Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [65]
And what about Sheila? What had happened with her? Had she been swallowed up whole by this machine, as well, and carted off somewhere? That meant there would be at least one person at the other end of this trip who would not be friendly toward Annja.
And if she still had the gun in her possession that meant Annja might have to be ready for an immediate fight.
She patted the sword, relieved that it went anywhere with her. She certainly couldn’t use it now, it was too tight a space in the shark’s hold. But whenever she reached her destination, she had to assume there’d be more space.
She looked around, marveling at the airtight structure of the machine. A steady volume of oxygen filtered in from two holes on either side of her, cooling and providing her with air to breathe. Meanwhile, all of the gaps had been sealed to be watertight, save for whatever happened inside when the shark’s mouth opened.
Clearly, the machine was not designed to kill anyone, but rather to carry them away to some unspecified location.
But where?
There had to be a point sooner or later where they would stop. To go far would require fuel, and food and water for the passengers. Annja decided that they would be getting to the destination soon enough.
She tried to relax and enjoy the ride. It was a smooth sensation and she had no sense of direction aside from going up or down. She reasoned that it would be good to rest and be ready for whatever greeted her next.
She sat up and leaned back, letting her head rest against the wall of the holding compartment, with the sword across her lap. In the dim interior, the gray luminescent light contrasted with the red bulb and provided enough light for Annja to see, but aside from the oxygen holes, there was nothing to observe. The walls were featureless.
Fascinating, she thought. She couldn’t wait to find out who owned this machine and why they’d had it built. She could only guess what the reason might have been.
Dave Crosby had been with the SEALs. Was he still working with them in some undercover role on Hunter’s team? If so, why? Was someone aboard the Seeker a terrorist?
Would SEALs even have access to this type of technology? She knew they had smaller submarines they called SDVs—swimmer delivery vehicles—but they looked nothing like this and they were nowhere near as technologically advanced. The SDVs she’d seen looked like oversize steel torpedo casings that let SEALs squeeze inside and travel a distance to their targets. Compared to the SDVs, Annja was riding in a Bentley.
No, there had to be something else to it all. And she felt certain it had something to do with the HMS Fantome and its treasure. Hadn’t Hunter mentioned rival treasure hunters? Could this machine be a tool of those rival hunters? Were they purposefully trying to scare the Seeker and her crew off the dive site so they could take it for themselves?
It almost seemed too fantastic to be true and yet Annja had no other possible explanations for what was happening.
Maybe I should just stop thinking and rest, she thought.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths that made her eyelids feel heavy.
The shark started to ascend. Annja opened her eyes. We’re going up. But where?
The engine started to slow down. Wherever they were going, it was definitely on a final approach. To Annja it almost sounded like when a plane is approaching a runway and the flaps start to come down while the engine revs up and then throttles back.
She wondered if the shark had landing gear.
More oxygen started coming out of the holes and the breeze made Annja shiver just a little bit. Why would they be pumping more air into her now? Did they want her to wake up in case she’d fainted or fallen asleep?
Annja gripped the sword. Wherever they were, Annja fully intended to jump out just as soon as the mouth opened to let her escape.
She yawned suddenly, aware that she was seeing small spots in front of her eyes. Spots? She started