Read Online Oracle by David Wood, Sean Ellis - Free Book Online Page A

an irritated retort. In Hodges ’ place, he would have been curious, too. “Something happened when she touched one of these spheres. I don’t think she’s injured, but until we know more about what we’re dealing with, I don’t want anyone getting close to these things.”
    “ What are we dealing with?”
    Professor heard the unasked question. While Hodges had not been involved with the Myrmidons during the Atlantis crisis, he had been fully briefed on the strange Atlantean technology the Dominion had used to destroy Key West and Norfolk and he knew that there were probably even stranger things in the world yet to be discovered.
    “ I’m not sure, but….yeah, I think this is going to be one for the X-Files. Tell you all about it when I get topside.”
    As he signed off, he spied Acosta ambling in their direction, completely unaware of what had just happened and bursting with excitement. Professor turned his attention back to Jade. He considered simply scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back to the center, but decided that would probably be unnecessarily dramatic. If, as Dorion suggested, she had merely fainted, then she w ould probably wake up shortly.
    He grasped her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. “Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up.”
    Jade ’s eyelids fluttered then opened completely. She stared back at him for a moment and then started as if she had received an electrical shock. She looked around with an almost feral expression.
    “ Hey, you’re okay. It’s okay.”
    Her eyes continued to dart from face to face for a moment, then she gave a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God. It was just a…” She shook her head. “What happened?”
    Before Professor could answer her question, Dorion knelt and gra sped her other shoulder. “Jade, tell me. What did you see?”
    “ What did I…?” Her expression darkened. “How did you know?”
    “ You saw something happening to us didn’t you? A premonition?”
    She shook her head again. “It was just a dream.”
    “ Jade, you must tell me what you saw. It’s important.”
    Her gaze flitted from face to face. “I think we all died.”
    Professor stood abruptly. “That’s it. We’re out of here now. Everybody, head back to the Sun stone.”
    For once, Jade did not argue with him or challenge his decision. Nor did any of the others; even Acosta seemed to understand that now was not the time for questions. Professor oriented on the distant golden sphere, faintly glowing with the reflection of Shelob ’s light, and headed out at a brisk pace. Jade, evidently fully recovered, matched him step for step.
    “ We’re going to have to Jumar out of here,” she said, referring to the mechanical device used for ascending a fixed rope. The Jumar worked on a principle similar to the rappelling devices they had used to come down, with a spring-loaded brake that allowed it to slide up a rope but not back down, and attached loops to use as steps. Because the device could only be advanced a foot or two at a time, climbing out of the cavern was going to be a time consuming process, especially for the less experienced members of the team.
    He shook his head. “No time for that. I’ll go first. Once I’m up, I can pull the rest of you up one by one. It will go a lot faster.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Listen, I’m not saying I believe in psychic visions or anything like that, but in your dream, how exactly did we,you know…get dead?”
    She looked away. “You’ll laugh.”
    “ Probably, but tell me anyway.”
    She pointed ahead toward their destination, now just twenty yards away. “That thing.”
    “ The Sun sphere?”
    She shook her head, but before she could elaborate, Professor caught movement in the corner of his eye. He turned toward it just in time to see a dark spindly shape, trailing a pair of loose serpentine threads, drop from the ceiling. There was a gonging sound as it impacted against the top of golden orb and slid off the far side, out