Send Me No Bill

Send Me No Bill

"Barry, you be a hero if you must. I'm staying onQueen Mary."

"What? A grown man like you? You afraid?"

"Bare, I was a State Champion swimmer, I've worked in and around water all my life, I love showers and baths and fountains and..."

"But you're afraid ofdeepwater, is that it? That's why you stay on the platform."

"I am not overly fond of deep water," Dane said candidly. "Besides, I'm the boss. I don't need to dive."

The salvage diver wouldn't ease off. "That why you wear a life jacket along with flotation gear, so the Bogey Man won't get you?"

"I deal with it realistically," explained Dane patiently. "I don't need to enter a plea in a court or talk with a shrink. Sounds pretty stable to me."

That night Mr. Thurston awoke sweating. A moment before his breath labored. He felt being pulled down. And during it all he heard laughing.Big brotherlaughing.

"Damn!" said Dane in the dark. "Barry was right. It is psychological. But not the depth: it's thegoing down. No wonder I was a champ -- I wanted to skim the surface as fast as I could to get away from Keith! But what was that payback scene all about?"

Thurston Salvage was on a mission in the Gulf of Mexico. They were after a Spanish rig reputed to have sunk while shipping silver from the New World mines to Spain. The metal was valuable then. Because it was from a sunken ship, it was priceless now.

"Boss-man, your deep-water fear is none of my business, except when it involves me. See what I'm getting at? Here we are on the job. Deep water everywhere. I dive, you stay aboard. Hey, those are our jobs. But what if I get into trouble down there? Something with the gear? What if my life is threatened, but you can't help me? Or won't. Fear all you want, Dane, that's your business. But not when I'm gasping my last breath."

Dane looked at his diver. He'd hired him because he was both good and fearless. The diver's concern unsettled him. He was right: how could an

employer's psychology not affect his workers? The owner became apprehensive.Damn Keith!

In Dane's mind, his Saving Grace lay in his equipment. Projecting his fear of drowning, Mr. Thurston deliberately purchased only the cutting-edge gear. And that with his favorite diver choosing.

"Test it, Barry. If you're satisfied, I'll buy it. If not, we'll keep looking."

The crew consisted of Sanchez the Navigator, Billy the Mechanic, Oscar, Cook, Parnel and Jones second and third Divers, Barry Number One, and Dane, Boss. And every one eagle-eyed the sea and all the hi-tech equipment for theMother Ship.

And the day finally came. Everyone knew it when Barry tugged the sea end of the line.

"Give him slack," ordered Dane. "Keep the air hose straight. We've found it, the Mother Lode!"

Everyone scurried about the deck. Then they noticed the air hose moving away. "What the hell's going on? Something's wrong."

Parnel and Jones suited up fast.

"Look, now he's circling. Why isn't the radio working, Billy?"

"Boss, I'm the mechanic, not the electrician. Call Ma Bell."

"A clown, just when I need one. Sanchez, you know phones."

"Line's been severed, Sir."

Thurston perceived instantly. "Sharks. Damn. Only thing it could be. Why haven't we seen any fins? Boys, you seen any sign of sharks? Why haven't we seen any signs?"

"Cause the bait's below us, Mr. Thurston."

"Sure. A fisherman might say we're chunking for shark."

"Parnel, Jones, get the hell down there, NOW!"

"Not on your life, Boss. I ain't swimming with no sharks."

"Damn you, Barry's fighting for his life. Look at the line. He's lucky to have hands left to tug with."

Dane turned into a hurricane. He grabbed every weapon in sight. He thrust them into the chests of his divers.

"You're going voluntarily and in one piece, or thrown with holes in you." Dane aimed a spear gun at their stomachs. "And won't the trickling blood just draw those hungry sharks to your yellow bellies even faster, boys? NowGet!"

As the two rolled over the gunwale, Dane focused topside. "Sanchez,

Billy, Oscar, when I order, you pull. I don't see any blood. Yet the line's still tugging. That means Barry's okay but only by the Grace of God. And Parnel and Jones must be safe too. Damn, what's going on down there? Okay, start hauling. Bring him up fast but steady."

Sharks raced through Thurston's mind.How many? What kind? Are they hungry? Damn, sharks arealwayshungry. Wish I knew what was happening down there!

