"James Rollins - Subterranean" - читать интересную книгу автора (Romeyn Henry)

Jason moped his way to the table with the smallest sandwich he could find, his eye still straying to the
dessert bar.

Ben joined them at their table. Major Michaelson, Khalid, and Linda took a neighboring table.

"We're almost there," Ben whispered in her ear as he sat. "At the threshold of a new world. How are
you holding up, Captain?"

Whether from his words or his ticklish breath, a shiver traveled down her back. "Fine," she said. "Just
wound up tight. Anxious to tackle the caves."

"Me too." With a big smile, he held out a hand, fingers trembling. "I get the shakes until I get started."

She couldn't tell if he was joking with her. He was so hard to read. "To be this close . . ." She shrugged.
"It's nerve-wracking."

"I know how you feel," Ben said with a nod. "I've been caving for two decades. This is my first chance
to scoop booty on a new system."

"Scoop booty? What's that?"

"Sheesh, Mom!" Jason said, seated beside her, appalled. He spoke around a mouthful of sandwich. "It's
a caving guy's word. It means to be the first to discover new stuff."

"Oh . . . I see," she said, smiling at her son's attempt to impress her.

"Ben and I talked. He's told me all aboutтАФwhat'd you call it again?тАФoh, yeah . . . the virgin's passage."

"What?" She turned to Ben. "What the hell have you been telling my son?"

"Virgin passages," Ben said, straining to hold back his laughter. "Passages never walked by man. That
sort of thing."

"Oh," she said, suddenly chagrined. "I thoughtтАФ"

He interrupted with a sloppy grin. "I know what you thought."
She bristled. "So you think you're the next Neil Armstrong?"

"Who?"

She shook her head at his ignorance. "The first man who stepped on the moon. 'One giant step for
mankind.' "

Ben's eyes brightened. "Exactly! To be the first human to see something new. Like no other thrill."

She remembered the hidden Anasazi tomb she had discovered, pulse racing, breath shallow, as she
tipped over the final stone to reveal the inner sanctum of the high priest. The musty smell of the ancient
chamber. The sun on her neck. To be the first to view a secret hidden for centuries. And now to do the
same on a secret hidden for millennia. What would she find there? Her ears rang with her thudding
heartbeat. Yes, she understood Ben's excitement.