Inca Gold (Dirk Pitt 12)

He knelt stiffly beside Giordino. "Am I ever glad to see you. I thought you and the Windbag had sailed off without me."

"The remains of our trusty boat were swept downstream."

"Are you badly injured?" Pitt asked.

Giordino smiled gamely, held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. "At least I can still play Carnegie Hall."

"Play what? You can't even carry a tune." Then Pitt's eyes filled with concern. "Is it your back?"

Giordino weakly shook his head. "I stayed with the Windbag and my feet were caught in the lines holding the equipment when she struck bottom. Then she went one way, and I went the other. I think both legs are broken below the knees." He explained his injuries as calmly as if he were describing a pair of flat tires.

Pitt gently felt Giordino's calves as his friend clenched his fists. "Lucky you. Simple breaks, no compound fractures."

Giordino stared up at Pitt. "You look like you went through the spin cycle in a washing machine."

"A few scrapes and bruises," Pitt lied.

"Then why are you talking through clenched teeth?"

Pitt didn't answer. He tried to call up a program on the computer on his arm, but it had been knocked against a rock and was broken. He unbuckled the straps and threw it in the river. "So much for Duncan's data."

"I lost the camera too."

"Tough break. Nobody will be coming this way again soon, certainly not over those falls."

"Any idea how far to the treasure cavern?" asked Giordino.

"A rough guess? Maybe two kilometers."

Giordino looked at him. "You'll have to go it alone."

"You're talking crazy."

"I'll only be a burden." He was no longer smiling. "Forget about me. Get to the treasure cavern."

"I can't leave you here."

"Busted bones or not, I can still float. I'll follow you later."

"Take care when you get there," said Pitt grimly. "You may drift, but you can't escape the current.

Mind you stay close to shore out of the mainstream or you'll be swept beyond recovery."

"No big deal if I am. Our air tanks went with the Wallowing Windbag. If we meet a flooded gallery between here and the treasure chamber longer than we can hold our breath, we'll drown anyway."

"You're supposed to look on the bright side."

Giordino removed a spare flashlight from a belt around one thigh. "You'll need this. Your headlamp looks like it lost a fight with a rock. Come to think of it, your face is a mess too. You're bleeding all over the shredded remains of your nice clean wet suit.'

"Another dip in the river will fix that," said Pitt, attaching the flashlight around the forearm above his broken left wrist where the computer used to be. He dropped his weight belt. "I won't be needing this any longer."

"Aren't you taking your air tank?"

"I don't want to be hindered any more than I have to."

"What if you come to a flooded chamber?"

"I'll have to free dive through as far as I can on my lungs."