Our destination will be the deep water off the Florida Keys, in the 18th century,” said Drakov.
“The 18th century!” said Land.
“Quite correct. We are going on an expedition to recover undersea treasure.”
Land’s eyes lit up. “Treasure? What sort of treasure? Gold?”
“That and much more,” said Drakov. He drank his coffee, watching them with amusement. “We can expect for there to be quite a horde aboard a sunken Spanish galleon.”
“A Spanish galleon!” said Ned.
“Part of a fleet,” said Drakov. “Does the prospect interest you, Mr. Land?”
“You’re going to attack this fleet?” said Andre.
“No, Miss Cross, I will not. I could easily destroy the entire armada if I chose it. However, the destruction of this fleet is a fact of history. I know you respect history,” he added, with a smile.
“On the 15th of July, in the year 1733,” he continued, “a hurricane of immense strength swept up from the Lesser Antilles, past the English Leeward Islands, heading toward the Florida Keys. In its wake, it left massive destruction on the islands of Marie Galante, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Redonda, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Eustatius and Saba. A Spanish treasure armada under the command of General Don Rodrigo de Torres y Morales had the misfortune to be caught in this terrible storm. Their ill luck and our good fortune.
“The armada sailed from the harbor of San Cristobal de la Habana on the morning of July 13. In all, twenty ships made up this fleet, escorting treasure back to Spain. It was composed of galleons, naos and smaller merchant vessels. Only one, the Nuestra Senora del Rosario, survived the storm. The others, the Almiranta, El Infante, the San Jose, the Populo, the Lerri, the El Sueco de Arizon, the Capitana, all perished, pounded into bits as they were driven on the reefs by the fierce winds.
“They were carrying a fortune in treasure valued at over twelve million pesos in gold and silver, as well as tobacco and spices, teas, ceramics, semi-precious stones and that was only the reported cargo. You can be certain there was contraband on board the ships, as well.”
“Why contraband?” said Verne
.
“Greed,” said Drakov. “The King of Spain’s treasuries were supplied by the wealth of the New World. All the treasure brought to Spain was taxed. The tax was known as the King’s Fifth or the Royal Fifth. Smugglers went to great lengths to avoid paying this tax. Despite agents of the Board of Trade examining all cargo carefully, much was hidden from their eyes by clever sailors. The penalties were severe and informants were rewarded with a portion of the contraband recovered, so smuggling became quite an art. Treasure was hidden in barrels of spices and in bales of tobacco, among the ballast stones, anywhere one could think of secreting some gold or silver. There is no telling how much treasure might be aboard those ships. There were even incidents where entire ships were not listed on the manifests and hidden among the other vessels of large fleets.”
“How will you be able to obtain this treasure?” Land said.
“We will arrive upon the scene of the disaster after the Spaniards have completed what salvage operations they were able to employ,” said Drakov. “This is not to say we shall arrive soon after the disaster itself. These salvage operations often went on for years. Considering what was at stake, ships which sank in coastal waters were eagerly sought after by freebooters who would immediately flock to the location if protective measures were not taken. In this particular case, the Spaniards were able to refloat several of the ships. Those which were too damaged to refloat were burned to the water line, the better to enable divers to swim down directly into the cargo holds and to aid in hiding the locations of the wrecks. A great deal of the treasure was recovered, but there was much left to interest future treasure hunters in the coming centuries. It would be years before the wrecks were thoroughly picked clean, years before the invention of the magnetometer enabled hunters to find the treasure. Some of the wrecks would, in several generations, even become tourist attractions. But we are seeking one wreck in particular.”
“There was one ship,” Drakov said, “a man-of-war named La Floridana, which sank completely in deep water. The Spaniards searched for her extensively, but no trace of her was ever found. La Floridana does not appear on any of the Spanish maps charting the locations of the wrecks, maps which despite their inaccuracies guided future treasure hunters. La Floridana is a mystery ship. Only she is not a mystery to me, for I have found her. She lies in the deep water off Key Largo, where the ocean currents buried her in sand, hiding her beneath the ocean bottom, safe from prying eyes. Only I have seen her prior to her burial. I have been there once before.”
“What will you do with this treasure, Captain?” Land said, already in the grip of gold fever.
“Sell it, Mr. Land,” said Drakov. “What else does one do with gold and silver? I am a wealthy man already, but my venture has seriously depleted my reserves and I must augment my treasury. We have the advantage not only of clocking back to a time before La Floridana was buried in the ocean floor, but of clocking forward to a time when the worth of what is aboard her will have increased a thousandfold. You may join us on our salvage operation, if you wish. A good worker is always welcome and you will be allowed to keep a part of what you find.”
“How much of a part?” Land immediately asked.
Drakov chuckled. “Enough, Mr. Land. Enough to satisfy even a man of your voracious appetite. What is to be found aboard La Floridana is but a minuscule portion of what is available to us beneath the sea. There can be times when life is hard for us, but there are also times when we live very well indeed. We can pick and choose those times.”
“What are you doing, Drakov?” Finn said. “Recruiting?”
“And why not? Mr. Land is aboard my submarine already. Why not as a productive member of the crew instead of as awkward supercargo?” Drakov shrugged. “There is always room for more in my organization. It is something worth considering.” He turned to Ned. “There is no need to give your answer now, Mr. Land. There is ample time. Once you have experienced fully the sort of life we lead, then you can decide. I wish your choice to be an informed one.”
“And what about the others?” Land said. “You make the same offer to them?”
“No, Mr. Land,” said Drakov. “I have too much respect for them to think they would ever be disloyal to their commander. Their duty is to stop me, to kill me if they can. It is up to me to make certain they do not have that opportunity. It’s really all quite simple. We understand each other. I cannot tempt them with treasure. But you, Mr. Land, I have a feeling you might be tempted.”
Back in their cabin, they searched for three hours without finding the bug. Land lay silently in his bunk, eyes open and staring. Verne was in the library once again. They finally gave up and went to the engine room, where their presence caused suspicious glances, but nothing more.
“This is ridiculous,” Finn said into Lucas’s ear. “We’re not getting anywhere.”
Lucas leaned close to Finn. “We have to find that monitoring device. We can’t even take the chance of talking among ourselves until we do.”
“We looked everywhere,” said Finn.