"Guys—you are scaring me!" Caleb was listening to all this completely alone one hundred and thirty feet down in a vast, dark ocean—his imagination was starting to run wild.
"Calm down. We don't know it's an altar." Teddy was fascinated but still father enough to worry about his son eighty feet above him
"What are you talking about, Teddy! It is a single block of rectangular stone in a blue temple at the top of a megalithic stone pyramid—it is not for sorting groceries!" Bones was almost screaming.
Joshua was laughing at how serious he was. "What are those things protruding from the sides? Stone rings?"
"Calm down, Bones. You're scaring the boys." Teddy was using his stern voice. "Yes, Joshua, they are stone rings."
"Check all four corners." Uncle Stu had gotten ahold of himself. "Your father is right, we will not know what it is until we do more investigation… I see them… stone rings on all four corners..."
Must have been used to secure the victim?" Joshua could be oblivious sometimes.
"No more conjecture, please!" Teddy let anger creep into his voice. "Caleb, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Dad... I'm guessing they were using young virgins." Caleb snickered.
"You must be alright. Guard your thoughts, Son!" Teddy was exasperated. "I'm going in."
"Time check—zero minutes—you need to begin your ascent." Uncle Stu sounded hopeful. "Guess it will have to be next time."
"Two minutes by my watch. I'll be in and out." Teddy was already entering the structure as they watched on the video.
Teddy glided in through the massive doorway with room to spare. The rover stayed outside providing light.
"Entering the structure—everything corresponds with the temple thesis. Bare walls. Centered in the room is a rectangular altar made of a single block of stone. A single stone ring at each of the four corners carved out of the same block of stone." Teddy shined his flashlight beam on the stone ring nearest him seeking any sign of a joint in the stone.
"This stone is white or grey-white, it's hard to tell down here, and so smooth…" Teddy made his first mistake.
Reaching out a gloved hand he ran it lightly across the top of the altar's surface. The single stroke of the tip of his finger kicked up a billowing cloud of sediment instantly. Teddy instantly reacted to the wreck diver's nightmare by attempting to retreat from the forming cloud.
That's when he made his second mistake: he gave a great kick with his fins that served to stir up even more sediment from the temple floor.
Thousands of years underwater had created a deep layer of sediment as tiny particles dropped out of the water column and settled on every horizontal surface. Divers in confined spaces feared stirring up sediment. Ship wrecks claimed more lives than any other diving activity because divers inadvertently kicked up sediment and lost all sense of direction in the zero visibility that followed. It was like flying in the clouds without instruments—you didn't know which way was up or down—it was total sensory deprivation.
"Get out of there, Teddy!" Bones shouted.
"I'm okay. Just give me a minute." Teddy was forcing calm into his voice and his rapidly beating heart.
"You are now out of time. Exit the structure and begin your ascent immediately." Bones was trying to regain control of an out of control situation from two hundred feet away on the surface.
"I can't see anything. Ugh!" Teddy had clearly bumped into something. "Banged into something… water entering my mask."
"Teddy. Stop. Before you do anything else. Clear your mask. Do you hear me?" Bones was all calm—peaceful. "Do you hear me, Teddy? We are going to get you out of there, just follow my instructions."
"I can feel a corner of something. I think it's the altar, but it's above me… water still coming in." Teddy was disoriented and distracted, panic was next.
"I'm going down." Caleb's voice was strained.
"Caleb—stay where you are! That is an order. You are not equipped for that depth." Bones voice was calm but Joshua could plainly see fear etched in his features. Joshua began to pray: Jesus, save my father and brother, please!
"I can't…" Teddy was unable to finish his sentence.
"I have to go down. I am the safety diver!" Helplessness registered in Caleb's voice and he was clearly about to panic. "Descending—one hundred and forty feet."
"Caleb! Stand down. You are going to kill yourself. Stand down." Bones was tearing up.
Joshua continued to pray with tears running freely down his cheeks. The rover camera showed more and more dust billowing from the cavernous doorway. The cloud was threatening to envelope the rover.
"Teddy. Listen to me. Caleb is going to die unless you do exactly as I say." Bones waited but got no response. "Clear your mask, Teddy. I can get you out of the building if you just clear your mask. Remember PADI diving school—you've done this a million times, clear your mask." Bones and Joshua waited in terror.
"Descending—one hundred and fifty feet." Caleb's voice had the resolute tenor of a man who knows he has nothing to lose because he is already dead.
"Teddy." Bones held back the fear. "Caleb is going to die."