Butler Did It! (17 page)

The leader of the pair, Mister Lim, was
a Malayan by birth and a diamond-hard killer at heart. He pulled a
12” parang, the Malaysian machete, from his pack and eased it from
its scabbard. The blade, razor sharp, had been carefully blackened
over a dung fire earlier in the day. Only its deadly edge reflected
in the moonlight. Using the parang as a pointer, he directed the
second man to the starboard side of the ship while he advanced
along the port side.

The other man, an ex-Khmer Rouge
enforcer known only as Pok, pulled out an antique USMC Ka-bar knife
from his pack, an heirloom passed loving down through three
generations of Poks. He grinned toothily at his companion, one gold
fang shining dully in the weak light, and then silently slipped
between the rows of cargo containers lining the foredeck of the
Pelican. Each man, an emeritus of the defunct Brotherhood of
Pirates, Thieves, Rapists, and Murderers, blooded in a hundred gory
encounters, had their orders. To their delight, the hunt had just
begun and with luck, killing would soon follow.

The night, still quite warm for the
season, quickly dried the seawater on their skin into intricate
salt rimes. Their exertions climbing the anchor chain along with
the adrenaline rush preceding a killing frenzy left both men
sweating profusely in the sea air. Along with the butyric stench of
sweat came another complex odor. It was a product of a diet of
mostly rice cooked in dirty water, sprinkled with unnamed fish
parts, curry, cumin, onions, garlic, and seasoned with peppers hot
enough to etch steel. It generated a uniquely piquant scent often
associated with the pits of Calcutta and other such black holes.
Along with this odor drifted several other distinctive smells.
Leading the array was the sickly sweet scent of bhang, followed up
by the fug of black shag tobacco, the organic corruption of dung,
and surprisingly, Old Spice aftershave, all of which contributed to
the miasma.

This distinctive odor, eye watering to
most, was a potpourri of delight to the little black, brown, and
white dog that got the first whiff as it dozed at the foot of
Matthew Butler’s bed.

Over the last several days, the dog had
roamed every part of the Pelican, met everyone aboard, identified
each by their unique smell, and categorized each as to sex, ethnic
origin, health, hygiene, vices and habits, daily tasks,
temperament, and of course, the willingness to give treats without
hesitation. The cloying stench was new to the dog, however, and
instinct told it that there were intruders aboard. It was time to
tell ‘the Man.’

The dog’s barking pulled Butler from an
intense dream involving a rope swing, a bottomless pit, and the
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

“Bog doggit.” Butler mumbled as he
rolled from his bunk.

“Wha’s all tha ragget?”

The dog was frantically clawing at the
flimsy cabin door, whining piteously.

“So, you want out,” he said to the
dog’s butt. “Well, I want to sleep. So, who’s going to win?” The
butt didn’t answer directly; although the tail whipping back and
forth gave such a stinging rebuke that Butler had to give in.
Sighing heavily, he opened the cabin door and watched as the little
dog took off like a low-flying Scud, accelerating down the corridor
and bounding up the stairs leading to the wheelhouse.

About then, a forty-watt refrigerator
bulb lit up the interior of Butler’s skull, quickly followed by a
mildly paranoid inner voice.
Uh-oh, something’s
wrong!

“Damn, it might be pirates!” Butler
mumbled to himself.

The only other time his ship had
encountered pirates, had been during a night passage of the Java
Strait the year before. Like the Horn of Africa, Java was another
part of the world with high potential for piracy. In that incident,
Captain Z had increased the ship’s speed and Trask’s men had
utilized a knock-together flamethrower designed by Tommy to keep a
heavily armed band of pirates from boarding the Pelican.

In the last few years, pirates based
out of Somalia had become more and more desperate. Consequently,
their territory had expanded. Recently several groups of pirates
had made the dangerous crossing of nearly a thousand miles in their
flimsy boats to take up operations within several hundred nautical
miles of the Seychelles.

Damn, damn
. Butler cursed to
himself.
I should have known better. Someone noticed us and
figured out that the Pelican might be an easy target with potential
for ransom.

The dog returned to stand in the
doorway, whining and prancing back and forth, always glancing
toward the stairs.

Charged with increasing waves of
adrenalin, Butler dashed to his headboard and pulled away the
Velcro attached pads, revealing a hidden compartment behind. Neatly
wrapped inside, a double shoulder harness with two Colt automatics
lay in wait for the appropriate emergency. It took only a clumsy
minute or two to strap on the harness, load and chamber the
automatics. A quick glance in the wardrobe mirror produced a sudden
freeze in the frantic activity. A nicely sun-tanned, well-armed,
naked man with a shocked look on his face stared back at Butler.
Cursing horribly to himself, he rummaged through a dresser, found a
faded pair of swim trunks and hastily pulled them on.

“You, stay out of trouble,” he said,
quickly nudging the dog into the room with his foot and shutting
the door on it. Silently he slipped out into the
corridor.

Butler hadn’t gone twenty feet down the
corridor when a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

“Bad dream?” Chan quietly asked as he
exited the darkened suite he and his wife shared. Chan was dressed
in dark gray silk pajamas that reflected no light.

Butler was mildly startled, but refused
to admit it.

That Chan
, He groused to himself
wryly,
when he wants to, He can sneak up on his own shadow and
steal its pants.

“More of a nightmare, actually; the dog
heard something and wants me to investigate.” Butler
explained.

“Do you always do what the dog wants?”
Chan asked smiling.

“Only tonight, apparently. Besides, my
guts are telling me that something is wrong.”

“First dogs, and now intestines,” Chan
returned. “Well, if it’s any consolation, it was my nose that woke
me up.”

“Your nose has insomnia?” Butler
asked.

“Don’t you smell it?”

