The altar, a diamond-shaped feature extending up from the flat surface of the rest of the monument and located in front of the main temple, was covered in clumps of sea moss and clams. Sometimes referred to as the “turtle”, its perfectly ordered shape struck Ethan as far too geometric to possibly have been carved by anything but human hands. He swam behind Lucy as she came to a stop at the front of the altar and began pulling chunks of moss away from the surface.
Ethan noted a movement in the distance to his right and turned to see the ghostly form of a hammerhead shark drift like a marine phantom through the endless abyss. It seemed to watch him for a long moment with one cruel black eye on the tip of its massive head, and then its tail flicked and it accelerated out into the gloom once more.
Ethan turned back to Lucy and watched her clean the surface of the rocks and then begin to examine them closely. Ethan peered in from over her shoulder and quickly saw what she was looking at.
The rock had been engraved deeply with a single disc from which extended a series of lines radiating out from the bottom of the disc as though depicting a sun shining down toward the ground. There were no lines pointing upward. Ethan nodded, recognising the image as one that Lucy had shown him as being present in Israel. She had said that was no known link between the Egyptians and ancient Japanese Jomon who had lived on Yonaguni Island.
Ethan prepared the camera and then began photographing the engraving, both with the altar itself in view and also close-up on the detail of the icon. Lucy noted the position and orientation of the engraving on the altar and then pushed away and ascended above the monument as she sought more locations to investigate.
Ethan turned and saw another hammerhead shark emerge from the gloom behind them, circling slowly and swinging its great head from side to side. Its massive flanks were criss-crossed with scars from countless fights with other predators, and it easily outsized every shark he had seen up to that point.
Ethan ascended, tapped Lucy shoulder and indicated the shark, and as he did so he saw the three shapes approaching them swiftly from the south, metallic black blocks with the unmistakable shape of men behind them. The underwater jet-skis rushed in and Ethan could see each of the men holding a projectile, metallic harpoons with wicked glistening tips.
XIV
Ethan grabbed Lucy’s shoulder and pointed at the onrushing jet-skis before he pushed her upwards towards the shadowy hull of the Jest above them. He saw the panicked look on Lucy’s face as she realized that they were being pursued, but she obeyed instantly and headed towards the boat as Ethan turned to confront the machines.
Each was powered by two small motors that left a stream of bubbles behind the vehicles, and they were fronted with a Perspex bow-shield behind which the men huddled as they spread out. Ethan knew at a glance that he had no chance of defeating the three without first taking control of one of the jet-skis, and he glanced briefly at Lucy and judged the distance between her, their boat and the onrushing machines. Confident that she could reach the boat before the machines reached her, Ethan swam immediately for the shallow water atop the monument. Just a few fathoms deep, the shallow water would take the advantage away from the machines and give it to Ethan as they would not be able to climb and dive faster than he could and would be limited in their ability to attack all at once.
Ethan kicked for the temple, keeping an eye open to his left as the machines rushed in. One of the men aimed a wicked harpoon and fired, the projectile rocketing toward Ethan and leaving a thin swirling stream of bubbles behind it. Ethan rolled and turned head-on towards the projectile to minimise his profile and the harpoon flashed by scant inches from his right shoulder, close enough that he felt the turbulence of its passing ripple against his wetsuit.
Ethan reached the top of the temple and turned to see the three jet-skis fan out, one to each side of him as the centre machine rushed headlong toward him. The man in control of it aimed his harpoon and Ethan knew immediately that he would wait until the last minute to be sure of a certain hit before he fired. Ethan reached down to his belt and unclipped his oxygen tank as he faced toward the onrushing jet-ski, waiting for the operator to fire the weapon at him. The machine loomed larger and larger, and he could hear the whirring of the propellers inside the motor and could see the eyes of the man operating it behind the shield.
The harpoon fired in a cloud of bubbles and Ethan immediately dropped to his knees and crouched down as he slid the oxygen tank from his back. The harpoon rushed over his head as Ethan surged to his feet and swung the oxygen tank like a battering ram at the machine. The pilot tried desperately to turn aside but was far too slow to react as Ethan swung the oxygen tank over and down behind the shield to crash into the pilot’s head with a dull thump that smashed his forehead against the control column.
The jet-ski slammed into the surface of the temple, then twisted sideways in a cloud of dislodged sand as Ethan pulled his oxygen tank back on and strapped it in place as he swam towards the careering machine. The pilot was hanging limp in his seat, his his arms floating out to either side of his body as blood spilled from his forehead and stained the water with scarlet clouds.
Ethan grabbed the pilot and yanked him from the seat as he jumped onto the jet-ski and twisted the throttle grip. The machine surged away from the surface of the temple as the motors engaged and Ethan flew out over the deep blue abyss and dove downward as he searched for the other two vehicles.
He saw them immediately as they rushed in toward him, both of their operators moving in for the kill. Ethan kept diving as he made an effort to draw them away from Jest, one eye on his depth gauge. As he dove away he spotted the silvery glint of an expended harpoon lying on one of the narrow shelves of the monument. Ethan turned his jet-ski and descended alongside the shelf, ancient carved stone flashing by as he reached out with one hand and grabbed the harpoon before turning away from the monument and descending further. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the remaining two jet-skis still pursuing him, both of them aiming harpoons at him but too far out of range to shoot.
He twisted the controls of the jet-ski and it turned sharply to head back towards the two pursuing vehicles. Ethan tucked down behind the bow shield to prevent them from firing their harpoons at him but he knew as soon as he had passed they would probably fire over their shoulders in an attempt to injure him. But Ethan had no intention of letting them go by without further evening the odds.
The two vehicles spread apart, aiming to pass either side of him so that one or other of his assailants could take a perfect shot. Ethan waited until the last moment before he turned his machine to the right, gambling that the man on his left was likely right-handed and would thus be forced to take a more complicated shot over his left forearm where the protective screen would get in his way. Ethan aimed towards the remaining vehicle and banked his own machine hard over so that its hull protected him from being shot at close range.
As the jet-ski passed by Ethan stuck his hand out with the harpoon pointing in the same direction as he was travelling and shoved it directly down into the vehicle’s starboard turbine as he snatched his hand away. He heard a muted clattering sound as he saw the harpoon fired from the other vehicle flash by just behind and above him. Ethan grabbed his controls and turned to pursue the expended harpoon and he glanced over his shoulder to see the damaged jet-ski veering away in a tight turn as its pilot fought for control.