“I guess it was just about the time Tilhar’s innards were being cooked by a ninety-eight-pound, blond-haired, Earth woman with a piece of telenium. I broke into his office and took all the logbooks and all the data and records I could find about the illegal business they have been conducting. I think the Viennin government wanted it to build a coalition against the Tisht and possibly the Kurun. From what I understand, they have combined with other dissenting members of the Baraza Zima to form an alliance they are calling the Kasadu. War is coming and business won’t matter.”
“I know about the Kasadu. But that seems a bit dramatic. Instead of just getting away you decide to go to the hanger and shoot the place up?” Dag said throwing his hands in the air.
“I am not really sure why I went to the hanger…to be honest. My gut instincts. There was the woman, I helped her and did what I did. Besides, they've been ripping us off and attacking our ships for decades. I didn’t feel bad disabling them. They deserve far worse,” Honoré snickered.
“Don’t be surprised if they try to disable us!” Dag shot back.
“They did. We were attacked when we passed out of international waters. Ten Schwan dropped down on us. Put Santini in the Alum,” Honoré said.
“He died for what you did?” Dag asked in an accusatory tone.
“Well, that’s what I thought. But, no, he was able to eject and get to shore. Some cuts, burns,” the comment struck a nerve with Honoré as his temper was wearing thin. For a brief second, he began to walk away and leave.
“So, we’ve lost one ship so far? They will come for us all eventually. So, you brought the girl to SINSTER? Then what?” Dag persisted.
“You know that the Tish have been raiding your claim and have stolen tons of our telenium mined on the Sabal Moon. We caught them. They disguised their ships to look like ours and was flying right on in and taking what they wanted. Once I realized what was going on, I followed one of the cargo ships to Onsan, on Isfahan right to Tilhar’s base of operations. We watched them for several weeks as they moved one shipment after another. Pretty bold. But then again, he isn’t afraid of us. It seemed that there needed to be some retribution.
“Then we decided to take if further and followed them to Earth. It seemed odd at first. Going to Earth with a load of telenium. Then we realized that they have resumed the trafficking of humans. They were putting telenium charges on the ocean floors in fault lines. We went behind them and collected most of the charges they had set out and sold them. That was the initial reason I contacted Cyperien Lejon with SINSTER. We gave them information, they offered the deal and I took it,” Honoré said.
“There are rumors that some Tisht vessels were attacked and destroyed on Earth. What do you know about that?” After the revelation he had just received, Dag needed to ask the question but dreaded the answer which he already knew in his heart.
“We had no choice,” he replied without hesitation, “they were about to attack a Naval fleet on Earth.”
Dag lost his temper. Rather than striking Honoré, he picked up a piece of metal pipe off the ground and began to beat a bench seat that was carved out of rare slag stone. Sections of the armrest and backing crashed to the ground as the pipe was muscled through it. When he was out of breath Dag threw the pipe as far as he could nearly smashing a window in the Erim, “Why does that matter to you?” he yelled. “Now, everything will fall to Ningal…and she is every bit as ruthless as Tilhar was. Maybe they fired on you by some weird coincidence, I don’t know. But when she finds out it was you, they will come after all of us. Did you not learn anything from the stories of Taras?”
“Initially we were just tracking them attempting to find out what they were up to. Things changed when we saw them putting deposits of the telenium in fault lines on the ocean floor. If those deposits would have been charged and detonated, it would have created tidal waves and earthquakes that would cause massive damage and death. Once we realized what they were planning, we covered the areas where we had traced them and retrieved as much of the telenium that we could find and access. Besides, the telenium remnants can be traced back to the Sable Moon and then to you, or us, so we did our best to retrieve as much as possible. We had no problem selling it in Aldevi and Bo Nen. I’d say your empire just grew by two percent of its previous value. Millions of marks are on the ship.”
“You just don’t get it,” Dag snapped almost defeated.
“It was the right thing to do. Innocent earth men and women would have died,” he responded. “Besides, we have to stop them. Econ and Earth are on a parallel orbit. We share the same solar system. The Tisht are in the Dadli system. What happens to us if they blow Earth apart or mess up its orbit. What does that do to our solar system or Econ? That is a potential death sentence. The Dadli system will not be affected by this.
“I also thought that an intergalactic incident, such as this, would be impossible for the Universal Council to ignore. Another reason why I went to them. They will have to investigate this matter and then take it up with the Tisht. It will be nice to have them helping us with the Tisht. That may help prevent an all-out attack on any of your interests if for some reason they should figure anything out. I am sure that they will want the girl, but she is in Viennin. They may want to attack us, but I think we have an ally. We made sure that the Council has the proper information,” Honoré said trying to convince Dag.
“You are playing a dangerous game. Why couldn’t you just leave Earth alone and let the Council deal with it? That is their responsibility. Did you have to be a hero?” Dag put his hand on the damaged bench and intended to sit for a second. A little pressure from his weight caused the center of the bench to give way and crash to the ground. Dag nearly stumbled and Honoré reached out to steady him. Dag shrugged off his help.
