James Rollins - THE DEVIL COLONY

But at what price?

He searched the waters around the raft. He pictured Seichan being ripped away from him, vanishing out of the cabin in a swirling tempest. He didn't hold out much hope. She couldn't survive more than a few minutes in these icy waters.

Where could she go?

Gray looked around, but thick smoke covered the seas south of the island, swallowing everything up. He could see no more than a handful of yards in any direction. The air reeked of burning brimstone and salt, but at least for the moment it was warm.

Overhead, the sun was a dull orange blur. Brighter by far was the nearby island. The ruins of Ellirey lay only a couple of hundred yards away. It was a dark shadow topped by a crown of fire. Flames splashed high into the air while ribbons of glowing lava flowed down its sides. Steam rimmed the broken shores, marking the spot where molten rock seeped into the icy waters.

All the while the world rumbled and roared.

They were still far too close to the island.

This became clear as a deafening boom sounded, accompanied by a fountain of fire bursting from the island's heart. Smoke swirled more fiercely while a cloud of fine hot ash began to rain out of the sky, sizzling into the water, stinging any exposed skin. Large rocks struck the water, unseen through the smoke, but heard as loud splashes.

A smaller cough drew Gray's attention.

Ollie heaved and coughed again. More water spilled from his lips and nose. Monk knelt back, looking relieved. He helped the old man sit up. The caretaker stared blearily around him.

His voice was hoarse. "I knew I'd always end up in helviti ."

Monk clapped him on the shoulder. "You're not in hell yet, old man."

Ollie glanced around. "You sure?"

Flakes of ash began to fall more heavily, drifting like fiery snow, beginning to cover the water in a fine layer. A large blazing cinder struck one of the boat's pontoons. Before it could be brushed away, it melted through the polyurethane surface. Air hissed out, escaping rapidly, deflating that side.

"We need to get farther away from the island," Gray warned. "Out of this ash cloud. We'll have to paddle by hand."

"Or we can just hitch a ride," Monk said, pointing behind Gray.

The loud burst of an air horn split across the water.

Gray turned. The bow of a large boat pushed out of the smoke and headed their way, a ghostly but familiar apparition.

It was Captain Huld's fishing trawler.

The boat slid alongside them, expertly piloted by Huld's son.

The captain called from the open deck, wearing a wide grin. "What the fjandanum did you do to my island?"

Huld met them at the stern deck and helped them aboard. Ollie, still weak, had to be carried, slung between Monk and Gray.

"A bunch of drowned rats, the lot of you," Huld scolded. "Come. We've got blankets and dry clothes below."

"How did you find us?" Gray asked.

"Spotted that little blinkin' light of yours." He pointed to the emergency LED at the raft's bow. "Plus we couldn't leave the area till we found you. She wouldn't have it."

From the wheelhouse, a lithe form limped out, wrapped in a blanket, her left leg bandaged from calf to midthigh.

Seichan...

Gray came close to dropping Ollie in a sudden desire to rush forward.

Monk swore in surprise.

"Darnedest thing," Huld said. "That same pod of orcas we saw earlier has been hugging our sides since the fireworks began, like frightened kids hanging on to our skirts. Then suddenly the whole lot of 'em goes and sinks away. Thought they were abandoning us. Only half a minute later, they pop back up with your woman, nearly drowned, and nosed her over to the boat."

Gray knew that the term killer in killer whales was a misnomer. In the wild, no orca had ever attacked a human. In fact, just as it was with their close relative, the dolphin, there were reported cases of orcas protecting humans in the water.

It seemed the playful pod-fed and respected by Huld-had returned that affection today.

Seichan hobbled over to join them, looking more angry than relieved. "I could've made it to the surface on my own."

Huld shrugged. "They did not think so. And they know these waters better than you, my st lka ."

She scowled.

"I've got Ollie," Monk said, shifting the caretaker's weight. "I need to get him somewhere warm, do a more thorough exam. He swallowed a lot of seawater."

They all had, but Gray urged Monk to do as he'd suggested.

Huld went to help his son, but not before passing on some news. "Been listening to the shortwave. Word is this eruption's gone ahead and triggered some magma blowouts along the rift that splits the seabed here. Before all is through, we may have another island or two."

With those dire words, Huld left them alone on the deck.

Seichan stood with her arms crossed. She wouldn't look at Gray and stared out to sea. The boat trudged away from the blasted island, slowly drawing clear of the ash cloud.

"I thought you were dead," Seichan said. Her voice was a whisper. She shook her head. "But I... I couldn't give up."

He moved next to her. "I'm glad you didn't. You saved our lives by making Huld stay."

She looked at him, searching his face, seeing if he was being flippant. Whatever she found there made her turn swiftly away, but not before Gray noted a rare flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.

She wrapped her blanket more snugly around her. Neither of them spoke for several breaths.

"Have you searched the bag yet?" she asked.

He was momentarily confused until she glanced over to the backpack he'd abandoned on the deck.

"No," he said. "I haven't had a chance."

She lifted an eyebrow at him.

She was right. Now was as good a time as any.

Gray crossed to the bag, knelt next to it, and opened the main compartment. Seichan hovered over him.

He sifted through the sodden contents. There wasn't much: a couple of wet T-shirts, pens, a spiral notepad whose pages had become mush. But buried within the nest of shirts, perhaps meant to cushion it, was something sealed in a plastic Ziploc bag. Gray pulled it free.

"What is it?"

"Looks like an old book... maybe a journal." Gray unzipped the bag and slipped out the contents.

It was a small leather-bound volume, brittle with age. He flipped the book open carefully. A meticulous handwritten script filled the pages, along with drawings that had been done with an equally precise hand. The book definitely appeared to be a journal or diary.

He scanned the writing.

"French," he said.

He turned to the first page, where a set of initials was floridly etched.

"A.F.," he read aloud, and stared up at Seichan.

They both knew those initials, the author of this journal.

Archard Fortescue.

May 31, 10:12 A.M.

Flagstaff, Arizona

"Shouldn't be much farther," Hank Kanosh said from the backseat.

Lost in thought, Painter stared out the window at the passing scenery of the high desert. The midday sun had beat the landscape into shades of crimson and gold, broken by patches of sagebrush and stands of prickly yucca trees.

Kowalski sped along Highway 89. They were headed northeast out of Flagstaff, having landed in Arizona only fifteen minutes ago after a short hop in a private charter from an airfield outside of Price, Utah. Their destination-Sunset Crater National Park-lay forty minutes from the city.

"We're looking for Fire Road 545," Hank said. The professor's dog sat at the other end of the SUV's bench seat, his nose glued to the glass after he'd spotted a wild hare bounding away from the highway. The dog was now on high alert. "The fire road's a thirty-five-mile loop off the highway that passes through the park and a slew of ancient Pueblo ruins. Nancy Tso will meet us at the visitors' center near the park's entrance."