Tova was still nervous. ‘Is there any danger that the stone might be damaged?’
‘Riskiest parts are going to be the moment it’s actually pulled clear of the hole it’s been stuck in for however many hundred years, and when the crane brings it out of the water,’ Matt told her. On the screen, the divers swam to the ROV, then passed above its camera to reach the equipment rack. ‘If it’s going to break, that’s when it’s most likely to happen. But,’ he went on, seeing her now decidedly worried expression, ‘it looks pretty solid — there aren’t any obvious cracks or anything. I don’t think we’ll have much trouble.’
‘I hope not!’ she replied, still not entirely reassured.
‘They’ve done this sort of thing before, don’t worry,’ said Nina. All the same, she was feeling a degree of tension herself. It would not even take major damage to end their mission; if a small but crucial piece of the carved text sheared away and was lost on the lake bed, the search for Valhalla would end before it had even begun.
She watched as the divers reappeared on the screen, each now carrying an Inflatable Buoyancy Unit. In their empty state, the IBUs resembled bright orange sports bags with compressed air cylinders attached; once filled, they would balloon enormously into sausage-shaped cylinders. They hooked them to the webbing, then returned to Nelson for the second set. Before long, these too were attached.
‘Okay, they’re ready,’ announced Matt on a signal from one of the men, but Nina had already seen it; she had returned to her former position, peering over his shoulder like a pirate’s parrot. He shook his head, then flashed the ROV’s lights to indicate that the message had been received. ‘Let’s bring this thing up.’
The divers opened the valves on the air tanks. The IBUs unfurled, the creases in the tough PVC quickly smoothing out as they expanded. They rose in the water, the lines to which they were connected taking the strain.
Nina switched her attention to the lake bed. ‘Matt, can you zoom in on the bottom of the stone?’
He did so. As they watched, the glutinous silt shifted. ‘It is coming up,’ Tova said, excited — but also tense. Nina felt the same.
‘Not yet,’ Matt told her. ‘They’ve only got three two-fifty-kilo bags inflated at the moment, so it won’t be enough to lift the thing. It’ll take the weight off it, though. When they inflate the next three, that’s when it’ll really shift.’
‘It’s not going to pop out of the ground and shoot up to hit the ice, is it?’ Nina asked.
Matt laughed. ‘That’d be a hell of a sight, but no. They’ll get it to neutral buoyancy so Nelson can tow it to the hole.’
‘Great.’ Reassured, she turned her attention back to the screen. Matt zoomed out again to follow the divers’ progress. With the first three bags now pulling hard on the lines, they began to inflate the second set.
Before they were even half full, the lake bed surrounding the stone bulged visibly. ‘It’s moving, all right,’ Matt said. ‘The thing’s going to come right out like a bad tooth. And speaking of teeth, will you stop doing that?’
Nina realised she had been grinding hers. ‘Sorry,’ she said, moving away from the Australian’s ear.
Two of the men adjusted the IBUs’ valves to slow the inflation. The third — Eddie, Nina realised — did nothing, until one of his companions gestured firmly for him to turn his own tank down. He did so… with what she couldn’t help thinking was a degree of reluctance. ‘What’s the rush, Eddie?’ she said to herself.
She was still close enough for Matt to hear. ‘Maybe because it’s bloody freezing down there?’ he said with a grin.
‘Well, there is that.’ But she still felt there was something… odd about Eddie’s response.
The IBUs kept swelling. Fissures appeared in the bulges on the lake bed, spreading outwards. Tova put a hand to her mouth, whispering in Swedish before adding, ‘Oh, please be careful…’
‘It’s coming — it’s coming!’ Nina gasped. Part of the ground around the runestone’s foot finally split apart, a wash of swirling particulates blotting out her view. The entire monolith shifted sideways — and then upwards.
‘They’ve got it,’ Matt reported. The two IHA divers made further adjustments to the valves. The runestone’s ascent slowed, then stopped. ‘They’ll check there aren’t any obvious stress fractures, then if everything looks okay they’ll bring it up.’ He looked round at Tova, whose expression was caught somewhere between panic and elation. ‘Don’t worry, should all be plain sailing from now.’
‘Let’s hope,’ said Nina. She turned to Tova. ‘We did it, though — you found the second runestone, and it’s intact. It’s an amazing discovery.’
‘No, no, we found it,’ Tova insisted. ‘I couldn’t have done it without you and the IHA.’
‘And the OSO,’ Matt added pointedly. ‘It’s not all about the archaeologists!’
‘And the OSO too, thank you. But it is a joint effort.’
‘It all started with you, though,’ said Nina. ‘It was your research, your find. I just helped out.’
‘Well… okay, if you insist,’ Tova said, finally breaking into a smile.
Nina looked back at the screen. ‘Matt, if you get the sub in closer, we can take some photos of the runes. Just in case.’
Matt took the controls, flashing the spotlights to warn the divers that the ROV was about to move. Two of them swam clear, but the third stayed in front of the floating runestone. ‘Come on, mate, shift your backside,’ he said, with another flash of the lights.
Nina saw the toolbox attached to the man’s belt. ‘It’s Eddie. Why isn’t he moving?’ Her husband appeared engrossed in checking one of the IBUs. ‘Come on, honey, you’re blocking the cameras!’
‘I could extend one of the arms and bat him out of the way,’ Matt suggested, less than seriously.
‘Don’t tempt me.’ Eddie remained still. Matt brought Nelson closer and flashed the spotlights once more. This time, it got a response — though not the one Nina was hoping for. Eddie turned and waved sharply for the submersible to pull away.
‘He must be worried about something,’ said Matt. ‘I’ll back off to be safe.’
‘Worried about what?’ Nina complained. As far as she could tell, all the lines were holding firm, and the runestone itself seemed unharmed despite its extraction.
The Australian gave her an apologetic shrug. ‘He’s there and we’re not — he’s got the best view. Better safe than sorry, eh?’ The image of Eddie and the runestone slowly shrank as he guided Nelson into a retreat.
Nina knew it was sensible not to take any chances, but she was still irritated. ‘He could at least have moved so we could take a couple of pictures, dammit.’
All she could do now was watch impatiently as the divers prepared to bring the runestone up to the surface. They gradually pumped more air into the IBUs, using their own drysuits’ buoyancy compensators to rise with them, until the ancient stone was about six feet beneath the ice covering the lake. Matt turned the ROV around so tow lines could be attached, then started the laborious trek back to the hole.
Nina checked her watch, then briefly pulled back the tent’s flap to look at the sky. ‘The sun’ll be down by the time we get it out of the water,’ she lamented.
‘So long as it’s on the crane by then, it’ll be fine,’ said Matt. ‘We’ve got plenty of lights, so they shouldn’t have any trouble loading it on to the flatbed.’
‘Yeah, but it’ll be even colder than it is already.’ The brief exposure to the outside air had been enough to make her shiver.