Blake looked shocked at the mention of ADI in front of Liz and Kal, but Marc jumped right in. “I bet she could. Why don’t you go contact her and see?” Catie got up and went to the bridge so she could talk with ADI. “ADI is the fourth founding member of MacKenzie Discoveries,” Marc continued. “She’s our computer geek slash general technologist. She’s pretty much an agoraphobe, so we just tie her in via our comms. But she’s a dynamo when it comes to searching the Web and has a lot of techie contacts.”
“Sounds like a good person to have,” Kal said.
Catie came back into the lounge with a big smile on her face. Blake thought it was more of a smirk. “I assume by your pleased look that ADI found some foam,” he said.
“Yes and no,” Catie said. “Nobody sells it, but she has the formula for it and says almost anyone can make it. It uses nitrogen to expand, sticks to just about anything has a density of zero-point-zero-one-six-grams-per-cubic-centimeter.”
“Wow, that’s pretty amazing,” Blake said. “Did she say it could expand under pressure?”
“Oh yeah, she said you have to add zero-point-zero-zero-one-three grams of nitrogen per-cubic-centimeter for each atmosphere of pressure.”
“So, at our depths of around four hundred meters, that’s about zero-point-one. Definitely will make it buoyant,” Blake said.
“Won’t the foam cause problems with the artifacts?” Liz asked. “How will anyone get it off of everything.”
“ADI and I thought of that. The foam melts at forty-five C, and when it’s liquid, it just washes off, something about its surface tension,” Catie replied.
“Cool. Sounds like it will make the job a lot easier,” Marc said.
“Wait, wait,” Blake said. “I see two fatal flaws.”
“What?”
“When we raise the ship, the nitrogen will expand, and so will the foam. We’d be talking about five times as big.”
“Hah, thought of that too,” Catie said. “The foam will outgas as the pressure around it decreases. ADI says it won’t let water in, but it will outgas to equalize the pressure so it won’t expand.”
“Okay, second flaw,” Blake said. “With all that lift from the foam, the ship won’t be able to hold it. It’s designed to be held up by its hull, not the decks. They’ll just tear out of the ship.”
“Rats,” Catie said. “Can’t we reinforce the ship?”
“Wait, wait,” Blake said. “Foam displaces the water, makes the ship lighter. Thus, being more buoyant, the lift comes from the water pushing on the lighter ship, so… Sorry, my bad. It’s a great idea, Catie. What would we do without you?”
“So how come it’s okay now?” Kal asked.
“I was thinking about the foam wrong,” Blake said. “It’s not floating, it’s just pushing the water out of the ship, so the total weight enclosed by the hull and decks is lighter. Then the pressure from the water outside the ship forces the whole ship up. No extra pressure on the deck.”
“Good, so what does that do to your plan?” Marc asked.
“It means we don’t need so many big lift bags,” Blake said. “That will make everything easier. But now we have to wrestle the foam containers. We’ll have to come up with some tubing to use when we disperse it. I have to calculate how many containers we will need.”
“You’re going to need like five hundred or six hundred containers,” Marc said. “Sounds unwieldy.”
“Probably not as unwieldy as so many lift bags would be. And we’d have to have almost as many containers to inflate the bags,” Blake replied. “We should get the material and put it and the gas in the cylinders on the Mea Huli like I planned to do for the lift bags. The cylinders are going to be a big part of the weight and volume. I might get a compressor and refill the cylinders. I’ll work with ADI on the process.
“Okay, so these cylinders are going to be heavy,” Blake continued. “We’ll get a lift bag for each; we can drop them down a line with the lift bag, and we’ll adjust the setting based on the depth, so they stop at the right depth. That way, the divers can stay at depth while they work.”
“Sounds like a complex set of logistics,” Kal said.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Blake said. “That’s why we’re getting the big bucks.”
“Alright, I’ll arrange for a few cylinders to be added to our package, so we can practice,” Marc said. “I already have some for some lift bags and a few big sheets of the canvas. We’ll pick them up in the Bahamas.”
◆ ◆ ◆
When they got to the Bahamas, they docked at the port in Hamilton Harbor. The pier was stacked with their supplies.
“What are these?” Catie asked as she pulled a Seabob out of the stack.
“Trust the kid to go right to the toys,” Blake said.
“You should know,” Marc said, giving his brother a tweak about his propensity to act like a kid. “Those are Seabobs. They’re underwater craft that you can ride when you dive, so you don’t have to swim everywhere. We’ll use them to maneuver around the ship and to get down to it.”
“Cool, and we’re going to do lots of practice with them, right?” Catie insisted.
“Of course,” Marc said. “Now load up the canisters, canvas, and, of course, the Seabobs.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The crew was heading back to the Bahamas to have the Mea Huli shipped to Portugal. They had made numerous practice dives with and without wrestling the cylinders.
“Okay, that was a good dive practice,” Blake said. “We managed to deploy a cylinder every ten minutes. That’s our best time yet.”
“Yes, but that still means we’re going to be working at Las Cinque Chagas for three days,” Kal said, “and that’s if we can set up around the clock shifts.”
“I know, I know,” Blake replied, “It’s a big ship.”
