Chapter 2

When I arrived at the saloon, only Dimitri was there, filling a cup from a coffee pot. He waved it at me, and I nodded, so he filled another. I thanked him and wished him good morning, as I looked out to see empty ocean.

“I know that look Mikhail, it’s the look of a career sailor. I spent my early years in the Russian Navy, and I, too, appreciate the vista of empty oceans. The problem is that there could be submarines out there, just as there are hidden dangers on land.”

“You tell the truth there, Dimitri. Why does everyone call me Mikhail now?”

“Because we’re Russian, and this is a Russian ship, crewed by Russians and populated by Russians. Well, mostly Russians. Katiya is from one of the ‘stans, but we forgive her. She is a remarkable submersible driver. Yuri told me that you have dived for live munitions?”

“Well, rusty ones from the German navy in Scarpa Flow. They weren’t so picky back then in what they sent to the bottom. We did find the odd shell still in the breeches.”

“A live shell, in the breech of a gun in a turret that’s upside down and eighty years under water? That’s more than odd, Mikhail. That makes me want to go diving with you all the more. Skills like yours are hard to find.”

We picked up plates and explored the Bain Marie. The others started to join us as we were eating. Natasha sat down and the table was completed with Svetlana, who gave me a peck on the cheek before she sat.

“Good morning, Mikhail, I see that you have made yourself at home. I hope Dimitri hasn’t been boring you with his navy stories.”

“Good morning to you too, lovely ladies. We have agreed that our sea shanties are not for public singing. Like most sea shanties, they would be unintelligible to mere land lubbers.”

Dimitri burst out laughing.

“Well said. I must remember that one the next time I go to a reunion.”

Natasha put her hand on his arm and smiled.

“Don’t you remember the last reunion you went to, darling? You got drunk, along with your shipmates, and someone accused you of being a traitor to the navy, by marrying me and working for Yuri. I seem to remember that I had to get our driver to help me get you into the car. At least it wasn’t an ambulance, like your accuser.”

“I remember nothing, my love. Everything I did was through training. It was the drink that made me unable to hold back. It’s difficult when you are trained to kill, what say you, Mikhail?”

“I believe so. What they instil into you is the desire to stay alive, no matter what. I’ve never had to use my training in earnest, but it would get messy if I was drunk.”

“I’m right! I could see it in you. You walk with the easy confidence of a trained man. We must have a work-out together, one day. Talking of needing a workout, here comes that barrel of lard, Gregor. He thinks that he’s god’s gift to mankind. He’ll start to challenge you now that we’re at sea and out of any jurisdiction.”

I mused on the obvious contempt of his brother-in-law as we ate. When we had finished, Svetlana said that she would show me the ship. Dimitri insisted that I should see his ‘toybox’ first. The three of us went to the lift, and Dimitri pushed the button for the lowest floor.

When the door opened, I just had to look, in awe, at the chamber we had arrived at. It was quite long, some of it looking like a swimming pool, with a mini submarine suspended on rails over it, and several submersibles stored on the sides. I could see powered sleds, as well as remote controlled ones with lights and grippers.

“You have an opening keel?”

“Yes, there are two openings. One to the pool, and another under the far section, which we can pump out. The crane above that can lift four tonnes, and we can slide supports under whatever we bring up. We have found some wonderful artifacts which have been donated to museums in Russia.”

“This is more than a treasure hunter set-up, Dimitri. I think that seeing this has put me into a difficult position. Do I get three guesses?”

“All right.”

“You need me for something. While I was passed out, someone looked through my papers and saw my diving certificates. That’s why I was invited on board.”

“Three out of three Mikhail. Care to try another set?”

“Yuri, with the rest of you, is dependent on the good will of the President to keep operating. Anything that upsets that will mean a recall to the Mother Country, or even a visit from the storm troopers. You are all walking a fine line. You may even be working against the President, supporting someone else but under the radar.”

“You have a very fine mind, Mikhail. We do need you, and your skills. There are a number of collections we have to make, all from underwater. One is in a warship, on the bottom of the sea. Care to go three from three?”

“If you knew who I was in the medical room, there must have been things put into place to make sure nobody is looking for me. That means that if I say no, Svetlana will shoot me with that pistol that she just took the safety off. I didn’t see my bumbag this morning. Did it join my backpack as we left port?”

I could sense Dimitri tensing for any move I might make. I could hear Svetlana breathing several steps behind me.

“Would you really shoot me, Svetlana?”

“If I have to, I will, Mikhail. There is a part of me that will miss your companionship, and a part of me that won’t miss when I pull the trigger.”

“What’s in it for me, Dimitri, other than my life?”

“Hard work, very interesting dives, money, good living. Plus, Svetlana if I’ve been reading the signals correctly.”

“Has the ferry crew been bribed, and Michael Brown declared as the passenger who fell overboard?”

“Correct. The man who was lifted out of the motorboat was one of the crew who fell out of the boat trying to lift something out of the water. All the passengers were checked when leaving, except our party, who left with a crewman. As far as the Palma Police are concerned, their job is to notify the British Consulate in Madrid of the unfortunate accident. If you agree to work with us, there will be a Russian passport in the name of Mikhail Korichnevey with the same date of birth.”

“What about the lads that Gregor was larking about with?”

“Ah! That is somewhere I’m not prepared to go at the moment. It may come to a head in a few days. I will tell you that their families are strong supporters of the President. Yuri has business dealings with them.”

“What about Gregor?”

“He will try and test you in a way that he only knows. Maybe endurance, maybe strength, maybe shooting. He thinks that he is very skilful. With your training, you should be able to beat him every time. That will stress him to the point where he may let his guard down. Yuri has been worried about him for a few weeks as his drinking has worsened.”

“You say that the dives will be interesting?”

“Oh, yes! We will be doing one off the coast of Sardinia, while Yuri is off to see someone in the helicopter. It’s a sad fact, in my country, that everyone believes that nothing happens when the boss is away. Any satellite looking at us will follow the helicopter, as we will make a big show of seeing Yuri off. Although we will be under water, they could focus in on the air bubbles.”

“If the rest of the world thinks I’m dead, I might as well join you. I’m too young and have a lot of years to look forward to.”

I put my hand out to Dimitri.

“My word is my bond, Dimitri. As a military man, I hope that you are the same.”

“My word, and the word of Yuri, is our bond as well. Welcome to the merry band. Svetlana, you can put that gun down.”

I turned as she put it into her bag, then she came up to me and put her arms around my neck and kissed me. Now, I knew why she had been coy, even after we had talked long enough to gauge each other.

We spent an hour in that wonderful ‘toybox’. I looked at top-of-the-range diving suits and scuba equipment. They even had rebreathers which didn’t give off bubbles but were no use in long or deep dives. We went up one level and into a gym, with all the machines and weights you could want. Gregor was there, lifting weights. He looked at me as we walked in.

“There you are! Would you like to join me in a jog. We have three machines so you can join us, Dimitri. You’ve always excused yourself, before, probably because you know I can outrun you.”

Dimitri smiled and put his hand on my shoulder.

“There’s kit in the next room. Why don’t us old salts show this landlubber a thing or two. We can sing sea shanties to pass the time.”

He led me to the next room which had a range of shorts, tee shirts, socks and shoes, plus lockers to take what you were wearing and a shower area at one end. He and I changed into running outfits.

“Before we go back, act as if it’s a walk in the park, no matter how hard you’re hurting, although I don’t think it will get that far. Gregor is all upper body; he would have a hard time doing a hundred metres with a pack on. He’ll start easy and then dial it up. Just keep up and we’ll see him burst a boiler.”

We went to two of the running machines and Gregor stood at the third. I could see Svetlana sitting behind us with her phone out. We all stood on the belt at the same time and Gregor called out a number and an incline, which we all set and started jogging. At the ten-minute mark, he called a faster pace and steeper angle, so the two of us followed suit.

Dimitri and I were taking it easy, long strides and a minimum of body movement. I started to hear Gregor breathing heavily. Dimitri called out a faster pace and we followed his lead, with Gregor being thrown of the back of the machine ten minutes later. Dimitri asked him if he was all right and the two of us kept on jogging. Gregor didn’t give up, he had some water, took a few breaths, and jumped back on the machine at a run. Ten minutes later we heard him go off the back again, followed by the sound of him retching all over the floor.

Svetlana pressed a button, and a couple of crew members came in and dragged him into the showers. One went out and came back with a mop and bucket. The two of us just kept on running. After the two crew members had helped Gregor out of the gym, Svetlana started laughing and Dimitri said that we can wind down.

We eased off the pace and the incline and continued for another fifteen minutes to cool down. When we got off the machines, I was caught in a bearhug from Dimitri and a nicer hug from Svetlana.

“I called father before you started and streamed it to his computer. He is quite happy that his son was shown up like that.”

We showered and I saw several scars that Dimitri had, plus a couple that looked like bullet wounds. I said nothing and we redressed. It was time for lunch, so we went up to the saloon, where we were greeted by Yuri, who gave Dimitri a bearhug before nearly crushing the life out of me. I suppose that coming out of the diving chamber was all that was needed to show my acceptance of the situation. Gregor didn’t show for lunch, and nothing was said about this morning.

In the afternoon, Svetlana showed me the rest of the yacht, from the helicopter hanger to the workshops, engine room, and crew galleys, and finally up to the top level to meet the skipper on the bridge. It was more like a nerve centre of the yacht, rather than just a bridge. This yacht had more tech than the best warships I had sailed on. There was several types of radar, sonar, side-scan sonar, satellite links and much of the control was done by computer. There was a masters chair, with a joystick and various sliders to control the screws.

I found that we had four, retractable, propellors with three-sixty swivel, for use in a harbour, or for holding the yacht in place. It was explained that we could lower anchors until they were out of sight, but the yacht could be kept in place to within a couple of metres, using the GPS and these propellors, all computer controlled. It allowed us to move away from the spot in less than half a minute, with the course being preset and the bow pointed in the right direction before the main screws were engaged.

It was a sailors wet dream of a ship, and I made all the right noises with each new gadget. I didn’t think that there would be anything to top the bridge, but Svetlana then took me to a level below the original one that we had driven into the garage on. This one was totally different from the rest of the yacht.

It was more like a navy ship, all business, if your business was war. It was set out in six compartments a side, all able to be dogged off. Each compartment contained a gun. Two on each side were three-inch quick-firing seventeen pounder guns, mounted on swivelling bases. These had often been used with armour piercing shells and had been seen in many guises, even on tanks. It may be an eighty-year-old design, but was simple to use, easy to maintain and exceedingly lethal.

There were two multi-barrelled pom-pom guns, on platforms that could be extended out so that they could be used for anti-aircraft work. The other two stations each had a pair of belt-fed heavy fifty-calibre machine guns, mounted on stands.

“These have never been needed, but we sometimes test the drop-down outer panels on dark nights. I doubt that any pirates can get within range before the radars and heat sensors pick them up, but it’s nice to know that if a submarine surfaces beside us, meaning business, we can give as good as we get. I’ve been trained on the heavy machine guns. The three-inchers can be depressed to minus fifteen degrees.”

“You never cease to amaze me, Svetlana. I just hope that I live up to your expectations.”

“We’ll find that out, tonight. I’ve had some of my things transferred to your room. I hope you don’t mind.”

I answered that by giving her a kiss, while leaning against the artillery piece. Fitting, I thought.

We moved further forward to a full-sized firing range, with a large supply of different weapons, including a couple that I had fired in the navy, under the impression that we were the only ones that had them.

“Dimitri said something about Gregor challenging me to a shooting contest, Is this where it will happen?”

“No, he doesn’t even know this exists. Father has never trusted him enough to show him down here. You may have noticed that I had to input a code in the lift. Without that, the lift won’t stop at this level, and it’s only trusted crew who have access. In an emergency, the skipper can drop the doors and over-ride the code so anyone can come down. All the crew have had weapons training in the Russian fleet.”

Before we left the shooting range, she picked up an assault rifle, told me to put a target out to a hundred metres, and we took turns in firing from a standing stance. After twenty shots each, we called it a draw. She put a tag on the gun after I had cleared the breech and put it in a rack for someone else to strip and clean. There was another door forward of the range, but we went back to the lift. Perhaps that was another level of secrets that I wasn’t ready for.

In the main saloon, it was set for lunch, with a salad bar and hot food in the Baine Maries. Dimitri was already eating, along with Natasha. He swallowed, then smiled.

“What do you think of our warship, Mikhail?”

“Impressive. Old school, maybe, but adequate if you want to deter pirates.”

“And our firing range?”

Svetlana answered for us both.

“It was good for both of us. We called it a draw.”

“That’s good. It means that you have a very good chance at beating Gregor again. He does love his target shooting.”

This intrigued me, as Gregor didn’t have access to the range. I wondered where he shot. I didn’t have long to wait, as the man, himself, came in and shovelled a copious amount of food onto a plate, then sat away from us and devoured it, like a hog from a trough. When we had finished, he looked up from his plate.

“You. The glorified navy boy. We shoot this afternoon on the foredeck. Prepare to be beaten!”

I just looked at him and smiled, nicely. Svetlana took my hand, and we left the saloon, going down to the level which led out to the foredeck. We strolled along the port side to the bow, where we looked out over the water.

“Gregor has crossed the line with father. I don’t know what he did, but I do know that father is not happy. Natasha told me, when we went off to powder our noses, that it has come to a head.”

“Is the shooting contest likely to be the defining event?”

“I don’t know, but father is prone to big statements to ram home his commitment to the rest of us.”

I heard noises behind us, and we turned to see some of the crew come out on the deck, carrying drones and pulling a compressor.

“What, on earth is going on?”

“This is Gregor’s idea of fun shooting. Each drone tows a long string line, with ten balloons attached. They fly slightly faster than the ship, and you have to burst the balloons. You each get two drones, so twenty balloons. You shoot a Kalashnikov AK-108, with the 5.45mm rounds. They’re supposed to be accurate out to a thousand metres. You get one thirty-round magazine per pass. The first pass is at five hundred metres, then we have a few drinks, with the next at around the thousand metres. Unless there is a clear winner on the first pass.”

As the crew inflated the balloons and attached them to the line, others came out with a table and chairs for the spectators, along with a good supply of drinks and glasses. Dimitri and Natasha appeared, walking over to us.

“Mikhail. Gregor likes this because it makes him look powerful in front of his father. I spoke to Yuri this afternoon, and he looked very serious. I’m sure that something has happened which Gregor is responsible for, but I don’t know what it is.”

Eventually, the four drones were ready to fly, and Gregor appeared. He swaggered out and called to me.

“Come and find out who’s the real warrior on this ship, navy boy!”

I was given a gun, checked it over, and then a magazine. Gregor had the same. Yuri tossed a coin to see who went first. Gregor called before I had a chance to open my mouth and won. The first pair of drones were sent aloft, dropped behind us and then came forward into view. I was happy to be going second, because it allowed me to gauge the system. Gregor, if he had been at all canny, would have tried to get me going first.

As the balloons came abreast, he started firing, missing the first three and then hitting a balloon. The drone was moving away, so he flicked to fully auto and fired off a short burst, shredding another six balloons. When the second set came into range, he just left it on auto and emptied the magazine, bursting another nine balloons. So, sixteen out of twenty.

I stepped up to the firing position. I guessed that the bullet may drop an inch or two over that range, so aimed at the top of the first balloon. On singles shot, one by one I burst all ten balloons on the first drone, followed by all ten of the second. I had won!

Of course, Gregor would have none of this.

“Lucky first timer, navy boy! We will see how you go with the longer range before I call it over.”

We had a couple of drinks as the crew brought all four drones back on deck and started adding the second set of balloons. Gregor stood off on one side, on his own, looking as if he was about to throw up. Dimitri stood close to me.

“The angry young man has only delayed the inevitable, and I think that he has just realised it.”

I asked if I could have the rounds that I hadn’t used to get my range, and Yuri nodded his head. I stepped up to the firing point and used up the ten rounds that had been left over, missing with the first three before I got the elevation right, then popping seven balloons. I ejected the magazine onto the deck and replaced it with the one offered by a smiling crewman. I then burst the other ten balloons using fifteen shots.

Gregor was looking decidedly pasty as he walked to the firing point. As I walked back to the group, Yuri put his hand out and took the rifle from me. Gregor was shaking as he fired, only bursting sixteen balloons in total. When he turned around, I saw tears in his eyes. That’s when I realised that it had been a lot more serious than I had thought. Maybe, it was a test, a duel to the death. Maybe, on previous occasions, he had been the victor over someone who had raised the ire and was about to be eliminated.

Juri stepped forward and raised his voice.

