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Brooks Politano and Skye Costas jumped into the clear, blue/green water off Spain. Bubbles rose up in a soft tickle on Skye’s skin. She breathed in her oxygen and adjusted the pressure in her ears bit by bit as she followed Brooks deeper into their dive site.

The filtered sunlight grew dim and the water turned dark green and then brown and then black. They switched on their flashlights, descending even deeper. Skye squealed in excitement even though no one could hear. They were finally going to see the lost Voyager ship of the Spanish Conquistadors, the ship everyone had thought was gone forever. Brooks continued down deeper ahead and she followed. According to her GPS coordinates they should be arriving any second. Right on schedule the tall mast of rotting wood appeared below. Brookes’ head turned to her, and she gave him a double thumbs up. He’d been her best friend since they were kids. And they’d been looking for The Voyager for almost that long.

The deck was old, rotting, green, with plants growing, but not too many. They were deep enough she hoped that more of the vessel would be preserved. They made their way to the cabins’ deck and hovered around an opening that looked like a doorway. At their feet, holes in the wood, showed a shadowed hull of the ship as their lights reached the furthest depths of the ship. “Do you think it’s in there?” Their radio communication held no crackle. It was a bit eerie in the silence of the depths until she heard his voice respond.

“Only one way to find out.” He lowered himself to the decking and lifted two of the rotting boards. It created an opening wide enough. He slipped through and Skye hurried after. They sunk lower, into the bottom of the ship. The base was covered in thick green moss. They swam just above the bottom of the wreckage. One whole side of the wood on the ship had rotted through so as she turned away, her back was vulnerable to the black depths of open water. Her flashlight directed beams over the floor beneath her by inches. Brooks did the same. He swam at her side. They would search the whole of the ship, piece by piece. She lifted her beam up to the side, checking out the markings. Perhaps there’d be something left? So far, nothing. But she kept looking, alternating between the floor beneath and the sides all around her and then something caught her attention. “Look!”

She swam closer, but Brooks kept searching the bottom. A black scar, looked like a burn in the wood had lasted the test of time. It was a circle with a line through it and then a triangle. She pulled a camera out and captured the image. “Fascinating.”

“Come here.” Brooks’ excited tone had Skye at his side immediately.

“What is it?

“This is it.”

“You sure?”

“One w—”

“Way to find out!” She hurried to his side.

Brooks reached out through the rubble and dug through a large amount of soft mass. The water turned cloudy and green all around them. He pulled and scraped and dug through until his pitch ax clinked. They waited for the cloud to clear. The ax rested on something hard, something solid, and black. “Let’s clear the rest.”

They cleared the top, revealing what looked like the lid of a box. Brooks dug around it, clearing the thick mossy substance off the side, revealing a latch. As they both peered closer, the insignia became more visitble on the latch. A crest of the Mosqueda, an ancient Spanish name. Brooks’ eyes lit with excitement even under the mask and Skye laughed through her mouthpiece. Brooks pressed on his comm unit for the boat to send down a transport. And even though Skye was dying to open the trunk right then, she made a circle around the rest of this cargo area on the boat. They’d send a team down tt do the rest of the excavating since they’d found the most important item already. But she wanted to take a look around first anyway. The rest of the cargo hold looked like a hold for humans. And the skeletons and the chains made her shiver. But she forced herself to check out as much as she could.

Brooks’ light flashed at her so she turned. The transport from above had arrived. She kicked over and together, they shifted the box, nudging it free and slid it up onto the cargo platform. The motorized unit would take it back up to the boat. But not yet. They both wanted to be there when it was opened.

Buried treasure. It wasn’t the monetary value which was supposed to be incredibly large. For Skye—and she imagined for Brooks also— it was more about the quest. They’d talked about the lost treasure of the Voyager Conquistador for as long as she could remember. They had played, ‘find the lost ship,’ so many times she’d lost count. And here they were, living their own legend. She couldn’t even grasp that this moment was really it, the one they’d talked about forever.

She swam/danced in a circle, Brooks laughing at her from where he stood. Then the water rippled close to her cheek, as though something swum by, really close. Brooks was suddenly right in front of her, blocking her view and shielding her from something. “What is it?”

“Stay very still.”

His body was rigid, alert, his head swung around, looking in al directions. Her eyes travelled to the side he wasn’t blocking. A spear stuck in the side of the wood. A modern looking spread, one that had definitely not been there moments before. Her breathing sped up and Brooks must have noticed on her oxygen dial. He held a finger up and then held his mask close to hers. Then he winked. And she nodded. She trusted Brooks. She didn’t know how he would possibly know anything about being attacked by spears under water, but if he was winking at her, all would be well. He pushed buttons on the transport and then motioned for her to grab on underneath. She held on tight as the motorized cart started moving through the water. Brooks held onto its side and the two of them allowed the transport to move them up through the depths to the warmer and lighter water and then up to the surface.

As soon as Brooks’ head was above water, he whipped off his mask. “Hurry!”

The guys on the boat jumped into high speed. As soon as Skye was pulled up on board, the boat took off. Brooks stood at her side, holding her steady, but his eyes were once again searching the water all around them. Then he hissed and pointed. The other guys joined them and they began to talk to him and each other about things Skye had never heard of before. “The Green Dragons.”

“I think so. It was their signature move.”

“Why not do more? Why just the warning?

“I’m not sure.”

Skye shifted her weight. “Can we look inside?” Her smile was meant to lighten the mood. The tense faces and urgent tones were making her worried. She’d rarely seen Brooks as anything but professional and cheerful and fully capable to handle anything. This side of him shook her confidence.

Brooks received some kind of communication on his phone. Then he smiled at her. “That, is the best news I’ve heard.” Brooks tilted his head toward the captain’s brigg and laced his fingers through hers. “They’ve got it under lock and key already, but I know someone.” He dangled a keyring.

“Isn’t this your boat and your team?

“That’s what I’m talking about. I know someone.” He shrugged. And she laughed.

They walked faster. Skye jumped on the first step up the stairs then Brooks scooted past her.

“Oh no you don’t.” Skye moved in front of him.