Race among the Ruins

"Okay, Captain, let's get the fuck out of here," yelled Aaron happily.

"Aren't we going to go back and bring more items up?" asked Maria.

"Nope there's too much down there," said Aaron. "We're going to take what we have back to the Dean, and get a bigger more well equipped team to come back and fully catalog and explore the site. Don't worry; you'll have all of the fun you want looking at all of this stuff for a few months at least maybe years. That column we found was big. I don't think anyone else will find anything this big. I'm not sure anyone ever has."

"I'm sure we'll win the challenge and you'll get the professorship. I'll make sure of it," said Aaron.

"Yippee," said Maria sadly. "I guess you won."

"No, Ria, we won," he said. "This is what we set out to do. You and all of your friends will get all of the academic credit and all of that crap. I'll get to dive and find stuff. We all won."

"I was talking about OUR bet," said Maria. "Somewhere along the way it became far more important than all of the rest of it."

Aaron looked at Maria curiously and then at Stacy. She too seemed to be very sad. Well there's no figuring out women, he thought.

The Captain radioed their location to the university. Once the university's liaison logged the coordinates of their discovery, he'd contact the Greek government to arrange for the necessary permits for exploring and diving and removing artifacts. At that time no other team had found anything. He urged them to come in with all due haste and bring samples of their discovery.

The boat was soon under way home. Almost two hours into the trip home, trouble struck. A small fast cutter cut across their bow. Three men with automatic weapons fired shots into the air and yelled over a megaphone for the ship to stand fast so they could be boarded. The Captain looked at Aaron. Two more small fast boats were positioned off their stern. A man in one of them had a rocket launcher.

As Aaron watched, the small boats held their positions. The men in the boats kept their weapons trained on the ship.

"Captain, do we have any weapons on-board?" he asked.

"No sir," said the Captain. "What would we even need weapons for? All we ever do is fishing and from time to time a diving excursion like your-selves. We've never had anything of value that we'd need to protect.

Aaron felt Maria grab his hand on one side and Stacy on the other. He'd heard stories of modern day pirates, but never expected them to be this close to any country's national borders.

"Captain, radio for help before they come aboard," said Aaron. "It probably won't get here in time, but at least that way we know help will be coming. What we have to do is hope that they just take what they want and leave. Hopefully what they want is only money and material things."

The Captain slowly moved towards the bridge. Once he got there he did as Aaron had asked. He returned to Aaron's side a few minutes later. By then, a larger boat, one nearly the size of their own, was coming into view. Obviously the smaller boats were merely scouts for this one.

As the bigger boat drew near, the men in the smaller boats came closer. They tied the boats off one by one while the men in the other boats kept their weapons on the ship. Then the men came aboard. They were well trained. They gathered everyone aboard the ship into one area.

The men were rough looking, but without being dirty. They never spoke. They communicated by simply pointing and gesturing. Once Aaron and all of his people were together, two men came over from the bigger boat.

"Fucking pirates," spat the Captain viciously.

"We're not pirates," said the men's leader. "We're privateers."

"What exactly is the difference?" asked Aaron.

"If we were pirates," began the man. "Then we'd be out to rape and pillage and hurt you and take everything you have. Finally, we'd hold whatever was left for ransom. Those two...he pointed at Stacy and Maria...would already be providing entertainment for myself and my client. The other two women would be passed around by my crew." He was silent for a few minutes and looked at Aaron.

"There's no need to say it, my friend," he said as he looked at Aaron. "We would have to kill you to accomplish that. I can tell by the set of your jaw that a few of us would die in the attempt even though you are undermanned and unarmed." Aaron nodded his head.

"At any rate, we aren't pirates so our goals and methods are slightly different. We are very similar to what you'd call mercenaries. We hire out to a specific client for a specific task. We're very professional and don't kill or harm anyone unless it proves necessary. Under other circumstances you and I might have been friends."

"I doubt it," said Aaron.

"Never say never, my friend. The world is a strange place where anything can happen and often does," said the man, who was obviously the leader of the mercenaries. "Tell me, what would you do if necessary to protect that one?" He pointed at Maria again. "If she was sick or injured and you needed money for food or medicine. What if the two of you had children and you simply could not find work? What would you do in this shitty economy to provide for those you hold dear?" Despite himself Aaron nodded.

"Ah, a reasonable man," said the leader. "And a realistic one as well. As I said before, under other circumstances, we could have been friends. Unfortunately, my current client is not such a man." As Aaron watched, his oldest and formerly dearest friend came aboard the ship.

Aaron bristled as he watched Robert step aboard.

