36.
Unknown to all, Nemo had stepped into the tower interior. He saw nothing there but the circle drawn on the flooring. He stepped on it and waited. He did not have to for soon the flooring gave way and he was lowered down in what may be said to be a glass tube. He was excited then on the outcome like many of his discovery moments during his hunts for treasures. He swam with sharks once too often to fithe bulknd the elusive hordes of gold.
The descent was rapid but the scene was dark and nothing was seen beyond his hands.
Then the descent stopped.
There was nothing there but darkness.
Nemo took a step out of the circle and was greeted by the sight of huge chamber. It was also laden with bulk of gold and jewelleries. The treasure was stacked in piles in the huge cases, and some of these cases were stacked over another. The sea Captain stepped over and laid his hands on the treasure trove. In his mind then was the mental calculation of the worth but he could not fathom what was there.
“Captain, we came as fast we could.” Nemo turned to look at the voice and saw his crew. More specific was his Bosun then. There were six of them there with the eager looks.
“How did you here? I ….” Nemo looked for the circle which he had descended from but it was not there. He looked around and could not find anything that resembled it except more of the desired treasures.
“We came with the Nautilus. She berthed there by far side. It was a tough voyage with the narrow tunnels but we made it. It was your prayer and guidance that brought us here.” The Bosun smiled and then he asked the pertinent question.
“Is that it? I doubt we ….I mean we have never seen so much ever before. Did we hit Captain Kidd’s hidden cache? Or Blackbeard’s?” The crews were already at the treasures. Nemo stood there transfixed with a lot of questions. He then asked the crew the first question on his mind.
“I left all of you on the beach and I told you to stay in the water but how did you get here?”
“We saw your note. Funny, it was on your seat then and we read it. It told us what was needed; the depth and the directions. We took it all in and arrived here.” One of the crew replied. “Can we start the loading?”
“Yes…” Nemo was still puzzled and then he stepped away to think. He turned to look at his crews. He recalled leaving no notes. The last time he left a note for anyone was for his Guardian that he was leaving. He was to ask more when he saw his crews carrying the gold. It must had been heavy in the huge case but they were carrying if effortless.
It was not right.
“Nemo, would you be a pal and help us?” Nemo nodded without looking at the person who asked. He proceeded onto to the nearest gold stash and took up a medallion. It was an old Spanish dated back to the early fourteenth century. He had discovered that once before in the depth of the ocean off the Dark Continent.
“So maybe there was more.” Nemo muttered to himself. He had sometimes discovered two wrecks with the similar medallions. He then turned to look at his crews. They were still hoarding the treasure. He then thought of the Nautilus. It was a great ship and companion. He spent so much time in there. It was not the original one for that was huge but it belonged to his father.
“Captain, guess what we found?” It was the Bosun. Nemo looked at what he was pointing at. It was the huge. It looked familiar.
“Captain, it’s the old Nautilus. The same one I once sailed with your…. The other Captain Nemo.”
Captain Nemo looked at the thing there. It did look like the part of the Nemo original design. He had some of it but not the complete set. It was the periscope there and part of the conning tower. It was impossible for that if it was part of the Nautilus, it was impossible to there unless it was only part of it but why bring that part.
“She is a beau, son.” Nemo turned to look and saw a familiar figure he saw from the rare painting then.
“Father….Prince Dakkar.” Nemo mumbled out. “It can’t be. You are dead. Dead then deader.”
“Yes, son. I am dead.” The figure stood there in the sea Captain uniform of the ancient Raj realm. “And you may be.”
“I am not.” Nemo glared at the person he thought or knew was dead. He looked around and saw the gold once more. It was his innermost desire ever since he first saw the metal.
“Prince Dakkar…” But the figure was not there. So were the gold and jewelleries but the Nautilus was there. The one which the ‘Captain Nemo the First’ was its master. He was also standing on the water surface. It was eerie then.
“Am I dead?” Nemo called out. “If I am, tell me.”
“Yes, Captain you are.” It was the Bosun. “So are we. Soon after we left you at the beach, we sailed to the sea like what you told us. It was smooth except we sprung a leak in the hull. It was not there before we sailed but the hole was there. It could have been when we docked at the beach.”
“I don’t understand…”
“They do.” The Bosun pointed to the two figures at the side. “The tall ones.”
