“What did you tell her?”
“The truth. I have no idea.”
Sam glanced at the deep funnel of ice. “Any guess how deep that thing goes?”
Demyan smiled. “Look. I’ve seen a lot of things happen that I never thought would be possible. But none compare to this. I mean, this entire island is full of hot magma. There are five active volcanoes on the island and one submarine volcano to the south. Whatever opening ripped through the Earth, it’s deeper than the roots to this island. Heck, the closest climate cold enough to cause this sort of thing would be above the Arctic Circle — but it beats me how this tunnel should reach there. If you’ll excuse me, I want to take another set of samples from the ice. We’re measuring the gasses inside — it might give us some indication of where this tunnel originates.”
“All right.” Sam looked at Billie. “You got any ideas what we’re doing here?”
She shook her head. “Beats me. The coincidence between this location and the one we spotted on the stone tablet we retrieved from the Tepui Mountains is too much to be just that. But I can’t see how there could be a temple anywhere near here. Unless you want to go walking down that tunnel to the frozen center of the Earth.”
Sam looked up at the sky through the filtered canopy of the jungle. It was a light blue, without any signs of an afternoon rain. It was going to be a nice afternoon, despite their icy location. “From what Demyan tells us, that tunnel might well be as long as the Aleutian Portal and defy the logic of science just as much.”
“So, what are we supposed to be doing here, while the sands of time are running out?” Billie asked.
“I don’t know. There must be something. I’m going to go talk to the girl.”
“Who?” Billie asked.
“The tourist. The one who just got engaged.”
Billie bit her bottom lip. “I believe her fiancé got boiled alive and then frozen today.”
“Even so. With the exception of her fiancé, she’s the only person who was here when this happened. If there is anything to be learned from being here, she might be the only one to tell us.”
“You think that’s wise?” Billie asked.
“No. But I’m not leaving here until we’re certain this event isn’t connected to the missing temples.”
“Suit yourself.”
“You coming with me?” he asked.
Billie shook her head. “To speak to the woman who just lost her fiancé? Hell no.”
Sam shrugged and walked around the frozen spring. He noticed that the unlucky tourist was rapidly scanning a book on the history of volcanoes in the region. She was transfixed in its pages, as though within them, answers might be revealed.
She spotted him glancing at her, and looked up. Her dark brown eyes examined him like a scientist dissecting her specimen. She smiled — without attempting to hide the fact that it was forced — but he guessed it would have been usually quite stunning. “May I help you?” she asked.
He offered his hand. “I’m sorry. My name’s Sam Reilly. I was told you were here when this happened.”
She took it without hesitation. Her handshake was firm. “I watched my fiancé burn to death.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said, hopelessly. “I understand nothing I, or anyone else is going to say to you will ever make that any better.”
She asked directly, “What can I do for you, sir?”
“I realize you’ve already told your story to a dozen or more people, but I’d like to ask you some questions about when this happened.”
“Why?”
“Same reason you’re still waiting here. I want answers.” He sighed. “And right now, I can’t even guess where they might come from.”
“Okay.” She smiled at his honesty. It looked genuine. “What’s your role here?”
“I was asked to come here for my unique insight into the highly unusual phenomenon.”
“You’re a volcanologist?” she asked.
“No. A marine biologist.”
“Really?” Her face scrunched up in a gesture of surprise. “What’s a marine biologist know about seismic activity?”
“Nothing.”
“So why are you here?”
He answered her question with one of his own. “Have you ever heard of thermohaline circulation?”
“Sure. It’s a system of currents throughout the Earth’s oceans, trying to achieve temperature equilibrium. Warm water to cold areas and vice-versa.”
“Exactly.” Sam was surprised by the confidence of her response, and instantly wondered about her background, but thought better of asking her — it wasn’t directly related to their problem. “In the past two weeks, the magnetic poles have moved farther away from their respective positions and closer to the equator. This has effectively altered the course of the thermohaline system.”
“You think the direction of the current’s changed, meaning that instead of warm volcanic water running beneath the Phoiki spring, it’s drawing its water from the Arctic?” she asked.
The question was astute, one that Sam himself had considered. “The thought’s crossed my mind, but it’s pretty farfetched. But I don’t have any other theories.”
Her dark brown eyes fixed on his with defiance. “Why are you really here, and why did you bring an archaeologist?”
“Who said I brought an archaeologist?”
“You did, while you were talking to Demyan Yezhov, the volcanologist.”
“You have good hearing.” Sam looked down and then met her piercing eyes. “You really want to hear my story?”
“Look. I’m not blaming anyone for Adrian’s death. It was a freak accident, nothing more. I just want to know how it happened. You’re not the first person to lie to me today. But I have a feeling you might just be the first to tell me the truth.”
“Okay. The truth is, I have no idea what caused this bizarre event.” Sam sighed, heavily. “Yesterday my friend and I were examining an ancient stone tablet we believed to be a map of four very important temples. It depicted a set of stars that matched a constellation. Another friend of mine is a mathematical genius. She superimposed the map, the constellation, and an image of the world. Only one of the locations was over land — which isn’t all that surprising, given that seventy percent of the globe is covered in ocean.”
“You came here because an ancient map told you to come?”
Sam’s lips curled in an incredulous and wry smile. “Yeah, well you can imagine our surprise when we found out what happened today.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?” Sam asked.
“Thanks for telling me the truth.”
Sam shook his head. “You wouldn’t accept that I’d come here to help because I was a marine biologist, but you’re willing to take my insane story at face value?”
“Sure. You’re a terrible liar. You tend to hold your breath more when you’re lying.”
“I don’t!”
“It’s all right. It doesn’t matter.” Airlie laughed. “I’m sorry you didn’t find your temple. Was it important?”
“Right now, it’s probably the most important place on Earth.”
“What was the constellation?”
“Aquila.”
“Do you have a picture?”
“Sure. Do you know anything about astronomy?”
“As a matter of fact, I just completed my PhD in astrophysics.”
“Get out of here!” Sam unlocked his cell phone and showed her a picture of the stone tablet, under a black light, where the four unmarked sapphires depicted the hidden temples that made up the constellation of Aquila.”
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. But the constellation isn’t Aquila.”
“Are you sure?”
“Certain. See this bright star here?”
Sam nodded. “Altair?”