Chapter Twelve

Javier stepped out of his cabin on the Mariposa and turned back to close his door and lock it. As he did so, movement caught the corner of his eye, and he swung his head back to see. Someone was standing on the far side of the door to the stairwell at his end of the hallway. At first, all he could see through the inset window was their back and head. Then, as the man turned slightly, Javier saw it was Lee Hyun. He hadn't seen him in the crew lounge since passing him on the docks two nights before, but that was not unusual, what with changing shifts and twenty-four-hour coverage.

What was unusual was how the man was acting. He seemed incredibly nervous, shifting around and breathing heavily – and what was he doing there in the stairwell? When he turned his head slightly – not enough to glimpse Javier in his preoccupation – Javier saw Lee's face was twisted with anxiety and fear.

Javier finished locking his door and took a step towards the stairwell to check on his shipmate – but Lee chose that moment to begin climbing the stairs. As he ascended, Javier glimpsed what the man was carrying, and it made him jump back out of sight until Lee had passed the landing, then let himself into the stairwell to follow as silently as he could.

Lee was carrying a pistol.

Lee reached the top of the stairs and stood, half-dancing, on the landing. Javier knew the only thing at that level, beyond that door, was the bridge and Captain's office. What was he doing?

Suddenly the ship's loudspeaker crackled into life, adding another piece to the puzzle. That Captain Frontera should address the crew was not that unusual, but what he said certainly was.

"Attention. All hands to action stations. Repeat, all hands to action stations. We are currently being hailed by an idiot in a speedboat, who thinks he is going to board us. A show of strength should persuade him otherwise."

Javier was about to call out to Lee when the man took one last deep, steadying breath and charged through the door onto the bridge. Javier raced up the last flight in time to hear Lee bark out in his uncertain English, "Do what he says! Or I shoot!" Glancing quickly through the window inset into the door, Javier saw what he feared: Lee was about six feet in front of him, pistol held out at arms length, pointing it straight at Captain Frontera's head a few feet beyond.

Frontera's eyes flickered at the door then back to Lee; he had seen Javier. The other two officers currently on watch were too far away to the sides to do anything. It was up to him.

"What do you think you are doing?" Frontera ground out to Lee, keeping his attention forward. His voice was steely fury. He slowly turned to face Lee fully.

The question and movement covered Javier easing the door open and slipping through. As Lee repeated his first demand, Javier took one step forward. Then he rapped out, "LEE!"

As expected, Lee jumped, and began to whirl around with the pistol backhand to face this surprise threat. But Javier was faster. Gratitude that Lee had turned towards his right – his gun hand – flittered through his mind in a split second – the pistol was pointed away from him as he lunged to grab it out of Lee's hands. The two men grappled for a moment – the gun firing off a round towards the ceiling, deafening everyone – then First Officer Julio Taveras came from the side in a flying tackle, grabbing Lee around his knees and sending them all sprawling. But Javier had wrenched the gun away as they fell.

He rolled to his feet and pointed the gun at its former owner, yelling at him to freeze. The man's face became a study in surprise, disappointment, anguish and fear in quick succession as he stared up at Javier.

Frontera tossed a quick thank you to both heroes, then told Taveras to use Lee's own belt to secure his hands behind his back. Then he swung back to the bridge equipment. He flicked on both the radio and the loudspeaker, so the crew could hear what he said next to their would-be pirate. "Attention, speedboat. Your accomplice in my crew has been arrested. Your pitiful plot has failed. We are not stopping. Repeat: WE ARE NOT STOPPING. If you don't want to be crushed, get the hell out of my way." Without turning off the mike, he gave the next orders over the air, too. "Helm, full speed ahead. All hands, prepare for impact – what little there will be." Setting down the radio handset mike, he growled to the second officer to grab the binoculars and write down every detail he could see about their would-be assailant.

Javier could now finally see out the bridge windows, glancing away from Lee propped up against the wall, and what he saw astounded him. Frontera hadn't been sarcastic: it really was a speedboat that was trying to threaten them. A large one, built for the open ocean, yes, but a speedboat nevertheless. There couldn't have been more than fifteen people on board, and that would have made it very crowded. It hesitated for several seconds as the Mariposa continued plowing straight for it – had they really thought sitting in front of the container ship (not a megamax, but big enough) would stop it? But finally the men in the Mariposa's bridge heard the speedboat's engines roar to life, even from that distance, and it scooted out of the ship's path, made a U-turn, and began zipping away towards a nearby headland.

They were on approach to Hong Kong, winding their way through the myriad outer islands towards the big commercial port docks. Dozens of other ships and boats of all sizes could be seen near and far – though definite lanes could be discerned from the traffic patterns.

Frontera watched it go with a grunt, then stood his men down and returned them to duty before switching over to another radio frequency. Then he began sending out a mayday to alert the Chinese naval authorities of the attempted piracy, including their ship name and position, and what the second officer had identified on the speedboat, including its last heading. It wasn't long before police speedboats could be seen in the distance, fast approaching with lights flashing.

The sight sent shivers through Javier. "Capitán," he called in Spanish. When Frontera glanced at him, he continued in that language, so that Lee could not understand, but all three South American officers on the bridge could. He started one thought, but couldn't help his overriding astonishment. "Are pirates common?"

Frontera shrugged, then nodded. "Sometimes."

"Are they always so... keystone kops?"

That got a bark of laughter. "No," Frontera added. "This was... an unusually stupid plot."

Javier returned to the reason he'd spoken up. "Capitán, please, don't give me to the police. Don't mention my name, or anything about me." At Frontera's puzzled look, he added cryptically, "Remember how I came to be on your ship?"

Frontera nodded comprehension, but gestured at Lee on the floor. "Then who took him down?"

"He did," Javier said, handing the gun off without warning to a startled First Officer Taveras. "He's the hero. Good work," he added to Taveras, slapping him on the arm before turning back to include Frontera, spreading his hands in rejection. "I was never even here."

"Then get back to the galley where you belong," grunted Frontera gruffly, but a tiny grin was peeking out. He understood.

Javier tossed him his ironic two-finger salute, and hit the door at a run.