“If what we’re doing leaks out, we’re going to be vulnerable,” Kal added.
“Maybe we should use a ship that’s a little less conspicuous than a yacht,” Liz suggested.
“We could,” Marc said, “but we’ll still have the problem of a ship hanging around in one place for three to four days. Since the general area where the Las Cinque Chagas went down is common knowledge, that’s going to be a dead giveaway.”
“We’ll need to be prepared for problems,” Kal said.
“That’s why you’re here,” Blake replied.
“Catie, do you have something to add?” Marc asked.
“Nooo,” Catie replied. “Just thinking.”
“Okay everyone, we’re three hours from the Bahamas,” Blake said. “We’re making port in Hamilton, and we have to have the Mea Huli ready to ship by tomorrow. We get two days of downtime, and then we fly to the Azores. The Mea Huli should arrive the day after we get there.”
“We’re staying at the Hamilton Princess,” Marc said. “It’s right on the harbor, so it’ll be convenient.”
“Is convenient code for a Motel Eight?” Liz made air quotes around the word convenient.
“No, it is not. It’s a luxury hotel; so, you’ll have a nice two days after Blake works your ass off get the Mea Huli ready. I hear it has a nice spa.”
“Good thing,” Liz said as she headed out.
As everyone left the lounge, Blake nodded to Marc to hold back. “I’m worried about sitting in one place for that long,” he said.
“So am I,” Marc replied. “I think Catie may have a solution for you.”
“Really? What makes you think so?”
“I know that look,” Marc said. “She been working on something since we left Antigua, but I can’t get anything out of her.”
“Hey, you’re her father, can’t you get her to talk?”
“Hey, twelve-year-old geniuses aren’t easy to parent,” Marc said. “Besides, I think she has another agenda she’s trying to weave in. I think the meeting today gave her a way to advance it.”
“What do you think it is?” Blake asked.
“Not sure. She’ll le
t us know when she’s ready.”
“I hope it’s good.”
“She’s been working with ADI on it, so I’m sure it will be good.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“How’s your plan going?” Marc asked Catie over breakfast the next morning. They were alone since the rest of the crew had partied late into the night after sending the Mea Huli off.
“What plan?” Catie asked, looking all innocent.
“Be that way,” Marc said. “I know you’ve got something cooking, just don’t wait too long before you bring it up. We don’t want to waste a bunch of time working on one thing, then have to make a big change.”
“Don’t worry,” Catie said.
“So, there is a plan?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then why shouldn’t I worry?”
“Ahhh,” Cattie growled as she realized the trap she’d fallen into. “Hey, have you talked to Mommy yet?” She asked, quickly changing the subject.
“I’m talking to her in two hours when she gets up,” Marc replied.
“Do you think she’ll let me stay?”
“I don’t know,” Marc said. “How’s your schoolwork going?”
“I’ve just finished my report on To Kill A Mockingbird for my English class,” Catie said. “And for biology, I finished the section on amino acids and proteins. ADI says I’m picking it up pretty fast.”
“Are you learning it or just memorizing it?”
“You know ADI is smarter than that,” Catie scoffed. “She doesn’t just have me do the homeschool test, she creates her own tests, and those are hard.”
“Good,” Marc said. “Are you going with Liz when she goes shopping today?”
“Does that mean you want me out of the way when you talk to Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Then shopping it is.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey Linda,” Marc said as his wife answered the phone.
“How’s Catie doing?” Linda asked.
“She’s fine. She really wants to stay,” Marc said. “But we have to do what’s best for her.”
“How’s her schoolwork?”
“She’s working at it. Much more diligently than I remember, but it’s been a couple of years since I had to monitor her schoolwork.”
“If she’s working at it, that’s good. She’s been just doing what it takes to get an A, and with her talent, that’s not too hard,” Linda said. “That damn memory of hers makes it too easy for her, she gets away with just memorizing things too much.”
“Well, that’s not cutting it here. I’ve got an assistant that reviews her work and works up challenging tests for her. She complains some, but I think she’s enjoying the challenge.”
“Then, I think we have our answer,” Linda said. “I’m in group therapy, and I think it’s helping, but I still think she’s better off with you for now.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Please tell her I love her, and we’re doing this for her,” Linda said.
“Hey, she thinks I’m here begging for her,” Marc said. “She’s going to really think you love her when we let her stay. She really wants to and is afraid you’ll say no. So, this will make you the good guy for once.”
“I hope so. Thank you for being so understanding after everything.”
“You’re welcome. I know you’ve gotten a raw deal, and I wasn’t much help. But things will get better. She’ll probably want to call and thank you over a video chat tonight, so be prepared.”
“I will be. Thanks for the heads up.”
◆ ◆ ◆
That evening Catie called her mother.
“Hi, Mommy!”
“Hey, Sweetie, how are you doing?”
“Great, thank you so much for letting me stay with Daddy. I promise to be good and study hard.”
“I’m sure you will,” Linda sniffed. “You have to call me all the time. I don’t want to miss my little girl growing up.”
“I promise. And I’ll be home for holidays and vacations. I’ll see you at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since I’m homeschooling, we can just pick the time I come to visit,” Catie gushed on.
