Chapter 52: Málaga

Saturday dawned overcast and gray as we sailed towards Málaga. Both Captain Tony and Captain Alfred joined me on the bridge about 8:00am and sent me for some breakfast with instructions to get dressed and return immediately afterwards.

When I returned, they had me furl the sails as we switched to the engines to enter the marina at Málaga.

I brought the Windsong alongside the fuel dock and the captains put out the fenders and then tied us off. The ladies all disembarked to walk the few hundred yards up Alameda de Colon to the bakery and the grocery store. Captain Alfred and Samantha went with them.

When the fueling was complete, Captain Tony paid the bill and then we moved the Windsong to the slot he had rented for the day. I had to back the Windsong into its slot, but under Captain Tony’s guidance and using the wired remote control for the thrusters and the engines while standing on the port wing, it was actually easier than I had thought it would be.

Once Sarah and Captain Tony had the lines taunt, I helped him put out the rear passerelle.

“I don’t think that is a good idea,” Captain Tony said when I asked about Sarah and I going ashore. I didn’t have anywhere in mind, I just wanted to get off the boat and stretch my legs. I hadn’t been on solid ground since we left Antalya almost two weeks ago.

We were still discussing it, or I should say I was just about to start begging, when a car pulled up near the pier and two people, a man and a woman got out and approached the Windsong.

“My name is Rachel Lopez. I am the assistant to General Santiago Botello. He has requested that you visit him at the local administration’s office,” she said. “General Botello said to make sure that you understood that this was an invitation and not a summons.”

“May I bring my two companions?” I asked.

“Of course,” she replied with a smile. Based on what the General had told her, she hadn’t been sure her mission would be successful. “However, they will need identification.”

Captain Tony went to leave a note for Monique and then the three of us followed Rachel to her car. The other man, who had not been identified, stayed behind.

“His job is to protect your beautiful yacht while you are gone,” she told us as she put the automobile in gear.

“You speak flawless English,” Sarah said to her.

“Grew up south of Lubbock, Texas and got my undergraduate degree from Texas A&M,” she casually explained. “My mother is from Málaga and I was here visiting family when the opportunity to work for the Policía Nacional (National Police) came up. I’ve been here for two years and love it!”

That would make her about twenty-four. I found myself wanting to pursue this conversation, but we had arrived. I wished now that we had walked because it was less than half a mile from the marina.

The two story modern building looked just like administrative buildings everywhere. We went in the door and were asked for our identification. Then, after signing their register, we were given badges and Rachel escorted us through a pair of double doors and down a long hall. At the end, there was another set of doors, and these were guarded by a pair of heavily armed policemen in tactical gear.

We were passed through and boarded an elevator to the second floor. When the door malfunctioned as it tried to close, I figured out the problem and calmly suggested the stairs. The receptionist nodded at Rachel as she led us to a medium sized conference room and asked us to wait. Then she left the room.

We had been waiting long enough for me to locate the two hidden cameras and three hidden microphones, when the General and Rachel entered the room.

“You are Alex?” he asked. “The one who spoke to me yesterday?”

Yes, sir,” I told him. “And these are my friends, Captain Antoine Lavigne of La Royale and Señorita Sarah Evans who works for the Rappeneau Foundation.”

After the introductions were complete, the General had us sit down and then started on the reason for the invitation.

“I found our conversation yesterday, absolutely fascinating,” he told me. “Yet it left me with more questions than answers. I was wondering if you could enlighten me a little further?”

I started to answer him when a man in a knit shirt entered the room and bent to whisper something in the General’s ear. The General frowned and the man left.

“I’m sorry, but they say they need this conference room for another meeting. Would you mind if we moved to the office next door?”

After we were settled and I had fried the camera and microphone in this room, I looked at the General. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you cause the drone to explode?” he asked.

There was a knock on the door and the same man entered and again whispered in the General’s ear. The General looked at him with an agitated expression on his face and the guy shrugged and left the room.

“When I was struck by lightning last year, instead of killing me, it increased my EMF by a large factor,” I told him.

“What is this EMF?” he asked.

“Electromagnetic Field. Every living thing in the universe has an electromagnetic field. Mine is just greater now. Every electronic device and every mechanical device has an electronic signature. If you will notice, my friends and I do not carry cell phones or other electronic or mechanical devices. It became too expensive to keep replacing them.”

“Really?” he said.

“That’s why the cameras and microphones in the other room failed, and then the ones in this room failed as well. Do you carry a cell phone or other electronic devices?” I asked.

Embarrassed, he pulled out a cell phone and a pager. The pager was smoking and the phone was dead. Rachel also pulled out her cellphone. It was also dead so she just tossed it on the table.

“But how?” he started.

“My EMF’s also affect mechanical devices,” I told him.

He thought for a minute and then pulled out his service revolver and looked at it before quickly breaking it down. It was obvious then that the trigger mechanism was not functional. He looked up at me not sure what to say.