by SJ Hailey
‘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.
‘There is something carved into the wood?’
‘Yep and I have no idea what it is, but I have checked the whole room, no other carvings, just this.’
Katherine turned her head, ‘That is Chinese calligraphy?’
‘Well I know that! But I called Evelyn to tell me what it means!’
‘I don’t know Michael, not my area love!’
The couple began a standard argument about who was an expert in what; Katherine just looked at the screen.
‘That’s the symbol for the five elements!’
Evelyn and Michael stopped their now high volume discussion and turned.
‘How do you know that?’
‘Because it’s on the wall in the Elements Institute in Washington!’
Evelyn and Michael turned and sure enough the Five Elements had been in front of them, the very basis for the Institute they worked for.
‘Katherine you are a genius!’
‘Not bad for just a pilot.’
Evelyn laughed; Christophe would go mad when he found out.
‘So do we call Christophe about this?’
‘Hell no Michael! You said he was not answering his radio, no this we call in to the boss, Katherine would you be good enough to call Jacob and give him the news of your third discovery?’
‘Yes of course, oh and where is my necklace?’
‘Sorry I think I left it on the desk in the lab.’
‘How long is it since we found the wreck?’
‘About six months ago, but least we know where to start digging now.’
‘Do you think that symbol is significant?’
‘It just intrigues me that the five elements symbol is on a ship; there might be significance in it?’
Katherine moved out of the viewing room, heading back to the lab to collect her precious necklace, the last remnant of her mother. She hit the button to open the door, and stopped, her necklace was there on the table, glowing blue. The crystal within illuminated, but there was no sun, intermittent clouds obscuring it. The damaged necklace next to it was glowing, but its case was shut, the light escaping from the crack around the edge. She grabbed her necklace as if it would burn or bite her should it remain there, it stopped glowing. She delicately moved it back, the case open swinging on the silver chain, and it began glowing once more. She backed out of the room, replacing the necklace in her pocket and heading for the communications room, she had to call Jacob inform him of their finds, not Christophe and ask about her necklace and her mother.
TEN
Washington D.C.
Paul Stone loved his job, his office, his life. It was an ungodly hour, and he had nothing to worry about, no wife, children not even a pet. Paul had girlfriends, mistresses but never wanted any long-term commitment, he just loved his work. He was not unattractive, far from it, gym four times a week, rowing on the Potomac every other day, he was quite a catch. The main reason was work, he loved it, lived it, that was his marriage, his true mistress.
It was 21:30 in Washington, and he was on a web cam link with Jacob in Newfoundland, recently landed at St Johns, using Jean’s hanger as a temporary lab.
‘Nice set up Paul, thanks.’
‘You are welcome Jacob, see while you were sightseeing; I was getting people into work at an antisocial time!’
‘Sightseeing indeed, nearly got me killed,
again.’
‘Well what you do in the pursuit of knowledge.’
‘Yeah yeah Paul, point taken, look this was worth the effort.’
‘Jacob you don’t even know what ‘this’ is yet?’
‘And that is what these good people are here to do.’
‘Okay call me when you know more, I have got to talk to Ecuador only 20:30 there, get an update on my hard earned money, and what your friend Laurent is doing with it.’
With a parting smile, Jacob signed off, turning to address the assembled group in the hanger.
The group of six were a field team, hastily assembled from the Elements Institute office in Toronto. The information that Jacob had provided to Paul was relayed to them, and a group was rapidly called and flown out to St Johns direct.
Jacob had greeted them all when they arrived, ensuring they all knew where everything was, unlike Paul, people were his priority, look after the people, they look after you.
He gestured for the group to follow him into the porta-cabin, the heated shelter more welcoming than the cold draughty hanger. They crowded in, not venturing into the main area, all clustered around the door like hesitant schoolchildren.
‘Will you all come in, look at the main screen; this will give you some perspective.’
The group obliged, removed gloves and hats, and looked at the large flat screen at the far end.
