Away Boarders

by Daniel V Gallery

  "So do I," said Fatso. "And I suspect it's something phony."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Slanski

  Next afternoon Fatso met Slanski at his suite in the Grand Hotel. Also present was a burly, dark-skinned individual, gaudily and expensively dressed and puffing on a long cigar. He had piercing, shifty dark eyes scowling out from under heavy eyebrows and a deep scar across the left side of his face. He had an air of arrogant authority about him, and if he had ever appeared on TV he would have been one of the bad guys.

  "Fatso, meet Salvatore Salanti," said Slanski.

  Salanti acknowledged the introduction with a curt nod and said nothing.

  Slanski poured himself, Fatso, and Salanti generous drinks and they sat down on the balcony outside the room overlooking the city.

  "Well," said Slanski, "have your boys recovered from last night yet?"

  "Oh, yes," said Fatso. "They're up and around. Quite a party though."'

  "I could of done better for you if I'd had a little more time to arrange things," said Slanski. "I got friends in Naples I want you to meet. Real nice guys. They'll take good care of you. Get you all the gals you want - real good ones."

  "Oh," said Fatso.

  After a bit of chit-chat about the previous evening Slanski poured Fatso another drink and said, "Fatso - how would you like to pick up a little dough for yourself on your trip back to Naples?"

  "Well," said Fatso, "that would depend on what the deal was. I'm always glad to pick up a little extra dough. If the deal looks right."

  "This would involve delivering a package to a friend of mine in Naples," said Slanski.

  "Oh," said Fatso. "Something you don't want to go through customs?"

  "Yeah, that's right," said Slanski.

  "How big a package?" asked Fatso.

  "It's a bale of stuff - weighs about a ton."

  "Well, now," said Fatso, "that's a pretty big bundle to be lugging around Naples."

  "You wouldn't have to lug it around Naples. A boat would meet you outside the harbor and take it off your hands," said Slanski.

  "Hmm," said Fatso. "Sounds interesting. If they meet me outside the three-mile limit I'm not doing anything the Eyetalians could squawk about . . . I might be interested . . . How would we arrange the pickup?"

  "We would take care of that for you," said Slanski. "You arrange to get to Naples just before dark. Our boat will meet you about five miles out. As soon as it gets dark our boat comes alongside. You give him the package and that's all there is to it."

  "How would I know this boat of yours when I see it?" asked Fatso.

  "It will be a forty-foot fishing boat. She will be flying the Greek flag and she will signal to you by blinker light X A X."

  "That sounds okay," said Fatso. "But be sure he knows the transfer has to take place outside the three-mile limit."

  "Don't worry about that," said Slanski, "We'll take care of it."

  "And what's in this for me?" asked Fatso.

  "A couple of hundred bucks," said Slanski.

  "Humh," said Fatso. "That's chickenfeed for a deal like this."

  "All you gotta do is just carry this thing from here to Naples. You don't have to do a thing to it while you've got it aboard. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me . . . How much do you want?"

  "Two grand," said Fatso.

  "Now wait a minute, my friend," said Slanski. "That's way out of line for just hauling a package from here to Naples."

  "Well, let's put all the cards on the table," said Fatso. "What's in this package?"

  "It's - er - raw material. Stuff you can't get in Italy but we need it for a product we make."

  "What kind of raw material?" asked Fatso.

  "Vegetable matter."

  "Let's quit beating around the bush," said Fatso. "That bale of stuff is opium. ... A ton of opium is worth well over a million bucks. I want two thousand."

  "All right - it's opium," conceded Slanski. "But a ton of raw opium isn't worth that much until it's processed and delivered in the States. Two grand is way out of line."

  "Take it or leave it," said Fatso.

  "Well - I might go as high as one thousand," said Slanski.

  "Look," said Fatso. "I've got almost thirty years in this Navy. I'm about ready to retire. It all goes down the drain if I get caught at this."

  "How about fifteen hundred?" asked Slanski.

  "No. Two grand is my price," said Fatso.

  "Give it to him," growled Salanti.

  "Okay, boss - if you say so," said Slanski.

