He squeezed Genevieve’s hand and smiled. They both recognized they were exploring something very special. “Let’s get a survey from her topside, and then we’ll see if we can dive inside.”
“Understood.”
A quick survey of the ship showed that she was all in all 220 feet in length and nearly 140 feet wide. The center hull was 260 feet long and probably more like 40 feet in diameter. At the end of each of the four side hulls were openings which could still be penetrated. Interestingly, the largest of the three hulls didn’t have any entry points to its bow or aft sections.
Tom shined his flashlight inside the starboard aft opening. It dropped nearly five feet before turning into a long tunnel. It looked like the ancient seafarers had carved the entrance and the tunnel into the old tree trunk. Without any joints or connections, the ship would have been exceedingly strong.
Genevieve followed suit and, reaching her head inside the opening, shining her flashlight down the tunnel. It looked like it could have reached the other end of the ship. Without entering further, she couldn’t tell whether or not there were more tunnels crossing the bows.
“Shall we?” she asked.
“Not yet. Let’s finish surveying the hull and then we’ll set up a guidewire, an entry and exit plan, as well as a turn back point. Then we’ll see what we find inside.”
“Okay.” She sounded like a disappointed kid.
Tom kicked his fins and headed toward the middle of the trimaran.
At the center of the middle hull an opening had been carved into the wood and a giant tiller still stood proudly.
Tom reached for the massive handle. “It must have taken five men just to steer the damn thing!”
“All this time Sam has been talking about how the simple tribe was able to beat the pirates, the European ships, and the British Man o’ Wars by use of the rogue waves. Meanwhile we have just discovered the Antiqui Nautae were probably more advanced sailors than they were at the time.”
“So does this disprove Sam’s theory about the rogue wave?”
“No, it might just weaken the strength of them however. For example, a trimaran like this would be exceedingly well built to overcome an unsteady swell. It would make for a fantastic trap. Lure their attacking ships into the area and then, as they opened up their cannon bay doors, strike them with a tide of ocean, so unsteady that they were bound to be swamped.” Tom studied the marks on the wall of the deck. “With their cannons now useless, the Antiqui Nautae could come and board them with ease.”
The rest of the center cockpit seemed almost empty.
“Where now?” she asked.
Tom checked his dive computer. “We have a bottom time of thirty-five minutes remaining. Do you want to see what’s inside those two outer hulls?”
“You bet I do.”
Tom secured the bright green guideline to the edge of the hull. On his BCD he kept a red emergency guideline to be pinned immediately if he loses contact with the primary line. “I’ll swim through first. If it’s all clear when I reach the other side, I’ll give you a call to come through. If I don’t come back out, don’t come in looking for me — you’ll only be putting both our lives at risk.”
“Understood.”
Tom shined his flashlight down the tunnel. It was completely dark inside. Like an unused railway tunnel, it had the eerie feeling of ghosts hidden inside. Those of the old sailors, their enemies, and simply the fear of what lies in wait.
But those are just the fears of fools. There’s nothing inside there except fish.
Tom entered the long tunnel, where he shined his flashlight and strained his eyes to see as much as they could.
A pale green apparition with glowing eyes stared back at him.
Chapter Forty Four
Tom shook his head trying to remove the vision from his mind. Like a child, he felt that he was letting his imagination get the better of him. At these depths, and inside a dark and narrow tunnel it was easy to let your eyes play tricks on you. His pulse raced, and he felt foolish. He kicked his fins slowly and continuously so that he moved towards the strange image.
It stood inside a small alcove. Maybe just large enough for a fully grown man to crouch inside.
Like a mirage, the apparition constantly appeared more distant the closer he got until the vision disappeared altogether. In its place was a small sword, its hilt made entirely of gold.
Tom picked it up.
It was much lighter than he expected. He examined it and found the golden hilt was hollow. Hundreds of tiny holes had been extensively made throughout the hilt. It was as though the thing had been eaten away by something.
“Holy shit!”
In his ear, Tom heard Genevieve’s voice. “Are you all right?”
“Gen, you have to get in here and have a look at this thing.” Tom said, forgetting dive protocol and dragging her inside the narrow tunnel before he’d reached the other side.
He saw the light from her flashlight move in the distance.
A minute later she was next to him in the confined tunnel. Tom looked up at her. She was staring at the short sword with a gleaming golden hilt.
“Is that gold?” she asked.
“Looks like it.” Tom handed it to her. “But I couldn’t tell you what made those marks in it.”
She examined the precious metal. “Are there any marine creatures that could eat away at metal like that?”
“None that I know of, but I’m not a biologist. Sam might know of something. It’s possible, let’s face it — there’s a lot of weird creatures that live in the depths of the world’s oceans.”
She handed it back to him. “Now what?”
“Now we get out of this tunnel.” Tom turned to keep moving. “I shouldn’t have brought you in until I’d reached the other side.”
The tunnel turned out to be a little under 180 feet in length, and with the exception of a small amount of marine life and the golden sword, the place was entirely empty. Tom waited for Genevieve to reach him.
“What do you think?”
“I think that’s a lot of gold.”
Tom laughed. “Forget the gold. Stay aboard the Maria Helena and you’ll discover Sam Reilly has a certain attraction to the stuff. Only in his case, the stuff seems to have a greater affinity for him than the other way round. What about the dive?”
“What about it?” She shrugged her shoulders. “It has been pretty straightforward.”
Tom checked his dive computer. “Good. We’ve got another twenty-five minutes of bottom time. Do you want to try the other hull?”
“Absolutely, maybe we’ll find more gold?”
“You never know.” Tom kicked his fins and moved toward the center of the trimaran. At the edge of the old cockpit he dropped the sword with his golden hilt.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s too heavy. I’m not taking it with me.”
“What? So you’re just leaving it there?”
“Sure. Why, are you worried someone’s going to take it?” Tom turned and swam towards the second outer hull without waiting for her answer.
He set up the dive guideline.
“Do you want to go first this time?”
“Sure.”
He checked her dive computer. She had used more Heliox than him, but still had plenty in reserve. If this hull was anything like the first, it would be a simple swim through. Nothing complex. “Okay, any trouble, just stop where you are and I’ll come get you.”
She smiled back at him. Her blue eyes, full of infinite tease. “I’ll be fine.”
And then she disappeared inside the hull.
Tom watched her light glow distant and then disappear completely.