Jack squinted as he stalked down the walking path leading away from the English countryside farmhouse that served as his residence. It was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky and a rare occurrence in this part of the world. But, there were storm clouds, unseen to the casual viewer, and they hovered around Jack. He was in a fury.

Odyssey Marine and the Ministry of Defense had finally come to an agreement concerning the salvage of the HMS Victory. Odyssey’s ship, the Explorer, was set to sail on the morrow. And Jack had always assumed he was to be part of the crew to go out to the shipwreck site and help in raising any and all of the artifacts they found. That morning, much to his dismay, he found that was not the case. He was expected to stay in port, serving with the team of marine archeologists in identifying, classifying, and categorizing everything brought up from the wreck.

His mind turned around and around. How could this have happened? How could he have misunderstood his duties? How could they leave him, Jack Aubrey, one of the finest post captains ever to serve for his majesty, onshore? Ah, but that was the rub. He stopped and shook his head. They didn’t know him, didn’t know his history. All they knew was that he was an expert in naval history, particularly the history of the British Royal Navy during the Age of Sail. They knew nothing of the ships he commanded, of how he acquired his knowledge … and they would never know the truth.

He huffed as he turned back to the house. Essentially, he had only two options; stay and work on shore or leave. Leaving was definitely tempting. His services were undervalued and his abilities underused. When he was at sea, he didn’t have time to brood on the distance between himself and his loved ones. But being trapped on shore, now that was a different matter. He found he missed the company of his wife and his children, and he longed to see them.

But on the other hand, he had never been a quitter. A commitment had been made, and while there were some misunderstandings about his duty and what exactly was required of him, a commitment was still a commitment. No, he thought to himself, he would not, could not quit.

***

“Jack, did you hear the news?” Jack had just entered the lab. Neil Wybert, the lead archeologist at the museum and Jack’s friend, looked up from his paperwork. “Sally Smythe had to leave the ship team.”

“Sally Smythe?” Jack thought for a moment. “Oh, yes. I remember her. Short, stocky. Red hair and freckles.”

Neil nodded. “Yes, that’s the one. Her brother called yesterday. Apparently, their mother is gravely ill.”

“That is unfortunate.” Jack looked appropriately sad, but inside, his mind was racing. “Will she return to the team, I wonder?”

Neil shrugged. “I’m not sure. It might be several days, possibly even weeks, before she can come back. Oh, and by the way, Phoebe’s looking for you.” He turned back to his work.

Jack found the blond tech assistant in the small office the scientists used. She was hunched over her keyboard, furiously typing in data; the latest lab results from scrapings off the 42-pounder.

“Miss Phoebe, you wished to speak with me?”

She looked up. “Yeah … Did you hear about Sally?”

Jack nodded. “Yes. It’s a pity this happened. Do they have a replacement for her?”

She stood and took a few steps toward Jack. “Yes, Jack,” she grinned. “You.” And she gave him a big hug, holding on just a few seconds too long before Jack broke the embrace. “You’re leaving tomorrow on the ship. Stan will be here this afternoon to fill you in.” She hugged him again. “Oh, Jack. I’m so happy for you. I know how much you wanted this.”

Jack was astonished … and overjoyed. To be at sea again! He’d been ashore just over a year, a year filled with trouble and tragedy. His soul needed this, yearned for it. The idea that he’d be locked away in a laboratory, well … But, thankfully, that was not to be. Fate moved, and he was to be aboard the Explorer in the morning.

***

The Explorer had been at sea for two days, anchored over the shipwreck site. Jack sat in a small cabin with the captain and the operator of Zeus, the diving machine the team used to find and retrieve items at the shipwreck site. Zeus was a fascination. Remotely controlled from the ship and outfitted with lights and cameras, it could dive thousands of feet down, attach hoists to cannon weighing four tons to be pulled to the surface, then pick up small, delicate items … coins, bottles and such … and bring them up without a scratch, chip or nick.

He sat behind the operation with the captain pacing behind him. This was the hold-your-breath moment. Yesterday, they had spotted a strangely shaped outcropping of sand but didn’t have time to investigate. Now, this morning, everyone in the small cabin watch the seabed drift past the monitor screen as Zeus swam its way to the lump of sand. Jack looked carefully at the surroundings as the robot came closer to its destination. Fish and seaweed floated past; bits of cannon uncovered by sand and yet to be hoisted to the surface, scattered debris. This was the scene of a tragedy. A disaster, and it weighed heavily on Jack. There were 1150 men who died on this ship. Men who were so close to home, pockets full of prize money, yet never arrived. Men who had wives and families waiting in vain for their return.

He thought back to the previous day. They’d dug around a cannon, a smaller gun, moving the sand aside so to get a better position for the hoists. Underneath that protecting blanket, a skull appeared, its hollow eye sockets staring back through the camera lens straight at Jack. He was so startled he stepped back away from the screen, and he began to pace. This skull could have been Lt. Rodgers, a good friend of his grandfather’s.

Jack had heard the stories of Lt. Rodgers. He and Jack’s grandfather served together as midshipmen and though they ultimately served on different ships in different stations, their friendship never waned. This good friend was lost on the Victory, and Old Captain Aubrey mourned his passing. He spoke so often of the man’s heroism that it was he, not his grandfather, that inspired Jack to join the Navy.