The Aeschylus

by David Barclay

  The memory made her smile. All of the wits of a CIA operative, and here you are working as a secretary. It was a gross exaggeration, but Kate thought it a nice way to justify standing on a toilet with your ear to the wall.

  Michael studied her. “You're right. He was here during the construction of The Aeschylus, and he visited the platform twice while it was being built. He might be the only employee who has any first-hand knowledge of the structure, as unfortunate as that may seem.”

  “You mean ex-employee?” Kate inquired.

  “Yes, and he didn't leave under the best of circumstances.”

  Kate sighed. “So I'll have to convince him to come along for the ride. Is that what you're saying?”

  “That's right. I'll send the paperwork with you, but we'd like to gain his expertise as a consultant.”

  “This just keeps getting better.”

  “If he refuses, you'll accompany the team without him, but for the amount of money we're offering, he shouldn't.”

  “I'm sorry for saying this, Michael, but this seems highly unusual.”

  “It is. His presence was requested though, and we all have to play our part.” Kate looked at him quizzically, but he didn't elaborate. “If he has terms or conditions, do your best to accommodate him. It was made very clear how valuable he could be. Mister Trenton knows the platform inside and out. He knows the security detail, and he knows safety protocols if anything goes awry.”

  “Are you saying I can trust him?”

  “Absolutely not. But you can trust his knowledge and his expertise. It's why we agreed to foot the bill for this.”

  Michael adjusted his tie. Kate noticed again that it was gorgeous Thai silk, and that it perfectly matched the blue of his eyes. He really was quite handsome. “Are you sure you want to go? If you stay, I could take you to dinner, and we could talk about media strategies.”

  Kate smiled, and as charmed as she was, she wasn't a secretary any more. That was last month. “I'll see you when I get back.”

  And then, she left.

  3

  Kate followed the former security chief across the flattened landscape, trying not to focus on the rancid taste in her mouth. Great first impression there, kiddo, she thought. But she didn't have time to apologize; AJ was keeping a fast pace.

  They passed under two more mining machines. Kate thought they were the biggest damned things she had ever seen. A few years back, she had gone with her father to Cape Canaveral to witness the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery. The machine transporting the shuttle to the launch site was the size of a small building, a huge, flat tank with twelve treads and four levels. The mining machines here dwarfed even that behemoth. They stood on two enormous sets of treads, spaced far apart, with a bridge-like shaft in between. The heavy end consisted of several engines, an operator's cab, and a huge, round wheel that looked like the world's largest band saw. The wheel had buckets instead of teeth, each caked and chipped with dirt.

  “It's called a bucketwheel,” the man said, looking over his shoulder. “World's largest land vehicles. These here are a little bigger than the ones in the states. Not as big as the ones in Germany, though. You ever been to Germany?”

  “Yes,” Kate said.

  “Really?” He looked surprised. “Yeah, I should guess you'd be well-traveled. I guess you'll be immune to my foreign charms, then.” He smiled at her, showing a row of pearly-whites that could only belong to a well-bred American.

  She looked at him sideways. “I think you're about as foreign as I am.”

  “Really? Where are you from?”

  “Cuántos años ha estado viviendo en Chile, AJ?”

  “Uh,” he said, pausing.

  “Ningún años. Creo que aproximedente diez meses que han estado aquí. Correcto? Eres un Americano, y un mentiroso pobre.” You've been here ten months. You're an American and a bad liar. She could have said the same thing in English, but somehow, it wouldn't have had the same effect.

  “Que coño es esto?” he muttered. What the fuck is this?

  “You have an accent,” she said matter-of-factly. “And you look like you'll carry that sunburn for years before you ever tan.”

  “Lady, you have one hell of a thing to learn about tact if you're hoping to get something from me.”

  “Why would you think I'm trying to get something from you?”

  “Why else would you be here?”

