The Midas Legacy (Wilde/Chase 12) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of his journeys, had been discovered in the underwater ruins several years earlier. It had given a whole new insight into the ancient civilisation, as well as leading Nina to another discovery: the Vault of Shiva, an astounding repository of Hindu artefacts high in the Indian mountains.
    But it had not been his only record.
    Further discoveries had led the IHA’s archaeologists to believe that Talonor – a military leader as well as an adventurer – had compiled a second volume, the so-called Secret Codex. Rather than an account intended to impress the citizens of Atlantis with epic exploits in far-off lands, this was for the empire’s rulers alone, written with a potential conqueror’s eye: the strengths and weaknesses of the peoples Talonor had encountered, their riches and resources that could be plundered.
    And it seemed that it had now been found.
    Eddie moved closer. ‘He’s a bit smug.’ The lean-faced man had a definite smirking curl to his lips.
    ‘Well, when you’re one of the greatest explorers in all recorded history, you’re allowed to be pretty pleased with yourself,’ Nina told him. ‘The book – it looks like he’s holding it, rather than it being a part of the statue?’
    Eddie’s gloved hand appeared on the monitor, brushing silt off the golden fingers. ‘Yeah, it’s a separate thing. You want me to pick it up?’
    ‘No!’ both Nina and Blumberg cried simultaneously, Cellini joining in the chorus from the ocean floor. ‘We need to photograph and catalogue everything first,’ she went on. ‘I know it’s been a while, but you remember the drill, surely?’
    ‘I was hoping you’d forgotten the boring parts,’ he replied.
    ‘None of this is boring!’
    ‘Different strokes, love.’ Cellini’s camera on another screen revealed that the Yorkshireman’s smirk was as wide as Talonor’s; he was trying to wind her up. ‘I’ll have a poke around while Nerio’s taking pictures, then. Don’t worry, I don’t literally mean poke.’
    Blumberg gave Nina a disapproving look. ‘He does know what he’s doing, trust me,’ she said. ‘After I beat it into him.’ A faint mocking snort came from the seabed.
    Cellini took a camera from his case and started to photograph the chamber. Blumberg switched the main screen to show the view from his shoulder cam as he worked. ‘This is amazing,’ said Nina, her knowledge of the ancient Atlantean language letting her pick out some of the words on the walls. They appeared to describe the lands the explorer had visited. The map was almost certainly a chart of his travels, then. ‘Talonor’s secret records chamber, still preserved after all this time.’
    ‘It’s incredible that anything survived at all,’ said Blumberg. ‘First Atlantis sinks, then a ship demolishes the temple . . .’
    She ignored the hint of blame aimed at her for the latter. ‘But there it is. Thank you for letting me be a part of this, Lester.’
    ‘No problem,’ he said, somewhat dismissively. ‘Although there was only one route to follow down there, so we didn’t actually need a guide at all.’
    Now she made her annoyance plain on her face, but before she could come up with a spiky rejoinder, another low rumble echoed over the loudspeakers. ‘What was that?’
    Eddie felt it directly. ‘The room just shook.’ The floor had quivered beneath his feet, enough to unsteady him.
    Cellini looked about in alarm. ‘Earthquake?’
    ‘No, mate,’ said Matt. ‘I’ve got readings from the seismic relays around the site. That was local, just in the temple.’
    ‘If something was dislodged by the explosion, the change in the current might be affecting it,’ suggested Blumberg.
    ‘Oh, great, so it’s going to fall down on us?’ Eddie started for the tunnel. ‘Come on, Nerio, time to go.’
    ‘In a minute,’ said the Italian. ‘I have to photograph this first.’ He approached the statue.
    ‘What is it with archaeologists?’ Eddie asked the universe in general.