Everyone's Island by Kris Schnee

Author:Kris Schnee [Schnee, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

15. Martin

He shivered when the radio fuzzed out. He exchanged a glance with Carlos the dive shop owner, who sat clutching the boat's wheel.

"What do we do?" asked Carlos. The unknown boat was approaching, though its red and black hull was barely visible.

"Full speed ahead to Castor." Martin tried to sound confident.

Their dinky dive boat, a rigid inflatable, surged through dark water with the engine thrashing. It felt fast. The divers sat in the back, fingering rented scuba gear. One said, "It's probably a coincidence, with the radio."

"I wouldn't bet my life on that," said Martin. "People, have you got dive knives?" The divers shook their heads, and of course Martin had left his back on the station.

Carlos said, "I've got one." He nodded towards a locker, unwilling to pry his hands off the wheel.

Martin pulled out a diamond knife that glittered beautifully. There was something primally satisfying about holding a heavy, sharp thing, as inadequate as it would be in this context.

Carlos looked at the oncoming vessel. "We're not going to make it." Castor was barely visible.

Martin tried to hail Castor again, then decided to let the other boat know they saw it. "Hispaniola to unidentified craft approaching us," he said on a range of channels. "We'd feel a lot better if we knew who you are."

No one answered, and Martin couldn't get anything on the radio but static. The boat drew closer with a hum of water jets, until what looked like a machine gun became visible with a man behind it.

The hailing, when it came, was raw sound instead of radio, rippling at them in a focused beam. "This is the United States Coast Guard. Stop immediately and put your hands on your heads!"

Carlos's hands were already in the air. Martin looked at the other boat in disbelief, then reached for the neglected controls, shut them down, and put the knife away. The other boat was in charge.

It had four men visible. There was a USCG flag, but the men seemed dressed for a fight. "What's this about?" said Martin, hands on his head as three attackers boarded.

"Let's see some ID. You have passports? Registration?"

Martin relaxed a little; they were probably legit if they cared about the paperwork. Good old bureaucracy.

"Who's the captain?" the Guardsmen said.

Carlos was too scared to answer. Martin said, "He's taking us to Castor Station, of which I'm the leading officer here." He slowly handed over his passport.

"You, then," said the leader. "Do you have any weapons on board, sir?"

"A knife, over there."

The leader took it. "Any drugs?"

"Drugs! I certainly don't. Any of you?" Martin looked at the frightened faces, wanting to throttle anyone who did. No one answered. The leader nodded to his men, who began searching the luggage, one with a chemsniffer. The other saw a bulging seat cushion and slashed it, finding only stuffing. Thank God, thought Martin.

"Hey!" said Carlos, leaping from his seat to protest, though being held at gunpoint had left him mute. "What are you doing? Where's your warrant!"

"Sit," said the leader.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.