“We’re running out of room. Who hired you?” Galveston tried again with the same resulting response from Balboa.
We repeated the process again. Each time the container swung and buffeted more than before. I could hear the cables straining under the weight and the sudden movement.
Galveston moved down the ladder a few feet to get out of the way of the swinging metal. He thought for a second before speaking again. Galveston turned as if he was talking to Dimitri down on the deck.
“What is it?” he yelled down to a confused Dimitri. “He’s talking? Good. We don’t need to keep this slimeball anymore?” Galveston turned back to Balboa. “It seems this isn’t your lucky day. One of your partners is telling us what we want. We have no use for you now.” Galveston said coldly.
He began to go down the ladder, disappearing from Balboa‘s view. “Lower it all the way,” he yelled as loud as he could while signaling Dimitri to lower the container a little more.
Dimitri signaled to me with his hands slightly apart on how much we should move it. Pi complied and moved the container down quickly causing the motors to strain.
Galveston heard a scream from Balboa as the container now stood only five feet above his head as he lay on his back. “Stop, stop!” Balboa screamed forcefully. “I’ll tell jou vhat jou vant. zhey don’t know vhat zhey are talking about!”
Galveston waited a second and heard Balboa pleading again for his life. Galveston climbed back up the ladder and popped his head over the edge.
“Who hired you then?” he yelled at the pirate.
“Marcus Olvary, zhat is who,” he stammered, breathing heavily.
“I’ve never heard of him,” Galveston shot back and made like he was going back down the ladder.
“It iz zhe truth. Marcus Olvary. Zhat is who hired us to do zhis operation.”
“Why?”
“For zhe revolution,” Balboa said flatly.
Galveston shook his head and began to go down the ladder again.
“Please,” Balboa yelled back. “It is zhe truth.”
“Why this Chinese man, and what do you want with him?”
“He is how ve vill fund the revolution and crush the enemy.”
“And who is the enemy?”
“Zhe Vest and Russia,” Balboa said more calmly, almost glad to be able to tell about his cause.
“I’m getting tired of this. You better start telling me something I need,”
“Olvary iz going to use zhis man to create financial turmoil in zhe vest and fund zhe revolution. Zhen ve vill be able to fight zhe Russians and get back our homeland.”
Galveston realized that ‘Vest’ was his dialect getting in the way of saying ‘West’. He pondered what Balboa was saying. “Are you Chechnyan?”
“Jes,” Balboa said proudly as the container continued to clank above him.
“Where is Olvary now?”
“I don’t know. Ve vere only supposed to deliver zhis man to Cape Town. Zhat vas all. I don’t know anyzhing else. I vas to return home on my own.”
Galveston studied the man to determine the truth in his statement before continuing to question. “We know the captain of this ship was killed in Sweden. Who came on as the captain?”
Balboa‘s eyes widened at the statement of fact. “He vas an imposter, Hollywood makeup to get him to look like zhe captain. It vas Olvary’s second in command, Marquette. I didn’t know him before zhis trip. He helped us get on zhe ship. I was only in charge of zhe operation on zhe ship.”
Galveston was taken aback by the statement and looked hard at Balboa. He was trying to move away from the container above him with a continued look of terror in his eyes.
“Why did you let the crew live? Why didn’t you just kill them?”
“Ve needed zhem to help offload the rest of the cargo at a port in Angola. There is group zhat was going to buy the items in the containers. Ve vere going to trade zhem for weapons,” Balboa said as sweat poured down his face. “The Angolans could keep zhe crew as hostages, as far as ve cared.”
The wind was beginning to pick up more speed, which caused the hanging container to sway more violently. Galveston noted the increasing movement too, and had no intention of squashing the man underneath. He motioned for Dimitri to signal us to raise the container and place it away from the pirate. Pi skillfully maneuvered the steel tonnage away from Balboa who stared at the sky in relief.
“You’re under arrest, Mr. Balboa,” Galveston yelled, unsure of whose jurisdiction we were in.
Balboa closed his eyes and spoke to himself, clearly dejected that his fear of being crushed outweighed his need to be a revolutionary. Galveston pulled him from the stack and dragged him back toward the bridge of the container ship.
“We’re coming right back if your information doesn’t pan out, and next time we won’t hesitate to drop that container,” Galveston threatened Balboa with a fierce grin.
Balboa simply stared back without emotion, knowing secretly that he might have one more trick up his sleeve.
-Chapter 47-
When we had all gathered at the bridge, I made the call to the Southern Sea to pick us up. At least we had more puzzle pieces to work with, and a name for the perpetrator that had kidnapped Jane and Maddie. Now it was just a race against time and the weather.
Galveston placed Balboa in one of the leather back chairs that dotted the bridge, and secured him tightly with tape around his wrists and ankles, as well as a gag in his mouth.
The Southern Sea was moving into the bay and would dispatch a small pontoon boat to ferry us back to the research vessel. As we waited, I watched nervously out the large windows for a sign we could get off this boat and on with the rest of our journey.
