Page 67 of Night's Reckoning
A few moments later, Kadek began to move through the dark ocean, the light and camera held in front of him, and Ben, Tenzin, Johari, and Fabia were able to see the full scope of the site they would be in charge of excavating.
“You know, twenty meters doesn’t seem all that big when you’re talking about it,” Ben muttered. “But in reality—”
“It’s massive,” Fabia said.
“Is it longer than twenty meters?” Johari cocked her head. “Twenty-five perhaps?”
Fabia spoke into the walkie-talkie. “Kadek, how long is it? Over twenty meters?”
A hand moved in front of the camera and gave a thumbs-up.
“More than twenty-five?”
The hand turned the thumb down.
“Okay,” Fabia said. “So between twenty and twenty-five meters, which fits what the sonar measured. I mean, the bow is pretty wrecked, so there’s no way of measuring for sure. There could be a large amount of cargo in that space if enough of the hold was buried, but we won’t know for some time. We’re fortunate that it is not in deeper water.”
Tenzin took a long breath. “How careful do we have to be?”
“Very careful,” Fabia said. “This wreck is vital to creating a narrative of trade between the Middle East and Asia. It’s part of the maritime Silk Road and—”
“Fabi, as soon as rumors about this get out,” Ben said, “there will be looters every day and every night.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t a flooded city or dock. This is literally a treasure ship, and everything in that cargo hold is probably valuable.”
She made a small noise that sounded like a wounded puppy.
Tenzin said, “The only advantage we have is that we have both human and vampire crews. We’ll need to work as fast as possible.”
Johari concurred. “A find like this is like blood in the water for our kind. Unknown treasure that is less accessible to humans and without any official provenance? This wreck is worth tens of millions of dollars in immortal circles. That’s a conservative guess.”
Ben tried to reassure Fabia. “We’re going to preserve as much as possible. We’re going to give the university team access as long as we can. We’re going to take tons of pictures and document everything. But the priority on this trip isn’t preserving a shipwreck, it’s retrieving a valuable artifact for its rightful owner. Don’t forget that.”
She bit her knuckle. “Ben, there’s so much here. The ship, the artifacts, even the position and location of the wreck tells a story.”
“And you and the university crew will be able to read that story. But we’re taking the cargo out. We have to. Otherwise, it’ll all be gone.”
18
Cheng ran a towel over his hair, drying his long locks as Tenzin lounged on the small sofa in the captain’s quarters, which had been retrofitted for vampire safety. She stared out the broad windows he could enjoy when he wasn’t locked in the compact and lightproof stateroom he’d had customized for the journey.
Cheng definitely had the best view. Tenzin supposed those were the perks of paying for the expedition.
“I just received a message from Jonathan.” Cheng tapped on the tablet lying on his desk. “Your father is at your house.”
Tenzin sat up. “What?”
“He alerted Jonathan to his presence but said he wouldn’t be coming into the city so…” Cheng shrugged. “There’s not much I can do about it. We agreed centuries ago that your village west of the city is neutral ground between my territory and Penglai.”
“Technically, all of Shanghai is in Penglai’s territory.”
The look Cheng sent her was unamused.
Tenzin lay back down on the couch. “I’m just saying…”
“You sound so American now.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.” Cheng stripped off his wet pants and put on a pair of dry trousers. “This job is going to be more complicated with the university crew.”
