by Scotty Cade
Jack looked at Dona. “Okay! Okay,” he said. “Just don’t hurt her.”
“Dax, don’t,” Dona said.
“All we found were some cans of salted fish and some ship’s journals,” Dax said in one last attempt to hold onto the gold.
“And no gold,” Vladimir said. “I think not.”
Vladimir nodded to one of his divers, and the diver unlocked Dona’s handcuffs and walked her over to the edge of the deck, then put his knife at her throat.
“No!” Dax shouted. His poker face was now gone. Any hopes he’d had of bluffing his way out of this were now long gone. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“How many cans of salted fish are down there?” Vladimir asked.
“My best guess is about five hundred cases,” Dax replied.
“How many cans are packed to a case?” Vladimir asked.
“Six, I think,” Dax said.
Vladimir did the math. That’s three thousand pounds. A broad smile consumed his face.
“I’m sure you are wondering why an old man like me would get so excited about so many cans of fish,” Vladimir said. “But let us get them on board and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Vladimir looked out onto the canal and saw his boat heading toward them.
“I hope you don’t mind, Captain Cameron, but I have instructed my crew to dock my boat along your port side while Mr. Powers takes my divers down and shows them where they can find my fish—oh, and my gold,” he laughed. “And one more thing. Do not get any ideas about doing anything crazy. If you do, I will personally kill your companions, starting with your sister, and then your boyfriend. Do I make that perfectly clear, Mr. Powers?”
Dax nodded in agreement.
“Now get your tanks and full face mask back on,” Vladimir ordered as he headed to the bridge to radio his boat. “If you force me to kill your companions, I want you to hear them suffer one by one.” Vladimir stopped. “And get the others’ mouths taped shut. I don’t want them talking to one another.”
“Wait!” Dax shouted. Vladimir stopped again and turned to Dax. “Make it quick,” he said.
“Before we go back down, I need to blow the hull in order to flood the compartment where the crates of gold and salted fish are being stored. If we don’t blow the hull, it will take days to get the crates out using the current method of entering and exiting the hull.”
Vladimir considered his statement with some apprehension. “Take my divers down, and show them what you want to do. If they agree with your assessment, I will do as you say.”
Finally! Dax thought. A break—this may be the only chance I have to save us.
DAX took his good old time suiting up. He was purposely stalling, trying to buy a little time to come up with a plan. He took a quick inventory of Vladimir’s men. There were three divers and two guards, plus Vladimir. Dax assumed that the three divers would accompany him under the surface and the guards would remain topside to watch over the others. He and Jack locked eyes, and the overwhelming helplessness Jack was feeling was evident in his stare. Dax tried to show him that there was still hope, but he didn’t have much hope himself. Think, Dax, think! Okay, if I could somehow get the divers into the interior compartment and seal them in, their tanks would eventually run out of air and they would suffocate. That would leave the two guards and Vladimir. But what about Vladimir’s boat? He could have another twenty crew members on board.
Dax’s mind continued from one scenario to the next. Every scenario presented another question. Every possible solution presented another problem. By the time Dax finished suiting up, he felt thoroughly defeated. I won’t give up. I just can’t.
Not sure of what he was going to do next, Dax smiled at the others and mouthed, “I’m sorry! I love you.” Their eyes told him everything he needed to know. He turned and walked down the stairs to the swim platform where his escorts were waiting for him. Dax stepped off the swim platform and began his descent, surrounded by the three divers.
JACK’S mind was racing. This is not his fault. Why is he apologizing? I’ve got to do something. If I could just get to the dinghy, but what then? He looked over at the others, and he could tell they were all thinking the same thing.
Minutes later, Vladimir’s boat pulled alongside the Lindsey C. Four crewmembers secured the two boats together, and Vladimir boarded his boat. He calmly sat on deck and smoked a Cuban cigar and drank Russian vodka while he waited for his divers to return with a sample of his gold and salted fish.
