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PART V

THERA

Thera, these days, was known as the island of Santorini. It was a small, hilly island shaped like a crescent, one of many such islands in the Cyclades. The crescent was all that was left of Thera, demolished by a volcanic eruption four times as powerful as Krakatoa. Few people lived there, although Indy knew Professor Marinatos was working there these days.
The charter plane let them off at the pier, and flew away. Indy and Sophia walked along the pier, and looked around the main settlement.
It wasn't much. A few houses, stucco and red-tile roof, dotted the landscape as it rose inland. Nobody seemed to be about. Now that the drone of the charter plane's engines was gone, it was pretty quiet, too.
"Here we are," said Indy. "Thera. The whole island is the rim of an extinct volcano. There's a Greek scholar named Marinatos who claims the whole place exploded in 1600 BC, and wiped out civilisation all over the Mediterranean."
"Kind of like Krakatoa," said Sophia.
"Exactly, only bigger. Maybe it wiped out Atlantis as well."
"It's useless to speculate," said Sophia. "What's our plan?"
Indy looked around for any sign of recent German visits. He couldn't see any. "I don't know, what do you want to do?"
"I think," said Sophia, "Atlantis is somewhere out there underwater. I think we should hire a boat."
A boat was indeed available. A salvage boat, to be precise, that looked beyond salvaging. It was roped to the pier, and someone, presumably the captain, was washing down the interior. Some washing was dripping dry from strings suspended around the boat.
"Ahoy there!" hailed Indy.
"Ahoy yourself," said the captain, putting his work away. "If its salvage work you need, I'm your man. No job too big, no job too small." He was short and squat, with black hair and a black moustache. It was perhaps cruel, but Indy's opinion of the salvage boat captain matched that of the salvage boat. It didn't look, put it this way, like he was ready to bring up the Titanic.
"You ever hear of Atlantis?" asked Indy.
"Of course," said the captain. "And dragons and mermaids and..."
"So you think it's just a myth?"
The captain shrugged. "I've heard tell that down in the tropics they've got fish that fly. So who knows."
"Have you seen any suspicious visitors?" asked Indy.
He watched the reply closely. "I did see some German gentleman a while back, but not recently."
Indy was instantly suspicious. First of all, if the Germans had gotten here such a long time ago, how come they hadn't found Atlantis? Second, it was inconceivable that they hadn't come across the name Thera in Crete, so why weren't they here now? Third, why was it that when Indy mentioned suspicious visitors the captain immediately thought of Germans.
"I'll talk to you later," said Indy.
"Enjoy your stay on Thera," said the captain. Indy walked back to Sophia.
"I wonder what Kerner's up to now," said Indy.
Sophia smiled. "I'll bet he's thinking the same thing about us."
"Sophia," said Indy, "I want to see if our friend Kerner has been here." He indicated the hills behind them.
Sophia sighed. "I'll stay here."
Indy walked up the main settlement path, passing between empty shops and shut up houses, climbing high above the bay until he reached a plateau. From his vantage point, if he looked south, he could see as far as Crete.
He looked inland. Hills rolled up and down around him, revealing a dry, sparsely vegetated land. Under a bright sun high in the sky, the ground was the colour of ground up corn, fading through pale green to a lilac-mauve in the distance. Dotted here and there were patches of forest, but most of the ground was uncovered.
There wasn't much sign of life here, period. Nearby, however, a drift of smoke rose from a notch in the hillside. Indy, picking a path through the grass, walked over to investigate.
The notch was stony, sandy and bare of vegetation. It smelt of sulphur, probably because of the vent in the hillside, a natural gas fissure giving off the thin grey smoke Indy had seen from a distance. Also nestling in the notch was something Indy was not glad to see - a German army truck with a missing tire.
Indy ground his teeth. Kerner must have been here! He looked around for any more clues. On the ground next to the truck was a tire repair kit - Indy picked it up and took it. He searched around, and soon found a crate. The crate was open, and empty. Near it, where the ground sloped away sharply, there was some kind of fissure in the ground.
Indy climbed down the fissure, watching his footsteps carefully. The sand beneath his feet felt unstable. Finally, he couldn't make it any further. There was no room to go on. One thing was clear, however - this was the collapsed entrance to some kind of underground chamber.
Who knew? Maybe it led straight to Atlantis. Indy climbed back up, and thumbed through the Lost Dialogue. Looked like they'd need the salvage boat after all.
Here it was. The Lesser colony was two hundred and seventy miles north-west of Atlantis. Adjusting for Plato's crooked calculations, that meant Atlantis was 27 miles south-east of here. Even if the captain doubted the existence of Atlantis, he could at least take them to the general location.
Indy walked back to the pier. Going downhill, it took a lot less time. He quickly told Sophia what he'd found.
"I wonder what Kerner found up in the hills," he mused.
Sophia had an answer. "I've read there were tunnels connecting Atlantis to her colonies. Maybe he found one. Looks like we're in a real race."
That was what I was afraid of, Indy thought. He went back to the captain and got his attention.
"You again," said the captain impatiently. "What do you want?"
"I want to go to Atlantis," said Indy. "Can you take us?"
"To Atlantis?" asked the captain, amazed. "I can't go anywhere that's not marked on my charts. Where exactly do you expect to find it?"
"Twenty-seven miles from here," said Indy.
"In what direction?"
"South-east of Thera."
The captain was not impressed. "Do you know where that puts us? Since you don't seem to know, I'll tell you. In the middle of the ocean!"
Indy had suspected that, but it was still a blow to have that suspicion confirmed. "Are you sure there's not some little island out there?"
"I know an island when I see one," said the captain. "You're going to need a diving suit like mine if you want to stroll around out there. But I'm sure a smart fellow like you must have one."
"Actually... could I borrow your diving equipment?"
"I guess so," said the captain. "But there's a hole in the suit." He scrutinised Indy. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Yes, of course," said Indy.
The captain gave up. "All right, Mr All-American Explorer Type, let's find Atlantis. Just remember: if it sank like they said it did, I claim the salvage rights."

