He heard the bubbles from Tom’s regulator.
“Tell me you can see that!” Tom said.
Sam gripped his Shark Power Stick. Ready to fire. His right trigger finger taking up the tinniest of pressure on the mechanism. “I can see it. Whatever the hell it is.”
The green creature smiled at him. It had a kind face. The rest of the body had limited structure, but the face was clear. It had eyes, nose, ears and mouth — below which, was a deeply cleft chin. There was something terribly familiar about the smile.
Well, that changes the face of the enemy. Even as the realization dawned on him, Sam couldn’t believe it was true.
Then it was gone.
And so was the gold.
“I swear it was all here when we left!”
“I’m not worried about the gold. Right now, I’m a little more concerned with reaching the surface alive. Let’s go!”
Chapter Seventy Nine
Sam reached the surface of the moon pool without saying a word to Tom. He removed his fins, holding them in his left hand and climbed the ladder into the dive room. Once there he removed his dive mask, tank, and weight belt before sitting down.
Tom threw his mask in a bucket of fresh water and sat next to him. “So, do you want to tell me your theory? Cause, I know you’ve got one. You don’t go all quiet like this unless you have a pretty bad answer to something. Otherwise you just keep asking more questions. So what is it?”
Sam unzipped a pocket along his right thigh and removed his dive tablet. He looked at his tablet computer, typed what he was after and clicked search. He patiently examined the results. Pensive. They only confirmed his nagging suspicion. Handing the tablet to Tom. “Does this look like your ghost?”
“Christ! That’s exactly what it looked like. Where did you get that?”
“From the database of students with exemplary achievement at MIT. That’s the most recent known picture of Professor Luke Eldridge — the man who was murdered.”
Chapter Eighty
Tom dried himself with a towel and threw a T-shirt on. This news was about to change everything. Until a few minutes ago they knew who their enemy was — someone who wanted Luke Eldridge dead. They had hoped the nanobot hive had been destroyed, but the appearance of the glowing green apparition showed this hope was in vain.
Veyron and Elise both came down the steel stairs and into the dive room. Tom looked at their faces as they approached. “So much for our long overdue vacation,” he said.
Sam then gave them the bad news. They took it well. Neither looked particularly surprised to discover the nanobots had evolved to survive. It’s only natural.
At the end, Sam said, “Do you understand what this means?”
“That we were sharing the same confined space with about a trillion microscopic machines designed to kill us?” Tom replied.
“Well, there is that. Also, the nanobots are no longer confined to the surface. Plankton are natural surface drifters. They only sink to the bottom when they die.”
“And if they aren’t restricted to the surface, it means they’re going to be a lot harder to find,” Elise said. “Until now we’ve been able to find them because at night they show up clearly on satellite imaging. No wonder we haven’t been able to find them. In the day they’re enjoying the warmth of the sun and in the night they sink to a cave or something to hide.”
Sam dried his hair with a towel. “Which means, we’re going to need to find a cave somewhere nearby.”
“Why nearby?” Veyron asked.
Sam smiled. He knew he had a winning hand. “Because some of these nanobots were foraging for materials inside the ancient trimaran, and we know their flagella only allow them to make small movements. If they’re foraging for the primary hive, then they must be close.”
“Could they be inside any of the hulls?” Tom asked.
“No, not unless there’s about twenty cargo ships down there we don’t know about,” Elise replied. “Think about it. Their hive was large enough to create a rogue wave capable of sinking a cargo ship. That meant they must have the same weight of several cargo ships just to create the wave.”
Matthew walked into the room. “What did I miss?”
“The hive is alive and can now hide underwater.”
Matthew looked taken aback. “Well that’s inconvenient. I was going to ask to take some leave.”
Tom smiled. “Me too, buddy, me too.”
Sam looked to Matthew. “About a month ago, you took a sonar scan of this entire seabed, trying to confirm the number and locations of shipwrecks. Did you see any overhanging rocks, or caves? Anything that might provide shelter for the primary hive at night?”
“It’s all on the ship’s database. I’ll give it to Elise and she can get her system to search for a suitable location for their nest.”
Chapter Eighty One
Tom stepped into his quarters, ready to curl up in his bed. It was only four p.m. but, if they were to find the hive’s nest, he would have to dive during the night so they could visualize the nanobots. He still recalled the old mantra from his days in the Corps — sleep when you can, because you never know how long it might be until you next get the chance.
He stripped to his shorts and flicked the air conditioner on. It started up and ran with an annoyingly loud hum, more like sleeping next to a mechanic tuning a car engine. Tom put up with it due to the fact the steel hull lining his quarters radiated the outside temperature, making it above 100 degrees Fahrenheit inside. Still, it wasn’t ideal.
Tom rested on his back. Pulled a light sheet up to his shoulders and closed his eyes. Two seconds later, several loud knocks struck the door. They were almost aggressive in their tempo. Tom stood up, walked over and opened the door.
It was Genevieve.
She walked inside and closed the door without speaking. Tom looked at her and smiled. She had dark hair, kept short and tidy, giving her the appearance of an elf. Blue eyes. Long eyelashes. No makeup whatsoever. Tan complexion. She was quite stunning to look at.
She wore denim shorts and a white tank top. Like everyone else aboard, she was barefoot. He wanted to speak, but didn’t know what to say. They’d been so busy since the night the Mississippi had been damaged, when she’d kissed him, they hadn’t spoken since, with the exception of normal duties.
She locked the door, and pulled her tank top over her head. Then she unclasped her bra, revealing large, well-rounded breasts with petite nipples. She stared at him. Her blue eyes taunted him with desire. She remained silent while she unbuttoned her shorts and removed both her underwear and shorts in one single movement.
She stood completely naked in front of him, every bit as unimaginably beautiful as he’d dreamed she’d be. Her skin smooth and vibrant, her figure lithe and athletic. She had multiple scars throughout her body. Some could have been from natural accidents; others could only have been from her past. Tom was wise enough not to ask about them.
Genevieve smiled at him. It was seductive and removed any doubt about who was in control. She then stepped towards him.
“If you tell a soul about this, I will kill you.”
Chapter Eighty Two
At 2 a.m. Tom found himself halfway between asleep and ideal contentment. If he let himself go, he’d be unconscious in seconds, but the joy of holding Genevieve’s naked body was almost too delicious to waste. He could feel his heartbeat against her naked breasts. Her scent was divine. Tom wished the moment could go on forever.
Luck however, had different plans.