Death Diamonds of Bermudez (19 page)

Savage and Keno safely guided Storm down the stairway. Sam quickly went to work on Storm cleaning up his facial wounds and
trying to flush the rock dust out of his eyes. After finishing she asked Storm, “Do you have any of your vision back?”

Storm replied, “Yes, but everything is blurred. I can’t make out any details.”

Savage patted Storm on the back saying, “Not to worry, mate, I’m sure your vision will be back soon.” Savage looked at the others and said, “Everyone shed anything heavy you’re wearing, shoes, anything that might pull you under.” Since the Spinners were all wearing heavy blue jeans they borrowed Storm’s knife and cut the legs off of them making them cut-offs.

Meanwhile one South African goon had just made it to the platform and the other one was not far behind him. Just as the South African stood up the trap doors below dropped open. Almost instantly the Death Diamonds cast out thousands of watts of light. The South African screamed in pain from the intense light from the diamonds. He stumbled backwards and fell off the platform screaming all the way to his death below.

Michael yelled out, “What was that? It sounded like someone was on top of the tower.”

Savage jumped up and unstrapped his Uzi saying, “I think we just had a surprise visitor who didn’t like the bright lights. The question is now are there any more up there?” Savage added, “Everyone wait here, and I’ll go check.” He had climbed no more than twenty steps when shots came ringing down all around him. Savage returned fire and quickly reversed his way back down the steps. Once at the bottom he turned to the others saying, “Well, I got my bloody answer. We have company. Pretty soon they may try to come down those stairs or even worse drop a grenade on us.”

Graham asked, “Shouldn’t we get out of here now?”

Savage replied, “Let’s do that. Is everyone ready for a swim?” Savage took off his belt and said, “Each of you take off your belts and hand the other end of it to the next person. We need to stay together, but I don’t want to tie us to each other. Keno, I have to go first so you let Storm grab hold of your belt.” Savage looked around and added, “Let’s go and maybe we can be long gone before these bloody cut-throats will know we left. When I say jump we all go together hanging on to each other’s belts, and don’t let go no matter what.” Savage looked at everyone then yelled out, “Jump!” No one hesitated and they all struck the water at the same moment making one huge splash. The current was fairly fast whisking them quickly away from the trap door opening. The tunnel must have been about ten feet wide. Even though there was about five feet from the water level to the tunnel ceiling no one was able to touch bottom. The tunnel was black as night except for the light from Savage’s flashlight. Savage yelled back to the others, “Is everyone still there?”

Storm replied, “Yeah, everyone but me. Keno let me go about a mile back.”

Savage choked on a little water and replied, “Storm
, watch out for those
stalactites hanging down. You might get hit in the head.”

Storm snapped back, “What do you mean watch out? I can’t see.”

Savage smiled and said, “Yeah, I know.”

After about thirty minutes of floating in the undercurrent Savage was beginning to get nervous. He noticed that the ceiling of the tunnel was now only about two feet above his head. It seemed that the tide was rising far too quickly or the tunnel was taking them in a downward direction. It didn’t really matter which one it was. Savage knew the air supply might not last much longer, and there was no way swim back up the swift current. Savage did the only think he could think of doing at a time like this. He said a prayer to himself as he floated along with the Spinners and Storm.

Back at the Death Diamond tower the South African on the platform had made his way down the stairway and opened the iron door. Lynch was first to enter the tower. After looking around for a few seconds he yelled out, “Where in the devil are they?”

The South African who had opened the door replied, “I heard a big splash about an hour ago. It looks to me that they escaped through the trap doors into the underground tunnel.”

