The Salty city Predator

Chapter 10

That night was too far, and the darkness was taking forever to creep in, but finally, it was midnight, and the dark would ensure his safe passage to the ship. The national police service in collaboration with the navy was ruthless in guarding the port. During the day Geoffrey had done his research and knew that there was a cargo ship headed for the high seas and he had to be on board. The area surrounding the port is a no-go zone at night the security officers operate under the shoot to kill protecting the country from smugglers and barons trying to sneak their products into the country? Some at the right price manage to earn a blind eye from both security and customs officials. Tonight there the guards are on high alert making it highly impossible to approach the port on land unnoticed. Geoffrey has only one option to approach the vessel by water making no ripples for there were soldiers on the watchtowers looking out for any unusual threat to security. Geoffrey has to swim for more than a hundred meters underwater without making a ripple or being noticed.

As Geoffrey is figuring out how he will get into the cargo ship on the shore of the sea a ship approaching the dock from the opposite directions makes a sound to alert the control tower. This was his only chance to get on the cargo ship as all the attention was directed towards the approaching vessel. Geoffrey dived into the water and swam quietly towards the dock, and after the long swim, he successfully landed on the pier unnoticed. He found the full cargo ship waiting for him to get on board he quickly climbed onto the ship and moved to the bottom-most compartment he could get lucky the vessel had already been checked, and he was just in time for the voyage of his life. He remembered he had some glue and papers in his pockets the glue was perfectly in place but the papers were not. He guessed they might have fallen off his pocket due to the up thrust force of the water. He quickly removes all his tattered salty soaked clothes and spreads them in the engine room for them to dry. He quickly treats himself to a grand tour of the vessel before anyone could board. He is able to perfectly contemplate the dream of his mother to be the captain of the sea. He is still very careful not to attract the attention of the watch tower. Due to his great timing or sheer luck and probably due to the reputation of the owner and captain of this ship the vessel was already inspected and cleared to leave the harbor at midnight.

After about one hour the ship lets out a huge sound and the compartment where he was got very hot giving the impression the engine had started as it was losing its anchor, he found a cabin to get away from the heat full off tools meant to repair the ship in case of an emergency. Still sniffing the little glue remaining this made him not feel hungry as he was used to doing on the streets with his certificates still sealed in a polythene bag in his hands. The noise from the engine finally stopped, and only its humming could be heard. Geoffrey could best understand the tides and water current as he was in the lowest compartment of the ship below deck. He was now on a lifetime voyage hopeful of a better tomorrow full of uncertainties.

The famous captain on the deck he is one of the greatest sailors in this part of the sea with decades of experience. Behind his back his crew talks of his father one of the greatest politicians in the country. He was never in the habit of socializing with his team he enjoyed his own company except for some few instances where he used to take his best friend they served together in the navy along. He was always a tough guy who his military training and command were still evident with every order he gave. He retired from the force after a mission in the east war zone where his team suffered a lot of casualty out of the seven warships he was the only one that survived. They pirates and locals named him the whale he rained terror on all the pirates and warmongers in the east. Many were left homeless while many children were orphaned. His father was in support of the war in parliament his glory and victory in killing the poor residents was accorded to the politicians who never left the comfort of their families, and it’s on this day his indifference with his father begun. The whole crew feared the presence of the captain but lucky for them he was mostly in his chambers swimming deep in his crates of beer and bottles of wine he always picked up at every stop for supplies the ship made. They believed that he knew the sea like the back of his hand. He always came out of his chambers at critical moments like going through rocky waters and docking in natural pirate’s harbors. The crew had total trust and high confidence in their captain they were always certain no shipwreck could ever befall their vessel. All his crew members were hopeless orphans picked from the streets who begin as little cleaners to sailors by the captain himself. He quit the force and run from his father’s fortune and bought a small fishing boat and since then the sea had been his home. He fished day and night and from the proceeds bought his first ship. With the vessels, he smuggled goods in and out of the country and became the undoubted king of the sea with a fleet of ships. He smuggled many immigrants to other countries seeking a better future from the salty city. His fleet is managed by his friend Ben who they served in the navy and every month he has to take on a voyage with the great captain to discuss business. The captain believed the sea was in his home and never left his ship he did all his business on the deck or in his cabin which he had modified it into an office. In his cabin, he would spend days with his friend balancing ledgers, and he was the only person close to him. He spent all his time sailing except sometimes he would pay courtesy to some brothels near the port when his ship is serviced or when he needed to recruit his crew.

