by Alex Siegel
The car key was hidden under the driver's floor mat. He started the engine and drove off at a quick but controlled speed. He didn't want to get stopped by the police.
Oakland was built on the shore of the Bay, so reaching the water took only a few minutes, but he still needed a boat. He drove around until he found the Embarcadero Cove Marina. It was a nice harbor populated by small boats, and he guessed a couple hundred of them were parked in berths. He needed a fast one.
Hanley had too many weapons to hide them all under his clothes, but he did the best job he could. He shoved the rest under his seat.
He got out of the car and ran into the marina. There was a central cluster of buildings with docks extending outwards. He ran along the edge of the water, looking for transportation.
His gaze settled on a yellow boat named the Bay Adventurer. The sides were made of inflated rubber, and the hull was rubberized fabric stretched over a frame. He recognized the type as a "rigid inflatable boat," and he had used them many times during his years as a Navy Seal. They were fast and tough, and this one had an impressively large outboard engine.
A sign advertised tours of the San Francisco Bay for up to twelve passengers. A man in a white shirt and khaki pants was putting orange life vests under the seats.
Hanley ran over and climbed onboard. "I need to use this boat."
"The tour doesn't start for another forty-five minutes, sir," the man said.
Hanley took a wad of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket. Legionnaires always carried cash.
"I'll be the only one on the tour, and we're leaving now."
The man looked at the money. "That's a generous offer, but I don't think..."
Hanley drew a gun with his other hand from under his shirt. "Just give me the key and get off. I've decided to drive myself."
The man's eyes widened.
"You have five seconds," Hanley said. "Four... three..."
The man reached into his pocket and handed over a key. Hanley was feeling guilty, so he gave him all the money in exchange. It was a few thousand dollars at least.
"Now scoot," Hanley said.
The man got off, making the boat rock.
Hanley untied it, started the engine, and drove off. Standing at the wheel made him reminisce about his days in the Navy. They had been full of honor and glory. He would still be an officer if an injury hadn't forced him to retire. In retrospect, he realized that wound had been a great blessing because it had led him to the Gray Spear Society.
He took out his phone and activated the locator app. Katie's icon was green, and the legend underneath showed direction and distance. She was in the middle of the northern part of the Bay.
Hanley opened the throttle all the way, and the light boat bounced over the waves. It was an exciting ride, but he was too anxious to smile. Just hang on, he thought. I'll be there in a few minutes.
* * *
Vulture had his arm around Sheila. It felt good to have his woman with him even though he knew it would be a problem. As she saw and heard things that conflicted with the lie he had told her, she might go insane. He also couldn't ignore the distraction caused by her being in his cabin all the time. He was on a mission and needed to sleep, and whenever he was with her, he thought about sex.
The Fearless Star was directly ahead. It had three decks above the main deck and two more below. A white helicopter was parked on the stern alongside a small boat which could be lowered into the water. The total length of the ship was 450 feet.
It was floating in the Bay, far from shore, but Vulture could see land in the distance. The buildings of North Richmond were just visible.
"Is that your other yacht?" Sheila said in a voice of wonder.
"It's fit for a king," he said, "but I don't want you wandering around. Our relationship is supposed to be a secret. Just stay in my cabin. You'll be comfortable and safe there."
The attack boat came up to a docking platform at the rear of the Fearless Star. Everybody disembarked, and the boat was left tied to the yacht.
"Take her to my room," Vulture told his bodyguards. "Make sure she doesn't leave."
"Yes, sir," they replied.
"I'll see you later, darling." He kissed her on the lips.
He walked swiftly to the command and control room. He was feeling bad about the diversion. He needed to focus entirely on the task at hand.
The console operators were busy working at their stations when he entered. They appeared slightly bored which he took as a good sign. He hadn't missed anything.
Vulture was starting to think about dinner when the peace and calm were broken.
"Sir!" an operator said. "We have another lead on a girl! She's in Mill Valley."
Vulture frowned. The SAS squadron was destroyed, and fresh troops wouldn't arrive for several more hours. He would have to send his personal bodyguards to investigate, but it was a move he had desperately hoped to avoid. They could lead the Gray Spear Society right back to the Fearless Star.
I have no choice, he thought.
Vulture turned to the nearest bodyguard. "Put together a squad of five men. I have an urgent assignment for you, so move quickly."
* * *
That's a gorgeous ship, Hanley thought.
A classic sailing yacht was directly ahead. Every part was made of lacquered wood or gleaming brass. The design dated from the early twentieth century, and a sailor of that era would've perceived nothing odd about it. Hanley didn't even see any radio antennae or radar dishes.
According to the locator app in his phone, Katie was on that yacht, but he didn't see her. He didn't see anybody, and that was strange indeed. One didn't just abandon a vessel costing millions of dollars.
Hanley circled the yacht, but he still didn't see any sign of life. Finally, he approached cautiously.
Some convenient ropes were hanging down, and he tied his inflatable boat to the yacht. He cut the engine and listened for a while, but he didn't hear anything. He climbed onto the deck with a gun drawn.
