“Cabrillo. My name is Juan Cabrillo, and a couple of days ago my associate here and I discovered writing at the bottom of something called the Pine Island Treasure Pit that had been put there by Admiral Tsai Song in 1498.”

Her mouth hung agape for a moment before she realized she was staring. She took a steadying sip of her white wine. Hanley and Cabrillo didn’t look like the types to play a practical joke. They looked deadly serious.

“It really is true?” Her voice was a wonder-filled whisper.

“Yes.” Max said, grinning that he was able to provide her with information she obviously relished.

“Wait,” she said suddenly. “Isn’t Pine Island where some privateer supposedly buried his treasure?”

“The reality is even more amazing than that legend,” Juan told her. He had already decided to get as much out of her as he could before telling her about the Argentine threat. He didn’t want to risk her becoming uncooperative. “Please, what can you tell us about Admiral Tsai?”

“The reason so little is known about him is that when he returned to China, a new Emperor was on the throne, one who didn’t believe his subjects should leave the Middle Kingdom, and he put Tsai and his crew to death so they couldn’t pollute the people with tales of the outside world. One of the men managed to escape, and it’s from him we know about the voyage.” She spoke with a real passion on the subject. And while Juan had asked the question, she was directing most of her attention to Max.

“Tell us about the ship they were forced to leave behind. Tsai wrote that his men were set upon by an evil but didn’t say what really happened.”

“Yes, that was the Silent Sea. Tsai was forced to sink her and kill all her crew because they had gone mad.”

“Where did this happen?” Max asked.

“The survivor was a lowly seaman, not a navigator. He only said that where it took place was a land of ice.”

“Curious,” Juan said. “How does—”

“A black woman become an expert on Chinese maritime history?”

“No, I was going to ask how the story was preserved for so long, but since you brought it up . . .”