Chapter 23: Happy New Year

“Happy New Year!” Isabella exclaimed as she perched on the edge of the berth in what was usually her cabin. On a sailing catamaran, the staterooms are all located down inside the twin hulls, with the common areas located on the two decks above the twin hulls.

“I’m sorry to have to wake you, but Captain Alfred and Reggie would like to see you on the flying bridge,” Isabella informed me.

I groaned as my eyes struggled to become accustomed to the sunlight streaming through the large window. Large stateroom windows were a trademark on most Sunreef yachts and someone had forgotten to close the window shades last night.

The last few days had been packed with both excitement and fear. First was the confrontation with The US Naval Task Force; then being escorted by the French Navy to the French Naval Base on Martinique. There, we were greeted by officials who wanted to arrest everyone on the yacht. And just when everything began to go to hell-in-a-handbasket, there came a visit from the base commander, who happened to be an old friend of Captain Alfred’s.

But it wasn’t until Reggie showed up a few hours later that I had my greatest surprise. Rappeneau’s is one of the largest banks in the world. Headquartered in Zurich, it was founded by Baron Rappeneau and his two brothers in 1604. It is privately owned, and they fund the Rappeneau Foundation.

The Foundation, as everyone refers to it, was set up to provide for and protect the Rappeneau family, which it has done for over four hundred years. One very small part of this foundation is the RSF or Rappeneau Security Force. It is staffed and manned by over two hundred highly trained security people with a combined five hundred years plus of security experience. The Rappeneau Bank’s Board of Directors appoints one of its members to oversee the RSF. That board member happens to be Roland’s mother. Reginald (Reggie) De’bushe is in charge of the Security Force. He’s also Carina’s older brother.

I discovered that with the new year, I had become an employee of the Foundation with both Swiss and French diplomatic security passports. I’d have to get my attorney, Cynthiana, to explain that one to me later.

Finally, I closed my eyes and thought back to last night and the young girl that was still sleeping beside me...

“Alex, since we’re staying on the boat one more night, I was wondering ... that is, if you haven’t got other plans, if maybe we might finish what we were talking about the other day?” Maryann had asked shyly.

Maryann Farmer and her cousin, Victoria Strobel had been sailing the Bahama’s with Victoria’s father (Maryann’s uncle) when they were stopped and boarded by pirates. While the two girls hid out in the hold, the pirates ransacked their rented yacht and beat up Victoria’s father. He subsequently suffered a stroke and we happened to come along just in time to rescue them and arrange for Victoria’s father to be flown to a hospital. Because the girls had lost their passports in the pirate’s attack, the two cousins decided to stay with us and tomorrow, the Consulate in Martinique was going to get them replacement papers and a flight back to Syracuse, New York in the USA.

I knew what Maryann was asking. She had slept beside me a couple of nights ago, but that’s all we did. Sleep. I knew that she was a couple of years younger than me and I knew that she was still a virgin. I also knew that she was probably going to be flying back to Syracuse tomorrow. And I knew she wanted to lose her V-card. So I just took her hand and headed for the fantail to find us a private place to bed down for the night.

But before we could get settled, Reggie was standing over us.

“I’m sorry, Alex. But you cannot sleep out here in the open tonight. It’s too risky. Why don’t you two try Isabella’s cabin. I’ll find somewhere else for them to sleep.” Isabella worked for Reggie at the foundation and she was also Roland’s half-sister.

So that’s how we ended up in Isabella’s cabin. I had no idea where she and my mom slept last night.

“You are a hard guy to get alone,” Maryann told me as we settled into the berth. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to be with you for two days!” she exclaimed. “But now, it’s too late. I started my period this morning.”

“Well, you have me now,” I said as I pulled her close. “Just be gentle with me. I’ve had a rough day.”

“Poor baby!” she cooed. “Let me make it all better,” she giggled as she reached for my crotch.

“Can I make a suggestion?” I asked.

“Ah ... okay,” she replied.

“There is a lot that we can do together that is very, ah ... exciting. And I promise that I will make you feel very good. So why don’t we spend an intimate evening together and if you like everything I do, once you are through your period and I get through my mess here, we can get back together and I will be glad to take your virginity then.”

“But I’ll be in Syracuse and you’ll be in Georgia or France or somewhere!” she pouted.

I thought for a minute. She did have a valid point.

“Tell you what. When you get home, talk to your folks and if they agree, I’ll send you a roundtrip ticket for you to fly back to Martinique and spend a week sailing with us this spring,” I suggested. “That would give you time to visit the doctor and get started on birth control.”

“But what if they say no?” she whined.

“Then you call Corina and have her talk to them. I’m sure she will be glad to help us,” I told her.