As I fiddled with a pen sitting on the large control panel, I felt the bulge in my pocket from the black box I had found on the deck of the makeshift helipad. I pulled it out and examined it with curiosity. It was a simple box with a toggle switch and a button, along with a small LED light. I turned it over a few times in my hands wondering what it could be.
“Galveston,” I said, breaking him from a conversation with Dimitri, “what do you think this is for?”
Galveston grabbed it from me and looked it over closely. “Some sort of remote, I guess,” he said dismissively, as he began to mess with the toggle switch back and forth, turning the glowing red LED light off and on.
“Stop screwing with that,” I scolded and snatched it back from him. “If we don’t know what it’s for, then we should stop messing with it.”
“Whatever you say boss man,” Galveston replied with a smile. “Maybe we should ask him,” he said, pointing to Balboa. “He was carrying it.”
“That seems like an unusually good idea coming from you,” I remarked.
Galveston moved toward Balboa to inquire about the nature of the box. I looked the box over once more before setting it on the desk filled with controls for the ship. All of a sudden, I noticed the Southern Sea pop into view behind a rock outcropping outside the round bay of the island.
“Finally,” I said with relief. “Here they come.”
Galveston and Dimitri joined me at the window as we watched the crew of the Southern Sea lower our rescue boat into the water.
With our backs turned, something interesting and terrifying was taking place. Balboa had pulled one of the oldest magician tricks in the book. As Galveston had applied the tape bindings to his hands and feet, Balboa had tensed up every muscle in his body so that when he relaxed there was just enough slack in the tape for him to begin to wriggle free.
We were so sidetracked by watching the events out the window that we didn‘t notice Balboa had freed a finger, and then a hand, on his right side. He wasted no time in loosening the bindings on his feet next, one-by-one.
Balboa sat motionless, waiting to strike, but not at us. He wanted that black box. Balboa leaned forward in his chair like a hunting cat, and in one fluid movement pounced at us from behind.
I heard the
chair move and turned to see what had happened, but I only saw the body of the man sailing toward me. He knocked me violently to the side and into an equally startled Galveston and Dimitri. The move was well-timed for his intended target, and we had no time to react.
Balboa launched onto the control desk and grabbed the black box. I was still trying to regain my balance from the hit as Galveston noticed Balboa’s move to the desk. Balboa flung himself onto his back and managed to flick the toggle switch, causing the red light to come on. Galveston scrambled over me and got a hand onto Balboa’s arm, just as he was about to hit the button. The box fell from his hand onto the steel floor. I was beginning to get the idea of what the box was about.
The black box slid under the console, and Balboa wasted no time in going after it. He kicked Galveston hard, landing a solid blow to the chest, which allowed Balboa enough time to reach the box on the floor. Galveston regained his footing and leapt toward Balboa, who was now on the floor. Balboa was trying to get a better hold on the box but was unable to push the small button because Galveston had grabbed him by the leg. He struggled to pull Balboa from underneath the console. The box fell from his hand again. Galveston then jumped on his back and began to pummel him with punches.
By this time I was able to get to my feet and peered at Dimitri, who was out of commission holding his wounded leg. I jumped toward Galveston just as Balboa was making one last attempt at retrieving the box. It lay just out of reach from his outstretched arm. I scrambled over Galveston and managed to reach the box, sliding it away from the pirate once and for all. I banged the man’s hand with my fist, causing him to wince from the shot. This allowed Galveston time to grab his arms in a submission hold. Galveston held firm until Balboa stopped struggling. I crawled to the box and switched off the toggle switch, causing the red light to dim.
Galveston pulled Balboa to his feet and threw him into the nearest chair. He took the rest of the tape and bound Balboa’s hands, feet, and trunk directly to the chair.
“This dude was going to blow us up,” Galveston said breathlessly.
“You think?” was all I could reply as I put my hands on my knees, trying to slow my heart rate.
The commotion had alerted the rest of the crew that something was amiss, and they began to file onto the bridge.
“I think we have to find this bomb, and like, now,” Galveston said to me quietly out of earshot from the rest of the crew.
Dimitri was struggling to his feet and finally hobbled toward us. “There’s a bomb on this ship, isn’t there,” he inquired, knowing the answer to his own question.
“Give the man a cigar, Roger,” Galveston said, trying to lighten the mood with the jest. “You have any idea where they could have put the damn thing, Dimitri?”
“Below deck around the engine room would do the most damage, but you can’t get a signal down there by remote. I would have to say somewhere on the deck,” he answered quickly.
“The bomb must have been their safety valve in case something went wrong before they could sail for Angola. I bet they were just trying to sink the thing, or make it so it can’t sail so they could escape if the authorities arrived,” I surmised.
“If that was the case, then the most logical place would be on the hull itself. The steel is thin at the midpoint of the ship,” Dimitri answered.
“Dimitri, take a few of the men and explain the situation. Tell them to scour the decks and the outside hull for anything protruding from the sides. They would need more than a phone book size piece of explosive to break into the hull,” Galveston ordered.
Dimitri didn‘t question the request and quietly pulled a few of the men aside to begin their search. I watched as he explained their mission and could tell from the looks on their faces when he got to the bomb part. They scattered quickly as Galveston and I plotted our next move. We couldn’t wait around for them to find it and had to move on, time was of the essence.
