The Last Airship (24 page)

It
was a dangerous combination.

As
he surfaced, he tried to plant his feet on the silt, but struggled to hold
himself upright. He drew upon his remaining strength, and dragged his body to
the shoreline.

Aliana
ran to him instantly.

“Are
you okay?”

He
wanted to answer “Yes,” but the effects of hypothermia made speaking too
difficult.

“My
god you’re
freezing!”

He felt
her wrap her arms around him. It didn’t feel warm
;
if anything, it stung
him wherever she touched.

Still,
he didn’t have the strength to tell her to stop.

“Sam,
you’re going to freeze to death if I don’t do something soon.”

Freezing
cold, soaking wet and with no means of warming himself, Sam watched,
helplessly, as Aliana stripped naked in front of him. Her intention was obvious
– to share her body heat with him. As near to death as he was, he couldn’t help
but find himself amazed by her beauty. Her body exceeded the many fantasies
that he’d had of her.

All
woman, Aliana’s skin was so soft! She smelled feminine and divine. Sam reminded
himself that she wasn’t doing this for his pleasure, but in order to save his
life.

Even
in the cold and so near to death, his body still became mightily aroused. To
his embarrassment, he felt himself stiffen.

He
squirmed, trying to hide his erection from her.

She
nevertheless wrapped herself tightly around him and clung to him even harder.

They
lay there together, for what might have been minutes or hours – Sam didn’t
know. Half in a fevered dream state, he fluctuated in and out of consciousness,
unsure of just how much was fantasy and how much was reality.

Then,
he felt her press her lips hard against his. They were soft and wet, and her
tongue met his with an eagerness that burned him with desire.

Was
this a dream?

Sam
returned her kiss with all the strength he had that remained.

Her
arms were wrapped firmly around his neck as she kissed him again. Other
sensations were starting to return to his body, and as they did, they were more
powerful than he could ever remember.

The
sweet sound of her moans, her delightful, feminine scent
,
and the soft
touch of her skin, drove him to ecstasy.

Then
came the soft sound of her gentle whisper in his ear, “I thought you were dead,
you bastard.”

He
opened his eyes, and saw that hers were wet with tears.

“Not
a chance, not when I’ve only just found you.”

Before
he realized it, she pushed her underwear down and off. She was wet, warm and
welcoming as he drove himself inside of her. Her sigh of pleasure spiked his
need.

“Oh,
yes,” she murmured.

A
wave of intense desire rolled though him.

Sam
groaned.

Their
bodies molded together perfectly. He’d gone from utter Hell to the heights of Heaven
in that once moment and wished that the entire experience could go on forever.

John
Wolfgang worked with his team of lethal mercenaries throughout the night. 

They
had been on standby in Tyrol – awaiting his orders
,
and were dropped off
by helicopter half an hour after he made the call.

His
grenade had destroyed most of the crevasse which made its way deep into the
heart of the mountain. The drilling process itself was easy enough, since the
limestone was relatively soft. What took up most of their time was carrying out
the rubble, bucket by bucket. There was only room for one person at a time to
enter the hole. That person was rotated every half hour in order to maintain
maximum drilling speed.

If
Simmonds knew about it, so would the others, and that meant that he didn’t have
much time. His team were heavily armed, but who knows what sort of men, the
other God damn treasure hunters had employed.

He
had suggested to the leader of the elite team that they just use dynamite and
blow their way down to the lower level of the tunnel. The leader had replied
that he would be happy to do so
,
just as long as everyone was also happy
to be crushed by the mountain above them in the process.

By
lunchtime the next day, they had progressed approximately forty feet.

“How
deep are we going
,
boss?” It was Brent
,
the leader
,
who
hadn’t spoken to anyone since he’d given the initial orders for how he wanted
the drilling to proceed.

“Until
we reach the cavern below. She’s in there, I know she is,” John said, with an
outward sound of certainty that he didn’t quite feel inside. If he was wrong
about this, it would be all over for him and Aliana.

“Understood.”

Two
hours later, the man returned once more.

“Have
you broken through yet?” John asked eagerly.

“No,
but there’s a small gap, and we’ve been able to run a wire through it. We still
have another 80 feet to go.”

“How
far have we gone in the past 24 hours?”

“We’re
approaching 50 feet.”

“Okay,
so another two days?” John asked.

“Yes.”

“Is
there any way that we can increase our progress?”

