Chapter 22: Where Did You Go?

When we were finally out of the BVI’s (British Virgin Islands) Captain Alfred radioed the Chevalier Paul to let them know we were underway again.

“Roger, Serendipity. We have you bearing south-by-southeast at 152, speed seven knots. We are east of you on a parallel course, approximately seven miles off your port. The captain said to tell you the American fleet exercise is ahead of you bearing 159 from your position, range 220 miles and steady. Good luck, Serendipity, Paul out.”

“Well, it looks like your American friends are not so forgiving,” the Captain said.

“They’ll find I’m not the forgiving kind either,” I told him with a grim smile. I hated the fact that they were messing up what would have been an otherwise wonderful cruise.

Isabella came to the bridge about mid-morning and asked me to come to her cabin when I had a moment, so when the Captain came up later, I took off.

“You rang?” I asked cheerfully as I knocked on her open door.

“Hey!” she said. “C’mon in and close the door.”

I did and sat down on the edge of her berth. She was at the little desk, working on her laptop.

“I was just reading these encrypted files again. My mom says it’s time for you to pay the piper. She’s sending Reginald to meet us in Martinique and escort us back to Paris,” she told me.

“Who’s Reginald?” I asked.

“Reginald De’bushe is my boss. He’s the head of Rappeneau Security. He always gets involved when anyone is being recruited for the Foundation,” she explained. “And he’s Carina’s brother.”

I didn’t know if I was pleased or not with that last piece of information. I’d have to talk to Carina about it later.

Isabella took my silence for hesitation.

“It’s not that bad. I believe that mom just wants to see where you might fit in at the foundation. She says that the first thing we’ll have to do is get you tested and find out what you need to graduate from high school. Then she wants to discuss which college might be best for you.”

College! I hadn’t even begun to think of college.

“What college is she thinking?”

“She mentioned both Oxford and Cambridge, but I think she’s leaning towards the Imperial College of London (legally the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) because of their scientific research center.”

I didn’t say anything. Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Don’t worry about it now. The Foundation has decided that you are an important person, and they are going to take care of you. It’s almost as if you were old world royalty,” she said.

“I didn’t know that there was such a thing as ‘old world royalty’ anymore,” I replied.

“Oh, yes. There are over forty monarchies in the world today, from Great Britain to the Vatican. Many of them are in Europe and all of them very old. You didn’t see it very much in America, but we grew up with it. Monarchs and other old families get treated differently than others,” she said.

“Well, my family certainly isn’t royalty and we don’t have old world money,” I told her. “I always figured I’d go to Kennesaw State in Marietta. They have a good golfing program.”

“Heaven help us if mom finds out you want to go to community college to play golf,” she said.

I just smiled. I could imagine Cynthiana’s reaction.

“By-the-way, I didn’t put what happened on the beach, night-before-last, in my report. Although I did tell mom about it. I wasn’t sure Reginald was ready to hear about his sister and a teenager,” she said. “So, can you tell me what really happened?”

“I guess. It’s really not a secret since everybody saw it,” I said. “We discovered that different emotions create different responses.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I’m angry, I can fry a ship in seconds, but when I feel great, like lots of love, I can’t fry a thing. When I was with Carina, we couldn’t see the big glowing light everyone else saw.”

“You couldn’t? How could you miss it?” she asked.

“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like when I’m playing golf. I get lost in the game and don’t even know you’re there,” I told her. “No offense.”

“I’m not sure if I’m offended or not.”

“It’s the same thing when we kiss. I become lost in your kiss and forgot all about the rest of the world.”

“You become lost in my kisses?” she asked. “Really?”

“You probably don’t realize how much you have taught me about kissing or making love,” I told her. “But there is just something special about feeling you in my arms.”

“Special like a bonfire on the beach?” she asked.

“That’s what I was trying to explain. We discovered something new when I kissed Carina and Jenna,” I said.

“What did you discover?”