“Gregor, your drunken boasts have brought danger to us all. You told your friends when you were in Barcelona where you would meet up with them at other ports. You revealed our future movements. I have had one of their fathers requesting an appointment at a place I would have rather he didn’t know that I would be at. I have also received an email from the Kremlin asking if I could drop in if we moor in the Black Sea port. You should know what that could lead to, a holiday in Siberia would be the least unpleasant outcome. I’m sorry that it has come to this, but I can only say, sadly, goodbye, son.”

He brought up the rifle that I had given him and fired an auto burst, emptying the remaining fifteen bullets into his son. He then gave it to a crewman, turned to us with a sad face, and picked up his glass.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 3

Yuri raised his glass as he looked at each one of us.

“To absent friends and relatives. We will carry out the dive off Sardinia, but will not be going east, as planned. I have arranged for us to spend a little more time at this end of the Med, so that our rendezvous can be reorganised. We will relax at Monaco and stay there a few days.”

Behind him, the drone drivers were bringing them back, and two crewmen had carried a small anchor out, with some rope, and tied it around Gregor’s ankles, then slid him over the side. Another one had pulled a hose out and was washing down the deck. He was speaking Russian, which I could follow, but just copied what the others were doing. By the time we had drunk our toast, there was no sign that Gregor had ever been there, except for his fingerprints on his rifle. That’s when I realised that my fingerprints were on the rifle that had killed him. I was now complicit in a murder.

Svetlana had her hand on my arm, and had gripped harder when her brother had died, but, when I looked at her, there were no signs of tears. Natasha had damp cheeks and was holding on to Dimitri as if he was her support. I was finding it hard to figure out this family. It was as if there was Yuri and Svetlana with obvious military training and an ability to hold any feelings in. On the other hand, there was Natasha, who was almost normal, and Gregor had been more normal than any of them, wearing his heart on his sleeve, much to his detriment.

I looked at Katiya, who had a slight smile on her face. After last night, when Gregor had totally ignored her, I wondered if his death may have been a happy release. We all went back inside the ship, Yuri going up in the lift to his office, while Dimitri and I went aft to another lift to go down to sort out what we’ll need with the dive. Svetlana, Natasha, and Katiya said that they were going to the ships’ chapel to pray for Gregors’ soul.

Down in the diving chamber, Dimitri took me into a small rest area, where he pulled a bottle of vodka out of a cupboard, along with two glasses. We sat and drank a couple of glasses, Russian style, and then he started to give me more information.

“Mikhail. It’s time that you were told what we intend to do. You’ve guessed that we are working against the President. That’s why the information that Gregor had let slip was so terrible. If Yuri appears to be an enemy, the President will think nothing of organising his death. It may be a poison as he is going from the car to an office, it may be a recall to Moscow and a trip to Siberia on a trumped-up charge. It may even be a frigate coming out of the Black Sea that ‘accidentally’ torpedos us. That’s why Gregor telling his friends where we were going was so bad.”

“If I had lost the shooting contest, would that have been me being dumped overboard?”

“I doubt it. It did work out perfectly for Yuri, though. Gregor had been a problem for far too long.”

“I noticed that Svetlana was not as upset as Natasha.”

“Ah! That goes back a year, or so. Our previous diving expert was her husband, and he was very hard on Gregor, trying to pull him back into line. His problem was that our navy teaches you to do your specific job, and he wasn’t as good a shooter as Gregor. The shooting duel has very strict rules, which you must abide if you accept the challenge. Usually, the winner saves some ammunition for the kill. At that time, Gregor went second and outshot his opponent. When he made the kill, he only shot at the legs and pelvis, so that the diver was still alive when he went overboard. That was very ungentlemanly, and Svetlana has never forgiven him.”

“Thank you for telling me. What about Katiya?”

“Katiya was only with Gregor to keep the peace. She is like yourself, an expert who has better quarters than the crew. I don’t think her last few months have been very happy.”

“So, what are we diving for off Sardinia?”

“That is a crate, containing two complete solid-fuel engines. They fit the cruise missiles that my navy uses. They were ‘lost overboard’ by one of the transport ships, heading from the Black Sea to Africa, going the long way around. We have the GPS position, but it may not be exactly at that place, nor upright with the lifting lugs showing. We will start with the submersible being driven by Katiya, and then it’s up to the two of us to attach the hawsers. After that, we take our time surfacing.”

“I suppose that they will be taken forward of this chamber where there appears to be a section of the ship that I haven’t seen yet.”

He sat and looked at me before speaking.

“If I show you what is forward, you become one of a handful of people who are still alive who knows what we have and can deduce what is planned. That will make you with us, or dead.”

“I like to know what I’m heading for. So, I’ll be part of this plan. Now you’ve told me what we’re picking up first, I think I can see where you’re going with this. The only thing that eludes me is where you’re going to get the payload.”

He stood and led me to the forward end of the chamber. There was a pair of doors, with dogs, and he opened one wide enough for us to enter. He inputted a code on a pad before we went any further.

“If you look up, you’ll see the rail that the hoist runs on. There is a section that can be bolted in to allow the load to pass into the next chamber.”

He turned on the lights and I could see the helicopter, with the rotor blades swung back. Next to it was a large contraption that I had never seen before.

“That, my friend, is a launching unit for a pair of Kalibr Cruise missiles. They were installed well after the ship was launched, in a very quiet dock, remote from prying eyes. They are on rails, which will locate them under the hatch that the helicopter goes through. Once the helicopter has been rolled to the helipad, that hatch is closed as quickly as we can. We have done it several times, and it is only open for less than two minutes. If we launch the missiles, it will only be open for thirty seconds.”

“I’ve seen pictures of cruise missile launches. I suppose the flame will go out through the hatch next to the missiles.”

“Correct. Once they are away, we just hope they make it to their destination. The Kalibr can have a supersonic second stage to get past the waiting anti-missile systems. The launch will be timed to coincide with a salvo heading for Ukraine. They will look like they’re going to Kharkiv, which is where they should be going supersonic, if the Patriot system doesn’t bring them down. There is a lot of countryside between there and Moscow, and it’s just the air defence ring which may bring them down. If it does, it will still be close enough to do damage.”

“If the Patriot does bring one down, the simple fact that there had been a nuclear weapon aimed at Kharkiv will embarrass the President, if it does explode, it will bring a rain of missiles onto Russian soil. Are you prepared for that? To never being able to go home?”

“That’s just one scenario. If it gets to Moscow, the head of the monster will be cut off. Hopefully, the military won’t launch a strike, seeing that there are no missile tracks from a NATO country. They’ll just throw their hands in the air and say, “Wasn’t me!”

“I’ll believe you.”

“What you’ll need to do is to get up on the top of the launchers and familiarise yourself with the set-up. We’ll be collecting two missiles from a submarine, so will need to dive inside the launcher and attach the lifting lugs. They’ll not have warheads, so there will be the connecting lugs, which we have already made conversion attachments for, seeing that we have been given the engineering drawings.”

“So, how is the sub going to account for a loss of two missiles?”

“It has orders to join the launching when it gets near the home port, a couple less won’t be noticed, seeing that the usual salvo is several dozen missiles. Come on into the workshop.”

The workshop was in the bow, leaving enough room for the anchor winches. There was enough room for a workbench, big enough for a missile each side. The overhead rail had a junction with a pivoting link. I wondered who had manufactured all of this, and if any were still alive. The plan was daring and must have been in place well before the invasion of Ukraine. The President must have done something bad to upset Yuri this much.

We closed up behind us as we went back to the dive chamber. We put together a diving suit that fitted me and I checked the air tank harnesses for one that was comfortable. I also was introduced to my atmospheric diving suit that I would need for the first dive, seeing that the box would be at around two hundred metres deep. I still had questions that only Yuri could answer, so stayed quiet.

Dinner, that evening, was not as sombre as I thought it could have been. It was if Gregor had never existed. There is something fatalistic about the Russian psyche, mulling on bad times is something they don’t do. Svetlana had dressed once I was in my suit and in the dining room with Dimitri and Yuri. It must have been pre-planned, as the four ladies joined us as a group, all dressed to impress. When I looked at Svetlana, I had a tingle in my groin.

We ate well, and all drank a little more than we should. Yuri reiterated on what he had said on the foredeck, in English for my benefit. We would be heaving-to off the southern tip of Sardinia, where there is an underwater shelf. Yuri will be leaving us on the helicopter to see a business associate in Palermo, on Sicily. Then, when he returned, we would be going up the eastern side of Sardinia to dock at Monaco. Nothing about the plan was mentioned, as I could see that both Natasha and Alyona may be in the dark about it. If they had no direct input, then it would be the best for them not to know. Not that it would do them any good should the President take his anger out on the full ships’ complement.

After dinner, Svetlana took me by the hand and led me to our stateroom. We kissed, properly, for the first time and slowly undressed each other. She was ready for me, and I was more than ready for her. I hardly had time to pull the covers back before she had pulled me onto the bed, and then into her. I had never had a girl in every port, but I had known a fair few in my time. Svetlana was like no other girl I had made love to. She was totally devoid of any hang-ups, prepared to give as well as she took. I think that I would be coming up with love bites in unusual places by the morning.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms, in the early hours. I was drained dry and needed the sleep. She almost purred in her sleep, like a cat that had lapped up all the cream. As I drifted, my mind went over what I was doing. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, I had drowned off of Palma. My parents would have been sad, my partner and son sadder still, but there was nothing I could do to change things. Returning to life would raise so many questions I wasn’t even thinking that it was an option. My partner would get my navy pension and help in carrying on.

At the moment, I was an honorary Russian diver involved in a plan to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow. I was complicit in the death of one person, already. When this was over, I would be complicit in the deaths of a million, or more. Would the world have been any different had someone assassinated Hitler? I fell asleep with that on my mind.

I woke up with a woman impaled on my morning glory, a beautiful smile on her face as she rode it for her own pleasure. When she shuddered with her climax, and laid on me, I opened my eyes and gazed into hers.

“Good morning, my love. Was that good for you?”

“You know it was Mikki.”

“Can I call you something short? Yuri called you Veta. I’d like to call you Lana.”

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them and gave me a kiss.

“I would like that. It is what my late husband called me. He was a diver, like yourself, but some years older. I loved him as I’m growing to love you.”

I rolled her over on her back and gave her a second climax as I achieved my own. We then showered together, before dressing and going up to the saloon deck for breakfast. Nothing was said, but both Dimitri and Natasha gave us knowing smiles. When I looked out of the window, I could see the coast of Sardinia off the port side, so we would be diving today.

The raising of the helicopter happened well before we slowed down. I watched from the saloon and was impressed by the slick operation. The two hatches opened, and the helicopter came into sight. It was quickly rolled to the centre of the helipad and the lifting pad lowered before you could see the rails that crossed it. The hatches closed and then crewmen clambered up to extend the rotors and lock them in place.

We all trooped down to the foredeck and Yuri came out, accompanied by Alyona, both dressed for air travel. We were all lined up and given hugs and / or kisses before his briefcase was put into the helicopter, joined by the two passengers. The pilot fired up the turbine and we all stepped back as he engaged the rotors. We gave them a wave as the helicopter lifted off.

As soon as it was gone, Dimitri, Svetlana, Katiya, and me went down to the diving chamber to get me kitted out in the deep diving suit. It’s a modern version of the old suits, but with a lot more comfort and flexibility. The dive would be about two hundred metres, so normal scuba units weren’t useable. We were joined by six of the crew, all well versed in the lifting of goods from the seabed.

I stripped down and put on a wetsuit, as the atmosphere in the big suit would be a bit humid. We had to wait until the captain rang to say that we were at the last GPS spot. Katiya opened the diving doors and lowered a submersible. It would be able to go directly to look at the sea floor and locate the box. I stood behind her as she drove the submersible. On the screen, I saw the sea creatures appear when she put the lights on.

When it was at the seabed, she piloted it to the exact GPS point and then programmed it to circle around, in increasing circles, until a large object came into view. She hovered the submersible over it and told the captain the new GPS location. She, and I were inspecting the box, seeing that it was on its side. Svetlana, who was going to drive the crane, was shown the situation and we agreed on a method to lift the box by one set of chains and then drop it back so that I could fit the second set.

I went down with the chains, Dimitri as my diving master. I was under water for nearly an hour, and was pulled up with the box, with Dimitri taking charge of me as soon as I arrived back in the chamber. I was put into a decompression chamber and had my bloods tested, all as being careful. I didn’t expect that there would be a problem, seeing the suit that I had been in.

While that was happening, Svetlana and the crew put the box onto chains attached to the rail, sliding the box forwards to the workshop. Katiya brought the submersible back and it was lifted out and hosed off with fresh water, along with the heavy suit. When I came out of the chamber, both Dimitri and Svetlana gave me a hug, followed by Katiya. As far as I was concerned, it had been a straightforward dive, with the joy of using the best equipment that money can buy.

The captain had been told as soon as the crate was off the seabed, and we had been moving forward, slowly, until the load had been brought aboard. As soon as I was out of the water, he had increased to a slow cruise. We were, so I was told, going towards the coast at Leone Beach, where we will drop anchor and wait for Yuri to return. Dimitri told me to take a rest as he would tidy up. Svetlana and I went up to our stateroom, where we made love before I showered and redressed.

We met the others in the saloon, for a late lunch. The crew were trained in the handling of cruise missile equipment, so they were left to do what was needed. Dimitri complimented me on my care in attaching the chains at such a depth, admitting that he had never dived so deep.

When we were anchored offshore, a launch was lowered so that we could go to the beach. We had dinner at the Is Fradis Beach Club, looking out at the yacht in the bay. The five of us were well looked after, with Dimitri paying at the end of the evening. The launch came to take us back and we were back on the yacht in time for some drinks and then to bed, with me eventually getting some much-needed sleep.

Yuri arrived back in the next afternoon, and that evening, over dinner, he was given a report on what we had achieved. He didn’t tell us what he had been doing, but I was coming to realise that he kept his cards very close to his chest.

For much of the next day, we stayed at anchor, and my time was my own, so I found the ships’ library to see what they had to read. I did find some books in English, notably the Sun Tzu book, ‘The Art of War’, which I had started, years ago, but never finished. I sat and picked up where I had got to. I was quietly reading when I was joined by Katiya.

“Mikhail. I have to tell you that I was very impressed with the way you worked when you were in that suit. It’s hard to make even the simplest moves when you’re that deep.”

“Thank you, Katiya. Your handling of the submersible was very good, as well. Do you drive the mini sub?”

“I do. Would you like a trip?”

“I would love to. Do we have to be moored to launch it?”

“No. We just have to let the captain know that we are going to open the doors as it does affect the steering. We have remote control from the sub so just have to match the ship speed and open the doors to come back. I’ll ask Yuri if it’s all right to take you for a spin on the way to Monaco.”

Svetlana came in.

“There you are. What are you two cooking up?”

“Katiya was just telling me that she’ll take me for a trip in the mini sub. I’ve been in full-size ones but have always wondered what it was like in a little one.”

“A bit like the big ones, Mikki, only smaller. You can’t go for a stroll in the one we have. Come with me, Yuri wants a word or two with us.”

I followed her to the saloon, which seemed to be where most things happened. Yuri stood and gave us both a hug, in that very old Russian way.

“Mikhail, you now know what we intend to do. I can only hope that you want to see the President dead as much as we do. We will spend a few days in Monaco, and you will be able to go ashore. I won’t threaten you with any harm, should you make a run for it, but will tell you that two of the crew will be shadowing you the whole time you are on shore. Both have experience in ‘wet work’. When we complete our task, there will be a big enough bonus for you to go anywhere in the world a live out your life in comfort.”

“I doubt that I would be welcome if I let it be known that I sent a nuke to Moscow. I’ll stay true, Yuri, even if I resurfaced and went back to the Navy, I’ll be considered to be a risk and likely kept somewhere in isolation. I understand why you worry and appreciate your need to maintain operational security.”

“As long as we understand each other, nothing more needs to be said. Katiya is going to give you a trip in the sub. We will do that tomorrow, when we are between Sardinia and Monaco. It would be good for you to have that knowledge, as you never know when you will need to use it.”

We sat in the saloon that afternoon, while the helicopter took off to go and pick up Alyona. When it came back, it also had several bags. This was a family that lived for shopping. Then, it was time for going back to our rooms to dress for dinner. We lifted anchors the next morning and cruised north. As the coastline of Sardinia slipped behind our port side, Katiya and I went down to the ‘toybox’ with Dimitri and Lana to work the shipboard equipment.

We both were kitted in wetsuits and rebreathers, which we would wear for the whole trip, just in case we had to leave the mini sub in a hurry. I followed Katiya through the hatch and into a very cramped space. She didn’t seem worried about my being so close. In fact, once we were comfortable, she gave me a big smile.

“I’ve been in beds bigger than this, Mikhail. It means that you have to concentrate on every move that you make.”

