“All right,” Sam listened at the entrance to the washroom for the sound of anyone approaching. His eyes met Sadik’s. He scrutinized him once more. “Have there been any major famines in recent or old history?”
“Are you kidding me?” Sadik asked. “There’s been hundreds over the years. My country is rich in history, but poor in agriculture. Besides, our position in the region has seen us take in more than our fair share of refugees over the years.”
“Okay, okay. Could he be referring to one of these famines?”
“It’s possible, but I can’t see how any discovery of an ancient historical artifact might allow him to make his point about an old or recent famine. Can you?”
“No. But it’s the only lead I have so far.”
Tom returned a few minutes later. He was breathing fast, like he’d just been running.
Sam asked, “Anything?”
Tom shook his head. “The tunnels are empty on this side of Derinkuyu all the way to the locked grates that block the tourists entering this side of the city to the south. I couldn’t hear the sound of anyone inside the tourist section, either. So we should be safe, for the time being.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Because I need to get back down there.”
Sadik stared at him. “Are you nuts?”
Tom answered for Sam. “Most of the time.”
“Why would you want to go back down there?” Sadik persisted. “Don’t you understand he’s coming back, soon?”
“Does he have a key?” Sam asked.
“No. But he’s expecting you to be here tomorrow.”
Sam pulled his wetsuit back over his shoulders. “Then all the more reason we’ll have to make sure we’re done before then.”
“You don’t want to just forget about it, and leave now?” Sadik asked.
“No. Few people go to the trouble you’ve just described to kill a person in an underground water cistern. I want to know why? And besides, I still haven’t found what I came here to get.”
Sadik walked toward the door. “Well I don’t want to stay any longer. I need to get out. Everything’s changed if he’s willing to kill someone.”
Tom blocked his progress. “I’m afraid we really can’t let you leave. Not now. Even if I trusted you, which I don’t, I can’t risk you notifying whoever this freak is outside that we know he’s going to come for us.”
Sam attached his carabiner to the end of the rope. “Relax. I won’t be a minute longer than I need to be. What are you afraid of? Tom’s here to look after everything and I assure you he has enough built up rage to take on even your demon.”
Chapter Nine
Sam descended into the well again, slipped into his new dive tanks, and headed north. He switched his flashlight off and waited a couple minutes for any other sign of life. There were none. He was all alone, with the safety of the darkness. He flicked his light on, and continued swimming. It didn’t take him long to swim the two hundred and fifty odd feet to reach it.
About thirty feet away from the stairwell he spotted the dead diver, exactly where he’d left it. He switched his flashlight off and searched again for any other source of light. His eyes focused on the base of the stairs and the opening above them — searching for evidence someone was inside. The last thing he wanted was to be confronted by Sadik’s demon as he climbed out of the water. Sam waited a little over a minute before switching his own light on and swimming toward the steps. The steps were formed out of white pumice, and ran all the way to the bottom of the water cistern. They were most likely used by the original builders of the underground structure, as a means of access when it was first being dug.
Sam breathed out gently as he slowly floated to where the steps met the surface. He took the regulator out of his mouth and flashed his light across the open space above. An entrance roughly four feet wide, by six feet high led to what appeared to be another stone chamber. He glanced around quickly, and listened for any sound coming from above. Hearing none, he removed his dive tanks and fins.
He removed the Glock 31 from a Velcro pocket on his right thigh. It was the same type of weapon the Navy Seals used. Equipped with a special firing pin, known as a spring cup, the weapon fired consistently post prolonged submersion in water. Normal spring cups are solid plastic, maritime spring cups have two channels cut into them to allow water to flow past them and empty out of the firing pin chamber, so that it can move fast enough to fire the handgun. The gun can fire submerged. The purpose of the maritime cups is that if the gun is submerged it can be retrieved and fired without having to perform maintenance. He drew it into a firing position with his right hand and switched on its Viridian tactical light and green targeting laser with his left.
Sam switched off his dive flashlight and carefully climbed the stairs. His feet felt cold on the porous steps. He moved his weapon around until he had a good vision of the entrance ahead. He cupped the light at the end of his weapon and searched one last time for any sign of an alternative source of light up ahead. Finding none, he slowly entered through the stone doorway.
Inside was a small stone chamber that appeared to lead nowhere. His eyes swept the room. It was possibly twenty feet in length by roughly ten wide. Its walls looked as though they had been made by digging away the volcanic stone using primitive tools. There was nothing about its construction that resembled the level of technological refinement and finesse achieved by the ancient Master Builders.
At the center of the room stood a large desk, made with the same porous stone found throughout the entire underground city. Sam glanced around the room. He ran his left hand around the walls searching for any hidden doorways. The entire room, right down to the stone desk, appeared to have come from the same piece of geology. Everything was solid, and Sam felt confident there were no secret openings.
He switched on the brighter dive flashlight and holstered his Glock to his right thigh. He covered the weapon with its Velcro strap and sat down at the desk. To his right were two small alcoves carved into the side of the desk. He reached inside and found two wooden placards.
Sam placed his flashlight on the desk like an ornamental reading lamp, and withdrew the two wooden placards. The writing on each of them was in the ancient script of the Master Builders. He carefully studied the words.
First Temple — Failed
Second Temple — Failed
Sam turned each of the wooden placards over. There was nothing written on the other side of them. He placed them back on the table. He ran his fingers across his forehead and through his thick, brown hair. Sam wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Everything that had happened in the past few days… the murdered diver, the threats to Sadik, everything pointed to this hidden chamber — and it was a hidden chamber, designed from its first use to be kept a secret, away from the rest of the inhabitants of Derinkuyu — all of it, amounted to what? Sam glanced around the room — a strange empty chamber, a desk, and two wooden placards written in an ancient script, and referring to two temples, which had failed.
What the hell am I doing here?
Sam dropped his hands to the table and started to laugh — because he suddenly noticed the walls in front of him weren’t blank. They had only appeared blank because of the bright LED light from his weapon. Under the less harsh glow of his dive light, the drawings along all of the walls suddenly glowed fluorescent green.
Chapter Ten
Sam stood up. His head was only about ten inches from the ceiling. His eyes swept the wall in front of him, as he moved quickly around the table to get a better view. The drawings were faded, as though the original artist had long since moved on, and his or her fragile landscapes had withered away in the same process. Even so, there was no mistaking the outline of the pictures.