David Golemon: Legend

"Carl!"

"Yeah," the lieutenant commander answered from outside.

"This thing's going to fall free; make sure her nose is pointed in the right direction when she hits the water."

Jack didn't wait for an answer as he reached over and hit Turtle 's cradle release. As he did so, the doors beneath it swung open with an explosive sound. When Turtle was released, the men cringed as its angle smashed the small craft into the opening on her way out of Teacher . Jack and Farbeaux sighed with relief as the sub cleared the doors.

"We'd better go, Colonel."

"I agree," was all the Frenchman said in answer as he quickly swam for the hole in Teacher 's hull.

Turtle hit the water, almost decapitating Sarah as its high-speed jets started up before it hit the water. Carl braved death by reaching out and pushing Turtle 's nose toward the canal and the spot where the inner cave had been before it had gone under. The water jets pushed against the water and Turtle shot outward toward what looked like a solid rock wall. Then it slowly went beneath the surface.

"Okay, let's swim for it," Carl shouted at Sarah just as Jack and Farbeaux surfaced beside them.

As one, they broke for the Supay statue that had totally clogged the opening. They dove deeply. Farbeaux was the first to see the small gap where Supay's pointed ear lay against the stone opening. There was a gap of about two and a half feet. He just hoped they had the time to squeeze through.

Meanwhile, Turtle hurtled through the cave's opening. The setting for her depth had been miscalculated; the canopy struck the top of the mouth of the cave and cracked. As water started to seep in, the aroma of electrical ozone and smoke began to fill the unoccupied compartment of Turtle . The sub entered the canal system and started to climb.

Farbeaux surfaced first and looked around for the others. Sarah popped up, and then Carl.

Jack felt himself grabbed from below and pushed upward. He was grateful for the help as he started to rise. When he broke free to the surface of the lagoon he looked over and had to smile as Will Mendenhall came up next to him, sputtering and spitting out water.

"Good to see you, Lieutenant," Jack said.

"Saw you were a little slow coming up there, Major."

The new second lieutenant had just reached the level of the lagoon after climbing down from the cliff face, when he saw the others come to the surface but not Jack. He dove in after him.

"Let's get the hell out of here!"

Just as Jack said the words, a deep rumbling sounded from all directions. High up where the falls originated, a massive waterspout shot straight up into the air and then the side of the cliff face exploded outward. All the survivors still in the water ducked under, in the hope that the tremendous quantity of debris would somehow miss them. Jack stayed afloat as missiles shot in all directions, but he just had to see, to make sure. He felt Farbeaux next to him.

As they watched, the giant Incan pyramid of El Dorado began to collapse from the inside. The falls, mountainside, and cliff face started to fall inward as the thermonuclear weapon melted stone from within. The weakened stone walls dissolved under the massive attack of gamma rays and fell in.

The witnesses to the death of the legendary El Dorado would never forget how the mine died with an ear-shattering bellow, as the entire northern end of the lagoon collapsed in on itself. The bomb took down a pyramid that had been constructed by ancient man to withstand a tremendous force equal to up to ten tons of TNT.

Farbeaux looked at Jack and not a word was uttered. The Frenchman raised his hand in a halfhearted salute, then turned and swam away. The major watched him go, more confused than ever about the Event Group's most-feared adversary.

"We let him go, Jack."

Collins turned toward Carl, Mendenhall, and Sarah, who were treading water close by.

"This time, he earned it. We'll see him again."

Carl was about to say something when a new sound entered his ears. They turned as one to see a most welcome sight.

It was large and looked like the boat they had seen the day the marines had dropped them off at the tributary, which seemed like years ago now. The men who now lined the rails were beginning to pull the survivors of Teacher and the Zachary expedition from the lagoon. At the bow, a large, heavy-set man in a filthy white shirt, and with a thick five- or six-day growth of beard, stood with a leg propped up on the gunwale. Even from their poor vantage point they could see he was looking straight at them. Jack, Mendenhall, Everett, and Sarah started to swim toward the oncoming boat.

As the boat's engine chugged to a stop only feet from the four swimmers, the man at the bow smiled and removed his cigar.

"You are in distress, gentlemen, oh, and lady?" he asked, a smile evident on his dark features.

Jack spit out a mouthful of water. "Nah, just…" He stopped. He didn't feel like joking; he was beat and worried about his people. He remembered this man's picture from the list of qualified river captains he had originally gazed over, back at the Group complex. He knew what to call him because most of the captains on the list had the same last name. "Captain Santos, isn't it?"

" Si , Capitan Ernesto Santos at your service," he said as he replaced the cigar in his mouth and half bowed toward the four floating Americans.

"Pull us up, Captain, and let's talk business," Jack said as he swam the last few feet to the boat and helped the others secure the dangling cargo net.

Farbeaux gingerly pulled himself out of the water and looked back at the spot where the students and event personnel were being rescued.

The Frenchman saw large bubbles as something swam toward shore and then quickly turned away. He watched as the bubbles diminished. Whatever it was turned around and swam back toward the center of the lagoon, then Farbeaux wanted to look no more. He weighed his options as he watched Santos and his men start picking up the Americans. He decided he and Danielle would take their chances in the forest after the rapids.

As he started to turn away, he saw something floating at the lagoon's edge. He blinked when he recognized what it was. His vision blurred as his heart sank at the sight. He stepped to the water's edge and pulled out the satchel he had strapped onto Danielle. He turned the weightless bag over. His eyes widened when he saw the claw marks that had shredded the thick material. He touched the edges and saw that the marks had wicked up fresh blood. He slowly let the empty satchel fall from his hands as he went to his knees in the fine sand of the lagoon's bank.

He stayed that way, kneeling and looking at the water, for many moments, beating himself. His wife had been killed. Why had he helped the Americans? He closed his eyes and then looked at the now-collapsed El Dorado. Then his eyes went to the Rio Madonna as it picked out the last of the survivors. His eyes narrowed as they focused on the last man pulled out. Jack Collins.

At that moment, the mind of Henri Farbeaux snapped as he took in Collins. He no longer blamed himself for his momentary burst of generosity that had cost his dear wife's life. The person responsible was right there in front of him. Major Jack Collins.

Farbeaux slowly stood and turned toward the jungle. He started walking. Walking and thinking of how he was going to get even with the people who had fooled him into thinking he was human.

Colonel Henri Farbeaux walked into the jungle where he would be as one with the other animals, because that was what he had become in his instantaneous insanity. An animal.