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'with four times their normal supply of provisions."
"
"He planned for an extended voyage," said Lily, suddenly intrigued.
"Venator never intended to land every few days and resupply his fleet."
"All that that proves to me," said Sandecker, "is that Venator wanted to keep the entire voyage as secret as possible by never coming ashore and leaving a trail."
Pitt shook his head. "As soon as the ships cleared the Straits of Gibraltar, any need for secrecy evaporated. Venator was free and in the clear. Byzantine warships sent to stop him would be as much in the dark as we are of his next course heading."
"So we put ourselves in Yaeger looked quizzically at Pitt.
Venator's shoes or sandals or whatever they wore then. What's our plan?"
"Dr. Rothberg unknowingly came up with the key to the mystery," Pitt explained. "He thought Venator buried the artifacts where no one of his day would think to look."
Yaeger looked at him blankly. "That could be anywhere in the ancient world."
"Or outside of the world as the Romans knew it."
"Charted geography didn't extend very far below North Africa or east of the Black Sea and Persian Gulf," said Lily. "Nothing was explored beyond."
"We don't know that," Pitt disagreed. "Junius Venator had access to four thousand years of man's knowledge. He knew of the existence of the African continent and the great steppes of Russia. He must have known of trade with India, which in Turn imported and exported goods from China. And he'd have studied the records of voyages that sailed far beyond the usual Roman/Byzantine trade routes."
"We're certain the Alexandria Library had an entire section devoted to geographical records," said Lily. "Venator could have worked from source maps compiled from much earlier times."
"What do you think he discovered that influenced him?" asked Sandecker.
"A direction," Pitt answered.
All had focused their curiosity on Pitt, and he did not disappoint them.
He walked down to the stage and picked up a flashlight that shone a small arrow on the three-dimensional projection.
"The only question in my mind," said Giordino, "is whether the fleet turned north or south."
"Neither." Pitt moved the lighted arrow through the Gibraltar Straits and across the Atlantic. "Venator led his fleet west to the Americas."
His statement was greeted with stunned disbelief.
"There is no archaeological evidence supporting pre-Columbian contact in the Americas," Lily stated firmly.
"The Serapes is a pretty good indicator they could have made such a voyage," said Sandecker.
"It's a heated controversy," admitted Pitt. "But there are too many similarities in Mayan art and culture that cannot be ignored. Ancient America may not have been as isolated from European and Asian influence as we once thought."
"Frankly, I buy it," said Yaeger, his enthusiasm restored. "I'd bet my Willie Nelson record collection the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Vikings all landed on North and South American soil before Columbus."
"No self-respecting archaeologist would take you up on it," said Lily.
Giordino grinned at her. "That's because they won't stake their precious reputations on it."
Sandecker looked at Yaeger. "Let's give the project another try Yaeger looked at Pitt. "What shorelines do you want me to cover?"
Pitt scratched his chin. He realized he badly needed a shave. "Begin at the fjord in Greenland and work south down to Panama." He paused to stare at the chart projection with thoughtful curiosity. "It has to be along there somewhere."
Captain Oliver Collins rapped a knuckle against the bridge barometer. He squinted at the needle barely visible from the lights on shore and cursed under his breath at the fair-weather reading. If only there was a storm, he thought, the ship could not have left the harbor. Captain Collins was a firstrate seaman, but a poor judge of human nature.
