The Wreck

"I'm well aware of your situation. In fact, I waited until you had run through your grant money and that you have made fencing items to Hasin."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I am comfortably well off, but I want to be rich. You're an archeologist, not a treasure hunter. So I feel I can workout a deal with you that is more advantageous to myself, than I could with another person seeking financial gain."

"I'd like to be rich too, ya know?" Viv said, arching an eyebrow.

The woman smiled broadly and then laughed. It was a beautiful sound, rich and vibrant. "Of course. I'm not suggesting you take nothing. Merely that you will be happy with less than a professional treasure seeker would.

"All right, what's the deal?" Viv asked.

The girl pulled a letter sized envelope from her bag and passed it to Viv.

"That's a contract, drawn up by my lawyer. The terms are pretty simple. I will front you ten thousand US dollars, and will take you to the site. If we find nothing, it's my loss. If we find a wreck, the first ten thousand dollars worth of artifacts brought up are mine, to dispose of as I will. After that, we will split the take fifty-fifty. There is also a clause that gives you right of first refusal, that is to say, if something found in the first ten thousand has significant historical value, you may purchase it from me first. You have first right to choose your portion, that is to say, you may forego monies earned from the sale of raw silver and gold, instead using your share of those to claim artifacts you deem museum worthy."

"Sounds fair so far," Viv said, pulling the contract out.

"It further stipulates that you will incur all costs in claiming the wreck site, fighting any court battles and you assume responsibility to manage any problems that occur with the international maritime authorities."

"That could be very expensive."

"I know. That's why it comes from your portion. To counter balance that, all expenses that accrue from the ongoing excavation will come from my portion. That is to say, I will assume all expenses to procure you ships, equipment, pay salaries, and such. We will basically be entering into a limited partnership."

"All right, go on."

"Since the expenses you will incur are theoretical, while those I incur are a foregone conclusion, I think it's very fair. You have the know-how, I have the location of the site. We both stand to profit enormously. Only I will incur any initial risk."

"So far so good, what's the catch?"

The woman smiled again. "Only this, I go with you on the expedition. It isn't that I don't trust you, but I do not wish to see my investment squandered."

"That seems reasonable," Viv replied as she read over the terms in the contract.

"One final thing, something not in the contract," the woman said.

"Yes?" Viv said, looking up at her as something in the woman's voice caught her attention. "I'm a woman of very strong...proclivities. I will expect you to keep me...entertained while we are out."

She was still smiling, her eyes laughing, but Viv realized she was dead serious.

"I...don't swing that way," Viv said carefully.

"That's a pity. Ah, well, I hope you will keep the information given confidential," the woman said as she gathered up the book and cross and slipped them back into her bag.

She was obviously about to leave and it was just as obvious Viv wouldn't let her. The new theory had rekindled her excitement and the cross gave tangible proof the woman knew where some wreck lay. The final arbiter though, was her dedication to preservation. If she let this woman walk, she might find a treasure hunter and if that happened, the opportunity for archeology and preservation would be almost assuredly lost.

Viv had chided herself for not sleeping with Mabek. That would have only given her a few more hours of air. This was a case of the find of a life time. It was made easier by the fact her sexuality had always been somewhat ambiguous. That wasn't to say she had experimented greatly, rather the opposite was true. She had always been so absorbed in her work that sex had most often been something of a temporary escape and a rarity even then.

Her last full semester in the dorms, she had drawn a party girl with a healthy appetite for pleasures of the flesh and no pronounced preference in her partner's gender. Donna had seduced her and the sex had been, well, to be honest, she had been so drunk she didn't remember it. What she did remember was how awkward things had been afterwards and how glad she was when the semester had ended and she had gotten an apartment off campus.

If this extraordinary woman demanded sex as part of the price, Viv decided she would pay that price. The decision was strangely easy, like the decision to remove a piece of lumber to see what was under it. Unlike her work, she approached sex in such a detached way, it was almost emotionless.

"Fine then, you have a deal," Viv said, extending her hand.

The woman smiled like the cat who ate the canary and shook.

"Here's five thousand," she said, handing Viv a cashier's check, already made out to her.

