Chasing Columbus

May - north eastern Bermuda

May - north eastern BermudaThe hot afternoon sun was sinking fast as the lone diver made her way gingerly along the rock formation on the opposite side of Harrington Sound. Facing towards the large, natural Castle Harbour, the area faced directly onto the Atlantic Ocean. An experienced scuba diver, Jacqui Oleson was the archetypal blue-eyed blonde-haired woman. In her early fifties, she was a legend in the diving community for her ability to manage the most difficult of dives. A divorcée, she and her daughter, Leila, lived on the island, running a scuba diving school on the more popular west side at Little Sound in the Southampton district. In their spare time, their joint passion for diving saw them spending many hours exploring the local reefs. They were always on the lookout for unusual sites for their customers, particularly amongst the vicious reefs that ringed the island providing a veritable ships graveyard.

Jacqui thought she knew the Bermuda waters well after thirty years of diving, but this afternoon she was feeling puzzled, very puzzled. The two women were spending a precious afternoon off on a dive further east than usual, exploring an area usually avoided by even experienced divers due to the harsh underwater currents. Jacqui had told her daughter to wait for her on the launch as she went down alone for one last dive of the day. Now, swimming along the sheer rock face her frown deepened as she reached the darker levels, the water getting murkier. Genuinely puzzled by what she could see, she tried to call Leila on the radio, but to no avail. As the visibility reduced, her slim figure narrowly missed catching the rocky outcrop. With a growing sense of unease, Jacqui wished she was not diving alone; she and Leila were a team, instinctively knowing where the other was and she was missing her badly on this dive.

Moving uneasily through the water, Jacqui admonished herself; it wasn’t just the hope of finding a new and exciting dive for prospective customers that had led her to this strange place. She had also heard rumours about treasure supposedly hidden in the water on this side of the island. Her common sense told her that this was probably just a local fantasy, but it was well known that the unusual geological structure of Bermuda created deep cave systems, perfect for hiding things, and many of the caves were unexplored. Normally, she ignored gossip but the rumours were persistent and she had her own suspicions.

She knew that another diver had gone down very close to where she was searching now and been injured. He had left the island without talking to anyone but she knew that this was where he had been the day of his accident. It was rumoured that he had seen the treasure during his ill-fated dive and Jacqui was intrigued. Now, alone and feeling increasingly uneasy Jacqui began to question for the first time her decision to break her own personal rules and dive alone. The truth was she hadn’t wanted Leila exposed to any potential danger.

Making her way carefully forwards, Jacqui frowned behind her mask at the odd colours in the water; this was not right, nor was the absence of marine life. She checked her watch; by her calculation, she had forty minutes of air left, which gave her only another five minutes to look around. She kicked out and swam deeper, astonished by the brightening light in the distance, she could have sworn that it was an artificial electric light. She could now see the murky ocean floor no more than three metres below.

The hard ancient rock stared at her as if it had eyes challenging her right to be there, dark and forbidding. She shivered involuntarily as she switched her torch onto its strongest beam, glad again that Leila was safely onboard the boat. She looked upwards into the rocks, startled by the strength of the strange light again. Momentarily blinded by the strength of the beam Jacqui blinked and shook her head to clear her vision. Intrigued by something so bright this deep under the surface of the ocean, she swam towards it and then saw that it originated from inside an overhang of rock. As she entered the cleft, she started swimming upwards for about ten metres until she entered a cavern and fresh air.

The only explanation that Jacqui could think of was that the cavern must be the result of an air pocket created by pressure differences. Further, ahead she could see a large pool of water, separated from where she was by a rock barrier. She swam closer, curiosity overcoming her natural instincts to get out of the cavern as quickly as possible. The pool of water on the other side of the natural barrier was about three metres wide. Pulling herself partially out of the water, she saw something dull glistening on the barrier edge. Looking closer she saw that it was a diving mask with reddish brown stains on its Perspex cover that looked suspiciously like blood. She shuddered; it had to belong to the injured man. He must have come down here. The blood worried her, it worried her greatly and again she contemplated turning back but again curiosity overcame her fear.

Disconnecting her mouthpiece to save precious oxygen Jacqui looked around. The whole cavern was about fifteen metres in diameter and bathed in an eerie glow emanating from an adjacent cavern. She lifted herself totally out of the water and slid across the barrier and into the pool recoiling in shock, as she tasted the water… fresh water! Unable to believe what she had found Jacqui stared in amazement; she was inside a cave complex under the sea, an ideal place for smuggling. The caverns flow of air from above must provide enough pressure to keep the sea at bay even though she was well below sea level. Lifting her radio again Jacqui tried to get it to work, desperate to share her news with Leila, but it was dead. To be honest she would have been amazed if it had worked; radio waves could not possibly penetrate the cave structure.

She looked around trying to decide what to do next, her sensible side telling her to head upwards, her sense of adventure telling her to keep going. Adventure won and consoling herself that at least she wasn’t using precious oxygen, Jacqui decided to find where the light came from. Hopefully Leila would not get too worried.

Calculating that she must be at least a hundred and fifty feet down in the rocks, she walked into the fresh water that came up to her chest. It was extremely cold but her wet suit was protecting her so far. Stepping through a small opening, she entered the next cavern and stared into the light gasping as she did so. My God! she whispered to herself, ahead of her lay a veritable Aladdin’s cave of treasures. Then she gasped again in shock.

“You shouldn’t have come here, you really shouldn’t,” came a voice. She spun around to her right and saw a man holding a gun pointed at her. “I didn’t mean to,” she replied, her eyes drawn to what he had in his hand. Revulsion flooded over her and she retched losing her balance as she did so. “Come here,” gestured the man. She stood up and waded forward as if in a trance, this was her worst nightmare but unfortunately, she was not asleep. “You attacked that man didn’t you?” she trembled, realising she was in deep trouble. “Drop the oxygen tank, you won’t be needing it,” growled the man, his voice quiet but full of menace. Jacqui dropped the tank, terrified at parting with this familiar lifeline, and walked towards him, stepping out of the water as she did so. “Who are you?” she was standing six feet away, and avoiding going any closer to the cold metal gun in his hand. “Take your diving suit off?”

“What?” Jacqui stuttered. “You heard; I said take the diving suit off,” snarled the man. “Okay, okay,” she said struggling with the zip on the tight fitting suit and shivering as she peeled the protective layer of rubber off. Eventually she wriggled out of it and stood there feeling very vulnerable in her bikini. “What is it you want, who are you?”

“I am the ruler of this kingdom and you are a trespasser.” The man sneered at the terrified woman, “You should have waited until you were invited. I would have invited you. I like nice girls, but you have seen too much.”

“I haven’t seen anything.” Jacqui hastily replied, trying to stop her teeth chattering with cold and fear. “You’ve seen everything. Now take the rest of your clothes off.” Her captor’s cold eyes burnt into her. “No, this has gone far enough.” She screamed as he fired the gun, deafened by the noise of the bullet hitting the rocks above her. “All right,” she shouted in fear realising with horror that he was deadly serious. “You look good,” he smiled and she cringed in fear as she saw him come closer. The fear turned to a primeval scream as she felt the gun touch her skin.

CHAPTER 1