Chapter 238

It seemed like we had been traveling for days when we finally landed in Italy. We were met at the Rome Airport by a representative of the company which owned the freighter. They wanted to made sure that we were on time for the sailing of the ship. To that end the driver drove like a mad man. I allowed Andrew to ride in the front seat without argument. The Brit was sandwiched between me and the Russian chic. Our bags were tied everywhere on the SUV. None the less we made it in time for the sailing. We even made it a little early.

We were assigned a spot in the crew quarters. The Russian Chic wasn't bothered by the accommodations, so I wasn't either. We quickly learned that our job also included making sure the ship was secure while it was docked, as well as fighting off pirates on the high seas. Port security included being on hand when the sensitive cargo was loaded.

"The cargo will come aboard in about an hour," the captain said. "You must be sure that it is not disturbed during the loading and that it remains safe and secure."

"Do you have a place on the ship where it can be monitored by a camera?" I asked.

"I'm sorry no. We don't usually handle a sensitive cargo like this one," he said.

"What exactly are you carrying?" I asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say," he suggested.

"If we are to take this serious, we need to know what kind of threats are likely, that is determined by the kinds of people who want it. Is the threat the Mafia or is it terrorists," I asked.

"I see," he said. "The treat could be either one. The cargo has a huge monetary value on the open market. Several terrorist groups would pay large sums for it. They would also try to steel it themselves."

"Wonderful, everybody wants it. It must me munitions of some kind." I said and watched him try not to show any emotion. After it was loaded I decided it was the Russian version of the stinger missile. I would have had Russian Chic read the writing on the boxes, but the labels had been blacked out completely.

"Andrew, why don't you and the Russian Chic try to get some sleep. The Brit and I will keep an eye on the loading of the cargo." I suggested.

"Sounds good to me. The crew quarters is one large, noisy, hot, and smelly room, but we can sleep there, at least I can," The Russian chic said.

Russian Chic, or RC, followed after him. After they had gone I said the The Brit, "I think we got a couple of cases of the Russian 'Grinch' shoulder fired SAMs. If that is the case and word gets out, this could be an exciting three weeks. The captain says the crew has been with him three years without incident, but I don't believe anyone at this point."

"I wonder how good the Grinch is?" The Brit asked.

"Good enough to steel Christmas," I replied.

"Ah yes,, the Grinch who stole Christmas," he repeated. Well you want to babysit the cargo, or go on deck and watch for pirates?" he asked.

"Why don't we do two hour shifts then switch," The Brit nodded his approval. I took my untested AP4 and went into the hole of the ship. I found a comfortable place to sit among the ten wooden boxes. I rested the AP4 on my lap and went to sleep. Well I dozed off and on till my two hours were up.

On the deck I went forward and found the steadiest place I could but it wasn't too steady. Then I went to the bridge to visit with the first officer.

"Have you ever sailed this exact course before?" I asked.

"Yes, but this trip will be different. We always bribed the pirates for safe passage. The captain has said that this time we will fight them?" It was a question.

"Well, I hope it won't come to that, but it might. How will you feel about it?" I asked. "Because if you are not okay with killing a few pirates, you should get off at the next stop."

"I won't kill them myself, but that's why we have you." he said.

"It doesn't always work the way you plan. Sometimes, even if you hire someone, you find it necessary to kill. Just to save your own life, or the life of a crew member." I said. "I hope it won't come to that."

"As do I," he agreed.

"So, if we are attacked by pirates, where is the most likely place," I said leaning over the charts.

"The most likely is from here to here. It is two days sailing. But it could be anywhere off the coast of Africa," he said.

"Okay we have a a few days before we get there. We have to drop off and load cargo in a couple of places, before we get there I assume?" I asked.

"Yes two stops one here and one here," he said pointing to a couple of places. I never heard of them and really wasn't all that interested.

I had to wake The Brit. Since I had napped while I was in the hole, I wasn't all that upset. He and I were in the worst shape.

"When you go topside tell the first officer you are going to test you rifle. Then fire a full clip through it. Let me know if anyone come to investigate. Fire it off the back," I said.

"Right you are Sylvia," he said as he passed me. I didn't hear him when he fired it. I doubted anyone else did either. The ship was a noisy beast. Two hours later I was pretty close to being asleep when The Brit woke me. The sun was up when I fired a clip through the AP4 to be sure it wouldn't jam, if I needed it.

After eight hours Andrew and RC came up to the deck. They took over the watch but before we went back down The Brit, Andrew and I had a meeting. "So what are we going to do about pirates?" I asked.