Chapter 1

Crystal was treading water next to their houseboat, waiting for her mother to finish climbing up the ladder. She and her mother went out snorkeling or scuba diving at least five times a week. This last month they had been wearing extra-thick cold-water wetsuits, even though the water in southern Florida was quite warm in the summer. They were practicing for their next expedition: recovering artifacts from a fifteen-hundred-year-old Viking longboat at the bottom of a Swedish fjord.

When it was her turn to use the ladder, Crystal climbed up slowly, the weight of the scuba tank threatening to pull the eleven-year-old back into the water. When she was near the top of the ladder, she heard her father call out. Even though his voice was muffled by the wetsuit headgear, she could tell he was excited about something. Dragging herself into the boat, she flopped on the deck and looked around for her mother; all she saw was an air tank, flippers, and a face mask.

Crystal called for her mother to help her get her out of the scuba gear, but she got no response. After calling for help three more times, she got bored and began to wiggle out of the equipment by herself. Given enough time she could figure out all the buckles and straps—it just wasn’t easy. Besides, weren’t mothers supposed to help with things like that? Crystal decided that her mom must be inside tending to her father’s latest emergency. It had better be something important, or she was going to give them a piece of her mind.

Crystal forgot her irritation when she walked into the living room and saw the packet of papers lying on the coffee table. They were the latest sonar readings and robotic submarine pictures of the Viking boat. She closed her eyes and silently thanked her mother for working so hard to get them on this expedition.

Crystal loved exploring and discovering new things and could hardly wait for this adventure to begin. She immediately sat down and started looking through the pictures, imagining what it was going to be like when they were on the research ship anchored out in the fjord. She wouldn’t be allowed to dive all the way down to the Viking boat, but she would definitely be in the water as they brought the artifacts up in baskets. She would see them before anyone onboard the ship did.

Then her parents walked into the living room together and stared at her with strangely gloomy faces. Her father looked like he had eaten a few too many bean burritos and was struggling not to stink up the room. Her mother hadn’t followed the usual routine of brushing out her curly brown hair the moment she took off the wetsuit hood, so her hair stuck out in all directions. She looked like a cartoon character who had stuck her finger in a light socket.

They kept looking at Crystal, not speaking, their mouths starting to form words then shutting before any sound could escape. An icy chill ran up Crystal’s spine. This behavior was not normal for them. She could tell that something was wrong.

“Crystal,” her mother finally began, “you better sit down. That was your brother on the phone.”

Oh God! Something must be wrong with Eric! She loved her brother. He was thirteen years older than her, but he had always been kind to her and treated her with patience and respect. When she was little, he was the one who read her a bedtime story at night and got her out of the crib in the morning. When she got older, he was the one who showed her how to swim, how to canoe, and all of the other essential lessons her parents were too busy to teach her. Heck, he even taught her how to tie her shoes. She thought he might just be the best big brother in the whole world.

She still remembered the day he got on the plane and flew off to college. Of course, she didn’t understand what college was back then. All she knew was that her big brother was going away and that he wouldn’t be there to help her or protect her or teach her anymore. And then her father made it all worse by trying to leave the airline terminal before the plane took off, without letting her cherish every second of being close to Eric. She had screamed and slumped to the floor, fighting her father’s attempts to pry her hands off a chair leg until Eric’s plane pulled away from the gate and she couldn’t see it anymore.

Crystal set down the sonar readings and looked up at her parents, her stomach twisting, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. “What is it, Mom? Did he have a car accident? Oh, please, let it be a small accident where no one got hurt.”

She could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she had guessed wrong. Her thoughts went to an even darker place. She began to feel nauseous. “He’s not sick, is he? Does he have cancer or something?”

“Calm down, dear,” said her mother. “It’s nothing bad like that at all. In fact, it’s good news. His university has given him permission to go with us on the Swedish expedition and use it as an independent study credit for his master's degree.”

Crystal could feel the icy chill begin to melt. Her brother was okay. In fact, this would be a really good thing. She would get to spend a whole month with her brother on an exciting adventure.

But she could still see the worry in her parent’s eyes. Something wasn’t right. “So, what aren’t you telling me?”