  "How do we get it aboard here?" asked Fatso.

  "You said you sail the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow night at midnight a boat will deliver it on board."

  "I want to be paid in advance," said Fatso.

  "We usually pay on delivery," said Slanski. "The boat that picks it up in Naples will pay you."

  "Look," said Fatso. "This isn't just a one-shot operation. We are running back and forth between here and Naples all the time. This could get to be a regular business. But I want my money in advance or it's no-go."

  "There's a lot of things could go wrong on this deal," said Slanski. "We can't afford to pay till the stuff is delivered."

  "There's damned little can go wrong in this case," said Fatso. "The stuff comes in in a Navy ship. There's no customs to contend with. I guarantee to put it on your boat in Naples. What happens after that is up to you."

  "Well, now ..." began Slanski.

  "Give it to him now," growled Salanti.

  "Okay, boss," said Slanski. He went into his room and came back with a handful of crisp new hundred-dollar bills. He counted out twenty of them and handed them to Fatso.

  "Okay," said Fatso. "We will be expecting a boat to deliver the bale to us here tomorrow at midnight."

  "That's right," said Slanski.

  "All right. I'll take care of it," said Fatso as he got up to go.

  "Just a minute." said Slanski. "Let me give you the name of a friend of ours in Naples. You can look him up later. He'll show you a real good time and he's got a big stable of good gals."

  Slanski wrote a name and address on a sheet of paper and gave it to Fatso. As Fatso was about to leave Salanti stomped out the butt of his cigar and said, "Look, sailor. This is the big time you're getting into. You do a good job for us and there's plenty more where this comes from . . . Just one thing I want to warn you about - if you ever get involved with the cops, keep your mouth shut. We've got top-level connections everywhere and we can bail you out and fix any rap. But remember - you never seen or heard of me."

  "Okay," said Fatso.

  "The one thing we can't stand is a squealer," said Salanti with a dark scowl. "We treat them pretty rough."

  "Okay, chief. I understand," said Fatso. And he shoved off.

  Fatso went direct from the hotel to the American embassy, where he looked up his friend the clerk to whom he had delivered the ambassador's liquor. "I've got to see the Ambassador," he told him.

  "The Ambassador?" said the clerk. "He's a busy man. It's pretty hard to get to him."

  "Well, this is very important and I've got to see him," said Fatso.

  "Okay," said the clerk, dubiously. "I'll see what I can do."

  Pretty soon the clerk returned and said, "The Ambassador's administrative assistant will see you."

  The administrative assistant was a sharp young State Department type whose major mission in life was keeping track of the Ambassador's social engagements and preventing unwanted visitors from bothering the boss.

  "Yes sir, Mr. Gioninni," he said. "What can I do for you?"

  "I want to see the Ambassador," said Fatso.

  "The Ambassador has a very full schedule," said the young man. "Is there anything I can do?"

  "This is an important matter which should be handled by the Ambassador," said Fatso.

  "Perhaps if you tell me what it is I can help you," persisted the young man.

  "I need the help of the local police," said Fatso, "on
a matter that has to be handled very carefully at the top level."

  "Well, I can put you in touch with the police here," said the aide.

  "No. It's got to be the Ambassador," said Fatso.

  "Well - unless you tell me more about it, I'm afraid you can't see the Ambassador," said the young man.

  "All right," said Fatso. "It's about a plot to assassinate the Ambassador."

  "Oh - well . . . um ... in that case, just wait a minute. I'll see if I can get you in."

  A few moments later the young man returned and said, "His excellency will see you now."

  Fatso was ushered into the Ambassador's plush office, where the diplomat was seated behind his large mahogany desk. "Well, what's this, young man?" he asked. "You say there's a plot to assassinate me?"

  "That's what I told your flunky, sir, in order to get to see you," said Fatso. "But that's a lot of malarky. It's really about something else."

  "Oh?" said the Ambassador. "Well, what is it?"

  "It's about a dope-smuggling plot that I'm mixed up in, and I want the help of the local police." Fatso then related the story of his deal with Slanski to deliver a bale of opium to Naples.

