“Not as much as I’d like. Being a father takes up too much of my time. With the twins, I now have six children.”
“Six! In eight years? You have been busy.”
He laughed and said, “Yes. But children are a blessing and I would not have it any other way. How about you, Aron? Any special women in your life?”
An image of Shannon wearing that tight black dress sprang into my mind. “Nope. Life’s too complicated as it is.”
“Yes, that is true. But women bring such pleasure and peace to our lives, no?”
“I guess. Well, Anand, I’ve got a couple more radio checks to make. It was good catching up with you. Tell Nisha I said hello and congratulations on the twins.”
“Thank you, my friend. Please do not be a stranger. You know that you are always welcome in our home.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll wait until your babies are a little older. I was never very good with kids at that age. North Point, over and out.”
“Over and out,” he repeated.
I pressed the DISCONNECT icon and the video screen disappeared. The communications panel returned to the list, but the other two addresses that had been green, Iru Fushi and an MDF patrol boat, had turned red. Connections weren’t that stable out here. North Point was just barely within range of the Dhonakulhi tower. Still, it was weird that the MDF patrol boat was now out of range. They usually kept a patrol running in this zone and those boats had some pretty powerful amplified antennas. Maybe it was interference from the storm that was moving in. Storms always played havoc with the VHF frequencies.
I thought about making a snack before bed, but I opted to sleep instead. No sooner had I laid my head on the makeshift sleeping bag than I fell asleep.
In my dream, the food dispenser was beeping. Kelly stood by the stove cooking some of her famous French toast. She was beautiful, exactly as I remembered her. As she reached out to silence the beeping dispenser, I tried to tell her not to do it. But no words came out of my mouth. I watched helplessly as she pushed the button and I woke up.
My eyes were met by darkness. I lay for a moment remembering where I was and trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from. It didn’t take me long to remember. I rolled over and tapped my data mat. It displayed a ghostly green image of a boat with at least three men on board. They were headed straight for North Point. From the video, I could tell that they were only a few hundred feet out. I didn’t have much time.
I overrode the alarm and switched to the communications panel. Dhonakulhi was still the only green name on the list. I pressed it. It showed CONNECTING.
“Come on, come on.”
Finally, a sleepy Anand appeared on the screen.
“Anand, I need your help. There’s a boat about to land on North Point and I can’t connect to the MDF.”
“What? Aron, is that you? You are breaking up. Can you repeat?”
“I said there is a boat heading straight for me. It’s about to come ashore and I can’t reach the MDF.”
The screen flickered and Anand’s image disappeared. The list reappeared and everything was red. I went over my options. There weren’t many.
Option one was fighting them off. Unfortunately, the only weapon I had was the spear gun and it wasn’t that effective unless you were really close. Besides, I’d only get one shot and there three of them.
Option two was swimming to Bandos, but that wasn’t much of an option either. In these strong currents, chances were that I’d be swept out to sea or chopped up on the reef before I made it there.
The third and final option wasn’t really an option: make some kind of deal with them. But the thought passed through my head faster than Mohammad’s mango juice passed through my bowels. Others had tried to reason with them. Rick had tried. There was no way I would let them get their hands on me.
I checked the communications panel one last time, but all the addresses on the list were still red. Time was up. I selected for Option two, swim to Bandos.
I stripped down to my underwear, but kept my t-shirt on. Although hypothermia was a risk, I knew that the jeans would weigh me down.
I folded up my data mat and shoved it into the crotch of my underwear. It was uncomfortable, but I couldn’t let them get ahold of it. With my data mat, they would know everything about everyone in the Maldives, including where they lived.
On the way out the door, I grabbed the spear gun and snorkeling equipment. Crouching down, I worked my way back to the flat rock in the dark. I prayed that I didn’t land face down in the tide pool. That’s all I needed, a swirly. I made it to the rock and stepped into the tide pool.
I walked out into the shallow water of the coral outcropping, When I reached the edge, I stopped and pulled the rubber swim fins over my cut up feet. Then, placing the mask over my eyes and nose, I grabbed my spear gun and stepped off of the reef.
I swam in the opposite direction from where the boat was coming. About twenty-five feet out, I could make out the roar of their diesel hybrid motor over the sound of the waves. It was hard to judge in the dark exactly where the sound came from. I swam as hard as I could. How far had I gone? I couldn’t tell, so I stopped and turned around. Lifting the mask onto my forehead, I struggled to see if they had landed on the island. There was a half-moon in the sky, but it was hidden behind some clouds. I could barely make out the silhouette of the shack. But after a few minutes, my eyes adjusted to the light and I could make out two men up on the observation deck. The sound of the water made it impossible to hear what, if anything, they were saying. But I watched helplessly as they ripped the cameras off the posts.
Bastards!
One of the guys turned on a flashlight. The silvery blue light of the ULEDs washed over the island. They were looking for me. He pointed the light over the water and swept it back and forth. I watched the light glide over the waves farther away from me.
Bandos was behind me… at least I thought it was. There was no way I would know until I was much closer. There was also another reef or two between me and Bandos, so I’d have to swim through the narrow zigzag channel. If I miscalculated, I would be dragged across the reefs and ground into fish food. Of course if I went back to North Point, I would be tortured and killed. I decided to take my chances with the reefs.
I lowered my goggles back over my eyes and nose. Turning, I began to swim away. The current wasn’t too bad yet, but it would be once I got around the next reef. I did the side stroke, since it was the only way to swim while holding on to the spear gun. This was nuts and my nerves were shot. I kept waiting to smash into a reef. My muscles burned, but I pushed on… stroke after stroke.
After a few minutes, I stopped again to catch my breath. My heart pounded wildly. I couldn’t tell if it was from swimming or from the fear of being caught. Turning back, I saw the light on the boat. It was heading my way. They must’ve seen me.
I started to swim again, faster this time. I glanced over my shoulder after each stroke, keeping an eye on the boat. It turned away, so I stopped to see what they were doing. Someone in the boat panned a large floodlight over the water. Maybe they hadn’t seen me. The boat was closer now, maybe a hundred feet away. Suddenly, it turned back towards me. I couldn’t catch my breath. There was no point trying to outrun it. I floated there helpless, watching the boat as it closed in on me. It kept turning back and forth. Fifty feet away now. I could tell there was only one son of a bitch on board. The other two must still be on the island.