The captain in all his sea life would always stable from one beer bottle to the next. He was among the wealthiest father’s fortune and the earnings made by his sea transport company. His friend tried to get him of the sea, but he always insisted that the whale never leaves the water. He tried to wash away all his sins, but the lives he had taken in the name of his country always haunted him. Ben always wanted to talk him to start a family and maybe then he would stop his wild ways every time. This trip was going to be a short one with Ben on board with his usual files as always and ready for business with the captain as always. Ben sometimes tags along new business associates, and new clients tag along to finalize deals with the captain and on such trips only a few crew members are needed for confidentiality. One of the crew members stumbled upon some papers tacked adequately in a polythene bag and quickly took them to Ben who might have been the only one who could have dropped them. As Ben were busy in the captain’s cabin drinking and planning to discuss business on their return trip. Ben was always amazed at how the captain would still defy orders and save all his team members even when the general was ready to take their lives as a significant collateral loss. The captain easily got away with gross insubordination because of his father’s big political name. Geoffrey was the greatest captain of all times he had gone against anything without fearing court-martial to save his fellow soldiers. Ben always asked him to try inheriting his father’s political dynasty but he was never interested. Geoffrey had stood up for us in the force even risking your life for our sake. If you deem it not necessary to stand up for yourself, please stand up for those people your father represented Ben always told him.

You’re lucky you don’t have kids captain. My teenage daughter is killing me she is madly in love with a kid at the orphanage. I had to take her to college abroad away from this boy. I grew up in that orphanage so I used to take my family there every now and then after our missions. I owe my life to that orphanage. They took me from the streets and educated me till I joined the forces thanks to your father. I would take my family to show them my roots, but there was this young boy who was brilliant and I was to pay for his college until my daughter fell for him and my wife could not stand it. This boy had a radical way of questioning everything. Every time I talked to him he reminded me of you captain. I went back to get him for I realized I acted as an overprotective parent towards him and found out that the Centre could not afford college for them had to let them go. That young man has a defying spirit and was amazingly brilliant he even toped the city in the national exam.  This was Ben’s way of engaging the silent captain into a conversation. The captain was deep in thoughts and opened a beer bottle and passed some bottles to Ben.

That is exactly my story, only am the son of a rich politician and in love with a poor girl from that same orphanage. The captain spoke up, my parents could not accept her but she had and still has my heart till now. She might be long married by now but I still remember everything we had together. You’re just over-reacting let the kids make their own mistake and learn from them. The only crime this young man has committed is to be born, by irresponsible parents who threw him into the streets, or being born in a country where maternal mortality is a normal occurrence. My dad used to bring me to the orphanage because he was an orphan and there I found my best friend, you. Your just denying my goddaughter the same chance you had.

After Ben took two beers, he read the papers tacked in the polythene and the Whale was busy telling tales of their adventures together in service of their country in the navy. It comprised of academic certificates and a death permit. Ben could not understand why any of the crew members could carry such documents on board but handed them to the captain to give them to the rightful owner, but the academic certificates bare your name. The whale was static and looked at the papers one after the other in confusion. Ben could not understand what was wrong the alcoholic captain hands shook as he tried to hold the documents up. Tears flowed freely from his eyes this was the first time Ben saw the great captain crying. The documents in his hands fell on the floor, and the death permit was the paper that made the captain drop the papers. Ben tried to ask the captain what these papers had to do with him. The captain looked away towards the sea and told this is the reason why you always ask me about starting a family.

