Ghost Ship

“No. We had cell phones. But I never got Tom’s number. Don’t worry, I have the internet. I’m sure I can find out.”

“Great.”

A few minutes of Googling later and she found what they needed. “It says here that you’re working for your dad’s company in shipping.”

“Really? Sounds boring. So my dad won out after all and I joined the family business?”

“It would appear so.” Catarina continued to scroll down the webpage. “Apparently you head up a salvage and rescue vessel, named the Tahila.”

“Nice name,” Sam said. “I wonder what it means?”

“Who knows. Probably something your dad liked?”

“Probably. What does she look like?”

Catarina clicked on the link and the image of the ship came up. “Woah! That doesn’t look like a salvage vessel. That looks more like a cross between a luxury yacht and a battleship.”

Sam grinned. “Maybe my job’s less boring than it first sounded?”

Leaning over her shoulder, he clicked on the link titled, Expeditions and Discoveries.

The webpage opened up and a long list of accolades unfolded.

Sam ran his eyes across them…

Located the Mahogany Ship

Discovered remnants of the Stolen City of Atlantis

Located the Last Airship, named Magdalena

Traversed the Aleutian Portal…

Sam said, “These read like bad adventure novels…”

“Hey, you’ve been busy…”

“Looks like it. Wish I could remember some of it.”

“Maybe you will one day?”

“I hope so. Hey, click on crew members.”

It brought up a list of people who worked in his team. None of them familiar to him.

Sam asked, “Which one’s Tom Bower?”

“The one on the left.”

There was a guy a good head taller than the rest and probably another fifty pounds heavier, built out of solid muscle, too. “The big guy?”

“That’s him. Hasn’t changed a bit. Aged better than you…”

Sam ignored the tease. “Can you see any contact details?”

“There’s his cell phone.”

Sam looked at the number, committed it to his memory, and asked, “Mind if I borrow your phone?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sam dialed the number.

“Hello?” The voice was hesitant… like someone receiving an unrecognized call, and not yet sure they wanted to commit to talking to the person on the other side.

Sam said, “Tom Bower?”

There was relief in the man’s voice. “Good God, Sam! You’re alive!”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sam hung up the phone.

They had talked for less than two minutes. But the conversation was easy and came naturally. It was clear the two of them had an affinity for each other that came with a friendship that had developed over many years.

Catarina asked, “Any luck?”

“Yeah. He says I was on a secret mission two nights ago. He was supposed to pick me up at the beach here in Vernazza, but I never made it back.”

“Did he say what the mission was for?”

“No. He said he didn’t want to get into any of the details over the phone, because he couldn’t be certain the line was secure.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Catarina asked. “Maybe you are a spy? I mean, why else all the cloak and dagger stuff? The array of fake passports? Tom Bower’s been your best friend since you were a kid and he couldn’t recognize your voice well enough to be confident that he was speaking to you, and able to fill you in with what you were doing when you had your memory stolen from you?”

Sam twisted his hands outward, in a gesture of peace. “I don’t know. He seemed legit.”

“Okay. So what did he suggest you do?”

“He said there’s an airfield in La Spezia. It’s rarely used, but he has a team on board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III set to land there within the hour. He gave me the address. If I can meet him there, he’ll debrief me once we’re in the air.”

“Globemaster III.” She said the name of the aircraft wistfully. “That sounds like a big airplane.”

Sam nodded, surprised by his instinctive knowledge on aircraft. “Yeah, it’s the largest aircraft in the US Air Force’s transport fleet.”

“Do they know it’s a grass runway? Can it even land on grass?”

Sam grinned. “You bet it can. The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is practically a tank with wings. It can fly, land, and takeoff again anywhere it pleases.”

“That’s good.” Her voice softened. “So, you’re leaving my life again.”

“Yeah. But not for long. I’ll get everything ironed out, and then I’ll give you a call and we can catch up properly… if you’re okay with that?”

She wrote down her cell number. “I’ve waited this long just to talk to you. I’d love to meet up again once your memory’s back…” Her eyes drifted downward. “That is, if you still want to, after your memory comes back.”

He squeezed her hand affectionately. “Hey, you’ve saved me from a lot of trouble. Without you, I might have been killed by the Russian mafia, or whoever the hell it is that wants me dead… so I think it’s safe to say I owe you my life. Trust me, I’ll make time to see you as soon as this is all sorted out and I have my memory back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

She suppressed a frown. “So, you’re still in the marines?”

Sam grinned. “It looks like it.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Pentagon Operations Center