The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

“Actually, I bought them for myself,” Maya said. “Just in case I decided not to count on getting help. There was always that possibility. I was considering regular space suits, but I found they weigh about four hundred pounds and have terrible mobility issues. I figured a pressure suit like jet pilots wear would be better if I added an oxygen tank and a plastic helmet with lights. That would create mobility problems, too, but you wouldn’t have to put it on until you reached the halfway point—the death zone for altitude sickness. If you moved fast enough after that, it should be safe.”

“Not bad,” Kagan murmured.

Maya’s brows rose. “But not perfect?”

“Nothing is perfect until you’re staring it in the face. The worst danger would be accidental depressurization that would make you go unconscious in seconds and then suffocate and freeze you to death immediately. The suits would have to be carefully crafted to avoid any cracks or any faulty suit joints.”

“I made sure they were,” Maya said coolly.

Kagan smiled. “Then, as you said, all you’d have to worry about is that you move very fast.”

“But I won’t be the one to wear those suits now,” Maya said. “After I climbed up to the midway point lugging them, I noticed I wasn’t breathing so well and I decided that it wasn’t smart to go any farther alone. I stopped and went back down to the waterfall and began to make plans to try again later if I could persuade someone to come with me.”

“And you did,” Riley said. “You won’t have to worry about that any longer.”

Maya smiled. “Maybe not. But you were always the easy one. And I say that with heartfelt thanks.” She looked around at their faces. “Is there anything else you need to know from me before I go back to Bailey?”

“Only one thing,” Riley said. “When we first came, you said something about how the best-laid plans sometimes don’t work worth a damn. You never told me what you meant.”

Maya hesitated and then said, “Exactly what I said. I was thinking about Silvana.”

“And?”

“I was thinking how hard she worked during all her time here on the island. Then when she decided she had to find a way to die that wouldn’t hurt the people she cared about, she went out of her way to do that, too.”

“But it was worth a damn, Maya,” Riley said gently. “Everything she did had value.”

“Did it?” Maya asked. “I hope you’re right. I’ve always been a cynic, but I had to be the one to question everything when I took charge of the island. I thought it was my duty.”

“Why wouldn’t you believe it?” Kagan’s gaze was fixed intently on her face. “Tell me.”

“I think there’s probably a good chance you know already.” Maya’s lips twisted bitterly. “Didn’t you tell me how well you knew the mountains?”

“Tell me anyway.”

She shrugged. “Because Silvana couldn’t know that things wouldn’t stay the same. Even before I took over from Jann Lu, I’d noticed things were changing around us. An orchard that had flooded when it never had before. An earthquake near the temple area. A river that had changed the direction of its flow. So I had a few experts come here and take a more in-depth look and give me some answers.”

“And what did they say?”

She met his eyes. “What do you think? It was due to the effects of global warming. There were other signs on the island I hadn’t noticed, but they gave me a complete fifteen-page report describing every one of them. Along with recommendations about what to do when conditions get worse.” She added bitterly, “As they most certainly would.”

“Shit.” Riley stared at her, stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why? It wouldn’t have solved the present problem and certainly not any future ones.” Maya gestured dismissively. “All this wonder and beauty around us… There’s unlikely to be any major immediate damage to the island unless there’s a tsunami or major storm cycle. I may have time to scramble and get together some kind of long-range plan. The mountains are safer than the island for the time being. But they’re also being affected. The south glacier that took two thousand years to form has almost melted in the last twenty-five years. The Himalayas are losing their glaciers at an extraordinary rate, and the ice melt threatens agriculture and water supply—and eventually means rising sea levels. It will also increase the likelihood of avalanches.”

“And rockslides?” Kagan asked. “That was why you were worried that the unicorns were going to have to contend with that problem?”

“Yes. The rockslides will constantly get worse.” She looked back at Cade. “That’s why I couldn’t leave them here even if there wasn’t a threat from Nadim. It was safe when Silvana brought those unicorns here, but it’s not safe now. So it’s over to you, Cade.”

“I’ll accept it.”

“But you can see why Silvana couldn’t accept it, because she couldn’t imagine that we’d destroy it.” Maya smiled sadly. “We even have to disturb that burial place she worked so hard to create for herself. If we don’t move that sarcophagus and get it out of there to somewhere safe, we run the risk of an avalanche doing so for us. Those experts said the area around Zokara Mountain would be particularly vulnerable to damage from avalanches.”

“She’d probably prefer that to being taken back as prisoner of those Roman soldiers,” Riley said. “She went through quite a bit to avoid that happening.” She suddenly smiled. “But she succeeded and that’s one thing we won’t have to worry about. Though I don’t know how the hell we’re going to keep her body preserved until we can get it to a lab that will tell us what we should be doing. I don’t even know what we’re going to find when we examine the body. It’s all very well for Silvana to tell her servants and relatives that she was sure she’d found a drug that would keep her frozen forever in time—but how could she be sure? How could she know how long it would last? We’re talking about nearly two thousand years. In that age a hundred years might seem forever.” She frowned. “I think I should call Eve and ask a few questions…”

“More than a few,” Cade murmured.

“One more thing,” Maya said. She picked up a soft leather pouch and reached inside to produce an ornate gold and bejeweled key.