  "Smuggling opium from Greece to Naples," said the diplomat. "Just how does this concern the American embassy?"

  "In several ways," said Fatso. "First of all, Slanski is an American. The American Navy is mixed up in it, and this stuff, after it's refined, will wind up in the United States."

  "Yes. You're probably right," said the Ambassador. "We know there is a great deal of opium smuggled out of the Near East and into the U.S. This stuff is undoubtedly headed for the U.S. Eventually. But we have a hell of a time catching any of these smugglers red-handed."

  "Well, we'll have a fine chance to do it tomorrow night, sir," said Fatso. "If the local police will cooperate they can come aboard my ship tomorrow afternoon and lay in wait for the people who deliver the stuff. That will give them the evidence to hang Slanski. But Slanski is just a middleman in this deal. His boss is a guv bv the name of Salanti. He's the one who really made the deal with me. Get him and you'll have one of the real big shots in this dope racket."

  The Ambassador thought it over for a moment and then said, "I agree." He buzzed for his secretary and said, ''Get me Colonel Zagistos on the phone."

  'The Greek government is usually very cooperative in anything I ask of them," he said to Fatso. "I think they'll go along with this."

  Soon he had the Colonel on the phone and said, "This is Ambassador Johnson. Could you come over to the embassy right away?"

  "He'll be right over," said the Ambassador when he hung up. "Are you sure this Slanski is an American?"

  "Well, I'm not sure," said Fatso. "But he speaks like an American, and he claims he served in the Navy."

  "I doubt if Slanski will take part in the delivery," said the Ambassador. "But I'd sure like to get him. This dope smuggling is one of our main concerns right now."

  In about five minutes, Colonel Zagistos was announced.

  "Colonel, this is Boatswain's Mate Gioninni," said the Ambassador. "He's skipper of a small Navy ship we have in the harbor. Gioninni, this is Colonel Zagistos, the Chief of Police of Athens."

  "And what can I do for you, sir?" said the Colonel.

  So Fatso again ran through the story of his deal with Slanski. Then he said, "What I would like to do is to have some of your men come aboard my ship quietly tomorrow afternoon. Then when the delivery is made at midnight, you capture the guys who make the delivery."

  The Colonel's eyes had lighted up while Fatso was talking. When he finished the Colonel said, "No trouble at all. We will do it exactly the way you say. This may result in a real big killing. Of course, all we'll get at your ship will be a couple of Arab boatmen and a bale of opium. But your testimony and the evidence we get will tie Slanski in. We'll pick him up at his hotel right after midnight. We have suspected him for some time, but have never been able to pin anything on him. He's one of the middlemen in this dope ring. If we can make him talk, we'll get some of the real big ones."

  "One of the big shots was there while I was making the deal with Slanski," said Fatso. "A guy by the name of Salanti. Slanski takes his orders from him."

  "That's fine. We know him and have been trying for a long time to get something on him," said the Colonel. "Your testimony will put the finger on him, too."

  "But I won't be here to be a witness against him when he comes to trial," said Fatso.

  "Don't worn about that," said the Colonel. "We'll take a deposition from you. And I don't think we'll have too much trouble persuading him to talk. We're pretty good at that. And he'll be facing a long stretch in prison if he doesn't talk. This is going to break things open clean up to the top."

  "What do I do with this two thousand bucks that Slanski gave me?" asked Fatso of the Ambassador.

  "So far as I'm concerned you can keep it," said the Ambassador. "If I took it it would have to go into our counterpart funds, and I've got more money there now than I know what to do with."

  "You better let me have some of my experts take a look at that money," said the Colonel. "It may be counterfeit."

  "Okay," said Fatso. Reaching into his pocket he hauled out twenty hundred-dollar bills and handed them over to the Colonel.

  The Colonel inspected them and said, "They look pretty good. But some very good American counterfeit is in circulation here now. I'll have my experts look it over. If it's real you can keep it. If it's phony, we've got another charge against your friend Slanski."

  "Okay," said Fatso. "I'll expect your people tomorrow afternoon."

