Gold Sharks

by Albert Able

  At that point the man made his move to escape. Oscar, having calmed down from his one-man invasion, was off guard when the man suddenly kicked out, catching Oscar painfully in the groin before leaping over the sofa, across the room and out of the open door. The man with the shattered arm, seeing his opportunity, followed him.

  Oscar, still doubled up in pain, looked up to see Greg standing over him.

  “I told you there wouldn’t be much excitement on this trip!” Greg grinned painfully.

  Oscar grabbed the outstretched hand and heaved himself up from the floor.

  “Come on then, let’s get out of here before it gets really interesting!”

  w

  The Syndicate leader sat at his large polished desk absentmindedly rolling a solid gold fountain pen between his finely manicured fingers as he reflected on the current position of their arms contract.

  He had sent the youngest, though most experienced of his remaining directors to personally manage the final stages of the shipment. He mulled over the consequences if anything should happen to him or the goods. It would mean that there would be only two of the original team left and if the shipment were lost, well, he didn’t like to think of that for the moment. He knew however that such a possibility existed because he’d just received the news that their most senior Hong Kong cell had lost one of its three members, yet the cargo was reported to be safe, with the other two Syndicate operatives travelling personally with it to ensure its safe arrival. Yet he could not dismiss that uncomfortable feeling that the murder of their man out there was more than just coincidence.

  “Perhaps,” he thought, “it’s time to pull the plug on the whole business and finally enjoy the rewards of our phenomenal historic success!” He sat almost motionless for about an hour. Finally he made a decision, sat upright in his chair, reached for the telephone and called his surviving partner.

  “I have a serious proposal to put to you, how about a bit of lunch?”

  f

  It was almost one-thirty in the morning. Alex, Ming-Ho and Ling were waiting near the dry dock for the deckhands to return to the ship. Although she was afloat she was still locked into the flooded dry basin. The captain had allowed the crew to go ashore for a final night out but had insisted that the guards remain on board.

  Two of the unwary crew staggered along the road chatting noisily. As they turned onto the quay, Alex and Ling, armed with the electric stun guns provided by Hans, pounced; the effect of the low amperage shock was instantaneous. There was no resistance - just a mild gasp before they collapsed, temporally incapacitated. Ming-Ho rushed in with his prepared plastic ties, securely strapping their hands behind their backs then taping their mouths.

  “Keep an eye on them. If they’re sick they’ll drown themselves,” Alex whispered his warning.

  “Couldn’t happen to nicer people,” Ling responded quietly.

  “OK let’s get them out of here,” Alex ordered quietly.

  They dragged their captives to Ming’s old van and bundled them into the back.

  “OK you can leave them to me now,” the old man smiled.

  Alex patted him fondly on the shoulder,

  “Thanks again my friend. The captain will be looking for crew in the morning, so all we have to do now is ensure that our two ex-marine Chinese divers are conveniently selected!”

  “Don’t worry,” Ming-Ho assured him, “there won’t be anyone else available.” He waved and drove away.

  He was right; at six in the morning the captain discovered that two of his crew were missing. He tried all the usual places such as the police station and hospital but they were not to be found. He needed the full crew to avoid using shore-based Dockers. Angrily, he telephoned the Port Offices and asked if there were two deckhands available.

  “If you are not too choosey at such short notice, it might be possible. I’ll call back in five minutes,” the superintendent told him.

  Manuel gave him the thumbs up.

  “Exactly as predicted; call him back and tell him I’ll let him have two of my divers as unpaid crew in exchange for their passage with their equipment to Manila.”

  The arrangement was made and the men were delivered to the ship with their large crate of “equipment”. At almost the same time, the lock gate had miraculously been repaired and the cargo boat, with the aid of the harbour pilot, pulled out under her own steam and into the basin, before headed through the teaming waterway to the open sea.

  Alex and Big J watched as the cargo boat finally disappeared through the narrow entrance.

  “So far so good - it’s the next stage that is still a bit hit and miss,” Alex admitted.

