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“That’s only thirty-six,” Ga quickly “There are thirty-seven of us”

Jinn s behind to die”

Kurt replied without blinking “I am”

CHAPTER 56

JOE WENT INTO THE WATER OF LAKE NASSER IN AN OLD-school diving getup It wasn’t exactly the old brass hel shortly after World War Two, but it came close

A thirty-pound helmet of stainless steel fit over his head and onto the shoulders of the suit A fifty-pound belt strapped around his waist and heavy, weighted bootsa few steps a Frankenstein-like walk

An air hose, a steel cable and a high-pressure line for pu the Ultra-Set were attached to the shoulder mounts They made hilad for every ounce of weight and the security of the steel cable

The weight kept hi current The cable, which was attached to a dive boat above hiht on If it snapped, he would sink to the bottom like a stone and probably be excavated in a thousand years or so, only to baffle future archaeologists

Joe had no desire to be part of the Valley of the Dead All he wanted to do was to stop the da washed away

If he and the supervisor were right, the main breach was containable, and while disastrous, especially for those close to the dam, it was not cataclysmic It would widen, perhaps to the full width of the daentle slope of the structure would keep it fro any deeper

Eventually, like water spilling out of an overflowing bathtub, the water level in the lake would drop to a levelthe depth of the breach and the floould slow and eventually stop

But if theinto the clay core from the tunnel, the incredible pressure of the water would weaken the core itself It would eventually fail A bigger, deeper,to keep the dam from total collapse

As Joe’s feet touched down on the sloping surface below, the speaker in his helmet crackled

“Diver, can you hearhis life on the dive boat, along with the major and another technician

“Barely,” Joe said