“They would have killed thousands of Earth people. They were going to slaughter the men on those ships. They were defenseless. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Besides, our ships are faster, far superior, there is no way they could take us underwater. We prevented an incident and bought enough time to recover some of the telenium. If saving untold numbers of lives cost me mine…then that is fine. I can live with that. Can I ask you a question? Is slavery right?” Honoré asked.
“It doesn’t affect us…why should we care?” Dag snapped back.
“Has it ever bothered you that they put such a high value on the Earth people. We look a lot like them. What if, one day, when the Earth is gone or uninhabited, where will they go for slaves? Will they come after us?” Honoré argued.
“Don’t be stupid,” Dag said mockingly turning away from him.
“We cannot stand up to the nations of the Universe if they decide that they want to invade Econ!” Honoré yelled back sanding up to Dag.
His head turned and faced Honoré surprised by his tone, “I don’t need you to lecture me. I don’t need you to be a hero. I don’t need you to be a humanitarian, I don’t need you to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong without consulting me first. I don’t need you making irrational decisions! Just because your name sounds like honor, that doesn’t mean you have to be a hero! We’re not out to save the universe, we're here to live the best life we can and make as much money as we can and leave the next generation with more than what we had. And you screwed it all up!
“I should have expected this when I showed you mercy. No good deed ever goes unpunished and now this will all come back on me. I know where the soft spot in your heart for Earth comes from. Has it ever occurred to you why you are as tall as the women and shorter than most of the men?” Dag said.
Honoré considered Dag’s rhetoric for a second and answered, “Of course.”
“While you were not taken from Earth, you were birthed by an Earth woman. Apparently, you are more Earthling than Econian,” Dag paused then continued, “no one ever took up for you but me and now your saving everyone and have put our…MY Erim at risk? They will figure it out. Thanks to you we are now at war with the Tisht. You must denou
nce the Borghild name! You must go from here and never return before I do something that I may regret later.”
The comment was meant to be a dagger but was less injurious than Dag intended. As a man, he respected his faoer but had long since lost his fear of him. He didn’t want to bring disrespect or war to the Erim, but no longer saw things as Dag had. His thoughts and desires were tugging at his soul and were moving him in a different direction and he couldn’t help it. Honoré turned to the Stur Craft and opened a lower cargo bay. He retrieved fifteen bags of coin and dropped them on the ground at Dag’s feet. Without any verbal response, he turned toward the vessel and climbed in.
Chapter 7
Since Phil picked him up at the dock on Sugar Beach in front of the resort, all Logan could think about was Ayla and the weird incident the night before. The excitement of the hunt, the possibilities of what they might find, the potential of learning that their hard work would pay off, all went by the wayside. He was distracted and couldn’t help but wonder what was going on back at the resort. Did the stalker supernaturally return? Was he still following Ayla, or, was she safe? Despite knowing very little about her and deciding to keep his distance, her wellbeing was heavy on his mind. He hoped that she would be in constant company with members of the wedding party.
Logan had yet to tell anyone, even Phillip, about what he had witnessed since he could not make heads or tails out of it. Logan didn’t know if the man was alive, or even if it was a real man. There was no logical explanation. For the sake of self-preservation due to any possible liability if the stalker turned up dead, he kept everything to himself. There were no reports or rumblings of a drowned guest that morning over breakfast. Everyone in the restaurant carried on as if there wasn’t a concern in the world. Logan would need to wait before he entrusted anyone with what occurred by the jetty.
Was the stalker part fish, or just some freak of nature that could hold his breath for an unnatural length of time? He didn’t swim but had walked into the water standing fully erect as if weighed down to the seafloor exhibiting negative buoyancy. It was enough to drive his analytical mind to want to know more. This made the stranger’s interest in Ayla more intriguing to the point of where he reversed his hands-off approach to the situation and had even considered canceling the morning dive. Too many women across the world were taken advantage of and often murdered by lunatics, some that had seemed far more normal than this guy. This man may have the potential to be much more than the average threat. At the last second, Logan settled with continuing the dive. He hoped that she would be safe during the day but would be very anxious to return and see her again. Logan would have no option but to speak with the stalker if he returned to the resort.
“Could you ask for better conditions?” Phil said yelling over the humming of the twin 300 horsepower Yamaha outboard motors.
The thirty-foot V hull was sliding effortlessly across the Caribbean Sea. Logan turned his purple Louisiana State University hat backward and nodded in agreement. The sky was clear and the water was almost as smooth as glass. The only question was the strength of the currents and the depts of the water at the locations where the side-scan sonar had pinged. As if tired of the sound of the outboards, Marco, the boat’s captain, dialed up the radio. Isn’t It Time by The Babys was now in competition with the noise of the motors. Marco was bobbing his head and doing his best to belt out the lyrics as John Waite had originally recorded them but could only qualify for very low-quality karaoke. It made the two men and Maria, Marco’s wife, laugh. It was a welcomed distraction.
