Shadow Zone by Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

just enough broken crystals to obscure the key parts of the story. But there’s a specific reference to a massive shadow descending over these waters, laying waste the people of Marinth.”
    Josh shook his head. “A massive shadow . . . Great. Is this a ghost story?”
    “I don’t think so,” Melis said. “The Marinthians weren’t particularly superstitious. There’s something here we aren’t getting. Look around for his funeral marker. Educators were often denoted with a circle motif, maybe a ring of circles. See anything like that?”
    “Not yet.” Hannah pushed Conner Two ’s exterior lights on high, then swung the spots to illuminate the surrounding area.
    Dolphins.
    Everywhere she looked, there were sleek gray creatures darting about, taking positions around the submersible. Great dark eyes and that menacing snapping of the jaws. Her heart was starting to pound. “Help us, Melis. You’re better at spotting this stuff than we are, and those dolphins aren’t making it easy.”
    “I’m looking, but so far I don’t—Wait. Move your starboard spotlight back a few feet, where it was a second ago.”
    Hannah slowly swung the spotlight back. There was now a wall of dolphins blocking all visibility. She called out to Matthew and Josh. “Move through the dolphins, guys. Slowly. We don’t want to hurt them.”
    They backed up slightly and pushed through the mass while Hannah hit the dolphins with low-pressure blasts from the compressed-air jets. This time, however, they were much slower to move out of the way.
    “Uh-oh,” she said. “The air nozzles aren’t working so well any longer. They must have figured out that the air won’t hurt them.”
    “Any sign of a marker?” Melis asked.
    “Not yet. So far, just a lot of—That might be it!” She directed a camera toward a circular outline on the ocean floor. “See that, Melis?”
    “Yes. How big is it?”
    “About eight feet in diameter.”
    “Dust it off, will you?”
    Matthew piloted the minisub toward the circle and hovered in place while Hannah blasted away the silt. The wheel-shaped stone was carved with hundreds of detailed figures, different than the writings she had seen elsewhere in the city.
    “Is this what you’re looking for, Melis?”
    “Yes, it’s definitely a grave marker. I can’t read everything there, but that isn’t unusual. All the grave markers we found have been written in a different style than their normal written language. It may be an older dialect, or maybe even their version of poetry.” Melis paused. “I guess there’s no way you can bring that up.”
    “Sorry, doll,” Matthew said. “Not now. We probably couldn’t swing it even if we had both Conners in service. We’ll do well just to get that trellis up.”
    “I knew the answer,” Melis said. “Sorry I asked.”
    Josh positioned the exterior cameras over and around the marker. “But we’ll have some spectacular 3-D video for you. Next best thing to being there.”
    Whump.
    Jarring force.
    Whump.
    The submersible skittered to the side.
    Whump.
    Three more dolphin hits, each more forcible than the one before.
    Another hit!
    Hannah tried the compressed air again, but this time the dolphins did not even hesitate to body-slam Conner Two.
    “We’re out of time,” Hannah said. “Let’s put that trellis into the sled and get the hell out of here.”
    Josh and Matthew piloted the vessel back to the trellis, struggling to keep it steady against the crush of pounding, circling dolphins.
    Hannah pushed a button, and the sled’s protective cover slid open.
    First hurdle overcome. Kyle had struggled to coax the larger cover to open and close properly using a hydraulic system that had been designed for a much lighter sled.
    Using every bit of the mechanical arms’ articulation and sensitivity, Hannah gently picked up the trellis and swung it toward the sled. Before she could lower it, she saw a dark cloud racing toward the artifact.
    Dolphins. Dozens of