Unearthly Power

by R. K.

  ~ Seven ~

  When they had the tie-downs unfastened, Alex operated the winch in preparation for moving the submersible to the side of the boat. The ROV was small but powerful. It could operate remotely, as its name implied; it could also be operated manually as it was now. They would use it to propel them to the bottom as its engine would easily accommodate their added weight. Once there, they could secure a considerable amount of additional weight on its top end which was specifically designed for transporting heavy objects.

  Before they went into the water, Sean moved the boat in a circular pattern taking additional readings on the underwater currents since his equipment was once again operational. At one point he put it in reverse and retraced its previous position. Satisfied, he shut it down and joined the others at the rear of the vessel.

  Before they pulled down their face masks to start their exploration, he told them about his findings. “We are right above two convergent currents. There should be a narrow corridor where they cancel each other out. That will make it much easier for both our ascent and descent, giving us more time in the water and putting less of a drain on the submersible’s battery.”

  They returned his announcement with mumbled replies of understanding as they were eager to get underway.

  When he saw that each diver’s gear was in place he gave the thumbs up signal to those on board and gestured for Tori and Finley to grab onto the vehicle. As they started to slowly sink under the surface, Tori assumed control as she was the expert with the craft. She moved from left to right in a downward plunge searching for the path of least resistance. The powerful light and speed of the vehicle allowed them to find their target in short order.

  She turned off its power and let it settle to rest on the bottom just outside the opening of the wreck. Finley departed almost immediately as if he had a mind of his own. Sean was annoyed because they had discussed their plan of operation before entering the water. They were supposed to stay together ensuring a thorough examination of the ship. When he caught up with him, he would express his irritation in no uncertain terms.

  Tori seemed to understand what was happening and decided to intervene by pointing to where she wanted to go. He nodded his head and followed along. They were in the same compartment as the day before, but now they took their time examining every facet of the ship. They avoided any unnecessary disturbance from its floor as this served to stir up an impossibly dense cloud of sediment obscuring their field of vision. As they found additional salvageable objects, they moved these to the submersible before continuing their search. Once they finished with one room, they moved on to the next. Time moved more quickly than they anticipated. It was nearly time to start their ascent and they had covered only a third of the wreck. Finley returned from deeper inside the vessel with nothing in hand. Sean decided to save his displeasure for when they surfaced. He signaled to Finley that they were returning to the surface and he nodded in understanding. Sean didn’t care how much time or experience a person had in the water. When he was in charge, that meant everyone obeyed his commands without question. It was one of the few things in life he took seriously.

  They made sure everything on the vehicle was secured properly and started the craft. Sean looked at Finley once again and thought it was strange that he hadn’t even found the time to pick up one single thing on his way out. That figured, he thought to himself, he might as well be completely useless down here. Before he could give the matter any additional consideration, Tori had them underway.

  The trip back to the boat was rough as the currents, once again, seemed to be fighting them all the way. When they broke through the surface they only had a short distance to go to reach the boat. Alex happened to be on the lookout after he had been signaled by Sean from his radio. He saw them coming in his direction as he powered up the winch to make quick work of retrieving the submersible. When they were close enough, he saw the pile of objects strapped to its top and called out to Dee.

  “Why don’t you get some help back here so that we can get these guys out of the water with whatever they’ve collected?”

  “Okay,” she said as she walked away.

  She returned with Marcel and his man in tow. By that time, the three divers had made it to the side of the boat and were treading water waiting to come onboard. Alex powered up the winch and Marcel guided the arm over the side of the boat. Sean reached up, snapped the three rings into place and gave those on board a ‘thumbs up’ gesture. The winch easily lifted the oversized mesh bag and what it contained. He swung it over the middle portion of the boat and lowered the cable as Marcel and his assistant made quick work in releasing the snap rings. When it was clear, Alex moved it once again to position it over the water. After Sean had the rings in place, he signaled for the other two divers to get out of the water. He followed the last swimmer out.

  Tori removed her headgear as she walked out of the way of the incoming craft. Alex carefully hauled it out of the water and lowered it onto the deck. With Marcel’s help, they soon had it secured. Tori was conversing with Dee and her father, who came outside after hearing the activity on deck. By that time Sean had caught up to Finley.

  Although his back was toward him, Sean laid a heavy hand on his shoulder and spun him around. In the process of doing so, Finley caught his foot on a metal post supporting the canopy above and fell. Ignoring the results of his action, Sean said, “I don’t know what your problem is, but when we go in the water you listen to me. I call the shots. You do what I say or you don’t go. Got it?”

  Finley, as angry at the fall as he was at being touched, didn’t pay any attention to what was being said, only to who said it and who had laid his hand on him. He started to rise from the deck in mid-sentence with eyes full of menace. Sean wasn’t a fool nor was he inexperienced with such things. If this was how it was going to play out, then so be it. His Irish temper was up for a little extracurricular activity. Just before the men could come to blows, Marcel stepped in and yelled at Finley. “Enough. What is going on here?”

