“I told you: I see everything.”
“How much do you want?”
“You think this is about money?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Money I have, Governor Washburn. What I don’t have is your charisma, reputation, and commanding presence. I couldn’t buy those no matter how much money I had.”
Washburn shook his head in confusion. “Then what do you want?”
“The same thing as you,” the self-proclaimed Doctor said. “I want to make you president of the United States.”
After stopping to recover the Discovery without incident, and now well out of radar range and in international waters, the Oregon shifted course northwest.
By the next day, a rested Juan sat at his desk and read each team’s reports. Despite some hiccups in the execution of the plans, the outcomes were what they’d been expecting. Juan was consistently proud of the hard work his people put into their jobs, as well as their ability to think on their feet.
With a rap on the door and a curt “Enter,” Eric and Murph joined Juan in his cabin. Stoney wore what seemed to be the same outfit he’d had on the previous night, but Juan knew he had multiple versions of white shirt and khaki slacks. Murph, on the other hand, had changed into a T-shirt that bore the image of a burning figure and the line “I tried it at home.” After getting a few hours’ rest last night, the two of them had dedicated themselves to cracking the laptop and memory card. They gleamed with triumph.
“I’m guessing you guys had no luck with your hacking,” Juan said drily.
“Au contraire, mon Chairman,” Murph said. “They didn’t stand a chance.”
“Pretty simple military-grade encryption algorithms,” Stoney added. There wasn’t a computer system Eric and Murph couldn’t break into, as far as Juan knew.
“What did you find on the laptop?” he asked.
“That was the mother lode for the arms smuggling operation,” Murph said. “Shipment manifests, payment schedules, the works. The guys at Langley will have a field day.”
“What about the phone?”
“It took a bit longer to access those files because of the water damage,” Eric said. “We found the usual text messages and phone logs, again related to the smuggling op. We also found a few files. One of them was particularly intriguing.”
“Why?”
“Because it had dates. Four of them. Three dates occurred over the last three months. The fourth date is two days from now.”
“We’re still working on what they refer to,” Murph said. “Below each date is some kind of code.” He read off the list. “Alpha seventeen, Beta nineteen, Gamma twenty-two, Delta twenty-three.”
“Obviously, the Greek letters are in order,” Eric said, “but we haven’t been able to decipher the numerical progression’s pattern.”
“Assuming there is one,” Murph said. “They could also have been assigned randomly, although the continual increase suggests that’s not the case.”
“And you don’t have any theories about what they mean?” Juan asked.
Murph shook his head. “We’ve scoured the laptop for anything that refers to these codes and dates, but there’s nothing. Without more data, we’re at a dead end.”
“We’ll hand the information over to Langston Overholt. Maybe his people can find a pattern for the dates in their intel. After that, as far as we’re concerned, our job is done and we can collect payment, just in time for everyone’s quarterly shares.” Because all of the crew were partners in the Corporation, profits were shared after expenses based on position and length of service. Although the hours were long and the missions risky, everyone aboard could expect to retire to a life of luxury after their years aboard the Oregon.
That evening, the Corporation enjoyed a five-star dinner. As coffee was being poured, Juan said, “We’ve got a long trip to Malaysia coming up to bust that piracy ring in the Strait of Malacca, so I hope everyone has plans to make the most of their shore leave in Jamaica.”
“I talked Linda into a girls’ day at the Sunset Cliff Spa and Resort,” Julia said. “I’ve read it’s Montego Bay’s finest new resort.”
“In exchange for putting up with massages and manicures,” Linda chimed in, “I talked her into taking windsurfing lessons with me.”
“We’ll see how you feel about doing that after you have a few glasses of good Sauvignon Blanc and a foot rub,” Julia retorted. “What about you, Linc? A massage for you, too?”
“Are you kidding?” he said. “With all those great coastal roads? It’s time to get my motorcycle out of the hold. And since there’s a new Harley dealer in Mobay that rents bikes, Eddie’s gonna come along with me.”