Race among the Ruins

The storm had actually worked in their favor. Some of the other teams who'd started before them, had either been damaged, delayed, or in the case of Robert's boat, lost.

Aaron felt bad that he didn't feel bad about Robert. The two men had been friends since boyhood. He should have felt something. He actually felt that Robert had gotten what he deserved. If Robert hadn't gotten involved with Stacy, they'd still be friends and Robert would be here with him right now. Even if Stacy had started things, Robert should have known enough to say "no."

So with no spies, good spirits, and a clear conscience the crew went back out on the sea. What they didn't know was that the boat held one more passenger than they thought.

As darkness settled over the sea and the little boat headed towards the coordinates of their first dive, Aaron sat back in one of the fishing chairs that had become his favorite place to relax. Most of the young people were in the back near the dive platform listening to music and playing cards.

"Beer and pizza," said a voice just behind him. Aaron looked up and saw Maria standing near him with two plates and a couple of bottles of beer.

"Wouldn't you rather be back there with your friends?" asked Aaron.

"Nope, I'm right where I want to be," smiled Maria. "Besides aren't we supposed to be having some kind of talk? Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Sandra and Jordan are planning on watching a movie that they stole off of the internet, on the monitors. And I'm fairly certain that Dana, Mike and Steve will be engaging in a rematch of what we saw yesterday. In fact she may even be planning on asking a couple of members of the crew to join them. All of this time that we've been friends and I never knew what a whore she is."

Aaron laughed. "She's not a whore, Ria."

"Oh, are you defending her?" snapped Maria.

"She doesn't need defending," said Aaron quietly. "There aren't any laws against what she does, and no one is getting hurt."

"Okay, so maybe I should go down there and join them then," snapped Maria. "Since she isn't being a whore and no one is getting hurt."

"No, you shouldn't," snapped Aaron, grabbing Maria by her wrist and sitting her back down.

"Why shouldn't I?" asked Maria. "After all there's not much difference between Dana and I in your eyes. In fact, I'm actually 3 years older than she is. She's only 24. So if she isn't a whore, I wouldn't be either. And no one would be hurt."

"Look, Ria. A whore is someone who trades sex, for monetary gain or some other thing that they want or need," said Aaron. "Dana isn't charging those guys any money or anything. And as far as I know she doesn't have a steady boyfriend, so no one is getting hurt. In fact she's actually helping the guys to relax."

"So, a good example of a whore then would be your ex wife, right?" asked Maria. "I still don't see why it's a bad idea for me to go down there with them."

"Then go," snapped Aaron. "No one is stopping you."

Maria stood up slowly and looked at Aaron. "Maybe I will. After all if Dana is helping to relax the guys, they'd be even more relaxed if she had some help, especially since no one around here can think of a reason why I shouldn't go. You're pretty smart Aaron. Do you know any reason why I shouldn't?"

Aaron folded his arms across his chest stubbornly. "Can't think of a single reason why you shouldn't," he snapped. "Enjoy yourself." He sat back and took a swig of his beer as Maria stormed off.

"They're all whores," he said to the sea. "Fuck 'em all. I don't need a single one of them. All I need is my car, a boat and something to hunt for."

"You certainly told that little bitch where you stand," said Stacy stepping out of the darkness.

"What the fuck are you doing on my boat, Stacy?" snapped Aaron. "We put you ashore safe and sound. As of yet, we didn't even report your part in Robert's little plan to the university. Mostly because we weren't sure exactly what your part was. But stowing away on a boat will get you jail time. Is that what Robert's turned you into? Are you Dr. Convict PHD now?"

"Robert didn't turn me into this, Aaron," said Stacy quietly. "You did. Whether you can see it or not, I still love you so much it's crazy. I'm fighting as hard as I can for another chance but as hard as I fight, you're pushing me away even harder. And you have help. I can see now, how much you must have loved me Aaron, because I'm beginning to see what my betrayal did to you. Just as you can't see how much I still love you, you can't see how much that little girl does too. Good Lord Aaron, she was baiting you. She didn't want to go down to that orgy. All she wanted was for you to tell her not to go. I'd be willing to bet you one of those giant bras of hers that she isn't down there now. She's probably somewhere below deck crying her eyes out. That little girl hangs on your every word, Aaron. She isn't like me. I don't think she'd make the choices I made. But if you gave me another chance, I'd never make that choice again either."