He looked toward the location of the beach on the backside of the jetty as if faced the open water. The boat motored in the same general direction as the strange lights of what Logan assumed was either some sort of underwater craft or a fantastic hallucination resulting from a brief mental break down. The speed at which the unknown vessel had traveled was perplexing. After several fruitless hours spent researching, he could think of nothing he had ever encountered in his professional life or known to man, that could move at those speeds in spite of the resistance offered by the seawater. Logan considered the possibility of hiding out on the jetty that night and waiting to see if the man and the unknown light would return. He wanted to tell Phil but decided to keep it to himself until he could better understand what was going on. The woman, the weirdo, and the underwater vessel…sounded more like the title of a movie, but this was his current reality.
The churning props on the outboards simmered down and the dive boat gave into the resistance of the water and reduced speed. “We’re at the first mark,” Phil said. The boat floated for a minute as they determined the direction the breeze and current would direct the boat. At Marco’s command, Phillip tossed the anchor line and tugged on it as the motors were put into reverse. When he was satisfied at the angle of the line and strength of the anchor, he looped it to the cleat.
“You were right, couldn’t ask for better conditions. The water is like glass and it’s about as sunny and clear as you could ask for. Not a cloud in sight. What’s our depth?” Logan asked while looking over the gunnel.
“Hundred and ten. The ledge is about a hundred and fifty feet to the starboard.”
“Wow, that’s a little close. Well, with the gear we have, there’s not going to be much bottom time. We may only get two dives in today. Let’s hope we find the needle in the haystack,” Logan replied, “an ROV would be nice.”
“I brought the underwater drone. The current shouldn’t be too bad. We can deploy it,” Phil noted as he pulled on the Farmer John wet suit.
“Sure,” Logan replied. But, in reality, he hoped to get the dive over and get back to the dock as soon as possible. Until the issue with the man was resolved, it was going to be his primary concern.
The two men moved to the platform on the rear of the boat, strapped on their buoyancy compensators, pulled on their masks and fins, and stepped off into the crystal clear water. Logan preferred the traditional mask and regulator to the modern full-face respirators. Despite his opposition, being able to communicate remotely was imperative to making the most out of their bottom time, so he conceded to Phillip’s suggestion and pulled the bulky mask over his head.
They gave each other a thumbs up indicating they were ready to descend and began releasing the remnant air in their BC’s until achieving negative buoyancy. Within seconds they were below the surface descending and scanning the Caribbean floor for odd shapes or obvious unnatural elements of the reef area. The clarity of the water made the reef seem as if it was only in eighty feet of water, but he knew it was deeper. Logan noted the current’s direction and the two experienced divers kicked their long fins and began the dive moving against it with metal detectors at the ready.
Logan estimated that he would have about twenty minutes of bottom time when he leveled off. He continued to scan the floor looking for anything unnatural, straight lines, odd shapes or irregularities in the coral. Despite the depth, the quality of the water allowed for minimal effect of the sunlight which resulted in subtle distortions of the colors of the coral and aquatic life. Purple and yellow sponges, fire coral, elkhorn, and fan coral were in abundance. A blue parrotfish was using its powerful beak to break apart barnacles that had grown on a piece of dead elkhorn coral. Hovering just off the sandy floor, a four-foot-long Nassau grouper stared at the intruders. Above them a large barracuda hovered with its exposed teeth and, as they always seemed to do, followed them from a safe distance.
The reef was healthy and thriving. Logan tapped the valve on his buoyancy compensator allowing in enough air to give him a more neutral buoyancy making it easier to stay off the coral which prevented damaging it and messing up the visibility. Without disturbing the small reef, he hovered over and moved the metal detector back and forth eagerly anticipating the beeping sound that indicated he had found something.
After eighty feet, he moved around a large piece of brain coral and realized that he had reached the edge of the underwater structure. He descended
to the seafloor and began to scan the sand around the perimeter of the formation. The current was weak and Logan decided to swim a little farther from the structure and closer to the sea wall when the metal detector started beeping. He waved it back and forth and homed in on the area with the strongest signal. Once he found the location, he began to fan the sand away. “Hey Phil, I don’t want to pull you from what you are doing, but I may have a hit over here. It may be just trash, but I am not sure,” he announced.
The corner of a wooden box became visible. Logan retrieved the knife strapped to the side of his calf and slowly pushed the sand away digging around the object. Within a few seconds, the top of a twelve-inch-long wooden box was exposed. On it was an odd inscription of an oval with a V in the middle of it. “I’m not sure what that symbol is, but it isn’t from the Verano. It’s still interesting. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
He adjusted the camera on his chest and made a short video of the find before moving further. He fanned the sand away from the box and noticed that one of the panels that made up the side facing toward him was gone allowing sand to fill the interior. Judging by the condition of the box, it didn’t appear as if it had been in the water for an extended period of time, but it was broken. There was no visible evidence of decay and barnacles had yet to begin to form on it. Logan’s initial assessment was that it was debris from a passing cruise ship and nothing that was associated with the shipwreck.
Logan wondered if he was wasting time and valuable air. He cautiously picked the box up and fanned the sand from the inside exposing a rough piece of silver metal that consumed most of the interior of the container. It no longer seemed like it was a waste of time. He turned the box over and held the metal in his hand. “Wow! Maybe we did find something here. This looks like a huge piece of silver,” he noted, “it’s about a foot long and two inches thick.”
Universal Code Page 12
