Sand devil. The Sand Devil by James Rollins read online The Sand Devil by James Rollins
The Sand Devil by James Rollins is the first in the Sigma Force series. This is a very rich novel that will make you immerse yourself not only in the adventures of the characters, but also in history and archeology.
Millionaire and archaeologist Reginald Kensington built a gallery twenty years ago in which he exhibited objects found in the city of Ubar in the Arabian desert. One day he went on another trip and disappeared without a trace.
An explosion occurs in a gallery built by a missing archaeologist. Many people have been brought in to find out why. As a result of the inspection, an unusual object was found inside a stone statue - it was a heart made of metal, but in its structure exactly the same as a human one. Kensington's daughter heads to the desert to find out what happened to her father twenty years ago. But the explosion attracted the attention of those who do not mind profiting from ancient treasures and the magical power hidden in them.
Agent Painter Crow must travel to the desert to find out the truth. Its main mission is to preserve scientific discoveries that can be harmful if they fall into the hands of villains. He is a great fit for this role, because he is young, strong, smart and fearless. Together with him, a group of archaeologists is sent to help uncover the secrets hidden in manuscripts from ancient times.
So, previously lost, ancient city becomes a destination for many people. Some seek to keep its secrets, others - to use for their own purposes. The journey is very dangerous and full of surprises.
The novel is written very interestingly, the action does not stop throughout the story, which captivates and does not let go. The book will appeal to anyone who loves to read about adventure, historical research and excavations, who wants to learn ancient secrets with a certain amount of mysticism.
On our site you can download the book "The Sand Devil" by James Rollins for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.
Detachment "Sigma" - 1
Dedicated to Katherine, Adrien and RG, the new generation
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Defense Research Advanced Planning Department
Case No. Alfa-42-PKR
Squad "SIGMA"
Part one
fire and rain
British museum
London, England
Harry Masterson was to die in thirteen minutes.
If Harry had guessed this, he would have smoked the last cigarette in his life to the very filter. However, he stubbed out his cigarette after three hasty puffs and hurriedly pushed the smoke away from his face. If he's caught smoking outside the break room, that son of a bitch Flemming, the museum's head of security, will hit him on the first number. Harry had already been put on probation a week ago for being two hours late for duty.
Muttering an obscenity, Harry slipped the extinguished cigarette into his pocket. You can smoke it on the next break. If there's a break at all tonight.
Thunder could be heard even through the thick brick walls. The winter thunderstorm began shortly after midnight with a furious cannonade of hail, followed by a flood that threatened to wash London into the Thames. Lightning with many-pronged pitchforks slashed the sky from edge to edge. According to the BBC weather reporter, this storm was one of the worst in a decade. The outrage of atmospheric electricity left half of the city without electricity.
Fate decreed that darkness covered precisely that part of London in which the British Museum stood on Big Russell Street, where Harry Masterson was on duty at that hour. Despite the fact that backup generators immediately began to work, providing emergency lighting, all security personnel were urgently called in to further protect the museum property. They will arrive at the site within the next half hour. Even though the surveillance cameras were still active, Flemming ordered the entire night shift to patrol the museum corridors, which stretched for two and a half miles. To do this, the guards had to split up.
Taking a flashlight, Harry directed the beam deep into the corridor. He hated nighttime rounds when the museum was in twilight. At this time, the light penetrates only through the windows from the street lamps. But now, due to a power outage, they went out. The museum was plunged into an ominous darkness, only here and there specks of reddish light from dim emergency lights flickered.
Harry desperately needed a hit of nicotine to calm his nerves, but he couldn't cool off for long. A job was waiting for him. Occupying the bottom rung in the hierarchy of the night shift, Harry was ordered to bypass the halls of the north wing - that part of the museum, which was the furthest from the basement, where the security office was located. But this does not mean that the path cannot be shortened. Turning his back on the long hallway leading into darkness, Harry approached the door leading to Queen Elizabeth II's Great Court.
This two-acre space was surrounded by the four wings of the British Museum. In the very center stood a large copper dome, the Round Reading Room - one of the best libraries in the world. At high altitude, all two acres were covered by huge vaults designed by Norman Foster, creating the largest covered area in Europe.
Unlocking the door, Harry dived into the womb of the courtyard. As in the museum buildings, darkness reigned here. Rain drummed on the glass ceilings somewhere high above. Still, Harry's footsteps echoed through the void. The sky was once again torn apart by a spear of lightning. For one dazzling moment, the glass roof, divided into thousands of triangular panels, lit up.
Page 138 out of 154
- It is not that simple.
Safiya looked at the finger that had once been wearing a ring that was later taken away along with the promise. How can you count on Omaha to be there when she needs him? "You were abandoned by a boy. Now a man is kneeling before you." Is it possible to believe in it?
Safiya imagined another face. She remembered how Painter had held her hand, remembered the silent respect he had given her, and even the pain in his eyes when he had frightened her.
As if reading her mind, Lulu spoke again.
“There are many men with noble hearts in the world. It's just that some of them take a little longer to get to know themselves.
Safiya felt tears welling up in her.
“I need time to think things through.
You have had enough time. Like us, you have lived alone too long. A choice must be made while there is a choice.
