Andy McDermott - The Hunt For Atlantis

Qobras shook his head. “No, no. I’m not a cruel man, or some crazed sadist, whatever your friends the Frosts may have said about me. When the ship sinks, you will already be dead.”

Chase checked his air supply. The deep suits were designed for long durations underwater, but they still had a limit. He had around another hour’s supply.

One hour. After that, he and Kari would become permanent residents in the ancient temple…

Kari had had the same thought. “There must be another way out,” she said, pointing down the stairs. “The water couldn’t have filled the main chamber through the secret passage, otherwise this room would be flooded as well.”

“Doesn’t mean we’ll be able to get through it,” Chase reminded her as he descended the steps.

“We still have to try.”

“I know, I was just preparing for the worst. It’s a British thing. How many of those big glow sticks do you have? We’ll need as much light as we can get.”

Kari checked the pouch on her belt. “Six.”

“Same here. Okay, let’s take a look.”

They waded into the frigid water.

Castille swam back to the site of the entrance. The cloud of silt kicked up by the explosion was still hanging there, and he knew from past experience that such murky water could take hours to clear.

Undaunted, he entered the cloud anyway. It was like an extremely thick brown fog, even the beam of his flashlight almost completely obscured by the drifting sediment.

He didn’t need to see to know that the passage had been sealed, however. Chunks of shattered stone lay on the seabed beneath his feet. Locating the line Chase had led into the tunnel, he tugged it experimentally. It didn’t give at all.

Using the suit’s thrusters to return to clearer water, he checked his air supply and considered his options. An hour left. He could easily return to the surface…

But the mere fact that they had been attacked suggested that the situation topside was dire. Qobras’s ship would have reached the Evenor by now. Apart from his knife he was unarmed, and on the surface, trapped inside the bulky deep suit, he would be almost useless in a fight.

Which meant that all he could do now was find some way to help Chase and Kari escape from the temple.

If they had survived.

The atmosphere on the helipad was tense. A few of the crew were close to tears, or panic. Others muttered fast prayers. Qobras’s men circled them, raising their MP-7s…

“Wait,” said Nina, masking her terror with as much determination as she could muster.

“For what?” Qobras asked.

“I’ll make you a deal. Let the crew use the lifeboats before you sink the ship, and…” She took a deep breath. “And I’ll give myself up to you.”

Starkman snorted dismissively as Qobras let out a brief, humorless laugh. “I already have you, Dr. Wilde! There’s nothing you can offer me-I have what I want. I know the location of Atlantis, and now I’m going to destroy it!”

“There’s something you don’t know, though,” Nina said with a thin smile. “The location of the third Temple of Poseidon.”

Qobras’s expression changed to one of wary surprise. “There is no third temple, Dr. Wilde. There is the one in Brazil, which has been destroyed, and the one below us, which will soon join it. The trail of the Atlanteans ends here.”

“Uh-uh.” Nina shook her head. “There’s a third one. And sooner or later, somebody’s going to find it. You think that just smashing the temple’s going to eliminate all the clues? People know where Atlantis is now. Word’s going to get out, and people will come looking. There’s a whole city down there, not just the temple. Sooner or later, someone’ll put the pieces together and be able to follow the trail. The secret you’ve been trying to hide’s going to be found, and there won’t be anything you can do about it. Unless…”

“Unless what?” There was menace in Qobras’s tone, but he was also intrigued.

“Unless I tell you where it is. So you can destroy it personally.”

“This is bullshit,” Starkman cut in. “She doesn’t know anything, she’s just trying to buy time and save herself.”

“Mr. Qobras, tell Patch here to shut the hell up,” Nina said, defiant despite her fear. Starkman bristled, but said nothing. “There is a third temple, a third citadel. Before the deluge, the Atlanteans were preparing to establish two new colonies. One expedition went west, to Brazil, the other… Well, I know where they went. And I’ll tell you. If you let the crew live.”

Starkman pressed his gun against Matthews’s head. “Or we could just execute them one by one until you tell us.”

“Seeing as you were going to kill us all anyway, that’s not really much of a deal,” Nina retorted.

Qobras rounded on Philby. “Is she telling the truth?”

“She, ah, could be,” Philby said, flustered. “The final inscriptions inside the temple did seem to indicate that the Atlanteans were planning to resettle in more than one location-but I didn’t have time to translate enough of it to be sure.” He regarded Nina suspiciously. “And I don’t see how she could have either.”

“I’m a quick study, Jack,” Nina sneered.

“Can you translate the rest?” Qobras asked.

Philby shook his head and sighed. “Not anymore.”

“Ha!” Nina made a face at Starkman. “Betcha wish you hadn’t smashed the hard drive now, huh?” She turned to Qobras. “So, what’s it going to be? I made you an offer, and it still stands. Let the crew live and I’ll take you to the last outpost of Atlantis.”

“You’ll take us?” said Starkman. “What, you want to turn this into a working vacation now?”

She folded her arms, fixing Qobras with a determined look. “I’ve been hunting for Atlantis my whole life. If I’m going to die because of that, then I want to know exactly why. I want to see the whole story. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“Dr. Wilde, it’s too dangerous,” said Matthews. “For all you know, he’ll just kill us anyway.”

“I’m offering him a deal in good faith. I’m hoping he’ll accept it in the same way. What about it, Mr. Qobras?” she asked. “You said you weren’t a cruel man. Are you an honorable one?”

Starkman continued to glower at her, but Qobras was unreadable. He moved closer, his flint-gray eyes looking right into hers. “You realize, of course, that even after we destroy the final temple we cannot allow you to live? Are you still willing to offer your deal to save their lives?”

She swallowed before answering, mouth dry. “Yes.”

For a moment, he seemed almost impressed. “You are a very brave woman, Dr. Wilde. And noble. I wouldn’t have expected it, considering your… heritage.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He stepped back. “We will have time to discuss it later. But I will spare the people on this ship, if you agree to show me how to reach the last temple. Do we have a deal?”

“We do,” said Nina.

Qobras nodded. “Very well. Jason! Prepare the lifeboats, put the crew aboard.”

“Are you sure that’s the right thing to do?” Starkman asked.

“We shall see. Search them first, though-make sure they have no radio transmitters or flares. I want to be certain we have enough time to leave the area before they are picked up.” He pointed to the north. “The Portuguese coast is a hundred and forty kilometers in that direction, Captain. I hope your crew can row that far.” Matthews shot Qobras a hateful look as Starkman and the other men led the crew away.