The Bermuda Connection (A Nick Randall Novel Book 2)

by Robert Rapoza

  Randall turned to face his friend. “How do you feel about going for a dive, old buddy?”

  “Just like old times,” Rob said, sporting a large grin.

  “Jamie, we’ll need someone on the boat while we’re in the water.”

  “You know I’m here for you, Nick.”

  “Okay then, let’s get going.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The American Airlines jet touched down in the pre-dawn darkness at Albuquerque International Sunport. John, Sam, and Gabby had spent more than half the day traveling from Bermuda to Miami and then to New Mexico. The airport was a small sea of lights in an otherwise desolate expanse of darkness, punctuated by other tiny islands of brightness in the New Mexico landscape. Most of the city was asleep as the 787 Dreamliner lazily taxied to the loading gate outside of Terminal 5.

  John was deep in thought as he stared out the window into the darkness. He felt a hand touch his forearm. He turned to see Sam slowly rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  “Are we in New Mexico?”

  “Just landed. We should be at the terminal any minute now. Where’s Gabby?”

  “I was just speaking with the flight crew,” Gabby said, pushing her way past passengers retrieving their bags, as she approached John’s seat. “They said Dulce is about ninety miles from here. We can rent a car outside the terminal and be there in a couple of hours.”

  “Sounds good, but how do we find the base? Remember, this is a secret facility so it’s not like we can just open a map and put our finger on it,” Sam said.

  “I have an idea that might help, but we’ll need to make a stop on our way,” John replied.

  A short time later, the three approached the rented Ford Fusion.

  John turned to Gabby. “You drive.”

  “Where to?” Gabby asked.

  “We need to make a stop at Andy’s Card and Comic Lair in Las Cruces.”

  Sam and Gabby shared an amused look.

  Grinning, Sam faced her brother. “John, don’t you think it’s an odd time to browse for comic books?”

  “You realize that’s about 180 miles in the opposite direction. Exactly who do you want to speak with and how do you know him?” Gabby asked.

  “His name is Andrew Howlett and we were in the same dorm wing in college. Andy was a computer science major—he helped me with a computer programming class and I helped him with organic chemistry. He was brilliant when it came to writing code and advanced algorithms. He eventually graduated with a double major in computer programming and mathematics, and went on to earn his PhD in math.”

  “Why would a guy like that open a comic book store? He could have gone to work for the CIA, NSA, or any number of agencies and made a great living.”

  John pursed his lips as a crooked smile crept across his face. “Let’s just say that Andy marches to the beat of his own drum. He did his doctoral dissertation on advanced mathematic algorithms and their application for breaking and creating advanced encryption. As part of his study, he worked with the NSA for a little over a year and caught wind of what they wanted him to do with his technical expertise. He politely declined, so they pulled the plug on his project and threatened to have him imprisoned if he ever talked about his work.”

  “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why we’re going to see him,” Gabby persisted.

  “After his brush with the NSA and some of the things he learned while working with the government, Andy became a believer in government conspiracies and started conducting research into some of them. With his knowledge and contacts in the computer field, he’s been able to uncover some pretty interesting facts that the government has tried very hard to conceal. If anyone knows where to find the Dulce facility, it’s Andy.”

  “Found the shop on my phone, it says his store opens at 10:00 a.m. Looks like we’ll have some time to kill. Any ideas?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m ready for breakfast,” John answered as Gabby pulled the rental car onto the highway.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sistema Sac Actun, Yucatan Peninsula

  Utilizing the coordinates provided in the documents on Shaw’s flash drive, Rob programmed the GPS on the boat they had rented in nearby Cancún. The system guided them to the entrance of the sea cave leading to La Caverna de la Piedra de Rosetta Cósmica. Once they arrived, Rob, Jamie, and Randall found themselves floating on the glassy surface of the Caribbean Ocean. The sun was just rising, painting the Eastern sky a beautiful shade of deep blue as the new day shook away the cobwebs of the recently passed evening.

