CHAPTER 10
AUGUST 18TH –DAY 138
They found a cruise ship on the third day. Matthew was on the bridge with the first shift when she was sighted.
“Okay, Doris. Do your stuff.”
“Aye, Captain. This is Bright Moon calling unidentified cruise ship, please acknowledge.”
“This is Sea Princess. Go ahead, Bright Moon.”
“Sea Princess, this is Bright Moon. We are survivors of the Evening Star which sank off the African coast last May. Request permission to speak with your captain. Over.”
The man on the Sea Princess asked her to repeat the transmission. “Say again, Bright Moon.” He turned to the officer in charge. “Lieutenant,” he yelled. “Listen to this!”
He flicked on the speaker.
“This is Bright Moon,” Doris repeated. “We are survivors of the Evening Star which sank off the African coast last May. Request permission to speak with your captain. Over.”
“Get the captain,” ordered the officer. He addressed the radioman: “Tell them to wait.”
“Bright Moon. This is Sea Princess. Please wait.”
The crew of the Bright Moon waited, the tension electric. Finally, the Captain, Thor Birkestad, a Norwegian, got on.
“Bright Moon, this is the captain of the Sea Princess. Please identify yourself.”
Matthew signaled Doris and took the headphones.
“This is Matthew Carlsen, captain of Bright Moon. We were passengers on the Evening Star which sank off the African coast on the first of May. Request permission to come aboard and explain our situation to you, and we request permission to follow you into port. Over.”
Captain Birkestad wasn’t convinced. He’d never heard of anyone hijacking a cruise ship before, but he didn’t want to be the first. “How do I know you are who you say you are? You seem to have been able to get your ship this far, Captain. Why can’t you take her in on your own? Over.”
Matthew was surprised. He hadn’t expected problems. He looked at Ron. “He’s suspicious of us. You got a brother who is captain of a cruise ship?”
“No.”
Matthew clicked the switch. “Our crew is made up of inexperienced civilians. We haven’t the training. Isn’t there some way we can prove to you that we are who we say we are? If we send a list of names over, you can check it against the passenger list of the Evening Star. Over.”
The captain of the Sea Princess still wasn’t convinced. He hesitated. He needed to figure out a way to find out for sure if they were telling the truth. Matthew began to get impatient.
“Captain Birkestad. We’re American citizens. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, to allow a couple of us to come aboard your ship. You must have security people who can make sure we don’t cause problems.”
That didn’t seem like a bad idea. “We will allow you to come aboard, Mr. Carlsen. But, I must inform you that our security people will be armed, and I will be notifying the authorities. Over.”
“That is acceptable, Captain. Please slow to eight knots, and we will pull alongside, about fifty yards off your port side. It will take about a half-hour to get our boat off. Bright Moon, out.”
Matthew put the phones back. “Jeff, get everyone together in the dining room.” Jeff ran off the bridge.
“Doris, get down to the dining room. Carl, keep the ship on course, but remember; you’re a civilian, and you don’t know much about piloting a ship. You’ve had on the job training.
“Turn off sonar and get rid of the plots from the navigation table,” he told the others. “Put them in my quarters and fold them up so that they don’t look important, and then get down to the dining room.” Marie and Su Li rushed to get it done.
Everyone was in the dining room. They had become good at responding to emergencies, as good as any crew he’d worked with in the navy. “This is it, people. Ron and I are going aboard the Sea Princess.”
Dave stood up right away. “Should you both go? If something happens to you, we’re without a captain and a second in command.”
“Jeff can handle it. All of you are capable of running the ship without me.” There was a chorus of disagreement. He cut them off. “The captain expects me to come.” Dave didn’t look too sure.
“There won’t be any problems.”
“I will go with you,” said Su Li. “Ron should stay here in case–”
“Out of the question. This is not an emergency, nor is there any danger. It has to be Ron. He knows the most about the ship.” Su Li pressed her lips together, but didn’t argue.
“Matthew’s right,” Ron cut in. “Jeff can command. It should be me.”
