Mosaic (Breakthrough Book 5)

by Michael C. Grumley

  “Correct.”

  “Any ideas on what this ship was carrying?”

  “Yes. And you’re not going to believe it. Some of the Spanish sailors evidently said it was made of a metal they’d never seen before. And it glowed green!”

  The room went silent.

  “You’re kidding.”

  Lee shook his head. “Nope.”

  “You think they found a piece of the alien ship?”

  Borger shrugged. “Or someone else found it…and the conquistadors took it from them.”

  “Wow.”

  Alongside the others, Neely sat listening. “So, was there any further mention of the route the Spanish ship was taking?”

  “No.”

  Caesare turned to Clay who had suddenly grown quiet. “Clay?”

  He looked up.

  “Care to chime in?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know that look on your face. You have something brewing upstairs.”

  Clay stared at him for a long moment, thinking, before addressing Lee. “I was thinking about the route. You said that at the end of the war, the Caribbean was littered with enemy ships.”

  “Yes. That is well documented.”

  “Then if the rest of the routes were too risky, their only other option would likely be to go around them. Which would put them pretty far south.”

  He flashed a glance at Caesare in time to watch the Italian’s dark eyes narrow. “That’s where we are.”

  There was a moment of silence, with everyone breathlessly looking between each other before Lee Kenwood suddenly startled everyone by almost jumping out of his seat. “That’s it!”

  “What?”

  His eyes widened with amazement and he turned to stare at Alison. “It has to be!”

  “What?!”

  Lee whirled around to grab his keyboard, quickly stopping and turning back. “The guy. That guy!”

  Next to Alison, John Clay quietly grinned.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Lee raised his hands excitedly. “The guy! The one we rescued! The one you and John rescued! Him and his son! Remember?”

  She turned to Clay, who nodded. “In the underwater cavern. The father and son who were about to drown.”

  Then Alison’s eyes widened too.

  “When you and John were below with the dolphins,” Lee said excitedly, “I was trying to help the man’s wife and daughter on their sailboat. They were frantic. And his wife explained that her husband and son had been looking for a Spanish wreckage!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes!”

  Alison was incredulous. “It was the same ship?”

  “It’s a long shot,” Clay said. “But all the European routes led north from the Caribbean islands. So not many ships would likely be sailing out to sea this far south.”

  “My God, what if that’s it,” Lee said, leaning back in his chair. He then looked at Clay. “What was his name? We have to find him!”

  “Demos.”

  “Right,” Lee acknowledged with his head, before stopping. “That’s probably a common name. What was his first name?”

  Clay stood up. “It doesn’t matter. We just need to find the boat they chartered.”

  Caesare was rubbing his chin. “Could it really be the same ship?”

  Behind them, Neely peered at Alison. “That was the rescue you were telling me about?”

  “Yep.”

  ***

  It took less than an hour to track down Dimitris Demos, once they found the charter company. A small outfit based out of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it was not surprisingly the closest in proximity to where they rescued Demos and his family after picking up a distress call from the man’s wife.

  To their surprise, Dimitris Demos was not an official treasure hunter but instead a college professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. And an expert in early modern European history, according to his faculty profile.

  Alison held up a piece of paper with his printout. The headshot picture of Demos showed a thinning head of gray hair, with a matching neatly trimmed beard and mustache. Both starkly contrasted against a pair of dark-framed glasses.

  “He looks different.”

  “You mean without the mask and scuba gear?”

  “Yes.” She continued staring at the image, remembering the harrowing experience of finding Demos and his son trapped underwater, almost out of air. Of course, they weren’t the ones who actually found them. It was Dirk, with John in tow. She and Sally had followed closely behind.

  It was also the rescue in which Alison witnessed the true power of Dirk’s echolocation capabilities as they navigated the narrow tunnels. And the moment she realized there was more to the dolphins’ abilities than anyone knew.

  “So,” Clay said, turning to Alison. “Feel like a romantic trip to Greece?”

  “I would love that.”

  He pulled her in closer with a squeeze. “I’ll find us a ride.”

  156

  Li Na opened her own cabin door to find Neely standing on the other side, outlined by the wider frame of Steve Caesare behind her.

  “Good morning, Li Na. How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” the teenager said with a smile. She stepped back and eased the door wider.

  The visitors both stepped inside the tiny cabin while Li Na retreated back, sitting at the foot of her bed. The sheets and blanket were neatly tucked and made.

  Neely smiled at her softly. “Any incidents?”

  “You mean like getting sick?”

  “Right.”

  “No.”

  “Good. Would you like to get something to eat? The ship has a wonderful galley.”

  “Yes, please. I am very hungry.”

  Caesare grinned. “A girl after my own heart.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Neely teased.

  “That’s not true,” he replied, tilting his head. “Well, maybe.” He then motioned to Li Na. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go get you some of the best food in a hundred miles. And I mean that literally.”

