by Hep Aldridge
I said, “Yeah, right.”
I told Junkyard to spend more time at the port, since he was a familiar face, and keep his ears open for any scuttlebutt that might be important for us to know. He said he could handle that and would focus on the Sailor’s Choice, a watering hole for port workers, charter boat captains, and crews as well as the Coasties from the port’s Coast Guard squadron. "I'll let you know if I hear anything, Colt!"
The forecast for Friday and the next three days were clearing skies and flat seas. Gus said he was sending the Falcon back out on Thursday with Wild Bill and
Smitty to get anchored in place, then would ride out with us on Saturday morning.
He said he needed to take care of a couple of things with his daughter. “Of course,” I said, “No problem. Joe, Dimitri, Tony and I will head out first light on Saturday, and you can just meet us at the Lisa B.” I felt pretty good about having put a number of things in motion and was ready for some R & R on Friday before leaving in the morning.
The call came in from Gus at three Friday afternoon. “There was a problem on the Falcon and they needed help!”
I called Dimitri and relayed the message. He said meet him at The Pandemonium in fifteen minutes. It turned out that was the name of the go-fast that he borrowed from his friend. I contacted Gus and gave him the info, and he said he would meet us there. They had both arrived by the time I was running down the dock and were casting off the lines. The boat was warmed up, and we pulled out of the slip immediately. We got lucky that day because, as we were in the channel leaving the port, we were already up to 50mph. By the time we got to the jetties, you could hear the twin superchargers beginning to scream, and we were hitting the high side of 90. It took us 12 minutes to get to the Falcon once we got to open seas.
As we slowed and pulled alongside, we could see the damage to the wheelhouse and cabin area. Broken glass was everywhere. Smitty and Bill tossed us lines as we came alongside; they both looked like they had been through a meat grinder. When we finally got on board, we could see that Smitty was limping and had an eye that was swollen shut; Wild Bill's face didn’t look much better, another swollen eye and jaw. They both had split lips, and dried blood covered their faces.
Bill spoke first to Gus, “Master Chief, we’re sorry. We did the best we could, but there were five of them, and they kinda took us by surprise.” As he was talking to Gus, I surveyed the scene in the wheelhouse and cabin area. Every monitor or display screen had been smashed, the radio was lying on the floor, glass from broken windows littered the chart table, and the computers had been ripped out of their mountings and were lying on the deck in pieces. I turned to see Gus helping Bill to a chair that he had picked up from the deck; that’s when I noticed the blood on his shirt. Dimitri had produced a first aid kit and was tending to Smitty’s wounds as Gus calmed Bill down and asked who did this to them. Slowly, the story began to unfold.
I had gone below and brought water for both the men. The cabin and galley area had been left untouched. I guess whoever did this figured taking out all the electronics was damage enough. I looked in the engine room and saw nothing out of place. As I handed the water to both men, and Dimitri had moved to work on Bill’s injuries, he told the story. It had happened earlier that day. A sport fisherman, approximately 40-feet long had eased alongside them with smoke coming out of the engine compartment. Two men were on board waving their arms and hollering that they needed help. Smitty had gone below to get the big fire extinguisher as Wild Bill threw them a line. As they pulled alongside, three other men came out of the cabin area and jumped Bill. When Smitty got back on deck, the other two were on board and jumped him. Smitty put one of them down with a swing of the fire extinguisher, but then got tackled by the second guy. One of the first three had grabbed Bill’s arms and was holding him while the other two used him for a punching bag.
Both men had gotten in a few licks but were rapidly subdued and knocked unconscious. Wild Bill said he did remember catching one of his attackers with a sidekick that connected with the guy’s knee and he had heard bones break as the guy screamed and fell to the deck. When they came to, the boat was gone and everything was smashed to pieces. Both men were trying to apologize for not being able to protect the boat at the same time Gus was doing his best to reassure them they did fine and the fact they were okay was the most important thing.
