Alison was stunned. She simply floated in place, without a sound, taking in a landscape that was beyond green with sea life of every imaginable color. It was not until she heard Lee and the others gasp over her headset that she managed to speak.
“Are you guys seeing this?!”
“Amazing!” whispered Lee. Kelly and Chris were both staring over his shoulder at the monitor, transfixed.
Kelly slowly shook her head. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Beneath the boat, Dirk and Sally finally appeared next to Alison. She glanced at them and tried to form words. “It’s… incredible.”
See Alison, replied Sally. World is good. Beautiful.
Alison nodded. “It is… beautiful.” She simply could not believe how full and vibrant everything was. “How long has this been here?” she whispered.
Dirk wiggled his tail. Forever.
The entire crew sat on the back of the boat in the darkness, staring out over the water and the endless sea of frolicking dolphins. With no moon out, only the stars were left to shine faintly across the choppy waves.
Chris held his empty plate while the others continued eating under the bright glow of the overhead deck lights. “It looks so normal from up here. No one would ever imagine what was below us.”
They all stopped and considered his words. With a smile, Alison lowered her dish. “Tomorrow you all have to go down. You have to see it up close.”
Chris gripped an overhead stainless steel bar as he stood up and agreed, “Amen to that.”
Josias stood on the bow as they quietly motored through the mass of dolphins around them. Something they had seen many times before during the same time of year.
But tonight Josias’ eyes were focused dead ahead. The lights from the distant boat could be seen easily from several kilometers out. He couldn’t tell what kind it was, but judging from the number of lights, it was most likely a small private craft. He turned to look at the other two men behind him. One stood at the wheel and the other was busily checking the AK-47s. All three men were dressed in black. The same color as their boat.
Josias didn’t meet the standard image of a pirate. He was short and slight with fairly well-groomed dark hair. No one would ever take him for a murderer. But why should they? The handful of people he had killed were all unintentional. They were victims of circumstance, usually a skipper or crewmember who tried to resist. During a hijacking, even on a small yacht, things could get out of hand quickly. But he wasn’t a monster. He had remorse. He regretted those people being dead, but he had rationalized long ago that it was their own stupid fault. He was never looking to kill anyone. Josias was simply looking to feed his family.
Many countries throughout the South Caribbean were heavily populated with poor, starving citizens. Subjected to bad political regimes and devastating storms, life throughout the islands was hard. Much harder than for the yacht owners. If they could afford such an expensive boat, they sure as hell could afford the insurance to go with it. And some were still dumb enough to resist.
Of course, Carlo was probably largely to blame. Josias looked back to Carlo at the stern and watched as he lowered one rifle then picked up another, making sure each was fully loaded. Josias and their skipper, Junior, were both men just trying to keep their families alive, but Carlo was very different. Carlo had no family. He was young, big, and grew up sleeping on the streets of Haiti. He learned at a young age that the only way to get ahead was to find what you needed and take it; by using more force than the person you were taking from.
Carlo glanced up and caught Josias’ eye, still watching him. He smiled and made a crazed, hungry motion with the AK still in his hands. He then laughed and set it down, picking up a third rifle. For Carlo, it wasn’t just about surviving. He liked to hurt the people. Something his large size made all too easy.
Junior, their skipper, standing next to Carlo, kept his head down. Like Josias, he hoped it was a quick raid. And that Carlo was in a good mood.
With less than two kilometers left, Josias grabbed the old rusted lifeline and made his way back to the cockpit. It looked like it was going to be a good score.
Alison sat on the bench seat at the main table, casually observing Lee’s work on his laptop. She leaned back against the thin cushion and watched Kelly help Chris with the dishes. He made a joke, and Kelly feigned a look of shock before pushing him playfully.
Alison shook her head. She couldn’t tell whether there was something more than friendship there. Chris had a few years on her, but Kelly had a great mature, yet playful, way about her. Not to mention a tall, curvy figure.
Lee continued typing but curled his lip, knowing what Alison was thinking. When she leaned forward to speak to him, he stopped typing.
“Lee, when we go down again tomorrow, can you record the video?”
“I should be able to. The signal was a little weak with all the dolphins in the way, but it may still be strong enough to get a good picture.”
“Good. If anything is worth recording, this is.”
“You can say that again.”
Alison let herself fall gently back against the cushion again. She was in a great mood. Everything was going well. They still had more than enough food and fuel, the weather was holding, and IMIS was working well… with a few exceptions, of course. Although, it was peculiar that she hadn’t heard from DeeAnn recently. She no doubt had her own hands full.
“Any more ideas on how long it might take to give IMIS the ability to differentiate between more than two dolphins?”
Lee let a burst of air out of his mouth as he considered the question. “That’s a good question. A couple months maybe, including testing. I’m presuming you want that as a priority.”
Alison gave him an exaggerated smile. “Please.”
“You do realize I have about a dozen things for you, all sharing the number one spot.”
“It’s because you’re just so amazing!” she teased.
“Yeah, tell that to my wife.”
Alison tilted her head and wrapped her arms around her bare knees. “Speaking of whom, aren’t you supposed to call her?”
“I will. I didn’t want to run down the battery on the sat-phone before you called John.”
“Very funny,” she squinted.
“Hey,” Chris called out to the pair from his position at the sink. “Anyone mind if I put on some tunes?”
“Please do.” Alison jumped from the seat and walked toward the steps. “I’m going to take a shower.” With that, she grabbed Chris’ music player and handed it to him as she headed downstairs.
It was less than twenty minutes before they heard it or, rather, felt it. With the music playing loudly, no one had the slightest idea that a vessel was approaching. It wasn’t until Kelly felt the slight bump on the side of their boat that anyone looked outside. By then it was too late.
The three darkly clad men silently coasted their aging speedboat in, next to the side of the Prowler catamaran. Junior, with line in hand, was already tying the boats together by the time Carlo and Josias jumped aboard. When they reached the sliding cabin door, Kelly was just stepping out to investigate.
Without the slightest hesitation, Carlo grabbed her with his giant fist, pulled her forcefully out into the cockpit, and threw Kelly to the deck.
“Kelly?” Chris’ voice called from inside upon hearing something hit the cockpit’s thick fiberglass floor.
Instantly, Chris was pulled out next into the darkness, but much harder this time. He stumbled forward and tripped over Kelly, smashing headfirst into one of the hard bench seats and careening sideways.