Hunt nodded and together, the four of them began their ascent, with the aquarium diver offering his second mouthpiece to Jayden, which freed Hunt considerably. About halfway up, Hunt could hear some kind of alarm braying somewhere outside in the aquarium building. Good, he thought, clear the place out. He didn’t want to go through all of this in the tank only to come back up to be met with Daedalus’ men again. They made the ascent smoothly and then approached the same platform from which Hunt had entered. He tensed, half expecting to see a bullet streaking through the water as a white bubble stream before impacting his flesh, but it didn’t happen.
Breaking the surface, Hunt’s gaze went up to the top of the waterfall from where they’d jumped. But that area was now free of shooters, of any people at all. Likewise, the dive platform from where they’d jumped into the tank. The aquarium diver pulled his mask up onto his head and spoke directly to Hunt, Jayden and Maddy, who spat their regulators out and took deep breaths of the outside air.
“You guys okay? Let’s get you to this dive platform here and get you out.”
He received no arguments, and together the four of them swam to the platform, where a multitude of aquarium staff were now gathering in order to render assistance. All four of the divers were quickly hauled out from the water onto the mesh grating. Hunt knew an explanation for their actions was about to be demanded in the next few seconds, as soon as it was clear none of them were injured.
But what to say?
He didn’t want to tie their involvement to a search for Atlantis…in the Atlantis resort, no less. That was as likely to peg him for a lunatic as it was to explain their actions. He also didn’t want to let on that he knew what organization the shooters were from, that he knew who the lead gunman was. That would tie them up in an interrogation room for hours, and they might even be prevented from leaving the country. Meanwhile, Daedalus would still be on the loose, stopping at nothing to reach the treasures of Atlantis.
At least they had Maddy back, though. Hunt embraced her and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“Thanks for saving me,” was all she said.
Then the questions started. A man wearing a suit walked up to Hunt and introduced himself as the Director of the aquarium. Hunt gave him a short explanation that he and his friends were standing in the grotto pool when gunfire erupted, so they jumped the fence and jumped down into the aquarium. Jayden and Maddy backed up his story with occasional interjections or well-placed nods.
“We just did what we had to stay alive,” Hunt finished up. “We’re all certified divers, we saw the scuba rig and just went for it!”
The aquarium director frowned at this but then shrugged. “We’re certainly glad all of you are unharmed. We’ll be happy to comp your entire stay as a small token of our empathy at having to go through such a traumatic experience. I hope it won’t reflect poorly on us.”
“Oh no,” Hunt assured him. “We love this place, right guys? Now that it’s free of active shooters, I mean. Speaking of which, were they apprehended — the shooters?”
“Unfortunately, no. But they were seen fleeing the resort premises. Police are looking for them now. You’ll be safe here, we’ve got police presence 24/7 until further notice. Is it just the three of you?” the director asked, a quizzical expression growing on his face.
Hunt saw him looking at Maddy standing between he and Jayden and realized the social implications. Almost blushing, he said, “Oh no, my wife’s down on the beach somewhere. She didn’t want to see the aquarium so I came up with these two. They’re the lovebirds.”
“I see. Well, I’ll see to it that all four of you are comped, all the same.” His gaze lingered on Maddy before he bid them good day and left the platform to exit back into the main building.
Hunt and Jayden talked to the divers a little more, making sure to thank profusely the one who had helped them underwater, and then they were free to go. After being given towels and dry outfits courtesy of the aquarium gift shop, the three of them left the aquarium and walked to the hotel room Hunt and Jayden had booked. They walked through a grand lobby, ornately furnished with a nautical theme, including a wall mural depicting the fabled city of Atlantis in its heyday. Maddy paused in front of it, pointing to the center.
“This is historically accurate. You see the concentric ring structure? That’s how Plato described Atlantis, as being a city designed around a system of canals that led to the inner island, where the seat of government was.”
“What were the walls that make up the rings supposed to be made of?” Hunt asked.
Maddy smiled as she gave her answer. “Precious metals. Gold, silver, orichalcum. No one can say for sure, of course.”
“Could be cubic zirconium,” Jayden said with a shrug.
“Not likely,” Maddy said. “Those are lab-made. 11,000 years ago that technology didn’t exist.”
Hunt held up a finger. “Ah, but the Atlanteans were supposedly quite advanced for their time, were they not? Reason I bring it up is because this orichalcum — it’s an alloy, right? Doesn’t exist in nature, so they were creating their own precious or at least semi-precious metals, so why not gemstones?”
Maddy threw her hands up with a smile. “Hey, it’s Atlantis. Who knows, right? How did the head of a statue that was in the Azores, the rumored birthplace of Atlantis, end up in an Egyptian pyramid?”
“And how did a statuette of Anubis, an Egyptian figure, end up in the Azores?” Jayden posited while considering the mural, the busy harbor with wooden vessels plying its waters, actively engaged in thriving trade, loading and unloading goods at the port of Atlantis.
“Speaking of Anubis,” Hunt said, pointing up through the ceiling, “we should get to our room.”
They walked to the elevator and enjoyed the ride up, made spectacular by the fact that the elevator was made of glass and faced out toward the beach and the sparkling blue Atlantic beyond.
“You really think Atlantis was out there somewhere?” Jayden wondered.
Maddy shrugged. “Could be. We are in the Bermuda Triangle, after all. This is one of the possible places rumored to be a resting place for it.” She turned to Hunt. “Is that why you chose this place as a meeting location with Daedalus?”
Hunt gave her a smile that came with a twinkle in his eye, but before he could answer, a chime sounded and the doors opened. A family of three waited to get in while they exited onto their floor. They walked down a nicely appointed hallway, with custom maritime art on the walls and clean, blue carpet with golden, stylized tridents. Hunt stopped at a door and inserted a key card.
“Whoa, nice place!” Maddy said upon entering. The lavish suite faced the ocean, and below them sprawled a labyrinthine series of swimming pools connected by rope bridges and dotted with palm trees. But Hunt’s eyes were not on the view. His gaze roved around the room carefully, checking for any signs of forced entry. He knew an organization like Treasure, Inc. would have the resources to find out their room number, once they knew he was here. It wouldn’t have surprised him to find the room ransacked, but everything appeared as they had left it, with the exception of the beds being made and the bathroom being stocked with fresh towels, twisted into the shape of an octopus, no less.
“Looks like Daedalus and his goons had to skip town fast — they didn’t get to our room,” Hunt said.
“Maybe we should change rooms, just to be safe,” Jayden said. “And speaking of safe, maybe we should—”