As if to confirm her words, upstairs, very close, there was a groan of wind penetrating the dungeon. Safiya felt a breath of fresh air on her cheek. She was pulled forward. After being underground for so long, she suddenly wanted to leave this stone prison as soon as possible.
“I'll go and see if the storm subsides,” Safiya said in a barely audible voice.
“I’ll go with you,” Kara stepped towards her.
All three climbed the last part of the stairs. The wind picked up, throwing churning sand into the passage. Women pulled on hoods, covered their faces with scarves and put on glasses.
The entrance to the cave was a crack in the rock. Kara turned off the flashlight. Above, despite the storm, it turned out to be lighter than underground. Safiya looked out. There was a crowbar lying near the hole next to a large flat boulder.
“That stone must have hidden the entrance to the tunnel,” Kara said.
Safiya nodded. Apparently, Captain al-Haffi and his men pushed back the boulder with a crowbar, opening the entrance to the dungeon from the outside. If we manage to wait out the storm, it will be possible for everyone to flee from here, and fill up the passage with a boulder, clogging Cassandra below.
A breath of fresh wind filled Safiya's heart with hope. Even from here, the storm didn't look as black as Safiya remembered it from Shisur. Maybe the worst is over. Leaning out of the gap, Safiya remained under cover of the boulder. The sand still blotted out the sun, but the darkness of midnight was again replaced by twilight. The sun appeared, peering through the storm like a dim moon.
“Looks like the storm is starting to die down,” Kara said over Safiya's shoulder.
"Don't be fooled," Lulu protested. “The sands around Ubar are so treacherous. That is why the nomads stay away from these places, considering them cursed. They are sure that genies and the devil himself live in these sands.
Khoja was the first to emerge from the underground tunnel. Safiya followed her, feeling the wind rip off her cloak and handkerchief. She looked around and realized that she was on top of a flat rock that rose thirty or forty feet above the base of the desert. The local dunes are dotted with countless similar stony massifs formed as a result of weathering, which geologists call remnants, and nomadic tribes - "ships of the sands".
Safiya moved further away from the entrance, looking around. She recognized this remains. It was the same rock that is depicted on the wall. royal palace. It was here that the path to Ubar was discovered almost three thousand years ago. Safi looked around. Both the citadel and the queen's palace repeated the shape of the rock - the most precious "ship of the sands" in their forms.
Safiya turned her gaze into the distance. The swirling clouds began to behave in a strange way. About a mile from the cliff, the air darkened, twisting into a spiral rising toward the sky. Even at this distance, the howling of the wind could be heard.
“Looks like we're in the middle of a hurricane,” Kara said.
“It's Ubar's fault,” Lulu explained. He draws the storm to him.
Safiya remembered that after the keys manifested and opened the gate, for a brief moment the storm subsided.
Kara leaned precariously over the edge of the cliff. Safiya became uneasy.
“Step away from the edge,” she warned her sister, fearing that a sharp gust of wind would throw her down.
“There is a road here. More like a goat trail. Maybe we can get down. I can see a car forty-three yards away. Captain al-Haffi and his men must have come to them.
Safiya cautiously approached her. She had no idea how to go down a steep slope in such a strong wind. The gusts came unpredictably. Lulu supported her:
“Crossing the sands now would mean certain death.
Kara looked back at the Khoja, and it was clear from her expression that she was ready to take the risk, because it was no less dangerous to stay. Lulu understood her thoughts.
“Your father shrugged off the warnings of these sands, as you are now about to do after all you have seen.
However, the words of the old woman only inflamed Kara even more.
- What are we afraid of?
Lulu spread her hands.
- These are the sands of the Nisnas.
This name was well known to both Safiya and Kara. It was the Nisnas, the black ghosts of the desert, who were blamed for the death of Reginald Kensington.
Khoja pointed to the southwest. There stirred, curving, a sandy tornado. In the darkness, the black pillar sparkled and shone with static charges. Flashing brighter for a moment, he disappeared.
"I've seen sand devils like this before," Kara said.
Lulu nodded.
– Nisnases bring fiery death.
The remains of Reginald Kensington, enclosed in glass, appeared before Safiya's eyes, frozen in unbearable torment. It reminded her of the mummified remains of the city's inhabitants underground. Safiya had seen thousands of tornadoes, but none of them were filled with so much deadly energy.
Kara fixed her eyes on the sands.
Still I don't understand...
Directly in front of them, a wall of sand shot up from under the base of the rock. The women recoiled in horror.
- Nisnas! Lulu gasped.
The tornado arose next to the rock, spinning in a twisted column. Kara and Khoja hurried to the entrance to the cave. The spellbound Safiya remained standing still.
Powerful waves of static charges rushed along the tornado, rising from the sand and rushing into the sky. Safiya's cloak puffed up, this time not from the wind, but from the electricity that filled the air. Crackling sparks ran through the skin, clothes, hair. The sensation was painful, but inspiring delight. Safiya felt cold, but her skin burned. She exhaled, only now realizing that she had been standing there all this time, not breathing.
Safiya stepped forward to see the serpentine tornado in all its glory. A continuous flow of energy flowed through the sand pillar. In front of Safiya's eyes, the "devil" crawled onto one of the cars. From above, she could clearly see how the sandy whirlwind twisted under the wheels.