  Li Na happily followed them back outside, closing the door. They proceeded down a hall and out into open air, where a warm, humid breeze washed over them––briefly whipping Li Na’s black hair over her face.

  She breathed in deeply, smelling a sweetness in the air that felt wonderful. Like freedom.

  They continued down the catwalk before turning right and walking along the starboard side of the ship. Neely exchanged a friendly greeting with two passing crewmen carrying equipment. Descending a short ladder, they continued aft until Li Na slowed and came to a brief stop. Putting her hands on the gray railing, she took a moment to gaze out over the deep blue water.

  Neely and Caesare slowed, watching.

  “Have you been to the ocean before?”

  “When I was little,” Li Na nodded. “But it didn’t look like this.” She looked at the water for a long time, her eyes peering out incredulously. Her gaze slowly followed the horizon to her right, meeting the stern of the ship. There, her stare was replaced with surprise.

  Behind Neely and Caesare, two other people were standing farther down the catwalk, looking out just as she was. The taller of the two had a large belly and was dressed in a flowery shirt, a short gray ponytail hanging almost to his shoulders. Next to him was a shorter figure. And thinner. With dark hair and a similar complexion as hers.

  The same young Chinese man who had arrived with them on the helicopter.

  Yong Yang, or M0ngol, noticed her almost at the same time, slender and attractive, and looking curiously at him from a distance. But unlike the girl wondering who he was, M0ngol knew exactly who Li Na was. He had seen her face dozens of times, from photographs. As part of the Chinese government’s cybersecurity team tasked with hunting her down.

  Borger noticed the look on M0ngol’s face. “You okay?”

  He stammered nervously. “Does she know who I am?”


  “I don’t know. Does she?”

  “I mean, have you told her?”

  Borger shook his head. “No.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s been through an awful lot.”

  M0ngol turned to Borger. “Are you going to tell her?”

  “I think we’ll leave that up to you. But she’s a pretty bright girl. She may just figure it out for herself.”

  ***

  Right behind Neely, Li Na entered the galley with a trace of nervousness. The room was filled with tables and blue chairs, many in use by male and female crewmembers. Some sat quietly while others talked amongst themselves in small groups. To the left, on the far side of the room, rows of assorted foods were being served on individual plates, picked up by sailors moving past with plastic trays. Farther still, behind a row of heat lamps and steaming pots and pans, several cooks moved diligently back and forth, pushing more plates forward.

  It was a scene that drew an immediate smile to Li Na’s face, resembling a base cafeteria very much like the one her father would take her to when she was younger. She remembered how amazed she was as a little girl at the idea of being able to simply take whatever she wanted. And also, it was the only place her father would let her start by choosing dessert first.

  It was their special place where she could eat whatever she wanted without her mother finding out.

  Neely and Caesare waited, watching Li Na take it in and wondering what it was causing the look in her eyes. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it was clearly a pleasant memory.

  Choosing a vegetarian meal, she followed Neely out and back into the dining area. Caesare was already seated with two other men, all of whom appeared to be waiting for her. When they approached, the men rose and smiled welcomingly.

  “Li Na, I’d like you to meet two of our team members, Chris Ramirez and Lee Kenwood. They’re experts on our dolphin friends outside.”

  She smiled politely. “Hello.”

  “Hi, Li Na.”

  “Pleased to meet you.”

  They returned to their seats along with the women and watched while Caesare picked up the first of two sandwiches. “So, gents…catch me up. What’s new with your IMIS system?”

  “A lot actually. IMIS keeps expanding its vocabulary, so we’ve downloaded the new additions. And now we’re running back through all our previous translations that failed, to see if any of them come through correctly after the changes.”

  Chris nodded. “Which can give us more context on what was being said too. Even running the code back over successful translations can present some surprises.”

  “Smart thinking.” Caesare changed the subject. “I hear you’ve also made a new friend out there.”

  “You could say that. He looks to be a special dolphin, with what may be some enhanced abilities. So the new words from IMIS should come in handy out here.”

  “Does he have a name?”

  “He’s called Vize.”

  “Vize?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “What kind of name is that, Slavic?”

  Lee laughed. “We’re not sure. We’re trying to figure it out. Might be a bad translation by IMIS though, so we’ll see.”

  The older Caesare looked across to the teenager, who had her head lowered, eating quietly. “Li Na, do you like dolphins?”

  She looked up with a gleam in her eye. “Yes, I do.”

  “Good. When we’re done here, Chris and Lee have something fun to show you.”

  ***

  Hello Chris.

  “Hello, Dirk. How are you?”

  Me happy. Where Alison?

  “She is on a short journey. But she will be back.”

  When there was no error, Chris made an impressed expression at Lee. The system was continually getting smarter.

  Together, they stood on the Pathfinder’s stern, along with Caesare and Neely, while Li Na stood a few steps farther back from the edge. Chris turned and called to her.

  “Can you hear them, Li Na?”

  The girl gestured affirmatively and stared at him with interest, her eyes moving down to the unique vest he was wearing.

  “Dirk, where is Sally?”

