Death Diamonds of Bermudez

by R. C. Farrington

  Savage saw what happened and yelled out to Portagee, “Portagee, the beams are the locks to the gate. Break the beams, and the gate will unlock.”

  Portagee yelled back, “Got it, Inspector.” He raised both hands breaking the beams to the crystals. The gate started to rumble and slowly started lifting straight up.

  Savage looked at the hinges on the gate and said, “Well, I’ll be damned. Those hinges fooled us about how the gate opens.”

  Meanwhile Lynch and his goons were moving through the smoke screen towards Storm. Storm knew they were probably on the move so he fired several shots through the smoke. One of Lynch’s men was hit in the shoulder and let out a blood-curling scream. Lynch turned to his men and yelled, “Lay out a line of fire, and don’t stop until we find a dead body.” Storm tried to fire back, but the barrage of bullets flying through the air was too much. He had no choice but to retreat further down the tunnel.

  The gate was now raised over four feet. The Spinners one at a time scrambled under the gate with Savage bringing up the rear. From the other side of the gate Savage yelled out to Storm, “Let it go, Storm. I’ve got your backside. Move out!”

  As he started running for his life, Storm yelled back, “It’s about time!”

  Savage pulled out his Uzi and started firing over Storm’s head as he ran towards the open gate. While he was firing Savage yelled to the Spinners, “Let the gate go and clear out. Storm will make it.”

  Portagee dropped his arms and with the other Spinners made a bee-line down the stairs from the gate.

  Lynch and his thugs had now turned the corner and were running down the tunnel firing at Savage and Storm. Storm was close enough to the gate now to make a slide on his stomach in an attempt to clear the gate that was now only about eighteen inches off the tunnel floor. As he was sliding Lynch fired off a shot that grazed Savage’s temple. The force of the hit knocked Savage back against the tunnel wall striking the back of his head and causing him to black out. He fell with half of his body under the gate. As Storm was sliding under the gate he yelled out, “Someone give me a hand. The Inspector has been hit.”

  Keno ran back up the stairs quickly grabbing the bars on the gate to stop the downward motion of the gate. Keno was using every ounce of strength in his body to hold the gate open to keep Savage from being crushed. As soon as Storm cleared the gate he flipped over and grabbed Savage by his shoes pulling him out from under the gate. As soon as Keno saw that Savage was safe he let go of the bars and the gate slammed to the floor. He turned and helped Storm carry Savage down the stairs to safety. The small group quickly found a high wall to temporarily hide behind.

  Lynch and the other South Africans kept firing all the way up to the iron gate. Once at the gate Lynch signaled them to quit firing. He pounded on the iron gate as hard as he could screaming, “Those bloody cowards did it again! How the hell can they keep escaping us?” He turned to his men and yelled, “Open this damn gate. I don’t want those cowards to get away. I know we hit at least one of them.” Lynch stormed off back down the tunnel to cool off.

  The Lost City

  While Savage was slowly coming around, Sam was holding a handkerchief on his temple stopping the blood flow. Storm knew that Lynch and his thugs would be stopped dead in their tracks by the iron gate for a very long time. The other Spinners began to wander a little taking in the sights. Before they walked very far Storm yelled to them, “Stay together, and don’t get out of my sight just in case we have to move out fast.”

  Michael replied, “No problem, Agent Storm.” Michael, Keno, and Graham walked around in disbelief at what they were seeing.

  Storm was also looking at the site as he sat next to Savage and Sam. From his vantage point on the high ground they had an overview of the entire mega cavern. Storm’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour as his eyes took in the sights. He thought to himself, “What is this place? It looks like an ancient Roman or Greek city. Could this place be the Lost City of Atlantis? “Storm could tell the city had been abandoned for at least two thousand years, maybe even longer. He wasn’t an archeologist so he really couldn’t tell. From his location Storm was overlooking the small city. The city was built in a cavern many times larger than the cavern they had left above them many hours earlier. Based on the size of the subterranean city Storm thought that the population must have been fifty to one hundred thousand inhabitants. The centre of the city was dominated by a huge tower at least fifty feet in diameter and well over two hundred feet high. At first look Storm thought that a huge diamond rested on top of the tower. After looking more closely he saw that the huge ball was some type of steel or iron mesh ball completely filled with the Death Diamonds. Somehow this diamond ball was generating artificial sunlight for the city. The inhabitants of the city were harvesting the Death Diamonds not for wealth and decoration, but for light and survival. Storm knew that when Lynch and his thugs saw the ball of light, they would think they were in heaven and would surely destroy it for the diamonds.

