then Drakov said, “I am told there are several more such chests within the hold.”
Land needed no more encouragement. He immediately joined the divers at their task of clearing the chests out of the hold. Finn, Lucas and Andre were content to watch, while Verne remained close to Drakov, peppering him with questions, turning ceaselessly in all directions to observe everything about the undersea world he found himself in. Their presence attracted several groupers, which swam about goggle-eyed, curious about the alien intruders. Finn made friends with one, discovering that it like being petted.
As the divers worked, La Floridana steadily disgorged her treasure. Hundreds of pounds of pieces of eight in wooden chests and sacks made of burlap; bar silver; gold doubloons or escudos; silver wedges weighing about four pounds each; silver and gold statues, rings, pendants, necklaces and crosses. They found gold ingots and an entire chest of gold imperials. They discovered several boxes containing jewelry set with emeralds and rubies, some of the stones the size of eyeballs. One diver spotted the ship’s anchor some distance away, wedged in a coral reef. The ship’s captain had thrown it out in a last desperate attempt to save his vessel from destruction, but it had struck on the submerged reef and the ship turned, foundering.
They went over to look at the anchor. It was huge. Standing, it would have towered over them. Already, the coral was encrusting it. Verne, interested to chip off some to study back aboard the sub, borrowed a handpick from the diver. Some of the coral came away, but a flash of brightness was also revealed. Verne chipped away some more, then the diver took the pick away from him and started chipping at the anchor in earnest. It was gold.
“Congratulations, Mr. Verne,” said Drakov, examining the results. “You have inadvertently uncovered a most audacious smuggling attempt. They made the anchor out of gold and then painted it over. You have discovered a fortune.”
Land swore, furious at not having found it himself, thereby earning a portion of the profits they would realize from its sale.
“Take heart, Mr. Land,” said Drakov. “You have already assisted in recovering much treasure. Your share will not be inconsiderable.”
Land turned away, then turned back quickly and gave Drakov a hard shove. With an exclamation, Drakov fell back, just in time to avoid being struck by a fifteen-foot shark that came diving down at them like a juggernaut. The shark seized upon the other diver and they heard him scream over their helmets as its jaws fastened upon him. A mist of blood filled the water as the shark thrashed, holding the diver in its jaws. Drakov fired his underwater pistol. The needle darts penetrated the shark’s tough. hide and it was paralyzed in seconds. It began to sink to the ocean floor, the diver still held in its jaws. Drakov bent down to check the man.
“He’s finished,” he said. “The blood will soon bring others. We must leave at once.”
He gave quick orders over the headset in his helmet and the divers began taking the treasure they had recovered back to the point at which they had clocked in. There were already other sharks arriving, drawn by the scent of blood, when they activated the warp disc and teleported back aboard the Nautilus.
When his helmet was removed, Drakov turned to Ned Land and said, “I neglected to thank you, Mr. Land. You saved my life.”
Land grunted.
“You will not find me unappreciative,” said Drakov. “But we can discuss that later. Right now, we are all tired and I suggest we retire to our cabins for some well-deserved rest. We’ve had a good day’s work.”
Back in their cabin, Lucas took all the dosimeters containing the listening devices and carefully wrapped them up and muffled them beneath one of the bunks. Verne’s exhaustion had finally made him fall asleep and he was stretched out in his bunk, snoring quietly.
“It looks as though you’ve made your decision, Ned,” said Finn.
Land looked at him blankly.
“That shark might neatly have solved our problem,” Finn explained. “But it would have meant a lost opportunity for you.”
Land understood. He shook his head. “I’ve decided nothing,” he said. “There may be riches to be found in this life, but what sort of life is it for a man, spending his days locked in an iron barrel at the bottom of the ocean? It’s not natural. I do not know why I saved him from that shark. I didn’t think. I only acted.”
“Finn isn’t blaming you, Ned,” said Lucas. “Are you?”
“I don’t know,” Finn said, sourly. “Maybe I am.”
“Drakov’s death wouldn’t have helped us recover the stolen shipment of warp discs,” Andre said. “And it would not have solved the problem of this submarine.”
“That’s true enough,” said Lucas. “We’ll be lucky if we can find the warp disc that clocks this sub. It’s probably no more than twelve inches in diameter and cleverly camouflaged. Besides, as we’ve already discussed, taking that disc out of commission won’t prevent them from replacing it by having someone clock out and get another one. There’s no way I can think of for us to knock out every warp disc on this sub. We’d have to take on the entire crew.”
“That leaves us only one option,” Finn said. “We have to destroy the sub.”
“They must have an arms locker somewhere aboard,” said Andre. “They may have warp grenades in there.”
Lucas massaged his temples. “Even if we could gain access to their arms locker, I don’t much fancy blowing myself away with this sub. If there isn’t any other choice, well, that’s what we’ll have to do. In that case, I don’t see any reason why all of us should die. Maybe we can overpower several of the crewmen at the right moment and relieve them of their discs. Then the others could clock out and whichever one of us remains to blow up the sub might have a chance to make it. But it would be a hell of a long shot.”
“Andre’s right, though,” Finn said. “We can’t just leave an entire shipment of warp discs lying around for anyone to find. Drakov must have a base of operations somewhere. We have to find out where.”
Andre smiled. “Think he’ll tell us if we ask him nicely?”
“No, but perhaps he’ll show us. It stands to reason he has a base. He’d need a submarine tender, at the very least. Before he puts his plan into effect, whatever his plan is, I think he’ll touch base.”
“Yes, but suppose he kills us before then?” said Lucas.
“Not much we can do about that, is there?” Andre said. “He’s liable to do just about anything. The man is insane.”
“Maybe that works for us,” Finn said. “If I were in his place, I would have killed us right off. This living paradox, instrument of Fate thing has really got a hold of him. Maybe we can play on that somehow.”
“Suppose I were to decide to join him?” Land said. They all turned to look at him.
“What I mean is,” Land said, “I’ve seen the treasure. My greed’s been awakened. I saved his life. What if I were to go to him and tell him, in secret, I’ve decided to accept his offer? I would say I overheard you three making plans and I will maybe pass on some of those plans to him. I’ll tell him I am afraid you three will spoil my chances of being a rich man. I will secretly become a part of his crew, but stay with you so I can spy on you and keep him informed, and watch out for my own interests. He might take me into his confidence and I might learn something of use. How does it sound?”
Lucas looked at Land with new respect. “It sounds good, Ned. Damn good.”
“Maybe too good,” Finn said. “How do we know that’s not exactly what you’ll do? Spy on us for him?”
Land was on his feet in an instant and in the next instant, Finn was on the floor. Land had his fists up.
“Get up,” he said. “Get up and fight!”
Finn sat up slowly, rubbing his jaw. “Not me,” he said. “You hit too hard.” He grinned. “I’m sorry, Ned. I had to do that. I’m the suspicious sort. I believe you.”
Land glowered at him. “How do I know that?” he said.
“Touche,” said Finn. “I’ll tell you how you know that. Because you hit me, that’s why.”
Land frowned. “That makes no sense at all.”
“It makes a great deal of sense,” said Finn. “If you were planning to double-cross us, I don’t think you would have hit me. You wouldn’t have reacted that way. You would have reacted with outrage at the suggestion, but then you would have tried your utmost to convince us you were sincere. A man who’s planning treachery would act deviously. He’d play up to those he’s planning to betray, not attack them.”
Land scowled. “I think you are a devious man yourself, mon ami.”
“You’re right,” said Finn. “That’s why I’ve lived so long.”
