by Cherry Adair
"I think you'll enjoy this dish.” Finn pulled out the chair beside him for her, then sat at the head of the table as everyone else found a seat. “It’s spit-roasted lamb cooked over an open fire for several hours until the outside is crisp, and the meat falls off the bone."
Peri slid her chair closer to the table, glad to be sitting beside him and not surrounded by the Cutters. Perhaps then she’d have at least one escape route. That was if Finn were on her side, or too startled by the Cutters’ reactions to pin her down before she could disappear.
Finn waited until they were all seated and settled before he picked up the conversation. His knee touched hers. When she shifted, so did he. "Getting back to the origin of the Merrezo Tablet, if my memory serves correctly, no one has pinpointed where ‘across the sea’ meant, or honestly, if that information was written on the tablet, right?"
"The language has been extinct for hundreds of years." Bria spread her napkin on her lap. "Our Dr. Vadini has been able to decipher some, but not all, of the text. There are theories, all of which are rigorously disputed by one group or the next. Dr. Vadini insists it's an ancient, long dead language from South America. Others say the South Seas or China.”
“We’re seven thousand miles from your country,” Peri pointed out, as, with a smile, she accepted a warm crusty roll from the steward, then the butter dish from Nick beside her. “Could 'across the sea' mean over seven thousand miles?” She buttered the roll. Trying to swallow past the lump of anticipation in her throat to eat it was going to be some trick.
“Crossing the North and South Atlantic Oceans five hundred years ago?" Finn sliced off a thick piece of lamb, chewed, swallowed, then added, “I always thought the origins of the source of the Merrezo Tablet referred to the Mediterranean. But considering we've discovered a possible twin here, and with the wealth of gold, emeralds and silver we've already recovered on the wreck, it's feasible the Merrezo Tablet could've come from this region. Possible a fifth ship returning from here to Spain with its holds filled with treasures for the king, actually made the crossing."
Peri bit her tongue, so she didn't blurt out that Napolitano was of Italian registry. Finn's hypothesis made sense.
“Maybe our wrecks hold more than Finn's tablet.” Jonah’s suggestion mirrored Peri’s thoughts, and her heart did a little happy dance. Holy crap. What if there were more tablets? What would that mean? What had they been made for? The possibilities were thrilling. She couldn’t wait to get started on figuring it out. Ry would be as excited as she was, and Theo might be a big help, as well.
She had to get some good pictures of Finn's tablet before she was kicked off Blackstar.
If she was kicked off Blackstar. No. When. It was inevitable.
"Perhaps." Logan, eyes and voice intense, put down his fork, food forgotten. "This could be the reasoning why the small armada travelled five hundred miles south from the capital instead of north as charted. They'd already picked up gold, silver and emeralds up North, then travelled hundreds of miles south to pick up the tablets? They must've considered the tablet a damn sight more important than what they carried in their holds. Which, honestly, stretches the imagination."
"The reverse trip sounds logical to me. At least that explains the long detour. But logical or not, that doesn't mean it's the truth," Zane chimed in. "The armada could have traveled hundreds of miles south to pick up the two tablets. Or one of the captains had a girlfriend in Patagonia he wanted to see. Maybe we'll never know the truth."
Jonah’s potato loaded fork was halfway to his mouth when he added his two cents. "The Merrezo tablet on an unnamed ship, made its way safely to Italy? And this second tablet sank with Nuestra Señora del Marco? Honestly? I’m with Logan on this one. Seems a bit of a stretch to me, too."
As everyone speculated on whether Finn’s artifact could be a match for the Merrezo tablet, Peri glanced around the table. She sure as hell wasn’t going to relax. Her big reveal was coming, anticipation thrumming in the air. Hungry as she was it was impossible to eat. She dropped the aromatic roll onto her plate and used her fork to move her food around as her stomach churned. Get on with it!
When she felt Finn’s warm fingers on her knee, Peri jolted, her gaze meeting his. Narrowed-eyed, he gave her a small, are-you-okay-one-shouldered-hunch. Nodding, she stuck a forkful of roasted lamb into her mouth, hoping it would dissolve on its own because she was too tense to chew.
