The Mahogany Ship (Sam Reilly Book 2)

by Christopher Cartwright

  “Wow. What were you expecting, bringing that?”

  “You thought I’d be stupid enough to enter a submerged shipwreck, without a means of cutting my way out if things went wrong? No way, I look after myself.”

  The story didn’t seem to match up, but Sam was glad not to have to return to the dive platform in the Mahogany Cavern before being able to access the locked room.

  Minutes later, Frank had cut a hole in the door, large enough for the two of them to shimmy through.

  On the back wall of the ship’s vaulted room, Sam could see the remains of a very old treasure chest, now broken open. And inside the dilapidated chest, were at least two hundred gold coins.

  Sam stepped forward and picked one up.

  It was identical to the others he’d seen. The gold, having lost none of its luster, sparkled as though it were only just minted yesterday.

  “Frank, I think we just found the Mahogany Ship.”

  “That we did, Sam.”

  Sam carefully looked around the rest of the room. It was almost completely empty, with the exception of the gold coins.

  But is it here? Sam thought, disappointed that he hadn’t found it yet.

  The two explored the room and where they could, accessed the rest of the ship. Nothing indicated that it was even still there, but Sam knew that it was early days yet. For the most part, he had at least found what he and his father had searched for all those years ago.

  After a number of hours of searching, it was time to return to the Mahogany Cave. Sam was the first to look at the remaining power on his Seadoo. It was low, but he might make it back. Then again, he might not.

  “How much juice have you got in yours, Frank?”

  “Enough, maybe. It will be close. I kind of wish we’d brought a reserve power supply.”

  “My fault. Okay, Frank, you take my battery pack. That way, when yours becomes depleted you’ll have mine to fall back on.”

  Frank looked at Sam’s battery monitor, already close to empty. He was a bright man – Sam had no doubt that he could predict the outcome of them both trying to return to the Mahogany Cave. “Okay, thanks Sam. We’ll come back for you as soon as we can.”

  “Not a problem. I’d like some time alone with this old lady, anyway.”

  Frank unclipped the power pack and put it in his pocket. With a quick wave of his right arm, the man disappeared, leaving Sam alone, to explore the cold, dark, confines of the ancient ship.

  If it’s still here, I’ll find it.

  *

  By the next morning, Sam heard the sounds of the two motorized Seadoos approaching. He waited until they came up from the crack in the hull. Michael Rodriguez’ was the first head to pop up through the still water inside the hull, quickly followed by Frank’s.

  “Morning Sam, I brought you some breakfast,” Michael said, handing him two large bacon and egg rolls, filled with barbecue sauce. “I believe congratulations are in order.”

  “I believe so,” Sam said, relieved to see Michael’s gregarious face again. The man was obviously driven when he had a purpose, and the search for the Mahogany Ship had kept him going for years. Sam had seen the same look in his own face, when he finally reached the answer to an ancient question, or lost artefact.

  He took Michael for a tour of the fabled ship.

  “It’s going to take some time to recover everything. And you and I both know that there’s going to be a lot of red tape around its excavation. But at the end of the day, I think it’s safe to say, we found the Mahogany Ship.”

  “That’s great, Sam. Thank you, for everything.”

  Over the course of the next five days, Sam, Michael and Frank photographed, marked, and examined the entire ship where they could reach, while Byron made reports and documented the information for the world to one day know.

  That afternoon, the three of them made the discovery known to the world, via a televised press conference. Michael indicated that the exact location of the fabled ship would remain hidden to protect her from looters, and treasure hunters.

  That night, the four men drank expensive whiskey, fine wines, and ate decadent food to celebrate.

  After each man had gone to bed, Sam stayed up late, completing some final reports to go with the discovery. Despite finding the Mahogany Ship, he still hadn’t found what he was really after. He would remain on site for the next few weeks until he could confirm that it was no longer aboard when the Mahogany Ship disappeared.

  And if it was gone, then what hope would humanity have of ever finding them?

  Taking a snapshot of the GPS coordinates, Sam looked up the farmers who owned the land. They weren’t going to be impressed with all the attention their quiet parcel of land was about to get, now that the discovery of the Mahogany Ship had become national news.

  Sam looked at the registered owner of the land on which the mine shaft rested, and then double checked the date of purchase.

  I don’t believe it!

  Sam looked at the old land and council papers again. At the bottom line was the name, Michael Rodriguez and the date of sale, December 3, 1983.

  It was the first time that his gut feeling had been confirmed. Michael’s been lying to me, but why?

  Metallurgical analysis had already dated the original gold coin to the 15th century, so that much had been true… and the wood itself had also come from the 15th century. So if it was a hoax, Michael had gone a long way to preserving it.

  He dialed a number to see if his thoughts were right.

  It rang three or four times and then a familiar voice answered.

  “Aliana, it’s good to hear your voice!”

  “Samuel, I thought you had left me for another woman…”

  “Never!” Sam replied, then, quick to get to the point, he said, “Aliana, I have a problem, and I need to pick that fantastic brain of yours.”