After Dimitri finished looking over Bill, he said it looked like a number of bruises, cuts, and contusions but nothing more serious than that, thankfully. Gus asked if they had any idea who the attackers were, and both men said no. Bill did say he remembered seeing one of those bright orange toss-able life rings hanging from the fly-bridge of the boat with the name Dizzy D on it, but neither man saw the transom of the boat to confirm its name or remember ever seeing the men before. Gus’s face was a bright shade of crimson as he surveyed the men and the damage that had been done to the boat.
He asked, "Engine room?" I told him I had looked in and things looked okay but we should check further. I said that the galley and bunk area looked untouched. It looked like they had focused on the wheelhouse. “Those sons of bitches will pay for this,” he said under his breath.
I said “Don’t worry about that now. I'll take care of replacing the equipment that was damaged. Let’s just get the boat back to port and get the guys checked out by a doctor. We’ll decide what to do after that.” He agreed and headed below to check the engine as I made sure the throttles and steering were still operational.
Once we were satisfied we could make it back under our own power, I told Dimitri to head back and we would meet up at the Falcon’s berth. He was tight- jawed and mumbling to himself, not a good sign! “Hey, Dimitri,” I hollered over the growl of the go-fast as we released the lines, “Be cool till we get in; don’t do anything stupid!” He just nodded and pulled away with a scowl locked on his face. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. Those dumb asses from the Carrie Ann were behind this and retaliated after all or got friends to do it for them. I figured, between Gus and Dimitri, this would get real ugly before it was over. I knew what the crazy Cossack was capable of, and I could only guess that Gus was just as bad. I would not want to be a member of either vessel’s crew, no way!
We made it in okay; Dimitri was waiting for us. I immediately looked for blood, but since none was visible, I breathed a sigh of relief. Gus said he was taking Smitty and Wild Bill to the walk-in clinic and he would call us with an update.
“Good,” I said,” I’ll call Joe and Tony and let them know about the damage and get them out here tomorrow morning to get an assessment and plan for repairs.” I noticed Dimitri had said nothing and was standing waiting for Gus and the guys to leave.
When they were gone, he said “I found the bastards.”
I raised an eyebrow and said, “And…?”
“They’re four docks down next to an empty berth that just happens to be reserved for the Carrie Ann when she comes out of the boat-yard.”
“Damn it,” I said, “I was afraid of that.”
“Guess we’re going to have to do something about that, right?" Dimitri asked through clenched teeth.
“Yes,” I said, “but not now.”
“Not now?” he growled, “Why not? They’re sitting around on board right over there,” he said pointing.
I pulled his arm down and said, “All in due time; all in due time. We don’t want to cause a ruckus in the port and draw any unnecessary attention to our operation. Don’t forget how much we've got to lose if we get involved in a mess like this and other details come to light.” For once Dimitri was listening to the voice of reason and started cooling down. He didn’t like it but he understood.
I slapped him on the shoulder and said, “We’ll have our chance to even the score, not to worry, my friend.”
He turned and looked at me with a clenched tooth grin that would scare the shit out of anyone it was directed at and said, “You bet your sweet ass we will!” The good Lord have mercy
on the recipients of this man’s anger, I thought, because no one else would!
We walked slowly to our vehicles in the parking lot. As we got to our cars, Dimitri turned and said, “I’m buying the boat.”
“What?” I said.
“The Pandemonium, I’m buying it.”
“Really?" I said.
“Yeah, it’s been handy to have around, and I have a feeling we may get more use out of it.”
“Okay, what brought that on?" I asked.
“Don’t know I’m just so pissed right now I need to do something!"
“So, you’re going to buy a go fast, because you’re pissed?”
“Yeah, I read about it in Cosmo; it’s called retail therapy,” he said with that grin back on his face. “It helps you get over bad times.”
A lot of smart-ass comments came to mind, but I decided I’d better keep them to myself and said, “That’s cool.”
“Yeah,” he said with a noticeable sigh, “I feel better already.” As he walked to his vehicle, he said, “Catch you later, Colt.”
