Chapter 37: Leaving Cardus

Cynthiana and Jeanne told all the Lavignes goodbye, apologizing for interrupting their journey and thanking them for allowing Jeanne to travel this far with them. As they crossed the passerelle to the pier, Jeanne looked back at me one last time and smiled a wane smile. Then she was gone.

We all sat around the salon talking of what had happened and each of the teens made a point of sitting beside me and apologizing for how they had treated me. I told them it was not necessary and that I understood and that seemed to placate them. Monique put Roland and Carina in Fleur’s cabin and moved her in with Cécile and Marta for the time being. Their cabin had a pullman berth that could be opened when necessary.

Captain Tony announced that there would be no need for watches this night and that we would take the opportunity to reprovision in the morning before heading back out.

I finally made my excuses and returned to my cabin, flinging myself on my berth without even bothering to undress. I was happy that I had spent the time I had with Jeanne, but I was miserable that I had treated her so badly and that she had left just as we had gotten things worked out. I felt inconsolable.

Sometime later, there was a knock on my door. I didn’t bother to answer, I didn’t want to face anyone right now. Suddenly the door opened and Carina’s voice said softly, “Alex? I’m cold.”

I had once joked that if I ever wrote a book about our relationship, I would call it, ‘Because You Were Cold’.

I just held out my arms to her and she came to me. For some reason, she was wearing a thin nightgown but she was still shivering in the cool evening air. I quickly undressed and we went under the covers together. She tried to comfort me with words at first, but when that didn’t work, she sat up and pulled her thin gown over her head and then began kissing me.

My relationship with Carina was complicated. Her husband, Dr. Roland Rappeneau was the psychiatrist that had helped me after I was struck by lightning. He and Carina had taken me into their home outside of Cannes, France, where I lived for eight months.

Then I had sailed with them and another family from Monte Carlo to Nassau, Bahamas. It was during that trip, my first experience with sailing and with living a naturist lifestyle, that Carina had made love to me. She and Roland had an open marriage, engaging in recreational sex with limited other partners. However, Roland recognized that his wife and I had a special relationship that had developed over the preceding eight months and had encouraged his wife to explore her feeling in regards to me.

Roland also recognized that his wife was not going to leave him for someone almost twenty years her junior, but at the same time we filled a special need in each other’s heart. I was thankful for Roland and what he had helped me understand about what had happened to me in regards to the lightning strike, and for what he allowed his wife to do for me. I knew our relationship was not one for the ages, but at this point in my teenaged life, Carina had become my rock.

When she began kissing me, I automatically unleashed all the agony and the ecstasy in my heart. All the complicated emotions surrounding love found and love lost too quickly. Soon, we were zooming through space in that familiar feeling of soaring past the stars until we reached the pink planet and the small island with the sandy beach and the smoking volcano. This time I remembered who the robed figure on the beach was. It was me.

I don’t remember much after that. I know at some point, Carina was riding my stiff member as hard as she could and later, I remember being spooned up to her back as she squeezed my member with her pussy, gently massaging my cock and driving me slowly crazy. Finally, I dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

Wednesday morning dawned overcast with dark gray clouds and winds that were stiffening. As I lay there in my berth with Carina wrapped over me, I could tell that we were underway on one of the twin diesel engines. Evidently, Captain Tony hadn’t set the sails yet.

“How are you this morning?” Carina asked.

“I’m fine,” I replied in a monotone.

“You shouldn’t lie to your doctor,” she said.

“All right! I’m numb from my shoulders up. I can’t think and I can’t feel anything except sadness.”

“Well, come on up when you’re ready. I have to talk to Roland about this island we visited last night,” she said excitedly.

I lay there for a few more minutes, thinking about the island and decided to go talk to Roland as well. So I slipped into the shower and then hurried up the stairs.

I found Roland and Carina on one of the large sofas on the bridge, talking with Captain Tony and Monique. Captain Tony was behind the large wheel, steering the yacht through the winds and the waves from the storm front.

