"Aye, it is all on film and back-ups. As you may have noticed, we cannot transmit anything, which just adds to my distrust of this little journey," he said. "Check this; it teleported to Uruguay in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the real Graf Spee had been scuttled. Then it teleported to the Gulf of Alaska… "
“Northern Pacific Ocean,” she smiled. “Wow!”
He continued, “Then the Southern Pacific Ocean, where it appeared off Easter Island, the Antarctic Ocean… wait for it… right where we landed on our way to Ice Station Wolfenstein — and finally off Port Elizabeth, in the Indian Ocean.”
Nina was dumbstruck. The Nazis used to choose so many myth-enshrouded places and somehow the laws of physics, no matter how warped, had taken the ship to those precise locations. She sat up. "You are so right, Sam. It truly is the biggest secret in maritime history. But how did it sink?"
“It doesn’t say. It was already doomed when they realized that the ship would never make landfall again, especially after the unfortunate souls had all fused into the walls,” he shrugged.
“Jesus,” Nina shook her head. “What a horrible state of being that must be, especially if it doesn’t kill you. It’s disturbing to even imagine.”
"Now Crystal wants to tow the fucking thing, connected it to our tugboat. Do you agree that it is a very disturbing thought?" Sam asked.
“You need to ask?” she shrieked. “What are we going to do?”
“I say we check our watches carefully,” Sam suggested, “and when they are sleeping we sever the ropes connecting us to this black bitch and let her wretched carcass down to Davey Jones’ Locker, where she belongs.”
“No, you won’t,” Mieke protested sharply, prying open the door using a master key. Ali and Manni stood by her side with two other crew members in tow. Nina jumped up and shouted with her usual ferocity, “Where is Purdue?”
“Under the water, darling,” Ali smiled with his hideously stained teeth gleaming.
“Crystal and Dave are diving with the salvage workers to bring the Geheimnis up to be towed,” Mieke informed them. She looked at Ali and his associates. “Lock them up until Mrs. Meyer is back.”
“Mieke? What the fuck?” Sam scowled, thoroughly shocked by Malgas humble assistant’s behavior.
“No wonder you knew about the Eldridge,” Nina remarked as the men restrained her. “How do you get to order the captain and his crew?” Sam asked.
“Not me,” Mieke bragged. “My lover, Crystal. She is far more powerful than any of you know; not to mention incredibly wealthy.”
“Good,” Ali grinned. He punched her in the face with one swift blow. “Then you will fetch a good ransom.”
Nina gasped. She looked hopelessly at Sam, but he motioned for her to remain calm and obey the men’s orders. The blonde girl fell to the ground with a broken nose and three of her teeth scattered across the floor.
“What about Purdue?” Sam screamed as they took him away. Ali stayed behind with Nina and Mieke. “What about Zain and Sibu?” His questions faded into the din of the sea as they carried Sam outside.
“Ali?” Nina addressed the captain. “Where are you taking Sam?”
Ali's face hardened. "Sacrifice."
Chapter 32 — Pressed for Time
Sam was exhausted from the blazing sun on his skin. They had tied him to one of the radio towers on top of the superstructure of the giant tugboat. When he managed to open his eyes, he could see as far as the horizon, but other than the ocean there was nothing. They truly were in the middle of nowhere, and Sam wished he could teleport to Nina, wherever she was being held. Purdue and Crystal were due to come up any moment and then the ship would emerge from her grave to take them all to theirs.
His hands and feet were tied to the steel pole, which was burning his skin as the late summer sun heated it up. Sam had no idea what the pirates were talking about, but they kept looking back at him as if they were waiting for something.
Although he was tied to the highest pole of the tug, the boat was so large that Purdue and Crystal would almost certainly not notice him up there. Having no idea that they were all about to be tortured and killed, they would walk right into the trap. Then again, Sam did not mind Crystal suffering at the hand of their captors. If she had been behind the whole thing from the beginning, such deception warranted the death penalty. For the first time, Sam realized just how fortunate Billy Malgas and Cheryl Tobias were, for not having come on the salvage trip with them.
The sky above Sam was merciless. Not one cloud to shield him from the relentless sting of the sun. As time wore on, Sam became more light-headed and his legs buckled under him. His nose started to bleed from his body’s rising temperature and dehydration. Finally, Sam could not take it anymore. His body grew limp, and his eyes fell shut as he descended into oblivion.
When they found him passed out, the pirates doused him with cold water. Given his increased core temperature, the cold water felt like ice, shocking Sam into a painful conscious state. He screamed inadvertently, evoking a roar of laughter from the men around him. It felt strange to be tortured by the very men he had had dinner with, men he had gone on dives with and chatted with over morning coffee. Gone was the camaraderie as if they had never seen him before now. Their eyes were steely and cruel as they leered at him, occasionally making some snide remark in their tongue that had the whole bunch cackling with laughter.
Sam wondered where Purdue and Nina were. Admittedly he was not worried about any of the others, and he did not feel an inch of guilt. He kept his eyes narrow to hide the path of his stare as he surveyed his surroundings, scrutinizing the layout of the deck so he could navigate where he needed to, should he get a chance to free himself. It made him very nervous to imagine what they could be waiting for.
Then he saw it.
Sam’s blood ran cold. Attached to the tug was the enormous black Nazi ship without any name written its hull to remain an anonymous killer. But she was not without identification marks, especially to the trained eye of a world-wise investigative journalist. His heart pounded as he beheld the sigil on both sides of her hull, the familiar stamp of evil — the Black Sun. The prominent circle with its uniform rays radiating in lightning streaks stood out from the chipped paint and patches of rust as if it was fighting to re-emerge into the world.
“Ali!” Sam shouted suddenly. The men around him murmured, utterly annoyed at his shrieks. But Sam kept screaming Ali’s name as loud as he could hoping that the captain would want to find out why he was shrieking like a madman.
“Ali! You have to listen! You and your men are in grave danger! Ali, we’re all going to die! You have to listen to what I have to say!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, mustering the last bit of strength he had left that had not yet been depleted by the terrible heat of the afternoon. The pirates started to beat Sam, taking sticks to his knees and fists to his face. His lips were blistered and his tongue swollen, but then he thought of the perfect thing to lure the superstitious captain from his hideout. “Ali! I know a secret about the water walkers, and I must tell you before I die!"
The pirates’ yelling stopped almost instantly. Only the sound of the waves filled the air as they waited in tense anticipation of their skipper. No doubt he had been within earshot the whole time because it took all but ten seconds for Ali to appear on the lower deck. His red eyes pierced through Sam out of the deep sockets in his gaunt face. Ali’s dark brown skin glistened in the sun, revealing his myriad of scars as he moved.
“What is this… secret?”