Woah, she thought, looking around.
It was amazing, but eery. She was terrified of getting stuck with whatever air she had left, a real-life possibility. The wreck was 1,700 years old, after all. Anything could happen. A shift in the tide could collapse the deck on top of her.
Something near the center of the large hold caught her attention. A row of dilapidated crates stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise empty space. Other treasures surrounded Zahra, however, none of them had been given the care of the containers she was headed toward now. It felt as if the vessel’s crew had deemed these of ultra-importance.
I wonder…
She kicked for them, stopping in front of a fallen beam. The antiquated fragment sat diagonally across the breadth of the room. She would either have to swim over it, or duck beneath it. She played her light over the ceiling and cringed at what she saw. The deck above her head had started to cave in. There was no telling how long ago it had begun, or whether it was strong enough to last another thousand years. Zahra decided against getting too close, and she opted for the lower route.
She gave the heavy-looking beam a wide berth and hugged the starboard wall where the gap below was the widest. Even though she had plenty of space to make it through, it was still an unnerving couple of seconds. As soon as her hips cleared the beam, the cargo ship moaned. It was the first noise she had heard out of the sunken craft. Zahra instinctively tucked her legs into her chest, rolling into a slow-moving ball.
But nothing happened.
She sighed. Must have been a wave or something. The constant motion of the Mediterranean was one major factor in the erosive condition the ship was currently in. Eventually, Mother Nature would finish it off for good and turn it into little bits of Empirical kindling. All things on Earth were at Mother Nature’s mercy, but none more than what was in her oceans and seas.
Zahra eyed the ceiling, once more, continuing to float through the hold. She was so focused on the deck coming down on top of her that she hadn’t realized how far she had traveled. The back of her head ever-so-slightly bonked into something hard. Zahra spun and discovered that she had just accidentally floated into the nearest crate. She had just added another transgression to her already laundry list of infractions.
The sound caused her to smile behind her mouthpiece.
There’s something inside! she thought. She used her hands and legs to steer herself upright and gazed upon the crate’s lid. With practiced care, she clasped the edge of the lid and pulled, applying the tiniest of pressure. It didn’t budge an inch.
Huh, impressive.
Zahra assumed it would come off with hardly any effort, yet, here she was, unsheathing her knife to use as a makeshift pry bar. With the same amount of methodical care, she searched for a gap between the lid and the top edge of the crate with the weapon’s blade. Finding one, she slipped it in halfway and then adjusted her grip. With a little more oomph this time, she pushed down on the knife handle. The sodden rot splintered and fell apart, pluming in every direction. She replaced her knife and went about removing the rest of the decimated lid. Zahra felt awful about desecrating the find.
The act made her wince, but she quickly forgot all about it after spotting the crate’s contents. Her gut had been right. It was loaded with the precious amphorae…but every single one was smashed and unable to be saved. She inspected each one, confirming their condition. Even though they had been packed tight, they had not survived the sinking. The Romans had used a technique not unlike one Zahra had seen inside the box containing her Christmas decorations. Each jar was placed into its own quarters inside the crate. Slats of wood had been used to separate the amphora to keep them from banging into one another during travel. Modern-day wine cases served the same purpose.
Zahra leaned around the ruin and counted the crates, stopping at twelve. She moved on to the next one, but saw that it, and its contents, were already in shambles. Long ago, something heavy had fallen atop the lid and smashed the container into pulp. She was 0–2, but fortunately, she still had another ten crates to go.
Chapter 49
Vincenzo
The scene outside the sunken cargo ship was serene. The world was cool and quiet, and it made Vincenzo all the more nervous. He was out of contact with Zahra — both verbal communication and hand signals. He was contemplating an attempt to enter the hold through the hole in the hull but thought better of it. The whale-like moan he had just heard emanating from the wreck had deterred him. Drowning was Vincenzo’s worst fear. It had almost happened to him as a child while snorkeling on the northern side of the island. He had gone too deep, but lucky for him, his father had been close by. The event had scarred him.
He glanced down at his dive watch but was struggling to see its face. Their light source had been blotted out by something. So far, the sun had been unperturbed by anything. The weather reports had called for a nearly cloudless sky from sunrise until tomorrow morning.
What then? he asked himself, looking up.
Just as he craned his head skyward, the shroud moved off. The reignited bloom of light was strong enough to cause him to wince against it. He shut his eyes and turned away. As he did, the veil returned. Then, once more, it was gone. Vincenzo held up his hand and peered past it, seeing what was causing the disturbance.
His eyes went wide. Oh, no.
It was the ocean’s most feared hunter, Carcharodon carcharias, the great white shark.
And he and Zahra had just had a conversation about how unlikely it was for a human to be attacked. Vincenzo was an intelligent man. He understood that if he remained calm, the apex predator would leave him alone and move on. All it was doing was searching the shallower water for food. Cala Minnola was a frequented swimming hole, and with the recent discovery of the cargo ship, it had seen a significant increase in visitors.
The shark was close enough for Vincenzo to get lost in its vacant stare. To Vincenzo, it was one of the animal’s single most frightening features. Its jaws were at the top of his list, of course, as was the creature’s immense size. This one wasn’t any larger than the average great white, sitting at, what Vincenzo estimated to be, fifteen feet in length. The shark was virtually ten feet longer than Vincenzo was tall.
A dull clunking sound picked up from within the wreck. This was the worst possible time for Zahra to make any type of noise. But what could Vincenzo do? It’s not like he could warn her.
The wraith-like aberration turned and glided back toward Vincenzo’s location. Now more than ever, he wanted to be inside with his partner. But he didn’t budge. The last place he wanted to be was stuck in a hole at the waist with his lower half in prime biting position. He shook and waited. The shark dipped its head and dove deeper. Vincenzo closed his eyes and prayed to God. He was someone Vincenzo had not talked to since his wife had left him. A whoosh of water pulled along like a precision rip current. The disturbance forced his eyes back open, and he did so just in time to see the belly of the beast pass by overhead. It had passed by with only feet to spare.
Then, with a trio of pumps from its powerful tail, it was gone.
Chapter 50