Stepping over the gunwale and onto the deck, both Teddy and Stu sensed something was wrong immediately. Grabbing Joshua by the shoulder, Teddy gestured with a finger at his lips: "Shhhh!"
Uncle Stu grabbed Caleb and guided him aft while Teddy entered the cabin alone. Flipping the lights on, he had a surreal experience as everything appeared to be in its place, in fact, he could swear everything was exactly as they had left it, but his brain was registering minute changes that weren't apparent to the naked eye.
A magazine slightly turned, headphones that had been put back in the same place but flipped left to right. He couldn't point to any specific thing, but he knew without a doubt that their little boat had been tossed by a professional. No wonder the plump bobby had been watching them and even stopped them to stall a little.
Waving Uncle Stu and the boys into the cabin, Teddy gestured up while cupping his ears to let them know that the boat was almost certainly bugged at this point.
"So, Caleb, you wanted to know why we are mapping a GPS grid and taking sonar pictures offshore?" Teddy pointed to the sky knowingly.
"Yes, Dad. What are we doing out here?" Caleb was no slouch.
"Let's take a look at the images we got from the sonar today." Teddy had planned on going over the images anyway in preparation for their first dive tomorrow. Might as well give the Cuban government a show.
"Wow!" Joshua couldn't contain his enthusiasm. He'd had no idea during that long hot day that they'd been motoring over cool temples and pyramids. "What are we looking at, Dad?"
"I don't know for sure. It definitely looks like a ceremonial temple city—three pyramids—with at least two of them showing terraces or a series of steps commonly associated with ziggurats in the Middle East. It's these two walled courtyards here, and possibly a third partially destroyed one right here, that pique my interest."
"Where is the Starbucks?" Uncle Stu knitted his eyebrows and folded his arms.
"Everything I am seeing mitigates against natural geographic origin—especially the layout of the structures in relationship to each other—nature doesn't often relate this many objects at right angels to each other. This is manmade. I am sure of it." Teddy ignored Uncle Stu. "Bones, why don't you whip us up some snacks?" Better to put him to work than to put up with him.
"Dad, why did you choose this site over Stonehenge or Baalbek?" Joshua pinched his lower lip pensively.
"At an average depth of 250-300 feet, this site is one of the few sites in the world that is virtually unexplored by humans—imagine what we may find!" Like any father, Teddy was excited by his children's interest.
"How will we dive that deep?" Asked Caleb.
"We, little buddy, means Uncle Stu and I, when you are talking this deep. We'll be using Trimix to manage the depth and increased decompression times. It's too dangerous for you two.
We'll take you and Joshua down to one hundred and thirty and, hopefully, you will be able to see something. I think the tops of those pyramids might be visible at that depth." Teddy got ready for the chorus of disappointment.
"Awww!" Right on cue, sometimes Teddy wondered if these kids new how lucky they were. Then again, how could they—all of us live our lives through the lenses of our own eyes—we naturally assume all the blessings we receive are the baseline from which we deserve more.
"What are we looking for?" Joshua maturely brought the conversation back.
"Anything that will reveal to us information about the origins of early man and his habits, especially pyramid building." Teddy couldn't get the hidden microphones off his mind.
"Giants, Joshua. Nephilim—the offspring of fallen angels and the beautiful daughters of men." Uncle Stu waved a finger in circular motions around his ear behind Teddy's back.