“Splash blood on face,” Dayah said. “Will cover blotches and cheeks.”
“Weh need something ter distract them. Tie up Dayah with Gray.”
Anna said, “Dayah could certainly distract them but she is not as good with a gun as me. Tie me up with Gray.”
Shinobu and Dayah went back around to the dead men and she carefully patted blood from one of them onto the old man’s face. She insisted he remove his white shirt because it showed around the collar of the dark grey shirt and through the bullet holes. When they returned, Gray had to admit it was a passable resemblance and it only had to hold up until they were within 25 feet and in very unnatural lighting. They agreed in principle to the plan but still had to work out the details. Gray tried to talk Anna out of going but he gave in easily because she was handling a rifle well and the extra firepower was welcome.
Shinobu was familiarizing himself with the Glock long slide carried by the man he was replacing. They created a realistic looking binding by cutting several strands of rope into lengths just long enough to go around the legs once and then holding them there with a single twist of wire which could be easily pulled loose. They practiced covering their rifles with their bodies and then quickly bringing them to bear. As the sun was setting, the leader’s radio came to life. Dayah listened to the voice and said she understood some of it. The man was saying Allah allow brave martyrs buried without washing and in clothes they wearing.
They dragged the body of the man who died with the leader down to the dock and sat him in one of the seats on the left side of the boat in as natural a pose as possible. They also retrieved the man Gray had shot at the edge of the clearing. They bandaged his head and sat him in the seat next to the other body. By cutting a hole in the back of each man’s shirt and tying their chests to the same short bamboo pole, the bodies sat side by side without falling over.
Before arranging the bindings around Gray, he briefly held the transmit button down on the radio. It was critical those aboard the yacht bought his ruse that the radio was malfunctioning. In seconds, an urgent voice came from the radio. Gray had no idea what the language conveyed but when it ended, he again held the transmit button down and counted to ten. The voice came again.
Dayah grabbed Gray’s arm. “He say Allah testing us. Return to boat. Patience revered by Allah.”
Gray grinned and gave the transmit button two quick clicks. After they had wired the fake bindings to Gray, he told Keegan to build a small fire after they heard shots in case they needed to come back to the dock in a hurry. They wired the bindings onto Anna’s arms and legs, and Shinobu took his seat at the helm. Keegan threw them the mooring lines and Shinobu started the engine and pulled away from the dock.
A light was on somewhere aboard the yacht, giving them a heading. The motorboat was equipped with a lighted compass and Shinobu took the reading in case the light on the yacht was turned off. The night was so dark only a faint glow was visible in their wake.
In the bottom of the boat, Gray and Anna were laying on their right sides, covering their rifles. He looked about and could see nothing but the single light ahead. It moved up and down and left and right as if it were a lighted balloon floating in a madly shifting breeze. The boat suddenly lurched up with a loud bang and they were sprayed with water. They had hit the surf without seeing it.
Halfway to the yacht, a powerful light came on atop the flying bridge. Before it was swiveled down toward the motorboat it lit up the bow of the yacht and reflected light gave the whole yacht substance. As the light turned toward them, everything disappeared except the silhouette of the bow of the motorboat, the water in front of the bow, and the blinding source itself. Gray told Anna to close her eyes to preserve her vision. When they were close he would shoot out the light but be blinded for awhile after. She was to open her eyes the second the light went out. He kept his eyes open, so he would not be completely blinded when he aimed at the light. Shinobu was to shade his eyes which also served to cover his face.
The two bodies looked pretty convincing. Rigor and the pole tying them together were holding them erect and the action of the boat was lending them some movement. Shinobu was feigning injury and leaning onto the wheel. He pulled the throttle back and the motorboat glided toward the fantail of the yacht. One man waited there with a rifle but it was held by its handle in the man’s left hand. Gray coughed, a signal to Anna to be ready. Twenty five feet from the yacht, the search light was directed away from them and a light came on inside the protected portion of the fantail, both events a huge break for them. Gray’s pupils were constricted but he could make out a man wearing a robe on the flying bridge. The man did not seem to be armed but he was going to be Gray’s first target. He did not want the blinding light turned on them again. The cannon was not manned.
“Now!” he yelled and brought the rifle up as he rose from the prone position and fired three shots at the man on the flying bridge and then brought the rifle down to the man on the fantail but Anna and Shinobu were both firing at him and the man was already tumbling backwards. Line of sight to the flying bridge was cut off when they reached the stern of the yacht. Shinobu grabbed a cleat on the fantail and Gray leapt aboard. His eyes were adjusting but he turned the little led flashlight on with his left hand. He climbed to the poop deck and headed for the bridge. The sound of Anna’s running footsteps followed him. He ran up the steel stairs to the bridge and pushed the door open. The bridge was empty. Across the control deck was a door that Gray presumed opened to the stairs to the flying bridge. The door had windows from the waist up but he could not see through them because of the reflected light from the flashlight. Anna came up the stairs from the main deck as the ring of shoes on steel stairs came from the stern. She turned toward the stairs they had just climbed and backed into the front corner of the control deck, her rifle on the stairs. Gray kept an eye on the door to the stairs that led to the flying bridge. The sound of the running feet went under the bridge.
