Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, I was on board a ship, and I was on holiday. I had joined the Royal Navy as soon as I left school, just meeting the minimum height requirements, and had forged a naval career as a specialist diver. Now, at nearly thirty, I was Leading Seaman Michael Brown. I had just finished working on a salvage job and had put in for two months leave.

The ship I was now on was a ferry from Barcelona to Palma. I was travelling light, with my personal items and ID in my bum bag, and my changes of clothes and spare shoes in my backpack. It was nice to be on a ship where there were no officers to salute, and no jobs to be done. I was happy to watch the sea pass by, every passing minute seeing a different scene, something that long time sailors can see.

I had a few drinks, hit the food, relaxed and was strolling the rear deck, looking at the wake foaming behind us, when a group of young men, pretending to be rugby players burst into my peripheral vision, chasing an oval ball. I could tell that they were drunk, having seen similar skylarking before. What I didn’t appreciate was how drunk, and how unruly they were. My first hint of danger was when two of them, one on a headlock from the other, lost control of their footing and crashed into me.

I was taken off my feet and over the stern rail, landing into the wake I had been admiring from a safe distance. I was lucky to land behind the propellor cavitation, as that would have sucked me into the propellors and ended my life, there and then. I managed to take a big breath before I hit the water and kept my head as I went down. My training kicked in, and the first thing I did was shuck the backpack, as that would have carried me deeper.

Once I had stabilised my sinking, I struck out for the surface, hoping that someone had raised the alarm. The water wasn’t cold, but I could never stay floating for very long. As the surface neared, my lungs near bursting, I asked Poseidon to keep me alive. I broke surface and took a few deep breaths. When I looked, all I could see was an empty horizon, so paddled to spin myself around. There was the ferry, some way away. It takes a lot of time to slow a large ship, and I didn’t expect it to even circle around. What I did expect was for them to launch a motorboat to come back for me.

As I watched I could see one being lowered. All I could do was to tread water until they found me. I was having a hard time staying afloat, so took time out to duck under the surface and remove my sneakers, letting them sink so that I could float.

It must have been close to fifteen minutes before they saw my arm waving and headed my way, much to my relief as I was starting to tire. Most normal people would have simply slid out of sight by this time. When they came alongside, I was hauled into the motorboat and a blanket was thrown around me for warmth. The ferry had slowed enough for the motorboat to catch up with it, and the sailors hooked up the cables. I could see people looking down as we were lifted back onto the ferry, which was already gaining speed.

It was all a bit hazy after that, as delayed shock hit me. I closed my eyes for a second, and the next thing I knew was that I was in the ships sick bay, stripped and dried with several blankets around me to regain my body heat. When I did open my eyes, a guy wanted me to sip on a straw. I did as he asked, knowing that the best thing is adding electrolytes to my system. He asked me my name and other things, checking my answers against my passport, which he had taken from the bumbag.

When he was happy that I was mentally capable, he showed me a set of ship’s clothes that he wanted me to wear, if I was now warm enough. I managed to stand and dress myself in the underpants, the standard slacks and tee-shirt with the shipping line logo on it. My things were off to be dried and should be able to be put on again by the time we arrived in Palma.

With my bumbag refilled with my things, I was given some slippers and led up to the bridge, where the captain wanted to know if I had jumped on purpose or if it was an accident. I told him my version of the event, and he nodded, telling me that it fitted with other bystanders. He then sat me down on one of the seats and looked serious.

“My problem, Mister Brown, is that the boys playing around are well-known on this ship. They have been back and forth to Barcelona a few times in the last few weeks. They are part of the Russian clique who have their luxury yachts moored in the marina in Palma. The owners of those yachts only go near Russia to check on their holdings or to make sure that they are still considered model citizens. I know of a couple who flew home and never came back.”

“Where does that leave me?”

“Well, you can have no claim against the shipping line, as it was out of our control. We are all thankful that you were a strong enough swimmer to stay afloat long enough to be picked up. We are making extra knots to regain our docking schedule, but we cannot do anything for you once we reach Palma. I hope you had insurance against losing your luggage, and you can keep the outfit that you’re wearing.”

“I understand, captain. I’ll see what I can do when we dock. I was only planning to hike around the island, sleeping under the stars, so I should be able to get enough clothes and a light sleeping bag. Thank you for saving my life.”

