The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1)

by Pendelton Wallace

  The big white mega-yacht continued on its course, directly at the Defiant.

  “Jesus Christ,” Chris shouted. “I don’t have room to maneuver. If I fall off to starboard we’ll get sucked into that tide rip.”

  The mega-yacht stayed between them and deep water.

  “Chris, look out! A whirlpool,” Meagan shouted.

  “He’s not giving us any room.” Chris’ voice cracked.

  The mega-yacht forced them further and further to the east, inexorably towards the tide rips and the whirlpool.

  “Look out!” Meagan screamed.

  “He’s going to ram us!” Chris shrieked. “We’re going to need more power.” He reached down and pushed the ignition button for the engine. “Hold on.”

  Chapter 34

  On Board the Star of the Northwest

  “Mr. Metcalf.” Harry held his hand out to the distinguished looking gentleman at the bar. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “Please, my friends call me Terry, and I hope you’ll be one of my friends.”

  Harry sized him up. He knew from news and TV reports that Terry Metcalf was past seventy, but would have put his age at anything from his mid-fifties to his early-sixties, certainly not a septuagenarian. Wavy white locks covered his tanned forehead over ice blue eyes. His trim body looked rock hard.

  “If my research is correct you’re a Scotch man,” Metcalf said.

  “Glenlivet. Thank you.” Harry answered.

  This meeting could make the whole trip worthwhile. Metcalf was the chairman of the board for Millennium Systems, the largest computer manufacturer in the world.

  “Good lord! Will you look at that?” Metcalf looked over Harry’s shoulder. “I want Santa to put one of those in my stocking.”

  Harry turned to see what Metcalf was talking about. A tall, slim young woman with long black hair in a light blue bikini settled herself in a pool-side lounge chair.

  Harry sat back and admired Candace. God, she’s beautiful. When she first started working for him, he couldn’t believe that such a pretty girl could be so capable. She didn’t exploit her looks either. No other paralegal at the Firm worked harder or longer hours.

  When had he first felt attracted to her? It was hard to remember. Slowly, after Sally’s death, the fog began to lift. The first thing he noticed was her eyes, deep emerald green and piercing.

  She disagreed with him. He didn’t remember what the case was now, but he remembered her eyes. The way they flashed anger as he ignored her ideas. To him, she was just another pretty face trying to claw her way to the top.

  It was Christmas Eve when he realized that she wasn’t just a cog in his machine. They worked late. With her family in Idaho, she had nowhere to go for the holiday and he wasn’t anxious to get home to his empty house. Chris was out with friends and Sarah would be locked up in her room.

  Candace brought a small gift for Harry. It was only a Starbucks mug and some specialty coffees, but her consideration touched him. She gave him a hug and said “Merry Christmas.” He was surprised how small she felt in his arms. Her presence always filled the room. That she was so physically slight shocked him.

  He remembered the smell of her hair. For the first time in years, he felt a stirring in his loins. Maybe he wasn’t dead.

  For an instant, an electrical current flashed between them. He never wanted to let go, then she said “I have to go. . . Good night, Mr. Hardwick. Merry Christmas.” And the moment was over.

  “Harry. . . Harry?” Metcalf’s voice raised a notch.

  Harry blinked his eyes. Oh yes, Metcalf.

  “I thought I lost you there for a moment.” Terry sipped at his drink.

  ****

  William and Mary Island, Canada

  The engine fired as the power of the whirlpool caught the Defiant. At first, her bow pointed skyward as she rode over the wave at the edge of the pool. Then Ted looked straight down into a hole in the water at least ten feet deep as the whirlpool sucked them further in.

  “Get us out of here.” Meagan grabbed for the lifelines.

  The whirlpool tossed the Defiant on her side like a bath tub toy. Water poured over the rail into the cockpit and down the open companionway hatch. Ted heard everything that wasn’t tied down in the cabin crash to the deck. Oscar screamed in fear.

  For an instant, Ted felt ice water run through his veins.

  Chris shoved the throttle to full speed and held the wheel hard to port. “She’s not answering the helm. Get your life jackets on.”

