The Hammer of Thor (A Phoenix Quest Adventure #1) Read online

  THE

  HAMMER OF THOR

  The Phoenix Quest Series

  #1

  by

  K.T. TOMB

  Acclaim for K.T. Tomb:

  “Epic and awesome!”

  —J.T. Cross, bestselling author of Beneath the Deep

  “Now this is what I call adventure. The Lost Garden will leave you breathless!”

  —Summer Lee, bestselling author of Angel Heart

  “The best adventure novel I’ve read in a long time. K.T. Tomb. I can’t wait to read the sequel. Count me a fan. A big fan.”

  —P.J. Day, bestselling author of The Sunset Prophecy

  “K.T. Tomb is a wonderful new voice in adventure fiction. I was enthralled by The Lost Garden...and you will be, too.”

  —Aiden James, bestselling author of Plague of Coins

  OTHER BOOKS BY K.T. TOMB

  STANDALONE ADVENTURES

  The Last Crusade

  The Kraken

  The Adventurers

  The Swashbucklers

  The Tempest

  Sasquatch Mountain

  THE CHYNA STONE ADVENTURES

  The Minoan Mask

  The Mummy Codex

  The Phoenician Falcon

  The Babylonian Basilisk

  THE EVAN KNIGHT ADVENTURES

  The Lost Garden

  Keepers of the Lost Garden

  Destroyers of the Lost Garden

  THE PHOENIX QUEST ADVENTURES

  The Hammer of Thor

  The Spear of Destiny

  The Lair of Beowulf

  THE CASH CASSIDY ADVENTURES

  The Holy Grail

  The Lost Continent

  The Lost City of Gold

  THE ALAN QUATERMAIN ADVENTURES

  The Road to Shambala

  The Seal of Solomon

  The Shroud of Turin

  The Hammer of Thor

  Published by K.T. Tomb

  Copyright © 2013 by K.T. Tomb

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  The author wishes to dedicate this book to the late

  Michael Crichton.

  The Hammer of Thor

  1

  Phoe stood with her back pressed flat against the one hundred-foot wall facing the Amazon River in Iquitos City, Peru. Her emerald eyes were on fire as she pushed her sandy blond hair away from her face.

  Stone steps separated the wall’s expanse, forty feet apart, roughly twenty feet lower than the last. The giant stone staircase would be impossible for a normal-sized person to descend, if not for the low-hanging vines from the heavy canopy of trees adjacent to the walkway.

  “It’s not a coincidence that the vines are here, Jonathan!” Phoe barked to a nervous young man standing on the top step at the wall’s highest point. “This was planned so people could use them to climb. It doesn’t happen by accident!”

  “I don’t know,” he replied, his knees shaking. “It looks like an easy way to die!”

  She stood perched on the third step down, irritated that he was too frightened to move. “I’d really like to talk about the laws of physics with you in more detail, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re running out of time!”

  “I’m serious Phoe!” pleaded Jonathon. “This circus act is a little much for me.”

  “Well, sweetheart, unless you can get a grip on your fear of heights, I’ll have to assume that you’ll soon be out of the running for this little adventure, huh?”

  “Did anyone ever comment on how you play horribly with others?” he asked, sarcastically.

  “You mean, you’re just now figuring out that I get more accomplished on my own, and that other people usually just get in my way?” she shot back.

  “Like who?” He feigned a wound to his male pride.

  “Like you, silly! But seriously, either you get your shit together or I’m going to drop you off some place. It’s turning out to be one of my worst decisions.”

  “Why did you bring me, then?”

  “Your father happens to be a valued client. He expects me to bring you back alive.”

  “Hey, I’m helping you find the....”

  She cut him a look to shut him up. “Seriously, if you want to live, do what I tell you, Jonathan. Period.”

  “Fine.”

  A dark-haired figure stood thirty feet away, on the other side of the river. Peter Kellerman waved to her, grinning in a gloating way. She fought the urge to wave back with one finger. Peter and Phoe had been friends since high school, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Phoe had carried her rebellious nature, going so far as to change her name after graduation. Named after her grandmother, she decided to stop answering to her formal name, and would no longer acknowledge it, ever. She preferred to simply be known as Phoe, which was short for her last name, Phoenix. Ever since, Peter would bring up her real first name every now and then, perhaps to keep it as a bargaining chip.

  Having spurned his advances long ago, she understood his need to compete with her at every opportunity. Like right then. When she excelled in track in high school, he took up running. When she took gymnastics, he immediately followed suit. When she got interested in hunting down and collecting artifacts, he made it his life’s mission to beat her at her own game.

  “Do you have a reason for that evil grin on your face, Peter?” she called across the river.

  “Why do you assume my grin is evil?” he called back.

  The thing about him that irritated her most was the fact he used the word assume more than most people. “Because I know your smiles and this is one I enjoy the least!”

  “Ah, come on, Phoe,” he teased. “Or should I share an embarrassing secret with the dude about to pee his pants over there?”

  “Don’t you dare!” she warned.

