Alex Archer - Labyrinth

The sword lit her way and Annja swam for the reeds growing down near the bottom of the pool. An underground pool stocked with a bull shark? Annja shook her head and kicked on.

The sword’s light illuminated more of the bottom. Annja spotted more fish and a few turtles. There must have been a way to keep the shark fed, aside from the fish population contained in the pool.

Would have been nice if Fairclough had given me a warning, Annja thought. I could have been killed back there. And he didn’t even know about the sword she carried. His only reason for getting her here was to warn her about the existence of that precious history book.

Annja made it to the other end of the pool and surfaced once more. With one hand on the stone wall, she held out the sword. She hadn’t seen any other sharks and she doubted there’d be more than one. It would be too difficult to keep two of them fed properly.

Still, she didn’t doubt that Fairclough could spring other surprises on her. She had to find her way out of the pool. While the sword would keep her healthy for some time, she could tell that the temperature of the water would eventually drop her core temperature and bring on hypothermia.

And that would kill her just as easily as a bull shark.

Annja waited again and then took a series of shallow breaths followed by one deep breath. Then she plunged beneath the surface again, kicking stronger than she had previously.

I’ve got to find a way out of here quickly, she thought.

She traced her way down the wall toward the bottom. A mass of boulders sat near the wall itself. Was the exit there?

Annja floated in the water and tried to reason out what Fairclough would have planned for this room. Obviously, the real challenge would have been the shark. Once that was dispatched, though, was there a secondary puzzle?

Annja swam toward the boulders. Small crabs scurried away from her as she approached. Annja thought the topmost boulder looked unusual and she pushed against it.

It moved suddenly, almost causing Annja to lose her balance. As it rolled away, it revealed a long black tunnel.

Annja frowned.

That was the last thing she wanted to see. She jabbed the sword into the opening, but the blade’s light faded about ten feet from the entrance.

Wonderful, she thought. There’s no way of telling how far it goes. She could run out of breath and find herself drowning inside.

Not exactly the way she’d envisioned herself dying.

Annja surfaced and looked around, trying to see if she’d missed anything. But as far as she could tell, there was no choice. The stone walls of the pool ran right up to the ceiling high overhead. There was no way to climb the walls. And Annja doubted the exit would have been up there. Fairclough might have been devious, but he would have also planned for someone to find a way out, provided they got past his pet shark.

No, the more Annja thought about it, the more she suspected the exit really was the tunnel beneath the surface. She’d just have to take a chance that she could swim it in one breath.

Here goes nothing, she thought. Annja took another breath and plunged straight down toward the tunnel, pulling herself through it as she kicked harder than she thought possible.

The darkness seemed to stretch before her, yawning like some great black maw. Annja drove the sword out ahead of her, willing it to carry her forward, to lend her its strength.

Her legs ached from kicking. And she kept bumping her head against the tunnel itself, which was only about six feet in diameter.

I’ve got to keep going, she thought. Come on, Annja, keep swimming!

Annja didn’t dare stop and look back. She had a gut feeling that she’d already passed the point of no return.

Her lungs started to crave oxygen more than they ever had before.

Keep going.

Annja closed her eyes and imagined the sword in her mind’s eye. A new wave of strength surged through her body and it felt as if her muscles had more oxygen now. Annja’s lungs still hurt from holding her breath, but she kept her eyes shut and kept plowing forward.

Just a little bit more.

The tunnel couldn’t go on forever. At some point, Fairclough would have to end it and bring the person into another room so the fun could continue.

Right?

She prayed she was right.

Her legs ached now and Annja knew that this was the final energy she could pull from the sword. Eventually, it would need to be put back into the otherwhere. Annja didn’t think it had an inexhaustible supply of energy to give her.

Nothing did.

I’m almost there, Annja told herself. A few seconds more.

And then she had the sensation of light ahead. Annja opened her eyes and saw that the tunnel had already started to open up. She could see the lighter water in front of her. The tunnel must have opened into a different room.

She kicked with every last ounce of strength she possessed and was rewarded by finally clearing the tunnel.

Air.

Annja shot for the surface.

Broke it.

And sucked deep lungfuls of air.

Finally.

Water dripped off her and her entire body felt cold. She needed to get out of the water and find a way to warm herself. Otherwise, she was done for.

She turned in the water and saw a sandy beach ahead.

Annja swam for the shore.

Grateful to be through the tunnel.

And still alive.

Chapter 9

Annja waded out of the water and fell face-first into the sugar-soft sand. Her teeth chattered and her entire body felt chilled to the core. Annja briefly managed to put the sword back and then exhaustion washed over her. She closed her eyes and just wanted to fall asleep.

But she knew she couldn’t. The watch on her wrist already showed her that one hour had passed since Greene had delivered his ultimatum to find the book or Fairclough would die.

Annja groaned and hauled herself into a sitting position. The sand was mercifully warm and her clothes already seemed to be drying, as if they’d been exposed to a fire. Annja lay back down on the sand and let the warmth, which seemed to be radiating up from under it, bleed into her and restore her core temperature.

Fairclough had planned for this, she guessed. After that swim, people would need to be able to warm themselves. Somewhere beneath her, there was no doubt an industrial heater.

Annja frowned. The heater probably wasn’t left on twenty-four hours a day… Had it been activated when she reached the sand? In that case, there would have to be sensors embedded somewhere in the walls that would track her progress. Either that or cameras, with people watching her. If she could figure out a way to get to some sort of control room, there might be a way to bypass the maze itself and head right to the book.

Of course, in order to do that, Annja would need a more intimate knowledge of the maze. And that was something she didn’t have.

She sighed and sat back up.

Kessel was still nowhere to be seen. Annja wondered if he’d fallen into some other pool somewhere else in the maze and if he’d had his own run-in with a shark.

Maybe he hadn’t made it.

Annja smiled. She doubted it. Kessel was very strong…and smarter than she’d first thought. Maybe she could find an unexpected ally in the man—if she could find him again. He’d already shown a willingness to communicate with her. And Greene had sent him into the maze with Annja without consulting with the guy first. That had to have shown Kessel he was expendable.

“I’d be furious if Greene did that to me.” Annja glanced around, suddenly sheepish that she’d spoken to herself.

A couple close calls and she was already cracking up.

She hauled herself to her feet and stomped around, feeling her muscles come back to life. A few deep breaths, knee bends and waving her arms around helped flush blood through her body.