“Not bad, given my recent exposure with hydrogen cyanide and concoction of otherwise lethal chemicals that you provided me with.”
“You’re welcome.”
Tom’s eyes skittered across the smashed remnants of his dive helmet, “That’s mine?”
Sam nodded his head.
Tom’s hand reached for his forehead. A slight smile overcame his otherwise pensive face. “My helmet appears to have taken most of the damage.”
“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “Do you remember what happened?”
“Not much. I saw the light up ahead and figured it must have been your light, so I turned mine off. There must have been a crack in the outer wall, from which water was gushing at high pressure. I didn’t even see it, but as I swam past, I was expelled through the water in an uncontrolled spin. My faceplate must have hit the stone, and then all I could see was the rush of Hydrox bubbles escaping my dive helmet. I knew I didn’t have long to live, so when I thought I could see light in the distance, I swam towards it, hoping it was you — not that I had any idea what you could do for me. I guess somewhere along the way, my Hydrox ran out, and I succumbed to hypoxia.”
“You were rambling gibberish when I got you out of the water,” Sam said.
“Thank you.”
“What for?”
“Saving my life — again.”
Years ago, Sam had saved Tom’s life on a training mission, when a $2 oil seal had failed, resulting in a total loss of oil pressure to the gearbox, and forced engine shutdown. Sam had managed to guide the helicopter into a lake and put it into a controlled descent through autorotation.
The other SEALs escaped the sinking craft, but when Sam surfaced, and a head count was performed, Tom was missing. Several of the SEALs had attempted to reach the helicopter, which had rapidly sunk to the bottom of the 80-foot lake. Sam, with his background in professional free diving, was the only one capable of reaching it. Inside, he found Tom in the cockpit, trapped by his malfunctioning seatbelt locking mechanism.
Sam laughed at the memory, as he recalled that Tom had been able to access his pilot’s oxygen mask, and had been comfortably breathing the entire way to the bottom, but unable to free himself. When he’d opened the door, his friend had just looked at him, sitting comfortably in the pilot seat, as if to say, what took you so long?
“You’re welcome Tom. If you count that airship last year, The Magdalena, that free dive in Saratoga, and the cave dive in Mexico when we were kids — you’ve still saved me more than I’ve saved you. I still owe you one.”
“Keep it,” Tom said. Then, looking around, asked, “Are you any closer to working out where we are?”
“I’m still pretty confident we’re in the entrance cavity of a Mayan king’s final resting chamber.”
“Ajtzak’s?”
“Judging from the representation of the Ark of Light at the entrance, which disappeared shortly before Ajtzak’s death, I think there’s a good chance this is it.”
“What about our rescue team — do you think we’ll make it until they can reach us?”
“The air’s dry, but the quality is surprisingly good. We have plenty of time. Matthew will get us out of here — don’t you worry. It will take them another hour for the rescue team to reach us,” Sam cast his eyes around the cavern. “Care to take a look around?”
Sam examined the opening in the ceiling above.
It was ten feet above them and perfectly square, with smooth edges of cut rock. When he was younger and played basketball at college, he could easily have jumped high enough to touch it. But he needed more than that. He needed to be able to climb into it, and once there, he would have to find a way to climb up the vertical shaft.
“You feeling strong Tom?”
“Strong enough — what have you got in mind?”
“I was thinking if I could stand on your shoulders, I might just be able to reach high enough into the opening to climb it.”
“I can get you up to it, but I haven’t a clue how you plan to climb it once you get there,” Tom replied.
“Leave that to me.”
Tom stood up, his entire six feet five inches making the challenge seem less daunting. He was tall and lanky, but his muscles were misleading, and he was probably the naturally strongest man Sam had ever met.
“You okay?” Sam checked again before climbing the monster of a man.
“I’ll be fine.”
Tom took a firm stance with his feet square to his giant shoulders and his arms in the air.
“Count of three?”
“Sure.”
“One… Two… Three…” Sam climbed up Tom’s back as though it were a tree stump. It was strong and hard as one, too.
Standing firmly on top of Tom’s shoulders, he was now able to reach the entrance. The stone walls inside the shaft were smooth like those below, making any thoughts of climbing next to impossible. Sam calmly withdrew a small metal device from his pocket. It looked very much like a flashlight. He placed it horizontally inside the opening and then pressed a green button. The device opened wider as its hydraulics moved outwards, until it became firmly lodged between the stone walls.
Sam then placed a second one just a little higher, and then gripping the higher of the two rods, he lifted his feet on top of the first and swung himself up. Once standing fully on the first bar, Sam was easily able to reach the top of the vertical tunnel.
“What did I say? Easy…” Sam gloated.
“Cheat.” Tom looked at him from below. “Am I coming with you?”
Sam then unrolled a small, nylon ladder. It was attached to the second rod, which he’d fixed to the very top of the vertical opening.
“Come on up.”
The second chamber appeared to be identical to the first, only this one had giant statues on either side of the opening. One at each end, both stood at least seven feet high. It was impossible to determine if they were supposed to be enemies or friends — both were fully clad in warrior garments.
“Do you think one of these guys is Ajtzak?” Tom asked.
“Could be. I’ve never seen a picture of him.”
Directly above the opening through which Sam had entered the chamber was another shaft extending high above them.
Sam took a step back to examine the place, and felt the block below his foot move slightly. Below, a sound of high pressured liquid moving stone, could be heard.
He looked around the room, half expecting the walls to cave in on him, “Any ideas where they came from Tom?”
“I heard it, but I can’t see anything.”
Sam bent down to disconnect his hydraulic device from the shaft below.
“Say Tom, did you happen to notice those spears there on our way up?”
“What spears?”
Tom looked down the shaft they had just climbed.
Four large spears, made of iron, had appeared from the floor below.
“Whoever built this didn’t plan on any grave robbers,” Sam said.
“Yeah, well I have no desire to rob from the dead, but do you have a plan to get out of here?”
“Not yet. I’m working on it.” Sam then looked around the room and at the shaft above. “Shall we continue?”
“After you.”
Sam followed the same plan as the first one they had used to reach the next chamber. The only difference was that this time the stakes had lethal consequences if he failed.
Sam climbed the stone ladder nearly seventy feet before he came to the final chamber. His head had barely passed the opening, and he was certain that they had discovered the final resting place of a king, but which king?
Tom popped his head up through the shaft a moment latter.
“I’ll be darned!”
“What is it, Tom?”
“We’ve just found the final resting place of king Ajtzak.”