  “Your dilemma is heartrending—truly it is. Use the vines to come over and shut me up. Or, better yet...try to stop me before I find the...” He held up a silver jaguar’s head about the size of a bowling ball. Its dark jeweled eyes glistened in the sun. “Oops, too late...again! Looks like I already located the Head of Olmec! Beaten again...Imagine that!”

  “No!” she shouted angrily.

  He laughed, obviously tickled by the upper hand he had gained. “Truly, I feel your pain, sis. If you come after me to try to take the Head of Olmec, you won’t be able to get back there to save your man in distress. What to do, oh my, what to do?...Well, I wish I could stay and chat, but surely you realize I have to take my shiny new friend someplace warm and dry!”

  “He’s got it! He’s got the Head of Olmec in his hand! I can’t believe it!” Jonathan exclaimed, as if only suddenly aware of what presently transpired between Peter and Phoe.

  “Concentrate on not falling, would you?” said Phoe, glancing back at Jonathan, before returning her attention to Peter.

  Of all the shit Peter had pulled on her, he picked a terrible time to be cute. She began the silent debate about what her client would miss more: the Head of Olmec or his precious son. Meanwhile, Peter made his getaway, disappearing into the jungle. At the same time, the massive stone steps began to retract into the wall. A straight drop into piranha-infested waters was a small fact she had omitted from Jonathon’s awareness, for understandable reasons. But, time to rescue him would run out soon.

  She grabbed the nearest vine and took a three-step lunge to start the pendulum process of swinging back and forth, hoping to gain enough momentum to reach the top step. Jonat
han suddenly noticed the disappearing ledge he was perched upon, whimpering for her to save his ass. Easy does it, Mr. Kessler...two more swings and I’ll....

  He prepared to dive.

  “Don’t do it, Jonathon!”

  “Why? How deep is the river?”

  “Deep enough! Don’t jump unless you want to be eaten by piranhas!”

  “What?!” he cried out in surprise.

  “Yes, piranhas!” she confirmed, while trying to align herself with where he stood.

  “Oh, shit!”

  The ledge pushed him to the edge. He started to fall.

  “Gotcha!” She grabbed onto him, but only had a moment for him to adjust. He had better listen, or they both would be piranha chow in a moment. “Grab onto the vine—I’ve got you!”

  Phoe had just turned twenty-five. The age when things get clearer for most young people, after school, lost friends, and opportunities and regrets from the past are let go, and hope spurs the mindful few to greater things in life. That was her....Her trial and error adventures were like the early stages of a rocket being shed during lift off. As long as she didn’t die right then.

  Jonathon finally listened and, to her surprise, bravely wrapped himself—hands, arms, and legs—tightly around the vine while she continued to hang on to him. But that was just part one of this crazy exercise.

  “Hold on!”

  “I am, damn it!”

  Perhaps he thought she would aim for the trees, and they would then either try to scale them to reach the wall and continue their climb at impossible odds, or they could slide to the ground and start over...or go back from whence they came. Or....

  “Holy shit! Are you insane?!” he shrieked.

  “Maybe!”

  Phoe arched back while hovering dangerously over the river far below. Leaning back dangerously while Jonathon continued to panic. He kept screaming until they reached the very top of the wall.

  “Drop—now!”

  It was an act of faith. Not for her...but for him. Even as she skidded across the rough rock surface, picking up bruises and painful scrapes as she tumbled, she managed to look back. For an instant, she didn’t see him, and thought he had fallen into the river, to a horrific death. But then he landed on top of her with a crunching thud.

  “Aww...shit! Do you mind?” she scolded him, throwing him dangerously close to the edge until she dragged him back to safety.

  Both gasped for breath. When calm enough to move again, she released a huge sigh of relief. Jonathon let out a whoop and holler toward the sky above.

  “We made it!” he enthused.

  “We did,” she agreed, allowing a brief smile in celebration that they remained among the living. But soon the elation faded at the realization they remained in a pickle, while good ole Peter slipped further away. Returning home victorious, to Taos, New Mexico, seemed increasingly unlikely.

  “Now, how do we get down from here, Phoe?” Jonathon asked, his earlier joy evaporating as he tentatively gazed at the river farther below them, and glancing at the rugged terrain to cross through on the other side of the wall.

  “That, my friend, remains the sixty-thousand dollar question.” She allowed her smirk to broaden into a playful smile, and slapped him on the back.

  Time to get going.

  2

  It was a quiet day for Charlotte DeCampos, a friend of Phoe’s mother’s who had agreed to look after the shop when Phoe was away.

  She applied herself to learning every aspect of Simple Treasures. She recalled helping Phoe build the handmade shelves. In fact, it was her idea to make the shop look like a log cabin. She enjoyed managing the inventory, especially the arrowheads, fossils, and well-made replicas of Greek, Roman, and Italian artifacts.

  Charlotte was also the one to find a specialist who knew how to copy artifacts. Almost every time Phoe went on one of her quests, she brought back something rare and unusual. Making replicas for Phoe to sell helped keep the shop in the black. The two women shared the house connected to the back of the shop—and not so much for financial considerations as it was Phoe’s general mistrust of strangers, and wanting to keep a close eye on her store.

