You Never Know

~~~~~~

The four of us were sitting in the galley the next morning drinking coffee after having spent the whole night rigging not only Tommy's emitter to Andromeda, but stowing everything else Mickey and Danny had brought, while making our way south, between the Keys and the Caribbean.

"Damn, Mike," Danny laughed, at seeing his old friend the next morning, "How come you're not dead yet?"

"Well, I'll be damned," laughed Mike, "If it isn't the Pirates of the Pacific, come back to haunt me."

"Hi Admiral," smiled Tom.

"Hello, sir," said Mickey.

"It's good to see the four of you together again," smiled, Mike, "I take it that Doug filled you guys in on what is going on, yes?"

"He sure did, Skipper," said Tom, "And I think that there may be a way out of this."

"You think so, do you?" smiled Mike.

"Damn straight, sir," laughed Tom.

~~~~~~

As everyone began to filter into the galley that morning, the rest of the crew were not surprised to find the three men Doug had spoken of the day before, sitting with him and Mike.

"Good morning, baby," said Jennifer, kissing me as she sat down at the table next to me.

"Damn Doug," chuckled Danny, "She's gorgeous, what the hell is she doing with you?"

"Leave him alone," giggled Jennifer, "Besides, I've already heard a lot about the three of you."

"You've got that wrong, sweetheart," laughed Mike, "There were four of them, including Doug....who was the biggest pirate of all."

"Has anyone ever told you that you've got a big mouth?" I laughed.

I made sure that the guys, as I called Danny, Tom, and Mickey, were properly introduced to the rest of the crew. Sherry was delighted, as she later whispered to Jennifer, "Hmmm, this mean that I've got seven guys them all to myself." And when that was done, I turned command of Andromeda to Todd while the four of us got some sleep.

~~~~~~

Later that afternoon, once were all up and about, I was in the pilot house enjoying a cup of coffee when an ominous blip appeared on the radar screen. "Where's Tom?" I asked.

"I think he's in the lab connecting his computers to yours, Doug," Danny replied, "You want me to go get him?"

"Please," I replied.

~~~~~~

"I'm not sure what it is, Doug," Tom said, "It's too big to be a fishing boat or a small pleasure craft, and its too small to be anything military."

"What is it, then?" Jennifer asked, coming into the pilot house from below deck.

"Let's find out, shall we?" smiled Tom, as he set his laptop on the table next to the radar screen, and booted it up. Once his wireless remote had connected to Andromeda's mainframe, he tapped on the keypad. After a couple of seconds he smiled and said, "This is an electronic signature recognition program, and according to what I see here; this is more than just a small craft or fishing boat."

"Tell me, what is it?" I asked.

"Well, it has no transponder signal," Tom said, "I would say that it's more than likely a pirate ship....wait....it's changed it's course and is now heading right for us."

"I thought you said that your emitter would render us invisible to radar," I said.

"It does, I swear," replied Tom smiling, "I guess I'd better turn it on then, huh?"

"Asshole," I growled, "Why do you think I spent all of last night helping you rig that thing to my boat?"

"Relax Doug," smiled Tom, as he tapped the keypad of his laptop again, "There now, it's on."

"How far out is it?" I asked.

"Forty miles," replied Tom, "And closing fast."

I looked at Mike and said, "Tell David, Chuck and Todd to report to me, immediately," Then turning to Jennifer, I added, "I want you and Sherry to go below deck and stay there."

She looked at me and crossly replied, "But Doug, I thought you said....."

"No buts," I said, interrupting her, "These fuckers are dangerous, and God knows what they'll do if they know that there are females aboard so, please, do this for me, okay sweetie?"

"You be careful, alright?" she said, "I love you," then disappeared below deck.

~~~~~~

Chapter Ten

After informing everyone of the potentially dangerous situation that was about to unfold, I looked at them and said, "I want Dave and Chuck to man the sixties and Todd on the fifty cal. Stay hidden, locked and loaded, but do not, I repeat, do not fire until I say so, is that clear?"

"You got it, boss," smiled Todd, "Fuck these assholes if they think they're gonna take our boat."

"Yeah, well, you watch your ass," I warned, "I don't want to see anything happen to any of you, okay?"

"You got it, Doug," smiled Chuck, as the three of them left to take up their positions.

~~~~~~

Tom diligently monitored the radar, calling out the vessel's range and heading every two minutes, while Danny, Mickey and I made preparations to repel whomever it was that was that was approaching us.

