The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2) (9 page)

“Five tunnels, you mean?”

“No, three tunnels. At this stage, we’re working on the
theory that the gold must have come from further up the tunnel, which is where
we will find the Mahogany Ship, if it was ever here.”

“Okay, each of them are going to be a bit more trouble. You
see, there, the tunnels open into more tunnels, which then open into yet more
tunnels. To complicate things more, the tunnel depths change dramatically, both
raising and dropping more than a hundred feet. At some sections, it’s wide like
this cavern, but in others, it begins narrow enough that you and I might only
just reach our way through it. In other words, it’s going to be a cave diver’s
nightmare.”

“No, this is the type of challenge we dream about, but it’s
going to take some time.” It had already become clear to Sam that it could take
years for a team of divers to explore this underwater labyrinth.

“Time that we don’t have,” Rodriguez said, as he came down
the mine elevator.

“No, I understand that. So, we’re going to have to narrow
our field of search a little.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Okay, I’ve laid eyes on her… now let’s get the rest of my
equipment down here, and I’ll show you just how we’re going to solve this
mystery.”

The Sea King helicopter dropped the new team of arrivals on
the deck of the Maria Helena. Keeping its rotors turning as the passengers
disembarked, the pilot took off again, as though the precious minutes it took
to fully allow its rotors to cease spinning was too much. They were the latest
of a set of arrivals who’d come to assist in their work uncovering the
underground pyramid and its mysteries. It was the third inflight the past 24
hours, and the Maria Helena was starting to fill up, mostly with scientists,
engineers and microbiologists.

Tom Bower shook his head.

It had never ceased to amaze him how much a man like Sam
Reilly could obtain when he thought it was important. Even if, in this case, he
was making certain that Michael Rodriguez was going to foot the bill for every
piece of equipment that had arrived. But it wasn’t equipment that surprised
him. It was the professionals who came. Each one the top of their respective
field, they had been brutally poached from whatever expedition or project they
had formally been working on and whisked from any location on earth to help.

To do so required money and power. Both of which, Sam’s
family had in abundance.

He looked at the flight manifest. Ignoring the other three
passengers, whose roles would most likely be limited to that of lab technicians
aboard to examine artifacts and sea life, Tom’s eyes reached the name of the
man he wanted to meet.

Dr. Bill Swan.

The four passengers stepped out of the helicopter and moved
towards the main cabin with military efficiency. Each one carried an identical
large duffle bag over his shoulder. They could have all been top of their field
scientists – nerds – but they meant business.

Tom took notice of the only woman amongst the new arrivals,
as the only one who didn’t appear to be a scientist. Her features were clearly
part Southeast Asian, but her height betrayed her European heritage. She was
wearing olive cargo pants and a light tank top. Her face displayed all the
signs of a person who hadn’t slept much in the past 24 hours. There were slight
bags under her almond shaped hazel eyes and her messy dark hair had been tied
back in a careless ponytail, a pair of Ray Bans propped on top.

Matthew shook her hand as he greeted them all at the rear of
the Maria Helena, and despite her obvious fatigue, she responded with a warm
smile, full of perfect white teeth. She could have been a model.  

I bet that smile’s gotten her whatever she wanted many times
before…

Tom wondered what such a beautiful woman was doing aboard
their ship. Already, he’d decided to make it his mission to find out. He would
have approached her directly, but first he needed to meet the new archeologist
Sam had sent him. Work would have to take priority over pleasure.

Tom approached Matthew after the group of new arrivals were
shown to their respective living quarters, “Have you seen this person?” Tom
pointed to the name Bill Swan, “This man.”

“Bill, the archeologist?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Sure have…” Matthew laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Did Sam tell you that Bill was the best archeologist he’s
ever met?”

“Sure did. In fact, he told me specifically, that he has
asked him to join Global’s Deep Sea Expeditions since old man Reilly first put
him up to running the project, but each time was rejected. This was the first
one that grabbed Bill’s attention enough to bring him out. Why, do you know
him?”

“Yeah, I’ve never met Bill. But I’ve heard the rumors.”
Matthew’s left eyebrow was raised, as though he was trying to hint at
something, “Sam’s been trying to get Bill to join his team for nearly a decade.
Rumor has it they studied together at college, but I’ve heard that it was more
personal than just that. Either way, I don’t know how he’s managed to persuade
Bill to join us…” Matthew then laughed again, “Only it’s not Bill… its Billie. She
often uses the name Bill on her dissertations, because in our apparently equal
world, people still take more notice of a man’s view.”