“No.”
Brent didn’t have to say anything else. He was a highly experienced mercenary.
His face said it all – “If I say 48 hours, then that is the fastest it can be
done.”

“Very
good. Let me know the second you break through.”

*

Sam
wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep.

At
the moment his mind was still groggy, but he was certain that he had something
terribly important to do before time ran out – he just couldn’t quite recall
what it was. Despite the feeling of faintness, he discovered a sensation of
comfort beyond anything he’d ever before experienced.

He
opened his eyes and saw Aliana staring back at him.

“You’re
still here,” she said
,
sounding relieved.

“Did
you think that I was going to leave you while you slept?”

She
kissed him, and said, “I wasn’t certain that you were going to live. You were
pretty cold when I pulled you out of the water.”

So
I didn’t manage to drag my body up on to the shoreline, after all – she did.

“Thank
you,” he said quietly, and he meant it too.

“Did
you make it to the outside?”

“No.”

He
watched her face as he said the last word
,
and as she tried to formulate
her next question, without trying to rush his weary mind.

“Was
that because there was no way out, or because it was too far?” Aliana asked.

“It
was too far.”

“So,
that’s it then?” She seemed to be taking it well for someone who had just
received a death sentence. “I wonder how many more years it will take before
someone sees the Magdalena again, and enlightens our long lost loved ones of
what became of us?”

It
was strange, Sam realized, he hadn’t even considered the fact that if he
couldn’t swim that distance underwater, then they would be stuck in the cavern,
most likely ending up just like the skeletons inside the Magdalena. It was
quick thinking on Aliana’s part, he decided, to have reached the conclusion
that if he, an underwater dive expert, couldn’t swim that far underwater
,
then it would be impossible for her to do so as well.

The
morbid part of his mind began to wonder if it should come to that, would he
prefer to die on the shore or inside the Magdalena.

He
took his time before answering, “You would be surprised at how ingenious the
human mind can be when it’s trying to save its own life. We have enough food to
last us for another week, and an unlimited supply of water, so I wouldn’t write
us off, just yet.”

Her
face brightened a little, but her voice betrayed her loss of hope when she
asked,  “Do you have any other ideas?”

“Yes.
All we have to do to cross the tunnel underwater is to simply figure out a way
to carry more than a couple of lungs-full of air.”

“Okay,
and how do you propose we do that?”

“I
haven’t worked that part out yet, and we don’t have much in the way of
air-carrying devices in our backpacks to work with.”

“Unless…”
she began, her smile seeming to return.

“Unless
what?”

“Unless
we can use something from the Magdalena?”

“My
God, you’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” He grabbed her hand again,
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.”

Tom
Bower flew the 44 over the Dolomite mountain ranges. It had been a quick trip.
He had stopped on only three occasions along the way, twice to refuel
,
and
once
to use the bathroom.

He’d
been drinking at an exclusive bar in Paris
,
and had just taken the most
adorable Parisian woman back to his hotel room, when his cell rang. He was
reluctant to answer it, but the person on the other end had been persistent
,
and after the ninth phone call, he thought it might have something to do
with Sam Reilly. 

Against
his better judgment, he answered the call.

“Tom
Bower?” A stranger’s voice had asked.

“Yes,
who is this?”

“My
name is not important right now. Let’s just say I’m a friend of Sam Reilly.”

“Go
on, I’m listening.”

It
took some convincing for Tom to trust the man on the other end. His coarse
voice, alone, sounded sinister, as though he’d smoked enough cigarettes to have
already died from lung cancer years ago.

“Sam
and Aliana have gone down the rabbit hole and found the Magdalena.”

Tom’s
reflexes were now fully awake
, and he
said, “Those are a few names I
haven’t heard in a while. Tell me more…”

“Some
people, let’s say some unfriendly people, are currently making their way down that
hole right behind them.”

“Okay,
that’s not very nice.”

“No,
I thought you’d say that. Now, what I need you to do
,
is return to the
only place from which they might escape.”

“Might
escape?” Tom asked.

“Let
me tell you what I know…” the man coughed several times.

Maybe
he
does
already have lung cancer?

“At
this moment, Sam and Aliana are inside a tunnel and are most likely in
possession of the highly sought-after contents of the lost Magdalena. An elite
team of mercenaries is chasing them, cornering them like foxes; their only hope
of escaping them is to exit from the other side of the tunnel.”

“And
you want me to help extract them from there?” Tom asked.