  Randall and Jamie busied themselves preparing the diving equipment while Rob brought the ship to a stop directly over the mouth of the cave and dropped anchor. Rob studied several underwater depth charts he had picked up along the way and confirmed the depth of the opening.

  “Are we in the right place, captain?” Randall said with a grin.

  “You know it, buddy. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s pilot a ship and stop her right where I want to be.”

  “I have complete faith in you. There’s no one I would rather have driving this boat.”

  “Jamie, I’m going to need you to monitor our progress from above. Come over here and I’ll show you how to operate the boat.” Rob said.

  Jamie did as instructed, standing next to Rob while he explained the controls to the ship, the weather monitor, and communications system.

  “I checked the forecast—we have 4-5 hours of clear skies before a tropical storm front rolls in,” Rob said. “We’ll take extra tanks to increase our total dive time. I’ll need you to maintain the ship’s location by firing up the engines occasionally to move us to compensate for the current, which will carry us due east. I’ll also want you to keep an eye out for updated weather news to let us know if we need to cut the dive short.”

  “Got it.”

  Rob smiled a broad knowing smile. “That’s why I like working with bright people, no need to repeat instructions.”

  The two men donned their spring suits and masks, and dove into the water, carrying their extra tanks with them. The weight of the tanks served a twofold purpose. First, they would allow the men to extend their dive time by providing additional breathable air, and second, their added mass served as ballast to assist them with their descent. Once in the outer cave, they would set the extra tanks aside to allow them to move about more freely while they explored.

  The descent to the cave went without incident and the two men soon found themselves immersed in the darkness of the cavern. Having affixed a safety line, they switched on their diving lights and began searching for the writing Charles had spoken about in the video. Rob carried a Sony Z100 Ultra HD camera with its Gates housing to record the experience so they could review it on the boat to see if they had missed anything on the dive. He also figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the dive recorded on video as insurance, in case the stone was too large to retrieve.

  The experience was otherworldly as the lights revealed the intricate and beautiful features of the rock formations existing nearly forty meters beneath the surface. Rob was the first to find the cryptic symbols, which confirmed that they were in the correct location. Next, the two men began probing deeper into the murky darkness, searching for the fissure. As they entered the bowels of the underwater cavern, Randall noticed what appeared to be a recently created debris field. Chunks of rock ranging in size from a man’s fist to the size of a bathtub littered a section of the tunnel. He immediately recognized that the fissure must have been somewhere nearby.

  Randall motioned to Rob. “Here’s the debris field. The fissure Dr. Kim entered must be nearby,” he said into the Divex microphone built into his diving helmet.

  Rob nodded and the two continued their search. It didn’t take them long to find the fissure and, as expected, it was littered with debris from the cave-in, but Dr. Vernon’s team had cleared away most of the larger stones. The two men set up a small winch and pried the remaining rocks
away from the opening until there was a gap large enough for a man to fit through.

  Randall looked at Rob. “I heading in,” he said, pointing into the fissure.

  Rob tapped his watch to remind his friend to pay attention to his oxygen supply and time limit. “Don’t forget to set your dive watch.”

  Nodding, Randall slipped through the opening.

  The initial gap into the inner cavern was a long tube-like structure that started wider and slowly tapered to the point where Randall could barely fit through. As he reached the end of the tube, Randall shone his light into the inky darkness. He could only see several feet into the cavern and couldn’t make out any details. Holding his light in one hand, Randall grasped the edge with the other, kicked his fins, and passed into the inner cave system.

  The darkness was all consuming. Without his light, Randall couldn’t see his hands in front of his mask. He lifted his beam in front of him. A ghostly figure materialized from the darkness. He lurched back, startled by the sight. His heart raced as he put his hands up in defense. The figure floated past, swaying with the light current.

