Shadow Zone (4 page)

“Your minisubs made that knowledge possible.”

Hannah turned away from the mosaic. “But we didn’t solve the biggest mystery of all . . . We don’t know how they died. It was a brilliant, beautiful civilization that just seemed to . . . vanish. Almost no trace of their language or customs has ever existed anywhere else. What happened to them?”

“That’s a question for another expedition, Hannah.”

“But with just a few more dives, we might be able to answer it with
this
expedition.”

“I’ll give you one more day. Tomorrow. Then we’re heading home.”

“When all the TV specials and companion books come out, I’ll promote the hell out of them. I’ll give AquaCorp all kinds of credit.”

“You’ve already promised to do that. That’s why we’re out here.” Ebersole shook his head. “When I report your accident, it will be out of my hands anyway. We’re done here, Hannah.”

He strode out of the conference room.

Dammit. She had been half expecting it after the crack-up, but she had hoped that she could persuade Ebersole to stall for more time with the corporation.

Okay, he had pulled the plug. That didn’t mean she had to give up without a fight. She just had to think of some way to make that fight as effective as possible.

CHAPTER
2

Melis Nemid poured two glasses of sangria from a pitcher and handed one to Hannah. “You gave it your best shot. I can’t ask for more than that.”

“I can.” Hannah took the glass and leaned back in her chair on the deck of Melis’s ninety-foot twin-masted schooner. Although it looked for all the world like a nineteenth-century sailing vessel, the belowdecks area contained one of the most sophisticated research labs on the sea, manned by a half dozen of the smartest and hardest-working marine scientists Hannah had ever met.

But none was more impressive than the young woman sitting across from her. Melis Nemid was blond and gorgeous, with an intelligence that was truly remarkable. She was the marine biologist who had discovered Marinth and unlocked many of its secrets years before, and the previously lost city and its people had become her life’s passion. Hannah had met Melis at various scientific conferences back when the impossibly young marine biologist was still trying to convince skeptical colleagues of Marinth’s significance. Hannah and Melis had formed a close bond, allies against an establishment that was increasingly closed to new ideas. They were kindred spirits, then and now.

Hannah looked at the
Copernicus,
parked just a hundred yards from
Fair Wind
’s starboard side. Her team was still on deck evaluating the damage to the minisub. She knew she should be there with them, but she had to get away from that boat, away from Ebersole, away from all things AquaCorp.

“My best wasn’t good enough, Melis.” Her hand tightened on her glass. “Dammit, I know we’re close to an answer.”

“I feel it, too. But I’m grateful for what we’ve been able to do. Only you could have convinced that company to turn your routine sea trials into a massive archaeological expedition. I’ve been trying for years to mount a project of this scope. Without you, I would have waited years longer. My husband, Jed, has poured millions into this project, but I won’t let him sink any more into it. He shares my dream, but I have to take over now. This is
my
responsibility.” She made a face. “And money is tight in the academic world.”

“I take it that you weren’t successful yesterday.”

“It was a complete waste of time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to take some foundation chairman on a personal tour of the Marinth Museum in Athens, endure a long, excruciating lunch, then hear them tell me that they
might
have a few dollars to spare in the next fiscal year . . .”

“I’ve done the fund-raising circuit. It’s no fun.”

“The executive I met with yesterday told me that I’d better my chances if I would go to dinner with him wearing the silver gown I wore at the Save the Oceans fund-raiser last year.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

“You didn’t do it, did you?”

“What kind of woman do you think I am?” Melis smiled and sipped her drink. “Besides, the gown was a loaner from Halston. It’s against my principles to buy designer gowns when I could put the money toward something more worthwhile.”

“Ah.”

“So I pulled up anchor and got back here as soon as I could.”

“It’s a good thing you did. I guess you heard that Pete and Susie just saved our bacon?”

“Captain Danbury said something to me about it. It doesn’t surprise me. Those two have helped me out of a hell of a lot of tight spots over the years.” She gazed affectionately at the dolphins as they raced each other around the
Copernicus.
She turned back to Hannah. “As much as I hate to say it, it may be a good thing you’re ending the expedition now. We’ve already been out here a couple weeks longer than we expected, and your people are getting tired. We both know how dangerous that can be. Accidents do happen. You could have been killed.”