As I got in my vehicle, I thought, well, at least he didn’t kill anybody… that’s, a relief, but Cosmo and retail therapy… Bizarre doesn’t even begin to cover it!
The next day, the crew, except for Junkyard and Lawrence, met at the Falcon. Gus and the boys had cleaned things up as best they could. Joe and Tony jumped in and started pulling out the broken units and making a list of what was going to have to be replaced. I asked how long it was going to take to make repairs. They agreed five to seven days, providing everything was available locally.
I said, “You have five, bring in extra techs to help with the general equipment installs, and the two of you focus on the computer systems, satellite system, and secure Com-links.” They both nodded and got on their respective cell phones.
I walked up to Dimitri and Gus who were engaged in an animated discussion, just in time to hear from Gus, “The hell you will.” It was obvious that Dimitri was not happy with his response. Gus continued, “It’s my boat, my crew, and my problem no matter what you say, so I’ll take care of it.”
“But you know our actions are what precipitated this event.”
“…Doesn’t matter,” Gus said, “my boat, my crew, my problem, end of discussion!”
Frustrated, Dimitri turned and said, “Help me out here, Colt.”
As I looked at Gus, he said, “Don’t even bother, Colt, I’m gonna take care of this, so don’t waste your breath.”
I shrugged my shoulders and said to Dimitri, “He’s the captain”.
Dimitri’s frustration from last night was coming back, and Gus’s attitude was just adding to it. He wanted action, and he wanted it now! It was time to kick some serious ass, and he wanted to take the lead! “Well, just what the hell are you going to do against five of them?” he asked Gus.
Wild Bill had been listening from a distance and interjected, “I’m pretty sure one of them is in a cast somewhere, so there’s probably only four.” Dimitri turned and glared at him as he went back about his work.
Gus thought before he answered; he understood the situation and could easily see Dimitri’s frustration and pent up anger.
“Dimitri,” he said “I know what you’re feeling, been down that road many, many times. Responding with a knee-jerk reaction right now won’t do us any good; it’s not time. But know this,” as a big ugly grin spread across his face, “when it is time, I promise I will do you proud!”
Oh, shit, I thought, this means trouble with a capital T! “Now, Gus,” I started. He held up his hand, palm toward me, and the discussion was over.
He looked at us both and said, "We’ve work to do," and turned to the pilot house.
Chapter Thirteen
Joe and Tony met my five-day deadline, and by Thursday morning, the Falcon was truly ship-shape again. New windows in the wheelhouse had been replaced with Lexan; radar, sonar, and VHF Coms had all been replaced by Joe’s team. Tony and Joe were able to concentrate on the computer “stuff,” and we were up and running, encrypted Coms to Fitz and all. Actually, the new systems in all areas turned out to be a significant upgrade since money was no object this time. Tony and Joe were rightly proud of their accomplishments.
Wild Bill and Smitty, although sore, were pretty much over their injuries and both said they were ship shape and ready to get back out on the water. The weather looked good for the next six days, so I said we could head out that afternoon since all was ready. Gus said, “Let’s wait till tomorrow morning; everyone’s been working hard and could use some relaxation time this afternoon, get a good night’s sleep, and get a fresh start in the morning.”
I said I didn’t have a problem with that and agreed to meet them at the shoal the next morning in the Lisa B. That afternoon was spent under the rear deck canopy of the Falcon with music coming out of the new 1200 watt stereo system that had been part of her upgrades, and beverages from the new beer/beverage fridge! Dimitri had brought over two bottles of his favorite Russian Vodka, one for the freezer of the new fridge and one for the Grog locker. By six or so, we began saying our goodbyes and heading out, looking forward to the renewal of our adventure the next day. Gus seemed in a very good mood and was as jovial as I had ever seen him. I was glad to see he had shaken off last Friday’s experience and was approaching Thursday with a positive attitude! I learned something very important about Gus that day.