I was shown down to the dining room, where they plied me with hot food and drinks to rebuild my self-esteem. As I was sitting there, I was approached by a couple of beautiful girls.

“Excuse me, but are you that poor man who was knocked overboard?”

“I am. My name is Michael Brown. What can I do for you.”

They pulled out seats at the table and sat. The shorter one with a dimple and long, blonde, hair spoke.

“It’s what we can do for you, Mister Michael Brown. My name is Svetlana, and this is my older sister, Natasha. It was our drunken brother and his friends who knocked you overboard. I have called our father, and he has decided that we should do everything in our power to make it up to you. Our brother, Gregor, would be told to apologise, but we both know that he hasn’t a sorry bone in his body. To him, you got in the way of his fun.”

“I can see that their idea of fun isn’t for everyone.”

“No. Father has instructed us to tell you that you are welcome on our yacht, for as long as you like. He will kit you out to replace your lost property. We will be sailing from Palma tomorrow, heading for Cagliari, in Sardinia, and then on to Malta before Athens and Istanbul. If you would like to cruise the Med, in style, he said he would pay for your flight home from wherever you want.”

“That’s very generous. I was just going to backpack Palma, but a couple of weeks on a yacht sounds wonderful. Please thank him for me. It solves a lot of problems that the dunking has caused.”

“That’s good. I believe that we are about an hour from docking. If you stay there, we’ll come and get you. Father is sending cars for us, to take us from the ferry dock to the yacht. You will enjoy your trip with us, I can assure you of that.”

I sat there while they went off to get their things for disembarking. I was now well fed, warm and dry, and wondering what my next couple of weeks will be like. I have to admit that I liked the look of Svetlana. I expect that she would be spoken for, someone as rich and lovely as that couldn’t be single.

When the ferry had docked, Svetlana came back and she took my hand, to lead me to our waiting transport. I was amazed when I saw the mini convoy. There was a car with their brother, pulling away as we arrived, another for Natasha, which made me think that she must be married. There was a car for me and Svetlana, as well as two vans which were being loaded with bags and boxes with designer names on them. Women who can travel seven hours to do some shopping, probably over a couple of days, and the sail seven hours back, are so far above me I was starting to think that I had let myself in for something way above my level.

The thing was, with Svetlana holding my hand, I had the feeling that she was either leading me on, or she may like the look of me. I’m not the gorilla type, like her brother, but slimmer and fitter, due to the years of hard work, a good diet, and plenty of fitness training.

We didn’t have to go far to the yacht, just around the marina. The yachts got bigger, the further we went. Our destination was backed up to the end of a dock, with a gangway up to the stern. I say ‘gangway’. As we got to it, it was big enough for the car to be driven into the stern of the yacht and parked in a garage big enough for around twenty vehicles.

When our driver got out and opened the rear doors, I stood and looked around with a professional eye. The parking spots all had tie-down points for when we were at sea, there was a couple of twenty-seat coaches, even a couple of parking spots with electric vehicles hooked up to chargers. I was impressed but wasn’t given time to fully appreciate the garage, as Svetlana took my hand, once more, and led me to a doorway.

In the ships that I usually sailed in, you go through a hatch to a plain corridor with grey walls and hatches each side with dogs for making them watertight. This corridor was something that wouldn’t look out of place when you walked in the front door of a mansion. It was papered in a red velour, with gold flecks, and tall enough to be lit with small chandeliers. We went past a few doors, which made me thing that the rooms behind them would be quite large. I say rooms, rather than cabins.

The door we arrived at was a lift, and when we were inside, I noticed that there were three floors below us and four above. I was keeping quiet, as I didn’t want to appear nosy. We stopped one floor below the top, which I expected was the bridge level, and walked out of the lift into a big saloon deck, with picture windows, a lot of comfortable seats, a bar and an area with tables and chairs set up for meals. Near the bow end of the saloon was a big chesterfield.

A large man rose and extended his hand. I could see where Gregor got his body, hopefully the man had more brains than his son.

“Mister Brown, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Any man who can get pushed overboard by my son and survive has special qualities. In my world, special qualities are hard to find. You must be a very good swimmer.”

