Atlantis Gold

Chapter 23

A raging torrent of water rushed Hunt straight down for what seemed like forever, but was in fact only a few seconds. He impacted hard on a limestone surface but his fall was cushioned by the water that poured in from above. He heard his empty scuba tank clanging against the rock. Aware that his hands felt air before being plunged back into the riotous current, he spat out his mouthpiece and gulped. He took in one glorious breath before being plunged again beneath the deluge. He was then washed horizontally for an appreciable distance until the water thinned out some and his body began to tumble more slowly across the rock floor of the subsea corridor.

When he came to rest with is legs up against a wall and his head and shoulders on the ground, he stared up at a rocky ceiling for a few moments while a thin layer of remaining water sluiced around his inert form. He wiggled his fingers and toes, then slowly rotated his body. So far it seemed like nothing was obviously broken, although he could tell already he had bruises that would be around for weeks. Hunt groggily lowered his legs and pushed himself up from the ground, or floor or….where was he, anyway?

And where were his friends? He called out Maddy and Jayden’s names, his voice reverberating in the damp, tunnel-like space.

“Over here.” Jayden’s voice came from somewhere up ahead, apparently having been washed further forward since he was first down the chute.

“You okay?” Hunt called out as he shrugged out of his scuba tank and vest, letting them drop to the tunnel floor. If not for his feeble mini-light, still clipped to his dive vest, it would be pitch black in here. He unclipped it from his gear and carried it in his right hand. As it was, he had just enough light to see in order to move forward without worrying about smashing into something. One of his swim fins had already been ripped off his foot, but now he stripped off the other. He tucked it into the waistband of his shorts and then lowered his mask and snorkel around his neck. He might need the snorkel gear again, who knew, and it was best to be prepared.

“I’m not sure a doctor would agree with that assessment, but I can still walk.” Jayden’s voice sounded shaky, but carried well enough in the confines of the dank passageway.

“Same here.” Hunt’s ears perked up at the sound of Maddy’s voice.

“I’ll be right there.” Hunt started walking toward them, his first tentative steps becoming steadier and more confident as he progressed. He examined the passageway with the aid of his tiny light as he moved. All of it was limestone, the remnants of coral reefs from eons ago. He could pick out seashells here and there locked in the substrate. The ceiling was barely above his head, and in fact he found himself stooping here and there to make sure he wouldn’t be hit. The walls, though irregularly shaped, were perhaps three feet apart. He shined his light up ahead but still couldn’t actually see Jayden and Maddy, though he could hear them talking now in quiet tones.

Hunt saw an object lying on the passageway floor and shined his light on it: the hexagonal keystone that Jayden had kicked through the door mechanism. It had been washed and rolled to this point. He bent down and picked it up. It was heavy, but not to the point of impeding his mobility, so he decided to keep it for later examination. What if it really was connected with Atlantis? The six sides, the mysterious Bimini Road location…that would make invaluable in and of itself.

But first things first, Hunt reminded himself. They still had to get out of here somehow. They had entered the pyramid at its base level, and then gone down through the door with the hexagonal piece, which meant that right now they were not only below sea level, but below the seabed itself! Hunt tried to block that thought from his mind as he continued down the passageway. He found Jayden and Maddy a few yards further on, still in the process of removing their now unnecessary dive gear.

Hunt pointed to his mask and urged them both to keep their snorkel gear in case they had to get wet again. Receiving no arguments, Hunt set off down the passageway in single file formation with Maddy in the middle and Jayden bringing up the rear. The corridor remained much the same for what seemed like a long distance — Hunt guessed it was at least a mile the soggy trio marched — with a level floor. After a while he noticed they were trudging along at an incline, gradual at first, but becoming noticeably steeper as they went on.

“Wonderful weather for a hike, isn’t it?” Jayden quipped. They were too tired to laugh. What’s more, Hunt found he had to concentrate more and more to keep his footing. More than once he almost lost his balance and slipped backwards onto Jayden, who offered some choice curse words for advice on how to maintain his footing. Just when Hunt was about to call out that it was too steep to continue, his feeble beam picked out a large hole in the limestone wall a couple of feet above his head.

“Got some kind of opening right up here,” he called down to them.

“Is it wet?” This from Maddy.

