Redfern paused to finish off his hot chocolate. "He goes on to say: "We reached the open sea. Naviga
ting was difficult. The stars are in different positions. The sun is not the same also. Violent storms struck us from the south. One crewman was swept overboard on the tenth day, a gale. We continued to be driven toward the north. On the first day our god led us to a safe bay where we made repairs and took what provisions we could find from the land. We also added extra ballast stone. Some distance beyond the beach there is a great sea of dwarflike pines. Fresh water seeps from sand with the jab of a stick.
"Six days of good sailing and then another tempest, worse than the last.
Our sails are split and useless. The great gale shattered the mast, and the steering oars were swept away. We drifted helplessly under the merciless wind for many days. I lost record of days. Sleep became impossible. The weather turned very cold. Ice formed on the deck. The ship became very unstable. I ordered my frozen and exhausted crew to throw our water and wine jars over the side."
"The amphoras you found on the bottom outside the fjord."
Redfem paused, nodding at Pitt. Then he continued reading.
"Shortly after we were driven into this long bay, we managed to beach the ship and fall into a dead sleep for two days and nights.
"The god Serapis is unkind. winter has set in and ice has bound the ship. We have no choice but to brave out the winter until the days warm. A barbarian village lies across the bay and we have found them open to trade. We barter with them for food. They use our gold coins as trinkets, having no idea of their value. They have showed us how to keep warm by burning oil from a monstrous fish. Our stomachs are full, and I think we shall survive.
"While I am comfortable with much time on my hands I will write a few words each day. This entry I shall recall the amount and type of cargo that Venator's slaves unloaded from the hold of the Serapis as I watched unseen from the galley and made an accounting. At the sight of the great object, everyone sank to their knees in proper reverence."
"What does he mean?" asked Lily.
Patience," said Redfem. "Listen.
"Three hundred twenty copper tubes marked' Geologic Charts. Sixty-three large tapestries. These were packed around the grand gold-and-glass casket of Alexander. My knees trembled. I could see his face through
"Rufinus wrote no more," Redfem said sadly. "He didn't finish the sentence. The last tablet is a drawing showing the general configuration of the shoreline and the course of the river."
"The lost coffin of Alexander the Great," Lily said, slightly above a whisper. "Can he still lie buried in a cavern somewhere?"
"Along with treasures from the Alexandria Library?" Redfem added to Lily's question. "We can do little else but hope."
Pitts reaction was quite different; it was one of profound confidence.
"Hope is for spectators-I figure I can find your antiques in thirty . .
. make that twenty days."
Lily's and Redfem's eyes opened wide. They regarded Pitt with the suspicion usually awarded a politician promising to lower taxes. They flatly didn't believe him.
They should have.
"You sound pretty cocky," said Lily.
Pitts green eyes glowed with a look of utter sincerity. "Let's have a look at the map." Redfem handed him a rendering Lily had made from the tablet and then enlarged. There was little to examine except a series of wavy lines.
"Won't tell us much," he said. "Rufinus didn't label anything."
"It's enough," said Pitt, his tone dry and unperturbed. "Enough to lead us to the front door."
It was four in the morning when Pitt awoke. He automatically rolled over to return to sleep but realized through the cobwebs that someone had turned on the light and was talking to him.
"Sorry, pal, but you've got to rise and shine."
Pitt groggily squinted into the serious face of Commander Knight. "What gives?"
"Orders from the top. You're to shove off for Washington immediately."
"They say why?"
"They is the Pentagon, and, no, they didn't grace me with an explanation."