Colony by Benjamin Cross (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

to fit,” Callum answered. “In the myth, Ngana’bta was sent to hunt Tansu Taibaa, the lizard bird. To anyone without an exhaustive knowledge of extinct palaeofauna, that’s exactly what one of these things would look like. A lizard bird. Then there’s the matter of Ngana’bta’s legs. Both completely removed above the knee before he was able to escape. These things are clearly more than capable of inflicting that kind of trauma.”

Ava seemed to think long and hard before saying, “Can we see it… him? Can we see the mummy?”

Lungkaju frowned. “No, Doctor Lee, we must get to the compound.” His words were metered. His expression spoke volumes. Callum was certain that it was only because the gentle Nganasan was so well-mannered that he hadn’t replied: Are you out of your mind, you crazy bitch? Our lives hang in the balance and you want to go sight-seeing!

“I agree,” Darya said. “It would be stupid not to keep going.”

Callum could feel their gazes urging him to add his voice to theirs. He opened his mouth to do so. It was a foregone conclusion that he would agree with them, after all. Wasn’t it? Indulging Ava’s academic curiosity to keep her moving was one thing. But now was not the time to go straying off course, no matter what…

…but there was another voice inside him. One that he couldn’t quiet. A part of him found it not just hard, but impossible to resist the opportunity to see the ice mummy one more time. Was it because he wanted to relive the discovery? Possibly. Or was it to prove that it wasn’t all just a figment of his exhausted imagination?

He looked to Lungkaju. “How far is the tunnel?”

“Ten minutes, but Doctor Ross—”

“I know. I know,” he said. “But look, we’ve been walking for a long time. I think that we could all use a rest. Mummy or no mummy, that tunnel is somewhere close by and convenient that we can shelter in.”

“My friend, I really do not think that this is sensible,” Lungkaju protested. “Doctor Lebedev?”

There was a long silence before Darya replied, “We are all tired. Let us just go and rest in this tunnel for half an hour. No more. Then we go from there straight to the compound with no more stops.”

Lungkaju nodded, then stalked away in silence along the valley.

As he followed on, Callum felt a hand press into his.

“I think that you owe me, solnishko,” Darya said.

He smiled at her. The last few days had taken its toll on all of them, but though her skin was sallow and her eyes heavy with exhaustion, she was as beautiful as ever.

He squeezed her hand. “More than you know.”

4

“Marchenko. How long till we’re in contact with Nagurskoye?”

“One hour, Starshyna. Two, tops.”

“As soon as you’re up and running, make the call. Don’t fuck around. Don’t mention anything about the dragons.”

“Starshyna?”

“Repeat. Not a word about the creatures. I don’t want them thinking it’s all a hoax. Just tell them the Albanov went down. All survivors stranded on Harmsworth. Request rescue vehicles to this location immediately and tell them to prepare for casualties.”

“Request contact with the mainland, Starshyna?”

“Negative, Marchenko. Keep it simple. Out.”

* * *

The entrance to the tunnel did bring the excitement of its first discovery rushing back. Only this time the experience was marred by apprehension. Callum had forgotten how cold the interior was, and he shivered as the chilled fingers of air picked their way into his neckline. That same smell of ancient rock seemed to burn inside his nostrils and the emergency glow stick dangling from his neck emitted a brilliant but eerie green light that cast a whirlpool of shadow around the walls.

“It’s a helluva tight squeeze,” Ava said, crawling her way in after him.

“It opens out a little up ahead.”

With Lungkaju determined to keep a vigil at the entrance, the three of them crawled along the passage, the sound of their every movement amplified. Before long Callum could make out the dark outline of Ngana’bta slumped against the right-hand wall.

“It’s just ahead,” he called back. “Are you squeamish?”

“After the last couple of days, it’d take a lot to make any of us squeam,” Ava replied.

Stopping at the head of the mummy, Callum manoeuvred himself around to allow the others to see. Its upturned face was as fascinating and grotesque as he remembered, the vacant glare of the eye cavities both repulsive and mesmerising in the gloom. He watched as the others drew round. “Ladies, meet Ngana’bta.”

Ava gasped and held a hand to her mouth as Callum brought the light of the glow stick down over the mummy’s face. She spoke through her fingers. “The millennia have not been kind.”

“Actually they’ve been incredibly kind,” he said. “Such a superficial level of soft tissue decay after such a long time is remarkable.”

“Of course.” Her gaze passed from the mummy’s face to his torso and down towards his tattered legs. She held her hand out for the glow stick. “May I?”

Callum passed it to her and she began inspecting what remained of the mummy’s legs.

“Were these his things?” Darya asked. She was pointing towards the dead bird and pottery shards that had spilt from the fibre bag.

“They must have been,” Callum said. “The shards are all the same material, probably from the same broken vessel.”

She moved towards the scatter. “And the bird skeleton? Why would he have this?”

“I’ve no idea,” Callum replied. “My guess is it’s something to do with shamanism.”

“Black magic?”

“Not necessarily evil,” he replied. “But something like that.”

Darya inspected the skeleton. After a few moments she said, “It was young. I cannot tell species, though. I do not recognise.”

Ava’s voice rang out suddenly: “Check this out.”

Callum and Darya looked over. She was running her fingers over the mummy’s frozen leg flesh. “This is interesting.”

“You’re telling me,” Callum said. He moved back to her side. “If we weren’t next on the menu, I’m pretty certain he’d be one of the biggest archaeological sensations of our time. In fact—”

“Very interesting indeed,”