  He led her up a dirt mound, towards a set of mud-spattered trucks and a mobile office. As they approached, she looked behind her and realized she couldn't see the helicopter any more. She knew her Black Shadow companion had probably gotten out by now, but he was nowhere in sight. Kate felt tension crawl up her back. There was no one else around, no workers, no foreman, no other security agents. The mine was vast, the workers few.

  AJ pointed to one of the trailers. “Home base,” he said. “Follow me, Miss.”

  “You really don't know who I am, then?”

  “Should I?”

  “You probably should, but it's good that you don't.”

  “Whatever you say, lady.”

  He unlocked the door, and she stepped inside. The trailer was small but unremarkable, housing little more than a few desks and computers. It smelled faintly of old sweat. AJ shut the door, and as if on cue, shook out a handful of dust from his hair. He might have been a redhead at one point, but there was too much grunge to tell. He walked over and sat down behind one of the desks, cleaning the inside of one ear with a pinky finger. Kate made a little noise of disgust.

  “Now,” AJ said, “are you an assassin, or do you generally need something from me?”

  “An assassin? What the hell are you talking about?”

  Behind her, Kate heard the sound of a metal click. She'd been to the shooting range enough times in her life to know it couldn't be anything but the sound of a gun.

  From the back room, a man came walking towards her, holding both hands in the air. He looked a few years younger than AJ but was wearing the same type of uniform. He had straight brown hair and the kind of easy, unremarkable face that made most middle-aged men look soft, but Kate saw his eyes and knew better. Then her pilot appeared, holding a Beretta to the man's back.

  The man in front turned to AJ and shrugged. “He's a sneaky old guy.”

  AJ sighed. “Yeah, I can see that. Were you actually dumb enough to get ambushed inside a room this small?”

  “Oh no. He caught me sighting you two over by the rocks. I don't know how he found me.”

  “Think he saw the scope?”

  “Yeah, probably. He's tricky for an old dude.”

  “You think?”

  And then the man spun, wrapping one arm around the wrist of his assailant and smashing his elbow into the man's face. The twist was like a whirlwind, so exact it looked routine. Two seconds later, he had the gun in hand and the pilot was on the floor, wheezing.

  Kate turned back to see AJ holding a pistol on her. He had been easing it out the whole time she had been distracted with him picking his ear. She cursed under her breath.

  “You all right, Dutch?” AJ asked.

  “Sure,” the man said. “I said 'tricky.' I didn't say 'fast.'”

  Kate looked at her pilot and watched as he pushed himself to his knees. His nose was bleeding, but he looked more insulted than hurt.

  “You all right, Mister Marten?”

  “Yeah. Don't touch me.”

  The man called Dutch was looking at her. “Your pilot's good, but he should stick to the wheel. He doesn't have the speed for this.”

  “Piss off,” Marten said.

  Kate put one hand on her hip. “And I suppose you just let him walk you all the way here with a gun to your head?”

  He smiled at her, and in that moment, he looked downright creepy.

  “Enough,” AJ said. “Now. You were just about to tell me what it is that you want?”

  4

  By the time Kate finished, she felt out of breath. She had been ta
lking fast, and she held nothing back.

  “Is that all?” AJ asked.

  “Yes, now can you put that thing away? Jesus.” It came out sounding braver than she felt.

  Dutch glanced at his friend and shrugged, then tucked the gun in his belt. AJ did the same, still regarding her warily.

  As soon as they were done, she took a thunderous step towards the desk. “Is that how you treat all your guests? Luring them out here and then pulling a gun? You asshole!” Behind her, Dutch started to laugh, but she spun on him. “Asshole!” she repeated. It was the only word that fit.

  “Christ, I'm sorry, lady.” He had an aw, shucks kind of look, as if she were the bad guy in this.

  “You have to admit, it looked pretty suspicious,” AJ said. “Your friend there was sneaking around with a gun. He pulled one on Dutch. It's not exactly the best way to start diplomatic relations.”

  Greg Marten grunted. “Neither is setting up a sniper a hundred yards from a defenseless woman.”

  AJ shrugged. “We didn't know who you were.”

  “I'm not helpless,” Kate broke in.

