Simon Hawke - The Nautilus Sanction

“There was one ship,” Drakov said, “a man-of-war named La Floridana, which sank completely in deep water. The Spaniards searched for her extensively, but no trace of her was ever found. La Floridana does not appear on any of the Spanish maps charting the locations of the wrecks, maps which despite their inaccuracies guided future treasure hunters. La Floridana is a mystery ship. Only she is not a mystery to me, for I have found her. She lies in the deep water off Key Largo, where the ocean currents buried her in sand, hiding her beneath the ocean bottom, safe from prying eyes. Only I have seen her prior to her burial. I have been there once before.”

“What will you do with this treasure, Captain?” Land said, already in the grip of gold fever.

“Sell it, Mr. Land,” said Drakov. “What else does one do with gold and silver? I am a wealthy man already, but my venture has seriously depleted my reserves and I must augment my treasury. We have the advantage not only of clocking back to a time before La Floridana was buried in the ocean floor, but of clocking forward to a time when the worth of what is aboard her will have increased a thousandfold. You may join us on our salvage operation, if you wish. A good worker is always welcome and you will be allowed to keep a part of what you find.”

“How much of a part?” Land immediately asked.

Drakov chuckled. “Enough, Mr. Land. Enough to satisfy even a man of your voracious appetite. What is to be found aboard La Floridana is but a minuscule portion of what is available to us beneath the sea. There can be times when life is hard for us, but there are also times when we live very well indeed. We can pick and choose those times.”

“What are you doing, Drakov?” Finn said. “Recruiting?”

“And why not? Mr. Land is aboard my submarine already. Why not as a productive member of the crew instead of as awkward supercargo?” Drakov shrugged. “There is always room for more in my organization. It is something worth considering.” He turned to Ned. “There is no need to give your answer now, Mr. Land. There is ample time. Once you have experienced fully the sort of life we lead, then you can decide. I wish your choice to be an informed one.”

“And what about the others?” Land said. “You make the same offer to them?”

“No, Mr. Land,” said Drakov. “I have too much respect for them to think they would ever be disloyal to their commander. Their duty is to stop me, to kill me if they can. It is up to me to make certain they do not have that opportunity. It’s really all quite simple. We understand each other. I cannot tempt them with treasure. But you, Mr. Land, I have a feeling you might be tempted.”

Back in their cabin, they searched for three hours without finding the bug. Land lay silently in his bunk, eyes open and staring. Verne was in the library once again. They finally gave up and went to the engine room, where their presence caused suspicious glances, but nothing more.

“This is ridiculous,” Finn said into Lucas’s ear. “We’re not getting anywhere.”

Lucas leaned close to Finn. “We have to find that monitoring device. We can’t even take the chance of talking among ourselves until we do.”

“We looked everywhere,” said Finn.

“We must have missed something,” Andre said. “Think.” “I’m more concerned about that warp disc,” Lucas said. “It’s got to be somewhere aboard this sub.”

“What about Drakov’s cabin?” Andre said.

“Good a place to look as any,” Lucas replied, “but it seems a little obvious.”

“The problem is not in finding it, but what to do about it when we do,” said Finn. “If we sabotage it, they’ll know immediately. And it won’t be any trouble for them to clock out to wherever they’ve got the rest of the shipment hidden and get another one.”

“That is a problem,” said Lucas. “Everyone on board’s got warp discs. Even if we manage to sabotage the sub, they can all clock out to God knows where. Drakov’s got us and he knows it.”

“Only what’s he going to do with us?” said Andre.

Count Grigori entered the engine room and stood there, his huge arms folded across his chest.

“I think the conference is over,” Lucas said.

They walked past him out into the companionway. He said nothing to them. They found Verne in the library, reading avidly.

“You’d better do as Drakov suggested, Jules,” said Lucas. “You need to get some rest.”

“How can I rest?” said Verne, indicating the books around him. “There is enough here to keep dozens of scholars busy for decades. I cannot waste a moment of such an opportunity.”

“Jules,” said Andre, “transition can be difficult, especially when you’ve never experienced it before. Please.”

Verne sighed. “Very well, if you insist. I am beginning to feel a bit weary.”

Finn glanced at Lucas. “You think he’d have the library bugged, as well?”

“Bugged?” said Verne.

Lucas explained. “Drakov has planted a listening device somewhere in our cabin.”

“Ah, I see,” said Verne. “And you have been unable to locate it?”

“We’ve searched everywhere,” said Andre.

“You are quite certain?” Verne said.

Lucas shrugged. “I can’t think of anywhere else to look.”

“This device,” said Verne, “it could be quite small, no? Like your alarm device back on the ship?”

“Yes, it probably would be,” Lucas said.

“But you have taken that into consideration and still been unsuccessful?”

They nodded.

Verne scratched his chin, thoughtfully. “It is certain he did not expect us to be aboard,” he said. “If such a device was installed in the cabin, it must have been done after we arrived.”

“That would pose no problem,” Finn said. “They’ve had ample opportunity.”

“Yes, yes, but I am thinking you would know what to look for and still you have not found it,” Verne said.

“Don’t concern yourself, Jules,” said Lucas, putting a hand on the writer’s shoulder. “If we couldn’t find it, I doubt you could.”

Verne looked up at him from where he sat and smiled. “I must seem quite primitive to you three,” he said.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Lucas said quickly. “It’s only that-”

Verne reached out and unclipped the dosimeter from the belt of Lucas’s jumpsuit. He looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, then held it up. Lucas frowned, then understanding dawned.

He took the dosimeter from Verne and examined it closely. Then he showed it to Finn and Andre. They immediately checked theirs, as well. Each contained a listening device.

“I apologize, Jules,” said Lucas. “I didn’t mean to be insulting. You’re quite welcome to search for the listening device, if you want to. But it’s probably a waste of time. Even if we found it, they’d only install another one and hide it more cleverly the second time.”

Verne looked puzzled for a moment, then he understood. “Well, you are quite right, mon ami. We are, after all, uninvited guests aboard this vessel. One can hardly blame the captain for wishing to be cautious. I will put the matter from my mind and get some rest, as you suggest.”

When the diving Klaxon and the missile chimes sounded one after the other, Verne tensed and clenched his fists; he went rigid in his bunk and glanced with alarm at the others. Land was also in his bunk, but Lucas, Finn and Andre sat at the table, playing cards with a deck they borrowed from one of the crewmen.

“It will be all right, Jules,” Finn said. “Try to relax.”

“Relax?” said Verne. “Relax? I am about to travel to another time and you want me to relax? Should you not lie down as well?”

Lucas smiled. “We’ve done this many, many times before, Jules. We’re accustomed to it.”