In the 18th century off the capes of Virginia a Spanish galleon laden with gold was looted by pirates and then the thieves were never heard from again. In 1982, Brick Weston stepped from his seaplane into the surf with a pack on his shoulder. Brick formed a theory that the pirates planned to seal a cave with explosives to hide their ship, then crawl out another passage with the stolen treasure. Reports about this crew were so ruthless Weston speculated if they had to hide long they may have killed each other inside the stone vault.

Waves struck the face of a seaside cliff. Weston found a crack in the rocks. He drove a spike in the ground to fasten a rope then descended into a tunnel. An opening revealed icicle-shaped stalactites inside a large cavern. Dripstones shimmered with moonlight reflected off an underground lake. The man dropped onto the rocks below. He believed what he came for would be along shortly.

As Brick waited he remembered the lake where he fished when he was young. Some years when the conditions were right, algae in the lake grew until it formed a shell that floated to the surface. Rainbow trout popped out on top of the algal blooms. Farmers there said the lake turned over. The treasure hunter anticipated this underground lake was also about to turn over.

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