"East slip, berth 245," Viv said mechanically.

"I'll be there in the morning," the tall woman said as she turned.

"Wait!"

"Yes." She replied, turning back to the table.

"What's your name?" Viv asked.

"Calizza, Calizza Ramirez."

"Make it day after tomorrow, we will need to reoutfit and I have to get at least one more diver."

"As you wish."

"It's just sex for god's sake, Burt!" Viv said in exasperation.

"I don't care, it ain't a good idea," the tall man continued stubbornly.

"And I don't care. I don't care anything about it. What I do care about is finding the Gulphin!" she exclaimed, raising her voice.

They stood on the diving deck, staring one another down. Burt finally relented and looked away.

"All right, I guess the decision is really yours anyway. The weather looks good and we're gassed up, so where is this mystery woman?"

"That's her," Viv said quietly, as she spotted the tall woman sauntering towards them.

She wore a yellow bikini top that barely covered her nipples and a red gauzy wrap around skirt, which did little to hide the fact her thong was equally tiny. The eyes of every sailor and ship's hand followed her and she was obviously used to the attention. Three teens trailed behind her, carrying luggage.

"Welcome aboard," Burt said as Calizza stepped off the gangplank and onto the ship's lower deck.

"Thank you, captain," she replied, flashing that dazzling smile Viv had noted earlier.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your cabin," Burt said, leading her and the boys into the ship's cavernous interior.

The Keyliner was no ordinary dive boat. She had originally been an auxiliary salvage ship in the U.S. navy. Burt had purchased her at auction and after a massive refit, done mostly by the burly captain himself and some buddies, he had began running her as an excursion boat.

The bottom deck was still much the same as it had been in her navy days, the two giant diesel engines that drove her, generators for producing electricity, a distiller for fresh water and the big walk in freezer. Burt had stripped the second deck and outfitted it with small staterooms. He could easily handle up to thirty couples on the various dive trips he chartered out on during the dive season.

The third deck held access to the launch he used when running drift dives. It also housed much of the equipment Viv had managed to get grants for, like the towed array side scan sonar and the rig for handling an ROV, which she hadn't managed to land yet. At least when she got it, she would have the umbilical and electronics room already ready for action.

The fourth deck sat below the closed bridge and housed Burt's cabin and a small lounge/kitchen. Above that was the bridge and situated above that was an open, flying bridge, where he usually sat while dives were in progress.

Andy was still stowing food, but paused to take in the site of the tall woman's ass in her thong and nearly see through skirt as she followed Burt in. Viv smiled and lent him a hand. Her call had caught him in Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, waiting for a connecting flight to College Station. Dave and Candy had decided not to come back, but asked to be called if they found anything. Andy had been glad to hurry back, escaping the dull process of interviewing for jobs.

The boys left, each clutching a crisp five dollar bill in his hand and before noon the Keyliner eased clear of her moorings and headed out towards the open sea.

"What?" Viv asked.

Burt didn't reply immediately, but continued to throttle back until the engines were only a muted throb.

"Bottoms coming up fast," he grunted.

"Eighty feet, sixty, thirty. Have to back the engines," he declared, his hand easing the throttle to neutral and back without his eyes ever leaving the depth gauge.

"Gonna drop anchor, it's too shallow to take chances."

Viv went to the big table and pulled out the charts. It took her a few minutes to find the right one and to find their position.

"What's it say?" Burt inquired without taking his hands off the wheel.

"So far, our lady friend seems right on. NOAA charts show it as a small shoal, seven feet at the shallowest point."

"We're steady, water's choppy, catching the tail end of that squall we saw on the weather map. You want to try to hit the water or wait till morning?"

"Frankly, we don't have time to squander. I'll grab Andy and we'll take a quick look around."

Viv hurried down to the dive deck and took her suit out of the locker with her name on it. Andy was already wearing his core warmer and had two sets of cylinders in the rack. Viv slipped off her shorts and slid into the tight suit. She noticed Calizza had appeared and was watching her intently. Viv blushed, embarrassed by her small suit bottom, but tried to keep her mind on what she was doing. It was odd that she had never even considered how brief her bikini bottom was on earlier dives.

