by Eric Douglas
*****
Colin Parker, the man behind Seashore Engineering, was determined to get what he wanted and nothing was going to stand in his way. Like most men in his situation, he wanted money and power. Also, like men in his situation, he hadn’t come to realize that no matter how much he had of either, it would never be enough.
“Guys, settle down a minute,” Parker said as he called his assistants to order. Every afternoon the men sat down to discuss what else needed to be done. Nothing was off the table in these meetings. They all knew exactly what the plan was for the Beauregard.
“We just got word from our local organizer that a local environmentalist has been snooping around the ship, trying to find out what we’re up to. But you all know that,” Parker began and the room dropped to dead silence. They all knew better than to interrupt the boss. They knew he already had it worked out and would have a plan.
“We’re going to move up the timetable and take care of a couple different problems at one time. I don’t want this to go on another day and give other people a chance to ask questions,” Parker explained. “We’re going to tow the boat out tonight. We’ll tell Downing that we were ready early and wanted to move it into position to get the ship ready. We’ll make up some story about wanting everything to be right. Then I want the ship to sink. Send it to the bottom tonight. And make sure this environmentalist is on board. Set it up to look like she was snooping around and set off the charges.”
The men quickly got to work. If they were going to move the ship tonight, there were things they needed to set in motion. One of the men went to get some help – he was going to take care of the girl.