Kara knew a lot about Marshall Hail and recognized the names of his deceased daughters who had lost their lives because of The Five.
Hail was smiling as he pointed towards the island, but there was a sadness in his eyes. It was like he was pointing at something real, yet he couldn’t touch it. Kara didn’t know if it was healthy for Marshall to name the islands after his daughters. After all, how could you have fun on an island named after your little girl who died in a senseless tragedy? But Kara didn’t have kids, so maybe she was missing something.
“Very nice islands, Marshall,” she told him. She waited a moment before asking, “Is there any particular reason why you bought two islands?”
“Sure, I got a better deal than if I had just purchased one.”
Kara gave him a look of exasperation and said, “No, I mean, why do you need any islands at all?”
Hail looked at Kara, truly mystified, and said, “Who wouldn’t want an island, let alone want two of them within a mile of each other?”
Kara understood she was getting nowhere with Hail, who was playing his typical word games, but she tried one last time.
“Do you have any plans for your two new islands?”
“Yeah, I have an idea, and I wanted your opinion.”
“OK,” Kara said, waiting for Hail to elaborate.
“Do you want to take a little ride over to the islands on the launch and check them out?”
“That would be fun, but I really need to focus on tomorrow’s mission today. I need to think it all out. There are a lot of things that could go wrong, and I need to decide the best plan of action to make things go right.”
“But you were just reading,” Hail said.
Kara replied, “It’s my method of relaxing, and when I relax, things pop into my head that I hadn’t thought about before.”
“Please?” Hail asked with a puppy dog expression on his face.
Kara paused for a beat and then added, “Plus, I’m not really happy being with Kornev.” She pronounced being with like they were derogatory words.
Hail looked serious and didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.
“Doesn’t that bother you, Marshall? Me going to see Kornev, possibly having to stay with him?” The word stay was the nasty syllable this time.
“You won’t have to stay with him,” Hail told her. “Just go along for the ride, and then when it’s over, you tell that scumbag you are freaked out and want to leave. Then catch the first plane out of Termez.”
Kara gave a little uncomfortable laugh. “It doesn’t always work that way, Marshall. Trust me, I know. Guys like Kornev are accustomed to getting things their way. Once I go to him, then it will be up to Kornev when I leave.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Hail told her.
Kara laughed again. This time, it was the laugh someone elicited when they thought the other person was clueless. “And what are you going to do, Marshall? Walk in with your guns blazing and rescue me?”
Hail didn’t think it was all that funny.
In a serious tone, he said, “I could get you out.”
“What happens if I don’t want to get out? You need to remember that this is part of my job. Staying close to scumbags like Kornev yields a lot more intelligence than observing him from a distance.”
Hail didn’t have an answer for that, but it was apparent to Kara that Hail had developed a soft spot for her in his calloused heart, and that made her feel warm inside.
“It’s what I signed up for,” Kara added softly.
“But I don’t want you doing — doing—” Hail let his words trail off.
“Believe me. It’s not much fun for me either, but it is what it is. And to tell you the truth, I’m a little nervous about it. Aren’t you?”
“Not really,” Hail said. “My engineers have my back, and you will be there. You’re tough, right?”
“Yeah, right,” Kara said sarcastically. “All the bad guys tremble with fear when I walk into a room.”
Hail laughed. “Well, they shake with something. But I don’t think it’s fear.”
“Oh, aren’t you sweet,” Kara said, reaching over to cup Hail’s chin. She then gave his face a little squeeze. Kara considered giving him a little kiss, something they had done in the past, but they had decided to take things slow. And to Kara, this didn’t seem like the right time for intimacy. Instead, she made Hail happy by telling him that his islands were beautiful.
Hail said, “Let’s go see an island. I want to show you something and get your opinion. We won’t be long, I promise. I’ve already had a picnic lunch prepared for us, but I’ve got a jujitsu lesson later today. Best to eat now before Nolan tries to squeeze my lunch out of me.”
Kara laughed and said, “OK. OK.”
“Great,” Hail said. “Follow me.”
Hail began walking toward the stairwell, and Kara fell in behind him. They went down a dozen flights before ending up at a sea-level door on the Hail Nucleus, that had already been opened. Sitting in the water, next to the side of the ship, was a small boat that was used to take crew members back-and-forth between land and their cargo ship. One of Hail’s crew members assisted Hail and Kara into the small boat.
Hail Islands
Hail sat down in front of the steering wheel and fired up the outboard engine. The crew member then cast off the line that had been tethered to the ship. Kara found a chair next to Hail, and the boat pulled away from the Hail Nucleus. He pointed the launch toward the island on his right. Five minutes later, Hail found a small channel of water that formed a natural lagoon, and he guided the small boat into the calm water.
“This reminds me of the lagoon in Gilligan’s Island,” he commented.
“What’s Gilligan’s Island?” Kara asked.
“Never mind,” Hail replied, realizing there was no reason Kara would have seen the TV show he had watched reruns of while he was a child.
Hail beached the boat on a thin strip of sugary white sand and killed the engine.
He stood and jumped off at the bow of the boat. Hail leaned over and offered Kara his hand which she accepted before jumping off the boat.
For a moment, the two just stood there in the sun, drinking in their surroundings.
“This is really beautiful,” Kara commented. “It’s like a little piece of paradise.”
Hail said nothing, but the smile on his face conveyed he shared the same opinion.
Then on a small trail leading into the jungle, a man appeared holding a leather strap dangling behind him. Two small horses followed the man onto the beach.
Kara smiled and asked, “What’s this?”
Hail said, “I bought these islands more than a month ago. Since there is no infrastructure of any type on these islands, my staff gets around on horses. They don’t require any gas or electricity, and this breed of horse is acclimated to eating indigenous vegetation on the islands in this hemisphere.
Kara walked over to the nearest horse and pet its long nose. “They are so cute,” she said.
Hail took the reins out of the hands of his crew member and handed them to Kara.
“Then that one is yours,” he told her, referring to the horse she was petting.
Kara laughed, and said, “You have got to be kidding. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a horse, and I certainly don’t know how to ride one.”
“There is nothing to it,” Hail told her, still offering her the reins. “You just get on, and your horse will follow mine. This is the most docile breed of horse. You’ll see.”