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

"You bet!"

"Later, one of the Marines promised to catch us one of those glowing fish too." She was curious about
the phosphorescent properties of these large fish. Never having seen anything like them before, she grew
excited by the prospect of classifying a new fish species.

"Why don't we start now?" Jason began to rise. "I saw someтАФ"

"Hold it, young man." She pointed at the plate. "You finish your lunch first. You're my responsibility until
your mother gets back."

He curled his lip and plopped back down on the blanket. "Oh, all right."

Passing him his sandwich, she took a bite of her own. "Let's hurry up, though. We've got fish to catch!"

"Big ones," he added with a small smile.

"The biggest. We could have them for dinner."

"Glowing fish? Yuck!"

"Hey, buddy, don't knock it. If the lights go out, you can still see what you're eating."

That started him laughing. She grinned, almost forgetting the miles of rock that hung over her head.

Ben watched Ashley bend over and study the altar site. Damn nice curves on that woman. He took off
his helmet and wiped a red handkerchief across his damp forehead. It was getting late, and his stomach
was growling. Thank god this was the last chamber to investigate.

He sighed as he watched Ashley pull out a measuring tape. "Not again," he cursed under his breath.
Since this morning's discovery, he had felt like a third wheel, tagging along behind Ashley and Dr. Symski
as they explored. Stopping in each chamber, measuring, scraping, sampling. Boring. He had hoped to
spend more private time with Ashley, but with the discovery of the carving, both doctors were like
bloodhounds on a scent. Nothing could distract them. Not a joke, not a quip. He was all but invisible.

"So this is where you found the diamond figurine?" Ashley knelt down beside the raised dais of stone. It
mushroomed from the floor of one of the chambers. "The pedestal's carved from the base stone.
Suggestive that the builders purposefully designed this chamber. All the other chambers have their firepits
in this location." She pointed up to the ceiling. "Also this is the only room that doesn't have an oval
symbol above the door."

Ben stood on the lip of rock that acted as a doorstep to the chamber. He glanced over the edge to the
water far below. The chamber was on the highest level and was located on the section of cliff wall above
the lake. Without the scaffolding, it would have been a difficult climb, even for him.

Ashley turned to Dr. Symski, who crouched in the back of the dwelling. "When your researchers found
the statue," she asked, "was the figure facing out or in?"

"Well . . ." He shuffled his feet. "You see, there was this accident. The first man in here knocked it over.