He made her long for things she'd denied herself most of her life. Worse, he reminded her how alone she was despite a fabulous boat and a spectacular house. She traveled too much to make lasting friendships, and she was never at her house long enough to make a home. It was a good thing she liked her own company because she realized, now, with the noise and laughter at the table, she was alone a lot. Now, with Finn beside her, the lively conversation and laughter, she realized she hadn't just been alone, she'd been freaking lonely.
And would be again, she reminded herself firmly, annoyed when her throat ached.
"Not to also be a skeptic, but a wide consensus believes that the Merrezo tablet is a hoax." Logan, who sat directly opposite her, frowned. "Many believe Foscari, to protect his legacy and sustain his followers, maintained that the tablet contained future prophecies. But since no one other than Vadini knows the language- and he's only been able to translate about ten percent of it so far, everyone keeps speculating what these words mean or could possibly mean. No one knows for sure what the tablet says."
Peri swallowed the cow-sized hunk of meat without chewing. Testosterone hung over the table, as thick as morning fog. Logan was clearly the oldest, but that didn’t mean the others deferred to him. Everyone had an opinion, and they talked over each other like puppies at play. Debating the various merits of the origins of the Italian tablet.
"Or denied, cognate,” Bria corrected her brother-in-law. “The myth has preserved for over five hundred years, after all." She dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "La tavoletta d'oro Merrezo has been the subject of intense debate among theologians, historians and researchers for years. We could discuss various theories all night and still never know if one of them might be correct, yes?"
Nick smiled at his wife before glancing around to include everyone. "Diverse arguments have been made in scientific and popular publications claiming to prove that it holds the truth to the future. There must be at least a grain of truth, don't you think?"
"They could claim anything they want that might support their own worldview," Zane pointed out. He'd already cleaned his plate, and beckoned the steward, with a charming smile, to give him a second helping. "For all we know it's an ancient grocery list of no historical value. Thanks." He smiled, and the female steward smiled back.
Nick shot his brother a pointed glance. "You don't believe that."
"No," Zane admitted,"I don't. I just don't want to get too excited. Not yet. This tablet could be an ancient equivalent of a photocopy. Perhaps they - whoever they may be, produced a copy in case one didn't make it."
Ancient photocopy or not, Peri couldn't wait to tell Ry and Theo about the third tablet. “Does anyone know who sent the tablet to Merrezo? Perhaps if we start there it would be easier to unravel the mysterious text? For all we know it could be a really long letter in two parts.”- Three parts. “If we can figure out who wrote it, maybe we can figure out what it says. Or perhaps w- one of you will find another piece which might reveal more.”
The fact that she was loving this lively exchange hurt Peri's heart. She'd better enjoy every moment, because she seriously doubted this would ever happen with her there, again.
His gorgeous redhead could certainly hold her own. Fascinated, Finn observed Ariel's interaction with the Cutters as they argued back and forth, each with their own theory. She didn't give an inch. Sitting beside her, he watched micro expressions drift across her features. It was fascinating to watch. Hell, admit it. Watching her was captivating.
She seemed to be as fascinated with the Cutters, as if she was observing wild animals in a zo
o. Her jade gaze flitted from Zane, to Nick, to Logan and Jonah, then repeated as they talked across the table.
Her hair was swept up in a complicated pile on top of her head. He could nail down how to deliver over a million pounds of combined thrust, from his FG-200 engine, but he couldn't figure out how she'd gotten all that mass of hair corralled with no visible means of support. If he found just the right anchor, and pulled, would the whole shining mass tumble down her back and into his hands?
God, he wanted her.
In her white linen outfit, she looked cool, polished and sophisticated. Quite different from the wild cat he'd had spread-eagled on the pantry table a few days earlier. Or the indignant woman he'd challenged this afternoon on the deck of Two. He wanted her in his bed. Desperately. Repeatedly.
“Anyone want to lay odds we find more tablets in the coming months?” Jonah played with the stem of his wine glass.
