Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  Various artifacts recovered which have been attributed to Morgan will go on show at the Patronato Panama Viejo in Panama City, and is just the start of what archeological explorers believe to be a much larger stash among the sands of the ocean floor in the area. The archaeologist is by no means ready to head back to Texas, with four more wrecks still lurking on the seabed.

  Hanselmann, full of admiration for the man he describes as ‘an iconic historical figure who accomplished incredible feats throughout the Caribbean’, continues to lead his team on the search in the Chagres River, near where the ships foundered on the shallow reef.

  “Locating Captain Morgan’s full fleet of lost ships and being able to preserve and share what we find with the public is our ultimate goal.”

  Beverage giant Diageo, which owns the Captain Morgan rum brand, is no doubt delighted. Most brands have to invent legendary figures and back stories to sell their product but not so for the popular alcoholic drink.

  “In our case, we’ve been set apart from the pack. We didn’t have to make up a story—ours is real. It’s been in the history books all along and the rest was just waiting to be discovered at the bottom of the ocean floor,” said Bill Edwards, Brand Director for Captain Morgan rum. “This adventure that has been embarked on embodies the character of Captain Morgan himself and the very free-spirited nature and essence of rum.”

  ***

  When we were dropped off in front of the terminal, the white car accelerated away, leaving us in a flurry of dust and leaves. Ishi spoke the first words that either of us had spoken since leaving William Spence.

  “You remember that list of stupidest things we’ve ever done that we started earlier?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a new, undisputed leader,” I replied, already knowing what he was thinking.

  “Yup.”

  Back onboard the plane, I went straight to the rear of the aircraft, found a bunk cabin and jumped up into it. I pulled the curtain closed and reveled in the darkness. I didn’t want Ishi to see me sulk over this whole affair with Spence. It was for the best if I would just take the flight time to rest and recuperate… We were bound to have a long trip ahead of us.

  ***

  “At that time, Spain possessed the greatest empire in the world. Fortuitously, they had seemed to have the luck of ending up with all the gold and silver producing territory in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. For over a hundred years, the Spanish had shipped the treasure home by the shipload. There was absolutely no wonder why the other colonists’ hatred of Spain grew so wildly as they watched the treasure ships outward bound from Mexico and Panama sail back to Europe.

  “This was particularly the case on the English island of Jamaica. Though it had been discovered by the Spaniard, Christopher Columbus in 1494, Jamaica had been captured by the English from Spain during a campaign in 1655. The Spanish opted not to mount a serious retaliation because the island lacked gold and wasn’t considered important enough to fight over. However, had the Spanish thought it through clearly, they might have realized its value sooner. Jamaica’s perfect location in relation to the two principal Caribbean trade routes, the Yucatan Channel and the Windward Passage, would soon prove Spain’s failure to retake the island to have been a serious blunder in strategy.

  “By the mid-17th century, Jamaica had positioned herself as a major supply and trade destination under British rule. It was a haven for privateers and merchants alike. Soon, it was a well-known fact that if a suspicious captain, ship or cargo showed up in Port Royal, Jamaica to trade, very few questions were ever asked.

  “At some point after the English conquered Jamaica, Henry Morgan was recruited in Barbados by a pirate crew. As a team, they prospered at their profession and Morgan, along with a few of his new associates, pooled their resources and bought a ship. He was chosen as their captain. Shortly after he began running his crew, Morgan’s efforts came to the attention of Captain Edward Mansfield, an ambitious old Dutch pirate from Curacao. The old reprobate recognized Henry Morgan’s qualities of leadership and ruthlessness which he thought to be quite similar to his own, so when he was preparing to embark on his most audacious enterprise, he named the young Welshman his ‘vice admiral’.

  “In 1665, England found themselves at war with the Netherlands. This would, of course, affect the colonies of the Caribbean seeing that both powers held assets there. So, Sir John Modyford, governor of Jamaica at the time, commissioned Mansfield to attack and capture the Dutch island of Curacao in England’s honor. The pirate accepted the commission, but had no intention of carrying it out—he had something more ambitious in mind.

  “Mansfield and Morgan took the 15 ships and 500 men they had assembled and departed from Port Royal, but instead of sailing for Curacao, they were headed for Central America. Mansfield intended to establish his own permanent base as an independent island state. From there, he could organize and raid the Spanish Main as he pleased.

  “The place he selected was a small island called St. Catherine, located about 100 miles east of Nicaragua; the island now known as San Andrés.”

  ***

  San Andrés Island, a department of Colombia, along with Providencia and Santa Catalina, was often referred to as the Island of the Seven Colored Seas. The nickname was given to it due to the various colors of coral that were found in the reef that surrounded it. The effect of the coral below those clear waters made it appear that the water itself took on many different hues at once.

  Dutch traders were the first to settle the island, but were soon overrun by English traders who eventually drove them away. San Andrés, because of its location, was the perfect place to pull into a cove and wait out a Caribbean storm. It became the favorite place for English privateers to try out their land legs. The most famous of those privateers was Captain Henry Morgan, who was best known for waging a personal war against the Spanish Main throughout the Caribbean.

