Abaco Gold

by Patrick Mansell

  “Dad and Skeeter are in the water right now,” came the reply. “I can tell them as soon as they surface. What are you going to do? Over.”

  P.J. keyed the handset. “We’re going to fill the tanks and come back there. I don’t see any reason to not do that. Over.”

  “OK,” replied Gaffer. “I’ll tell them what happened. You stand by the radio and we’ll see what Dad and Skeeter want to do.”

  “I’ll be standing by,” said P.J. “Bimini Twist, out.”

  Since P.J. knew there would be only one more team dive that day, he decided to fill only four tanks. The other four could wait until they returned that evening. Within a half hour he and Matthew were back on board the boat with full tanks and headed back toward the search area. As they idled out of the turning basin the radio came to life. It was Max’s voice. “Bimini Twist, Conchy Lady. Come back.”

  “Hi, Dad,” responded P.J. “Everything here is fine. Over.”

  “Where are you?” asked Max.

  P.J. replied, “We’re just leaving Great Guana. I’ll be along side you in twenty minutes.”

  “Any idea who that guy was who harassed you?” asked Max.

  “He didn’t harass us, he just asked some questions I didn’t like and I didn’t answer them very well. They seem to know about the search. They even called it treasure.”

  “All right,” replied Max. “Come on over and we’ll do that final dive for today. How many tanks do you have?”

  “Four,” replied P.J.

  “All right, P.J.,” said Max. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

  P.J. pushed the throttle all the way forward. He was excited about the events that had just occurred and was anxious to join the group. If Matthew was excited or scared, he hid it well as he smiled up at P.J. But they continued to cut through the water at breakneck speeds.

  A mile from the approach to the search area P.J. saw the gray Magnum again. It was facing the search area and two of its occupants were studying the activity on board Conchy Lady through binoculars. For no good reason that P.J. could explain, feeling bold, he steered toward the idled boat. He remained undetected until he was within 100 feet. When the occupants of the Magnum saw Bimini Twist approaching, it was too late to do anything. P.J. brought the boat to within thirty feet of the Magnum at full speed and then sharply turned away. His wake threw a spray but was not close enough to wet the passengers. It did however give the Magnum a thorough tossing and Matthew could see that the passengers were bouncing around trying to maintain their footing on the rocking deck. P.J. regretted what he had done the instant he did it. His impulsiveness had gotten him in trouble many times before and now he was messing around with pirates. To his relief they did not attempt to follow him, but he knew that this action would be taken as an insult and he would have to face up to it some time sooner or later.

  Upon joining up with Conchy Lady, P.J. immediately hailed his father. “Dad, that boat I was telling you about is right over there watching this boat through binoculars.” P.J. pointed to where the Magnum sat. The men saw him pointing and were spooked. Max and Skeeter climbed aboard Bimini Twist while Matthew and P.J. moved over to Conchy Lady. Max spun away from Conchy Lady and headed toward the pirate boat at full speed. But Bimini Twist was too slow for this chase. As soon as the driver of the Magnum saw them coming, he hit the starter and took off in the other direction. Bimini Twist did not get a half mile before Max knew that this pursuit was hopeless. He throttled down and turned back around to rejoin Conchy Lady.

  “I’m not familiar with that boat,” said Max. “Do you know it?”

  “If I could see it for certain I could tell. It reminds me of a boat I know in Spanish Wells. Could you see if it had two or three outdrives?”

  “Three, I’m quite sure.”

  “It sounds like the boat I’m thinking about. We’ll know soon enough,” said Skeeter.

  By the time they rafted back up with Conchy Lady, Gaffer and Godfrey had changed out the scuba tanks and the gear was ready for the next dive. P.J. insisted on making this dive as he had been skipped over while he made the run to Great Guana. Jenny was ready to sit this one out as was Max. So Godfrey and Skeeter took the end positions in the line with the two boys side-by-side in the middle.