She expertly attached her BCD to the cylinder and followed with her octopus. She was in a hurry, but she tested the auto inflate and both her secondary and emergency regulator. Her mask and snorkel were sitting in the five gallon bucket of water, already cleaned and defogged. She clipped a sample bag to her BCD, along with the camera and the small drawing board and underwater markers. Andy had a camera and the small bag of implements used for clearing debris.

Viv stepped into her fins, pulled on the mask and took the big step off the rear of the boat. The water was warm and she signaled to Burt she was OK. Andy was next to her and smiled before giving the down signal. Viv gave him an ok and they both let the air out of their BCDs.

The water wasn't as clear as she expected, but they still had good visibility. The bottom was mostly sand, with only a few small outcroppings of coral. Several fish watched them curiously or darted away. Viv took a picture of the bottom, and then checked the compass on her dive computer. She made a note of the orientation of the picture on her board and they moved off.

The bottom fell, in a startling drop off. She could see another sand bed below them, but no timbers or cannon. In fact, nothing at all to indicate a wreck site. Viv tapped her cylinder with her dive tool, to get Andy's attention and pointed down. He gave her an O.K. and they descended again.

They carefully searched the bottom, but saw nothing other than pristine white sand, shells, a few corals and fish. It seemed like they had only just descended when her computer beeped to let her know her bottom time was up. She reached for her dive tool, but stopped. On the floor a few feet from her was a small, black disk. Viv felt her heart rate shoot up. She recognized it immediately as a coin, the proverbial piece of eight. She grabbed it and would have looked further, but her computer beeped again. Viv tapped her cylinder and Andy looked up. Viv gave the up sign and they began to ascend.

At five meters they stopped and waited five minutes, then proceeded to the surface. The boat was about forty feet away, so after a short surface swim they came back aboard with Burt's help.

"I sure didn't see anything promising," Andy declared as he sat on the bench and removed his mask.

"I was afraid of that," Burt said, as he used the hydraulic lift to raise the dive platform.

"What about you boss?" Andy asked.

"Kiddo? Viv!" Burt hollered.

"What? Oh. Take a look," she said, passing the small object to Andy.

His eyes lit up and he shouted.

"Son of a bitch," Burt mused, looking over the redhead's shoulder at the small prize.

"We found it! We found it!" Andy enthused.

"Don't jump to conclusions. We've found something, but one doubloon does not a wreck make and we have had enough false calls to know better than to think it's the Gulphin."

Viv sat on the double bed in her bow cabin with a big picture book and her small find. The coin was sitting in a small tray of salt water and she was looking through a book of coins to see if she could make a preliminary finding. Nothing could be made out on the faces, but she felt certain when the coin had been to the conservator it would yield plenty of information. For the moment, she was sure only that it was silver and had a unique shape, which indicated a South American mint, rather than one in Spain proper.

Her search was really more to keep her mind occupied than anything else. It would take more than even positive identification of the coin's mint and a date to establish this wreck was the Gulphin.

Viv tried to stay focused on her book, but her cabin mate's things were all around her. Calizza was down at the stern end of the ship, where the showers were located, but she would be back soon and Viv had no idea of what would happen then. Normally, she would be trying to sleep by now, knowing how depleting tomorrow's long dives would be to her body. In fairness, she never managed much sleep anyway and despite her qualms, she had to admit her curiosity was at least as strong as her trepidation.

She likened it to her first free dive in open water. There was that terrible curiosity to see what her parents had been telling her about for years, coupled with the intense fear she would do something wrong and drown. That experience had turned out to be her introduction to the love of her life. She wondered what this one would bring.

Viv started when the stateroom door clicked and swung open. Calizza wore a purple silk dressing gown that seemed sculpted to her body. It fell just inches past the vee of her legs and, with her skin still slightly damp, left little to the imagination. The tall woman smiled as she placed the small bag she had taken with her on the floor and moved gracefully to the dresser and began to comb out her hair.

