Deep Sea One (10 page)

Purdue would get his colleague, Walter Eickhart, from a prestigious and secret society to facilitate the seamless tour for them by paving the way past the nuisance of permits and visas. Walter could reach beyond the basic red tape of entering the holy landscape where Nina told him a shrine was built. They would find the entrance to a cave just below the altar located there. Dealing with covert operations all over the world for the past thirty years made Walter an expert on fashioning holes for little rats to find their way in without the knowledge of powerful governments.

Purdue had made up his mind. He was going to fund this expedition and get it off the ground as soon as possible.

Nina had her concerns, but she had to stick it out to see how far she could be privy to something this big. If it failed and they hit a dead end, she would have lost nothing but a few weeks, of which she would have spent most of her days battling Matlock and her own ideals anyway. If this turned out to be real, well, she did not even have to consider the magnitude of her career and bragging rights to leave Matlock as nothing but a smear under her boots.

It was late, but the sky was light above Deep Sea One and she could see the restless water offer threats in the dead of night with its foaming tongues and hissing whispers.

Nina was not superstitious and she was certainly far from psychic, but something about this place felt off to her. It truly felt as if the water here was darker than anywhere else in the world. Her skin crawled from more than the cold here. Something sinister lived in these waters, not the monstrous variety one reads about in classic science-fiction novels, but something human, humanly menacing. She felt as if every moment on Deep Sea One was like moving behind enemy lines and it gave her a foreboding sickness in her chest.

Out on the platform she noticed that the skeleton crew was absent entirely. Even though she did not know the precise workings of an oil rig, she reckoned that there should at least have been some men running the night shift.

Footsteps sounded from the corridor. It passed her door and piqued her curiosity. All this profound business of the Spear and its possible location had her adrenaline on overdrive and she was not about to sleep for a long while yet. The rhythm of the footfalls moved toward the north exit onto the platform. Nina pulled on her windbreaker and zipped it up tightly, opened her door and checked the left side of the corridor first, before slipping out of her room to trail the sound that went to the opposite side. The door had just clicked shut when she came out and she stole along the wall in the frail illumination from the security lights outside. They made everything yellow and gave Nina a horrible sense of dread, of abandonment. It reminded her of when she was a little girl and her father took her with him to check on the factory staff who worked nights. Outside the factory it was always empty and sallow with only the howl of the wind to accompany the crunch of their feet on the tarmac gravel stones. The tall posts spat out the same miserable yellow light to expose the building as these on the deck of the platform now did.

Outside on the open platform the wind whipped the loose rubber flags, wailing through the steel poles and webbings of iron that erected the towers. For once the sky was clear and crisp, playing host to the full moon, which shed a lonely blue tinge on the deserted mechanical arms and steel beams. Nina slowly peeked around the doorway where she heard the footsteps leave and caught a glimpse of Purdue as he made his way to the southern building section where the stacked buildings plopped on one another like an overcrowded collection of post-war tenements. Under the silent leer of the small black square windows his frame melted into the shadows. Nina narrowed her eyes.

"Where the hell is he going?" she whispered to herself, pulling up her collar to fight the cold on her neck. Under the main drill tower Purdue stood still and looked about him, then he slipped into a section between two posts. Nina smelled smoke. She hated that smell, like the smell of an old, abusive lover beckoning. It had been too short a while since she quit and she still found it very enticing. Her eye caught billows of it pass by from behind her and she watched the blue smoke get swooped up in the currents of the gale.

"I think he is up to something too," a voice cut the silence behind her and Nina jumped with a little shriek. It was Sam, sucking on a fag while he leaned against the wall at her heel.

"Jesus Christ, Sam! Do you want to give me a fucking heart attack?" she hissed through clenched teeth, taking care not to speak too loudly. Sam smiled. It was that same smile he always gave her when she did something amusing. But he said nothing further and just motioned with his head for her to return her attention to Purdue. They watched him enter a lift, but it was not a typical platform elevator. It was a cocoon of what looked like fiberglass and a frame of some unknown silver metal, which could withstand pressure and corrosion.

"He is talking to someone," Nina whispered. Sam finished his cigarette and dropped it to the ground where he snuffed it with his boot sole. He leaned over Nina's shoulder, not too close to make her uncomfortable but close enough that she could pick up his scent on her hair. She wanted to close her eyes from the sensation, but Purdue had her interest locked.

There were two other men with him—large men who reminded Sam and Nina much of Ziv Blomstein. He seemed to be giving them orders and they nodded in the shadows as his elevator closed.

"I bet you the bastard has a cushy patch of luxury on the sub level," Sam whispered.

"I would have to concur," said Nina, "no way is he sharing it with his . . . employees, either. Asshole."

"Pardon, Dr. Gould and Mr. Cleave," a deep thunderous voice spoke from the rail of the balcony above them, "but Mr. Purdue asked us to lock up the quarters for the evening, if you don't mind." They started at the sudden appearance of the tall blond man who spoke with a heavy German accent.

"How did you know we were here?" Nina asked.

"We saw the orange burning of Mr. Cleave's cigarette from over there," he smiled coldly. "Those things will be the death of you . . ." he added and cast a special look of warning to Sam, ". . . especially if you smoke while you are hiding in the dark."

"Noted," Sam replied, and placed his hand lightly on Nina's back to usher her back inside. She and Sam exchanged glances of similar distrust for the undertone of their confinement and both of them felt the same menacing feeling they had when they were about to be killed in Antarctica.

"I don't like the smell of this," she whispered, as they paced down the corridor with the external door slamming hard behind them. The lock was fastened with a cold steely noise that voiced more of an imprisonment than closing quarters for the night.

