Malik gave him a puzzled look then glanced at Maggie’s door. He raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I’m sure it can.”
Hendrick exhaled in disgust and walked past him on his way to the bridge.
The door to Maggie’s room suddenly opened. She started to say something but quickly stopped when she saw Joe Malik. He gave her a sarcastically sweet smile.
“Good evening, m’lady. I trust your accommodations are to your liking?” he asked.
“You make it pretty clear when you don’t like someone,” said Maggie with a twist to her mouth. She turned to go back inside her cabin, then hesitated. “Hendrick must really love his father.”
Malik raised one eyebrow and gave her a quizzical look. He grunted to himself. “He used to hate his father.”
“Yes, the Alzheimer’s, I know,” replied Maggie. “He must have felt guilty at hating his father during his teenage years.”
Malik stared at her for a long moment then turned to go.
Maggie frowned. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Malik looked back over his shoulder. He hesitated, then gave in. “Yeah, there’s something else. Steve was sixteen or seventeen when his father wandered off alone, and by the time his mother got home, he was nowhere in sight. She got back in the car and raced off in a panic to find him.” Malik’s voice lowered to a hush. “Steve’s mother had a stroke and wrapped the car around a tree. They lived in the country, and the police only found her body two days later.”
Maggie winced and covered her mouth in sympathy.
“Steve’s father was found by a concerned couple, and he was all right,” said Malik. “He had a bunch of sticks in his pockets and had rubbed his hands raw over the ends of the sticks. Weird. He’s in a nursing home now. Steve hated his father for causing his mother’s death, but later as he grew up he realized that he was too hard on his dad.”
“Steve’s driven to help his father,” mused Maggie. “That’s why he wants to complete his father’s mission. To make up for the hatred he felt for him.”
“Some men would hate themselves and turn to drink or drugs. Steve wanted to do something for his father and turned to the Awa Maru,” said Malik. “If he knew I told you all this, he’d probably keel haul me.” Maggie was engaging, and her natural beauty began to intoxicate Malik. The harsh words he had used on her previously were his defense against her captivating personality. But his defenses were down now, and he felt himself telling her things that he had held close to himself in the past.
“Steve really doesn’t trust women, does he?” she asked.
“Not much. He fell head over heels for a woman once, and for a while it looked like they were going to get married,” said Malik.
“What happened?”
“She found out that Steve’s father had Alzheimer’s, and the thought of taking care of Steve if he got the same condition was too much for her,” said Malik. “So she dumped him pretty fast.”
“Steve does come across as invincible. It would be hard to imagine him with Alzheimer’s,” said Maggie. She had another thought. “Did you really save Hendrick’s life?”
“He told you about that too?” asked Malik.
“Yes,” she replied.
Malik stared at the deck for a moment. “Yeah, I saved his life.” He turned to go, making up his mind to tell nothing more.
“Joe, what really happened?” she asked. Malik stopped and hesitated. He gave Maggie an intense look over his shoulder and relented.
“Five guys tried to kill him and his brother,” he said finally. “Close by, between here and an island called Tung-yin Tao.”
“Brother?” Maggie said, puzzled.
“So, he didn’t tell you about his brother,” said Malik. He rubbed his grizzled face and gave Maggie a grim look. “His brother, Frank, took a spear in the gut, but he was still alive. Steve got two of them, then tried to fight off the rest with just a knife. Somebody cut Frank’s throat. Then sharks showed up.” He shook his head in sympathy and admiration. Maggie’s mouth fell open.
“The inside of that ship must have been a real hell hole,” continued Malik. “The sharks ripped up the bad guys pretty good.” His voice went to a whisper. “And Steve tried to fight off both them and the sharks with only a knife. The lights went out. He was alone in the dark.”
Maggie swallowed hard, the vision of a shark attack in complete darkness leaving her weak. “What happened to his brother?” she finally managed.
Malik’s gaze fell. His mouth worked a bit without speaking, as if he had to practice saying the words. His words came in a rush.
“The sharks ate him.”