  The face was mostly white and bloated, except for streaks of red from jagged flesh near the left eye, which stared vacantly into the cavern. He had found the late Dr. Kim. Randall took several deep breaths, trying desperately to calm his nerves, his hands shaking.

  He gently pushed the floating apparition away and examined the cave. The cavity itself wasn’t very large, perhaps twenty feet in length with the floor falling away to a maximum depth of about twelve feet. The sides and floor of the cavern were relatively smooth, but stalactites drooped from the ceiling, creating the look of a jagged-toothed monster closing its mouth on its prey. As he shone his light on them, they cast long shadows over the back wall of the cavern.

  Randall swam deeper into the cave, searching for the stone that could help to explain the cryptic message they sought to decipher. He moved his beam in sweeping motions over the floor and soon discovered Dr. Kim’s smashed goggles. They were sitting in silt, frozen in time since Bill Kim had met his untimely death.

  As he swam up for a closer look, Randall’s fins stirred up the silt, creating a great cloud that filled the open space. He stopped momentarily, waiting for the disturbed dirt to settle so he could see again. Randall floated patiently, occasionally looking back in the direction of Dr. Kim’s body. He shivered as he waited, unsure if it was the coldness of the deep water penetrating his suit or the discomfort he felt at being so far beneath the surface of the ocean in this dark, foreboding place. He decided at that moment to bring back Dr. Kim’s remains. No one deserved to suffer such a horrible fate as to be left in this watery tomb.

  Randall checked his dive watch. After allowing time for decompressing on the trip back up to the dive boat, he estimated that he had another fifteen minutes of air left for exploring the cave. The cloud of silt finally settled and Randall was once again able to see. He trained his light where he had seen the goggles and tank, and was surprised to find another object beside them. The sharp corner of what appeared to be a piece of stone was protruding from the sediment on the floor of the cavern. Randall swam slowly so as not to disturb the silt again and finally reached the stone. He carefully brushed away the debris and found a black, rectangular piece of rock with strange symbols carved into it. He had found the Cosmic Rosetta Stone.

  He grasped it with both hands and gently lifted it. The tablet was no larger than two text books set side by side and offered little resistance, its weight lighter since it was underwater. Randall swam clear of the bottom and headed for the tube back to the outer cavern.

  Without warning, the earth shuddered, knocking stalactites and other pieces of stone loose from the roof of the cavern. Randall searched for cover from the falling debris, but there was nowhere to hide. Reflexively, he dropped the stone and shone his light toward the ceiling just in time to see a jagged spike of rock falling directly on top of him. He kicked his fins, propelling himself to avoid the falling dagger of rock, which dropped inches away from his goggle-clad eyes.

  More debris rained down on him and Randall was forced to move in a crazy zig-zag fashion to avoid being impaled. As the first pieces of debris hit the cavern floor, silt kicked wildly into the air. A debris cloud soon formed on the bottom of the cave, its plume extending ever upward and outward. Randall swam for the opening, racing to stay ahead of the falling rocks. He slipped into the tunnel just in time to avoid being smashed by another large boulder that had broken free of the ceiling.

  The shaking subsided, but Randall waited in the tube, his breathing shallow and labored. He slowly backed out of the tunnel and returned to the cave. He shone his light toward the ceiling; there were no additional objects falling. After once again waiting for the silt to settle, he searched the floor for the tablet and found it amongst the debris field. It was lodged between several rocks. Still jittery from the shaking, Randall swam quickly to the stone. Moving several rocks aside, he picked it up, and propelled himself back out of the cavern.

  The tunnel seemed longer going out than it had coming in. Randall held the tablet to his chest and kicked as hard as possible. In the commotion, he had forgotten about Rob and was now concerned for his friend’s safety. Hopefully, Rob had avoided injury in the outer cavern.

  The tunnel widened as Randall approached the exit into the outer cavern but there was something different. As he approached the end of the tube, his heart sank. There was debris in front of his exit. Randall set the stone on the floor of the tube and pushed at the rocks. They wouldn’t move.

