Night Diver: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

brother’s wrist. He had an uncertain temper at best. When he was under pressure, he exploded regularly.
    “Actually,” she said to Holden, “it takes just as much time to find and enter a potsherd properly as it does a gold doubloon.” Her tone of voice said he should know that.
    “Pity that potsherds don’t pay the overhead,” Holden said.
    “Last time I checked,” Larry shot back, “you were the ones who needed a job done and weren’t able to do it yourselves. How we got it done wasn’t supposed to be your problem.”
    “The job has yet to be done,” Holden said. “That is your problem.”
    Kate’s grip on her brother’s wrist tightened, holding his fist to his side.
    “You’re lucky we’ve found what we have,” Larry said. “The storm last year that uncovered the wreck scattered as much as it revealed.”
    “And another storm can cover it all up again,” Holden said. “Given current conditions, British Weather Service has projected that this area is in a likely storm track due to become active within six to eight days.”
    “But last year’s storm,” Larry began, then changed tack. “The chances of two big blows in a year on the same track are—”
    “The weather, Mr. Donnelly, does not give a tinker’s damn about your opinion. If you flip a coin and get heads ten times in a row, what are the odds of getting heads on the eleventh?”
    Holden watched Larry do some math in his head. He had to work at it. Perhaps that was due to the bruises of fatigue under his eyes or the smell of stale beer on his breath. More likely, he simply lacked mathematical competence, unlike his very bright, much younger sister.
    “The odds are—” Kate began.
    “The question is to your brother,” Holden said over her.
    “Less than two percent,” Larry said.
    She sighed.
    “Wrong,” Holden said. “The odds are fifty-fifty. Apparently you are lacking in more than the ability to read and understand simple paperwork. At this time the AO believes that wreck H-37 holds far more than we have yet seen cataloged. With the storm brewing out there, we have little time to find treasure and secure it. That, Mr. Donnelly, is a problem for both of us. Shall we get on with it?”
    Kate’s clenched fingers kept Larry from speaking the first words on his tongue. The crew watched Holden now, not supporting him, but recognizing that he was ahead on points at the moment.
    “There’s no guarantee of treasure,” she said distinctly. “The contract only states that the Bureau of Historic Reclamation, a branch of the Antiquities Office, gets to keep what Moon Rose Limited hauls up. Without a manifest for and a positive identification of the hulk in question, nobody knows what’s down there, thus there is no assurance of worth.”
    Unlike Larry, her attitude wasn’t defensive. She had learned as a younger sister the truth about offense being the best defense.
    “So the AO should be content with the cannonballs and trinkets that you’ve pulled up so far?” Holden asked. “This operation has cost—”
    “Precisely what the signing and commencement fees of the contract have stipulated,” she cut in. “Which, by the way, is far less than it would have cost you to get a British naval salvage crew out here, assuming you had one to spare, and also assuming you could get in place before the doldrums ended.”
    “Yeah,” Larry said, putting his arm around Kate and silently saying, See? This is why we need you . “It’s our necks on the line down there, not yours. So don’t walk in here and start pissing all over everything that we’ve done.”
    “In any case,” Kate said, “we’ve brought up nearly a hundred silver ingots and a scattering of silver jewelry. All of which you can happily melt down and put into the Crown’s coffers. You’re hardly empty-handed at this point.”
    “Even if it is determined that the silver is of no historical significance and melted down,” Holden pointed out, “at the price of