The Guardian's Wildchild (17 page)

“Damn it all, Doctor. Didn’t they realize she’d be plotting to get off this ship? Where’s Lieutenant Morton?”

“When Lieutenant Morton returned from shore leave, he met in the infirmary with Roberts, who’d been assigned to watch the prisoner. They discussed a problem with an alarm two doors down the hall from the infirmary. The medical attendant was due back from his break, so they believed Sidney would be unsupervised for only a few minutes. She was sleeping soundly so they left to deal with the alarm problem. The attendant was slow in returning, and they must’ve been occupied repairing it when the prisoner escaped.”

“I’ll take this up with Commander Moon. In the meantime, she’s had up to an hour head start on us. You know the chances of finding her? Damn it! Did she take anything?”

“Not as far as I can tell. She doesn’t have her clothes either. She should be easy to spot if we ask the local people to be on the lookout for someone wearing U.S. Navy pajamas.”

Just then, Moon knocked on the doctor’s door. Perspiration ran down the sides of his face from racing about the ship, and he was nearly out of breath. Sam motioned for him to enter.

“Rhett, this is one hell of a screw up! How is it no one saw her on the security monitors? How the hell does this woman continually dance around the navy’s security systems?” Sam took a breath. He didn’t like losing control. Just the thought of behaving like Admiral Garland was enough for him to regain a calmer demeanor. “Were the men attending to their posts?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sam realized that the officers tended to be less diligent toward the end of their shifts, and it would take only a few seconds while they looked away from the screens for someone to get to the ramp unnoticed.

“I talked with the security guards on the dock. They report no one came by their post,” Moon said.

Sam nodded. He knew he was just as much to blame as anyone else for the disappearance of his prisoner. He’d assumed she was too ill or weak to make an escape.

“Rhett, I think we’ve all underestimated this … this woman.”

Sam turned his back and returned to the ship’s deck. He thought back to the last hour when he’d been running there. She might have even seen him. He gritted his teeth in anger.
What a fool I’ve been!
Grasping the ship’s railing, he tightened his grip until his knuckles were white. He looked out at the city’s streets and pictured her sneaking through alleys, perhaps stealing food and clothing.
How long will it take her to find refuge?

Sam couldn’t stand the wait. He walked around the ship checking on the search of the ship. His men were thorough, eager to be the first to find the prisoner. Gradually, Sam made his way to the highest deck level. He decided to contact Paulo through the waiter at the outdoor café. If Paulo couldn’t — or wouldn’t — help, he’d have to call the admiral.

He walked to the bow of the ship near the navigation room. Leaning against the wall, he felt the warmth of the morning sun already on its surface. Gazing out over the docks, everything around him appeared lazy and in its proper place. He walked back to the ship’s stern.

“Psst!”

The sound came from above him. He looked up to the roof of the air conditioning housing. Peering over the edge was Sidney.

“It looks like you’ve misplaced something, Captain Waterhouse.” She winked. “I see the seamen exploring every nook and cranny. What are they looking for?”

Sam could scarcely believe his eyes. If he could have reached her, he’d have grabbed her by the shoulders and given her a violent shake. “As if you don’t know. Get the hell down from there.” Sam activated his comlink to Moon. “Rhett, call off the search. I’ve found the prisoner. I’ll meet you in the infirmary in fifteen minutes.”

He saw that she hadn’t moved. “Miss, get down here. Now!”

“I can’t, Captain. The ladder broke when I climbed up. If it hadn’t, I’d have gone back to my room a long time ago. Honest!” She was still smiling nervously.

Sam found the ladder hanging by one bolt on the other side of the building. “All right. I’ll steady it. Climb down!”

Sidney carefully stepped onto the top rung as Sam held it. Once she had both feet firmly placed on the floor, he ordered her to stand against the wall. She stood straight but trembled slightly as she held her hands behind her back. Her smile had disappeared.

He barked at her, “Put your hands down by your sides where I can see them.” He stepped forward, and she backed against the wall and gasped, bracing for a blow.

“Relax! I don’t abuse prisoners. Just don’t move. Not so much as one toe. You’ve disrupted my ship’s routine. My entire morning’s shot.” He glanced at his watch. It was already 0800 hours and he was still out of uniform. “This isn’t acceptable.”

“Captain?”

He glared at her. “What?”

She tried to smile. “Well, why didn’t someone just holler out ‘Sidney, where are you?’ I would’ve answered sooner or later.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It was getting pretty hot up there. Was hoping someone would come along.”

“So why didn’t you call for help?”

“Well, truth is, it was the last bit of freedom I’ll probably have.” She gazed out over the ocean. “Just wanted to hang on to every precious second.”

“You’re right about the ‘last bit of freedom.’ I won’t be making any more mistakes. Take one last good look at freedom, Miss Davenport. Now, back to the infirmary!”

He grabbed her arm and thrust her forward. During their walk, both Sam and Sidney were quiet — one falling into despair, the other agitated. By the time they were at the infirmary’s door, Sam’s anger had dissolved into mere annoyance. He was well aware Sidney could have escaped, and his curiosity began to overshadow his hostile feelings toward her.

