Read Online The Oracle's Message by Alex Archer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alex Archer
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last night,” Spier said. “I wish to have the scientific community take a look at it. Examine it. Discover the true nature of the pearl and what its powers might be.”
“Maybe it’s just a black stone,” Annja said. “Without any powers whatsoever.”
“That would be regrettable,” Spier said. “To have traveled all this way only to find out such a thing. Tragic.”
Annja felt a few raindrops hit her face and looked up. The sun had vanished, replaced by the boiling cloud mass above them. Dark streaks mixed with gray, swirling about like steam from some evil black-magic cauldron.
“I think we’re about to get—”
Annja never finished her sentence because at that moment a crack of lightning flashed above them, followed by a rumble of thunder.
A deluge of rain flowed down over them in sheets of tepid water. Mueller guided the sloop to the resort’s dock and they scrambled ashore, grabbing their gear and making for the dive master’s shack.
He seemed genuinely glad to see them and took all the equipment back. Spier smiled at him. “You’ll refill those tanks right away, won’t you?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because we’ll need them again later tonight.”
“Later? This storm isn’t going to let up anytime soon. You’d be foolish to go venturing out in this.”
“We won’t,” Spier said. “But we will once it passes.”
“That could be midnight.”
“So it might be midnight.” Spier held out his hand and, while the team looked away, Annja saw the dive master pocket the sheaf of bills Spier passed him.
Money certainly doesn’t seem to be an issue for Spier, she thought. I wonder where he gets it all.
It occurred to her that she knew very little about Spier or his team. Aside from Hans.
She smiled. She knew a lot about him already.
“You all right, Annja?”
She looked up and saw Hans eyeing her. She smiled at him. “I’m fine. Just a bit tired, is all.”
“What about lunch? You could do with a meal,” Spier said. “I suspect we all could before indulging in a little siesta.”
Annja hadn’t thought about food, but the suggestion of it made her stomach rumble. “I could eat.”
They ran from the dive master’s shack to the main pavilion. Strong gale-force winds lashed at the pavilion but aside from the tables set near the open-air walls, the rest of the area stayed nice and dry. Annja supposed that they knew how bad the weather could get and the resort had been designed accordingly.
There was something rather cool about eating in the midst of a torrential downpour, anyway. She dined on some fresh crab-and-lobster-meat salad, drank some of the fresh mango juice and watched as Spier and his team compared notes on the morning’s dive.
“You saw those conical outcroppings, Annja?” Spier asked after a few moments.
“I did.”
“And yet you refuse to believe they indicate the existence of a lost civilization?”
She smiled. “Forgive me for saying so, Joachim, but a few conical outcroppings do not a lost civilization make.”
“Well, they don’t refute its existence, either.”
“Granted, but I’d like to know a bit more about what we’re supposed to be hunting for here.”
“Like what?”
“Like what civilization this is supposed to be, exactly.”
Spier paused and took a bite of his sandwich. “You’ve no doubt heard of Atlantis.”
“Of course.”
“The legend of a prehistoric earth inhabited by technologically advanced races, that sort of thing.” Spier shrugged. “It’s nothing new, of course. But the conventional thinking has always maintained that Atlantis must have been located in either the Mediterranean or the Atlantic.”
“But you don’t believe that?”
Spier wiped his mouth. “It’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that I’m not interested in Atlantis.”
“Okay.”
“But I am interested in the other civilizations that were reported to have existed at the same time. Lemuria and Mu.”
Annja frowned.
“Maybe it’s just a black stone,” Annja said. “Without any powers whatsoever.”
“That would be regrettable,” Spier said. “To have traveled all this way only to find out such a thing. Tragic.”
Annja felt a few raindrops hit her face and looked up. The sun had vanished, replaced by the boiling cloud mass above them. Dark streaks mixed with gray, swirling about like steam from some evil black-magic cauldron.
“I think we’re about to get—”
Annja never finished her sentence because at that moment a crack of lightning flashed above them, followed by a rumble of thunder.
A deluge of rain flowed down over them in sheets of tepid water. Mueller guided the sloop to the resort’s dock and they scrambled ashore, grabbing their gear and making for the dive master’s shack.
He seemed genuinely glad to see them and took all the equipment back. Spier smiled at him. “You’ll refill those tanks right away, won’t you?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because we’ll need them again later tonight.”
“Later? This storm isn’t going to let up anytime soon. You’d be foolish to go venturing out in this.”
“We won’t,” Spier said. “But we will once it passes.”
“That could be midnight.”
“So it might be midnight.” Spier held out his hand and, while the team looked away, Annja saw the dive master pocket the sheaf of bills Spier passed him.
Money certainly doesn’t seem to be an issue for Spier, she thought. I wonder where he gets it all.
It occurred to her that she knew very little about Spier or his team. Aside from Hans.
She smiled. She knew a lot about him already.
“You all right, Annja?”
She looked up and saw Hans eyeing her. She smiled at him. “I’m fine. Just a bit tired, is all.”
“What about lunch? You could do with a meal,” Spier said. “I suspect we all could before indulging in a little siesta.”
Annja hadn’t thought about food, but the suggestion of it made her stomach rumble. “I could eat.”
They ran from the dive master’s shack to the main pavilion. Strong gale-force winds lashed at the pavilion but aside from the tables set near the open-air walls, the rest of the area stayed nice and dry. Annja supposed that they knew how bad the weather could get and the resort had been designed accordingly.
There was something rather cool about eating in the midst of a torrential downpour, anyway. She dined on some fresh crab-and-lobster-meat salad, drank some of the fresh mango juice and watched as Spier and his team compared notes on the morning’s dive.
“You saw those conical outcroppings, Annja?” Spier asked after a few moments.
“I did.”
“And yet you refuse to believe they indicate the existence of a lost civilization?”
She smiled. “Forgive me for saying so, Joachim, but a few conical outcroppings do not a lost civilization make.”
“Well, they don’t refute its existence, either.”
“Granted, but I’d like to know a bit more about what we’re supposed to be hunting for here.”
“Like what?”
“Like what civilization this is supposed to be, exactly.”
Spier paused and took a bite of his sandwich. “You’ve no doubt heard of Atlantis.”
“Of course.”
“The legend of a prehistoric earth inhabited by technologically advanced races, that sort of thing.” Spier shrugged. “It’s nothing new, of course. But the conventional thinking has always maintained that Atlantis must have been located in either the Mediterranean or the Atlantic.”
“But you don’t believe that?”
Spier wiped his mouth. “It’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that I’m not interested in Atlantis.”
“Okay.”
“But I am interested in the other civilizations that were reported to have existed at the same time. Lemuria and Mu.”
Annja frowned.
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