As Katherine entered something caught her eye, a necklace, blue in colour with a silver surround, corroded, but clearly identifiable, ‘Where did you find that?’
‘What the necklace? It was on the body of a man from the ship, surprising most of the remains were intact. The silt buried them, alive we suspect, but they are amazingly preserved.’
‘So that was around his neck? How old is he?’
‘Well Katherine, that’s the quandary, Christophe says that this is a Spanish ship from the conquest, so they should be from around 1550 to 1600, but when we checked the ships timber and their bones, it is showing mid 1400’s?’
‘And what does Christophe say about that?’
‘Well of course the multi-million dollar equipment is wrong, so he sent samples back to the Institute for tests.’
‘What do you think Evelyn?’
‘Well not just me, the group think that this is a Treasure ship, or part of one of the fleets. You see the hull is Chinese teak, not Oak like many European ships, and the stern is not curved like a western ship.’
‘What is a treasure ship Evelyn? Just presume for a moment that I am a pilot, and not an archaeologist or historian.’
‘Sorry Katherine old habit. According to some academics, Columbus was not the first person to discover America; he was beaten by at least seventy years by the Chinese. Of course this is being disputed, but the evidence continues to gather pace.’
‘What? A Chinese fleet, when?’
‘The records indicate between 1418 and 1430 many ships from China navigated and mapped most of the world, Columbus allegedly had a map that was a Portuguese copy of a Chinese version.’
‘Unbelievable and this is documented?’
‘Yes and no, the politics in China changed after the death of the Emperor Zhu Di, who commissioned the Treasure fleets, so all records and the ships themselves were destroyed, by the Mandarins’
‘So there is no historical record of these voyages.’
‘Well records exist, but many were destroyed, it is possible some documents were smuggled out of the country, or hidden.’
‘And you think this is one of the ships?’
‘Yep, over nine hundred ships sailed out, in seven huge fleets, many were lost, and we think this is one of them.’
‘And the necklace? Is that Chinese?’
‘No that is weird. The man it was with is not Chinese, probably a local, our forensic anthropologists have analysed his remains. The bone growth, skull shape and condition of his joints indicate he was possibly Inca?’
‘So how does a local end up on a Chinese junk? Slave?’
‘The fleets were not sent to conquer or enslave, but to trade and learn, so the local people and Chinese sailors lived together for weeks at a time. They would also set up trade links and revisit on future voyages, establishing good relationships and embracing the new cultures rather than dominating them.’
‘So when the Europeans arrived in the mid sixteenth century that all changed.’
‘Yes, and not for the better, many people died, on both sides.’
‘Shame the Chinese didn’t continue their trading, how would the Americas turned out?’
‘Good question and it is being asked in academic circles.’
‘Sorry to change the subject, but I have something to show you Evelyn, but you must not tell Christophe.’
Katherine reached under her t-shirt, withdrawing a necklace, pristine and shining; she detached the clasp and passed it to Evelyn.
Evelyn moved over to the table to compare it to their shipwreck necklace, ‘This appears identical, where did you get this?’
‘From my mother, she left it to me; Jacob passed it onto me on my eighteenth birthday.’
‘Jacob gave it you? What happened to your mother?’
‘She was killed in an accident with my father when I was eleven, Jacob became my guardian until I was eighteen, and I grew up on his ranch.’
Evelyn was listening, but inspecting the necklace Katherine had revealed, she delicately opened the hinged silver cover which was ornately finished, small openings in the surface revealing a blue crystal within. A delicate push opened the back cover, allowing light to pass through the crystal, illuminating the table below.
‘Wow, what is this crystal?’
‘I don’t know. Christophe wanted me to have it valued so I could sell it, we had quite a row over it and I have no idea what it is made of.’
The radio clipped to Evelyn’s belt clicked into life, Michael’s voice booming from it, ‘Evelyn come to the viewing room!’
‘Michael, can’t this wait, I am busy!’
‘Who isn’t? Now get your cute butt over here!’
Evelyn visibly embarrassed, placed Katherine’s necklace on the table and rushed back out onto the walkway, Katherine eagerly followed.
The viewing room was not as light and airy as the lab, a tin walled building, with boards inside, and the air conditioning more to cool the equipment than its users.
Michael sat in front of a huge flat screen, joystick in one hand, headset apparently welded to his shaven head. Evelyn rushed over and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek; he feigned a kiss back, never breaking his gaze. Michael was the robo-geek, not a derogatory term, quite accurate. He designed built and operated small robots to investigate and probe inside digs, without having to excavate first. The desk in front of him and the benches to the side were littered with a variety of electronics, gears and robot guts, like many men he was bright, but not tidy.
‘Michael here can explore any cavity quite extensively.’
‘I am sure Evelyn, but what you get up to in your private life, is none of my business.’
Realising her double entendre Evelyn blushed, pushing Katherine in the shoulder, before turning her attention to the screens.
‘So Michael, what have you discovered?’
‘Well I am at the stern of the ship, the Captain’s cabin, or maybe a navigator followed the treasure ship design, this is definitely not Spanish!’
‘I thought Christophe stated no one was to explore the ship in his absence?’
‘Well he did, but firstly I cannot ask him, as he refuses to answer his radio, and second, no one is exploring the ship, MARVIN is.’
Katherine looked up at the screen, the interior of a room clearly visible, wooden walls, a lot of mud and debris.’
‘Who is Marvin? I don’t remember anyone on the team with that name?’
‘MARVIN is not a he, rather an it. A robot, here.’
A second screen came on, showing the three dimensional revolving image of a snake, less than 2 metres long, it had three cameras on its head all pointing in different directions. A thick rubber skin protected the complex mechanics of its body.
‘This is in the ship? Where is the light coming from?’
‘Oh I had a second robot take battery powered lights in and deposit them around the room, cuts down on power use if Marvin does not have to light the room.’
‘So why is this room not full of silt?’
‘It was sealed with wax, someone sealed themselves in.’
‘That is disturbing Michael.’
‘It is but if they had not, I would not have found this.’
‘So robo-geek, what did you find?’
‘Well I am not sure, something, but you are the digger, so look.’
Michael skilfully rotated MARVIN and extended his neck, the wall was unclear, before Evelyn could state this, he changed the view to ultraviolet, and a symbol glared out from the wood.