"God damn it," said Robert. He looked over at the table where the smaller pieces that they brought up from the bottom sat. "No one else has found shit. I have spies on all four of the other teams as well as the one I placed with you. I knew that you'd find something even though this area has supposedly been picked clean. I can't believe I fired her," he said pointing at Maria. "She must be brilliant as well as pretty."

He crossed the deck and stood in front of Maria who leaned behind Aaron. He reached out and touched Maria's face and she shrank back from the contact. Aaron quickly snapped out his fist and floored Robert. Several of the men trained there weapons on him, but their leader waved his hand for them to stop.

"If you touch her again, I'll hit you even harder, you bastard," said Aaron.

"I have no intention of hurting her, old friend. On the contrary, I intend to take very good care of her. I have to, you see." said Robert. He walked over and patted Stacy on her ass. "Hey, Stace," he said.

Stacy moved his hand. "Hello asshole," she snapped.

"Yep, I figured it right," said Robert. He looked at the leader of the mercenaries. "I told you, even though he's married to the tall slim one. He loves the little one with the big tits. She's the one you'll be taking. I'll be staying on board the ship with the rest of my friends."

"What friends?" asked Aaron, heatedly. "You have no friends aboard this ship."

"Oh yeah Aaron, you're all my team mates after all. You see, you and I have forgiven each other for what happened at the gala and we're all back together, like one big happy fucking family. At least that's what you're going to tell the university committee. We'll go back and we'll all share the credit for whatever you've found and I'll get my professorship, temporarily. Stacy, I'll even throw in an assistant position for you and support you for the next professorship that comes up. Of course I'll be gone before long so you can have mine."

"After I'm sure that you're going along with the plan, Aaron. I'll get your solemn word that you'll never breathe a word of our deal to anyone. I've known you for a long time Aaron. You've always been into that honor shit. I know that if you give me your word, you won't go back on it. So as soon as you give me your word and I've got my job secure, I'll let her go and you and she can sail off somewhere. I'm sorry to have to stoop to measures this low and for me it's really not about the position any more. What I really need is the fucking money."

Aaron just looked at him funny. "Yes old friend," said Robert. "I'm on the verge of being penniless."

"How?" asked Aaron. "We've made a lot of money over the past few years."

"Aaron, you and Stacy always lived within your means," said Robert. "But I'm the famous one. I have to live in a lifestyle that my fame dictates. There were always trips, houses, women, and parties. From the looks of the things you've found here, when you take me back to the site, I'm sure there are many more artifacts there. You rushed back so you could get credit, involve the museum and get all of the legal permits and that kind of bullshit didn't you?"

Aaron nodded.

"Well we're going to do things a bit differently this time. We're going to get all of your permits and all of that crap but we're only going to turn in the bigger pieces. Anything small enough to smuggle out under the nose of the officials or anything they haven't seen will be going to what we'll be calling, "The secure Robert's fucking future fund." I'm tired of playing by the rules. I need a big ass chunk of cash to retire on. And if you breathe a word of any of this to anyone, I'll have whichever one of my men is watching Dr. Clarridge at the time; put several bullets between those huge tits." He smiled.

"Did you really think I'd trust you to keep your word, Aaron?" he smirked. "Oh I trust you, but I need reassurances as well. After I have my shit load of cash, I'll disappear and you can have your girlfriend back. I have had to modify my plans a bit. Originally it was going to be Stacy. I had to get her to trust me, so I let her give me that blowjob. But once you caught us, I knew that she'd be worthless to me. There was never a chance of you taking her back and we both knew it. You're too into that honesty and keeping your promises stuff. She was damaged goods as soon as her lips touched my dick. I tried to get her to do whatever she could to fix your marriage but she was pretty much useless to me once you found out."

"Now, this little one holds the key to both your heart and my future," said Robert. "I'd love to try this one out too," he said. "But if I did, we'd be back at the start. Or would we?" Robert reached towards Maria and Aaron again moved faster than Robert could react to. He punched Robert in the side of the head so hard that Robert fell to the deck and got up with his eye swollen and his face bleeding.

This time none of the men reacted at all. They had no respect for Robert, though he was paying them.

"You'd better save your strength, old friend," laughed Robert, his lips bubbling blood. "If you want to keep those tits safe you're going to be my little diving monkey for the next few weeks. If you refuse to do anything I tell you, you won't like the condition she'll be in when you get her back."

He just sat there and smiled. "Take her," he said to the leader of the men. Then he made the biggest mistake he'd ever made. Just once more Robert reached towards Maria's breasts. Like most of the men present he had trouble taking his eyes away from them.

"Boy would I like to be that necklace," said Robert. "I'd be snuggled into probably the warmest place on earth. Did you give that to her Aaron? It's nice."

At that moment the leader of the mercenaries stared at the necklace.

