Celestia's Prize was still there moored offshore and a part of me relaxed at the sight of her clean lines, as the sun began to shine off her white painted surfaces. I parked the jeep and grabbing the bag I headed down to the wharf and jumped into a dinghy that was tied off to a post. I cast off the line and fired up the little eggbeater and headed out across the still waters of the harbor.
It was a beautiful morning. It was Sunday morning and a pang of remembrance shot through me, but there was no going back to the way things used to be. That bridge had been burned.
Ortega's head popped over the railing as the dinghy grew close to the ship and a line was thrown down. I shut the dinghy's motor off and pulled the dinghy in close to the side of the ship and tied it off. We'd have to haul it up before we left port, but I would let the crew worry about that.
I climbed up the rope ladder quickly, the weight of my bag not holding me back a bit in my quick ascent. Ortega was the only one on board, as he never left the ship, while we were in American held territory.
I'd never asked the El Salvadorian as to why that was and I didn't intend to now. It was enough that he was faithful to me and that I had someone I could trust to watch over the Celestia's Prize while I was away.
He greeted me with his characteristic open smile and spoke in broken English, "Your trip a success yes?"
I smiled and unslung the pack off into his waiting hands. His eyes lit up appreciatively with the feel of the weight of the pack.
"You have brought something then! It may only be lumps of pig iron, but it is something at least." Ortega said enthusiastically.
Pig iron?
I gazed at Ortega as his unwitting words jarred a memory of something in relation to the slightly oxidized metallic surfaces of the device in the bag. Ortega gave me a strange look and I patted him on the back and reclaimed the pack, as I stepped past him briskly headed for my quarters aboard ship.
"Call everyone in. We leave port in two days." I called out over my shoulder to Ortega.
Ortega said something that I didn't hear as I made my way below. When I reached my cabin I stripped off my filthy clothes stained with snake dust and jumped into the shower.
I was tired and the hot water made me even more so. Once done with the shower I left it to tumble into my narrow bed to be overcome by sleep.