Polar Shift (NUMA Files 6)

Karla was elated and exhausted at the same time. The scientific crews had b

een working twenty-four hours a day on three shifts. Some, like Karla, had become so involved in their work that they had worked more than one shift. She tilted her chin back and gulped several breaths of fresh air. In the blue-gray light, she saw a speck come into view over the rim and begin a descent into the valley.

As the object neared, she could see that it was a large, colorful canopy with a human dangling below. It couldn't be. Hoping against hope, she walked away from the tents to a clear area and madly waved her baseball cap in the air.

The paraglider had been descending in a spiral, but it turned in her direction, swooped in low and landed only yards away. Kurt Austin unbuckled himself from the harness and rolled up the canopy. He walked over with a grin on his face and said, "Good morning."

She had thought about Austin a lot in the past few weeks. Their encounter had been short and sweet. Then she was off to Siberia. But there were many times she wished that she had gotten to know the handsome NUMA man better.

"What are you doing here?" Karla asked with a combination of joy and awe.

"I've come to take you to lunch."

She glanced at her watch. "It's three o'clock in the morning."

"It's lunchtime somewhere. I didn't come all this way to have my invitation rejected."

She shook her head in disbelief. "You're crazy."

Austin's blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "Insanity is part of the NUMA job description." He took her hand. "As the old Sinatra song goes, 'Come fly with me.' "

She brushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. "I've been working all night. I'm a mess."

"There's no dress code at the joint I have in mind," Austin said. Come on.

He asked her to help him carry his new paraglider to an open area, where he gave Karla a quick lesson. They spread the canopy on the ground, buckled themselves into the tandem seat, inflated the canopy with the prop wash and jumped into the wind. Karla was a natural flier, and the takeoff was far smoother than the first one he had made with Zavala. Once they were airborne, Austin circled above the tent village and put the paraglider into an ascent.

"Quite the change in scenery in a few weeks," Austin said as the earth slipped away below them.

"It's hard to believe that the world's leading paleontologists, archaeologists and biologists are down there working on the scientific discovery of the century."

"A discovery you can claim credit for."

"There were others involved, but thanks anyhow. And thank you for the ride. This is marvelous."

"Yes, it is," Austin said for entirely different and very male reasons. He was in close proximity to a beautiful and intelligent young woman, and he could feel the warmth of her body close to his.

The paraglider and its two passengers rose out of the caldera. Austin gave Karla some quick landing instructions, and he steered toward a relatively flat area on the rim. The landing was slightly rough but not bad. Karla slipped out of the harness and went over to where a checkered red tablecloth was spread out on the ground, anchored at each corner with a rock. In the center of the tablecloth was a miniature vase with a wildflower in it, and a waist pack.

Austin made a sweep of his hand. "Table with a view, mademoiselle."

She shook her head. "You are crazy. But in a very nice way."

Austin opened the pack and lined up several jars, cans and bottles. "Courtesy of Captain Ivanov. Mosliak mushroom appetizer, beef tushonka and red caviar on rye bread for dessert. All washed down with a good Georgian red wine."

"How did you get here?" she said.

"I heard that Captain Ivanov was bringing in a batch of scientists, including some from NUMA. I hitched a ride with them on the Kotelny. Austin opened the jars and cans, and poured two glasses of wine. "Now that you've had a chance to study things, what's your take on the crystal city?"

"It will be decades of study before we know the whole story, but I think the city was built during the Stone Age in the magma chamber after the volcano had been long dead."

"Why go underground?"

"The usual reasons. For defense, or because of climate changes. They used mammoths for beasts of burden, which allowed them to move the cyclopean blocks."

"What happened to the inhabitants?"

"Climate changes could have dried up their ability to grow food. A polar shift could have caused a flood or earthquake that created the partial collapse of the chamber roof, giving the caldera its odd shape. That road up the side of the mountain indicates that the usual city access might have been blocked for one reason or another."