  Before Finley could say a word, Sean said, “He went off on his own down there. We didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. That isn’t how I operate my dives. If he goes in again, and I’m the one who decides that, he either follows my lead or he stays on the boat.”

  Marcel gave Finley a hard stare as if in annoyance. “Is this true?”

  Finley looked at Sean and then back at Marcel. “Yes.”

  “I must apologize for my associate. I can only assume he got caught up in the excitement of the moment and forgot what he was doing. I assure you it will not happen again.”

  By now everyone was on deck standing around the scene playing out before them.

  Sean’s temper had subsided as he noticed the others standing around them for the first time. He looked at Finley who had also relaxed, somewhat, but still exhibited a defiant posture. “What about him?” He said pointing to Finley. “Can’t he speak for himself?”

  After another hard look from Marcel, Finley said, “I’m sorry for my actions. I won’t do it again.”

  Not believing in either the statement, or the feigned remorse behind it, Sean nonetheless accepted the apology because he saw no point in going any further with it. If he decided by morning that Finley wasn’t going down on their next dive, then that would be it. He still said, “Apology accepted.”

  They all slowly moved from where they had seemingly been locked in stasis and resumed their activities. Dee, Tori and Alex moved to where their bounty had been placed and started to rummage through the items. Marcel pulled the professor aside and talked quietly to him, while his two assistants left the deck. Sean decided to unwind and went to his room.

  Sean was awakened from his brief nap when Alex walked into their room.

  “Hey, Marcel and his two surly friends are cooking dinner for us. They even brought wine with them,” he said as if impressed.

  Sean didn’t allow alcohol on his boat when it was chartered. He didn’t rememb
er relating that piece of information to his current guests, so he decided to let it pass. Who knows, maybe I was wrong and Finley was really sorry. I didn’t mean for him to fall down like that, and no doubt he was embarrassed and reacted as I probably would have. “What are we celebrating?” Sean asked as he moved to put his shoes on. “Did we strike it rich with something we found?”

  “I don’t think so. Dee and the professor seemed interested in a few of the pieces, but I don’t think we are talking large dollar amounts yet.” Alex replied.

  Sean looked up and figured Alex must be close to mystified at the change in behavior with these men. He had an open invitation to pay back Sean for what he did to him this morning but he just let it go. “Okay. If they want to make amends and start acting like real people, who are we to stand in their way?” He said as he stood up, attempted to stretch the exhaustion out of his body and followed Alex to the galley to join up with the others.

  When Sean stepped into the room he saw that everyone was engaged in conversation. Marcel was at the stove while his other two men were talking to one another at the table. Dee, Tori and her father were saying something about what they brought onboard earlier and Alex moved in to join them. Sean was happy to see what he thought of as a normal gathering; something he assumed would have been a regular occurrence on a trip like this. Oh well, better late than never, he thought as he took one of the two remaining seats at the table.

  He kept to himself as he looked from one person to the next. The casualness of their attire caught his attention. Most people would be concerned about their appearance in practically any other place than at sea. Even the Navy at one time allowed facial hair to grow when not in port, and dungarees were anything but stylish. He’d have to do some research when he had the time and see if it was a common trait associated with Poseidon. Maybe they all knew something he didn’t.

  Marcel served them a modest portion of Coq au Vin. Sean knew he was European, probably French, but if he had known he could cook this well he would have gladly shared that responsibility with him. They all sat in silence enjoying the fine food and rich red wine. When Sean looked at Finley, he thought he even detected a friendly smile from the brusque man. He nodded his head in his direction. Sean finished his meal and drank the last swallow from his glass. He wasn’t normally much of a wine drinker, but it was a very smooth and pleasing cabernet. He looked at the label on the empty bottle on the table to see the name for future reference. He couldn’t read it. The harder he tried to focus the more it seemed to fade away. He turned to look at the rest of his companions.

  Dee, Tori and Alex were all asleep at the table. That was rather ill-mannered, he thought. As their images started to fade out of clarity he looked on the table itself. The glasses in front of the other men were still full of wine. Professor James looked upset as he returned Sean’s gaze. He knew there was something wrong here, but he just couldn’t seem to figure it out. His thoughts were jumping from one thing to another without making any sense to him. He turned once more to Finley. The man was now smiling showing his full array of yellow stained teeth. Sean smiled in return thinking he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. Without another thought, he put his head down on the table and closed his eyes.

  Marcel and Finley were now in the water with the submersible. Finley controlled it as he had witnessed Tori do on their previous descent. He was not as competent or smooth in his operation as she had been, but his limited skill was good enough. The waters surrounding them were extremely turbulent by the time they reached the wreck. If Sean were there he would not have allowed a dive in such conditions. These men, however, were uninterested in safety, only in results. Finley shut off the power and allowed the submersible to settle to the bottom. He led Marcel inside and went directly to the portion of the ship he had found earlier in the day. They had to fight the force of the water even inside the ship. When he pointed to a corner in the far wall, Marcel saw what appeared to be a crate with an ornate covering. The covering itself was askew, allowing for a small portion of the box itself to be opened to the water.