“Holy shit! You mean that angel who came in just then is the
archeologist that I have to look after for the next two weeks until Sam gets
back?”

“That’s the one, you lucky bastard.”

It was at that point that the angel returned.

“Matthew, I just spoke to Veyron…” she said, her waspish
voice betraying her adorable face in a second. “That fucking asshole sends a
couple of his goons to pick me up and virtually drag me from a research core
sampling station, 20 miles deep, in Antarctica, a week before my two-year
project reached its conclusion, starts telling me a whole bunch of bullshit
about finding one of the greatest archeological discoveries of this century – and
now I find out he’s not even here. I don’t even know how he found me…”

Matthew just smiled at her as she stopped her rant.

“How did he find me?” she asked. “Has that fuckwit been
keeping secret tabs on me again? You know that’s why I left him last time. I
was sick of the secret bullshit that seemed to follow him wherever his projects
led. So, Matthew, tell me… where the fuck is he, and what’s more important to
him than this amazing discovery?”

“The Mahogany Ship,” Tom replied, not making an attempt to
conceal the grin that beamed across his face.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I suppose I’m the man who’s going to be your tour guide of
the deep blue sea over the next couple weeks until Sam returns.”

“Billie, meet Tom Bower. Sam’s Director of Operations and
the Maria Helena’s helicopter pilot. He’s been friends with Sam since they were
kids,” Matthew said.

“You’re Tom Bower?” She looked him up and down with what
appeared almost like admiration. “I kind of expected you to be bigger. Sam
spoke a lot about you while we were at college. You both became helicopter
pilots for the Corps… only he got out and you stayed and served your country at
the Sandpit …”

That’s strange. He neglected to mention anything about
attending college with a half-Asian goddess with a foul mouth…

Instead of mentioning it, Tom replied, “Yeah that would be
me. You two must have been pretty close. You sound like you know him pretty
well.”

A crooked smile appeared, but even that looked delicious.

“Yeah, you could sure say that again.”

There was obviously a past between the two of them, but she
certainly wasn’t going to be forthcoming about it.

Matthew, on the other hand, held no such restraint, “Sam and
Billie have a past that goes way back… Are you kidding me, you haven’t heard
the story?”

“No…” Tom started to reply, but was interrupted.

“And he’s not going to either,” Billie said. “So, he’s
finally discovered the Mahogany Ship, hey?”

“Sounds like it,” Tom replied.

“Okay, I have to actually run this ship, so I’ll leave you
two to get better acquainted,” Matthew said.

“Thanks, Matthew,” she said. “So, why aren’t you there?”

“What do you mean? I’m looking after his real work.”

“I thought you two were like best buds or something.”

“So what?”

“So, Sam Reilly’s been after the Mahogany Ship since he was
a boy, searching for it with his dad! No wonder he left this project in an
instant. He’s been obsessed with it ever since I met him. What I don’t
understand is why he wanted to go after it alone?”

“Yeah, well that makes two of us.” His recent feeling of
betrayal echoing in his voice, Tom said, “It sounds like the Mahogany Ship’s
already been discovered and he just had to go there to make certain it was
over, and didn’t want to lose what we’ve discovered here.”

“All right, so what have we discovered here?”

Tom looked around, determining which of the newcomers were
within earshot of their conversation. He trusted the crew of the Maria Helena,
but who could say where the loyalties of the specialists who just arrived might
lay?

He walked to the back of the boat, where their conversation
was less likely to be heard by anyone else aboard. “How much did Sam tell you
about it?”

“Not much.”

“Really?” He didn’t believe her. “You left your project of
two years, and flew half way across the planet, to join a man I’m not even
convinced you like, at a new project, which you know nothing about?”

“Like I said, a couple of his goons literally dragged me off
my research station in the Antarctic. All Sam told me on the phone was that he
found what appears to be a very old Mayan Tomb in the shape of a pyramid, at
the bottom of the ocean. Don’t get me wrong, that sounds pretty interesting,
but nothing that couldn’t wait until next winter, after the hurricane season.
He certainly didn’t suggest that he’d discovered Atlantis or something like
that!”

