The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2) (10 page)

“That sounds like my Sam.”

To the very left of it, a small hole had been drilled, just
big enough for the two to swim through. On the other side, the tunnel narrowed
and descended vertically. At the very bottom, Tom turned down the tunnel to the
left.

“What’s that way?” she asked.

“About a million tons of concrete. That’s the side that had
the leak. It’s been filled with concrete, and the owner of the mine is paying
for it to be repaired and then excavated from the other side.”

“Gotcha…”

They dived the next hundred feet down the diagonal tunnel,
which ran along the inside of the pyramid.

The pressures were tremendous and the tunnel narrow, playing
havoc on the most seasoned diver’s emotions. Many, without any previous
knowledge of claustrophobia, would discover a fate worse than death in such a
place.

“How you doing?” Tom asked.

“I’m fine… I’ve been in much worse places than this,” she
teased.  “How about you?”

An image of the incident that nearly killed him last time he
was inside the pyramid’s tunnel flashed across his mind. It was no more than a
second, but enough to give him pause before he spoke.

“I’m fine… just so long as the walls don’t cave in on me
this time.”

He shined his bright flashlight down the tunnel. Its
powerful LED light shined like a laser, reaching the bottom of the pyramid.

“There it is… the bottom.”

“I can see it.”

Making the sharp turn, and with self-regulating neutral
buoyancy built into their dive suits, it was disorientating whether or not they
were now moving laterally, diagonally or vertically. Tom, a confident cave
diver, felt the reassurance of bubbles floating on the top of the granite
blocks above their heads, allowing him to orient himself.

They were now level.

A little over a hundred slow kicks with his fins and the
opening to the first of the three chambers came into view.

It still glowed.

“It’s glowing?” Billie voiced her surprise.

“Yeah, it sure is.”

“Do we know what’s causing that incandescent light?”

“Some sort of large crystal at the center of the King’s
Chamber that radiates straight through each level of the tomb.”

“Somehow drawing light from above?” she suggested.

He kicked his flippers gently, propelling himself closer to
the entrance ladder, and replied, “No, that’s what we assumed at first, too.
Then, when we stayed overnight, the light seemed to just keep glowing.”

“Any ideas what would make that happen?”

“None. We were hoping you might just find out for us, because
we sure don’t have any idea.”

“Must be some sort of marine creature… or element that
radiates light…”

“No, it’s not that simple…

“What do you mean?” Billie’s voice betrayed her surprise,
“Why not?”

Sam gripped the first rung of the ladder before replying, “You’ll
just have to see it. Can you make it up that ladder?”

“Sure can,” she replied, climbing with the additional 80
pounds of dive equipment as though it were nothing. She was fit, that was for
sure.

Tom followed her and, climbing into the first of the three
chambers, removed his dive helmet.

Billie paused, “Are we certain it’s safe?”

“The cyanide?”

“I’m an archeologist, but even I know how lethal it can be.”

“It’s safe, but just in case, our life support watches will
let us know if there are any changes.”

“And the air in this room?”

“It’s good. We should have several days’ worth of oxygen to
look after us.”

Tom left all of the equipment they would need for the next
few days at the first chamber, and they climbed the ladders to the second and
then up and into the last one. The King’s Chamber.

Watching her enter the room, Tom saw her reaction
immediately…

“Motherfucker! He’s found the Master Builders…”

Sam gripped the throttle of his dive scooter, propelling
himself towards the dark tunnel ahead. Two had already been searched
thoroughly, but this was the first opportunity that he’d had to travel through
any of them.

The tunnel was wide, providing ample room to maneuver the
specialized underwater craft. With its narrow lines, it resembled a miniature
torpedo more than the life sustaining dive machine that it was. Its propellers
broke hydrogen bonds that formed to create water, releasing oxygen for the
rider. In addition to its carbon fiber dive tank, it had the ability to provide
enough breathable gas for its rider, up to 5 hours.

He wasn’t going to need anywhere near that length of time
today. Instead, Sam planned a simple half an hour trip to see how far he could
get. He’d already seen the sonar images of the tunnels – now he wanted to see
it with his own eyes. Searching for the Mahogany Ship, which had managed to
remain hidden for so many years, required something more along the lines of as
well as science.

Once the timer on his scooter read 30 minutes, he dutifully
brought it to a stop and examined his surroundings. The landscape of the tunnel
had change little throughout the time. It was a combination of more than a
hundred limestone caves, joined together and eaten away from eons of erosion by
the water through the soft rock.

This one was no different.

Around him, he noted that the tunnel, although reasonably
wide, would never have permitted a ship as enormous as the Mahogany Ship to
travel down its path. He thought about it for a minute or two, and then took a
sample from the limestone silt, placing it in a tube marked ‘Tunnel Three.’ If
a ship had ever passed through this place, he was going to find some evidence
of it through a detailed analysis of the microscopic particles found inside
that tube.