“But I wasn’t. And the answer is still here somewhere. It’s probably right in front of our eyes.”

“If it is, we’ll find it. You’ve given us enough data for years of study. Thanks to you, we’ll be able to explore every inch of this city from the comfort of our computer keyboards. We’ll be able to look up, down, left, and right from any vantage point. It’ll be even more amazing than the mapping work you did on the
Titanic
.”

“I hope it amounts to something.”

“It will. In time, schoolchildren will be able to log in to the Marinth Web site and explore the entire city, just like you’ve helped them do with the
Titanic.
Maybe one of them will make the discovery we’re looking for.”

“I guess I’m just more impatient than you are.”

Melis smiled. “I’ve been living with Marinth for most of my adult life, and delving into its mysteries has never been an easy battle. When I first found it, we were able to swim down to it wearing scuba gear. But after the underwater earthquakes along El Hierro Ridge, the island sank more in the next five years than it had in the four thousand years previous. It seemed so unfair . . . like some deliberate slap of fate. But vessels like yours have brought it back to us. And new underwater currents have cleared away hundreds of feet of silt and exposed far more of the city than we ever realized was there. So maybe those earthquakes weren’t such a disaster. Marinth seems to give up its secrets only when I’m best able to understand their meaning.”

“That’s why I grabbed a skiff and came over here. I needed some of your Zen-like perspective on things.”

“You should take some time off. That will give you loads of perspective.”

“I’m not giving up, Melis.”

“Neither am I. My Zen only goes so far. Marinth may be over four thousand years old, but I want to find out all her secrets in my lifetime. But it doesn’t hurt to stop and take a breath . . . or a vacation.”

“I’ve never been good at vacations.”

“Take one. Go someplace frivolous. It’s been a difficult time for you, Hannah. Your brother’s only been gone two months, and you haven’t properly grieved for him.”

“I’ve grieved for him. I grieve for him every day of my life.” Hannah looked down. “Because I can’t bury myself in my work to forget when he was my right hand on these kinds of jobs.” She smiled faintly. “He was looking forward to coming with me on this one.”

“I was looking forward to seeing him. Conner was a good man.”

“Yes, he was.”

“You don’t blame yourself, do you?”

Hannah was surprised at the bluntness of the question, but then again, Melis had never been one to hold back. “No. Even though it happened on one of my jobs.”

“You were supervising the retrofit of an old Russian nuclear submarine for a U.S. museum exhibit, right?”

Hannah nodded. “I’m sure you heard all about it. There was a lot of history connected to the sub that we didn’t know about. It seems that there were men who were willing to kill to find what was aboard that sub. If I had been inside
Silent Thunder
that night, I wouldn’t be here now either.”

“All the men responsible are now dead?”

“Yes. It didn’t bring Conner back, but it’s a relief to know they won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

Pete and Susie broke the water’s surface near them, playfully clicking and chattering.

Hannah looked at the dolphins and smiled. “They always know when someone needs cheering up, don’t they?”

“As much as I’d like to give them credit for that, this time your Mr. Daley would be right if he said they probably just wanted a snack.” She picked up a plastic bucket of salmon and held it up toward Hannah. “Would you like to do the honors?”

“Sure.” Hannah took two of the fish and tossed them out to Pete and Susie, who immediately devoured their treats.

Melis put down the bucket. “While I’m probing you on subjects you would rather not discuss, what about Kirov?”

“You’re right. I’d rather not discuss it.”

“Tough. I’ve been holding back my curiosity on all this for the past two months. Now I want some answers.”

Hannah sighed resignedly. Of course Melis wasn’t going to let her off the hook. “Okay, what answers?”

“Well, I know that someone named Kirov who had a connection to you signed on for this project as a security chief, but he never showed up.”

She shrugged. “Then you know as much as I do. Kirov has intelligence-agency contacts, and they used their influence with AquaCorp to get him the gig.”

“Then why didn’t he show up?”

“I have no idea. He hasn’t been in touch with me.”