Jack was still trying to make sense out of all of this. Vladimir was more interested in the salted fish than the gold, but why? What can he want with three thousand pounds of salted fish? What’s so damn great about… unless it’s not salted fish at all?
DONA’S mind was doing backflips. She wished like hell she could talk to the guys to see if they had any ideas, but it was totally impossible to communicate with their hands securely cuffed to the guardrail behind them and duct tape across their mouths. They were cuffed so closely to one another that they were touching, but if they weren’t able to communicate, they might as well have been a million miles away. So for all intents and purposes, they were on their own to try and make heads or tails out of their situation. Dona thought about her brother. At this point everything depended on him, and she ached for him. Why should he be the one to carry the burden of all of this? We’re all in this together. It’s not his fault.
Chapter 15
DAX led the dive team to the blown entrance of the wreck, although he didn’t know why he bothered. After all, they had apprehended him, Mac, and Dona at that same spot when they were coming out of the wreck, and he was sure they could have found it on their own. He showed them the open corridor hatch and said, “In there.”
The first diver cleared the hatch, and then the second. “Now you,” the third diver said with a heavy Russian accent.
It’s now or never. His only plan was to force the third diver into the hatch and close it behind them. He would slip his crowbar into the wheel handle and jam it up against the interior wall of the ship. That would lock the wheel in place and keep them inside the corridor. He knew that they could exit through the hatch facing forward, which opened into the next corridor, and they could escape through one of the blown hulls. But he didn’t know if they knew that, and this plan, at the very least, would buy him some time.
Dax made his move. He knew it would take the other two divers a reasonable amount of time to make their way back out of the corridor if they saw the struggle, so he felt better knowing the odds were now even—it was one against one. The diver was behind him, urging him forward through the hatch. He spread his legs as wide as he could to stop himself from going through the hatch, ripped the crowbar from his dive belt, and rammed it behind him into the stomach of the Russian diver. He heard the thump as well as the diver’s gasp in response to the blow. Unfortunately, so did the other divers, who then started scrambling for their spearguns. As Dax struggled with his opponent, he fought to keep an eye on the other two through the array of air bubbles escaping everyone’s dive apparatus. One of the divers made his way to the entrance of the hatch with his speargun cocked and ready. He aimed it at Dax, and Dax did the only thing he could think to do—use his opponent as a shield.
The Russian diver pulled the trigger, and the spear released just as Dax spun his opponent around. Dax was looking directly into the eyes of the Russian, who seemed to know exactly what was happening. Dax knew the second the Russian realized that he’d been shot. He saw the disbelief, fear, and pain register when the spear entered his back and came out of his chest. Dax felt a warm sensation and then a burst of pain. He looked down and saw that the spear had gone through the Russian and lodged into his right shoulder. In a panic, he forced the Russian diver away from him, which in turn, pulled the spear out of his shoulder. He bellowed in pain as the diver floated away from him with no signs of life.
By now, the other two divers were out of the corridor and had e
ach of his arms secured. Dax was resigned to the fact that he’d lost. He’d tried, but he’d lost. The pain was overwhelming and he was beginning to feel lightheaded. His last thoughts before he lost consciousness were of Jack, Dona, Mac, and Brad. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you!
JACK watched Vladimir move to the stern of his boat. He looked in their direction and said, “It appears that your boyfriend is not as smart as I thought he was.”
The divers broke the surface of the water, carrying Dax. Blood was pouring out of the gaping hole in his right shoulder. Jack was the first to see his lover lifelessly floating on the surface. No duct tape could silence the gut-wrenching wail of pain that escaped Jack’s mouth. Dona turned white and fell to her knees as she fainted. Mac and Brad dropped next to her, but in their situation, there was nothing that could be done. Jack started ripping and pulling at the guardrail in an attempt to break free and get to Dax, but it was no use. The force of his efforts tore the skin on his wrists and they began to bleed heavily. Realizing he’d failed, he, too, sunk to his knees.
