Red Dragons

by K W Frost

  Child wanted to see if they could retrieve the lost aqualung gear and perhaps find the mysterious container that had almost caused disaster the day before.

  ‘Looks good down there,’ commented Ritson. ’A bit different from yesterday,’

  ‘Yeah, shouldn’t have any trouble today,’ Child replied.

  Samantha was looking at the caves with interest.

  ‘They’re much bigger than I thought… how far in do they go?’

  ‘About a third of the way through the island, Ritson replied, ‘they are a classic example of what sea erosion can do when it finds a weakness in rocks. It’s probably taken thousands of years to cause them, but I’m no geologist, so I’m only guessing.’

  ‘You want to wait out here, and if the gear is still in the cave we’ll get it,’ Child said to Ritson, before turning to Samantha. ‘You ready, Sam?’

  ‘Let’s go,’ she said, sitting up on the boat’s rim and eager to get started. She did a quick final check of her gear, slipped the regulator into her mouth and flipped over the side.

  Child copied her actions on the other side of the boat. He held a small load of gear in a handy fish bag.

  ‘Half an hour tops, Steve,’ Child said, bobbing in the water.

  ‘Watch out for Old Clipper,’ Ritson said with a grin.

  The water still bore some evidence of a storm, and tiny pieces of seaweed and algae fogged areas of water. As they sunk down, they swam past a mass of dead and dying blue jellyfish, their translucent bodies almost invisible. Turning to find Samantha close beside him, Child led the way into the cave. The light was still good at the mouth of the cave, but as they slipped over the lip and turned the corner, the light dimmed significantly, casting an eerie gloom onto the cave floor. Child led the way, following the left-hand side of the cave and swam further down into its depths.

  Suddenly, Child stopped still with Samantha almost bumping into him. Child reached down and wrote “Old Clipper” on his communication board. He then picked up a spiny sea egg, or kina in Maori, of which there were hundreds living nearby, and breaking it against a rock held the flesh out, waving it in front of a deep hole in the rocks.

  Slowly, slowly, a dark head began to emerge - a large moray eel rose out of the rock to snap at the tasty morsel. Child moved the kina through the water like a snake charmer, further and further away, until a full metre of the eel’s smooth body came out of the hole. Finally, Child let the creature take the tidbit from his fingertips.

  Samantha’s reaction to seeing the eel was to reach down and take a kina of her own, so when Child finally let the eel have his reward, she was ready to feed it a second. She moved the kina around the water too, enticing the eel further out. Just as she was about to let go of the morsel, the eel snapped forward and took the flesh. Samantha withdrew her fingers just in time. She turned towards Child, a smile breaking around her mouthpiece, and gave Child the thumbs up.

  The cave grew darker and darker the further they went in, but Child knew from previous dives that enough light would remain. Then, out of the darkness, a lighter shape appeared — something colourful caught against a sloping area of boulders. The container looked out of place there, glowing bright yellow in the darkness of the cave. It was shaped like a treasure chest and rested patiently, waiting to be claimed.

  Immediately, Child and Samantha finned over to it. Child was sure this was the same container that had crashed into him yesterday. It hadn’t been damaged in the storm, apart from the odd scratch. It almost looked new. Turning it over in his hands, Child could find no markings on it at all. It looked remarkably sturdy and quite unlike any other container that he had seen.

  After considerable effort, they managed to free the container from its rocky resting place. They let it settle on to the cave floor, displaying only slight negative buoyancy. Pulling up the gear he had trailing behind him, Child got some thin but very strong cord and passed it under the container twice and once lengthwise. Attaching the two buoyancy aids on each side, Child reached for his spare tank of compressed air and filled the two aids.

  Letting the container float slightly, Child and Samantha searched for the lost aqualung. They soon found it resting a little further into the cave. Child clipped it to his weight belt and returned to their floating treasure chest.

  Attaching two towropes to the container’s harness, Child gestured to Samantha to take hold. Together they started to tow the container out of the cave.

