Getting back to the helm, Kaori checked their position. The ship had kept to its course. This was to be expected, weather conditions were perfect. The sun shone warmly in a cloudless sky, bringing the temperature to near-summer levels but a light southward breeze made it pleasant.

  Kaori disengaged the autopilot.

  “Have you ever sailed?” She asked.

  “I did an intro course in windsurfing before; mainly consisted of me falling in the water and getting back up on the board. Does it count?”

  “Definitely, you’re almost there, but we’ll still go over some advanced concepts. See that? It’s called a sail.” Kaori explained.

  Ma?l chuckled. “Good, that’s my pace.”

  “The main thing you have to know is that a ship is not a car…”

  “Good to know, I guess.”

  “That’s important! Most people don’t understand that about a ship. They see a wheel and they think they can just turn it to drive the yacht,” Kaori said with a pout.

  “Isn’t that how it works? I mean, you turn the wheel, the rudder moves and the ship turns, right?” Ma?l asked.

  “It only looks that way but the devil is in the details. In a car, the steering wheel turns the wheels, and sometimes, the wheels can slide, for instance if you drive on ice or on gravel. In most situations, the road doesn’t move and your wheels stick to the road.

  “On a ship, the ‘road’ moves. There are several million tons of water under the hull, and it moves as it pleases. Further, the wind is pushing us in one direction and if that’s not the direction we want, we have to deal with it.

  “When you turn the helm’s wheel, you are just creating resistance in the water on one side, nothing more. If you don’t account for the wind and the current, things aren’t going to go well for you.

  “What I’m getting at is that the wheel works as expected only if everything else is in order; it’s just one element of piloting a sailing ship, and not even the most important one.”

  Kaori lectured from memory. She wasn’t a sailor, but she had good teachers and being an actress, she had no difficulty getting into character. Ma?l was paying close attention as she went through the basics. He had plenty of questions about the instruments, the lines and sails.

  Soon, she had him running around the deck pulling the various lines, tying knots, unfurling the jib, taking it down, and then back up again. He was a fast learner and his ability to move on the deck was remarkable for a man of his size. She had him go through all the main maneuvers and he executed them smoothly, with a skill that belied his lack of experience.

  Maybe if that acting thing doesn’t work out, I might teach sailing. He’d make a decent mate… a decent first mate! Wait, that sounds even worse, doesn’t it? Kaori thought with an impish grin as a shirtless Ma?l was battling with the main sail one more time, trying to get the ship back on the run. Funny how seeing him take his shirt off in the cabin down below had been cause for alarm, but now that he was on the ship’s deck, it seemed completely natural and she didn’t mind one bit—truth be told, she enjoyed it. Social conventions are weird that way.

  Her musings were interrupted by a small tap on the shoulder.

  “Can you confirm that the autopilot is on properly?” Ma?l asked pointing to the screen. Everything seemed in order.

  “Did you check the surroundings and the wind conditions?” Kaori asked.

  “Aye aye, Captain Kaori Sir!”

  “Well done, Mister Arairu.”

  “I think we should be getting some food. How do you feel about French cuisine?” Ma?l asked.

  “You can cook?”

  “Kind of. I found ingredients over at Don Quijote and the galley’s kitchen is better appointed than any kitchen I’ve ever worked in.”

  “You’re a chef?” She asked, looking surprised.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. I had a summer job at a French restaurant when I was a teenager, but that was mostly cleaning up the silverware.”

  Kaori sat at one of the mess tables watching an eager Ma?l cooking. He had clearly understated his skills. How very Japanese of him. She pulled up the chart plotter on the ship’s tablet, a satellite map that showed their position, and pondered on their route. According to the GPS, they were about 45 nautical miles from the coast, out of range for the coastal radars.

  “Food’s ready, Captain!” Ma?l announced proudly. He was carrying two plates and slid one in front of her before sitting beside her. Each plate contained a heaping mound of tagliatelle pasta with sliced chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, and a side of steamed leeks. It looked delicious. It smelled delicious. It even tasted delicious. But the portions were…

  How could a human possibly eat that much food in one serving? Kaori thought.

