Unearthly Power (14 page)

“Let’s keep him for a while. I’d rather bury him proper
ly if we can.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you what. You go ahead and take your nap and at the first sign of land I’ll wake you so
that we can bury the body, grab a bite to eat, and catch a plane ride home,” Alex said mockingly.

“Sounds good,” Sean said as he turned to his side and closed his eyes ignoring his friend
’s riposte.

When they regained consciousness, they found themselves secured by their wrists and ankles to a comfortable leather seat. The necessity to swallow in an attempt to relieve the pressure from inside their ears, and the subtle whine of the turbine engines, made it clear they were on an airplane. A thick swath of tape was covering their mouths, but they turned to nod to one another in a gesture of support. They sat on opposite sides of the plane facing forward.

Dee could see two men sitting in the cockpit and two more just behind it, all with their backs to the girls. Dee guessed it was about the size of a corporate jet. She struggled against the metal restraints but knew it was a futile attempt. The window coverings were closed
, so she was not able to tell if they were over water or land. She had a mild headache and tried to recall what had happened, and how they came to be on the plane. As soon as the fear of the unknown played its way into her thinking, she forced herself to maintain control over her emotions. She would not show weakness, and she would do her best to keep a level head while waiting to learn what it was that was happening to them.

Only on one occasion, shortly before they landed, did anyone come to check on them. It was Marcel. He neither smiled nor said anything to them as he checked to ensure their restraints were in place. Tori tried to talk through the tape achieving little more than a muted mumble. Dee just stared at her captor. He didn’t react to either woman before returning to his seat. After they touched down, the plane taxied for a long while before it finally shut down its engines. Although the windows were covered in the back, the ones up front allowed light into the cabin. Dee could see that what was once light outside the aircraft had now turned to darkness. It wasn’t a darkness associated with nightfall, but rather, a lack of natural light. They waited to see what would happen.

Finley, along with the third man who was on their charter, walked back, removed them from their seats one at a time and led them out of the plane.
When Dee stepped out, she noticed that they were inside a large hangar. There were two large black sport utility vehicles with heavily tinted windows parked beside the airplane. Dee accepted the guidance of her escort, but without giving any sign of weakness. Tori was already in the back of the first vehicle when Dee was placed beside her from the opposite side. When she sat down, her escort reached across her body and secured the restraint that remained on her left hand to a raised steel bar fastened to the space between the two seats. The proximity of the man across her lap caused Dee to make her displeasure known even though it was lost behind a mask of tape.

When the door was closed they could no longer see outside of the vehicle. The front seats were on the other side of a dark colored partition. They heard the sounds of men walking and talking and the occasional slam of a car door being closed. They felt the movement
of their own vehicle as someone got in the front seat and started the engine.

The girls looked
at one another again as confusion gave rise to concern. The look on Tori’s face told Dee she didn’t know any more than Dee did. It also displayed that Tori had a resolve of her own. That made Dee feel a little better. Being raised with Sean, though a challenge in so many ways, had affected Dee with a sense of certitude and self-confidence. She would do what needed to be done when the time came, or at least she would try. She only hoped that there was some kind of rational explanation for what was going on.

There were no sea birds in the area, and no other signs of life. The corpse was starting to smell, yet Sean still resisted the urge of dumping the body overboard. The natural concerns of dehydration and nutrition were prevalent on their minds, but remained unspoken. There was no need to state the obvious.

They took turns using the one paddle to move them in a linear direction. They were not sure where they were going, but the activity itself served as a distraction. They limited their efforts to keep from excessive perspiration. When they stopped altogether, Sean thought of every topic he could call to mind to engage Alex in
debate. He did this for a variety of reasons. Alex was prone to being emotional. Though he was short-tempered, he was also gentle and generous when the situation warranted such sentiment. He could cry at the end of a sad movie and then turn to throw punches at the first person to make an issue of it. Sean knew how to ‘push his buttons’ better than anyone. By doing so now helped to pass the time. It also helped Alex not to focus on what they had no control over.  

They argued about the business, they argued about the future, and they argued about the past. After some time had gone by, Alex finally caught on to what his friend was doing.

“We keep this up and we’re not going to have anything to say to each other when this is all over.”

“We’ll make up some new things,” Sean said with a grin.

Alex returned the grin. “I know I don’t have to say it, but we’re gonna need some water and soon.”

Both men knew it, and their thoughts turned inward having nothing else to say.

The sun had fallen below the skyline and darkness was once again washing over them. The moon was still providing ample light and the air was comfortable. They heard no man-made sounds to indicate the presence of anyone in their immediate area. They saw the occasional trail from commercial airliners as they crossed the sky throughout the day. By night they had the stars.

The subtle sound and motion of the waves lapping against the side of their boat was relaxing. They were appreciative of the fact that the weather that had followed them up unt
il their present circumstances—the dark gray and angry clouds with the choppy swells—had subsided. That would have only added to their current level of anxiety.

Their bodies were stiff from lack of proper movement and each ache or pain that presented itself along the way was exaggerated due to the lack of diversion. Alex was starting to accept the inevitability of death; Sean was determined to find the girls.

