Bluewater Quest

by Charles Dougherty

  Their colloquial American English was flawless. Children of refugees from the fall of the Shah, they had all grown up in the States. Recruited separately, they had been trained in Iran. Only after they had proven themselves on individual assignments had they been formed into a team.

  Hossein Rahimi had been one of their instructors. Their initial assignments had been back in the U.S., but Rahimi had kept an eye on them. He’d recognized that they could be far more valuable in the Arab nations, where their western ways would serve as camouflage. Even if the security forces in the Arab countries suspected they were spies, they would misjudge their affiliation. No one would believe that the two American couples were reporting to Tehran.

  "We got lucky, finding them so quickly," Ed said. "Now we need to get aboard that yacht and see what Everett has in the way of information. We’ll have to watch for them to go ashore, but we can’t carry out surveillance from here. We need a boat, here in the marina."

  "Security’s too tight," Ashley said, "if you’re thinking about setting up on one of the unoccupied boats."

  "There’s a bareboat charter fleet based right here in the marina," Leila said. "Must be 25 or 30 yachts. We saw them on our walk. We could rent one. Bert and I have certificates; we've done some sailing."

  "Great," Ed said. "Go for it, once we've finished eating. Ashley and I will head back to the guesthouse and retrieve our stuff. You guys didn't unpack yet, did you?"

  "No," Bert said. "Just dumped our bags in the room."

  "You tell a fascinating story," Dani said, as Shellie and Rick finished their presentation.

  "Thanks," Rick said, closing his laptop. "It's kind of you to say so. You're the first outsiders who have seen our pitch. But I'm a little worried that we may be overselling the Moorish discovery idea."

  "Why's that?" Liz asked. "I mean, you want it to be convincing, don't you?"

  Shellie traded looks with Rick, a slight frown wrinkling her brow. "We want it to be plausible, but not overly persuasive," she said.

  "You're losing me," Dani said. "You said you planned to use this to encourage local authorities to support your efforts. Doesn't that call for salesmanship?"

  "Salesmanship is the kiss of death in the academic world," Rick said. "We want to position ourselves as having open minds about what we might find."

  "Or not find," Shellie said. "We're striving for a kind of scientific impartiality. Objectivity, in other words."

  "We don't want to come across as treasure hunters, either," Rick said. "We're out to help determine what actually happened, not to sell a particular version of history."

  "But you want to get people excited, don't you?" Dani asked.

  "Well, yes," Rick said. "But excited by the intellectual challenge — new ideas. We both worry that we shouldn't create any particular expectation as to the outcome. We're looking for facts that would support an alternative history, not any specific alternative history."

  "If you think about it, this is a pretty inflammatory notion," Shellie said. "The idea that Muslims found the New World and Columbus was just exploiting their discovery won't be well received in a lot of places."

  "Because of the current wave of Islamophobia in the States, you mean?" Liz asked.

  "Well, that's certainly part of it," Rick said, "but it's deeper than just that."

  "There's the whole idea that western values shaped the fundamental structure of society in North and South America," Shellie said. "Our worldview is built on the assumption that the people who came here in the wake of Columbus had some inherent right to displace the social structures of the indigenous people."

  "Throwing Islam into the mix just complicates it further," Rick said. "We need to be careful to avoid appearing to push the idea that European Christians didn't 'discover' America, however you interpret 'discover.'"

  "So it's critical that we come across as objective," Shellie said.

  "I get that," Dani said, "but I think the attitudes of the people in the islands may be different from what you find on the mainland."

  "How so?" Rick asked, his eyebrows rising.

  "The islands were colonies until not long ago," Dani said. "There are still some remnants of colonialism, depending on who you ask. Don't forget, in most of the islands, the majority of the population isn't descended from European immigrants, either."

  "You mean the heritage of African slavery?" Shellie asked.

