The major stood, his expression more formal, in one hand a slim electronic tablet. Now that they were sealed in and on their way to about twenty-eight thousand feet, he knew there was no backing out. He held his arms out wide.

“Our mission is one of many. In a way we are an exploratory team investigating the sinkhole occurrences happening across the world. To date, there have been a thousand significant earth-drop events across the United States, and globally the number is twenty times that…that we know of. We now know there are holes opening up below the ocean, so at greater depths, beyond our scopes, there could be many, many more.”

“Thousands?” Matt frowned.

Andy nodded. “Yep, and earth-drop is probably a better description than sinkhole for what’s going on. A sinkhole usually implies subsurface water – none of these have had that cause. Instead, the earth simply drops away without any discernible geological influence. It’s weird.”

Abrams smiled grimly. “Andy is right.” He paced. “He was also the first geologist on site in Iowa for what we’re calling the genesis event. Although there could have been smaller ones earlier, this was the first one where we managed to obtain samples – all of which still defy explanation. Bottom line is, we’re stumped as to what’s causing these events, as is almost everyone else.”

“Almost?” Matt asked.

“Almost.” Abrams nodded, giving him a grim smile. “And that brings us to our mission. Seems we have someone in Aleppo, Syria, who believes he knows what it is we’re dealing with. He anticipated the recent earth-drop events – every single one of them – and so proved he is the real deal. We know because…well, let’s just say he sent us a calling card.”

“Come on, Major, no need to be coy. I’m here now, locked in with the rest of you.” Matt held out his hands. “What exactly was this calling card?”

Abrams half smiled, and then nodded. “Okay.” He lifted the tablet, and flicked his hand across the screen several times, looked at the image he’d called up, and then handed it to Matt.

It showed a map of North America, crisscrossed with something that looked like veins running over the countryside. The veins intersected at certain points, some small, some large. Red dots of different sizes were at the intersection points.

“That is the calling card.” Abrams’s face had became serious. “The sinkholes identified…before they occurred.”

Matt snorted softly. “Ley lines.”

“What?” Abrams frowned.

Andy slapped his leg. “Of course, ley lines; I thought I recognized them. We come across references to these all the time in unexplained geological phenomena. They’re a joke.” His grin fell away at the look on Matt’s face. “Aren’t they?”

“What’s a ley line?” Abrams asked.

“A metaphysical reference,” Matt said. “There was an English archaeologist named Alfred Watkins, who in 1921 identified a sort of connection between alignments of ancient monuments and megaliths, natural ridge-tops and water-fords. They are also supposed to have been influenced by the sun, moon and other astral bodies.”