At the door, he asked, “Why? You could be off this ship and God only knows where by now. You would’ve been free. Why didn’t you go?”

She looked thoughtfully at him. “For the higher good. When I was on the ramp, it occurred to me that Admiral Garland would make sure you suffered a great deal if I escaped.”

Sam stood stiffly in his arrogant posture. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Maybe so. But I also overheard your conversation with the guards on the dock. You have children. Having tasted the admiral’s rage once myself, I know he’s capable of great violence. If I’d escaped, he’d have made sure you paid a heavy price. Perhaps your children would never see you again. I couldn’t live with that.”

Sam’s rule book began to dissolve. “Even knowing … ”

She looked softly into his eyes. “Yes, Captain. There are many things more important than death.”

She reached for the door handle, but Sam gently took hold of her shoulder to stop her. Still trying to maintain his authoritative posture, he asked, “The higher good?”

Sidney nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

She opened the door and walked back to her room. Sam stood in the doorway, watching her as she disappeared into her room. Moon was waiting with two seamen.

“Rhett, I want security in front of her door twenty-four hours a day. In the meantime, the holding cell is to be prepared for the prisoner.”

Dr. Duncan was just as relieved as Sam that his patient was back. “I’ll check her over and let you know if she should stay here.”

“Thank you. Rhett, it’s time we got this ship out to sea. Notify the port officials that we’re heading out. Tell the navigation staff to prepare for our arrival at Lima. Doctor, I want your report on her in thirty minutes. Once we’re away from the Acapulco harbor, I’ll call a meeting with senior officers. In the meantime, two seamen are to be posted in and outside the infirmary. Any questions?”

There were none.

Dr. Duncan called Sam to say the patient was reasonably healthy, but suggested Sidney remain in the infirmary, locked in the isolation room. He wanted to observe her, study her unusual physiology.

“No,” Sam replied. “She’ll be moved this afternoon. We’ll talk about this rather peculiar prisoner at this morning’s meeting in half an hour.”

The meeting began promptly at 0930. Sam outlined the importance of maintaining security around Sidney. Without going into detail, he advised that she had a way of getting by security systems unnoticed and undetected. Therefore, he told them, the seamen assigned to watch her had to visually account for her presence every ten minutes. There were to be two seamen assigned to guard her twenty-four hours a day: one at her cell, one at the next doorway. The orders concerning no one but the captain, Commander Moon, and medical staff having official contact with her remained in effect. Bridges would be added to that list as soon as the prisoner was moved to a cell. Sam asked if anyone had observed the prisoner and noticed anything unusual.

Robert John spoke. “No disrespect intended, Captain, but if she’s the enemy, and if I was her prisoner, well … not sure I’d attempt to escape.”

A few of the officers laughed until they noticed Sam’s eyes narrow. He sat like a corpse in his chair, more rigid and cold than usual. The room became silent. When the captain spoke again, his words were delivered with precision. He exhibited an almost frightening lack of emotion.

“The prisoner may be in collaboration with the underground, Lieutenant John, or she may be involved with other dissident forces. She’s to be treated as a hostile enemy of the United States of America. There will be no leniency. Once I’m satisfied all the facts have been revealed, she’ll be executed.”

He stood up. “You should be aware that she’s confessed to the crimes Admiral Garland has levied against her. She did, in fact, invade secured sections of the New Seattle Naval Base and subsequently defused several nuclear missiles.”

Moon frowned. “Sounds as though there’s enough evidence to carry out the execution now.”

“We could if we were sure we had all the facts,” Sam explained. “First and foremost, the problem is that she accessed highly secured areas and defused the missiles without the aid of inside help or equipment. No doubt there are others with her ability. If we’re going to be successful in preventing any further attacks, we need to know what she knows.

“Secondly, I believe she’s hiding something else. Frankly, I suspect the defusing of the missiles was only a diversion. The underground wouldn’t take such great risk to defuse a few outdated missiles. I intend to dig deeper to see if there was a greater reason for her presence on the base. So you see I need everyone’s full cooperation to keep this prisoner alive and healthy.”

Everyone responded, “Aye, aye, sir,” and the meeting was adjourned. Most of the officers quickly swallowed the last of their coffee and rushed to the door. The tension of dealing with the prisoner wasn’t to their liking, and they were happy to depart to their usual routine. Sam motioned for Robert John, Dave Morton, Dr. Duncan, and the commander to join him in his office.

“Gentlemen, the escape of the prisoner this morning is unacceptable. I hold myself responsible as much as the four of you. There will be no more errors in judgment or communication. That will be all, gentlemen. Dismissed!”

Commander Moon returned to his quarters to rest and check his messages. He hoped for responses to his inquiries. Moon wasn’t a man satisfied with driving in the dark on faith alone. Although he trusted and respected Sam, his gut told him Waterhouse was a man headed for destruction — and Moon wasn’t going to be standing with him in the midst of the explosion. He needed to know who was going to ignite the bomb and when. The message indicator flashed on his computer, indicating a reply — from Captain Butchart.