It was nine the next morning when Summer stepped onto the bridge with a cup of hot coffee, ready to relieve her father in front of the screen.
“Anything new at the picture show?” she asked.
“A repeat is playing, I’m afraid,” Pitt replied, standing and stretching. “The same rock and sand that’s been rolling by all night. Outside of a small sunken fishing boat that Dirk picked up, it’s been slim pickings.”
“I just checked with Al in the survey shack,” she said, slipping into Pitt’s seat. “He said they’ve got similar results with the AUV.”
“We’re nearly at the end of this grid,” Pitt said. “Shall we keep working west?”
Summer smiled at her father. “When it comes to finding a shipwreck, I know better than to question your instincts.”
“Then west it is,” he replied with a wink.
Captain Kenfield stepped over from the helm and spread out a local marine chart across the table.
“Where exactly would you like to configure the next grid?” he asked Pitt.
“We’ll just extend the current grid, running as close to shore as we can get. Let’s run another two miles west, to this point here,” he said, pointing to a small coastal promontory on the map.
“Fair enough,” Kenfield said. “I’ll run the coordinates to Petra tou Romiou, as it says on the chart, or the Rock of Aphrodite.”
Summer stiffened in her chair. “Did you say the Rock of Aphrodite?” she asked.
Kenfield nodded, then retrieved a dog-eared traveler’s guide to Cyprus shelved behind the chart table.
“I was just reading about it last night. Petra tou Romiou, or Rock of Romios, takes its name from a Byzantine folk hero who allegedly tossed huge boulders into the sea to ward off pirates. The large rock formations are still visible in the surf. However, the site is also known from ancient times as the place where Aphrodite, the patron goddess of Cyprus, emerged from the sea in a wave of foam.”
“Dad, that’s it,” Summer said, jumping from her seat. “The Aphrodite image was in the fresco. It didn’t represent the temple at Stavrovouni, where the monastery stands. It’s where the Roman galley was headed. Someone on shore, or perhaps the pirates themselves, saw the galley fleeing toward the rocks.”
“It’s roughly within sight of the Pissouri wreck site,” Kenfield noted.
“I’ll buy it,” Pitt said, smiling at his daughter’s enthusiasm. “The Rock of Aphrodite it is. Let’s go see if the goddess will show us some love.”
A short time later, they reached the end of the survey lane and pulled in the towfish. As the ship changed course to resume its search down the coast, a palpable optimism surged through the bridge. Caught up in the anticipation, no one noticed the small boat trailing a half mile behind, where Ridley Bannister followed the turquoise ship with a pair of binoculars glued to his eyes.
92
Six hours later, the goddess Aphrodite was showing the NUMA surveyors anything but love. The seabed around the Petra tou Romiou proved void of any man-made objects. Dirk had taken over the next survey shift, staring at an endless scroll of rocks and sand on the monitor, while Summer and Pitt loitered about, hoping for a strike. Giordino stepped onto the bridge, surprised to see that Summer’s enthusiasm had waned to frustration.
“The AUV’s due up in about forty-five minutes,” he said to Pitt.
“We’re only a few minutes away from finishing this lane,” Dirk noted.
“All right, break off when we cross the end point, then we’ll go pick up the big fish,” Pitt said.
“Anything at all?” Giordino asked.
“If you have a fetish for rock gardens, you’d enjoy the seafloor here,” Dirk said.
Giordino eased over to the helm and gazed out the forward window. Seeing they were near the shoreline, he picked up a pair of binoculars and scanned a pebble-strewn beach that ran west of the large rock formation.
“Any Greek goddesses lying about?” Summer asked with a hint of disdain.
“No, the gods have deserted the beach on this sunny afternoon. Even the shady sea caves are empty of spirits.”
Pitt approached him with an inquiring look on his face. “Mind if I take a peek?”
As Pitt scanned the shoreline, Dirk announced that they had reached the end of the survey lane.
“Al, can you help secure the towfish?” he asked, turning off the sonar system.
“At your service,” Giordino replied, and the two men headed for the stern.
Pitt kept his eyes glued to the shore, then turned to Kenfield.
“Captain, would you mind taking us in a little closer to shore, on a bearing of twenty degrees,” he said.
“What’s up, Dad?” Summer asked.
“Just exploring the possibility that King Al might have struck gold once more.”
As the Aegean Explorereased into shallow water, Pitt got a better look at the shoreline. From a low, pebbly beach around Petra tou Romiou, the terrain climbed dramatically to the east, rising in high chalky cliffs several hundred feet high. The Mediterranean’s steady waves rolled into the base of the cliffs with a rumble, splashing foam high against the rocks at water’s edge. Across the lower cliff face, scattered indentations were worn into the limestone where the sea had scoured away a hole, or sea cave, as Giordino had called them. It was the caves that had caught Pitt’s attention, and he studied each one carefully. He finally focused on one in particular, a small black opening low above the water with tumbled rocks around its perimeter.
“Towfish is aboard,” Dirk announced, stepping back onto the bridge with Giordino.
Pitt put down the binoculars. “Captain, what’s the tidal stage right now?” he asked.
“We’re just past high tide,” Kenfield replied. “Tidal range is fairly minimal here, a couple of feet or so.”
Pitt nodded with a slight smile, then turned to Gunn.
“Rudi, you’ve done some ocean modeling. How much of a change in sea level would you say the Mediterranean has witnessed in the last seventeen hundred years?”
Gunn scratched his head. “The sea level today is probably two to three meters higher than it was two thousand years ago. I can give you an accurate estimate if I check the NUMA database.”
“That’s not necessary,” Pitt replied. He gazed at the sea cave once more. “I think she’d just about fit,” he muttered.
“We really need to go retrieve the AUV now,” Gunn pleaded.
“Okay, but before you go, you’ll need to drop Summer and me in the Zodiac. Dirk, too, if you want to come.”
“No thanks, Dad,” Dirk replied. “I’ve had my share of goose chasing with Summer. I’ll help with the AUV.”
“But where are we going?” Summer asked.
“Why, to that cliff,” Pitt said, pointing to the shore with a smile. “Where else are we going to find ourselves a Roman galley?”
93
As the Aegean Explorerslipped eastward to chase down the AUV, Pitt gunned the outboard on the new Zodiac and raced toward the shoreline. Summer sat on the bow, her long red hair blowing in the wind and a hopeful expression on her face, as they approached the sea cave. The low opening at water’s edge reflected little light, telling Pitt that the cave did indeed penetrate well into the cliff.
Drawing near, Pitt could see that the entrance was wide enough for the Zodiac to slip through. Though the tide was now lower, the wave action made clearing the opening a treacherous proposition. Spotting an exposed grouping of flat rocks to the right, he nudged the Zodiac alongside and waited for a wave to carry it. Summer quickly jumped out and wrapped a line around a boulder to secure the craft.
“Looks like we’re going to have to get wet,” Pitt said, grabbing a flashlight and hopping out of the Zodiac.
Summer followed him as he crept along the rocks until being forced to wade into the water near the cave’s entrance. A submerged layer of stones formed a crude ledge, which Pitt followed into the opening as a small wave rolled up to his neck. Flicking on the flashlight he held over his head, he could see the cave ran like a tunnel for at least twenty feet before expanding into the gloom beyond.