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     20.

     �Before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, both towns nestled close to the south-west shores
     of the Dead Sea� She explained. On the screen, a coloured graphic interpretation of the area described
     by Letitia showed the Vale of Siddim and the 1320ft deep Dead Sea. �It�s generally believed that a
     violent earthquake destroyed the towns, with explosions, lightening, yawning pits of bitumen, and
     suffocating fumes. After the destruction, the ruins of the city were probably flooded by the Dead Sea
     and were submerged by over 60ft of water� Letitia took a breath and she was about to continue when she
     was interrupted. 

     �Something�s happening!� Winkler had wrenched open the door to the conference room and was
     panting from his exertion in running to the mobile lab. There were startled looks on everybody�s� faces
     as they were jolted from their calm surroundings.

     Peter jumped up �What is it?�
     �A rushing noise coming from the cave, like a wind, and the instruments are picking up massive shifts
     in EM fields� Winkler paused as the noise he�s just described became evident to them all. The volume
     was increasing and went from sounding like a freight train screaming towards them, to the deafening
     roar of a 747 at full throttle at close range. Everyone filtered out of the room and dashed from the mobile
     lab. The intensity of the noise was causing them to cover their ears now.

     �Stay back everyone� Max shouted to be heard over the noise.
     Tom Drew was a few metres away motioning frantically for them to get back. There was so much
     confusion and the noise was just too much for Max to compete with. He tugged on Lucia�s arm and
     pointed towards the vehicle, and then he did the same to Letitia, Avram, and Doyle. He had to get every-
     one to a safe distance.

     Sally saw everyone running to the vehicle and she was about to do the same when something made her
     stop and look back towards the cave. The thought crossed her mind that this was like a re-enactment of
     the destruction of Sodom when Lot�s wife disobeyed God�s injunction not to look back and was turned to
     a pillar of salt. A brilliant emerald green light was pulsating in the cave entrance, Sally was mesmerised,
     and it was taking on a form, nothing that could be distinguished, more like a column of energy being
     focused. From then on, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The column became a beam of
     concentrated power and it was heading towards them. Sally followed it�s probable trajectory and realised
     it was focusing on Peter. She thought she heard herself scream �NO!� as she stepped directly into it�s
     path. It was then that Sally realised she couldn�t hear the noise anymore, she felt weightless and
     detached from the scene before her.  Peter was standing there and she held her arms out to him, calling
     his name but he looked so afraid.

     The mobile lab, the figures of the people, Peter, the desert, they all lost their colour as they receded
     into the distance. To Sally it all felt like someone had pulled the bath plug and she was some sort of
     detritus being carried away by the waste water, sucked down into oblivion. Her mind was filled with
     images from her life, her childhood, she was at her fifth birthday party again; but she was also sixteen
     and getting drunk with a school friend on a bottle of vodka; at the same time she was at her first job
     interview; then she was in Peter�s arms; she was reliving her lifetime of experiences, all of them, all at
     once. Then, like someone had flicked off a light switch  - nothingness.

     21.

     The noise had ceased abruptly as soon as the beam of light struck Sally. Peter was momentarily frozen
     to the spot, this was his nightmare and it had become a reality. He began to run forward but Tom and
     Max held him back. Sally was being pulled away from him as if she was caught in some sort of tractor
      beam and it was drawing her backwards into the cave. She�d held her arms out to him and he couldn�t
      save her. �NO! NO! NO!..� Peter was screaming and trying to struggle free.
     �Peter, wait, there�s nothing you can do!� Max was desperately holding onto his friend. He eased his
     grip slightly and Peter collapsed to his knees on the ground. He covered his face with his hands,
     sobbing in despair. Tom and Max stepped back, there was nothing they could say or do.

     Diana had returned from the bus where everyone else was waiting. She moved towards Peter and put
     her arm around his shoulder. He accepted her comforting gesture and she cradled his head in her arms,
     �Oh Peter� she brushed away his tears, he was suddenly like a frightened little boy, vulnerable and
     alone.

