Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

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"Exceptions to the rule," said Pitt.

"There's more treasure in the sea than mere gold," said Misty.

"Yes," Pitt replied, "treasures yet to be discovered that did not come from man."

They stopped talking as several fallen beams blocked their way. Carefully, Giordino threaded the Navigator through the maze, scraping the paint on the sled runners. "Too close," he sighed. "Now the trick is to get back out."

"Coming to the site of the chapel," Misty notified them.

"How can you tell in this mess?" asked Pitt.

"There are still a few features left that I can match on the plans," she said, her face set in concentration. "Come to a halt in another thirty feet."

Pitt lay on his stomach and peered through the bottom view port as Giordino covered the distance and then stopped the sub. It hung as if levitating over the space once occupied by the Emerald Dolphin's nondenominational chapel. The only distinguishing evidence that indicated they were in the right area were melted floor mountings in rows that held the pews.

Pitt leaned over the small console that contained the controls for the manipulator arm. With a light touch of the knobs and levers, he began moving the articulated arm downward until it began probing and sifting through the charred debris with its mechanical fingers.

Clearing a ten-foot-square area and finding nothing of interest, he glanced at Giordino. "Move us five feet forward."

Giordino complied and sat patiently until Pitt asked him to maneuver the sub to another search grid. There was little conversation while each man became engrossed in his own tasks. Thirty minutes later, Pitt had sifted and examined most of the chapel area. As luck would have it, he found what he was looking for in the last grid. A strange-looking substance lay in a tiny twisted lump on the deck. The object or substance, less than six inches in length and two inches wide, did not have the usual heat-fused look to it, but rather it appeared smooth and rounded. Its colors were odd, too. Instead of black or scorched gray, it had a greenish tint to it.

"Time is up," Giordino warned. "We don't have much oxygen in reserve to reach the surface safely."

"I think we may have found what we came for," said Pitt. "Give me another five minutes."

Very tenderly, he worked the fingers of the manipulator and slowly eased them under the peculiar material half buried in the ashes. When the object was delicately gripped, Pitt fingered the controls and lifted it free of the incinerated debris. Next he pulled back the mechanical arm and cautiously set the payload into the artifact basket. Only then did he release the fingers and pull back the arm to its locked position.

"Let's head for home."

Giordino sent the submersible into a slow, gliding 180-degree turn and aimed it back through the shopping avenue area.

Abruptly, there was a clunk sound and the submersible jerked to a stop. For a moment, neither man spoke. Misty's hands came together against her breasts in sudden fear. Pitt and Giordino merely looked at each other and briefly dwelled on the possibility that they might be irreversibly trapped for eternity in this hideous place.

"I do believe you struck something," Pitt said casually.

"It would seem so," Giordino replied, about as agitated as a three-toed sloth who didn't like the taste of a leaf he was chewing on.

Pitt tilted his head and stared through the overhead viewport. "It looks like the ballast tank is hung up on a beam."

"I should have seen it."

"It wasn't here when we entered. I suspect it must have fallen after we passed."

Misty was frightened, and she couldn't understand how the two men could make light of such a deadly situation. She did not know that Pitt and Giordino had been in far tighter spots than this during their long friendship. Humor was a mechanism to keep their minds clear from creeping thoughts of fear and death.

Giordino gently eased the Navigator backward and down. There was a horrendous screeching noise. Then the sub broke free and the eerie void became silent again.

"The tank does not look good," reported Pitt stoically. "It's badly dented and looks to be caved in across the top."

"Since it's already full of seawater, at least it can't leak."

"Luckily, we won't need it for the trip home."

Outwardly, Giordino looked as serene as a millpond, but down deep he was greatly relieved when he evaded the maze of hanging debris and piloted the Navigator into open water again. As soon as they were clear of the wreck and Giordino dropped the weight for the ascent, Pitt called the surface again. When he received no reply, his eyes became pensive.

"I don't understand why the communications phone is inoperative," he said slowly. "There is nothing wrong with the system on this end, and they're far better equipped to deal with any problem than we are."