... and you kissed him?” Carina was asking Monique.

“Oui. And it was such a kiss! Filled with passion and desire!” she said. “It felt like we were hurtling through space.”

They all looked at me. I just shrugged my shoulders.

“If it wasn’t for the twenty plus year difference in their ages, I might become a little jealous,” Captain Tony said.

“I know what you mean,” Roland agreed. “Alex, do you feel like reporting?”

“There’s nothing new about my negative energy except that I seem to be able to focus it much better,” I told him. “But my positive energy, well, it seems that when I kiss one of the girls with all my passion and they kiss me back with passion, it’s like we’re suddenly moving through space, with the stars just zipping past like little blurs of light. Much like when the Millennium Falcon goes into hyperdrive in the movies.”

“What is this ... Millennium Falcon?” Monique asked.

“It’s the spaceship that Hans Solo flies in the Star Wars movies,” Roland explained. “Go on.”

“Finally, we come to this island that has a pink atmosphere, kind of like on a summer night, after a storm, just before sunset when everything takes on a pinkish orange hue,” I continued. “And there’s this sandy beach, and a mountain I think is a volcano with smoke coming from the top, and just beyond the volcano, I caught a glimpse of this hidden valley.”

“What happens then?” Roland asked.

“The first time, I saw this robed figure kneeling on the beach. At the time, he felt very familiar, but later, I couldn’t recall who it was. Then, the last time I was there, I knew that the figure was me. A much older version of me, but still me.”

“How does this compare or relate to what you did in Martinique? When you disappeared?” he asked.

“When I disappeared in Martinique and reappeared outside the hospital in Dominica, it was desperation. I knew that I had to find a way to get to the girl to save her. And it happened in an instant,” I said. “With the island, it’s as if I’m taking a much longer journey across the universe to a destination that I didn’t consciously choose, but is pulling me to it.”

“And this is all tied to your passion? Do you mean that it is tied to your ability to love?” Roland speculated.

“I don’t know. All I know is that when I release my passions, you know, let them come out. When they combine with someone else’s passions it’s like there is this massive rush of energy,” I tried to explain.

“Have you tried it without kissing someone?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. On the phone. The night Cynthiana called Carina,” I replied.

“Oh, yes. I remember that call,” Roland said. “There was a bright light coming from the study. I thought you might have somehow returned to Cannes, but then I heard Carina speaking to you on the phone.”

“Do you always go to this pink island when you kiss her?”

“No, sir. The first time was that night on the island with Carina. But I don’t think we went anywhere. At least I don’t remember going somewhere specific. It did seem like we were traveling through space, though.”

“I definitely felt like we were moving,” Carina said, remembering that evening.

“Then last night was the first time Carina has actually visited the island with you?” he asked.

“Roland...” Carina’s voice carried her warning.

“Of course, my dear. I’m sorry,” Roland quickly acquiesced. “I was just trying to compile a list of witnesses who have visited this island with Alex.”

“That would be Carina, Isabella, Cécile, Noèle, and Monique,” I supplied.

“Not Fleur? Or Marta?” Captain Tony asked.

“Antoine...” Monique was now the one warning her husband.

“What?” he replied. Unfortunately, most men are not as smart as Roland and know when to quit while they are behind.

“We will discuss that later!” Monique said sharply.

“I think that this discussion should wait until you are in your office as well,” Carina told Roland. I found out later that office was their code for discussing something privately.

“I will bow to your wishes, but I must ask Alex one more question to finish my thoughts,” Roland said. “Alex, have you noticed a difference in the amount of power you are using when you kiss different women?”

“You’re asking me a very difficult and complex question. I think that it is easiest to ramp up to full power quickly with Carina. That would make sense given our history. But as for the most power, I’d have to say it was Noèle. At least that one time I was with her, I felt that her passion almost matched my own.”

