Lowering my head, I ran harder. The wall opened up a bit and I sprinted into a small, protected cove.
I slowed to a halt and waved at the others to join me. I could barely see them in the dim light. "There's nowhere else to run." I gestured at the river. It flowed past us into a long tunnel. "That's the only way out of here."
"I hope you don't expect us to swim." Graham nodded at his mechanical leg. "This thing doesn't do so good in water."
"Actually, I was thinking about stealing one of Votan's boats."
Dr. Wu gave me a skeptical look. "How?"
"I'll sneak back while he's focused on the library. I just need to get inside it and cut the rope. The current will take care of the rest."
"What if someone sees you?"
"Let's hope they don't."
"It's too risky," Beverly said. "If they catch you, you're dead."
Deep down, I knew she was right. I swiveled my head, studying every inch of the cove. On the opposite side, I spotted a shadowy pile.
I jogged to it. The pile consisted of large cotton blankets. Insects had carved countless holes in them. The stench of mildew hung heavy in the air.
A shudder ran through me as I studied the blankets. They were exactly like the ones from Hot House.
Why would Hunahpu leave these here?
"Anything interesting?" Graham asked.
"Maybe." I shielded my flashlight beam and aimed it into the cove. The water was calm, a vast cry from the swirling river. A couple of long shadowy objects rested beneath the surface. "What do those look like to you?"
"Hell if I know."
"Do me a favor. Keep your light on them."
I hopped into the cove. The icy waters stung my skin. My body started to tremble.
I ducked underwater and located the objects. They were roughly eight feet long and maybe two to three feet wide.
I touched the one closest to me. It felt hard and rough. I slipped my fingers beneath it. It was hollow on the inside.
Setting my feet on the ground, I curled my fingers. My muscles strained. So did my lungs.
Slowly, I flipped the object onto its reverse side and inspected it with my hands. Then I pushed off the bottom and swam to the surface.
"What are they?" Beverly whispered.
I kicked my way to the edge of the cove. "Dugout canoes. Four of them."
Excitement filled Graham's face. "Really?"
"It looks like they were carved out of tree trunks." I paused to catch my breath. "The blankets must've been used as boat covers."
Disappointment etched its way across his features. "Too bad they're so old."
As far as I knew, no one had ever excavated an ancient Maya boat before. That meant the canoes were possibly the only ones in existence. But why had they been built in the first place? Once the boats had floated downstream, there would've been no way to get them upstream again. The river was far too fierce for that.
I gathered air in my lungs. "I seem to recall you saying pretty much the same thing about an old Nazi rocket just a few months ago."
"That rocket was decades old. Those boats are hundreds of years old." He shook his head. "Anyway we had lots of tools back then. I don't have anything now, not even a hammer."
"We might not need them. The one I looked at didn't have any holes in the hull. Hunahpu must've just turned it over and let it sink under its own weight."
"Why would he do that?"
I shrugged.
His face twisted with doubt. "Do you really think they're shipshape?"
"The water is cold and dark," I replied. "There's no life down there so I'm guessing it's low on oxygen too. Under those conditions, wood can last thousands of years."
Before he could respond, I dove to the bottom of the cove. Grabbing one end of the canoe, I dragged it toward Graham. After resurfacing for air, I lifted the ancient boat's top half out of the water.
Graham and Dr. Wu took hold of it. Quietly, they maneuvered it to the ledge.
I swam to the edge of the cove and took a quick look into the cavern. Votan still stood on the other end of the ledge. Several men, dressed all in black, waded through the river toward the domes.
I returned to the canoe and watched as Graham and Dr. Wu pulled it from the water. Its internal structure reminded me of a Venetian gondola. "What do you think?" I said.
"I think you're crazy." Graham shook his head. "Absolutely nuts."
Chapter 111
The loud bang caused my heart to freeze. I spun around. Graham still held his end of the second canoe. But the doc's end lay on the ledge, quivering gently.
Emily darted around the cove and peeked into the cavern. A few moments passed before she twisted to face us. "It's okay," she whispered. "I don't think they heard it."
I let out a long breath of air.
Dr. Wu looked forlorn. "I'm sorry. It slipped."
"It's okay." I shivered in the cold water. "No harm done."
I dove back underwater. I kicked my way to the bottom and felt around in the darkness. My hands closed around a long thin paddle. Clutching it tightly, I returned to the surface. As I handed it to Dr. Wu, I caught sight of Beverly. She lay next to the cove. Her head was tilted sideways and she seemed to be studying the water.
"Wait." Emily's soft voice floated into my ears. "There's someone else over there. It looks like … yes, it's Tum."
My eyes widened. I hadn't even noticed he'd gone missing. "What's he doing?"
"He's climbing into the water. He's going real slow and sticking to the shadows. It looks like he's aiming for the smaller dome. All of Votan's men are around the larger one."
I was perplexed. But I didn't have time to worry about it. I dove underwater a few more times and retrieved the rest of the paddles. Then I climbed out of the cove.
"Cy." A strange look plagued Beverly's eyes. "The water is rising."
"Yeah, I noticed that earlier. I saw the former water line etched into the stone ledge. It was about a foot beneath the current level."
"No, I mean it's rising right now." She gestured at the cove. "The water level rose a quarter of an inch in the last ten minutes."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Does it matter?" I asked slowly.
"It might." She took a deep breath. "If I'm right about the meteorites being georeactors, then they've been stable for well over a thousand years. Now, they're being saturated with extra water."
"What does that mean?"
"A higher water level means reactions might not be able to boil away so easily."
"You mean they could go supercritical?"
"Yes."
My heart pounded against my chest. "Any idea why the river is rising?"
"It could be all the rain or the fact that we blocked off the artificial marsh. But I think it's something else."
"What?"
"There are probably numerous distributaries running off the river. Votan might've accidentally blocked a major one on his way here. Now, all that extra water is flowing this way."
"But how could that have happened?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Hunahpu had something to do with it."
My heart pounded even faster. It was impossible. There was no way Hunahpu could've known how georeactors worked. And yet, I knew Beverly was right all the same.
"I think this might be his last trap." Beverly took a deep breath. "And if we don't get out of here soon, it's going to kill us."
Chapter 112
"I already told you." Emily gave me a defiant look. "I'm not going."
I studied her visage. "You'll die."
"I spent my whole life searching for the Library of the Mayas. I'm not just going to give it up."
"I don't think you understand. We can't get to the library without risking a gunfight."