“So what do you think it is?” Zara asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe it was some sort of man-made structure many years ago. Built with sandstone, the layers of its structure have crumbled and turned back into sand.”
“That’s unlikely, but possible.” Her eyes glanced upwards. “There’s only one way to find out. Shall we climb it?”
Sam nodded and started to climb. The gradient was steep, but not impossible. Every ten or so feet the mountain formed a slight ledge to rest on. The distance between the ledges appeared unnaturally identical. The hard sand allowed perfect hand and foot grips. He would kick his feet into the sand until it formed a small foothold and then dig his fingers in above. Once at the top of each section, he stopped and rested on the ledge.
The hardest part of the whole process was making the hand and foot holds in the first place. Zara followed him by using the same hand and foot holds. After each section they would swap and the other person would build the next series of holds before reaching the following ledge.
By the time they reached the fifth ledge, where the wet and hardened sand was beginning to dry, it became easier to make a hand and foothold. At the same time, it became harder to maintain. On a number of attempts, Sam, who was following, found the holds were starting to break away. The only solution was for each person to build their own holds as they climbed.
He stopped on the sixth ledge. It was two thirds of the way up the mountain. Sam turned to face the western island below. He watched the water and the island’s sandy bank collide. A large chasm, possibly twenty to thirty feet long, split into the island. Water rushed through the opening, prying it wider.
Sam started to climb quickly. “Come on, we need to hurry up.”
Zara looked at him. A wry smile forming as she easily matched his pace. “Why, what’s changed?”
“Look at the bank of the island. What do you see?”
“Hardened sand.”
“Right. And what does hardened sand do as it comes into contact with waves, albeit small ones.”
“It breaks apart.”
“So what’s happening?” Sam continued.
“The ocean’s reclaiming the island.”
“That’s right and it’s doing so quickly. The island has a short life-expectancy.” Sam stared at her. His blue eyes, piercing. “And that means we have days, possibly a week at most, to find the Nostradamus Equation.”
Chapter Ninety-Two
The top of the mountain was a small, flattened outcrop of sand in a circular shape. No more than five feet in diameter. Sam ran his fingers through the softening sand trying to find something, although what he expected to find he really didn’t know. He stared as his fingers ran through the sand, revealing nothing but more sand.
He stood up and looked at their surroundings. He had an excellent view of both sides of the island, which formed a perfect lemniscate. The white sand beneath the surrounding shallow waters appeared a soft green color. Both sides of the island were the identical circumference. To the south he could just make out the pale haze of an island on the horizon. He recalled reading once that on a good day you could see Italy from Malta. He turned in the other direction and saw the haze of the Sicilian coast line.
It gave him a sudden pang of guilt. He’d traded his original mission to save the lives of people who needed help, so that he could find something that didn’t exist. He hoped to hell the tsunami wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they were expecting.
Sam moved to the western edge of the mountain top and looked down. Approximately a third of the way up, water had pooled on the ledge of the mountain. It appeared roughly rectangular and only about four feet in length. He stared at it for a moment and then grinned.
“What if we were wrong?” Sam asked.
Zara shuffled to the edge of the mountain peak to see what he was looking at. “About what?”
“About Infinity Island.”
“Okay. So what did we get wrong?” she said. “I don’t know a lot we’ve gotten right, so far.”
“We only assumed Nostradamus saw it as a vision of a current place. What if this island was once above sea level? What if Nostradamus knew what it once was, and that you would stumble upon it today?”
“Do you mean it was once inhabited thousands of years ago?”
“Yes.”
“The island looks pretty barren to me. There’s no sign of civilization.”
“That’s because the entire island is covered in sand. What if an ancient civilization once lived inside this mountain? What if it’s the remains of a city?”
“I haven’t seen any evidence of any civilization.”
“See that rectangular lake?” he asked, pointing toward the lake he’d seen a third of the way up the mountain.
She nodded, following his direction. “Yeah, what about it?”
“I don’t think that was always a lake and I don’t think this mountain was always a mountain.”
“What do you think it is?” she asked.
“Have a better look at it. Take away a couple thousand years of sea life, what do you see? Have you seen that shape somewhere else?”
She gasped as she squinted her eyes and started to see it too. “It’s a pyramid!”
“Exactly. And where have you seen that sort of lake in a pyramid?”
“I don’t know about South American pyramids, but I’ve never seen a lake in any Egyptian pyramid before.”
“No. But this isn’t a lake is it? It’s an opening now filled with water.”
“It’s an entrance!”
“Have you ever visited the Pyramids of Giza?”
“I’ve been an archeologist in Africa for my entire adult life. Before that, my father was an archeologist in Africa. What do you think?”
Sam ignored her sarcasm. “The anatomy of the ancient pyramids of Egyptian kings often include a queen’s chamber and king’s Chamber. With the queen’s down below and the king’s above. The queen’s will be flooded, but I’m hoping a pocket of air may have become trapped inside the king’s chamber.”
“What difference does it make if the chamber’s been flooded?” she asked. “What do you expect to find there?”
“The Nostradamus Equation, of course.”