Jacob flicked thru video and stills taken of the iceberg by Jean while Jacob was inside. Jacob got to see the moment when the iceberg shifted, and now understood why Jean was so keen to extricate him. The group gasped as the berg turned, with Jacob swinging overhead, the duffle next to him, the clips ended and the group turned to him.
‘As you can see, we cannot revisit the site, anything that was accessible is now underwater, in freezing water, what we have is a large object, sealed in wax, found behind a wall and this in front of it.’
Jacob held up the board he removed from the wall, the archer symbol still clearly on it.
Lorraine the linguist stepped forward, ‘Excuse me sir, and is that the Chinese symbol for archer?’
‘Yes Lorraine, I didn’t realise Chinese calligraphy was your area?’
‘More of a hobby sir, this is from the Chinese ship?’
‘Well nothing is proven yet, anyone else.’
‘Yes sir, the wood is teak; ships in China were built of teak in the 1400’s.’
‘You are talking about the Treasure Fleets?’
‘Yes sir, and if this is one of Zheng He’s ships, it is over five hundred years old.’
‘Well my young band of weary travellers, that is what we are here to find out.’
The workgroup split into pairs, each taking their specialist field, a fully functional lab awaited them.
Jacob made his way to the small office at the rear of the building, a large beaten up couch against the window, he sat back, having been awake for hours. Within minutes he was asleep the tired springs not affecting his exhausted body. Lorraine placed a pillow under his head, no need to wake him until they had results.
A gentle tap to the shoulder stirred Jacob from his unexpected snooze, his eyes blurry; he focussed on the person holding a large steaming cup of coffee, the pleasant odour now reaching his semiconscious nostrils.
He rubbed his eyes, removing the sandy sleep, recognising the face of Lorraine, a young smile beaming across a pale face.
‘Jacob, we have found something. Coffee? And before you ask it is six in the morning.’
‘How long have I been asleep?’
‘About six hours or so, you needed it, and we could get on with work, have some results you may like.’
Jacob raised himself upright, stretched and graciously accepted the steaming Arabica blend. He sipped some, stood up and followed Lorraine to the lab, a frenzy of youthful activity. The Elements Institute used young keen talent to ensure new ideas and attitudes prevailed, not scientists protecting reputations.
The lab had changed in the past few hours, images, scans and samples were laid out on a large table in the centre of the room. The Wax box had been given pride of place in a chamber normally reserved for toxic substances, a pair of thick rubber gloves lay limp through the glass securing it. Next to it were a collection of six wax spheres, the size of golf balls; and a badly crushed lump of metal with a blue crystal in the centre.
‘Jacob, here is what we found, while you were sleeping.’
A ripple of laughter swept through the eager group. Jacob smiled small creases appearing around his eyes and continued to drink his coffee.
Lorraine moved forward; a natural leader and the most competent and confident scientist he had met in recent years.
‘The box is definitely Chinese, the teak it is made from, and the wall it came from were harvested in around 1400 in China, the same forests that supplied the Treasure fleets, we compared it to known samples from that period.
From the dimensions shown on the video, and using the helicopter and yourself for reference, the ship was probably a Fuchuan warship, five masts about fifty metres long, she would have not have travelled alone, a water tanker and supply ship would normally accompany her, and possibly other smaller craft.
As for the box, we have done ultrasound and other scans on it. Its integrity is not compromised; no water appears to have penetrated it. There are some metallic objects and possible parchments or maps rolled up in tubes.’
Lorraine paused, Jacob was unsure if this was for effect or acknowledgement, he raised an eyebrow towards her attempting to convey his puzzlement.
‘Sorry Jacob that is all we have for now.’
‘Well that is more than I expected, good job, so are we going to open the box?’
Smiles around the room indicated that all were keen. ‘Who would have the honour?’ Jacob asked.
‘We thought you could sir, if you don’t mind.’
Jacob was well known for being hands on, and relished the idea to be the first to open this box in centuries.
‘I would love to.’ With infectious youthful energy coursing over him, Jacob stepped forward, Lorraine taking his empty cup from him. He placed his tanned hands into the holes of the thick rubber gloves, flexing his fingers to ensure he had maximum dexterity in the restrictive latex.
