The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) (29 page)

“Aye. I told y’
children that I’d been a pirate. I just failed to mention that it was at Her
Majesty’s Service.”

“What’re you
talking about?” Ted eyes locked on the ominous looking assault weapon.

“After the war, I
left the Royal Navy for a spell. I worked on merchant ships as an able seaman.
The life dinna appeal to me. Soon I found myself signed up for the SAS.”

“SAS?” Meagan
asked.

“The Special Air
Service,” Chris said. “It’s like our Delta Force.”

“Aye. I saw action
in Korea, Crete, Cyprus, the Middle East and Viet Nam before they beached me.”

“Wow, you were a
regular James Bond.” Meagan’s eyes widened.

“No, not really. I
was just a humble soldier in Her Majesty’s Service. But this old gun has been
with me for over fifty years. Where we’re goin’ we might need a little
protection and Winnie’s the best.”

Ted stared in awe
as Jack expertly put the disassembled sub-machine gun together. Although the
years and arthritis had slowed his once quick movements, Jack deftly attached
the frame stock, the barrel, and slid a long clip of ammunition into the left
side of the weapon.

“I dinna think
we’ll need the silencer for this kind of work.” Jack returned the black metal
cylinder to his canvas bag. “It makes the barrel heat up and the gun jam.”

“We don’t need
any
gun for this kind of work.” Ted stood and stepped back from Jack. “I grew up in
East LA. I know. You have those things around, somebody’s gonna get hurt.”

Jack ignored Ted.
“Here’s m’ plan, children. We’re goin’ t’ sail out into the mouth of Johnstone
Straits and wait for the
Star of the Northwest
. She’ll be there tomorrow
mornin’. When she arrives, we’ll contact the captain, make him talk to us.
We’ll tell him about the terrorists and have him turn the ship around until the
JTF2 can round them up.” 

Thank God.
He had a plan. For the first time in days, Ted felt a sense of hope. It all
made sense. They could stop the cruise ship, the Mounties could catch the bad
guys and they all could get on with their lives. “Ted thinks we don’t need a
gun for that.”

“Y’ never know, Lad.
The terrorists could find the wee ship first. Things could get hot. It’s better
to be prepared than to be prayin’.”

William and Mary Island, Canada

3:56 am

The black
inflatable boat was virtually invisible in the dark. The huge outboard motor
was so muffled that it was only audible for a few feet.

As the inflatable
ran up on the beach, six heavily armed men in black fatigues leapt from the
boat. They each grabbed a handle and dragged the boat up the beach and into
cover. Shadows moving through the night, they gathered their gear and started
up the trail without a word.

They moved with
crisp, military precision. With night vision goggles, they operated as if in
broad daylight. Their leader gave all commands by hand signals. They turned off
the trail and into the heavily forested area. Slipping soundlessly through the
dense brush, they worked their way steadily up hill.

At the clearing on
top of the hill, the leader held up his fist. The men froze in place. A twisted
piece of metal lay on the ground at his feet. He turned it over with his foot. 

“Helicopter
blade,” he whispered.

The leader and his
subordinate moved stealthily nearer the buildings. When he was satisfied that
there were no sentries, he pointed two fingers at a pair of men and then
gestured to his right. He pointed two fingers at the other two men and sent
them to the left. While he and his partner provided cover, four dark-clad men
disappeared into the complex.

“All clear,
Sarge,” came the voice in his ear piece. “Camp’s empty. Deserted.”

“Right then, let’s
go in,” he said into his microphone. He and the subordinate moved from their
cover into the camp.

“They were here
all right, Sarge,” a man in black said. “But they’re gone now.”

“I’m in building
one.” The leader heard a voice in his ear piece. “The report must be true.
There’s boxes here. Crates for SAMs. Gun oil. Ammo boxes.”

“Sarge, over
here.” There was no longer any need for stealth. “Looks like a couple of
graves.”

“Right. Dig ‘m up.
See what they buried.” The leader turned to the tents. “They haven’t been gone
long.” He flipped a frying pan off of the propane stove with the barrel of his
Colt C7 assault rifle. “There’s still fresh food in the cook house.”

One pair of men
emerged from a tent. “They bugged out, Sarge. Looks like they left everything.”

“Don’t touch
anything. I’ll call in the forensics team.”

“Christ. Look at
this.”

The leader turned
to his other team. “What is it?”

“The bodies.
They’ve been decapitated.”

The group fell
silent. The leader had a hard look in his eyes. “This is the place. I’ll call
it in.”

He took a radio
from his belt and flipped the switch.

“Control, this is
Striker One. Over.”