Cheeks flushed from the wine, and Finn surmised, excitement, Ariel tilted her head. Persephone. His private name for her suited her.
“You think they were massed produced?” She didn’t sound thrilled by the idea.
Jonah shrugged. “Maybe Zane’s right. Why not? If we have two, there certainly might be more, right?”
“I’ve been thinking of that same likelihood.” Under the table, Finn ran his palm up Peri’s leg. Her fingers clamped down to stop his progress, but he was quite happy to rest with his hand nestled into the warm crease between her torso and thigh. “We’ll give our divers the head's up to be on the lookout."
Would she inform Case of his finding and its relationship to the tablet in Italy? Would it matter one way or the other if she did? The two had seemed damn friendly this morning in Finn's observation. "Maybe we should hold onto this info until we know more? We don't want the public crawling all over the area, asking questions we have no answer to, right?"
They all agreed discretion was called for until they knew more.
Speculation on what might be on the tablets was shelved for now and Peri asked about the grids they were still installing, then listened intently to the answers. Every now and then her gaze would stray across the deck to the golden artifact, as though pondering the very same question he was asking himself. Could it be related to the Merrezo tablet? He could see her mind spinning at the possibilities as the conversation drifted to various dives, the eta of the Cutter wives, what else had been salvaged thus far.
"You lecture at MIT, don't you, Finn?" Zane asked as the plates were removed.
"Occasionally. I enjoy all those bright young minds. Generally, I find their ideas innovative and well thought out. In fact, I've hired several students over the years, and am always glad I did."
Bria smiled. "What do you give them as a take away?"
"Bend the rules. Think outside the box, and my God, they certainly do. Those kids are our future."
"Are you advocating people break the rules?" Arial asked, wide-eyed and a little too sweetly.
Little witch, she was referring to that afternoon. “Not just for the sake of breaking them,” he shot her a speaking look. "I remind them that the greatest mysteries haven't been discovered yet. The future of mankind - if we're to advance and solve the mysteries presented by our changing world - lies with knowledge we don't have. Yet. We won't find our optimal future in rules that are already written."
"Maybe they're written on the tablets," she suggested, tongue in cheek. And, intriguingly, in perfect Italian.
"Maybe," Finn agreed, stroking her thigh with his thumb.
"Oh!" Bria clapped her hands in a jangle of gold bracelets, eyes alight. "You speak my language beautifully."
"Thank you." Ariel's cheeks bloomed pink. "Learning Italian was on my bucket list a few years ago and I lived there for about a year."
"You mastered it well." Finn wondered what else was on her bucket list and how he could help shorten that list. "Any other languages you're this proficient at?"
She shook her head, the candlelight flickering like fiery sparks in her hair. "Not proficiently, no. I speak French, okay. A little Afrikaans, enough German to get by. That's about it."
"You have a remarkable ear for language," Nick told her.
"Nick's the one with the amazing ear," Zane told her. "It's quite the parlor trick. Tell Ariel where's she from."
Ariel smiled. "I know where I'm from."
"London," Nick told her. "Then at a young age Boston. Time spent in. . .Rome? You pick up language well, your inflections in Italian are spot on."
"Wow, you are good." Ariel smiled back, causing Finn a rise of annoyance. Jealousy reared its ugly head again. And again, the unexpected emotion both bothered and surprised him. "If the artifacts are indeed the same, perhaps by comparing the two, we might get an insight to what language they are written in. How exciting it would be to finally be able to read what it says."
"Perhaps Dr. Núñez can help decipher what the artifact says." Color high in the flickering candlelight, Ariel glanced around the table. "And compare it to the Merrezo tablet. He might very well know what language was used, or possibly an ancient derivative of a local dialect."
"Promising idea." Finn felt the heat of her skin through a layer of linen. Damn it, he wanted the fabric gone so he could touch her skin. He wanted the freedom to touch every part of her body without barrier. Now he was damned sorry he’d invited the Cutters. He and his freckled darling could be in bed right now, exploring each other without restriction.