  Charlotte also liked to take credit for talking Phoe into moving to Taos, New Mexico in the first place. Perfectly located in northern New Mexico, gaining access to the surrounding area rich in history, culture and people who could afford her artifacts was an easy deal.

  Presently, it had been a slow week. Charlotte was painting her nails when a stranger arrived, hoping to see Phoe. The man stood impatiently at the counter, repeatedly checking his watch. In his late forties, the well-groomed gentleman in an expensive tailored suit huffed loud enough for Charlotte to pause and look up at him.

  “Like I said, she should be here any time,” said Charlotte. “You sure you don’t want a cup of coffee while you wait?”

  “No,” he responded, tersely.

  Charlotte braced herself for another serving of the man’s speech about his time wasted while waiting amounted to more than she’d make in the coming year. Thankfully, however, Phoe and Jonathan burst through the front door. Running late left her boss in a cloudy mood, or maybe it was the sling on Phoe’s right arm.

  “What in the hell happened?” Charlotte nearly spilled her bottle of nail polish as she ran from behind the desk to assist her boss,

  “I’m fine, Charlotte,” said Phoe, her brow furrowed as she looked past her to their visitor. “It’s just a precaution. Gotta love those doctors.”

  “You have a visitor, Phoe,” whispered Charlotte. “He doesn’t want to tell me his name.”

  The well-dressed man turned around, raising an eyebrow in concern. “Jonathan. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, Dad, I think so.” Jonathan smiled weakly.

  “Phoe, we have things to discuss. I prefer someplace private,” said Simon Kessler.

  Phoe motioned for him to follow her to her office. Kessler’s eyes studied the room, and he smirked as his gaze fell upon the mess of paperwork and empty chocolate milk containers on her desk.

  “We have to talk, Phoe,” he said. “The mission was an utter failure.”

  “That depends on what you consider a failure,” she said. She motioned for him to a chair across from hers and they sat down together. “Your son came back in one piece. In fact, it was because of saving him that I lost the Head of Olmec.”

  “I would appreciate if you wouldn’t blame your inadequacies on Jonathan.”

  “If Jonathan wasn’t shadowing me, then I would have the Olmec. Simple as that. How exactly would you like me to rephrase the facts? You may be paying my expenses, but in order for things to work out as they should, you have to let me do what I do alone. Unencumbered.”

  “What you do alone? Yet, you lack the academic degrees and experience to have earned that privilege. As I feared, your inexperience cost you the Olmec, which is not why I funded the expedition!”

  “And yet, you hired me anyway. Spit it out, Simon. You knew I would fail, and that your son would be a liability. Cut the shit and tell me what your game is.”

  Kessler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

  “Have you seen this? It’s from a Swedish online news source.” He handed her a folded slip of paper. She read it and tossed it on the desk, unimpressed.

  “You do realize it’s an April Fool’s joke right? It even states this fact beneath the article, ‘April Fool’s.’ I saw this thing when it came out the first time. Don’t tell me that the great billionaire Simon Kessler has been fooled by something so crazy.”

  “I’m not stupid, Phoe. I know a practical joke.” He picked up the piece of paper and returned it to his pocket. “But this isn’t entirely a joke. Too bad you can’t read between the lines worth a damn.”

  She took the bait.

  “Okay, what? Fine, you got me, Simon. But before you try to entice me with some new pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, you need to state clearly what’s now in it for me. The ant
e’s been upped. Way up.”

  Simon smiled. “On the contrary, Phoe. At last count, since you failed the Olmec mission, you owe me just over forty-five thousand dollars.”

  “What?! You’re frigging crazy!” She got up and headed for the door.

  “Take this on and your entire debt to me will be erased...”

  She paused to listen.

  “And, whether you find anything or not, you won’t have to pay me back for any expenses you accrue.”

  She turned around, holding him in her gaze. “All right. But this time, I want you to give me a credit card with no limit for expenses. Put me on an account as an authorized user if you must. And, I want you to sign a contract stating what you just said. Also, none of your cronies come with me—not even your son. If I decide to take anyone, he or she will be my exclusive pick.”

  It took him a moment to respond, and for a moment he simply stared at her.

  She began to fidget. “Simon, I’m a busy woman. You have exactly twenty seconds to take my offer or get the hell out of here.”

  A slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “So, I am to be given an ultimatum? Good day to you, Phoe.”

  He left her office first, and when Phoe came out a minute later, she looked shock that Simon and Jonathan Kessler were long gone. Charlotte’s response announced she just realized the closed-door meeting hadn’t gone as well as her boss would’ve liked. Charlotte pursued Phoe into her office.

  “Simon was smiling when he left. Did you two make a deal?” She said this sweetly while handing Phoe a twenty-ounce bottle of chocolate milk.

  Phoe forced a sad smile, but her bottom lip quivered. Charlotte watched her move to close up the store for the evening. Phoe then grabbed the DVD copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark—one of her personal favorite movies—and moved past her to the living area of the hybrid house. Charlotte pursued her and placed the DVD in the player when Phoe plopped down on the couch and buried her face in her hands.