But Laura was already on the move.
Nate jogged after her, immediately regretting it on the rolling deck, as she reached what they now presumed was the captain.
“Can you call out to him?” she asked, shouting over the noise.
“Yes, I can send him a radio message,” the captain replied. “He has modern radio equipment. The ship’s a replica, not the real thing.”
“Tell him that we need him to come on board,” Laura said.
“You can tell him yourself,” the captain replied, grabbing a radio microphone from the equipment ahead of him. “CallingSaint Marie. This is theJones Harbor Jim. Please respond.”
There was a long moment, and then a crackle as the captain handed the mic to Laura.
“This isSaint Marie. Is all well? Over.”
“Saint Marie, this is Special Agent Laura Frost. We need your captain, Cody Schafer, to come with us on board theJones Harbor Jim.”
Another pause, maybe too long.
“Jones Harbor Jim, that’s a negative,” came the response. “We’re operating a small crew. The captain is needed to get us back to harbor.”
“Saint Maire, requesting that we board you instead, in that case,” Laura said gamely. Nate had the feeling that she was almost as lost in all the nautical terms as he was, but she was holding her own very well.
“Jones Harbor Jim, request denied.”
Laura’s eyes snapped cold fire.
“Saint Marie, I think you misunderstand the tone of our request. No is not an acceptable answer,” she told them.
“Jones Harbor Jim, the authority of the FBI does not extend to open water.”
Laura gritted her teeth angrily. “Saint Marie, don’t make us call in the Coast Guard. We will.”
“Jones Harbor Jim, we stand waiting for the Coast Guard to make their request. Until such a time we will proceed with our planned journey.”
“Damnit!” Laura yelled, not into the mic this time, and slammed it back against the equipment panel.
“Careful!” the captain yelped.
“We need to get on that ship,” Laura said, seemingly brushing off the complaint.
“Is there a way for us to board without his permission?” Nate asked.
“Sure,” the captain shrugged. “You just board.”
“How?” Nate asked, staring at him.
The captain looked at the Saint Marie for a moment and clicked his tongue. “I’ll get you right alongside her,” he said. “We should be able to navigate without causing any damage. If they know what’s good for them, theSaint Marieshould stay still and not risk moving away. Then you’ll be able to just jump.”
“Jump?” Nate repeated, feeling like his eyes must have been bulging out of his head.
“Like pirates,” Laura said, with a glint in her eyes that Nate didn’t like.
“It’s not as much of a risk as it sounds,” the captain said. “We’ve got a higher position here. You’ll be able to almost just step down from our deck. Trust me, you’ll be fine. It’s either that or we have to lower a lifeboat, get you closer, and then you have to get yourselves up the side of theSaint Mariewith them trying not to let you.”
“We’ll jump,” Nate said, all things considered.
The ship was already swinging around in the water, moving closer to theSaint Marie. Nate and Laura moved out onto the deck. They were close enough now to hear the other ship’s crew yelling at them, though the meaning of the words was lost. Their facial expressions weren’t. They were clearly furious with them for attempting it.