Finding a shipwreck is an art, but that’s no reason to
ignore science…

Over the next few hours Sam proceeded to make the same
investigations of each of the five tunnels. The water was cold, but it wasn’t
freezing. His dry suit had an inbuilt heating device, which had maintained his
core body temperature at a comfortable 98 degrees Fahrenheit.

When he returned to the dive platform, Michael and Frank
were already waiting for him.

“You all right Sam?” Frank asked, helping take some of the
heavy weight of his dive equipment off him as he climbed the ladder.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You were down there longer than I was expecting.”

“I was just getting a feel for these caverns. You’d be
surprised by how much you can learn by watching the flow of water through
tunnels such as these. The old gold miners who panned for gold used to
understand the river systems better than we do today. A good gold prospector
would watch the river for days and days before digging his spade into a single
chip of soil. By doing so, he could ascertain where the heavier, gold filled,
sumps might be.”

“And what did these rivers tell you?” Frank sounded
interested.

“I don’t know yet. I’ve taken core samples where any man-made
products might become lodged. Still, it’s been hundreds of years since the
Mahogany Ship disappeared, so who knows what could possibly remain? As for the
river system herself?” Sam’s intense, steel blue eyes, stared at the man,
before he said, “Despite two of the five tunnels being large enough for her to
come down, there’s only one in which she could actually have made it down without
tearing herself apart on the rapids.”

“So then we only have to explore the largest of the
tunnels?”

“No, the reality is, it could be somewhere upstream of all
five of the tunnels. Just because the coin made it down doesn’t mean that the
Mahogany Ship ever made it this far. Your boss isn’t going to be impressed, but
there’s a very high probability that, if the ship ever entered this river
system, she’s resting hundreds of miles further upstream.”

“Which means…”

“It might take months, if not years, to explore all of the
tunnels.”

*

“Okay, let’s get the gear,” Billie said. A wry smile over
her beautiful face told him that she wasn’t going to talk about them.

Tom decided that he’d had enough of the cloak and dagger
story. He was running this show. Whatever involvement the Master Builders may
have in this, he had a right to know. He said, gently touching her shoulder to
stop her, “Who were they?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No more lies, Billie. Sam brought you here for a very
specific reason, didn’t he? And I have an idea it had something to do with the
Master Builders.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Tell me. Or you can go back to whatever it was you were
doing in Antarctica before Sam dragged you out here.”

Billie looked like she was seriously considering abandoning
the site. Then she turned to face him. Her almond-shaped brown eyes stared at
his and then conceded. “These markings here,” she whispered. “They were made by
them. Only, there’s never been any evidence that they ever made it across the
Atlantic, until now…”

“But who were they?”

“They were builders – engineers to be exact, and very good
ones. Think of the ancient wonders of the world.”

“I’m not an archeologist, but I thought the Egyptians built
the Pyramids?”

“That’s what we thought until recently, but since then new
evidence has shown that a superior race, known as the Master Builders, built
them all…”

“So why wasn’t the information published?”

“That, my friend, is an interesting question. I’m sure your
friend Sam Reilly is probably one of the few people on this planet who know the
real answer.”

“Afghanistan, 2003?” Tom knew exactly what she was referring
too, but didn’t know why.

“Come on… you never believed for an instant that your friend
was honorably discharged after three weeks in the Sandpit?”

“No, and he never told me what happened, so I didn’t ask.”

She sighed. “Yeah, well he broke a code, and opened the
doors to an otherwise unreachable research path. And the existence of the
Master Builders came to the attention of the National Security Agency.”

“The NSA?” Tom looked confused. “What would they care about
some ancient civilization?”

“Okay Tom, have you been to Egypt and stood at the base of
the Pyramid of Giza?”

“Yeah, many years ago. Sam and I went there on our summer
break.”

“Do you honestly think a four-thousand-year old civilization
could have built something like that using technologies that predated the
invention of the wheel?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard all the stories before. It’s an
amazing feat, but somehow they managed it. I read a theory once about using
really big whips or something.”

“It doesn’t matter. Have you ever wondered if we could build
the same structure using modern technologies?” Billie asked.

“The thought’s never entered my mind. Why?”

“The answer is, we’re still not capable of it. Each of those
blocks weighs as much as 15 tons. To place one at the top of the 481-foot pyramid
would be impossible. Each block is so perfectly positioned that not even a hair
could be slid through it.”

“Okay, so how did they do it?”

“They didn’t.”

“Who did then?”

“The Master Builders.”

“What, like aliens?” Tom laughed, and then noticing she was
serious, said, “Okay, so how did they do it?”

“No one knows, but if a civilization that lived more than
4000 years ago had technologies superior to ours today, we want to know about
it. And if their knowledge is still out there, then the U.S. military perceives
that as a threat.”

“And that’s what Sam got himself involved in?”