Doris spoke up. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Ron swallowed. This was another uncovered area he had to tackle. Another cruise ship, no less. “No. But I have to. Matthew and I are the best qualified.”
“Then it’s decided,” said Matthew. “We have to get one thing straight. We don’t want to alarm the captain. If he wants to inspect the ship, we have to act like we’ve been lucky to have come this far.”
“That ain’t difficult. We are lucky we made it this far.”
“Right,” agreed Matthew. “Jeff, make sure someone mans the bridge while we’re over there. You can shut down sonar, but keep radar and navigations up. After we launch the boat, you can follow along, a little farther away from the Sea Princess. That should take some pressure off the captain. Rick, you and Will get the captain’s boat down.”
He and Ron went up to the main deck.
“What do we do if they want to come on board and inspect us?” Ron asked.
“Let ‘em. The more who know, the easier it is to convince the authorities of our honesty –not that I think that’ll be a problem. Once they find out who we are, we’ll be fine. I’m just worried about the bad guys.”
The Captain’s boat was a beautiful wooden boat with lots of shiny brass. It reminded Matthew of the Captain’s boat on the USS Columbus. He marveled that the ship was so well equipped. What were they thinking? Matthew couldn’t have known that Johnson had loaded her with weapons, supplies, schematics, and test equipment, and had otherwise taken the ship as she was. He didn’t have the time or inclination to unload unnecessary items.
They set the boat in the water and boarded. Ron turned the key and started her up. As they made their way toward the Sea Princess, Captain Birkestad’s crew let down the ladder. His security team was assembling behind them.
Matthew noted the haunted look in Ron’s eyes. He clapped him on the shoulder and tried to be encouraging. “Hey, you’ve been through worse.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ron nodded grimly.
Captain Birkestad was in his cabin when the steward brought him the message. He read it and ran out the door.
Ron was maneuvering the boat alongside the Sea Princess when the captain reached the security team.
“Those men are terrorists!” he shouted. “Do not let them board this ship!”
The security officer fired his pistol at the incoming boat. Ron reacted immediately, gunned the boat, and ducked low while he steered the boat away from the Sea Princess. The security officer fired again.
At the sudden acceleration, Matthew lost his balance and fell. A sharp pain stabbed through his right shoulder when he hit the gunwale of the boat. Ron steered them out of range, toward the Bright Moon.
“What the hell is going on?” Ron shouted.
Matthew had to struggle to get up from the floor of the boat because of the tossing waves. The boat smashed into a wave, a shower of water sprayed over Matthew, and he fell again.
“What’s going on?” Ron shouted again. Matthew was soaking wet. His shoulder burned like fire.
“Looks like someone doesn’t want us to come into port!” Matthew flexed his shoulder. What in the world had he hit when he fell?
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I banged my shoulder when I fell. You should learn to drive better.”
Ron grinned. “You should talk. I rememb
er your maneuvering tactics.”
The crew was prepared when they got back to the Bright Moon. They had been watching and had heard the shots. Matthew climbed the ladder and boarded the ship. A dull ache had settled in his right shoulder, and he couldn’t seem to make his arm obey him. Someone shouted at him.
He ignored him. “Get that boat out of the water.”
Ron was right behind him as he pushed past the crew.
Matthew entered the bridge in full fury. “Hail that ship, immediately.” Doris began to hail the Sea Princess. Su Li looked at him in horror as he sat in the captain’s chair.
“Matthew!” Su Li ran to him.
“What are you doing?” he asked as Su Li fussed over him.
“You’re hurt!”
A large splotch of blood stained his shirt. He touched his shoulder. His hand came away with blood on it. He hadn’t banged his shoulder at all. “I’ve been shot!”
“You need to have someone look at this! Doris, call Marie and Jeff. Get them up here. Ron, you have to take over.”
“Get back to your post!” Matthew stood up, turned away from Su Li, and snatched the microphone from Doris’ hand. The cord stretched, and she had to duck when it raked across her neck. Uncertain, Su Li didn’t move.
