Oracle by David Wood, Sean Ellis Read Free Book Online

continued to dominate the screen. The glare made it impossible to tell how much deeper the source of the reflection was.
    “End of the line,” announced Hodges.
    Jade turned to Acosta. “You’ve got to let me go in.”
    The administrator gave her an astonished look, but she was ready for him. “I know what I’m doing,” she went on. “I have the equipment and will assume all the risk. I won’t touch anything or take a single step without consulting with you first. You have to let me do this Dr. Acosta. It’s the only way to know what’s down there.”
    Acosta wasn ’t ready to give up yet. “Isn’t there any way we can send the robot deeper?” he asked Hodges.
    “ I’d need more co-ax. But I’m not sure that would make a difference. It looks like a straight drop, and if that’s water down there, Shelob won’t be much use.”
    Jade let Hodges ’ verdict sink in a moment, then instead of repeating her plea, she said simply, “I’ll go get my gear.”
    This time, Acosta did not even try to stop her.

FOUR
     
    This is why I love being an archaeologist. Jade squirmed through the hole and looked down into the dark void.  The LED headlamp she wore showed nothing that Shelob’s light had not already revealed, but that was about to change.
    She placed her hands—now covered in fingerless gloves with an extra layer of reinforcement in the palms—against the smooth tunnel walls and pulled herself the rest of the way through, trusting the belaying rope secured to her climbing harness to keep her from taking the fast way down. She wriggled around until her feet were braced against the wall and then squeezed the brake release handle on her rappelling descender . The close confines of the tunnel kept her from making dynamic bounds, but the descent into the unknown was no less exhilarating.
    She could make out Shelob at the bottom of the shaft looking like some kind metal drain screen. Four of its legs were stretched out, quartering the passage and holding the robot fixed in place, while the other four had retracted in close against its body. There was more than enough room for Jade to slip between the outstretched appendages, but she wasn ’t ready to do that just yet.
    She continued letting out rope—what little was left of it—until the sole of one of her hiking boots touched the robot ’s slim central body. She tested her foothold, then let out a little more rope until all her weight was resting atop the robot. Something moved at one end of the body, presumably the camera turning to look at her.
    She unclipped a small Motorola walkie-talkie from her belt and keyed the transmit button. “Can you hear me up there?”
    Under normal conditions, the radio would have been useless, the signal blocked by the surrounding rock, but her signal didn ’t have to reach the men in the chamber above. The receiving unit was wired into Shelob’s electronic guts, and the message would make the rest of the journey via the coaxial hardline.
    Hodges ’ voice sounded from the speaker. “Loud and clear.”
    “ Are you sure this thing can hold my weight for the next pitch?”
    “ Better than any of the climbing gear you could use to set your belay.”
    That assurance didn ’t fill her with enthusiasm, but she wasn’t about to turn back now. She peered down into the darkness below, noting the shiny spot almost directly underneath the robot. It was easier to judge the distance with her own eyes. “I think it’s only fifty feet or so to the bottom. Can’t tell if it’s submerged or not. I’m going to set the next rope.
    She unlimbered a coil of Kernmantle climbing rope from her shoulder, laying it carefully atop the robot’s thorax, and then went to work rigging a second belay, using the robot as her anchor. When she had checked and double-checked her knots, she shifted the rope into one of the gaps and let it fall. There was a faint rustling sound as the line uncoiled, and then just a second later, a dull thud as most