“Get him on board,” Vladimir shouted to his divers. “I want him alive and conscious to witness the death of his lover, his sister, and his friends.”
The divers dragged Dax on board the Lindsey C and dropped him next to Jack. Jack looked at Brad, his mind pleading with him to help, but he knew Brad could do no more than he could. In Jack’s mind, he started begging Vladimir to allow Brad to help Dax. He’d never begged anyone for anything in his entire life, but he would gladly do it now if it could save Dax. He got as close as he could to the still-motionless Dax. His legs were all that could reach him, but he needed to touch him, to feel him. In his mind, he ordered Dax to hold on, please just hold on. But hold on for what, Jack didn’t know.
“Well, Mr. Cleary, since Ms. Powers appears to be out of commission, you’re next on the food chain,” Vladimir said. “No funny business this time or they all die, execution-style.”
Mac started mumbling through his taped mouth.
“Remove the tape,” Vladimir ordered.
The guard reached over and ripped the tape from Mac’s mouth.
“Fuck!” Mac shouted from the pain. “Brad’s a doctor, please let him help Dax,” he pleaded.
“And prolong the inevitable?” Vladimir said. “Why?”
Resigned to the fact that they probably were not going to get out of this situation alive, Mac took a deep breath and looked at Brad. “I love you, Brad. No one can take that away from us.”
Brad nodded as tears began to run down his cheeks.
Mac turned to Vladimir. “Let them go, and I will do whatever you want. I will salvage the entire wreck myself and you can leave me down there to die. I don’t really care what you do to me, but please, just let them go.”
“How brave of you, Mr. Cleary,” Vladimir said. “Your mother must be so proud. But I do not deal unless I absolutely have to, and the way I see it, I have the complete upper hand here.”
Mac opened his mouth to speak, but Vladimir put his hand up to stop him.
“Yes, I know… I’m down one diver, but look.” He pointed at three men on the back of his boat. “I have three more on standby, awaiting my command. So with all due respect, no, I will not let them go.”
“If you’re going to kill us anyway,” Mac protested, “why should I bother taking your divers into the wreck?”
“There are many ways to die, Mr. Cleary,” Vladimir explained. “One way would be quick and painless. But another way could be long and very, very painful. Which would you prefer?”
“You win,” Mac said.
“I always win,” Vladimir said. “Now get him suited up.”
The guard unlocked Mac’s handcuffs and escorted him to the other side of the deck, where he held him at gunpoint while he suited up. When Mac was suited, he again looked over at Brad. There really wasn’t anything left to say. He walked down the steps of the swim platform to reach the original two divers, who were joined now by a third and awaiting his arrival. He looked back and saw Dona and Dax, still unconscious, lying next to Jack and Brad, handcuffed to the guardrail. I can’t believe it’s going to end like this. He turned and jumped into the water.
Chapter 16
THIS time there was no plan. Mac was out of options, and he didn’t want anyone to suffer a long, painful death, so he did as he was told. They entered the corridor, and Mac followed the same procedure they’d followed previously. While one diver guarded him, the other two divers carried a crate of gold and a crate labeled “Salted Fish” into the corridor. Mac explained that the explosives were already set up on the opposite wall of the compartment, and they would need to detonate the explosives to flood the cabin in order to get the crates out more easily.
They returned to the corridor and exited the wreck the way they entered it. Again, one diver guarded Mac while the other two each carried a small crate. The divers inflated their BC’s when they exited the wreck to help them surface with the added weight, and they effortlessly floated to the surface. Vladimir had been monitoring their conversations, and when Mac surfaced, he was awaiting their arrival with the smile of a child on Christmas morning. Two of the guards lifted the crates up to the swim platform and then carried them to the deck and placed them at Vladimir’s feet.