  The tow was demanding but not too difficult, and they progressed forward at a slow pace. They were soon out of the cave and once clear of the entrance, they pulled themselves along the boat. Up on the surface, Ritson was ready to give them both a helping hand on board, along with the aqualung gear and container. Ritson looked down at the container as it bobbed gently beside the boat, growing slightly.

  ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before… any idea how much it weighs?’ he asked.

  ‘Hard to tell in the water,’ Child replied, ‘but we should be able to lift it onto the boat.’

  Ritson reached over carefully and got one hand under each end, and with an almost effortless action, lifted, then twisted to place the container on the hard-bottomed floor of the Zodiac. It sat in the middle of the boat with water pouring out from four small holes on one side. Child hadn’t seen these in the gloom of the cave. The pouring water had a hypnotic effect on the three people. Ritson examined the container as Child and Samantha slowly started to remove their aqualung equipment. Child carefully tied down the aqualungs with straps and stored the regulators. Samantha joined Child in removing the top half of their wetsuits. Her lime green bikini top emphasised her firm breasts.

  ‘Looks like something was attached to the side and it’s been ripped off?’ said Ritson, still examining the container. ‘Probably happened in the storm — with water pouring in it would’ve gradually filled up and sunk.’

  Ritson’s evaluation also gave the probable solution.

  ‘Let’s get it back home so we can have a proper look at it in comfort,’ suggested Child, turning and pulling up the boat’s anchor.

  Ritson soon had the engine going and they headed around the island towards the beach. The Zodiac rode easily over the half-metre swells as they headed for shore. Looking ahead over the water, Child noticed something of interest.

  ‘Steve, that fishing boat is in close — it’s not fishing is it?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘It looks close. Did you make out its name?’ asked Child, lifting his hand to help protect his eyes from the water’s glare.

  ‘Looks like the Santa Rose, or something like that,’ Samantha suggested.

  ‘I noticed it earlier while you were in the cave, and it came in closer than that… it certainly looked like they were looking for something,’ Ritson said with a sly grin. ‘Perhaps we’ve found it.’

  ‘Perhaps we have,’ Child replied thoughtfully. ‘Well, we’ve got it now, so finders keepers in my book.’

  ‘It looks like they’re out of luck then, doesn’t it,’ Ritson added.

  Child looked at Ritson and knew what he was thinking. No fancy crayfish pots or cargo containers had ever looked like this one, nor came in this size. They both knew that probably something highly illegal was contained within its yellow plastic surrounds. Sam looked lost in thought too, as if she was guessing at the hidden contents and coming to the same conclusions.

  Ritson broke the silence with a change of subject.

  ‘Did you meet up with Old Clipper in the cave?’ he asked, grinning broadly.

  When Ritson smiled, it made him look like a young boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  ‘Oh yes!’ exclaimed Samantha, smiling too, ‘Isn’t he a beauty.’

  ‘Sam almost found out why we call him Old Clipper — she only just got her fingers out of the way in time,’ said Child.

  Ritson looked at Samantha with a renewed respect.

  ‘It isn’t everyone who gets to feed Old Clipper and not
get their fingers burned. He doesn’t always come out for strangers either, so he must have taken a liking to you.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad I appeal to the fish around here at least,’ Samantha added impishly, with a purposeful glance at Child.

  Samantha was a woman aware of her own beauty; she knew her looks attracted men and often used it to her advantage. She knew Child would rise to her playful teasing.

  Child smiled broadly at Samantha, his whole face lit up.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll appeal to more than just the fish while you are here,’ he said, looking directly her.

  Samantha held his gaze for a moment before looking away. She felt strangely perturbed because Child’s eyes seem to look straight into her, as if he was reading her private thoughts, and she couldn’t have that happening at all.

