Chapter Ten
The next day dawned bright and sunny. Peri walked down the steps of the main building, and out onto the snow.
Ahead, three snowmobiles loaded with supplies, waited.
Lars was standing beside one vehicle, talking quietly with Declan, Logan, and Ronin. He was going to be their guide to the pyramid. Dec had apprised Melinda, Lars, and Gabriela of some of the situation with Silk Road, and the three station leaders had agreed to keep it quiet. They weren’t happy about the fact that one of their own might be a traitor, but they didn’t want anyone else to die.
Peri took a deep breath of crisp, clear air. She’d slept well for the rest of the night. After the attack, she’d thought she’d never get to sleep, but with Ronin’s big body wrapped around her, she’d fallen asleep almost as soon as her head had touched her pillow.
She looked over at Ronin, drinking in his strong form. Even in his bulky black jacket, he snagged her attention. Strength with a dark edge. In the past, she’d always gone for easygoing guys who enjoyed travel and adventure. Apparently dark, dangerous, and intense was her new type. Not done with you yet, G-Man.
As she approached, the men all called out to her, and she raised a gloved hand.
“Ready to head out?” Dec asked.
“Yes.”
Lars nodded. “Excellent. The weather looks good, but things can change in a heartbeat. Best to get moving.”
The men broke off to their snowmobiles.
Ronin looked down at her. “I’m driving today.”
She inclined her head. “That sounds fair.”
He climbed on the machine and she settled behind him. He started the engine, the vibrations going through her. Instantly, she thought of riding his bike with him. God, that felt like weeks ago.
She leaned forward. “Look at that. Here you are between my legs again.”
His big body jolted and Peri smiled to herself.
“Behave,” he growled.
She bit back a smile, and settled her goggles over her face. Moments later, they all pulled out, slicing across the snow. Lars was in the lead, followed by Dec and Logan, with Peri and Ronin bringing up the rear of their group.
The bright sun reflected off the snow and ice. Peri breathed deep. Everything looked so fresh, pristine, and untouched. Could there really be the ruins of an ancient civilization buried under the ice?
Soon, the mountains rose up ahead, dark rock poking up through the snow. The peaks all looked natural to her.
They skirted some rough ground, and kept moving.
A short while later, Lars pulled to a stop, and the other two snowmobiles flanked him.
“There,” the scientist said, pointing.
Peri turned her head and sucked in a breath. Their goal sat at the end of a line of hills. A perfect pyramid of dark rock, spearing skyward through the snow.
They set off again, getting closer and closer. Peri kept her gaze trained on the rock. It was incredible, although she couldn’t tell if nature had made it, or man. They zoomed past one side of the structure, and she scanned the surface. There were no signs of carvings or doorways, but the side looked very smooth and regular. It wasn’t made of blocks of stone like the Egyptian pyramids.
Turning in a wide arc, they circled the pyramid. She noticed that Ronin was less interested in the pyramid, and kept studying the land around them, instead. She realized he was looking for any sign of Silk Road.
Finally, they all pulled to a stop.
“We’ll take a look around on foot,” Dec called out.
“Did you spot anything?” she asked Ronin.
He shook his head. “If they’d been here, there should be some sign. A camp, tracks, trash, something.”
God, what if this wasn’t Silk Road’s destination? Peri’s stomach turned hard, like a rock sat at the bottom of it. What if Amber wasn’t here?
Lars, Dec, and Logan fanned out, beginning their manual search. Peri eagerly followed, keeping Ronin in sight.
Amber had to be here, somewhere. Peri trudged through the snow. She wouldn’t stop until she found her sister.
But as she walked the line of the pyramid, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Her shoulders sagged.
There was nothing here but rock, ice, and snow.
***
As they fanned out around the structure, Ronin sensed Peri’s growing tension.
They hadn’t found any sign of Silk Road, or her sister.
He moved along the edge of the pyramid, stopping to look up the slick rock side. He still couldn’t decide if it was manmade, or a natural formation.
