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A deeply etched row of hieroglyphics stretched along the slab’s jagged bottom

Dirk waved Summer over, then attacked the heavy silt in earnest Summer joined in at the opposite end A cloud of murky water enveloped them Then, as the current carried it away, they could see their discovery

Six inches thick andwith a rounded top Carved in the traditional Egyptian style of memorial stelae, it was shaped ed baseit had toppled from the sanctuary’s niche When it had fallen, the slab had cracked init useless to those who cannibalized the temple’s other stonework

The hieroglyphics covering the still highly polished surface of the slabto Dirk and Su such a record of antiquity Dirk rubbed his hand along the inscriptions, which were still crisp Suazing at it in wonder As she began snapping photos, they heard a muffled boom and felt a vibration

They looked at each other, then scanned the lakebed The source was too far away to determine the direction But it had sounded man-made

Then Dirk looked south and noticed a s fro just beyond the colonnaded courtyard, he identified the object with both dread and certainty

It was their anchored boat

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A grenade had caused the boat to sink

At least that’s what it looked like to Dirk The small hull showed a fist-sized puncture near the boide cracks streae marks and smaller shrapnel scars peppered the area around it The forward seat bench had been blown off, and it dangled frole metal pin

Suas can tied to the transo the explosion was no accident

Their bottom time had expired, so they had no choice but to ascend Dirk pointed to the surface and held up three fingers, which he collapsed to a zero, then motioned flat with his whole hand Suently to rise

At forty feet, she released a burst of air from her buoyancy compensator to slow her ascent, and leveled off ten feet later Dirk appeared alongside

They were deep enough to avoid detection fro vessels One floated directly above them

Aside from its white hull, Dirk could surmise little from beneath Whoever stood on the boat wasn’t there to welcome them with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres As he studied the vessel’s underside, he made out a pair of shadows over the near side