A gray Society phone was lying on the deck, open.
Shit, Hanley thought.
"Hello?" he said tentatively. He moved his gun back and forth.
"Down here!" Katie answered from a lower deck.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He padded down a flight of stairs and crept through narrow corridors while remaining fully alert for danger. It was hard to believe Katie was alone on the yacht.
Hanley found her in a large cabin furnished with antiques. She was looking into a closet packed with dresses. She had put one on, and silky blue fabric covered her body from neck to ankle. The fashion was very conservative and matched the period furniture.
"Katie?" he said. "What are you doing?"
She faced him. "My name is Sheila."
It was definitely Katie. Her long brown hair, olive skin, and blue eyes were distinctive.
"No," he said. "Your name is Katie."
"It's Sheila."
"According to who?"
"Edward, the King of England, told me so," she replied with a straight face, "and I'm his secret consort. The year is 1936."
Hanley stared at her. "Something happened to your mind."
"I'm perfectly fine. Do you like this dress?"
"Where is Marina?"
Katie furrowed her brow.
"She has red hair. You were with her."
"Oh! She left in a boat."
He was very relieved to hear Marina was still alive. "Did she bring her phone?"
"What's a phone?" Katie said.
"A gray metal device. You had one, too."
"She threw it in the water. By the way, her name is Sheila, too. It's been a day full of Sheilas."
His relief faded. It sounded like Marina had been affected the same way as Katie. Now Marina was lost and insane, somewhere in the Bay Area.
"Tell me about this king."
"I didn't see him. I was swimming. He had a lovely voice though."
"Can you describe him?" Hanley
said.
"No," Katie said. "I just told you. I never saw him."
"But you're his secret consort."
Her eyes widened. She stared at him with an expression of great distress, as if he had just revealed a terrifying truth.
"Let's get you back to headquarters," he said. "There is a boy who can help you."
"Headquarters of what?"
"Just come with me."
He took her hand and guided her up to the main deck. A setting sun made the tall mast cast a very long shadow across the water.
Hanley's phone rang, and the caller ID showed Ipo's code number.
Hanley answered, "Yes?"
"What's your status?"
"I found Katie, but something happened to her mind. She's babbling nonsense. I'm counting on Wesley to fix her. It sounds like Marina is in the same condition, but she's missing. She left in a boat without her phone."
"That's very bad news," Ipo said. "We have no commander."
"At least there's a good chance she's still alive. Why did you call?"
"We got a tip about a girl in Mill Valley. You're closer than me. Min Ho has all the details."
"But Katie needs to go back to headquarters," Hanley said.
"Drag her along. You have no choice. I had to leave Yang in the hospital, and I'm stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Bye."
Hanley hung up. He looked at Katie and said, "We're going to take a little side trip on the way back to headquarters."
"I love taking trips." She smiled.
* * *
"The pictures are coming in, sir," an operator said.
Vulture hurried over to look, expecting to be disappointed. So far, all of the many leads had been dead ends.
He looked over the operator's shoulder at photographs taken by the squad of bodyguards sent to Mill Valley. They showed the terrified face of a blonde girl who was around ten years-old or maybe a little younger.
She was startlingly beautiful. Vulture had never seen such physical perfection before, but her most remarkable aspect was her eyes. One iris was black and the other was white.
That's her! he thought immediately. Every aspect of her matched the memory engraved in his mind by the benefactor. Even her strange eyes were right.
"Let me talk to the squad leader," Vulture said excitedly.
The operator handed a headset to him, and he slipped it over his ears.
"Hello?" Vulture said.
"Sir?" a man responded. It was the voice of one of his bodyguards.
"Listen closely. These are the most important orders I've ever given you. You may have found the target, but I have to be sure. Bring the girl back to the ship so I can test her. Don't stop for anything. Kill anybody who gets in your way, and if you run into trouble, kill her, too. She must not escape under any circumstances! Am I absolutely clear?"
"Yes, sir. What about the parents?"
"Wipe out everybody! If you successfully deliver the girl to me, the whole squad will receive a spectacular bonus. Now move! You can't afford to waste any time."
"Yes, sir!" the bodyguard said.
Vulture gave the headset back. He was sweating from excitement.
Testing the girl would be easy. He would just lie to her, and if it didn't work, she was the one. Either way, he would shoot her and dump her body in the Bay. The operation could be over before dinner.
* * *
Marina's red speedboat was running out of fuel. She had cruised up and down the shoreline in search of the king's boats, and she had seen many that were wrong. They had all been too tall, too short, too wide, too skinny, or the wrong color. She knew exactly what she was looking for. It was a type of military craft designed to fight in rivers and along coasts.
Fuel wasn't her only problem. The sun was setting, and her light was fading. Even worse, she was losing hope.
She needed her king to speak words of wisdom to her. Strange thoughts and memories kept flooding her mind, and the only way to fight them off was to remember the facts. It's 1936, she thought for the thousandth time. I'm King Edward's secret consort. It wasn't working. She kept thinking her own name was Marina when it was actually Sheila. She knew she was losing her mind. Edward was the only one who could guide her back to sanity.
