Journey Into The Aftermath |✔

Chapter twelve: Ashes of a Volcano

Dad said something about a temple that contained an artifact and now I know what it means. It was the radars and such that picked them up out here but the only thing they found was proof that 'the experiment' was possible...whatever that means. I think I now understand what he meant by 'it comes in more than just one variety'. I had one ore in dad's satchel and now I was on the hunt for the another one. Great, Dad's version of a breadcrumbs was a treasure hunt.

My eyes were glued to the journal but everything else was math and science equations and more symbols. I made sure to pay special attention to the symbols this time.

From the beach were single-roomed pottery houses with tiled roofs and they were packed next to each other. As I made my way off the beach and into whatever city I was in now, I saw that the ground was completely uneven and almost as wavy as the water at the beach. The roads were all made of small brownish black tiles that from an angle, seem to have a beige outline finish. The buildings varied from dark brown to almost peach colored outside walls.

I walked down the sidewalk and saw that they were pretty regular unlike the huge downward slope I was trying to walk on. In the journal he took a plane straight to the entrance of whatever temple and here I was, wandering aimlessly without a person in sight. I did, however, pass a flag stand that said 'Welcome to Esmeraldas, Ecuador'. I hopped I would pass a car soon so I can get anywhere faster than I am right now. I mentally slapped myself for not coming up with a plan for my actual arrival in this continent. I must have assumed that I was going to die trying.

That was when I saw someone ride on the street intersecting the one I was on just a couple blocks ahead of me on a fast dune buggy.

"What the hell?" I chocked. "Hey! Wait!"

****

~ Lance ~

"And what exactly that you can do to save my job?" Stein asked stone-faced. Underneath, he was anxiously waiting for his reply, but wasn't about to show it. "If you may"

"You need to kill Melinda Asher," Lance bombed with a daggered face of his own.

At first Stein was at a loss for words but then gathered his thoughts."You want me to commit a murder?" he questioned in frustration and completely out of character as he bounced to his feet from the chair.

"She is going to take everything from you: you job for starters, your reputation, your life in general, your--"

"Okay, I get it," he shot, almost slamming his hands on the desk. "How would I get away with such a thing?" he shouted. "I couldn't even pull it off in the first place."

"But what if you could?" Lance prompted.

"Well if that were to happen—Stein slowly lowered back to his seat—what exactly would you get out of it?" he pondered with his elbows on the desk and fingertips intimately touching.

"You forget, we both want the same thing," he replied slowly, cradling his head to the side to express certainty. "Our careers are on the line here and only we seem to notice."

"Well we could just work for them and keep our jobs," Stein quickly suggested.

"We? The moment she takes authority over this complex, your ass is getting fired" Lance quipped.

"Watch it, I could fire you right now." he countered.

"On what charge?" Lance fought. "The truth?"

Stein bit back in disgust, but kept his cool. "So why does she need our permission to take over?" he asked. "Why not just do it already?"

"She needs the lead scientist's signature in order for the work to transfer into their custody," He explained. "It doesn't matter if you threaten every thing they have and back them into a million corners, as long as you get that signature and the judge can't prove that you forced them to do it then you solid."