Sam nodded and started to climb. The gradient was steep, but not impossible. Every ten or so feet the mountain formed a slight ledge to rest on. The distance between the ledges appeared unnaturally identical. The hard sand allowed perfect hand and foot grips. He would kick his feet into the sand until it formed a small foothold and then dig his fingers in above. Once at the top of each section, he stopped and rested on the ledge.
The hardest part of the whole process was making the hand and foot holds in the first place. Zara followed him by using the same hand and foot holds. After each section they would swap and the other person would build the next series of holds before reaching the following ledge.
By the time they reached the fifth ledge, where the wet and hardened sand was beginning to dry, it became easier to make a hand and foothold. At the same time, it became harder to maintain. On a number of attempts, Sam, who was following, found the holds were starting to break away. The only solution was for each person to build their own holds as they climbed.
He stopped on the sixth ledge. It was two thirds of the way up the mountain. Sam turned to face the western island below. He watched the water and the island’s sandy bank collide. A large chasm, possibly twenty to thirty feet long, split into the island. Water rushed through the opening, prying it wider.
Sam started to climb quickly. “Come on, we need to hurry up.”
Zara looked at him. A wry smile forming as she easily matched his pace. “Why, what’s changed?”
“Look at the bank of the island. What do you see?”
“Hardened sand.”
“Right. And what does hardened sand do as it comes into contact with waves, albeit small ones.”
“It breaks apart.”
“So what’s happening?” Sam continued.
“The ocean’s reclaiming the island.”
“That’s right and it’s doing so quickly. The island has a short life-expectancy.” Sam stared at her. His blue eyes, piercing. “And that means we have days, possibly a week at most, to find the Nostradamus Equation.”
Chapter Ninety-Two
The top of the mountain was a small, flattened outcrop of sand in a circular shape. No more than five feet in diameter. Sam ran his fingers through the softening sand trying to find something, although what he expected to find he really didn’t know. He stared as his fingers ran through the sand, revealing nothing but more sand.
He stood up and looked at their surroundings. He had an excellent view of both sides of the island, which formed a perfect lemniscate. The white sand beneath the surrounding shallow waters appeared a soft green color. Both sides of the island were the identical circumference. To the south he could just make out the pale haze of an island on the horizon. He recalled reading once that on a good day you could see Italy from Malta. He turned in the other direction and saw the haze of the Sicilian coast line.
It gave him a sudden pang of guilt. He’d traded his original mission to save the lives of people who needed help, so that he could find something that didn’t exist. He hoped to hell the tsunami wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they were expecting.
Sam moved to the western edge of the mountain top and looked down. Approximately a third of the way up, water had pooled on the ledge of the mountain. It appeared roughly rectangular and only about four feet in length. He stared at it for a moment and then grinned.
“What if we were wrong?” Sam asked.
Zara shuffled to the edge of the mountain peak to see what he was looking at. “About what?”
“About Infinity Island.”
“Okay. So what did we get wrong?” she said. “I don’t know a lot we’ve gotten right, so far.”
“We only assumed Nostradamus saw it as a vision of a current place. What if this island was once above sea level? What if Nostradamus knew what it once was, and that you would stumble upon it today?”
“Do you mean it was once inhabited thousands of years ago?”
“Yes.”
“The island looks pretty barren to me. There’s no sign of civilization.”
“That’s because the entire island is covered in sand. What if an ancient civilization once lived inside this mountain? What if it’s the remains of a city?”
“I haven’t seen any evidence of any civilization.”
“See that rectangular lake?” he asked, pointing toward the lake he’d seen a third of the way up the mountain.
She nodded, following his direction. “Yeah, what about it?”
“I don’t think that was always a lake and I don’t think this mountain was always a mountain.”
“What do you think it is?” she asked.
“Have a better look at it. Take away a couple thousand years of sea life, what do you see? Have you seen that shape somewhere else?”
She gasped as she squinted her eyes and started to see it too. “It’s a pyramid!”
“Exactly. And where have you seen that sort of lake in a pyramid?”
“I don’t know about South American pyramids, but I’ve never seen a lake in any Egyptian pyramid before.”
“No. But this isn’t a lake is it? It’s an opening now filled with water.”
“It’s an entrance!”
“Have you ever visited the Pyramids of Giza?”
“I’ve been an archeologist in Africa for my entire adult life. Before that, my father was an archeologist in Africa. What do you think?”
Sam ignored her sarcasm. “The anatomy of the ancient pyramids of Egyptian kings often include a queen’s chamber and king’s Chamber. With the queen’s down below and the king’s above. The queen’s will be flooded, but I’m hoping a pocket of air may have become trapped inside the king’s chamber.”
“What difference does it make if the chamber’s been flooded?” she asked. “What do you expect to find there?”
“The Nostradamus Equation, of course.”
Zara smiled. Her hazel-green eyes, full of intelligence, acutely challenged the notion. Her smile, wide with anticipation and mischief suggested she was willing to play along until she was convinced otherwise. “Okay, I’m not saying I buy your theory at all, but for a moment, let’s say I do. What do you suggest we do about it? It’s not like we can get inside. The whole thing’s been flooded.”
Sam grinned. “Well. For that at least, I might have a solution.”
Chapter Ninety-Three
It was just before nightfall when the Sikorsky returned to the island. Sam had spoken to Tom earlier in the day and had learned that the tsunami had been much weaker than expected and the southern coast of Sicily fared well. So far, the death of only one tourist had been reported. A man who had been in the water at the time and simply didn’t understand that the small wave approaching had the force to kill him. Otherwise, the Sicilian coast had fared extremely well.
The Maria Helena was still out there searching debris for any survivors who’d found themselves washed out to sea. With night approaching Tom had refueled and picked up the equipment Sam needed.
Sam heard the whine of the engine change pitch as Tom shut it down. He nodded in acknowledgement of Tom, and didn’t wait for the blades to stop spinning before sliding open the side door and retrieving the equipment he needed and laid it out along the sand. Time wasn’t on their side. The island was rapidly being reclaimed by the sea, so he needed to work quickly.
There were three boxes filled with diving equipment. Buoyancy Control Devices, dive masks, regulators, fins and dive computers. He and Tom had their own equipment. The third container was filled with equipment borrowed from Elise, with the exception of the neoprene wetsuit, which would have been too small for her. Instead, it was a dark blue wetsuit. Not one of his usual dive suits. It looked old, but barely used. He’d seen it somewhere previously. Elise must have pulled it out of the older storage lockers.