The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1)

by Pendelton Wallace

  “What kind of activity, sir?” The woman barely looked over her shoulder at them.

  “We think it may be terrorists?”

  “Terrorists?” The woman turned from her computer and studied the trio.

  Ted had seen that look too many times before. “Yeah, we saw an Exocet missile.” This bruja isn’t gonna take us seriously. “And they fired off a couple missiles and shot at us.”

  “Where did all this happen?” The woman kept looking over her shoulder at a computer monitor on her desk.

  “In Nelson Inlet,” Meagan answered. “And in the Straits, on the way in last night.”

  The woman paused and thought a minute.

  “Okay, can you describe how they shot at you?”

  “Yeah,” Chris said. “We were crossing the Queen Charlotte Strait and we saw the boat, a big green fishing boat, coming out of Fife Sound. They chased us and when it looked like they were going to lose us in the fog they shot a couple missiles at us. When they missed, they started shooting at us with assault rifles.”

  The phone rang. The woman picked it up, ignoring the last half of Chris’ statement.

  “Coast Guard station Port McNeil. . . No. . . . We don’t have any further information. We’ll have a statement as soon as we know something.” She hung up the phone and looked at the trio as if to say “You’re still here?”

  “I see.” The woman returned to her desk and picked up a piece of paper. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. We had a report of this incident from another boat.”

  “What other boat?” Ted felt the anger rising is his chest. “We didn’t see any other boats out there.”

  The Coast Guard woman consulted the paper in her hand.

  “It was from the Pegasus. They reported some drunken fisherman firing off fireworks and shooting in the air from the bow of their boat. We’ll follow up on the incident when we have time. You don’t need to be concerned.”

  “No, you don’t understand.” Chris got louder. “We saw them unloading missiles.”

  The two-way radio on the desk behind the woman began squawking. She turned to answer it.

  “We went into their camp.” Chris slapped the counter with the palm of his hand. “They chased us across the strait and tried to kill us.” His voice cracked. “It isn’t just drunken fishermen.”

  “Don’t raise your voice to me, young man.” She picked up the microphone. “We have a full-fledged emergency on our hands. A ferry went on the rocks in the fog off of Malcolm Island last night. We have reports of people in the water. Every asset we have is involved in the rescue operation. Fill out this incident report.” She shoved a piece of paper across the counter at them. “When we have time, we’ll investigate.”

  With that, the woman turned back to the radio and started making calls to the Coast Guard units involved in the rescue effort. Ted felt the fire burning in his belly.

  They stood there ignored for a moment, then Chris reluctantly filled out the form.

  ****

  William and Mary Island, Canada

  Dawn found Josh and Toby baiting their hooks around the calming tide rips at the mouth of Nelson Inlet. The Inlet always reminded Josh of an Alpine lake. Protected in any direction from the winds by high mountains, the water was mirror-smooth at slack tide. Permanent glaciers slowly crawled down the slopes of dramatic mountains on both sides of the Inlet. Their trolling motor made the only sound for miles.

  To Josh’s chagrin, they trolled the Inlet’s mouth for two hours with no success.

  “I don’t get it,” Josh said. “This is my secret hole. There’s always fish here.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Toby traded his cup of coffee for a can of beer. “Is this another fish story, like the one that got away?”

  “No, really. I always catch fish here.” Josh scanned the horizon. “There’s no birds today. That means that there’s no small bait fish. Without bait fish, the salmon won’t be here. We’re wastin’ our time.”

  “What ya wanna do?” Toby pushed back the hat on his head. He always wore that stupid bicycle cap. “Head home? Find another spot?”

  “We really need to be back at our hole at slack tide. There probably’ll be fish here this afternoon.” Suddenly Josh was feeling hungry. “That won’t come for another six hours. We might as well drop the hook and wait it out.”

  “You wanna go explorin’? I heard there was a research station on an island up here that’s off limits.” Toby pointed up Nelson Inlet with his beer can.

