6 Another runner

Darwin

At Darwin, Ronald went on board to collect his stuff.

"Ronald, I had a visit from the Navy on my way back. That's not normal. The Navy normally doesn't board Australian vessels unless they suspect something, so I think you'd better look for another route before it's too late. Leave the vessel without for now. There's a risk they are observing the boat. I'll put the stuff in a garbage bag, the one with the green rope."

"Hmm, thanks for mentioning that. I'll check it out. Anyhow, we are going to play on safe. I'll figure out another route."

Ronald left the boat. Mike got the parcel and put it in the garbage bag and ordered one of his men to put it next to the others bags from the boat at the quay. Later on, an anonymous white pickup stopped, loaded all the bags and left.

A few days later Mike got a text message from Ronald asking to meet him at the Shark bar later that night. Mike went to the grubby bar. He ordered a beer, but the beer was the same quality as the bar, so he took only a few sips of it. A few minutes later, Ronald entered and he got himself also a beer.

"Hi, there's a change in our situation."

"Hmm, I'm listening."

"It's becoming too hot in Papua. We're moving the lab to another spot. I assume that you know what we've been doing all these weeks?"

"Yeah, I was already aware of that."

"Ok, we are going to setup the lab at Woody Island. The Coral Sea is going to transport all the equipment there. There's a jetty that will dock vessels of that size. I want to keep the Coral Sea out of the picture for the transport of the parcels.

"Hmm, so how are you going to transport them to the mainland?"

"I found the perfect solution. There is small company that I found. They have two small boats, and do custom tours along the coast and between the small islands. It's called the South Pacific Discovery Cruises."

"Sounds impressive."

"Nah, that's just the name. It's mainly a leisure tour company. Best of all, it's run by three women; as innocent as can be. No one will ever suspect three women playing around with boats," he grinned.

"And how are you going to use them?"

"Easy, they are going to supply the catering for the lab. On the surface, everything will appear as fruit, vegetables, other food supplies, that sort of stuff and they will bring back medical samples of the tropical plants from the research lab. Our stuff will be hidden in the samples."

Mike grinned too. "Clever, that will work."

"Right, we don't have any time to lose. All the equipment has been loaded into the containers, and tomorrow you start transporting them to the island. That's all. We take care for the construction of the lab. Tomorrow morning I will have them delivered at the quay as construction materials."

"Ok."

Mike took another sip of the bad beer, grimaced and left the bar. Ronald left a few minutes later, leaving in the other direction.

Cairns - The Same Day

A good looking man with dark hair, middle aged and casually dressed in a shirt and cotton trousers, entered the office of the South Pacific Discovery Cruises. Helen who sat behind the desk, lifted her head to welcome the customer.

"Good morning, can I help you?"

"Hi, yes indeed. I've heard that you do boat tours?"

"Yes, sir. There's no fixed tours, you can decide where you want go to."

"Nice. Do you also sail to some islands?"

"Sure."

"Well, I'm part of a medical research team, and we have a lab on Woody Island, but it's isolated and there's no regular sea traffic. We need to supply the team there, and we have some samples to bring back. I just was wondering if you could organise a supply run for us?"

"No problem. We have two boats, so we should be able to fit you in. You know the tariffs? Here's a leaflet with the prices," she said offering him the leaflet.

"Ok, money isn't an issue for me. When can you make the first trip?"

Helen looked at the diary. "The day after tomorrow; does that fit? In the morning?"

"Ok. Great. Can I book a few trips in advance ?

"Sure. I'll put them in the diary. Can I have your name?"

"Certainly, John Smith," Ronald Meagan said.

"Okay. The boat will be either the Southern Star or the Southern Cross, and they are moored at pier 5."

"Splendid, my man will be there. I'll pay right now for this one and for the upcoming trips." Meagan paid and left the office.

A few days later, a man, not Meagan, arrived at the pier with some crates of vegetables, fruit, beverages and other parcels. Rebecca took him to the island and they unloaded the cargo at the main jetty. In return he was given some crates to take back, which included some dark blue boxes with clasps.

Rebecca, ever curious, could not resist asking what was in the boxes, but the only answer she got was that they were samples for further investigation, and that the research was a business secret of a pharmaceutical company. The man who travelled was not too talkative, but did make a bit of small talk.

Back in Cairns, a car was waiting for him. The boxes were loaded into the car and it quickly drove away.