It happened many years back when we came back after our first mission, and I arrived home after the war. I was met with great joy and proud parents. They all had gathered at my parents’ home, and I was given a hero’s welcome. That was the first day I met her. She was an epitome of all beauty and simplicity. She had just been brought to help with the house chores from my father’s orphanage. She had passed her exams and was the best in the whole province, and my father thought of taking her as a house-help before she joined college. She was so passionate about being a sailor and wanted to join the school of navigation. She heard of my tales and exploits in the navigation world and adored me. She would always sneak into my room at night, and I would tell her what to expect in college and at the navigation school. She was amazingly humble and simple I was used to arrogant and complicated brats from my father’s social class. We dreamt of each other, and we enjoyed each other’s company when our parents were not home I would take her on boat rides and swims by the sea. I remember all of these memories nostalgically, and are worth my whole life. My mother noticed our affair and was against it for it upset her social class. She tried to talk to me but Louise was all I had and I loved her with all my heart nothing could separate us. My mother needs me to marry from another political family to solidify my father’s political base.

I was raised in a high society being the only son of Kepha the greatest politician from the slums who articulated the rights of the downtrodden in society. Everyone expected too much from me. My father was my sole role model and every day I had to walk in his shadow. His shoes were too large to fill that’s why I decided to join the forces to outshine my father’s love for his country. I was willing to put my life on the line just as the freedom fighters did for our country’s independence. From when I was small all my father wanted was to make me a politician like him. He never wanted me in the battlefield for he knew how soldiers die easily like flies in wars and that’s how my promotions in the force started with an aim to remove me from the field of fire. My father had worked too hard for his political dynasty and could not risk not having an heir.

My escapades with Louise had borne fruits and was pregnant according to the last letter I received from her. We were on the peace mission across the narrow seas. The thought of being a father was so sweet I could not wait to be back and be by her side. This letter made me accept my new post of general and get off the open line of fire. After many months at the narrow sea, I came back, but Louise had stopped replying to my letters. I did not find her at home my mother mentioned that she had run away when her pregnancy was evident. She insisted that she always suspected the gardener for having an affair with her. I was devastated, but I knew my mother could do anything to prevent me from going to look for her. I found a letter in my room in my diary where she explained why she was going to run because my mother wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. I looked for her everywhere tried hiring the best detectives but all in vain she had no relatives she lived all her life in the orphanage. This is now her death permit whoever dropped it in on my ship after eighteen years, it’s my past back to haunt me. From that day I took the sea as my home I was ready to face the turbulent sea knowing my son or daughter is either wandering on the streets homeless and hungry with many reasons why I don’t deserve to live. I decided always to pick these kids from the streets hoping one day I might come to rescue my child and place them in my ship. How did you stumble across these papers?

The cook gave me on the crew he found then outside his cabin should I call him for questioning? The academic certificates bear your name only you are supposed to be seventeen years old. Ben replies.

No need let us drink and wash away all our sins I came to the sea to face all my troubles. The salty water calms my spirit, and I have survived storms, fought pirates and violent winds. I ruled over the seas with an iron fist and succeeded to build an empire for myself; I have dealings in smuggling and port business. Some fear my family name but I dared to succeed away from my father, and I know my child despises me for not being there for him or her the same way I despised my father by being hypocritical in his politics. He was not ready to risk his son fighting for the country yet he and his fellow legislators were advocating for the war. During my father’s funeral after he was assassinated many were ready to back my political career, but I could not stomach enjoying my father’s handwork while my child did not enjoy this privilege. I now have trouble of who will inherit my empire just as my father endured a lot from me trying to beg me to step up and take over his position in politics and in business. I have been thinking of reclaiming my father’s dynasty I have been a prodigal son for far too long it’s time to go back home. The current officeholder has started intimidating me not to challenge him if I do he will dig up my past. My father always stood up for truth, but today the ruling class has made our society a man eat man society where the rich eat the hard work of the poor. I have been running cargo voyages into and out of this country where we only export cheap raw materials to foreign industries which have been overtaxed and pass through the hands of many dealers leaving behind poor hardworking farmers. The country import expensive refined products and these foreign companies enjoy low import duty and tax waivers to encourage better relations for the two nations so as to be in favor to beg for foreign aid. I will be on the ballot next election and will uphold my father’s integrity legacy. I have traveled to many countries, and in the salty city, we have many people who have never lived half decent lives in their lifetime. The two discuss many topics ranging from international wars, but still, they both did not understand how the stray papers got on to the ship. 

Ben goes deep into thought the name Geoffrey rings a bell, but he cannot remember exactly where. The name is too familiar but he knew the captain required anyone to face him with straight forward facts and clear information he of all others knew him from the military academy and as childhood friends.