  Chapter nine

  The container looked out of place in Child’s garage. Sitting in the middle of the floor, its bright yellow exterior was in good condition despite a number of scratches. Around the walls of the garage hung tools of all shapes and sizes. Electrical tools were neatly lined up on the workbench, and diving equipment was stacked with a two-meter surfboard and boogie board. A hang glider hung neatly from the roof alongside climbing, caving and other specialist outdoor equipment. The garage spoke of the adventurous nature of its owner.

  Ritson examined the container again in more detail. Its lid fitted smoothly, with hardly a ripple to indicate its presence. Apart from the four convenient molded recessed handles, which Child had found as they transported the container from the beach, the container was plain and gave no hint of its contents. After changing into casual shorts and t-shirts, Child and Samantha rejoined Ritson in the garage.

  ‘Nicely made,’ commented Ritson, his hands on the container. ‘What we have here is a purpose-built, watertight container for carrying something in wet conditions. The smooth lid and solid plastic exterior mean that it was designed to be submerged in water, and take some rough handling.’

  Ritson paused to point to the lid’s seal, as if giving a lecture to undergraduates.

  ‘The seal is strengthened with polypropylethene, which not only protects from water penetration, but also acts as a glue to seal the lid shut from prying eyes. Funny that it should have something attached so poorly on the outside.’

  ‘Conditions being what they were last night, it might have been a last minute added feature? Probably a homing beacon of some kind,’ surmised Child, also examining the surface of the container.

  ‘Should we open it?’ asked Samantha, nervously. ‘After all, we have no idea who it belongs to, or to what purpose it was being used… we could be opening Pandora’s box.’

  Sam knelt down and placed one hand tentatively on the yellow lid.

  ‘What do you think?’ said Child to Ritson. ‘There are no markings on it, so I don’t think that it’s likely to contain poisonous gas or anything like that.’

  ‘My thoughts are either guns or drugs,’ answered Ritson, ‘and seeing as it’s easy enough to get guns in New Zealand, my guess is the second option. My only concern is if it’s booby-trapped in any way?’

  ‘Perhaps we should leave it to the professionals to open,’ said Samantha, still looking apprehensive.

  ‘No way,’ said Child, ‘we’ve gone to a lot of trouble to collect it from the cave, so we’ll take the first crack at it. I don’t want some high-flying copper from Auckland taking it away and then we never find out what’s inside.’

  Child went to his tool bench and soon returned with a battery-operated drill.

  ‘We’ll drill a couple more experimental holes and see what response we get,’ he said before turning to Samantha. ‘Sam, you can wait outside if you like.’

  ‘No, I’ll stay — if you two can risk it so will I,’ she replied, defiantly.

  Samantha’s natural curiosity was beginning to override her caution, and besides that she wanted to know what was in the container too.

  Child drilled a hole about two inches down and in from the top of the container. The drill bit quickly hit plastic, and ten seconds later met no resistance at all, burying its full length into the top. After several more holes in other parts of the surface and quick examination, Child concluded that there was a hollow inner layer protecting a secondary sealed container.

  ‘It could take all day with this drill,’ said Child.

  He returned to his workbench and came back with a jig saw. After being set to a depth of just greater than the plastic, Child made short work of the container’s lid. Removing the square piece of plastic from the top of the box, Ritson peered into the space to see yet another yellow plastic covering. With a quick impatient gesture, Ritson stepped back and Child attacked the second covering with the circular saw. Within minutes that also had a square hole cut into it. Child and Samantha watched with some trepidation as Ritson gently pulled the loosened plastic away. Inside were some clear plastic bags containing small, lumpy rocks. Ritson took a bag from the box and tossed it up in his hand.

  ‘About a kilo, I would say,’ Ritson said, before tossing the bag over to Child.

  ‘Yeah, about a kilo, I wonder how much of this stuff there is in here?’ Child replied. The two men began pulling the bags out and stacking them on the floor. Samantha took one bag, opened it up and crushed a small rock between her fingers. She carefully tasted the white powder with the tip of her tongue.

  ‘I think it is crack cocaine,’ she said.