“Sea Princess, this is Captain Matthew Carlsen of the United States Navy; serial number B-129557. We are survivors of the Evening Star which sank off the African coast on May one. There are civilian men and women aboard this vessel. You have shot an unarmed man. Acknowledge.”
He held the mike and waited. “Come on!” He repeated the message. Everyone was frozen.
Su Li broke the trance. “Call Marie and Jeff, Doris, Ron. You must take over.”
“Right!” Ron wrestled the mike away from Matthew and gave it to Doris. “Call ‘em,” he told her. He turned back to Matthew and tried to make him sit in the captain’s chair.
“Jeff and Marie,” transmitted Doris “Come to the bridge at once. Jeff and Marie. Come to the bridge at once.”
“Sit down, Matthew. We have to get this looked at,” Ron said.
“I’m all right!” Adrenaline coursed through Matthew. “It’s only a scratch. I’m gonna kill that guy if I get my hands on him!”
“Do that! I’ll hold him for you, after you get this taken care of.”
“Doris, keep hailing that ship. I don’t care if you have to call them a hundred times.” Doris tried again.
Marie and Jeff got to the bridge at the same time. “My God!” she cried when she saw Matthew. She ran to him and started to open his shirt. He pushed her away.
Dave was so absorbed in what was going on that he wasn’t paying close attention to the radar station. Even after he saw the contact, he was slow to plot and report it.
“Captain. We have a contact bearing two-one-five, five thousand yards, coming right at us; speed thirty knots. ETA is about five minutes.”
Total chaos ruled on the bridge. Ron, still holding on to Matthew, looked at Dave. Su Li stood behind Matthew, while Marie tried to get between him and Ron so she could unbutton his shirt.
Matthew pushed Ron away and hit the switch to the PA system. “General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands to stations. General Quarters! This is not a drill. All hands to stations.” He turned to Doris. “Hail that ship. Identify us and find out who they are.”
Ron, confused, didn’t’ move. The situation was getting out of hand.
Matthew straightened him out. “I said General Quarters, Chief!”
Ron jumped to the console. The reports started coming in, and he began to acknowledge them. The bridge crew wasn’t made up of the normal shift, so there was confusion as to who would do what.
“Doris!” Matthew commanded abruptly. She jumped and hailed the approaching ship. Su Li hesitated.
“Get to your post,” he hissed.
She bolted to her post at navigation. Jeff took his place at the sonar station and turned it on. Dave ran off the bridge to his GQ post as forward deck watch. Marie took his place as he left the radar station. Matthew sat down in the captain’s chair, the pain in his shoulder forgotten.
“This is Bright Moon to unidentified vessel,” Doris hailed. “We are survivors of the cruise ship Evening Star. Please identify yourself.”
“This is Aswadán destroyer SS Tripoli.” The accented reply was distorted by static. “Please heave to and stop your engines or you will be fired upon.”
Matthew got out of his chair and strode briskly to the radarscope. The Aswadán destroyer was coming out of the south, five thousand yards away. The Bright Moon was pinned between her, on the port side, and the Sea Princess only fifty yards to the starboard. He would have to make a full three hundred and sixty-degree turn to port to get away from her. Or he’d have to drop their speed to turn to starboard behind her. Either way it gave the oncoming ship time to catch them. Unless–
“Hard to starboard. All back on port engine. Full thrust to starboard on forward thrusters. Full thrust to port on aft thrusters.”
“Hard to starboard.” Carl immediately turned the helm without hesitation, even though it looked like they would collide with the Sea Princess.
Ron repeated his commands and the Bright Moon rotated clockwise. At eight knots, it was easy, but it would still be close.
The captain of the Sea Princess watched in disbelief as the Bright Moon turned. “What are they doing? They’re turning right into us!”
“Captain!” shouted Doris. “The Aswadán Captain has commanded us to heave to or he will fire upon us.”
“To hell with him! Rudder amidships. All ahead full.” Ron and Carl repeated his commands. The Bright Moon completed her turn and accelerated past the Sea Princess, and cleared her stern by thirty feet.