“Yes.
Now, I’ll give you the GPS coordinates of where I’m hoping they will meet you
soon.” 

Tom
wrote down the coordinates, and then read the latitude and longitude back to
the man for verification.

He
now knew exactly where he was supposed to go.

“Does
this place mean anything to you?” The man asked him directly.

Tom
had the good sense to answer, “No, I’ve never been there before.”

The
man laughed at Tom’s denial, his coarse, dry laugh indicated that he knew
perfectly well that Tom and Sam had just spent the past week diving Lake
Solitude.

But
there was nothing in there … right?

“So,
the tunnel comes out there?”

“Yes.
But there’s something else you should know
,
Tom.”

“What’s
that?”

“No
one’s been able to find a way in for the past 75 years.”

“And
you’re betting that Sam will find a way out?”

“No,
I’m betting that Sam and Aliana will die when the fox catches up with the
rabbits, but I thought you’d like to know nonetheless, just in case. Good
luck.”

The
man ended the call before Tom even had a chance to thank him.

There
was never any doubt in Tom’s mind about whether or not he was going. He wasn’t
sure what he was going to do once he got there, or even what he
could
do. In all probability, Sam and his new girlfriend were probably already dead.
In fact, if it hadn’t been Sam, he wouldn’t have even bothered going there to
find out.

But
Sam was different.

Sam's
life of privilege had left him with the deep-seated belief that he could have
it all
,
and as Tom had discovered early on in their friendship, that
optimism seemed to have a carry-over effect. If there was anyone who could find
a way to get out of this mess, it was Sam Reilly.

With
a gentle kiss, Tom left the beautiful woman lying next to him. Her black,
silken, negligée barely able to contain her ample breasts.

“You
owe me for this one, Sam,” he said quietly out loud as he left.

Then
in the dead of night, Tom flew toward the given coordinates, where a crack team
of mercenaries were swarming toward the mountain.

He
still wondered what they knew, and more importantly, what they thought had been
discovered.
Did they actually believe that Sam and Aliana had somehow
managed to discoverer the lost Magdalena?
As he looked at the men swarming
the mountain face far below, maybe another day’s climb to Lake Solitude, he
couldn’t help but wonder what this really was all about.

The
gold wouldn’t even pay their fees, so what else were they
after?

Looking
at the altimeter, Tom noticed that he was approaching 6,000 feet. Lake Solitude
was at 8,500 feet. The air was starting to thin out just a little, and he had
to raise the collective to maintain elevation.

Some
instinct told him exactly where to go, but what he would do once he got there
was an entirely different matter. 

And,
it was a question for which he had no answer.

*

Sam
located the engineer’s compartment in the Magdalena’s pilot house.

On
a routine voyage, the Magdalena would have been carrying an engineer and enough
equipment to repair any faults that might occur in flight, but from what he’d
heard and learned about that fateful and final night, the Magdalena was flying
with only a skeleton crew.  Rifling through the equipment, Sam found what he
needed in order to disconnect the 75 year-old,
enormous air tank from
the pilot gondola.

Aliana’s
eyebrow curled in surprise as he worked.

“After
so much time, won’t the air inside have gone stale?” Aliana asked.

“I’m
sure it will have done just that,” he said, as he managed to finally crack open
its regulator with a hiss. “Yep, that’s pretty dry, stale crap.”

“So
then, what are you going to use it for?”

“We’re
going to build a rudimentary diving bell.” Sam released any pressure that still
might be held within. He then began to work on cutting the air canister in half,
as he continued to explain, “You see, I don’t need a lot of air to get through
this tunnel. There should be just enough air in here for me to take three or
four breaths, which should be enough to get me through to the end of the
tunnel.”

“Me?”
She looked concerned. “Do you mean we’re not both going to go through?”

“No.
You saw what the frigid water temperature did to me, and I’ve got a lot more
body fat to help me keep warm than you do. Besides, the air isn’t the best, as
you know, so we shouldn’t both risk going.” He studied her face. She seemed to
accept her fate with equanimity. “When I get to the other side, I’ll contact my
friend Tom. He’s probably the only person that I know I can trust, and, once he
gets here, with our dive gear, and some equipment, we’ll come back to get you.”

“And
what will I do if you die along the way?”

It
was a fair question, he realized.