For the next four days Hendrick and Malik waited for the bad weather to clear so they could get in at least one dive on the wreck they had found, but it was to no avail.
“I guess we’re done ‘till spring,” said Malik as they sat in the galley looking out at the raging weather. His partner said nothing and stared straight ahead. “That’s when the next transitional month comes along,” explained Malik. “You know, between the northeast and southwest monsoon seasons.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Hendrick. He got up suddenly and went to his room. The salvage operation was halted until they would get some reasonable weather in the spring. At least they had a probable location on the Awa Maru. And what were those smaller pieces of metal that were strung out on the ocean floor?
Hendrick crawled into bed and closed his eyes. With the recovery of the treasure a bust for now, his thoughts wandered to what had been just below the surface of his mind for the last four days, Maggie. He realized he didn’t know much about her, and decided that she was probably a spy for the pirates. At least he wasn’t going to be the only one disappointed about their progress. God, she’s attractive, he thought.
He smiled to himself and began to doze off, his mind a jumble of thoughts of water, fish, mud, treasure chests, and Maggie’s chest. Hendrick dozed.
He was awakened suddenly, not by something he heard but by the silence that filled the ship. The engines had stopped. The ship was wallowing in the swells. He quickly heaved himself upright.
The door slammed open. A bright light blinded him. Hendrick shielded his eyes and gasped with surprise.
A man in black fatigues was standing in the doorway pointing an assault rifle at him, his face covered with a black scarf.
On his chest were the dripping blood red lines of two Japanese characters, lines that had been driven into his mind five years before. Hendrick had discovered what the characters meant since the undersea battle that had cost his brother’s life. It was the word for truth.
Truth written in blood.
CHAPTER 4
Shadow Man
Hendrick grunted in pain as one of the ship’s invaders shoved him through the door to the bridge with the point of his automatic weapon. The bridge was lit by the garish lights from their captors and by two spotlights from a ship near the port side. The few emergency lights, which went on when the salvage ship’s generators failed, cast only a red glow in the corners of the bridge.
Hendrick looked about quickly. Captain Loh and most of his crew were there, but Maggie and Joe Malik were notably absent. He hoped their absence wasn’t because they resisted. Maggie wouldn’t fight against overwhelming odds, but he wasn’t so sure about Malik.
Seconds later two guards threw a thin, grizzled form through the doorway. Malik slipped and fell, twisting his knee. Hendrick gave him a hand up.
“You okay?” asked Hendrick in a hushed voice.
Malik grumbled an okay. “Who the hell are these guys?” he asked in a louder voice than his partner had used. He looked over the men pointing assault rifles at them.
“The same guys who killed Frank,” replied Hendrick. He turned to Loh who stood glowering with hatred at the intruders. “What happened?” asked Hendrick.
Loh shook his head imperceptibly. “They pulled alongside. At first I thought they were Taiwanese Navy, but something didn’t look right. I expected gunfire,
but nothing happened for a minute. I was about to sound the alarm, but then all the systems on the ship died at once. Lights, navigation, engines, everything.”
“Check out the characters they have on the front of their uniforms. Have you seen that before? Any idea who these guys are?” asked Hendrick.
Loh shook his head. “They’re Japanese. That’s all I know.”
“So they’re not Chang’s men,” said Malik. Their captors were all uniformed in black in contrast to the green and brown fatigues and multicolored bandanas that the pirates wore.
“We might wind up the same as if they were Chang’s pirates,” replied Hendrick. “They didn’t hesitate to cut my brother’s throat.” Rage boiled up in him but he fought it, trying to stay calm and assess the situation. The ship alongside had tied the salvage boat to it to keep it steady in the sea’s high swells, remnants of the recent storm.
“Where is she?” he asked in a whisper, just barely audible above the wind and rain. Malik lifted his shoulders an eighth of an inch and dropped them, just enough to say he didn’t know.
He tried to console himself by thinking that Maggie had handled herself well with some of the most brutal criminals in the world. Noise welled up from below decks. Banging sounds mixed with the rending of wood and metal to give the impression of a quick, but thorough dismantling of the ship.
