3

by James Phelan

  “Yes, sir,” the pilot said. “Taking her down five metres and moving south of the Ra.”

  “Very well,” Hans said. “Make it so.”

  Alex swallowed hard and watched the blank screens before him.

  When the cameras come online and I can see what’s out there, it’ll be OK.

  “I always wanted to say that,” Hans said, making a sideways grin at Alex. “Make it so!”

  “Yeah, that’s great,” Alex said, his palms sweaty as he held tightly onto the harness over his shoulders.

  You always wanted to go on a submarine, so get a grip, Alex.

  There was a gurgling noise from outside, and looking over the pilot’s shoulder out the front window, Alex could see that they were going under. This close to the surface, the daylight penetrated enough to see a school of mackerel flash by, their silver sides shimmering like glitter.

  It’ll be cool. Just relax and enjoy the ride.

  “Flood torpedo tubes one and six!” Alex called out, then laughed. “Ready the countermeasures!”

  The pilots of the sub laughed. Ahmed gave Alex a look as though he was sure Alex was going nuts.

  “I’m joking!” Alex said. “Come on, Ahmed—have a little fun! Have you never wanted to be on a submarine?”

  “No, not really.” Ahmed looked ill. The archaeologist was sweating too and looked spooked. His normally tanned cheeks were ghostly pale.

  “Ahmed?” Alex said as the whine of the thrusters picked up in volume. “You OK?

  Ahmed nodded but remained tight-lipped.

  “It’s just a test dive,” Alex said, as much to reassure himself as Ahmed. “Just a test dive … it’s going to be awesome. I’m sure Hans has spared no expense.”

  “No expense!” Hans said.

  Ahmed nodded.

  “And we’re not going down deep,” Alex said.

  “Deep enough,” Ahmed replied. “I’m afraid I’m not very good under water. It’s unnatural.”

  “Ah, my good doctor,” Hans said over his shoulder. “What’s unnatural is a man of your profession wishing to stand on the sidelines while the great discoveries of the world are made by someone else. Sometimes one needs to step out of one’s comfort zone to achieve greatness, do you not agree?”

  Ahmed nodded and Alex could see that he was trying to settle his breathing.

  The thrusters went quiet.

  “Preparing to dive,” the pilot called out. “Taking her down to fifty metres.”

  The co-pilot relayed messages through his radio headset to the Ra above.

  Alex sat with his legs tense, pushing against the hull wall and pressing himself tight into his seat. He could hear the whoosh as water was let into the ballast tanks and the Osiris started to descend. Ahmed’s hands were tensed on the control panel in front of him.

  “Passing twenty metres,” the pilot announced. “Twenty-five. Thirty …”

  “The bottom here is at eighty metres,” the co-pilot said. “Going through forty-five, slowing descent.”

  “Levelling out at fifty,” the pilot said, adjusting controls. “We have neutral buoyancy, level at fifty metres.”

  Alex heard the thrusters engage, muffled now that they were underwater.

  “Switching on cameras,” Hans said, fiddling with controls.

  The screens in front of Alex and Ahmed came alive, changing from solid black to the inky black of a dark underwater world.

  “Main floodlights coming online,” Hans said, flicking switches. “Hull lighting is operational and so are the cameras.”

  Suddenly the screens were showing a world of blue and green.

  “We’re in a cloud of krill,” Hans said. “Karl, take us along the ridge line.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alex watched as the world outside slipped by with serene beauty. The krill, illuminated by the floodlights, swirled like ink in the water. They broke through and a rocky ridge was below them, long wavy sea grass on the shallower side toward the islands, the dark abyss of the ocean on the other.

  “It’s incredible …” Alex said.

  “Try your camera controls,” Hans said.

  Alex took the joystick and flicked between the cameras, seeing the view from each side and every corner of the submarine. He zoomed in on a dark shape moving through the sea grass.

  A sea lion burst through, its face coming right up to the camera, smiling, inquisitive. Alex tracked the camera around in a circle and the playful creature did a full three-sixty roll, almost cross-eyed as he watched the lens.

  Alex laughed, Ahmed too.

  “Sir, we’ll have a visual on our objective soon,” the pilot announced.

  Alex frowned.

  Objective? Wasn’t this a test dive, to test that the sub’s systems were working?

  “Good, take us right over it,” Hans said. “Do a sweep from bow to stern to find the captain’s quarters.”

  “Objective?” Alex said. “What is our objective? The captain’s quarters of what—a ship?”

  “Well, Alex,” Hans replied, his eyes never leaving the screens in front of him. “You see, this is a test dive, true, but it is also so much more. It is that and a recovery mission.”

  Huh? What could we possibly recover down here?

  21

  SAM

  Other passengers were already standing in the aisle, their carry-on bags over their shoulders and in hand, waiting impatiently for the doors to open.

  I never get why they are in such a hurry, pushing and shoving.

  “Welcome to Darwin,” the flight attendant said as Sam exited the aircraft.

  The heat and humidity hit him. He didn’t bother walking across the tarmac to the terminal, where the masses headed to get their bags and line up for taxis. Instead, he flung his small backpack over his shoulders and made a beeline for a sign that read “Northern Territory Helicopter Charters.” Waiting in line, he was skipped over a couple of times as the receptionist helped out groups of tourists booking pleasure flights.

