The Laminated Napkin
In which we discover why Boiledbeetle crossed the Atlantic in a smugglers' yacht...
The following morning found most of the crew gathered aboard The Dreadnork. The laminated napkin recovered from the smugglers' yacht lay in the middle of the chart table while Gosie, Octavia, Hedgehog, RandomHypatia, Chickadee and several gerbils examined it with increasing frustration.
The crew had spent several hours discussing the napkin when Boiledbeetle wandered into the chart room carrying a Tunnock’s Teacake. “It’s a pickup at Head Light during high tide on Tuesday the second of June,” she said.
RandomHypatia immediately unfolded the tide tables recovered from the yacht.
Gosie looked up from the chart table. “How do you know that?”
“I heard them talking about it.”
“On the yacht?”
“Yes.”
Nobody had actually questioned Boily very closely about her three-week stay aboard the smugglers’ yacht. By the time they found her nest among the marina brochures there had been rather more urgent matters to deal with.
“What were you doing on the yacht?” asked Hedgehog.
Boily looked puzzled. “Sleeping.”
“My mistake,” said Hedgehog. “That explains everything.” It didn’t.
Boily sighed patiently. “I hid some Tunnock’s in a crate.”
“Then what happened?”
“I had a nap.”
“In the crate?” asked Gosie.
“It was a very comfortable crate.”
“So how did you end up on the yacht?”
Boily considered this.
“I may have slept through that part.”
Chickadee hopped onto the edge of the chart table and looked down at the napkin. “Head Light is the lighthouse,” she said. “Portland Head Light.”
RandomHypatia looked up from the tide tables she had been perusing. “That makes sense,” she said. “High tide on Tuesday, second of June is 9.7 metres at 00:49. The pickup’s tonight. Just after midnight.”
“But if Aurelia was ready for reconstruction, and Customs have already seized the cargo,” said Gosie, “what are they picking up?”
Chickadee frowned. “Obviously something that isn’t Aurelia.”
Swashbuckled stood up. “Then we’d better be there.”
The Viking longboat drifted below Portland Head Light while the serious Scandinavians rested on their oars. The reconnaissance party occupied the middle benches. The gerbils occupied considerably more space than their physical dimensions should have permitted.
What had begun as a telescope had somehow become an observation station. Glasseye had brought another telescope. Granite produced a folding desk. Gunwale placed a brass desk lamp next to the second telescope. Governance was updating Coastal Observation Procedures while Gravitas reviewed a second document entitled Amendments to Coastal Observation Procedures.
The landing below the lighthouse remained empty. That did not prevent the gerbils from collecting data. Distances were measured. Angles were calculated. Tide movements were recorded. At one point Gimbal and Gasket produced a folding blackboard and began covering it with figures.
By the time RandomHypatia glanced over, the blackboard contained a bewildering collection of numbers, arrows and diagrams. “Your current solution assumes a crosswind.”
“In case a crosswind develops.” Gimbal returned to the board.
The discussion continued for several minutes. Additional calculations appeared. Guidance objected to the handwriting. Gondola attempted to eat a corner of the blackboard.
Throughout all of this, DauntlessDamson and Hussie sat quietly in the bow looking at the sea. Occasionally DauntlessDamson would say, “Mm” while Hussie would nod and reply, “Mm”. Clearly a great deal of information was being exchanged.
The first sign of activity came from the lighthouse. A vehicle arrived. Boxes were unloaded and transferred to a launch waiting at the dock.
Governance immediately opened a fresh notebook and wrote Compliance Failures across the top of the first page. The first bullet point she wrote was, No visible paperwork.
The launch headed out to sea carrying its cargo. A few minutes later navigation lights indicated that the Rustler was rounding the headland. The launch came alongside.
Cargo moved from one vessel to the other. Governance began writing much faster. Glockenspiel produced a ruler. Gimbal rejected the ruler and produced a superior ruler. Guidance unfolded a chart. Gravitas added a supplementary appendix.
Gosie followed the transfer through binoculars as most of the containers vanished into shadow. Then one crossed beneath a deck light. Clearly visible on the side of the crate was the circle crossed by three diagonal lines.
At the other end of the longboat, the gerbils had reached what appeared to be a conclusion. Governance closed the notebook. Gravitas signed something.
Glockenspiel pulled a tarpaulin aside. A large ballista occupied most of the bow. The gerbils gathered around the ballista with obvious excitement. Ropes were checked. Angles were reviewed. Gasket made a minor adjustment to the elevation.
“Ready,” announced Gimbal.
DauntlessDamson looked at the machine. Then she looked at the yacht. Then she drew her bow. Her arrow vanished into the darkness trailing a line behind it. A heartbeat later the grappling rope snapped tight against the Rustler’s rail. Then DauntlessDamson and Hussie swung aboard the yacht.