-Chapter 48-
The pontoon boat from the Southern Sea was waiting at the port side of the Trusian, unaware of what had just transpired. We had to get off this ship fast, but I couldn’t bear thinking that we were leaving the rest of the sailors in harm’s way.
I had an idea. I raced down to the deck, and over to the gangplank that lead to a long wooden ladder that we could take to the awaiting boat. I climbed down just enough to get within earshot of the pilot.
“I need a favor,” I yelled to him.
“Uh, sir, we have orders to get you gentlemen off. We’re running out of time,” the pilot yelled back.
“Just ten minutes,” I pleaded, “I need you to drive the length of the ship and look along the waterline for anything stuck to it—anything suspicious.”
The pilot looked confused for a moment before answering. “You guys aren’t coming down until we do this, are you?” he answered.
“No. It’s very important.”
The pilot looked thoughtful for a moment. He knew we wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. “So what am I looking for, exactly?”
I thought carefully before answering. I knew there was no easy way to tell him, but he had the right to know. “Um, yeah, we are looking for something that looks like a bomb, maybe stuck to the side of the ship.”
The pilot‘s eyes grew wide. “A bomb you say. Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, a little. I’m told it’s not that dangerous,” I fibbed. Galveston had mentioned it had to be plastic explosives, which were basically inert, but I didn’t really know if he knew what he was talking about.
“I must be nuts too. Alright, we’ll see what we can do. What do you suggest we do if we find something?”
I had no idea what to tell him. Luckily Galveston was listening in over the side of the ship.
“Just shove it in the water,” Galveston yelled from above.
“You must be crazy too,” the pilot retorted.
“Yeah, that is true, but I know it has to be harmless. We have the detonator and something that close to the water that can get wet has to have a trigger. Just think of it as a giant piece of Play-Doh.”
“A giant piece of Play-Doh, he says,” the pilot said to the other crew member on his boat. “You guys are nuts, truly nuts. Alright, I’ll look, but you guys better be ready when I get back. I’ll sound the air horn if I find something.”
“Thanks,” I waved and started back up the ladder. “I’m glad you chimed in,” I told Galveston as he helped me to the top of the deck.
“Let’s get our stuff together and grab this Chinese guy.”
“Agreed. I’ll grab him, and you keep an eye on our rescue boat.”
I raced back into the superstructure and grabbed our things before going to get our most valuable asset.
Galveston followed the boat around the deck as it searched the waterline for any discrepancies. After ten minutes of searching, and when the boat reached the opposite side of the ship, I heard the wail of an air horn.
I peered from the bridge and saw Galveston leaning precariously over the side of the ship, waving his arms at the boat below. A tense five minutes passed before Galveston stood up and gave the boat a thumbs up. He had a bright smile on his face, and a sense of relief passed over me. They had found the bomb. The only one, I hoped.
I didn‘t waste any time and went to the stateroom where our Chinese gentlemen was laying on the bunk. We had kept his hands bound because we just didn’t know who this guy was. Hopefully we would get more information when we got him on the Southern Sea.
“We have to go, now,” I said forcefully.
The man grunted as I woke him from his sleep.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said in perfect English, which took me aback.
“Sorry, pal. Unless you want to be thrown overboard, you better come with me,” I threatened.
The man sighed heavily. He seemed to have lost any will to fight, and I could tell he was emotionally and physically exhausted. He got up slowly, and I led him carefully out the door and down the interior st
airs until we eventually reached the deck outside.
Galveston met me at the ladder, and I threw his backpack to him.
“They found it,” he said, breathing heavily, “right at the middle of the ship. It would have blown a hole in the side just enough to make the ship inoperable. I hope that was it.”
“We won’t need this then,” I said pulling out the black box that had caused so many problems. I took the box and flung it into the water, partially expecting an explosion as it hit the surface.
Dimitri had hobbled up behind us with a few of his crew. “Thank you, gentlemen. There is nothing I could possibly do to repay you.”
“Just get this ship and everyone aboard back safely,” Galveston told him as he thrust out his hand.
“I will. Good luck. We’ll take care of these pirates, just get those other guys for us,” Dimitri said, shaking Galveston’s hand hard.
“We have to. They don’t know what can of worms they’ve opened,” Galveston replied, fueled by anger and not daunted by a group of self-sacrificing revolutionaries.
We gave one last wave and started for the ladder. I took off the tape around the Chinese man‘s hands and motioned for him to climb the ladder down to the awaiting boat. Galveston followed, and we made it into the small boat. The pilot of the vessel only shook his head, but I noticed he had a smile on his face from the actions of these two lunatics.
The pilot punched the throttle and maneuvered us away from the Trusian and toward the awaiting Southern Sea. I peered back and saw the ship grow slightly smaller, and I was amazed we had pulled off such an incredible caper.
-Chapter 49-
We were able to regroup aboard the Southern Sea after the most incredible of ordeals. I pushed the thought of what Jane was going through to the back of my mind. Worrying now would only cloud my judgment, and I needed to stay as sharp as possible.
Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 02 - Peeking Duck Page 21