"Rogue ship off the port bow, Doug," shouted Danny, from the flying bridge.

I looked into my binoculars to see what appeared to be some kind of motorized craft heading right for us. The moment it drew close enough, I recognized it from the pictures I'd seen posted in the Harbor Master's office in Key West. It was a pirate vessel that was responsible for the murder of more than seventy innocent people over the last five years. I sent off a radio message to the Coast Guard, giving them our location as well as apprising them of them situation.

They replied, informing me that a Coast guard cutter was being dispatched and would be at our position in twenty minutes. The thing about it was; the pirates were going to be on us in less than five.

~~~~~~

"Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded," said a Caribbean accented voice, from the pirate ships public address system.

As I looked out the port door of the pilothouse, I saw a sixty foot vessel that looked more like a garbage scowl than a pirate ship, hovering about twenty meters off our port beam. However, mounted on its aft deck was an old Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), which was manned and aimed right at us.

"What do you want?" I asked, using Andromeda's P.A. system.

"We want everything you got, Mon," laughed the voice.

"Fucking Haitians," I said to no one. And looking down at the radar scope, I saw that the Coast guard cutter was approaching fast, and would be here in twelve to fifteen minutes. So, I got back on the P.A. system and told them, "Kiss my ass, you Haitian piece of shit!"

"That was the wrong thing to say, Mon," growled the voice, "Now you got to die."

Just as the boat was preparing to deploy boarders, I saw Mickey pop out of the forward deck hatch, with an L.A.W. (Light Anti-tank Weapon), and fire it at the boat's pilot house.

As the rocket made its way toward the pirate ship, eight men, all Haitian I guessed, dove into the water before the pilothouse exploded into flames. This caused the man on the BAR to open fire. But it wasn't to be as, over Andromeda's P.A., I said, "Open fire, guys, now!"

After short bursts from their weapons, David, Chuck and Todd, had neutralized the offending asshole on the BAR, leaving him lying on the deck, dead. The men in the water were all trying to hold up their hands, signaling surrender while they treaded water.

While Danny and Chuck were throwing an activated inflatable life raft over board, Todd and David kept their weapons trained on the men in the water, keeping them in check until the Coast Guard arrived. Meanwhile, I got on the radio to the advancing Coast Guard cutter to tell them what to expect upon their arrival.

~~~~~~

"Outstanding job, Captain," said Lieutenant Commander Teresa Haynes, commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter, "It looks like these idiots chose the wrong boat to mess with."

"Yes Ma'am, "I laughed, as we watched the pirate ship sink into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, "They sure as hell did."

"You know, we've been after these guys for a while now, "she replied.

"I'm glad we could help you," I smiled, "I guess that means that there's one less group of pirates that you have to worry about, huh?"

"So," she inquired, "Would you like to tell me what happened here?"

"Not really," I laughed, "I expect you to use your imagination as to what happened when you fill out your report."

"Why on earth would I want to do that?" she suspiciously asked, "You're not doing anything illegal, are you?"

Mike Nelson exhibited extremely good timing when he stepped in, and showing Lieutenant Commander Haynes his military I.D., said, "Lieutenant Commander, I'm Admiral Michael Nelson, and these people are doing very highly classified work for our government, which means you never saw these people and this never happened. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir, I understand Admiral," she crisply replied, "But we were answering a distress call so, what am I supposed to tell my superiors when I return to port, sir?"

After casting me a chastising glare, Mike looked back at her and replied, "You will tell them that, when you arrived on station, all you found were these men in their life raft, and nothing more, understood?"

"I guess so, sir," she hesitantly replied.

"There is no guessing about this, Lieutenant Commander," bellowed Mike, "You will do as you've been ordered, or you'll face a Court Martial, and the same thing goes for your crew. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes. Sir," she replied, now standing at attention, "Crystal clear, sir."

As I look back on that incident, I recall that nothing ever came of it, and because of Mike's intervention; I was assured that nothing ever would either. And from that point on, there was someone constantly standing watch on the radar screen to avoid a repeat of that day's occurrences.

~~~~~~

"So, Mike, "I said that evening at supper, "What're we going to do about Congresswoman Ostermeyer? We've got to figure out a way to fake her out."

"I don't know, Doug," he replied, "If I do any digging into this thing, she's gonna know that we're onto her."

"I think I might know of a way," Jennifer said.

"Well," I replied, leaning over and kissing her, "I'm all ears, sweetie."

Jennifer smiled proudly, then took a breath and began, "If everything you've told me about her is true, then, I know for certain that she'll do what ever it takes to get her hands on that money as quickly as possible, especially if it's untraceable."

"You're talking about cash," I smiled, "Aren't you?"

"Yeah," she giggled, kissing me, "But you're going to need more help than you've already got, tough guy."