  “Rob, are you there?” Randall called into his helmet microphone.

  No reply.

  “Rob, it’s me, I’m trapped in the tunnel!”

  Only silence.

  “Jamie, can you hear me, I can’t reach Rob!”

  Jamie didn’t reply either. Randall assumed that something was interfering with their communication system, hoping that this was the cause for Rob and Jamie’s lack of response.

  He checked his dive watch. Assuming that he could not reach or find an external air tank after the cave-in, he only had enough air to slowly ascend to avoid nitrogen poisoning. He couldn’t afford to waste precious time in the tunnel.

  He pushed with all of his strength on the rocky debris blocking his way, but there was no movement. He was trapped.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The sun had climbed high into the sky as Gabby pulled the rental car to a stop on South Solano Drive in Las Cruces. She stared out the window at an incredible view: Highway 10 stretched out into the distance, running in an almost perfectly straight line toward the Organ Mountains. Having spent the better part of the past eleven years in the Bahamas, she was taken by the stark beauty of the desert landscape. Pulling herself away from the view, she checked the thermometer, which already read 91 degrees.

  “Going to be a hot one,” John mused. “Looks like the shop should be open in a few more minutes.”

  The three exited the Ford Fusion and walked up to the door of the comic shop. John pulled the door handle, but it wouldn’t open.

  “I guess they’re still closed,” John said, knocking on the door.

  At first, nothing happened, but after a moment they saw movement inside the shop as a young woman made her way to the door. She glanced through the glass door and, after fiddling with the lock for a moment, opened it.

  “Hi, welcome to Andy’s Comic Lair, please come in,” she said, motioning for her three would-be customers to enter the business. “Good timing, we were just opening. Can I help you with something?”

  “I’m an old friend of Andy’s from college. I was in the area and thought I would stop by to see him. I didn’t call ahead, but was hoping he would be here. My name’s John Randall,” John said, extending his hand to the woman.

  “Nice to meet you, John, I’m Melinda. Andy’s in the back taking inventory, I’ll go get him.”

  Melinda disappeared into the back of the store and reappeared shortly wi
th Andy in tow. Andy was small in stature, about five and half feet tall, with long chestnut brown hair tied back into a ponytail. He wore round, metal-rimmed glasses that hung off his sharp, beak-like nose. His face was largely hidden underneath a well-trimmed goatee that extended down to a crisp triangular point.

  “Johnny, how have you been? When Melinda told me you were here, I thought she was kidding! What have you been up to?” Andy said grasping John’s hand and pulling him close for a hug.

  “I’ve been good, Andy. Remember Jacob? He and I are research partners working for a biomed company in D.C.”

  “You and Jakester are research partners, huh? Makes sense, he’s a great guy. Did he come with you?”

  “Unfortunately, he didn’t.”

  “Well that’s okay, it’s good to see you anyway. How about your two friends here? Do they work with you?” Andy said, turning to face Sam first.

  “I’m Sam Randall, John’s sister. It’s nice to meet you,” Sam said, extending her hand.

  Andy gripped it tightly and shook with vigor. “John talked about you a lot in school, nice to finally meet you.” Next he turned to Gabby.

  “Special Agent Gabby Gutierrez, nice to meet you.”

  Andy smirked at her greeting, apparently caught off guard, but he still shook her hand enthusiastically. “Special Agent? Am I in some kind of trouble?”

  “Andy, you’ve probably guessed that this isn’t really a social call. Do you have somewhere we can speak in private?” John asked.

  Andy furrowed his eyebrows. “Sure Johnny, we can speak in my office in the back. Oh, where are my manners? John, Sam, and Gabby, this is Melinda, my fiancée. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Andy said, smiling over his glasses at Melinda, who blushed with embarrassment. “Mel, do you mind watching the shop while I talk with my old buddy here?”

  “Sure, hon. Nice to meet you all.”