Mac, held at gunpoint, watched as Vladimir instinctively lifted the lid off the unmarked crate containing the six cans of salted fish. He took a knife from one of the divers and stabbed the top of the can, making a hole big enough to get his finger in. He stuck his finger in his mouth to wet it and then slid it inside the can. He removed his finger and held it against his tongue and sampled the contents. Vladimir smiled, set the can down on the table, and opened the second crate. During the ascent, the water had swept away any signs of protective material, so all he saw when he lifted the lid were bars of shiny gold.
Mac looked over at Jack, Dona—who was now conscious—and Brad, watching the events unfold. They all had confused looks on their faces, but of course none of them could speak.
“If we’re all going to die,” Mac said. “Can you at least tell us what we are dying for?”
Vladimir, now in a very good mood, took a deep breath.
“The Anna Wyoming was owned and operated by one of Russia’s strongest and most notorious drug cartels. The ship’s captain, Viktor Kozlov, was my grandfather and also a drug lord for the cartel. His responsibility, along with the chief purser and ship’s purser—also in the cartel—was to make the Lynn Canal run to Skagway once a month, smuggling Chinese opium into the United States through Russia.”
“So that’s three thousand pounds of opium down there,” Mac said. “How much is that worth?”
“About forty million dollars in today’s market,” Vladimir responded.
Dax started to moan and opened his eyes. Jack could see the pain in Dax’s face, but much to his surprise, Dax inched himself in Jack’s direction and propped himself up on his chest.
“Do you want the story or not?” Vladimir asked.
Mac looked at the guys. Anything to stall. “Yes, sorry!”
“Where was I?” Vladimir said to himself. “Oh, yes. This was the biggest run the cartel had ever attempted,” he explained. “As a matter of fact, it was so big, and the cartel was so worried about its cargo, that the ship’s purser and the chief purser were ordered to remain in the cargo hold to guard the opium and were not allowed to leave their post for the entire journey.”
“That explains the remains we found,” Mac said.
“Remains?” Vladimir asked.
Mac attempted to walk over to Dax, but the guard stopped him. Mac looked at Vladimir and asked, “Can I show you something?”
“Don’t try anything foolish,” he replied.
Mac reached down into Dax’s dive belt and removed the nametags and the epaulets he’d brought to the surface. He stood and brought them to Vladimir.
Vladimir looked at the gold items closely and held them tightly in his hands against his chest.
“They were my great uncle’s,” he said. He bowed his head and made the sign of the cross. He laid the items on the table next to the opium and continued his story.
“Because of the Klondike Gold Rush,” Vladimir said, “the cartel also started smuggling gold out of the country, for wealthy drug customers who wanted to avoid the high export taxes affiliated with shipping the gold out through normal channels. The fact that there was so much gold on board this ship was just an added bonus,” he explained. “There were rumors, of course, that the ship was carrying gold, but the cartel had no documented record of such cargo on board, so we did not believe that the rumors held any merit.
“My grandfather had dedicated his entire life to the success of the cartel, and when his own ship went down with so much opium on board, he feared that the cartel, as well as his reputation and his family name, would be ruined. The night of the tragedy, the cartel ordered that he leave the ship immediately and take with him exact coordinates and the purser’s journal and lay low until the wreck was a distant memory. Someday they would find the wreck and retrieve our bounty. But before my grandfather could deliver the journal and coordinates to the cartel, he was killed. Some say it was an internal job for threatening the existence of the cartel, but I do not believe that theory. The cartel wanted the information he had—why would they kill him? Either way, the journal or coordinates were never found until you stumbled upon them.”
So someone did survive, and that’s how we got the information, Dona thought, wishing she could speak.
“Eventually, my father, Aleksandr Kozlov, was appointed to head the cartel, and he dedicated his entire life to finding those documents in an attempt to recover the opium, and in the process, restore his father’s good name. But, unfortunately, he never succeeded. When my father’s health started to deteriorate, I became head of the cartel, which is alive and well and now controlling most of the world’s international drug trade. But on his deathbed, I promised to continue his efforts, and I, too, have dedicated my life to doing just that.”