  "Not just that. Almost everybody here descended from slaves or indentured servants. Most of the indentured servants weren't of European extraction. A lot of them came from India, when it was still under British control. Until independence, the people down here felt like second-class citizens, and independence came during recent memory. There are plenty of people alive who remember the colonial days, and not with favor, in a lot of cases."

  "I see your point," Rick said. "But doesn't that mean they'd identify with the indigenous people, rather than any outsiders? Fellow victims of colonial oppression?"

  "Maybe so," Dani said. "But don't underestimate the pleasure they might find in seeing the notion of European discovery turned on its head. Whether they would have fared better under the Moors isn't what will shape their reactions, in my opinion."

  "Liz, you haven't said much. What do you think of Dani's points?" Rick asked.

  "I don't have Dani's background. She grew up with the people down here, so I trust her perceptions."

  "That's a valuable insight," Rick said. "I'm not sure it changes our need to present an objective approach to our search, but it's worth some further thought. Certainly, it's something we need to pay attention to. You're right, Dani. We were making some assumptions about our audience that may not apply."

  Dani nodded. "I don't have the connections here that I have in some of the other islands, but as we make our way north, I'll introduce you to some people who lived under colonial rule. You can see how they feel about the notion that Muslims got here way before Columbus."

  "I'll look forward to that," Rick said.

  "Me, too," Shellie said. "Interesting points, Dani."

  "Speaking of making our way north," Rick said, "we need to talk about the map fragment. You don't by chance recognize the island?"

  Dani and Liz both laughed.

  "Well, I had to ask."

  "Sure," Dani said. "Don't misinterpret our laughter. It's the kind of thing any sailor might sketch in a logbook, I think. Not intended for navigation, at least not in any long-range sense, anyway. Just something to jog their memory about local features."

  "You mentioned there was some text that referenced it," Liz said.

  "Yes, but Dani's comment is on target. The text doesn't lead you to a certain island. It deals with where the mullah I mentioned had set up camp ashore, relative to the indentation in the shoreline. We were hoping the shape of the shoreline might look familiar to you."

  "It does," Dani said. "Too familiar. Given that we're missing the outline of the island itself, it's hard to narrow it down. There's not an indication of the orientation of the map, even. We can't assume that north is up; there were other conventions over the centuries."

  "The text does give us a clue there, though," Rick said. "There's a description of the sun rising over the mountains, and burning off the fog over the harbor during the morning. It's almost poetic. But it does indicate that the shoreline in the fragment is on the western side of the island. Does that help?"

  "A little. The leeward sides of most of the islands have a lot of similarities from one to the next, though. I'm sure you noticed that the sketch could fit this very harbor, allowing for the lack of detail in the drawing and the possibility of erosion and silting over centuries of storms."

  Rick smiled. "Yes. The shape is a rough match. There were cliffs, though, according to the text. The camp was near the base of one that was of middling height. Mean anything?"

  Dani shook her head. "Rocky cliffs? Or clay? You find both kinds. The clay ones are prone to mudslides, so they aren't as permanent."
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  "It doesn't say. There's mention of an overhang, if that helps."

  "Not really. You find those with either kind of cliff, usually where they've been undercut by the sea. They're death traps; they're prone to collapse. But they're attractive because of the shelter they offer. The locals call them caves, sometimes."

  "They're prone to collapse?" Shellie asked. "Even the ones under rock?"

  "Less so than clay," Dani said, "but yes. Most of the islands are volcanic in origin, so much of the rock is porous."

  "So you don't think it's Grenada?" Shellie asked. "In the sketch?"

  "I don't know. Based on the rough shape, it could be. When you approach this harbor from the west, some people might describe the headlands as cliffs. It could also be any of a number of other islands to the north. In fact, it could be any one of several different stretches of shoreline on a given island. The text is going to be critical, I think."

  "We should let you two read it," Rick said.

  "It's in English?" Liz asked.

  "Yes. We had it translated," Rick said.

  "That's good for us," Dani said. "Do you read Arabic?"

  "Some," Rick said. "I had trouble with this, though. It's archaic. The people who provided it to us had it translated by experts. Why?"