We were lowered into the pool, and we could hear Svetlana talking to the captain as he steadied the ship. Lana gave us the word that the doors were opening and twenty seconds later she told us that we were being released. Once we were clear of the ship, Katiya took us into a dive until we were just off the seabed. She showed me all the controls and I drove the sub for a while, as she then showed me the instruments we had, as well as the sonar detection and the cameras. We were under water for an hour, keeping up with the ship, before she was happy with my ability to control the sub.

For me, it was like a car driver being dropped into the seat of an F1 car and told to have fun. The sub was more than a toy, it was a very finely tuned piece of equipment. My second life was turning out to be even more interesting. Especially as we started to head back to the ship, and she kissed me gently.

“Thank you for beating Gregor the other day. He was a beast and I’m glad to be rid of him.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 4

I watched closely as she matched the speed of the ship and brought us back into the pool. When we surfaced, the doors were closing and I left the sub to reattach the lifting mechanism, which I now noticed had a remote release on it. It would enable someone to release the sub and then get in to drive it.

We were lifted out of the water and Katiya joined me as we got back onto the deck. We hosed the mini sub with fresh water and then went to change back into normal clothes. Katiya acted as if it had been a normal training trip, telling the others that I had picked up the controls well. We went back up to the saloon after shutting everything down.

The rest of the journey to Monaco was restful, and I was getting to wonder what arriving there on a superyacht would be like. A lot different from hitching in with a backpack on, I expect. I wasn’t surprised when we anchored well offshore but was when the helicopter was quickly brought up. Instead of going ashore by launch, our bags were loaded onto the helicopter, and we flew to a hotel with a helipad. We were welcomed by uniformed attendants and followed them, and our bags, down one floor to the penthouse suites.

We had three, with Yuri and Alyona in one, Natasha and Dimitri in another, and the three of us in the third, with Svetlana and me in one bedroom and Katiya on her own in another. Once we had settled in, the three of us went down to the lobby where a car waited for us.

“We thought that you might enjoy a tour of the place, Mikhail. I’ve been here several times, and Katiya has been here before, but it would be fun to show you around.”

I was sat in the back with Svetlana, as the driver took us to all the best places. We lunched at the Casino but didn’t gamble. Lana said that life was too short to bet on chance. In the late afternoon, we were back at the hotel to dress for dinner, after which, we all went to see a ballet performance. It was, of course, Swan Lake, and was spectacular. I was sitting between the two girls and each one had a hold on an arm.

Back in our suite, Katiya went to her room and both Lana and I prepared for bed. She was in our ensuite to remove her make-up while I undressed and got into the very big bed. She came out, wearing a red see-through nightie that made my loins twitch. Then, the connecting door opened, and Katiya walked in, wearing a black version. Lana smiled.

“We thought that Katiya would like to really thank you for helping remove my brother. I’m off to sleep in her bed, while she will be sleeping here. Later, I might join you.”

They hugged and Lana left us. I was already in a state of readiness as Katiya got into the bed and kissed me a lot more forcibly than she had done so in the sub. What could I do but reciprocate. She helped me remove the pyjamas, but kept her nightie on, as it wasn’t a great impediment to what we were both looking forward to, with her releasing her pent-up frustration with her need to be loved, rather than ravaged. I hoped that I was up to the task.

Afterwards, we were laying together and Lana joined us in the bed, with me between two gorgeous women. I found myself on my back, kissing Katiya, fondling her breasts, and a finger rubbing her to another orgasm, while Svetlana rode my new-found virility. I was finally allowed to sleep, with one each side of me.

When I woke up, in the morning, I was still crowded by the pair of them. They took advantage of my morning glory with Katiya riding me while Lana sat herself on my face for me to tongue her to a climax. Only then did they both kiss my wet face and Katiya went back to her room. I needed a pee and a shower, with Lana joining me as we washed each other.

When the breakfast was delivered to our room, the three of us were fully dressed and sitting at the table, talking about today’s plans as if the night hadn’t happened. It was still vivid in my mind, though, as it had been so different from anything I had ever experienced. The big thing was that both girls now treated me as their own, without any trace of jealousy or possessiveness.

The girls wanted to visit the Japanese Gardens, followed by the African Gardens, and then go shopping at the Metropole. It was all to see if we were attracting followers. Both gardens were open enough for us to spot anybody taking an interest, other than the two crewmen who kept a distance from us. The gardens were worth the visit, and then we entered the expensive confines of the Metropole area.

I was dragged into the Society Club menswear shop, where I was re-outfitted in the typical off-white suite that was worn by all the trendy men in town. There was a couple more added to my bags, with Lana paying for them and telling the store to deliver them to our suite in the hotel.

Then, I was hovering while they visited several dress shops and tried on so many things I lost count. In the end, there had been more than one shop paid and told where to deliver the bags. I could see how so many bags had come off that ferry in Palma. When Lana shopped, she made sure she got what she wanted, and she wanted an awful lot! We ended the shopping across the Avenue, in the Louboutin shoe store. There, it was Lana as the main buyer, spending more than my old yearly salary on shoes that didn’t look safe to walk in, but did look good on her.

We had a simple lunch in the Lucas Allner café back inside the Metropole. In the afternoon, we visited the Prince’s Palace and then the Rock, before going back to our hotel to dress for dinner. All day, the girls spoke Russian to each other and only spoke English when they spoke to me. I must have looked like their chaperone during the day. That evening, during the meal, Yuri told us that we would all be returning to the ship next day, with the helicopter taking the three of us, and a load of luggage, around ten. He, and the other three, would be joining us later, and we would lift anchor before dinner. He told me to make sure that I was ready for a dive the day after.

The other four went off to the theatre, while the girls and I went to the bar for a few drinks to fortify me before an early night. It may have been early, but they ensured that it was a long one, with me exhausted when they allowed me to sleep. This attention was making me worry. I’ve always been a one-woman man, and two at once was odd. What was odd was that Katiya was more loving than Lana, who was just using me as a means towards her orgasms.

We were taken back to the ship next day as planned, and our shopping packed away in the wardrobes. The three of us were back at our usual status, with Katiya not as close as before. The following day, we were tracking south down the Italian coast as I was sent to suit up for a shallow dive, no deeper than fifty metres. I put a three-cylinder air pack on, and the ship slowed to a steady few knots. I went in at the lifting pool, seeing a Russian submarine below us with the doors of two launching tubes open.

I had a small sled that had enough speed that I could keep up with both vessels and pulled the hawsers with me as I went down to the open hatch. Dimitri had told me that it didn’t matter which one I pulled up first, so I went to the nearest hatch and peered in, seeing the body of the missile inside. I hooked the sled to the hatch and entered the tube with the hawsers. My training on board the ship stood me well as it didn’t take very long to hook it up. I pressed the button on the sled which sent the lift message.

The missile came up, out of its launch tube, and I steadied it as it came clear and trailed in the flow. I unhooked the sled and followed the missile into the ship. Katiya gave me a drink of water while the missile was lifted out and hooked on the travelling crane. I went back in the water and pulling the hawsers back down to the submarine. The second one was easier than the first, and I saw the doors closing as the submarine dived deeper as I was heading back to the ship.

When I had stripped and had a freshwater shower, Katiya gave me a hot drink and told me that I was worth every penny I was being paid. The problem was that I was wondering if I would stay alive long enough to pick up the money. Lana and Dimitri were with the missiles, making sure that they were properly stored. While I dressed, Katiya closed the doors and stored the sled. Then she gave me a loving kiss before we went up to saloon and a rest with a drink.

Yuri showed up and congratulated me on a job well done. All that was left now was to pick up the warheads, which he said would be waiting for us off the coast of Alexandria, in three days’ time. I stopped wondering about how he was certain that they would be there. I wondered if any Russian Navy captain would be brave enough to ‘lose’ a nuclear warhead. The only cruise missile submarine that I knew of that still had the missiles on board was the K-219, which sank near Bermuda, and was last known to be close to six thousand metres down. That was forty years ago.

I spent the next few days reading, resting, and making love to two beautiful women, with them taking alternate evenings in my bed, with Lana being there every morning when the steward came in with breakfast. I was advised that the dive would need the pressure suit. We continued our leisurely course, seeing some sights on the way. Yuri stayed in his quarters, probably making sure everything was on track.

When we hove-to off of Alexandria, we stayed on station with the small propellors, while Katiya sent the explorer sled down to locate our target. They were lying on the seabed, at just over four hundred feet. Each one had a single lifting hook, so I would be taking down two hawsers and bringing them both back together. The operation went as planned, with me taking the hawsers down behind the sled. When I hooked them up, I noticed the writing on them. I hadn’t let on that I could read Russian, and these were both marked as made in nineteen-eighty-five, so they must have been from K-219. I thought long and hard about it on my long return to the ship. Them being here was a real twist in the story.

The only way that I could see them supplied was if the Americans had salvaged them from the lost submarine. Salvage at six thousand wasn’t unheard of in this day and age, with remote controlled units that could do remarkably delicate things. If it had been the Americans that were in this game, perhaps the story about it being a group of like-minded Russian Naval captains wasn’t totally true.

When we had visited Alexandria and done our tourist things, we set sail north, towards the Greek Islands and the Dardanelles Strait. The atmosphere on board was starting to get tense. Svetlana started a bad period and returned to her old room, so Katiya joined me every night.

It was during the afterglow of our lovemaking that she whispered in my ear,

“When we launch the missiles, be prepared to head for the mini-sub. I believe that Yuri is going to drop Alyona and Natasha in Istanbul. That will leave us on board for whatever happens after the launch. If the helicopter is ready to leave during the final moments, then it means that Yuri is leaving. He’s not a man who will die for a cause, and the might of the Russian Navy will be wondering why a private ship launched a pair of cruise missiles. It’s something that cannot be hidden. They’ll have radar tracking and will be able to trace it back to us.”

“You have a plan?”

“I do. If we can get away in the mini sub, I have a rendezvous with a friend off the mouth of the Dardanelles. I would like it if you were with me, Michael.”

I was just dozing off as I realised that she had called me Michael for the first time, and that I liked the sound of it.

When we arrived at Istanbul, we anchored offshore while a launch carried a lot of luggage to the port. I watched, through binoculars, as it was all loaded into vans and carried away. There was no goodbye affair as Alyona and Natasha left the ship, with Yuri and Dimitri waving to them as they were taken away. Once they had left, we were under way once more and sailing into the Black Sea.

Katiya and I were now left out of the events as the ship was made ready for action. We had free run of our usual areas, but the missile area was out of bounds. Katiya had a pass which would take us to the weapons deck, where we saw all the guns ready for action, with the ammunition loaded. Without having to discuss anything, we went to the gun range and took a couple of pistols, loaded them and loaded extra clips.

She and I were thinking the same, that we may be targeted after the launch, so that we could never tell the story. She was as handy with the weapon as I was, which made me wonder at where she had been trained in driving submersibles. I hoped that we had the time, afterwards, for me to find out.

Two days later, it was dark as we approached Sevastopol. I was in the saloon with the lights out and looking out with night-glasses. I could see some navy ships at anchor. I saw the doors on the deck open and the helicopter rolled out to the take-off point. When the lifting deck retracted, the doors stayed open. I could smell the perfume that Katiya liked as we watched. Yuri, Svetlana, and Dimitri ran out to the helicopter and got in, with it lifting off almost immediately. That meant that it was just us and the crew.

It was heading for one of the other ships when I saw the curling tracer from a pom-pom gun rise up and blow it out of the air. A few seconds later, the sky lit up with the flames of missiles launched from every ship, including ours. We raced to the lift to take us to the sub. We had put a few things inside that were easily carried, as well as a pair of rebreathers that Katiya had told me we would need. We opened the doors and she got into the sub to turn everything on. I was at the release when the door of the room opened, and an armed crewman rushed in. I shot him, just as I heard her call to release. I hit the release lever and dived for the hatch as we dropped. As I closed the hatch, I heard the distinct sound of the gun deck firing.

We dived away from the ship as I was getting strapped in. There was an almighty pressure wave that tossed us around like a cork, and I could see bits of the ship sinking past us as Katiya took us clear. The fleet must have been very quick or had been expecting us. I stayed quiet as she took us to a manageable depth, and we crept away from the scene.

“This has the sonar return of debris, and there’s a lot of that around at the moment. Hopefully, we can get far enough away that the Russians won’t bother chasing us.”

We headed south at a speed that almost made me scream. We spoke in whispers in case there were microphones listening. It was a very cramped cabin, but so is the back seat of a car, and it didn’t restrict our slow and quiet lovemaking. After about five hours without someone trying to kill us, we increased the speed and set a course directly towards Istanbul. The distance we needed to go was close to seven hundred kilometres, so I asked if we had the battery power.

“No. We will have to lie low until dark. We have a generator but will have to be close to the surface to run it, with clean air coming in and exhaust going out.”

When the power gauge was showing only a quarter power left, we slowed down to an idle until we were sure that it was dark. Then we rose towards the surface until we could put our camera up. It had the same purpose as the old periscopes but had zoom capabilities. We did three full circuits to make sure there was nothing near us, then extended the intake and exhaust for the small motor. We were sitting ducks for the two hours before we had full power, but we didn’t need to use extra to get away from a sinking ship this time.

It took us two more days to reach the mouth of the straits that took us past Istanbul, sleeping when we could, renewing the power twice, and living on bottled water and meagre rations. There was a chemical toilet that we used, but it was a long trip, only made pleasurable by our need to make love every now and then. Close to the mouth of the straits, we put the camera up to find a ship heading our way, then went to a depth of about fifty feet and crept up under it.

It was a very tense thirty kilometres as we kept position and made our way past Istanbul to the Sea of Marmara, diving as we reached deeper waters and veering away from the ship. From here, it was close to three hundred kilometres to Kat’s rendezvous point. I wasn’t going to ask who we were meeting as I didn’t want to spoil our bonding in this cramped space. It wasn’t as if one of us could walk away in a huff.

Another two days and more recharging later, we were at the Dardanelles, following another ship as it passed through. As we emerged into the Aegean Sea, we changed the course, heading north.

“Not long now, Michael. The rendezvous is between the two islands to the north, where there’s a deep trench. Our ride is waiting, and we will sink this glorious machine in the deeps. I’ll be sad to see it go, considering how much it must have cost. It was never meant to have two people living in it for a week, but it has worked well.”

As we rounded the first island, she sent out a message on the undersea radio. Five minutes later we had an acknowledgement. It wasn’t long after that I heard the distinctive pinging on the hull of a sonar tracking. After an hour, a long shape appeared beside us, and we had a radio message to shut down our motion.

“Time for the rebreathers, I think.”

We helped each other put them on and then made sure we had our possessions in waterproof packs, leaving the pistols and ammunition behind. There was a tapping on the plexiglass, and we could see two divers outside. They gave us the thumbs up, and we went to the one-man escape hatch. Katiya went first, and I could see her being escorted to the submarine by one of the divers. I followed, after I had opened the stopcocks, emerging into the open sea as the mini sub started to sink. The other diver escorted me to the big submarine and to the hatch.

Katiya was nowhere to be seen as I emerged from the escape hatch and two seamen helped me out of the rebreather and my wet clothes. I was given a towel to dry myself and then a dressing gown and soft slippers that are usual for submarines. They didn’t speak and I didn’t ask any questions. The diver was being looked after by another two ratings. When we were both dressed, he led me through to the sort of passageway that I’d seen before. There was no mistaking that I was on board an American submarine, and, by the size of the shape that I had seen, was probably one of the newer ones.

He led me to the officers’ quarters and a tiny cabin. It was only then that another officer met us. He held out his hand and smiled as we shook.

“Welcome to the ‘Montana’ Lieutenant Brown. I hope that your stay will be a happy one. When you have rested, we’ll give you a full medical, make sure that you’re well fed and rested. No interrogations here, but we will be transferring you and your partner once we’re in the open waters of the Med. She is in the women’s quarters and will get the same treatment. They haven’t told me what you’ve been up to, but I’m sure that it was worth bringing us here to pick you up. Now, the main thing is for you to stretch out and have a good sleep, a rating will be by with a hot drink and a couple of sleeping pills.”

At that, he left us, and the other diver showed me the light switches and pointed out where the latrines were. I took off the dressing gown and got into the bed. A rating came by with the drink and pills. I knew that I needed a good sleep to get through my immediate future. If things had gone tits-up, I would have been in chains in the brig by now. I dozed off, thinking about the fact that this officer, in a submarine a long way from anywhere, knew my name and rank!

I must have slept the clock around, although day and night aren’t a factor in a submarine. When I woke, I dragged the gown on and found the latrine that had been pointed out. I did my business and then used the tiny shower and the cleaning supplies. When I went back to the small cabin, there was a full kit waiting for me. It was white, but nothing like the white suit that I had purchased in Monaco.