  Though a quiet, less overrun tourist destination, San Andrés was more or less in a state of constant flux. It was also an attraction for every wannabe treasure hunter on earth. Rumors that Captain Morgan’s treasure was buried somewhere in the waters surrounding the island were allowed to run rampant. After all, nothing sold vacation packages like the prospect of finding a chest full of Spanish doubloons to cart home with you.

  “I don’t know how we’ll find anything with all of the wannabes that have scoured the island over the years,” Ishi said. “It might not even be there anymore. Some idiot probably found it, took it home and is using it for a base under his bird bath.”

  “Wow, Ishi,” I responded with a smile. “Your cynicism is beginning to rival mine.”

  “This super-secret, cloak and dagger stuff isn’t my thing. Neither is being under the thumb of God-knows-who as each day goes by.”

  “Mine either, but look on the bright side. We snatch up the map, deliver it to Spence and we’re free to go back to doing what we do best.”

  “Pardon me if I don’t squeal like a Belieber.”

  “I’m not even going to touch on that one.”

  “So, tell me something Nick,” Ishi began. “How do we know that we can trust whoever it is that is going to be our guide here?”

  “Because Spence checked them out and they have to issue the proper code to him when we make our call after landing.”

  “What if someone abducted the real guide and has the code?”

  “Jesus, Ishi, what’s up with you? I’ve never seen you so paranoid.”

  “I’ve never been kidnapped and stuffed into a van with a hood over my head in order to have a meeting with someone we were working for before either. Do you catch my drift?”

  “That’s ‘cause I’m the only person you’ve ever worked for.” I was just as concerned as he was but I’d be damned if I’d let on to that even an inch. “Cheer up! We’re going to a beautiful Caribbean island with clear water and beautiful girls. You know what they say about those Colombian girls, huh?” It suddenly dawned on me that I wa
s starting to sound like a mother trying to get a two-year-old to stop crying. I didn’t like it.

  “You’re not nervous about this job?” Ishi asked. “I mean, the Illuminati connections and all of that?”

  “I’m not nervous at all,” I replied. “I’m scared shitless.”

  I know, it didn’t really make sense to either of us for me to be acting so glib, but you know, if you’re about to die, you might as well enjoy what little time you have left, right?

  As we approached the island and began our descent, Ishi and I looked out the windows as the jet made a pass by the island in order to set up for landing. The shape of San Andrés resembled that of a seahorse, with a ring of white sand and a clear water reef around it, as though someone intended for it to have a halo. What they said about the sea around the island was true; it did appear to have seven different colors of water making up that ring.

  Our jet landed and we moved quickly through customs and immigration. There were some perks when flying in a private plane. What we noticed right away was a very friendly, laid-back attitude, even among those in government service who usually had a sour expression permanently fixed on their faces. In fact, the experience even brought Ishi out of the somewhat sour mood that he’d been experiencing since we’d left Panama City.

  Because Spence had already kicked off the Spy vs. Spy thing, I’d stepped out into the airport expecting to see one of James Bond’s evil counterparts. Had I not already been kidnapped, had a hood placed over my head and a clandestine meeting with my boss, I probably wouldn’t have seen the man in the dark suit and glasses who seemed to be watching Ishi and me with a little more interest than we ought to have drawn in a tourist destination. I tried to push the idea out of my head.

  Just chill. We’re just going to find the cave, get the map and fly on out of here. Easie peasie, lemon squeezie. Maybe we’ll enjoy a little time on the beach. No big deal.

  “Did you see that man watching us?” Ishi leaned in close to me and whispered.

  Ahhh, for fuck’s sake! I took a deep breath and tried not to sigh as I let it out.

  “Probably one of the Secret Service guys who got fired in the Cartagena Summit fiasco,” I quipped.

  “The what?” Ishi asked.

  “Forget it; the guy is probably stoned out of his mind and trying to figure out where the hell he’s at.”

  Ishi only frowned at me.

  The Cartagena joke, and all its connotations, really wasn’t worth trying to explain to Ishi, so I strode toward the terminal exit doors at a pace that made him take several quick steps to catch up with me.

  Chapter Seven

  “So, how do we know who our contact is?” Ishi asked.

  “Contact?” I smiled. “Last I checked, in our line of business they were referred to as guides.”

  Though I was mocking him, I couldn’t help but consider that whoever met us was, in some manner or another, a contact. That would make me and Ishi assets, which was a total misnomer, because assets were typically discarded or forgotten about on a whim in the cloak and dagger game.

  “Caine and Cuyamel?” The most melodic voice with the most beautiful accent I’d ever heard in my life came singing our names like a choir of angels from behind us. Yeah, I know, I’ve said that every time, but it’s the honest truth this time. Trust me, when I turned around, what I saw far exceeded my expectations.

  Her smile and the way her dark eyes danced shouldn’t have hit me nearly as hard as it did, given the fact that less than twenty-four hours ago, I’d been in the arms of a beautiful Polynesian princess. The problem, however, was that it was one of those rare occasions when two people simply strike a mutual chemistry in the very first instant that they meet.

  “I’m Nick,” I said, extending my hand. I had such a wide grin on my face that it made my cheeks hurt, but I couldn’t help it. “This is my partner, Ishi.”

