They had to identify the spikes and verify the stability of the entire mountain. If they couldn't, Katerina would have to stand before Connell Kirkland and tell him to halt exploration. Somehow she didn't think he'd like that suggestion.
O'Doyle double-timed it to Connell's office trailer. He wasn't going to take any shit this time, this time it wasn't his fault. Anyone could see that; how could he be held responsible for a man disappearing over two miles underground?
He knocked quickly and opened the door without waiting for a response. Connell looked up from his piles of paperwork.
"They lost a man in the tunnels,” O'Doyle said. Connell's eyes began to narrow, then relaxed. A strange look crossed over his face. O'Doyle guessed it was a look of concern, although he'd never seen Connell concerned about anything.
"When?"
"About an hour ago. They searched right away, then sent someone back to notify us, but it took them forty-five minutes to hike back to the bottom of the shaft and call up the news."
"Who is it?"
"Brian Jansson."
"Was he troublesome at all?"
"Not that I know of, sir. Apparently he was hurt. His partner went for help, and when help arrived Jansson was gone."
Connell's fingers drummed the desk. “I see three possibilities, none good,” he said. “The first is that Jansson was stupid enough to wander away after his partner went for help."
"Not likely, sir. Mack's men wouldn't do that."
Connell nodded. “I agree. The second possibility is that he's working for the same people that sabotaged the lab. Maybe he faked his injury, and he's on his way to the Dense Mass, to help someone else drill in from another spot on the mountain. I'm sure you can guess the third possibility."
"That the saboteurs are in the caves, and they've got Jansson."
Connell pointed his finger at O'Doyle. “You get down there and find out what's happening. Who are the best guards you've got?"
"Lybrand, Bill Cook and Lashon Jenkins."
"Take them down with you. I want our man found. And put Lybrand with the miners, they have to keep moving towards the Dense Mass — if someone is trying to jump this claim, we can't afford to wait."
"Yes sir,” O'Doyle turned and reached for the door.
"And don't say anything sensitive over the shaft phone,” Connell said. “We can't trust anyone or anything at this point."
Kayla's brow furrowed in confusion. She'd picked up a call between Connell and Barbara Yakely. Connell suspected someone might be trying to jump the claim. He wanted Barbara to find out what company was buying up land around the Wah Wah Mountains. Connell felt positive a spy walked among the camp personnel, possibly working with operatives floating along the camp's periphery.
That made no sense to Kayla. No one could run a covert operation like that without at least some communication, and she'd picked up nothing. The only people on this mountain were herself and the EarthCore staff.
All her instincts told her Connell was wrong, but he was a very sharp, very successful man, and she wouldn't just dismiss his concerns. If someone else was working this mountain, her payday could be in jeopardy. Her $3.5 million estimate would shrivel to nothing. That meant she couldn't assume anything.
Sooner or later, someone would fuck up and she'd figure it all out. Patience was the key. Patience. The camp was alive with activity and confusion. That night would be a good time to sneak in and snag a KoolSuit. She had to find a way down into those tunnels and take at least a limited peek. Any intel she could provide on the tunnel system would increase her price.
Judging by the level of activity, she expected the staff's fatigue to highpoint around 1:00 a.m. That would be the perfect time.
Six more miners donned KoolSuits and loaded up with supplies of food, water, batteries, floodlights, and even a generator — everything needed to set up a base camp in the tunnels far below. Drenched with sweat, Connell watched them tramp into the adit as he talked on the phone with Mack, who was down at the base of the elevator shaft.
"I don't think he's a spy, mate,” Mack said. “I know the man, and besides, that doesn't make any sense."
"Did Sherwood actually see the broken leg?"
"No. Sherwood followed procedure. When Jansson said he was hurt, Sherwood came right back to get help."
"So now you've got a man who claims he's broken a leg, which no one saw, and when you go into that cavern he's gone. What does that tell you?"
Mack was silent for a moment, then answered quietly. “It tells me that maybe he was lying,"
"That, or someone moved him,” Connell said. “Now listen close. Six more miners are on the way down along with O'Doyle and Lybrand. O'Doyle will take over searching for Jansson. You take Lybrand and the six new men and continue on. She's there for your protection. We may be in a situation where time is vital. We have to reach that Dense Mass first. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Kirkland."
Connell checked his watch, hung up and quickly walked town the trail to the Jeep. From there he drove to the administration trailer. He walked through the door just as the bulky cellular rang.
"Hello, Barbara,” Connell answered. “What have you got for me?"
"I ain't got squat, honey,” Barbara said in her sandpapery voice.
"Well, someone has to be buying up rights in the area,” Connell said. “Someone is making a move on us, I know it."
"No one has bought any rights in that area since 1945, honey. Ourselves excluded, of course. I had our people check with all of our corporate informants, too, and we can't find anybody who's even looking at the site. A few are starting to get curious what we're doing there, but so far you're all alone."
Connell stared off into space. His theory had just gone down the crapper. “Thanks Barbara. I'll call you if anything turns up."
He broke the connection. It wasn't the competition. So what was going on in the camp? And, more importantly, what the hell was going on in that shaft?
They built this.
She didn't know how she knew it, she just did. Veronica sat cross-legged on one corner of the rectangle, turning her head slowly to look down each line. One line spread out and up the mountain, disappearing over the near ridge. The other line, one of the “short” ones, moved outward at a ninety-degree angle from its friend.
What had this meant to the Chaltelians?
The lab dated the rectangle between twelve thousand and seven thousand years old. Precise figures didn't matter — the time span did. It was roughly the same time frame for the Chaltelians’ dominance over the Tierra Del Fuego area. Too close to be coincidence.
While hidden for millennia, the rectangle was an accomplishment greater than the pyramids and more impressive than Peru's massive Nazca lines. Egyptians built up. Chaltelians built down. Way down. Impossibly way down. The depth stumped Katerina. It didn't seem possible to dig a trench that deep today, let alone thousands of years ago by primitive people. Yeah, and that's what they said about the pyramids at one time. Hell, some people still said that about the pyramids. Somehow Veronica doubted alien involvement in Egypt — or Utah, for that matter.
Something extraordinary had happened on this mountain. A mystery worth the attention of her entire career.
She needed to bide her time a little while longer. Connell couldn't keep her in camp forever. She wouldn't need Connell's funding, not once the story got out. Once the world knew of the rectangle, she'd shut him down faster than students cleared out after the last day of finals.