I was dressed and ready for action when a rating appeared to take me to the sick bay. I was hungry but knew that the medical had to come first. They weighed, measured, listened to my internal sounds, took blood, and then allowed me to be taken to the mess, where I joined some of the crew, although at a separate table. The mess was not gender-specific, with female ratings. I was well into some real food when Katiya joined me.

I stood and we hugged before she sat down with a plate of food put in front of her. We both ate ravenously and enjoyed a mug of real coffee before we said anything. I looked at her.

“Let me guess. Your name isn’t Katiya?”

“No, Michael. It’s Katherine, so you can keep calling me Kat. This doesn’t change our relationship, I hope.”

“Seeing that I’m dead, as far as the world is concerned, I’m not sure what I can offer you as far as a future goes.”

“I’m sure that we will be looked after. If things had gone pear-shaped, we would be fish food by now, with no-one prepared to own up to knowing us.”

“I still don’t know what happed after the launch.”

“Nor do I. I expect that the only person on board that does know is the Commander, and he would only let on if there’s a war in the offing. I think that we’re good but won’t know until we’re passed on up the chain.”

“I suppose that the whole plan was hatched in America?”

“All I knew was that I was inserted into a position where Gregor was able to recruit me into the ship’s company as a submersible driver. I was told was that Yuri was planning something big, but nobody had any idea at just how big he was thinking. I got a message drop that you were joining us while I was in Barcelona, before we sailed to Palma.”

“How long had you been on board by then?”

“Close to six months. It was well worth it when you turned up and helped to put Gregor out of the picture. He had no idea what his father was planning, but Dimitri and I were working closely enough for him to tell me some of the detail. I needed to know what we were picking up to plan the dives. Svetlana’s husband was supposed to be the main diver until Gregor shot him. That put the cat among the pigeons for several weeks before you came on the scene.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 5

“Would you believe that I would never have been on that ferry unless an American colleague hadn’t suggested a walking holiday on Palma. I was planning a trip to the Black Forest, not the Black Sea!”

We both smiled and I reached out to hold her hand. For three days, we met in the mess and spent some time in the small gym, getting our strength back. Around us, life in the submarine carried on, with drills breaking the monotony. On the fourth day, everything changed.

We were in the mess when the klaxon sounded, and the captain informed us that we were preparing to surface. An officer told us to go and fetch our personal papers and meet him back at the table in ten minutes. He then led us to a hatch, open to the sky and with a ladder leading up to freedom. I followed Kat up the ladder to find myself on the main deck, with the conning tower some way forward.

Above us was a Navy helicopter and a harness was lowered. A rating helped Kat into the harness, and she was hoisted up. Ten minutes later, I had joined her, strapped into a seat, with a set of headphones thrust into my hands. The submarine was already submerging as we were flown to an aircraft carrier, surrounded by support ships.

I would have loved to have explored an aircraft carrier, but we were taken from the helicopter to an Osprey that was sitting with the propellors idling. It didn’t take long for us to be put aboard and strapped in before the pilot called out that the ride was about to start. Some seconds later, we lifted off vertically, the pilot taking us higher and then going to forward flight and climbing to a cruising altitude. Once we were level, the co-pilot came back and showed us where the drinks and nibbles were.

“We’re taking you to Malta, where there will be a Grumman Greyhound which will take you further on. Take it easy and enjoy the trip.”

The Grumman was one of the US Navy workhorses, and our feet hardly touched ground on the airfield in Malta. The Grumman took us to a NATO base in Germany, where we were allowed some time to relieve ourselves and have a meal. We were joined by a woman who introduced herself as Commander Hallett of the US Navy, who would be our guide and would take us through a debrief on the way to America. We were allowed some sleep time before we were driven out to a Gulfstream Five. It was luxurious and we were settled in to prepare for take-off.

Once we had levelled out Commander Hallet turned on her laptop and started by taking Kat through her time with the Russians. We landed in Britain, at a military airfield, and the plane was refuelled. Back in the air, it was my turn to be debriefed. When we had told all, she plugged the laptop into a USB slot and sent our reports by secure encrypted email. Then, we all relaxed to have some sleep before we arrived at our final destination.

I couldn’t help but ponder about our trip west. To start with, we had a nuclear boomer waiting for us to turn up, then a chopper ride to an aircraft carrier task force, an Osprey ride to Malta, a Greyhound to Europe, and now a Gulfstream to America, all without papers being shown or pilots asking us who we were. This looked like something organised by the US Government and co-ordinated by the CIA. What it did do, however, was to clear us away to a secure site without any civilians seeing our passing by.

I knew that whatever was in my future was as impossible to buck as Yuri’s plans were. I was, according to Yuri, a dead man walking. If the Americans had set it up so that I would be on the ferry, then they were probably not letting on. That made me think that one of the other lads that Gregor had been messing around with must have been shown who it was to be sent overboard. The complexity of the intrigue made my head hurt.

When I woke, Kat had her head on my shoulder and I gazed at her, wondering if we would remain together. I looked out of the window and saw that we were over land again. Hallett told me to wake Kat and get buckled up as we would be landing again.

“We’re just north of Boston, at Hanscom Air Force Base. You’ll be changing planes and going further, but there’ll be plenty of time for you to have a walk around and get a proper meal. I apologise for the speed at which you had been extricated from Europe, but it was imperative for you to disappear. As far as the Russians are concerned, everyone on the yacht died when it was sunk. My people told me that it was targeted by no less than three ship to ship missiles.”

“What about the girls who disembarked in Istanbul?”

“They’re being watched. They’re waiting for a message that will never come, but Alyona is KGB, so she’ll get them taken back to the motherland to live in a remote dacha. You will both be told more when you get to your destination.”

I woke Kat and kissed her gently as we started our approach. After we had landed, we taxied close to a building, and the stairs went down when we stopped. Hallett led us into the building and to a typical military canteen. It was good to be moving on our own two feet. We were shown where the toilets were, and I noted the armed guards at every doorway. I just hoped that they were there to stop others coming in, and not us getting out.

We had our first meal on American soil, with Kat happy about that, and me eating, in spite of it being too high in fats for my likes. When we had finished, Hallett led us out once more, where the Gulfstream had gone, with a Marine Osprey in its place. She shook our hands and passed us to a Marine Sergeant, who made sure we were comfortable before we took off again.

“Folks, we’re taking you to a secure site, where you will be properly debriefed. It’s a Marine Base just out of Lexington. This bird is one that often lands there, so won’t seem out of the ordinary. I’m sorry, but I’ve been told to tell you that you will be confined to the base for some while. I’ve no doubt that there will be officers, way over my pay grade, who will look after you. I’ve been instructed to say that you aren’t prisoners but need to be kept well out of the public eye.”

The flight to Kentucky was almost leisurely, with us cruising along at about ten thousand. I held Kat’s hand and looked out the window at the green fields passing by. We did a vertical landing at the Marine Base and there were soldiers waiting to escort us into the building. There, we were greeted by a well-built man in a check shirt and jeans.

“Welcome to Lexington, folks. I’m Derek Ward and I’ll be your main man while you’re here. I expect that you’re tired of all the travel, so I’ll keep this brief. You have the run of the base, but we would like you to stay inside, or, at least, away from the side that is flanked by public roads. We have a suite for you, as well as access to the stores for clothing and personal items. There is a gym, and there will be soldiers available to go with you for a run, if you want, but only if you’re in the proper kit. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the room where I’ll tell you what went on after you made your escape, and some of the reasons for it. Any questions, then I’m the guy to ask.”

He led us to the stores, where we were given a couple of changes of civilian wear, as well as the full kit of US Marine wear, without any weapons. In this, we would be indistinguishable from the others on the base. We were then shown where the canteen was and then our room. It was roomy, with a big bed and a bathroom. I expect that it was usually set aside for visiting three-star generals. When the door was closed, we didn’t take long to get undressed and into bed. It was wonderful to be able to roll around after the confines of the mini sub.

The morning started with a loudspeaker telling us how long we had before morning parade. Being both military, it was natural for us to shower and dress in fatigues, following others out to the open area where the flagpole was. I followed Kat as we saluted the raising of the flag, and then joined the marines for breakfast. Ward was in the canteen and took us to a table set away from the others.

“You can take the boy out of the uniform, but you can’t take the uniform out of the boy. This will be your normal start to the day for a while. Eat up and then we’ll go somewhere private for your first lesson.”

After we had eaten, he led the way into the centre of the building, and into what looked like a security room with screens.

“Get comfortable, folks. Firstly, I’m going to show you what those pesky missiles did.”

The first picture showed a very large breach in the wall of the Kremlin, with several wrecked buildings. Then there was another picture of a very large building, which had been hit and then burned.

“Michael. You were told that the warheads were nuclear. I guess that you figured out that they came from the Bermuda wreck. We have had the entire arsenal from that wreck for a while, now. Enough time to rework them to be low-yield tactical warheads, what the old war guys would call bunker busters. They both reached the targets that Yuri had set. I have to applaud him; he knew where to smack the President on the nose. One, as you can see, hit the Kremlin and did quite a lot of damage. The other was where he thought that the President would hide in case of reprisals to that barrage. With the Ukrainians in Kursk, they had missiles that can get to Moscow.”

“That’s the famous dacha?”

“Correct. It was a direct hit, and it looks as if the weapons that were stored there went up. It’s been a few weeks, now, and the only sight we’ve had of the ‘Great Leader’ is obviously with stand-ins. Either he died or is very badly injured.”

“This must have been a long operation, and the logistics were amazing. I find it hard to believe that you found other Russians to lead Yuri on, and to make him think that he would be safe after the launch. I had the binoculars on the helicopter when a pom-pom blew it out of the sky. I felt sorry for Dimitri, he was a career navy man who had a dream put in his head. Svetlana had killed. She was ready to kill me if I hadn’t agreed to join them. You can tell when someone has no feelings either way when they have a gun at your back.”

“Yes, she had been trained by the KGB in wet work, as had Alyona. You’re right. Dimitri was just a good Russian sailor with some diving experience. We have dossiers on all of them. Alyona and Natasha are now in Saint Petersburgh, in a good apartment, curtesy of a grateful Admiral, who is now running the country. He, of course, is also grateful to us, for creating the scenario of a dissident billionaire out for revenge.”

“Which he was, I think.”

“Yes, his wife died in a ‘re-orientation camp’ some years ago. He never forgave after that, and it hardened him.”

“I know, I saw him murder his own son for being foolish.”

“His son was more than foolish. He had taken money to be a thorn in his father’s side. The lads that he messed around with were all part of a group that was trying to take over Yuri’s business, and he thought that he would be put in charge. The one who tried to get an appointment with Yuri was one of ours.”

“What about the rocket fuel and the missile bodies? They were definitely Russian.”

“That was down to our friendly Admiral and some of his pals. Yuri thought that he was buying their aid, but he was really filling their war chest for after the launch.”

“What about all the other missiles that were launched? The sky was white with the trails.”

“When you know the time and place of the launches, it’s not hard to set up an anti-missile shield. Only a couple got through, with minimal damage.”

“So, we helped a coup in Russia, with the new leader friendlier than the last. What about us? As far as I know, I’ve already been declared dead. Kat will be able to continue her career, but I’m a loose end.”

“I hate to tell you, but you’re both loose ends. Kat had been seen with the others for months, and you were known to be aboard. No. You are both considered dead as far as the world is concerned. Only we know that you are both heroes, and we’re grateful for your work and dedication. I’m authorised to offer you both a way forward, but it will need plastic surgery and some fundamental changes. We have a long-term project under way to make a difference in Cuba. It will take a couple of sisters who are running a diving and fishing business down on the Keys.”

“Did you say ‘sisters’?”

“I did. That’s the back story that’s already been put in motion. Unfortunately, the agents we had slated for the job have been sent elsewhere. They didn’t know that their names had been pencilled in, so have no idea of what was planned. We have placed an offer on a business that never recovered from a hurricane. It will take about as long to repair and re-equip as it will to have you both looking, and acting, the part. There will be a good bankroll for you, and everything you earn in the business will be yours. We supply the equipment and a couple of good boats. What do you think?”

I looked at Kat and she was smiling.

“Will Michael have to lose his tackle?”

“Not if you don’t want that, but it will be prudent to look the part. There will be first-class surgery, and she will be able to enjoy sex as much as you. We can throw in a loyalty card with one of the sex shops.”

“What about my baby?”

“No problem. It will be happy with two mothers who are both its parents. It’ll be up to you when you tell it that one mother is also the father.”

I looked at her.

“Baby?”

“Well, we did spend nearly two weeks in the mini sub without me having access to my pills. We had to leave the yacht without them. How long do you think this job will take?”

“It’s very long-range. You’ll hopefully get in touch with the Cuban ex-pats, and we hope that you get to be meeting their friends between the Keys and Cuba, taking some that are leaving, while leaving some who we are putting in place. With your skills, you’ll be able to teach them to use the scuba, so that they can swim underwater between the boats. You won’t actually get near each other. They’ll have those coming back with enough skill to make the trip to your boat. It will look totally normal. Look. Don’t say anything now. We’ll let you rest for a couple of weeks to regain your health and talk again then.”

We left the secure room and went back to our room, where I held her close.

“Surely it’s too early to know if you’re pregnant.”

“Michael, as soon as I saw you, I wanted you to be the father of my child. I stopped taking the pills before we went to bed for the first time. That’s close to a month ago, and I still haven’t had a period. I thought that it wouldn’t matter if I’d died that night, having had a lot of time in bed with you and knowing that I was ready to be a mother, even if it was to be short-lived. That we got out and are here is a bonus.”

“What about the plan to make me female?”

“There are things called ‘double-ended dildos’ you know. Don’t worry, I won’t love you any less.”

“Surely you jest!”

“No. Just think about it for a while. There’s no way we can go back to our old lives. The Firm is willing to fund a whole new look and a whole new life. This plan of theirs is going to be years. It will give us time to create the best cover ever, and I think that our child will be into junior school before anything happens. What would you have done when you retire? A diving and fishing charter business dropped in our laps will be wonderful.”

“It’s all right for you. You don’t get your gender changed!”

“What’s wrong with being a woman? Half the people in the world are female. You’re the right height, you’re slim enough already. Just a bit of reorganising some body fat and you’ll make a reasonable girl.”

“I’ll just look like a freak!”

“Let them do a photoshop of you to see what you’ll look like and make the decision then. For me?”

“All right. I’ll let them show me what a freak looks like and then I’ll say no.”

“You mean that you’ll leave me to do the job alone?”

“No, no! They can rearrange it for a husband-and-wife business.”

“You heard the man. He said that it was for two sisters, and that the groundwork has already been laid. Changing it now would make it easy for it to fall over at the first examination. If you’re worried about more children, we can save some of your seed for later. If you’re a woman, you can look after our child and do the housework while I laze around with a big belly.”

“I don’t know how I get sucked into these situations. I was happily living as a navy diver on holiday before someone pushed me overboard and – all of a sudden, I was supposed to be dead, waking up with a Russian passport and convinced to join a plot to assassinate the Russian leader. Now, I’m going to spend my days as a female diving coach and running agents back and forth to Cuba.”

“Oh! Good, you’ve agreed to do it. It’ll be fantastic, you and me with a business and a baby. Fun in the sun, lazing around on our boat with a couple of fit fishermen who only pretend to be wanting to catch fish.”

“What’s this about fit fishermen?”

“Wait and see. When you’re a woman, you’ll be able to wrap men around your finger. You’ll learn about that secret power we have that attracts guys like a moth to a flame. The better you look, the hotter you burn.”

She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. I could feel the heat. For the next few days, we talked it over as we worked out in the gym, ran the circuit of the base with the other marines, and finally started to relax from the last month or so.

I asked Ward if we could do the photoshop for both of us and he set it up with an expert on facial reworking. When I saw the pictures of the two of us looking like twins, I could hardly believe it. I had, though, followed his workings as he told us what surgery was needed to create the new looks, so the final result was not so ridiculous.

One day, Ward showed us a picture of the house, and one of what it had looked like before the storm. The restoration would look like the original but would be storm-proofed when rebuilt. The house was a significant one that looked good, with plenty of space around it. Another day, he gave us the folders of our back story to look at. I was to be the serious sister, with Kat as the one who had gone off the rails and got herself pregnant. The business had been purchased before her little fling.

We were both trained divers, with all the proper paperwork. I would lose my specialist ticket, and Kat would lose her submersible drivers ticket. We would get to choose all the diving gear and Uncle Sam would pay for it through a ‘black ops’ fund. The more I looked, the better it sounded. The only sticking point for me was the change of gender.