Aaron just glared at Stacy as if her words had no effect on him. "Aaron, do you know what it's like for a woman in my field?" she asked. "I've been in school since I was 5 years old. I know everyone starts school at that age, but Aaron I'm 38 now and I've only been done for three years. For the past three years I've been doing research and working towards my goal."

"Stacy everyone has goals," snapped Aaron. "The only difference is what they're willing to give up getting them. In our case, you gave up me, our marriage, and our future for just a chance at something that really doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter to you, Aaron," snapped Stacy. "To me and a lot of other people it's their dream. Have you ever noticed that when we're on a campus, half of the students call you Professor Anderson?" Aaron nodded. "I know it pisses you off, but just think about what it does to me. I know that you work very hard at what you do Aaron. You're always going off to some jungle or some mountain or under the sea, but those are the things that you love doing. When we go to lecture somewhere, you're bored but it's what I dream of. I've earned the right to be a professor, but everyone assumes that I'm Professor Anderson's wife."

"So after dealing with it for too many years, I just decided that if I can't beat 'em, I may as well join them. The funny thing about it is that you accepted me with open arms. It was Robert that I had to prove myself to. I wish you could see how perfect this would have been for all of us, Honey. I'd get the professorship here and you and Robert would join the staff as archaeologists or hunters as you like to call yourself." Aaron pursed his lips and breathed out.

"But it all got fucked up, because Robert wanted the professorship as well. I really needed to get on his good side, Honey. So I started doing everything I could to woo him over to my point of view. You may not see it but I didn't do it because I don't love you. I did it because I do. I wanted us to be together, but as total equals. Just like you and Robert were. Although I think he realizes now that you guys were a little more equal than he ever suspected."

"So, Stace," said Aaron. "If that was the truth then why didn't you just tell me what you wanted from the fucking beginning? I'd have spoken to Robert and I'm sure I could have gotten him to agree to it.

"Because I wanted to do something on my own," she said heatedly. "What fucking good does it do me to break into the boys club if my husband had to let me in? If I'd thought that one blowjob would cause us to get a divorce, I never would have done it in a million years."

"Yet still you lie," said Aaron.

"What lie?" asked Stacy. "I swear that's all it was. I can even tell you why I chose to give him a blow job, if you'll listen." Aaron nodded his head.

"I gave him a blowjob because you don't really like them," she said. "Whenever we have sex, if I start trying to go down there you pull me back up. After being married to you for such a long time I've learned what you like, Aaron. You like fucking me. You're probably the most romantic man I've ever met. You're totally into the whole two spirits becoming one thing. So in my mind I just figured that if I gave him something that you didn't want anyway, it wouldn't be that bad."

"You know Stacy; people are always talking about giving someone enough rope to hang themselves. I think your feet have stopped kicking and the rope has sawed its way through your throat now," said Aaron.

"What do you mean Aaron?" asked Stacy.

"Stacy, the first day that Maria came to me, I was miserable about what you'd done. I really had no idea what I wanted to do about it, other than killing Robert. Maria convinced me that second day, after I'd sobered up a bit, to go and talk to you. She wanted me to see if we could patch things up and then go take care of business. She wanted to be a researcher on the team. Robert had fired her so she'd probably have been your assistant, or mine. More than likely yours since I don't really do research." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. Stacy's mouth dropped open.

"She wanted you to talk to me?" asked Stacy. Aaron just nodded.

"Anyway, we went up to the villa, and before I could open the door I saw you fucking Robert on the couch in the living room. But since then, you've lied to me three times about what you and he did. You fucked him on the couch in the house that you and I lived in. And this was after seeing how hurt I was by your first betrayal. If you loved me as much as you claim, how could you stand to do anything with someone else after hurting me that badly? Even now, you've made up another lie trying to justify giving him a blow job because you claim I don't like them. But the fact is that all along you fucked him too, or don't I like that either?" Stacy's face just fell.

"Maybe it's just time for us to move on, Stace," said Aaron. "There's no way for us to ever go back. With everything you've done and all of the lies you told, I could never trust you again. Let's just have a nice friendly, peaceful divorce before we lose respect for each other."

