Uncharted The Fourth Labyrinth - By Christopher Golden Page 0,99
followed Drake with their flashlights as he led them to the sheer ledge. Below, the sea churned in and out like a watery bellows.
“You can’t be serious,” Corelli said. “And you thought Olivia was nuts?”
Henriksen shot him a dark look. “Shut your mouth, idiot. We could all die down here.”
“Yeah. I’d like to avoid that,” Drake said.
Jada stood on the verge of the chasm. Drake took her arm and pulled her back a foot or two. Part of that ledge had given way already. After the explosion, cracks might have formed to make it even more unstable.
She did not try to pull her arm away but glanced up at him.
“How far do you think we’d have to swim underwater?”
Nico and his son were back in the entrance to the Chinese worship chamber, whispering quietly to each other. Corelli shook his head, scratching the back of his skull in doubt. But Henriksen’s eyes were lit with anticipation. Drake had to hand it to him; the man was motivated.
“There’s no way to tell,” Drake said.
“I don’t know how long I can hold my breath,” Olivia said, walking up to the edge and looking down into the roiling water.
“Look, the tide is low,” Drake said. “It could still be going out; I don’t know. But we’re not going to get a better shot than this for another twenty-four hours.”
Jada, Olivia, and Corelli all looked dubious. But Drake noticed the Greeks watching him and thought he saw interest and encouragement in their gazes. They were locals, and they looked as though they thought he might not be entirely crazy, after all.
“The camera,” Drake said, looking at Olivia. “I asked you before, is it waterproof?”
Olivia nodded. “Supposedly.”
“And there’s a waterproof pouch in my pack,” Henriksen said, gesturing to the backpack Corelli carried. With his wound, Henriksen apparently had given up the burden. “We can double up protection.”
“And if the camera’s ruined?” Olivia complained. “What then?”
“Then we come back,” Henriksen said sharply. “Or I do, with or without you.”
“We could try through those stone doors,” Corelli argued. “There’s gotta be a way to trigger them open.”
“If there were any easy way, we’d have found it in the Temple of Sobek,” Henriksen argued. He looked at Drake and nodded. “We go.”
Drake shook his head. “No. I go.” He made his way to the edge and sat down, taking off his boots and then stripping his khakis off. He balled up the trousers and stowed them in his pack, hesitated, and then decided to put the boots back on. The climb down would be jagged, and even underwater he’d hesitate to be barefoot. Despite their weight, he decided he was better with the boots than without them, although he knew he looked ridiculous in his boxer briefs and boots.
He swung his legs over the edge of the broken floor, then turned back to Henriksen. “You’re filthy rich, right?”
Henriksen nodded gravely. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Of course, Drake thought. The guy wants treasure. The rich want to get richer.
“You’re a man who wants the best of everything. Who spares no expense?”
“That’s right.”
Drake smiled. “Good for you. Give me your flashlight. If you’re that particular, I’m guessing it’s waterproof.”
Henriksen walked over and handed his flashlight to Drake. His boot shifted and a piece of the cliff broke off, but he scrambled backward in time.
Drake turned to Jada. “I’m going to see if there’s a way through. It may not be far to the outside, or if it is, there may be air pockets along the way, even open caverns. I figure no more than half an hour. If I’m not back, you’ll have to move to plan B.”
“What’s plan B?” Corelli asked.
“Anything but dying,” Drake replied.
He checked that his pack was tightly zipped and then turned around and slipped over the edge of the shattered floor. There were handholds, but halfway down a chunk of stone broke off under his fingers, and he slid the last ten feet, turning as he fell. He turned his ankle on the debris below as he landed in the churning water at the edge of the cavern, and he bit his lip to keep from crying out.
“Are you all right?” Jada yelled, her voice throwing haunted house echoes all across the cavern.
Drake tested his ankle and found it only a little sore. He shone his flashlight upward to find the entire group, including the Greeks, staring down at him.