Chapter 4 - The Steaming Metal Shell
Dripping wet from head to foot, Jack sloshed out of the shallow river, his brown boots squelching loudly with every cautious step he took onto the grass. He kept his body low, his hands raised in a defensive posture as if he were approaching a sleeping bear.
The dark-metal capsule lay lodged in a deep mound of freshly turned earth at the center of the smoking crater. Its metallic surface radiated intense heat, causing the surrounding air to shimmer and wave. Faint wisps of white steam curled upward toward the blue sky, carrying a strange, ozone-like scent that smelled nothing like ordinary fireworks or military hardware.
Jack stopped about ten feet away from the edge of the pit, his blue eyes wide as he tried to make sense of the scorched object.
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"What the hell..." Jack muttered under his breath, his square jaw set in utter bewilderment.
Suddenly, a clear, high-pitched electronic chirp echoed from deep inside the buried shell. Jack instantly froze, his breath catching in his throat.
