Alex Archer - The Oracle's Message

Annja felt the bright blue waters of the sea envelop her once again as she turned over and got her bearing. She saw Spier and the rest of his team ahead of her, but off to her right side floated Hans, watching her protectively.

She gave him the thumbs-up sign and he nodded, pointed and they descended together.

A world of bubbles rose from the team as they dove deeper toward the coral reef. Annja found that she had a small feeling of uneasiness in her stomach, but quickly decided it was due to her fear that there might be another tiger shark lingering in the area.

She needn’t have worried. She could already see that the activity around the reef was far greater than it had been yesterday. She spotted a few blacktip sharks meandering around the reef, snatching up smaller fish when the opportunities presented themselves.

Hans eyed her as she looked at the sharks, but unlike yesterday, they were only six-footers. Hardly the massive size of the tiger shark. And while they’d need to be mindful, she knew that the blacktips posed little threat.

Still, she glanced down and reassured herself that she’d replaced the diving knife she’d lost yesterday. The new knife sat snug in its sheath alongside her right calf.

All of the other divers were similarly outfitted. And unlike yesterday, being in a group gave everyone a much better level of protection.

Why did I go diving by myself yesterday? she wondered. It was really reckless of me.

Hans pointed ahead at the coral reef and Annja saw a moray eel poking its head out of the crevice in the formation. She nodded back at Hans and they continued on.

Spier seemed only marginally interested in the reef life itself. He never paused and Annja could see the strength of his leg muscles as they slowly powered him deeper into the depths. For an eighty-year-old man, Spier had remarkable strength and he seemed to have an endless supply of it.

Annja might have wondered what his diet was if she hadn’t seen him devour a ton of fish, beef and pork last night. He seemed to eat whatever he pleased and not suffer for it. But then again, he was also extremely active for his age. Maybe his metabolism had something to do with his extraordinary health.

Spier led them along, past the part of the coral reef where she’d met the shark. Annja was surprised. I thought we’d start with exploring this part of the reef, she thought.

She glanced at Hans, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Annja poked him and he turned. Annja gave him an inquisitive look but he only winked and then pointed for Annja to follow Spier’s lead.

What was going on here?

Annja kicked her legs, pleased that her head hadn’t started aching once she’d descended. The last thing she wanted was to prove Dr. Tiko right by coming back ashore with a worse headache than how she’d shown up yesterday.

But she felt good. Powerful.

She smiled, tasted the salt water and spat it out around her mouthpiece.

Hans swam ahead of her and Annja churned her legs to catch up. They had gone past a school of surgeonfish and Annja spotted a sea turtle lingering nearby, its hooked beak giving it the appearance of an odd-shaped nose.

Annja felt a lot better seeing it. If the sea turtle was around, the chances of spotting another tiger shark seemed even more remote. Tiger sharks loved to eat sea turtles and their teeth were especially suited for cracking the shells to get to the rich meat inside.

Spier led them farther along the reef and then hovered in the depth of the water. He turned and gestured for Annja to come closer. Annja kicked and moved over to where he floated.

Spier pointed at the area of the reef Annja hadn’t had the chance to explore yesterday. She swam down and looked at the conical-shaped coral.

The formation was very strange.

From her past diving trips, Annja knew that shapes like that didn’t appear naturally.

But if it wasn’t natural, then what was it?

She looked at Spier and gave him a quizzical look. He nodded and pointed to another area. Annja glanced around. Heinkel and Mueller had already branched off from the team and were exploring on the other side of the reef. She looked at Hans and he pointed in the same direction that Spier had.

So we’re going to split up, Annja thought. All right, then.

She swam over to Hans and they glided along the base of the reef, careful to avoid any dark holes that might conceal more moray eels. A reef shark swam lazily by, barely even glancing at them.

Hans looked at Annja as if to make sure she was okay being that close to a shark. She gave him a thumbs-up and he nodded. They continued swimming.

Finally, Hans had them stop near the edge of the reef. Looking up, Annja could see their boat some distance above. They’d gone down and then moved perhaps a half mile farther away, running the length of the reef.

From where she floated, Annja could make out the drop-off where the reef gave way to much deeper, darker water.

Were they on the edge of some sort of atoll? She frowned. Yesterday it hadn’t seemed like the reef stretched on for such a distance, and yet here they were.

Hans started exploring the base of the reef and Annja followed. They poked and prodded the various outcroppings, but Annja couldn’t see anything that resembled the conical outcropping Spier had shown her a few minutes before.

Maybe this was a dead end?

Annja sighed. The problem with diving was the communication was very scant. You had a few hand signals and that was it unless you had speaking masks.

But Hans seemed unconcerned with the lack of communication and kept his survey going. Annja floated above and behind him, looking where he looked but also keeping her eyes peeled for anything of interest.

Gradually they worked their way around toward the back of the reef. The water there was much warmer. Annja thought she spotted another conical outcropping and she swam right for it.

Hans had to kick to catch up, but he saw what she was eyeing and followed her lead.

Annja came to rest floating in front of an encrusted piece of coral that seemed strangely symmetrical. She looked across and saw that there was another outcropping and she decided they were almost like miniature towers.

She ran her fingers down the edges of the towers and found small holes that appeared as though they’d been deliberately carved in the structure.

Annja’s mind raced. Hadn’t Spier said something about a long-lost civilization? Was this evidence that they existed? Or was this simply some sort of natural occurrence, as unlikely as that might have seemed?

She noticed Hans looking at the towers intently. When he glanced back at her, Annja gave him a shrug. I don’t know what it is, she wanted to say.

Hans removed his diving knife and pried away some of the built-up barnacles, trying to get a better look at the structure.

Annja watched as the mollusks came away in his hand. And there, underneath the buildup, Annja thought she saw something smooth.

She ran her hand over the exposed patch and almost shouted. It was as smooth as marble.

In fact, she thought it might well be marble.

But how? How could marble have developed under the sea?

Had this supposed city of the lost civilization slipped into the ocean for some reason? Had an earthquake opened up the ground and tossed them into the seas?

Annja shook her head. Whatever this was, she needed more answers than she could find just floating in the ocean.

Hans was making notes with his grease pencil on an underwater clipboard. He’s mapping the area, she decided. This must be along the lines of what Spier was searching for.

Interesting.

Hans looked up and nodded at her as if they’d managed to find something of importance. But Annja wasn’t sure what they’d found. What she really wanted was to get to her computer and do some research.