“Definitely,” Dane agreed. “Of course, it’s hard to imagine Daisuke scaling a cliff.”
“Don’t be so sure. My grandfather kept climbing well into his sixties, until my grandmother put her foot down.”
“I imagine you’ll be a lot like a grandfather. Now, shut up and let me work.”
Dane turned his attention back to his climb, ignoring the obscene gesture that he knew Bones was directing his way. Down below, over the gentle rush of the surf, he heard Professor picking his way through the rocks.
“Somebody’s forgotten how to be quiet,” Dane said, just loud enough to be heard.
“I figured, if you two Marys could have coffee and conversation, there wasn’t much need for stealth,” Professor replied. “You do remember we have communication devices, don’t you? He tapped his ear.
Dane shook his head, though he doubted his friend could see him in the dim light. Was everyone going to bust his chops?
He continued to work his way along the cliff face. Although he wanted to find Daisuke’s hiding place, if it existed, he was enjoying himself nonetheless. What if he gave up treasure hunting altogether? He could move to North Carolina with Angel and they could spend their free time up in the mountains doing what he loved. For a moment, he imagined them sitting on the porch of a mountain cabin watching the sun set.
So distracted was he by the daydream that he almost fell when his right foot came down in empty space. He cursed and dug in his fingertips. Idiot! He’d been climbing instinctively, and lost his focus.
He turned his light downward and saw that he had stumbled across a recessed area over a rock ledge. Inspecting the area above, he could just make out what looked like handholds carved in the rock. His heart skipped a beat. Could this be it? Cautiously, he dropped down onto the ledge and looked around. It was a narrow space, not much wider than his shoulders. He could see how it could easily be overlooked by passersby. But, when he shone his light back, he was disappointed. There was nothing here but a rock wall.
His shoulders sagged, and he let his hands fall to his sides. He’d been so sure. And then something on the ground caught his attention. A glint of metal. He dropped to a knee and brushed aside loose gravel and sand, revealing an iron ring. Smiling, he took hold of cold metal, and pulled.
A hinged trapdoor, one meter square, swung up and to the side until it rested against the rock wall. He shone his light inside, revealing a padlocked door. Smiling, he called for Bones and Professor, this time remembering to turn on his mic and speak in a low voice. His companions joined him a few minutes later.
“Bones, do you think you can pick that lock?” Dane knew that Bones had some skills in that area, developed during his teenage years.
“Easy as picking my nose,” Bones assured him. Flashing a roguish grin, he slid down through the trapdoor and went to work on the lock.
“He really hasn’t grown up at all over the years, has he?” Professor asked.
“Would we really want him any other way?” Dane chuckled and considered his own question. The truth was, he wasn’t always sure of the answer.
“We are in,” Bones called a minute later.
Dane and Professor followed him through the door and froze. They were inside a small cave. The walls and ceiling showed signs of past habitation. Soot stained the ceiling, storage niches were carved in the walls, and an array of broken tools and household items lay scattered across the floor. But it was the thing in the center of the room that rendered them speechless.
Their triple beams of light shone on what could only be an Atlantean device.
“What the hell is it?” Bones finally asked.
“It definitely looks like a weapon of some sort,” Professor said.
Dane had to agree. Standing on a makeshift bamboo tripod, the device looked to him like an oversized titanium telescope. On one end, he saw a trigger and what looked like an eyepiece, perhaps for sighting in a target. On the other end, four crystals came together in a point. He reached out and ran his hand along its perfect surface. Even after seeing the other device, it amazed him that the Atlantean’s could have done such precise metalwork so many millennia ago.
“What kind of metal is this?” Professor ran the beam of his Maglite up and down its length. “Titanium?”
“They’re still running tests on the device we recovered,” Dane said, “but my money is on something previously unknown.”
“A previously unknown metal? What are the odds?”
Dane and Bones exchanged looks. Once before, they had encountered such a metal. What if there was a connection? It was too much to consider at the moment.
“What are these things?” Bones pointed to a row of depressions running along the top of the cylinder near the eyepiece. They were of varying shapes and sizes. Clearly they served a purpose.
“Maybe it’s where they put the crystals that powered it.”
“But if this thing runs on crystal power, how did Daisuke use it?” Bones mused.
Dane looked around and found the answer almost immediately. Nearby lay an old dive bag, and when he opened it and shone his light inside, he found what he was looking for.
“This is how.” He reached inside and scooped out a handful of crystals. The shapes, sizes, and colors were varied, as were the quality. Some were finally shaped gems, while others were raw stones in smoky hues of blue and green.
Bones took one and held it up, shining his Maglite so that the beam refracted in tiny slivers of red all over the cave. “This one looks like it was made to go into this first slot. Should I try it?”
“No!” Dane and Professor explained in unison.
“Just kidding.” Bones tossed the crystal back into the bag. “Where do you think he got all these?”
“I’ll bet he found them in the temple. He was probably the first person to discover it, so I imagine he cleaned the place out.”
“And then he used it as his own high-tech, Keep Out sign.” Bones shook his head. “I’d love to see his face when he comes down here and finds it gone.”
Dane put his arms underneath the device and checked its weight. It was astonishingly light. They would have no problem getting it out of here. He replaced it on the tripod.
“Let’s call Jade and let her know we found it. Then, we need to touch base with Tam and have her make arrangements to get this thing home. I don’t think we can put it in our checked luggage, and I’m not sure it will fit in the overhead bin.”
“Wait a minute.” Professor frowned. “Shouldn’t we notify the authorities? If he’s been using this thing to cause ship wrecks, and who knows what else, he should be made to pay.”
“Good idea,” Bones said. “As soon as we get back to the house, you can call the police and let them know that a local drunk found a weapon from Atlantis, and used it to turn the Dragon Sea into the Bermuda Triangle.”
Professor’s jaw went slack as he considered Bones’ words. Finally he laughed. “Okay. I’ll defer to your judgment. I don’t have as much experience as you with this sort of thing.”
“Stick with us.” Dane clapped his friend on the shoulder. “You’ll have all you can stand.”
Chapter 26
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Sofia looked doubtfully at the bookstore facade. Perched in front of a four-lane highway, the big, square building with large glass panes across the front looked like an old grocery store.
“Jimmy says his debit card is swiped in the coffee shop here every weekday around this time,” Avery said. Jimmy Letson was an accomplished hacker and an old friend of Maddock’s. He’d done a little searching on their behalf, and discovered that Kirk Krueger was living in Rachel, Nevada under the name James Ronald. Tam had sent Avery, Sofia, and Willis to search for him.