There was a swish of sound and the chamber lit up with a jeweled array of color, as light tunnels from the surface reflected down light that was refracted by the use of crystals into a glittering intensity of color that swept throughout the entrance of the Queens' Haven. I turned my head to see Flint sitting in stunned shock at what the glittering light revealed. I well knew what he was experiencing as I once had been in his place. It was hard to believe a place like this had ever existed in the time of the Earth.
We were in a massive cavern, which was mostly dark and lay full with water, except for this end of it. Before me, across an inlaid floor of tile studded with polished gems, rose a series of steps to a platform from which massive pillars rose to bolster the ceiling of the native rock. Gems and crystals glittered here and there but what caught the eye was that the steps and the pillars themselves were overlaid with gold.
"Welcome to the Queens' Haven."
Flint looked at me and I wondered, not for the first time, whether he would be able to destroy the treasure. He got up and walked up to me, still looking at the golden display before him and said, "Today I'm really going to hate my job!"
He glanced at me and made a movement with his hand, "After you, my queen. I need to get the bomb placed squarely in the middle of the treasure room."
I nodded, and started past the pedestal towards the golden pillars, as Flint followed. My eyes skipped off to the side as I saw something floating on the dark waters. It was a scuba flipper! Divers! Oxygen tanks!
Could the central pool be bypassed in order to reach this cavern? Evidently so, which meant someone was here! I stopped, as the alarm of that realization shot through me. I started to turn to push Flint back toward the barge, when several dark figures stepped out from behind the pillars.
Flint jerked me abruptly behind him and started to raise his rifle to fire even as several bullets crashed into him, knocking him back against me. He started to fall dropping the rifle and the case and I tried to catch him and break his fall to the ground.
No this couldn't be happening! Oh God! In a panic I turned him over on the floor. He was unconscious and pale looking, which scared me to death. I checked for a pulse and sobbed in relief, when I found one. His arm was bloody and I could see blood welling up fast out of his thigh through his torn pants. Was he hit elsewhere too? I ripped his shirt open in the front and in relief I saw he was wearing a light vest.