Read Online The Tourist Trail by John Yunker - Free Book Online
Authors: John Yunker
Tags: Romance, fbi, Patagonia, Whales, Antarctica, Whaling, Penguins, Penguin Research, Sea Shepherd, Magellanic, Polar Cap
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work. Robertâs mind wanted to wander and usually succeeded.
The harbormaster had volunteered to help, and while Robert didnât trust him, he wasnât going to turn down another set of eyes. For all of Robertâs lobbying, the only help the navy had offered before leaving him and Lynda in the harbor was to leash the Tern to the pier with a three-inch thick chain, which, as Robert could see through the binoculars, still remained intact. Although an arc welder could slice through it in an hour or so, anything that would slow them down was worth using.
Robert had called Gordon and asked him to pull more strings with the Argentines, to get them another boat, but Gordon told him they were out of strings and low on agents. When he added Merry Christmas just before hanging up, Robert remembered that the holiday was just a few days away.
He could smell the harbormasterâs cigar smoke wafting up through the downstairs window as he handed Lynda a soda from the bag he carried. He picked up her binoculars to take a look. âDid I miss anything?â he asked.
âA produce delivery. A few games of Hacky Sack. The chef waved at me a few hours ago. I waved back. Then he brought me a tofu and tomato sandwich. It wasnât bad.â
âYou need some sleep,â he said.
âEasier said than done. Iâm covered with bed-bug bites. Is your room as bad as mine?â
âWhy do you think I took the night shift?â
Lynda grabbed her binoculars back. Robert was warming up to her, beginning to relax again, to put this mission in perspective. In the end, this was just another job; he was just another government employee. He needed to stay focused on the smallness of his life, even when he suspected the stakes were not quite so small.
âMaybe Aeneas really is gone,â Lynda said.
âNo. Hereâs around here somewhere. He wonât leave his boat behind. Heâs just waiting for the right moment to sneak onboard.â
âSuppose he does sneak onboard, and they torch through the chain and tear ass out of the harbor. Then what? Itâs not like we can pull them over.â
âI know that. You know that. But for all they know, the navy is waiting for them just off the coast. I expect them to pull a stunt similar to what they did in Miami. Create a disturbance. Or catch us off guard. Unless, of course, we happen to catch them off guard, which is what I expect to do. Which is why you need to get some sleep.â
âOkay, okay. If you need me, Iâll be at the Ritz.â Lynda grabbed her backpack and descended the ladder. Robert watched her walk along the main street, then turn right at Nuevo de Julio. He welcomed the solitude. Alone, he could let his guard down, enjoy a few hours free of probing questions.
Robert raised his binoculars. The windows of the lower decks glowed, but the bridge remained dark; perhaps they were up there watching him. A part of him wanted to sneak down and unlock the chains, let them slip away, along with the past. Call Gordon and tell him Aeneas had gotten away. It would not be the first time.
* * *
Robert snapped awake to the cool spatter of rain on his face. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes to find a leviathan of a cruise ship towering over him like an office building, blocking his view of the Tern . He stood up too quickly, then fell back onto his chair, his mind hazy.
He glanced at his watch: 6:15 a.m. On the cruise shipâs dock below, crewmembers in light blue jumpsuits were scurrying about, dragging ropes, shouting back and forth in an Asian language; the ship had arrived only moments ago, and heâd slept right through it.
Robert slid down the ladder and sprinted across the concrete embarcadero, bracing himself for a view of an abandoned pier, pieces of chain scattered about. But when he cleared the cruise ship, he saw the Tern anchored at the end of the pier, right where heâd left it.
He stopped and caught his
The harbormaster had volunteered to help, and while Robert didnât trust him, he wasnât going to turn down another set of eyes. For all of Robertâs lobbying, the only help the navy had offered before leaving him and Lynda in the harbor was to leash the Tern to the pier with a three-inch thick chain, which, as Robert could see through the binoculars, still remained intact. Although an arc welder could slice through it in an hour or so, anything that would slow them down was worth using.
Robert had called Gordon and asked him to pull more strings with the Argentines, to get them another boat, but Gordon told him they were out of strings and low on agents. When he added Merry Christmas just before hanging up, Robert remembered that the holiday was just a few days away.
He could smell the harbormasterâs cigar smoke wafting up through the downstairs window as he handed Lynda a soda from the bag he carried. He picked up her binoculars to take a look. âDid I miss anything?â he asked.
âA produce delivery. A few games of Hacky Sack. The chef waved at me a few hours ago. I waved back. Then he brought me a tofu and tomato sandwich. It wasnât bad.â
âYou need some sleep,â he said.
âEasier said than done. Iâm covered with bed-bug bites. Is your room as bad as mine?â
âWhy do you think I took the night shift?â
Lynda grabbed her binoculars back. Robert was warming up to her, beginning to relax again, to put this mission in perspective. In the end, this was just another job; he was just another government employee. He needed to stay focused on the smallness of his life, even when he suspected the stakes were not quite so small.
âMaybe Aeneas really is gone,â Lynda said.
âNo. Hereâs around here somewhere. He wonât leave his boat behind. Heâs just waiting for the right moment to sneak onboard.â
âSuppose he does sneak onboard, and they torch through the chain and tear ass out of the harbor. Then what? Itâs not like we can pull them over.â
âI know that. You know that. But for all they know, the navy is waiting for them just off the coast. I expect them to pull a stunt similar to what they did in Miami. Create a disturbance. Or catch us off guard. Unless, of course, we happen to catch them off guard, which is what I expect to do. Which is why you need to get some sleep.â
âOkay, okay. If you need me, Iâll be at the Ritz.â Lynda grabbed her backpack and descended the ladder. Robert watched her walk along the main street, then turn right at Nuevo de Julio. He welcomed the solitude. Alone, he could let his guard down, enjoy a few hours free of probing questions.
Robert raised his binoculars. The windows of the lower decks glowed, but the bridge remained dark; perhaps they were up there watching him. A part of him wanted to sneak down and unlock the chains, let them slip away, along with the past. Call Gordon and tell him Aeneas had gotten away. It would not be the first time.
* * *
Robert snapped awake to the cool spatter of rain on his face. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes to find a leviathan of a cruise ship towering over him like an office building, blocking his view of the Tern . He stood up too quickly, then fell back onto his chair, his mind hazy.
He glanced at his watch: 6:15 a.m. On the cruise shipâs dock below, crewmembers in light blue jumpsuits were scurrying about, dragging ropes, shouting back and forth in an Asian language; the ship had arrived only moments ago, and heâd slept right through it.
Robert slid down the ladder and sprinted across the concrete embarcadero, bracing himself for a view of an abandoned pier, pieces of chain scattered about. But when he cleared the cruise ship, he saw the Tern anchored at the end of the pier, right where heâd left it.
He stopped and caught his
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