  “What research station? Yow!” Josh slapped at the mosquito that had just taken a bite out of his bare calf.

  “I had a customer tellin’ me last week.” Toby reeled in his line and secured the hook. “He’d been up here and was run off by a bunch of scientists. They said their research station was private and no one could go there. I wonder what they’re hidin’.”

  “What would a bunch of scientists be doing up here in the middle of nowhere?” Josh secured his line and shut down the trolling motor.

  “I don’t know. But it’s supposed to be on William and Mary Island. That isn’t too far from here, is it?”

  “No, it’s only up the inlet a bit.”

  “Let’s go see what they’re up to.”

  ****

  Port McNeil, Canada

  “Caramba.” Ted’s pulse raced as he struggled to catch his breath. “She didn’t believe us, dude.”

  “Shit, I never expected that.” Chris furrowed his brow. “What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know.” Ted stopped to think. “I thought they’d jump right on it.”

  Ted scanned the waterfront. Restaurants and coffee shops pandering to tourists mingled with ship chandlers and insurance offices. He felt like he was in a time warp. The few cars slowly making their way along Front Street seemed strange. He realized that they were the first automobiles he’d seen in over a week.

  “How about the Mounties?” Meagan asked. “My dad says the Mounties always get their man.”

  “Yeah, where can we find one in this town?”

  “That’s easy.” Chris pulled the Blackberry from the cargo pocket of his shorts. “We’re back in the Twenty-First Century.”

  ****

  “Royal Canadian Mounted Police, may I help you?” A professional sounding woman’s voice answered the phone. Chris’ Blackberry was on speaker phone.

  Chris, Meagan and Ted sat on a bench in the little park overlooking the waterfront, the quiet marina below them. Beyond the marina, boats lay peacefully at anchor in the mile-wide channel between Vancouver and Malcolm Islands.

  It was surreal, the peaceful morning with seagulls calling and everyone going about their business, when danger was so near. What would these people do if they knew that armed terrorist were so close by?

  “We need to report some suspicious activity,” Chris answered. “We think we may have stumbled on some Arab terrorists.”

  “I see, sir. Where did this activity occur?”

  “William and Mary Island in Nelson Inlet. We saw a fishing boat unloading missiles.”

  “William and Mary Island . . .” There was a slight pause, Ted could even hear the faint click of keys on a keyboard in the background. “And how do you know they were unloading missiles. Maybe they were just irrigation pipes or something.”

  “No, there was an Exocet missile and crates of SAMs. We went ashore. We saw them.”

  “I see. I’m going to need your name and contact information.”

  “Chris Hardwick, from Seattle. Listen, what’ll you do? We’re sure that they’re going to try to blow up a cruise ship. The Star of the Northwest is going to be here in a day or two. It’s the perfect target. There’s going to be all sorts of celebrities aboard.”

  “I’ll file a report sir. We’ll pass this information along.”

  “Pass it along. To who? Aren’t you going to do something?”

  “Sir, the RCMP will investigate. If we find that there is some terrorist activity, we’ll pass
that information on to JTF2. Dealing with armed terrorists is the job of the JTF2.”

  “JTF2?”

  “Yes, sir. That’s the Canadian Forces Joint Task Force delegated with the responsibility of dealing with terrorists. We’ll pass this information on to them and they’ll act on it.”

  ***

  “What in the hell is JTF2?” Ted asked as they walked back towards the boat. Maybe they were some sort of central contact for reporting suspicious activity, like Homeland Security in the U.S.

  “I don’t know.” Chris was clearly upset. He never did like being brushed off. “Let’s hook up your lap top and Google it.”

  They descended into the cabin. Ted sat at the chart table and fired up his lap top. Chris and Meagan crowded close to the screen.

  He got dozens of hits on JTF2.

  “The Joint Task Force Two is like our Delta Force.” Ted clicked on the Canadian Forces Web site. “It says here they’ve been operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

  “That’s great. But we’ve got real life terrorists right here in BC.” Chris pointed to the screen. “I don’t see any way to contact them.”

