Curious Minds (23 page)

Riley looked into the hole. “Over the edge” had new meaning. “Over the edge” was freaking scary. She pulled the rope up and worked it into the descender. She inched closer to the hole and sat with her legs dangling.

“Anytime now,” Emerson called up to her.

“You can do this,” Riley said to herself. “The rope is secure. Emerson is on the bottom. You have a job to do. You need to help Emerson find the gold and see that justice is done. This is what you've always wanted to do. This is your chance to make a difference. This is your opportunity to be brave.”

“Riley,” Emerson called, “who are you talking to?”

“Myself.”

“Could you hurry it up?”

“I'm going to be brave,” she said.

“Just jump in and get it over with,” Günter yelled up at her. “I'm not getting any younger.”

Riley sucked in some air, held her breath, closed her eyes, and pitched herself forward into a free fall. She squeezed the descender, the ropes caught, and she hung, swinging in the vast blackness of the hollow earth.

She switched the headlamp on and saw bats clinging to the side of the cave inches from her face. Someone whimpered. She supposed it was her. She switched the lamp off and played out the rope, dropping more slowly, trying to control the whimpering.

“What happened to the light?” Emerson asked her.

“I shut it off. I don't want to see where I'm going. You didn't tell me there'd be bats.”

“Well, of course there are bats. It's a cave.”

“I hate bats.”

“Think of them as pigeons. Pigeons of the night.”

Riley wasn't too crazy about pigeons either. Even in the daylight.

She turned the headlamp back on and looked down at her rope. Not much left. She looked beyond the end of the rope at Emerson. There seemed to be a lot of empty space between the end of the rope and Emerson.

“Um, Emerson?” she said. “I've reached the end of my rope.”

“Release the descender and let yourself drop the rest of the way.”

“No way. It's too far!”

“I'll catch you.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“At the risk of seeing
that look
again I'd like to remind you that you were going to be brave.”

“There's a difference between brave and stupid.”

“I could cloud your mind and minimize the difference.”

“No! Jeez Louise. On the count of three. One, two, two and a half…”

Riley released the descender and dropped like a sack of cement, knocking Emerson flat on his back with his arms wrapped tight around her.

“Got you,” he said.

Riley was breathless, sprawled on top of him. “I need a moment.”

“No problem.”

“Maybe you two should get a room,” Günter said. “Has anyone noticed I'm in a lot of pain with a broken leg?”

“Do you know anything about broken legs?” Riley asked Emerson. “Like what to do for them?”

“I've read a few articles.”

Riley rolled off Emerson. They got to their feet and stood over Günter.

“I need a knife,” Emerson said.

“I don't have a knife,” Riley said, “but I have a gun.”

“A gun isn't going to help me,” Emerson said. “I don't want to kill him. I want to slit his pants leg.”

“I have a Swiss Army knife,” Günter said. “It's in my pocket.”

Emerson found the knife and cut Günter's pants leg off above the knee. The leg was swollen and turning purple.

“There's no bone sticking out,” Emerson said. “I think that's a good sign.”

“We should make a splint,” Riley said. “What have you got left in your bag?”

“Money.”

“Get me on my feet and I'll see if I can put weight on the leg,” Günter said.

They pulled him up and he winced in pain.

“I'm not going to be able to walk,” Günter said. “Leave me here.”

Emerson took the headlamp from Riley and handed her the duffel bag. “I'll carry him,” Emerson said. “We can't afford to stay here much longer. If the security force patrols this area they might see the rope and come down after us. And we can't leave Günter here. We need him to take us to the gold.”

Riley nodded. The adrenaline rush from the fall had worn off and she was running on empty. “Understood.”

E
merson slung Günter over his shoulder, and Günter grunted and moaned and told them to go to the right side of the cave.

“Look for the tunnel opening,” Günter said.

They crossed the cave and moved into what was clearly a man-made mining tunnel. Emerson's hair skimmed the overhead support beams, and dust sifted down in the light from his lamp.

They trudged on for what seemed like an eternity to Riley. If this was the shortcut, she didn't want to see the longcut. They reached an intersection, and Emerson stopped and looked around.

“Which way?” he asked Günter.

“Through the wall,” Günter said.

Emerson set Günter down on the tunnel floor and gave him the headlamp. “Show me.”

Günter played the light across the rock face and found a small fissure. “There.”

“I see it,” Emerson said. “I thought it was just a shadow until you put the light directly on it.”

“I found it purely by accident,” Günter said. “The fissure goes on for about thirty feet and takes you to the secret vaults.”

“I'm barely going to squeeze through there,” Emerson said to Günter. “I'm going to have to leave you here.”

