Free The Unearthing by Steve Karmazenuk, Christine Williston

Richter count and find the epicentre.” Jude eyed them suspiciously. Then he nodded to two of the guards, who escorted James and Peter over to the console. The two soldiers stood behind them as they got to work. Surreptitiously, James moved his console to his lap in order to access a keypad that it was blocking. They were bringing up the Doppler seismology systems, reviewing the mild quake that had just shaken the area.
     
    “Well?” Jude asked from behind them.
     
    “We’re at the epicentre of the quake,” Peter reported, “Looks like whatever it is we’re digging up did this.”
     
    “How is that possible?” Peter looked at him contemptuously.
     
    “You tell us Colonel,” He said, “You’re the one who stopped us from digging and stopped our scan halfway in.” Another quake hit, this one longer and more forceful. People screamed this time, as many of them staggered and fell. James and Peter regarded each other, both knowing what had to be done before this quake subsided.
     
    “ EVERYBODY RUN! ” James bellowed, rising to his feet, knocking over his chair. He and Peter shoved past their guards and the Colonel who were already off-balance from the quaking ground. The wave of people broke, stampeding for the exits from the shelter. The soldiers at the site did their best to evacuate everyone in an orderly fashion, but the bedlam was out of control. The tremor stopped by the time James and Peter cleared the building, but the people they had been held prisoner with were still panicked and scattering.
     
    “Which way?” James asked. Peter looked around and then pointed towards one of the Rangers.
     
    “There!” he said, dashing off. James was at his heels and they could hear the sounds of more footsteps behind them. James didn’t turn around. He didn’t want to. A soldier was standing by the open door of one of the vehicles, speaking on a linx and consulting the console system in the dash. Jackpot. Peter slammed into the soldier from behind, knocking her into the door and pushing the stunned woman aside. He climbed in as James raced around to the passenger side door. They were locked in just as their pursuers caught up to them. The soldiers that had been guarding them were hammering on the vehicle as Peter tried to hotwire the starter, while James began connecting his console to the Ranger’s system using an elaborate octopus of cables. The transport was being quickly surrounded by troops—with guns drawn.
     
    “Hurry up Pete,” James growled. Floodlights hit the Ranger, turning night into day inside the cab. Colonel Jude was marching towards the human shield forming around the vehicle. He, too had his sidearm drawn. James had no doubts about their fate should they be hauled out of the vehicle. Troops were grabbing at the doors now, trying to get the transport open. The locks were shut but it wouldn’t be long until someone produced a master key or an electronic override. Peter was playing with wires and fuses under the dashboard while James began trying to slice into the console. Maybe he could send the information out, before it was too late; maybe he could—
     
    “HOLY SHIT!” James exclaimed. The Ranger bucked, its front end lifting into the air and slamming back down. Another earthquake had started; this one violent and showing no sign of slackening. The line of troops surrounding them broke as soldiers fell or ran away. The engine of the Ranger whined to life, the three-tonne transport rocking on its suspension from the violence of the quake. The engine was humming now, a sharp arrhythmic sound as Peter climbed back up from under the dashboard. He was bleeding from his forehead but he said nothing as he put the Ranger into gear and tore out of the compound.
     
    “Pete! Over there!” James shouted, pointing. Echohawk and Santino were staggering away from the dig site. Peter swung the transport over to where his mentor and the Chief of the Laguna Band were, reaching around to open one