  “It’s an American cruise ship.” Meagan crossed over to the galley and fished a bottle of water out of the ice chest. “Maybe we should contact Homeland Security.”

  Ted surfed through the Department of Homeland Security Web site. He didn’t see any place where he could report terrorist activity.

  “Try the Coast Guard,” Meagan said. “They deal with threats on the water.”

  He found his way to the U.S. Coast Guard page but couldn’t find a contact phone number. There was only a mailing address and an e-mail form. How in the hell do you report these guys?

  “At least fill out the form,” Meagan said.

  “Dude, they don’t have people monitoring this shit.” Ted reluctantly filled in the form. “They might not see this e-mail for a day or two, maybe a week. They might not even know how to respond.”

  “Be sure you put our cell phone numbers in your message,” Chris said. “We want to give them a way to call us back and get more information.”

  “What if we’re outside cell phone range?” Meagan asked. “For most of our trip, we couldn’t pick up a signal.”

  “We’re staying right here until we hear back from them.”

  As soon as Ted finished filling out the Web form, they walked back to the harbor master’s office to secure a slip for the night. They returned to the boat and moved her over to the newly open slip.

  “Look, it’s Jack.” Meagan pointed at the worn old salmon troller moored at the head of the float. “That’s the Nessie.”

  Chapter 47

  Prince William Bay, William and Mary Island, Canada

  Returning from his morning inspection of the Valkyrie, Kalil heard the hum of an engine. He looked up and saw an old Bayliner entering the bay. The small cruiser slowed, the wave of white water at its bow dissipating as it worked its way up the bay.

  “Yasim,” Kalil called. “There’s a boat entering the bay.”

  “Keep out of sight. Watch them and let me know what they are doing.”

  As the boat reached the head of the bay, Kalil watched one man drop the anchor as the other readied the dinghy.

  “They’re coming ashore.”

  “Mohammed, Hani, grab your rifles.”

  ****

  Josh pulled back on the throttle lever. What a waste. They spent the entire morning at his secret hole without a single bite. He steered the boat to the head of the bay and Toby dropped the anchor.

  “I wonder what that box is on the afterdeck of that fishin’ boat.” Josh reached for his life jacket. “It doesn’t look like any fishin’ equipment I’ve ever seen.”

  “Do you think the boat has anything to do with the scientists?” Toby fumbled with the straps on his life jacket. “Maybe it’s some sort of scientific thing-a-ma-jig.”

  “Don’t know. Let’s get ashore and see what we can find.”

  Toby climbed into the rear seat of the fiberglass dinghy. Josh took the oars and rowed them ashore. He saw fresh tire tracks on the small beach.

  “Let’s walk up the road and see what’s goin’ on.”

  “Look, there’s a camp.” Josh said as they neared the top of the hill. He could see the buildings and tents from the road.

  “Let’s drop in for coffee and say ‘howdy.” Toby picked up his pace.

  “Don’t move!” The voice came from behind him. Josh turned to see a dark-skinned man dressed in combat fatigues sporting a full beard and an assault rifle.

  “Wait a minute. We’re just explorin’.” Josh held his hands out in front of him in the universal gesture of peace.

  “Put your hands on top of your heads.” The bearded man waved the tip of his rifle at them. “Mohammed, check them for weapons.”

  Mohammed? Are these guys A-rabs? Josh raised his hands in the air. “Take it easy, man. We’re not hurtin’ nobody. Toby? . . .” He turned to his friend.

  Toby didn’t know what was going on either, but he looked scared.

  Another Arab stepped from behind the trees, rifle in hand. He quickly patted down Josh and Toby.

  “They are both armed.” He removed the fishing knives from the scabbards on their belts.

  “No. You don’t understand.” Josh felt the sweat pouring down his brow. “We’ve been fishin’. Those are our scalin’ knives.”

  “Quiet!”

  “Josh, tell ‘em.” Toby’s voice cracked. “We just wanted to see what was goin’ on on the island.”

