The Sam Reilly Collection

by Christopher Cartwright

  “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.

  Back at the Mahogany Cavern, a wireless receiver waited for the information. It might take days, but he would have his answers.

  Sam reached the entrance to the mine shaft by the early afternoon, landing right next to their sleeping tents. He switched off the mains, letting the rotary blades settle, and then stepped out of the helicopter.

  Frank walked towards him, and asked, “How did you go?”

  “Good,” Sam said as he grinned like the owner of a winning hand at cards. “And, I’m pretty certain I know where we’re going to find the Mahogany Ship.”

  *

  “What’s taking so long, Frank?” The pitch of his voice betrayed Rodriguez’s impatience. “This was supposed to be over two weeks ago – we have a timeline to keep!”

  “There’s a lot of tunnels to explore, it’s going to take time, sir.”

  “Yes, but couldn’t you give him a hint?”

  “And risk him catching on? No way – he’s a bright man. He could ruin this whole thing if we try and rush him.” Frank coughed. Years of smoking left him with a perpetual chest infection. “He thinks he knows where she is.”

  “Really, and is he right?”

  “Yes, but it beats the hell out of me how he came up with it, after spending the day in the air, sightseeing in a helicopter.”

  “Did he now? That’s interesting. Keep me informed.”

  “I will Mr. Rodriguez.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Billie looked at the collection of images on her second laptop, unable to find exactly what she was after, swiped the screen to the left and began her search again. By the eighth one of these, she heard Tom’s annoyingly cheerful voice.

  “You seemed pissed off about s
omething,” he said.

  “No, just unable to find what I’m looking for. For the most part, this tomb is precisely how I’d imagine it. But then, when I look closely, I discovered that something’s wrong.”

  “Like the presence of the Master Builders?”

  “Yes, but it’s more than that,” Billie said, enlarging an image of the room, taken from the floor. “Look at the picture. What do you see?”

  Tom laughed, “I’m a helicopter pilot by trade, and an expert cave diver, but art was never one of my specialties.”

  “That’s fine. All the more this will make sense to you. So, what do you see?”

  “I see a turtle floating in an ocean, surrounded by thousands of stars, and a giant tree strangling the entire universe.”

  It was Billie’s turn to laugh. “All right, an interesting interpretation. I see what you mean about art not being your strong point. All the same, you spotted what basically appears to be a number of Mayan depictions.”

  “Really. Were they on drugs at the time?”

  “No. The Mayan people pictured a universe consisting of heavens above and underworlds below, with the human world sandwiched between.” Billie enlarged a simplified diagram of the Mayan world. “The heavens consisted of 13 layers, stacked above the earth, and the earth resting on the back of a turtle, floating in the ocean. Four brothers called the Bacabs, possibly the sons of Itzamná, supported the heavens. Below the earth lay a realm called Xibalba, an underworld in nine layers. Linking the three realms was a giant tree whose roots reached into the underworld and branches stretched to heaven. The gods and the souls of the dead traveled between worlds along this tree.”

  “And the king was at the top of the 13 layers of the heavens?”

  “No, this room depicts the king at the bottom, having just left the lowest rung of the earth based ladder.”

  “You look like you know a lot about this stuff.”

  “I’ve read a little. I’m no expert on the Mayan belief system, but for the most part, this seems to be in keeping with Sam’s original theory that this was a Mayan tomb. There’s just one thing I don’t understand.”

  “What’s that?”

  “There’s a lot of references to non-Mayan symbolism.”

  “Could they have been drawn from the Master Builders?” Tom suggested.

  “It’s unlikely. If the Master Builders did exist, they have never mixed more than one culture in their projects. The only image that carried across from the African relics, Egyptian pyramids, and other ancient sites is that of the Master Builders themselves. In this case, it almost appears as though the Mayans, themselves, have collected the information.”

  “Could the Mayans have traveled that far?”

  “Around the world?” Billie drew back from her monitor, and paused for a millisecond. “Anything’s possible, but highly unlikely. Such a statement would be akin to saying that the Vikings were the first to sail around the world.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I need to get some more pictures. Actually, I’m going to need hundreds of them. If I can feed them into my computer system, I have a deciphering program that may be able to come up with an explanation.”

  “Do you have any ideas?” Tom asked.

  “Yes, but none of them are possible.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it suggests that the Mayan people once had something more powerful than we have today.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Billie grimaced, like she was about to say something ridiculous. “The ability to actually travel between their realms of life, death, and the heavens. Some of these images show cultures that weren’t even developed a thousand years ago.”

  “That is crazy.”

  “Yes, it is. I just don’t have a more plausible answer – yet.”

  *

  In front of her, Billie’s computer hummed as it tried to crunch some very complex algorithms. Despite being one of the most advanced laptop computers in existence, it was having trouble resolving the data that she had input. Billie had taken more than three hundred pictures of the pictographs and hieroglyphics inside the King’s Chamber. Having charted the information on her laptop, she now tried to decipher what it all meant.