  The pool sucked the Defiant further and further in. Ted wasn’t about to release his grips on the lifelines to go below for a life jacket.

  “Look out for the rocks!” Ted shouted.

  “I can’t control her. Hang on!”

  The Defiant shot towards the white water breaking over the rocks. Then, following the course of the whirlpool, abruptly changed her heading.

  Ted looked back toward the mega-yacht. It had disappeared. They were so far down in the whirlpool he couldn’t see out.

  “Cast off the sheets!” Chris yelled. The Defiant lay over on her side, the sails filled with water pulling her further down. Water poured down below. Ted responded instantly to Chris’ order, untying the ropes that held the sails taught. With the pressure from the sails relieved, the nearly eight thousand pounds of lead in the Defiant’s keel slowly pulled her back upright.

  The Defiant rode noticeably lower in the water. The weight of all the water below decks made her motion feel sluggish and drunken.

  Have we taken on enough water to sink her? Ted didn’t understand this nautical stuff, but his spider sense was going wild. What could he do to help?

  “Chris!” Meagan shrieked. “Get us out of here!”

  “I can’t.”

  They circled in the whirlpool for an eternity moving inexorably closer to the center. Then something clicked in Ted’s head. A research paper one of his football buddies was working on. Something about whirlpools and the weight of objects.

  “Mierda!” Ted clawed his way forward along the life lines. His shoulder ached from taking his full weight. “The anchor.”

  “Ted, what the fuck. . .” Chris voice tailed off behind him.

  Anchoring had been Ted’s job since the beginning of the trip. He could unshackle and drop the anchor in the dark. He released the clevis pin, dropping the anchor over the canting bow. The chain rattled over the roller, then the golden nylon line paid out.

  He snubbed off the line at the ninety foot marker.

  Something wonderful and strange happened. The Defiant’s bow jerked towards the outer edge of the whirlpool. The rest of the boat followed, moving further away from the funnel in the water with each revolution. Suddenly, the pool spit them out and the Defiant settled down in the still water.

  ****

  “Thank God.” Tears ran down Meagan’s cheeks. “I’ve never been so scared.” She stood rooted to the deck with her hands at her side, her whole body trembling.

  The whole world moved in slow motion. Drops of water falling from the rigging took hours to hit the deck. A strange, slow strangled sound came from Oscar in the cabin. Ted put his arm around Meagan and pulled her close. Tears formed in her eyes. She threw her arms around Ted’s neck and held on like her life depended on it.

  Poor chica, she’s scared to death. “We’re okay.” Ted’s voice sounded like it was coming from someone else. “We made it.” He shook his head and tried to bring the world back into focus.

  “What the hell was the deal with the anchor?” Chris stood behind the wheel, his feet spread apart, his mouth hanging open.

  “One of the offensive linemen on the team was working on a fluid dynamics project. I remembered he told me about an experiment they did with whirlpools. Light objects tend to get sucked into the center of the whirlpool. Dense objects get thrown out by centrifugal force.”

  “So the anchor was a dense object?”

  “Yeah. It got thrown out and pulled us with it.”

&n
bsp; “Shit, bro that was close.” Chris was breathing so hard it was difficult to understand his words.

  Ted suddenly realized that he was still holding Meagan tight. It felt good to have her in his arms, then guilt overwhelmed him. He released his grip, but she clung to his neck.

  “Okay, you guys, a little help here.” Chris seemed to be coming out of his state of shock. “Meg, take the wheel. I need to survey the boat for damage.”

  “Where should I steer?” Meagan was shaking uncontrollably.

  Adrenaline still pulsed through Ted’s veins. He had a sudden urge to run, just run anywhere.

  “Anywhere away from that goddamned whirlpool. Ted, come with me.”

  Ted followed Chris to the cabin. Several inches of water sloshed around the cabin floor.

  “This would break Mom’s heart.” Chris reached over to the electrical panel and flipped on the bilge pump.

  “Careful, dude, you’re standing in ten inches of water.” To Ted’s relief, the electric motor clicked on without shocking Chris.

  Chris removed the companionway stairs and lifted the floor boards to check the bilge. There didn’t appear to be any more water coming in. “The water in the cabin must have sloshed in while the Defiant was on her side,” he said.

