The Salvagers Read Online Free

salvage. We'd need the Hyperion to do the heavy work. The Amaranth Sun is a small vessel with little cargo space. It's just big enough to tie NASA's antique probe to the side and transport it home. It would not bear the immense treasure of the Cape Hatteras .
                  "I see in your report," continued Ed, "that you're going to do a complete survey. Good call. We'll need to know what we're up against and keep the surprises down. Another thing, we'd also like to bring the ship itself back, a tow ship will meet you at the end of the the salvage. B.T. Hall is planning a new resort in lunar orbit. This would be just the thing to boost the draw. You know how big lunar tourism is. Leasing the Cape Hatteras could mean a nice secondary income stream for us. Maybe enough to send you out to look for something else. I've got my secret project in the works, and there's also the INS Elichpur . It's never been found, you know."
                  Since I was going to be filthy rich, I wasn't certain I'd ever want to salvage again. But then I thought about the Elichpur . It had disappeared while on its way to deliver rare artwork bought by an eccentric billionaire who had lived in isolation on Mars almost a century ago. It was worth a fortune. I'd have to do it, and I was dying to know what his secret project was.
                  "Sounds great, Ed. I'm ready," I replied. "I've got enough on the Amaranth Sun to stay here for a while, but be sure to send supplies and fuel. I also can't stress enough that you guys need to be low-key. Do everything you can to keep this quiet."
                  I trusted Ed to be discreet, but he was just one of five investors. I knew all of them personally. When you're as rich as they are, bragging rights are more important than making more money, and I could easily imagine word of my discovery getting out at the country club over 100-year-old single-malt scotch.
                  "Don't worry," Ed reassured me. "I've got it well in hand. I've had my lawyer draft a stiff confidentiality agreement. Anyone who leaks information will lose so much that they'll be broke. I'm also having the whole thing compartmentalized. Only the investors know the big picture. Everyone else won't know enough to put two and two together, and we're having the specialists on the Hyperion agree to isolation from the public for the duration of the project."
                  "Thanks Ed. This is the big one! I'm glad to have you along."
                  "Glad to be in on it, and thank you for coming to me first. There's one other thing. Do you have the full sensor logs for your ship? All the way back to when Van der Boort owned it? If you do, could you please send me a copy?"
                  That seemed an odd question. The logs had nothing to do with the Cape Hatteras salvage, but I did have them.
                  "I do, and I'll send them along immediately."
                  I then sent a few other messages to keep our affairs in order back on Earth. Most important was the matter of the Smithsonian. They sent a nasty reply when they found out that their new exhibit would be delayed by at least a year, but I figured that if I refunded their money and still delivered their probe, they'd get over it. I could afford losses like that with the solar system's greatest treasure in my hands.
     
     

Chapter 3     August
     
                  Three months had passed since my conversation with Ed Iron. There had been little direct contact other than the reports I was sending every two weeks. I wrote them to sound adventurous, despite its being a simple survey, and his replies consisted of no more than two or three excited words about the mother lode. That hands-off approach was his biggest virtue. As long as he was kept regularly informed, he didn’t interfere.
                  Ed's salvor was still months