I looked at Carina and Monique after I said that, trying to see if I had pissed either of them off.

“Is Noèle one of your daughters?” Carina asked.

“She the Chief Steward,” Captain Tony supplied. “She does most of the cooking and serves as the mate when necessary.”

“She’s the only girl on board who isn’t a blond,” I told her.

“I’ll try to meet her later,” Roland said.

“Thank you, Alex for indulging my curiosity. It appears that you may be right that this moves your powers from the EMF/electrical to something more spiritual or mystical in nature,” Roland said.

Suddenly, lightning flashed, followed almost immediately by the loud clap of thunder. It was so close, the entire catamaran shook.

“Don’t anybody move!” came a voice from the head of the stairs to the salon.

There stood a figure encased in a black neoprene dive suit, with a military style vest loaded with armaments and electronics, and carrying a wicked looking automatic pistol.

The initial shock of seeing someone board a yacht that was several hours from shore was not as traumatic for us, as seeing five naked people sitting in perfect calmness when they should be reacting, was for the frogman.

“Alex! Please don’t kill him. He’s wet,” Carina reminded me of what had happened last time someone tried to board a yacht to harm me.

“What should I do then,” I asked.

The masked diver simply stared at us like he didn’t believe his eyes. There was not the usual panic in his victims eyes or the hysterical movements of people who were afraid for their lives. Something was wrong with this picture.

“Can you disable him without killing him,” Roland asked.

“The pistol is already disabled,” I replied. “I think!”

The frogman immediately raised his pistol towards me and pulled the trigger. When nothing happened, he looked at the pistol and then at me before throwing it to the floor. Then as he reached for another device on his web belt, he noticed that most of the electronics on his dive suit and vest were beginning to smoke.

He quickly released the buckle of his dive belt, and began to rip everything else off. When he looked up, Captain Tony had a rifle trained on him.

“Stand very still, son,” Captain Tony said in his captain’s voice.

A soft “Shit!” escaped our attacker’s lips.

“Remove your dive mask and tell us who you are,” Captain Tony commanded.

Slowly the attacker reached for his mask. Just as his hand reached his neck, he pulled a knife from a hidden sleeve on his back, near his neck and pulled back to throw it before he crumpled to the floor.

“Well, fuck!” said an amazed Captain Tony.

“He gave me no choice,” I said as Carina rushed to the fallen attacker. Captain Tony walked over and retrieved the knife and other weapons as Carina ripped off his mask and hood, looking for a pulse in his neck.

He’s alive,” she said with relief.

“He may have other hidden weapons,” Captain Tony said. “Roland, can you and Alex strip off his dive suit? Then Carina can see about reviving him.”

Soon, our attacker was as naked as the rest of us.

Captain Tony brought over a pair of nylon cuffs that looked like fancy zip-ties and placed one on his wrists and the other on his ankles.

“I’m going to check on the girls,” he said.

“Let me do it,” I told him as I headed for the stairs. Noèle was in the galley and the girls were in their cabin. When I saw they were safe, I simply backed out with a “Sorry to bother you.”

I spent a few minutes checking the other cabins before I returned to the bridge. When I arrived, Roland was on the satellite phone with Reggie and the prisoner was stretched out on one of the big sofas. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties with dark hair and a short beard. He had a series of tattoos on his left wrist and forearm. One was of a dolphin and another was a coiled snake. The others appeared to be some unknown symbols.

“The dolphin used to be popular with British SPS. And that symbol there is one that the Royal Marines favor,” Captain Tony explained to Roland who relayed the information to Reggie.

“Just a minute,” Roland told Reggie, and then took his smartphone and snapped a picture of the still unconscious Marine’s face and one of his left arm. Then he sent them to Reggie.

“What are we going to do with him?” Captain Tony asked.

“Do you want to try and heal him?” Carina asked me.

