The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2)

by Christopher Cartwright

“The answer is, we’re still not capable of it. Each of those blocks weighs as much as 15 tons. To place one at the top of the 481-foot pyramid would be impossible. Each block is so perfectly positioned that not even a hair could be slid through it.”

  “Okay, so how did they do it?”

  “They didn’t.”

  “Who did then?”

  “The Master Builders.”

  “What, like aliens?” Tom laughed, and then noticing she was serious, said, “Okay, so how did they do it?”

  “No one knows, but if a civilization that lived more than 4000 years ago had technologies superior to ours today, we want to know about it. And if their knowledge is still out there, then the U.S. military perceives that as a threat.”

  “And that’s what Sam got himself involved in?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, as though someone could somehow be listening to them at this depth, inside a granite vault. “Only, they were watching him. He never told me what he was involved in, specifically. He brought me the information he needed analyzed and that was it. But I knew he was being watched. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore, and that was when he returned to the ocean, and to working for his dad.”

  “Or did he get a lead he knew was going to get him killed?”

  “Like what?” She asked.

  “Maybe he discovered something and knew his only hope would be to find it when others weren’t looking?”

  “Only Sam can answer that question.”

  Tom focused and then said, “So, where did these Master Builders go? What killed them off?”

  “We have no idea. In fact, there have been theories to suggest that they never died, but there has been no evidence.”

  “An entire civilization more advanced than we are lived 4000 years ago and there’s no proof that they existed or died out? Seems pretty farfetched to me.”

  “Not an entire civilization… only a handful of people.”

  “What do you mean? I thought these people built the pyramids?”

  “They were the engineers. They were hired by the kings and rulers of the day to build grand things and then instructed thousands of slaves to perform the tasks. Slaves who, without their guidance, could never have built anything so mighty.”

  “So what was the most recent build of the Master Builders?”

  “The Pyramid of Giza – nearly 4000 years ago. Until now. Sam tells me this pyramid appears to be less than 1000 years old. Now, unless there was some kind of cataclysmic oceanic event that no one has even heard of in the past 1000 years, which has submerged this pyramid, I would say the ability to build more than 200 feet underwater a perfectly-shaped pyramid, so exacting as to entrap air inside its three chambers so that 1000 years later we are able to breath unaided here, makes this place pretty much impossible.”

  “If Sam knew they were here, why did he involve you, or anyone for that matter? Why not fill the entire place with concrete, cocooning it for another 1000 years?”

  “Because, like me, he needs to find the answers.”

  “But, if he’s so obsessed with secrecy, why not stay here himself?”

  “I’ve no idea why he’s chasing the Mahogany Ship, but he brought me in on the secret, and knows that I won’t betray him.” Billie took a photo of the ancient text on the wall above her.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s an old text, written in a very old language.”

  Tom looked around the room.

  It appeared to be cram packed with pictographs and hieroglyphics. He hadn’t even considered whether it was a language. “Egyptian?”

  “Sort of – to anyone other than an expert in the Egyptian language, it would appear to be just that.”

  “But?”

  “Most of this room is filled with Mayan texts, but not this one here. This one stands out as something entirely different. It’s much older than Egyptian, more difficult to understand, and only ever used by the Master Builders.”

  “How many people know this language, if it even exists?”

  “I’m not sure. There’s myself, Sam, and an unidentified man from the NSA. We think Russia and France may have their own team working on it. Even we don’t fully grasp the meaning of all of it. But, I’m pretty certain Sam and I are ahead in the race to crack it fully.”

  “What does it say?”

  “I don’t know precisely. It’s just words. Nothing that makes sense. I’ll have to put it into my laptop to get a better translation.”

  “And it’s definitely created by the Master Builders?”

  “Sam thinks so. We don’t even know for certain the Master Builders were real. In some Egyptian texts, they are referred to as the Ancient Ones.”

  “All right. Why don’t you finish taking these pictures and I’ll go retrieve the laptops. Then, maybe we can get to the bottom of this damn thing.”

  “Sounds good, thanks.”

  Tom spent the next half an hour carrying her laptop and equipment up to the King’s Chamber. Walking into it, he noticed her tall, lithe figure standing on top of the sarcophagus. She was in her element. And she looked happy. He stood there quietly for a minute or so, and then realized he could have watched her all day.

  She was beautiful, intelligent, and one of the most single-mindedly focused people he’d ever met. And she had by far the foulest language of any person holding a doctorate. The thought made him laugh.

  “What the fuck are you laughing at?” she asked, leaning a little further outward.

  “The fact that, for a leading expert in an ancient language, you have the worst use of explicit English words.”

  Above, Tom could hear her chuckle at his comment without taking her attention off what she was doing. As she leaned further out, the back of her loose fitting shirt lifted up, revealing a slim back and a tattoo of a pyramid on top of a mountain.

  He couldn’t help but feel that it made her look sexy, while at the same intriguing his imagination. Where did that pyramid come from? He wanted to ask her, but there were too many other questions on his mind, and besides, he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he’d been staring.

  She took another couple of pictures and then turned to climb down again.

