resembled the conical outcropping Spier had shown her a few minutes before.
Maybe this was a dead end?
Annja sighed. The problem with diving was the communication was very scant. You had a few hand signals and that was it unless you had speaking masks.
But Hans seemed unconcerned with the lack of communication and kept his survey going. Annja floated above and behind him, looking where he looked but also keeping her eyes peeled for anything of interest.
Gradually they worked their way around toward the back of the reef. The water there was much warmer. Annja thought she spotted another conical outcropping and she swam right for it.
Hans had to kick to catch up, but he saw what she was eyeing and followed her lead.
Annja came to rest floating in front of an encrusted piece of coral that seemed strangely symmetrical. She looked across and saw that there was another outcropping and she decided they were almost like miniature towers.
She ran her fingers down the edges of the towers and found small holes that appeared as though they’d been deliberately carved in the structure.
Annja’s mind raced. Hadn’t Spier said something about a long-lost civilization? Was this evidence that they existed? Or was this simply some sort of natural occurrence, as unlikely as that might have seemed?
She noticed Hans looking at the towers intently. When he glanced back at her, Annja gave him a shrug. I don’t know what it is, she wanted to say.
Hans removed his diving knife and pried away some of the built-up barnacles, trying to get a better look at the structure.
Annja watched as the mollusks came away in his hand. And there, underneath the buildup, Annja thought she saw something smooth.
She ran her hand over the exposed patch and almost shouted. It was as smooth as marble.
In fact, she thought it might well be marble.
But how? How could marble have developed under the sea?
Had this supposed city of the lost civilization slipped into the ocean for some reason? Had an earthquake opened up the ground and tossed them into the seas?
Annja shook her head. Whatever this was, she needed more answers than she could find just floating in the ocean.
Hans was making notes with his grease pencil on an underwater clipboard. He’s mapping the area, she decided. This must be along the lines of what Spier was searching for.
Interesting.
Hans looked up and nodded at her as if they’d managed to find something of importance. But Annja wasn’t sure what they’d found. What she really wanted was to get to her computer and do some research.
Maybe she could talk to some locals and see what they knew about this supposed lost civilization.
There was probably nothing to it. But Spier certainly believed there was. Annja wondered if the story of the pearl might not hold some other purpose for Spier. He was eighty and seemed to be fighting his growing age with a tenacity that defied the aging process.
Did he think the pearl would help him stave off his inevitable death?
It was possible, she supposed. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d run into crazy people who thought that immortality was worth whatever price you had to pay to try to achieve it.
Annja glanced at her oxygen gauge. They’d been underwater for almost forty minutes and would have to surface soon.
Hans seemed to read her mind and pointed back the way they’d come. Annja followed him. They left the warmer waters and Annja shivered slightly as she breached the cooler waters where the reef dropped off.
She glanced to her side, thinking about how close she’d come to being devoured by the tiger shark yesterday. Out there in the deep waters, they ruled the roost.
Hans pointed ahead and Annja saw the rest of the team had reassembled back at their entry point.
Time to surface.
Annja checked her depth gauge and saw she’d have to rise slowly. She’d gone deeper than she had yesterday and would need extra time to reduce the danger of the bends.
Mueller and Heinkel went up
Maybe this was a dead end?
Annja sighed. The problem with diving was the communication was very scant. You had a few hand signals and that was it unless you had speaking masks.
But Hans seemed unconcerned with the lack of communication and kept his survey going. Annja floated above and behind him, looking where he looked but also keeping her eyes peeled for anything of interest.
Gradually they worked their way around toward the back of the reef. The water there was much warmer. Annja thought she spotted another conical outcropping and she swam right for it.
Hans had to kick to catch up, but he saw what she was eyeing and followed her lead.
Annja came to rest floating in front of an encrusted piece of coral that seemed strangely symmetrical. She looked across and saw that there was another outcropping and she decided they were almost like miniature towers.
She ran her fingers down the edges of the towers and found small holes that appeared as though they’d been deliberately carved in the structure.
Annja’s mind raced. Hadn’t Spier said something about a long-lost civilization? Was this evidence that they existed? Or was this simply some sort of natural occurrence, as unlikely as that might have seemed?
She noticed Hans looking at the towers intently. When he glanced back at her, Annja gave him a shrug. I don’t know what it is, she wanted to say.
Hans removed his diving knife and pried away some of the built-up barnacles, trying to get a better look at the structure.
Annja watched as the mollusks came away in his hand. And there, underneath the buildup, Annja thought she saw something smooth.
She ran her hand over the exposed patch and almost shouted. It was as smooth as marble.
In fact, she thought it might well be marble.
But how? How could marble have developed under the sea?
Had this supposed city of the lost civilization slipped into the ocean for some reason? Had an earthquake opened up the ground and tossed them into the seas?
Annja shook her head. Whatever this was, she needed more answers than she could find just floating in the ocean.
Hans was making notes with his grease pencil on an underwater clipboard. He’s mapping the area, she decided. This must be along the lines of what Spier was searching for.
Interesting.
Hans looked up and nodded at her as if they’d managed to find something of importance. But Annja wasn’t sure what they’d found. What she really wanted was to get to her computer and do some research.
Maybe she could talk to some locals and see what they knew about this supposed lost civilization.
There was probably nothing to it. But Spier certainly believed there was. Annja wondered if the story of the pearl might not hold some other purpose for Spier. He was eighty and seemed to be fighting his growing age with a tenacity that defied the aging process.
Did he think the pearl would help him stave off his inevitable death?
It was possible, she supposed. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d run into crazy people who thought that immortality was worth whatever price you had to pay to try to achieve it.
Annja glanced at her oxygen gauge. They’d been underwater for almost forty minutes and would have to surface soon.
Hans seemed to read her mind and pointed back the way they’d come. Annja followed him. They left the warmer waters and Annja shivered slightly as she breached the cooler waters where the reef dropped off.
She glanced to her side, thinking about how close she’d come to being devoured by the tiger shark yesterday. Out there in the deep waters, they ruled the roost.
Hans pointed ahead and Annja saw the rest of the team had reassembled back at their entry point.
Time to surface.
Annja checked her depth gauge and saw she’d have to rise slowly. She’d gone deeper than she had yesterday and would need extra time to reduce the danger of the bends.
Mueller and Heinkel went up
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