Safe Harbor

                                                              SAFE HARBOR

  

  

     Charlie was shaken awake by one of the crew. "Make a wish!"

    "What are you talking about?", he grumbled.

    A large man with a red face stood over him. "It will be light soon and we're not in harbor yet!" A wide-eyed grin spread across his face. "Make a wish the drones don't spot us before we make land!"

    "What difference does it make? They'll see us either way."

   "The dock is in a forest! The sails will reflect the trees and we'll be safe! Make a wish!"

   Charlie sighed and prayed to whoever or whatever might be listening that they live another day. “Where are we?”

   “Visitant island. First nation people say it is home to spirits from another world.”, the big man whispered as he gestured to a porthole. “Seraphina thinks there are hackers here who could help us. They call themselves the spheres. All hands on deck!" He lumbered upward.

     Charlie threw his feet over the bed and sat up. He peered out a porthole but could see nothing in the half-light. Spirits from another world?, he thought. Spheres who could help us? We're running from Homeland Security in a goddamn sailboat. We need all the help we can get. Maybe if these people were capable of making off with a ship like this and snuffing the Sachem of Seattle in the process, maybe, just maybe he was in good hands. And he had the suitcase, he might be able to - He suddenly panicked and scoured the room. The suitcase rested at his feet. He grabbed it and held it close. It was warm. He felt its energy course through him.

     He emerged on deck to find the heavily armed crew shifting nervously on their feet and staring ahead. They had entered an inlet. There was a stiff breeze, and the foresails were full. He heard a whine in the sky overhead.

    “Hey, Frank!  Feast your eyes on Visitant Island!” Seraphina waived him over with one hand as she clutched the rail with the other. The assault rifle rested against her chair.

     He strode over to her. “A big guy woke me and told me to make a wish."

    "I hope he didn't wake you from a beautiful dream, Frank."

    He pulled the suitcase close and squinted at the humming in the sky. "He told me you have some friends here. There's a drone above us.”

     “Friends of friends. I’ve never met them, never been here but I’m told they’re not sympathetic to the state. It’s a hunch, more of an educated guess but I think when they see this, they’ll be glad to help.” She patted the large bag they had loaded stretched out on the deck next to her and yelled at the man at the wheel. “Haul starboard!” 

     “Looks like we both have suitcases now. What is that, a body bag?", Charlie winced. "There's a drone above us."

    The man who had awakened Charlie started to genuflect. A woman cried out. “I see the dock off the starboard bow! Haul starboard!"

    The bag on the deck jerked. Seraphina steadied her chair as the ship lurched to the right. The buzzing whine intensified.  The bag groaned and started to jump. She offered a wicked smile. “Tell me, Frank. What's in your suitcase?”

    “I really don’t know. For God's sake, Seraphina, is there someone in that bag? We could be toast any minute!”

    “You really don’t know? Well, why the hell don’t you take a look? Lower mainsail!”

    “Take a look?”

    “The Sachem of Seattle!”

    “What are you doing?”, gasped Charlie as the ship slid toward a grove of trees. 

     "Tit for tat, Frank! If they can cull, so can we! Didn't you hear about that banker in Bowling Green?"

     The bag was twisting. A terrified voice called for help. Seraphina pulled a knife. "Time for the guillotine, shithead."

     The suitcase in Charlie’s arms let out a bellow. "Oh God.", Charlie moaned. "Not again."

     “Who are you people?”, the body bag demanded. The suitcase began to shake. “Do you know who I am? Where am I? When security finds me, you’ll end up begging to die!” 

     Suddenly the Sachem of Seattle was on his knees. With a brutal roar, the body bag stood straight and towered above them. The mainsail fell and snapped full with the wind. The ship lurched. The body bag staggered and hopped frantically, ran into the rail and tumbled overboard.

     The crew's eyes were wide with terror as they shot from the suitcase howling and jumping in Charlie’s arms to the splash in the waves below to the drone that appeared in the sky above.

     The suitcase flew open with a burst of satanic laughter. An explosion echoed in the sky. The water around them danced and splashed as fragments of the shattered drone rained down.

   Seraphina looked up. “Lower sails!

   The sails fell. The ship coasted into a grove of huge over hanging trees. Two of the crew leaped on to a derelict pier stretching alongside. Others threw them lines. The ship was secured.