     Max motioned to Tom that they should head to the bus, leaving Diana to comfort Peter for a while
     longer.

     Peter was shaking as Diana helped him to his feet, she held him tightly as they made their way to
     the bus. On board, Peter sat at the back, silently staring down, numb from the ordeal.

     �Winkler, scan the area. I need to know where Sally is. Tom, keep everyone on the bus while we try to
     find her� Max followed Winkler as he set off towards the cave.

     Five Hundred metres from the entrance, Winkler stopped and put out his arm to stop Max proceeding
     any further. �We can�t go any nearer� he was looking down at the readout on the instrument in
     horror. �Massive amounts of radio-active energy, even suited-up we can�t get any closer than here.
     I�m also detecting noxious gases.� He looked at Max �Nothing could survive for more than a few minutes�
   
     Nobody spoke on the journey back to Beer Sheba.       

     22.

     Back at the hotel, James had given Peter a sedative and insisted he go and lie down. Meanwhile Max
     contacted Oscar to update him on the day�s catastrophic events.

     �This is not good, Max. I�m heading out there myself on the next flight. I�ll be bringing some more
     security operatives� Oscar wanted to wipe the floor with Max for endangering Sally, but he knew it had
     been a difficult situation with Sally turning up like that. �How do you intent to proceed now?�

     �We need to return to the site as soon as possible to begin the search for Sally�s�.body� he hesitated
     with the word, but he had to accept she couldn�t have survived.

     �Have you informed the Authorities? A foreign national �missing presumed dead� is not going to go
     down well with the Israelis� Oscar thought for a moment �I�ll contact the Israeli Minister for the
     Interior and have him send some men and equipment for the search�

     23.

     �She is NOT dead� Peter spat the words at Dr Henderson
     �Peter, you�re a scientist, you understand the implications of the read-outs. All that high level radio-
     activity and the poisonous gases seeping through the cave�

     �Yes, and only hours before, nothing! NO detectable emissions whatsoever. James, we�re dealing with
     something supernatural here, in the true sense of the word. It defies the very laws of nature and I
     believe Sally is alive somewhere, or perhaps I should say �some when�. This place is a portal in time and
     nothing you can say will convince me that Sally is gone for good�

     Dr Henderson nodded. He�d come across many patients who refused to accept the death of a loved one,
     including his predecessor Dr Hendricks. Although, he was eventually reunited with his wife after 12
     years. The grieving process could take many forms. At some point, Peter would come to the realisation
     that Sally was dead, he couldn�t push him into it, he would have to reach that conclusion in his own
     time.

     James Henderson pondered for a moment on his travels in the Far East. He had encountered many
     strange and mystical things. Sometimes all it took was to believe in something to make it happen. �I�ll
     call in on you later but I want you to rest now.� He collected his medical bag and approached the door.
     When he opened it Diana Miles was standing there �How�s Peter?�
     �He�s doing okay but he needs to rest�
     Diana peered past the doctor and saw Peter lying on the bed, forlornly staring at the ceiling. �Need
     anything, Peter?� she called.
     Peter looked towards the figures in the doorway and replied feebly �Just Sally back� then he smiled
     �I�m fine Diana, thanks for asking�

     24.

     Tom, with Avram�s help, had organised the cordoning off of the archaeological site and placed military
     personnel at all possible approaches. Winkler and Dr Carrie Donaldson had donned full Nuclear-
     Chemical-Biological protection gear and ventured nearer to the cave. The instruments were now
     recording zero radioactivity and not so much as a trace of anything noxious to worry about. They
     continued with their scans and set up monitoring equipment around the cave entrance and at 250m
     and 500m.