  Whether this was The Lost City of Atlantis or some other lost ancient city Storm knew this new discovery put him, Savage, and the Spinners in more danger than ever. Storm lost track of his thoughts. Sam had nudged him in the side. Savage was starting to recover.

  Meanwhile the rest of the Spinners were looking around as best as they could without getting out of the sight of Storm. Michael said, “Can you guys believe this place?

  Graham added, “I can’t wait to go down into the city and snoop around.”

  Keno chimed in, ”I don’t think the South Africans are going to allow us to snoop very much.”

  Michael replied, “You’re right, but look at that canal that runs through the centre of the city. They must have used small boats or punts to get around.”

  Portagee added, “Let’s snap some pictures with our cell phones. No one will ever believe what we discovered without proof. “Although they needed to conserve their phone batteries the four Spinners each shot multiple pictures. Portagee went on to say, “Let’s christen this ‘The Lost City of Bermúdez’.” After all Juan Bermúdez’ discovered Bermuda, so isn’t it fitting the lost city of Bermuda to be named after him?

  All four Spinners raised their cell phones into the air and yelled out, “Bermúdez!”

  Back in the tunnel Lynch was still walking around when one of his men came up to him and said, “Sir, that gate won’t budge an inch no matter what we do.”

  In his usual impatient manner, Lynch snapped back, “Well then, blow the hell out of it.”

  The man replied, “But sir, we are running low on explosives.”

  Lynch reached over and grabbed the man by the collar lifting him off the ground yelling, “I don’t give a damn! Just do it, you idiot.” He threw the man against the tunnel wall almost breaking his back.

  The man slowly got back to his feet and said, “Yes sir.” He turned away from Lynch and slowly started walking towards the gate.

  Lynch yelled out, “Don’t take all day. Those bloody cowards will get away.”

  Back in Bermúdez, Savage almost had his wits back. He looked over at Sam, who was holding one of his hands and said, “Hey, how’s my little girl doing?”

  Sam snapped back, “What do you mean how am I doing? You were the one that got shot in the head and almost crushed by the gate.”

  Savage smiled and said, “Well I suppose you’re right.” He looked around and said, “Where the bloody hell are we? Did I miss out on something?”

  Storm laughed and said, “Yeah, when I kicked the butts of those South Africans just after you fainted.”

  By now the other Spinners had gathered around Savage to see how he was doing. Portagee had heard Savage’s question and replied, “You’re in the City of Bermúdez.”

  Savage stood up and said, “Well, no matter where we are, we’d better get moving. Lynch won’t be far behind.”

  The small group managed to get themselves organized and slowly made their way down a winding cobblestone road that appeared t
o lead to the centre of the city. While they were walking Storm turned to Savage and said, “This road is so much in the open that whenever Lynch and his goons break through that iron gate we’ll be sitting ducks. They won’t be able to miss us.”

  Savage replied, “You’re right, mate. We need to lose ourselves in the city as soon as possible and hope we discover a way out of this bloody dead city.” Savage then asked, “Do you think we should split up into two groups?”

  Storm thought for a minute and said, “One side of me says to stick together, and the other side says split up. I also worry that the killers back up at the gate are already through it.”

  Savage yelled out, “Stop everyone! We’re going to play hide-n-seek from our friends. We’re going to split up into two groups for three hours, and then we’ll reconvene.”

  Sam asked, “Daddy, where are we going to meet?”

  Savage thought for a while and then said, “If they figure out we’ve split up I’ll bet they’ll look for our meeting place somewhere in the centre of the city.”

  Graham jumped into the conversation, “See that temple over on the far west side of the city?”

  Michael replied, “Yes, but how do you know what direction it is from down here?”

  Portagee smiled and said, “That’s easy. He borrowed my compass.”

  Storm interrupted the conversation saying, “OK, that’s settled. So here’s the two groups. Keno and Portagee will go with me and Sam, Michael and Graham will go with you, Savage.”

  Before Savage could reply a huge explosion and a heavy cloud of smoke came bellowing out of the tunnel. Not only that, the entire city of Bermúdez’ started shaking violently. Savage yelled out, ”Those bloody idiots are going to cause an earth quake down here and flood the whole damn place.”

  Storm yelled back, “Come on, everyone! We’ve got to go now before Lynch and his men emerge from that smoke. Savage, meet us at the temple in three hours.” Both groups left the walkway and took off in different directions in hopes of finding a way out.

  Storm and Savage were right to be worried after hearing the explosion. The South Africans did not blow the gate to pieces, but they did blow a hole in it large enough for Lynch to walk through. As the South Africans emerged from the smoke they too were awestruck at the sight of the city. They knew the wealth of this find would make them all rich men.