“Ah ... it might be easier to show you,” I said as I took Isabella in my arms and kissed her. I had just planned to show her what happened when I let myself go and poured all my passion into the kiss, but Isabella wasn’t paying attention. She seemed to have lost herself in our kiss as well.

“Oh, well ... In for a penny, in for a pound!” I thought to myself as I continued to kiss her passionately. I don’t know when I also became lost in our kiss, for a moment or an hour, I don’t know because I lost track of time, as we moved through space again like last night.

When mom came in the door of the cabin she shared with Isabella, she shrieked. That caused Isabella to jerk back and reach for her firearm on the desk.

“Whoa! That was awesome!” I cried.

My mom just stood there looking confused. “Where did you go?” she asked.

“What!” Isabella cried.

“When I walked in, I walked right through a bright ... something! Then I screamed and it flashed and there you were!” my mom said between breaths. I thought she was going to hyperventilate. Then she turned and went back upstairs without a word.

Isabella looked at me and I shrugged and pulled her into another embrace. This time we ended up on her bed with my cock buried in her pussy as I poured my passions into her. Once more we lost all track of time as made love on her berth.

Roland and Carina were talking with Mom, Captain Alfred, and Archara when we returned to the bridge.

“It was so unreal, it was spooky,” my mom was telling them. “I walked in the door and stepped through this bright light before I even realized what it was. And when I turned around they were standing there kissing where I had just walked!”

“So you didn’t see them when you opened the door?” Archara asked.

“They weren’t there. Those staterooms are not large enough for two people to be standing there and me still walk to the bed,” she exclaimed.

“Alex, do you care to report?” Roland asked me.

“You were correct in your surmise that the energy is different when I feel great love or intense passion. I could actually feel us moving through time or space or both. But I need much more experience and testing to be able to determine more,” I told him.

“So basically you’re saying that ... er, positive energy causes different EMF reactions than negative energy?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. And at this time, we have to assume that the EMF’s surrounding my body, when charged with positive energy, have some effect on time and space. But I have no sense of control or a way to measure it,” I told him.

“Can you show us less intelligent human beings exactly what you’re talking about?” Archara asked. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Me too!” echoed several of the girls.

I glanced at Isabella, but she looked embarrassed. So I turned to Carina. “Roland, may I borrow your wife?” I asked politely.

“Quit that!” Carina said as she jumped up and playfully slapped my arm.

So I quickly took her in my arms and squeezed her tight, then lifting her chin, I looked into her eyes. I smiled and then kissed her. When she started kissing me back, I began to pour my passion into our embrace. She returned my passion with her own and soon I lost all track of time and place. I could tell that we were moving through space again.

“Alex!” my mom said sternly. She was actually standing within our arms. Carina dropped our embrace and jumped back in astonishment.

“What?” Carina sputtered. “Where did you ... How did you do that?”

“Mrs. Masters was showing us how she walked through the bright shining thingy where you and Alex were standing. Then she stopped in the middle of it and called your name. Suddenly, you and Alex were standing there again,” Mischa explained to her mom. “Where did you go?

“We left?” Carina asked. “Like in left the room?”

“I dare say that you left the boat,” Roland said and then held out his hand to his wife. “I must admit that the whole thing made me a tad uncomfortable.”

“Oh, Darling,” she said as she went to him, immediately recognizing his insecurity with the whole thing.

I kept waiting for Roland to ask me about the experience, but he was busy holding his wife. The others seemed uncomfortable and didn’t know what to say to me. So I excused myself and headed out to the cockpit.

“Alex, my dad wants you,” Henri said as he shook my shoulder.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“9:22,” he told me.

I had fallen asleep over four hours ago and apparently slept through supper. I made my way to a bathroom and then up to the bridge.

“Your friends have made their appearance,” he told me when I arrived.

The US Navy was on the radar, maybe seventy miles directly in front of us and headed straight towards us. We were traveling south at around eight knots and they were streaming north at approximately eighteen knots. We’d meet in less than three hours.

