And although the land has filled in over the past three thousand years, geologists can show the outline of several islands that are now part of the mainland. Cailleux and Wilkens have identified most of Odysseus' ports of call, none of which are in the Mediterranean.'
'I have to agree,' said Yaeger. 'By using all the known information on Odysseus' itinerant voyage, Homer's descriptions, Cailleux and Wilkens's theories, Bronze Age navigation methods, tides and currents, Max and I have arrived at a travel plan for his ports of call.'
Yaeger picked up the remote and pressed a numbered code. A chart of the north Atlantic Ocean filled the screen. A red line traveled down the coast of Africa from southern England before it crossed over the water past the Cape Verde Islands into the isles of the Caribbean. He used a laser beam as a pointer and began to trace Odysseus' journey from England.
'Odysseus' first landfall after being swept out to sea was what he described as the Land of the Lotus Eaters. According to Wilkens, this was probably the West Coast of Africa at Senegal. Lotus here is a genus of the pea family and readily consumed by the natives for thousands of years, since it has a narcotic effect. From there, the winds took him west to the Cape Verde Islands, which is the logical choice for the island of the Cyclops, because Odysseus' description matches them almost perfectly.'
'That land of one-eyed people,' Sandecker said with a tight smile.
'Nowhere does Homer suggest all of the people had one eye,' Yaeger explained. 'They had two, only Polyphemus had one, and it wasn't in the middle of his forehead.'
'If I recall my
Yaeger merely nodded. 'By computing the prevailing winds and currents, I put Odysseus' next landfall somewhere on one of the many islands south of Martinique and north of Trinidad. From there, he and his fleet were driven by a storm to the Land of the Laestrygonians. Here, one of the small islands called Branwyn, off Guadeloupe, fits the bill. The high cliffs on each side of the narrow channel he described his ship entering matches the island geography to a T.'
'This is where the Laestrygonians destroyed Odysseus' fleet,' added Perlmutter.
'If that were true,' said Yaeger, 'the ships loaded with treasure would still lie in the silt of the harbor.'
'What is the name of the island?'
'Branwyn,' responded Yaeger, 'was a Celtic goddess and one of the three matriarchs of Britain.'
'What country owns the island?' asked Dirk.
'It's privately owned.'
'Do you know by whom?' asked Summer. 'A rock star, an actor, maybe some wealthy businessmen?'
'No, Branwyn is owned by a wealthy woman.' He paused to check his notes. 'Her name is Epona Eliade.'
'Epona is the name of the Celtic goddess,' said Summer. 'Now there's a coincidence.'
'Maybe more than mere serendipity,' said Yaeger. 'I'll check it out.'
'Where was Odysseus' next port?' asked Sandecker.
'Now with only one ship out of twelve,' Yaeger continued, 'he sailed to the island of Circe, called Aeaea, which computes as Navidad Bank, a spot Homer placed on the edge of the world.'
'Circe!' Summer gasped. 'Circe was the woman who lived and died in the structure we found?'
Yaeger shrugged. 'What can I say? This is all conjecture, which is next to impossible to prove.'
'But what brought her across the ocean so many centuries ago?' Gunn wondered aloud.
Perlmutter placed his folded hands on his ample stomach. 'There was more travel back and forth between the continents than anyone has envisioned.'
'I'd be interested in learning where you place Hades,' said Sandecker to Yaeger.
'The best guess is the Santo Tomas caverns on Cuba.'
Perlmutter daintily blew his nose, then asked, 'After he left Hades, where did he meet with the Sirens, Scylla the monster and Charybdis the whirlpool?'
Yaeger threw up his hands. 'I have to write those events off to Homer's wild imagination. No geographical location works for any of them this side of the Atlantic.' He paused a moment before picking up Odysseus' journey on the chart again. 'Next, Odysseus sails eastward until he reaches Calypso's island of Ogygia, which Wilkens and I agree is St. Miguel in the Azores.'
'Calypso was the beautiful sister goddess of Circe,' said Summer.
'They were women of the very highest rank. Didn't Odysseus and Calypso spend a romantic interlude together in a virtual garden paradise after his affair with Circe on her island?'
'He did,' Yaeger replied. 'After Odysseus leaves a tearful Calypso on the shore, his final stop is a detour by adverse winds to the palace of King Alcinous, which works out to be Lanzarote Island in the Canaries. After relating his adventures to the king and his family, he is given a ship and finally makes his way home to Ithaca.'
'Where do you put Ithaca?' inquired Gunn.
'As Cailleux said, the port of Cadiz in southwestern Spain.'
There came a few moments of silence around the table as everyone assimilated the classic tale and the multitude of theories. How much was remotely close to the truth? Only Homer knew, and he hadn't spoken for three thousand years.
Dirk smiled at Summer. 'You have to give Odysseus credit for masculine charisma, having affairs with the two most beautiful and influential women of his time. Before he came along and seduced them, both ladies were chaste and inaccessible.'
'If the truth be known,' said Chisholm, 'neither lady was a goddess nor pure as the driven snow. They were both described as incredibly beautiful women with magical personalities. Circe was a sorceress, Calypso an enchantress. As a mere mortal, Odysseus could have never satisfied either one. Chances are they were Druidesses who took part in all manner of wild and perverse rituals. And as such, they intimately conducted human sacrifice, which they considered necessary for eternal life.'
Summer shook her head. 'It's still hard to believe.'
'But true,' replied Chisholm. 'Druidesses were known to have drawn men into sacrificial rites and orgies. And as leaders of their feminine cult, they had the power to control their worshipers into waging whatever acts they desired.'
Yaeger nodded. 'Lucky for us, Druidism died out a thousand years ago.'
'There lies the catch,' said Chisholm. 'Druidism is still very much with us in the present. There are cults throughout Europe that follow the ancient rituals.'
'Except for the human sacrifice,' Yaeger said with a grim smile.
'No,' Boyd said seriously. 'Despite it being a crime of murder, human sacrifice among the underground Druid cults still takes place.'
After the others had left, Sandecker called Dirk and Summer into his office. As soon as they were all seated, he came quickly to the point.
'I'd like you two to conduct an archaeology project.'
Summer and Dirk swapped confused looks. They had no idea where the admiral was leading them.
'You want us to go back to Navidad Bank?' asked Dirk.
'No, I want you to fly down to Guadeloupe and survey the harbor on the island of Branwyn.'
'Since it's privately owned, won't we need permission?' asked Summer.
'As long as you don't step ashore, you won't be trespassing.'
Dirk looked at Sandecker skeptically. 'You want us to search for the treasure lost in the land of the Laestrygonians by Odysseus' fleet?'
'No, I want you to find the ships and their artifacts. If successful, they would be by far the oldest shipwrecks found in the Western Hemisphere and alter recorded ancient history. If it can be done, I want it done by NUMA.'
Summer folded her hands on the table nervously. 'You must realize, Admiral, the odds of making such an incredible find are a million to one.'
'The one chance is worth the effort. Better to have tried than sit on our hands and never know.'
'Do you have a timetable?'