  Twenty minutes later Max and Jenny were snacking on a fruit plate and iced tea when suddenly Max saw an orange flotation device break the surface 200 feet away. Somebody from below had marked an underwater object that was too heavy to handle. The excitement was palpable as they forgot about lunch and jumped into Bimini Twist to help swing into action. Before the first diver broke the surface, Bimini Twist was idling around the buoy. Max was handling the controls while Jenny readied 150 feet of anchor line to be lowered to the bottom. When Godfrey arrived at the dive ladder he was highly animated.

  “It’s something. I don’t know what but it looks like a log maybe five feet long and a foot and a half wide. You said to look for something out of place. Well, whatever this thing is, it is definitely out of place. We couldn’t budge it off the bottom so Skeeter popped his buoy. I need to get over to Conchy Lady to get my Nikonos and then get back here. Can you take me over? It’ll only take me a minute.”

  “What about the other divers? And what about your decompression tables? Are you still safe?” asked Jenny.

  Max had already begun idling back over to Conchy Lady. Godfrey checked his dive computer. “The depth is only sixty five feet. Those divers have ten minutes left. I have twenty.”

  “OK,” said Max. “Swing onto Conchy Lady. Pick up your Nikonos and a tank for me. By the time we get back to the buoy, those divers will be out of time. I’ll go back down with you and help out.”

  “Bring me a tank, too,” said Jenny. “I’ll know what to do when we get down there.”

  Within two minutes Godfrey had delivered two scuba outfits and the camera case that contained his underwater photography equipment. While Max idled back to Conchy Lady, Godfrey checked to make certain his camera was loaded and he had the lense and flash attachments he would need for this shoot. Jenny had her and Max’s tanks ready in no time. Back at the buoy P.J., Gaffer and Skeeter were floating at the surface waiting to be picked up.

  Godfrey, Jenny and Max donned their scuba gear while the other divers climbed aboard Bimini Twist. A minute later the three divers were on their way to the bottom following the line from the buoy. Jenny’s eyes widened as she first glanced at the sunken object. They were right, this was something of an unusual shape, definitely out of place. She and Max knelt over the object and sized it up. The earlier group of divers had already cleared away any loose sand that had settled on it over the years. Godfrey instructed them through hand signals where he wanted them to be and what he wanted them to be doing. He continuously moved back and forth, constantly adjusting his aperture setting and flash exposure for the different angles he shot. These were the first pictures of the expedition and it was certain they would be published. There was little time and he wanted to get it right. After a vigorous ten minutes of shooting, Godfrey was out of time and nearly out of air. He signed to Max that he was heading to the surface. Max acknowledged and watched for a moment while Godfrey gently ascended.

  Jenny was trying to pry the object lose from the bottom. It was loose enough to move but not light enough to lift. Max got a grip on it and was able to budge it slightly. That little movement was all Jenny needed to encourage her. With her gloved hand she dug at the sand under and around the object until she had tunneled through to the other side. Her time on the bottom was also nearing its limit and there was no time to waste. She had tunneled all the way under at one end of the object as Max had done at the other end. They ran the anchor line under and around both ends of the object and tied it off in the middle. That done there was nothing to do but head for the surface for help.

  The winch on board Conchy Lady had a 10,000 pound capacity. It could haul many times the weight of the current load. Gaffer ran Bimini Twist over to where the other boat
sat at anchor. Everyone crossed over with the exception of Matthew and Gaffer who were content to ride around in the smaller boat and keep out of the way. Godfrey was suiting up for his fifth dive of the day.

  Skeeter had naturally assumed the role of dive master for this project and commented when he saw Godfrey donning his scuba gear. “You’re way outside the safe limits for another dive. You’re done for the day.”

  “I have to get the shots of the artifact leaving the bottom. It is an important part of the historical record. I will need it for my part of the research.”

  “Sorry, Godfrey. Not this time. You’ll have to show somebody else how to do it. Somebody who hasn’t had that many dives today. Let me see.” He referred to the log book he was keeping for this purpose. It appeared that Gaffer and P.J. were the only ones who had only three dives this day. It would have to be one of them.

