just an errand boy diving on a grid someone gave me. But sure as hell, I’d have found her by now. We were so close . . .” He shrugged. “Not close enough. Like chasing the devil’s own rainbow. God-rotting bureaucrats. The sea was meant to be free to anyone with the wit and guts to survive her.”
“So was the New World once. Now it’s all claimed several times over.”
“Vultures feeding on the carcass of men’s dreams.”
“At least you don’t have a court fight ahead of you,” Kate said. “Silver lining, Grandpa.”
He said something under his breath, raised his pipe, and clamped his teeth around the stem.
“And you’re only having to go about eighty feet down, ninety if it’s on the slope to the drop-off. Much easier on the divers,” she added. “Faster salvage, too.”
“No point breaking your balls on those deep wrecks. Most of the time it takes more millions in equipment to recover anything and then a battalion of lawyers to keep governments at bay. Recovery costs far more than any treasure is worth. Besides, having robots do the work of men is for nancy boys and bureaucrats. I’m neither.”
Kate braced for the rant to come. Even when she’d been a child, Grandpa had hated modern technology almost as much as he hated modern laws and the governments that thought them up.
He’s afraid, she realized suddenly. The past is gone and he doesn’t fit in the present.
“ I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“For what? Last time I looked you were family, not bloody government.”
For being young, she thought. For fitting into the present better than you do.
“Please don’t take it out on the messenger,” she said softly.
“You?”
“Holden Cameron.”
“That miserable bastard. Who is he to be talking about thieves?”
Kate stepped into her usual family job. Peacemaker. “For what it’s worth, if the Brits wanted to shut down the operation and revoke the contract, Holden would have done it the second he set foot on the boat. Or sooner. A radio call would have taken care of it.”
“So he’s here to spy,” Grandpa snarled.
She sighed. “More like a guard to make sure that the Golden Bough doesn’t disappear into the sunset with a hold full of treasure that the British government claims.”
He gave her a narrow-eyed glare. “If I’d intended to do that, I never would’ve taken this contract.”
“You didn’t. Larry did. It’s his signature on the bottom line.”
“Larry’s a good boy, but he couldn’t tie a proper flat knot without being reminded how to. You only needed to be shown once,” he said, looking directly at her. His faded green eyes held the regret of a dream that hadn’t come true. “You should be running this show. We’d not be in a pickle if—”
“Don’t start,” she cut in. “I didn’t come here so that you could rail at me in person for letting the family down.”
“You have your father’s intelligence and your mother’s fire.” A faint smile softened the weathered lines of his face. “All right, Kitty darling. No more on that subject. So tell me, have you found a way to drain the red ink filling the bilge?”
She shook her head. “For someone who’s as old-fashioned as you insist you are, this operation has spent a saint’s ransom on electronics and expensive air mixtures for the divers.”
“That’s all Larry’s doing. The boy thinks he’s going to find the next hundred-million-dollar wreck. I put my foot down when it came to rebreathing gear. He can play all he wants with his own toy, but old-fashioned scuba gear is good enough for me. Cheaper, too.”
Neither mentioned that her parents had died using rebreathing gear.
“Even if Larry found a lifetime wreck,” she said, “and you could reach it, some government would claim it. Spain, Portugal, Britain, France—even Mexico and South American countries are trying to claim sovereignty over old shipwrecks. People are very possessive about history.”
“Only when
“So was the New World once. Now it’s all claimed several times over.”
“Vultures feeding on the carcass of men’s dreams.”
“At least you don’t have a court fight ahead of you,” Kate said. “Silver lining, Grandpa.”
He said something under his breath, raised his pipe, and clamped his teeth around the stem.
“And you’re only having to go about eighty feet down, ninety if it’s on the slope to the drop-off. Much easier on the divers,” she added. “Faster salvage, too.”
“No point breaking your balls on those deep wrecks. Most of the time it takes more millions in equipment to recover anything and then a battalion of lawyers to keep governments at bay. Recovery costs far more than any treasure is worth. Besides, having robots do the work of men is for nancy boys and bureaucrats. I’m neither.”
Kate braced for the rant to come. Even when she’d been a child, Grandpa had hated modern technology almost as much as he hated modern laws and the governments that thought them up.
He’s afraid, she realized suddenly. The past is gone and he doesn’t fit in the present.
“ I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“For what? Last time I looked you were family, not bloody government.”
For being young, she thought. For fitting into the present better than you do.
“Please don’t take it out on the messenger,” she said softly.
“You?”
“Holden Cameron.”
“That miserable bastard. Who is he to be talking about thieves?”
Kate stepped into her usual family job. Peacemaker. “For what it’s worth, if the Brits wanted to shut down the operation and revoke the contract, Holden would have done it the second he set foot on the boat. Or sooner. A radio call would have taken care of it.”
“So he’s here to spy,” Grandpa snarled.
She sighed. “More like a guard to make sure that the Golden Bough doesn’t disappear into the sunset with a hold full of treasure that the British government claims.”
He gave her a narrow-eyed glare. “If I’d intended to do that, I never would’ve taken this contract.”
“You didn’t. Larry did. It’s his signature on the bottom line.”
“Larry’s a good boy, but he couldn’t tie a proper flat knot without being reminded how to. You only needed to be shown once,” he said, looking directly at her. His faded green eyes held the regret of a dream that hadn’t come true. “You should be running this show. We’d not be in a pickle if—”
“Don’t start,” she cut in. “I didn’t come here so that you could rail at me in person for letting the family down.”
“You have your father’s intelligence and your mother’s fire.” A faint smile softened the weathered lines of his face. “All right, Kitty darling. No more on that subject. So tell me, have you found a way to drain the red ink filling the bilge?”
She shook her head. “For someone who’s as old-fashioned as you insist you are, this operation has spent a saint’s ransom on electronics and expensive air mixtures for the divers.”
“That’s all Larry’s doing. The boy thinks he’s going to find the next hundred-million-dollar wreck. I put my foot down when it came to rebreathing gear. He can play all he wants with his own toy, but old-fashioned scuba gear is good enough for me. Cheaper, too.”
Neither mentioned that her parents had died using rebreathing gear.
“Even if Larry found a lifetime wreck,” she said, “and you could reach it, some government would claim it. Spain, Portugal, Britain, France—even Mexico and South American countries are trying to claim sovereignty over old shipwrecks. People are very possessive about history.”
“Only when
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