Temple of Fire by Christopher Forrest Read Free Book Online Page A

staying in this tranquil eye might be tricky.”
    “Can’t we just track the storm’s movement and maintain speed to match it?” asked Caine .
    “Maybe,” the Captain replied, “but Beatrice is now exhibiting a classic maneuver of hurricanes.  The center has picked up speed and is starting to wobble.  It can do corkscrews, retrace its path, or start to zigzag.”
    From his station, Dr. Ambergris nodded his head.  “That tallies with info from the weather lab.  Beatrice’s eye is unstable.”
    “What do you suggest, Captain?” asked Caine .
    “We’ll have to try to stay in the eye by making some uncomfortably tight turns.  The eye was ten miles in diameter two hours ago.  It’s now shrunk to six, and it’s continuing to shrink.  We don’t have a lot of maneuvering room.  The ship doesn’t exactly turn on a dime.”
    “Do your best, Captain,” said Caine .  “Staying in the eye is our only real option.”
    “At some point,” said DJ, “we’re going to need an exit strategy.”
    “True,” said Caine .  “Start addressing the problem and see what options you can give me.  Meanwhile, we’re not deviating from our present plan until the torpedo in the cargo bay is disarmed.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” said DJ.
    “Contact reestablished with Titan Six,” said Touchdown.
    “It’s about time we caught a break,” said Caine .  “Let’s see what’s going on in Nevada .”
     

Titan Six,
Ancient Ruins inside the U.S. Petroleum Blast Crater
     
    The Titan team had scanned the area for possible hostile activity and exited the vehicle.
    “The EFV’s radar might not be fully accurate,” Hawkeye told the Ops Center , “given the many buildings surrounding us.  We’ve stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient city.”
    “My reception is five-by-five,” said Touchdown.  “Telemetry is solid.  I show about thirty targets clustered on the southwestern side of the crater.  The Chinese, if you haven’t already figured that out.  You’re go for recon now.  I’ve also got a holographic display of the city.”
    Caine turned to look at the holographic projection of the ruins on the circular platform in the middle of the Ops Center .
    “Give me a geographical status report first,” said Caine .  “Then we’ll deal with your unexpected find.”
    It was Dr. Madison who spoke.
    “Catherine,” he said, “I doubt that U.S. Petroleum is going to like my initial assessment.  This area is unstable in the extreme.  We’re standing outside the EFV, and although there’s a little blue sky above us, there’s still a great deal of yellow haze drifting through the ruins.  I can see fires in several of the temples, fanned by occasional dust storms.  There are obviously numerous pockets of volatile gas beneath us.  Add in tremors and some ominous smoke coming through dozens of fissures, and I think this place could collapse.  Or it might stabilize if the tremors and aftershocks finally subside.  I can’t say for sure unless I get beneath the city and look at the geological activity.  My guess is that the drilling itself didn’t cause such a catastrophe, but it certainly destabilized whatever is three miles down.  Probably a pocket of gas that, if ignited, could blow away everything for fifty miles.   And fire is not in short supply here.”
    “Thanks for the rosy scenario,” Caine said in a deadpan voice.  “I want everyone to spread out and use their helmet cams to give me a three-sixty view of their positions within the city.  We can at least record what U.S. Petroleum uncovered if things get out of hand quickly and we need to extract you.”
    Titan Six moved through the streets and passages for a hundred yards in every direction, threading their way through the millennia-old architecture.
    “This is absolutely amazing,” Dr. Joshua Ambergris said, studying the screen above his station, which was displaying images from Titan’s helmet cams.  “And it doesn’t make a bit of