“Yeah, it’s technically a large dolphin, related to the killer whale. We think Mizuhi has been keeping one on their ship, training it to swim little sorties against us.”
One of the divers raised a hand. “Last week the thing rammed me in the ribs something fierce on my way back up the wall.”
“And it’s been getting more aggressive lately,” another diver chimed in. “But until today it had been about a week since any of us had seen it, so we thought maybe they gave up, or they lost it or something.”
“Lost it?” Maddock prodded.
“Yeah, like it just decided the free meals weren’t all that great compared to what it can catch in the wild and so it didn’t return to the ship one day,” Spinney said.
“That reminds me…” Maddock looked around the group, who were watching him intently. “Flying in on the helicopter I did see a ship out there — a large, white one, miles out.”
“That’s Mizuhi’s ship,” Spinney confirmed with a nod. “So they are still around.”
Harvey Sims pulled some errant pieces of fish from his beard and said, “I have heard an increase in Japanese chatter on the marine VHF bands lately, although I have no idea what they’re saying. But I’ll keep a close watch on it.”
Spinney nodded his approval, and then turned back to Maddock and Bones. “Anyway, Mizuhi Corp is trying to drive us away. At first they tried legally, in the courts, which is nothing new if you’re an undersea treasure hunter or salvor of artifacts. Happens all the time. Only difference is, when they lost their case in Kiribati’s highest court, based on some tenuous claim to this island, instead of that being the end of it, they turned to intimidation. Initially, there were verbal confrontations, minor altercations where they would basically harass us by telling us to go home. But of course we told them to piss off.”
Steve Carlson continued. “And not long after that is when the pilot whale started showing up on the wreck site.”
Bones grimaced and clenched his fists, clearly having trouble containing his anger. A small whale trained to kill people was no minor danger. “Thanks for letting us know about that threat ahead of time,” he directed at Spinney. Maddock reached around and knuckled him in the back. If Spinney got mad enough to fire them, they wouldn’t be able to complete their mission.
Spinney threw up his hands. “I told you, I thought that threat had passed. Before today it was about a week since we’d last seen it. Am I right?” He swiveled his head around at his team, seeking corroboration. They nodded and murmured monosyllabic grunts of affirmation, but it was clear that Bones’ statement had resonated with them. It was part of the reason the group had sought additional divers, after all.
“No worries,” Maddock said, seeking to placate Spinney. “We’re aware of this whale now, and tomorrow we’ll know to watch out for it. Right, Keith?” He gave Bones a hard stare.
“You bet. It’s just a small whale trained to kill us, anyway. Not a big one.”
The group laughed and Spinney gave a half-smile before glancing at his dive watch. “And on that note, I’m calling it a night, gentlemen. I suggest you do the same. Long day tomorrow.”
Chapter 6
The next morning, soon after sunrise, Maddock and Bones rode in the Zodiac with Bruce Watanabe, this time his only passengers. The two SEALs each sat on one of the inflatable boat’s pontoons, riding out to the marker buoy in silence. They would have the first dive of the day on the plane to themselves. They knew this would be a huge opportunity to further their mission agenda before they were working in close contact with Spinney’s men.
Once anchored on the site Maddock and Bones strapped their gear on and splashed into the water. “Comm check, you hear me?” Watanabe’s voice in their facemask headsets was a reminder that although they were alone, what they said to each other was being monitored.
Maddock responded, “Loud and clear,” and then he and Bones dropped down along the buoy line. They followed the same path they’d swum with Bugsy and within a few minutes were staring once again at the sunken plane.
Maddock spoke inside his face mask. “Topside, we are on the plane, going to have a look around, over.”
Watanabe’s reply was instant. “Copy that.”
Maddock and Bones had already discussed their plans for the dive in secret last night after the campfire, and the two of them headed straight for the opening Maddock had seen in the ledge. The water was clear and it was easy to see where they were going. They flicked their dive lights on, rounded the plane’s tail and swam under the wing. Maddock pointed up into the opening in the ceiling. Bones nodded.
“Topside, we’ve located a possible opening in the coral wall. We’re going to see if it might lead anywhere.”
Watanabe’s voice came back immediately. “Topside here: copy that. Be advised that we may lose communication if you get deep into a tunnel, over.”
“Copy.”
Maddock finned upward to the ceiling of the cavern where the cockpit of the plane disappeared into the coral wall. Bones was right behind him. They swam up over the lip of the entrance and into an irregular chamber. They were greeted with a solid wall only a few feet in front of them, but rough passages led off to the right and left. Colorful sponges and tubeworms covered the walls and ceiling. Maddock played his light around the confined area for a few seconds before pointing left.
“Plane’s that way, so let’s check this tunnel first.”
“Right behind you.”
Although it was fairly high — a tall man could stand inside with headroom to spare — the tunnel wasn’t wide enough for both divers to swim side-by-side. Maddock moved slowly into the passage, shining his light in a slow arc as he went. Ahead the tunnel curved to the left and they followed it, only to have it jog back right. It also became a little lower and more narrow.
“Good thing I’m not claustrophobic, Bones said. “Right about now I wish I was your puny size. If this thing gets any smaller I’m gonna be like a cork in a bottle.”
It was a thought that gave him pause. One negative about diving this deep and in a confined space without the rest of the team meant that if anything went wrong they were on their own. Sure, Watanabe would know what happened, but it wouldn’t do them any good. By the time anyone from the team got all the way down here, they’d have run out of air.
“Up here it forks,” Maddock said. “The passage we’re in leads down while another one goes off to the right. Let’s take the low road.”
“I usually do. Low road, copy that.”
Maddock continued along the tunnel down until it flared out and ended abruptly — opening into a large space below.
“Dropping into a room….” Maddock wanted Bones to have a heads up. They could not afford to get separated. Another thing he found alarming was that without their lights it would be pitch black in the tunnels. Besides their main flashlights, they each carried a small backup light clipped to their vests, but still, being lost in a pitch black maze two-hundred feet underwater wasn’t something he liked to contemplate.
Maddock allowed himself to drift to the floor of the cave. He stood there with his fins flat on the bottom. A medium-sized fish gave him a start as it came face-to-mask with him and then darted off. As soon as he saw Bones’ light beam sweep the chamber, he took off again, swimming slowly and cautiously around a large coral protuberance.
There, occupying almost the entire enclosed space, was the cockpit of the old airplane. Maddock stared up at it in wonder. When they were first told they were looking for Amelia Earhart’s airplane he’d pictured a small craft, perhaps a rickety old wooden plane befitting the 1930s. However, from the briefing he learned it was, of course, metal — a Lockheed Electra. And he’d been given the approximate dimensions, too, but seeing it down here right in front of him gave him a whole new perspective. It was a big aircraft, towering above him. In his mind’s eye he envisioned skinny Amelia climbing up into the cockpit from the ladder steps, giving a last wave to the crowd gathered on the runway.