Burried Treasure

Kristy had to admit, diving was pretty fun. The water was crystal clear and it was a nice temp, once in the water, Mister Nikos was helping he get used to the experience of exploring underwater, and the fish were friendly. Kristy giggled into her mouth piece as the fish in front of her turned back and forth looking at it’s reflection in her goggles. Kristy felt a pair of hands on her butt. She looked around and saw Mister Nikos behind her. He pointed down and gestured for her to head down to the floor. Anne was already at the bottom looking around at the sand covered timbers of the marked shipwreck. Kristy and Mister Nikos got down to the bottom next to Anne. Mister Nikos gestured for the two ladies and to look around the wreck. But gave a fifteen minute time hack for them. Kristy understood. Mister Nikos wanted to them to just be down there for a little while and not go too far.

Kristy heard the knocking throw the water. She looked up and Anne was waving for both them to come over. Mister Nikos was at her side almost instantly, while it took Kristy a bit longer to get to the red-head’s location. Kristy saw the moved piece of timber and gawked at the shining reflections from under the area below where the wood had been. Mister Nikos handed Anne a plastic bag for her to put the objects in. Kristy didn’t understand why a ziplock bag underwater, but watched as Anne put a curved piece of silver into the bag and then a few hand fulls of rings. Kristy could see an odd engraving on the sides of all the silver things. Mister Nikos signaled for them all to go up, slowly. Kristy thought of the pressure sickness that she had been warned about.

“So Anne found them,” Sally said for the fifteenth time.

“Yep,” Kristy said again, “Anne found them.”

“Wow,” Julie said, “Congrats on the find.”

“Cheers,” Sally held up a glass of wine towards the red haired girl.

“Cheers,” the rest of the girls called as they raised their glasses in turned.

Anne blushed. The girls were dressed in nice dresses for the semi-formal dinner in celebration. Mister Nikos smiled. The artifacts were in a specially rigged fish tank in the middle of the dinning table. There were a few hundred silver rings and the curved cross guard of a pirate sword. Mister Nikos had declared that the sword part was Anne’s but each of the girls could have a ring once they were preserved.

“What are they doing in the fish tank?” Erica asked.

“We are slowly switched out the salt water for a inert liquid to stop any rust. Any exposure to oxygen at this point would cause them to corrode instantly,” The captain said from his seat, “Once we do that, we will slowly dry them off and continue the conservation process from there.”

“So that is why you snapped when we tried them on,” Sally said with a smile, “We didn’t know that was a concern.”

“I am sorry, but I did a lot of under water in college,” Will said, “But they can be very delicate. Look at what is left of the steel from the sword tang…”

He pointed at the guard and the rusty sliver of steel still attached to the hilt. The Erica leaned in and tapped the fish tank. She sat back down and smiled.

“Sorry bubbles were on the steal,” Erica said.

“Care to join me for a dip?” Mister Nikos asked Kristy.

“I would love to, the hot tube or the ocean?” Kristy responded knowning what he really wanted.

Mister Nikos took the brunette’s hand and helped her up with a smile. The pair left the lounge room.

“Well I guess I should get some sleep while they are not in the boss’ bedroom,” Anne said.

“Before you go,” Sally spoke up, “Seriously, how did you find the treasure?”

“I just saw something shining under a rotted timber from the wreck,” the secretary said, “I don’t know what made me pull at the wood covering it. It just called to me…”

“No shit,” Erica said, “Damn.”

“Well, while the boss is getting lucky in the hot tub,” Anne said, “I am going to get some sleep. Night.”