  “Show the boys what you want done and they’ll do it. That’s my final word on it,” Skeeter said firmly.

  Godfrey did not argue. Upon giving the boys a quick lesson in aiming, focusing, shooting and winding, it was immediately obvious that P.J. was the quick study. He would operate the camera while Gaffer stayed with him as a dive buddy. They suited up and by the time they were ready to get dive again, Jenny and Skeeter were ready to start the winch.

  As P.J. knelt on the bottom aiming the high tech underwater camera, the rope tightened and the object began to loosen its grip on the seabed. Slowly the artifact rose in a cloud of sand and silt. The light was good and the object was easy to see and photograph. As it rose, centuries of sediment swirled around it. It was an eerie site to watch as foot-by-foot the object made its way to the surface it had left centuries earlier. P.J. clicked away, first from underneath and then from along side. He motioned for Gaffer to get into his field of view and took his picture with it. He snapped off thirty six pictures in less than the two minutes it took for the object to complete its journey. As the brothers broke through the surface, they saw the adults of the expedition busily making ready to bring the object aboard. Skeeter and Max were guiding the rope onto its giant spool while Godfrey was leaning far overboard taking pictures with his land camera. Jenny was wringing her hands and fretting.

  The boys swam over to Conchy Lady and boarded. In just a few minutes the artifact was lying on the deck and Jenny was gently chipping coral from its surface. On the initial finding of the object everyone thought it was long and flat. But now it was obvious that it was long and round. Max inquired about this. What did archaeologists usually find that was shaped like a cylinder?

  Jenny beamed. “I don’t have to clean it, x-ray it or even remove this encrustation to answer that. I’ve seen so many of these things I could identify it in my sleep.” She retrieved the faxed copy of the manifest of the San Pedro that Elena Pons had provided her. She ran her finger down the first page, nothing there. Second page, fourth object from the bottom, ‘four bronze cannons, bore not certain, five feet in length.’ She showed it to Godfrey, Max and Skeeter. “Gentlemen, I can say with near certainty that this is what we are looking for. This evidence alone should be sufficient to get the rest of that commitment from the Antiquities Department. If this one little cannon is bronze, just the tip of a very large iceberg, it’s worth $20,000 to a collector. Nassau will understand this and give the go ahead. We are well on our way to the grant and licenses we need after only two days of diving.”

  “I’m happy for you,” said Max. “That’s exactly the kind of encouragement this expedition needs. Not only for the funding from Nassau, but also for the morale of this team. We’re on a roll. Let’s keep it going.”

  The entire group assembled on the deck of Conchy Lady for a review of the day’s activities. The biggest part of it was the finding of the artifact. Skeeter also wanted to review dive procedures once more. Max opened a brief discussion about the impact of having the gray Magnum in the area, who it might be, what it might mean. They spent twenty minutes planning for the next day’s activities.

  Max, P.J. and Godfrey boarded Bimini Twist, secured what gear they had and waved goodbye to the crew of Conchy Lady. It had been a long day of diving and it would be good to check into Orchid Bay.

  Twelve

  Max’s Return

  Two weeks after the cannon was discovered, the commitment came from Nassau. Three weeks later the funds started flowing into the project. Max had long since gone home to be with Lisa and to return to his everyday life. Gaffer split his time between fishing and diving to help uncover artifacts. P.J. split his time between diving for artifacts and trying to impress Casey. He was doing quite well scooping up centuries old relics from the San Pedro wreck. The issue with Casey was another matter. She remained loyal to her Atlanta boyfriend and eventually went home to be with him. Godfrey proved to be a dedicated researcher, diving and shooting pictures during the day and performing routine maintenance on his equipment at night. He had become a popular story teller among the members of the research team with his tales of hard work, suffering, frustration and intrigue on his various assignments for National Geographic.