     Peter lay in the darkened hotel room unable to sleep and tormented by the sight of his wife being taken
     from him. There was a knock at the door, and it opened slightly, �It�s only me Peter� Lucia put her head
     round the door �Can I come in?�
     �Sure but I�m not very good company� Peter sat up �I�ve been considering the nature of what we�re
     dealing with� 

     Lucia closed the door and walked over to Peter ���and what have you concluded?�
     �I need to get a look at the device embedded in the cave, but it sounds like some sort of photon inhibitor
     or tachyon generator.� Peter smiled at the confused look on Lucia�s face, �It�s simple really��.�
     �Maybe to a Quantum Physicist, Peter!� Lucia joked
     �Tachyons are hypothetical particles which mirror the laws of physics as we know them. The speed of
     light is a barrier and to accelerate a particle to that speed would take an infinite amount of energy.
     However, the special theory of relativity does not say that in principal it is impossible for something to
     travel faster than light and Einstein�s equations do have symmetry. For anything approaching the speed
     of light, time slows down; it comes to a halt at the light speed barrier itself then runs backwards on the
     other side of the barrier. Therefore, a tachyon, that is a faster than light particle, can travel backwards
     in time as it loses energy!!�
     �I�ll take your words for it Peter, but does any of this help the situation we have here?�
     �I need to feed some calculations into the computer, let it crunch the numbers for me, but I think I
     know how to seal the device forever�.� He looked up at Lucia ��once we�ve located and retrieved Sally,
     of course�.

     25.

     Oscar Remington had brought six more operatives with him, including John T Kirkham, �JT� to his
     colleagues. He was the OSIR�s main crypto-zoologist since Lennox Q Cooper disappeared in the
     Himalayas in August �99 whilst following up on a Yeti sighting. Oscar was quite sure LQ was alive but
     suspected the Chinese authorities were holding him. Diplomatic channels had failed to reveal anything
     and Oscar was considering his own rescue plan once this fiasco in Israel had been resolved.

     JT�s interest in animals began when he was a young boy, he�d followed his dream of being a Veterinary
     Surgeon and he also had an interest in the paranormal ever since reading Ripley�s Strange but True
     as a youngster. A couple of stories stuck in his mind, the Jersey Devil, a fascinating story and the case
     of the Devil�s footprints. An exceptionally cold February in Devon, England 1855 and the locals woke to
     find a peculiar line of footprints in the snow. Each print was about 4 inches long and shaped by a two-
     legged, cloven-hoofed animal. The really strange thing was that the prints followed a completely
     straight line. Tracks stopped at high walls and continued the other side, yet the snow on the top of the
     walls was undisturbed. JT longed to investigate such mysterious things himself. 

     Soon after leaving Veterinary College, after 7 long years of study, he found himself working in the
     world of the artificial insemination of farm animals. Not the most glamorous of jobs and certainly not
     what he�d had in mind when he began his studies, but it was a living. During one of their investigations
     the OSIR had required information on the freezing techniques employed for biological samples and
     John had acted as a liaison. LQ was so impressed by the young man�s dedication, he had put his name
     forward as a possible OSIR candidate.

     JT accepted their offer gratefully and everyone had been impressed by his zoological skills as well as
     his calm, analytical manner. That was the primary reason Oscar wanted him along on this assignment,
     he needed JT�s objectivity. Everyone already at the event site was far too emotionally involved.

     26.

     �Okay, Max, do you want to bring me up to speed� Oscar and Max were sitting alone in the Conference
     room of the mobile lab.
     �Axon has an idea about sealing this portal in the cave, but he won�t do it until we find Sally�
     �He must be aware of the impossibility of that?�
     �Oscar, it�s his wife, he�s not going to calmly accept she�s dead and seal up the only chance of finding
     her, no matter how futile that might be.�
     �Gee�thanks a lot, Max, I thought you were a friend - obviously I�m mistaken� Peter turned from
     the doorway and strode out. Neither man had seen him approach. 
     �Peter..I didn�t mean.. Peter, I�m sorry�� Max rose to follow but Oscar called him back. �Let him go,
     he must realise the futility of it, but he doesn�t like to hear it from anyone else�
     �You�re all heart, Oscar.� Max sat down again �Besides, I think you should hear what Axon has to say�

     27.