Zara smiled. Her hazel-green eyes, full of intelligence, acutely challenged the notion. Her smile, wide with anticipation and mischief suggested she was willing to play along until she was convinced otherwise. “Okay, I’m not saying I buy your theory at all, but for a moment, let’s say I do. What do you suggest we do about it? It’s not like we can get inside. The whole thing’s been flooded.”
Sam grinned. “Well. For that at least, I might have a solution.”
Chapter Ninety-Three
It was just before nightfall when the Sikorsky returned to the island. Sam had spoken to Tom earlier in the day and had learned that the tsunami had been much weaker than expected and the southern coast of Sicily fared well. So far, the death of only one tourist had been reported. A man who had been in the water at the time and simply didn’t understand that the small wave approaching had the force to kill him. Otherwise, the Sicilian coast had fared extremely well.
The Maria Helena was still out there searching debris for any survivors who’d found themselves washed out to sea. With night approaching Tom had refueled and picked up the equipment Sam needed.
Sam heard the whine of the engine change pitch as Tom shut it down. He nodded in acknowledgement of Tom, and didn’t wait for the blades to stop spinning before sliding open the side door and retrieving the equipment he needed and laid it out along the sand. Time wasn’t on their side. The island was rapidly being reclaimed by the sea, so he needed to work quickly.
There were three boxes filled with diving equipment. Buoyancy Control Devices, dive masks, regulators, fins and dive computers. He and Tom had their own equipment. The third container was filled with equipment borrowed from Elise, with the exception of the neoprene wetsuit, which would have been too small for
her. Instead, it was a dark blue wetsuit. Not one of his usual dive suits. It looked old, but barely used. He’d seen it somewhere previously. Elise must have pulled it out of the older storage lockers.
Zara picked up the wetsuit. “I’m going to get changed. If either of you turns around while I do so, you’ll curse saving my life in the first place.”
“Yes ma’am,” both men replied, dutifully.
Facing away from Zara, Sam attached his dive tank to his BCD and dive computer. He then opened the tank fully, and rotated the nozzle half a click back to reduce the likelihood of the O-ring seizing. He removed his polo neck shirt and cargo shorts. Leaving his underwear on, he donned his 3/16 inch, neoprene full length wetsuit. It was probably a little warm for the local water temperatures, but he guessed the deep chambers of the pyramid was going to be a little cooler than the surrounding waters.
Tom reached for his wetsuit and started to get changed. He laughed as he looked at the mountain of hardened sand. “Trust you to find a hidden temple.”
“Thanks for bringing the gear,” Sam said.
“No. Thank you for bringing me along.”
Zara stepped lithely across the sand toward them. She looked up and said, “All right, you can turn around now, boys.”
Sam glanced up at her. “Hey, it fits you!”
The neoprene hugged the athletic curvature of her body in a flattering way. She was tall. An inch off six foot and her figure perfectly matched her height. Suddenly he recognized the dive suit. It was the same one Aliana, his ex-girlfriend had used when she came diving in the Caribbean. The sight of it gave his heart a momentary pause. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how similar the two women were. Both extremely intelligent, career driven experts in their chosen fields. Both the same height and athletic frame. Aliana was blonde with blue eyes and attractive in the typical fashion magazine type of way; whereas Zara had dark hair with hazel-green eyes and olive skin, giving her an exotic, and sexy appeal.
Zara smiled at him as she set up her dive equipment. “What is it?”
“Nothing. You just remind me of someone, that’s all.”
“Well, are you going to stand there, or shall we find some answers before this island disappears?”
And Zara’s a much harder woman than Aliana ever was. Sam smiled. “Let’s go find the Nostradamus Equation.”
Chapter Ninety-Four
Sam stood at the entrance to the small rectangular lake. The edges of the opening were rock solid. Either sandstone or sand mixed with some sort of cement. Either way, it confirmed his original theory that the opening was man-made and led to some sort of structure. The water appeared dark, giving no indication how deep the tunnel stretched.
He switched on his flashlight. “You sure you want to come with us?”
Zara bit her bottom lip. “No. I’m not sure. I hate everything about this.”
“Do you want to wait here?” He asked, in honesty.
“Yes. But there’s no way I’m going to let you have all the fun. If this thing really leads to an ancient Egyptian chamber, and the Nostradamus Equation, there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you two explore it without me.”
“All right. Good for you. Challenge your fears. If you get stuck, remember, I’ll be right in front of you and Tom’s going to be behind you. Don’t try to turn around. The tunnel looks too narrow for that. Your dive tank will get stuck in the walls. We’re on push to talk wireless communications. If you need help, let us know. There’ll be somewhere to turn around at the end of this.”
“And if there isn’t?” she asked.
“If we hit a dead end, I’ll remove my dive tank and turn around. Once I’m facing in the right direction, I’ll help you with yours. Don’t worry. I’ve dived something like this once or twice before. Just stay calm. We have plenty of air supply.” Sam looked at her. Fear radiated from her eyes. “You still want to come?”
She grinned. “You bet.”
