Deep Sea One

Chapter 19

Sam refused to see history repeat itself and haunt him with mortifying images for years to come. He forced his eyes shut not to see the atrocious event play out and all he could hear was the hoarse cry coming from Nina's throat.

But there was no shot, only a blunt thump and then he heard the tall blond killer scream in agony. Sam opened his eyes to see Björn gripping his arm. His radius bone protruded through the skin of his forearm like a bloody horn and he fell to his knees as the second blow from the hunk of wood landed against his left knee, crippling him. From the firelight he saw her silhouette, bigger than she normally looked. Her black frame towered over the kneeling Norwegian as she dropped the wooden stump. Sam watched Calisto pick up the T-bone of the strewn meat in the sand and with one fell swoop, she slammed the sharp edge of the bone into Björn's temple. His blue eyes froze on impact and his mouth fell open, but she was not done. Grinding her teeth, Purdue's bodyguard stabbed Björn several times in the jugular and finally lodged the bone in the base of his skull, killing him instantly.

Like a giant tree cut from its roots, the Norwegian toppled and fell to the dirt with a sickening thud.

Nina was weeping profusely, still affected by the trauma of her final moments. Sam watched Calisto kneel to free Nina with a lock pick. She fiddled with the lock and the winding chain for a bit until Nina's feet came free of the iron restraints. Sam sat astonished at what he had just witnessed, shock riding his face and his mouth ajar in disbelief. He looked at the bleeding body, the Norwegian's face unrecognizable under the crimson mess and then looked back at Calisto.

"What?" Calisto said nonchalantly, "You said I shouldn't shoot people. I did not shoot him, did I?"

Sam caught his breath, and gasped for air, "No, you didn't shoot him. Thanks."

Purdue was busy working at Gary's chains and then started to go through the mess of items the intruders had thrown in a heap while Calisto freed Sam.

"Where the fuck were you?" Nina screamed at them. Sam gently held her back as she spat angry insults at Purdue and his bodyguard.

"She is clearly in a state. Don't judge her utterings," Gary said to Calisto. "To tell you the truth, I am not exactly the picture of mental health right now either. Nina tried to strike Calisto, but the woman simply blocked her hand.

"Why did you betray us?" Nina melted finally and fell against Sam's chest. He embraced her tightly, numb from the whole experience. Gary and Purdue wrapped the Norwegian's body in a tent and moved him into one of the rock caverns.

"We can leave Jodh's body here. I'll call the local authorities by satellite and have them collect him. Poor son of a bitch. He didn't deserve this," Purdue lamented the passing of the young guide.

"You had to wait for them to start executing us before you did anything?" Nina shouted at Purdue.

"My job is to protect Mr. Purdue, Dr. Gould," Calisto said, as she crouched to get the coffeepot going. "I went to look for you with Mr. Cleave, but I soon saw the shape of the big Norse guy I saw in the hotel, standing ready to coldcock us, so I doubled back and went to get the book from your backpack."

"Why? Is it more important than we are?" Nina sneered.

"Yes," Calisto replied coldly, "yes, it is. It is the reason we are all here, the reason you are all wealthy right now. Without the book or Mr. Purdue, we would all be slaving away in thankless environments, repeating day after day, hoping for some sort of breakthrough, would we not?" Calisto's voice deepened as she spoke, lending to her a rather intimidating front that demanded respect. Nina had nothing to throw back at her, so the bodyguard continued, "We watched you the whole day. We would not have let you perish here, but we had to wait for the cover of night… and we had to eliminate the other two men Eickhart brought with him before taking on the big one here. This life has no place for misplaced loyalties or expectations, Dr. Gould. It is a dangerous job. A job. And we are all here to do what we are paid for, not to form a circle and sing Kum Ba Yah while we profess our friendships."

Now she was positively annoyed with Nina's whining and she made no secret that she did not intend to tolerate the doctor's behavior toward her.

"Enough now," Purdue urged calmly. "We are all exhausted. We need rest to press on tomorrow and now that we know about our competition and the lengths they would go to, I suggest we gather our courage and get to the shrine as soon as possible. Dr. Gould, here is the map and the book. If you please, I need an estimate of how far we still have to go. Gary will assist you with the measuring of the map coordinates," Purdue said.

The group got closer to the fire. Calisto gathered more wood while Gary and Nina checked the approximate distance they still had left before getting to where the book indicated the location of the shrine was. Sam took care of the coffee and the roti supply, making sure there were still some grains and rice for tomorrow. Purdue joined Nina and Gary to listen to their speculating. The mood was one of momentary relief but they all felt an overwhelming somber hurt and a seeping fear of what was waiting. Purdue placed his palm on the back of Nina's hair, but she did not jump defensively as he expected.

