The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2) by Christopher Cartwright

sounded to me like he was happy to
provide whatever help he could.”
    “That’s just it. Do you know what my dad’s response was when
I told him what the Maria Helena was spending her time doing this month?”
    “No.”
    “He said, ‘but there can’t be much money in that sort of
work.’ That’s what people in my dad’s caliber like to do. Avoid paying what
they owe. This man sounds like he hasn’t even talked to his lawyers yet,
despite potentially being liable for millions.”
    “Okay, I’ll keep my eyes on him. See what wildcard he thinks
he’s holding up his sleeve.”
    Mick walked back, the serious look on his face now gone.
“I’m sorry about that. I just called my underground manager. He’s pulling the
team out of the tunnel now. I’ve more than a thousand Mexican workers several hundred
feet below the waterline. If that thing breaks, every one of them will be dead
before they know what hit them. We’re going to have to send a team through to
close the entire tunnel, or risk killing them all. The biggest problem is that
water is coming through small cracks, and there’s a practical river pouring
down the tunnel. The pumps should be able to keep the tunnels open to my men,
but the flowing water will make it very difficult to reach.”
    “With that, I might just have a solution…” Sam said.
    *
    Sam switched on the projector.
    It showed a hand-drawn diagram of the subterranean Mayan
pyramid. A red symbol like a lightning bolt highlighted the point on the eastern
tunnel of the pyramid where Tom had been nearly killed by the outward flowing
hydrogen cyanide.
    “This is where the crack was found in the tunnel.” Sam
pointed to the spot where the leak was first identified. “We’ll have no way of
finding out how close the other side of the hole is to the Big Dipper, but for
the blasting at that point to damage the enormous blocks, one must assume that
it’s pretty close.”
    Mick opened up his computer tablet. “Here’s the schematics
of the Big Dipper. Our tunnel draws directly below the subterranean pyramid –
about ten feet below. For our blasting to cause that type of damage between the
two structures, there would have to be an opening somewhere already.”
    “Perhaps the Mayans maintained a storeroom underneath the
pyramid that we would be able to see?” Mick asked.
    “It’s highly possible,” Sam accepted. “So, you were
considering sending in a team of miners, who would be willing to take the risk
of entering the mine and blasting the roof in from about 50 feet below the
pyramid?”
    “Yes.”
    “Mick, you pointed out that the risk would be high, and
failure would result in the flooding of your entire mine.” Sam saw Mick nod in
agreement and then, pointing to the diagram of the pyramid, asked, “What if we
blocked the entrance to the pyramid here, and here?”
    “Then, the pyramid would remain lost forever?” Mick asked.
    “No, then your team could go in and seal the mine from
below, losing no more than 50 feet of your long wall. Once that was complete,
we would remain with a team of archeologists to remove the blocked entrance and
explore the Mayan tomb.”
    “How soon can you do it?” Mick asked, his eyes wide with
respect.
    Tom looked at his engineer, “Veyron – what do you think?”
    “I need to build the steel framework and then pump the
concrete. Ideally, I’ll need about three days, given the location.”
    Sam looked back at Mick to see if that would meet his new
friend’s approval.
    It looked like Mick hadn’t heard it. Instead he was speaking
on his cell phone, his body tense with anxiety. “I understand. Do what you can
– pull everyone out.”
    “What’s happened?” Sam asked.
    “That was my underground manager. The water’s just burst
through the tunnel.”
    “Shit. Okay, at least you got your workers out…”
    “That’s just it though… my underground manager just told me
he pulled them from the Big Dipper, and moved them to Mine Shaft