  Tom’s eyes, distracted by her tattoo and the top of her black sexy underwear, now noticed, tucked into the back of her pants, a Glock.

  Why the hell would she be carrying that?

  Billie then jumped down and switched on her laptop. Her camera was automatically synchronized with her computer.

  She ran the data.

  “What do you think?” Tom asked, careful not to mention that he’d just noticed she was carrying a weapon.

  “I’m not sure yet. It’s currently running a decoding program,” she said. Tapping a number of keys in quick succession, Billie turned and said, “Okay – that proves it. They’re definitely a match. This chamber was built by the Master Builders.”

  “That’s great. Do you have any idea what those words say?”

  She pressed enter, and the screen started to flick through the images, comparing it to all previous known texts by the Master Builders, before stopping. “Got it.”

  “What did it say?”

  She turned the laptop so he could see it.

  Ajtzak waits for his lost twin in the final revelation.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Ajtzak was the name of the king who’s buried here,” Billie mused, “By the sounds of things, he was a twin. But he lost his brother before he died? I don’t know how, where, or why.”

  “That’s great, so he lost his twin brother, but that doesn’t bring us any closer to understanding who they were, where they achieved their knowledge and most importantly, why they disappeared.”

  “No, but the fact it was written in the ancient language shows that this man was a Master Builder, and so was his twin brother. Wherever the hell he is.” She looked up at the walls, and then said, “I’m just hoping to find those answer somewhere within these walls b
efore the NSA removes them.”

  “What do you mean, removes them?”

  “Every time we find a clue to the puzzle, they destroy it.”

  “Then we’d better make sure we get the answer quick this time,” Tom said, still wondering how he was going to get her handgun.

  Chapter Ten

  Over the next two weeks Sam made extensive developments on his expedition, but little to suggest the Mahogany Ship ever entered the waterway. His silt samples now numbered more than a hundred, and with the exception of some signs of iron ore, nothing indicated the fabled ship had even passed through the water system. And that could have easily been explained by the natural formation of iron oxide within the natural rocks further upstream.

  Sam and Frank split the tunnels into three separate sections, dividing them so that each person could cover more ground. Each of them would explore two small tunnels for a distance of two miles or until the tunnel became too difficult to dive. Afterwards, both of them would dive the fifth and largest of the five tunnels. Michael Rodriguez had left to attend to company business for a few days. He had made it clear that if any discoveries were made, they were to wait for him, because he wanted to be there when the Mahogany Ship finally revealed herself. Byron, the only one who appeared positively out of place below ground, remained at the Mahogany Cavern to maintain communications, and make projections based on the data being brought in.

  None of the four smaller tunnels returned anything substantial. Not so much as a nail was found. It was time to search the final tunnel and live with the results, whatever they may be.

  On the fifteenth day, Sam discovered something that sparkled.

  Nearly a mile upstream in the largest of the five tunnels, he spotted it. His flashlight carefully filtering the area from right to left, it was so faint, for a moment he thought his mind was playing a trick on him.

  The he saw it again.

  Just the tip was sticking out of the sand. Sam swam towards it, his pulse quickening.

  His hand reached in and pulled it from the sand. When he turned it over in the water, the sand disappeared, revealing the head of the king of Spain, Charles V.

  Behind his facemask, his grin returned. It was here. The Mahogany Ship must be somewhere nearby! Sam turned to the metal detector again. If the water flowed in such a way as to capture the heavy gold coin in its sediment at this exact location, there was a good chance there would be more.

  Instantly, two more sources pinged.

  Following the increasing pings, he found two more Spanish coins. He inspected each carefully. All three were identical to which Rodriguez had initially introduced him. Sam was ecstatic with his find. He would finally prove the existence of the Mahogany Ship. At the back of his mind, he was surprised by the condition of the coins – the water made them look like they had just been minted.

  He dismissed the thought and pocketed all three of the gold coins.

  Securing one surreptitiously in a double zipped pocket, which would beat any scrutiny if required, Sam felt guilty at the thought of stealing from Rodriguez. But he needed to be certain, and this was the only way he could think of doing so.

  Sam marked the spot on the sonar map, and then said, “Frank, we have a hit.”

  He could hear the excitement in Frank’s voice. “That’s great! What have you got, Sam?”

  “A gold coin! Two of them, actually.”

  “That’s great news. Stay where you are, and I’ll return to your location. I’m a few hundred feet ahead of you.”

  “Copy that.”

  Sam and Frank used up the remainder of their air supplies searching the area, with no other discoveries that day. When Sam finally climbed out of the water and onto the work station in the Mahogany Cave, he was met by Byron, who’d already brought out three bottles of bubbly.

  “Congratulations,” Byron said, handing him a full glass of champagne.

  “Thank you. There’s our proof that the ship once entered this water system. Now it’s only a matter of time before we find the Mahogany Ship,” Sam said taking the glass. “Does Michael know, yet?”

  “Yes, I’ve contacted him. He’s in Spain, but says that he will be back in a few days. He also wanted me to remind you not to enter the Mahogany Ship before he returns.”

  “I still have to find it first, but you can reassure him that I won’t enter it without him.”