“Not really, but I suppose I should,” I told her as I moved behind the sofa next to her. Then placing my hands over his head, I moved them slowly until I felt the familiar tug and watched as the area around his ear took on an amber glow. In less than a minute it turned silvery/blue to match the glow of my hands. Soon, a low moan escaped his lips.

“What the bloody hell!” he said as he tried to sit up. Then he lifted his hands to see the nylon cuffs. I’d have to ask Captain Tony where he got those sometime.

Finally, he settled down as he twisted around to sit up on the sofa. It didn’t take him long to realize what the situation was.

“Taser?” he asked.

Carina just nodded.

“Well, I bloody well didn’t see that one coming!”

“Who are you,” Captain Tony asked.

The naked frogman just looked at him without saying a word.

“Bring him over to the table and hold his arms while I cut off his fingers,” Captain Tony said. “Then we’ll throw his sorry ass over the side and take the fingers back for identification.”

“Remind me not to ever piss off a French Naval Captain,” I said to Roland as we hoisted the prisoner up to take him to the table while Captain Tony selected one of the knives the marine had been carrying.

“I sure hope he sharpened this lately, otherwise, it’s really going to hurt,” Captain Tony said aloud. “I think maybe you ladies should go downstairs now. He isn’t going to need any medical care in a moment.”

“Reggie said we probably wouldn’t need more than a thumb and an index finger,” Roland supplied.

“Wait! I’ll tell you! Don’t do this!” he begged.

“Hurry!” Captain Tony said.

“Mars Van der Lancing!” he spit out as if he were cursing.

“What about Van der Lancing?” Roland asked. He had the satellite phone on speaker so Reggie could hear.

“He hired us to find out what kind of weapon the kid used on the Navy,”

“He’s worthless. He isn’t telling us anything I can’t find out from Van der Lancing himself. Tie a line to his ankles and tow him for a couple of hours. The sharks should take care of the evidence,” Reggie said over the speaker.

“He offered one million for the weapon and three million for the kid!” the prisoner said. “And he offered five million for both!”

“Who are you and who’s in this with you?”

“Harry Grimes,” he said. “I’m a former swimmer (British Marine). I got injured in Kabul and forced to retire. My brother works in security for Mr. Van der Lancing and he hires me on occasion, usually to gather information.”

“And how were you going to get the kid to Van der Lancing?” Reggie asked over the open phone.

“There’s an old Dutch Mercuur class cruiser following this yacht. It belongs to VDLS. Once I had the kid and the weapon, I was supposed to radio and they would come along side,” he explained.

“What about everyone else?” Captain Tony asked as he began to study the radar.

Grimes just looked at Captain Tony and said nothing.

“How did you get on board?” Roland asked.

“Simple, really. I swam under the yacht while you were docked in Cardus and then worked my way into the toy hold. The hard part was figuring out how to get out of there. I had to go back through the opening to the sea and then grab hold of the stern as the yacht went by me. Tricky bit of business,” Harry said.

Something he said was gnawing at me.

“What happens when you don’t radio in?” Captain Tony asked.

“Then they will assume I failed and either sink the yacht if they can or turn and disappear.”

“He’s lying!” I said suddenly. He had earlier said that Van der Lancing had hired ‘us’! That meant that he possibly had an accomplice. And I finally realized he hadn’t had a radio on him, so there must be someone else.

“Captain Tony! Come with me. We’ll be right back!”

I raced down the steps to the fantail and began shoving the furniture out of the way.

“When I push the button to open the toy garage, be ready!” I told Captain Tony. I’m sure it was obvious what I was going to do. First, I pushed the button to open the lower garage to the sea. I didn’t know if this would damage the boat, since we were still moving, but I had to do it. Then I pushed the button to raise the garage access hatch in the deck.

There was a second guy, clinging to the back of one of the two jet skis, trying not to get sucked out to sea. I stopped the lower garage door and began to reverse it while Captain Tony trained his rifle on the second man.