BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

Sofia nodded grimly, she would have liked nothing more, but this was a military expedition.

“Everyone double check your suits,” she said. “They won’t let us back on the barge if there’s even a hint of contamination.”

As they neared the site, the bones of the mammoths rose higher and higher. Shifting, thawing permafrost deep below had pushed them to the surface after millennia of perfect preservation.

Vasily brought the vehicle to a halt a hundred yards from the closest carcass and the others pulled up next to him. Everyone looked out in awe. The sun shone obliquely through the site, casting macabre shadows of the rib cages and tusks as flurries of snow whipped around them like dust devils.

A primordial graveyard.

Harboring primordial germs.

To a microbiologist, it was hard to imagine a more sinister sight.

2

A seven-foot tall, three hundred pound beast of a man with muscles the size of Yukon potatoes and a neck as thick as a hubcap swung a wild punch.

The man he was aiming for took an easy step backward out of range.

“You little bitch,” the big man said.

The other man was nimble, fast on his feet. He wore a green army t-shirt and moved like someone who’d received more than his share of combat training.

He had a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses clipped to his shirt and he placed them on the bar for safekeeping.

“Lance,” the bartender said, “don’t do it.”

Lance looked at the bartender for a second, then back at the big guy.

“Come at me, buddy,” he said, beckoning him with his hands. “Come at me.”

“I’m going to make you wish you’d never been born,” the big man said, lunging forward.

Lance dodged.

“Please, Lance,” the bartender said.

Lance turned to him. “Watch those sunglasses,” he said.

The big man swung again. Lance sidestepped, then pushed him in the direction his momentum was already taking him. He slammed face-first into the bar, sending bottles of Budweiser crashing to the floor.

“That’s enough,” the bartender yelled.

Lance shrugged as the big man got back to his feet and took another lunge at him. At the same moment, the man’s companion swung a pool cue at Lance’s head.

Lance caught the cue and pulled it toward him. The swinger held on and came with it. Lance hit him in the face and stepped back in time to avoid the big guy.

“Lance, come on,” the bartender said. “I’m the one’s got to pay for all this.”

“I didn’t start it,” Lance said, as the big man came at him again, this time knocking over a table and sending more drinks flying.

“The hell you didn’t.”

“All I did was talk to her,” Lance said.