  “They’re spies,” the first Arab said. “The infidels are very clever to send such harmless looking dolts.”

  “We are harmless dolts.” Josh’s voice cracked. “Why don’t you just let me and Toby head back on down to our boat? We can have the anchor up and be out of the bay in ten minutes.”

  “Follow Mohammed into the camp.” The first Arab shoved Josh in the shoulder with the barrel of his rifle.

  He didn’t wait to be told a second time.

  ****

  Port McNeil, Canada

  Robbie barked as Ted leapt across the rail onto the Nessie’s deck. The old dog rose slowly from its warm spot in front of the galley stove, stubby tail wagging wildly, and licked Meagan’s hand. Jack, seated at the mess table, looked up from his newspaper.

  “Robbie!” Meagan knelt down to rub his ears.

  Ted followed Chris and Meagan into the cabin.

  “Jack, we’re so glad to see you.” Meagan rose and took a step to the mess table.

  “Well, children, what brings you to old Jack’s door again?”

  “We need help.” Meagan plopped down besides Jack on the bench and spat out the words like a machine gun. “We know something sketch’s going to happen and no one’ll listen to us.”

  “And what would that be, Lassie?”

  “Terrorists!” Chris said “Arab terrorists. They have an anti-ship missile. We think they’re planning on blowing up a cruise ship.”

  Jack paused to breath. He deliberately poured three cups of coffee, then reached into the locker behind him and produced his bottle of Scotch.

  Meagan started to talk, then checked herself.

  Ted took a deep breath. How do you explain what we saw?

  Jack poured a dollop of Scotch into his cup then looked quizzically at his young visitors. Without a word, he splashed a liberal dose in each of their cups.

  “Tell old Jackie what’s goin’ on.”

  Their voices tumbled over each other as they described their adventures.

  “Slow down, children. One at a time. Ol’ Jack canna understand what yer sayin’.”

  To Ted’s chagrin, Chris laid out their problem. How could he be so analytical at a time like this? Ted was anything but analytical.

  “Well, now. That’s quite a story yer tellin’.” Jack’s brogue was as strong as ever. “And what do y’ think y’ should do now?”

  “We have to make someone listen to us,” Meag
an stomped her foot. “It’s for real. We’ve seen the missiles. They shot at us. They tried to kill us.”

  “P’Jesus!. . . Well, I still have a few contacts left. Maybe I can do somethin’ ta help.”

  “Contacts?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ve been around a few years, y’ know. I know some people. Let me make some phone calls. Meanwhile, we need to get yez out of Port McNeil. It’s not safe for yez here.”

  “Not safe?” Meagan asked.

  “No. There’s too many comin’s and goin’s, Lass. People don’t notice strangers. If someone wanted to silence yez’, they could slip in, do their work and be gone without anyone noticin’.”

  Meagan shot a worried look at Chris and Ted.

  “We need to get yez to a safe place while I figure out what to do next.” Jack tapped the ashes out of his pipe into a tuna can on the mess table. “I want yez to sail to Double Bay. It’s at the head of the Johnstone Strait. If yer cruise ship is coming up the passage, it has to go by there.”

  Ted and his friends started out of the cabin without another word. Jack followed.

  “Yez go to Double Bay and wait.” Jack took Meagan’s hand and patted it. “I’ll call y’ there. Yer cell phones should still have reception.”

  ****

  William and Mary Island, Canada

  “Put them in supply shed.” Yasim ordered. “Tie them up.”

  “What are we going to do with ‘em?” Ahmad hadn’t counted on personal contact with the enemy. “We can’t keep ‘em here.”

  “I do not know yet, but we are too close to mission to allow to go free.”

  Ahmad studied the two captives, who listened to the conversation dumbfounded. These idiots don’t pose any threat to us.

  “What about their boat?” Mohammed asked. “If someone flies over, they’ll see it.”

  “We have to get rid of boat,” Yasim answered. “Mohammed, you and Kalil take out to deep water and sink.”