  Lynch barked out, “Keep a lookout for those cowards while I give the boss a quick call.” Lynch pulled out his GPS communicator and called Van Eck.

  After a few rings Van Eck answered, “Lynch I was beginning to be worried. I have not heard from you for quite some time. What the hell is the matter?”

  Lynch replied, “These pesky Bermudians and the FBI agent are keeping one step ahead of us, but that’s about to change.”

  Van Eck added, “I sure hope so. Either this GPS device is acting up or you’re miles out in the ocean off the North Shore of Bermuda.”

  Lynch paused for a few seconds and said, “Boss, the GPS is right. We’ve been chasing these cowards through tunnels and caverns for miles.”

  Van Eck was now upset. He said, “So what now? Are you going to follow them into the Bermuda Triangle?”

  Lynch in a timid voice said, “No, but would you believe the Lost City of Atlantis?”

  Van Eck snapped back, “OK, smart ass. Did you say Atlantis?”

  Lynch replied, “Yes, boss. I’m standing here staring at an ancient city under the ocean. I don’t know yet, but it must be loaded with riches.”

  Van Eck added, “Just the fact that it’s there means it priceless. You find Storm and Savage and those kids and kill them all. There is no way in hell we’re going to share this find.”

  Lynch replied, “Roger and out.” He snapped his phone closed and went back to his men.

  The Hunters

  Savage left the cobblestone road and took his group towards the east side of the city while Storm and his Spinners headed in the direction of the centre of the city. Storm, Keno, and Portagee did not stray far from the main road that was a direct route to the city centre. They stayed just out of sight so that Lynch and his goons could not spot them. Savage, Sam, Michael, and Graham worked their way through the city blocks in a diagonal manor trying to keep a low profile. As they walked through the neighborhood, occasionally the Spinners would take turns peeking into doorways. Savage was more concerned about being followed by Lynch and kept checking in all directions. After having looked into several buildings Sam asked, “Daddy, every building or house we look into has artifacts galore in them, but no signs of people. Do you have any idea what happened, Daddy?”

  Savage replied, “Yeah, the bloody inhabitants got tired of nosey people looking into their homes and moved out.”

  Sam replied, “Daddy, be serious.”

  Graham added, “Sam, he’s probably right, but for the wrong reason. Remember when we studied American history about the Pueblo Indian cave dwellings in Mesa Verde, Colorado?”

  Sam smiled and said, “Yes, so what?”

  Michael jumped in and said, “I know that answer. A few years ago I got to visit that national park. No one knows why they left. Some think the food source dried up; some think they were chased away, and some think they just abandoned the caves. Whatever happened they just vanished and were never heard from again.”

  Graham added, “These people could have left here and sailed in three hundred compass points. Maybe that’s where the stories about Atlantis originated. People who lived here might have sailed to Greece to start a new life and passed on stories from generation to generation about their homeland.”

  Savage added as he walked along, “Well, that’s a good story, mates. If we run into one of the inhabitants we’ll ask them what they think.” The Spinners laughed and continued their search for a way out of the city.

  Back towards the centre of the city Storm, Portagee, and Keno made it to one of the causeways. They stopped to look over the stone wall and down at the water. Keno was first to speak saying, “I sure am thirsty. I wish we could have a drink of some of that water.”

  Storm added, “Yeah, I agree, but salt water will kill you.”

  Portagee in his typical inquisitive manor said, “Well, who really knows what kind of water is flowing down there? In case you didn’t know, Bermuda has lots of underground wells. Some are saltwater; some are brackish, and some are fresh water.” Portagee looked down the side of the causeway and yelled out, “Look! There’s a stairway down to the water.” He ran over to the stairway and went down to the water’s edge. He bent down and with his mouth took a sip of the water.

  Keno and Storm were right behind him. Keno tapped him on his back and said, “Well, is it good water?”

  Portagee replied, “It’s good! Agent Storm, try it for yourself.”

  Storm made a cup with his hands and tried a sip for himself. He turned to Keno and said, “Drink up its fresh water.” He then turned back to Portagee and asked, “Portagee back on the causeway you said something else about the water.”

  Portagee was a bit puzzled, “What was it? I can’t remember.”

  Storm replied, “You said the water was flowing, and you’re right. So if the water is flowing it must be flowing out of this cave.”

  Keno added, “That means the water might be the only way

  out of here, right?”

  Storm smiled and said, “Good deduction, Keno. We’re going to follow the flow of this water and see where it takes us. This small stone walkway along the water’s edge will serve as our path. Follow me, boys, but don’t fall in the water. There might be gators in that water.”

  Keno looked at Portagee and said, “You think?”