“Striker One,
Control. Come in.”

“The camp’s
deserted. It’s them all right. We’ve found two bodies. There’s evidence of SAMs
in the camp. We’ve got pieces of a chopper on the ground. Has anyone reported a
downed bird?”

“We’ll check that
for you, One.”

“We need a
forensics team, right away. Send in the Marine platoon to secure the island.”

“Roger that,
Striker One. The chopper is in the air. ETA: 20 minutes. As soon as they’re on
the ground, I want you moving. We’ll be using all assets to find the bandits
and vector you to them. Control out.”

****

Double Bay

8:01 am

The
Defiant
rode at her spare anchor in Double Bay.

Ted spent a fitful
night alternating anchor watches with Chris. Jack slept on the port settee in
the main cabin. Ted figured that it wasn’t comfortable for him. When Ted was in
his bunk, Jack’s tossing and turning, clearing his throat, getting up to use
the head all night long, kept Ted awake.

Ted had the last
anchor watch. When the weak morning light peeked over the horizon, he went
below and made coffee. He fried bacon and potatoes, the smell luring Chris from
the forward cabin. Meagan, fully dressed for once, was right behind him.

 “How’ll we get in
touch with the captain?” Chris reached for one of his insulated mugs.

“We’ll have to try
channel sixteen.” Jack pulled on his trousers. “I assume that cruise ships
monitor it like everyone else.”

“What if we can’t
make contact with the ship?” Ted slathered salsa from a Tupperware container
onto his eggs.

Jack only sipped
coffee.
Apparently
, Ted thought,
he has no interest in food this
morning
.

“We’ll have to get
their attention, Laddie. Cut in front of them as closely as possible. Wave, try
to see an officer on deck.”

While Ted cleaned
up the galley and Chris made his morning inspection in preparation for getting
under way, Jack disassembled his assault rifle. Ted glared at him.
Man, that
thing is bad news.

“Do you really
think we’re going to need that?” Meagan asked.

“I dearly hope
not, Lass.” Jack replied.

Oscar leapt from
the pilot berth to the table and, to Ted’s amusement, attacked the cotton
patches Jack used to clean his weapon. “You go, little man.” Oscar was
apparently on Ted’s side.

 “Come ‘ere y’
little rascal.” Jack grabbed the Burmese and retrieved his cleaning patches.
“One thing old Jack has learned is to always be prepared. I would rather have
Winnie and not need her than need her and not have her.”

With deft
movements, Jack re-assembled the weapon. He slid the long clip into the side of
the gun with a loud click. He took three other clips from his canvas bag and
set them on the table.

“Here, son, y’ may
need this.” He handed an ugly black automatic pistol to Chris. “Do y’ ken how
to use it?”

Ted watched Chris
take hold of the pistol between his fingers like it was contaminated. “I’ve
never touched a pistol before in my life.”

“Oh, for God’s
sake.” Meagan got up from the table. “Give it to me.”

She grabbed the
gun. Ted couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Meagan checked to see that the
safety was on, dropped out the clip and slid back the slide to check that there
was no round in the chamber.

“Don’t they teach
you city boys anything?”

Ted and Chris
stared at each other opened mouthed.

“What? . . . There
was a home intrusion rape-murder down the street from us. My dad was away from
home all the time so he wanted Mom and me to take self-defense classes. We
learned some Judo and how to handle hand guns.”

Sliding the clip
back into the handle of the repulsive weapon, she double-checked that the
safety was on and slipped it into the waist band of her jeans.

“Jack.” Ted
couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Are you sure that we really need those
guns?”

“Let’s get the
anchor up, children. We wanna be in the Straits in time to intercept the
Star.
”

Johnstone Strait, Canada – On board the
Defiant

9:10 am

Ted’s heart
pounded like a jack-hammer in his chest. He sat on the cabin roof with Jack
while Chris was at the helm with Meagan at his side. A finger of ice ran down
Ted’s spine.

A morning mist
hung over the water, deadening sound.
It feels like we’re the only people in
the world.
Ted expected to see a full rigged ship flying the skull and
cross bones materialize at any moment.

Chris piloted the
Defiant
back and forth across the narrow mouth of the Strait under power, anticipating
the rendezvous with the cruise ship.

How could anything
bad happen in such a peaceful place? Ted’s world was a canvas of green and
gray. To starboard, glacier-clad peaks floated above the layer of fog clinging
to the wooded slopes of Vancouver Island. Little more than a mile across the
green water to port, the top of tree clad West Cracroft Island poked through
the clouds.

