It was a scary thought.
Sam stood up, effectively ending the meeting. “Okay, I want to keep on top of this thing. No one lets up until we’re certain they’re dead.”
Matthew was the next to stand up. “Now that we’re back to the waiting game, where would you like me to take the Maria Helena?”
“Since you mention it Matthew, I’d like to move close to the original source. And while we’re there, I’d like to take the opportunity to dive the Antiqui Nautae’s wrecked trimaran.”
Chapter Seventy Seven
The Maria Helena’s twin engines slowed to an idle. The powerful ship cruised on its momentum for about a quarter of a mile before coming to a complete drift. The chime of anchor chain running through its hold replaced the engine’s sound. Within minutes the sound ceased and the ship turned as the anchor took its bite.
Sam walked downstairs and into the dive room. The moon pool’s doors had been opened already, and Tom was preparing their dive equipment.
“You look happy,” Tom said.
“I should be. I’m finally getting to dive this ship. After years of being told that my theory was crazy, you got to dive it before me. Still, I’m very excited to see it firsthand.”
“And for what it’s worth, I’m looking forward to diving it with you.”
Sam wrote a number on his dive slate and handed it to Tom. “Oh, and there’s another thing to be happy about. The owners of the Mississippi, keen to avoid the formality of going to Lloyd’s Court, agreed to pay 50 % of the value of the ship and cargo. At today’s prices.”
Tom looked at the number. “You made 20 mill out of the process?”
“No, that’s your portion of the reward.” Sam watched as his friend’s face went blank. “You see the ship was one of three remaining ultra-large crude carriers. The ship alone, factoring in depreciation of wear and tear, was valued at 100 million. Then we had the value of the 2 million barrels of crude oil on board. At conservative oil prices, a barrel of crude oil is 50 dollars. There’s another hundred million.”
“We were given a hundred million dollars for being stupid and risking our lives?” Tom asked, shaking his head.
“Yep. It was exceptionally stupid of us, I must agree. But there you have it. The benefit of Lloyds Open Form. We salvage the vessel and let the courts decide how much value we deserve. You see in this instance, the value was always going to be high. The courts would have looked at the cost of us not saving the supertanker, including the cost to clean up the spill. Once they start factoring that in with the significant risk of life and to our own vessel, the courts were bound to give us a pretty high percentage. As it was, the owners made the offer before it went in front of Lloyd’s assessors.”
“And you took the first offer they gave you?”
“Sure did. Why, did you want more than 20 mill?”
“No, come to think of it, why did I get so much?”
“Don’t get too excited. I gave each of the other members of the crew 5 mill and they didn’t even have to risk their lives.”
“That’s great news, because I lost about a million dollars’ worth of gold last time I dived the Antiqui Nautae’s trimaran.”
Sam laughed. “Really, you didn’t mention it.”
“Yeah, well we’ve both been kinda busy since you came back to pick Genevieve and I up from the water.” Tom handed Sam the golden eagle he’d found in the ancient trimaran’s cache. “We found it at the very depth of the trimaran’s hold. Like a secure cache, it was locked behind a formidable door. I believe it leads to their ancient homeland or their treasure. It has several holes that align to star constellations.”
“Do you know where it leads?”
“No. The stars aren’t in the northern hemisphere.”
“The ancient people came from South America?”
“It would appear so. Certainly the southern hemisphere.” Tom looked at the golden eagle, pensive. “We had an incident when we dived the ancient trimaran.”
“Really?” Sam was curious. “We’ve had a few since then, too. What happened?”
“You’re not going to believe me, but I saw something down there. Something that wasn’t real. And it took the gold we found.”
“I wouldn’t worry, you’re sure to find more.”
“It’s not that. As I said, you’re not going to believe me, but I saw something down there. A green apparition. It didn’t look menacing. Far from it. Instead, it just stared at me. Its mouth was halfway between a smile and a frown. When I reached it the entire thing came apart like a dream. It was only later when I returned to pick up the gold I had put down and it was no longer there, that I became concerned.”
“Any chance you just misplaced it?”
“A large piece of gold?” Tom laughed. “It must have been worth a million bucks. You might misplace something like that, but for us mere working mortals, I knew precisely where I left it.”
“Any chance someone’s been following our discoveries?”
“You mean another boat?”
“It’s not unheard of for grave robbers or relic hunters to follow us when they know we’re on to something. Nothing would stop them coming in and picking up the pieces.”
“I checked with Matthew. There wasn’t another ship for twenty miles. I also checked the sonar log — with the exception of a few large fish, nothing had been below the Maria Helena during our entire dive.”
“Okay, so let’s find it. And if not, you told me there was a fortune in gold down there. So, let’s go collect our second payday for a job well done!”
Chapter Seventy Eight
Sam followed Tom into the opening inside the cockpit of the ancient ship. With his green primary dive guideline tied to the ancient tiller he entered the wreck. The place zigzagged through a series of small tunnels, slowly descending. He saw what appeared to be the ancient people’s dining room, followed by an ambush room — most likely used as a last resort to destroy invaders.
Tom shined his flashlight into the smallest of the single tunnels. “Their treasure cache is down here. It gets pretty narrow. I’ll let you go first. There’s no deviations in the tunnel. Just keep following it to the end and you’ll reach the treasure, you can’t miss it.”
Following the small tunnel as it descended another ten feet Sam swallowed, relieving the slight increase in pressure to his middle ear. It looped around and back on itself before straightening out in an impossibly narrow section.
Ahead, he saw the faintest glow of light. It could have had a slight tinge of green. Most likely some sort of bottom dwelling fish. Sam continued. The light increased until the area up ahead looked like someone turned the light on.
He held his Shark Powerstick in his right hand. Ready to use at a moment’s notice. He recalled what his old Drill Sargent had once told him years ago — Your weapon’s no good to you unless you have it in your hands and ready to fire at all times. Whatever it was making that glow, Sam wasn’t prepared to take any chances.
Sam passed the remains of the ancient door that Tom destroyed weeks earlier. The room was now completely lit up with the glow.
It was definitely a green color.
And it stood like a giant of a man. The features of its face were almost believable, but the rest of it was more like an apparition than something living. So this is Tom’s ghost. Sam’s heart raced as he watched it for a minute.