  With the limited lighting they had and the murky conditions from the disturbed sediment rising around them like dust clouds, Marcel decided to give his partner the benefit of the doubt that he had found what they had come for. He signaled his intent to close the lid before they removed it from the ship. It slid into place smoothly and soon the frenzied waters had subsided. Although they noticed this immediately, they didn’t have the time or opportunity to dwell on it. They had a job to do.

  The crate was small enough for them to handle with the assistance of the buoyancy of the water. They secured it on top of the submersible and returned to the boat. Their ascent was made easier by the calmness of the water. There was no opportunity to talk, so they just accepted the favorable conditions and went about their business.

  Professor James was standing on deck while their other partner was manning the winch. When they were within range, they signaled for the cable to be lowered so that they could attach their haul. It was slowly lifted from the water and onto the deck. They left the submersible itself in the water as they too got on board.

  “Is that it?” Marcel asked the professor.

  “I guess you’d better hope so after what you’ve done.” He replied as he turned to examine the box. Instead of looking for identifiable markings, he paid close attention to the metals in which the box was encased. Unless it was an expert forgery, he was sure this was in fact a relic of history any nation would pay handsomely to acquire. “This is it! I can’t believe it! Do you know what this means?” He asked the other men who were now standing around him.

  “Yeah, it means we did what we were sent here to do. It also means we have to finish the job,” Marcel answered.

  While the professor stood in stunned disbelief, Marcel gave the men orders.

  “Call in the other boat. Tell them we have it and need them here A.S.A.P,” he said to Finley.

  “Set the charges. I don’t want any evidence left behind,” he instructed the other man.

  When Professor James turned to him with questioning eyes he heard, “You didn’t think that if we found it, anyone else could ever know? Did you?” Marcel asked.

  Professor James said nothing in reply. He never believed it was actually possible. Now that it was, he instinctively turned toward the front of the boat where his daughter was before turning quickly back to Marcel.

  Understanding his reaction he said, “Your daughter doesn’t know. You both will go with us. Your job is finished.”

  Finally finding the courage to speak he said, “You can’t just murder them.”

  Marcel smiled without the smallest trace of goodwill. “This is the Bermuda Triangle. All sorts of strange and unexplainable mysteries happen here professor.”

  “They are on their way. Ten minutes.” Finley said as he walked up behind where Professor James now stood.

  When he turned back around after listening to Finley’s report he said, “I won’t allow it.”

  “I’m sorry, professor. You no longer have any say in this venture. You have made your choice and I have my instructions.” Marcel looked at Finley and nodded his head. There were two muffled sounds as Finley fired twice into his back causing him to fall to the deck. In the excitement of the moment the professor had failed to see the weapon in his hand when he first returned.

  Marcel stepped over him and Finley turned to follow as they moved to the front of the boat. He walked into the wheelhouse, took out his own gun and fired a round into the radio. He removed the keys from the ignition and tossed them into the water. Satisfied, he left. Back outside, they saw the running lights from their transport ship. It had been staying far enough out of sight so as not to give away their position. Once temporarily secured to the other boat, they transported the crate, the rest of their gear and the two unconscious women onto their high speed cabin cruiser.

  The skies had given way to broken rays of sunlight as the cloud cover, once an ugly gray
veil suspended just out of reach, was now finally clearing up. But they paid little attention to that as there was nothing else for them to do here. When the last member of their team arrived, indicating they had twenty minutes to put as much distance between them and the other boat as possible, they detached their lines and sped away under the cover of the lingering darkness.

  ~ Eight ~

  As soon as he heard the other boat move away, Professor James opened his eyes and began pulling himself across the deck with every ounce of strength he could muster. Having never been shot before, he automatically assumed the experience was instantly terminal. After he had fallen, he felt the immediate pain from the impact of the bullets. It was a combination of pain and numbness as he could no longer move certain parts of his body. As time passed, he assumed his body protected itself through the effects of shock as the pain itself was not incapacitating. His left leg felt completely numb and his breathing was limited to short gasps of air. His arms seemed fine and so he used them to drag himself to the galley where the only other passengers on board were now. It was a distance of no more than twenty feet, but it seemed as though it was much more.

  His body was drenched in sweat from the effort, and on more than one occasion he felt the sensation of shooting pain spread throughout his body as one or both of the bullets pressed against nerves from the movement. When he reached the doorway, he lifted himself over the small lip on the bottom of the frame until he was inside the room. This movement elicited another agonizing spasm to surge through his body. He cried out but no one heard him. When the pain subsided he moved to where Sean was sitting hunched over the table. No matter how hard he shook his arm he would not respond. In a sense of desperation, Professor James pulled Sean out of his chair and onto the floor. Sean remained unconscious as the professor took a moment to regain his strength. He rolled Sean onto his back and began slapping him in the face and yelling at the same time.