  Frank climbed the ladder behind him. “I think we just did it Sam. We now know that she sailed somewhere upstream of that tunnel. Now, all we have to do is follow it.”

  “Like I said to Byron, now that we know where to look, it’s a matter of when we find it, no longer if,” Sam replied, shaking Frank’s solid hand.

  “Do you want to come into town to celebrate? I know a great pub that does fantastic food and locally brewed beer,” Frank said.

  “Sure, sounds good. I have to contact my skipper and see how my project’s going in the Gulf of Mexico, but I’ll come into town after that.”

  Taking one of Rodriguez’s Mercedes six-wheel drives, Sam drove into town.

  He found a small post office at the end of Main Street, and walked in.

  “Hello,” he said to the little old lady who operated the store, which appeared to rent movies and act as a general store as well.

  “Hi dear. May I help you?”

  Sam pulled out a novelty birthday card. At its center was the image of a sun and a slogan saying ‘Happy birthday, I hope this brings you plenty of luck and sunshine for your special day.’ He smiled deceitfully, and said, “It’s my daughter’s birthday tomorrow. Any chance, I can send her this card, to this address by then?”

  She looked at the address, and said, “Portland, Oregon? That’s a long way from here. I suppose you’re with those mining fellows?” Sam nodded his head, as if to acknowledge her intuition was correct, causing her to smile. “It will be close, but as luck would have it, this week’s postal flight is due to take off in another hour. You might just be in luck.”

  “Thank you,” Sam said, as he started to write in the card.

  Dear Elise,

  Happy Second Birthday, I hope it’s a great one, and I’ll see you in a few weeks. He followed the note with a number of XX and OOs. Tell mummy I’d like to know what treasures you found for your birthday. She can contact me through the normal system.

  He then sealed it in an express post and handed it to the lady.

  If only they knew they were handling a 2 million dollar coin.

  *

  The next morning, Sam entered the tunnel feeling pumped. Greeting Frank, he said, “You ready to find this ship today?” Somehow, he could sense the Mahogany Ship was getting near.

  Over the course of the next four days, the two men searched more than 15 miles of the tunnel, with no sign of the ship. No sign of more Spanish coins, or parts of the ship.

  By the end of the week, Sam walked into the tent in which Frank and Byron were eating breakfast and said, “It’s not here.”

  “What have you lost?” Frank replied casually.

  “Not just lost, not here.”

  “Come again?”

  “The Mahogany Ship, she’s not down there,” Sam said.

  “Not down there?” Frank cut another large piece of meat off the steak, and continued eating as he said, “Then where’d the Spanish coins come from?”

  “I’ve no idea, but a ship that large would have displaced something visible by now. If the coins were brought there by a ship, then some other remnants of that ship must be too.”

  “So, you’re done then?” Frank stuffed another bite of meat into his mouth.

  “Not done yet. Just haven’t worked out our next move and far less convinced that the Mahogany Ship was ever here.” Sam leaned up against the Mercedes six-wheeler. “Can Rodriguez get me access to a helicopter?”

  Frank stopped chewing for a moment, then replied, “Yeah, but it will take a few days. He can bring it in on his A380 when he arrives in another three days. Will that do?�
�

  “No, I don’t want to wait that long. I noticed a little Robinson 22 parked at the airport. Any chance we could borrow her?”

  “I’m sure you could hire it. It’s probably used for cattle mustering. I’m not sure about a pilot though.”

  “That’s fine, I can fly it.”

  “Okay, where do you want to go?”

  “I need to clear my head,” Sam said. “But more importantly, we’ve run out of ideas inside this tunnel. Now I want to see the land from above. Get an idea of where the Mahogany Ship might have once been. Those coins didn’t get there by magic. Something’s taken them there, which means that a real river must feed into these tunnels.”

  “And you want to find that river?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Byron stood up, looked at his phone and then started to talk to someone. Five minutes later, he returned to the conversation. “Brent Higgins is the owner of that helicopter. As expected, he owns nearly 20,000 head of cattle around these parts, and uses her to muster them. I’ve just hired it on your behalf for the rest of the month. If you head that way after breakfast, he said he’ll have one of his mechanics fill her up.”

  “Thanks Byron. I think I’ll skip breakfast and wander over there now.”

  “Suit yourself, and be sure you take care on that machine. Mr. Rodriguez told me under no uncertain terms that I’m to ensure your safety. He believes you alone can lead him to the Mahogany Ship.”

  Sam laughed at that and then replied, “We’re still yet to see if he’s right.”

  By ten a.m., Sam had traded his trusty Mercedes for a Robinson 22, and was in the air. It provided a unique view of the landscape, and he hoped that the solution to his problem would present itself when it was ready. He spent nearly six hours flying and refueled three times before he found what he was after – a river more than forty miles upstream, which fed into an underground cave. The entrance was by far too small for a ship to enter, but that didn’t mean that two hundred years ago it wasn’t large enough to fit the Mahogany Ship.

  Sam landed next to it.

  Looking at the steadily moving water, he threw more than a hundred plastic floating devices, no larger than a marble, into the river below. Each contained a small camera, transmitter, and were electronically numbered to match the name of the river. He continued this process until he reached another four rivers.