  Child looked at Ritson and with a quick nod added his agreement. Shortly, all the bags where out on the floor and they counted forty in totals.

  ‘Crack cocaine is worth about 10,000 US dollars a kilo, so we have about $400,000 dollars worth here. How much is that, in New Zealand dollars?’ asked Ritson. ‘Eight hundred thousand to a million?’

  ‘Something like that,’ said Child, looking at the stash with something like awe.

  Child broke from the spell when he noticed something small in the container. A small section of the bottom appeared to have lifted slightly, and it was only his natural curiosity that made him get a screwdriver and gently lift the corner. The plastic lifted to reveal a false bottom in the container. There, packed in cellophane wrapper, was a small computer panel with several computer chips and other diodes on it.

  ‘What the…’ Child said, puzzled.

  Just then, the siren sounded in the distance from the local fire brigade. Child and Ritson’s personal beepers went off, both men being voluntary members of the brigade.

  ‘Come on, this stuff will be safe enough here,’ said Child, ‘we’ll drop you off on the way Sam, and get this stuff to the police once we’re back.’

  Child placed the computer board on his bench, closed the automatic door and joined the other two in his utility for a hurried trip to the fire station.

  At the station, Samantha insisted that she could ring for a ride from there, and Ritson and Child joined the other members of the crew to attend to the emergency call. However, thirty minutes later a disgruntled crew climbed out of the fire engine after learning the call was a false alarm.

  Child and Ritson hurried back to Child’s home annoyed that their investigation of the container had been interrupted for nothing.

  Back at Child’s house they were met with an unexpected scene.

  The garage door was wide open and the container was nowhere to be seen.

  The only things remaining from the container were the chips of yellow plastic taken out by the jig saw, and the computer board that must have been overlooked as it lay among the tools on the bench.

  Ritson turned to look at Child, his eyes wide.

  ‘I wonder if anyone will believe us if we tell them we had a million dollars of crack cocaine here in your garage, and we left for a false alarm. I doubt if I’d believe it myself.’

  Child just stood there with a speculative look on his face. His eyes were vacant, as if he was gazing into the far distance. His right hand came up to scratch absently at his chin, while his left hand gen
tly tossed his keys up in the air, over and over.

  Ritson knew from past experience that Child’s brain was working overtime, and although Child could act with startling rapidity when required, generally he acted after due consideration.

  Child slowly came out of his semi-trance and a faint smile crossed his lips.

  ‘Well, the bad guys are ahead of us now, but the game isn’t over yet. We’ll tell Bill about what’s happened, and while I’m sure that he’ll believe us and pass the information on, I’m not sure the drug squad in Auckland will. So, it’ll be up to us to track the stuff down.’

  Child looked directly at Ritson, his gaze almost impaling him on the spot.

  ‘Steve, this is past the point of treasure hunting — the bad guys stole the loot and know who we are. Things could get serious before this is finished. Do you want to go ahead or not?’ Child added, a heavy tone in his voice.

  ‘So, we’re behind them — so what? I don’t think I could live with myself if we don’t make a good go of stopping this,’ said Ritson, his eyes steadily meeting Child’s as he spoke. Ritson’s reply was prompt, without bravado and one of quiet determination.

  ‘Good. We’ll get these bastards yet,’ said Child with feeling. ‘Here’s what we can do now. First, we need to find out who was on that boat the Santa Rose? It’s reasonably obvious that they contacted someone on shore to follow us in, and then removed the cocaine at the first chance they got. Can you try to track them down through the police by saying they were fishing illegally in the reserve? Also, get one of your computer buffs down at the lab to see if the boat’s owners can be tracked down through official records. It must be registered or have ownership papers somewhere. Let’s have a chat with some of the locals and see if they know anything.’

  Child walked over to the workbench and picked up the computer board.

  ‘Do you have any idea what that will be used for?’ asked Ritson.

  ‘No… but someone went to a lot of trouble to get it here,’ Child replied slowly, turning the board over in his hands as if he was trying to read it.