"Maybe Theo- Dr. Núñez, can take a look and give us his opinion. With the artifact staying aboard of course, because it isn’t leaving and going to Buenos Aires." With no residual resentment or anger, she sent him a smile that shared the memory of this afternoon. Her annoyance had been like a summer storm, quick to blow up, and just as quickly over. "Should I call him after dinner and ask?"
“In the morning.” Finn enjoyed the tide of pink in her cheeks as their eyes locked. He wanted to taste that rapid pulse at the base of her throat and marveled at his own restraint when his voice sounded almost normal. “Late morning.”
"Good to maybe get some answers," Logan addressed him. "Hey, changing the subject here, I read about the success of your hotfire tests in the Scientific Journal last month. Fascinating reading."
"What's a hotfire test?" Ariel asked.
Candles, in the clear hurricane lamps down the middle of the table, cast a flickering light on her face. God, she was achingly pretty. Her cheeks were adorably rosy after one glass of wine, and her eyes sparkled with a fascinating glint that made Finn want to know what was going on in that clever brain of hers.
"One of a series of milestones for us," he responded, battling the familiar urge to whisk her away from his guests to somewhere more private. Somewhere he could give in to his desperate need to taste her freckled skin, and inhale the heady fragrance of lilies as he wrapped himself in the fire of her hair. "The first time we fire - hotfire - an engine is our first opportunity to operate it to test propellant inlet conditions." He needed to touch her bare skin, but settled for stroking her thigh over the thin linen of her pants as he worked to re-engage his brain and formulate words. "We evaluate the high amount of thrust generated by the engine, which is essential to achieving liftoff so we can travel beyond low-Earth orbit-"
Her eyes glazed. Finn smiled. "Too much?"
"Interesting actually.” Studying him, she smiled. "To quote Captain James T. Kirk; 'To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.'
Finn grinned. "My motto, exactly."
Logan took the basket of rolls when his brother passed it across the table. "You're getting close to passengers for a Mars flight, then?"
"Close is a relative term," Finn told him, handing him the butter with his free hand. "We’ve examined the tests to collect relevant data. We've made the down-selection based on those performance tests. We're well ahead of schedule, and far ahead of our main two competitors. I'm pleased." He was elated.
No one knew about his manned rocket, Red Star, set to launch in less than half a year, with twelve people on board, who'd live on the planet for a year before returning to Earth.
"Hell, I bet you are," Nick said. "You have a space tug up there now, right? You’ve already taken up passengers. Hell, that must be thrilling.”
"Sub-orbital. That advanced upper stage is capable of refueling and generating its own electricity with the on-board fuel cell. It’s been up there for a couple of months, so yeah."
"Spendy." Nick grinned. "Upwards of a billion dollars to design, test, certify etc., right? That's a big damned nut, Rocketman."
Finn shrugged. "The U.S Air Force committed almost fifty mil in funding, which helped."
"Chump change." Logan's eyes rested briefly on Ariel before he returned his attention to Finn. "We’re ready to throw in our change whenever you’re ready to take in outside investors. Everyone likes your dedication to reusability." He took a pull from his beer.
"Thanks. We're always making engineering decisions leading to practical, operational reusability," Finn told them, always happy to talk shop, but also aware that no one at the table was as interested in the nitty-gritty details as he was. "Since two-thirds of the price of the booster is just the engine, we solved that problem. After using a giant parafoil to grab them out of the sky via helicopter, we've already successfully recovered three of our engines after launching."
"Hell," Jonah said admiringly, "that’s a tremendous engineering accomplishment. No wonder you're ahead in your field. Broke a few rules developing that technology, I bet."
"We've done our homework," Finn told him, noticing Ariel's gaze returning to the tablet every now and then. "The idea of booster recovery has been around for a while, as well as single stage orbit. My people just pushed the envelope a bit further."
"A lot further," Bria smiled. "I'm so impressed with all you've accomplished, Finn. I wouldn't want to travel all that way to Mars, but I admire your ability to make it happen."
"Passenger Mars flights are a long, long, long way off." He returned Nick's wife's smile. "We'll be taking paying passengers into suborbital space, and to the Space Station, for the next few years. In the meantime, we've got three wrecks to salvage."