“They’re searching the ship,” whispered Loh.
“Nothing’s changed. They still got treasure fever,” muttered Malik.
“Any weapons still left up here?” Hendrick asked Loh.
“No, they took the five AK47s I had stored up here,” replied Loh.
Hendrick studied their guards for the first time. There were five of them in a semicircle all with M16s pointed at Hendrick, Malik, Loh and the others. They were grim and determined, watching their captives intently. The crimson characters on their chests seemed to glow in the shadows reminding him of the battle five years ago.
The noises below decks stopped after ten minutes. Soon a tall, thin man entered the bridge. By his bearing Hendrick knew he was in charge. The thin Japanese man’s eyes looked the captives over briefly, but his eyes lingered on Hendrick. The man’s face was hidden in shadow.
Hendrick returned the stare, trying to look deep within the darkness to determine the man’s character, divine his purpose. The shadows from the edges of the bridge windows slid up and down the thin man’s form as the ship pitched and rolled in the weather. The effect created a surrealistic atmosphere of power and evil. Chang, the pirate, seemed a buffoon next to the dark intruder. This man was no mere pirate. His drive was for more than just money. Much more.
“You have not found it yet,” said the man in near perfect English. He had a deep resonant voice, which had a distinctly unnerving effect on Hendrick. Hendrick tried not to let it show.
“Depends on what it is,” replied Hendrick.
The shadow slid down, partially lighting his captor, but the man’s face was covered with a silk scarf.
“We have met once before,” said the tall Japanese. “We both thought we were diving on the Awa Maru, but it turned out to be a different wreck. Now you have found the actual location of the Awa Maru and will recover the treasure presently.”
“You’re sure about that, are you?” asked Hendrick.
The man’s outline suggested annoyance. He had complete control of Hendrick and the others, and he knew it. That knowledge gave him increased patience.
“I also seek the same treasure, but I suspect for a much loftier purpose,” he said, his attention never leaving Hendrick.
“And what might that be?” asked Hendrick. He strained to get a glimpse of his face. Is he the one? The one who murdered Frank? He shook the thought off and struggled to understand the predicament they were in. The only hopeful aspect of the situation was that their chief captor wanted to talk. The man in the shadows remained silent for a time. Hendrick could imagine him staring with unblinking eyes.
“I hesitate to admit it, but you intrigue me,” said the man in a low voice. “Your continuing battles with Chang are a source of inspiration to all of us. But you cannot resist us for very long.”
“Us?” asked Hendrick. “So Chang works for you.”
The man became very still, and Hendrick sensed he was annoyed with himself for letting the alliance slip.
“So why don’t you get the treasure yourself?” asked Hendrick.
“Mounting a diving operation presents certain … problems,” replied the man in the shadows. “It’s much simpler to take it from you.”
“Yes, I understand. You’d have to come out from under that rock to salvage the Awa Maru,” said Hendrick. “And a lot of people would take a pot shot at you, wouldn’t they?”
Shadow man’s silence was unnerving. Hendrick could sense that he had pushed his adversary to the edge of anger.
“Let me introduce myself. Dinkelmeyer, Herbie Dinkelmeyer,” said Hendrick to keep a light tone. He gestured toward Joe Malik. “This here is Sam Smurd, and ” - he jerked his thumb at Loh –“this is Captain Queeg.” He could see Malik restrain a smile. “And your name is …” he added expectantly.
The lines around the shadow man’s face softened slightly as an iceberg would at a tenth of a degree above freezing. “Humor, Mr. Hendrick? In a hopeless situation like this?”
“Maybe it’s tougher to kill a man who’s humorous,” replied Hendrick. So he knows my name, he thought.
“Kill?” Shadow man seemed genuinely surprised. “Oh, I’m not going to kill you, Hendrick.”
It was Hendrick’s turn to be surprised. He raised his eyebrows in hope. “Five years ago you tried to murder us all, now you’re letting us go?
“Yes, a change of tactics. I see in your eyes a disease … an addiction rather,” replied the tall, thin man. “Treasure fever has you, and a little thing like a few pirates, or the appearance of me and my men will not stop you.”