  Ted began plucking items from the soggy mess. Huddling in one corner of the quarter berth was one very wet, very unhappy ship’s cat.

  “Poor little guy.” In a moment of weakness, Ted took Oscar in his arms. “Look at these tissues.” He held up a soggy box.

  “Throw ‘em away. Throw away anything that won’t dry out. Pick up the other stuff and put it in the sink. We’ll dry it off later.” Chris was in emergency, command mode.

  While Chris inspected the below decks for structural damage, Ted found a towel and dried Oscar off.

  “Everything looks okay down here.” Chris sounded very impatient. “Put the cat down and let’s check the mast, rigging and topsides.” Chris charged up the companionway stairs.

  “We got off lucky,” Chris said. “It doesn’t look too bad.”

  “You call that lucky?” Ted answered. “If I ever get my hands on the fucker who shoved us in there, I’ll go medieval on his ass.”

  “It all happened so fast,” Chris said. “Was that who I think it was?”

  “Yeah, it was Pegasus.” Meagan relinquished the wheel to Chris and picked Oscar up. “Why would he do that?” She kissed Oscar’s head. “Poor little fellow.”

  “What’s wrong with the son of a bitch anyway?” Ted asked. “He saw us. He blew his horn at us.”

  “I don’t know,” Chris replied. “We had the right of way. He violated the rules of the road. Why would he want to force us into the whirlpool?”

  “What’s he doing up here anyway?” Meagan asked. “Yves told us there was nothing to see up here.”

  “The anchor,” Chris seemed startled by the thought. “You need to get the anchor up.”

  Ted slowly moved forward, shouting over his shoulder. “The son of a bitch was waiting for us.”

  Chapter 35

  Cormorant Channel, Canada

  Ahmad sped the rubber inflatable boat through the evening darkness. He had no fear of meeting other boats at this time of night in the wide channel.

  He didn’t like leaving the Valkyrie and its precious cargo anchored in a small cove on Swanson Island, but Qayyum insisted he and Yasim meet the Frenchman. What was so important about the meeting anyway? Was the risk of detection worth staying in town?

  Yasim and the Frenchman spoke in French. Ahmad understood almost none of it. But, the Frenchman delivered everything they needed. The boxes and cases stowed in the Valkyrie’s hold would change the world.

  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The small boat sped through the night under a canopy of stars. Ahmad marveled at Allah’s hand in shaping such a beautiful universe. Would he still be able to see the stars from paradise?

  “How long until we get there?” Yasim asked.

  “At this speed, not long. It’s only about twenty-two kilometers. I’d say ten or fifteen minutes.” Ahmad reveled in the speed of the little boat. Planing over the surface of the calm sea was much more fun than slogging around in that old cow of a fishing boat.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Ahmad said. “The power of all those explosives. It’s going to kill a lot of people.”

  “You must not think of them as people. They are enemy. They are unbelievers. Every one of them is in hands of Zionist puppets. Every day they support unholy war against Islam.”

  “I know, but innocent women and children. . . “

  “None of them are innocent. They make war in their own way. By supporting unholy system, they make war on us. You must think of them as Americans say: collateral damage. Don’t think of them as people. Think of them only as enemy.”

  A dark shaped loomed ahead of them. Swanson Island. Ahmad slowed down and skirted the north side of the island. He remembered that rocks littered the entrance to the little bay.

  There was a light. The Valkyrie lay at anchor in this desolate spot. There was no sign of movement as Ahmad came along side.

  “We stay at anchor all day,” Yasim said. “I want to unload cargo in dark tomorrow night.”

  ****

  Prince William Bay, Canada

  The Defiant glided through the smooth waters of Prince William Bay, a long passage cut into the south shore of William and Mary Island. Two hundred yards wide at its mouth, the bay narrowed to a small, sandy beach at its head. Tall firs crowded all the way down to the shoreline. Halfway up the bay widened, just before the passage dog-legged to the Northeast.

  “We’re in about forty feet of water. This ought to be a good spot.” Chris yelled over the soft rumble of the diesel engine. “I’d say about one hundred sixty feet of rode should do it.”