  And this meant differentiating between the Mayan texts, Egyptian symbols and Master Builder markings.

  She had remained at the original site, gathering as much information as she could, before word of its discovery reached them. Billie knew what would occur when that happened, and if she was going to get any further in her search, she would have to have it all mapped out before they came.

  A pinging sound could be heard coming from her computer.

  That was quick.

  Billie sat down and looked at her computer screen. Its advanced program, designed specifically to develop answers about the theoretical race known as the Master Builders, had discovered something about the room, but what, she had no idea.

  Do you wish to read the report now? Y/N?

  She clicked yes, and instantly several pictures of the roof of the chamber began filling the screen. The emphasis of each image appeared to be the blue glowing light at the center. It resonated from a ball, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but capable of resonating enough light to allow them to see throughout the entire pyramid. The same unexplained light source radiated down from the inside of what must have been the pyramid’s capstone, and then passed the missing scepter on the king’s sarcophagus, and then through the narrow shaft that extended eight levels below, to the bottom of the pyramid.

  Yes, I already know there’s no logical explanation for the light.

  Billie flicked through the slideshow. Slowly at first, and then faster, before she spotted it. Something was changing in each slide, but it wasn’t until she had clicked through more than a dozen that she realized what it was.

  Holy fuck – somebody’s been watching us.

  At the center was the source of the blue light, and where the perfectly round, blue crystal sparkled like a diamond, stood a shadow. The shadow formed and then moved throughout a number of slides, as though someone – or something – had been watching them.

  “Tom, we’ve got trouble.” She shouted the words without thinking about who was listening.

  Tom walked across the room, his camera still in his hand, and replied, “What have you found?”

  “Just look at these pictures.”

  She watched him flick through four or five images, and then stop. Pointing at one of the little shadows over the stone of light, he asked, “Does that look like something inside keeps moving?”

  “Yes. Someone’s been watching us while we work!”

  *

  Opening the black bag strewn on the floor next to the laptop, Tom withdrew a chisel and hammer. Climbing on top of the enormous sarcophagus, he said, “Whoever they are, their camera’s going to be destroyed in a second.”

  “Wait!” Billie said.

  “What?”

  “Is that wise? I mean, won’t they know that we know they’ve been watching us?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe they’ll just see that the lens has been destroyed. Either way, I’d rather them not follow what we’re doing here.”

  “What if they come for us?” she asked in no more than a whisper.

  “Come for us? We’re nearly 300 feet deep. We have our own dive team manning the diving pod at the entrance of the pyramid. They’re going to notice if someone comes down here.”

  “Sure, but what if they’re already here?”

  “No way. Did you see any secret hiding places? I mean, we’ve just spent the last two weeks studying this place. It’s all granite. The only way in here is from below the pyramid, the way we came. If someone comes, we’re going to have the upper hand.”

  She nodded her head and then said, “You’re right – get rid of it.”

  Tom examined the round blue ball, which, now that he really looked at it, appeared similar to the lens of a
camera. Without studying it further, he took the hammer and chisel, and struck the corner hard.

  Nothing happened.

  Tom studied the object again, before striking it with the hammer alone. Nothing, not even a crack. “I’ve got no idea what they made this thing out of, but it’s strong as a rock.”

  “Try the masonry behind it. Whoever put it there, probably used a protective cover,” Billie suggested.

  He struck it again, but even the masonry seemed firm.

  By the fifth attempt, Tom stepped down.

  “Here, try this. It’s a diamond tipped chisel. Should slice straight through whatever that is.”

  “Thanks,” Tom said, as he picked it up, angled it right at the crystal ball, and struck it with the hammer.

  Again, nothing happened.

  Tom placed his eye right up to the lens of the crystal. Not even a scratch could be found. Staring at it, despite the light that the ball was emitting, he noticed that it appeared dark inside, giving him the slightest doubt that it even was a camera lens.

  “Come on up here. See if you can get a better look at this thing, will you?”

  Billie laughed. “Sure. You want me to show you how to break it?”

  “I’m not sure you’re going to want to, once you’ve examined it. I mean, the thing looks pretty old. I don’t see it being a camera so much as a looking glass.”

  Below him, Billie, started to climb up the sarcophagus. “Whatever it is, there are few materials in existence that can withstand the tip of that chisel.”

  Tom stared at the glass again, and then said, “Whoa!” nearly falling backwards off the sarcophagus. “What did you just touch?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “It wasn’t nothing. And it just changed the view inside the ball!”

  “What the fuck do you mean, changed the view inside the ball?” Billie said, her nostrils flaring as she tried and failed to climb up to see it.

  “I mean, someone’s been watching this place, all right – and for a very long time!”

  Chapter Twelve