"But I...." she began.

"Save it, Stace," said Aaron. "There's no use beating a dead horse."

Aaron looked at his chronometer. It was far later than he'd expected. The conversation with his ex wife had taken longer than he thought. He headed down to his quarters. The Captain had given Aaron his cabin and was bunking with his crew. Aaron was the only one on the ship with a cabin of his own. The Captain would be on the helm with a couple of his crew members until they got to the dive site anyway. Then he'd sleep until they were ready to move on.

Aaron entered the darkened cabin and sat down on the edge of his berth. The bed seemed odd, the mattress didn't move the way it should have. Aaron took off his pants and boots and his socks. He was just about to take his shirt off when he heard a sigh. He flipped the light on and jumped back in surprise.

"What the hell," he exclaimed.

Maria yawned and stretched her arms above her head. Aaron's dick hardened to the consistency of a diamond instantly as he gazed on her unfettered breasts.

"What are you yelling about?" she asked.

"What are you doing in my bed?" he asked.

"You told me to go join them," she said angrily. "I decided to just fuck every man on the ship, and you're the last one." She folded her arms over her breasts, but it didn't work. Her arms were too tiny for it to be an effective deterrent. Aaron shook his head. She could tell that he didn't believe her.

"Okay, you're the first one," she tried. He shook his head again. "Okay, you're the only one," she said. "But that's my final offer."

Aaron laughed and got into the bed. He turned off the light and pulled the blanket over himself.

"Aren't we gonna?" he heard.

"No," he said.

"Why not?" asked Maria. "I want to."

"I do too, Ria," said Aaron. "But we need some time to figure things out. There's no rush. But I'd hate for us to do something that ruins what could have been a really great friendship or even more because we rushed into something that wasn't right."

"Aaron?" she said.

"Yes, Dr. Clarridge," he breathed out.

"Can you just hold me then?" she asked.

One of the things that Aaron always did was to wake up early. Unless he was drunk he was always awake before the sun came up. When Steve went looking for him at 6:45 a.m. the next morning, the sun was already up and half of the crew was having breakfast. They'd arrived at the dive site coordinates over an hour ago. Mike and Steve had eaten and were already beginning the scan of the sea floor and the undersea radar search.

Steve knocked lightly on the door and got no answer. He opened the door and quickly closed it back. Dana came down the hallway and asked him if he'd seen Maria. He quickly turned red and nodded his head.

"Why are you acting so funny," Dana asked him. Steve pointed at the door and quickly went back to the monitor room. Sandra and Jordan came down the hallway next and ran into Dana. Mike was himself just coming below so he joined the crowd. They were all huddled together as Dana opened the door quietly and saw Maria and Aaron in the bed together. Obviously they'd gotten warm during the night and the blanket had been pushed back.

All of the men reacted immediately at the scene. Maria was snuggled up to Aaron, with one of his arms wrapped possessively around her. One of his hands cupped one of her huge breasts while her ass pressed against the front of his shorts. Dana quickly closed the door.

"Oh my fucking lord," said Mike. "I've known that woman for four years and never realized she was built like that.

"Or that she was that pretty," added Jordan.

"It just takes the right guy to bring it out of you," quipped Dana.

A short time later, Aaron, looking embarrassed and Maria smiling from ear to ear looked over Mike's shoulder.

"They could just be rocks," said Mike. "That mini earthquake seemed to have stirred up the bottom. There's a lot of sediment obscuring our view. There's also a certain degree of parallax view inherent to our position."

The whole team and Stacy craned their necks back and forth between the squiggly lines on the radar screen and the EDVM.

"Of course with those types of striations forming in such a regular pattern, the possibility that they're not natural objects is greater than fifty percent," said Mike.

Dana, Sandra, Steve and Jordan all nodded their heads. Maria looked at Aaron with a blank look and grabbed his hand. Stacy pretended not to notice.

"Do any of you actually understand what he said?" asked Aaron.

"Well, not really," said Dana.

"Some of it," said Steve.

"Not a fucking word," said Sandra.

"Dude, I'm just a diver," said Jordan. "I'm still trying to figure out how Maria hid those titties from us for all of these years."

"Okay, fuck it, I'm going down there," said Aaron.

