Stoem Chaser: Chapter 50

Chapter 50

It took two days of sailing before land came into view. While Benjamin got his fill of deep sea fishing, Elena mapped the constellations and Mateo recorded data from long range probes. Kiera took a few samples of seaweed but for the most part she and Andre assisted with odd tasks as they arose. It was mid morning when Elena spotted signs of approaching land. Birds were circling in the sky and a dark mass was taking shape on the horizon. Mateo directed his probes while Elena pulled out her telescope.

She shrugged as there wasn’t much to see beyond a shadowy outline. By mid-afternoon she could add possibly hilly to the description. She turned checked the sonar more frequently to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The sonar had been running constantly as they travelled. Mateo had altered the standard equipment so that it now recorded their passage. In time they would be able to use the data to create a more accurate map of this ocean’s floor.

“It doesn’t appear to be getting any closer,” Kiera said as she peered through the telescope.

“It is,” Elena assured her. “It just takes a while. We should reach land around this time tomorrow, maybe a little earlier.” Kiera looked doubtful but didn’t say anything. It was difficult not to watch the horizon and Elena realized she wasn’t the only one with the problem. In between readying themselves for the next day’s adventure she caught Andre, Kiera, Mateo and Benjamin pausing to stare and wonder. After dinner Mateo took watch in the pilot house while Elena got some sleep. He would watch through the night and then sleep when she took the wheel back at breakfast. By the time they approached the land they would both be awake and rested.

Elena didn’t anticipate sleeping but fell asleep fairly quickly. She tumbled almost immediately into the dream where she came across the glyph of the winged ship. Again when she touched the stone it melted into black and she awoke before hitting bottom. She shook the dream away, reminded herself not to touch any rock carvings and decided it was close enough to morning to get up. She was rewarded in the galley when she found the coffee freshly brewed. She poured herself a cup and took one of the breakfast burrito type things Benjamin offered her. She grabbed a second one for Mateo and joined him in the pilot house.

“Anything new?” She asked. He stretched until his back popped and yawned hugely.

“Not really,” he told her taking the offered breakfast. “Once the sun went down there wasn’t much to see.” He gestured towards the sonar with his free hand. “The seabed is getting shallower and starting to slope upward a bit. And I think this ocean has whales of some kind or something generally that size if the sonar is to be believed.” Elena checked the dept of the sea bed and relaxed when she realized it had not changed enough for her to worry about the ship. As she looked, she saw one of the shapes Mateo had mentioned and had to agree with his whale-like estimation. She sent him off to his bunk while she took her seat and continued with breakfast.

As the sun rose Elena could see more of the land than she had the night before. The sun was behind the Storm Chaser so her view was less shadowed as she peered through the telescope. She revised her opinion of possibly hilly as she looked. While she could see the shadows of what may have been mountains in the background, the shapes closer to their position were more uniform than nature would create.

“Buildings,” she guessed thinking of the pictures. “Over grown and worn down but still impressive.” A quick calculation of distance and a bit of geometry later she realized that some of those buildings would have to be well over five stories tall. “Well, five stories for me,” She told Spin. “Who knows what size the folks that built them were?”

The closer they came to land the more attention Elena paid to the sea bed. Sailing in unfamiliar waters was always tricky and she had no desire to scrape her hull in this place. Remarkably the area seemed free of rocky shoals. Elena shifted her gaze between the sea and the sonar. She frowned. Off to starboard there was an anomaly. Elena twisted the telescope in that direction and looked as Mateo joined her in the pilot house.

“What do you make of that?” She asked him stepping away from the telescope. He took his turn at the eyepiece.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It seems to be running in a straight line towards land though.”

“Maybe it was an old dock of some kind,” Elena mused.

“Can we get closer?”

“I think so,” Elena said after a moment or two of thought. “It isn’t too shallow. We can weigh anchor close enough to take a look.” Elena made the slight adjustment in course to bring them alongside the oddity. By know they were close enough to land that the smell of land, of green growing things was mingling with the sea air. While Elena navigated closer, everyone else clustered on deck to see what they were approaching. Elena sailed as close as she dared then weighed anchor. Once secure, she joined the others on deck.

The Storm Chaser was not terribly far from land; in fact their present position was as close to the coast as she felt comfortable going. From their position one of the row boats could be deployed and sent to land. The edge of the anomaly was about 25 feet from their position.

“I think it is a stone pier,” Mateo said. “Look, it runs all the way to the coast.” They studied the pier for a moment with Andre taking photographs. The pier appeared to be composed of giant stone blocks. Benjamin, the tallest of those on board, could easily stretch out across the blocks. If he stretched his arms over his head he might be able to lay with his toes on one end and his fingertips barely touching the other side.

“Those blocks are huge,” Andre said. “And they appear to be just stacked next to each other.”

“Several ancient cities in meso-America were built in such a fashion,” Kiera said. “I don’t know about piers but it would make sense.”

“We could take one of the small boats over to have a bit of a look,” Mateo suggested.

“How,” Benjamin asked. “The pier is a little higher than the ship’s deck, how would you get to the top?”

“There,” Kiera said pointing to the edge of the pier. “It looks like stairs.” They all looked. On the edge of the pier they could see that the stone descended below the waterline in a stepped down pattern that could loosely be termed stairs.

“Well?” Mateo asked turning towards Elena.

“All right,” she said. “Take one of the dinghies and watch your step.” She glanced at the sky gauging time. “We have about six hours of daylight left and I want you back before dark. We don’t know what lives here and I’d rather not find out after night fall.” They nodded and Elena felt a bit like a mother hen. Mateo, Andre and Kiera piled into the dinghy and Benjamin worked the winch to lower them to the water.

“Didn’t you want to go?” Elena asked.

“Tomorrow,” Benjamin told her. “Once we actually go to land.” He grinned. Besides, someone has to make dinner.” They turned and watched the small boat move towards the stone pier. Mateo rowed them to the stairs and Andre slipped a loop of rope over a small jut of stone to secure the craft.

“Convenient,” Benjamin commented.

“With the number and scale of those buildings,” Elena began gesturing towards the coast. “I would bet this was a fairly bustling port at some time. Makes sense to prepare for a variety of ships.”

“True,” Benjamin agreed. They watched as the three climbed the stairs available. “I’m willing to bet the builders were a good deal taller than we are,” he added. All three had to stretch a bit to use the stairs.

“Either that or they figured after a long time on a ship you needed a little exercise.” The investigative party reached the top and began to look around. Andre took some pictures and they began following the stone pier towards land.

“Well I guess they will let us know what they find when they get back,” Benjamin said as the party moved further away. He left Elena at the railing and returned to his fishing line. Elena stood a minute more, watching, and then returned to the pilot house. She pulled out the log book and began to make notes wondering what information would be gleaned.