"Me neither, Nina, but you have to keep in mind what magnitude of legend we are dealing with here. If anything in that book is accurate and Purdue chooses to entertain the potential of such a find, we are involved in one of the biggest discoveries of modern world history," Sam said.

"That fails to bring me any consolation, old boy," she answered, with a tone shivering with concern. As they got to Nina's door she opened it and turned in the doorway to look at Sam. He looked tired, but focused.

Sam took her by her upper arms and spoke softly, "Remember one thing—they need us. Nothing can happen to us while Purdue needs us, so don't think of updating your last will and testament just yet." He winked, but she found it annoying that the journalist had read her mind so effortlessly.

"I know, I know, but somehow I feel that the fuse is much shorter than we realize and I fear that since translating that book it seems to be burning down to the stick at an alarming rate, Sam," she caught her breath with her words.

"We are going to Nepal with him to see this thing through and soon we'll be laughing over a single malt about our unfounded paranoia while we wipe our asses with paper money," Sam feigned humor and lied to himself to cheer Nina up.

"I can see through your bullshit, Cleave," she said, and smiled, "but the ruse is appreciated nonetheless. Just . . ." He eagerly awaited her words. ". . . just refrain from fucking smoking around me." Sam chuckled and left her with a curtsy to try to get his night's rest.

They would soon depart for Nepal, as Purdue had suggested to them earlier. Both Nina and Sam could not help but infuse their brew of excitement with a tot of fear and uncertainty, but whatever happened, it would be a most interesting hunt that would shape both their futures or rob them of any.

☼

Chapter 14

"If I may, Mr. Purdue, what are we waiting for?" Sam asked suddenly, seeing as he and Nina had been eyeing each other with equal curiosity as to the delay in their flight to south central Asia and its waiting wonders.

"My bodyguard is on the way. I hope you don't mind waiting just a few more minutes. The weather is rather temperamental this morning," Purdue answered.

"No, of course we don't mind waiting a bit longer," Nina smiled, and nursed a hot mug of tea between her palms.

"We had no idea the weather would be this bad today," Purdue replied, looking up at the dark weeping skies through the panoramic window of the second-story buildings that overlooked the bare platform.

Nina frowned. Deep Sea One had the best weather prediction technology on earth—radar, sonar and satellite systems to boot—yet they had no idea that such a storm would break? She looked down on the workmen outside. They were fewer than the previous day's shift. Perhaps she was being too suspicious of everything Purdue ran, but the oil workers were decidedly inactive.

"I see you are running with a skeleton crew today," she mentioned, as she stood closer to Purdue.

"Oh, yes, we cannot run at full capacity in this weather. I would rather consider my men's safety before production. After all, it's not as if I need the money enough to put their lives in danger," the billionaire boasted with a smirk.

You certainly are a smooth asshole, Mr. Purdue,
she thought to herself, while her mock-innocent smile deceived him. Sam was quiet and caught in his own world, but his dark eyes met hers for but a moment in agreement and she knew he was nurturing the same reservations.

"Ah! Here they are now," Purdue cheered and put down his cup.

A red and black Jet Ranger circled the platform, fading in and out of view as the gusts brought sheets of rain over Deep Sea One, obscuring the helicopter from view at intervals.

"Your bodyguard?" Sam asked, lamenting the prescience of another static shell of steroids and attitude keeping them all in line. Another lapdog following the mad explorer to the gates of folly and beyond was just what they needed to drain what little exhilaration welled in them for this expedition.

"That's correct, Mr. Cleave!" he heard Purdue's voice dwindling in the rush of the noise. "As soon as Gary refuels, we will be on our way to the airstrip and then off to India. Have your gear and luggage ready in thirty minutes!"

Nina raised her eyebrow, "Well, at least we won't be stuck on this godforsaken pile of rubble in the middle of the ocean anymore."

"Always the optimist, aren't you?" Sam teased.

"I just hope to God we don't have to deal with another misogynistic asshole swinging his dick every time he feels intimidated," Nina sighed.

"Rest assured, darling," a woman's voice chimed from the doorway behind them, "nothing intimidates me . . ."

Sam and Nina turned to find Calisto leaning against the doorway, her duffle bag slung over one shoulder and a protein bar in the other. Their jaws dropped at the sight of the beautiful dark-eyed woman with prominent cheekbones and broad shoulders. She took another bite of her protein bar and continued, ". . . and I keep my dick nicely tucked, Dr. Gould." Calisto winked at the petite lady and dropped her bag at her feet.

"So, when are we leaving?" she asked, with her cheeks stuffed.

Sam was deeply entertained, but Nina could not decide on an opinion of the powerful woman in the jeans and hoodie. Apparently she did not care to dress like Purdue's bodyguard either and her casual clothing forced Nina to feel a bit more at ease with her.

"I . . . I don't really . . ." Nina stuttered, still taken aback by the nonchalant bodyguard with the refreshing wit. Then again, compared to the late Ziv Blomstein the marble statues of Michelangelo had prolific personalities.

"Mr. Purdue said we leave in thirty," Sam chipped in to save Nina any more embarrassment. It was blatantly obvious that she was astonished by the presence of the robust security expert.

Calisto nodded in acknowledgment. An awkward silence between the three provoked Sam to introduce himself purely out of obligation, although he was certain that Calisto already knew who he was. Her handshake was firm and quick, not at all like the limp attempts of most ladies.

"Calisto Fernandez," she smiled, as she shook Nina's hand.

Over the vastness of the restless ocean the waves calmed and the gales tired somewhat, softening their rage to a mere moan. It was uncanny how the weather stilled perceptibly around the oil rig.