  “We’ll be ready to sail in less than a couple of hours; that will put us about twenty miles astern of her. So with the added benefit of the locator beacon we planted on board we should have little trouble staying within striking range. Let’s go and see if they are transmitting yet.” Big J led the way to the radio shack.

  John was already in there watching the chart plotter.

  “There they are.” He pointed happily to the latitude and longitude boldly displayed at the bottom of the screen. “We’ll have them on the electronic chart in a couple of seconds. There they are!” John pointed to the flashing cursor on the screen. “Now we’ll be able to track their exact position continuously, course and speed.” John looked up. “ So what’s next skipper?”

  Big J looked serious.

  “Next!” he emphasised, “we check our passenger list and get ready to leave here.”

  Ming-Ho was waiting on deck when they emerged from the radio shack.

  “Hello Alex may I have a word?”

  Alex moved over to the old man.

  “Of course, how can I help?”

  “Alex, my wife and I have decided not to accept your offer to take us with you. We’ve thought about it all night. Basically we came to the conclusion that we are too old to move now. We believe we can survive the new regime mainly because our family and lifelong friends are all here.”

  He raised his hand in protest as Alex tried to persuade him to change his mind.

  “Its very kind of you but the rest of our lives should be spent with our old friends whatever the politics. What I have to ask though, is would you consider taking my daughter and her young child instead?” He turned and looked at two people standing on the quay. “My daughter has a little boy; her man was killed in a ferry sinking tragedy. They deserve the opportunity for a free life.” He turned back and looked expectantly at Alex.

  “Ming-Ho you are a very wise old man and I am proud to have been your friend. Without your help, we might never have been able to delay the shipment of those arms.” Alex looked at the two forlorn figures standing with just one suitcase between them. He moved over to the rail and gestured to them.

  “Over here, you are needed on board.”

  They hesitated.

  “Quickly please, your Father wishes to speak with you.”

  The woman picked up the case and hurried up the gangway.

  “Thank you friend.” The old man took Alex’s hand in both of his. “Thank you,” he repeated and bowed respectfully.

  “Just go and tell them – and, hey, you stay out of trouble!” Alex called back as the old man scurried, arms outstretched in welcome, towards his daughter and grandson.

  The passengers remained out of sight of prying eyes as, precisely on Big J’s schedule, the tug sailed out of the basin. The pilot hardly spoke a single word as he negotiated the heavy seagoing tug through the mêlée of local vessels. Once they reached the open sea the pilot cutter edged expertly along side and the pilot handed control back to Big J.

  Shaking hands as he left the wheelhouse, he smiled,

  “Pity you don’t have space for one more. Next time, perhaps, captain, eh?” he grinned as he vanished over the side and onto the waiting launch below.

  w

  Marion and Rick returned to the bungalow after their fruitless search around the nearest caf�
�s for the missing Sophie to find Oscar’s hastily scribbled message.

  I think we have located Sophie. We’re going to collect her. It is very important that you find Dick and Annie. You must collect his wife and child urgently. Then get everyone back to the boat; ask Dick to meet us at the mouth of the old fish quay and keep out of sight - it isn’t safe anywhere for the moment.

  Take care.

  Oscar X

  “What does it mean?” a desperate Remi asked his mother.

  “It means that something may have happened to Sophie but we must leave it to Oscar and Greg, they will know how to handle it,” she said, trying to comfort him. “Right now the best thing for us is to do as Oscar instructed. OK?”

  Remi shrugged his shoulders.

  “We better grab a taxi then.”

  They arrived at Dick’s boatyard just as he was locking the door.

  “Hello there,” he welcomed them cheerfully.

  Marion walked straight up to him, politely shook the outstretched hand and immediately started to explain about the missing Sophie; she only released his hand to show him the note.

  Dicks face was grim.

  “It’ll be that bastard brother-in-law of mine I’m certain.” He re-read the note. “Come on, Annie’s on the boat. She’ll know what to do!”