  "Nuance may be critical," Dani said. "Will you be able to consult with whoever translated the original?"

  "I think so, via email, but it'll be cumbersome."

  "We may be able to narrow things down a bit before you do that," Dani said. "As long as we can ask if we need clarification."

  "I'm sure we can do that. I'll pull up the text file on my laptop for you. It'll take you a while to read the whole thing. Any chance you could recommend a good tour guide? Shellie and I could use the time while you're reading to get better oriented ashore."

  "We have just the person," Liz said. "I'll call him and set it up. How soon would you like to go?"

  "Oh, give me a few minutes to organize the files for you. Say any time in the next hour? Okay with you, Shellie?"

  "Yes, of course," Shellie said.

  Liz nodded and picked up her cellphone.

  6

  "Looks like they're heading out to dinner," Ashley Stevens said. She and Leila were sitting in the shade of the cockpit awning on Aquila, the 44-foot boat they had chartered earlier. Ed and Bert had walked over to the grocery store across the street from the marina to buy provisions for a few days.

  Their plan was to use Aquila as a mobile base of operations. It was an inconspicuous way to follow Vengeance, the yacht that the Everetts were using. A typical bareboat, Aquila was nondescript. With her ubiquitous white fiberglass hull and blue canvas trim, she was indistinguishable from all the other cookie-cutter yachts in the bareboat charter fleets that were based on many of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean.

  "Should we wait until after sunset?" Leila asked.

  "I don't think it'll make any difference," Ashley said. "The docks are lighted anyway. Probably best if we do it during the dinner hour. There'll be fewer people around. Besides, there's no telling how long we have."

  "Makes sense to me. You going to do it? Or should I?"

  "I'll do it," Ashley said. "You keep a lookout; call my cellphone if you see anything. I wish we knew what we're looking for, though."

  "Documents from the Saudis," Leila said.

  "Yeah, but that could mean anything. I'd hate to have to stand there and scan a whole sheaf of papers with my phone. That could take forever."

  "You could steal them and return them," Leila said, "but if they came back before you were done, they might miss them. Then they'd know something was up."

  "Maybe I can just get a good sample so we can see what's there. Then we can refine what we want to scan and go back another time. Or maybe he's paper-free. I'd have everything on my computer, if it were me."

  "You got a thumb drive with Bypass on it?" Leila asked. Bypass was a utility developed by Quds Force's cyberespionage group to unlock password-protected computers.

  Ashley smirked. "Of course. That would be too easy, wouldn't it, if he had it all in digital form?"

  Leila shrugged. "You ready? They just got in a taxi. That's a good sign that they'll be gone for a while."

  "Yeah. I'm on it," Ashley said, standing up and stepping onto the dock.

  "Break a leg," Leila said. She watched as Ashley ambled down the dock, pausing every few steps, pretending to admire the boats tied up between Aquila and Vengeance.

  When she reached Vengeance, Ashley turned onto the finger pier without pausing or looking around. Her hand in her pocket as if fumbling for keys, she swung a leg over the lifelines as most sailors did, ignoring the boarding gate in the lifelines. She'd look right at home if anybody saw her.

  Leila nodded her approval and made a quick check to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied that Ashley was unobserved, she looked back at Vengeance. Ashley was crouched in the cockpit, bending over the companionway doors. Leila grinned as she saw Ashley straighten up and swing the doors open. Whatever kind of lock they had, it was no match for Ashley's picks. If anybody had seen her, they would have thought she used a key.

  Ashley paused on the companionway ladder and looked around. Leila gave her a surreptitious thumb up and turned her attention to keeping a lookout.

  "Go ahead and get us a table," Dani said. "I'll just be a few minutes, but Les Caribes will be packed if you don't go now. I'll catch up with you; just order me a rum punch."

  "What's wrong?" Liz asked.

  "I forgot something; I need to check on why the bilge pump was cycling this afternoon."

  "Won’t it keep?" Liz asked.

