Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

The ancient tramp steamer, more than 500 feet long, looked like a funhouse mirror version of his own cargo ship, the Tri

ton Star. The vessel was listing fifteen degrees to port and sitting low in the water. Tendrils of smoke curled up from several spots on the hull that had been blackened by fire.

Decades ago, the ship must have cut a graceful course through the sea, with its clean lines and a stern reminiscent of the Titanic’s champagne-glass tail. But now, even without the fire damage, the ship appeared to be on its last voyage. Rust ate at the peeling paint on the mottled pea green hull. The three cranes forward and the two aft of the dingy white superstructure were in such disrepair that it seemed like they could collapse at any moment. The radio antennas were broken in half, possibly hit by debris in an explosion. Overturned oil drums and junk littered a deck encircled by a chain railing that was broken in many places. The ship looked like a disaster, which is exactly what had occurred.

Tao could just make out the faded lettering below the Iranian flag fluttering on the stern’s jackstaff: Goreno.

Now the ship’s condition made sense. Its Iranian registry meant it could be a black market smuggler calling on the world’s seedier ports to pick up its cargo. That also explained why there wouldn’t be any record of it in the marine traffic database.

“Captain,” the XO said, “we’re picking up a distress call. It’s very faint.”

“From the Goreno?” Tao peered at the bridge, but he couldn’t see anything through its cracked and grimy windows.

“No, sir. He says they had to abandon ship.”

A lifeboat came into view as they passed the bow of the Goreno. It looked like it was in even worse shape than the ship, if that was possible. The entire hull had been blackened by flames, and part of the roof was caved in. It seemed to be dead in the water.

“Put the call on speaker,” Tao ordered.

A desperate voice pleaded with them in Spanish-accented English through the bridge’s loudspeaker. “To the ship off our bow, this is Eduardo Barbanegra, captain of the Goreno. We need your assistance. My crew and I have been adrift for three days without food or water.” The signal was weak and full of static. Since they hadn’t heard it until now, it was probably coming from a low-powered walkie-talkie with a short range.

“Should we respond?” the XO asked.

Tao thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “By the look of it, they’ll be dead long before another ship passes this way. Keep going.”

“Help us please!” Barbanegra cried as the Triton Star passed them without a response. “If you rescue us, we’ll share the gold we were carrying on board the Goreno. Five hundred pounds of it from South Africa.”

The XO rolled his eyes at Barbanegra’s sad attempt at saving himself. With a dismissive sneer, Tao looked through the binoculars at the lifeboat. A bedraggled blond man emerged through the roof. His clothes were dirty and tattered, and his face was smeared with soot. He looked exhausted, his lips were split from a lack of water, and his right eye was covered by a ragged black patch.

But Tao’s eyes were drawn to what he was holding above his head. It was a foot-long gold brick.

“How much gold did he claim to have?” Tao asked as he stared at the ingot shining in the sun.

“Five hundred pounds,” the XO replied. “But sir—”

Tao knew well the price of gold since he was considering how to invest his bonus fee for this voyage. At its current value, a quarter ton of gold would be worth well over ten million dollars.

He put down the binoculars and commanded, “All stop!”

The XO stared at him in disbelief. “Captain?”

“You heard me.” The XO followed his orders, and they began to slow.

“Prepare our lifeboat. We’re going to bring them aboard.”

“Captain,” the XO said after relaying the command, “you can’t really believe they have that much gold on the Goreno.”

“We’ll know soon enough. If that brick he’s holding is a fake, we’ll kill them all and toss them overboard. The sharks will take care of them.”

“And if it’s real?”

“We find out where it is and get the gold off before that ship sinks. Then we kill them.”

The XO nodded in appreciation of Tao’s plan. If Barbanegra was lying, the delay wouldn’t be long, and the potential payoff was worth the trouble.

Fifteen minutes later, Barbanegra and his men climbed onto the deck of the Triton Star. Tao went down to meet them in the mess.

He arrived to find Barbanegra and five equally pathetic-looking men hungrily devouring cold-cut sandwiches and gulping glasses of water. When they were brought aboard, they were searched without them knowing it, Tao’s crew patting them down as they were helped onto the ship. His men stood around the perimeter of the dining hall with their weapons concealed as ordered. No sense in making Barbanegra suspicious.