Temple of Fire Read Free

day: the orange fireball rising above the desert.  Within five minutes, the sheriff and mayor of Elko had pounded on the rock hound’s door at his boarding house at the edge of town.
    “What in blazes are the people over at U.S. Petroleum doing?” asked the sheriff.
    “People in town are getting panicky,” proclaimed the mayor.
    A dozen people had gathered in the street below.
    “ Nothin ’ to worry about,” Langhorne said in a reassuring manor.  “They have some new drilling techniques.  They probably hit a gas pocket.”
    That had been enough to assuage the worry of Elko , Nevada , which returned to its sleepy routine of selling denim at the dry goods store and loading sacks of oats onto the flatbeds of cattlemen at Roy ’s Feed and Seed.  The distant rumble northeast of town was quickly forgotten.
    But not by Will Langhorne.   He was well aware of what the boys at U.S. Pet were looking for: a deep reservoir of abundant oil that most geologists said didn’t exist beneath Nevada .
    Langhorne had mapped some of the territory in the extreme northeast corner of the state using Ground Penetrating Radar, or GPR.  What he had seen had piqued his curiosity.
    He downed one more shot of Jack Daniels and headed into the bright afternoon light.  The horizon to the northeast was still a bit hazy, but he figured that he might ride up to U.S. Pet’s site the following day and see what was really going on.  He didn’t think that new drilling techniques alone could account for such a tremendous blast.
    In fact, he was positive they couldn’t. 
     
 

Shotgun Alley
Aboard the Alamiranta
     
    Of all special ops forces employed by Catherine Caine , Titan Six was the elite paramilitary unit used for purposes ranging from intelligence gathering to combat missions in any part of the world.  Led by Michael Hawke, known as Hawkeye, it consisted of Shooter, the young Caribbean sniper; Gator, machine gunner and former Army Ranger; Pyro , Japanese explosives expert; and Tank, Hawkeye’s younger brother and second-in-command.
    The team was currently practicing RDMs , or Rapid Deployment Maneuvers, in the ship’s holographic training simulator known as Shotgun Alley.  The simulator was normally programmed for battle scenarios, although today, Dr. Grace Nguyen was taking Titan Six through new deployment protocols. 
    Nguyen was in charge of the top secret BioMEMS program — Biological Micro-Electronic Mechanical Systems — that enhanced Titan’s special ops members through injections of nanobots into their bloodstreams.  These microscopic “bots” could target and infiltrate body cells in order to produce numerous physiological benefits: increased strength, sharper vision, and enhanced smell and hearing.  If a team member was wounded or in distress, the nanobots could release natural chemicals within the body, such as adrenaline, anti-inflammatory agents, and clotting factor.  They could also boost the immune system, stimulate endorphins for pain relief, clear the bloodstream of most toxins, and provide night vision.
    A virtual C-17 Globemaster
III
was currently being projected onto a holographic landing strip.  The Boeing Aircraft was a four-engine jet cargo and transport plane reminiscent of the workhorse of the Air Force, the C-130.
    “We already deploy faster than any military unit in the world,” Hawkeye told Nguyen.  “So what’s in the offing, Grace?”
    “We can do better,” answered Nguyen.  “On the left side of the Globemaster’s cargo bay are special chambers for each member of Titan Six and anyone else deployed with the team.   Let’s take a look at what research and development is calling the TRM, or the Tactical Response Module.”
    Nguyen led Titan Six up the rear cargo ramp of the aircraft.
    “This is something out of science fiction,” remarked Gator.  “Like 2001 or Alien.”
    “Not far from the truth,” Nguyen said, motioning to beds that were tilted at forty-five degree angles