“Get down.” Beverly flattened herself against the dirt.
With my eyes locked on the raft, I lowered myself to the ground. It smelled of salt and dead grass.
The engine ceased. The raft slowed to a crawl. A spotlight appeared on the bow, illuminating the rocky water. The raft shifted in a complete circle, tracing the waves. Then the engine started again. Slowly, the raft puttered forward.
A man knelt in the middle of the raft. He directed its movements as well as those of the spotlight. A breathing apparatus, hooked up to a diver’s tank, covered his face. Even so, I still recognized him. “It’s him,” I said. “The Polynesian guy from Israel.”
Graham exhaled. “Well, at least we know we’re in the right place.”
My jaw tightened. “They’re searching for survivors.”
“Then we should make sure they don’t find any.” Twisting toward the south, Graham snaked past a couple of boulders.
We followed him behind the rocks. “Does anyone have a satphone?” Beverly asked. “Mine’s gone.”
I shook my head.
“Lost my phone while swimming,” Stevens said.
Beverly looked at Graham. “How about you?”
“Bottom of the ocean,” he replied.
“At least we’re alive.” Stevens exhaled. “Things could be worse.”
Air rushed. A high-pitched shrieking noise, like nails on a chalkboard, filled the forest.
I turned west. A drone, exactly like the one from Israel, shot past the volcano. It was close, maybe a few hundred feet above ground level and a thousand feet from our position. Moments later, I saw dozens of twisting pillars of smoke.
Chemtrails.
“Things just got worse,” I said. “Much worse.”
Chapter 35
My feet stayed rooted to the ground as I watched the drone zip across the ocean. Moments later, it began a banking maneuver.
Beverly squinted at the sky. “Looks like it’s coming back again.”
It’s flying a crossing pattern.
The drone had flown northeast, showering the western side of the volcano with chemtrails. Now, it was heading southeast, preparing to cover the volcano’s eastern side. It was an efficient and neat way to saturate the area with chemtrails.
It was also deadly as hell.
I studied the chemtrails, their position in the sky. I studied their movements and how the wind affected them. “Follow me.”
Unsheathing my machete, I chopped my way through a mess of dead vines. Then I ran south, straight toward the volcano.
The horrible shrieking noise returned. It grew louder and louder.
I crossed hills, leapt over rocks, and dodged trees. The shrieking noise turned skull-piercing. Gritting my teeth, I watched the drone zoom past the volcano.
I didn’t know who was directly controlling it. Nor did I care. Almost certainly, the pilot was following orders. And those orders most likely came from Simona Wolcott or one of her underlings.
Grayish chemtrails snaked downward, shooting deadly tentacles of smoke in all directions. We couldn’t hide from them. Nor could we dodge or outrun them.
But we can outmaneuver them.
I veered southwest. Pouring on the speed, I charged up a hill. The plane had flown steeply angled routes along both sides of the volcano. The main goal was probably to target the ocean as well as the shoreline. But that didn’t cover everything. The flight pattern left the volcano’s backside completely untouched.
I kept an eye out for the drone, but it didn’t return. The landscape turned rocky and increasingly vertical. Undeterred, I scrambled over a tall boulder, using ridges, cracks, clefts, and small peaks as hand and footholds. Reaching back, I helped Stevens onto the boulder. Then I lowered my hand to Graham.
With Beverly’s help, Graham climbed halfway up the boulder. Reaching up, he grabbed my fingers. Steeling myself, I pulled him upward.
Stevens grabbed Graham’s right arm. Working together, we hauled him onto the cliff.
Quickly, Beverly scaled the rocks. As she climbed onto the boulder, I turned skyward.
The chemtrails continued to glide downward, streaking with great speed. Powerful wind currents caught hold of them, nudging them slightly to the northeast. It wasn’t much.
But it was enough.
“What …?” Stevens hunched over, gasping for air. “What was that?”
“A chemical shower,” I said between deep breaths. “Simona’s people were covering their bases in case we survived the crash.”
He shook his head. “What the hell did you get me into?”
I exchanged glances with Beverly. “It’s a long story.”
“Nice moves out there.” Exhaling loudly, Graham clapped me on the back. “Reminded me of your dad.”
I frowned.
“You’ve got his instincts, his quickness. Did you know he used to accompany me on expeditions?”
I blinked a few times. Graham’s revelation was a stark reminder of how I’d hardly known my father. “But—”
Before I could finish my sentence, the strange hissing noise rang out again. It came from the west and quickly increased in volume, penetrating every inch of my head. I clutched my ears. Gritted my teeth. But I couldn’t block it out.
The sound reversed course. It diminished in volume before disappearing entirely. Releasing my ears, I twisted toward its origin point. Through the foliage, I caught a glimpse of the volcano’s edge.
“What was that?” Stevens winced. “It sounded … I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“I don’t know.” I stared hard at a distant shadow. Abruptly, it shifted positions, merging with other shadows. “And I don’t think we want to find out.”
Chapter 36
“Follow me.” Adopting a crouching position, Beverly glided through a string of boulders to a lower level. Stopping inside a rock-enclosed space, she rose to her full height. “Okay, this will do for now. What’s our supply situation?”
“I’ve got my pistol and some ammunition. My machete, too.” I shrugged off my satchel. “But no food or water.”
“I’ve got my gun,” Graham said. “And that’s it.”
Stevens stared forlornly at the ocean. “I’ve got nothing.”
A pang of guilt hit my gut. If we hadn’t hired him, Stevens would still be in Saipan, drinking beers and swapping tall tales with other pilots. Instead, he was fighting to survive while mourning the loss of his helicopter.
“I’ve got my gun. Plus, some money. Not that it’ll do us much good out here.” Beverly exhaled. “We need to find shelter. Then we’ll look for fresh water.”
I arched an eyebrow. “We didn’t come here for a campout.”
“We’re stranded with no supplies. The only people within reach tried to kill us. If we hope to survive—”
“Then we need to get off this rock as quickly as possible,” I said, finishing her thought with my own. “We need to stick to the plan. We infiltrate the hangar and figure out why Simona wanted the reliquary. Then we grab it and get the hell out of here.”
Stevens sighed. “How are we supposed to leave? In case you haven’t noticed, my helicopter is lying on the bottom of the ocean.”
“You saw Pagan Bay. Eco-Trek has boats, large ones.” Swatting away some pesky flies, I gave the volcano another glimpse. It rose above the dead tree trunks. Deep gullies and ridges lined its steep slopes. “Right now, they think we’re dead. Their guard will be down. With a little luck, we can steal the reliquary and be on our way to Saipan by daybreak.”
Graham shook his head. “That thing is heavy. We’ll have to—”