  He went through what he knew to date, finishing with the fact that he had no proof that the entire treasure ship had been a hoax, and neither could he think of a reason why a man like Rodriguez would even want to do so.

  “But something’s not right, and I need your help to prove it.”

  “Tell them that you want to bring me in as a scientific name to report on the find, so that the wider community of archeology will see it as legitimate,” Aliana suggested.

  “But you’re a microbiologist. Why do archeologists want to listen to you?”

  “Because I can date the microbes that were on the hull of that ship, and where it once came from.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that, of course.” Sam pictured her in his arms, and said, “I knew there was a reason I loved you. You’re beautiful and incredibly intelligent. When can you get here?”

  “I’ll pack now, and can have my jet leave tonight – they won’t be happy about the short notice, but that’s why I pay them their exorbitant holding fee. I should be there by tomorrow afternoon, your time. It will be just like old times.”

  Sam’s mind flashed back to the night that they had spent together inside a similarly cold, yet beautiful, subterranean cavern, when they found the last airship, the Magdalena The prospect was welcoming.

  “I’ll see you then. Aliana…and yes, I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Samuel. Keep yourself safe.”

  “I’m fine. Michael has no reason to hurt me. I just don’t understand what this is all about. A part of me still hopes that the ship was real… maybe, he had a rough idea where it was and bought up large farming land, just so that he could secure its discovery.”

  “It seems pretty far-fetched to me, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

  *

  Sam’s cell flashed with a message.

  He quickly opened it, hoping that Aliana had sent him an additional message.

  Instead, he found an online freebee email account name. One of those with about ten numbers after an otherwise normal name like “John,” most commonly associated with robot based spam marketing. There was no na
me attached to the message, and had he tried to ring the number back, his cellular service provider would have informed him that the number was no longer active.

  He switched on his laptop, and typed the name of the account into the login page, followed by a password that that was pre-arranged.

  There was only one message waiting for him.

  Sam, I’ve taken your coin to a numismatics expert. The coin is legit. One problem though. It’s in mint condition. If it was found in a treasure chest, locked away in a cave, maybe it could be possible. But not underwater in a river. That’s impossible. Someone is lying to you. I suggest you look after yourself.

  Elise.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The strange blue light seemed to be reflecting off the sarcophagus, and shining directly on it, making it glow a deep blue color. Billie looked at the image of the Mahogany Ship on the wall. It could have been any ship on earth, except this one had eight masts. On its deck, were the simple markings of the Master Builders, and next to them, a scepter with the sun shining out of it.

  Her eyes dropped much lower, and saw that Tom was staring at her, breathing deeply, and still gripping the hammer – ready to kill an intruder. He then noticed what she was looking at, and said, “Is that what I think it is?”

  “The Mahogany Ship.”

  “Which means…” Realization crossed his face, and he said, “Sam Reilly was here a couple weeks ago and he must have seen it. Why else would he have left, unless he thought that the last real Master Builder was on that ship?”

  Billie nodded her head.

  “There’s something else you need to know, Tom.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You and Sam weren’t the first people to lay eyes on this place in the past 1000 years.” She looked up at him with expectation in her eyes, “Who else do you know that has gone looking for the Mahogany Ship?”

  “Michael Rodriguez!” Tom answered instantly. “Of course he knew about the pyramid. He’s mining just below it. He must have any number of geologists who have investigated the area. No wonder he explored it before us, and left it alone – upon discovering no real value inside, he didn’t want to lose money by identifying an archeological site right above his largest mine shaft!”

  “That’s right, but something about this picture made him want to bring Sam Reilly into the equation.”

  “What makes you so certain that Rodriguez did see this picture before us?”

  “Because the likelihood of an oceanic disaster drawing one of five known people in the world who have even heard of the Master Builders, and the only one who’d realized that the Mahogany Ship was connected, is infinitely small. But then to have Rodriguez turn up just after you and Sam dived the site, and ask Sam to help him with a brand new lead on the Mahogany Ship, is just plain impossible.”

  “You’re right. But for what purpose could a man like Rodriguez have to con Sam into exploring a Mayan tomb? I mean, the man’s already rich, so what could drive him to such a ruse?”

  “He must have needed the credibility that only Sam could provide to his discovery of the Mahogany Ship?”

  “But even that doesn’t make sense. What could possibly be so valuable to him that he would need such an elaborate hoax to drag Sam into it?”

  “No, not money – he has that. Something infinitely more important to him…”

  “What’s more important than money to a rich man?”

  “Power.”

  “Oh, shit!”

  “What?”

  “I just remembered where I’ve seen Rodriguez previously… I know exactly why he needed him… Sam’s walking into a trap! Come on, we have to get back to the dive bell so we can get a message through to Sam!”

  *

  Sam left the cavern, alone in the middle of the night.

  Leaving without anyone noticing, he slid into the water. He allowed the diving scooter to submerge below the surface, silently, until he was 300 feet along the tunnel before switching on the electrical motor.

  He followed the tunnel for more than an hour before he reached it.

  Looking upon the hull of the Mahogany Ship, he smiled. They had done an exceptional job at making the fake exceedingly realistic, but they’d forgot about one simple thing.

  Science.