"Where did you get that necklace from?" he asked Maria suddenly.

"A friend of mine, Elena Rinehart, gave it to me," said Maria. The look on the man's face changed suddenly. "Let's go," he said to his men. He nodded at Aaron.

"Wait, you idiot," screamed Robert. "You're supposed to take her with you."

Robert followed the man and grabbed him by his shoulder. "I'm the one who's paying you remember?"

"We'll survive for a while on your deposit," he sneered. "There are some things that are more important than money; family for one."

"I'll double your fee," said Robert.

"Elena Elizabetta is my cousin," sneered the man. "In this area, crossing her or any of her friends can prove deadly. Besides you have no honor. And you openly spoke of stealing from my country and my government for your own selfish ends."

"Take me with you, then," yelled Robert as the men went over the side.

"I could not be responsible for your safety on any of my boats," said the man. "My men hate you."

"Wait," said Aaron. "Here's my number at the university. If you're serious about needing honest work to support your families, I have an idea. Call Elena and we'll arrange things."

The man nodded and left.

Aaron turned towards Robert and smiled the way a shark smiles at a smaller fish. Robert backed up to the rail, with terror written all over his face. Before Aaron could get to Robert though, Maria stepped between them. "Aaron, he's not worth it," she said. "If you beat him up too badly, you could go to jail for it."

"I'm not going to beat him up," said Aaron. "I just want him off of my boat. I'm going to throw his ass over the side."

"But Aaron the pirates or whatever they were, are gone," said Stacy.

"He's a famous historian and PhD," snapped Aaron. "He can stick out his thumb and hitch hike."

"Let me handle him," said Maria. "We'll lock him in one of the storage compartments until the authorities arrive and then turn him over to them."

"We can't do that," said Aaron. "If we do then we'll have to tell them about and describe the men he hired. They really did seem to be honorable men who were pushed by pride and circumstance into something they didn't want to do."

Maria looked at Robert. He was cowering against the rail. She thrust her knee deeply into his crotch. "That's for Stacy," she said. Then she slapped him across his face. "That's for me."

"We'll turn him over to Elena," said Aaron. "I'm sure she'll know what to do with him. For me the hardest part is going to be telling his mother what a dick he is."

Six weeks later, the site exploration was nearly over. After taking all of the artifacts that could be found visually, the team had sifted the ground gently and found more. Then the structure of a small building had been found. Aaron's team divided the profits for the items the university turned over to the Greek government. Museums all over the world were inquiring about exhibition of the new artifacts and scholars and researchers from all over the world were coming in to see them.

Stacy was helping Maria to catalog all of the items and they were working with a few historians from the university and several museums to arrange displays. Stacy and Aaron had agreed to terms for an uncontested divorce. Stacy had assured him that if he ever wanted her back she'd be available.

Security for the site had been provided by the former mercenaries, so nearly everyone was happy. Robert had simply been released. But the Dean had sent out a message to every major museum and university on the planet about his exploits. He'd also given the story to every major news outlet. Robert had to flee the country before the Greek authorities caught up to him. Despite his PhD, he'd never work in his field again.

"So Professor Clarridge," said Stacy. "I'd like to thank you for hiring me to help with the project. But what are you going to do now? Do you think you could use a good assistant?"

"Not one who'd constantly be trying to steal my fiancé away from me at every turn," snapped Maria. "And you know you'd do that, because you still love him."

"Very fucking much," said Stacy. "Well, I guess I need to find myself a job then. I'll probably go back to the states even though I love it here."

"Then why don't you stay here, Stacy," said Maria. "I'd love to have a friend here, even one who I have to watch every second and keep away from Aaron."

"Uhm, what would I live on?" asked Stacy. "My good looks? I'll never do anything like that again."

"Would you consider a job as a professor at a certain university?" asked Maria.

"But that's your job and your dream," said Stacy.

"My old dream," said Maria. "I have a new one. Do you remember when you told me about how hard it is to watch him go off and do the things he does?"

Stacy nodded. "You'll have to get used to it. I always wanted to teach about the things that he discovers and do lectures for groups of visitors and write papers on them."

"You see Stacy, that's where we're different," said Maria. "And that's why you're going to be the professor."

Stacy just looked at Maria in shock. "You're going to let me have the job of a lifetime?" she asked. Maria smiled and nodded.

"What are you going to do, just stay home and have his babies?" asked Stacy.

"Maybe in a few years," said Maria. "But for right now, I'm taking diving lessons and climbing lessons. I don't want to just sit on the sidelines and wait for him. I don't want to talk about or lecture on Aaron discovering history. Aaron will never give up racing through the ruins, and I don't want to just wait and worry, so I'm going to be there with him every time he does."

The end