help me?”
Quentin snapped out of his trance faster than Daniel expected. “Sure,” he said, scampering toward the bow and dropping the anchor.
Daniel put the engine in reverse and let out a long length of chain. When the plumes bit into the bottom, he tested the hold and then shut off the engine. The Renaissance swung slowly around until it faced toward the west and the sun. They were alone in the anchorage, the beach fifty yards behind. Daniel saw movement on the shore—a man combing the sand. He waved, and the man waved back.
Before long, Quentin returned from the foredeck. Daniel examined his face and saw that it had changed. There was a light in his eyes again. Daniel started to speak, but his son preempted him.
“I’ve thought about it, and I want to go on,” Quentin said. “Anything else means we give up.”
Daniel felt the pride down deep, but he knew the difference between courage and carelessness. He met his son’s eyes. “Going back to Mahé isn’t the same as going home.”
Quentin was skeptical. “I don’t follow you.”
“It’s simple. We’ll hire a deliveryman, somebody like François who won’t mind a little hazard pay. We’ll meet up with him in Réunion and make the passage to South Africa on schedule.”
Quentin frowned. “You mean we’ll fly to Réunion.”
Daniel heard the hesitation in his son’s voice. “Just this leg. After that, we’ll go on as planned.”
Quentin’s displeasure deepened. “And how do you know we won’t get hijacked between here and Mahé? If they’re looking for another ship, isn’t that where they’ll go?”
Daniel shrugged. “We’ll get the coast guard to escort us.”
“How are you going to do that?” Suddenly, Quentin grimaced. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get Grandpa to pull strings.”
Daniel took a breath and let it out. “Do you have a better plan?”
Quentin nodded. “It’s called finishing what we started. We chose this route with full knowledge of the pirate problem. We change it now and we are giving up.”
There was truth in what he said. They had agonized over the passage from Thailand to South Africa, weighing the danger of venturing into the High Risk Area against the reward of visiting the Maldives and Seychelles. They had agreed to avoid Zanzibar, much to Daniel’s chagrin—the waters off Africa’s east coast were still treacherous. But the ocean route from Sri Lanka to Réunion by way of Malé Atoll and Mahé Island was different. The ocean was vast, the chance of an attack in such remote waters negligible. They had decided to take the risk.
“You’re right,” Daniel replied, softening his tone. “And I admire you greatly for saying it. But things have changed. I made a promise to your mother.”
Quentin clenched his fists. “This isn’t about Mom. This is about me .” His voice broke with sudden emotion. “You have no idea . . . You have no idea how humiliating it was when they caught me with the drugs. Goddammit! I was just doing Hans a favor. I wasn’t a dealer. I wasn’t even a user.”
Daniel felt every ounce of his son’s misery. “I know.”
Quentin’s eyes shined with tears. “You don’t know. I thought my life was over. Getting suspended was bad enough, but the police treated me like a fucking criminal. They told me I’d go to prison if I didn’t help them out.”
At this point, Quentin made a confession that cleaved Daniel’s heart in two. “Do you know how close I came to ending it all? I was going to do it that morning I took the Relativity down the bay. I even wrote a note. But you caught up to me. You said you’d work it all out. I didn’t believe you. I kept the note. Then you told me about this crazy idea you had . . .”
Quentin struggled to hold himself together. “This trip saved my life, Dad. Literally. I didn’t expect it to change anything, but I gave it a chance. When I met Ariadne, she saw past all of it. She just wanted to be with me. I promised
Quentin snapped out of his trance faster than Daniel expected. “Sure,” he said, scampering toward the bow and dropping the anchor.
Daniel put the engine in reverse and let out a long length of chain. When the plumes bit into the bottom, he tested the hold and then shut off the engine. The Renaissance swung slowly around until it faced toward the west and the sun. They were alone in the anchorage, the beach fifty yards behind. Daniel saw movement on the shore—a man combing the sand. He waved, and the man waved back.
Before long, Quentin returned from the foredeck. Daniel examined his face and saw that it had changed. There was a light in his eyes again. Daniel started to speak, but his son preempted him.
“I’ve thought about it, and I want to go on,” Quentin said. “Anything else means we give up.”
Daniel felt the pride down deep, but he knew the difference between courage and carelessness. He met his son’s eyes. “Going back to Mahé isn’t the same as going home.”
Quentin was skeptical. “I don’t follow you.”
“It’s simple. We’ll hire a deliveryman, somebody like François who won’t mind a little hazard pay. We’ll meet up with him in Réunion and make the passage to South Africa on schedule.”
Quentin frowned. “You mean we’ll fly to Réunion.”
Daniel heard the hesitation in his son’s voice. “Just this leg. After that, we’ll go on as planned.”
Quentin’s displeasure deepened. “And how do you know we won’t get hijacked between here and Mahé? If they’re looking for another ship, isn’t that where they’ll go?”
Daniel shrugged. “We’ll get the coast guard to escort us.”
“How are you going to do that?” Suddenly, Quentin grimaced. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get Grandpa to pull strings.”
Daniel took a breath and let it out. “Do you have a better plan?”
Quentin nodded. “It’s called finishing what we started. We chose this route with full knowledge of the pirate problem. We change it now and we are giving up.”
There was truth in what he said. They had agonized over the passage from Thailand to South Africa, weighing the danger of venturing into the High Risk Area against the reward of visiting the Maldives and Seychelles. They had agreed to avoid Zanzibar, much to Daniel’s chagrin—the waters off Africa’s east coast were still treacherous. But the ocean route from Sri Lanka to Réunion by way of Malé Atoll and Mahé Island was different. The ocean was vast, the chance of an attack in such remote waters negligible. They had decided to take the risk.
“You’re right,” Daniel replied, softening his tone. “And I admire you greatly for saying it. But things have changed. I made a promise to your mother.”
Quentin clenched his fists. “This isn’t about Mom. This is about me .” His voice broke with sudden emotion. “You have no idea . . . You have no idea how humiliating it was when they caught me with the drugs. Goddammit! I was just doing Hans a favor. I wasn’t a dealer. I wasn’t even a user.”
Daniel felt every ounce of his son’s misery. “I know.”
Quentin’s eyes shined with tears. “You don’t know. I thought my life was over. Getting suspended was bad enough, but the police treated me like a fucking criminal. They told me I’d go to prison if I didn’t help them out.”
At this point, Quentin made a confession that cleaved Daniel’s heart in two. “Do you know how close I came to ending it all? I was going to do it that morning I took the Relativity down the bay. I even wrote a note. But you caught up to me. You said you’d work it all out. I didn’t believe you. I kept the note. Then you told me about this crazy idea you had . . .”
Quentin struggled to hold himself together. “This trip saved my life, Dad. Literally. I didn’t expect it to change anything, but I gave it a chance. When I met Ariadne, she saw past all of it. She just wanted to be with me. I promised
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