“Did he tell you how big it was?”

“No.”

“Well its big… you just need to look at it for yourself. Anything
I say about it won’t do it justice. It appears a local mine damaged part of it
while blasting deep below the pyramid, releasing a thousand-year-old cyanide
store, which set into motion the destruction of most the sea life within the
Gulf of Mexico.”

“How did you get around that?”

“We’ve filled the section with concrete. A team of mining
engineers are now installing a more substantial plug on the other side of their
mine’s tunnel. We’re now excavating our side of the pyramid again. There’s more
to go, but there will be enough for you and me to enter the pyramid.”

“Anything else that might shed some sort of explanation for
why Sam was so insistent on bringing me in on this case? Anything that can help
before we dive tomorrow?”

“Yeah, do the words Master Builders mean anything to you?”

Billie’s face didn’t change at all, as she replied, “No,
never heard the words before. Certainly not in the Mayan culture.” It was so
casual, that Tom’s experience working as a SEAL kicked in –
did she already
have an answer to that question prepared?

“Not at another site or project you and Sam worked on
previously, perhaps?”

“Not any that I can recall, but I know that Sam’s worked
with a number of archeologists over the years for a variety of projects. I’m
sorry, Tom. It was nice to meet you. I’ll see you first thing in the morning,
say 5 a.m.? I have to check on something.”

“Yeah, 5 a.m. I’ll see you at the moon pool. Welcome aboard,
Billie. Let me know if I can do anything for you.”

She nodded her head and left quickly.

*

At 0500 sharp, the diving bell began its slow journey to the
bottom of the ocean. Neither spoke as it descended, and Tom noticed that the
slightest appearance of concern had not left her face since he’d first
mentioned the words Master Builders.

“You said that you studied with Sam?” Tom asked.

“That’s right. Why do you ask?”

“You studied archeology… what else did you major in?”

“Ancient maritime archeology.”

“You were looking for Atlantis?”

She laughed, “No, I’m searching for something very
different, and much more elusive.” Billie said, mysteriously. “Not that I don’t
believe Atlantis existed. That’s for certain, but the shape of the world would have
been very different all those years ago. It was probably some other land-based
civilization that became buried with the turn of an ice age.”

“Then what drew you towards the ocean?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Was that how you met Sam?” he pestered.

“No, that’s a different story.” Her smile told him that
there was a lot more to it than that, but that she wasn’t going to reveal her
and Sam’s history. “Let’s just say, I’m a third generation archeologist, and
I’m still trying to find the answer to a question which plagued my grandfather
his entire life.”

“What was he looking for?”

“Materiana – A mythical lost city in the clouds.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Tom acknowledged.

“The search for its answers drove my grandfather insane – or
so we thought, until it got him killed.  Obviously, someone took interest in
his research.”

“Did your father continue with his research?”

“No, my father knew better. There are people out there who
would kill to find it, and those who would kill to keep it a secret.”

“And that’s what you were searching for in Antarctica?”

She looked out the porthole and replied, “No, that’s just
what drove me to the field of maritime archeology. Like my father, I know when
something is too dangerous.”

Her evasive answer only served to intrigue him more, but he
could see that he was making her uncomfortable.

“Was it Sam who introduced the Master Builders into your
world?”

She ignored the question and continued reading the known
schematics for the mine below the pyramid from her tablet.

There was no way Billie was going to be pushed into speaking
about the Master Builders – even though they were now deep under water, where
prying ears would struggle to listen.

As the dive bell reached the bottom, the two geared up and
prepared to commence their dive.

“Are you ready for this?”

“Let’s see it…”

The tower looked grand up ahead.

“It’s not as large as Sam made out. It looks similar to the
great pyramid of Giza, but nowhere near large enough.”

“Just wait until you see what lies beneath the sand. Veyron
has left a dive hub on the seafloor, in front of the pyramid’s entrance. A
place where we can base ourselves over the next few days while we work.”

Slowly, they kicked their fins toward the entrance, and then
descended the tunnel. At the very end of the tunnel, his flashlight shined on
the remains of the wrecked Sea Witch.

“Yours?” she asked.

“That one was Sam’s idea. He used it to stop the flooding of
the mine below us. A desperate attempt, and one that nearly got us killed – but
it saved a lot of lives.”