She finally spotted the right kind of boat, and it was like a vision from heaven. It was docked at a small but very nice marina. She drove a little closer to make sure. Her heart was thumping with excitement at the prospect of meeting Edward again. She tried to remember all the good times they had shared, but for some inexplicable reason, the memories wouldn't come forth. Her mind was blank. Oh well, she thought. I'm sure I'll remember when I see him again.
Marina parked her own boat in a neighboring berth and turned off the engine. The silence was a great relief to her ears.
She looked down at herself. She was still wearing a red bathing suit, not exactly appropriate attire when greeting a king, but at least the suit was dry. She also had a black nylon belt with two guns and two knives in holsters. The weapons were even more inappropriate, but she couldn't bring herself to throw them away. For some reason, they brought her comfort.
She couldn't go to shore dressed this way, and she fretted as she considered what to do. It appeared nobody was on the king's boat. She had no money or identification. A cool breeze was raising goose bumps on her bare arms, and she had no shelter. She was very thirsty and hungry. I need Edward to save me, she thought.
A dark red limousine roared into the parking lot beside the marina. It squealed to a stop at the end of the dock.
Five men got out. They had black body armor, and many weapons were strapped to their bodies. Marina ducked down and peered over the top of the dashboard.
Men dressed the same way had been with Edward on the yacht, and she contemplated calling attention to herself. Maybe they could take her to her king.
One of the men was carrying a little blonde girl. Silvery duct tape was wrapped around her wrists and ankles to bind her. More layers of duct tape covered her mouth. She was struggling, but she had no chance against a captor who weighed at least three times as much as her. The men ran down the dock towards the king's boat.
Marina saw the little girl's eyes. One had a white iris, and the other had a black iris.
She's the one, Marina realized. I must save her.
She didn't know where that thought had come from, but she couldn't doubt its truth. Destiny had placed her in exactly the right spot to rescue a very special little girl. She drew her guns.
Marina stayed out of sight until the men were about to board the king's boat and were facing the wrong way. She stood up and began shooting. At such short range, she had no difficulty placing bullets exactly where she wanted them. A suppressor on her gun kept the noise down, but it still popped. Two seconds later, all five men were dead.
Marina ran over to the girl who was lying on the dock. Marina used a knife to cut open the tape on the girl's wrists and ankles. The girl still had tape on her mouth, but the sound of screaming made Marina turn her head. A man and a woman on the shore had seen the massacre, and they were yelling for the police. Other people in the area were taking notice.
Marina didn't trust the police. She didn't trust anybody, and more enemies could arrive at any moment. Her instincts were telling her to run and hide in the deepest hole she could find until she figured out what to do. King Edward would have to wait.
The red limousine gave her an idea. She searched the bodies until she found a set of car keys. She scooped up the girl in her arms like a baby and ran.
The girl squealed.
"You can trust me," Marina murmured. "I'll keep you safe."
The girl relaxed.
Marina opened the back of the limousine and pushed the girl inside. Then Marina sat in the driver's seat. Bystanders were starting to gather, and some men looked like they might try to intervene. She started the engine and drove off before they had time to work up their courage.
She drove fast until she reached a main
road where she merged with rush hour traffic. A few cars honked as she barged her way into a crowded lane.
This area was vaguely familiar, and a part of her mind recognized it as a suburb near the Tiburon Peninsula. Another part rejected that notion because she was supposed to be in England. She resolved the conflict by not believing anything at all. Taking any position caused her psychological pain.
She wondered about her apparent ability to slaughter five men with great ease. She had gunned them down like they were paper targets. King's consorts weren't supposed to do that sort of thing, and it bothered her deeply.
Marina needed to talk to the girl about what had happened and who those men had been. She began to look for a good place to stop where they would have some privacy.
Chapter Twelve
Hanley was driving along a winding road in the rolling hills of Mill Valley. The town was spread across several tall hills covered with forests. The steep slopes forced the narrow streets to bend and come together at odd angles.
He came around a sharp corner and almost struck the back of a police car. Four police cars were jammed together, blocking the road, and their flashing lights were dazzling. There were also an ambulance and an evidence collection van.
"Oh, shit," he muttered.
"Such foul language," Katie said in an aristocratic tone.
Hanley looked at her. She was still pretending the year was 1936 and she was some kind of royal lady. He had told her the truth several times, but she refused to listen. Every time he pressed the issue, she became distressed as if the truth actually hurt.
"Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes." He stepped out of the car.
He glanced back at the red Ford Focus with a feeling of guilt. He had taken it by force from another driver. Committing those kinds of thuggish felonies wasn't his usual style, but unfortunately, he hadn't had much choice. Getting to the girl quickly had been more important than being civil, but judging by the police presence, he was too late anyway.
Hanley paused to consider how he would handle the situation. He was still wearing green camouflage, and the bulk of his equipment was in a car trunk on the other side of the Bay. He only had the fake identification in his pockets and a few weapons to work with. The sun had almost set, and he decided to use the darkness to his advantage.
