Atlantis Gold

Chapter 26

Jayden had made it about halfway around the island when he spotted the boat. An old fishing trawler, it plowed through the waves looking like it had all the time in the world. And in fact, it would take some time to reach their little isle yet, but that was a good thing, since he still had to gain its attention. Jayden thought about Hunt’s larger dive light — even though it no longer worked, it had a larger reflecting mirror behind its bulb. Maybe that could be used as a signal mirror to reflect sunlight to the passing boat?

But first he had to reach Hunt. He decided to walk directly across the little island rather than continue all the way around by the beach. He’d already found what they needed, why risk losing it by taking the long way back? With a last look back at the approaching vessel, he stepped off of the sand onto the scrubby vegetation that covered most of the island’s interior. The plant life grew denser the more toward the middle of the islet he went, culminating in the profusion of vegetation and small trees that shrouded the small hillock that concealed the chute entrance by which they had entered the island.

Jayden took a path to the right of the hillock, not wanting to scale it and pass through the thicket of foliage. As he passed by he thought he heard voices, then figured it must be Hunt’s voice carrying over the wind from the beach. But then he heard the rustling of branches coming from the hillock. His first thoughts were that maybe a search party had come looking for them, and he was about to call out to them, when he saw a man wearing scuba gear, including a snub-nosed spear-gun strapped to a thigh, step out of the trees. That could mean only one thing.

Treasure, Inc. found the pyramid tunnel and followed it to the island. He had no idea how they got inside the pyramid, since they had closed the stone door over the opening, but somehow they found a way. Now it was a matter of minutes before they came across Hunt and Maddy with their noses in yet another priceless treasure probably related to Atlantis. Jayden flattened himself to the tall scrub-grass before the newcomers could look in his direction. He had little doubt as to his fate should he be discovered.

As he, Hunt and Maddy had done, Daedalus’ divers stood atop the highest point on the islet and surveyed the small spit of land. Could they see Hunt and Maddy from here? Jayden wasn’t sure, but he was about to find out. He watched from his concealed position among a cluster of scrubby foliage as the interlopers glanced about in all directions. Apparently not, for they made no decisive moves.

As he watched, they stepped down from the hillock, six men in all, Jayden counted, registering the fact that they were badly outnumbered should this come to a fight, which looked likely given the close confines of the islet. The black market treasure hunters headed off in three different directions in pairs of two. One of the groups headed away from Jayden and Hunt, toward the beach where Jayden had sighted the fishing boat. Another pair headed almost directly toward Hunt and Maddy’s location, while the third moved off on a course that would put them to within twenty feet or so of Jayden.

All of the men were relatively young and in extremely good shape, Jayden noticed, as well as being of either middle eastern, Greek or Spanish descent. Each of them carried the same model of spear gun, as well as having a dive knife strapped to a calf. Jayden passed a hand over his own knife to make sure it was still there, but didn’t see how a single knife would be of any help against two foes with spear guns. The element of surprise would be his strongest weapon. That, or simply staying hidden, but with Hunt and Maddy unaware as to this new development, he didn’t see how that could last long.

For now he remained frozen against the ground, holding his breath so as not to disturb the grass around him and give away his presence. The Treasure, Inc. hunters talked in low tones, and Jayden thought he caught a few words of Greek, but couldn’t be sure. He was glad the men were in conversation, though, since it meant they weren’t fully focused on their surroundings, compromising their situational awareness.

The pair of treasure seekers walked past Jayden, not fifteen feet away, continuing on toward the water. Jayden dared to glance left, looking for the other pairs. He spotted one, the two men moving steadily toward the beach where they would find Hunt and Maddy with their noses in an ancient scroll. Craning his neck awkwardly to look back in the other direction, Jayden could not find the other team. He waited silently in his prone, hidden position for another two minutes, racking his brain to come up with the best course of action.

