Genevieve strapped the twin Heliox tanks onto her back, firmly pressing the Velcro BCD straps together at her waist. “Matthew, you’re certain there wasn’t another vessel for twenty miles and the sonar showed that we were alone throughout our dive?”
“Certain.”
“Good. Then the gold’s still there.” Genevieve reached for the Shark Stick — a high pressured gas gun used to take down sharks that become a little too inquisitive. “I want that gold and I don’t believe in scary things in the night. But just in case, we’ll be ready.”
“Suit yourselves.” Matthew picked up a spare set of Heliox dive tanks. “With Veyron and Sam both away, you’re going to be in a world of strife if you fuck up down there. Given this is your second dive in eight hours, I want you take a second tank each and set up a safety camp on the trimaran.”
Tom looked at Matthew. The man was by far the most conservative on board. Doesn’t he realize Sam and I dived below 500 feet last year? Compared to that, this is a relatively safe environment. “We’ll be fine. But just in case, I’ll bring the spare tanks. You ready Genevieve?”
“I’m always ready.” This kind of sassy comment got a slight smile and raised eyebrows from both men. Typical Genevieve.
They made a quick descent. Landing just behind the center cockpit and middle hull of the ancient trimaran. Tom had a quick look at Genevieve. No extra bubbles. Good, no leaks. “Welcome back. The Trimaran’s just where we left her.”
“Shame the gold isn’t.”
Tom set the spare twin Heliox tanks down on the deck. “We’ll find it. Don’t worry. Haven’t you ever lost anything before?”
“Yeah, my car keys. But never have I lost around a hundred grand worth of gold.”
“No, that’s true. That’ll be a first for me too,” Tom conceded. “All it takes is a little bit of backtracking and you generally get your car keys back, right?”
Genevieve flashed her long lashes and her blue eyes glistened with a deep blue. “Not me. Last time it cost me $200 and three months waiting time to have the manufacturer send me replacements.”
Tom laughed. “Well you’ll be happy to know that I generally have better luck than that.”
He moved above the large opening in the hull which made up the center cockpit. It was approximately ten feet wide, forty in length and five deep. Tom shined his flashlight casually around the edges and across the flooring. His eyes scanned the slightest chip in the wood where he first laid the golden sword. There was no sign of it moving. There wasn’t even anywhere for it to fall. He’d placed it on a perfectly level piece of wood.
“Who do you call to replace something a little more valuable than keys?” Tom asked.
“I thought you said you’d find it?”
“I did.”
“So, where is it then?” she teased.
Tom shined his flashlight around the cockpit again. There was very little marine life attached to the wooden structures. Nowhere that the gold could have fallen. Definitely nowhere for it to disappear to. The gold should capture the reflection of the flashlight like a beacon. He moved further down into the cockpit and ran his hand along the edge. “I have no idea.”
Genevieve followed him. Starting at the opposite end, she ran her hand along the wooden structure. Tom slowly reached the end of his side without finding anything. He looked back at Genevieve. She’d stopped.
“Why did you stop?” he asked.
She pushed her hand harder and the side of the wooden wall broke. Her hand slipped inside the hollowed out area behind the wall. All the way up to her shoulder. “Because I think I just found an opening to another level.”
Chapter Fifty
Tom’s heart leapt into a gallop. He knew the sensation. He’d felt it when he and Sam found the lost treasure of Atlantis. He had answers. The deck was hollow. There was another passage below them. The gold must have fallen through. He moved toward Genevieve. “Can I have a look? There must be a way inside.”
She swam back a little. “Be my guest.”
He started tapping on the edge of the wood and then felt for the opening. He pulled at it and an entire section of the wall approximately five feet high by four foot wide began to move. It didn’t break. The growth of marine life seemed to be holding it intact. But it was clearly the shape of a door. “What does that look like to you?”
“It’s a door.”
“That’s what I think. Which confirms there’s another level to this shipwreck. My guess is the Antiqui Nautae kept their most precious cargo inside their deepest hold.”
Tom used the back of a small crowbar to break off several barnacles at the edge of the potential door. He always carried one when wreck diving — it served to help him gain access and more importantly break free if he becomes stuck. He ran the steel edge of it into the gap until he was able to dig the tip of the crowbar inside. Then he drove it hard into the gap, and pried.
The entire door broke open.
He shined his flashlight inside. A large tunnel ran horizontally towards the outer hull. “We’re in!”
Tom looked at Genevieve’s face. Her blue eyes glistened with desire. He’d seen that desire plenty of times before, too. In his experience the lust for gold is only just beaten by one thing on the planet — the allure of a shipwreck’s treasure.
“How far do you think this thing goes?” she asked.
“No idea, but let’s go find out.”
Tom tied off his green primary dive guideline to the ancient tiller inside the cockpit. And then began swimming through the tunnel. Like the hull tunnels there were very little changes and nothing to obstruct them. When he reached the end of the tunnel at the point where the outer hull most likely stood, the entire tunnel turned to a right angle and dropped approximately ten feet. Carvings into the side of the wood showed the remains of a ladder that the Antiqui Nautae once used.
He took his primary guideline and made a couple of loops over the edge of the ladder. “Okay, you can come through now Genevieve. There’s another level below us. I’m going to descend and I’ll let you know if it’s safe for you to follow.”
“Copy that.”
He watched for a moment until he could see the glare of her LED approaching. Then he descended into the lower level of the outer hull. He swallowed — equalizing the pressure in his ears to the new depth. The tunnel turned left and appeared to follow the length of the hull. It was an easy dive. By having the access door closed all those years, no marine life had ever developed on the walls of the inside of the hull. It was still in the same condition as it would have been hundreds of years ago.
Tom swam towards the end of it. Approximately 60 feet away it turned left at another ninety-degree angle. “Genevieve, how are you going?”
“Good. I can just make out your light at the end.”
Tom checked the tension of his green guideline. “Okay, it seems to snake back towards the middle hull again. I’ll wait for you when I reach the middle hull.”
“Okay, got it.”
Tom swam along the horizontal tunnel until it opened into a large rectangular room. A dining table, which appeared to have been carved from the original sequoia tree trunk used in the hull, filled the length of the room. It was at least forty feet long. Solid bench seats ran the length of the table. For some reason the image made him think about a room full of Vikings sitting there, eating recently slaughtered animals with their bare hands. At the far end of the room another tunnel led most likely towards the outer hull on the other side.