“We need to cement our find, announce it to the papers so no one else can take credit. I’d suggest we get back down there and get more proof. The cannonballs are great, but we need more.” Bane opened his locker and pulled out his diving gear. “If Westerfield did sabotage that plane, he must be insane. I can’t believe he’d go this far to steal your finds.”
Ron took his wet suit from his locker. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. There were too many people around.” He sat on a bench and looked out over the water. “I married his sister. She died in a waterskiing accident. He’s never forgiven me for her death.”
Ajax whined and bumped Bane’s hand with his nose. “I’m getting your stuff too.” He pulled out the dog’s snuba gear and began to get Ajax ready. “That must have been terrible. Why would he blame you?”
“I was driving the boat. He swore he’d make me pay, and he knows how important my work is to me.” Ron adjusted the tanks on his back and reached for his mask. “He’s working on some similar equipment too. If he can get a patent first, we’ll be out of luck.”
Ron’s work was his consuming passion. Anyone who disrupted that rocked his world. His voice was dispassionate even as he told about the death of his wife. Bane could see how her brother might get the wrong idea. Bane watched the dog jump in, then bit down on his mouthpiece and held on to his mask as he went over the side. The warm water enveloped him. He paused and adjusted his regulator, then finned his way down. He passed Ajax on the way, and the dog had a smile on his face. Baskets dropped by the crew on deck sank past him. They were attached to the winch in case the men found anything worth hauling to the surface.
The throb of the engines faded from Bane’s ears as he dove toward the bottom. He followed Ron’s scuffed and worn fins to the coral bed. Bane’s gaze scanned the seafloor for any artifacts churned up by the current. An inquisitive triggerfish peered into his mask, then zipped away. A honu, the Hawaiian green sea turtle, paused nearby while half a dozen surgeonfish nibbled algae from its back. The honu turned to look at him, then swam in lazy strokes to the surface. Ajax struggled to dive deeper, but he couldn’t manage it and turned to follow the sea turtle.
Bane’s attention wandered to the cave. He wondered what secrets lay inside. Ron expected his help, but he felt drawn to the mouth of the cave. He finned over to the opening and shone his light inside. No sharks today, though the bright beam picked up a garden of colorful sponges attached to the walls and ceiling of the cave. A squid oozed away from his probing light into a rocky crevice. He itched to explore farther. The cardinal rule of cave diving was never to go in alone. Tony had broken that mandate and died for his trouble. Bane paused and glanced back at Ron. His boss would never agree to give up digging to go caving.
Bane couldn’t bring himself to leave. He stayed near the mouth and swept his light inside. The cave stretched back farther than his light could reach. Entering just a few feet wouldn’t hurt. He advanced, careful to keep the opening in sight. Translucent shrimp occupied one corner. This was stupid and dangerous, especially at this depth. He needed to get out of here and get to work.
A noise, or maybe a sensation, enveloped him—it sounded like a boat engine revving up and going over him. The rumble began to dissipate, then another started. Earthquake? Just in case, he swam out of the cave and joined Ron. Ron seemed not to notice the sound. Bane touched his arm, and Ron looked up. His eyes narrowed as the sound seemed to grow then fade again.
Bane looked down and saw a crack widening along the seabed. The sound came again, and he realized it had to be an earthquake swarm. He grabbed Ron’s arm and pointed at the crack, which continued to expand. The sound intensified and seemed to surround him until he wanted to clap his hands over his ears and shoot for the surface. He saw the same panic on Ron’s face. The crevice spread out as it ran toward the abyss. Then another crack developed, this one running perpendicular to the first. The rumbling noise filled his head until he couldn’t think. The seafloor began to crumble and fall over the side, where it disappeared into the bottomless ocean of blue hole. He felt as if he were falling with it, though he knew he was still safely swimming at about a hundred feet.
Ron had a viselike grip on Bane’s arm, but Bane barely noticed. He turned to look at the cave he’d just exited. The entrance still yawned, but a rock slide down the face had left a pile of stones to the side. He turned back to look over the side of the drop-off into the deep. He and Ron watched as the crumbling of the seabed finally slowed. It stopped about twenty feet from where Ron had been working. The water swirled with debris, and the visibility had dropped to about fifty feet.