Read The Midas Legacy (Wilde/Chase 12) for Free Online Page B

freedom of movement. ‘Nerio!’ he yelled. ‘Back up, as far as you can! You need to hit the ceiling harder!’
    ‘What are you doing?’ Blumberg demanded.
    Cellini was equally bewildered. ‘But the suit will break!’
    ‘I know, I know – but if the back breaks, it doesn’t matter! It’s just a cover! If you flatten it, you’ll be able to fit through.’
    ‘Eddie, that’s crazy,’ said Blumberg, but the Englishman ignored him – and to his relief, so did Cellini. The Italian withdrew, Eddie letting himself be pulled deeper into the tunnel until he jammed against the statue.
    ‘All right,’ he called. ‘Are you set?’
    ‘Yes!’ came the reply.
    Eddie restarted his thrusters at full power. ‘ Now! ’
    He lunged backwards, pulling Cellini with him – and the younger man slammed against his confines. There was a sharp snap of splintering fibreglass. ‘Keep going, keep going!’ Eddie shouted. He pulled Cellini’s arm. ‘You’re moving!’
    Another crack – and Cellini broke free, rushing forward with such force that he almost collided head-on with Eddie. The Englishman shoved himself backwards, swinging around as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The water was less murky here, letting him see the archaeologist’s smile of relief as he emerged. His suit’s back had been flattened, spears of broken casing jutting out like porcupine quills. But the tanks inside were still intact. ‘You saved me! Thank you, thank you!’ He moved as if to embrace the Englishman.
    ‘We’re not out of here yet,’ Eddie reminded him. ‘Get to the top, fast!’
    ‘But the Codex—’
    ‘I’ll get it!’
    ‘And I lost the camera—’
    ‘Just go ! God, bloody archaeologists!’
    Cellini’s thrusters surged and propelled him up the staircase. Eddie was about to follow, but decided – with aggrieved reluctance – that a promise was a promise. He flailed his fins until one touched something straight-edged on the floor. He grabbed the heavy book, then started after the Italian at full speed—
    A rushing current swept past him as a stone slab fell into the space where he had just been.
    His arm grazed a wall as he was thrown off course. He corrected, looking ahead to see Cellini passing over the rubble pile. The Englishman followed, manoeuvring the bulky Codex ahead of him.
    The first barricade lay above, Cellini squeezing into the opening above the broken slab. The Italian’s damaged suit bashed against the ceiling in his haste, clipping shards off the casing. He backed up to try again. More loud booms came from below. Eddie looked back.
    A roiling wall of silt was surging up the tunnel. After ten years, the overturned statue had finally hit the floor, forcing the water beneath it out along its only escape route – straight at the two fleeing men. ‘Go, go !’ he yelled, shoving Cellini on before powering through the narrow space after him.
    A dull whump as the shock wave hit the barrier, dislodging the broken block – followed by louder crunches as the ceiling gave way and fell into the tunnel.
    Cellini was a human torpedo just ahead of Eddie, the turbulence from his thrusters buffeting the Yorkshireman. Lights rose ahead, the altar room coming into view—
    They burst into open water as the churning wave hit and sent them both tumbling. The Codex slipped from Eddie’s hands. Blinded by the silt, all he could do was let himself be carried along and hope he wasn’t on a collision course with the surrounding masonry.
    He gradually slowed and kicked upright, restarting the propellers to rise out of the swollen mass of sediment. The circle of lights returned to view, now broken where some had been knocked over.
    ‘Eddie!’ A voice in his ear: Matt. ‘Can you hear me?’
    ‘Yeah, I can,’ he replied, recovering his breath. The submersible was some way above him, directing its lights downwards. ‘Can you see Nerio?’
    A tense pause, then: ‘I got him! Lower than you, off to your left.’
    Eddie caught