Anna tilted her head toward the stairs and said, “Shinobu.”
Something scraped above the ceiling of the bridge and moved toward the stairs to the flying bridge. Gray tracked the sound with his rifle. He was tempted to fire through the ceiling but he waited. He stepped to the door, pulled it open and moved back. The spotlight pointing into the sky provided some light but the stairs was in shadow. A weak but urgent voice was praying. Allah was the only word Gray understood. When he heard the thump of something hitting the top step of the stairs, he stepped out and shined the flashlight up the stairs. A sandal hit the next stair down. A man scooted onto the edge of the flying bridge deck looking like he was trying to slide down the stairs. When the man saw Gray he gave a sigh and sagged. The blood soaked robe around the man’s waist said he had been gut shot.
“Do you speak English?” Gray asked.
The man nodded.
“Keep your hands out where I can see them.” Gray had seen the mines stacked in cradles along the stern deck. They confirmed this was the group who had mined the channel and it followed that this group was involved in the hijacking of the Emirates flight. This was more than he had hoped of learning but if he could learn more perhaps it might lead to capturing others who had participated in the heinous crime. The apparent weakness of the man and the amount of blood leaking from his wounds told Gray he would die soon so what leverage might he have that could induce the man to provide any information? The man’s involvement in a plot to hijack an airliner left no doubt he was fanatical. That he was affiliated with Abu Sayyaf assured he was Muslim.
Gray said, “We were aboard the Emirates airliner you tried to hijack. I want some information before you die.”
The man jerked in surprise and shook his head which Gray interpreted as refusal to answer questions rather than a denial of involvement.
“Do you want to be buried on the island and on your side facing Mecca?”
A faint smile came and went on the man’s face. “Of course.” The accent was close to British.
Revulsion briefly shaded the otherwise stoic face. Gray said, “Anna, come here.”
Anna came to the foot of the stairs and gazed up at the man as Gray turned the flashlight enough for the man to see her.
“You know more than most infidels,” the man said. “Ask your questions. I will weigh whether I can answer them.”
Gray chose to start with a question to which he was relatively sure of the answer. “Do you know of a Bayani Isagani?”
The man’s expression changed dramatically, far more than enough for Gray to see recognition of the name.
The man said, “What do you know of the godless infidel?”
Gray said, “I think he may have been less godless than yourself.”
The man’s lips started to curl into a sneer but he either thought better of it or pain drove the emotion behind it from him. The man’s blood was dripping off the flying bridge’s deck and splattering onto the walkway under the stairs. He was not going to last long.
“What is the name of the man responsible for taking Bayani’s family hostage?”
The man’s head sagged. “Did you kill the man wearing the Kufi?”
“We did.”
“His name was Dawoud Saleel. You have slain a great warrior. Allah will forgive him if his body is buried without preparation.”
“What is your name?”
“Haatim Udeen.”
“What is the name of the man in Kuala Lumpur that aided in the delay of the flight?”
A small gasp escaped Haatim before he shook his head in refusal to answer. The man would not make much of a poker player. Gray did not expect an answer but at least his suspicion was confirmed. More information for the authorities.
“So far you have not earned the right of proper burial. What were you going to do with the aircraft?”
That question only brought a sneer and more silence.
Gray asked a question to which he knew the answer just to get the man talking. “Why did you fire upon us?”
The man looked almost relieved. “The captain of the Kesempatan knew the water was mined. It was obvious the ship was not under his control.” The man was teetering, struggling to continue sitting up.
“What is on the island besides an airstrip?”
“Nothing.”
The man’s culture might allow him to lie without displaying the hand and eye movements that gave away lies in a poker game but Gray would bet big that Haatim’s answer was a lie. “Why were you still in the area if there is nothing else on the island?”
A look came to the man’s face as though he had just thought of some irony. “We learned the aircraft was missing so we were certain Bayani had attempted to take control of it.”
The man’s voice was so weak, Gray moved up the stairs to better hear. Haatim said, “We were watching the island for surveillance. In our mercy we chose to spare Bayani’s family if no one came to investigate the island.”
The man’s words, “In our mercy,” so angered Gray that he was about to curse him for the absurdity of the statement but the man was teetering.
“Please, do not let the woman touch me,” were Haatim’s last words. He fell backward onto the deck, his legs dangling down the stairs. Gray climbed the rest of the stairs and checked the man’s pulse but found none. He came down and motioned Anna to go ahead and they crossed to the stairs and went down to the main deck.
Shinobu was waiting, his pistol holstered. Most of the blood had been washed from his face. “The lower decks are clear unless someone is hiding in a closet.
Gray went back to the bridge and then up to the flying bridge. He turned the spotlight on himself and waved his rifle in the air hoping Keegan and Dayah could see him and understand the yacht was captured. Before turning the spotlight away, he pulled the body fully onto the deck and went through the man’s clothing. He removed a wallet from the man’s robe and tossed it to Anna, asking her to store in on the bridge for the authorities. Before returning to the bridge, he lifted the man’s body over the railing and dumped it overboard.
