“Still in one piece, I see,” she said, giving him a hug. “Welcome to Turkey.”
“Thanks,” he replied in a low voice.
Gone was his usual positive energy and upbeat disposition. Even his eyes seemed darker, Summer thought. Not sad and mournful, as she might have expected, but cold and almost angry. It was a look she had never seen in her brother before. Gently grabbing his arm, she led him toward the baggage claim.
“We read the news about the attack on the Dome of the Rock, never imagining you were involved,” she said quietly. “Then Dad heard through the grapevine that you were there and had prevented the explosion.”
“I only stopped one of the charges from going off,” he said bitterly. “The Israeli security forces kept me out of the news while they patched me up at an Army hospital. I guess they didn’t want the presence of an American to muddy up the local politics.”
“Thank goodness, you weren’t severely injured.” She paused and looked at him with concern. “I’m sorry to hear about your Israeli friend.”
Dirk nodded but said nothing. They soon reached the baggage claim and found his luggage. Making their way to a small borrowed van in the parking lot, Summer said, “We’ve got one more pickup to make.”
Driving to the opposite end of the airport, she found a dilapidated warehouse building marked “Air Cargo.” Requesting a pickup for NUMA, she was handed a pair of overnight packages, and then two men wheeled out a small crate and loaded it into the rear of the van.
“What’s in the crate?” Dirk asked as they pulled away.
“A replacement inflatable boat. The Aegean Explorer lost two of her dinghies during a melee over a shipwreck.”
Summer filled Dirk in on what she knew about the discovery of the Ottoman wreck, the death of the two NUMA scientists, and the abduction of Zeibig.
“The Turks haven’t busted the guys in the yacht?” Dirk asked.
Summer shook her head. “Dad’s pretty livid over the response from the local authorities. The Explorer was impounded for a few days and blamed for the deaths of Tang and Iverson.”
“Justice rules for those with power. That’s tough news about Tang and Iverson. I’ve worked with them on other projects. Both good men,” he said, his voice trailing away as the discussion of death directed his thoughts to Sophie.
“On top of that, the algae bloom survey has fallen to pieces. Our Turkish environmental representative, who is required to be on board, is absent with some kind of family need. Meanwhile, Rudi and Al have been having trouble with the new AUV.” She wanted to add that Dirk’s arrival would help cheer everybody up, but she knew that wouldn’t be the case in his current condition.
Summer drove to Çanakkale’s commercial docks and located the Aegean Explorer moored beside some large fishing boats. She led her brother aboard and to the ship’s wardroom, where Pitt, Gunn, and Giordino were discussing their sailing schedule with Captain Kenfield. They warmly greeted the younger Pitt as he entered with his sister.
“Didn’t your father teach you not to play with explosives?” Giordino joked, pumping Dirk’s hand with a crushing grip.
Dirk forced a smile, then hugged his dad before sitting down at the table. “Summer tells me you’ve found an Ottoman shipwreck,” he said. The tone in his voice made it clear his focus was elsewhere.
“One that’s caused us a lot of trouble,” Pitt replied. “She dates to around 1570, and came with some unusual Roman artifacts aboard.”
“Unfortunately, all that’s left of those artifacts is some photographs,” Gunn added ruefully.
“Of course, it all pales in comparison to Summer’s discovery,” Pitt said.
Dirk turned toward his sister. “What was that?” he asked.
“You mean she didn’t tell you?” Giordino said.
Summer gave Dirk a sheepish look. “We ran out of time, I guess.”
“Such modesty,” Gunn said, rifling through a stack of papers on the table. “Here, I made a copy from Summer’s original,” he said, handing a sheet of paper to Dirk
He held up the page and studied it carefully:
University of Cambridge
Department of Archaeology
Translation (Coptic Greek):
Imperial Vessel Argon
Special Manifest for Delivery to Emperor Constantine
Byzantium
Manifest:
Personal items of Christ, including a small wardrobe with:
Cloak
Lock of hair
Letter to Peter
Personal effects
Large crypt stone
Altar — from Church of Nazarene
Contemporary painting of Jesus
Ossuary of J.
Assigned to 14th Legionaries, at Caesarea
Septarius, Governor of Judaea
“This is for real?” Dirk asked.
“The original is written on papyrus. I saw it briefly,” Summer replied with a shake of her head, “so I know it exists. This was a translation performed by a well-known Cambridge archaeologist and etymologist in 1915.”
“It’s incredible,” Dirk said, his attention fully grabbed by the document. “All of these items personally related to Jesus. They must have been collected by the Romans after his death and destroyed.”
“No, far from it,” Summer said. “They were obtained by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in 327 A.D. The items on the Manifest were sacred, and likely sent to Constantine to celebrate the Roman Empire’s conversion to Christianity.”
“I still can’t believe you found it in England, of all places,” Gunn said finally.
“All on account of our dive on HMS Hampshire ,” Summer explained. “Field Marshal Kitchener apparently obtained the papyrus document while conducting a survey of Palestine in the 1870s. Its meaning apparently wasn’t understood until the translation was made decades later. Julie Goodyear, the authority on Kitchener who helped locate the Manifest, thinks that the Church of England may possibly have killed Kitchener because of it.”
“I guess you could understand their fears,” Giordino stated. “Finding an ossuary with Jesus’ bones in it would certainly kick over a few apple carts.”
“It’s an interesting connection to the Roman artifacts we found on the Ottoman wreck, which also date to the time of Constantine and Helena,” Gunn noted.
“So these Jesus artifacts were placed on a Roman ship leaving Caesarea?” Dirk asked.
Summer nodded. “Helena is known to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where she claimed to have discovered the True Cross. Fragments of the cross reside in churches all over Europe today. A common tale relates how the nails from the cross were melted down and incorporated into a helmet and bridle for Constantine. So Helena and the cross apparently made it safely to Byzantium. There is no mention of these items, however,” she added, pointing to the list. “They must have been shipped separately and were apparently lost to history ages ago. Can you just imagine the impact if we could have seen a contemporary image of Jesus?”
The room fell silent as everyone’s imagination conjured up a visual image of Christianity’s namesake. Everyone, that is, except Dirk. His eyes remained focused on the bottom of the Manifest.
“Caesarea,” he said. “It indicates that the shipment left Caesarea under the guard of Roman legionaries.”
“That’s just where you were working, isn’t it?” his father asked.