They heard the boom from the shot fired from the Aswadán vessel. The shell hit way ahead and starboard of the Bright Moon.
“Set course for zero-one-zero.”
“Coming to course zero-one-zero,” repeated Carl.
“Speed?” Matthew’s shoulder was beginning to throb.
“Coming to thirty knots,” reported Ron.
“Give us everything she can take.” They had to get out of range of that ship. The speed crept up to forty knots. The Aswadán vessel fired again. The shell exploded to the starboard, closer than the last.
“They must be crazy!” exclaimed Ron. “They’re firing at us with a civilian cruise ship in the vicinity.”
Matthew pulled Ron’s attention back to his duty. “Speed!”
“Speed, forty-three knots.”
The ship crept up to fifty-two knots. The vessel fired one more time and the shell hit behind the Bright Moon. At sixty-two knots, Ron reported. “That’s it, Captain. We won’t get any more out of her.”
“That’s enough. Status report!”
“Contact bearing two-one-two; eight thousand yards; speed thirty knots,” answered Marie. The Bright Moon was pulling away.
“Doris, hail the Sea Princess again. Keep it up until we’re out of range.”
The front part of Matthew’s shirt was covered with blood.
Ron could see he was tiring. “Doris. Get John up here on sonar, Steve on the con, and Shirley on navigation.”
“Acknowledged.” Doris made the call on the PA.
“You’re relieved of duty, Matthew. We can handle it from here.” Matthew started to speak, but Ron cut him off. “We can handle it!” he emphasized, and indicated to Jeff. “You and Marie and Su Li, take care of him as soon as your relief gets here.”
Su Li started toward Matthew, but Ron stared her back. Her eyes pleaded.
He relented “All right.” Su Li ran to her husband.
“I’m alright,” Matthew said. He tried to push her away. He finally conceded when relief came to the bridge. and went with them to the captain’s cabin. They almost had to force him to sit down and get his shirt off.
Matthew ranted. “He didn’t even warn us!”
Marie examined him. The bullet had gone c
lean through his shoulder. “It doesn’t look like the bullet hit any bones.” She applied a compress to the wound. “This should stop the bleeding. He’ll be all right, but he won’t be able to use that arm for a while. You’ll have to keep him quiet –Good luck with that. I’d give you a hammer to hit him with if I had one, but maybe these will help.” She gave Su Li a couple of pills she had retrieved from the ship’s medical stores and continued to dress his wound.
Ron returned to the bridge. They were out of radar range of the Sea Princess, but the Aswadán ship had gotten her speed up to forty-five knots and was still following at fourteen thousand yards.
The Bright Moon would be out of her range soon, if they weren’t already. Ron had no idea of the range of Aswadán military radar. He watched the scope for about fifteen minutes. The Aswadán ship dropped back twenty-five thousand yards.
“Come to course one-one-five. Speed thirty knots. Let’s see if he follows us.”
“Coming to course one-one-five,” came the response from the helm.
“Coming to speed thirty knots,” responded the con. The Aswadán ship continued along her northerly course. It looked like they were out of radar range.
After five minutes, Ron figured they were out of danger. “Call someone up here to take communications.” Doris relayed the command.
“Hold this speed for a half hour and watch for that guy. If he doesn’t show up again, change course to one-four-zero and drop speed to twelve knots. Steve, repeat that back to me.”
Steve repeated his command. Helen got to the bridge.
“Stand down from General Quarters. Doris, come with me.” Ron left the bridge. Helen slid into Doris’ seat.
Worried, Doris followed Ron. They walked out on the deck. Ron stopped at the rail and looked out over the ocean. He took a deep breath.
“We gotta figure out how to get that bastard, Doris. Otherwise, we’re never gonna get home.”
She took his arm, worried about him. “We’ll do that Ron.”
“Doris!.” She looked into her husband’s eyes. “It’s not what you think. They’re going to send the whole US Navy after us. You know that, don’t you?” She remained silent. “I’ve given more than half my life for this country. And I walked around for the last twenty years like some insane idiot, while some lousy, corrupt bastard has been sitting on top of it all, having a grand time.”