“Do you really think she’ll do it? Help, I mean?” she asked.

“Why don’t you talk to her in the morning before you leave, and tell her everything we’ve discussed?” I suggested. “That way, at least you’d know.”

“I ... don’t ... know...” she said slowly.

“In the meantime, I’ll use tonight to teach you, how to teach a guy, how to make you feel very good!”

“Okay, I guess. How do I teach a guy how to do something that I don’t even know myself?” she asked.

“Because class is about to begin. Pay attention now,” I told her. Then I proceeded with a basic biology lesson on erogenous zones and how to find them. Turns out, Maryann had quite a few. And of course, I had to teach her how to stimulate each one.

An hour or so later, I finally got to her last one, her clit. She was so primed that just blowing on it with puffs of air caused her to cry out as she lifted her body off the bed on just her head and her heels. Then when I finally touched it with my fingertips, it was like the last fireworks on the Fourth of July. Just one series of explosions after the other, like they were never going to end.

I lay cuddling her while she came down from her high. She didn’t talk, but she had a big grin on her face. Then I spooned up against her back and hugged her to me.

She moved my hand to her breast as she snuggled against me.

““Thank you,” she whispered. “That was perfect!”

“Happy New Year!” I replied.

“I’ll tell them you’ll be up in ten minutes,” Isabella continued as she headed out the door. “And remember that we are in port and that clothing is NOT optional.”

After finishing in the bathroom, I got dressed and pulled the covers up over the still sleeping girl before slipping out of the stateroom and heading up the stairs.

“Coffee?” I asked my mom who was talking with Archara at the table.

“Have a seat. I’ll get it for you,” she told me.

“Isabella said the Captain and Reggie wanted me,” I started.

“Well, they can just wait until you’ve had your breakfast,” she said, sounding just like a mom. “Besides, it’s Saturday and a holiday so nothing official can happen until Tuesday. Do you want some ketchup for your eggs?”

“Geeze, Mom! I haven’t eaten ketchup on my eggs since like third grade!” I replied.

She just ruffled my hair as she grinned at me. “I’ve missed cooking for you.”

“And I’ve missed eating your cooking!” I proclaimed.

“Alex?” she said suddenly. “Please don’t lose your temper up there. For me. Please?”

What’s going on?” I wondered to myself. “I guess it is time to find out.”

Reggie and Captain Alfred were waiting for me when I reached the bridge.

“Have a seat Alex, Roland will be joining us in a minute,” Reggie said. Roland showed up moments later and seated himself in the chair across from mine.

“Okay, what’s the story?” Roland asked of no one in particular.

“Well, it seems that the President of the United States called the President of France and asked for a diplomatic favor. And President Macron has agreed to his request with conditions. It seems that President Dexter has requested that his Chief of Diplomatic Security, Officer Bremerton, be allowed to speak with you. This morning. Here. Aboard the Serendipity. He is coming alone, and unarmed and will be escorted by Admiral Bouchard,” Captain Alfred explained. “But Craig specifically said we had to get your agreement or the deal was off.”

I paused for a moment, trying to think it through.

“Will it create trouble for Admiral Bouchard if I refuse?” I asked.

“More than likely, there will be some kickback, politically speaking,” Roland answered. “But Al is right. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“Let’s at least see what he wants,” I said. “If I don’t like it, I don’t have to answer.”

Captain Alfred excused himself and went down to the fantail and spoke with the French Lieutenant on duty there. Meanwhile, Roland just looked at me.

“It’s as if you are maturing right before my eyes,” he said with respect. “Is there anything you need before he gets here?”

“Well, we might want to get Carina up here. Just in case...” I told him.

“Not a bad idea,” he replied and left to go find her. Reggie looked at me curiously, wondering why his sister might be needed, but said nothing as we waited for everyone to return.

Soon, everyone was back. I saw that Archara and my mom had joined Carina. Reggie quickly brought Mom, Carina, and Archara up to speed with what was happening. Before he finished, there was a disturbance on the dock as a platoon of Troupes de la Marine (Troops of the French Navy) marched down the pier escorting the Admiral and a man dressed in a business suit. When they paused at the sugar scoops, Admiral Bouchard rang out, “Permission to come aboard?”

As Captain Alfred went down the steps to the cockpit, I heard him say, “Welcome aboard, Admiral.”

Leaving the French Marines on the pier, Admiral Bouchard and the suit came aboard. After a brief handshake, Captain Alford escorted them to the flying bridge.