~~~~~~

Alright, I appreciate all your help, Uncle Max," Jennifer said over my satellite phone, smiling at Mike, "Yeah, hang on a minute. He's right here."

Taking the phone from his niece, Mike grinned, and over the phone, said, "Hey Max, how are you, buddy?"

While Mike spoke on the phone, I looked at Jennifer, who was knowingly grinning at me, and said, "What are you up to, pretty girl?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, now, won't you?"

~~~~~~

Within the recesses of Congresswoman Jane Ostermeyer's office in Washington D. C., she and her sniveling assistant, Tim Harris, sat talking about the situation she'd found herself in. "What time do we leave for Key West?" she spat.

"We leave Andrews Air Force Base in an hour, Jane," schmoozed Tim, "Relax; we'll have Doug Peters, his boat, and his crew in custody before the end of the day."

"We'd damn well better," she snarled, "I want that arrogant son of a bitch's head on a silver platter."

~~~~~~

"Why would you want to go back to Virginia, Mike?" I asked incredulously.

"Doug," he laughed, "You're just going to have to trust me, old friend."

"Aw hell," I relented, Jennifer giggling behind me, "Okay then, let's go."

~~~~~~

As soon as we pulled in to the pier in Little Creek and were tied up, we were met by two men I'd never seen before. I was securing Andromeda's brow to the deck when one them looked at me and said, "May we have permission to come aboard, Captain?"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Uncle Max," squealed Jennifer, as she ran across the brow and hugged the older of the two men, "It's so good to see you."

Before he could respond, Mike appeared from below deck and laughed, "Max how in the hell are ya, you old bastard?"

"It's good to see you, too," laughed the man, "And who the hell are you calling old, there, Methuselah?"

Mike was still laughing when he put his hand on my shoulder, and to me, said, "Doug Peters, I'd like you to meet one of my oldest friends in the world, Max Cole. Max, this is the kid I've been telling you about."

As the two men came across Andromeda's brow, Max extended his hand and as we shook, replied, "I've heard a lot of really good things about you, son?"

"From him?" I flatly questioned, nodding at Mike.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Max uneasily replied.

Then I broke into a grin and said, "Well, if you heard it from Mike, then you can be fairly sure that it's a load of bullshit."

With a throaty laugh, Max turned to Mike and said, "It sounds like he knows you pretty well, old buddy."

~~~~~~

As we sat in the Andromeda's pilothouse while the rest of the crew topped off her fuel and water tanks, the man who had come with Max finally spoke. "My name is Travis Tomlinson, and I work for the National Security Council," he said, "I wanted to thank you for what you're about to do. We've had our eye on Jane Ostermeyer for some time now. The thing is, though, we've never been able to gather any evidence against her."

"What do you mean when you say that you'd like to thank us for what we're about to do?" I suspiciously asked.

Travis had been carrying what looked like a big metal suitcase with him when I first spotted him and Max waiting for us on the pier when we arrived. He laid it down on the repeater desk, and after opening it, I saw that there was somewhere between four and five million dollars within it, all in one-hundred-dollar bills, stacked neatly and tightly together.

"Holy Shit," Danny gasped.

"You can say that again," laughed Mike.

"Here is five, point one million dollars that we're going to use to set up Congresswoman Ostermeyer, "Travis said, "Every one of the serial numbers on every one of these bills have been recorded so, the first time she tries to spend, deposit, or use any of this money; we've got her."

"I expect that I'm the one who's going to have to deal with her, huh," I replied.

"See," Mike chuckled to Max, "I told you that this kid was smart, didn't I?"

~~~~~~

"I want you to watch yourself, Doug," warned Jennifer, "Jane Ostermeyer is an evil bitch."

"I know sweetie," I replied, as we lay in bed together that night, "I promise you that we're going to stop her."

"Just be careful, Doug, she replied, placing her arms snugly around me, "We've started something, you and me."