  “Clearly not,” Dutch said.

  Kate put her hands on her head. “All of you, just shut up.” They did, and for a moment, the room went silent. “Now, can we get down to business or what?” They all nodded. Kate was starting to feel like an elementary school teacher in front of a particularly unruly class, but for now, she had their attention and didn't want to waste it. “I didn't come down here to disrupt anyone's life. I came to offer terms, and that's all. Valley Oil is willing to compensate you for your time. They don't think you'd be gone for more than twenty-four hours. All your transportation is arranged, so all you'd need to do is say yes.”

  “How much?”

  Kate turned to Dutch.

  “How much are they willing to compensate?”

  Kate threw up her hands. “They're not willing to compensate you, Mister—”

  “Jones. Henry Jones.”

  “Right, Mister Jones. And here I thought you were Mister Dutch. How silly of me.”

  “That's a nickname,” he said. “You know, like a pseudonym.”

  Kate blinked.

  “You know, so people don't know who I am,” he said with perfect lucidity.

  “I can't tell you how much. The offer is for Mister Trenton.”

  “How much?” AJ asked.

  She turned to the desk. “Maybe we should speak in private.”

  “Nah. How much?”

  She looked at Greg Marten, who only shrugged.

  When AJ asked again, she told him.

  Dutch whistled. “That's pretty good, boss.”

  “I'll take it,” AJ said. “But I want the same for Dutch. He's coming with us.”

  “I can't authorize that!”

  “Geez, lady. No need to shout.”

  Kate rubbed her eyes. “Look. I can't authorize what I don't own. I'm not some top level CEO, here. I'm just a grunt, like you. I'm just doing my job, and here you are—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dutch said. “I'm not a grunt, AJ. Are you a grunt?” He looked back to Kate. “I don't think we're grunts.”

  “Whatever it is that you are,” she said, speaking over him, “you're not authorized to allocate funds for the mine. I'm not authorized to allocate funds from your former employer.”

  Dutch pointed to his companion. “His former employer.”

  Kate took the paperwork from out of her hand bag and slammed it onto the desk. The noise made all three men jump. Dutch actually looked scared. Had he really been holding a gun a few minutes ago? She thought right now she could reach out and take it from him like a mother confiscating a toy. She was half tempted to do it.

  “This is the contract and liability form. They told me the job was only for Mister Trenton, but seeing as this is my call, I guess I can put up with Mister Jones for the duration. But let me make this clear: there will be no second payment. What you do with the money after it's yours is none of my business. So if you want to split it, I suggest you do it then. Now you can fucking take it, or you can fucking leave it.”

  “All right, all right,” AJ said. “No need to get ugly, lady.”

  “McCreedy. Kate McCreedy is my name.” She pointed a finger at him as she said it. She felt absurd doing it, just letting it hang out in front of him, but she thought it got the point across.

  AJ looked at her finger a moment, then grabbed it with his free hand and shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Kate.”

  She yanked her hand back. “Let's stick to 'Ms. McCreedy' for now, okay?”

  “Sure,” he said, signing the paper.

  “And I guess it's nice to meet you too, Angus.”

  Dutch sputtered a laugh. When everybody looked at him, he looked confused. “What? Who?”

  “I'm afraid we don't have much time,” Kate said. “I can give you half an hour to get your things together and get your replacements down here, but not much more than that. We've already wasted too much time.”

  AJ stood up. “I'll make the call. Stanski and Richards can cover for us if it's only going to be a day.”

  Kate couldn't get out of there fast enough, and when AJ picked up the phone, she took it as an excuse to head outside. It was hot, and the wind had picked up, blowing brown dust through the air in translucent waves. Her head still hurt, but one thing was going right: the first part of this was over. She was already tired, and the thought of putting up with the two chuckleheads in the trailer for the rest of the day made her head spin. She'd done her job though, and Michael would be happy. That, at least, was a pleasing thought. With her stake in VO, she wasn't going anywhere even if she failed, but it was nice to succeed anyway. It was nice to make friends, especially friends like—

  The door to the trailer clanged open, and Dutch took two steps into the sun. He swiveled his head, finding Kate by the side wall. He frowned.

