Is this destiny?

Chapter 408 - Sarah's Birthday (8)

The Adriatic Sea is very clear. It didn't take much before Sarah could clearly see the sea bottom. It was covered in sand, or maybe small pebbles. Probably mix of the two.

Soon they found what looked like an ancient ship. Sarah's excitement shoot through the roof and Aiden had to hold her back from entering inside. He was gesturing that it's not safe, but she would not listen. Only when he threatened (with his hands) that he will pull her up, then she stopped her reckless behavior and they circled the wreckage few times before carefully approaching it. Two out of four men from the crew joined, and soon they were using equipment to remove the sand and reveal the ship. Inch by inch sand moved away, and traces from distant past were revealed.

During that day Sarah and Aiden went under the surface three times. Every time, as the vessel was more revealed, Sarah's excitement was rising.

One of the crew members, Toma, is knowledgeable with history, and he concluded that they discovered a trireme, a vessel popular in ancient Athens's navy from 8th to 4th century BC.

They were all amazed how is it possible that a vessel stayed here for so long, and no one found it yet.

"Maybe someone did find it, scavenged it and left it there." Another crew member shared his thoughts.

But his thoughts were soon proven wrong. On their third dive they went inside and retrieved number of items which included helmets, shields, bronze goblets and vases, and number of pieces of marble with Greek symbols on them. It all was exciting and interesting and Toma immediately started cleaning and identifying them.

Sarah's attention was drawn to one box shaped item made of white marble. It had engraved figures of people, and it was very detailed. She was prodding it for some time, and when Toma didn't look she used both of her hands to lift the top. When Toma heard cracking sound, he felt like fainting. "What did you do?!"

Sarah didn't pay attention to him; she was excited that her guess is correct. "This can be opened!" She looked inside and there were more than a hundred, perfectly preserved Athenian Drachmas. In the same breath, Toma was next to Sarah and stared at the contents of the container that she opened.

Sarah reached with her hand to touch them, and Toma slapped her hand. "Use gloves!" He handed her a box with surgical gloves.

Aiden noticed the commotion and came to see. "What is that?"

Toma's eyes were open wide and didn't move from the coins. "These are Athenian Drachma's. Used as a currency from 5th century BC. They are worth anywhere from $1000 to $3000 a piece, depending on condition. I never saw any this well preserved... probably because chest is airtight..." Toma inhaled sharply. "There are hundreds of them here!"

Sarah laughed seeing him so excited. "We are not selling them."

Toma frowned.

Sarah had to explain her point. "If we sell them, it will attract attention. With what we found here, there is a high possibility that some government will come to claim it. All this will end up in some museum either where the vessel was found or whose heritage it belongs to. But we will be left with nothing."

"We can sell few." Toma didn't give up.

"True." Sarah agreed. "Once everything is out, we can pick few things and sell them on private auctions. Until then, get back to work!"

Toma happily nodded and went back to work. Sarah looked at him getting busy and thought how she likes that middle aged man. He seemed like an honest person, consumed in his work. Even the other three crew members gave her a good impression. 'Aiden did a good job hiring these four crew members.'

Aiden embraced Sarah and kissed her. "We should head back."

"There is still time!" She protested, hoping to go down at least one more time. But she let him decide, today was his to organize.

Before they left, Sarah gave to each of the four crew members ten coins, with a warning not to show them to anyone until they are done with the work here, and that they should never disclose where and how they were found. They happily accepted this unexpected bonus and promised to follow her instructions.

On their way back, Sarah and Aiden took with them marble chest which was filled with Athenian Drachmas. Toma was complaining, he wanted to study the box. 'With such detailed engravings, it must have some history behind it!' But he could not stop them from taking it, based on the contract, everything belonged to Sarah, and they worked for fixed salary. He reminded himself that she already gave them a bonus in ancient coins, and that he still has plenty of artifacts to clean and identify.

Sarah estimated that they are about halfway back when Aiden stopped the engines. The powerboat was slightly swaying on the surface of the tranquil sea. One large island was toward the East. Island has a lighthouse, and other than that it seems unpopulated. Sarah could see few smaller islands further away, North and East. In the direction of South and West only sea could be seen. It seemed like it's just the two of them in the world.

Aiden sat next to Sarah. "Do you like your present?"

"Yes. Very much." She smiled. She thought if she should leave it at that or speak her mind. After few seconds of internal deliberation, she decided to speak. "I am happy that we found all these things for two reasons. One is that I like them, and the other one is that I can't imagine how would you feel if we came back empty handed." Sarah scrutinized him while she talked. "You are a control freak..." Sarah got startled thinking that he will get upset, and she quickly added, "Adorable, handsome and absolutely perfect man that I love very much... but still, a control freak." Seeing that he is not upset, she relaxed and continued talking. "What would you do if we didn't find anything?"

To her surprise, he laughed. "You do know me well. I had a plan B ready in case this does not work out."

"Plan B?"

"It was plan B. But since this worked out, it became part of plan A." He scooted closer to her and smiled.

Sarah tilted her head slightly and thought for a moment. "Does that mean there is more?"

"Mhm" He hummed and kissed her on the lips. "I have a confession to make. I was completely lost what to get you, so I talked with your sisters and my brother in hope to get some good ideas."

"Oh?" Sarah felt that a good story is coming. "Tell me more, please."

"Sophia and JoAnna both told me that you want to spend time with me. And that is great, but not very helpful when I want to get you something. Then JoAnna said that you like adventures, and Sophia advised that it's always a good present to share experiences... and that ended up with two of us treasure hunting, or at least diving if no treasure is found."

"That is nice." Sarah smiled. She told herself to thank JoAnna and Sophia for not suggesting something crazy. This birthday is something she will remember gladly. "You said you asked Jeff for ideas also? What did he say?"

"He said that if I don't know what to get you, I can't go wrong with buying an island."

Sarah laughed. "Oh, that is so Jeff!" She saw that Aiden is serious and stopped laughing. "Wait.... you didn't really buy an island?!"