Somehow I doubted nukes got checked out of the armory along with rifles. “Look, I’m not committing suicide. Pull out the rope, will you? I’ll tie one end around my ankle, and you two keep the other end. Give me a couple of minutes to hunt around, and then pull me back.”
Temi raised a hand, no doubt intending to object.
“There’s not much time,” I said. “Once the water rises in here, you won’t be able to get the leverage to pull me back.” Not to mention that the water would eventually rise to the ceiling in the alcove chamber, leaving no air for someone stuck inside. I shuddered.
“The damned sword was probably swept away in the first ten seconds,” Simon muttered, but he pulled the rope out of his pack. He unraveled it and didn’t say anything else as I tied it around my waist-I’d decided against my ankle, as I didn’t want anything to get in the way of my kicks.
“Once I go under, pull me back if I don’t pop up for air in a minute.” At one point, I’d been able to swim seventy-five yards under water before coming up for air, but I hadn’t tried that in years.
“I’ll be counting,” Simon said.
I nodded and, after checking the rope for a third time, pushed away from the tunnel. I floated along the top until I neared the waterfall. The glow from Jakatra’s sword had disappeared to the right of it, on the opposite side of the chamber from the alcoves, perhaps by the big alcove.
I took a deep breath and plunged below the surface, kicking to reach the bottom quickly. The beams from Temi and Simon’s flashlights didn’t penetrate the surface, and it was blacker than pitch down there. I struggled against panic and an urge to spin around and swim back to the tunnel as fast as I could.
My knuckles mashed against rough stone. I hoped I’d found the floor instead of a wall. In the darkness, who could tell? I tried to use the bumps and dips in the floor to brace myself against the current even as I swept one arm from left to right ahead of me, hoping to chance across the sword, preferably the hilt instead of the blade. I couldn’t tell if I’d managed to veer into that big alcove or not. I could tell that the current was sweeping me farther from the tunnel despite my efforts to halt my progress.
The rope tightened about my waist, the slack entirely gone, before I ran out of air. Temi and Simon hauled me back the way I’d come. I didn’t fight it. If I was out of slack, I’d probably drifted too far anyway.
“No luck,” I said when I popped up next to them, pushing wet hair out of my eyes.
“This is madness,” Simon said. “The odds of you finding it, if it’s even there still…”
“I know, but let me try a couple more times. I’d feel like a jerk if more people got killed and I knew I hadn’t done everything I could to get that sword.”
“Go ahead.” Temi shook the rope. “We’ll pull you back.”
I paddled back into the chamber, almost crashing into the closest stalactite even though I knew it was there. A couple of flashlight beams didn’t illuminate much in a water-filled cave. I felt my way along the wall toward the larger alcove again. I couldn’t touch the bottom with my feet any more. One or two more tries, and we’d have to give this up.
Once more, I took a deep breath and groped my way to the bottom, alternating stroking with patting about on the stone floor. This time, I made it into the alcove and found the current tugged at me less in there. I covered a lot of ground in the seconds I was under, but didn’t find anything. I kept my eyes open, but they couldn’t pick out anything in the darkness that stretched on all sides. Too bad that dumb sword couldn’t flash a few times when it-
My fingers brushed metal. That had to be it. I patted along it, seeking the hilt.
A thunderous crack filled my ears.
I yanked my arms and legs in, tucking for protection. Splashes and bangs surrounded me-rocks falling into the water and thudding to the floor. One struck my back and I yelped, losing precious air as a cascade of bubbles escaped my mouth. It sounded like the whole place was caving in. The instinct to flee straight back to the tunnel nearly hurled me in that direction, but I groped about for the sword again. I couldn’t leave the stupid thing when I was this close.
There. This time I found the hilt. I had to shake something heavy off the blade to pull it free, but as soon as I had it, I pushed off the bottom, angling toward the exit. I was halted with a jarring jerk less than two feet up. What the-?
I swung my free arm around me, trying to find the rope. It was still tied about my waist with the lead trailing behind me, but that lead was taut. I tugged, but it didn’t loosen. A rock must have fallen on it. More stones pelted down all around me, some glancing off me, some thudding hard. One struck my head with enough force to terrify me. If I were knocked unconscious down here…
Panic welled in my heart, and I yanked with frenzied movements. My lungs had been denied air for too long, and they burned to suck in a breath.
Stop, I shouted inside my head. Calm. Be calm. I could always cut the rope if I had to. Yes, that realization helped. Cutting myself free might land me in a worse predicament, but I had the option if I needed it. First, one more try-a rational try-at freeing myself. I found the ground with my feet again and traced my way down the rope to the rock that held it. I would have groaned if I hadn’t been desperate to save air. It was a boulder, not a rock, and my rope was squarely under it.
I pulled the sword around to cut the rope. There was no other option.
Even from an awkward angle, the blade sliced through the rope as if it were soft-serve ice cream. As soon as I was free, I pushed off the bottom, heading straight for the surface. If I hadn’t had the sword out ahead of me, I would have given myself a second head injury. The alcove had filled with water.
A new wave of panic swept over me. I’d lose control of my instincts any moment and my lungs would force a gasp, a gasp that would give me nothing except water. I paddled toward the pull of the current-in the darkness, it was the only thing telling me in which direction the larger chamber lay. I forced myself to keep a hand on the wall instead of simply stroking like mad. If I were swept into the current, I’d never touch air again.
A hint of light burned somewhere. I swam around piles of boulders that hadn’t been there before, always angling toward that light. I was in the main chamber now, the water dragging at me. Holding the sword limited the effectiveness of my strokes, but I kicked for all I was worth. My fingers broke the surface. I hauled myself up and gasped before my head was fully free. I sucked in water and sputtered, nearly choking. I clunked my forehead on a rock in my effort to push myself farther out, to get clearer air. There were only a few inches between the surface and the ceiling.
“Delia!” came two cries. With my ears filled with water, they sounded muffled, but I’d never heard such beautiful noises regardless.
Using the rough ceiling to grab onto, I kicked hard and made progress against the current. I nearly crashed into that stalactite again. Later I’d be thankful it had been out there guiding me, but now it was one more obstacle. At least I had air-I inhaled in great gasps between my strokes.
“There she is,” Simon shouted.
“Over here, Del,” Temi called. “This way. You’ve got this.”
I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so busy kicking for my life. She sounded like a teammate cheering me on at a race. Some race.
“You’re almost there,” Temi promised.
“Here,” Simon shouted, “grab my hand.”
My eyes were half blinded by their flashlights and the water streaming down my face, but I spotted Simon’s hand and reached for it, eager to be pulled free and escape the flooded chamber. I wanted so much to see the sun again.
Our fingers brushed. I made another snatch for him and our hands clasped.
Then something clamped onto my leg.
CHAPTER 28