She looked at him with a dreadful worry on her pretty face and what she saw in his was something she had never seen before. Even knowing that he had desired her for so long, she realized that what his expression conveyed now was far from blunt sexual pursuits. Purdue looked genuinely sympathetic toward her recent shock and the punishment she had to endure. He ran his hands over her hair, comforting her in his own awkward manner.

"I'm so sorry, Nina. Really. I will never let anyone hurt you again, I promise. It was selfish of me, even if my intentions were not to desert my group," he whispered, and, to his surprise, she simply nodded in acceptance.

Between Calisto and Sam they took turns to sit by the fire on lookout during the night while the others got some sleep. The expedition had now reached a point where comfort gave way to completing the route. There was no more time to figure out the deeper meanings of the numbers and languages in what Eickhart called the grimoire.

The next morning was freezing. The sun had no power over the frozen earth below and from the mountaintops the threat of collapsing ice loomed. Soft whispers of snow traveled leisurely down the slopes and covered the ground in a patchy white carpet. Calisto's back was aching terribly from falling asleep in a slouching position and she woke to a burning skin of goose bumps and cold. In front of her the fire was barely going and she struggled up to wake the party before the sun made too much time and ate the day away.

Dizzy, she scratched at each of the tents with a call of alert that it was time to rise. When she heard the groaning and yawning, she sat down again to rekindle the fire. They had to have a warm drink and quick light meal before starting on the last leg of the salt trade trail. According to Dr. Gould and the pilot, the mountain that harbored the shrine was no more than four hours' walk from them.

It was just before 9am when they were ready to ascend another few hundred meters on the narrow steep trail to what the medieval manual called the "Godwomb," the cavern under the shrine. Looking back at the campsite where she almost met her end, Nina could not help but relive those last moments before Björn tried to pull the trigger. Behind her Calisto stumbled, frowning, keeping a close eye on her footing. Nina was now reluctant to speak to her, because of the altercation they had, but she felt compelled to investigate the nature of the bodyguard's behavior.

"Calisto?"

"Yes, Dr. Gould."

"What is the matter?"

"Headache. Migraine, actually."

"Do you want a painkiller?"

"No, thank you. I find that medication at this altitude is counterproductive, but thanks for the offer," Calisto replied in puffs of hard-earned breaths.

She was visibly more tired than she was two days ago and Nina wondered if the action of the past day had made more of an impact on her than she had let on. She joined Sam, who trailed Gary and Purdue.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I think," Nina answered, looking at the heels of the men ahead of them.

"Want my stick?"

"What?"

"Would you like to use my walking stick to get by? The road is apparently going to get even tougher a few meters up. Look," he said, and pointed to where a small brown streak of soil meandered through the winding gain in height that occasionally disappeared in the cover of low growing trees and meager brush.

"That looks like a bitch to traverse," she assessed, and he nodded, passing her his cane.

"What will you use then?" she asked. Sam suddenly brought forth another cane.

"Jodh won't need it anymore," he shrugged.

According to Nina's calculations and the proper translation of the old German text adjacent to the hand-drawn map, the mountain called "Mañjuśrī's Seat" played host to the shrine they were looking for. After what Purdue survived with Calisto at his side he had no doubt that she was worth every penny he paid her. As they approached the mountain his heart raced faster at the prospect of what was inside, waiting.

"Calisto!" Nina's voice echoed in panic against the nearby snowcapped cliffs.

The men turned to find her kneeling a few meters back, huddled over Calisto, who had collapsed. Racing back to assist her, Sam found the bodyguard limp and panting on the ground. Gary lifted her head and checked her out.

"Altitude sickness, I think."

"She complained of a terrible migraine and she was off-balance the whole time," Nina reported, as she pulled Calisto's hair out of her face.

"That's it," Gary said, "The thinning air at this height is affecting her oxygen intake. I have something in my backpack that should help, but we cannot haul her up too quickly. It'll exacerbate everything."

"All right, all right, just give it to her. I don't mean to sound like a right prick, but we don't have time for this right now," Purdue said.

Gary gave her some Diamox and a healthy helping of water. It was strange for Sam to see the strong woman sit with her legs crossed, slumping from side to side between Nina's arms and Gary's shoulders. Her eyes rolled backward until the medicine kicked in and the water took effect. Within twenty minutes she had managed to recover enough to get to her feet with minimal help.

"Mr. Purdue, we are virtually out of water. Just thought I'd let you know we have to stop at any stream we come across just to replenish," Sam said.

"Yes, yes, we will," Purdue said abruptly.

"The map did show a river that emerges from the cliff just a few hundred meters up toward the Seat. We can fill our canteens there," Nina said, and she decided to walk next to Calisto for the remainder of the way to mind her condition as they ascended yet higher.