dragged me back to the boat. I helped on board and with Maria's support I staggered to my cabin. I probably had a lot of sea water, but by the way I felt the forces started returning.
In any case, I let Maria get dressed by me, stop me in bed and serve me something hot and hot, it seemed to be Jamaican coffee, the local variation of Irish Coffee, that is, coffee spun with rum. Although it was about 27 degrees hot in the water, I now froze as a freshly cut poodle in Finnish Lapland. Maria massaged all my limbs and I fully enjoyed it.
Maria was a mystery. I tried to interview her about her position in the organization. She was very real Mexican but did not want to tell where the headquarters were. However, everything indicated somewhere in South or Central America. There are many shady countries, Colombia's drugstore is well-known. Maria was almost as tall as me, that is, one and eighty least. She looked like a well-trained athletic woman, she had actually been in the Mexican national team in diving.
Now she was employed by the security department in this company, as she did not talk about what it was called. She was a graduate of economics and educated in California, where she also practiced diving. She came from a family that could pay the education, it was clear. Even though she had rescued me in a crisis situation, she had not been stressed a dew, not what I could see anyway.
To be a businesswoman, she was surprisingly reassuring, perhaps I appealed to her motherly feelings. I was no longer surprised that I had a female bodyguard, that was probably effective. She created with her naked presence a relaxed and confidence-inspiring atmosphere. I began to understand that it was partly her influence on me that made me almost positive to being kidnapped.
As said, Maria was tall and slender with long black hair. She had a wide sudden smile, that was what made the surroundings relaxed. Her dark eyes sought eye contact and somehow managed to suck my eyes as soon as she wanted me something. But the look was not soothing, it was a stubborn and effective look, I thought.
Orlando greeted me in my cabin, pointing out that it was inappropriate for me to swim on my own. I tried to point out that Maria would not turn away from me but he did not listen to that argument. Orlando's English was an American variant with some little Spanish break, I thought I was noticing. He was in his thirty-five, well-trained. He had not been a diver. But he had some geological knowledge from his work on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
He seemed efficient and reliable, but behind his calm facade with half-closed eyelids, one could feel an extremely explosive mood. I was not sure if I was kidding with him, he had no humour.
"We will have our morning meeting at six in the morning," said Orlando. "Make sure you're cool and awake then."
I was not used to meetings before ten o'clock in the morning. But it was just dying and trying to sleep his beauty sleep. I was thinking about calling Maria to get better bed heat but fell asleep before I could decide to lift the phone door.
The alarm clock was incredible.
"In the shower," ordered Maria, "in five minutes it's morning meeting."
The morning meeting was short, it was decided that with the help of the sonar, the bottom between Booby Island and Mosquito Bay. The two lifeboats would also be equipped with sonar to streamline the search. In addition, I received a dive ban for some reason. At the same time, the breakfast was served. Effective in truth.
The weather was good, but the constant south-eastern wind caused the Atlantic's dune to roll in towards Mosquito Bay, and as there were currents at the same time due to tide, it seemed not easy to operate. Here and there the waves were broken because of the reason that could be soured underwater. The captain seemed to know what he did.
Command bridges on modern boats are a subtlety of technology. When I first got up on the pier, I was surprised that there was still a big old-fashioned rudder, a big knob of hardwood like the ships one hundred years ago. But I soon understood that it was not used, it might be a reserve if the hydraulics would break. No, when the captain manoeuvred with millimetre precision, he used a small joystick, just as if he was playing a computer game. Vessel computers are not my specialty, but I still thought that a computer that received the impulses from the joystick.
It was also clear that there was a propeller in the bow, otherwise it would not be possible to maneuver in the way it was done. The captain was fully employed with the navigation, so I could see me on the bridge. I was curious at home harbor and anything else that could help to identify the company I was working for. Knowledge of this was two-fold, but it could be good to know as much as possible if they did not know that I knew, to express it easily.