Sam entered the water first. He adjusted his buoyancy and slowly descended to ten feet. He was followed by Zara in the middle and Tom keeping an eye on things from the back. The rectangular lake descended in a diagonal downward direction. His computer gauge told him the passageway ran at a forty degree slope. He was playing his flashlight beam close and then far all the way down the descending tunnel, but so far he couldn’t see where it ended. The walls appeared carved out of solid stone, as though someone long ago had spent years chiseling downward to make the tunnel. He placed his dive knife on the ceiling section and pushed hard. The knife didn’t advance. He breathed softly, feeling more confident the structure was solid, and only the exterior section had crumbled into sand.
Approximately eighty feet down he noticed a second tunnel, split in an upwards direction above. The upward tunnel was the exact same gradient, but in an opposite direction. Sam took a piece of red chalk and made a large circle at the entrance to the new tunnel. Then, inside, he wrote the number one.
“Are we going up first?” Zara asked, over the radio.
Sam shook his head and continued his descent. “No. I want to start at the deepest chamber and then work our way up. I can better manage our nitrogen levels that way.”
“Diving 101,” she said.
“Yeah, something like that.”
At a depth of a hundred and eighty feet the diagonal passage opened into a large, empty chamber. Sam shined his flashlight along the walls. There was nothing. A completely vacant room, which probably took the better part of a decade to carve out. He wondered what purpose it once had.
Sam turned around to face the surface, in one quick motion. “Okay, let’s start our ascent.”
When he reached the opening in the roof-line that ran in the opposite diagonal direction he turned and began following the new passage. This one maintained the same forty degree angle as the original one, but instead of heading downward, this one slanted up. Sixty feet along, a second passage opened. This one ran horizontal.
Sam took out his red chalk and drew another circle. This time he placed the number two inside. “This place starting to feel like something to you, Zara?”
“Yeah. I feel like we’re on a tour of a miniature version of the Pyramid of Giza.”
Sam flashed his light ahead, but he still couldn’t make out the end of the passage. “If that’s the case, we must be heading to the queen’s chamber.”
Tom joined the conversation. “The question is, are they going to hide the Nostradamus Equation in the king or queen’s chamber?”
“My guess, it will be in the king’s,” Sam said.
“Odd. My guess would have been the queen's,” replied Zara.
The passageway opened into a small chamber. It was completely vacant with the with the exception of a single, sealed sarcophagus at its center. There were no writings and only a few Egyptian pictographs.
Zara swam next to him and stopped. “This is the queen’s chambers.”
“Do you see any reference here to Nostradamus?” Sam asked.
She shook her head. “No. It’s a silent prayer for her soul. Nothing more.”
“What about the future?” Tom interjected.
She checked the other sides of the sarcophagus. “No. Nothing.”
Sam asked, “Any sign Nostradamus has been here?”
Zara said, “No. And there shouldn’t be any, either. Remember, Nostradamus spent much of his life trying to locate the equation. He knew it was there, and knew I would find it, but he would never set eyes on it in real life.”
Sam turned around. “Okay, let’s double back and continue our ascent. We can always come back here later if we don’t find anything in the king’s chamber.”
He reached the diagonal passage, turned and continued his ascent. Twenty feet up and the water ceased. Sam climbed a series of steps until he was standing in a dry passage. He removed his facemask and took a slow breath in through his nose. The air smelled stale, but breathable.
“Are you safe to do that?” Zara asked.
/> “Sure. This is an air pocket, left over from when the Mediterranean flooded.”
“It was 3.5 million years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean breached the mountain range joining Europe and Africa, flooding the Mediterranean basin and turning it into a Sea.”
Sam shrugged. “Okay, I don’t know how they built this pyramid under the water, but I’m with you, there’s no way it was 3.5 million years ago. And it doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that somewhere along the line, the pyramid flooded and air became trapped in the upper chambers. It’s stale, but should be breathable.”
Tom interrupted the debate. “Zara, perhaps you and I should keep our masks on for a few minutes. We’ll see if Sam shows any signs of hypoxia or poisoning. If he’s okay in five, we'll know it’s safe for us to remove our masks.”
“Suit yourself,” Sam said and he continued to climb the stairs.
At the end of the ascending passage the tunnel leveled out again and then opened into a large chamber. Presumably the king’s chamber, but there was no sarcophagus. Instead an ornamental pedestal stood at the center. He looked up. The ceiling was a large, rounded dome. The surface of which was covered with both writings and numbers.
Zara removed her dive mask and regulator. “The writings are a mixture of pictographs, hieroglyphs and symbols. It looks like an ancient divergence of Egyptian pictography, but I can’t make sense of any of it. I’ve never seen a written language anything like it, have you?”
Sam grinned. “I’ve seen it before.”
“Really?” Her eyes opened wide. “I studied ancient linguistics for five years and never came across anything like it.”
Sam met her eyes. His jaw set hard as he swallowed. “We call them the Master Builders and they’ve been around a very long time.”
Chapter Ninety-Five
Sam stared at the ceiling trying to make sense out of what appeared mostly as ancient gibberish. Although the domed ceiling was full of writing, none of the words were grouped together. Instead, it appeared as though a child had scribbled all over it at random. The more likely alternative was that the individual words meant something by themselves.
The Sam Reilly Collection Volume 2 Page 80