Read REVELATION: Book One of THE RECARN CHRONICLES for Free Online Page B

pair of secateurs. He looked at Aaron.
    “Twenty-five years is a long
time. I came prepared for twenty-five years extra
growth.”
    “Very sensible. I don’t know
if I’d have thought of that.”
    “I try to be
meticulous.”
    The secateurs proved their
worth. The progress of the pair of modern day treasure hunters,
decidedly not dressed for traipsing through this kind of habitat,
was slow but they weren’t to be beaten. Finally, surrounded by a
natural fortress of thorns and barbs, Tom stopped.
    “We’ve arrived.”
    Aaron tried to look for the
door to the safe, but couldn’t see anything but a mass of hostile
foliage.
    “It’s under that tangle of
surface roots.” Tom pointed at the ground right in front of them.
Aaron still couldn’t see anything resembling an entrance
door.
    “Are you sure?”
    “As sure as night follows
day.”
    Tom attacked the roots with
the secateurs, but more carefully this time. Twenty-five years of
rain, even though largely protected from the elements by Mother
Nature herself, could have rendered the safe’s defences unstable.
He hadn’t shared that possibility with Aaron; if Aaron was going to
be blown up it was better that he didn’t know
beforehand.
    At last, the area above the
safe was cleared and Aaron found himself looking at something he
hadn’t seen for twenty-five years. He was relieved that this wasn’t
all a crazy dream. Tom rubbed his hands together and then cracked
his knuckles.
    “Are you ready?”
    Aaron took a deep
breath.
    “As I’ll ever
be.”
    “Right, this is what is
going to happen. I’m going to open the safe. Remember, there are
forty-eight numbers on each dial to be selected, and they must be
selected in the correct order.”
    “I remember. But what if
they get jammed? It’s been a long time.”
    “Well, I’ve got some WD-40
that I’ll spray onto the combination dials first. Plus, to make
sure that nothing goes wrong I’ll cross my fingers and
hope.”
    Aaron couldn’t understand
how Tom could remain so calm when there was such an obvious element
of mortal danger. He thanked his lucky stars that he’d written his
will and all his affairs were in order. But there was no reason for
Tom to be afraid. He had lived and died and lived again many times
before. Death held no fear for him.
    Tom started the task of
unlocking the combination. He began by selecting the first number
on the first dial. Then it was the turn of the fourth dial at the
other end. Two numbers selected and they were still alive.
Forty-six to go.
    Next he turned the third
dial six clicks to the right. The sound of the lock mechanism
gradually unlocking seemed very loud against the blank silence that
enveloped the area. The only other thing that Aaron could hear was
his own breathing. No birds singing. No insects rustling
around.
    The tension was almost
unbearable. Aaron felt a desire to talk to Tom, to feel that time
hadn’t slowed down or even stopped, but the last thing he wanted to
do was to distract him. There were plenty more numbers to be
selected, and a certain order in which to select them, so he didn’t
want to distract the man from his task. It really was a matter of
life or death.
    Time seemed to be passing at
a snail’s pace. Each time a number was chosen and was safely turned
into place Aaron gave an inaudible sigh of relief that he was still
alive and not in hundreds of pieces adorning the surrounding plant
life.
    Finally there was only one
number left to select. Tom looked at Aaron.
    “Do you want to do
it?”
    Aaron shook his head and
gestured that he was perfectly happy for Tom to
continue.
    “No thanks. You’ve done a
good job so far. I don’t want to be the one who blows us up –
you’ve earned it.”
    Tom turned the third dial
seven places to the left. The safe door flew open just as quickly
as it had done twenty-five years earlier. Tom grinned at his
accomplice.
    “Stage one complete. No
casualties. Okay. Now, I’m not going to touch anything from