Viv returned her gaze to the book before her and re-read the short descriptive phrase that accompanied each picture. The size of the small coin and its shape, seemed to best fit those minted in Peru from roughly 1640 to 1680. It that were the case, it gave one more tantalizing clue that perhaps after years of searching she was at the right place. Unfortunately, it also resembled coins minted in the mid 1700's, which would dash their hopes if that was the case.

She felt the bed sag and became extremely conscious of herself as Calizza settled in next to her.

"What are you studying so intently?" the black girl whispered in her ear.

Viv shivered, feeling goose bumps rise on her neck and shoulders as the girl's warm breath engulfed her sensitive ear.

"Coin nomenclature," she replied in a throaty voice she barely recognized as her own.

"Mmm, and what does it say?"

"N...n...nothing really. It's just a guide."

"Then why are you studying it so intently?" she asked as she traced a finger along Viv's bare arm.

The contact sent shivers through her and this time her whole body seemed to react with goose bumps.

"If the coin fits the right time frame, it's a clue to the wreck's identity," she managed in a more controlled voice.

"It's the Gulphin," the girl purred in her ear.

As she did so her hands slipped downward, barely touching Viv's ribs beneath her t-shirt.

"We don't know that."

"What other wreck could it be?" Calizza whispered, before pressing her lips to Viv's neck.

"I don't know," the blonde whispered, closing her eyes and arching her back slightly.

Calizza's hand settled on Viv's hip, one long finger toying with the delicate lace at the edge of the archeologist's panties. Viv found herself biting her lower lip and shaking slightly.

"Will tomorrow's dive give you any better indications?" Calizza asked.

"Hmm? Who knows?" Viv responded with difficulty.

That single finger was giving her fits, drawing her attention downward to where it playfully teased her. At the same time the questions forced her to think and respond.

"So basically, your book can't help and you're not even sure tomorrow's dive will?"

"Basically."

"Then you won't mind if we concentrate on other things?" she asked with a smile.

"Like?" Viv said hesitantly.

"Like how good you're going to look with your face buried in my cunt," the dark skinned girl growled.

The words hit her like a slap. Viv stiffened and the girl laughed impishly.

"I'm glad to see you really are a shy one and not playing hard to get," Calizza said as her finger burrowed under the thin material of Viv's panties.

"Playing?"

Calizza laughed that musical laugh and disengaged her body from Viv's. She stood up and placed a hand on her hip. She waited for the blonde to look up, but when it became apparent she wouldn't, Calizza laughed again.

"Look at me," she commanded.

Slowly, as if fighting some unseen barrier, the blonde raised her eyes.

"Life's hard here in the islands. Poverty is rampant and most folks would kill for American dollars. It's why the tourist trade far surpasses any other field of endeavor. Why work eight hours a day in the mines, when bilking a cruise ship passenger into paying ten American dollars for a blanket you paid practically nothing for pays better and is infinitely less dangerous?"

"I know."

"No, you don't know!" she said vehemently.

Viv flinched at the tone and Calizza's blazing eyes, but the tall girl's face softened almost instantly.

"You can't know, you simply can't, unless you've lived it. My family always had a little money and there was always the fall back of my looks and education, should worst have come to worst."

As she spoke, she pulled the loose end of the sash that held her robe closed.

"You learn very quickly to take no one at face value. Everyone is looking to play you, everyone has an angle, everyone is more concerned with getting to your money than getting to know you."

"I've met some very nice people here," Viv said quietly.

Calizza paused and then smiled radiantly.

"Of course you have. Don't take my words to be as inclusive as they were. There are more good people than bad, but the bad ones are very bad. I went through a string of disastrous relationships, with girls who seemed so wonderful, but were in fact, using me. Once bitten is twice shy, as they say. Or to put it another way, I'm very jaded and cynical for my age."

"I can understand that."

The tall girl studied her for a long moment, before speaking again.

"Perhaps you can. If so, it should be easy to see why I entertained some doubts about you."

"No, I don't see. You demanded this part of it. I had nothing to do with it," Viv protested.

The tall girl chuckled as she pulled the sash free. Despite herself, Viv's eyes were glued to the girl's body and although the robe did slide a bit off her shoulders, it didn't fall open.