Behind him, Hanson
Island protected the Johnstone Strait from the Queen Charlotte Strait and the
Pacific Ocean beyond. The channel between Vancouver and Hanson Islands was only a couple of hundred yards wide.
That’s where they’ll attack
. It takes
an ocean liner about a mile to turn around. There was no room here for the
Star
to turn and run.

Ted’s mouth full
of cotton, he reached for his water bottle.

He looked back at
his friend. Chris’s fingers drummed nervously on the stainless steel wheel.

“What time are
they supposed to be here?” Ted asked.

“I dinna rightly
know,” Jack answered. “They’re due up from Campbell River this mornin’. I
expect they’ll be here any time.” 

A loud hoot echoed
off of the glacier clad peaks. The hair on Ted’s arms stood out straight, his
toes tingled. “
Jesu Cristo
!” He jumped up and gawked. A snowy white owl
circled in the sky above. It was the biggest bird he had ever seen.
Madre de Dios
! It has to have a fifteen foot wing span.
What was an owl
doing out in the daylight?
It seemed to be calling down a warning.  Then
he remembered.

“I know that bird,
dude.”

“What’re you
talking about?” Chris looked up at the giant bird.

“It’s
Teyolia.”
The owl was gone. “My grandma told me about him. He’s Death’s messenger.”

“Oh my God.”
Meagan gasped. “The fortune teller.”

“The what?” Chris
had a confused look on his face.

“The fortune
teller. In the Pike Place Market. The one with the cat in the top hat who
wouldn’t tell me my fortune. He must have seen this coming. . . Chris,
something bad’s going to happen.”

Ted’s mind reeled
at the omens.
Someone’s gonna die today.
Ted’s insides twitched and
shook. He forced his mind to focus on the problem of the day. “The mist’s
lifting a little.” As the fog peeled back like a veil, islands materialized out
of the glistening sea.

“Shit, there it
is.” Meagan jumped up from her seat in the cockpit and pointed. A cruise ship
burst through the curtain of fog.

Ted put the
binoculars to his eyes.

“I think that’s
it. . .” He lowered the field glasses. An icy acceptance swept over him.

Chris looked like
he was going to hurl.

“Blue hull with a
gold stripe across its front end,” Ted continued.

Chris spun the
slippery wheel with his moist hands. “We’ve got to find a way to turn ‘em
around before they get into the pass.”

The
Star of the
Northwest
steamed up the Straits right at them. The picture froze in Ted’s
brain. The
Star’s
navy blue hull, topped by glistening white topsides,
sparkled in the early morning light. A thin trail of smoke crept from her
swept-back funnel. Despite the serenity of the scene, the two vessels closed at
a rapid pace.

There weren’t many
people on deck yet. It was too early in the morning for the passengers to be up
and about.

“Cut in front of
her, son,” Jack said. “I’ll go below and get on the radio.”

Jack pulled
himself to his feet and, holding onto the hand rail, made his way back to the
cockpit. Meagan started to give him a hand, then thought better of it and sat
back down. Jack lowered himself down the companionway ladder pausing on each
step to catch his breath. Ted and Meagan followed Jack down to the cabin.

Jack seated
himself in the navigation station. Oscar immediately jumped onto the desk and
rubbed against Jack’s face.

“Get away from the
radio, y’ little rascal.”

“Come here,
Oscar.” Meagan picked up her Burmese.

“
Star of the
Northwest, Star of the Northwest, Star of the Northwest
, this is the
Defiant
,
over.”  Jack’s voice was answered by silence.

“
Star of the
Northwest, Star of the Northwest, Star of the Northwest
, this is the
Defiant
,
over.” Still no response.

“What’s the matter
with that lot?” Jack asked no one in particular. “Are they stumblin’ around the
Pacific deaf, dumb and blind?”

“Hang on guys,”
Chris yelled down from the cockpit. “We’re cutting right in front of them.”

Ted popped his
head out of the companionway hatch. They were so close he couldn’t see the
Star’s
deck. He could make out the welds in the ship’s hull. The bow wave thrown
by the liner was enormous.

AAAOOOHHH!  OOOH
OOOH OOOH OOOH

The
Star’s
horn blasted out angrily as the
Defiant
cut in front of their bow. The
Defiant
was pushed aside like a bath tub toy by the wall of water.

“MEOOOW,” Oscar
cried at the violent motion.

“Now we should
have their attention.” Jack’s merry voice sounded reassuring. “
Star of the
Northwest, Star of the Northwest, Star of the Northwest
, this is the
Defiant
,
over.”

Still, the radio
was silent.

“D’ y’ have any
flares on this boat?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, there’s a
flare gun under the nav table.”