One evening, Ward took me into Lexington to a place called ‘The Bar Complex’. There, we sat at a table while a group of girls sang and danced on stage. I didn’t twig until one of them joined us at our table and I heard her say hello to Derek in a sotto voice. It was then that I realised that the whole show was men in dresses. The person who had joined us was a veteran, who had known Derek from a tour of Afghanistan. I was left out of their conversation, just there to take notes. I had to say that when he reverted to female mode, he was truly believable.

After that, I was asked to try the clothes to see how I got on, with Kat helping me out. We started with me getting kitted out in a female marine outfit and Kat making me up. With the cap on I looked almost female. After a few days, she added a bra with fillers. I found out what it was like to run with a weight on your chest. I still wasn’t convinced but was told that I was coming along.

After about a week, I allowed myself to be waxed, so that we could take a little trip. By this time, my hair had grown quite long, and Kat and I were sent to the base salon, where we both had the treatment. That was a turning point. With longer fingernails, ear studs, shaped eyebrows and a smooth body, I was halfway along the track. The next day, Kat and I were given make-up that made us look alike, and, in skinny jeans, two-inch heeled boots, and loose tops, we were driven to the nearby airport, with Derek, and flown to the Naval Air Station at Key West in a chartered jet.

There, there was a car supplied, and Derek drove us the short distance north to Geiger Key where the house was located. We made a good show of looking at the place and commenting on the state of the restorations. I say we, but I just stayed to one side while Kat did the talking. When we had looked at it, Derek took us to the El Siboney, in Key West where he bought the Cuban style lunch. I was waiting to be laughed at, but nobody noticed that I wasn’t what I seemed to be. I was amazed when I was told that we were less than two hundred kilometres from Havana.

That evening, back in Lexington, I finally agreed that they had been right, and that I was going to go along with the whole plan. That night, Kat and I made glorious love. The next day, Derek laid out the timeline. We would both be taken to a military hospital, where the plastic surgery would take place, and where my major surgery would be done. After that, we would get our new identities, with me now an American citizen and a back story to memorise.

Then we would be taken to a safe house, where I would get voice training and instruction about womanhood, with Kat being one of my trainers. I suppose that it was going to be better than being dead.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 6

A few days later, we were flown to Miramar airfield in California, then driven to the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton. We were in a secure ward where I was started on hormones while Kat was given a series of minor procedures to change her facial features to be close to how I was expected to turn out. She was not happy undergoing the changes, except for the operation that augmented her breasts. She was stoic, though, taking one for the team.

After about a month, I was deemed ready to be worked on, with the main procedure first. I think that it was set like that so I would accept that all the others that came after were needed to complete the look. Kat, or should I say Cate, as she would be known as, was taken to a house besides the Camp Pendleton Harbour, where we would both recuperate and then run through a revisionary course with the divers. It would be, for me, the way for me to learn about the changes that my new body was going to make with my buoyancy.

By the time I joined her in the house, she was starting to show, and had completed her course. For me, walking out of the hospital to a waiting car in a dress was life changing. Just the swirl of the fabric on my legs, and the wind catching my now long hair, was proof that I was on a different path to what I had expected. I had undergone several operations, as well as many hours of training with experts. I could look after my body, hair, nails, and apply make-up before I was allowed to leave.

The procedures had thinned my face, given me full lips and a smaller nose. I was now the same breast size as Cate. When she was taking me through the hospital doors, I caught a glimpse of the two of us and we did look like sisters. We sounded similar, with my vocal cords reworked to be like hers. At the house, she had amassed a wardrobe full of clothes for me to get used to, with time to be spent learning to walk in heels alongside the time I would be spending in the base diving tank.

We were now Cate and Nikki Armstrong. Sisters who were originally from Boston, which covered my English speech style. The vocal training would concentrate on making me sound upper-class Boston, which was how we had the money for our project, our parents having died, leaving us a good bit. We both were taken through a course in Spanish.

We stayed in the house until I was thoroughly transformed into a woman in all my speech and actions. Sometimes, I even thought that I had always been a woman. Cate gave birth to our daughter in the Naval Hospital, and, a few weeks later we were ready to relocate to Florida. The building work had finished, and the house had been refurbished. There was a nursery for our Jennifer. We were ready to start equipping the business and advertising for customers.

We flew from California to Boston, staying for a few days to get a feel for the city, and learning to travel with a baby. Then, we flew down to Miami. Ward was there when we arrived and gave us both a hug. He had arranged, as our accountant, to open bank accounts for each of us and the business. We stayed in Miami for a week, getting used to the climate and buying two vehicles. One was a workhorse F 250 for towing a boat, and the other was a Cadillac XT6 with a baby seat fitted. We also bought the boat for the business.

The boat we chose was a Sundancer Shaft Drive 320 with plenty of room and a rear ledge for diving. It wasn’t new, so we had to take what it already had on it, which was pretty much what we would need. It was about as big as we could get and still be towable. The sales agent hinted that it had been used for smuggling cigars from Cuba. That may have just been a smokescreen, but it did have an extra fuel tank which would enable us to go to Cuba and back. The F 250 was fitted with a strong towing hitch and, when we left Miami, Cate was in front with Jenny, while I drove with the 320 behind me. It was a tiring trip, with some detours needed because of damage to the road after the recent hurricane and heavy rain.

In the back of the Ford, we had stored the diving tanks and all the kit needed to run a diving or fishing charter. The house already had a compressor for filling the air bottles. What it didn’t have was a launching ramp but did have a mooring place at the side of the channel. When we were ready to put the 320 in the water, we needed to go to Key West Marina to launch it and then fill up the fuel tanks. Cate drove the Ford and trailer back to our property, while I took the boat out into the open sea and north to the entrance to our waterways.

The actual business was located in a shed beside the house, where we would store all the equipment and have a small rest area for customers. There was plenty of parking for a few cars, but we expected that there would only be two or three extra passengers on the boat when we went out. It certainly wasn’t a big diving school but blended in with the surrounding properties and the general population of retirees with money and a boat.

We settled into the house and made ourselves visible in the neighbourhood. We would shop in Key Plaza and left our new business cards around, especially making ourselves known to the local tourist office. We found that a couple of women with a child weren’t all that uncommon, and I learned to talk to the men we met with confidence. We would make a point of stopping at El Siboney for a meal.

Gradually, we started getting bookings. We would take customers out into the open water after going through training sessions in the channel by the house. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. After about six months, with Jenny now walking, we watched a TV documentary about the coup in Russia, with the details of how Yuri planned to kill the President. It was strange to be sitting in our lounge, sipping an evening wine, and seeing us both on the screen, along with all the others in the plot.

Somehow, they had film of us in Monaco, without showing me in detail, just saying that I was a crewmember. There was no connection with the death of Michael Brown, although there was a comment about Gregor and his buddies causing the death of a ferry passenger. Yuri was, as I suspected, ex-KGB (or FSB as it was now known) and a previous friend of the President. The ending stated that everybody was killed when the ship was hit by multiple missiles.

The official story was that the Admiral reacted to the events. It didn’t say that he had been part of the group backing Yuri. We knew that he had killed Yuri and sunk the ship to eliminate all of the crew, always meaning to use the cruise missile strikes for his own advancement. The thing with Russia is that under every cloak there’s a sharp dagger if you’re not careful.

The Admiral was a pragmatist in the Gorbachev mould, so was willing to pull the world back from the brink. He did a deal with Ukraine to pull his troops out if Ukraine pulled back behind the border again. Crimea was still a sticking point, though. He did do the very Russian thing of purging the administration and military of followers of his predecessor. I expect that the old dungeons had a new layer of sand to soak up the blood,

We were ticking over nicely with some scuba training but hadn’t had any fishing trips booked. I knew about fishing from my younger days and could fillet a fish. I had been out with Cate and Jenny a few times but hadn’t had much luck.

I was in the Key West hardware store one day, getting some wood and fasteners. I was the handywoman in the house and was thinking about building a tall cover for the boat behind the house, in the lee of the prevailing winds. We had already installed concrete and eyebolt tiedown points for the boat on the trailer should there be a hurricane. The Ford was outside, with ‘Armstrong Dive and Fish’ now sign written on it. I had been in the store often enough to be called Miss Nikki by the owner.

While I was selecting woodscrews, a couple of guys came in and greeted the owner.

“Al, Herb, how are you guys these days?”

“Can’t complain, Jerry. The truck outside, is the guy here?”

“That’s Miss Nikky, over by the screws.”

They came over to me and introduced themselves.

“Ma-am, I’m Al Cook, and this is my brother Herb. We believe that you have a Sundancer 320 for charter?”

“Hello. We do. We got it second-hand in Miami. I believe that it had been used for smuggling.”

“Exactly right, Ma-am. We used to crew on those runs over to the island. We were lucky that we didn’t go with the owner when he tried selling cigars to a government agent. How are you going with the business?”

“We have done some dive training for tourists. Both me and my sister are accredited for that. We have been out fishing on our own, but without a lot of luck.”

“Are you interested in a trade? You teach us to dive, and we’ll show you all the best fishing places.”

“That sounds doable. How about you come over tomorrow and we’ll take you through the basics. That’s mainly having you use the kit on dry land. A lot of people draw the line when they realise that they have only the tanks for breathing. We do have the latest full-face masks with radio, so you’ll be able to talk. If you can last thirty minutes, we’ll go to the channel and see how you go. Another day, we’ll take you out and we’ll dive a wreck nearby, then you can show us where to fish.”

I gave them our card and we agreed on a time. I would have to fill three sets of tanks in the morning. On the drive home, I thought about this encounter. I wondered if the brothers had further plans, perhaps of restarting the cigar trips. They would have the connections at both ends. I wondered if they had gone all the way to Cuba, or just met another boat halfway.

The next day, I filled the tanks and checked the equipment, then changed into a bikini so that I was ready to dive. They arrived on time, and the looks that they gave me was evidence that my pain and suffering had been worth it. When Cate came out to meet them, they were almost drooling.

We did the initial explanations of what the equipment did, the safety instructions, the need to monitor the gauges and the method with changing tanks on a longer dive. Then, we got them both into the harness and tanks. I put a full set on to show them what to do. We didn’t mollycoddle the trainees, as they needed to be able to fend for themselves. When they were kitted out, the three of us started the air and put the face masks on.

While we sat in the shed, we talked. They told me about their life as normal guys who liked to fish, and the odd jobs they had done with tourist charters. The smuggling had been the most constant work they had done until it stopped suddenly. While we were sitting there, Cate was in the house with the standard waiver forms that they had filled out. She was in email contact with Ward, checking the brothers out and letting him know of their links to Cuba.

At the end of the half hour, we took off the masks and I looked at them. Al was sweating a bit. He saw me notice and told me that he did have some worries with enclosed spaces. Herb was all right. We all had a drink and replaced the single bottles with another, adding swim fins. Cate had been down to open up the boat and lock the rear ladder in place.

Their first dive under water was a success. I joined them in the channel, and we swum under the other boats moored there. I kept it to just the fifteen minutes up, then fifteen minutes back. They were all smiles as we took the kit off in the boat. I have to say that they looked like the fit fishermen that Cate had spoken about, and I was not feeling my normal self.

We carried the kit back to the shed and they got dressed. They looked at the fishing tackle we had, told me that they would bring the bait, and agreed on an early start in the morning. When they left, Cate was standing beside me, holding Jennifer’s hand.

“Couple of nice lads. Ward gave them all clear. Just some high jinks when they were younger. I was listening to the radio while you were talking, and there’s no record of them being involved with the smuggling.”

“They knew the boat. Told me it was called ‘Panatela’ in its past life. Not a name you would expect with smuggling cigars, is it?”

“No wonder the authorities set up the sting. What else did they show you?”

“A secret compartment that was missed. It’s in the diving deck. Big enough for an assault rifle and a couple of nine mils. We’ll need to collect them after dark and make sure they’re fit to use.”

“They were happy to leave them with you?”

“They said that they had their own in their truck.”

“What did you think of them, as guys?”

“They are nice lads, obviously hard working when they can get the jobs.”

“Come on, you were interested, weren’t you?”

“I was. All this time on hormones and now having a woman’s body must be making changes I never expected.”

“I wondered. When we use the double dildo, you have stronger orgasms than I do. I don’t mind if we get friendly with those two. Who knows, we may be able to kill two birds with the one stone.”

I thought about that as I purged the tanks and cleaned the kit. Had Cate given me permission to explore my femininity with a man? That evening, we put the fishing rods on board, checked that we had full tanks, and then, when it had gone dark, we took the weapons and the spare ammunition to the house to strip and oil up. After making sure they were all good and cleaned, we put them back in the hiding place.

We had alarms on for next morning and got Jenny ready for a day out on the boat. She did love being out on the water and loved seeing the seabirds. When the brothers arrived, we loaded up with the swimming gear and the bait. The boys had an ice cooler with drinks, which could be used for any fish we caught. We were all in high spirits as we left the mooring and headed for the open sea.

Cate was our captain and took us to a GPS position where there was a wreck for the boys to enjoy the attraction of scuba diving. I shucked off my jeans and top, to reveal another bikini, then waited for the boys to get down to their own bathing outfits. We kitted up, with them only needing to be reminded of a couple of things. With the tanks on our backs and the masks on, I checked us over and then got them to get into the water and wait for me.

When I was in the water, I told them to follow me and led them down to the wreck. With the tide level, it was only about thirty feet down and was an old sailing schooner. As we explored it, I talked them through the history of it, and showed them the open hatch. I warned them about the dangers of rushing into a confined space and shone my flashlight into the gap to reveal a rather large octopus. When we had enough, we surfaced and got back on board.

The brothers were smiling as we towelled down, saying that they had never realised what a great experience it was to dive. Al said that once he had got used to looking out of the mask, he wasn’t worried about enclosed spaces, seeing that there was a wide world down there. We cracked some beers, and they guided us further out to an area we hadn’t been to. When I looked at the fish finder, I saw that they knew their fishing places.

We drifted and fished, filling the spaces where the beer had been with fish. I impressed them with my filleting skills, saving the best fish and throwing the others back. Jenny was the nominated one to put them back into the water and wave them goodbye as they swam away. In all, it was a very pleasant time. The boys didn’t make a pass, but I could see that they had a hard time holding back.

When we were asked about our earlier days, Cate gave them the basis of our cover story.

“We’re twins, as you can see, and our parents ran a business in Boston. They weren’t happy when we both enlisted in the navy as soon as we left senior school. Being good swimmers and having dived, we were both taken into the diving group, and we both were taken on as SEALs when we passed the basics.”

“You’re both Navy SEALs?”

“Yes. We left the navy after our parents died, leaving us enough money to come down here and start this business. We’re both on the Reserve, so may have to head for Pendleton for upgrading.”

“Now it all makes sense. The way you’re both comfortable in handling the boat is explained. I expect that you could handle us equally as well if we got out of order.”

I laughed, enjoying myself.

“Well. Al, you favour the left arm, so I expect that you had an accident and broke your right. It could have been the same accident where Herb broke his left leg. If I needed to fight you, I would go for the injured limbs first.”

“Wow! That’s right on the money, Nikki. We were playing about on a motorcycle in our early teens and lost control. We both had helmets on but were only wearing tees and shorts. Why would you go for the bad limb first?”

“It’s easy. You both have memories of being in plaster. Hitting the bad limb takes your brain back to that time, and you will tend to lead with the good side, instead of leaving it for a follow-up hit. It effectively ties one limb behind your back. Not that I’m planning to hit either of you. You’re both too nice for that.”

We all laughed and opened the last of the beers as we headed back towards Geiger. Al shook his head.

“Tell me that you stripped and cleaned those guns last night.”

“Correct. If you want to see how well we shoot, we have all those empty beer bottles. If we put them in the water, we can use them for target practice.”

I opened the hideaway and pulled out the weapons, loading each one with a magazine. We slowed down and put the bottles in the water, with a dozen or more bobbing behind us. I gave Al one of the pistols and he fired off the entire magazine without sinking any. I went next to him and sunk six with six shots. My mind went back to when I dropped the crewman as we were escaping, and I stopped at that, giving the pistol to Cate.

I took her place, cuddling Jenny in her earmuffs, while she went to the back and sunk another five. Then, she picked up the rifle and took one shot to get the sighting, and then sunk all of the other bottles as we moved away from them. The boys were looking on with their mouths open. I guess that we had proved our story.

That day, in their eyes, we had gone from a couple of girls to a pair of killing machines. It was time to soften the situation. I stood, with Jenny in my arms, and went to Al, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s training, Al. That’s all it is. You know where to fish and a lot of things that I have never learned. It’s just a matter of what you know. I bet that you learned a lot about Cuba while you were smuggling. Maybe you can teach us about that. Who knows, someone may want us to take them there one day.”

He looked at Herb, who nodded.

“About that. If we talk to our contacts, would you be happy taking us to the halfway point. We grow weed in our place, and they’ll be happy to swap cigars for it. Although they can now export a lot of things, the cigars we get are top of the range, and not on the export list. We have a ready market among the ex-pats.”

