The captain stroked his beard. “Diamonds?”
“I didn’t say that,” Kurt reminded everyone.
“Barrels full of ’em,” the First Officer said. “I saw it on TV.”
“We’ll need to have papers drawn up,” the captain added.
Kurt glanced at Emma as if she were in charge of such things.
“Of course,” she said. “There will also be confidentiality agreements and required radio and electronic silence until we release the ship back into your custody. Any violation of which will terminate the profit-sharing agreement and result in criminal charges.”
The winds of Hurricane Emma had suddenly blown cold. But it did nothing to dampen the mood.
“We can keep quiet for a couple of days,” the First Officer said convincingly.
The fruit company rep looked suspicious. “I want papers ASAP.”
“I’ll contact Washington and have the papers drawn up first thing in the morning,” Kurt insisted.
Kamphausen grinned and offered Kurt a hand. “I’ve always wanted to get in on an adventure like this one.”
“If history’s any guide, you’ll get more than you bargained for,” Kurt said. “In the meantime, we should all get to work. We need to change headings.”
The captain took one last look as if wondering whether he might be losing his mind. He glanced out the window to the orange helicopter sitting on his deck and the high-tech submarine nestled beneath it and reminded himself of everything he knew about NUMA. “Helmsman,” he called. “Lay in a new course.”
“What heading?”
He turned to Kurt. “Whatever direction our new partners want us to go.”
12
Kurt gave the helmsman a new heading and the ship veered to the northwest. In the interest of secrecy, Kurt had the captain shut down the AIS beacon so their position would not be reported automatically to the satellite system that tracked the world’s seagoing vessels. That done, he returned to the main deck and used an encrypted satellite phone to call Rudi Gunn.
Rudi was still in Guayaquil, working the political angle and hoping to get some assistance from the Ecuadorian defense forces without telling them why. Despite it being the middle of the night, Rudi answered on the second ring. “One of these days, you’ll call me during normal business hours,” he grumbled.
“These are normal business hours,” Kurt said. “NUMA never sleeps.”
“NUMA doesn’t, but I do,” Rudi replied. “What can I do for you, my insomnia-stricken friend?”
“I just wanted to give you an update,” Kurt said. “I’ve le
ft Ecuador, Joe and Emma are with me, but don’t put it in any reports. The Chinese have agents everywhere, and we’re not sure about the NSA right now. They may have been compromised.”
“Great,” Rudi said. “Maybe I’ll start sending them false information.”
“Not a bad idea,” Kurt said. “At any rate, we’re on our own. And we’re not going to be checking back in for a while.”
“Then why bother to tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Kurt said as warmly as possible.
“Where are you?”
“On a refrigerated cargo ship. Only, don’t bother looking for us. We’re temporarily invisible.”
Kurt heard what sounded like movement and a soft click. He imagined Rudi throwing back the covers of his bed, sitting up and switching on the light. The tone in Rudi’s voice perked up instantly. “You’ve found something?”
“Maybe,” Kurt said.