“I'll be fine,” Günter said. “As long as I don't move my leg, the pain is down to a dull throb. Get some gold and return through this same fissure. It's the safest way out.”

“Does this fissure open directly into the vault?” Emerson asked.

“Not directly. You'll come out to another tunnel. Go left for about fifty feet and hope no one's there. Take the headlamp. If the lights are on in the vault it means the guards are patrolling. Wait until the lights go off to come out in the open.”

“Stay here with Günter,” Emerson said to Riley. “It'll be easier to sneak around the vault if I'm alone.”

Riley was sure that was true. She was exhausted and no longer operating at peak brilliance. And she wasn't confident that she could navigate the fissure without a total freak-out panic attack.

She watched Emerson fit himself into the small space and silently disappear from view. She told herself he would be okay. After all, he was Emerson. He could cloud minds and endure pain. And he was fearless and strong. And he was sort of smart, in a weird way. She sat down beside Günter with her back pressed against the cool rock wall of the tunnel and willed herself to stay calm.

“He's going to be okay,” she said to Günter.

“Yes,” Günter said.

“All he has to do is find the gold and bring some of it back, right? And then he can turn it over to the press or the authorities or whoever and all this will end.”

“More or less,” Günter said.

Riley looked over at him. She was beginning to hate that phrase. “More or less?”

“The gold has been recast. It no longer bears the stamp of its origin. Emerson will need to find Dr. Bauerfeind. He's a German chemist who has developed a technique for reading the fingerprint of gold even after it has been melted and re-formed. Yvette was in contact with him. She was going to use him to try to trace the gold from the German mint. It has a very distinctive combination of palladium and thallium.”

“So if we can get our hands on some of that gold and give it to Dr. Bauerfeind, our case is made.”

“We have to find him first,” Günter said. “He went into hiding when Yvette disappeared.”

“Piece of cake,” Riley said, closing her eyes. “Easy-peasy.”

R
iley woke with a start, completely disoriented. There was a total absence of light. The air was cold and damp against her face. Someone was shaking her awake. Her mind cleared and confusion was replaced with fear.

“Günter?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“I must have fallen asleep.”

“I heard what sounded like gunshots from the other side of the crevice,” Günter said. “It was faint but distinct.”

Now Riley heard them. Two more shots. She was on her feet, arms outstretched in front of her, feeling for the wall. She reached the wall and found the crevice.

“I'm going to help,” she said to Günter. “If I don't come back—”

“Not an option,” Günter said. “You have to come back.”

Riley sidestepped into the crevice. She was squeezed between two rock surfaces, but it was no darker than it had been in the cave with Günter. Total dark is total dark. She moved as fast as she could, shuffling inch by inch. She felt the change in the air and saw a hint of light and knew she was close to the end of the fissure. She paused when she came to the edge and listened. She heard nothing. Not significant, she thought. Nothing short of a freight train would be heard over her beating heart. She stepped out and squinted into the darkness. It was light enough for her to know she was in the tunnel. Too dark to make out details. The light was coming from the left and she knew the left led to the vault. She drew her gun and cautiously walked toward the light, hugging the wall. She turned a corner and the light was suddenly blinding.

She was in a cavernous space with a high vaulted ceiling studded with stalactites, stretching as far as she could see, lit by bright fluorescent work lights. The huge vault was filled with more gold than Riley could possibly have imagined. Stacks and stacks of gold bars lined up like walls of a city built by King Midas. The golden ramparts zigged and zagged, forming a giant maze. A maze that didn't need to lead to a treasure because it was made of treasure.

She remembered what Günter had told Emerson. If the lights are on, the guards are patrolling. No surprise, since she'd heard gunshots. She didn't see any movement. No shadows. Didn't hear anyone walking or talking. She quietly moved to the closest wall of gold bricks. She crept to the end of the wall and peeked out. Nothing but wall after wall of gold.

“Mr. Knight?” a voice called out.

It was Rollo speaking in his calm, silky voice.

“We can keep this game up for hours but you know what the outcome will be,” Rollo said. “There's no way out. After all, this isn't your mansion, riddled with hidden doors. We're bound to catch you in the end.”

Relief swept through Riley. Emerson was all right. Not killed. Not captured.

“Oh, I know, you think if you drag this out for as long as possible, something will come up,” Rollo said. “Someone will come in to help you. Someone like that girl hiding behind stack number 55.”

Security cameras, Riley thought. The place was probably lousy with them.

“Come out right now and I won't hurt her,” Rollo said.

