VI
Eke looked through his binoculars and tried to imagine what it
was like for the original European explorers not knowing when or if
theyd see land. The sun blazed off the sea. For a week now, hed
been on this ship scrubbing his way south and now, he knew, they
were getting near.
Honduras.
Hed been thinking of this forever. Hed even been to Honduras
and cut wood but soon, hed be driving. They were moving in.
Off to the left, he noticed something. A couple of specks moving
in the distance. He turned with the binoculars and he saw clearly that
they were two boats, that they were together, and that they were
moving towards the merchant ship.
He was standing on the port side of the bridge. Suddenly, he
heard the noise of scampering feet.
“Hurry up,” he heard Jose say. “Theyll be here in a about ten
minutes. “Okay, okay,” he heard Chues thick accent.
Eke wondered what was going on. He slipped his binoculars into
his pants pocket and walked to find Jose and Chue inside a container
towards the back of the boat. The metal box was full of guns.
Jose and Chue were loading weapons, two being 50 calibers.
Jose looked up, saw Eke, and kept doing what he was doing.
“Do you need any help,” asked Eke.
“Help? Help do what?” Jose tried to down play the fact they were
arming themselves.
“What are you doing with all these guns,” Eke pried.
“Marauders are coming,” said Jose matter of factly. He looked up
briefly to catch the visitors reaction, and when he saw confusion he
clarified some more. “Pirates.”
“Youre shitting me,” said Eke. His heart jumped a bit. “What do
they want?”
“They want what weve got,” said Jose. “And were not going to
give it to them.” He stopped for just an instant and gave it some
thought, “So, want to help?”
“Sure,” said Eke. “What do you want me to do.”
Just then, Bill walked up on them. He came down to ask Eke a question about Spam but then he saw the guns and said, “Holy crap!
Those are big guns. Whats going on?
“Pirates,” said Eke. He was so in the know.
“Pirates?”
“Yeah, marauders. Tell him, Jose.”
Jose stopped again. “We have to hurry. There are two boats
coming up the port side and I believe they are thieves. We need to
get these guns up on deck now.”
And so they helped carry the gun pedestals and ammunition while
the crewmen carried the big guns, and even two grenade launchers.
“We can deal with them safely as long as everyone else remains
calm and stays in their rooms,” said Jose as they hurried towards the
bow. In fact, we dont need you getting in the way either. Just stay
below and hand us ammo if we need it.”
“Deal with them?” asked Eke.
“Yeah,” said Chue. He smiled halfheartedly.
Eke couldnt believe any of this was real. Pirates? “What do they
usually have for weapons?” he asked. He was stunned.
“Small machine guns,” said Jose. “Thats about it. Usually all we
have to do is show that we are ready for them.” “Interesting,” said Bill.
“Happens all the time,” said Jose.
Bill and Eke carried the ammo boxes. One was long and
rectangular and the other was square and the size of a small
television. Both boxes had handles. Eke carried the smaller box.
As they hurried up the stairs to get to the bow, Eke wondered how
close the boats were now. His heart was racing. Was this really
happening? This was an adventure all right. He passed up the box to
an awaiting Hose and then finished climbing the steps.
He looked out and saw they were within a mile. A first mate, an
Asian looking fellow named Alex showed up out of seemingly
nowhere and together the three of them efficiently assembled the
guns while Bill and Eke watched gape-mouthed.
Unbelievable. Pirates. They looked at each other and each could
see the excitement inthe others face. Holy shit- in this day and age.
Eke wondered what would happen next. He was ready for action,
ready to be involved in saving this ship.
Within a minute the two big guns were set up and Jose, Chue and
Alex were holding other guns standing on deck, staring down the
approaching boats. Eke held up his binoculars and he could see on the boat on the left a big man holding binoculars. And then the man
yelled something. And the boats kept coming. And then the big man
held up the binoculars again and again he yelled something–
something else.
And the boats turned. Just like that.
A little show of force and that was that. The three crewmen next
to the big guns gave an audible sigh of relief. “Thank God,” said Chue
in that thick way of his. They began clicking the safeties back on their
weapons.
Eke was amazed. Thats that? Wait a minute.
And yet that WAS that – the entire extent of the confrontation
lasted, well; there was no confrontation so it didnt even last a
second. Before Eke knew it, the gun was disassembled. Jose was
telling a dirty joke to Chue and Alex.
They went quickly back down with all the equipment and
ammunition. Bill and Eke naturally helped without being asked. They
were fascinated. Finally, when the got into the locked gunroom, Bill
couldnt contain himself any longer. He looked around at all the guns.
He looked at Jose and at Chue, both calmly putting the guns away and he asked, “Okay, what the hell just happened. And why do you
have so many guns?”
“The world is a dangerous place, my friend,” said Jose. “And on
this ship, we travel through that dangerous world.”
Eke, also couldnt contain himself any longer. “That was pretty
damn exciting, even if nothing happened,” he said.
“Yeah,” said Bill. “That was awesome.”
Jose stopped what he was doing and looked at the two of them.
He shook his head. “Funny Americans,” he said. “You think its fun
because that was not real danger.”
“We dont have a problem with danger,” Eke said quickly. He
nodded at Jose as if to say, you know. “Excitement,” he said. “We
came down here for some excitement. You know, doing something
right, standing up for someone the way you just stood up for this
ship.”
“You are funny Americans,” said Jose.
“Why is that?” asked Bill.
“You want a cause to believe in? A cause to fight for?” “Yes!” said Eke, amazed that anyone could possibly get it. This
foreigner on this merchant ship, though, he got it. “Exactly. A cause to
fight for.”
“Interesting,” said Jose. And then he said no more. He just went
back to putting guns away.
“What? What?” asked Bill in an insistent way.
“Its just…, oh, never mind,” said Jose.
“What?” asked Bill and Eke together.
“Well, you see, I just know these people in Honduras, where you
are going, and well, they could use some help from some smart,
strong young Americans such as yourself.”
“Really?” asked Eke.
“Yeah,” said Jose. He stared Eke in the eyes. “Its just that, well, it
really is dangerous. Not like this. They are involved in things.”
“Things?” asked Bill.
“Look, I cant say anymore here,” said Jose. He paused, then
added, “Theyre good people and they need help.”
“So what should we do?” asked Eke.
“All right, go to the Bar Tropical in the Gran Hotel Paris on
Avendia San Isidro,” said Jose. “Ask for the bartender Juan and tell him,” Jose paused and then continued, “Tell him that Sam from the
docks sent you. Hell know what that means.”
“Sam?” asked Eke.
Jose just stared at him.
“Okay,” said Eke. “Sam it is.” “Sam,” repeated Bill. “Sam from the docks sent us.”
