The Ambush

The transfer went smoothly. Zeke got a young woman and an older man and the crew of the fishing trawler got their money. As he roared his speedboat away from the trawler, he hoped to get his passengers safely to shore. If he did, the Kingdom of Agris would pay him handsomely.

Zeke's speedboat was going forty knots, rhythmically bouncing on the waves. The young woman got up from the stern seats and gingerly approached him in a crouch, sitting in the passenger seat. The man stayed at the stern, looking aft. She said above the roar of the engine, "That was quite a takeoff. Good thing I took some Dramamine."

Zeke looked at her and said, "Sorry about that, your Highness, but I wanted to get out of there. The crew wasn't who I expected."

"My bodyguard didn't trust them either," motioning towards him. "I'm sure not trusting anyone is normal in your line of work."

His eyes scanned the water. "What do you think I do?"

"I'd say you're a smuggler."

Zeke turned to the princess gave her a coy smile. "I'm in the import/export business."

"If that's what you want to call it." The speedboat hit a wave and the princess put her hand on the dash to steady herself. "Thank you for doing this. I look forward to coming back to my country."

"My job is to get you back to Agris, your Highness. I'm not interested in politics or the civil war going on in your country. I'm interested in getting you and your bodyguard safely to shore and getting paid." He instantly regretted saying the getting paid part.

She didn't appear to be offended by it. "Like you said, you're a businessman. Don't worry, you'll get paid."

Zeke done some jobs for the deposed Kingdom of Agris. They paid well, but so did the current Agris Democratic government. The Agris Civil War was good for business. Zeke scanned the water. "We got trouble." He noticed what looked like a ship on an intercept course, approaching from the starboard bow. It might be just another boat, or it might be an Agris Democratic navy vessel. He yelled, "Hang on," sharply turning the speedboat to port and gaining more speed. "I hope they didn't see us."

A puff of smoke from the ship, followed by a muffled boom and a splash near the boat said otherwise. Zeke put the speedboat on a straight course away from the ship and went full throttle. "Don't worry, this boat is much faster than they are. We'll lose them in no time."

The princess grabbed his shoulder. He noticed her looking at a helicopter in the distance approaching the speedboat from the port side. "That's not good." The crew on the trawler must have ratted them out. "I hope it's one of your helicopters."

An instant later the helicopter opened fire. A hail of bullets smashed into the speedboat's stern, one of them hitting the guard's chest, spinning and crashing him into the side of the boat. The princess screamed and she bounded towards her bodyguard. The speedboat's engine started to cut out and it began to slow down despite being at full throttle.

A minute later the speedboat's engine sputtered and finally died. The boat came to a stop and bobbed in the choppy waves, still miles from shore. Zeke watched the princess clutching the lifeless bodyguard, sobbing uncontrollably. Failure was a part of being a smuggler. But the thought of the princess being captured or dying was a failure he didn't want to accept. Zeke saw the cutter and helicopter closing in. Would they be captured or killed? He heard a boom and the bow of the speedboat exploded, throwing him back into the princess and the guard.

Zeke came to and everything seemed to hurt. He was alive and wasn't wet. He heard the sounds of a hospital, but wasn't sure. He wondered how much it would hurt to open his eyes, if he could. He opened his eyes, but the light overhead caused him to wince and squeeze them shut. He turned his head to the right and opened his eyes again. He saw a man, someone he did business with before, sitting in a chair next to him.

"Zeke, you finally woke up." It was Boz, an agent from Agris Democratic Intelligence. "Sorry about shooting up your boat. If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have had them open fire."

Zeke couldn't move. It took some effort to speak, but he rasped, "What happened to the girl?"

"Oh, Princess Kayla? She's fine, in our custody. Banged up a bit, but otherwise ok. Some wanted her to be executed, but she's more valuable to her cause as a martyr than being alive." Boz cleared his throat and continued. "The trawler captain was a loyal to our government and told us about transporting Princess Kayla to a man in a speedboat. We followed the trawler from a safe distance and when you got the princess, we went in. We had orders to kill, but when we found her alive, we changed our minds."

Zeke started to feel ill and it wasn't from the explosion or losing his boat. "What are you going to do with her?"

"That's none of your concern. Besides, what's she to you? I know you play both sides. It's just business. As for your payment, we'll pay you twice what the Kingdom of Agris would. And you'll get a new boat. But from now on, you work for us."

Zeke realized he was strapped to the bed. "And what if I don't?"

"Let's just say there's some people who want you in prison or dead. But I can keep that from happening." He leaned closer and said softly, "But you'll have to play by my rules."

Zeke cursed in his mind and wanted to throttle Boz. But his body and the straps wouldn't let him.

"Get well, Zeke. I'll be checking up on you. You work for me now." Boz got up and left.

In his mind, Zeke raged at what just happened. But his body wanted to go back to sleep. A minute later, he was out.