"And something of a curse," added Leonard. "For one thing, there is no possibility whatever we can raise the thing."
"Not without taking out several city blocks of skycrapers, no!" shouted Nathan. "Out of the question. You have a month before the injunction says you're finished there, and then construction resumes, gentlemen. As for this curse, these two men hospitalized ... well, the reason my office is involved, Stroud, is that ... the number has risen to four."
"Four?" Both Leonard and Wiz stared at the commissioner.
"The two police officers who took them in later came down with something unusual, and are ... wasting away ... their bodies rejecting all food, even intravenous, I'm told."
"Sounds like some sort of a plague organism," said Stroud.
"That's why we've flown in a an investigator from the CDC in Atlanta. You'll meet her at the hospital," said James Nathan. "Now, as for you, Stroud, you're bound to draw a lot of attention, and it goes against my better judgment to draw any more attention to this thing than necessary, but you came highly recommended and Leonard and Wisnewksi here want you on the case. But no one's asked you how you feel about endangering yourself in this manner. Are you certain you are up to it?"
Stroud thought for only a moment and then said, "It would take your entire department to keep me out of it, Commissioner."
"Good luck, then. Here we are."
The limousine pulled to a stop outside a barricade and beyond this was the huge construction site. Stroud, getting from the car, felt a shiver move with the tendrils of a tarantula up his spine. He sensed evil in the air that was being only weakly contained by the light drizzle that had turned the bottom of the construction site into a mud hole.
Dr. Wisnewski called for Stroud to follow him, and the men went into a large white van parked at the scene. Inside they were outfitted with protective wear. The white ensembles, full-face helmets and space boots were a far cry from the Wellington boots Stroud had worn in Egypt. Every precaution was being taken against a germlike virus that might be in the pit, on the mystery ship that had sailed from Etruria somewhere between the seventh and fifth centuries b.c.
Stroud noticed that they had gotten his size right as the technicians helped him into the protective gear. Attached to the suit was an ample oxygen supply and a gauge, as well as a microphone.
"I see you've thought of everything," he said to Dr. Wisnewski. "And I see you know my pants size."
"Of course."
"I suppose you even know my shoe size."
"I know everything about those with whom I work."
"Everything?"
"Dr. Cage has filled me in completely."
"And Leonard?"
"No secrets between us."
Stroud wondered just how frank Cage had been with these men. Had he told them of Stroud's "impairment"? Perhaps if they knew of the steel plate in his head, of the seizures that sometimes overtook him in stressful moments, of the ghosts in his head, perhaps he would not be accompanying them now. "How much does Nathan know?"
"Fucking little, unfortunately, like most politicians."
"About me, I mean?"
"Ditto, Stroud. What he's read in the papers, most likely."
But Nathan had said he'd been in touch with the commissioner in Chicago, a man who had wanted Stroud's help when it suited his needs, but who had turned him out to the dogs the moment those needs were met. He wondered if Nathan was cut of the same cloth.
"Are you ready, Dr. Stroud?" asked Leonard.
"I am as ready as I ever will be."
"Good, then we're about to take the first step on an incredible journey."
"A camera will monitor us," said Wiz, indicating a tiny electronic eye, no larger than a poker chip, attached to the crown of the helmet on his suit.
"Each of us is equipped with this device?"
"Yes, and we'll be sending signals back."
"Are there any inroads to the ship? How far have your men dug?"
"Nothing's been dug, actually. Just a hole between the ship and the encasement. We'll be journeying in, to see what's there."
"Do you think these suits will protect us altogether?"
"If it is a germ, yes. If it is a curse? Who knows?"
-3-
Small burrowing in the sand and dirt about the entranceway was what Stroud noticed first, a bit larger than a gopher's hole, disrupted mounds. He made note of it to Leonard and Wisnewski as they half slid, half walked down into the pit once they'd had to leave the crudely constructed stairwell. From above, Nathan and a host of others looked on, including men in hard hats. One in particular, wearing a suit and tie, appeared to be most important. He and Nathan were in heated debate but out of earshot. Stroud asked Wiz to identify the man.
"Construction boss?"
"The man himself," said Wisnewski. "Gordon--"
"The financer of the project," added Leonard. "Very upset over the delay. Wanted to blast the site, close it over, go around it ... typical."
"Ass-wipe of the highest order, British, you know."
"None of the ill people said anything of significance about this place before slipping into coma?" Stroud asked.
"The old man, Weitzel--"
"His name is Weitzel?" Stroud recalled his strange dream about a man of this name.
"That's right. He'd spoken to his family and co-workers about something in the hole down here that--I don't know--called out to him, kept bringing him back to the site until he became an annoyance. So when he was caught trespassing, the police were called, and that's where Nathan's department got into it."
Leonard spoke to the people above monitoring in the van. "We're at the threshold. Above my head you see what we presume to be the bow of an ancient ship, barely visible, encrusted with mud."
"From the size of the beams, as you see, the size of the ship can easily be estimated," said Wiz.
"It is enormous," agreed Stroud.
"So far as we know there has never been a larger ship discovered, and no one thought it possible such a giant vessel could be made in the fifth century b.c.," continued Leonard, his tall frame barely fitting through the dark opening beside the bow.
Stroud thought the dark, razor's edge of the bow ominous-looking and for a moment he thought he heard a whispered voice in the spirals of his brain telling him to run. He braced himself, however. The other two men continued ahead, their high-powered lights glistening along the body of the enormous craft. Stroud occasionally flashed his own light against the casing of mortar and stone along which they walked. It was covered with green mold and lichens. "Plenty of moisture in here," he commented. "The hull is in remarkable shape for such dampness."
"No doubt the construction that has gone on around it all this decade has caused cracks and fissures throughout the stone casement," said Wiz thoughtfully.
"Careful, both of you," said Leonard at the forefront. "Some tattered boards here; wouldn't want anyone's suit to be ripped."
"No nails," said Wiz, staring at the rotting boards that Leonard had pointed out. "All held together by wooden pegs fashioned as nails. Amazing ... to come so far..."
"I'm afraid this is about as far as we go," said Leonard, a sadness in his voice as he pointed out an area ahead that was impassable where tons of earth had fallen between the casement wall and the ship. "Only way to carry on is to excavate, make some tunnels."
"No time for that. We're going to have to violate the ship," said Wisnewski. "Perhaps here, where the rent has already begun. We loosen enough boards, we'll be inside the hull, and if the planking has held, we may be lucky. We may learn something of this ship before Nathan and Gordon bury it forever."