Shackleton's Folly (The Lost Wonder Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

expect a desired outcome from the future.”
    “Hope. Those souls will yet have a world to walk upon,” Alec replied with sorrow in his voice. His attitude changed as he patted the piece under his arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Dancer looked about inquiringly. “What about all this?”
    “We lock the doors behind us when we leave and destroy the parabolic reflectors,” he said smartly. Alec gestured to the cases all around them. “I have what I need, and that’s enough. The rest of these artifacts stay here in the museum.” He motioned for Dancer to follow. “Let’s get out of here.” They made their way to the doors of the exhibition hall. The flying disks hurried to catch up with them, taking full scans of cases as they darted back and forth. Dancer opened the compartment again as the disks arrived, and they flew into place. Dancer called out, “Come on, we have to go.” One straggler disk scooted over after one last case scan and buzzed by Alec, flying into the last spot on Dancer’s abdomen. Alec glanced over at Dancer. Dancer responded, “They are a very curious group of drones, as you well know, constantly exploring their environment if left to it.” He checked himself then. “You are practically a professional student — you should understand knowledge for knowledge’s sake.”
    Alec stood outside the ornate doors. Dancer took down the crystals and put them away. The sunlight was no longer on the rotating crystal; the doors closed so tightly that it looked like it was a solid wall again. Dancer took the stand with them as they left the planetarium. They moved quickly through the corridors and retraced their path back to the pyramid’s entrance. Alec destroyed the stands and reflectors as they passed. He wasn’t going to make it easy for anyone who might follow them to find the heart of the museum. They soon reached the foyer, where the fleet of autonomous robots had already left to return to the Quest .
    Dancer ran across to the greenway and clambered up the bronze sculpture. He retrieved the parabolic reflector, causing the beam of sunlight to vanish from the building.
    Alec had stopped a few meters outside the entrance to the pyramid. The transparent wall slammed shut, causing a shockwave of displaced air that tousled his hair.
    Dancer replaced the parabolic reflector inside the bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and leapt to the ground.
    Alec nodded at the bag. “Souvenir?”
    They started back to the Quest as Dancer replied, “I developed it based on the damaged reflector we found. Not really a souvenir; I was just picking up our mess.” He looked back at the pyramid, with its transparent wall back in place. “Anyway, we may need to get back in there again.”
    A noise ahead caught their attention, though not because it was unfamiliar: It was the bolt action of a Reever Assault Rifle. Alec subtly nodded to Dancer and shifted his weight. Dancer indicated he had heard the weapon, too. Alec projected his voice better to get the attention of those listening to them. “Dancer, check in with the guys onboard the ship.” Alec and Dancer moved in unison. Dancer anchored himself and bent his upper body at a 45-degree angle. Alec leapt up and used Dancer’s torso as a springboard. Each launched himself in a different direction and hit the ground running. With the sound of exploding pavement from high-speed projectiles behind him, Alec ran down the city block, away from Dancer, who moved quickly in a different direction.
    Six alien looters came out from their hiding places into the street. The group’s leader ordered some to follow Dancer, as the rest of the group came after Alec. It was all even — three went one way, three the other.
    Alec sprinted through the underbrush-filled streets; periodically finding a hiding place and checking to see if his pursuers had given up. Each time he thought he had lost them, they came into view. He cursed to himself and left quickly before being