  The dead barnacles would give them away. Sam chiseled at the wooden hull, catching fragments of the dead organic matter in a glass container. He then moved inside and repeated the process. It wasn’t until he dug away at the sand burying the middle of the ship that he found immediate proof.

  After digging through six feet of soft, dry, sand, Sam struck something hard. He cleared away more sand, until he started to get an idea of what he had run into. It took almost an hour before he could see it clearly, and when he did, he knew he was in trouble.

  Concrete.

  The entire ship was bolted onto enormous concrete blocks, confirming that his entire search had been for nothing, or worse – for Michael Rodriguez’s gain. But for what gain?

  It was then that he noticed that he was being watched.

  “Rodriguez…” Sam turned to face him.

  The man ran. With his dive mask and SCUBA equipment still fully attached, he was able to dive straight through the hole in the hull.

  Sam chased after him, grabbing his dive mask only and trying to free dive the thirty-odd feet to where both their Seadoos rested on the sand.

  Ahead of him, the whirl of the unknown man’s propulsion system stirred up the water with silt from the river’s bed.

  Sam could have returned to the fake Mahogany Ship and grabbed the rest of his equipment, but it would take too much time. Instead, he attached the Seadoo’s air tube, placed it directly in his mouth to breathe from, and kept going.

  The masked man had already gained a couple minutes head start on him.

  He tried his best to cut the corners of the tunnel, but so did the other man. By the time he reached the dive platform at the Mahogany Cavern, Sam could see the man already climbing onto the mine shaft elevator.

  Shit, I’m too late.

  Sam slowly climbed the ladder and stood on the dive platform. Thirty-odd feet above him, he could now clearly see Michael Rodriguez aboard the elevator.

  Michael stopped the elevator. “Sorry, Sam. You’re one hell of a guy, but you just wouldn’t let it go, would you? I mean, I was keen for you to get all the rewards and accolades associated with this discovery. Hell you could have kept the Spanish treasure. No one would have ever realized that I planted it all here. Do you know how much eight hundred 15th century Spanish gold coins are worth? But no, you fucked it up by discovering the truth, didn’t you?”

  “And what is the truth? I don’t understand – as you said, the cost of the old Spanish treasure must outweigh any possible benefit of being acclaimed as the discoverer of the Mahogany Ship?” Sam already knew his fate – he was going to die here, but he needed to know why. And for every minute he kept his new-found psychopath talking, he would have a chance of finding a solution.

  “Now… now… you’ve been watching too many James Bond movies… this isn’t the part where the villain tells Bond his evil plans just before leaving him to die.”

  “But that’s what you’re going to do to me, isn’t it?”

  “Here? Yes… you’re going to have to die here.”

  “Then why not tell me? Let me know what I’m dying for.”

  “I like you Sam. I was honest when I told you that we could be great friends – so I’ll let you in on a secret. Let’s just say that by proving the Mahogany Ship came from Spain, I can prove my birthright to something far more valuable than the richest mine in the world. Good day, Mr. Reilly.”

  With that said, Michael pressed the green elevator button and disappeared above him, leaving Sam alone in the vast cavern.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Bendigo airport had one runway, and even it was comprised entirely of dirt. At the end of the runway, as the small Regional Express plane took off,
a single woman remained on her own. Wearing hiking boots, she appeared tall – six feet at least, with blonde hair and a slim figure.

  Aliana fretted.

  It was not like her, but something in her gut told her that Sam was in trouble.

  Left alone at the end of the dirt runway of the outback country airport, Aliana wondered if she’d made the right decision when she decided not to bring her private jet. No, it’s never a good idea to show your hand to an enemy. She’d prudently taken a regional carrier’s flight out to the small country town.

  It wasn’t like her to worry, but neither was it like Sam to forget about her. There was no reason to think the worst – Michael had specifically requested Sam’s help. Whatever was going on here, the man had wanted Sam. Still, she couldn’t help recall the last words that Sam had said to her – someone is lying, I just don’t know why.

  By the time it was dark, Aliana called Sam’s cell for the fifth time, and someone picked up.

  “Hello, Sam Reilly’s phone?” The man’s voice was confident, like someone used to being in charge.

  “Hi, can I speak to Sam?”

  She thought she could hear the man sigh on the other side of the cell. “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”

  “Aliana. I was supposed to be coming to Bendigo to help Sam with his project.”

  “Oh… gotcha…” the man on the other end of the phone, sighed again. “You must be his girlfriend. I’m so sorry to tell you this… Sam’s been involved in an accident.”

  “Sam’s dead!”

  “No, no, we sure hope not. We had a cave in, and Sam was on the wrong side of the tunnel at the time. We have a team working around the clock to remove the debris. We’re all pretty confident he’ll be fine. I wouldn’t fly out here until it’s all sorted. It might take us a few days, that’s all. When were you thinking of coming out?”

  “I already did.”

  “You did? My goodness, you should have told me. I’ll come to the airport myself to pick you up.”

  Aliana felt something uneasy in her stomach and replied, “It’s okay. You must be very busy. Maybe I should just grab a room at a motel and wait for word that Sam’s all right?”