Lynch very determined said, “They’re not getting away. We’re going in after them.” You could see in the eyes of his remaining men that none of them wanted to follow Storm, Savage, and the Spinners into the waters of the tunnel. Lynch turned to one of his men saying, “You stay here and wait for us to return. The rest of you will follow me.” Lynch took off his vest, grenades, and Uzi and threw them in a pile next to the iron door. All he kept was his automatic pistol with several bullet clips, a flashlight, and his knife. He looked at the others saying, “Leave everything you can. Carry only the necessities, otherwise you’ll drown.” His other men threw their excess weapons in the same pile. Lynch and three of his men jumped into the swift current of the water in the tunnel. Just like the Spinners, Storm, and Savage the South Africans were out of sight in seconds.

The one remaining South African sat down in the tower watching the water race by the trap doors in the tunnel. He was afraid that he might be forgotten and left in
Bermúdez to die. He was just about to doze off when he was startled by the iron door being shoved against the stone side of the tower. He jumped to his feet to see what it was and to his shock, it was Klaw. Klaw was covered with dried blood and mud. He had vicious wounds on his body that looked even worse because of the wide spread infection. The South African said, “Klaw, it’s good to see you. We all thought you were dead.”

Klaw yelled back, “That’s a lie! You dirty bastards couldn’t give a rat’s ass about me. It was the Death Diamonds you wanted.”

The South African replied, “That’s not true, Klaw. You’re delirious. Here take a drink.” He tried to hand Klaw his canteen, but Klaw would have none of it. Klaw drew out his long knife and threw it at the other South African striking him in the chest.

The South African looked down at the knife embedded deep into his chest and yelled, “You killed me, you bastard!” He pulled the pin from one of his grenades with his teeth, and with the other hand began firing his Uzi at Klaw. Klaw collapsed on the stockpile of weapons. The other mortally wounded South African stumbled over and fell on top of Klaw. A few seconds later the grenade exploded setting off all the other explosives piled by the iron door. The two South Africans were killed instantly. A gaping twenty foot hole was blown out in the base of the tower. The Death Diamond tower began shaking violently and rocking in a circular motion. The tower finally gave way falling on its side. The massive impact with the cavern floor caused the tower to crash through the floor ripping open a one hundred fifty foot gap in the underground tunnel. Millions of gallons of ocean water were flowing through the gap in the cavern floor destroying anything and everything in its path. The Lost City of Bermúdez was being engulfed by a flood.

Which
Way Out

Storm, Savage
, and the Spinners had heard the explosions. They all thought that Lynch was blowing up parts of the tower to get at the Death Diamonds. Very soon after the explosion it was evident that the current was beginning to pull them back towards
Bermúdez.

No one thought much about it except Graham. Graham finally spoke up saying, “I think we’ve got a very big problem, Inspector.”

Savage grabbed the wall of the tunnel to stop their movement. He turned back to Graham asking, “Why do you say that, Graham?”

Graham replied, “Do you feel the current starting to pull us back now after the explosions?”

Storm spoke up, “So what is it you’re trying to tell us?”

Graham had been right. The ancient ones must have used this exit tunnel as a way to leave the underground city of Bermúdez. The pathway wound its way through miles of tiny caves. The exit route had been clearly marked by someone thousands of years ago. Savage kept the group moving at a fairly fast pace. Although he wasn’t sure if the South Africans had survived the flood in the tunnel he didn’t want to take any chances. Finally after hours of hiking they made their way to a small cavern with a glimmering pool in the middle of it.

Crystal Caverns

Sam asked, “What now? We’re at a dead end.”

Michael added, “Why would we trek for miles to end up here? It can’t be a dead end.”

Portagee jumped into the conversation saying, “The answer is in the pool. That’s the way out.”

Savage added, “Portagee is right. This has to be the way out.”

Storm asked, “I know I can’t see very well now, but with a limited air supply what would keep us from getting lost and drowning?”

Graham spoke up saying, “One of us has to try. After all they left markers all the way up here, why not in the water too?”

Portagee chimed back in, “Look, I’m the best swimmer here. I’ll go.” Before anyone could say a word Portagee pulled out his flashlight from his belt and dove into the pool. Portagee was out of sight in seconds.