams to the long piece of plastic making sure it was sufficiently secure. She glanced behind to see Pétur had finished locking the fan blades in place on top of her now fully inflated raft. Tying everything off and checking it one last time, she nodded to Pétur.

  “Are we ready?”

  Pétur double checked the connections on his side and signaled with a thumbs up. Lorelei nodded, and began to gently ease into the raging river that fed the Skógafoss waterfall. The raft bobbled back and forth in the quick moving water, while Lorelei struggled to hold on in the fast moving current. Pétur held out a third piece of climbing rope that Lorelei secured to her harness.

  Lorelei tightened the straps on her waterproof backpack, securing it tightly. She didn’t want to lose it, inside was a satellite phone, basic survival essentials and her notebook – basically anything she might need in case she found something and wanted to stay for a few hours.

  “All indications from previous surveys say ther
e’s a nice little ledge down there waiting for you.” Pétur said, tying off the last piece of rope on the raft. “Don’t take too long down there though. We still have a few hours of sunlight left, but we don’t want to have to stumble our way down the trail.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be in and out,” Lorelei promised. She withdrew a walkie talkie and tested it. Its companion hanging on Pétur’s belt, squawked with feedback.

  “I’ll let you know when to start hauling me back up,” Lorelei said, placing the radio back inside her waterproof pack.

  Pétur nodded and began feeding out slack for Lorelei’s climbing rope. She gingerly stepped into the freezing water and into the makeshift boat. The large fan blades floated on top of the churning water as Pétur allowed the boat to move forward.

  The boat made slow progress toward the edge of the waterfall. Lorelei stood, carefully keeping her balance as she watched for the edge of the precipitous drop. She waved to Pétur letting him know to keep feeding out slack for the boat to keep going. She hoped her guide had a good hold on the ropes. One slip, and the boat would go over the side to be dashed against the rocks below.

  Lorelei made a fist with her hand letting him know she was as close to the edge as she was comfortable. The fan blades extended out over the edge of the waterfall, the water lightly flowing through the channels, sloshing out through the tiny holes scattered throughout.

  She pulled a lever on the boat and the front ballast tanks began filling with water. Inch by inch, the front of her boat lowered until the protruding fan blades were underwater. They sank below the water and began shunting the water out ten feet further over the edge, creating an artificial lip for the waterfall. She parted the blades and the water began shunting around the plastic, giving her a clear area for her to rappel down.

  Standing on the boat that was sitting securely on the river bed (thanks to the stabilizing weight of the large fanned out blades in front of him), Lorelei gingerly stepped into the river and sank into her waist, shivering against the cold. Her wetsuit would keep her warm enough, but it was far colder than she’d anticipated.

  Taking one last look at Pétur, she pulled her goggles down and dove under the boat. Swimming forward, she pulled the climbing rope along with her until she reached the precipice. The roar of several hundred thousand gallons of water falling sounded almost like static this close up. She looked around in awe at the beauty of what Mother Nature had created. It was magical.

  But, she wasn’t there for the scenery. She glanced down and decided to get back to work. She moved carefully and sat inside the small dry bubble of safety she’d created with her jury-rigged deathtrap. She scooted forward until she felt her legs go over the edge.

  Lorelei pulled her rope taut, and checked the connections one last time. An experienced climber, she’d rappelled down hundreds of slops, but nothing quite like this. She swung her legs over the edge and began feeding out the rope. She loved the feeling of no solid footing beneath her feet. It was like a small tickle that ran up the back of her legs and into her bellybutton. It was electric. Climbing made her feel alive and that feeling was just one of the many reasons she loved it so much.

  Lorelei fed the rope out between her fingers, trying to take it easy over the initial lip of the waterfall. This was the most dangerous part. One slip, and she’d be nothing more than the day’s top news story back at her home in Berne, Switzerland. She could even see the headlines now:

  Local Author Killed While Researching New Novel

  Hardly the title she wanted on her obituary. It needed to say:

  New York Times Bestselling Author Killed While Researching New Novel

  Maybe an above the fold article, with that sweet picture that Johan loved so much.

  Now that was an obituary she could die with.

  Pushing away the thoughts of her impending death, she gently lowered herself down the side of the waterfall. Meter by meter, she cautiously moved her way down, until she saw the rock face fall away and expose an enormous cavern. Fishing for her light, she pulled it out of her sleeve’s pocket and turned it on, aiming it into the darkness. She couldn’t see or hear anything other than the constant onrushing flow of water.

  What she couldn’t know (and what Pétur was frantically trying to prevent), was that one of the ropes securing her raft to the shore had come loose thanks to a piece of rock that hadn’t been as secure as Pétur thought it had been. Trying to divert an entire river had been too much for the makeshift anchor, and now it was coming loose.