"Steady boys," ordered Dane. "All together. If we jerk, the sharks will think they'resupposedto strike. Easy does it!"

The number of bubbles increased. The divers neared the surface. Suddenly Barry's line darted from the ship.

"My God, they're pulling him!" Instinctively, Dane ripped off his life vest and dove into the sea. He raced toward his friend.

When he reached the figure, Barry, Parnel, and Jones popped up in synchrony. All masks faced Dane Thurston.

"Surprise!" they chorused.

"What in God's name?"

"The boys said you thought there were sharks down there, Boss," yelled Barry through his mask. "Just wanted to see how you'd react."

"There aren't any sharks?"

The three divers laughed. They'd obviously pulled a good one over their employer.

"I just wanted," said Barry, watching the mixed emotions of his rescuer, "to see how strong your fear was. Will he let me be torn to shreds in front of everyone or what?"

"Why, you dirty..."

"Boss, this is no time and certainly not the place to be a bad sport. Thereisa fortune down there. I reallydidfind the Spanish ship."

For the first time, Dane realized where he was. And just as instinctively as diving to save his friend, he now splashed toward the platform. He listened as his divers laughed.

Dane Thurston panted on the deck of hisQueen Mary.He was confused. In a surprisingly short time he had gone from adrenaline-filled- save-my-diver, to bile-loaded-I'll-kill-the-SOB, to hot-damn-we've found-the-treasure. It was enough to make a man age and youth in the same breath.

"You know, boys," said Barry, back on deck, "I'm afraid our stunt didn't cure him like we hoped. But it did prove his loyalty to his crew. Man, can

he swim! You'd think the silver -- or the gold -- was on the boat itself!"

"Either that or sharks were after him -- ha!"

The crew went to work. The find was so great that additional vessels were called out. The necessary paper work was attended to: Permission to Search, Validation of Discovery, Request to Salvage. Mexican officials swarmed like sharks on steak -- or dangling, human flesh -- to document and officiate.

The Spanish Embassy was notified as were museums. Meanwhile, Dane Thurston, Salvage Man Extraordinaire, brought up the silver. It was a sight all men in his profession, like all treasure seekers, dream of.

When the ingots lay topside and everyone had received his share, Dane Thurston went landward. To Indianapolis, where he met his brother, now a successful lawyer.

"Hey, Sam, how's it hanging?"

"Hear you struck it rich, Danny boy. Come here to gloat? Or because you need a good lawyer?"

"If I wanted a good lawyer I wouldn't go to a Philadelphia one."

"Still got our edge, eh? Well, why not, the way I ... "

"Treated me?" finished Dane. "Tell you what, Sam, I'm not here to rub salt in anyone's wounds. To me, our past is just that. Instead, I brought you a present. Here." And he placed a heavy object on the desk.

"Silver? A real ingot?"

"Straight from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, brother. It slept a thousand meters down for how many years just waiting for this moment."

The lawyer hesitated. "What's the gimmick, Dane?"

"No gimmick. It's payment for your services."

"You never hired me. I never accepted you as a client."

"Sam, quit being so damned defensive. You see, ever since the find I've been thinking about us. How you bullied me and half drowned me. Well, that was a quarter of a century ago. I figured I shouldn't begrudge you for whatallbig brothers do. Instead, I shouldpayyou for all the good stuff you gave me."

"I gave you good stuff? All I remember is zing-cracks and monkey-bumps."

"That's all Iusedto remember, too. But as I sat on this mountain of silver, laughing my head off, it dawned on me why I got into the salvage business in the first place. And guess what? I came up with brother Sam."

"As the Judge would say, show the relevance."

"Okay," said Dane. "The reason why I went into salvaging is that my psyche said, I want to dunk that bastard Sam but good the way he did me. I'm going to take him to the bottom of the ocean and leave him there, and whatever I find will be my reward. It didn't take a shrink to figure it out, either."

"Brilliant," said the lawyer. "And I'm glad you played the revenge game in your subconscious. But why pay me in reality? Something doesn't quite fi."

"Sam, do you know how much that ingot's worth? How muchI'mworth?"

"I see that you're worth a lot more than I ever gave you credit for."

"Back at you, Sam. So this ingot is my thanks for making me financially rich. Because if I hadn't gone treasure hunting with payback in mind, I wouldn't have found this, right? It's a reasonable fee. So send me no bill."