“This is the Chief of US Diplomatic Security, Officer Bremerton,” the admiral began. “Officer Bremerton, may I present Captain Alfred Fourreau, Master of the Serendipity and his wife, Princess Archara. With them is Dr. Henri-Roland Rappeneau, his wife, Dr. Carina Rappeneau, Alex’s mother, Mrs. Laura Masters, and Mr. Reginald De’bushe, chief of security for The Rappeneau Foundation. And last, but not least, Mr. Alexander Masters of Marietta, Georgia.”

“Won’t you all have a seat?” Archara asked gracefully moving to the large table.

After we were seated, I waited to see what was next. When nobody said anything, I looked at Bremerton and said, “It’s your nickel.”

“Ah ... Alex is it?” he started. “Just how old are you?”

“How old are you?” I shot back as the lights flickered once.

“Mr. Bremerton, I’m sure you didn’t come all this way just to discuss birthdays,” Reggie said. “I’m also sure your file on Alex has that information. Why don’t you get down to why you’re here?”

“Well, I had hoped I would be speaking to Alex alone. I hadn’t expected a committee. However, I’m sure he has you all here for a reason. May I see your passport, Mr. Masters? For identification?”

“Do we have your word that it will remain here when you leave?” Carina asked.

“Of course! I just have to verify whom I am speaking with,” he answered.

Captain Alfred pulled out my passport and slid it down the table to Mr. Bremerton. He looked at it, and then looked at me before laying it down and passing it back up the table. I noticed that Reggie had quickly grabbed the passport.

“Thank you. I am afraid I do not have the full story of what is going on, but I was given to understand from President Dexter that Alex has some special skills that the United States government would like to utilize and I have been authorized to interview him and if approved, present him with this offer of employment.”

Then he removed a stack of papers from his briefcase and pushed them across the table to me.

I looked at the bound stack of papers with the presidential seal on top and then at Mr. Bremerton. “Okay ... What does it say?” I asked without touching the offer.

“It’s an offer to become a special consultant to the White House,” he replied.

“And it took that many pages?” I asked incredulously.

He just smiled as he said, “You know what government is like. Never use one word when a hundred will do.”

“Hey! These pages aren’t even numbered!” Reggie pointed out as he thumbed through the offer.

“Mr. Bremerton, before I go through your offer, would you be so kind as to go through and number each page and initial beside it. Please?” I asked.

Bremerton flashed a distasteful smile then pulled the stack back and began numbering them. We all sat quietly while he completed his task. When he finished I nodded at Archara. “Would you allow the Princess to examine it and make sure you got every page?”

While Archara was going through the document, I asked, “Can you tell me what is really going on?”

US Diplomatic Security Officers are dual trained, in that they are both federal agents and diplomats. But Mr. Bremerton was having difficulty remaining diplomatic under the circumstances.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Day before yesterday, the United States threatened to kill me. Now you’re here to interview me for a job. Something just doesn’t ring true,” I told him.

“The United States threatened to kill you?” Bremerton asked, confused.

“We have it on tape, Mr. Bremerton, and I believe Alex’s attorneys plan to use it in international court, at The Hague,” Admiral Bouchard told him. You could see that this news upset him. I was guessing that it was not my murder, or the murders of all my family and friends, but the fact that we had it on tape that bothered him.

“I’m sorry. I was not aware that you had been threatened,” he offered.

“Did you not know about the attack from the US Naval Task Force?” I asked. “Or about the USS Freeman Gosden? Or about the two F/A Hornets from the USS Eisenhower?”

Bremerton was sweating now as he subconsciously tugged at his collar. “I think I need to speak with my superiors,” he said.

“Go ahead,” I told him. “I’ll wait.”

He looked from me to the admiral and back to me. He was silently cursing his superiors for not giving him the full story. But he had been given a task, and he was bound to see it through.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he asked as he made his way down to the fantail and pulled out his cell phone.

I reached in my lap and laid the satellite phone on the table. “Did you get all that?” I asked. Then I said, “Reggie, she wants me to put her on speaker. How do I do it with this thing in my ear and the mic on my pocket?”

Reggie took the phone and pressed a couple of buttons. “Can you hear me?” he asked.

“Very well, thank you. Alex you did a good job. Make sure he leaves your passport and the offer, but do not touch either one, even after he leaves. Reggie, you know what to do,” Cynthiana said. “Everyone else, please say as little as possible.”

“I should have known,” Reggie groaned. “I kept wondering how Alex knew what to say. I’m going to take you off speaker now, Mrs. Rappeneau. Bremerton may come back at any moment.”

Bremerton did come back shortly with his phone in his ear. “Did you make a cell phone call to the USS Eisenhower last week?” he asked me.

“No, sir,” I told him truthfully. It had been that government grunt who had made the call.

He repeated my answer in the phone and then listened for a long time. His eyes opening wide at what he was hearing.