  As she peered into the darkness hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever treasure Þrasi had left behind, Lorelei was suddenly drenched with water. The rope had come loose, allowing the raft to buffet wildly around the river. The protection of her jury-rigged overhang was gone. Faced with no other choice, she released the catch on her rope and felt herself fall down along with the water.

  Fumbling for her harness, Lorelei used her momentum to shift the direction and get her body back under the overhang’s protection. She pulled hard on the rope, arresting her momentum. With a heavy grunt, she stopped short, hanging precipitously over the waterfall. In only a few short seconds, Lorelei had fallen nearly fifty feet.

  She glanced up, and saw the edge of her raft poking over the side. Her eyes widened as she instantly deduced what had happened. Looking down below her and around, she knew she was running out of options. She released her grip on the rope and went into a freefall.

  Passing by the lip of the cave, she grabbed ahold of the edge and instantly arrested her momentum. She grunted in exertion as the cold, wet rock cut into her fingertips. She pulled herself forward, and into the cave where Þrasi’s had supposedly hidden his treasure.

  She pulled herself up against the side of the cave, hoping to rest for a moment and get it into her head that she had survived. But just as she was about to close her eyes, she noticed the rope on her belt being pulled back out of the cave.

  Her raft had finally succumbed to the current and was heading over the top of the waterfall and the rope she’d used to climb down was still attached. She frantically moved to release the rope just seconds before her raft flew past her refuge. The rope released, and ran down the edge of the cave as her raft bounced off the rocks that Lorelei had only narrowly avoided herself. She glanced over the edge and saw her equipment she’d left on the raft shattered and useless. Pieces of it were already floating away.

  “Miss Lorelei!” her radio screeched over the thunderous water, “Are you alive!? Over!”

  Lorelei pulled herself together and crawled onto the nearby ledge.

  “Ms. Decklund!” The voice shouted, sounding desperate, “Tell me you’re alive!”

  Exhausted, she retrieved his radio from her pack and pushed the button to open a channel back to Pétur.

  “You can relax Pétur, I’m alive and made it inside.”

  “Thank God!” Pétur exclaimed. “I’m so sorry Ms. Decklund, I don’t know what happened…”

  “Forget it,” Lorelei said wearily. There wasn’t any point at getting mad at Pétur for what happened. Unfortunately, that meant this might be her only opportunity to explore the internal cavern.

  “Do you want me to call the authorities?” Pétur asked. “They can be here in a few hours to be sure…”

  Lorelei looked around, trying to think it through. She could allow Pétur to call the authorities and let them figure out a way to help her get out. Unfortunately, that would likely mean she would be immediately deported. That wouldn’t exactly make for a great ending in her book.

  Her best chance was to see if there was another way out of here. Pétur had said there wasn’t any other way in other than by going over the falls (something she now suspected might just be a trick the locals play on gullible foreigners), but, Þrasi’s had to have gotten in here somehow. It was just a matter of finding her way out.

  “I think I’ll be fine. I’ll check in every ten minutes. If you don’t hear from me within that time, go ahead and call for help.
” Lorelei released the talk button, hoping her guide would follow orders. Strictly speaking, the Icelandic government had no idea what she was up to at Skógafoss. They might not take too kindly to a treasure hunter traipsing through their national parks.

  “Are you sure?” Pétur’s voice sounded worried, but that might have to do with his fee.

  “I’m sure. Stay on this channel. Start making your way down to the bottom of the waterfall. I’ll need you there to pick me up.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Pétur clicked off and Lorelei placed the walkie back on her belt and stood looking around.

  Might as well take advantage, she thought, pulling the pack off her shoulders. It was dark inside the cavern as expected, but fortunately she’d managed to hang onto her lantern and flashlight.

  Setting the high powered lantern to her right, she pushed a button and light flooded into the cavernous interior. The lantern was an LED that put out an impressive amount of light for its size. Lorelei retrieved her flashlight, to get a better handle on what she’d managed to get herself into.

  Surrounding her were dozens of stalactites and stalagmites. She could never remember which was which, but that was low on her priority list at the moment.

  She pointed the light around the cavern hoping to find something that could indicate where Þrasi’s treasure might have been stored. The local legends maintained that a chest had been stored behind the waterfall in a pocket shunt. Lorelei suspected the pocket Þrasi had stored the treasure in was part of a system of tunnels carved out by a millennia of water flowing through the area. Most likely, the treasure chest wasn’t lost, but rather lodged up against some impossible kink in the tunnels below.

  Lorelei studied her surroundings making a decision. She threaded through the stalagmites heading for the rear of the cave. Despite there being a dozen or so impressions within the cavern, there wasn’t anything that leapt out to Lorelei as somewhere where a treasure chest may have sat hundreds of years ago.