Nemo looked at the two figures. They were metallic like his Nautilus but the metal held a golden gleam.
“Behold their arms. They released some sort of fire or cannon fire that could have blasted the hole in the hull. They sank us but the six of us escaped. We were not ready to die in that grave although we loved her. Out there, we became fish feed.” The Bosun sighed. “I saw Thomas died being devoured by the Orca. Do you know what it’s like to torn apart. I saw it before they turned on me. I opened my mouth to let the water. I would had preferred drowning but that took a longer time. The killers took out chunk of me.”
“What was there to drown on when your lungs were ripped? Your body did not need air then when the blood was all flowing out.” The Bosun then laughed. “All my life my words were of nonsense and profanity but today. I am professing in the words that would delight my own dead mother. God bless her soul.”
The Bosun laughed and then cried.
“My first and final time I ever praised her. God, I am dead.”
The Bosun then disappeared and in place there was nothing.
No more Nautilus.
Nemo found himself standing on the same circle flooring but he was in the middle of a huge chamber with water around him. He was not sure if that was real so he leaned down to touch the water. It felt real and yet he was unsure.
“Am I dead?” Nemo asked himself. He called out for the others but there were no replies. He then sat down and looked at the water.
“I have been with you for so long and yet now you will be my companion forever I guess. If this is a trap, then I am really doomed.” Nemo spoke to the vast water there in the chamber. “I wondered if you could tell me more of yourself. I am Nemo.”
“Or what I had adopted from my …father.” Nemo then started off on his solitary journey. He then looked to his side.
“Hello, father. Welcome to join me. We are in your realm now.”
37.
Sherlock took his first step into the netting with apprehension on his safety. It’s not that he feared the drop but trapeze acts was never his forte. He much preferred to be on the side lines watching the actors do it. For the sake of Watson, he placed in the brave front but soon at the middle of his climb over, he felt a need to call out.
“Mycroft, can you recalled our Aunt Getrude?” Sherlock tried to distract his thoughts.
“You meant Aunt Geraldine. Yes, I recalled she died falling off the highlands. Tragedy it was.” Mycroft had made the climb over reminded Sherlock. “Sheer cliff. I was there and it looked like this one.”
“Mycroft, you imbecile.” Sherlock shored up his courage and took bold steps before he made it. He stepped up to Mycroft.
“We don’t have an aunt named Geraldine.” Sherlock hissed at Mycroft.
“And you are still a sissy. I climbed more dangerous mountains than this.” Mycroft replied. “It worked for me, and it do for you though I lost Geraldine that day.”
Sherlock realized that he was baited and then apologies. It was Watson who broke the silent remembrance of the passing Geraldine. He was waiting for Van Helsing last to cross.
“Be the sleuth you are. Find us the rest of the clues.” Watson told Sherlock. The man in request took to his heels and looked ahead at the task ahead. The tunnel led to a smaller cavern and there were three tunnels ahead.
“Three? Trinity in choice.” Sherlock muttered. He then voiced out for the others to hear. “The numeral three is sign of weakness in some. The early theologians Clement, Origen, and Hipolytus who lived in Alexandria were steeped in the number symbolism. They wrote that the duality of God, The Father and Christ was one weaknes of Christianity. It was overcome by the creation of the Holy Ghost which gave to the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Matthew 28.19. As we are bounded by Heaven, Earth, and Hell.”
“And Faith, Hope and Charity was what Paul’s letter sent to the Corinthians, I Corinthians 13, 13.” Van Helsing snapped in from the rear. “We will take the middle for its Hope. We are wasting time.”
The demon slayer went ahead while Sherlock was still deducting his options.
“The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas.” Watson took to the heels of the other into the tunnel but his blatant display of the middle figure on his left hand was obvious to his choice too.
“I don’t have three wishes but left with one now.” Nina followed on. In the end Sherlock gave up and followed on when the others took the trail by Van Helsing.
“Perish all hopes for those who venture blindly.” Sherlock agitated that he was ignored but he took the flank. They soon chanced on another cavern and there stood a majestic from which none of them could comprehend it.
“I say, old chap.” Mycroft had to break the silence then. “Our palace looked more grandeur.”
“Splendid in design. Truly a marvel.” Sherlock voiced out while Watson was looking to compare it with the Taj Mahal he once visited during his service days.