     Peter was sitting at the computer staring at the mass of calculations and equations on the screen. He�d
     postulated that the device was generating a tachyon stream, therefore he needed to find a way of
     tracking any object which had passed beyond the device, a kind of triangulation of hypothetical
     quantum particles - the idea was ludicrous, but so was everything they�d encountered so far.  
     �Peter, how�s it going?� Max stood behind the physicist frowning at the complicated equations on the
     screen.  �Slowly, but I think I�m getting there� he answered
     �Sorry about before, Peter, I didn�t know you were there� Max attempted an apology but gave it up.
     �At least now I know everybody thinks Sally is dead� Peter swivelled round in his chair to face Max,
     �but you�re wrong, all of you� he swivelled back to the screen �Now if you don�t mind, I�m at a
     particularly crucial stage in my calculations�.

     Max left him to it, if any one could bring something like this off, it was Peter Axon. Countless times,
     Max had heard him described as �the best there is�, of that there was no doubt, although, he could be
     somewhat rash at times too. Max put it down to over-enthusiasm and he�d encountered none of the
     resentment towards authority from Peter that others had warned him about.

     If Sally was missing �somewhere in time� Peter was going to find a way of bringing her back. If his
     theory worked it would be like hauling her back on a piece of quantum elastic from �whenever� she
     was.   �Coffee?� Diana Miles was handing Peter a large cup �I know its over 100 degrees out here but
     you look like you could do with a caffeine jolt�
     Peter smiled and took the cup gratefully �I think the sedatives James gave me yesterday are still in
     my system. Thanks� he took a sip of the refreshing drink.
     Diana wanted to hold him again, but resisted the temptation �You�re welcome� she said leaving him
     to his work.

     28.

     �Oh hey, JT�, Peter looked up as the young man approached.
     �Hi Peter, sorry to hear ���� his voice trailed off
     �No worries, I�ll soon have Sally back�
     �Max said you�re going into the cave to examine the device?�
     �Yeah, Lucia couldn�t get anything out of the two archaeologists. She said they were unhelpful and
     evasive.  Personally I don�t think they could tell her anything new�

     Diana appeared at the door �Peter� she called �Tim and Carrie have finished the scans, it�s all clear�
     �Alright!� Peter rubbed his hands together �Time to sort this once and for all� It took him 10 minutes
     to suit up and he set off towards the cave. The rest of the team were gathered as Winkler checked
     Peter�s oxygen supply and Dr Henderson checked the bio stats.
     �Be careful, Peter� Diana looked up at him, �If we lose you we�ll be in big trouble�

     He smiled �Oh this reminds me of a phenomenon I explored in Argentina a number of years back.
     There was nothing to worry about then, nothing to worry about now�, he put the plastic hood on and
     Winkler sealed it all round.

     �Alright Peter?� Dr Henderson�s voice came through the earpiece.

     �Affirmative� Peter moved inside the cave entrance and began his commentary �All seems clear�
     The video link connected to the comlink revealed a short passageway. The walls were jagged to the
     left, but the roof and the right side seemed smooth, like it had been carved.

     �Peter, the �well� should be just a couple of metres ahead�

     He looked down; it wasn�t easy to move with the cumbersome suit and equipment.  �I see it� he moved
     forward slowly and stopped near the edge of the shaft. It was absolute blackness, the most intense and
     palpable he�d seen since the Argentinean Darkness. There had been no light perception whatsoever
     when he�d stepped into that phenomenon. Now he could see a metre or so into this pit, but after that
     nothing, the small beam of light projected from the video link didn�t penetrate any further.

     �Hold on, I see something� Peter caught saw a glint of something metallic jutting out from the rock
     just half a metre down and on the opposite side of the pit. The scanner was bleeping, it was registering
     some sort of emission but Peter couldn�t read the display to know what it was. He stared at the metallic
     object desperately trying to determine what it was when he became aware of a greenish tinge at the
     sides of the shaft. It was as if some power source was shining from underneath the blackness but
     couldn�t quite break through except around the edge.

     �I�m coming out, and I think everyone should move back, I think something is happening again� Peter
     moved back along the hewn wall to daylight.

     To  be continued.....

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