“Wait
a week. With my rations, you have more than two weeks’ worth of supplies. If I
haven't returned by then
,
take the second half of this air tank, and
hope to hell that your luck is better than mine.” Sam made sure that what he’d
just told her, was getting through. “Then, you eat as much food as you can to
increase your body’s ability to resist hypothermia, and then swim as fast as
you can toward the glow, in that direction. Once you make it through the
tunnel, you should be able to ascend to the surface. You’ll have to find some
way to warm yourself up, and once you do, you walk out of this mountain range,
following whatever trail or Via Ferrata you can find
,
and simply pretend
that none of this ever happened.”

He
tried to meet Aliana’s eyes, but she turned away.

“Okay,
I understand,” she acknowledged.

Sam
watched as Aliana’s eyes examined the now halved air canister. It resembled a
giant steel bucket, and it was large enough that a man could fit his head and
shoulders inside, and breathe the air. 

“What
I don’t understand is how you plan to sink that thing?”

“Do
you mean how will I make such a large air pocket neutrally buoyant?” Sam asked.

“Yes.”

“Well,
to do that is simple, really. All you need to do is to attach a heavy weight at
the bottom using some of this wire cabling, until our new diving bell sinks.”

“And
what do we have that’s heavy enough to sink something like that?” Aliana asked.
“It must produce a couple hundred pounds worth of water displacement?”

“I
estimate that it’s around 300 pounds.”

“So,
what do we have here that weighs that much?”

“That
part’s easy, haven’t you realized it yet?” Sam asked.

“No,
I haven’t. Please fill me in – what is it?”

“Gold.”

“That’s
some pretty expensive ballast you’re talking about!” Aliana laughed as she said
it, and added, “Okay, you’d better get started then.”

Sam
gave her a big hug and then kissed her, saying, “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“I
know you will,” she told him.

Their
parting was easier than one might expect, both of them believing that even with
the odds against them, they were going to be all right.

Sam
swam along the surface of the water until he reached the rock wall which marked
the beginning of the downward tunnel.

He
then hyperventilated for about thirty seconds, blowing off whatever carbon
dioxide as he could, in an attempt to increase the length of time that his
cells could survive while he was submerged. The makeshift dive bell, he knew,
wasn’t going to get him very far. He needed to get as much distance under his
first breath as possible.

He
didn’t even wave goodbye or notice the tears in Aliana’s eyes, before he simply
dived under the water, as he had done so many thousands of times before.

As
he submerged his body in a little over a three feet of water, the little
digital animation of a swimming frog appeared on his watch
,
and next to
it, the number in seconds.

He
didn’t even bother to look at the watch, seeing no point in it. After all, he
was either going to make it to the other side, or he was going to die in the
attempt.

His
strong legs dolphin kicked him forward as he used both of this arm to hold the
diving bell. Once he reached the point at which the diving bell became
neutrally buoyant, he was able to concentrate on swimming while nestling his head
through the cable which descended to the gold ballast attached below.

This
time
,
he’d covered himself with grease from the Magdalena’s large
articulating rudder, as a means of maintaining some of his body heat, while
submerged beneath the bone-chilling water.

As
he swam, he allowed his thoughts to return to the bliss of the previous night
with Aliana, attempting to divert his attention from the pain of the lactic
acid build up he was experiencing, and the overwhelming urge to take a deep
breathe.

Next
to the frog on his watch, read the time: 1 minute: 22 seconds.

He
swam on.

Using
long, breaststrokes, combined with slow, continuous, dolphin kicks.

The
glow he saw before him was like a mirage seeming to draw continuously closer.
Sam soon realized that the tunnel was not completely horizontal, as he had
first assumed. It wasn’t even diagonal. Instead, it was a giant vertical shaft.
It might have once been an ancient lava tube, in which the Magdalena had
somehow become entombed. As the flow of water became blocked at its base, the
increasing depth of the water must have raised until it flooded the grand
cavern.

Sam
just hoped that he could get through whatever had caused the blockage in the
first place.

As
he sank down deeper within the tunnel, he popped his head up inside the dive
bell and took a breath of air. Understanding just how little oxygen was
contained in such a small container, he was careful not to become complacent,
and would try to last as long as possible between breaths.

Next
to the smiling frog
,
the time now read:  5 minutes: 48 seconds.

He
continued this process more than a dozen times as he descended. Each time, he
would expel the remaining air in his lungs prior to surfacing inside the dive
bell. By so doing, he could avoid the risk of contaminating the bell with
potentially lethal amounts of carbon dioxide.

However,
he knew that each time he took another breath, the air inside the dive bell was
decreasing.