Principles of Navigation (The New Rivers Press Electronic Book Series 1) by Peter W. Fong

Author:Peter W. Fong [Fong, Peter W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Rivers Press
Published: 2013-05-29T18:30:00+00:00

They’d somehow decided to leave at midnight, so that Hector would have a full day in port to find her. He didn’t know if she’d made it inside the Peruvian Embassy, or if she’d been one of those injured on the steps of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, attacked by a pro-Castro mob. But he figured that since she hadn’t called, she hadn’t managed to push aboard one of the hundreds of boats that had already made the crossing.

She was Carlita Perez Tsong, the little sister of an old friend, one of the faces that had swum back into the present during Hector’s week in Havana. Each had reminded the other of better times, a happier childhood, a brighter future. Hector had shown Rigger her picture, in the forged New Jersey driver’s license he’d bought for her. She wore a white coat and a fixed smile, but even so you could tell she was something else. They’d made plans, Hector said, but the situation had changed. This was an emergency, and Rigger was his only hope—the only one not in it for the money, the only one he could trust.

This was all news to Rigger, and yet he found himself topping tanks with diesel fuel and fresh water, checking navigation lights, inspecting belts and filters. They loaded the fish boxes with provisions from the restaurant: pineapple chicken and palomilla steaks, bottled beer and ice.

Aileen drove the last shuttle to the dock. Rigger told her he would call as soon as they were back within radio range. She was wearing one of his old T-shirts, and her hair fell artlessly across her forehead. She didn’t kiss him goodbye, but they had lost that habit over the past year and the omission hardly registered.

Looking off to the southern horizon, Rigger felt both virtuous and hopeful—two sentiments that would evade him for years. He held the rudder hard over until Reefhopper settled into the channel, then hit the throttle. Hector waved to Aileen, then bent to clean his glasses, although it was far too dark to see.

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