Getting Indy and Sophia twenty-seven miles out to sea took about an hour for the salvage boat captain and his beloved salvage boat, Bessie. The water was calm. He shut the throttle, came from the cabin and announced they were here. "Avast, you lubbers. We've arrived."
"Are you sure?" asked Indy.
"Exactly where you wanted to go. There's a diving suit in one of the lockers, the rest is up to you?"
"Aren't you going to help?"
The captain shook his head. "I'm against helping anyone into an early grave. From now on, you're on your own." He walked back into the cabin.
Indy turned to Sophia, who was sitting on the deck under a hanging fishnet. "If we've found Atlantis, I'll bet it's waterlogged."
"Don't look at me, I didn't sink it."
"Think your old pal Sal would be proud of us?" asked Indy.
"Sorry. I'm not in contact at the moment."
Indy looked around the crowded deck area. Eventually he found a white locker lying on its side. He lifted the lid, and there was the diving suit. It was old and dusty, canvas-made with a copper helmet, and looked very heavy. Indy could see the puncture fairly clearly - it was in the upper right arm.
He got to work with the tyre repair kit. Five minutes later, better than new. The next thing Indy checked was the air compressor. It seemed to be in fairly good condition, but the air hose reel was a problem - there didn't look to be enough to reach the sea bottom. Well, they'd just have to see.
Indy fitted the end of the air hose to the suit, and turned on the compressor. The suit expanded, soon looking like the Michelin man. Indy pulled it out of the locker, steadied it upright, then struggled inside. Sophia helped out.
The suit was roomy. He even had room to keep his hat on. What it wasn't, as Indy found once he was safely ensconced inside, was manoeuvrable. He could hardly move in this thing! "You'll have to get me into the water, Sophia," said Indy.
Sophia looked irritably at the captain, who was ignoring them completely, then turned the hoist around. She was less sure about the ability of this canvas relic to hold together. "Can you hear me okay?" she asked.
"Barely," said Indy.
"Just wanted to make sure you were comfortable."
"Comfortable?" Indy didn't sound comfortable. "It's about as comfortable as a coffin."
"Is it hot in there?"
"Yes," agreed Indy. "Hot."
Sophia pulled the hoist down and hooked it into Indy's suit. "Watch that hook!" said Indy.
"Okay, okay!" Using the hoist she lifted Indy into the air, turning the hoist she brought him out over the water. Sophia released him. Indy fell into the water, barely making a splash, and descended steadily.

He could just see the ocean floor, wavering beneath his feet. It was dotted with dark holes, too regular to be natural, and each looked to be about ten feet wide.
Indy held his breath, out of awe. They had found something, all right. But then his descent was stopped, abruptly, and the ocean floor was lost from sight.
"Hey - what happened?" said Indy. They couldn't stop now - Atlantis was right below him. He hadn't gone far enough to run out the airhose, surely. And why couldn't he see below, anymore? Indy craned his head upward, and saw something that made his blood run chill.
A dark shadow was pulling up, alongside the boat.

The submarine had lain out of sight, just below sea level at the front of the salvage tank. As soon as Indy fell into the water, it rose beside them, causing the boat to rock from side to side. The hatch was flung open, and before Sophia could do a thing Kerner had jumped to the deck and had a gun on her.
"Kerner!" said Sophia. "Perfect. Another slimy creature oozing up from the depths."
"Now now, Fraulein Hapgood," said Kerner reasonably. "I have no wish to shoot you. Don't make me change my mind."
"What mind?" said Sophia.
"I see you've acquired some bad manners from your friend Jones," said Kerner. "Where is he, may I ask?"
Sophia looked him in the eye. "Back on Thera," she said confidently. "You'll never find him."
Kerner was not an idiot. He walked to the air compressor, and looked at the run of hose disappearing over the side of the boat. "Really... what do you say, Captain?"
The captain appeared at the cabin door. "I brought them both like you told me, Herr Kerner. I tried to keep Jones from diving, but he's a very determined man."
"Now, he's a dead man," said Kerner, producing a knife. "One rude archaeologist is quite enough for my purposes."
He cut the hose. The half attached to Indy fell into the water and disappeared.

Indy fell, rapidly. "Whoa!" The ocean floor was once again in focus beneath him, and approaching far too fast. Indy flapped his arms, trying to slow himself down.
The water, getting thicker as he fell lower, did the job for him. Indy touched down on the floor bed softly, kicking up a faint dust of sand.
Indy jammed the hat and the lead box into the air hose gap. There were four holes all around him, set into the side of a large rise in the sea bed. He had about three minutes of air left in the suit. Holding the seal in place, he started for the first.
He felt like someone walking on the moon - someone really fat. His footsteps were as faint as feather falling, but the water was so hard to push through.
The first hole was black, and empty. Indy rushed to the second, and it too led nowhere. The third took a minute to get to, and Indy was sweating all over. Here, however, the water seemed easier to push through, and there was something like light coming from somewhere within.
Indy walked on. The tunnel sloped down, then sloped steeply upward. Strangely, he didn't seem to be walking on sand anymore - it was stone, or some kind of concrete.
Indy's suit broke through the surface of water (!!! thought Indy), and he saw the source of the light. He was in a regular chamber fifty feet by two hundred feet, large enough for the German sub to surface in. Half of the chamber was stone pavement, the other seawater. Light came from two red beacons set into the wall, a sign that the Germans had been here too. Indy struggled out of the diving suit, breathed in deeply, and marvelled.

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