The splendid design was a huge saucer frame metallic shape structure with oddly the few foundation pillars that held it up was by then assessment as fragile. It was wide to the width of over a thousand feet, and a height of three hundred and fifty at the peak tapered at two hundred feet. Its frame was coated with dust and some falling rocks that had rolled off its surface. There was a entrance at the bottom of the structure with what appeared to be a wide ramp.
There was a figure seated there on a high back chair facing them.
Watson recalled the last words on the paper he wrote.
Watch the one who seats on the throne
Solomon isn’t the King
But the Guardian for the Kings
“Welcome to King Solomon’s vault. Not what you envisaged but you have not seen the interior.” The figure greeted them. “My name is Kishna Ram. I am the ….Guardian of the Vault.”
“Your friends are inside. Please follow me.” The seat moved by itself; hovering above the ground and then climbed the ramp with the man on it. Watson led the others to follow. Once inside the so named Vault, they were greeted by the intricate machinations that was there.
“Post Industrial Age?” Sherlock frowned his expression. “Well, I am not impressed. Coal will be missed.”
Coal was one of the country’s biggest wealth provider then but the others ignored his speculative thoughts. They chanced upon a huge chamber where the others were there.
“Greystoke, I thought we lost you.” Van Helsing greeted his old friend who was also glad to see the demon slayer. There they stood and saw before them was a raised platform where the hovering seat rose to before it parked in between two metallic figures.
Watson looked around and saw the chamber was also lined on the sides with raised platforms which were soon filled with more metallic figures filing in a single line. He counted a total of twenty nine there with the spacing between them erratic.
“I think we are going to be judged.” Watson remarked to the others while holding his rifle.
“Hello once again, my name is Kishna Ram. I am the Guardian of the Vault. These are my companions.” The seated man spoke. “Please do not over react with your weapons. It’s useless and my companions could …kill you in seconds.”
“You are brought here for the Lady Greystoke had presented an amusing argument to lengthen your stay here.” Kishna Ram looked at the lady. “Are all of you tainted like you child?”
“I will repeat my words for those who were not there. Or perhaps Sherlock could interject with his own reasoning.” Kishna Ram smiled. “Tainted was your child. It would be born with deformities and be a burden to you. As for all of you, you were born before we …could give you the options allowed to the unborn child. However, your ….how may I placed it? Weakness may be the word for it. All of you have some weaknesses.”
“Sherlock Holmes; man of extraordinaire skills with a mind that out rivalled many others but your weakness is eluding that your species will need to die. You are intrigued by that form theologian and also analytical approach hence your desire to see its form from prelude to post. The body and not the soul was your fascination. You wanted to know what will happen to it. Or happened. Due to your …fascination, you became obsessed with solving the task there. It drove you to a fascistic approach and fulfilling addiction.”
“Bravo!” Mycroft voiced. “You hit it on the nail there.”
“Mycroft Holmes’ another man of …skills alike your brother but you held a domineering approach to command and bold action. Ike your brother, you professed to solve issues but your thoughts were in physical moves. Inside you, there is a sadistic nature. You were the physical one in the family. Your constant overlooking their shoulder of your siblings made you their …guardian.”
“Viola!” Sherlock hollered out and then sighed to himself.
“Doctor Watson; the man who held to preserve life with care and the desire to seek adventure, for the later served your purpose to preserve life. You arrived back to your home land with a disability that you thought will cease your adventurous life but your companion then presented both to you. He was after all your patient.”
“We are wasting time.” Van Helsing levelled his rifle.
“Van Helsing; a descendant of slayers of the unknown. You held an incredible task before you. Your ancestors before you were all slayers. Their enemies were themselves; the refusal to accept others the right to survive.”
It was then the two metallic figures stepped forth and the seated man looked at them before he looked at the others on the sides. .
“It seems we have judgement now. You may now all stand as your names are read.”
“Sherlock Holmes.”
“Mycroft Holmes”
“John Watson, Doctor.”
“Then can I have mine with Esquire.” Mycroft spoke up but was ignored.
“Nina….Watson.”
“Van Helsing…We don’t have your first name.”
“Abraham. I was after my uncle.”
“Sean Mercer”
“Lord John Clayton Greystoke and Lady Jane Porter.”
“Princess Fa Lo Suee.”
“Mistress… Mu Guiying of the Yang Clan.”
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