A Treasure Deep Read Online Free PDF Page A

the bat. We then
narrowed the area of search, taking readings every meter to get a
more detailed picture. That’s what you’re holding. As you can see,
to the left of center, the lines of magnetic force have
changed.”
    “Indicating what?” Perry asked.
    “A shaft or maybe a chamber,” Brent piped
in.
    “Brent helped with the initial survey and
analysis,” Gleason said, then added, “That survey alone would be
enough to convince me that something is down there.”
    “Could it be something natural?” Jack asked,
always the pragmatist.
    Gleason answered quickly. “Could it be
natural? Yes. Is it likely that it’s natural? No. But to be sure,
we’re repeating the survey. This time, we’re taking readings every
half meter.”
    “Of course,” Brent added, “there’s this.” He
handed Perry a color image. “That’s the GPR image of yesterday’s
survey. GPR stands for—”
    “Ground-penetrating radar,” Perry
interjected. “I’m familiar with it.”
    Brent cleared his throat. “Of course. I was
only . . . I mean . . .”
    “It corroborates the EM survey,” Perry
remarked, letting Brent off the hook. “Odd.”
    “I wondered if you’d notice that,” Gleason
said with a knowing smile.
    “Notice what?” Jack asked. He moved closer to
Perry and peered over his shoulder.
    “This.” Perry pointed to a gray-white blob at
the bottom of the printout. The rest of the image was a mottled
blend of reds, purples, and blacks. “Looks like a chamber or
something buried. I expected that. It’s this that strikes me as
odd.” He ran his finger along a fuzzy streak on the page.
    Jack huffed. “You mean the blue-gray smudge
that goes from the blob to the surface?”
    “That’s what I like about you engineer
types,” Gleason said, “all that fancy technical language.”
    Perry ignored the remark. “I was expecting a
vertical shaft, but this looks to be angled at, what, thirty
degrees?”
    “Twenty-five degrees on average,” Gleason
said. “I say ‘on average’ because it’s not consistent, which could
mean many things.”
    “Such as?” Jack asked.
    “Such as it was dug by amateurs or people
with poor equipment, or that the ground has shifted over the
years.”
    “Which is the most likely cause,” Brent said.
“This is California, home to shifting ground and earthquakes.”
    “We can run the GPR over the area again,”
Gleason said.
    Perry shook his head. “No need. This is more
than enough evidence to take the next step.”
    “Next step?” Brent asked.
    Perry shifted his gaze to the two field
workers taking EM readings. “When they’re done,” he said, “let’s
set up to take some cores.” He turned to Jack. “Where’s the
equipment? The trucks should be here by now. Let’s get them on the
cell phone—”
    “No need, buddy,” Jack said. “I hear them
coming.”
    Perry tilted his head and strained his ears.
The sound of diesel motors rolled faintly up the hills, carried by
a scented wind.
    “It’s not going to be easy setting up the
drilling rig,” Jack said, “not on a slope like that.”
    “We have permission from the land owner to
grade the hill as necessary,” Perry said. “Let’s work quickly but
not foolishly. Safety first.”
    “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jack said.
“I’ve had enough close calls in my life. I don’t need any
more.”
    Perry nodded. He too had faced his share of
disasters. It came with the job. Cranes, concrete, and steel were
unforgiving if taken for granted. And of course, there were always
the people who made life difficult and sometimes deadly. Perry’s
life had rarely been dull.
    “Any special place you want us to drill?”
Gleason asked.
    Picking up the printouts from the EM and GPR
surveys, Perry marched from beneath the canopy of oaks and into the
sun-washed clearing. He stepped off the distance until he found
himself standing just north of the field’s middle. He removed a
fountain pen from his pocket, drew an X on one of