The group had not moved, ‘Well get yourselves where you can see then!’ The group laughed and positioned themselves with either monitors of direct line of sight to the box. Once Jacob was satisfied everyone could see he began.
He lifted a miniature circular saw, the two-centimetre blade worked like the ones used for cutting off plaster casts, it would cut the wax, but not the box itself, he hoped. He moved the power saw towards the top right corner, the blade slipped easily through the hard wax, he used the attached support to manage the depth of cut, and proceeded around the edge until he returned to his starting point.
The side of the box did not move. He put the saw down on the tool rack and used his gloved hand to tap the front, still no movement. The tension in the room now more apparent. He finally used both hands to grip the cut wax side, and gently pulled, the rubber adhering nicely to the wax, and it moved. He continued to pull and noticed the section had a lip about three centimetres deep going into the box. He pulled the section away expecting a rush of air and dust; instead the lid was almost shot back into place. ‘A vacuum?’ His substantial grip beat the null space. He removed the lid and placed it to one side, now viewing and recording the contents of the box. There were various scrolls and two bamboo tubes, one empty, the end lying on the base of the box, the other sealed. He wanted to open everything, read everything, but knew procedures were in place to deal with this, he had written them to ensure enthusiasm did not cause loss of information.
He slid his noticeably sweaty hands from the gloves, wiped them and turned to the group.
‘So which one of you knew there was a vacuum inside?’
Silence.
‘Good not just me then, a 500 year old vacuum, the documents shou
ld be okay, but get them out. Photograph everything just in case they deteriorate, both sides and with different light filters.’ He moved back to the chair, surprised at his heart rate, ‘Some more of that coffee would be lovely Lorraine.’
‘I will get you some now.’
‘No, sorry, I meant where is it? And do you want one?’
Lorraine blushed, ‘It’s outside on the bench on the right, just milk with mine please.’
‘Alright ma’am, on the way.’
With a feigned salute, Jacob moved out into the spacious hanger, the coffee steaming in its pot on a bench.
The hanger had changed, some communications equipment had been added, a transmitter and satellite dish, and a technician was busy nearby.
‘Can I make a call on that yet?’
The technician was obviously startled at the interruption, a young man with a loud shirt poking out the top of his parka.
‘Yeah just a sec’, waving a hand behind him, attending to the connections on a laptop. The young man turned to be confronted by the daunting stature of Jacob right behind him, ’Mr Mathias?’
‘That I am, and you are?’
‘Sorry, Rothwell, Eli Rothwell.’ a gloved outstretched hand met Jacob. ‘Nice to meet you in person at last.’
‘You are the nagging voice in my ear. Nice shirt?’
‘Thanks, I have a bunch of them.’
‘Interesting choice for Canada, a Hawaiian surf shirt?’
‘I always like to bring some colour to work sir.’
‘Well you certainly achieved that, although your parka is restraining the full effect. So Eli, do you have something for me?’
‘Yes sir, from Paul Stone, a video message, he said can you watch it and call him back, anytime.’
‘Thanks Eli, where can I view this?’
Eli passed him a laptop, headphones attached for privacy.
Jacob sat down with the second cup of coffee, and pressed play on screen, Paul’s office and the well-groomed owner came on.
‘Jacob, asleep already, lightweight. I have some bits of news for you. First that robbery I mentioned at the Washington Museum, we found the remains of the thief in a car park, a wa-kiz-ashi was embedded in a tree, it belongs to us. Security had reported no break in, but when we checked the inventory, some crates have been tampered with, contents gone, the find from Laurent’s dig in Peru, manuscripts and some black stone sceptre, that is it. The explosives that vaporised our visitor had no chemical signature, which is unusual my sources tell me. All explosives have one so you know where they came from? The FBI is saying it was a terrorist whose bomb detonated early, of course the cynics on the hill don’t believe it, but that is nothing unusual. The other thing, I managed to get a member of the 1421 team on the horn, and he is willing to assist you, just check your email. That is it for now my friend, call me with any queries, you know where I am.’