I have just six rounds of ammo, Riley thought. I have to make them count. She was a good shot. The best in her family. She hunted with her dad and her brothers. Ducks, deer, wild pigs. This was different. This time she was the hunted as well as the hunter. This time she would be firing at a human being. Not something she thought she would ever do. She'd have to sight and fire fast, and retreat. She took a quick look and saw that Rollo was walking directly toward her, limping slightly. He was maybe five stacks away. He had a big Band-Aid on his forehead, a Band-Aid over his nose, and a black eye. And he had a gun in his hand.

“Miss Moon,” Rollo said. “It doesn't look like Mr. Knight is going to sacrifice himself for you. That leaves me no choice but to shoot you. Perhaps you would be so kind as to step out into my field of vision again.”

Showtime, Riley thought. Take him down. She took a calming breath, sprang out from behind the stack of gold, imagined a bull's-eye over Rollo's heart, and fired. His eyes went wide with surprise and he fell to the floor. Riley put her hand to the wall of gold for support. Breathe, she told herself.
Breathe!

Emerson rounded the corner of Stack 55, ran the length of it, and reached out and yanked Riley behind the wall.

“Holy cats,” Riley said. “Holy cow!”

“There's a freight elevator halfway down the room on the far wall,” Emerson said. “Run for it.”

Riley ran flat-out with Emerson inches behind her. They reached the elevator, and Emerson lifted the gate and got in.

Riley hesitated. “Where does this go?”

“Somewhere else,” Emerson said.

He pulled her in, slammed the gate closed, and punched the
UP
button. The elevator rumbled and began to move.

Riley felt a hot flash of panic. “We're going down!” she said.
“Do something.
Make a mind cloud. Make us go
up.”

“I haven't yet mastered
up,
” Emerson said.

Their descent was long and jerky and very fast. They were rocked back on their feet as the car came to an abrupt stop.

“I suspect you're not going to be able to shoot your way out of this,” Emerson said to Riley. “You might want to drop the gun just in case we're met by a platoon of nervous guards.”

Riley dropped the gun, the gate opened, and a half dozen Cammo Dudes moved forward with their XM29 rifles trained on Emerson and Riley. Riley looked beyond the guards and saw that Günter was trussed up on a hand truck like a trophy waiting to be stuffed. Riley couldn't tell if he was unconscious or dead.

Riley and Emerson were pulled out of the elevator and the elevator was sent back up. A couple minutes later the elevator returned and Rollo stepped out. He had a hole in his suit jacket and looked like he was in pain.

“I'm going to have a nasty bruise, thanks to you,” he said to Riley. “You're an excellent shot, but you need to aim higher if you want to kill someone wearing a Kevlar vest.”

E
merson and Riley were escorted down a dimly lit hallway. Günter was rolled along behind them. Rollo limped behind Günter. No one spoke. The procession stopped in front of a door. A Cammo Dude unlocked it and motioned Emerson and Riley inside. The door was closed and locked behind them, and Riley heard the hand truck continue on down the hall.

They were in a storage room that was lined with crates with stenciled labels reading
GROOM LAKE
and
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE
. Xandy was sitting hunched in a corner with her arms wrapped around her knees.

“Sorry we dragged you into this,” Riley said to Xandy.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Xandy said. “Damn aliens.”

“I assume the Cammo Dudes brought you here?”

“They didn't let me go, like they always have before. They brought me here and questioned me about Mr. Mysterioso.”

“I hope you told them what you know,” Emerson said.

“Well, I spent the first couple of hours pretending I didn't speak English. Then that creepy Rollo guy came in and showed me his knife. After that, I told him everything. I even made up some stuff. Hope you don't mind.”

“Not at all. I hope what you told him was interesting.”

“He seemed to think so.” She leaned forward and whispered, “You know what I think? I think that Rollo dude is an
alien,
that's what I think. Those big bug eyes. That weird smile. And he's all beat-up like he crash-landed.”

In a manner of speaking, Riley thought. Rollo face-planted on the highway.

“Did they probe you yet?” Xandy asked Riley. “They always get around to probing you. That's what the other abductees tell me, anyway.”

“I wasn't abducted.”

“Denial is the first stage,” Xandy said. “How did you get here if you weren't abducted? Did you walk through the front door?”

“You're right,” Riley said. “I was abducted.”

Emerson sat down against the wall and leaned back on a crate labeled
NEVADA TEST AND TRAINING RANGE
, closing his eyes.

“Are you actually going to sleep?” Riley asked.

“What else is there to do?” Emerson said. “Might as well be rested and refreshed for what's coming up.”

“For torture? I'd rather be a little blurry-eyed for torture.”

Xandy leaned forward and nodded toward Emerson. “He's an alien too, right?” she whispered.