  She rest now. Come soon.

  Chris grinned. “His mate Sally is pregnant.”

  Li Na did not look up. Her eyes remained fixed on the vest. “Are you…talking to them?”

  “Yes.”

  She blinked with a look of surprise. “H-how?”

  “Through a computer,” Lee said. “We have a speaker and microphone under the ship as well as in the vest. Which sends the sounds back and forth to the computer for translating.”

  Li Na was stunned. “That is…amazing.”

  They both smiled proudly. “It is. But it took years and a lot of work.”

  “Would you like to try it?”

  Her eyes crossed to Lee, as if not sure she’d heard the question right. Li Na then eased forward cautiously and looked out past the stern. Dirk’s head could be seen bobbing less than twenty feet away. And was promptly joined by another, then another, and soon many more dolphin heads, all popping up around him.

  Chris watched curiously as dozens more continued emerging from the water, both at a speed and in numbers greater than he’d seen before. And oddly, while he couldn’t be sure about the dolphins farther out, it seemed that many of the closer mammals were peering through their dark eyes directly at Li Na.

  Then something happened.

  Li Na’s eyes widened, and she suddenly grasped and squeezed Neely’s arm next to her.

  157

  It took another two hours for Admiral Langford’s Gulfstream III jet to reach Trinidad’s Piarco International Airport, located twenty miles outside Port of Spain. The capital was one of the island’s most modern and bustling cities, its airport ranked seventh largest in the Caribbean.

  Inside the terminal, at the far end next to a small private gate, Clay and Alison sat waiting quietly in the airport’s brown vinyl seats.

  Alison, with her hand intertwined within Clay’s, glanced around the room. “You know, this may be the calmest things have felt in weeks.”

  “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us.”

  “Oh, please. You don’t believe in those sorts of things.”

  Clay smiled, staring through the giant window in front of them. “True. But I believe in luck.”

  Alison pressed herself affectionately against his shoulder. “Well, I believe in you.”

  He angled his head toward her. “It’s mutual. Although I did begin to wonder a little when you gave Neely permission to examine me.”

  She laughed again. “All in the name of science. Besides, you’re every female doctor’s dream patient.”

  Together they watched a small family reach the end of the wing and look around, seemingly confused. Checking their tickets and apparently realizing their mistake, they headed back the other way in a rush.

  Alison watched as they went out of sight before glancing around for anyone within earshot. Then finally looked back at Clay.

  “So, listen,” she said softly, moving in closer. “Since we’re alone, I thought maybe we could get a nice room in Greece. Somewhere where we can, you know, make a little noise.”

  With raised eyebrows, Clay looked back at her in astonishment. “Alison Shaw. Did you just say that?”

  “What?! I’ve missed you!”

  “I missed you too,” he laughed.

  “Besides, women also have needs.”

  “I thought those needs were walks on the beach or talking on the phone all night. Or watching a man do dishes?”

  This time Alison burst out laughing. She shook her head and slapped Clay playfully on the arm. “Fine! Forget I said anything.”

  “Oh, no. Not a chance.”

  ***

  They reached as far as the Azores just past midnight.

  A distant region of Portugal, it was composed of nine volcanic islands in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean formi
ng an archipelago. Spread over an area of 370 miles, the cluster of islands was still covered in bright green foliage. However, they lacked the warmer temperatures of the tropics, ensconced throughout most of the year beneath a blanket of gray cloud cover.

  The capital city of Ponta Delgada was barely visible from John Clay’s small oval window, appearing in the darkness as little more than a scattering of distant lights.

  Inside the cabin, the overhead lights remained low. One of the naval pilots emerged from the cockpit, motioning wordlessly to Clay, spotting Alison sleeping next to him. Her dark, shoulder-length hair rested, thick and messy, against his left arm.

  Clay remained unmoving, observing silently through the window as the ground crew trotted out beneath the wings to begin refueling.

  A gentle snort sounded from Alison, causing him to look down at her affectionately. To him, it was cute, particularly since she insisted that she didn’t snore.

  ***

  A few hours later, Clay opened one eye to see early rays of sun streaking up from the distant horizon––bathing the aircraft’s wings in a warm golden glow, while thin wisps of clouds crawled smoothly below them.

  Alison, still asleep in her reclined seat, snorted again. Loudly. Giving Clay a good guess as to what had woken him.

  He gently twisted his wrist and glanced at his black G-shock military watch. They were probably still a good four hours from Athens, which would put them on the ground somewhere around 2 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. And hopefully with enough of the day left to easily find their man.

  ***

  “This was not the weather I was hoping for.”

  Leaning forward and peering through one of the side windows of their taxicab, Alison watched disappointingly as streaks of heavy droplets ran down the outside of the glass.

  “Not romantic?”

  She looked wryly at Clay. “Not unless you’re Gene Kelly.”

  “Aren’t you a little young to know about Gene Kelly?”

  Alison leaned back in her seat. “Tell that to my mother.”