If possible, he decided, it would be best to reach Hunt and Maddy before any of his adversaries, and without being detected. But how to do that? The most direct route would take him past the pair of foes already heading that way, so that was out. To his right was where the other pair had gone, so he opted to move to the hillock and then straight across the islet to the coast, where he could then follow the beach around to Hunt’s position.

He low-crawled through the scrub until he reached an area where there was simply not enough vegetative cover to conceal him. He would have to do a mad dash to the thick cover of the hillock. Rising to a kneeling position, he pushed off the ground and sprinted to the copse of scraggly little trees. He scrambled up to the vertical chute exit, slowing as he neared the apex. What if they left a lookout posted? He heard no signs of human presence, though, and so he broke through the last layer of foliage into the chute area.

Here there was dive gear on the ground, where the Treasure, Inc. hunters had shed some of their equipment — masks, weight belts…no tanks, though, he laughed to himself, since those were not able to carried up that last vertical section. He couldn’t resist peering down into the chute, where he saw a couple of dive tanks at the bottom, but that was it.

Jayden crept to the opposite edge of the hillock and stealthily moved through the foliage there until he could see out across the other side of the islet. The other team was in the distance now, moving fast toward the beach Hunt occupied!

Got to go!

Jayden’s military training allowed him not to let the sense of urgency compromise his need for stealth. He proceeded slowly yet deliberately to glance behind him, checking the position of the other team. He found them, moving toward the beach on that end of the island, where the boat….the boat!

It was moving toward Hunt’s beach now, and would be there soon. A plan coalesced in Jayden’s mind as he slipped through the foliage toward the quarter of the island that was unoccupied. He didn’t have time to entertain the details of it, only that he had some inkling of what he would do when he got there. He ran faster and louder than he knew he should, but figured he had that luxury given that the Treasure, Inc. goons had gone in completely different directions than him. His feet pounded across the low-lying island and soon he could see the shore, the blue, sun-dappled ocean beyond. He swiveled his head left and right as he ran, but saw no one, so he kept on running, kept on striking his feet against the earth until it turned soft with the sand spraying up around his wetsuit boots.

He dropped to his knees and breathed deeply, taking in great lungful’s of air until he wasn’t about to pass out. The he rose and, after looking left and seeing no one, he ran to the right. Running on the sand was hard, but quiet as well as being below the line of sight for most of the island. He flashed back on his naval training, of being made to jog through the sand until some of his fellow cadets were vomiting, and smiled at the memories. You can do it, he told himself, this isn’t even as bad as that…

Then he was rounding the island’s curvature as the beach continued around toward the side Hunt and Maddy occupied. Would he reach them before Daedalus’ thugs? The thought tortured his oxygen-starved mind as he sprinted down the sandy strip. He leapt over a heap of driftwood and sidestepped a pile of dried seaweed before continuing on his frenetic way.

Up ahead he recognized a palm tree that leaned way out over the beach he saw earlier. Hunt and Maddy were only a few yards inland from that point on the beach. But as he came closer to the tree, his heart sank as two dark-dressed figures came into view on the opposite side of the tree. The pair of armed scouts walked at a normal pace, not hurrying but not leisurely, either. And their heads were on a swivel, Jayden could see. It was a matter of minutes until they sighted Hunt and Maddy.

Jayden acted decisively, ducking off of the beach into a stand of high nettle grass that offered minimal concealment, but which was better than nothing. He elbow-crawled through that until he was far enough away from the beach that he could stand without being seen. Then he ran toward Hunt and Maddy’s position.

He found them in the same spot in which he’d last seen them, still hunched over the ancient scroll, in deep discussion about its finer particulars. Jayden scuffed a foot on the ground to alert them to his presence, which he thought would be not as loud a way to do it compared to using his voice, which might carry on the wind to the beach.

Jayden was pleased to see Hunt reach for his knife before looking up to see the source of the noise. When he did see Jayden, he started to relax but Jayden knelt beside him and whispered, ”Keep your knife ready. Two tangos coming up the beach right over there. Four more in two pairs on different parts of the island.” He pointed in two different directions to indicate the last known positions of the other two sub-teams.