Dec called out. Ronin waited for Peri, and together they hurried over to where Dec and Logan were standing, looking down at the snow. It had been flattened out, and possibly the site of a camp.
But there were no tracks.
“Could be a camp spot,” Ronin said slowly.
“But nothing definitive,” Dec said.
Peri kicked the snow. “There must be some sign that they were here.”
They moved back around the next side of the pyramid. Lars was up ahead, looking at the snow.
“Anything?” Peri called out.
The scientist shook his head. “Doesn’t look like anyone has been here.”
Ronin glanced down where Lars’ boots had left tracks in the snow. He spotted a flash of color, partly buried, and strode over. As the scientist stepped back, Ronin knelt down and scratched away at the icy snow…and pulled out a red wrapper. He held it up.
Peri grabbed it and turned the wrapper over. Then she grinned. “It’s a candy bar wrapper. They’re Amber’s favorite! She always takes a stash with her on trips.”
Ronin looked around. “So, they were here.”
“Where the hell did they go?” Logan asked with a scowl.
“There’s nothing here,” Lars said. “And this pyramid looks like a natural mountain to me.”
Peri shook her head and turned in a slow circle, her gaze narrowed. Ronin watched her gaze zero in on a patch of snow nearby that looked churned up. She moved closer to it.
Suddenly, she let out a sharp cry, and dropped waist-deep into the snow.
“Peri!” He rushed toward her.
She was stuck in the snow, but she remained calm. “I’m okay.”
Ronin grabbed her hand, worried she was dangling over the top of a deep crevasse.
“Careful,” Dec called out.
“No, don’t worry. I’m all right,” Peri said. “My feet are touching firm ground.” She scooped up the snow. “This is covering a shallow hole.”
“Logan and Lars, get the foldable shovels off the snowmobiles,” Dec ordered.
Ronin pulled Peri up and out, shocked that his heart was hammering so hard. He watched her dust the snow off her clothes.
The men returned and soon started to shovel out the snow.
Finally, they all stepped back in silence.
“What the hell?” Peri breathed.
They’d uncovered an entrance to a tunnel, about seven feet in diameter.
“It goes down under the pyramid,” Dec said.
Ronin crouched and craned his neck to look into the tunnel. It burrowed down into the ice below and was perfectly circular. “The ice looks like it’s been melted to form this tunnel.” What the hell had Silk Road used to make it?
“Can you see anything in there?” Peri asked.
Ronin pulled out a flashlight and shone it inside the tight space. The light glinted off something metal.
“There are five snowmobiles hidden in here.”
“It’s them.” Peri crouched beside them. “We need to go in there.”
“Let’s grab our gear,” Dec said.
They pulled their snowmobiles in close to the pyramid, and grabbed their backpacks. Each one was kitted out with tents, sleeping bags, rations, and other gear for surviving in the cold weather. Then, each of them clicked on their flashlights.
“We sure this is a good idea?” Lars said, his expression worried.
Ronin ignored the man, and dropped down into the tunnel. He reached up and caught Peri’s waist as she climbed over the edge. He lowered her down, and the others followed them in.
They headed down the tunnel. The ground was slick and on a slight incline. They skirted the Silk Road snowmobiles, and Ronin heard Logan grumble. The big man’s head was brushing the top of the tunnel.
Then, a moment later, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern.
“Wow.” Peri shone her light upward.
The empty grotto was made entirely of white-blue ice. The slick walls looked like art.
“This is natural,” Ronin said.
“Are we sure it’s stable down here?” Lars asked.
“The ice is intact,” Dec said. “No signs of cracking or instability.”
They crossed the large space. Ahead, a giant wall of dark rock appeared out of the darkness. It was covered in places with a thin film of ice.
Then Peri stumbled to a stop. “Holy shit. Look at that.”
Ronin moved his light to join hers. The two narrow beams illuminated a giant doorway in the rock. It was open, with darkness beyond.
Fuck. Ronin stared at it. The edges were ornate and lined with engravings.
“What the hell?” Dec said, staring at it.
Peri rushed forward, and pressed her gloved hand to the edge of the large doorframe. It was over twelve feet high.