“On one condition. You charter us for the trip. That gives us an out if were picked up by the Coast Guard with a heap of Mary Jane on board.”

“Done! Shake on it?”

We shook hands and Al held mine a lot longer than needed. I saw that Herb held Cate’s a bit longer as well. He then held on to Jenny while Cate controlled the boat, and I cleaned the guns and reloaded the magazines before returning them to the storage. At the mooring, we unloaded everything, and the boys carried the scuba gear back to the shed for me to clean and store. We cooked the fish on spits over coals and had them for dinner with some potatoes and salad.

When they left, we had agreed to go out with them for dinner the next evening. After we had tidied up, Cate insisted that it wouldn’t be right for us to sleep together, and banished me to the second bedroom, the one we had prepared in case someone stayed overnight. I took the single dildo to bed with me and had two orgasms with it, imagining that it was attached to Al. Five minutes later, I heard Cate having an orgasm of her own. She always was loud.

Next morning, by unanimous consent, I moved my clothes into the second bedroom. Our time, together, had been wonderful, and Jenny was still my daughter. We had both realised that, in order to maintain our cover, we needed to be our own women, and a man each would boost that story tenfold. We had a call come in with someone wanting to charter us for a fishing trip in the morning. That was now easy to say yes to.

That afternoon, we both showered and went to our rooms to dress. We had clothes that hadn’t yet seen light of day, and I took a while to choose something that showed off my assets without declaring that I was easy. With the early morning start, there was no way we would be staying overnight, even if they did offer.

When the boys arrived, they were dressed in Keys casual, with short-sleeved shirts and long trousers. For contrast, the two of us looked like a million dollars, in dresses and heels with elaborate make-up. I think, by the tightness of their trousers, that they were suitably impressed. Jenny was in a pink party dress, and the place that we were going to catered for tourists with children.

It was a nice meal, with wine, and Jenny was at another table with other children, jabbering away in baby talk. We told the boys about our charter in the morning, so we didn’t linger over coffee. They lived with their mother, who welcomed us in and took Jenny off our hands while we were taken to separate rooms, where I had my first orgasm with a man’s weight holding me down and his penis in my body. I had pretended that I was broody and had asked him to wear a condom.

When I had redressed, Al took me home, along with Jenny, leaving Cate in the throes, if the sounds coming from the other room was anything to go by.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 7

Cate was brought home an hour later, after I had put Jenny to bed. I had changed out of my dress and into a nightie and gown. When she walked in, I made sure to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She went off to change and we sat with our wine, talking about anything but what had happened that evening.

The next morning, I was up very early to get the boat ready for a fishing trip. I had the ice cooler with beer and wine, seeing that I didn’t know who we would be hosting. There was a bucket of bait, the same that the brothers had brought with them, and the rods were stored for the trip. I would be doing the trip on my own.

When the clients arrived, it turned out to be a soapy TV star and his wife. I knew that he was a keen fisherman, so I was happy to take him out to the place where I knew the fish would be. He was happy to be out there, away from the spotlight, as he hauled in fish. I filleted the big ones and put the smaller ones back in. His wife sat in the shade, a smile on her face and a glass of wine in her hand. For a while, I sat with her, and we talked about whatever crossed her mind.

He asked me if I knew where the marlin could be found, so I had to tell him that we didn’t have a ‘fighting chair’. He rubbed his hands and declared that it would be a more even battle. We stored the rods, and I took us south to Woods Wall.

You know when you get there if you have a depth gauge, with the seafloor just dropping away. There were other, and bigger, boats already there, so I turned on the fish finder and cruised along the Wall until I saw evidence of more fish. To fish for marlin, you trail a lure which looks like a fish. I had one of those, so we hooked it to the largest rod we had, and we all sat in the shade with him hanging on to the rod.

I was starting to worry when the line ran out like lightning, and he sat on the deck and put the rod between his legs. We fought that fish for the best part of an hour, with his wife and I taking it in turn to help hold the rod. In the end, we pulled in a Blue Marlin, all on a standard rod. He was, by far, the best fisherman I had ever met. When we had brought the fish alongside, I put a tape on it to prove that it was over a hundred inches. I asked him if he wanted to keep it or let it go. He wanted to keep it and mount the head on his wall, so, I put a noose around the tail, and we towed it back towards Key West. I rang Cate to bring the Cadillac to the Marina there, as we would be going to the public dock, with our clients needing a lift back to their car.

I then rang the Marina office to tell him that I would be coming in with a marlin, and who the angler was. The guy on the other end told me that he would set things up for a weighing and photo session. We took it easy to go back into port. I was almost worn out with the tension, and my client sat in the shade, sweating profusely and drinking a cold beer.

When we arrived in the Marina, I saw an official waving to me and pointing to a mooring where Cate and Jenny waited for us. There was also a small crowd waiting to see what was happening, including the brothers. At the mooring, I positioned the boat so that the crane was able to pick up the marlin, which it did after I had connected the chain and removed my noose. My clients went up to the dock while I was doing this, with the Marina Manager shaking his hand.

I had to hand up the rod that he had used, and he was posed next to the fish hanging from the crane, with the rod in one hand and his other on the fish. Cate took over with the wife and Al came down to help me clean up the boat, which was quite a mess.

“When you go fishing, you certainly do the trick. How did you find the marlin?”

“I just went to Woods Wall, and we towed a lure.”

“Just the one? That’s an amazing catch using one lure. Usually, you have to tow several to look like a school. I had a look on the weight gauge on the crane, and that fish goes four hundred pounds. If you went out with another charter, they would be charging up to five hundred dollars and have a bank of rods, along with a fighting seat. You nearly wore that poor old guy out. He looks familiar.”

“He’s on TV, in one of those daytime soaps. He’s a lovely person and I think that today will be staying in his memory.”

“Will Cate be taking them back?”

“I expect so. I think that he’ll need a shower before he leaves us.”

“I’ll tell Herb to follow Cate and I’ll come with you, to keep you company.”

Before I cast off, the marina Manager took my details for the paper, and was called up to the dock to have a photo taken with my clients. I told him that Cate could stop on the way back to their car, and that his wife could get him a fresh outfit to put on after he had a shower at home. He gave me a hug and told me that other charters wouldn’t care so much.

The arrangements made for the marlin to be mounted, we all left the marina. I took the boat out, with Al sitting beside me. I showed him the recordings of the depth gauge and the fish finder, along with the GPS position of where the marlin had been hooked. I set the wheel, and we had a kissing session as we went north. It wasn’t long enough before I needed to take control and enter the channel.

Al helped me secure the boat and carried the ice cooler to the house. The fish belonged to the client, if he wanted to take them. We stowed the rods in the shed and sat under the shade to wait for the others to arrive. When Cate pulled in, she waved for me to stay seated, and took the clients inside, with the wife carrying a bag from a menswear store. Herb pulled up and joined me and his brother, opening a beer.

When the clients came back out, he looked a lot better. I asked him about his fish, and his wife opened the back of their car to reveal an ice box. I transferred the caught fish to it, and she closed the car up. He was talking to the brothers about the marlin. They were telling him how unusual it was to get a big one on a single lure and that type of rod and line. He was smiling and drinking a beer when I carried the ice box back to the shed.

Cate came out with Jenny on her hip. She whispered to me that he had paid the charter fees and would tell all his friends about our excellent care. When they left, he gave me a big hug and told me that I would be welcome, should I visit the set. Before the brothers left, they asked us if we were available for a trip out to a rendezvous on Saturday night. We would need to fuel up the tanks and make sure we had enough food and drinks for a long trip.

Before we cooked our dinner, we emailed Ward to tell him of today’s events, and the run Saturday night. His answer was to keep up the good work. When I was in bed, I thought about how nice it was being with Al and kissing. I had only ever felt protective with my partner in England, but in that, I had been the protector, the strong man in the family. Now, I felt safe in the arms of a man I could kill with one blow. Life had certainly taken a strange curve.

I spent most of the next morning cleaning the boat. In the cold light of day, it looked a mess. I then took it back to the Marina to fill it up. I was waylaid by a lot of guys wanting to know about the marlin, with the photo now up on the noticeboard. All I could tell them was there was no inner knowledge and that it was beginners luck. I don’t think any believed me.

That afternoon, we had more bookings for a fishing trip. I looked at the websites of the other charter companies and saw that most charged twice, or even three times our fee for a marlin experience. I pointed this out to Cate, and we checked out our funds. When we had worked out what we could afford, we went into Key West and looked at the notice boards at all the agencies. The cheapest boat with the right gear was a little more than we could afford. As we discussed it, the agent came out to talk to us.

He knew about the big catch and did us a good deal, should we want to buy. The boat was at his moorings, but we told him that we would be back with some friends another day. Two boats would be a handful, and probably not viable until Jenny was in school. Cate would be able to do fishing trips while I took Jenny to school, with her picking Jenny up when she got back, with me taking out the bigger boat looking for marlin.

Of course, in a perfect world, we could each have a brother as crew, with their mother looking after Jenny. Now, why did that cross my mind?

We did a couple of fishing trips before Saturday, making sure we had that weekend clear, telling anyone who wanted to book that we already had a weekend charter. During the day, I took the boat into the Marina, going to the yard and checking the oil level as it was being filled. I stored some food, and bought a small gas burner, bottle, and a kettle. Back at home, we loaded the ice box with beer, although I doubted that much of it would be drunk before we were on the way back.

We ate dinner and put Jenny to bed before the boys arrived. They had some big bags that looked like they didn’t weigh a lot. Al told me that it was about twenty pounds of leaf. That was put in the boat. I was in jeans and a sweater, and Al told me to put a coat in, as it did get cool way out in the ocean. Before we left, Cate had a pash session with Herb, then waved us off.

It was getting towards sunset as we left the coast. Al had given me a GPS position to aim at, and we quietly cruised. If anyone was snoopy, we looked like a charter going out for an evening fishing. I increased our speed as the daylight faded, and stayed at the wheel, monitoring our radar.

Around one in the morning, I saw blips on the screen. One was a lot closer to us than the others. I pointed this out to Al, and he told me that the others were fishing, which was the cover for the one we would meet. I steered us away from our rendezvous, looping around to come alongside as we met. It was a strange experience as I met Pablo and Antonio, with everyone speaking Spanish. The bags went to them, and the boxes of cigars came to us.

When everyone had shaken hands, we started on the trip home. I asked about the situation in Cuba. A lot had changed since the Castro days. Those who wanted to leave could now do so, but entry was mainly tourists. The brothers had several contacts with the Cubans in Key West and Miami. They asked me what I thought of the runs, and I said that I was happy to take my clients wherever they wanted.

We turned on the fish finder as the sun rose, catching more than I thought possible before we got back to the channel. It was a good job that we had drunk the beer to make room. I arrived home, feeling happy about the night. The boys had been professional during the night, not being idiots.

As I tidied the boat, they went to their truck, coming back with shopping bags to carry the cigars in. They offered us a box, but we refused. We put out a sign, saying ‘Fish for Sale’, and Cate and Jenny sold the catch while I went for a shower and a sleep. That afternoon, I emailed a report to Ward, with the position and the details of the Cubans I had met.

Over the next months, we were reasonably busy with dive lessons and fishing trips. I did a run with the boys every two weeks, getting pretty friendly with the two Cubans. Every run was the same weight of weed and the same number of cigars. I had installed a Go-Pro on the foredeck, out of sight, and filmed our encounters to send to Ward for his people to look at. He sent us an email to say that he, and his masters, were very happy with the situation.

One day, Al came around to tell me that the next run was going to have a lot more weed, at least fifty pounds. He thought that it was odd, and his contact also thought the same. The weed arrived with the boys, with their truck parked closer to the boat as we loaded it on. It took up a lot of space in the small cabin area.

Feeling worried, I made sure that the weapons were clean, loading up a pair of magazines for the rifle and taping them together for easy reloading. I hadn’t served in a warzone but had known enough who had. They had all told me to trust you instinct. That evening, when we left, I put a loaded pistol on the top of the instruments, and the rifle beside me. When the brothers asked why, all I said was that I had a gut feeling and to humour me.

The trip out was the same as usual, but when I picked up the blip of the other boat, there were no others around it. I got Al to steer us in a loop and took the rifle as I went up on the side deck, out of sight of the others as we approached. I crouched down and tried to see who was on the other boat as we got close. It seemed as if there were more there than usual.

As Al took us alongside, Herb stood up and called out. That’s when a spotlight came on and there was a shot. I acted on instinct, with one shot taking out the light. I did the Gregor trick, clicking the lever to full auto, and raking the other boat from stern to stem. I changed magazines and went back into the rear deck area, where Herb was on his back with blood soaking his shirt. Al was still at the wheel. I reached over and took the pistol.

“There’s a first aid kit. Try and stem the bleeding before your brother dies. Quick now. I’ll check the other boat.”

He woke up and took the kit, while I tossed a grappling hook over the other boat and pulled it alongside. I took my time checking the bodies. There were five of them, all guys we hadn’t met. I found our two friends in the cabin, tied and gagged. I got them loose and helped them start moving. When they came out on deck, they took it in turns to spit on one of the dead men. I told them to clear the pockets of the bodies and toss them overboard. This far out, they would be unrecognisable if they ever drifted ashore. I went to help Al with his brother.

We had managed to plug both holes, one front and one back. The rifle had been a hunting one, and the bullet had gone clean through his upper lung. Al was much better as he realised that he wasn’t in danger any longer. I got a plastic bag and went to the other boat, where I filled it with the contents of the pockets, with only blood smears to show where the bodies had been.

Our friends were able to tell me their story. They had been boarded on their way out of port, subdued and left bound and gagged for disposal on the way back. I gave them the option to come with us or return home as usual. They opted to go home, so we transferred twenty pounds of weed for the usual load of cigars. I pointed out the bullet holes in the cabin wall, but they said that they would work on them on the way back. The guys I had killed had been the leader of a criminal gang and his henchmen. Obviously, he had been able to send a bogus request for extra weed.

Pablo and Antonio hugged me and thanked me for saving their lives, and then we disconnected the grapple and parted. Herb didn’t look well, so I made an executive decision. Al would have to be brought into the circle.

I turned on the satellite phone and called the number I had been given for contacting Ward. When it was answered, it was someone on watch. I gave my code number and asked him to call Ward. Al was by Herb, talking to him, although Herb was still in shock.

“Nikki, what can I do for you at this ungodly hour?”

“I’m halfway to Cuba, on the way back. Our contacts were waylaid by brigands on the way out. They shot Herb before I could fire on them. I’m putting on my location signal now. We need a medivac for Herb. Single high-power round through the upper lung and there’s an exit wound. We’ve stemmed the bleeding, but he doesn’t sound good. Our friends were tied up in the cabin and are on their way home. I collected the personal items of the gang.”

“All right, I’ll arrange a navy chopper to home in on you. How is the other brother?”

“Doing better now. He was frozen at the controls during the fire fight. I got the Cubans to sink the bodies, but their boat will need some holes patched.”

“I’ll get him lifted with his brother and will debrief him on the situation. They’ll have to be brought in on the case. Just head for home. When you hear the chopper, slow right down and they’ll match you. Well done. I’ll expect a full report in the daytime. I’ll get our contacts to ask around and get back to you. Talk to you later.”

I put the phone down and turned to see Al looking at me.

“So, who are you, really?”

“I’m the Nikki you know, but I still have my connections. You look after Herb while I get us closer to home. When you hear a chopper, give me a shout. It will take the two of you back to a hospital, where Herb will be looked after, and you might get the answers that you’re after.”

We were about an hour further on when he shouted that he could hear the chopper. I turned on our lights and throttled back, just leaving enough power to maintain a course. The chopper homed in on us, and they turned on the searchlight to inspect us before the paramedic came down with a stretcher. He checked Herb over before he and Al got Herb onto the stretcher. After it was lifted and stowed, the line came down with just a harness. I kissed Al and told him that all would be good, then gave him a wave as he was lifted up to the open hatch as the pilot swung around to take them home.

I set the course and locked the wheel, giving me time to put things right. I stowed the remaining weed and the cigars in the forward locker. I cleaned the rifle and reloaded the two magazines, going up onto the side deck and dropping any spent cartridges into the sea. I unclipped the Go-Pro and had a look at the vision, now able to see the man with the hunting rifle. The camera was able to adapt the vision a lot quicker than my eyes, and I saw my burst taking them all down in brilliant colour.

As I sat at the helm, I looked at the paperwork that I now had. None of the names meant anything to me, except one. That one was a guy called Manuelo Galleta. Now, that was biscuit, or cookie, in Spanish. I wondered if he had been the brothers contact in Cuba. Nothing had been said about the father. I wasn’t going to bother Ward with this until tomorrow.

