Dara said, "The third boat left?"
"No, I finally motioned 'em over. Put the rifle down and held up a bottle of champagne in each hand." He said to Idris, "Those were your guys want to hijack me?"
"They want to greet you," Idris said, "as a friend of mine come to visit. But you shoot at them?"
"At the boats, not knowing their intention," Billy said. "I was to shoot at them, they'd be floaters."
Dara watched Idris on the screen shrug and then smile. He said, "I apologize for the misunderstanding." She watched him turn now to gaze toward the coast. "And would like you to be my guests"-the camera moving toward a scattering of low buildings along the beach, one much larger on the slope above, dominating the scene-"at my home in Eyl." DARA CLOSED THE LID of the laptop.
Xavier said, "You went on the sailboat so you could speak to Helene."
"I got Billy to invite me. He said, 'You want to learn how to sail?' I told him I had to use the head and went below. Helene was sitting at the table in the salon with a bottle of champagne. She said, 'Get a glass. That fucking gunfire-my ears are still ringing. He wants me to fire it, get knocked on my ass.'"
"Champagne helps now?"
"It can't hurt. I find if I stay ripped it's easier to follow instructions. 'Aye, aye, Captain.' He's teaching me how to sail, in the fucking ocean. I don't know how many times I thought of sticking a finger down my throat."
"But you hung in."
"Still his little sailor. I have to actually mop the fucking deck."
"Part of the trial, eh?"
"I guess. I'm not sure it's worth it."
"Outside of that, you still like him?"
"He's weird. Always looking for pirates, his elephant gun handy."
"But he doesn't try to shoot them."
"He sunk their boat. If they happen to drown, tough shit."
"What's he talk about?"
"The rules of the sea. How to tack, come about. How much money he has. Arabs. He doesn't care for Arabs, I found that out. He said, 'The Mohammedans scored with 9/11'"-Helene trying to sound like Billy from East Texas-"'now they'll try for a bigger bang.'"
"Does he mean al Qaeda? Bin Laden and his people?"
"Billy doesn't say. I think he's dreaming, trying to think of a role he can play. And I happen to be with him, I'm his gang."
"He isn't CIA, is he? You mentioned that once."
"He hinted at it, sounding like he's some kind of government agent, but he's not. I came right out and asked him and he smiled, very condescending, and patted my cheek. Like what do you expect from a chick works fashion shows. He said why should he get tied up in rules and red tape when he's got the way to get answers on his own. He means he's got enough money to bribe anyone who can help him. He believes terrorists are playing a part in this, letting the pirates have thirty million, less than half of what's been paid so far."
"That much in ransoms?"
"At least. More than sixty ships have been hijacked-the latest number he told me this morning-ransomed off or still being held."
"How does he know that?"
"He makes phone calls. To Billy, the bad guys are the lawyers and Mohammedan terrorists. He always calls them that, Mohammedans. At first he thought it was al Shabaab, the strict Muslim gunmen. They're supposed to be against piracy, but Billy says bullshit, they're taking a cut like everybody else. He told me al Shabaab means 'young guys' and calls them 'the lads.' He got that from the BBC."
"But if Idris and his guys are doing all the work-"
"Billy says Idris is afraid to complain."
Dara shook her head. "He doesn't know Idris."
"Billy says they'll shoot him and get somebody else."
"But Idris is having a ball hijacking ships." Dara paused. "There was something on the Internet about middlemen, lawyers handling the ransom negotiations from Nairobi, even London. Billy thinks the lawyers represent terrorists?"
"Or they don't know who they represent, or care. Billy can be terribly boring, but he's not dumb."
"Maybe melodramatic?"
"Serious," Helene said. "Sometimes he's so fucking serious it's scary."
"The money's delivered directly to the pirates," Dara said, "by boat or dropped from a plane. I've seen it."
"Billy says they get only part of it that way, for show. It keeps the lawyers out of the news."
"Idris," Dara said, "has never even hinted at someone telling him what to do."
"Ask him about it. Maybe Billy's full of shit."
"I don't know-Idris has always seemed straight with me," Dara said. "It's why I like him."
"I do too," Helene said and took a sip of champagne. "The other night at that club in Djibouti, Las Vegas, he asked me to go for a ride. You'd already left, I didn't know if he wanted to show me the sights or jump me."
"He made a move when I was with him," Dara said. "I told him I don't do it in cars, even a Mercedes."
Helene raised her hand to slap Dara's.
"So you went for a ride with him?" Dara said.
"No, because Ari Ahmed Sheikh Bakar walked in and we started talking. Billy was still after Idris, asking him about his pirates, if they were high when they boarded ships, making it sound like a guy-thing. Idris-he's so fucking cool-said, 'They do what pleases them.' So Harry and I went for a stroll."
"I flew in from Paris with him," Dara said.
"I know, he told me. The two of you talked all night. So you know more about him than I do."
"To me," Dara said, "Harry's one of the good guys, if there are any."
"That's what I told Billy after we left the club. Billy said, 'There is no way to tell who's good and who's bad in this fucked-up Mohammedan world.'"
"He may be right," Dara said.
CHAPTER TEN
NOW THE LAPTOP SCREEN showed cargo ships and the massive Saudi tanker Sirius Star lying at anchor a mile or so off the coast of Eyl, Dara's camera coming on to them from the sea.
"Waiting to be ransomed," Dara said. "I have the names of the ships and where they're from. The voice-over will say the going rate for ransom payments is between three hundred thousand and three million. For the Saudi tanker, hijacked three months ago with a hundred million dollars of crude oil, the pirates started out asking twenty-five million, but have come down considerably. We'll have to find out what they're after now." Dara said, "There's the Blue Star, an Egyptian ship and…I think the one straight ahead is the Biscaglia. Pirates attacked the ship and the paid security guards jumped over the side."
"You not armed," Xavier said, "you don't hang around." He said, "Now here's one of those planes nobody in it."
"Drones," Dara said. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. They fly over at night and take pictures of the hijacked ships."
"If they know the ships are here," Xavier said, "send in some special forces people and take 'em back."
"I'd like to show here if we get the chance, ransom money being air-dropped."
"We seen them miss once."
"Helene said Billy thinks the airdrop is for show. Proof the ships are being hijacked for money. But people behind the pirates-Billy says lawyers and warlords, clan elders-are all getting a cut."
"How's Billy know that?"
"Helene says he makes phone calls. I'd love to shoot another money drop," Dara said. "The ransom's always paid in hundred-dollar bills, none printed before 2000. Somali shopkeepers don't trust older bills."
"And we cut to Eyl," Xavier said, "to Sayyid Ali Yaro in front of his shop full of expensive men's attire. Also watches, canned goods, automatic weapons and, down the street, Ali Yaro's car lot, full of black Toyotas."
"He's saying in Somali," Dara said, "It's true, pirates are his best customers, they don't bother to bargain. They buy high-priced outfits and aftershave. Beautiful women come here to meet our pirates."
A Somali on the street appeared on the screen. He's speaking English, taking his time to be clear, saying, "It surprise me the sea robbers don't fight among themselves. They know how much each one is paid according to his importance. They don't harm captives, the crew of the ships. We know this, because we see no bodies wash up on our shore."