“It’s training, sir. I’m a diver in the Royal Navy.”

“A diver, eh! We do a bit of diving here. I think that you’ll like our equipment. I’ll get Igor, our own diver, to show you once we are under way. Now, I am Yuri Korichnevey, which, funnily enough, is Brown in English. So, you are already part of the family.”

He laughed and pulled me into a man hug. This was getting stranger by the minute. The three of us sat on the chesterfield and I looked out the big window to see a foredeck set up as a helicopter pad. This ship was big money. A waiter came out and asked us what we would like to drink. Yuri looked at me when he said vodka, so I nodded. Svetlana asked for champagne. Yuri wanted to know what sort of diving I had been doing with the navy, so I told him about my last deployment.

“We have been diving the Markgraf, in Scarpa Flow. It’s a German battleship and isn’t deep, just forty-five metres, but is totally capsized. It was a very technical dive, going up and under, to check out the magazines and gun turrets, removing any forgotten ordinance. Not a glamour job but we’re getting experience to dive the Richard Montgomery in the Thames. There’s close to fifteen hundred tonnes of unexploded munitions on that and it’s been a danger to London for too many years. It will be a long time before anyone has the nerve to order us to dive it, but we are putting together a good bit of data.”

“You, young Michael, are a brave man. The world needs brave men. A slip in that kind of dive could see you evaporated. We must talk more when we are at sea. Firstly, I think, Veta will show you to your stateroom, we do not have anything smaller on board, except for the crew, of course.”

Svetlana and I finished our drinks and stood. She took me by the hand again and led me through another door into yet another passageway that wouldn’t look out of place in a top hotel.

“The staterooms are towards the stern, other than Father, who has one upstairs, behind the bridge. I’ll give you a tour in the morning. There’s a lot to see, and it’ll be nice to show it to someone who can appreciate it all. Here’s your bedroom.”

She had stopped at a door on the port side. I had been keeping count as we went along the passage, so I would be able to find it later. She opened the door and we walked into a room that would swallow my flat with room left over. There was a large bed, a wall of wardrobes, and some easy chairs and a table with chairs around it in the corner.

She went to the left side wardrobe door and slid it open, to reveal a short walkway to a bathroom. I know, off a bedroom it should be called an ensuite, but this was nothing so mundane. Gold plated taps, a big bath, two-person shower, two sinks in a long vanity. I was simply gobsmacked when I looked in there.

She slid the door shut, then went to the break in the other two doors, opening them to reveal that they were full of clothes on one side, with drawers in the other side.

“We carry a very large range of things, and I took a guess at your size. There’s everything you will want while you’re on board and will be able to take what you like when you leave. I know that you are trying to work out the set-up. I can tell you that my bathroom is behind this side. The last door hides something you may not need.”

She closed the two centre doors and slid the last one aside. It revealed a dressing room, with a vanity and big mirror with lights.

“This one is for the girls, but it will help you to check your hair in the mornings.”

“It’s all amazing! I’ve heard about these luxury yachts, but this is all beyond my wildest dreams.”

“I’ll leave you to get a little rest and a shower. You’ve had a very exciting day. When you’re ready, we do dress for dinner, at six. I’ll knock on your door to take you to the dining room. There are suits in the wardrobe. I hope the shoes fit. I can’t wait to see how well you scrub up.”

She squeezed my hand and left, closing the door as she went. There was an alarm clock on the bedside table, so I set it for four-thirty, took my shoes off and lay on the bed. She had been right; it had been a busy day, and I went out like a light. The alarm woke me up and the sleep had put my dunking into the past. I stripped off and went into the bathroom and had a hot shower, sluicing off the remaining salt residue.

When I had finished washing, I found a safety razor and foam, and shaved the two days of stubble. With a squirt of deodorant, I went back to the bedroom to search through the drawers for underwear, and then found a crisp white shirt on a hanger. There was a very nice charcoal suit that I would love to be able to afford. I had looked in shop windows in London at Zegna suits but never thought thar I may be putting one on. Socks, shoes and a silk tie later, I was admiring my reflection in the big mirror when there was a knock on the door.

I went and opened the door, to see a smiling Svetlana in an off-the-shoulder dress that barely reached past her crotch.