"Shouldn't we send a robo-cam down there first?" asked Mike. "We have no idea what's down there."

"We'll know as soon as I get down there," quipped Aaron. "Coming, Jordan?"

"Dude, I'm already wet," said Jordan.

"You aren't the only one," said Dana. Maria elbowed her friend in the side. Aaron and Jordan ran up to the main deck to start putting on their diving gear.

"I agree with Mike," said Maria. "The area is unstable. What it there are mines, or sharks? We should send the robo-cam down first. I'm supposed to be your partner, so I should get some say in this. Jordan, I hired you so I can fire you."

Stacy gently pulled Maria by her shoulder. She looked at the younger woman and spoke to her very gently. "This is the worst part," she said. "It's not the searching and hoping to find something. It's not the time you've wasted when there's nothing there. It's watching him go off to do something that you know very damned well that he might not come back from." Maria looked at Stacy curiously and nodded her head.

"And it never, ever gets any easier," said Stacy. "But you have to realize a few things. Number one, look at him; he's like a fucking kid at Christmas right now. This is what he does. All we can do is sit back and worry about him. He's going to do it anyway. If you put up enough of a fuss, he'll just stop letting you come along. Then you'll worry even more. Because you're not there with him. If you stop Jordan from going, then Aaron will have to go down there alone, but he'll still go. Is that what you want?"

Maria shook her head vigorously and tried not to cry. "At least this time, I have you to worry with me," said Stacy. "That asshole Robert never worried. He just sat his ass on the boat and waited for Aaron to go down there and bring him back the spoils. He never dove himself; he just watched, waited and cashed the fucking checks. You're going to have to get used to this Dr. Clarridge. Maybe we're not the brave ones or the adventurers, but it's just as painful to have to watch someone you love do something dangerous. So that's what we do, we watch and we wait until they're back safely." Stacy saw tears in the corners of the young woman's eye's and a never before activated maternal instinct took over.

"It's a good thing to give him something to let him know what he's coming back to," she smiled.

"But...we haven't..."said Maria.

"You will," smirked Stacy. "Trust me, when you guys finally get together, boy will you."

Maria went over to Aaron and kissed him. The kiss took him by surprise, but he finally relaxed and kissed her back. The team all cheered as they watched the kiss.

"Uhm, can I check the feed on your cameras," asked Mike. "That is, if someone is actually going under today. If you guys are just going to make PG-13 porn, I don't have to."

Aaron and Jordan slipped beneath the surface of the water and found themselves in a new world. Normally the waters here were so clear that you could see for a good distance. But the recent earthquake and storms had stirred up the bottom and a lot of silt was still floating and cycling through the water. It might take days for the sea to calm down again. As they descended through the water a few curious fish and other aquatic beings took notice of them. Luckily they didn't run into any sharks. According to most of the info they had on the area, there hadn't been a shark attack in this region in over 5 years, but no one wants to be the first.

As they neared the bottom Aaron noticed them first, a bunch of irregularly shaped items. As Mike had said they could be rocks. But as he got closer, he noticed that the item was sharp on some edges and rounded on others. It looked like some sort of decoration. It had been worn smooth by the currents of the sea, but he could barely make out what looked like a lion's head. He pointed at it and Jordan took a look at it.

He picked up a couple of the smaller items and put them in a pile so they could take them up with them when they went.

Aaron swam a few yards further and almost had a heart attack. What he'd thought might possible be some sort of irregularity in the sea floor was probably a log. He wondered what kind of wood it was and went to examine it. Aaron almost lost his breath. It wasn't a log at all it was a column or part of one. He'd discovered what might be the ruins of a building and quite possible a large one. He pointed upwards and Jordan got his meaning. They quickly gathered as many of the smaller items as they could carry and headed for the surface. They had to take their time surfacing to prevent getting the bends. It was all Aaron could do to keep from just jetting back to the surface to find out what he'd found.

An hour later, Aaron was changed and staring at the items he'd brought back from the sea floor. Both Maria and Stacy were as excited as hell. After very gently removing some of the accumulated patina from a couple of the objects the two had begun to try and classify them. They were obviously common items such as cups and part of a jar, but they were so old that both PhDs were having difficulty placing them to a specific period of time.