I set my watch to wake me up and had a nap, sitting in the driving seat. When it did wake me, the sun was coming over the horizon and the radar showed a larger boat coming my way. I went down into the cabin and splashed my face and combed my hair so that I didn’t look like a scarecrow.

The larger boat turned out to be the Coast Guard, and I heaved to as ordered. I came alongside the ladder that they put down and Ward came down to join me.

“That was a hell of a night for you. Herb is in the theatre as we speak. I’ll let you know in the morning. What do you have for me?”

“About thirty pounds of weed and boxes of cigars. Also, the papers from the guys I shot. I have the chip from the Go-Pro that shows that they fired first. One of them was called Galleta. I wondered if he was actually the brother’s father and their contact. The chip does show the man with the rifle. If it was him, he had enough time to see that he was shooting his son before I shot the light out.”

He had a backpack. Taking the paperwork, the chip, and a box of cigars to give to his masters, giving me a hug before he went back up the ladder. I pulled away from the cutter and continued on my way home. The cutter looped around on a course north. He had been right in one thing. It had been a hell of a night, with more deaths on my conscious.

When I was in range, I rang Cate to tell her the news. She was ready to go to Herb’s bedside, but I told her that he was somewhere north, and that Ward would let us know when we could visit. She was waiting for me when I got to the mooring and helped moor the boat. I sleepwalked to the house and lay on my bed, dropping off almost immediately.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 8

It was dark again when I woke up. Cate had stripped me while I was out to the world and covered me up. I was having dreams about shooting people, only to wake to realise that my dreams were only a reenactment of real life. When I put a gown on and went to the toilet, Cate was there to help me stagger into the kitchen, where she plied me with a fry up.

I was ravenous, and it was quite a while before I surfaced from my gluttony. She was being very patient with me, and I wondered why. It was then that she told me that Ward had been in touch. He had sent her the clip of the firefight, with an email that said that I had acted like a true SEAL. Herb was in a normal ward after his blood vessels had been repaired and the lung punctures sewn closed. He suggested that we picked up his mother and bring Al back with us if we went to the hospital this evening. Visiting hours would be 24/7 for us. The mother had been spoken to and Al had told her that they had a slight accident.

I told Cate that she should arrange to pick up the mother, and then go alone. I would stay and look after Jenny as I was still feeling flat from the experience. Cate rang Herb’s mother and told her to pack an overnight bag as they would likely stay in a hotel. Herb was in the Baptist Hospital at Homestead, while Al was being looked after at the Homestead base after his debrief and introduction to the life of a government agent. I was really happy to see Cate looking so relieved. We had a hug session before she left, and I played with Jenny until it was time for her bed. I read her a story as she went to sleep, which made me relax more.

That evening, I went to the boat and retrieved the cigars, putting them in our shed. I left the weed where it was, in case the boys wanted to do something else with it. I scrubbed the blood stains off the deck and took the first aid kit back to the house to reload. We had used most of the bandages and wadding, along with a half a small bottle of antiseptic. I had also administered an injection of morphine. When I thought about it, between us, we had probably saved Herb’s life. That made me feel better about things.

Even though I had already eaten, I phoned in an order for a pizza, which I ate with a few glasses of wine. It helped me sleep normally that night. In the morning, Cate rang to say that they would be arriving after lunch. They would all be seeing Herb in the morning and then driving back. She told me that she and Angelique were getting on well, and that Ward would be sending a secure email around noon.

I spent the morning with Jenny, just like a mother should. She had a small vocabulary by now and we chatted away like a couple of pals. She wanted to know when she would come on a boat trip again, so we went down to the boat, and I took her out for an hour. When the email came through and was decrypted, it told me that Angelique had been shown pictures of the guys I had shot, and she had identified the one holding the rifle as her husband. Al had not been surprised at landing at a military base. I think that what he had heard me say on the satellite phone, added to being able to conjure up a helicopter in the early hours had allowed him to add the numbers and get the right result.

I wondered if it would change our relationship. I know that Cate was very worried about Herb. When the car pulled onto the property, I stood outside with Jenny to welcome them. Al was out of the car like a shot and came to me to hold me tight and kiss me.

“Nikki, darling. I owe you my life and Herb owes you double. The medic on the chopper was very happy how well we had looked after Herb and said that a wound like that could have just killed him. That Ward guy was full of praise for the two of you and told me a little about what you’re trying to achieve. I was sworn in as a volunteer US Deputy and promised to help as much as I can.”

“I wondered how you would feel when you found out that we’re not just innocent dive instructors. I’ve been worried that you’ll come home and not want anything to do with me.”

“Nikki, my love, you are part of my life, and I want that to last forever. Having a job with the government is a bonus. Herb will be added to the team when he’s better. He did send you his love and thanks.”

“We’re going to have to talk about why your father shot him.”

“I’ll have to talk that over with my mother before I can get my head around that. I have no recollection of him in my life. It’s possible that he didn’t know who we were.”

Angelique came over and hugged me as well, telling me that my actions to save her son’s life had her everlasting thanks. It all made me able to accept that I had done the right thing. When Cate had taken their bags out of the car, she told me that Ward wanted us to wait a couple of days before we went to see Herb again, and to leave time for a meeting in the Homestead Base.

I pointed out the cigars to Al and asked him what he wanted to do with the rest of the weed. He opened up his truck and loaded the cigars in the back, along with his mother’s bag. It didn’t take long to get the weed out of the boat and into the back of the truck, with a cover over it. I was happy to see it go.

When they left, Cate and I went into the house and Jenny asked about all the fuss. We told her that Herb had an accident and was getting better. She told us that she liked Herb and was glad that he would be back. That made Cate hold her tight, with tears in her eyes. We got Jenny colouring in pictures and sat to one side to talk about the situation.

“I didn’t realise how close I was to losing Herb. He told me that it was only that he had lifted his right hand to shield his eyes that dropped his left side. Otherwise, the shot would have got him in the heart. He doesn’t remember anything after that. The doctor told me how close it was and praised your medical attention. Ward was odd. I expected that he would be upset at our cover being blown, but he told me that it would help having the brothers onside, and that there could have been an upside with those guys disappearing.”

“When I was met by a Coast Guard cutter, he came on board to talk to me. I gave him all the papers I had collected before we put them overboard. He was happy enough to take a box of cigars with him. He’ll tell us what we need to know when we see him next.”

She went down to the mooring and double checked the boat, making sure that I had cleaned up all of the spent cartridges and the used medical supplies. When she came back, I left her with Jenny and went for a run. It was good to release all the tension that I had built up. The project could be still on track, and Al had virtually told me that he loved me. I couldn’t work out which one made me happier.

Over the next couple of days, we had a couple of fishing trips with paying customers. Cate did one while I did the other. Angelique and Al came over in the evenings, and we were given a potted history of the Cook family history.

Angelique had worked with one of the Cuban doctors after she left school. She had studied nursing and was living with her parents. One day, a handsome Cuban came into the surgery, and she was immediately smitten. Things went along in the usual fashion, and she fell pregnant with Herb. Manuelo agreed to the marriage, and they lived in his home. Her parents weren’t happy but had no say in the matter. A year after Herb, Al was born. Manuelo was becoming more involved with outlaw bikers and had started the weed garden that still augmented their income.

Angelique said that he came home, one day, in a panic, packed a bag and left. That was the last time she had seen him. Two days later, the police arrived to arrest him for being part of a gang brawl in Miami which had resulted in three deaths. There were no records of him leaving the country, but with his connections, a quiet trip to Cuba was not considered outlandish.

Angelique had sued for divorce, due to desertion, seven years later, and had gone back to work to support her and her two boys. She had changed the surname to Cook at that time. She thought that the somewhat easy-going attitude to proper work that they showed was due to the Galleta genes.

We had to admit that the Boston part of our cover was just part of the cover, but that we had been chosen for our strong connection to each other, and that Jenny was, indeed, a love child in a moment of extreme stress.

While all the discussion was going on, Jenny was sitting on Angelique’s knee with her colouring book. When there was a period of silence for us to absorb the new reality, she confounded us all.

“I like Auntie Angel, she’s nice!”

We all gave her a group hug, both Cate and Angelique with wet eyes. After that, Al and I went outside and stood by the mooring to hold each other tight and kiss. Emotions had never been a big part of me until my time on the ship. I had been the typical, careful, diver. The whirlwind that had been Svetlana and Katiya had awaked so many feelings that could never be put back in the box. The hormones and surgery had heightened those feelings to a point where I now thought like a young girl, all needy when held by a man. We went back to the house and to my bedroom to make love, because love was what our relationship now was.

The next day, we all went to Homestead in Al’s old Chevy, with the child seat in the middle of the back seat. We stopped at the hospital and Herb had a big smile when he saw me.

“Nikki, my angel! They tell me that it was you and Al who saved my life. All I know was a thump in the chest, then the next thing I remember was waking up with a pain in the chest and lots of tubes hanging out of me. Al told me, the other day, that he would have stayed frozen and waiting for death unless you hadn’t forced him to move. Nobody has told me, yet, how I ended up here.”

“I suppose it’s not a problem telling you now. I rang a government agent and ordered a military helicopter with a couple of paramedics to come and get you. We have a unit that sends a signal like an aircraft ID that let them find us in the middle of the open sea in the dark.”

“Oh, Yes. Pull the other one.”

“You’ll be told the truth before you come home. Al has found out that the future for the two of you looks a lot more structured than you imagined. Your mother has something to tell you.”

He looked at her and she came and put a hand on his.

“Nikki had a camera set up on the boat and it filmed the gang that ambushed you. I’ve seen the pictures and the man who shot you was your father. He fled to Cuba when you were three, to escape from the police. They were after him regarding deaths in Miami. It was Nikki and her military training that saved you all, including your two Cuban friends.”

We stayed with him until he tired, so we left for our appointment to see Derek Ward. Al drove us into Homestead Base, where we were directed to a building a few yards from the gate. It was obviously where meetings took place with those who were not allowed onto the base itself. Ward was waiting for us as Al pulled into a parking spot.

“Hello, good folks. Nikki, you’re looking so much better than the last time I saw you. You had that post-battle look. I suppose you slept well and woke up hungry?”

“Certainly did. I felt like I had run all the way back.”

“Come in, we can sit down while I tell you what I now know. How was Herb this morning?”

“He wanted to know how he was transported from the ocean to a hospital and didn’t believe me when I told him the truth.”

“There will be plenty of time to bring him up to speed. When he’s released, we’re going to bring him here to the base infirmary to get him fit again. As you girls know, we have ways of improving your health. Al, we’ll get you here at that time and put you both through some training. You’re both fit lads, but there’re things we can teach your bodies that will keep you alive. That’ll be something to look forward to. Now, here’s our room, find a seat and get comfortable, as there’s a lot to be told.”

We found somewhere to sit, with Jenny between the two of us, a colouring book and some pencils at hand. Ward took a stand in front of us.

“Angelique and Al. By now you should have realised that Cate and Nikki are not just a couple of sisters starting a boat charter. They are one point of contact between us, the government, and the general population on Cuba. They haven’t done a lot, yet, but have made some significant progress, with you and your brother creating the contact with your cigar suppliers.”

“You don’t mind the smuggling?”

“No, Al. The whole plan is based on flying so low under the radar, the smuggling is perfect. The incident which brought you here, to Homestead, is a significant help to the cause. Nikki has been tested and proved her worth, and the information she brought us has shone a light on some gang movements that we didn’t know.”

“How did my sons help.”

“Angelique. When your husband skipped the country, he was involved with one of the biker gangs. He joined a similar group when he got settled in Cuba. With the names of all the dead men, our people on the ground could ask the right questions.”

He turned on a screen and brought up a map of the north coast of Cuba.

“Here is Havana, where the main government has been since before Castro. It’s not a safe place for outsiders, so the gangs have started setting up along the coast. The guys you killed had come from Matanzas, while we know that your usual suppliers are based in Santa Marta. The Matanzas gang has been wanting to spread their wings, and that proposed heist was supposed to stamp their mark on Santa Marta. Them not returning with a big stack of weed has started the gangs talking about another gang hit when they were returning. Our people have been promoting that thought.”

“You say ‘our people’. If they’re so good, why do you need us?”

“They need something to work on, and, so far, what you’ve provided us with has helped. This is not another ‘Bay of Pigs’ attempt. What we are doing has been estimated to take up to ten years. We want to feed the population the seeds of dissention, so that democracy can evolve in a free Cuba. My masters are keen for us to continue to normalise diplomatic relations. We are talking, but a lot needs to change over there before the country loses the hard-line communist government. Our previous governments cut ties so drastically, we need to create the idea that we’re no longer the bad guys. How that happens is what you guys can help with. We need to know what the Cubans want before we start giving it to them. If it means a missile strike on the leadership, we’ll do it for them, as long as they’re ready to take the reins.”

Angelique was listening with amazement.

“We’re just normal people. We’re not secret agents.”

“That’s the point! Nobody trusts the ones in charge any longer. It’s the contacts between ordinary people that counts in this. Nikki, will that boat of yours go all the way to Cuba and back?”

“I think so. It must have done some long runs in the past. Did it go all the way, Al?”

“We did do some runs directly to the coast, usually to pick up friends who needed a lift to the US. We’d take a load of weed and stuff they can’t get there and come back with passengers and cigars. We would add some jerry-cans of diesel, just in case. We would meet up with the fishing fleet and go in with them. We would wait at a secluded bay until the fleet went out the next evening.”

“Grand! Now, Al. I need you to make sure that your contacts are happy to continue. Don’t tell me how you get the messages across, I don’t want to know. When Herb is ready to come here for recouperation, I want you here to both go through some basic training. We don’t want you freezing as soon as something unusual happens. By the time we’ve finished with you, the two of you will be full-time workers for the US, with regular pay, but not actually on the payroll. That way, you can devote your time to what we’re trying to do. The cigar business is good, as long as you keep selling to the Cuban buyers in Miami, and don’t attract the real police. They will need to be behind you as things progress.”

“We were looking at a marline boat the other day, but it would have to be kept at the marina. That catch that I helped in was good promotion, but nothing has come from it. I doubt if the other charter companies would be happy with another competitor.”

“What about buying it and refitting it for wreck diving? That way, we can send you agents who need extra training, and it will give you a boat that isn’t out of place with your business. There’s lots of wrecks around the coast. You could even take them over to Bermuda to give you an excuse for longer trips.”

“That would take money.”

“Someone will approach you, in an open way, about a contract to give government employees dive training with deep dive experience. It will come with an up-front payment which will allow you to get everything you need. I might be able to wangle enough funds for a submersible and the shipboard monitors. With four of you on the water, and Angelique having a job running the office, you should be able to expand the business, and your links with Cuba.”

We left the meeting and drove home, mainly in silence. We were all trying to get our heads around what he had told us. I know Angelique and Al needed to come to terms with being under cover, semi-official, agents for the CIA. Cate and I were thinking through other factors.

I was thinking about what we needed to do when the contract arrived, the places I needed to find where the wrecks could be dived. Cate would be thinking about the submersible, and her ideas about what she wanted it to do. It wouldn’t just be used to look at the ocean floor. It would need to be able to take someone to a distant shore, bringing back their dive equipment.

It allowed me to stop worrying about setting up marlin charters, something that I still had only beginners luck with, and no genuine experience. This would all fit in with our original business model, without the glare of publicity that the TV star had generated. We could resist further requests to go for marlin as too dangerous. There had been a few times when me and his wife had held the TV star from being dragged overboard. It would be even more publicity if we lost a client.

If I was being honest, I couldn’t see just what Ward was trying to do. With my time here in Florida, I had spoken to a lot of ex-pat Cubans. All had been happy to get away, and many were sending money and goods to their relatives still on the Island. Since Raul had stepped down, the administration had become more open to the rest of the world, although was still close to Russia, with China taking up a lot of the space as well.

If Ward was successful in getting the general populace riled enough, there were several problems standing in the way. A targeted strike on Havana would not be seen kindly by Russia, China, Venezuela, and several other small countries that Cuba was now friendly with. We had the Embassy in Havana, although it wasn’t considered safe, with the advent of the strange sicknesses that happened there in 2017. The biggest sticking point between the countries was the Embargo.

That went back a long way. It was a reaction to Fidel nationalising over a billion dollars’ worth of American property. Eisenhower prohibited all exports to Cuba in 1960, with Kennedy extending it to Cuban imports into the States. Obama went a long way towards dropping the Embargo, with Trump reinstating it at and even stronger level. Organising a volunteer Cuban army and dropping them off at the Bay of Pigs and leaving them to it didn’t help our relations. Many that I had spoken to still hated the government for that single act of bastardry.