“Don’t see any water dripping out of it,” Hunt said with a grunt as he clawed his fingers into the rough rocky wall. “Can you two sit tight where you are for a minute? No reason for all three of us to try and scramble up there. Let me go up first and I’ll see if this leads anywhere.”

“It better lead somewhere,” Jayden said, “or we’re beyond screwed, unless your idea of a good time is living out the end of our days in that pyramid in the dark with no food or water.”

Hunt sighed. “I can always count on you to brighten things up. Here I go, hang tight for a minute. If I fall on you, I don’t mean to, believe me.”

Hunt knew he would need both hands in order to make the climb, so he unzipped his wetsuit and crammed the hexagon cap into the front of it, and then zipped it most of the way back up, holding it in place against his body. It was awkward, but it would work if this chute was climbable, Hunt thought. He dug the toes of his rubber dive boots into the porous rock wall and tested his footholds before attempting to spring upward. After a couple of test movements, he jumped up and dug the fingers of his gloved hands into the more level rock surface above. He scrabbled to gain purchase with his hands and feet. A few loose bits of rock crumbled away, raining down on Jayden and Maddy, but Hunt held on and pulled himself up.

He found himself in a very enclosed space, a vestibule of sorts, with the only way to go being up. His heart sank on seeing only darkness in that direction — it must only lead into another enclosed space like the pyramid, he thought, or maybe not even that — it could be a dead-end chimney. He aimed his light up there — was it a little dimmer now? — and saw a series of crude steps hewn into the stone.

Hunt dug his right foot into the bottom-most rung and began to climb. Ten, twenty, thirty feet vertical he went, holding his mini-flashlight clenched between his teeth. He still saw no light emanating from above, yet forced the negative implications from his mind and kept climbing. He climbed on until he almost hit his head as the angle of the chute changed, slanting up at about forty-five degrees rather than vertical.

What’s this all about? At first he thought it was due to his flashlight aiming up into his eyes, but then, as he saw that it was dangling down, illuminating the front of his chest, he felt a surge of elation.

Light! Natural sunlight filtering down from above! But how is that possible? If this tunnel leads up onto the reef why doesn’t the water fill this passageway? But right now the answers to those questions would have to wait. Jayden was calling up to him.

“Can’t see your fat ass anymore, Carter, what’s going on?”

Hunt swiveled his neck and shouted down: “Come on up. The tunnel angles here, and I see light!”

“Say no more!” came Maddy’s exuberant voice. She and Jayden started climbing the vertical chute while Hunt assessed the new section of tunnel. Aiming his light up into it against the walls, he saw more of the same limestone rock, only this section didn’t have the rungs cut into the sides. Due to the shallower angle, they weren’t needed. Hunt cautiously loped up the incline, on all fours, wary of hitting a loose or soggy section that could fall through, but the passageway floor remained solid beneath him as he progressed.

By the time he was near to the opening, he could hear Jayden and Maddy entering the inclined section below.

“Nice ladder!” Jayden called up. “What’s this next part like, Carter?”

Hunt turned around and bellowed down to them. “No more ladder, but you don’t really need it. Just walk like a dog on all fours, I’m sure you’re used to it, you knuckle-dragger.”

He could hear Maddy’s laughter bubbling up from below, followed by Jayden’s voice.

“Normally I’d say something to that, but right now I’m still in shock that I’m alive at all.”

“Hopefully it’ll stay that way,” Maddy said.

“I’d say our prospects have improved dramatically,” Hunt said, looking up to the natural light filtering into the chute from above. “I see trees!”

“Are you sure the oxygen deprivation didn’t have an affect on your already questionable brain, Carter?” Jayden asked.

“No, I can see it, too!” Maddy called out. “Light!”

Meanwhile, Hunt crawled the rest of the way to the end of the passageway, the hexagonal stone chafing uncomfortably against his skin beneath the wetsuit. The exit flared out in a stone lip that was overgrown with green vegetation. Hunt listened, wondering if perhaps Treasure, Inc. might be waiting right outside the exit, somehow knowing where the passage would lead, but he didn’t hear anything except the twittering of birds and the rustle of leaves in a light breeze.

Hunt took the final steps and emerged from the dark tunnel into the world of light.