“You know what this thing looks like?” Bones asked.
“Moai.”
Dane’s first thought upon seeing the totem was its resemblance to the moai, the statues made famous by Easter Island. He ran a hand across the huge, stone brow, wondering what it could mean. Was there a connection between Yonaguni and the island on the far side of the Pacific? Considering what they and Sofia had found so far, the possibility did not seem far-fetched.
“What now?” Bones asked.
Dane recited the clue from the codex.
“Behind the watcher’s starry eye, at the center of the trident, the crone points the way to Poseidon.”
“Open up and try not to blink,” Bones said to the statue as he shone his light inside the eye socket. “Lots of gunk in here. Let’s see if it’s covering anything.” He took out his dive knife and began scraping. Dane did the same to the right eye.
It wasn’t long before he uncovered a rectangular stone bar set in a grooved track.
“I found what looks like a lever.”
“Me too,” Bones said. “Should we pull them both and see what happens?”
“No!” Jade said. “Think about the clue. The watcher’s starry eye, not eyes. I think we’re just supposed to pull one of these handles.”
“How do we know Sofia translated it correctly?” Bones asked. “Do hieroglyphs have plurals?”
“I don’t know about that,” Dane said, “but why make specific mention of the ‘starry’ eye unless the word is important?”
Bones flitted his light back and forth between the eyes. “No stars here. If the clue refers to a constellation the figure faced back when this place stood above water, we’re screwed.”
Dane had a different idea. “Jade, where is the turtle formation from here?”
“Just over there.” She pointed to their left. “Why?”
“Except for the rounded back, I didn’t think it looked much like a turtle, did you?”
“You’re right. Some people call that formation ‘the star.’ Let me check it out.” Again, Jade swam away without waiting for a partner, returning in less than a minute. “It points directly at the totem. The right eye, to be exact.”
“You’re sure?” Dane asked.
“Only one way to know for sure.” Bones thrust a hand into the eye socket.
“Hold on,” Dane said. “Remember what happened to Matt?” On a dive at Oak Island, their crew mate had tried something similar and almost lost his arm.
“There’s one big difference,” Bones said.
“What’s that?”
“I always come out on top.” Before anyone could stop him, Bones pulled the lever. Everyone swam back as a rumbling sound broke the silence and the totem sank out of sight. “Score!” Bones shone his light down into the hole the totem had revealed. Not only the statue, but a square ten feet across had sunk into the earth, and an angled passageway of the same shape and size lay before them. “A word of advice. Never play me in Russian roulette.”
The passageway sloped downward for about fifteen feet, then leveled out, heading straight for the main monument. Whatever lay at the end would likely be found beneath the mountain of stone.
The passageway through which they traveled was perfectly square. The block walls and slab ceiling were made of the same rock as the monuments, while the floor was lined with huge paving stones.
“Reminds me of the Bimini Road,” Bones said.
“Is there anything that doesn’t remind you of a conspiracy theory or far-fetched legend?” Jade asked.
Dane didn’t disagree with Jade, but he came to his friend’s defense nonetheless. “You can say that to him after all the things we’ve seen?” In fact, Jade had been by their sides during some of their most remarkable discoveries.
“Don’t be so touchy, Maddock. You’re like a soccer mom or something.”
Dane bit back a retort and kept his eyes straight ahead.
“Looks like we’ve reached the proverbial fork in the road.” Bones slowed down and shone his light around. Here, the tunnel split into three seemingly identical passages. “Three roads diverged in a creepy tunnel.”
“When you make it to the afterlife, I’ll bet Robert Frost will be waiting for you with a shank and a baseball bat,” Jade said.
“And miles to go before I’m appreciated,” Bones sighed. “So, which tunnel?”
“I think this tunnel is the trident the clue mentions,” Dane said. “A straight shaft, splitting into three at the end.”
“Sounds good to me, dude. The center, then?”
A short way in, Dane noticed a change in the passageway. “No more bricks and slabs,” he noted. “Just a smooth tunnel carved in stone.”
“We must be under the monument,” Jade said.
“And it’s about to get weirder. Look up ahead.” Their lights glinted on the surface of the water up ahead. “There’s a pocket of air down here. Maybe a big one.”
They broke the surface together and looked around. They were in a pool in the center of a thirty foot-high chamber. Dane climbed out of the pool and offered Jade a hand up, which she ignored, and hauled herself up to the stone floor.
"Wonder what the air-quality is like in here?” Bones said.
"No telling." They were wearing full masks so their communication devices would work. "I don't care to find out, though."
Dane turned his attention to the far end of the room where three statues of Greek goddesses, each at least three meters tall, stood on a ledge above three tunnels. Each figure pointed downward at the tunnel beneath her feet, which was partially obscured by a curtain of water pouring from her mouth.
The goddess on the left exuded strength and vigor. She was posed in mid-stride, looking to the side and reaching back for the bow slung over one shoulder. The figure in the center wore a cylindrical crown, held a piece of fruit in her right hand; a mature beauty seemed to emanate from her solemn face. The figure to the right held a torch aloft, and spikes radiated from her crown.
"I guess this is where the crone points the way, "Jade said. "But which one is she?"
Dane looked the statues up-and-down. Each was a woman from Greek mythology, but he thought he knew the answer right away.
"It's Hecate, the one on the right."
"Are you sure?" Bones out
“Definitely. The one on the left is Artemis. You probably know her as the hunter, but she was also known as the maiden. Hera, in the center, is the mother, and Hecate, on the right, was the crone. What’s more, she’s associated with crossroads and entryways.”
“Sounds like a winner to me.” Bones moved in for a closer look. “You’re right about the center passage. Check it out.”
Dane and Jade stepped around the water falling from Hera’s mouth and shone their lights down the passageway. In the distance, at the very edge of their dive lights’ glow, a skeleton lay impaled by a broken spike.
“I’ll bet it was designed to go back into the floor so it could catch the next person,” Dane said. “It must have broken when it caught this poor fellow.”
“Or lady,” Jade added.
Dane ignored her comment. “Hecate was my suggestion, so how about I lead the way?”
Jade made a show of mulling this over before agreeing.
Dane led the way up the corridor. He felt certain he had chosen the right path, but the knowledge there were booby-traps in this place made him cautious. The gently sloping passageway soon opened up into a temple much like the others they had discovered. The now-familiar Poseidon stood watch over his domain.
“Whoa!” Bones exclaimed, staring at Poseidon. “Awesome.”
While Bones marveled at the sights and Jade snapped pictures, Dane moved to the chamber at the back of the temple his heart fell when he shone his light inside and found it empty.