“I know.” Doris studied him.
“And think of Matthew. Look what it’s got him. He could have been killed. We’re no more than little dolls on a string that this guy pulls for the fun of it. I’m sick and tired of this. I’m gonna get that bastard. We gotta figure out a way.”
He would fight back if he had to swim back to the US to do it. Doris smiled.
“We will, Ron.” He looked into her eyes and saw that she meant it. Then, he turned back to the rail, put his arm around her, and felt his monkey fall into the ocean.
Captain Birkestad had been in the military. He’d even experienced some combat duty. He shook his head at his security officer. “I can’t believe it. You didn’t even warn them. You shot what looked like an unarmed man.”
“He… He was trying to board this ship,” stuttered the officer.
“You fired at them while they were still in the boat! You didn’t even give them a warning.” He paused to let his words sink in. “You are relieved of duty until further notice, Mr. Worrel. We will have to wait and see what the authorities have to say.”
Worrel protested. “Sir! We don’t know that we hit anyone. The guy that fell stood up right away. We saw them board their ship. They both ran up the ladder.”
“You heard what they told the radioman. The captain of that ship claimed that someone had been shot. An unarmed man, Mr. Worrel.”
“They were trying to board this ship!” protested Worrel.
“You fired a weapon on my ship without warning. The safety of my passengers depends upon a security officer who can keep his head. You cannot keep your head. You are relieved of duty, Mr. Worrel. Mr. Jameson will assume your duties.” He turned to the officer standing beside Worrel. “Mr. Jameson, relieve Mr. Worrel of his weapon.”
AUGUST 19TH –DAY 139
TERRORISTS ATTACK CIVILIAN SHIP read the next headlines in the New York Times. The Washington Post took a more sober approach; BRIGHT MOON INVOLVED WITH CIVILIAN SHIP.
Admiral Williams had contacted him, but Brandt still wanted to play it low key. He wasn’t sure what had happened. Twice, now, an Aswadán military ship had made contact with the Bright Moon, and twice she had gotten away. Aswadán vessels were popping up very often.
He summed it up on paper. Aswadán, the good guys; Admiral Williams, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who provided Brandt with all the information he needed, and then some; the Bright Moon –a freighter composed of a crew of survivors from the Evening Star with the skill to attack, disable, and outrun military vessels.
He shook his head, completely confused.
When he talked to the captain of the Sea Princess, the captain informed him that, in accordance with orders from the World Travel Bureau, they had not permitted the men from the Bright Moon to board. Then, the Aswadán destroyer came and the Bright Moon beat it.
“Captain Birkestad,” Brandt said, “according to her registry, the Bright Moon is a freighter. Would it be possible to convert a freighter to a fighting ship?”
“It may possible for another vessel. Not this one. We tracked her on radar after she turned away from us. She was doing well over thirty knots.”
“Maybe they put new engines in her or increased the power,” suggested Brandt.
“It is not the engines. They could increase capacity ten times. The construction of the hull would not permit that kind of speed. This ship was built to handle this speed. She is no freighter, Mr. Brandt.”
“Did they do anything that might have indicated that they were hostile?”
The captain replied angrily. “No, the only shots fired were those by my security officer and the Aswadán destroyer. That destroyer endangered my ship, Mr. Brandt. As far as the Bright Moon is concerned, I didn’t even see any guns on her.”
“What do you think of the claim that they were survivors of the Evening Star?”
“I have asked myself the same question. Where did they get the ship? Why did they ask us to escort them into port when they could have sailed her in on their own? Civilians or not, Mr. Brandt, they knew how to handle her. They came alongside at fifty meters and held our course and speed with no problem.”
Birkestad paused as if to emphasize his statement, then continued. “When that Aswadán ship showed up, the Bright Moon turned right into us. I thought they were going to ram us. That ship spun around on its axis and missed our stern by less than ten meters. They were visibly accelerating as they went by us. According to radar, they reached a speed of forty knots in no time. No crew can sail a ship like that without knowing what they are doing. She is a fine ship, Mr. Brandt, and her crew knew how to handle her.”