The only people to suffer from the Embargo were the very people Ward was trying to recruit. Over three-quarters of the population were living in extreme poverty, while the Communist Party members were jetting over the world and dealing with many other countries. It reminded me of that book, ‘Animal Farm’ where all animals were equal, though some were considered more equal than others. In the book, the pigs ruled, a very apt observation.

In Cuba, the pigs were in total control. With the abolition of the free press, the abolition of any other political parties enshrined in their constitution, any meetings of dissidents would be jumped on by the police or the army, all of whom have a cushy life with the best pay, and freedom to be worse than organised criminals.

I wasn’t going to kill the Golden Goose, though. Ward had given me life, even as I now was, and could have easily had me shot and tossed overboard after we escaped Yuri. I was becoming used to being a woman, being the receiver during sex, rather than the instigator. I even enjoyed being able to turn heads when I walked the streets of Key West. As a man, I had felt entitled and powerful. As Nikki Armstrong, I was good looking and held a power that was only ever given to women. The power to control a man by looks and words alone.

Marianne Gregory © 2024

Chapter 9

The next few months went by in a rush of business, hospital visits, the odd Weed Run, and life in general. Al and I were regulars on the Weed Runs, with Cate coming along occasionally, with Angelique looking after Jenny.

Pablo and Antonio were good contacts, telling us a lot about life on the island. It was their sales of weed that allowed them to live above subsistence. We discovered that the cigars came from the Party Headquarters, with some going missing before the final delivery.

The disappearance of the gang had caused a big shake-up in the hierarchy. Santa Marta remained independent of the others, and Pablo passed us a letter, one meeting, which we opened when we got home. It asked if we could supply medicine, and listed what was needed. They could pay in US Dollars, now that there were places on the island that accepted them from the tourists. When we sent it on to Ward, he was very happy, and we had a delivery from him before our next trip.

Al sent the message through his contacts with what we would bring, and how much it would cost. We were only going to supply smaller amounts as we didn’t want to flood the market and get the attention of the Cuban police. At least some trips out would be without the constant smell of the weed. I was happy that neither of the brothers had taken it up.

Herb was taking his time getting well. There were worries about his lung collapsing, and he needed more micro-operations to inject powdered glue to keep the lung attached to the thoracic wall. He did make great strides once that was overcome, and Al would spend days at a time with him at Homestead, getting them both fit. When she could, Cate would go to Homestead to visit, sometimes for days at a time. Angelique would help with Jenny if I was needed to be out with clients.

Eventually, we were contacted from someone above Ward’s pay grade. We had a meeting in Homestead, with the two of us and the brothers. We were shown pictures of a ship that they had ‘found’. It had belonged to a treasure hunter, and was fitted with davits to lower a submersible, as well as a full set-up for divers, both scuba and deep dive. All of a sudden, I found that I had a certificate in deep diving, as Nikki Armstrong, but would need to go to Pendleton to take a sign-off dive with the SEALs.

When we asked about the cost of the ship, we were told that we would lease it, with our contract having payments to cover the lease. It was typical spook wheels within wheels. The thing was that the ship needed a crew that was more than just us, and also was too big to be anywhere other than Miami. We would be allocated a mooring in the Marina, next to the Bayside Market, among the dive charters and tourist ships. A crew would be supplied from a ‘work hire company’ when we were going out and would ensure that the ship was maintained.

So, we would take our trainees through basic diving at Geiger, then do some shallow dives off the Keys. After that, we would take them into deeper water and get them trained in deeper water dives. The ship had all the gear for that, including a decompression chamber if anything went wrong. The more we learned, the more it looked as if the operation was bigger than Ward had suggested, and that the two of us were really only being employed in a teaching role.

That was all right with us, as we carried on living as normal people, now with Al living with me at the business, and Cate taking Jenny and moving all of her things to stay with Angelique and Herb after he came home. The two of them would come to us when we had work to do, and Angelique looked after Jenny. For me, it was a wrench to have my daughter somewhere else, but it all added to our cover. A cover that was becoming more real with every passing day.

The night we delivered the first medicines, there was another man with Pablo and Antonio. He gave us the money and checked the goods before shaking our hands. He was just called ‘The Doctor’ and told us that Santa Marta would become the place to live once the hospital started getting better equipped. As time went on, we shipped more weed for the normal cigars, medicines for money, and even some pieces of equipment as a donation to the hospital.

We started to take more delivery trips, cutting back on tourist charters, and also equipping the ‘Lucky Lady’, now moored in Miami. We had started training divers, well, agents who needed dive training and were not going to show up at Navy schools. About a year later, ‘The Doctor’ met us again on one of our runs and told us that he had been visited by a Party Inspector, who had been amazed at the way the hospital was now being run, as well as the lack of dissention from the Santa Marta township.

“He told me that if we knew Yankees who were happy to break the Embargo, he, and Havana, would turn a blind eye, and for you not to be caught by the Coast Guard.”

“So, if we turned up in Havana with a ship full of banned goods, he’ll set up a marching band and give us the keys to the city?”

“Not yet, who knows what happens later. For now, just keep up the good work. My patients pray for you, every night.”

When we reported this to Ward, he got back to us with approval to buy a marlin boat, and we did so. When we took ownership, we four sailed it to Miami, to be worked over with upgraded radar and a location beacon. Our dive boat ‘crew’ would take it over, leaving us to fly under the radar with our 320. Angelique drove up to take us home.

On our next trip, we asked to be given a comprehensive list of medical equipment that needed replacing. Ward told us the bigger ship would take that, as long as it could get in closer to the Cuban coast, off Santa Marta. This would be the first time we had been inside their territorial waters. He told us that we would let the other ‘crew’ make the trip. We spoke to Pablo, a few weeks later, and he came back to us with the news that the Party was going to pull any patrols on the following Friday night. He would organise a small flotilla to transport the goods to the shore, with the marlin boat no further than ten miles offshore.

We took our boat out and tracked the marlin boat at a distance, staying on our side of the line while watching it continue towards Santa Marta. We were on tenterhooks until we saw it moving again in the early hours. When it had come withing ten miles of us, without any other radar returns, we headed home.

This was the turning point of the operation. The Agency now had a way to get within an inflatable ride from the Cuban shores, with total support from the Party. The marlin boat now took all the runs, and we were busy with the dive training when the crew were available. I didn’t know what they were transporting into Cuba. I knew that there were a lot of superseded medical supplies being conveniently ‘lost’, and the crew would sometimes let slip what else they were taking while on the dive trips.

From those conversations, we found that the marlin boat was taking old laptops, car parts for the old American cars that were a feature on the island, and general household items. If the original plan was to get the general population riled up to overthrow the Party, then it had failed completely. The odd time we would do a weed run, Pablo would tell us about how much better life was in Santa Marta, and that the Party officials were happy that the Yankees were helping them. If anything, the shipments had made the population of a small area even less upset with the Party, as long as the Party kept out of their hair.

It was on one of the weed runs that Pablo brought a stranger with him. Carlos was from Matanzas and wanted us to start supplying them with medical supplies. After the gang had conveniently ‘disappeared’ the various factions in the town had grouped together to be more democratic. They had been given some surplus items from Santa Marta and wanted to be part of the trade. Carlos told us that he was a Party member, but there were many in the Party who realised that you cannot rule by fear alone.

We set up a meeting with Ward, who took the suggestions upstairs. We had been given a list of things that Carlos wanted, and we were sent a shipment of the items, as a straight donation to show our trust. We sent a message to Pablo and set up a trip. This time, things were so much different from our early days.

The 320 was loaded with goods, and I sailed, with Al, in the late afternoon, towards Matanzas. Close to midnight, we entered the Matanzas harbour, following a route we had been told. It was testing our bravery as we passed the oil depot, and we came alongside a small jetty, almost within sight of the Muelle Puerto Government Office.

Our goods were unloaded and taken to trucks, with Carlos overseeing the transfer. We gave him a list of things that the Cuban community had asked for; foodstuffs that had been banned, mementos of the country, chocolate bars, and the like. He told us that it would take the next day to put the things together and invited us to stay until the next evening. We made sure that the 320 was secure and he took us to the Hostel El Asere, or the Dude Hostel, where we were shown to a room.

When we woke up, we were shown the communal kitchen, where breakfast was being cooked. Nobody asked us who we were, or what we were here for. After breakfast, we strolled along the road towards the town, stopping at the Castillo de San Severino Museo de la Ruta del Esclavo, or the Slave Museum. It was fascinating and we had lunch there before going back to the Hostel.

Carlos had left a message that he would pick us up in the middle of the afternoon, so we relaxed in the hostel lounge until he came for us. Back at the boat, it was a hive of activity as we opened up to store all the items that he had collected for us. The tanks were refilled from a truck, and we were all ready to go by six. Carlos, and some new friends, gave us hugs as we boarded to sail back to Florida. It had been a very strange experience. We rang our contacts in Key West and were told to head for the Marina on the north-west side of town, where the Fort Meyers ferry docked, rather than the Harborside Marina.

When we arrived, we were met by a guy in a speedboat, who guided us to a dock where we moored. There were people waiting for us to unload, and the job was very quick. One of Al’s friends told us that we were true angels for bringing the things that the community missed. His wife took charge of us after the unloading. We locked the 320 and she drove us to the Marker Hotel, where we were shown a room and given toiletries.

The next morning, we were taken back to the boat, to cast off and head home. It had been a strange experience, being feted on both sides. When we had moored at home, we got onto the internet and emailed Ward with a report of everything that had transpired. We scanned the list that Carlos had given us of all the things that his town needed, along with a letter, on Party letterhead, that agreed to look the other way whenever we wanted to go to Matanzas.

This altered the entire concept of the operation. With Agency help, we all moved to Miami, near Homestead. Cate had a house big enough for her and Herb, and a granny unit where Angelique lived. Jenny transferred to a junior school in the area and made new friends. Al and I had an apartment near the Coconut Grove Marina, and we had two moorings. One was for the 320, and the other had a bigger boat already moored. It was a seventy-foot Striker, with a flying bridge, modern radar, and a lot of space. We were told that it was seized from a drug trafficker and was ours to use as we wanted. The main advantage was that it was able to do the trips to Cuba and back without need to refuel, and that the original cabin interior was already stripped to carry baggage.

Both houses in Geiger and Key West were sold, with a local taking over the dive and fishing business. We were all now semi-official members of the Agency. Cate and Herb were now working with the ‘Lucky Lady’, training divers, with her adding a deep-water certificate to her submersible driving one. That left Al and me to carry on with the Matanzas runs. We would leave Coconut Grove empty, load up from trucks at Black Point, near the Homestead base, and then sail directly to Matanzas, now mooring at the Capitania de Puertos, a Government Office where Carlos was boss. It was only a short walk into the city, with a shopping mall and hotels. We started to stay over two nights, having travelled during the day, with the Striker being reloaded, then sailing back the next morning, to be unloaded in Key West.

This made every trip almost a full week away from home. We settled into a routine of doing two trips a month, almost like a regular delivery service. We took surplus equipment and brought back Cuban food, cigars, chocolate and other items.

Al and I married in Key West, with a full church of friends and relatives. Jenny was the Flower Girl, and Herb was Best Man. Cate was my bridesmaid, and it must have stirred something with her, as she and Herb married a month later, with her already pregnant with their child.

We lived like this for another five years, until our Government finally lifted the Embargo, and our services were no longer needed. That was a worry, for a while, but Ward assured us that we would all remain on the Agency books, and that we could continue to train divers until something else came up. The ‘lease’ on the marlin boat was discontinued, and it was taken down to Key West to be put on the market. The 320 was sold to a film star in Fort Lauderdale, after we had removed the locator and reworked the gun storage into a fish cooler storage.

It was a surreal time when the four of us were flown to Havana, to be part of a ceremony put on by the new, moderate, leader of the Party. I doubted that Al and Herb would have thought that one evening, they would have a medal of honour pinned on their chests by the Cuban President. Cate and I were given medals on sashes, all to honour our small part in improving the stability of the island, through the supply of needed medicines and other things. Neither Ward, nor the marlin boat crew, could attend, being officially CIA.

We all spent a week in Cuba, being taken to Matanzas and Santa Marta, where we were given the equivalent to the keys of both towns. Carlos was now the chief administrator of both towns, and Pablo was part of the administration of Santa Marta. We were taken to lunches by both hospitals, where four wards were renamed as the ‘Cook Wards’, two in each hospital. It was a wonderful time, but we needed to go back to Florida.

We kept the Striker in case we needed it for future work, being able to go longer distances. Al and I set to work returning the main cabin to leisure boat condition, and we would take it out with some of our Cuban friends for a day of fishing. It took a year before we got our next assignment. It was, at first, a move to a new home, with the Striker moored in a new Marina.

Our new home was a small house on Hillgrove Street, and the Marina was called the Seaview Marina. Both were in Cockburn Harbour, South Caicos, in the Turks and Caicos group. We flew there to take the keys of the house and set it up. We loaded the Striker with all of our personal things and made our farewells to Cate, Herb, and my daughter.

We sailed via the Bahamas, and the West Indies, taking our time. Being a British Overseas Territory, it was almost like coming home for me, as I had been there before, when one of the destroyers I was on had visited. It was nice to buy a few of the products I had missed while living in Florida. Unfortunately, my tastes had changed, and the first jar of Marmite went in the bin after the first breakfast.

Our job would be to run supplies to a tiny jetty at Port Pwent-Zwazo, on the island of Tortuga, just off the north coast of Haiti. The items were mainly small-arms and ammunition, as well as medical supplies, destined for the group wanting to become the next proper government of the country. The country had been without an operating government for some years, and armed gangs had taken control of a big part, mainly the bigger towns. We were just a small part of the plan, with a lot smuggled in from the Dominican Republic, across the border between the two countries.

Our part of the plan would be a tiny supply route, but into an area that the gangs hadn’t managed to take over, being too remote and small. Our shipments would be used in training on Tortuga, so that the next step would be the ‘invasion’ of the north coast of the main island. We had to buy a truck to transfer the boxes of arms from the airport near our home, to the Striker.

Whenever we sailed from Caicos to Tortuga, we both changed into fatigues on the way, and made sure we were fully prepared to withstand any attacks. Our destination was only ten kilometres from the mainland, and we wanted to get home again. The trip was a bit over two hundred kilometres each way, so we would leave in the very early morning to arrive at our destination in the dark, then be on the way back by dawn.

We got into a routine, making a dozen trips a month, for almost five years. We had a short break until the ‘rebels’ took control of Cap Haitian, which allowed us to deliver directly to the mainland. Like the Cuban plan, it was very long term, and it took until we were getting close to sixty before the country was stabilised enough to hold elections.

Another year later, we flew from the Caicos to Port Au Prince to be part of the swearing-in ceremony for the new President and government. Again, we had medals presented to us as appreciation for our part in making history, along with several hundred others. When we got back to Caicos, we were contacted by our new controller, Ward having retired some years before.

As far as the Agency was concerned, we had done our part for democracy, and the future was ours to live as we wanted. There would be funds to allow us to relocate and set up a new home, and pensions to follow. So, we said our goodbyes to all the friends we had made on Caicos, loaded the Striker with our personal items, once again, and sailed it back to Miami, where our loved ones were.

Angelique had passed on, and both Herb and Cate had passed control of the ‘Lucky Lady’ to new instructors, with the boat now stationed at the Naval base in San Diego. Jenny was now in her early forties, and a respected surgeon in Orlando; married to a politician and with three children of her own. Cate and Herb had produced another two children, both of which hardly knew their Uncle and Aunt.

We got an apartment nearby and settled into a quiet life. We were still feted by the Cuban community, with fishing trips the Striker did so well. It was pleasant just to be us, and to enjoy life. I had lived an interesting life, from sending cruise missiles to the Kremlin to taking part in the stabilisation of both Cuba and Haiti. That I had to ‘die’ as far as the world was concerned, and to reemerge as Nikki, a woman, was just part of it all.

I loved Al, my husband, as much as any normal woman. Although we hadn’t had children, we could now spoil our grand-nephews and nieces. Jenny never knew that I had been her father. In the end, it didn’t alter our relationship. She had grown up, thinking that her Auntie had been doing serious work for the government, and that was enough for us.

I often wondered what I would have done had I not been chosen to join Yuri on his yacht. I doubt that it would have been half as exciting, or as dangerous. I had my life changed when I was knocked overboard from that Palma ferry. It had changed again when the ‘man’ had been chucked overboard so that the woman could emerge. I had enjoyed being a woman, loved being able to dress well and look good, even if it took more time than Al to get ready.

There was one thing about my life that dominated my time as a woman. It was that I was able to appreciate what changes we were making to the lives of people less free than us. It was a feeling of satisfaction in making others happier that I would never have felt without the new hormones. If nothing else, being a ‘Man Overboard’ had made me a better person.

Marianne Gregory © 2024