  Annie was clearly alarmed by the situation but remained calm.

  “Dick, you and I have to do this. It’s not these people’s responsibility. Do you agree?”

  The reluctant Dick sighed but recognised that he finally had to square up to the responsibility of facing his brother-in-law and extracting his wife from his deadly control.

  “You’re right. I’m sure it’ll be safe here on the boat, for the time being any way, so you two stay here. We’ll go and collect Lucy and the baby.” Dick smiled encouragement. “I’m sure those men of yours will find Sophie.” He placed a reassuring hand on Remi’s shoulder. “Right now you must look after your mum; make her a cup of tea or something - it’s all there.” He waved at the galley, turned and left with Annie.

  They took the battered pickup and roared into town, dodging the other equally excitably driven commuter vehicles.

  They pulled into the alley at the rear the building, near what appeared to be the kitchens. Dick turned the pickup and parked facing the way out.

  “Ready for a quick getaway,” he said to no one in particular as he locked the door. “Over this way,” Dick instructed Annie and headed towards the open fire exit doors. As he was about to enter, two men and a woman tumbled into the alley from the fire exit. Startled, Dick stepped back to let them pass.

  “Oh Greg,” Annie recognised them at once. “What’s happened to you?” she screamed.

  Greg, still without his shirt and smeared with blood and temporarily blinded by the bright exterior light, threw his hands in front of his face shielding his eyes, while trying to figure out who could possibly know him.

  Oscar, though also stunned by the brightness, recognised Dick at once. “You’re just the man - can you get us out of here?” he pleaded, pulling Sophie from the shadows.

  “We’re here to collect Lucy and the baby as you said. What are you doing here?” Annie interjected in surprise.

  “I’m sorry Annie but your brother kidnapped Sophie and tried to beat the location of the submarine out of Greg.” He raised his hands. “Look we just can’t stand here all day. You say that Lucy and her baby are here as well?”

  Annie nodded.

  “Then we better find them before your brother does. I’m afraid that we’ve upset his plans quite a bit today already,” Greg laughed cynically.

  “Annie you stay here with Greg and Sophie. Dick and I will collect the others,” Oscar commanded, turning back into the building. “You lead the way Dickie my friend. I’ll ride shotgun,” he called, pulling the handgun from his belt.

  They took the stairs two at a time until they were back on the third floor. Dick seemed unaffected by the climb but Oscar was wheezing with the effort.

  One by one, Dick opened the doors along the corridor calling, “Lucy are you there?”

  Several rooms produced voluble curses from male or female voices. “Ah fuck off,” Dick responded angrily to one particularly imaginative expression.

  As he opened the door of the last room on the top corridor, a shot was fired, narrowly missing the burly fisherman.

  “I wondered when you’d get here you oaf,” the voice of his brother in law sneered. “So you think you can betray us eh? Well let’s see if this will help to change your mind.”

  Dick edged cautiously into the dimly lit room. Oscar remained out of sight.

  Dick saw at once that the nearly naked woman lay on the bed was Alice; she appeared to be feebly choking on something. The man stood holding the child by its feet, just as if it were a chicken. It was silent.

  “You bastard!” Dick roared, taking a step forward but stopped dead in his tracks when the man held the child a little higher, a clear gesture that he would drop it if Dick got any closer.

  “That’s close enough traitor,” the man slurred; he was obviously high on something.

  Dick raised his hand.

  “Hold on Len - I’m here to talk,” he said firmly. “Now put the kid down and you’ll see that everything is going to be OK!” he reasoned.

  The man hesitated, then a sick smile spread across his previously pained face. “So just what do you want to talk about Dickie boy?”

  He lowered the child to the bed; strangely it still made no sound.

  Dick moved over to the bed and carefully moved the child into a more comfortable position next to Lucy. The child looked up trustingly at Dick and gurgled; amazingly it appeared to be completely unperturbed by the experience.

