The first dive attempt into 10-X begins with Harvey Morash descending in the cage while safety diver Michael Gerhartz follows. Within minutes, the communications system linking Michael to dive supervisor Janine Goyetche on the surface fails completely. Although the surface team can hear Michael breathing, he cannot hear their transmissions. With Harvey carrying no comms equipment to avoid entanglement, and Michael unable to connect the tether line before the malfunction, the team loses all contact with both divers. Michael calls the dive and ascends, reporting he never even saw Harvey's light despite being just above him, confirming the near-total zero visibility. Harvey remains submerged for over 30 anxious minutes before finally surfacing, reporting that the visibility was unbelievably horrible but that he heard the emergency banging on the pipe and knew the dive was off.
The team regroups in the War Room. Harvey reports he reached 125 feet and got horizontal before the visibility dropped to nothing. Michael identifies two problems: the surface-to-diver audio on the full-face mask and the work of breathing of the mask itself. He offers to pick up replacement parts in Halifax for a second attempt the following day. The next morning, however, Michael delivers devastating news: the work of breathing issue cannot be fixed in the field. Without safe equipment, he cannot guarantee diver safety and calls off the dive. Rick praises the decision as courageous, but the team is bitterly disappointed.
While waiting for the divers to return for another attempt, Rick and Jack Begley explore Nolan's Cross for the first time under the new cooperation agreement. Rick examines the central head stone, noting what appear to be chiseled features including an eye, forehead, nose, mouth, and chin. The placement of the cross boulders and additional smaller flat-sided stones corresponds to the ten Sephirot of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, a symbol important to the Knights Templar and later adopted by Rosicrucians and Freemasons. Using a Minelab CTX 3030 metal detector near the left arm boulder, Jack recovers what appears to be an old pulley, reminiscent of the pulley reportedly found hanging from the oak tree above the original Money Pit depression in 1795.
Four days later, Harvey and Michael return for a final attempt. Marty is called away on business. With repaired comms, the divers descend in tandem to the 181-foot level, where Harvey enters the 27-inch shaft alone. He gets at least two body lengths in, deeper than anyone in over 20 years, but encounters total blackout visibility and reaches the drill bar at approximately 204 feet. With no wiggle room to bypass it, Harvey turns back, breaching his dry suit in the tight space during his ascent. He reports the shaft was tighter than the 26-inch test pipe and that he could not determine whether he passed through the steel casing into the natural rock below. Rick accepts the result and begins considering whether scuba diving is a viable method for reaching the cavern at all.
Charles Barkhouse presents a stunning find in the War Room: a sword identified as a Roman ceremonial gladius, reportedly found in Mahone Bay near Oak Island in the 1940s. The sword is described as dating to the second or third century AD, possibly a ceremonial weapon presented by Emperor Commodus, who ruled from 180 to 192 AD. The team notes that ancient coins dating to 200 AD have been found in Nova Scotia and that the sophisticated flood tunnel engineering at Smith's Cove resembles Roman aqueduct design. Alex Lagina cautions that the sword could have arrived through piracy rather than direct Roman presence. The team arranges for Dr. Myles McCallum at St. Mary's University, an expert in Roman antiquities, to examine and authenticate the artifact.