Maddy looked like a deer caught on the road in headlights. Jayden pointed to the scroll. “Put it away, hurry! If they see it, they’ll take it.”

She rolled it back up while muttering something about improper handling procedures, and then stuffed it back into the hexagonal door chamber. Jayden spotted one of his coconuts on the ground and picked it up, testing its weight in his hand.

And then they heard the crunch of foliage under booted feet as Daedalus’ deadly explorers walked up from the beach. Jayden didn’t know if they had somehow given their presence away or if it was simply bad luck, but either way, there was no time to think about it. One of the men went rigid as he made eye contact with the three people a few yards away. His associate was quicker to act, raising his snub-nosed spear gun and pointing it right at Hunt.

Jayden hurled the coconut at the man wielding the spear gun. He raised the shaft of the spear to deflect the organic projectile, but missed. The green nut smashed into his Adam’s apple, causing him to stagger back. Meanwhile, the other gunman drew his weapon while Hunt raced for the staggering man.

Jayden bent down to scoop up another coconut but this gunman was able to get off a shot. The spear tip glanced off the very coconut Jayden had his hand on, the tip ricocheting up into his face, drawing blood from his cheek. He grabbed the spear with two hands and yanked on it, knowing it was connected to the gun with monofilament line that spooled from a mounted reel. The shooter holding the gun was too slow to let go and was pulled forward, stumbling, until he tripped and fell onto Jayden in a grappling heap.

While that man and Jayden rolled on the ground fighting, Hunt caught up with the other assailant, landing a right hook to his jaw. The man reeled back, stumbling but somehow keeping his balance. Hunt took the opportunity to launch a high kick with his right leg at his opponent’s chest, and down the foe went, landing hard on his back on the ground. If it weren’t for the sandy soil, it would have been much worse of an impact. As it was, the man was not getting up anytime soon.

Jayden rolled off of the fighter he had been grappling with on the ground. Both combatants were preparing for Round Two when suddenly Maddy stepped forward holding the hexagonal stone. She held it above her head as if she was about to smash the man’s skull in with it, but she took no action. She didn’t need to. The treasure hunter put his hands in front of his face to ward off the blow, and that was enough for Jayden to make his move. The Asian-American pinned his foe’s arms behind his head. When the opponent swung his legs up, he grabbed one of the ankles and twisted it until he heard it snap.

Out of his peripheral vision he saw Hunt pointing. He was saying something, too, but the downed fighter’s screams of anguish drowned out Hunt’s words. But Maddy saw something happening and came over to tug on Jayden’s sleeve. “Got to move, come on!”

“What’s up?” Jayden shot to his feet. Maddy pointed to Hunt, who in turn pointed across the beach and out to sea, where the old fishing boat was plowing into view.

“We’ve got to get their attention!” Hunt shouted, before moving out onto the sand. Jayden and Maddy, who still carried the hexagon, followed suit, but not before Jayden collected the spear guns and dive knives of both defeated foes. He gave Maddy one of the knives, kept one for himself to strap to his other leg, and then caught up with Hunt on the beach.

“Present for ya.” He handed him one of the spear guns.

“No time to catch dinner,” Hunt joked, eyes on the fishing boat coming their way.

“It’s not for dinner, it’s to fight off those guys.” He pointed to their right, where two more Treasure, Inc. soldiers came running toward them down the beach.

“Great.” Hunt checked the spear gun to make sure it was cocked and loaded, then stood facing the oncoming attackers. Jayden looked out to sea, jumping up and down and waving his arms at the boat while Maddy did the same. “They’re slowing down!”

Hunt planted his feet in the sand and fired off the spear gun at the onrushing assailants, who dove out of the way, flattening themselves on the beach to avoid the metal-tipped projectile.

“Maddy, I’ll carry the stone. We have to swim, let’s go!”