“Look at this,” she said, smoothing her hand down the rock. “There are inscriptions here.”
Ronin moved his light and saw them more clearly now.
“They’re similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs,” Dec murmured. “Not quite the same. Some are different, and there are a few I’ve never seen before.” He pulled out a small camera and took some shots.
“Let’s go in.” Peri stepped inside.
“We should think about this,” Lars called out.
Ronin stayed right behind her. They moved quietly, and the only sound was their boots crunching on the ice.
The large tunnel was perfectly rectangular and lined with blue-ice walls. They glowed from within with a faint light.
“Where’s that light coming from?” Logan’s rumble echoed off the walls.
Ronin shrugged. “No idea. Some sort of phosphorescence?”
“Could be bioluminescence if there are organisms trapped in the ice,” Dec added.
Ronin shook his head. This was all pretty incredible. The tunnel continued for a few more feet before a solid wall of ice stopped them.
Peri frowned. “That can’t be it!”
“Maybe over the years, the ice has filled up whatever tunnels were down here,” Ronin said.
“Over here,” Lars called out.
The man was standing near a side wall a few feet back. He was shining his flashlight down toward the ground.
Another perfectly circular tunnel had been melted down into the ice. Ronin really wanted to see what tech Silk Road was using to make their tunnels. He crouched at the edge, peering into the darkness. This tunnel was almost vertical.
The light didn’t penetrate far. “No idea how deep it goes.” Ronin caught Dec’s gaze, and then Logan’s.
“If it goes too deep,” Dec said, “getting out will be hard.”
“They had to have gone this way.” Peri stabbed a finger at the tunnel. “My sister is down there, and running on borrowed time.”
“You can’t help her if you’re dead,” Dec said.
Peri pressed her lips together, and waited. Ronin hated seeing the helpless look on her face. He grabbed her hand. “We’re going down.”
Her gaze met his, a gleam in them. “Thank you.”
Dec made a noise. “If we end up a mile under the ice, let’s hope to hell Silk Road has a way to get out of there. Let’s go…before my sense returns.”
Ronin and Peri stepped up to the edge of the tunnel. He sat down on the lip. “This is going to be a hell of a slide. I’ll go first.”
“I’m coming with you.” She moved in close beside him. “Ready?”
“Ready,” he said.
He grabbed her hand and pushed off. They slid down the slick surface on their backs, gathering speed. The darkness swallowed them, and he kept a tight grip on Peri’s hand and his flashlight. The beam of light danced dizzyingly on the tunnel’s smooth surface.
They were moving fast, and he heard Peri make a small squeak of unease. Hell. Ronin had no idea where they’d end up. He shoved the flashlight in his pocket and grabbed Peri. He hauled her closer until she was practically on top of him. She wrapped her legs and arms around him.
“Hold on!” he shouted.
They kept moving downward and soon it felt like they’d been sliding forever. Peri tightened her grip on Ronin’s jacket.
“We’re going deep. Really deep,” she called out.
“I think the tunnel is flattening out.” His voice echoed off the ice. “We’re slowing down.”
Without warning, they shot out of the tunnel and they were airborne. Ronin had the impression of pale light and ice. As they fell, he cursed loudly and Peri gripped him harder.
He twisted them midair. A second later, they slammed into the ground. He hit first, and Peri landed on top of him. Pain exploded through him and he groaned.
“God, are you okay?” She scrambled up, patting him down. “Anything broken?”
He sat up. “You aren’t that heavy. I’m fine. You?”
She nodded. “You make a good landing pad.” She grabbed her flashlight, turned, and shone it back at the tunnel they’d shot out of like some kind of damn waterslide. It was several feet off the ground. The echo of male voices filled the air and he knew the others weren’t far behind.
Then she turned back and Ronin stood, dusting himself off. She looked beyond him and her jaw dropped.
“Oh, my fucking God.”
He stiffened and spun, reaching for his gun. When he saw what she was looking at, he muttered, “Hell.”
A perfectly intact rock temple rose up to fill the large cavern.