“Did they try to contact you after they went back to the ship?”
“Yes, they did. Their captain was quite upset. He was almost screaming, in fact. Then a woman kept hailing until they went out of radar range. We received orders that we were not to acknowledge, so we did not.”
“Where did those orders come from Captain?”
“From the authorities, I assume. The World Travel Bureau sent us a message that no one was to communicate with the Bright Moon under any circumstances.”
“Which direction did she head after she turned away from you?”
“Northeast. I can get you the course if you would like,” Birkestad offered.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. What about the Aswadán ship? Did you get a look at it?”
“I did not. It was dark, and they never got closer than three thousand yards.”
Brandt asked the next question purely on impulse. “Have you talked with anyone else about this other than the mi
litary?”
“Why, yes. And he asked almost the same questions as you did.”
Brandt wondered about that, but said nothing more. After talking to Captain Birkestad, he called the World Travel Bureau. The WTB owned the Sea Princess and had owned the Evening Star. After the usual run around, he was connected to someone with the authority to talk.
“Hello, this is Mr. Wellsworth,” the man said. “To whom am I speaking?”
“This is Timothy Brandt of the Washington Post. I’d like to ask some questions about the confrontation between the Sea Princess and the Bright Moon.”
“Yes, Mr. Brandt? What do you wish to know?”
“I’ve spoken with the captain of the Sea Princess. Captain Birkestad told me that the captain of the Bright Moon claimed to have survivors aboard from the Evening Star, the ship that sank six months ago. Could you shed any light on that?”
“Why, no. I have no idea why they would use that story.”
“Has the WTB found the wreckage of the Evening Star, Mr. Wellsworth?”
“Yes, we have, Mr. Brandt.”
Brandt waited a second, but it was clear that Wellsworth wasn’t going to volunteer any information on his own.
“Can you tell me where she went down?”
“The Evening Star sank about six hundred miles from the African coast.”
“Can you tell me why she went down?”
“We’re still investigating that, Mr. Brandt.”
“What kind of search did you set in motion, Mr. Wellsworth?”
“We searched all of the area for signs of life. There were no signals from the lifeboats.”
“Is it possible to raise her?” Talking to this pompous ass was like pulling teeth from a hippo.
“No.”
“Can you tell me what kind of damage she suffered, Mr. Wellsworth?”
“No, as I told you we can’t raise her.”
“What I meant, sir, was the Evening Star in one piece or several, or was it too deep to raise her up?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I cannot answer those questions.”
“Could you tell me if all the lifeboats were connected to the ship?”
“No, Mr. Brandt, I cannot.”
“Does that mean you won’t, or that you can’t?” Brandt was getting exasperated.
“I simply cannot, Mr. Brandt. I’m not in possession of those facts.”
But you’re in possession of the fact that the WTB searched the whole ocean, thought Brandt. “I was under the impression that the captain of the Sea Princess was not to communicate with the Bright Moon. Could you tell me why?”
“We were told not to.”
“Were you given a reason?” Brandt’s exasperation gave way to irritation.
“We were told it was a matter of national security.”
“That doesn’t strike you as odd, Mr. Wellsworth? What if they were survivors from the Evening Star?”
“We were told she was a terrorist ship and that we were not to communicate with her. And there were no survivors from the Evening Star.”
“None that you know of, you mean.”
“It would have been impossible for anyone to have survived the wreck.”
“Could you tell me who gave the order that there was to be no contact?”
“No, Mr. Brandt, I can’t.”
“Is there someone else I can talk to that can give me this information?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was told that one of the men who tried to board your ship was injured. Can you elaborate on that?”
“Not really. We haven’t spoken to the captain of the Sea Princess, and that information is not available at the moment.”
“What do you think of the idea that the Bright Moon is a freighter, Mr. Wellsworth?” Brandt didn’t know why he bothered to ask the question. He wasn’t going to get an answer.
“I have no thoughts about it, ” replied Wellsworth.