“Well, well, well, Michael, you have scrubbed up well. Come, let us introduce you to everyone else, we all gather for dinner. She took my arm, and we went back to the saloon, and took the lift one floor below. There was a door immediately opposite the lift, which stood open to show the family gathering with drinks in their hands. Yuri saw us and came over, pulling me into the room.

“Attention, please. Welcome our guest. This is Mikhail Korichnevey. A couple of you have already met him. Michael, you know Natasha, the bearded one next to her is her husband, Dimitri. You have already run into Gregor, my son; or should I say that he already ran into you. This beautiful lady is my partner, Alyona, and the lady with the red dress is Gregor’s current girlfriend, Katiya.”

The table was set for eight, and a drink was placed in my hand. I looked at the ones I hadn’t met before and tried to sort them in my mind. Dimitri looked like a military man, so I supposed that he may be Yuri’s bodyguard. Gregor had barely acknowledged me, but his girlfriend gave me a nice smile. As for Alyona, I knew that it translated to Helen in English, and she had the face and body that could launch the proverbial thousand ships. I had never seen a woman that screamed ‘high maintenance’ before. If the jewels she was wearing were real, they were worth more than I could earn in my lifetime.

Everyone talked among themselves, and Svetlana pulled me towards Natasha and Dimitri. His handshake was strong but not overly so, very polite. He already knew that I was a diver and asked me if I would like to do a dive with him, on a wreck off Sardinia. I said that I would like to, if there was kit to spare. Katiya was being ignored by Gregor, so joined our group. It turned out that she was involved with the dives, monitoring the screens from the cameras on their submersibles. All of a sudden, I was looking forward to the dive.

The meal could have graced a Michelin starred restaurant, and I paid my compliments to the chef. Yuri grinned and told me the chef will be happy to know that I enjoyed his cooking. I had the feeling that there was a back story here which I wasn’t privy to. Afterwards, Svetlana took me up to the saloon, where we sat on a lounge and had a few more drinks. She did tell me that she was glad that I was clean-shaven, as she wasn’t keen on men with beards. I had the idea that she liked me, but I didn’t push it, seeing that I was a guest on her father’s yacht.

I told her that, although I had a sleep in the afternoon, the excitement of the day was catching up with me, and we walked, hand in hand, back towards the bedrooms. At her door, she wished me a good night and kissed my cheek, before going into her room. I stood there, wondering what the future may bring, before going to my own room, to find that the bed had been pulled back and a pair of pyjamas had been laid out for me, along with a towelling robe draped over the back of one of the armchairs.

There was a box with buttons on it on top of the pyjamas. I hadn’t bothered about the windows when I slept in the afternoon, but there were two buttons – one marked ‘Dim’ and the other ‘Light’. The windows of the stateroom had no curtains; instead, they were electronically blacked out at the touch of a button.

There was another marked ‘Night Light’, which turned on what we used in the navy as emergency lighting, only less glaring. I turned it on and went to turn off the main lights before undressing and putting on the pyjamas. The dressing room door was slid open, and I now saw a dirty clothes hamper which already had my things that I had worn from the ferry in. I dropped the shirt, socks, and boxers into it and hung the suit away. When I had been to the toilet, I got into bed, turned the night lights off and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up again, the alarm clock showed seven-fifteen, and I pushed the button marked ‘Light’ to look out of the window to see the ocean. We must have cast off at first light, as we had cleared the Palma harbour. I went to the toilet and had another shower, then found some more casual things to wear, still good brands, though. I had just finished a quick shave when I heard a voice in my room.

I popped my head out to see a short guy in a sailor outfit, putting a tray with coffee on the table.

“Good morning, sir. I am Sergei, your attendant. If you could put your pyjamas in the hamper, they will all be laundered, every day that you are aboard. If you can show me which suit you wore last night, I’ll take that for cleaning as well. I see that you mastered the window control, we have had many who found it hard to sleep without curtains. If you sit with a coffee, you will find breakfast in the saloon at eight. I hope you enjoy the cruise.”

“Thank you, Sergei, it has been very good, so far.”

He put all of my hardly worn things into a big bag and left the room, while I sat with the coffee and wondered, not for the first time, how much all this cost, and, more importantly, what business Yuri was in that had made him so ridiculously rich.

Marianne Gregory © 2024