The MOCHA van was one of those small Toyota models you see all over the developing world: short wheelbase, a sliding door, the engine under a hump mounted under the middle of the vehicle, not the most pleasant place for a six-hour drive across Sri Lanka. The van was crammed with gear, a cooler, a single dive fin, quart oil bottles, and the repaired dredge pump in the back.

The driver, Srivathnan, was a dark-skinned Tamil man with a big smile. Tusker never could pronounce his name right and called him Nathan. When Tusker came out of the Rampart Inn with his duffel bag, Srivathnan started the engine. Tusker nodded to him and piled in the back.

At the shed, Ian, Tusker, and Raj heaved the pump out of the back of the van, sliding it in next to the bucket of seawater. Tusker saw Ian’s quizzical look.

“Friday’s findings,” he said in reply, “British Navy, I think.” Last week’s excitement faded, and Tusker had an urge to just dump out the bucket and toss the artifacts back in the harbor. They grabbed damp wetsuits, fins, and buoyancy wings and heaped them in the back of the van. “That’s gonna make for a smelly ride,” Ian tried to joke. Tusker didn’t react.

Srivathnan smoked a cigarette in the shade, talking quietly to Raj. Tusker and Ian finished loading the van and slammed shut the heavy rear door. “Well, Raj, you’ve got a couple days off til we get back,” Tusker said. He could see that Srivathnan had told him the news. Raj’s eyes looked watery. He didn’t say anything, but touched Tusker’s arm and shook his head side to side. Tusker clasped his hand and quickly turned to go. “Come on, Nathan. Long drive ahead.”

Deep Salvage

Bay of Bengal, eight nautical miles east of Batticaloa. 15 April, 1942

The Royal Navy dive tender HMS Drake arrived in Trincomalee a week after the Vampire sank to the bottom of the Bay of Bengal. She didn’t have far to come. The Easter raid on Colombo by the Japanese had left that city’s harbor littered with downed planes, sunken ships and unexploded ordnance. The difficult work of removing all this debris kept the Drake’s small team of clearance divers busy. The shallow water there meant little risk of the bends, so the divers rotated into the water in shifts around the clock, only pausing to eat and sleep. They would have remained there for another month if the urgent order to move around to the east coast for an undisclosed mission had not been received from London.