“Oh, that will be nice,” Linda said. “We’ll do vacations together.”
“Yeah, that will be fun.”
Catie spent another hour telling her mother about all the exciting things she was learning and doing.
◆ ◆ ◆
The flight to the Azores was uneventful. After two weeks of hanging around the beach, eating and drinking, the Mea Huli finally arrived. Everybody was tired of vacation and wanted to get to the real mission. They got the Mea Huli back in the water as quickly as they could.
They continued working on their diving skills while they wandered around the general area of Las Cinque Chagas. They carefully avoided actually coming closer than 100 miles to the actual ship, in case they were being monitored somehow.
“It’s been three days, I’m ready to push a pencil through my forehead,” Kal whined.
“Yeah, when do we get to start the real mission?” Liz added to the whining
“Okay, okay,” Marc said. “We’ll do a fast loop to the northeast and then continue on to Lisbon.”
“It’s almost two days to Lisbon,” Kal whined some more.
“We have to pick up the foam and canvas we ordered,” Marc snapped. “We’ll suspend dive practice for the trip.”
“Thank God,” Liz said. “I’m starting to turn into a porpoise.”
“Get your rest now, you have to load up the supplies and head back here right away,” Marc said. “Catie and I will fly back after we finish negotiations.”
“Are you sure you two should be alone?” Kal asked. “We still seem to have our friends checking up on us.”
“Yeah,” Blake said. “We spotted them in the Bahamas and here on the Azores. What did you do to that admiral that makes him so interested in you?”
“Nothing I know of,” Marc replied. “I suspect they’re just curious about Hyperion’s creation. Maybe they think I have something else.”
“Well, I think one of us should hang with you,” Kal said.
“Okay, why don’t I keep Liz with me.”
Liz did a little fist pump as she realized she would get some shoretime.
“It’s a plan,” Kal said, deciding that Liz could do a better job keeping an eye on Catie than he could.
“Blake, go ahead and crank her up to full speed,” Marc said.
“Yeah,” Catie shouted.
“What’s this baby’s top speed,” Kal asked.
“Thirty-two knots,” Blake replied.
“How is that possible? I thought these things topped out around twenty-five knots.”
“We made some mods,” Marc said. “She’s fitted with a new prop design that increases her efficiency and speed. Blake and Catie are speed demons, so I thought I could improve my life by helping them get their fix.”
“Yep, we’ll make Lisbon by this time tomorrow,” Blake bragged.
Chapter 9
She’s Gone
Marc, Catie, and Liz waited in the reception area of the Portuguese Minister for Antiquities. It had taken two days to get an appointment, and although their appointment was for 10:00, it was already 11:30.
“Are they ever going to let us in?” Catie whispered.
“Important people like to make others wait,” Marc whispered back. “It lets you know how much more important they are than you.”
“How childish,” Catie whispered.
“Yes, it is.”
“The minister will see you now,” the secretary announced in heavily accented English.
“Thank you,” Marc replied as the three stood up and made their way into the minister’s office.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” the minister said. “It’s been a busy day.”
“Minister Sampalo, I thank you for seeing us,” Marc replied. “This is my daughter, Catie, and my associate, Elizabeth Farmer.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Minister Sampalo replied, gesturing for them to be seated at the table in his office.
There was a knock at the door, “Dotour Verissimo,” the secretary announced.
“Ah yes, please join us, Dotour. Dotour Verissimo is our expert on lost galleons.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Marc extended his hand. The dotour shook hands and sat down.
“Minister Sampalo tells me that you think you’ve found one of our lost ships,” Dotour Verissimo said.
“We are quite confident that we have found one,” Marc replied as he laid his briefcase on the table and opened it. “As you can see, it is definitely a galleon.” Marc laid a picture of Las Cinque Chagas on the table.
“Meu Deus,” the dotour exclaimed under his breath. “This looks like Las Cinque Chagas.”
“We’re confident that it is,” Marc said.
“But how can it be,” Minster Sampalo said. “Las Cinque Chagas caught fire and sank; this ship is whole.”
“It mostly is,” Marc replied. “Based on our survey, we surmise that the fire destroyed its sails and masts. Also, either the fire or the enemy cannon destroyed its steering. She then was caught abeam by the waves and capsized.”
“Meu Deus,” the minister said. “And you say she is mostly whole?”
“Yes,” Marc replied. “We are confident that we can effect repairs and raise her in one piece.”
“That would be a miracle,” the minister said. “And for this, you would want?”
“Four billion U.S. dollars,” Marc replied.
“Isso é insano!”
“I don’t think so,” Marc said. “The estimates of the cargo’s value are well over four billion. Imagine how much having all that and the ship in one piece would be worth. The publicity would be enormous.”
“What is to stop us from finding it ourselves now that you’ve let us know she’s just sitting there waiting to be discovered?” Dotour Verissimo asked.
“We’ve been very cautious in how we surveyed the area,” Marc replied. “We’re very confident that you will not find her on your own. If you don’t want it, we’ll approach the Indian government; we understand they also have a claim.”
“Ridiculous,” the minister said. “It is our ship.”
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