"I do not like the look of it, but Venator has paid me for the voyage in full, and I cannot go back on my con tract.
"An honest man," said Pitt. "Hard to believe he didn't discover the nature of his cargo."
"He comes to that later. The next few lines are a log of the voyage. He also makes mention of his ship's namesake. I'll skip to where they make their first port.
our god Serapes for providing us with a smooth and fast passage of fourteen days to Carthago Nova where we rested for five days and took on four times our normal supply of provisions. Here we joined Junius Venator's other ships. Most are over two hundred tons burden, some close to three hundred. We total sixteen with Vena tor's flagship. Our sturdy Serapes is the smallest vessel in the fleet."
"A fleet!" Lily cried. Her eyes gleamed, her whole body taut. "They did save the collection."
Redfem nodded delightedly. "A damned good chunk of it anyway.
Two-to-three-hundred-ton-ships were representative of large merchantmen of that era. allowing for two ships to carry men and provisions, and taking an average tonnage of two hundred for the other fourteen ships, you have a gross tonnage for the fleet of 2,800 tons. Enough to transport a third of the Library's books and a fair share of the museum's art treasures."
Pitt called for a break. He went to the galley counter and brought back two cups of coffee. He set one in front of Lily and returned for a plate of doughnuts. He remained standing. He thought and concentrated better on his feet.
"So far the great Library snatch is theory," he said. "I've heard nothing that proves the goods were actually spirited away."
"Rufinus nails it down further on," said Redfem. "The description of the Serapis's cargo comes near the end of the log."
Pitt gave the marine archaeologist an impatient look and sat back, waiting.
"On the next tablet Rufinus mentions minor repairs to the ship, dockside gossip, and a tourist's eye of Carthago Nova, now Cartagena, Spain.
Oddly, he doesn't express any further uneasiness about the coming voyage. He even failed to note the date the fleet left port. But the really offbeat part is the censorship. Listen to the next paragraph.
"We sailed today toward great sea. The faster ships towing the slower ones. I can write no more. The soldiers are watching. Under strict orders of Junius Venator there can be no record of the voyage."
"Just when we set the straight pieces of the puzzle together," Pitt muttered, "the center section is missing."
"There must be more," Lily insisted. "I know I copied beyond that part of the report."
"You did," acknowledged Redfem, shuffling the pages. "Rufinus takes up the tale eleven months later.
"I am free now to record our cruel voyage without fear of punishment.
Venator and his small army of slaves, Se verus and his legionaries, all the ship's crews, have all been slain by the barbarians and the fleet burned. The Serapes escaped because my fear of Venator made me cautious.
"I learned the source and contents of the fleet's cargo and know its hiding place in the hills. Secrets such as these must be kept from mortal men. I suspected Venator and Severus meant to murder all but a few of their trusted soldiers and the crew of one ship to insure their return home.
"I feared for the life of my daughter so I armed my crew and ordered them to remain close to the ship so we could cast off at the first sign of treachery. But the barbarians struck first, slaughtering Venator's slaves and Se verus's legion. Our guards died in the battle, and we cut the lines and heaved our ship from the beach. Venator tried to save himself by running into the water. He shouted for rescue. I could not risk the lives of Hypatia and the crew to save him and refused to Turn back. To do so against the current would have been suicidal."
Redfem paused in the translation before continuing. "At this point Rufinus jumps around and flashes back to the fleet's departure from Cartagena.
"The voyage from Hispania to our destination in the strange land took fifty-eight days. The weather was favorable with winds at our backs.
for this good fortune, Serapis demanded a sacrifice. Two of our crew died from a malady unknown to me."
"He must mean scurvy," said Lily.
"Ancient seamen rarely sailed more than a week or two without touching land," Pitt clarified. "Scurvy did not become common until the long voyages of the Spanish. Could be they died from any number of reasons."
Lily nodded at Redfem. "Sorry for interrupting. Please go on.
"We first stepped ashore on a large island inhabited by barbarians who resembled Scythians, but with darker skins. They proved friendly and willingly helped the fleet replenish our food and fresh water supplies.
"We sighted more islands, but the flagship sailed on.
Only Venator knew where the fleet was to land. At last we sighted a barren shore and came to the wide mouth of a river. We stood off for five days and nights until the winds blew to our advantage. Then we set sail up the river, rowing at times, until we reached the hills of Rome."
"The hills of Rome?" Lily repeated absently. "That's a twist."
"He must have meant it as a comparison," said Pitt.
"A tough riddle to crack," Redfem admitted.
"The slaves under the overseer Latiriius Macer dug into the hills above the river. Eight months later the fleet's cargo was carried from the ships to the hiding ground."
"Did he describe the 'hiding ground'?" asked Pitt.
Redfern picked up a tablet and compared it to Lily's copy. "Parts of the wording are indistinct. I'll have to fill in as best I can.
"Thus, the secret of the secrets lies within the hill inside a chamber dug by the slaves. The place cannot be seen because of the palisade.
After all was stored, the barbarian horde swarmed from the hills. I do not know if the chamber was sealed in time as I was busy helping my crew push the boat from the sand."
"Rufinus fails to record distances," said Pitt, disillusioned, and never'gives directions. Now we have an odds-on chance the barbarians, whoever the hell they were, robbed the store."
Redfem's expression turned grim. "We can't ignore the possibility. "
"I don't think the worst happened," said Lily optimistically. "An immense collection can't be erased as though it never existed. A few pieces would have eventually turned up."
"Depends on the area where the action took place," said Pitt"Fifty-eight days at an average speed of-say three and a half knots, a vessel designed along the adcient lines of the Serapis-might have sailed over four thousand nautical miles."
"Providing they sailed in a straight line," said Redfem. "Not a likely prospect. Rufinus merely states they sailed fifty-eight days before stepping ashore. Traveling in unknown waters, they probably hugged the coastlines."
"But traveling to where?" Lily asked.
"The southern coast of Western Africa is the most logical destination,"
answered Redfem. "A crew of Phoenicians sailed around Africa clockwise in the fifth century B.C. Quite a bit of it was charted by Rufinus's time. Stands to reason Venator would have turned his fleet south after passing through the Straits of Gibraltar."
"Never sell a jury," said Pitt. "Rufinus described islands."
"Could be the Madeira, Canary or Cape Verde Islands."
"Still won't sell. You can't explain how the Serapes ended up halfway across the globe from the tip of Africa to Greenland. You're talking a distance of eight thousand miles."
"That's true. I'm confused on that count."
"My vote goes for a northern course," said Lily. "The islands also might be the Shetlands or the Faroes. That would put the excavation site along the Norwegian coast or, better yet, Iceland."
"She makes a good case," Pitt agreed. "Her theory would explain how the Serapes came to be stranded in Greenland."
"What does Rufinus tell us after he escaped the barbarians?"