Hendrick exhaled in disbelief.
“You will have your treasure,” said the man with certainty. “And I will be there to take it from you. It is only then that I will kill all of you.”
Hendrick’s blood ran cold. The menace in the man’s voice was driven home by his group’s known ruthlessness.
The tall, thin man turned on his heel and was gone. His men peeled off one by one, taking their bright lights with them, leaving Hendrick and the others in the soft glow of the red emergency lights. Hendrick went over to the side window and tried to pierce the blinding glare of the spotlights on the other boat. He could just make out a large parabolic antenna mounted atop the other boat’s superstructure. The boat bore no markings of any kind and seemed darker than night. The intruders walked quickly to the weather deck, and Hendrick saw with relief that Maggie wasn’t with them. They swiftly climbed over to their boat, cast off, and pulled away into the night.
“EMP,” said Hendrick as he dropped the toolbox in front of the electrical generators. “Electromagnetic pulse. Our Japanese friends must have used an EMP weapon to disable all the electronics on the ship. An EMP weapon sends out a powerful electromagnetic field, which radiates into the wiring and anything metal. It creates a huge electrical pulse that travels along the wires and blows out all the electronics on the ship. Pretty easy to catch up to us. Not that this tub could run away from even a sea turtle.”
“Pretty slick,” muttered Malik. “Man, I can’t believe the cockroaches we run into out here.”
“And how much treasure are we going after?” asked Hendrick facetiously.
“Yeah, you got a point,” agreed Malik. He gave his partner a close look. “So how are we going to get the treasure without getting killed by these guys?” Hendrick gave him a short shake of his head.
“You think that guy was one of the ones who attacked us five years ago?” asked Hendrick.
“Impossible to tell, but I thought they were all killed. By the time I got to you, there was just body parts left. One of them could have gotten away. Couldn’t see hi
s face, but I’ll remember that voice,” replied Malik. “Not too many Asians have a voice that deep.”
Hendrick nodded, the confrontation with the same group that killed his brother still on his mind. “Our man in the shadows is pulling the strings on the pirates too. Does he control everything around here?” Malik shook his head.
They got to work repairing the generator, pulling out the generator control electronics and quickly replacing it with the one spare they had on board. The spare had been stored in a metal box and was thus protected from the EMP. Malik pushed the start button, praying that the batteries had enough charge left to start the motor-generator set.
The motor rumbled into life, and the lights, starting out as a dim glow, burst into normal brilliance.
“Well, at least we have lights,” said Hendrick as he shifted his weight quickly to compensate for the rolling of the ship. Hendrick started to go up a ladder to the next deck, then stopped. “Where the hell is she?” he asked Malik over his shoulder.
“Don’t know,” answered Malik. “I took a quick look through the ship just after our welcoming committee left and didn’t see her.”
Hendrick and Malik repeated their repairs on one of the engines and Loh got it started immediately. He quickly got the ship headed into the waves, and the rolling swiftly stabilized.
“One engine and one generator,” said Malik, shaking his head.
“And no spares,” replied Hendrick. And with a large dose of luck we’ll be able to limp back to Taipei, he thought.
Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Hendrick walked back to his room. To his surprise, Maggie walked toward him down the corridor adjoining their rooms. She was totally soaked, her tennis shoes slipping on the wet deck. Hendrick just gaped at her in relief. She hadn’t been far from his thoughts.
Maggie gave him a disgusted look and silently went into her cabin, closing the door firmly behind her.
Hendrick leaned against the bulkhead, the smile on his face growing until he laughed out loud. Maggie had hid in the one place the intruders hadn’t looked: the sea. She had probably hung from a line off the stern, he thought with amazement. He shook his head in admiration and went into his room, flopping wearily down on his bed. He also realized with surprise that last night he had forgotten about the hard face of the man who had murdered Frank. The image of that face had haunted him almost every night since that disastrous incident five years ago. Maggie had been on his mind last night. But now he had come face to face with the people who had killed his brother.
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