Circle of Bones - Kling Christine - Страница 98

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“Answer my question. What’s going on down there?” Dig lifted his head to indicate the monitor.

Theo turned back to face the monitor and Riley looked, too. They could now see what looked like rungs of a ladder scrolling up the screen.

“Cole is already inside the Surcouf. Our information indicates that the documents, if they still exist, are inside the captain’s cabin. That’s where he’s headed —”

The camera swung away from the ladder and panned around. It looked like a narrow hall or companionway. Several rounded doorways in the bulkhead looked as though they were built crooked — they were tilted at an angle. The camera jostled and revealed the overhead where pipes and wires ran fore and aft, and silvery bubbles from Cole’s scuba tank rolled around collecting into bigger bubbles like bits of mercury. The camera panned down and a small school of pale, colorless fish hovered in the second open door. Moments after the light hit them, they darted off in panic. A new saying, Riley thought: caught like fish in the headlights.

“Cole must be hand carrying Enigma,” Theo said, “using it as his light source.”

The camera glided though another doorway and this time a gloved hand appeared on the monitor, and it pointed toward a pile of debris coated with pale brown fur. Then they saw his backpack with the pair of air cylinders very close to the camera. His body glided across the compartment and hovered over the top of the debris, his fins not moving.

She knew the man on the screen was Cole, but she could not see his face. Silently, she pleaded with him. Turn around. I need to see you. To know you’re okay.

Theo pointed to another screen above the helm that showed the sonar image of the bottom and the clear outline of a portion of the submarine. “You can see that the sub is on a steep slope. It looks as though whatever was inside the cabin has collected on the low side.”

That explained why everything looked askew. Why it looked like the depth perception was off and it was so difficult to make out what they were looking at.

Moving slowly, so as not to disturb the film of growth and debris any more than was necessary, Cole lifted objects from the pile.

“He said he put the strongbox inside the captain’s desk,” Riley said.

“Who said this? What are you talking about?”

“James Thatcher,” she said, too late. She did not want Diggory to know about Henri Michaut. “He interviewed an old sailor who had once served on the Surcouf. He said that was where the captain kept important documents.”

“That doesn’t look much like a desk.”

On the screen, Cole lifted a brown blob of growth and brushed away the feathery tendrils. Though several barnacles remained, she could make out the shape of the once-white ceramic mug. She remembered Michaut saying that he and Woolsey had interrupted the captain’s dinner. Now, all these years later, Cole pushed the mug inside a string bag he had attached to his weight belt.

Every move Cole made caused the water to grow more cloudy. They saw all sorts of tiny sea creatures and particles float by close to the lens, reflecting the light, obscuring the view of the far side of the compartment.

Theo said, “I assume all furniture on a sub is bolted to the deck. There might be a desk under there, or we may be looking at the remains of clothing, bed clothes, a mattress. Or the wood might have rotted away or been eaten by worms.”

“It’s there,” Dig said.

“Do you even know what ‘it’ is?” she asked.

“Shut up,” Dig said. “You’re in no position to be asking questions, Riley.”

He jammed the gun harder against her ribs and she winced at the pain.

“I think he’s found something,” Theo said.

Dig pushed her and she stepped forward until her midriff was pressing against the wheelhouse dash. On the screen, it was difficult to make out what Cole was doing in the cloudy water.

Theo said, “I don’t dare try to move Enigma any closer. If I start up her little props, it will make the visibility worse.”

 Cole lifted a long flat plank. On top of it was a mass of some material, maybe the remains of clothing, maybe marine growth; it was difficult to tell on the small monitor. The piece he was lifting looked like it might have once been the desk top. Either it had broken in the explosion or the wood had rotted and the whole thing collapsed during the years it has spent on the sea bed. Cole got his head under the plank and using both hands, he withdrew something. His back was to the camera, and they could not see what he held in the shadow of his body.

Cole slid his head out from under the plank of wood and turned. In his gloved hands, he held a box.

“Oh my God,” she said, her voice a mere whisper.

 The plank drifted back down onto the pile of debris. Cole floated there holding the thing in front of his face mask, turning it over and examining it. There was almost no growth on the box, and though it was rusted, the metal deteriorated, it looked intact.

Cole swam closer to the camera and then, at last, she saw his eyes through the glass of his mask. He was looking at her, she was sure of it. Somehow, through the lens and camera and the more than a hundred feet of cable, he knew he was looking right into her eyes. She saw his lips curl up around the regulator as he held up the box with one hand. With his other hand, he made a big circle before pointing all his fingers at the box.

“What’s he doing?” Dig asked.

Theo sighed. “I think he’s playing Vanna White. It’s his way of saying you win.”

Cole reached forward and jostled the ROV.

“What’s he doing now?”

“He’s putting the box in Enigma’s steel cargo net. It’s the safest way to get it to the surface.”

Cole backed away from the camera and pointed toward the surface. She recognized what his hands were doing, but she couldn’t read it. He was signing letters.

“Theo?” she said. “What’s he saying?”

Theo glanced at Dig. “He said I’m supposed to tell the asshole he’s coming for him.”

Dig snorted. “Just get that box to the surface.”

Cole again disappeared from view, and they watched as the screen showed only the bluish cloudy water. Then the rungs of the ladder flashed past in the light again as Cole swam up pushing Enigma through the opening to the next deck.

The water was not quite as murky there. Once again, he appeared in front of the camera and began to sign.

“He’s saying that it’s okay now to use the Enigma’s own propulsion system.”

On the screen they saw Cole’s eyes widen. It looked as though someone were shaking the camera and the image of Cole wavered from side to side. He looked up and then to both sides. Debris lifted up and floated around him, and a human skull floated past in the cloudy water. Cole pulled the camera close to his face. They saw the bubbles from his regulator stream past the lens. His fingers started flashing.

“What’s happening?” she said.

“I don’t know,” Theo said, “but he’s signing your name.”

Cole’s body jerked like he’d been hit with something. The last image they saw on the screen was his hand, his pinkie and forefinger up, his thumb off to the side. It was the only sign Riley knew. It meant ‘I love you.’

“Cole?” she said.

The screen showed more water and debris rushing past, then one of the lights went out on the ROV and the image grew even darker. For a moment, it looked like the video camera was showing a metal part of the submarine, then the screen went black when they lost the feed.

“If this is some kind of trick,” Dig said.

Riley ignored him. “Theo?” She looked at the young man’s face. He was staring at the screen. His horrified expression was no act. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

Theo continued to stare and she followed his gaze to the big monitor hanging over the helm.

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