  "Right," said the Colonel.

  Next morning Fatso went ashore and had a secret rendezvous with the Colonel and his prosecuting attorney. There Fatso swore out an affidavit with the whole story of his dealings with Slanski and Salanti. When he got through, the prosecutor said, "This, plus the bale of opium we'll get tonight, will be enough to send Mr. Slanski and Salanti up for a number of years."

  "And, when they talk, as I'm sure they will," said the Colonel, "we'll also have a number of other real big fish for you."

  "Be careful," said the prosecutor. "The foreign press is raising hell about torturing prisoners. So don't put any marks on them."

  That afternoon six husky plain-clothes cops came aboard at various times and settled down to spend the evening. They agreed that, when the boat came alongside at midnight, Fatso and two of his men would accept the bale and hoist it aboard. As soon as it was on deck, the cops would move in and take over.

  The cops all spoke English after a fashion. They spent the afternoon learning to play acey-deucy and regaling the boys with tales about the Communists and how about ten years back the U.S. had helped Greece to throw them out. Fatso had a movie on the well deck for them after dinner.

  Shortly after midnight a small boat approached their stern and there was a guarded hail from it. Fatso hailed back and motioned it to come alongside. The motorboat eased up to the stern and threw aboard a bow and a stern line, which were promptly secured to cleats on deck. Then Fatso swung the stern crane out over the boat and lowered the hook. The people in the boat hooked on a bulky object the size of a bale of cotton, and Fatso heaved around on the winch and hoisted it up on deck.

  As soon as the bale touched the deck Fatso switched on the floodlights; the six cops appeared and jumped into the boat. After a brief struggle, they subdued and handcuffed the three crew members. They were an evil-looking trio of Arabs, but obviously were just small spuds in the dope-smuggling ring.

  One of the cops cut away a piece of the burlap covering on the bale and dug into the contents with his knife. "It's opium," he reported.

  Another cop called a police launch alongside on a walkie-talkie radio, they loaded the bale into it, and the launch departed with the motorboat in tow and three very unhappy Arabs handcuffed together.

  At the same time, Colonel Zagistos and a party of cops raided Slanski's suite at the Grand Hotel. They got Slanski
and Salanti and quite a bundle of American hundred-dollar bills. The two gangsters tried to brazen it out. They demanded that various political figures be notified as well as their attorneys and made dire threats as to what would happen to the arresting officers. But the cops had trouble locating the politicians they mentioned and their attorneys.

  While they were looking for them they questioned the two gangsters rather sharply - and separately. They used various tricks which they had learned from the Communists to encourage them to talk. They also used a few devices of their own, which

  they had found to be quite effective in dealing with reluctant culprits. Neither gangster was very successful in resisting the cops' urging. By morning both were singing like canary birds, each one trying to pin the whole rap on the other.

  With a little extra urging Salanti remembered the names of some other big wheels. They were promptly picked up and subjected to similar questioning. By morning the cops had an ironclad case against the biggest dope ring in Greece, plus four of the top Mafia men, plus Slanski and the Arab boatmen, and a bale of opium.

  Next morning, just before LCU 1124 got underway, Colonel Zagistos came out in the police launch to see Fatso. "A very successful operation indeed." he said. "We got Slanski, Salanti, and two of the real big wheels. It's the biggest haul we've made in years, and dope is going to be harder to get in the U.S. for some time. We thank you very much for your cooperation, Captain, which made this possible."

  "Okay," said Fatso. "I'm glad to do anything I can to help break up the dope racket. How about that money I gave you?"

  "A very high grade of counterfeit," said the Colonel.

  "That dirty, double-crossing son of a bitch," observed Fatso.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The Russian Boarder

  From Piraeus they headed south. As Piraeus was dropping out of sight astern, Scuttlebutt was on the bridge discussing future operations with Fatso.

  "What's the schedule now, skipper?" asked Scuttlebutt.

  "Well, we go back to Naples now," said Fatso. "But there's no hurry about getting there. I think I'll stop in at the Gulf of Laconia tomorrow and see what's going on there."