“I think that they are trying to use the darkness to their advantage. They must think that if you cannot see them, you cannot hurt them,”

I stepped out on the bridge wing and looked into the night sky. The moon was already setting and the skies were scattered with clouds. I spotted the Chevalier Paul’s electrical signal, which had moved to our point maybe five miles ahead and slowed to match our pace.

I could feel the task force’s electronic presence, but I stared for over five minutes before I could actually see their electronic signatures. There was one larger signature, two slightly smaller ones and then four even smaller signatures.

“What should we do? They’re obviously headed straight for us,” I asked.

“Why don’t we head east and see what they do,” Captain Alfred suggested. I immediately began adjusting the spinnaker as Captain Alfred changed course.

At first, it didn’t look like they were doing anything.

“Looks like they’re changing to a new intercept course. ETA now under two hours,” he said a few minutes later.

After he confirmed their course change, Captain Alfred changed our course again. “Changing course again to southeast.”

I went to work on the sails again.

“They’re changing again as well,” he said a few minutes later. “It looks like they are definitely coming for us.”

We began changing course again, but I could tell that Captain Alfred was getting tired of playing this game. The presence of the Chevalier Paul seemed to have little effect on their pursuit. Another hour drug by and they were getting closer

“Can we talk to them?” I asked.

Captain Alfred shrugged his shoulders. “Probably. The question is, will they acknowledge?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I told him. “Just warn them that if they don’t change course, their westernmost ship will cease functioning in fifteen minutes.”

The captain got on the radio and started speaking. He repeated his message three times without a response. We waited nervously for them to change course. But they kept on coming straight towards us. Finally, I started counting it down for him as I connected with one of the smaller ship.

“It’s the USS Etowah, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship,” I told him.

Suddenly the radio crackled. ‘‘Unknown ship at... (he rattled off our coordinates). This is the US Navy. You are ordered to furl your sails and prepare to be boarded, as we have reports of terrorists in the area and need to do an inspection of your craft,” the radio crackled.

“We’re not a terrorist threat, asshole! This is the Sailing Yacht Serendipity. We’re a private French sailing catamaran with sixteen civilians on board,” the captain growled.

“Serendipity. Please heave to and prepare to be boarded,” the radio said.

“Negative, US Navy. You will not, I repeat, Not, approach this vessel. Do you understand?”

“Listen, Bucko. This is the United States Navy and we don’t take orders, we give orders. Now heave to before we shove a nice little Tomahawk missile up your private yacht ass.”

“Shutting down bridge control and all weapons systems on USS Etowah. Two Sea Hawk helicopters, fried,” I said without responding to the asshole on the radio.

“They’re breaking formation,” the captain said.

“You have really stepped in some big time shit now! You have attacked a fully armed US Naval Task Force. Heave to now or we will fire. In Five, four, three...,” he counted down on the radio. I didn’t wait, but instead, I fried all the electronics on all six of the other ships simultaneously. Their electronic signatures completely disappeared from our radar screen.

Captain Alfred and I just stood there staring at the now empty radar screen.

“Warning! Warning! Submarine approaching on your starboard bow. Range: 5,000 yards. Detect outer hull opening,” the Chevalier Paul relayed.

I began searching and quickly locked in on the sub. I searched for and immediately fried the sub’s weapon’s control systems in less than three seconds, but apparently they were able to launch two of their torpedoes.

I felt my anger rising as suddenly, both of the torpedoes erupted. They had traveled less than 200 yards from the sub. Moments later the submarine veered to the north and surfaced, their speed slowed to barely making way.

“One submarine disabled. Good shooting, Serendipity,” the Chevalier Paul radioed. “Captain Fourreau, the skipper says he wants to discuss this situation with you soon.”

“Tell Phillip that if he’s buying, I’m telling,” Captain Alfred said. “As soon as we reach Martinique.”

