Chapter 36: The Serendipity

I reported for my watch at 4:00am as usual. Isabella accompanied me amid some mild grumbling about the time of day and certain people who might be mentally deranged for making the bet. I checked our position and plotted the GPS coordinates on the map and began my routine. Captain Alfred watched me for a moment and then said, “Carry on,” before going downstairs.

I fixed Isabella and I both a cup of coffee and began my watch, checking that all systems were functioning as expected. After a while, the coffee kicked in and we started to talk.

“You like doing this, don’t you?” she finally said.

I began to tell her about how I loved being on the bridge when the sky began to lighten, and the stillness of everything as the day began.

“What did you like to do back home?” she asked.

Of course, that got me started talking about growing up in Georgia and playing golf. I’m sure she was sorry she brought it up after I waxed on about par fives and handicaps for a while. Throughout it all, I would still get up to check the bridge and make sure the sails were right.

It was at the 5:00am check when I happened to glance at the radar. Every other time that night, the screen had been empty. But this time, there was a small blip just at the edge of our range. Our radar was a pretty sophisticated one, with a range of over seventy miles, and if I was reading it right, whatever was out there was right at the edge of our radar. I noted it in the log and finished my inspection of the instruments so I could get back to talking with Isabella.

At 5:15am, I noticed that the blip was still there. It appeared to be on a course directly towards us. I hadn’t paid any attention before, figuring it was just a commercial ship on its way somewhere. But now, I began to notice. I kept an eye on the radar for another fifteen minutes and then, after noting its position in the log, picked up the intercom.

“Captain Alfred,” I said hesitantly. “I hate to bother you, but we have something on the radar. I noticed it about thirty minutes ago, right at the edge of our coverage. Now, it’s about five miles closer and appears to be heading directly towards us.”

“Be right there,” was all he said. Two minutes later, he was on the bridge, staring at the radar. He punched some buttons and then checked again.

“Is the AIS (Automatic Identification System) still turned off?” We had turned it off on leaving Funchal to make it harder to track us.

“Yes, Sir,” I told him.

“Well, whoever it is, they appear to be following us and they must have some pretty sophisticated gear to do that. That means military. But who’s?”

“I can guess,” I told him. I knew that everybody could. “What should we do?”

“Well, at his rate, it will take them another three hours to come into sight. It will be light by then and we’ll be able to see what we’re dealing with. I suggest we unfurl the main a little more and see if we can pick up some speed,” Captain Alfred said as he and I began to re-position the sails to take advantage of the early morning breeze, adjusting our course slightly.

“Look,” I told him a little later. “They changed course too!” And they had, just ever so slightly.

“Continue on course,” he told me. “They’ll make themselves known when they’re ready.

Isabella had disappeared a short while ago and now returned with fresh coffee and some sweet rolls for breakfast. I noticed that she had slipped on a shoulder holster with a small firearm.

“Do we know what we’re facing, yet?” she asked.

“It will be a couple of more hours, I would think,” he replied.

By then, Roland was on the bridge, and soon Walt and all the wives were there too. Anna also popped her head up the stairs to ask her dad what was going on. So Captain Alfred gave them all a rundown on just what we knew. You could see the atmosphere on the bridge getting tense.

“Reminds me of being on my ship during a live-fire exercise” Captain Alfred said at one point.

Finally, about nine o’clock, the mysterious ship breached the horizon. Captain Alfred took the binoculars to the bridge wing to study it.