Henry nodded vigorously.
David said, “I know this sounds very unusual, but…”
Nathan held up his hand. “Unusual is picking up two Americans in the middle of the Pacific. What you’re telling me is a plot out of one of them crazy books that my nephew’s always reading.”
David and Henry exchanged nervous glances.
The ship captain closed his eyes as he spoke. “Still, this has been a strange time at sea for me. I usually have good luck. Catch lots of fish. This time, though, my luck’s been rotten. Maybe I help you two out, it will turn around, eh?”
Henry was back to nodding and smiling.
“But tell me, how do I know you two aren’t wrapped up in something criminal yourselves? How do I know you aren’t running drugs or girls or some such rubbish?”
Henry said, “I wish to God that we were.”
Nathan frowned.
Henry squirmed. “I guess what I mean is that I wish that was our only problem. I don’t mean additionally. I mean like as a substitute problem. For our actual problem. That problem being… the sophisticated Chinese criminals that are after us.”
David said, “Uh… what he means to say is that we’re in a lot of trouble, but not for something that we did wrong. Please, Captain, we need your help. We just have to get to a safe place without alerting anyone. Please believe me when I say that Henry and I could be taken prisoner or worse. And you and your men could get caught up in it.”
“And what is it exactly? What might we get caught up in?”
David said, “We can’t say.”
Nathan scoffed.
He looked at each of them and shook his head. He didn’t like not knowing exactly what they were running for. But he could tell that these men were harmless. Nathan knew the sea and he knew people. He could trust these men at their word, he was sure of it.
“I’m going to have to make sure my men don’t call home and blabber about any of this. That’s all these kids want to do nowadays is text on their phones and apps about what they’re doing. Nobody does anything. They just text or app people about it.”
The two men sat waiting.
Nathan said, “The best way to do this is to secure all phone and email usage until we get back to Darwin. They’ll be angry. The only way to send email is on my own computer, and I’ve got the only two satellite phones locked up in my room. I’ll talk to my engineer. And to my nephew, Byron. They’re the only other ones with access to my quarters who might come in here when I’m not around. The engineer’s a good man. He’ll oblige. And my dumbshit nephew will do what I bloody well tell him. What do you want me to tell my men? About your situation?”
David said, “Anything you want. We’ll stay out of the way and help out however we can. We just need to reach land safely.” David hesitated. “And it would be best if no one knew about our entry into whatever port you drop us off in.”
Nathan said, “Well… now this isn’t a ferry boat. We’re heading to our homeport in Darwin. I need to go straight there and get this boat fixed. We’ve got room and food, but I’m not stopping and wasting time with drop-offs. My company’d have my ass.”
David said, “How long until—”
“Twelve days, as long as nothing else breaks on this gal. She hasn’t been very friendly of late, however.”
Henry said, “I’m sorry, but are we still talking about the boat?”
David looked disappointed.
“You gents in a hurry?”
David said, “We’ll be fine. Thanks.”
Nathan tapped his fingers on the table some more. “As for dropping you off without anyone knowing, I think I can figure out a way. I’ve got a friend who works the tugs. He’ll be good for a lift, no questions asked.”
David said, “Captain, thank you so much. You have no idea how much we owe you.”
“Well, like I said, maybe this’ll all come back my way in the form of good luck. If not, you come pick me up next time I’m stuck out on the water, eh?”
David and Henry walked out of the captain’s cabin and down the stairs to the galley. Through the lone oval window they could see that it was dark out now. They sat down across from each other in one of the three booth-style tables where the crew ate their meals.
Henry said, “Things are looking up.”
“For us…”
“You worried about everyone back on the island?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Of course. But like you said before, this is the best way to help them. It wouldn’t make much sense to get all this way and get caught.”
David said, “Yeah. I know in my head that we’re doing the right thing. If we hear a helicopter out here, there’s nowhere to run. No stormy night to give us cover. But it’s still hard to leave people behind. And it’s harder still not to ask the captain to borrow his phone and call my wife.”
Henry said, “You might get to talk to her for a moment, but that could also be the last call you make. And you could put her in danger.”
“Because they might be able to triangulate our position?”
“Yup.”
“I really want to call her.”
“Let it go, brother. It’s the best thing for everyone. I know it sucks.”
David said, “Yeah…”
“Now remind me, what was it you were telling me about transponders on boats?”
David said, “Lena’s men saw us go out to sea. Maybe she assumes we drowned. Maybe not. But if she wanted to recapture us, a good place to do it would be while we’re stuck on a commercial fishing trawler for twelve days. Now this fishing trawler has got a transponder. And just like every other navy in the world, the Chinese Navy tracks all of those transponders so that they know where all of the commercial shipping traffic is. If the Chinese version of the NSA intercepted our satellite call, they would be able to triangulate our position and get one of those helicopters or warships on top of us in a flash. And if we turned off the transponder, that might look just as suspicious. Either way, they would be able to find us.”
Henry said, “So what’s the plan from here?”
“Well, now we know we’re going to Darwin, Australia. You ever been there?”
“No. Although one time I took a cruise to the Galapagos.”
“Close, but I’m not sure that will help. Anyway, we agree that we’ll make calls once we get there.”
Henry, getting into serious mode again, said, “Alright, let’s say they are monitoring all calls that they think we might make. Family, work, hell, maybe even some government or news station numbers. The NSA has programs that can scan for word patterns and hone in on the right voice or combination of words and flag that one for someone to monitor it. Same thing for email, but that’s easier since it’s just words.”
David said, “And we think China can do that.”
“Based on what we’ve learned on the island, I think it is a given.”
“How do we know that they won’t be waiting for us once we get there?”
“We don’t. But if they know we’re on this boat, why wouldn’t they just apprehend us out here, where there are no witnesses? I think if we make it to Darwin, it’s a moderately safe assumption that Lena and company won’t know we’re there until we try to communicate.”
“Darwin’s reasonably far from China. I think we’ll have a window before anyone tries to come and get us. So what will Lena do when she learns that we’re there?”
Henry said, “I think she’ll send some henchmen to come grab us — or worse. Let’s call it a six-hour flight from there to China. I’d have to check for sure, but that sounds about right for now. Plus two hours for the Chinese SWAT team that they send after us to get on a plane and find us in Australia. That gives us eight hours from our first phone call to when we’re in danger.”