  “Can I help you?” she asked Sam, looking at him as though he were lost.

  “I need to get to the Wessel Islands,” Sam said.

  “This is a private helicopter charter service,” the woman said. “We cater to people willing to spend a lot of money for a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it is,” Sam said, and he took his wallet from the backpack and handed over the Academy credit card in all its shiny golden glory. “You see, I’d like to book a private helicopter for the next day or so.”

  “Day or so?” she asked, her eyes locked on the card.

  “Yes,” Sam said. “Twenty-four to forty-eight hours should do it.”

  “Oh, I see, sir,” the woman said on running the card through her computer scanner. “Just one moment, let me check our system and see who might be available. And it was to the Wessel Islands, right?”

  The helicopter flashed over the crystal blue sea.

  “Just up here,” the pilot said, pointing ahead, “the Wessel Islands.”

  “Is there a spot to set me down for a couple of hours?” Sam asked.

  “Mate, you’ve booked me for the next couple of days,” the pilot said, keeping the helicopter low, skimming twenty metres above the waves. “I’ll set you down, pick you up, fly you ’round, whatever you want. I’ll fly you to Disneyland if that’s where you want to go.”

  Sam laughed. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “Just a few hours on the island.”

  “Which one?”

  “The biggest,” Sam said, looking at the map on his phone and reading from the screen, “Marchinbar Island.”

  “No worries,” the pilot said. “I’ll set you down on the southern beach. Good fishing there—not that you brought rods.”

  “Next time,” Sam said over his radio headset.

  “You sure you’ll be OK out there on your own?” the pilot said. “Ain’t nothing out here but beaches and a bit of wilderness, and a small station on the north-east si
de.”

  “I’ll be fine, thanks,” Sam said.

  “If you say so.” The pilot brought the helicopter over the widest part of the beach, circled around and set them down.

  “I’ll be back in two hours,” the pilot said. “I’ll go wait on the next island, Rimbija. I’ve been wanting to try some fishing over that side.”

  Sam gave him a thumbs up and kept his head low as he made his way clear of the rapidly spinning rotor blades.

  Once the aircraft took off and was clear, Sam took off his shoes and changed his Stealth Suit to a T-shirt and board shorts. He walked to the water’s edge, the sea lapping over his feet and ankles.

  Waiting time.

  “Hey,” a voice said.

  That was quick.

  Sam turned around.

  A familiar guy dressed in a ranger’s uniform of khaki shorts and shirt was standing next to him. He was an Indigenous Australian, his dark face creased with age, partly hidden behind a big bushy beard which revealed a wide smile. They were meeting for the first time but it felt as though they’d been friends for a long time.

  “Nice day, eh?” the guy said.

  “Yep.”

  “I’m Malcolm.” He thrust his arm out and they shook hands.

  “I’m Sam.”

  “Sounds about right,” Malcolm said. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up here. But I was expecting two of you. She’s not coming?”

  “You mean Eva?” Sam asked. “No—we, uh, decided to change our plans.”

  “That’d be a good idea,” Malcolm said.

  “So, you said you were waiting for us?”

  “Yep, about long enough, mate. Come on, I’ll show you what you came for.”

  22

  “It was right here,” Malcolm said as they moved through another section of the beach, “they found some copper coins. Back in 1944, Arabic inscriptions on them, would you believe? Found just lying here in the sand.”

  Sam drank from his water bottle thirstily, listening to Malcolm’s story as they walked.

  “It was the Second World War then, but after them Japanese bombers attacked Darwin, these little islands were in a good position to help protect the mainland,” Malcolm said. “One of the soldiers stationed here found them. Turns out they were from an island off East Africa and more than a thousand years old.”

  “Coins that old in this part of the world?” Sam asked, surprised.

  “Yep. Their discovery was shocking, to say the least, since most people believed that the first European who came to Australia was some Dutch sailor in the 1600s.”

  “So the coins prove that someone came here before that?”

  “More than someone,” Malcolm said. “Lots of people—travellers, passing through on their ships, sailing an ancient trade route that stretched over dangerous seas from Africa to Asia and Australia. And over a long, long time they came and they traded and rested here.”

  “Not that I mind hearing about Australia’s history,” Sam said, “but what is it that you have to show me?”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “Something to do with my dream,” Sam said, looking around at the edge of the beach where rocky cliffs towered over the sea. “A hidden cave?”

  “Yep. We’re here because of a dream you had,” Malcolm said, “and a dream Eva had.”

  “You know about it?” Sam said. “You know we were in a dream—you were really there?”

  “Yep.”

  “So you’re a Dreamer too.”

  “We’re all dreamers, Sam,” Malcolm said, smiling. “And what I have to show you is a bit more exciting than a handful of old coins.”

  Sam looked around at the rocky landscape that jutted out into the endless sea.

  “We sometimes have people come through, archaeologists and whatnot, snooping around,” Malcolm said. “It wasn’t coins they were after. But I didn’t show them this.”