  Dick turned his attention to Lucy, who had stopped choking and lay staring at the ceiling. He reached out to touch her cheek. The sound of the gun firing invaded his mind and reverberated throughout his body, temporarily freezing him to the spot. It was a second or two later before he was able to turn to see Oscar, gun in hand, an empty expression on his face as he stared at the floor just beyond the bed.

  Dick followed his gaze; the man Len was slumped on the floor, blood already spreading from the severed artery in his neck. He could not speak larynx had been torn away by the soft nosed slug. The stiletto knife he had been about to thrust into Dick’s unprotected back was still held loosely in his hand.

  “He was about to stab you,” Oscar said softly.

  Dick turned back to Lucy. “I think Lucy is dead.” His hand trembled as he tried to cover her naked breast by straightening her blouse. He shook his head in disbelief. “They’ve killed her,” he whispered, his head bowed.

  Oscar moved towards the bed and felt Lucy’s neck but there was no sign of any pulse.

  “What’s going on down there?” a strange voice shouted.

  “Come on Dick, there’s nothing we can do for her - we have to get out of here. Is the baby OK?”

  Dick carefully picked up the silent child and caressed it lovingly.

  “He seems to be unharmed,” he confirmed, quietly sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “Look I’m sorry about Lucy but we’ll be in big trouble if we don’t move now!” Oscar urged.

  Dick looked up.

  “OK I’m coming.” He looked down once more at the dead body of his wife, stood up and, holding tightly onto the baby, followed Oscar from the building.

  Annie met them in the alley.

  “Here give him to me.” She gently took the child from Dick.

  Dick gripped the steering wheel and looked straight ahead as he drove them slowly away from the alley, trying not to attract attention to their departure.

  “They drugged Lucy with something,” he whispered to Annie. “She’s dead,” He grated and added as an afterthought, “and so is your brother Len!”

  f

  Big J sat in the captain’s chair studying the latest position report. By constantly monitoring the tiny satellite
signal on their chart-plotter they had easily kept a constant twenty miles astern of the cargo vessel.

  “Well Alex, now you have all the deep water you could possibly need to lose the cargo for ever, what’s the hold up?”

  “That’s simple,” Alex looked serious. “We still have to wait for our men to eliminate the guards so we can board her and dump it, without dumping the crew as well.” He frowned. “In fact I’ve left the right time to their own discretion but preferably when they are still in the deep water just short of Corregidor. That way should anything go wrong, we can still blow up the ship, giving all the crew a good chance of getting ashore.” He looked serious.

  “Especially our own people!”

  “In that case it’ll be around dawn tomorrow; then we’ll be within fifty miles of the continental shelf just west of Corregidor,” Big J advised him. “How will they communicate?”

  “They have a satellite transmitter, which will relay to my cell phone.” He pulled the innocent-looking instrument from his pocket. “Modern technology eh. This little gizmo can send and receive anywhere on the face of the planet.” He looked at in wonder. “ Amazing isn’t it.”

  He was about to put it back into his pocket when suddenly the tiny instrument vibrated. INCOMING COMMUNICATION flashed continuously on the miniature screen; Alex pressed the green button. “Go ahead Chang,” he said.

  “There are two unexpected guests onboard. We understand from the crew that they are the executives of the Syndicate you advised us about, probably the top men behind the arms deal. We can easily remove them once we have despatched the guards. Otherwise we are ready to make the move tomorrow as planned; please re-confirm your instructions,” Chang requested.

  “I understand that you will be close to Corregidor at dawn tomorrow but still in deep water where we can dump the cargo safely, so I’d like the takeover to be completed by then OK? As far as the Syndicate men are concerned that’s a positive ‘Go’ to removing them; is that clear?”

  “Affirmative and out,” came the clear reply.

  Alex balanced the mobile in his hand.

  “You see what I mean about these Syndicate people, they trust no one.” Alex slipped the mobile back into his pocket. “You’ve got two very good men over there Big J.” Alex pointed towards the horizon ahead of the tug.