“Yes,” she whispered, as though someone could somehow be
listening to them at this depth, inside a granite vault. “Only, they were
watching him. He never told me what he was involved in, specifically. He
brought me the information he needed analyzed and that was it. But I knew he
was being watched. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore, and that was when
he returned to the ocean, and to working for his dad.”

“Or did he get a lead he knew was going to get him killed?”

“Like what?” She asked.

“Maybe he discovered something and knew his only hope would
be to find it when others weren’t looking?”

“Only Sam can answer that question.”

Tom focused and then said, “So, where did these Master
Builders go? What killed them off?”

“We have no idea. In fact, there have been theories to
suggest that they never died, but there has been no evidence.”

“An entire civilization more advanced than we are lived 4000
years ago and there’s no proof that they existed or died out? Seems pretty
farfetched to me.”

“Not an entire civilization… only a handful of people.”

“What do you mean? I thought these people built the
pyramids?”

“They were the engineers. They were hired by the kings and
rulers of the day to build grand things and then instructed thousands of slaves
to perform the tasks. Slaves who, without their guidance, could never have
built anything so mighty.”

“So what was the most recent build of the Master Builders?”

“The Pyramid of Giza – nearly 4000 years ago. Until now. Sam
tells me this pyramid appears to be less than 1000 years old. Now, unless there
was some kind of cataclysmic oceanic event that no one has even heard of in the
past 1000 years, which has submerged this pyramid, I would say the ability to
build more than 200 feet underwater a perfectly-shaped pyramid, so exacting as
to entrap air inside its three chambers so that 1000 years later we are able to
breath unaided here, makes this place pretty much impossible.”

“If Sam knew they were here, why did he involve you, or
anyone for that matter? Why not fill the entire place with concrete, cocooning
it for another 1000 years?”

“Because, like me, he needs to find the answers.”

“But, if he’s so obsessed with secrecy, why not stay here
himself?”

“I’ve no idea why he’s chasing the Mahogany Ship, but he
brought me in on the secret, and knows that I won’t betray him.” Billie took a
photo of the ancient text on the wall above her.

“What is it?”

“It’s an old text, written in a very old language.”

Tom looked around the room.

It appeared to be cram packed with pictographs and
hieroglyphics. He hadn’t even considered whether it was a language. “Egyptian?”

“Sort of – to anyone other than an expert in the Egyptian
language, it would appear to be just that.”

“But?”

“Most of this room is filled with Mayan texts, but not this
one here. This one stands out as something entirely different. It’s much older
than Egyptian, more difficult to understand, and only ever used by the Master
Builders.”

“How many people know this language, if it even exists?”

“I’m not sure. There’s myself, Sam, and an unidentified man
from the NSA. We think Russia and France may have their own team working on it.
Even we don’t fully grasp the meaning of all of it. But, I’m pretty certain Sam
and I are ahead in the race to crack it fully.”

“What does it say?”

“I don’t know precisely. It’s just words. Nothing that makes
sense. I’ll have to put it into my laptop to get a better translation.”

“And it’s definitely created by the Master Builders?”

“Sam thinks so. We don’t even know for certain the Master
Builders were real. In some Egyptian texts, they are referred to as the Ancient
Ones.”

“All right. Why don’t you finish taking these pictures and
I’ll go retrieve the laptops. Then, maybe we can get to the bottom of this damn
thing.”

“Sounds good, thanks.”

Tom spent the next half an hour carrying her laptop and
equipment up to the King’s Chamber. Walking into it, he noticed her tall, lithe
figure standing on top of the sarcophagus. She was in her element. And she
looked happy. He stood there quietly for a minute or so, and then realized he
could have watched her all day.

She was beautiful, intelligent, and one of the most single-mindedly
focused people he’d ever met. And she had by far the foulest language of any
person holding a doctorat
e
. The thought made him laugh.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” she asked, leaning a
little further outward.

“The fact that, for a leading expert in an ancient language,
you have the worst use of explicit English words.”

Above, Tom could hear her chuckle at his comment without
taking her attention off what she was doing. As she leaned further out, the
back of her loose fitting shirt lifted up, revealing a slim back and a tattoo
of a pyramid on top of a mountain.

He couldn’t help but feel that it made her look sexy, while
at the same intriguing his imagination.
Where did that pyramid come from?
He
wanted to ask her, but there were too many other questions on his mind, and
besides, he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he’d been staring.

She took another couple of pictures and then turned to climb
down again.

Tom’s eyes, distracted by her tattoo and the top of her black
sexy underwear, now noticed, tucked into the back of her pants, a Glock.

Why the hell would she be carrying that?

Billie then jumped down and switched on her laptop. Her
camera was automatically synchronized with her computer.

She ran the data.

“What do you think?” Tom asked, careful not to mention that
he’d just noticed she was carrying a weapon.

“I’m not sure yet. It’s currently running a decoding
program,” she said. Tapping a number of keys in quick succession, Billie turned
and said, “Okay – that proves it. They’re definitely a match. This chamber was
built by the Master Builders.”