Free Treasure of the Deep by Aiden James, J. R. Rain

us from the cavern’s ceiling, bringing to mind the porous tunnel walls we encountered earlier. Stability could be a concern, especially when shaken by powerful explosions. I had counted more than twenty aged barrels that likely held gunpowder in the adjacent cave room, and there could be even more in the other cave. Fire and dark smoke were billowing out of both caves. Surely, we had less than a minute before a much bigger explosion hastened the destruction of this place.
    “Follow me and Kintu!” shouted Aafreen, brushing past the pirates who eyed him angrily. He had gained confidence from the gun given to him by one of the younger boys. “We’ll take the path I told you about. If we leave now, we can make it out in time!”
    “ You’ll never get away with this!” whispered our angered captive, hoarsely, after I eased the barrel against his neck. In the dimness, I saw the tattooed bruise from the 9mm barrel. “I have powerful friends who will hunt you down in California, Nicholas Caine!”
    Suddenly, an immense explosion far greater than the others shook the tunnel walls severe enough to make them creak, as if a collapse was pending. Only a fool would believe they weren’t about to collapse.
    “That’s Nick Caine, and hopefully they’ll call me in advance when they decide to stop by for a visit.” I spun Badri around and punched him full in the face, perhaps harder than I’d ever hit anyone.
    He flopped straight to his back. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to admire my handiwork, literally, as Ishi was now dragging me away.
    “Let’s get the hell out of the truck,” he said, as we scrambled behind the others.
    “ Dodge,” I said, struggling to keep up. “The hell out of Dodge .”
    “ Same thing,” said Ishi.
    “ No, it’s not—”
    “ The boat is straight ahead of us!” shouted Norema, excitedly, looking back at us. Nearly everyone had made it to the beach. “It’s—Oh my God, Nick and Ishi— watch out!”
    Her look of elation turned to terror as we prepared to exit the tunnel’s widening mouth. We’d reach salvation in just a moment. But, even before her warning, I felt a powerful draft coming up fast from behind us...a draft heated to the point of excruciating pain. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed a huge fireball was on its way.
    I grabbed Ishi and pulled him with me as I leaped. We almost made it, perhaps even unscathed...But then the final explosion sent us flying through the air. Flying into daylight.

 
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
    Hard to tell how long I was dazed.
    My first waking impression was the smell of something burnt mixed with my previous stench when I raised my hand to shield the brightness hurting my eyes. Lying on my back in the sand, I heard the ocean’s waves beyond my head, maybe twenty feet away.
    “ Nick...can you hear me?”
    It was Norema calling to me, and as I removed my arm from my eyes the brightness eased. Her shadowed form was coming into view, and she sounded much closer.
    “I think he’s coming to, Ishi,” she said. My little buddy joined her inside my direct view, along with Aafreen. They all gazed down at me. At least they were smiling. In light of what we’d dealt with during the past twenty-four hours, I took this as a good sign. “Can you sit up?”
    “ I think so.” I gingerly raised myself to a sitting position. I faced the tunnel’s mouth that bore scorch marks from the blast. In front of it sat Badri and his dirty dozen, huddled closely together. Kintu and Dinesh guarded them at gunpoint. “How long was I out?”
    “ Almost an hour,” said Ishi. “They say I was out for nearly twenty minutes.” He sounded proud, as if his younger stamina had just successfully kicked mine soundly, as obviously it had done.
    “ An hour, huh? What about the boat?”
    “ We are loading it now,” said Norema. Her smile faded slightly. “There isn’t room for everyone. Either our sons must stay behind, or...”
    She didn’t finish.