“Wonderful. I see that your taste in men hasn’t improved since your divorce.” Melis glanced at the deck of the
Copernicus,
where Hannah’s team was still working with the minisub. “Okay. We’ll forget about him. What about Matthew? He absolutely adores you, you know.”

“Matthew? Are you serious? He has women falling for him in every port city in the world.”

“But he doesn’t fall for any of
them.
At least, not the way he does for you. He acts like a schoolboy whenever you’re around him. A schoolboy who speaks with an incredibly charming Australian accent. And one who happens to be ripped. I’ve been sitting here hoping he’ll take his shirt off, but I don’t think it’s happening.”

“Maybe you’re the one who needs to hook up with him.”

“Not an option. I already have the perfect man. At least, the perfect man for me. Jed is everything I want or need. Matthew is all yours.”

Hannah smiled as she shook her head. It was amusing to see Melis in matchmaking mode. Melis was usually as intense and obsessed with work as Hannah. “You know he’s not my style.”

“A gorgeous man who worships you?” Melis thought for a moment. “You’re right. Not nearly complex enough. Not your style. But maybe you should consider changing your style.”

A loud, insistent beep sounded from the walkie-talkie clipped to Hannah’s belt. She unfastened it and held it up. “This is Hannah.”

Josh’s voice blared from the tinny speaker. “Hannah, I’m inside
Conner One.
You and Melis need to get over here now. Right now.”

Hannah exchanged a glance with Melis. Josh’s urgency surprised her. She raised the walkie-talkie. “What’s going on, Josh?”

“You’re not going to believe this. Hell, I can’t believe it.” Now she could hear the excitement and jubilation that vibrated in his voice. “Screw Ebersole. I think we’ve found it.”

“Found what?”

“What we’ve been looking for. The end of the story.”

Hannah and Melis stared at the murky eight-foot projected image in the
Copernicus
conference room. There were over two dozen crew members crowded behind them, all trying to make sense of what they were seeing.

“What are we looking at?” Hannah asked.

Josh adjusted the focus. “This is the captured video from
Conner One
’s aft camera right before we struck the wall. I was reviewing the footage from the moment of impact, to see what happened.”

Matthew smiled. “You’re a screwup, that’s what happened. You shouldn’t need instant replay to figure that out.”

“Thanks for the support, Matthew. I wanted to see
how
I screwed up.” Josh advanced the image a few more frames. “When the wall came down, it hit the edge of a mosaic of colored glass that had been covered by silt. The stained glass tilted up for a second, and our lights shone through it. We don’t have a clear shot of the glass itself, but you can see the image that it cast on another wall. Look.”

Josh froze the image, and they could see the multicolored images projected with astonishing clarity.

“It’s incredible,” Hannah murmured. “So sharp and vivid.”

Melis walked toward the screen. “This may have been the top surface of a trellis, probably designed for the sun to shine through and project these images on a white patio. We’ve seen these in a few other places, mostly schools and libraries. They were often used to recount histories of various buildings and institutions.”

“Exactly what I thought,” Josh said. “I’ve seen enough of these in the past few weeks to get an idea what I was looking at. If it’s anything like the others, the top line tells us what story we’re being told.” He turned to Melis. “You’re the expert. What does that say to you?”

Melis studied the image. “It’s sunrise/sunset signs, meaning birth and death. We’re being told a life story.”

“Whose life?” Ebersole asked from the back of the room.

Melis’s eyes narrowed on the sign to the right. “It looks like the birth and death of . . .” She gasped. “Oh, my God.”

Josh nodded. “So I’m not crazy?”

Melis studied it for a moment longer. “This last picture is in the shape of what was once the island. Marinth itself.” She looked up at Hannah. “This is the story of Marinth, from the beginning to the end.”

“You always said this was here someplace,” Hannah said.

“It had to be here. The people of Marinth had too much regard for their history for them
not
to have had some kind of record. And since their civilization was dying long before the tsunami, they would have had time to tell it.” Melis walked toward the projected image and ran her finger across the lines, which looked as much like cave paintings as a written language. “But only the first part is visible here. Look, here are the early settlers in their fishing boats, and this is the great war they had with the invaders. We already know about this from statues and monuments we’ve found. Immediately afterward, there was a long period of peace in which art and music blossomed . . .”