Brandt wondered if Wellsworth had any thoughts about anything. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Wellsworth.”
“Quite welcome, Mr. Brandt.” Wellsworth hung up the phone.
“Whew!” Brandt said to himself. “He must be their line of defense against journalists.”
Chin Lee and Ming Lau watched the news broadcast. The Bright Moon incident was being aired on almost every news channel. Most were curious as to who owned the ship and under which flag she sailed. The flood of propaganda from Admiral Williams kept focus on terrorism. No one asked the most logical question. Were there survivors from the Evening Star on the Bright Moon?
Chin Lee and Ming Lau were convinced that there was more behind it. They spoke in low tones about it.
“Admiral Williams has been involved in questionable activities before,” Ming Lau said in Chinese. “He was involved in the Contra affair and covered up his activities before the authorities got to him.”
Chin Lee was despondent. “We should have exposed him then. I should not have disagreed with you.”
“You were right to disagree. We do not get involved in the internal politics of the United States.”
“But now he is involved in something again. This time it may have something to do with…,” Chin Lee faltered. Ming Lau looked compassionately at his friend.
“Jung Tow Lin, the radioman on the Sea Princess, told you that the captain of the Bright Moon called himself Matthew Carlsen. If that is true, we have an obligation to a friend. If he survived, it’s…” Chin Lee cut him off.
“Then we must find the truth. The Bright Moon is not a freighter. The captain of the Sea Princess said she resembled a small destroyer. Maybe we should try to find out where such a ship might have been built.”
AUGUST 20TH –DAY 140
Matthew was in a foul mood. His wound made it difficult to function. It throbbed constantly, and he’d had to sleep sitting upright. That didn’t help his mood any.
He sat in the captain’s chair and favored his right shoulder. He felt impotent. Perhaps it would have been better had they stayed on the island.
They were headed southeast, almost back the way they had come. They had enough fuel for a little over a month if they took it easy; three months if they shut down and just ran the generators, but they would eventually run out of fuel –if they lasted that long without some ship blowing them out of the water. Where in the world could they hide? Back on the island? He doubted he could find it again. Marie’s voice broke the silence.
“Contact –bearing two-four-five; ten thousand yards; course –three-one-zero.”
Su Li plotted the point on the chart and drew a line to show the course of the ship. The Bright Moon was heading south, away from the ship. Matthew picked up the binoculars. Even from five miles away, he could tell it was a freighter.
“Doris, hail that freighter. But don’t identify us. Ask if they have heard or seen anything about the Bright Moon. Let’s see if they know anything.”
Doris made contact. “Unidentified freighter, please respond. Have you heard or seen anything of the Bright Moon? Over.”
“This is Light Truck. Negative. How about you? Over.” They didn’t ask for identification.
“Tell them ‘no’ and ask them what they think of the possibility that there may be survivors on that ship. Maybe we can get some information.”
Doris relayed the message.
“No way,” came the response. “We’ve been warned by US authorities that she is a terrorist ship carrying people masquerading as survivors. How could survivors get hold of terrorist weapons –or even a ship. Over.”
“Maybe the ship was abandoned and they commandeered her,” Matthew hinted.
Doris repeated.
“Doubt that. According to authorities, they’ve attacked two ships already and ran away when a naval destroyer commanded her to stop so she could be boarded. If they were civilians like they claim, they would have allowed boarding. Over.”
Like they should have stopped and let them board us or sink us. Matthew was even more
frustrated.
“What do the authorities recommend?” Doris relayed.
“They recommend reporting any deviation from the norm when contacting any ship. Always demand identification and do not, under any circumstances, communicate with the ship.”
There was pause and Matthew could almost hear the wheels turning.
“Hey! Who are you? Identify yourselves!”
Matthew waved his hand at her in disgust. “Tell him it’s the –USS Washington and sign off.”
Doris gave him an odd look but signed off as Matthew told her.
Ron had been following the exchange and trying to figure out how they could convince the radioman on the freighter that they were survivors from the Evening Star. He looked up suddenly with a big grin.