“Swim?” She stood there looking confused until Hunt grabbed the hexagonal scroll chamber from her and spun her around until she faced the water. “See that boat? That’s our ticket out of here. Come on.”

She hesitated a moment longer, but when she looked over to see the two newcomers pushing up to their feet, she mobilized along with Hunt and Jayden. The three of them ran into the water with long, splashy strides, stealth no longer a factor at play. The sea was calm and so waves were not a factor to contend with as they waded out into deeper water, Jayden in the lead because Hunt was burdened with the hex chamber that was keeping the scroll dry.

The fishing boat slowed as its operator clearly saw the three people rushing out toward it in the water. Hunt, Jayden and Maddy launched themselves horizontally into the sea and began to swim toward the boat. Hunt held the hexagon which meant he was only able to swim one-handed, but he kicked furiously to make up for it and made progress toward what he hoped would be their ride away from here.

Some kind of small shark splashed out a few feet in front of Hunt, no doubt as startled as he was by the sudden activity, but he paid it no mind and kept on, and the fish disappeared from sight. Jayden was out in front, unencumbered by the artifact, while Maddy was a little behind Jayden.

Hunt couldn’t resist looking back toward the beach, where he saw the two thugs stopping on the beach where their quarry had entered the water. He managed a smile as he continued to kick toward the boat, for the men were out of spear gun range. They started running into the water, though, and that’s when Hunt knew this was serious. These mercenaries would stop at nothing. They were diving into the water now, swimming fast, no doubt hoping to get into range with their spears.

The fishing vessel, its metal hull streaked with rust, idled just beyond a reef line, where the bottom dropped off to deeper water. Hunt hoped it would stick around; commercial fishermen were sort of like truck drivers of the sea — they were known to help fellow boaters in need — but this was an odd situation indeed, and if whoever was on board saw the violent divers threatening with spear guns, they might change their mind about sticking around to help.

Hunt called on every ounce of his strength to propel himself toward the old boat while lugging the cumbersome artifact. Jayden and Maddy plowed on ahead of him, while behind, the Treasure, Inc. predators pursued their prey.

Jayden reached the boat first. A black man of Caribbean descent leaned over the rail and called out: “Need help? Stranded here?” He pointed to the sandy islet.

“Yes!” Jayden reached the boat and the fisherman lowered a rope ladder over the side. Jayden climbed the side and shook the man’s hand, thanking him. Then he helped Maddy aboard. When Hunt got to the boat he grabbed the hexagon from him and then handed it to Maddy for safekeeping.

“Crab trap?” the fisherman asked, pointing to the artifact.

“No, we’re not sure what it is, just looks interesting.”

“All kind of things wash up here!” the captain said with a laugh.

“If you could just take us over there…” Hunt pointed toward the main Bimini Road where he had anchored their seaplane, we would appreciate it very much.”

The boat captain pointed to the two Treasure, Inc. swimmers, now about halfway to the boat. “As soon as your friends get here, yes? Wouldn’t want to forget them, or is one of them your ex-husband?” He grinned at Maddy.

“Actually, they’re not our friends,” Hunt explained. “They’re bad people, trying to hurt us with their spear guns.”

The fisherman scowled and looked over at the men to see a glint of sunlight off of one of the spear shafts. “Why?”

Hunt took a deep breath. “Look, there’s no time to explain it right now. But I don’t want to cause any trouble for you, and I’m afraid if we stay here, those men will attack you.”

The fisherman shrugged, not looking too concerned. “You want to leave them here and go that way?”

“Yes sir, right away, before they get here” Hunt said.

The fisherman made eye contact with Hunt. “You pay me?”

Hunt nodded. “Absolutely.” Then he patted his wetsuit-clad legs. “I don’t have any cash on me, though, but…”

“You will send it? I have PayPal.”

Hunt smiled and nodded.

Without a word, the fisherman moved to the helm and put his boat into gear.