“Jack!” Chris
shouted down from the cockpit. “We’ve got trouble.”

****

Johnstone Straits, Canada – On board the
Star of the
Northwest

9:12 am

Harry leaned on
the cruise ship’s rail, coffee cup in hand. He loved watching the untamed
wilderness, looking for wild life. Yesterday they saw a magnificent stag
wandering down to the water’s edge. Eagles, seals, porpoise, brown bears and
the occasional whale all reminded him that there was still a natural world out
here, beyond the touch of man.

There was
something almost religious about watching the day begin.

“Penny for your
thoughts.” Candace slid up behind Harry, put her arms around his waist and
nuzzled into his back.

“I was just
thinking about how lucky I am.”

“Lucky?”

“My life was over.
It ended when Sally died. My family died with her. The kids drifted away. I
didn’t care about work. For four years, I was the walking dead. Then you came
along. I feel like a kid again. I’d forgotten what it felt like to be alive, to
be in love.”

“Right answer,
mister.” Candace turned Harry in her arms. “You better be thinking about me.”

“Everything’s
turned around.” He bent down to kiss her.

Candace pulled him
even closer.

“I have a reason
to get up in the morning. Sarah’s coming back to me. I don’t know what you did
with her, but she’s beginning to act like herself again.”

“She’s a good kid.
She was just lost. Losing their mother sent both kids into a long spiral.”

“I just hope that
Chris’ll come around.” Harry broke their embrace and leaned on the rail again,
looking out to sea. “He’s been so morose, so angry since Sally died. I’m hoping
this summer, the chance to be on his own, making adult decisions, will help.”

“It’s the best
thing that could happen to him, Harry.” Candace hooked her arm through Harry’s
and rested her head on his shoulder. “He’ll come back in the fall a changed
man.”

“Your parents seem
to be having a good time.”

“They’ve never
done anything like this before. They certainly can’t afford to go cruising on
teacher’s salaries.”

The wedding had
been simple, yet elegant, like everything that Candace did. It took Harry’s
breath away when Candace walked down the aisle on her father’s arm in her
gorgeous white gown. The captain performed the ceremony in the chapel.

In addition to the
few invited guests, Harry agreed to open the ceremony to any passengers who
wished to attend. There was a Who’s Who of celebrities in the audience. Two
U.S. Representatives, The Secretary of State for Washington State, executives
from Boeing, Microsoft, Millennium Systems, Starbucks, Amazon, PACCAR and a
dozen other important firms were there, all potential clients in Harry’s eyes.
Celebrities from Hollywood’s A-list went through the reception line and wished
them well. He had no use for Hollywood types, they would never be clients.

He couldn’t have
put it into words, but Harry took enormous pride in wedding such a gorgeous
creature in front of all those high-powered types. Yes, she completed him, yes
she was his best friend and confidant, but she also was a symbol of his power.
Having Candace at this side made Harry the envy of every man on the damn boat.

After the
ceremony, they danced into the early morning hours. Even though it was their
wedding, the gala ball wasn’t for them. Harry knew it was for the ship. The
Star
of the Northwest’s
maiden voyage was big news. TV camera crews were aboard,
televising events, interviewing celebrities. Harry grinned when he thought of
Candace’s picture, looking stunning in her wedding gown, on the cover of the
Times’
Sunday magazine.

“I’m surprised
you’re up so early,” Candace said. “We were up late last night.”

“I’ve always been
an early riser.”

Harry put his arm
around his new wife’s waist and pulled her close.

“Can you imagine
what this area looked like before the Europeans arrived?” he said. “I’m always
amazed at the vastness, the wildness of it all. When I start to think that the
world is getting over populated, I like to come to some place like this.
There’s room here for millions of people. You can go for days and not see
another human being.”

“Sorry to
interrupt your fantasy, but there’s a boat now, right there.”

“Where?”

“Just coming
around that island.” Candace pointed to their right. “See, it looks like a
fishing boat.”

The morning mist
lifted to reveal the sides of the narrow passage. The
Star of the Northwest
threaded the channel between Vancouver Island and West Cracroft Island. Coming out of Blackney Pass, a couple of miles to their right, was a big green fishing
boat.

AAAOOOHHH! The
Star’s
whistle blew an angry blast.

“Harry!” Candace
pointed forward. “Isn’t that your boat?”

Crossing in front
of the cruise ship’s bow, Harry could make out Chris looking up from the
Defiant’s
wheel. “What the hell are you doing Chris?”

Without thinking,
Harry pulled out his cell phone.

Damn, no
signal.