  She turned to Ma?l, who was busy answering that very question: half of his plate had already disappeared. He noticed her puzzled look and stopped like a child caught stuffing his face with candy. It was hilarious, but she carried on as if she hadn’t seen anything unusual.

  “It’s really good.” she said. She meant it. Ma?l beamed. “I don’t think I can eat all that though. One third of it perhaps?”

  “My bad. Anyway, what were you looking at?” he asked, pointing at the tablet.

  “That’s a chart plotter. It shows our current position and the position of any other ship in our vicinity.”

  Ma?l looked at the map with interest, and frowned. “Does that mean our location is also available to everyone? How does it work?”

  Damnation! She hadn’t thought of that. “There is an AIS transponder that broadcasts a radio signal with the name of the ship and our exact location.”

  “Can we turn it off? How far does it broadcast?” Ma?l asked.

  “It works on line of sight, if I remember correctly. The antenna is at the top of the mast and the range should be about 40 miles on a nice day like today. We could turn it off, but if we cross a ship and they don’t receive the AIS signal, they might report it to the coast guards.”

  “So you mean that anyone looking for this ship could pinpoint its exact location in minutes? We are just sitting ducks then.” Ma?l said.

  Kaori didn’t reply. Being out there, in the ocean, had felt safe, but in truth, if Oroshi figured they were on this ship, he could intercept them easily, and there would be no witnesses. No help. She glanced to the sky. His helicopter could arrive at any time, and they were still broadcasting their exact position to the shore every few seconds. Well, they probably hadn’t found the car yet, but they would. Escaping in the modern world was hard for the average man. For a celebrity like herself, it seemed impossible.

  Ma?l broke the silence. “What if only the local ships could see us?”

  “That’d be perfect, but like I said, the range is much longer than that.”

  Ma?l smiled: “Well, it’s just a transponder with an antenna, there are at least two ways to mess with the signal range: we can reduce the power supply, or we can wrap the antenna with some aluminum foil. Put a few holes in it, and we’d still be picked up by passing ships, but not from the shore.”

  “So, how far away would the ship be visible?”

  “With full aluminum wrapping, 250 yards at most. But if we put some holes in it, we’d be picked up from about one mile away. That’s just a ballpark of course, but we wouldn’t be invisible to local ships and there is no way they could track us from the shore.”

  Kaori looked at him in amazement. The solution sounded simple, but it should work. Stabbing square aluminum sheets with a fork only took seconds and they headed for the deck.

  “So, where is that antenna?” Ma?l asked.

  “Oh, it’s right there,” Kaori said, pointing to the top of the mast, a full 35 yards above the deck.

  “Fuck me! How the hell are we going to get up there?”

  “Well, we just have to climb the mast, nothing simpler.” Kaori answered with a cheeky smile.

  Ma?l looked at her, then at the mast, and then back at her. Climbing a 35-yard-tall sleek pole of aluminum swaying with the waves. This was madness.

  “I—I don’t know if I can do that.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll climb up, and you’ll do the dishes.” Kaori said, challenge in her voice.

  “Are you sure you can climb this thing?”

  “Absolutely. Put us in irons, that will stop the mast from swaying.”

  Ma?l wanted to argue, but this had to be done, and she seemed so sure of herself.

  “Fine. If you can do that, I’ll do the dishes!”

  Kaori laughed and shook his hand. “That’s a deal.”

  She opened one of the storage boxes on deck and picked up a harness, which she tied to a lanyard hanging from the mast. With a single press of a button, the electric winch whirled, lifting her up slowly to the top of the mast. She waved to Ma?l down below and wrapped the antennas in aluminum foil, securing it with duct tape.

  I’m such a sucker! Ma?l thought as he admired the lithe figure hanging far above his head.

  What an amazing woman.