  “Wait. Seriously,” he said. “Is his real name Angus?”

  Chapter 4: On The Adalgisa

  Kiel, Germany:

  December, 1938

  1

  The young man led them down the catwalk, gesturing as he went. “Down here is the first mate's quarters. Over there is the kitchen. We eat five at a time, in shifts. The trapdoor is there in the corner.” He grabbed the handle and lifted, revealing a ladder. “Creates a hell of a mess when someone comes up during breakfast, but there's another one out on the main deck. Can't use it in heavy weather, though. After you.”

  Dominik looked at Zofia. “Can you climb honey?”

  She nodded, her thumb still in her mouth. She hadn't given it up since Maggie left.

  At the bottom, they found themselves in a hallway with metal walls. Heat emanated from a room ahead, and Dominik quickly found out why. As they walked past, he saw a boy shoveling black dust into an enormous oven.

  “That's Gerard,” Karl affirmed. “All that smoke makes him slow in the head, so he doesn't talk much.”

  Gerard nodded, grinning at the four of them. Karl kept moving, leading his guests down to the crew's quarters. The men inside were sleeping, playing cards, writing letters. Two of them were even smoking in the corner, clogging the whole room with the stench. Nobody else seemed to notice, but it made Zofia cough. Dominik picked her up and tucked her head into his shoulder.

  He saw bananas hanging in clumps, wire bags of peaches and other fruits dangling from hooks. A few sausages hung in one corner, attracting flies. Clothes and other items were also suspended near the beds, the men trying to take up as little space as possible.

  “The crew sleeps here, obviously,” the man named Karl said. “Everybody to one room. The hammocks allow everyone their own bed, and that's a good thing. I don't know about you, but I don't abide sleeping in someone else's stink.” He pointed to a pill-shaped metal door that looked sealed with a crank handle. “This leads to the inside of the hull in case we need to make repairs or someone needs to adjust the spring damper for the harpoon. And these,” he said, lea
ding them to two final doors, “are our pantries.” He cracked one of them, revealing a stack of boxes and food goods that looked ready to topple out. He shut it quickly and opened the other door, this time swinging it full. There were no goods inside; where Dominik expected boxes, he saw only a man.

  The prisoner stood as the door opened, his overlong hair bouncing backwards. His clothes looked ruffled and dirty, but Dominik thought he must be some kind of intellectual. With his wild hair and glasses, it was the only mold that fit.

  “Ari,” the man said, extending a hand. “Ari Quintus.”

  Dominik shook it.

  “Who are these lovely young ladies?”

  “I'm Lucja.”

  “Zol-fill-a,” Zofia said with her thumb in her mouth.

  “Home, sweet home,” Karl said. “There's no room for a bed, but we got some straw you can share.”

  Dominik looked past Ari and surveyed the small space with horror. It was no bigger than the other pantry, with a low ceiling and no windows. There was a straw mat in one corner and a suspicious-looking bucket in the other. Karl couldn't possibly mean for them to stay here.

  “Life aboard a ship isn't easy,” the young man said. “We all have it pretty hard. You may have it a little harder than most, but you'll live.”

  Dominik couldn't help but think he sounded rather chipper about the whole thing. “You can't be serious.”

  At that moment, Lieutenant Dietrich came strutting purposefully towards the pantry. His hands were behind his back, his uniform re-creased in the hour since Dominik had seen him last. How he had managed to do such a thing on a moving ship, Dominik didn't know. Karl took his cue and bowed out. Friendly or not, this was none of his business.

  Harald inclined his head towards the room. “Get inside.”

  “You can't make us do that.”

  “I can, and I will.”

  “On whose orders?”

  “On my orders, of course. Until we get settled and the men have their routine, you have to stay out of the way.” He paused, thought for a moment, then said, “Also, I don't trust you. You've had a very hard day, and you are not in your right mind.”