  “Get out of my way, stupid cat.” Ted gently nudged Oscar away from his feet.

  The Burmese didn’t get the hint and continued to rub against Ted’s ankle.

  Chris took the Defiant out of gear and let her drift towards the steep over-hanging cliff. Their forward progress halted. “Let go.”

  The anchor splashed into the water. Ted danced out of the way of the anchor chain as it swiftly flowed over the side. The end of the chain, shackled to half-inch nylon line, disappeared into the clear, green water. The golden braided rope slid through the chocks and into the water after the chain. Small red ribbons woven through the line every thirty feet marked the depth. Thirty, sixty, ninety, one-twenty, one-fifty. Ted snubbed the line around the deck cleat.

  “Okay ‘mano,” he shouted back to Chris. “Back her down.”

  Chris put the engine into reverse and backed the sloop through the water.

  “I can’t believe how clear the water is. I can see the anchor on the bottom.”

  He felt the movement of the Defiant come to a halt. The anchor line stiffened and water churned under her stern. The anchor dug in.

  “That’s it for today. I’m starved. Let’s get some dinner going.” Chris shut the diesel down. A profound peace settled on the bay.

  “What’s for dinner?” Chris asked as Meagan popped her head out of the companionway hatch. “I’m bushed and I’m starved.”

  “Well, I’m not cooking. I’ve been cleaning up the cabin all afternoon.” Meagan glared at him.

  After the experience in the whirlpool, Ted felt drained. Even Oscar showed more interest in climbing into his bunk than he did in eating. Ted didn’t have any fight in him. He threw a pot of chili beans and macaroni together. A few crackers and several beers later and they hit their bunks too.

  ****

  Ted lay in his bunk reflecting on the day’s adventures. What’s wrong with that crazy Frenchman? Why’d he force us into the whirlpool?

  In the forward cabin, Ted heard the nightly gymnastics. Jesús, José y Santa María. Do they have to do that every night? Apparently, the brush with danger had wetted Chris and Meagan’s appetites.

  Finally, disgus
ted, Ted dragged himself out of his bunk. He pulled on sweats, grabbed a pillow and blanket and fled to the cockpit. The clouds cleared and a canopy of stars exploded in the sky, the Big Dipper high over head. We never get stars like this in LA.

  He stretched out in the cockpit with a pillow under his head and a blanket spread over him, an infinitesimal speck in the grand scheme of the universe. Suspended under the sea of stars, he drifted off to sleep.

  Somewhere in the night, Ted sat up, aware of the sound of propellers in the water.

  Looking at his wristwatch, he muttered, “Jesus Christ, who’s out cruisin’ at three in the morning?”

  At the mouth of the bay he detected a slight movement in the dark. The steady growl of a big diesel engine broke the stillness of the night.

  What’s that crazy ‘mano doin’ chuggin’ back in here with his lights out?

  “What’s going on?” Chris’s head poked through the companionway hatch.

  “Some crazy fool’s coming up the bay. He ain’t got his lights on.”

  “I hope he sees our anchor light.” Chris turned back downstairs towards the electrical panel. “Do you think I should turn on the spreader lights so he’s sure to see us?”

  “Turn off the anchor light,” Ted whispered as he followed Chris below. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Druggies, man. I’ve seen enough of ‘em in LA. I know how they roll. This is a buy. We don’t want to advertise our presence. Kill the anchor light.”

  “What should we do? Call the Mounties?” By this time Meagan was in the main cabin too.

  Ted took time to admire the view, Meagan was dressed only in one of Chris’s T-shirts.

  “No, even if I’m right, there’s no way they could get here in time.” Ted whispered, despite the distance to the fishing boat. “We just have to lay low. Keep the lights out. Don’t make any noise.”

  As the fishing boat passed the Defiant, Ted made out the white-painted deck house. The long dark hull blotted out the landscape on the opposite side of the bay. From the cabin of the Defiant, Ted looked up from water level. The fishing boat with its heavy mast and boom seemed enormous. The muted voices of men on deck and the movement of the boom and cargo hatch carried across the water.