Pyramid: A Novel (Jack Howard Series Book 8) by David Gibbins Page A

the pressure. “I assure you,
mes amis
,” he said even more hoarsely, his face running with sweat, “this constriction is relieved underwater, but it is necessary to keep the suit watertight.”
    “Well, I for one am mighty relieved to hear it,” said Chaillé-Long, looking at the man dubiously and then at the river. “We shall need to secure that contraption on your back and get you in the water once our captain has steered this benighted craft to shore.”
    Guerin nodded, his face now looking drained. “
Un moment
, monsieur, while I recover my composure.” He gestured at the equipment and then looked at Jones. He was suddenly beaming. “It is, as I believe you have correctly surmised, an automatic valve, the first-ever demand valve. When the diver breathes in, the cylinder releases a lungful of air, regulated through the device on the valve.”
    “Tried and tested, I presume?” said Chaillé-Long, taking the butt of his cigar from his mouth and tossing it into the river.
    “Monsieur Denayrouze has been developing a similar device, and Monsieur Rouquayrol has been making cylinders strong enough to hold more air,” he replied, his eyes narrowing. “But their
régulateur
is inferior to mine, requiring the diver to open the valve manually each time he needs air.”
    Chaillé-Long looked at him shrewdly. “Are you in competition with these other gentlemen?”
    “It is why I have had to be so secretive. And there is something else,
mon ami
. This device would revolutionizeunderwater warfare. Divers could swim freely to attach mines beneath enemy ships’ hulls, wreaking havoc. One day wars will be fought underwater, you know. The world’s navies would clamor for it.”
    “It is a good thing, then, that when I needed a diver for our enterprise, I was not obliged to employ these other gentlemen, and you were at hand.”
    “A matter of good fortune that I had travelled to Alexandria intending to test my prototype, first in the ancient remains of the harbor and then on the wreck of the
Oceanus
in Aboukir Bay, where it blew up in 1798 during the Battle of the Nile. In these days of the British Empire, people have forgotten the role of Napoleon in opening up ancient Egypt to the world, and my discovery of the wreck would have been
pour la France
.”
    “You mean it would have brought you the fortune in gold coin that is said to lie in her hold?”
    Guerin shrugged theatrically. “An
inventeur
needs his income, monsieur. How else does he buy his
matériel
?”
    “So, you do not selflessly give your endeavors to
la France
, then?”
    Guerin eyed Chaillé-Long. “Do you work for the United States of America, monsieur, or for yourself?”
    The ghost of a smile passed Chaillé-Long’s lips. “It sounds as if you are embarked upon a profitable enterprise.”
    “Now you understand how it is that I have not been able to test my equipment like this before. I could not risk prying eyes seeing it.”
    Chaillé-Long gave the man a wry look. “I am grateful to you for answering my question in so
direct
a fashion.” He put his hands on his hips, surveying the shore that was just coming into view, a dark bank several boat lengths away. “Now, are we ready?”
    Jones eyed Guerin. “Do you have your lamp?”
    “Mais oui,”
the Frenchman replied exuberantly, lifting an open-fronted metallic box the size of a kerosene lamp but containing an opaque glass ball. “Another one of my inventions. It contains a battery and an electricalfilament. The opaque glass keeps the light from shining too strongly, as the glare off the suspended particles in the water would obscure my view. I have tested it myself to a depth of ten meters off the Marseilles docks.”
    “You are indeed an entrepreneur,” Chaille-Long murmured. “If
liberté, fraternité et égalité
are in truth not your master, then you and I could do business.”
    Guerin looked at Jones, his eyes glinting. “And you, monsieur, for your part, you have
les