Marcel and Finley were standing before the antique walnut desk as Silas Chandler’s glare held them in place. At seventy-two years of age, one would normally expect the passing of time to take its toll on natural vitality. Silas Chandler was an exception to the rule. While his full head of natural
silver colored hair was reflective of his years, his eyes were as youthful as was his bearing. He was immaculate in dress and exhibited the manners of royalty when in the company of others. He was physically fit, rarely failing to complete fifty or more laps in his Olympic sized swimming pool each morning. At the moment, his thoughts were barely tempered with mild rage as his clear blue eyes bore into the men standing before him. He had received the text message three hours before they arrived.

Marcel contacted him from the boat explaining what had taken place and that they were bringing the women with them. Silas had said nothing but wondered why they had not just left them behind with the professor when he tried to interfere. They were originally supposed to bring him and his daughter out. For some reason they included this other woman. He decided they could be dealt with later. He wanted the relic without delay.

He knew he could not change what had happened. It was a series of unfortunate events. He had only revealed what was necessary to each of his factors. The men had no need to know what it was they were delivering, other than its description, and the professor had no need to know their purpose for being along. He made the mistake of assuming the ark was intact and that its contents were secured inside. He knew the professor had to know what the wooden staff represented, but he obviously held back that information from the others. He wondered why. It didn’t matter now. They had to find it at all costs.

“You will go back there and find the man who should be lying on the bottom of the sea as we speak. Use as many planes, boats, and men as necessary; but find him. He has a wooden staff with him . . .”

“I saw that staff of his,” Finley said.

Not used to being
interrupted—especially by men he personally loathed the very sight of—Silas Chandler raised his eyes in surprise at the very act of doing so. Marcel jabbed his elbow into his partner’s side to shut him up.

“Good. Then you know what to look for when you find him.”

The men turned to leave the room but were stopped before they reached the door.

“Marcel.” Silas Chandler
said causing him to turn around. “Bring me that staff, or don’t bother coming back. In fact, if I was you I would view it as a matter of life or death,” he said with a note of finality.  

Marcel knew him well enough to know the gravity of the statement. He was af
raid of no man, but he was well aware of the ruthlessness of the man who employed him and the power he wielded.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and with the sun positioned directly above them, they believed it was sometime in the middle of the day. Normally they would be enjoying lunch at this time, but that was a luxury they only hoped they would experience again. Their lips were dry and chapped, and they had a thin film of salt on their skin from the mist of spray that washed against the side of the small rubber boat. They kept their conversations to a minimum in an attempt to keep the moisture from escaping their mouths.

The movement of the waves seemed perpetual as they rode along at the mercy of the ocean. That morning they had heard the sounds of a seaplane, but their hopes were soon dashed when they realized it would not be coming anywhere near them. Even in their bright orange rubber boat, they would be almost invisible to the naked eye in the boundless sea unless someone was directly upon them.

As they lay covered in the boat on this afternoon, something seemed strange. Not really strange, but different from their steady monotonous drifting. Alex noticed it first and raised his head to peer over the side of the boat. He did this with his back to the corpse as it was now quite rigid and foul smelling. He couldn’t see very clearly as his head was barely above the height of the small waves. He was sure something had changed and he was determined to see what it was. As he lifted himself higher, to get a better view, Sean also became aware of the change.

“What is it?” Sean asked in a raspy voice while watching his friend look around.

Desperate for anything that could symbolize hope, Alex remained silent while almost willing his eyes to see something, anything. At last they did. It was what was different; the sound. It was the sound of waves washing upon a shore. Although this was no shoreline, it was an island.    

“There!” Alex said with excitement. “Get the paddle, we need to go there,” he said while pointing at the small land mass, barely visible above the water.

Sean saw it too and picked up the paddle to start rowing in its direction. He understood his friend’s reaction, but his was more tempered as he saw that the island itself was little more than a small piece of land in the middle of a large body of water.

Whe
n they were close, Alex tied a rope attached to the boat across his waist and slid over the side to swim the rest of the way in while pulling the boat behind him.
If I’d have known he had that much energy I would have left him do the rowing,
Sean thought.

Sean got out and they both dragged the boat onto the
rocky shore with the professor’s body still inside. He was the first one to speak.

“I’d say we found us an underwater island at low tide,” he said as they looked around.

It was approximately two-hundred yards in length, and no more than thirty in width at its widest point. Near the center was a raised rock formation that seemed to extend below ground and underwater.

“Damn.” Alex swore.

“We might as well look it over. We’re here now and we need to stretch and loosen up a bit.”

Alex agreed but was still disappointed that what they found would do them little to no good. When the tide turned, it would all be underwater again.

Sean led the way to the only distinct feature on the tiny island. When they walked up to it, they saw the porous rock formed into a U-shaped bowl. It stood three feet above the ground surrounding it, and on its inside it concealed an underwater grotto. Evidently there was an opening to the ocean below ground level.

“This is pretty cool, but I’m afraid it doesn’t do us much good,” Sean said.

“I think we can at least get rid of the body now,” Alex replied.

“And do what with it? Dig a hole?”

“I don’t care. Dig a hole or,” Alex looked around and then back to the underwater cavern, “or take him down there,” he said as he pointed in its direction.

Sean thought about it for a moment and decided they should probably do something. It didn’t look
as if they would have any opportunity other than sending the body in the sea itself. He nodded in agreement and walked back to the boat. Before grabbing hold of the professor, he reached for the wooden staff. He turned to look at Alex as he had followed him in anticipation of helping to carry the body.