  “What is it?” Sam asked, scrambling over the rocks, hearing the sea crashing on the rocks below.

  “A sacred place for my people,” Malcolm said, climbing, “but over time it became a bit of a place to keep things too. We call it the Source.”

  “I’ve seen it before.” Sam looked at the fissure in the rock wall. It was in a sheltered rocky cove, right on the waterline.

  “But you didn’t see where it went,” Malcolm said, “did you?”

  “No. We went through and we ended up somewhere else.”

  “That’s what it does,” Malcolm said. “You go in there and it will show you where you need to go.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. If you’re willing to see, then you find what you’re looking for.”

  Sam looked at the dark cave. The tide was turning, and the water would soon cut it off and flood the cove.

  “You’re not coming?”

  “Nah, mate, I’ve seen it. I’ll wait right here,” Malcolm said, sitting on a rock and looking out to sea.

  Sam set off, leaving his backpack behind. The first squeeze in was easy enough, though a few metres in, the cave turned and became tighter. He breathed out, making his chest smaller, and pushed through. If not for the flashlight, it would be completely dark, and the floor of the cave went down, wet underfoot from the flooding it received each day.

  He was reminded of the cavern he’d found with Maria back in Cuba, where they’d discovered an old pirate ship.

  “Wow.”

  The flashlight showed the ground rising ahead of him, this time with steps. A waterline showed that where Sam was now standing would be completely submerged at high tide. It would appear like an impassable flooded section of the cave.

  A water lock to keep people out.

  Climbing the stairs, he emerged into a chamber.

  Actually, this isn’t like the one we found in Cuba.

  Not even close.

  This cavern was much, much bigger.

  And he was not alone.

  23

  EVA

  Eva and Jabari moved fast across the dusty ground. Aside from the light spilling out of tourist cabins nearby, the only other visible feature was Uluru, or Ayers Rock, the largest sandstone rock formation in Central Australia. At any other time, Eva would have stopped and taken it all in—snapped photos, looked at the plants and animals, sat down to enjoy the wondrous sight before her.

  But not today.

  I’ll come back another time for the sightseeing tour.

  Assuming there is another time to come back. Right …

  They snuck into the plush resort, their Stealth Suits matching their environment, making them almost invisible to the naked eye. The soles of their shoes left imprints in the dry red dirt outside as they ran past the swimming pool to an access hatch hidden amongst the scrub.

  “You’re sure this is it?” Jabari said.

  “Yes,” Eva replied. All around them was a holiday resort, little cabins ringed around a pool. Behind the admin building, the hatch had metal louvres and was set over a concrete base no larger than an office desk. A humming noise was coming from inside. “It has to be. This part I remember from my dream. This is part of the underground facility that we have to get into and getting in this way means we’re changing things from my dream. I mean, why break in when you can sneak in?”

  I’m turning into the queen of sneaking around.

  “OK, hang on, I’ll do this.” Jabari took a powered screwdriver and undid the casing on one side. Next he put his head in and had a look inside. There was a clonk, and then the humming noise stopped. Jabari pulled his head back out. “There was a large extractor fan which I’ve disabled, and under it, through the grill, I can see a corridor.”

  “See?” Eva said, smiling. “Ye of little faith.”

  “Follow me,” Jabari said, and he tied a rope to a nearby fence post and tossed it down the open air vent and shimmied down. “I’m in, come on down.”

  Eva followed, squeezing through the vent, then dropped to her feet on the concrete floor below. In each dire
ction, the corridor seemed to go on forever, the overhead lights on sensors, only flickering on where they stood.

  “Which way?” Jabari asked.

  “Toward the Rock,” Eva said.

  They set off at a jog, the lights above them coming on as they ran past.

  Eva looked back and saw the lights turning off again.

  That’s good. If someone else comes along, we can hide and the lights will go off and not give away our position.

  “Hey,” she asked, “think these sensor lights will pick us up if we switch our Stealth Suits to invisible?”

  “Worth a try,” Jabari said, and the two of them changed the Suits in one fluid motion, never breaking stride.

  The lights continued to switch on.

  “The sensors are either very sensitive,” he said, “or, for all we know, they could be picking up our weight on the ground.”

  “Great,” Eva said, then checked over her shoulder again, feeling what she imagined was a breeze, as though a door at one end of the vast corridor had suddenly opened.

  What she saw made her trip over.

  Jabari stopped and helped her up to her feet and she pointed down the corridor.

  In the distance, the lights were switching on. Someone was coming. And judging by the ever-increasing speed at which the corridor was being illuminated, they were travelling fast.

  Really fast.

  24

  SAM

  The other occupants of the cave were bats. Thousands and thousands of them, hanging from the ceiling.

  Sam remembered the massive bat colony he’d seen in the Grand Canyon. Here too there was a cool sea breeze passing through, coming over his shoulder from where he’d entered and escaping someplace ahead.

  “So there’s another way out,” Sam murmured to himself.

  He climbed to the highest vantage point in the cavern and stopped.

  The place was filled with barrels and ceramic and metal urns, the beam of his flashlight picking out the glittering gold of doubloons and the shimmering steel weaponry of an ancient era.