The boat was registered in Nassau, Bahamas, which did not say anything at all. A convenience flag and the shipping company were probably as bland. But the more I thought of it, the more curious I became. The morning went by without any sensations and after lunch I suggested siesta and Maria left me locked in my cabin.
I went through the cabin to begin with, partly to see if I could find any clue from the one who stayed in the cabin earlier, but also to see if there was a chance to get out. The door did not seem so difficult to get up with any kind of tool or wax it was not very difficult to get it up. Valves, that is, what we call crabs call windows, as said, were not. However, I devoted some interest to the valves that existed for ventilation and air conditioning. When I thought about it, the cabin was remarkably cool and cold air was pissed into the cabin all the time.
When I knocked on the ceiling, I realized that it was a ceiling that consisted of loose soundproofing tiles. It seemed as if there were a number of ventilation trunks above the ceiling, considering the roaring and rustling I could perceive. It was easy to lift a roof top and when I stacked my head, there was really a space half a meter high where there were both electrical wires, pipes and air drums. Probably, these cabins had been built below the water line afterwards and then built pipes and wires in this way. But it was dark up here so I could not see how it looked farther away.
I found an envelope in the middle of a closet, it was a curious person, the postmark was unclear at first sight, but it might be possible to show good light and magnifying glass. But now I heard someone was heading to the cabin so I threw myself down on the bunk and looked as relaxed as I could when the door opened.
"Supply", announced a crew member and brought a tray of food. No common dinner today apparently. I ate good appetite and then continued the exploration of the space above the ceiling. With some caution it was possible to crawl around, a couple of times I was close to putting a knee through the porous plates, but with the support of the supporting structure I managed to get up several meters. After a while, I heard voices from what could be the conference room.
It seemed at a board meeting without my involvement. Because Spanish was spoken, I did not understand much of what was said. But my name was mentioned and they also talked about Valerie and Boy. I realized that Valerie and Boy were infected in some way, but that could be something else. As mentioned, my Spanish was not good at all. But it was so interesting that I decided to try to check this out, they had actually promised me daily contact with the hostage.
I crept back to my cabin and lifted the phone to contact Maria.
"Hello Captivator," I began, "You promised to contact my former custody company."
"Yes, yes," she responded readily, "I'll try to fix that."
A while later she comes into my cabin.
"We have known a problem with communication," she said, "tomorrow, it should be done," said the captain. "
This might confirm my guess that they were infected, but I would in any case wait for the morning before I might be able to make new demands. Or maybe I would try to infect my trip, after all, my heart was in this treasure hunt primarily with Valerie. And Boy.
Maria did not want to let me out on the deck, she pointed out that it was getting late. On the other hand, she stayed in my cabin and entertained me. We did not play puppies without noughts and crosses, she was a hardener on l noughts and crosses and w
e won every other second for several hours.
Then suddenly a dull dun heard suddenly and the boat curled. We heard upset voices and the boat started on the side and seemed to be sinking.
"Fast, open the door," I cry.
"Can not, I have no key," Maria replies, throwing herself over the phone for help from outside. "The line is dead!"
"We will be soon too if you can not get the door," I say.
16. Cave people
Maria puts off an entire battery of Spanish curses mixed with "dynamite", "Bangkok" and "Thailand". She apparently believes that it is the competing treasure seekers who have come with an explosive charge. She may believe what she wants, but I think the first priority is to get out of the closed cabin. We knock and listen and try to get the door up and even though Maria, with a voice like a siren, tries to attract attention, nothing happens.
When the water begins to flow under the door and the tilt is in the same direction as the door, panic begins to spread in my hard-nosed nerves.
"Thank you," I suddenly think. "Maria, come here, we may be able to save us through the ceiling. There must be a way out this way."
Now you do not have to be afraid to hurt the roof, it's only to try and get up and running as fast as possible. As soon as Maria took the gallop, she took the wire and