“Smell what?” Butler
demanded.

“That faint rotten fish, tobacco, and
tainted sweat scent. It wafted down the ventilators about the time
your pup started barking. I’m certain the smell is what got the dog
all worked up. I’m also certain that it is what got your intestines
churning.”

Once the odor had been defined, Butler
suddenly discovered that he could also smell it. The faint odor was
distinctly foreign to anything he had ever experienced.

“Since my staff and crew are relatively
good about their hygiene, I’d say we definitely have
intruders.”

“What would you like to do?”

“Let’s notify the bridge first, get
them to wake security just in case. If we’re right, we’re heroes.
If we’re wrong, then it’s just another middle of the night security
drill.”

“A little recon couldn’t hurt, either.
It’s always better to know your enemy.”

“Do you want a weapon?” Butler asked,
offering Chan one of his automatics.

“It’s not necessary. I am a weapon.”
Chan replied.

Chan and Butler carefully climbed the
wheelhouse stairs and in tandem leaped through the narrow bridge
hatchway to find the duty officer, Mr. Bristow, Quartermaster Ernie
Pollan, Richard the Great, Doc Brown, and Professor Wilkinson
playing poker on the bridge, along with the two guards Trask had
stationed on the bridge. All were startled at the pair’s fierce
appearance, doubly reinforced by Butler’s drawn
automatics.

“How long since you sent someone on
rounds?” Butler asked quietly.

“They got back less than a half hour
ago.” Ernie immediately answered. “What’s up?”

“The dog thinks we have
intruders.”

“Does it now?” Professor Wilkinson
asked with the faintest smile.

“We wondered what it was up to.”
Richard said, “It came tearing through here woofing and growling,
demanding to be let out on to the port wing.”

“I can send the guards out for another
round right now, Mister Butler.” Ernie offered, rising from his
seat at the table.

“Not a wise idea. If the dog is right,
your guards could end up with their throats slit.” Chan
replied.

That little statement killed any
fermenting witticisms.

“I’ve got a better idea.” Butler
suggested. “Turn the infrared camera on the main deck. If anyone is
hiding out there, we should be able to light them up.”

It took less than a minute for Richard
to activate the infrared camera. As he panned downward, the screen
on the bridge flickered and what had been a darkened area near the
first row of cargo containers suddenly showed two bright human-like
shapes moving toward the forward end of the science lab. One of the
shapes extended an arm toward the science lab. Just as suddenly, a
bright flare extended from the arm and a dull red glow in the shape
of a gun began to develop on the screen as the camera read the heat
discharge. As they watched, the bright spot on the screen
indicating the overhead lamp on the corner of the science lab
flickered and slowly began cooling off. “They must have shot the
light out.” Chan exclaimed.

Speculation ran rampant through the
small group on the bridge.

“Why are they here?”

“What do they want?”

“Who sent them?”

Chan asked the question that silenced
all the others… “Why are there only two men?”

“Matthew, they’re on the move again.”
Richard announced.

“Where to?” Bristow asked.

“They’re on the starboard side, behind
the parts bin for that submersible we picked up in
Mombasa.”

“Sure enough, these guys are
professionals, notice how they stay in the shadows.”

“There goes the door light on Science
Lab Number Two.”

“How many lights do we have
left?”

“Three …one at the near end of the labs
and two lights at the entrance to Broadway,” Richard
replied.

“So, we’ve got just two men with
silenced pistols and no backup.” Butler mused. “This isn’t a
hijacking; it has to be a hit!”

“They have to be after you, boss.”
Richard exclaimed.

“No, it’s not me. I haven’t been here
long enough to make enemies. They must be after Katherine or
Kobi.”

“We’re going to have to hurry if you
want to set up an ambush. They just took out the last light on the
Science Labs.”

“Report, Mr. Bristow.”

“All the hatches to the interior of the
ship have been electronically locked down, Sir. I’ve sent
Quartermaster Pollan around to roust the crew and herd the
non-combatants into Engineering.”

“How many men can we
muster?”

“Nearly everyone’s ashore, sir. It’s
the first night of shore leave, you know…” said Bristow, subtly
making the point that he himself had drawn the short straw, and was
stuck on duty tonight.

“We have twelve ratings, two security
redshirts, the Quartermaster, Mrs. Yan of course, Doc, Richard the
Great, and myself aboard.” Bristow replied quickly. “The supercargo
personnel aboard comprise Mr. Chan, Professor Wilkinson, Miss
Katherine, Mr. Kobi and yourself.”

Butler pondered the situation. “Well,
we do have the advantage of surprise, and there appear to be only
two of them, so I guess we’ve got them right where we want
them.”

About then, Doc spoke up. “Let’s not
provoke a gun battle, I hate treating casualties.”

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing.
We’re going to have to try and take them alive.” Butler stated
emphatically. “We need to know who is behind this.”

“If you truly want it bloodless, then
leave it to me.” Chan volunteered.

Butler looked from Chan to the
Pelican’s third Officer.

“Mr. Bristow, while you are the ranking
officer aboard, and it is your decision as to the defense of the
ship, I would ask that you consider Chan’s skills, and trust him as
much as I do. If he believes he can take our intruders without
casualties, I’d say let him try.”

The pause was brief as Bristow weighed
his options and then made his first command decision.

“Okay! Take your best shot.” Bristow
answered, obviously relieved. “What do you need from us?” he asked
Chan.

“First, I’ll need a decoy moving around
inside sickbay to draw their attention.”

“I can do that.” Butler volunteered,
slapping his holstered .45 automatics.

Doc piped up immediately after, “I’ll
go with you. My patient will need supervision, and it’s always a
good to have a doctor nearby.”

“Second, open up the hatch leading to
Broadway from the main deck.”