“Brilliant!”
The throbbing pain in Matthew’s shoulder made his brain sluggish. “What’s brilliant? We just gave away our position. Now we have to change course and beat it out of here.”
“That’s not what I meant. Look. We want someone to find out who we are, don’t we? What if we contact more ships and identify ourselves as the USS Washington? Sooner or later, someone has to get suspicious and start an investigation.”
Slowly, realization began to seep into Matthew’s brain. “Hmm –Maybe, but we’ll give away our location each time we do it. Sooner or later, they’ll catch up to us.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it? But you’re right; it may be dangerous.”
“All right. Let’s call a meeting, but, after we get out of here. Come to course zero-nine-zero. Speed twenty knots.”
Tim and his wife were relaxing in front of the fireplace when the phone rang. They were taking a break from the Bright Moon case. No one had heard from her for four days.
“Brandt residence.”
“Good evening, Mr. Brandt.”
Tim recognized the voice. “Good evening, Admiral.”
“The Bright Moon has attempted to attack a freighter. The freighter was a good distance away when they identified her, and they radioed for help right away. It looks like we’re going to have to conduct an all-out search for her. For the record, I’m going to approach the President tomorrow to ask other nations for help. We must find these fiends as soon as possible before they hurt more people.”
“Oh, has someone been hurt?” Brandt hadn’t heard of anyone, except for the man on the Bright Moon. The admiral was playing this big.
“Mr. Brandt. There has been an exchange of fire between the Bright Moon and three ships, so it’s important that we get them before they do hurt someone. We intend to give our ships full authorization to fire upon her if they find her. They will not get a chance to fire upon another Naval vessel.”
“Has she fired upon any other vessels, Admiral?” If this windbag wasn’t so dangerous, he would be funny. Brandt liked him less every time he had contact with him.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t time to talk. The freighter is pulling into port in Washington in a couple of days, so you can talk to the captain. Her name is Light Truck. Good-bye, Mr. Brandt.”
Admiral Williams hung up. Brandt was a pain. But the Washington Post wouldn’t allow anyone else to work on the story, so Williams had to deal with Brandt if he was going to swing public opinion in the direction he wanted.
He knew Brandt didn’t like him, and the feeling was mutual. Brandt had done his best to sink him during the Contra affair, but Brandt’s turn would come.
What he needed was a little insurance. Something in addition to the newspaper stories that would convince anyone who might wonder if the Bright Moon might have survivors aboard. He made one more phone call before he left his office.
“Johnson here.”
“Mr. Johnson? Admiral Williams here. I have a little job for you.”
“I think it’s too dangerous,” said Dave. “If we get the wrong ship, they might blow us right out of the water. I think we should try to find the island and lay low for a while.”
Dave disagreeing?. Some things never changed.
“Of course it’s dangerous,” said Ron. “but we’re never going to get home if we don’t fight back. And I wouldn’t recommend going back to the island, because they may be watching it. Even if they aren’t, if they start an all-out search for us, it might be impossible to get off the island. By now, they know we’re capable of handling the ship. And, someone knows we were on the island. They might figure we’ll use the island as a base and hit us there.”
“Sooner or later, we’re gonna run out of fuel,” put in Jeff. “We have to solve this problem before then.”
“I say we go for it,” said Ron. “This ship can outrun and out maneuver almost anything on the water. If we use a woman on communications, it may make them think less of terrorists. As long as we don’t chase anyone, sooner or later someone is gonna notice it. But we have to do it while we still have the fuel to make as much noise as possible.”
“I agree,” said Jeff. “We can’t run forever.”
“Let’s take a vote,” said Matthew. “Jeff you count.” He raised his hand. “All in favor of using the name USS Washington raise your hands.”
“Eight,” said Jeff who had also raised his hand.
“Opposed?” Jeff counted.“Six.”
“That still leaves seven of you undecided. We’ll continue to use the name USS Washington for the time being. But since we don’t agree, we’ll discuss this at the meetings until we’re all in agreement one way or the other.”