“Do you have any of our water?” she asked.
“Sure, luv,” Tristan said. He handed her the bottle he had tucked into his back pocket.
When she’d finished drinking, she gave Tristan the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she took his arm. Together they walked out onto the foredeck. The boat was completely dark. Not a single light was lit.
The captain had started the diesels, but he had them at such a slow throttle, the only way Marissa could tell they were running was by feeling their vibration through her feet. She couldn’t hear them except when the water momentarily covered their exhaust, resulting in a muted, popping sound.
Squinting her eyes, Marissa. could just make out the shoreline through the mist. She could see the dim silhouette of the treetops against the sky.
It was apparent that Captain Fa-Huang was tense. So were his L two crewmen. This was the most dangerous part of the whole exercise, not only because they might be discovered but also because of underwater shoals.
No one spoke. They were close enough to shore for Marissa to hear the sounds of swamp creatures. The only other sound was the lap of the waves against the side of the boat until she became aware of the whine of mosquitoes.
Suddenly, from the shadows of the trees came a distinct flash of light. It was repeated twice more in rapid succession. The captain immediately cut the engines, flashed his own light toward the trees, and gave a hand signal to his crew member in the bow.
A moment later came the muted splash of an anchor being dropped into the water.
The captain and his deck mates conferred in hushed tones as the boat slowly swung around to point directly away from the shore. One of the men disappeared below briefly. When he reappeared he was wearing a bandolier and carrying an AK47 assault rifle. In the distance some exotic bird cried, casting an eerie spell over the scene.
Yhey are afraid of pirates,” Bentley whispered to Marissa and Tristan.
“There are still pirates?” Marissa whispered.
“There have always been pirates in the Pearl River,” Bentley whispered in return.
“Always have been and always will be.”
About five tense minutes passed with only the drone of mosquitoes and the lap of waves disturbing the silence.
Then, out of the mist appeared a small wooden boat with two figures in it. One was in the stern using a sweep oar. The other was sitting amidships, facing forward.
The captain addressed the men. The armed deckhand kept his automatic rifle pointed at them. One of the men answered timidly in a whisper. The captain listened and then motioned for them to come aboard. With that, everyone seemed to relax a little.
“It’s the men they were expecting,” Bentley said with relief.
The man with the sweep oar moved the small boat around the side of the junk.
Marissa leaned over the gunwale to see the two Chinese- men climb aboard. They abandoned the small boat, letting it drift off into the fog.
Within seconds, the anchor chain was pulled up from the depths. The captain ordered the sail hoisted to take advantage of the light offshore breeze. Silently, the large junk sailed away from the shore. The silhouettes of the treetops soon vanished in the mist.
We must stay very quiet for another half hour,” Bentley whispered. All eyes strained into the velvety blackness; all ears listened for the slightest sound of another boat. But all they could hear was the creaking of their own rigging.
The two newly arrived Chinese men huddled together against the mast. No one spoke to them. They were dressed in simple black cotton clothing which reminded Marissa of pictures she’d seen of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
“What should we do?” Tristan asked Bentley in a hushed whisper.
“Can we go talk to those buggers?”
“Wait until the captain gives the word,” Bentley told him.
“We have to get far enough away from shore.”
Even Marissa began to relax. The sea was like a sheet of black glass. Looking up, she could see the great billow of the sail against the gray mantle of the sky. Through the fog she saw a single star, a far cry from the profusion she’d seen in the Australian outback.