  “Pleased to meet you both,” she replied. Her accent was out of this world, sexy. “My name is Catalina. But you can call me Cat.”

  “Aren’t we forgetting something, here?” Ishi frowned. Evidently, he could already tell that I was in over my head.

  “What would that be?” I asked.

  “Protocol?” he hinted. “You know, making sure she’s legit.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” I turned aside to speak to him in a low voice.

  “Remember what we talked about on the plane?” he replied.

  “You are going to run through the meetup protocol, right?” Catalina asked.

  “See, there, Ishi,” I said. “That’s a good indicator that she’s legit.”

  “We’ll go through the protocol and find out,” he smiled.

  “Excuse us,” I said to Catalina. “This is a silly procedure, but we have to do it anyway.”

  “Not a problem,” she answered. “And it’s really not that silly. I could be just about anybody, you know?”

  “Well, you don’t look at all dangerous,” I beamed.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” she laughed.

  I took out my sat-phone, dialed the number that I was given for the protocol and Spence, himself, answered.

  “I take it you’re in San Andrés.”

  “We are.”

  “Put Catalina on the phone.”

  “It’s for you.” I extended the phone toward her and she took it, still smiling broadly.

  “Skinner,” she said into the phone.

  There was a short pause.

  “Sambo,” she said.

  Another pause.

  “Nightmare on Elm Street.”

  A third pause.

  “James Rodriguez… David Ospina… Falcao Garcia.”

  She handed the phone back to me.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Your contact checks out,” Spence said. “I will call you in three days.”

  I started to reply, but there was only a deadline buzzing in my ear as soon as he’d finished speaking. “Well, alrighty then,” I muttered. “Be safe and see you later too.”

  “So, I suppose you guys must be really hungry,” Cat said. “How about we zip you on over to your cabana and then we’ll go get something to eat.”

  “Sounds like a great plan,” I replied. I turned around to look at Ishi and gave him my best, ‘See, I told you she was okay’ look.

  Cat led us to a lemon-yellow Isuzu Amigo with the top down. The Amigo had “Cat Divers” and a caricature of a cat wearing scuba gear and stretched out in a dive. Both the name and logo were done in hot pink. The instant I saw it, I knew that our guide was a girly-girl deluxe; not the type we usually had guiding us on our adventures. It was a very nice change of pace, especially the way those tight little shorts topped off her amazing pair of perfectly toned legs.

  Cat slipped in behind the wheel as Ishi and I tossed our stuff in the back and then hopped in. He got in back, of course.

  “I hope Isabel isn’t too girly for you,” she laughed.

  “Beats the hell out of the last ride we were in.”

  “Oh, yeah? What was that?”

  “It started out as a Land Rover, but ended up as a fireball.”

  “Ouch!”

  “Yeah. It’s all part of the job, though. You never know how anything’s really gonna turn out in the end.”

  “Your job must be really dangerous.” Her expression turned serious for a moment and her large, dark eyes had a touch of fear in them.

  “Ishi and I have been in some pretty tight spots, but you get used to it.” I was lying through my teeth. I never got used to people trying to kill me. In fact, I was damned tired of it, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. For a change, one of our guides was interested in me and she was hotter than a burning Land Rover to boot.

  “Aren’t you afraid?” she asked.

  “Of course, at times. Terrified, if I was to tell you the whole truth, but my buddy Ishi always has my back and I’ve got his.”

  “So, you two are inseparable,” she smiled. “My sister and I used to be th
at way.”

  “Used to be? That doesn’t sound good.”

  “We went in different directions. She loves the mountains around Bogotá and I prefer the Caribbean, so it’s more because of distance than anything else. If she was here, we’d have each other’s backs.”

  “Why the Caribbean? I mean, maybe that’s a stupid question…”

  “It’s not a stupid question. I’m doing what I love to do.”

  “You love playing super spy?”

  “Super spy?” She wrinkled her brow, trying to figure out what I was talking about. “I just teach scuba diving and give underwater tours.”

  “You mean, you don’t know what we’re doing here?” I turned to look at Ishi, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe she’s not supposed to know.” Ishi leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

  “So, what’s this super-secret spy stuff?” she grinned.

  “It’s nothing really,” I replied. “Our boss is playing some prank on us, I think.”

  “You mean with the sat-phone call and the questions? I wondered why I had to go through all of that when he called me to do this job. So, you’re saying it’s just a joke or something?”

  “That super-secret stuff is,” I replied. I was starting to sweat, not from the heat and humidity—a cool breeze was keeping that under control—but from trying to back out of a bad situation that I’d done an excellent job of setting up.

  “Don’t tell me then,” she laughed and flashed those sparkling dark eyes in my direction. “I don’t want you to have to kill me.”

  That light-hearted exchange had, ironically, brought me back to reality. My partner and I were embarking on a mission that could get us killed and Catalina had no idea what we were there to do. Was that right? I didn’t have much time to really sit and think about it, because soon enough, we arrived at the resort where we would be staying.

  Chapter Eight

  “I don’t trust her,” Ishi said the moment Catalina left us to go change for dinner.