~~~~~~

Chapter Eleven

When I woke the next morning we were only about ten miles outside the outer markers of Norfolk, Virginia. Jennifer was lying next to me, the sheets revealing her bare breasts and her head resting on her arm. And with a seductive smile on her beautiful face, she leaned down and softly said, "Make love to me, Doug," as her hand moved down my chest, past my stomach and onto my cock.

I don't remember ever becoming so hard, so quickly, and needless to say; I enjoyed a tender moment of making a gentle, quiet love to this beautiful creature that was now living in every cell of my being. "I love you, my darling," she whispered, as we made gentle love.

"I love you, too, Jen," I replied, softly kissing her tender lips.

Her blue eyes touched the deepest reaches of my heart every time I looked into them, and I thanked God for this beautiful blessing he had bestowed upon me. In that same moment, I swore to him with my soul that I would love her for the rest of my life as well as protect her with my life, if need's be.

~~~~~~

As soon as we'd showered and cleaned up, we went topside to discover that we were about to pull into a designated slip made strictly for commercial boats and ships. Once we were tied and moored, Mike looked at me and said, "I think you should leave here under the cover of darkness, Doug. It will keep you from being seen by curious eyes, if you know what I mean."

'You got it, Mike," I replied, "Do me a favor though."

"Name it," he smiled.

Placing my arm around Jennifer's waist, I pulled her to me and said, "Keep an eye on Jen for me, would you?"

"And just what on God's green earth makes you think that I need someone to keep an eye on me, Mister Douglas Peters?" Jennifer haughtily replied.

"I'll look out for her," laughed Mike.

~~~~~~

As Danny and I flew from Virginia to Miami he looked at me with a stupid grin on his face and said, "Now, tell me again why we're going to Key West."

"Jeez," I laughed, "You know why we're going down there."

"Yeah," he yawned, relaxing in his seat, "But I don't need to remind you that this Ostermeyer bitch is as dangerous as she is crazy.

"You ought to feel right at home then," I laughed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember Kerrie Ferguson?" I chuckled, "She was as crazy as they come, but you still kept sleeping with her."

"Screw you, Doug," Danny grumbled, shifting away from me in his seat while I laughed like a fool.

~~~~~~

After landing in Miami, Danny and I took a helicopter down to Big Pine Key where we stopped in to see an old friend of ours, retired Admiral J. Evan White.

"I thought you two were killed in Thailand," laughed Admiral White, upon seeing us.

"Yeah, well, they tried," Danny chuckled.

"That's for damn sure," I added laughing.

"So," Admiral White asked, "To what do I owe the privilege of this visit?"

"We need your help, Sir," I solemnly replied, "We're in a bit of a tough spot."

"I see," replied White, "If you need my help then it must be real bad. Come on in the house and let's talk about it then."

After apprising him of our situation and of Congresswoman Ostermeyer's involvement in it, Admiral White got on the phone. Danny and I simply looked at one another shrugging our shoulders while White talked.

After a few moments on the phone to God knows who, J. Evan hung the receiver up, and grinning wildly, told us, "Okay boys, here's the deal. It just so happens that some friends of mine have been looking for a good reason to have this bitch impeached. So, I've been given the go ahead to support you two."

"What friends?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he laughed, "Now what do you need from me?"

I scratched my head and replied, "Well Admiral, we need....."

~~~~~~

Danny and I made our way south under the cover of darkness in a zodiac boat that Admiral White had given us. Not only had he supplied us with covert transportation to Key West, but he had also armed us and equipped us with rebreathers, wet suits and fins, and satellite communications gear; not to mention giving us a GPS locator and beacon that was now being closely monitored by the N.S.A. and The Pentagon.

We were thankful for the cloud cover across the moon as we snuck down the coastal waters to Key West, hugging the shore as closely as possible. Because our operation was now official and sanctioned, we had been instructed to take Congresswoman Ostermeyer into custody without doing her bodily harm, if possible. "I'd shoot the bitch if it were up to me," Danny spat, upon receiving our instructions.

"So would I," I replied, "But orders are orders."

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled, "I guess that's what we get for being so damn good, huh?"

~~~~~~

"I thought you said they would be here," growled Congresswoman Ostermeyer to her aide, while she looked out of the balcony window of her private quarters in Boca Chica.

"Relax, Jane," Tim Harris said, "I checked with the harbor master earlier this afternoon and he said that they will be here around ten tomorrow morning."