Captain Alfred and I continued to monitor the radio and the radar as we closed on their last known position. Somewhere after four o’clock the Chevalier Paul reported six smoking ships lying motionless on the sea. A seventh was slowly circling the disabled fleet, but the Chevalier Paul was unable to raise anyone. Fortunately the sea was calm.

The radar screen was still dark by the time we reached the spot where the Chevalier Paul had reported seeing them earlier. The Task Force had apparently drifted northeast on the currents.

“What now?” I asked Captain Alfred.

“The Chevalier Paul said they reported the disabled ships’ position to the Coast Guard on Guadeloupe. The Coast Guard will probably wait until daylight to fly out and check it out. Since the seas are calm and they’re less than sixty-five miles off the coast of Guadeloupe, the Task Force should be okay. The Chevalier Paul is not sure what happened to the sub. What happens next is anyone’s guess,” he told me.

“How far to Martinique?” I asked.

“It’s almost dawn and at this speed, we’re currently about thirteen hours from Martinique, which would put us arriving after dark. We’ll probably turn and sail west for about five hours and then turnabout to approach the naval base harbor at first light tomorrow,” he told me.

“How did your watch go?” Roland asked as he came up the stairs bringing coffee.

“Interesting...” I replied.

“We ran into the US Navy,” Captain Alfred told him.

“And...?” Roland prompted.

“Let’s say that our boy here discouraged an entire task force from continuing their mission.”

“Would you like to report?” Roland asked me.

“Last night, the Captain woke me up and reported the American task force had turned on a collision course, some three hours south. As we came closer, the Captain warned them to disengage and turn away. They refused to turn away, so I melted the bridge electronics and the fire control computer on their smallest ship, along with their two Sea Hawks.”

Roland grimaced when I mentioned destroying the two copters.

“They responded by threatening us with attack,” I continued. “So, I fried the remaining six ships completely. Then the Chevalier Paul said there was a submarine 5000 yards off our starboard bow. I located it and fried their weapons computer, but they got off two torpedoes. I fried both torpedoes a second later and they exploded less than two hundred yards from the sub. The sub then surfaced and limped away, according to the Chevalier Paul. Captain Alfred thinks their damage was from their own torpedoes more than what I did.”

“Did they survive?” Roland asked.

“I think so. When the Chevalier Paul came across the task force dead in the water later, he said that one ship was mobile and circling the rest of the group which was drifting northeast on the currents. The Chevalier Paul radioed the Coast Guard on Guadeloupe,” I told him. “Captain Alfred says they should be okay since they’re less than sixty miles from there.”

“I guess I need to give Cynthiana a heads up,” he said and then promptly left the bridge.

At least he had brought coffee.

It didn’t take long until all the adults and most of the teens were on the bridge. I guess Henri and Phillipe didn’t get the memo. They were all asking questions about what had happened.

“Earlier this morning, the US Navy tried to force a showdown and when they refused to back down, Alex destroyed the weapons control computer and two Sea Hawk helicopters on a Freedom-class littoral combat ship. They then threatened us by radio and Alex immediately fried all six remaining ships in two seconds. After all that, the Chevalier Paul reported a submarine off our starboard bow that was getting ready to fire. Alex fried their weapons control computer, but they were able to get two torpedoes launched. Alex blew them both up. The subsequent explosions probably damaged the sub and it was reported that they had surfaced and were moving slowly to the north,” captain Alfred told everyone.

“Now what?” my mom asked.

“We wait,” Captain Alfred told her. “We’ll be in Martinique first thing in the morning. We’ll dock at the French naval port and I’ll report to my superiors there. Hopefully, we’ll be allowed to board a commercial flight to Paris. Roland will call the consulate and try to make arrangements for Victoria and Maryann.”

“It sounds like you two have had an exciting night. I think that you should both should get some breakfast and go to bed,” Archara said. “Who wants to man the bridge for a few hours?”

I fell asleep at the breakfast table and mom gently prodded me to the berth in one of the cabins. When I woke up it was noon and I could hear people in the galley preparing lunch. When I turned my head, I found Kelly Ann sleeping beside me.