  "I'll only be a few minutes. I'm worried that the discharge hose on the forward head is cracked. The intervals between pump cycles were getting shorter and shorter. I meant to check it earlier. I want to close the seacock, just in case. If that hose lets go, I'm not sure the bilge pump will keep up with the leak. Go ahead."

  Liz nodded and climbed into the taxi with Rick and Shellie. "We'd like to go to Les Caribes, on Grand Anse Beach," she said, as the driver closed the door behind her.

  "What's up with Dani?" Shellie asked. "Shouldn't we just wait for her?"

  Liz repeated what Dani had told her, explaining that there was a risk of flooding the bilge. She didn't mention the possibility of sinking, not wanting to alarm the Everetts.

  "Won't that take her some time?" Rick asked.

  "She's not going to try to fix it," Liz said. "She'll close the seacock; that’s like a valve where the hose goes through the hull below the waterline. That way, if the hose splits, no seawater will come in. That'll only take her a few minutes."

  "We could postpone dinner," Shellie said.

  "Not at this place; they serve at seven. That's it. They open for cocktails at 5:30. It's first come, first served, and the tables fill up as soon as they open the door. It'll be all right. She should only be ten minutes behind us, if that."

  "Well, if you say so," Shellie said. "But she might miss the sunset. I guess you two see spectacular sunsets every day, though."

  "We do," Liz said, smiling.

  "How much of the material did you get through while we were on our tour?" Rick asked.

  "Most of it," Liz said. "Some parts were slow going. It wasn't easy to follow in several places."

  "Right," Rick said. "I agree. I might be able to help with that. I think it was tough to translate, and some things probably just couldn't be put into English. I've run into that before with material as old as that. Do you have specific questions?"

  "Yes, some. But we should wait until Dani joins us, to avoid your having to explain everything twice."

  "Sure," Rick said. "Looks like we're here, anyhow. How much do we owe you?" he asked the driver.

  "Jus' wait, mon. You pay me when we get back to the marina. Enjoy your meal; this place the bes' cookin' around', 'cept for my wife. And Liz. But this is special. I be right here when you finish, no problem."

&nbs
p; Once they were seated and had ordered drinks, Liz asked, "How was the island tour?"

  "Great," Shellie said. "But I got the feeling we just scratched the surface."

  "You did," Liz said. "Grenada's a big island. It takes at least a full day to get a good feel for it, and even then, you won't see everything. I asked Felix to focus on the leeward side, since that's where your sketch map shows the Moors’ base."

  "That's what he told us," Shellie said. "He did a good job. We drove up the west coast and along the north shore, past a place he called Caribs' Leap. Do you think that story is true? About the Caribs?"

  Liz shrugged. "I don't know, but almost every island has a cliff called Caribs' Leap. The story's always the same. Rather than surrender to be enslaved, they all jumped to their deaths. It must have happened somewhere, at least once."

  "Yeah," Rick said. "Who knows? There's usually some substance behind tales like that. We talked with him a little about what Dani said, too."

  "About the colonial days? Or about the idea of Muslims coming before Columbus?"

  "Both. I'd say Dani nailed that one, at least in Felix's case."

  Shellie glanced at her watch. "Speaking of Dani, it's been 20 minutes. Should we call her?"

  "Sure. She'll probably walk in while I’m calling, but why not?" Liz took her cellphone from her purse and made the call.

  "We're just checking on you," she said. "Call me when you get this." Putting the phone on the table, she said, "It went to voicemail. That's unusual."

  "Is she one of those people who can't stand to miss a call?" Shellie asked.

  "No, but she always checks caller i.d. She would have answered if she saw the call came from me."

  "You sound worried," Rick said.

  "I am, a little bit. It really shouldn't have taken her but a minute, unless something went wrong."

  "Do you need to go?" Shellie asked.

  "I hate to do that to you," Liz said.

  "Nonsense," Shellie said. "I'm worried, too. Can we skip dinner and do this another time?"