Page 13 of Legend of Scorpio
She tapped, chipping at the area of interest. Unlike other research sites, Cetus had not provided her with a thermal drill. When she asked why, she’d been told they preferred more old-fashioned ways. Hence why she had a hammer and a chisel. Ridiculous, but the paycheck made up for it. She’d tried to argue that the drill would get much deeper samples, but Cetus maintained its firm stance.
The ice chips fell into a bucket she’d placed to capture falling fragments, although she would dump the first one that held only the top layer of the glacier. That ice would be too recent to tell much.
As she kept tapping, despite what the radar indicated, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. The ice fractured as expected, revealing more ice. What a surprise.
As the hole she chiseled deepened, she began dumping her bucket, bagging only the largest, most promising pieces for study back at camp. She hated that part, since she had to turn off theheat lest she melt the sample before she could observe it under the microscope.
Tap.Tap. The gap widened, and she still hadn’t found what caused the blip on her radar. Only when she heard a sudden hissing escaping from the newest chiseled crack did it occur she might have picked up a trapped pocket of gas.
The recoil from the glacier didn’t just occur because of her sudden fear of poisoning but because of the smell. Kind of like a cleaner but hinting of something else. Not rot, nor methane. What was that stench?
The hissing ceased, and she dared to venture close once more. She sniffed. Nothing lingered that she could tell. She lightly tapped the crack and braced to jump away. A chunk fell out, widening it. Another smack and more began to crumble, revealing a hollowed space in the glacier.
She almost opened her mouth to call Scorpio. Had she perhaps found the hiding spot of his mysterious object? Even if she had, she’d meant what she said. It belonged to Cetus, not him.
With that thought, she kept widening the hole, yanking ice away and tossing it, only to freeze. She blinked, but the anomaly remained: Rock.
There was rock inside the glacier, and not just any stone. A smoothed surface engraved with symbols. As she began to excitedly uncover more, it took a moment to register she’d found a facsimile of a door.
For a second, she debated telling Scorpio because this definitely went beyond the scope of her job. This shouldn’t exist, not here, the most inhospitable place on earth. Antarctica was known for never having been inhabited, but this indicated otherwise. This was the discovery of a lifetime. A game changer.
Who carved it, and why?
On a whim, she removed her glove for a moment and placed her bare hand against the surface. After all, she’d discovered it, she should be the first to touch?—
A sudden vibrating hum had her recoiling. Under her disbelieving gaze, the stone shifted, moving sideways into the wall of rock, just like a pocket door would. It should have been utterly impossible, but before she could pinch herself, she found her gaze captured by the sight of stairs descending into the glacier.
Exactly what had she discovered?
Warm air wafted upward and brought a sweat to her brow that had her removing her face mask as it kissed her skin moistly. Heat vent? Again, should have been impossible.
She eyed the stairs. Should she go down them alone?
Who knew what hid down there.
Discovery.
Danger.
Hearing a crunch of snow, she whirled to tell Scorpio what she’d found.
Only it wasn’t a big, tall hunk coming at her, but that damnable leopard seal.
It lunged and barked.
She startled and recoiled. In doing so, she lost her balance. Her arms windmilled a few times before she lost the fight with gravity and went tumbling down the stairs.
CHAPTER 5
Scorpio plantedhimself at the top of the glacier to have a look. He could see for miles around. Saw a whole lot of nothing, just the glaring white of snow and ice and the dark blue of the ocean as it lapped against the shore. Penguins roamed the wet edge, hopping onto the solid ice, only to fling themselves off again into the water. Cute little buggers. A few seals sunned themselves, including the same one he’d wrestled with the day before.
He treaded to the far side of his high vantage point and observed as the doctor pulled the sled around the glacier, huffing and straining. It killed him to watch her struggle. He’d kept waiting for her to ask for help. She never did, and, after her reaction to the kiss, he didn’t dare offer, lest she accuse him of overstepping. He didn’t want her to think he viewed her as incapable or weak, but it almost physically hurt to not give a hand. He would have pulled that sled with ease.
Avoiding a pool of water, she parked her sled in the shadow of the glacier and removed some equipment. She aimed some of the devices at the icy wall before tapping at it with a hammer and chisel, placing the chunks in a bucket, selecting some to go in plastic bags.
Boring. He chose to make a circuit, on the lookout for threats. Aries and Sage hadn’t specified what he should be vigilant for or even when the danger would arise, so best be safe. From his vantage, he could see the immediate area and even the smudge of her camp, nestled amidst a few snow- and ice-covered mountains.
Tap.Tap.