We were about an hour behind the Falcon the next morning arriving at the shoal site about 7:30. They had already set the marker buoys out and had the dive gear on deck as we pulled into position on their starboard side, lying off about 30 feet or so. The Zodiac came over and picked us up. Once on board, the first dive team of Joe, Tony, Dimitri, and Smitty began suiting up. I helped Gus move our lift equipment into place for offloading. The guys were just about ready to hit the water when the outside speaker of the VHF radio in the wheelhouse crackled with a mayday from a vessel in distress.
The Coast Guard radio operator responded immediately, requesting vessel identification and location. What I heard next made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “This is the vessel Dizzy D three miles south of the port in route to Ft. Pierce. We’ve had an explosion and are taking on water. We are abandoning ship and request immediate assistance.” I turned slowly and looked at Gus. His face was expressionless as he continued getting gear ready for the dive.
The radio squawked again, “I repeat this is the Dizzy D. We are abandoning ship; she is going down, request immediate assistance.” The Coast Guard operator responded that the rescue boat and chopper were in route and asked about injuries. “No injuries,” came the reply.
“Copy no injuries, eta 14 minutes.”
That’s when I looked at Dimitri, who was staring at Gus, “Boating can be a dangerous undertaking,” he said.
Gus looked up, still expressionless “Sure can,” he replied and continued with his preparations.
I saw the grin spread over Dimitri’s face as he finished donning his gear and I swear I heard him say under his breath, “Nicely done.”
I said nothing and helped the divers in their final preparations. Five minutes later, all four were in the water, headed for the bottom. I did my best to put that radio transmission and its implications out of my head and concentrate on the task at hand for the rest of the morning as the radio chattered in the background, but it was difficult.
We did our Com check, and I asked for a sit-rep once the divers were down. The report was good, almost no current, good visibility, but some sand had built up at the shoal base since our last dive. At least it covered all our dredging activities so far, I thought. Dimitri and Joe were teamed up at the base of the shoal that morning, and Wild Bill and Tony were searching further out. They determined the ending point of the previous search and began the same basic search pattern we had used before. Fifteen minutes later, Wild Bill got a hit with his detector and uncovered two gold bars about two feet deep in the sand. This was his first personal find, and
he was excited, whooping and carrying on over the Coms. We all had to smile, even Gus.
Doc was grinning and said, “So it begins again; that only leaves 14 bars from the broken crate still unaccounted for.” The day was starting out well, I thought.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of our recovery for the morning dive. Once all the divers were back on the boat and were rehydrating and resting, we discussed the lack of further discoveries in the morning’s search. There were quite a few long faces, and I was afraid we had all gotten too used to finding a lot of gold with each outing. Not that two gold bars weren’t quite a bit, especially at around $333,000.00 per bar, but the large quantities we had found previously and with such regularity were desensitizing us to the significance of the smaller finds.
As I pondered that thought, I realized that thinking that was just freaking crazy. For a couple of hours’ work, we had just made over a half million dollars, and we were talking like it was minimum wage, small potatoes! I said to everyone, “Reality check time. Remember, as Dimitri pointed out months back, it’s called treasure hunting, and we may have gotten spoiled with the treasure finding we’ve been doing. There are still five crates out there; we know we are in the right location, and we need to continue to apply ourselves and make sure we search the area thoroughly. The crates didn’t get up and walk away, so let’s review the chart and see if we’ve missed anything and, if not, we’ll keep following the plan until we’re satisfied we’ve done all we can.”
Joe said, “I agree, Colt, it’s just things were going so well in the beginning.”
“Right” Dimitri chimed in.
“I know,” I said, “but let’s not forget there is still a ship out there that needs finding! And from what we have found so far, she’s a very rich ship.”
We spread the chart on the table, and all gathered round. On it, we had marked the exact location of each find with their GPS numbers. As I looked at it, I began to see a pattern and spoke up. “Look at this,” I said as I pointed to each of the crate discovery locations and the individual bar sites. “Anybody notice anything?”