EarthUnder (The Meteorite Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free

have help when you need it. When we left Sharif’s home yesterday, I quietly handed his son Zed a gift of dollars for his children. I gestured at the children while shaking his hand filled with the gift. One can only assume that Sharif had learned of my generosity with no expectation of a return, and that the gesture had won his admiration. This fine man was relaying information about a stone that had been legend for millennia. How was I given to be this fortunate? This part of the world was invaded by countless empires through the ages. But why would invading hordes wish to conquer a land of rock and sand? Is it possible they had searched for the magic of this stone? If this meteorite was that important, then how could I ever get this close? In this part of the world there are stories of the limitless power of this stone—from healing children with polio to protecting the land and its people. Will I ever get closer than this, and is there a chance of ever obtaining even a small fragment for research?
    One of countless legends had described that this stone was the entire contents of the Ark of the Covenant, and the powers of the Ark were imbued by the stone. All of this tied into so many stories from other legends. I stand stunned by the flow of thought and possibilities. Zen and Zed had come to share that Sharif held me in esteem as an expert on meteorites and that he felt that my efforts were purely noble to get a piece into the hands of researchers. That night after dinner we sat around a small fire and drank tea. It was story-telling time, and I shared with the mesmerized group that there is a new “space race.” It is no longer about getting people onto other planets. The real space race is to be the first scientist or institution to find concrete evidence of life elsewhere in the universe. For now we don’t have the technology to travel to other planets safely and quickly, but space rocks brimming with valuable information come to us. When a meteorite falls through the Earth’s atmosphere, it melts in a fusion fireball caused by compressed atmospheric gases ignited by friction. This fireball forms a glassy crust on the meteorite, sealing valuable rare gases and volatile or soluble minerals within the matrix. There can also be bubbles sealed in impact glass in the matrix, glass created by the same event that ejected the chunk of rock from its parent planet. This glass can have that planet’s atmosphere trapped within those bubbles. The night was filled with endless questions deftly testing the depth of my knowledge about meteorites.
    The next day was one of rest. My day was filled with observations of a loving family happily going about their day. I was made to feel that this was my new family. The daylight soared by swiftly, and night fell on another summer-baked day. The children had come in to visit with us and to experience the curious light-colored visitor who was welcomed into their home with such ease. Zen also was invited to stay and accepted without hesitation as if there was no one waiting for him at his own home.
    Zen’s attention was drawn to the small children. He was asking them a multitude of short two- and three-word questions in rapid succession, and they smiled as they responded with similar curt answers. Affectionately their voices melted into a blend of warm laughter and elfin giggles, with youngsters sending occasional glances in my direction. I could tell there was only innocent curiosity and harmless humor in good spirit. The mother of the house, Zed’s wife, Maryam, seemed painfully shy, yet I sensed that she ruled the roost. The young girls slowly shed their shyness and began to feel obviously at ease around me. But like everyone else under this roof, they all looked to Maryam for final approval. Dinner came and went, with a goat’s milk yogurt drink that instantly became my most favorite thing in the world. Milkshakes had nothing on this drink. I could see myself back home with a double