With good flashlights from the bridge, Gray and Shinobu went through the yacht, searching every possible hiding place. As expected they found no one. Shinobu kicked overboard the man’s body on the fantail and they headed to the bridge.
On the bridge they found a sat-phone on a charger but its access was protected by a password. They halfheartedly tried a dozen wild guesses at the password but with no success. Gray pulled the SIM card and tried to set the phone back to default but none of their efforts worked. Giving up on the phone, Shinobu and Gray studied the yacht’s controls, meters, dials and screens. Shinobu started the engines and said there was plenty of fuel to make Darwin. Gray said he would very much like to visit the island to the north but there were the mines to consider and they needed to get Melanie medical care. Shinobu said there was no reason they could not leave as soon as Keegan, Dayah and Melanie were on board. There was plenty of fresh food and water stored in cabinets and a refrigerator on the lower decks.
Leaving Shinobu aboard, Anna and Gray climbed into the motorboat and threw the two bodies overboard. Gray started the engine as Anna released the mooring lines. Keegan had built a fire in the clearing and Gray pointed the bow of the motorboat toward it and pushed in the throttle. The moon had risen and this time the surf did not surprise them when they crossed it.
Keegan and Dayah greeted them at the dock and Gray told them they would leave the island as soon as everyone was aboard. They brought Melanie and what stores they wanted from the island down to the motorboat and headed back to the yacht.
When everyone was aboard the Zaafir, they winched the motorboat onto the fantail and Melanie was made comfortable in a bunk. Gray and Shinobu debated what to do with the anti-shipping mines on the fantail and the stern deck. It was decided to take them along rather than throwing them overboard and risking other ships being sunk by them. Gray was going to suggest they cover the cannon with blankets so they did not scare the first ship they encountered but Keegan said it looked like it dropped below deck. While he was cranking the mechanism that lowered the cannon they got underway on a southerly course for Darwin. When Keegan had concealed the cannon, Gray asked him to lower the Abu Sayyaf flag.
Shinobu and Gray turned on the radio and began trying to raise another ship or a land base. Gray thought it best if they did not tell whomever they talked to that they were survivors of the Emirates flight until they were sure they had contacted a legitimate ship. After a frustrating hour, they raised the captain of a ship who gave them a frequency monitored by the Australian navy. Eventually they talked to a radio operator who summoned a commander who they had little doubt was Australian. After another frequency change they talked to the commander of a frigate in the waters north of Darwin and less than two hundred miles distant. When they told their story to the commander, he said they would change course to meet them.
Two at a time on four hour shifts they took turns manning the bridge through the night and the following morning. Shinobu said the yacht was easily twice as fast as the Kesempatan.
When he was not at the helm, Gray went through the lockers and cabinets looking for an adapter to charge his phone. He found one and then powered up a laptop they had found on the yacht. The laptop was password protected but the USB port provided power without entering the password. His phone was charging and as soon as he was in cell range he could make some important calls.
Gray was on the flying bridge and the sun peeking over the eastern horizon when he spotted the superstructure of the frigate to the south. With the combined speed of the two ships at about 45 knots, they would rendezvous in less than a half hour. He went below and found Melanie awake. Anna was trying to get her to drink some broth.
“Melanie, the HMAS Coonawarra is about a half h
our away. It’s a big Australian navy ship that has a female doctor and medical facilities aboard. Within an hour you are going to be in a clean bed and full of antibiotics.”
Melanie gave the brightest smile she had made since the pirates had arrived on the island but did not say anything.
As Gray turned to head back to the bridge, he said, “The commander recognized your name, Melanie. He say’s he’s anxious to meet you although he wishes the circumstances were different.”
Before the frigate was along side, Anna collected everyone’s name, address, email addresses and phone numbers, copied them to six small pieces of paper and handed them out to the other survivors. When the frigate and the yacht had slowed and dropped anchor within two hundred yards of each other, the naval vessel lowered a large launch into the water and four men motored over to the yacht’s fantail. They threw out fenders and two mooring lines. The sea was calm so they had no difficulty coming aboard.
When the commander and his men, all clean shaven and wearing crisp white uniforms stood on the fantail, it was only then that Gray realized how he and his companions must look to them, the men bearded, everyone gaunt and sun darkened, wearing ragged clothing and with scratches and wounds still healing. At least they all had a chance to bathe.
The commander greeted them with a broad grin but when he saw the anti-shipping mines lying in wooden cradles along the deck, his eye brows raised. Fortunately Gray had briefed him on their struggles and how they came about the yacht. Gray took him to the fore deck and lifted the panels concealing the Oerlikon cannon and the commander let out a long whistle.
Gray and Shinobu talked with the commander and it was decided all the survivors but Melanie would continue on with the yacht to Darwin. Two of the sailors, one with a handheld radio, stayed aboard and as soon as the launch departed, the yacht weighed anchor and was underway again. The frigate made a big arc and slowly caught up with them but stayed off their starboard the rest of the way.
PULAU MATI Page 21
