David Golemon - Legend

"Jesus, Major," was all Mendenhall could say.

Sanchez stared in horror at what lay before him. They had all seen casualties before in the Gulf conflicts, but nothing could measure up to this scene. Sanchez looked at the sword he had been holding like a prize and let it slide from his fingers.

"Before we bury them, we have to get the science people over here to look them over," said Jack. "Come on, let's move. The manifest says there are more than just these people. We may have survivors."

As authoritative as he sounded, Jack was losing confidence in finding anyone else alive.

Jack had already posted the roster for the night watch teams and kept the 50 percent alert status for the duration. Upon returning from the shore and turning over the Spanish sword to the sciences, the boat had been abuzz with the knowledge that Padilla had actually been in the valley, that the legend was no longer that, but reality. Jenks had sounded the loud navigation horn three times just in case there were survivors from the Zachary expedition hidden out in the jungle. It sounded in two-minute intervals but no one came forth. Since the loud intrusion of sound, the rain forest around the lagoon had grown unnaturally silent.

Virginia and the others had brought back the body of one of the students for a closer examination. The others had been hastily buried in the sand. Sarah had voiced the opinion that the bodies had not been disturbed by whatever animal had killed them because of the protection of the small creatures that inhabited the waters of the lagoon. The little monkeys had watched from the shadows of the trees where the men had done their grisly work of gathering up and burying the remains. Several mumbles and sighs were heard from the creatures as the bodies were covered with sand.

The repairs to Teacher progressed well through the evening. The only item that would remain after the night would be the repair to the number two engine. Remounting it and replacing the shaft would take most of three full days, but Jenks foresaw no problems in getting it back to 100 percent. They would need that engine to traverse the rapids outside of the lagoon. It was only sheer luck they had a backup shaft in ship's stores.

"Ready on ballast pumps," Jenks called as he flipped the switch and started filling Teacher 's ballast tanks to take her low into the water so her bottom windows could have a better view of the lagoon itself.

The crew heard the sound of the pumps as water was let into the four massive tanks lining the boat's inner hull. All hands watched the windows as the huge boat started to settle into the water. Now exactly half of her was below the surface of the strange lagoon. The fantail was only six inches above the waterline and her rear doors would remain closed for the duration of her stay here. The underwater floodlights did much to dispel the darkness around and under the boat. It also brought to life the majesty of what the lagoon held. Fish of every sort came and went through the lights, as curious of them as they were of the fish. Sarah watched over Carl's shoulder. Fish flashed in and out of her viewing range, coming right up to the large portholes, and she was amazed at their fearlessness of the strange craft in their midst.

"When do you plan to allow us into the mine, Jack?" Virginia asked, pulling a pair of rubber gloves from her hands as she entered the lounge.

"Not until we have Teacher back to one hundred percent in case we have to get the hell out of Dodge suddenly," he answered.

"But Jack…"

He looked at Virginia and she shrugged, knowing her argument would do no good.

"You're right; maybe tomorrow we can get some probes inside?" she asked.

"I want to check it out as much as everyone here, Virginia, but only because we may have people holed up in there. But I won't lose anyone because we didn't take the proper precautions. The satellite dish is still down, and yes, if we have to expend every probe we have, we will look for survivors tomorrow. What did you find in your autopsy?"

"Well," Virginia said as she sat in one of the large chairs, "the wounds are consistent with a wild animal attack. Large lacerations on the torso and head. Cause of death was massive bleeding. I'm afraid, without more equipment, we're limited to the tests we can run." She excused herself and left the table when she saw the master chief walk through the outer corridor.

Jack watched her go and shook his head. "I hope everyone understands that we can't go charging into that cave, or mine, until we know what in the hell we're dealing with here."

"Virginia's just anxious, as we all are, to find out about those kids. She knows you have to wait. I think it's you being hard on yourself. Waiting is the right thing," Sarah said.

Jack looked from Sarah to Carl, and Carl knew what he was considering. Carl nodded his head and Jack spoke. "Sarah, you know that tactical nuke key that was found?"

"What about it?"

"The key was used. Somewhere out there, or maybe inside the mine, we have a live nuke on our hands. I'm afraid our priorities have shifted. For reasons we don't know, someone was out to destroy this place. As much as the kids, if they're alive, need to be found, we now have an active nuclear weapon on our hands."

She didn't know if she liked knowing that little bit of information.

"Yeah, I see your point."

On the upper deck, Virginia joined Danielle and the master chief as they watched the stars come out directly above them. The night sounds had finally returned after the assault of the air horn. Insects and animal life allowed themselves to be heard again, which made the crew outside feel better. There was nothing worse than silence.

"Beautiful," Virginia said as she looked up into the void of space that the center of the lagoon afforded them.

"No smog or city lights to obscure them," Jenks said as he looked from the heavens to Virginia. He had shaved and put on a clean denim shirt for his night watch.

"I think I'll see what Sergeant Mendenhall is up to at the stern," Danielle said, excusing herself.

Jenks caught himself as he began instinctively to watch Danielle's tightly fitted shorts while she moved away. He turned instead toward Virginia and removed his stub of cigar.

"Well, Doctor, I got you here—"

Virginia cut off his comment.

"I like you, too, Chief. And we'll take this up when we get home."

Jenks's eyes opened wide as he reappraised the tallish woman.

"I'll be goddamned and go to hell," he mumbled.

Corporal Sanchez had the tower watch and was lulled by the gentle movement of the boat. He rested his elbows on the railing just above the radar platform that extended outward from the sail. The gentle electrical hum also helped to induce the sleepiness he was feeling as he watched the white sands of the shoreline two hundred yards off in the distance. He slowly turned and examined the other side of the lagoon; it was still and quiet. He took a deep breath of air and was grateful for the cooling breeze that hit him. How it could penetrate such a thick canopy of trees, he didn't know. But it was nice nonetheless. He turned back toward the shore they had visited this afternoon and watched. He raised the night-vision scope to his eyes and scanned first the beach, then the tree line beyond. The laser fence they had placed was operating and glowed brightly in the scope. A light noise caught his attention. He swung the glasses around and looked to the immediate left of where they had landed the Zodiac. He saw nothing. Sanchez looked down at the early-warning alarm box that was linked via radio to the laser line. Of the thirty sensors, all the green lights were ablaze in a semicircle. Nothing had crossed the line from the jungle. But as he looked through the scope again, he failed to notice a large line of bubbles as something moved away from the waterfall side of the lagoon. It was rising from the deep and almost bottomless waters, and coming right at Teacher.