  Within two weeks of the original discovery, Jenny and Skeeter came across the main body of the wreck. They spent several days bringing small artifacts topside and identifying the overall grid in which the greatest percentage of the wreckage would lie. At the Pincus residence the artifacts were beginning to stack up impressively while at the same time small shipments of wreckage would occasionally be couriered to Nassau. Each evening Jenny would chip encrustation from the pieces of the ancient artifacts they found during the day. The University of Miami had shipped over a high tech magnetometer which Godfrey and Matthew towed for hours at a time behind a twelve foot skiff with a ten horsepower Johnson. It was with this equipment that they tracked a line of cannon balls which eventually lead to a massive reading of metallic objects. Several dives on the site, lightly scraping the surface of the wreckage so as not to disturb any valuable artifacts, indicated that they would soon be digging up spars, planking, sheets and who knows, possibly more cannon, the anchor or even the cargo of precious metals and gems.

  Each day Max telephoned Great Guana Cay for an update and then contacted Nassau to pass on the information and find out the status of the licenses and grants. The money for the project had been allocated, $650,000 to begin, to be increased to possibly as much as $1,350,000 depending upon results.

  One of the first expenditures was the lease of a forty foot wide by eighty foot long working barge. Jenny had seen many similar archaeological projects run out of money by trying to support mother ships as bases of operation. With their huge diesel engines and generators, and need for full time captains and engineers, these boats cost a fortune to operate. The barge was perfect for the job. It had no motors or moving parts that could constitute maintenance headaches or expense, but it still provided excellent working space for the tools and supplies the project would need. The barge came with an enclosed shed which Jenny used to store charts, records, books and a laptop computer for cataloguing artifacts. Skeeter framed out another shed with three walls and a roof. This was his on-board dive shop where he could store tanks and other scuba equipment. He had brought his compressor so that he would never again have to ferry tanks back and forth to his home for refills. He had a basic work bench with a full compliment of tools. Above the bench was a blown up rendering of the tables for decompression limits for the divers to use. On an easel standing in front of the dive shed was a white plastic dry erase board on which was drawn a grid for recording the day’s diving activity. Divers currently in the water were entered with a red grease pencil. The bottom times for divers who had dived earlier in the day were entered in blue. Surface intervals were entered before every dive. This daily record was maintained as a safety measure for the divers.

  Virgil Price assigned eight of his officers to the project to act as security on the site, leaving Sergeant Cameron Ford in charge of the detail. Sergeant Ford was an experienced veteran who was dedicated to his duty, t
he Defense Force and his country. With the prospects of the government of the Bahamas about to excavate priceless artifacts and possibly many millions of dollars in treasure, security was a serious issue.

  Ted Brown, in his capacity as Minister of Antiquities, worked hard to keep the project in the forefront of the Governor’s attention, while at the same time attempting to keep information out of the hands of Grant Web. The Minister met daily with Virgil Price, who was employing his considerable resources to find out what the Deputy Assistant knew and to surreptitiously feed him disinformation. Virgil and Ted both knew that Grant Web had an unhealthy interest in the project and felt he was capable of whatever treachery it might take to enrich himself personally. The Defense Force had gotten word that there was a conspiracy afoot to gain information about the project and that this conspiracy had its origin in the office of the Deputy Assistant to the Governor. Virgil’s simple response to this threat was to place a small voice activated microphone on Grant Web’s telephone line, with the recording device in his own office sixty feet away. Virgil intended to share these recordings with Deputy Assistant Web’s boss when he determined the time was right. He already had several recordings in his collection that could be considered incriminating. Virgil, like so many of the others who worked at Government House, strongly disliked and mistrusted Grant Web. But Virgil Price was a patient man. He saw no reason to hurry the indictment as he was certain it would come when the time was right.

  In mid-August the call came that Gaffer had been dreading. Susan answered the ringing telephone and greeted Max. After a few minutes of friendly chit-chat Susan handed the phone to Jenny for her daily update. While Jenny spoke with Max, Susan went down to the dock to where Gaffer and Matthew were repairing a broken oil line on Bimini Twist.

  “Your Dad is on the phone and he wants to speak with you,” she said.