Chapter 3 - Bank

The passage from Turbo to Grand Cayman went smoothly enough, unless
you count a minor malfunction of the fu{\ss}ball table which almost
caused a mutiny led by Es.  Table quickly fixed by Frank, no bloodshed
ensued and peace restored.  Matroska stayed in his cabin the whole
journey, only emerging to use the head, collect one meal a day (a
restriction enforced only by himself).  One time he took a quick turn
around the deck before returning quickly below without saying a word
(his usual demeanour).  A fair easterly breeze blowing 20 knots
average the whole way meant that the kill-9 made the roughly 700
nautical mile journey in just under 3 and a half days.  Arriving at
dawn the ketch sailed smoothly into George Town harbour and dropped
anchor just as the first brilliant beam of light exploded up from
behind the line of buildings on the shorw, reaching a line of fire to
the sky.  Danes watched the spectacle from his vantage point, perched
on the tip of the bowsprit, holding fast to the forstay, and hoped
when all this unsavoury business with Matroska was done, he would
still be around to see and appreciate such beauty He still didn't know
for sure why he was here, the note from the Hernandez had been short,
to the point, yet wholly unsatisfying to his curiosity.  He was sure
he would never get anything more out of Matroska, due to the absolute
paranoia which is the hallmark of his black-hat freelancers.  Given
where they were sent, however, he suspected that there was a pretty
good chance it had something to do with money.  The Cayman Islands are
well known for their delightful banking industry, and their
well-developed abilities to look the other way when large amounts of
lucre, filthy or otherwise passes through their hands.

``Anchor's down and holding skip,'' Danes turned at the report.  Hans
was standing on deck, a few metres behind him, dawn sunlight
illuminating his ruddy-blonde hair to a dull glow.

``Word, thanks Hans.  Can you fetch Matroska?  I want to get this
whole business over as quickly as possible so we can sail on the next
favourable tide.'' Danes had been able to do nothing other than
speculate about what his ``assistance'' to Matroska might entail.  He
had already decided that Matroska was here to conduct some sort of
high-level transaction, or possibly make a deposit in one or another
secret bank accounts.  What else would he be doing here?  Not to get a
tan surely!  Danes chuckled to himself at that one.  A nervous laugh
to be sure.

``Aye, aye skip'' said Hans and disappeared down the nearest hatch in
search of the long-faced man.

``Watcha doin'?'' came a curious voice from behind him.  It was Es.
He could never hear her coming these days.  Danes turned around to
face his ward.  ``Goin' on shore right?  Gotta let that weird tall man
off?  Can I come?  Can I come?  Please, I'll be good!  Man this place
looks awesome!'' She managed to say all that in about 3 seconds (or so
it seemd to Danes) before he could get any word in edgewise.

``Sorry Es, can't take you this time.  Matroska has some important
business that he asked me to help with.'' said Danes with a
sigh. ``You just stay here and hang out with Frank and Hans and I
promise that as soon as we're finished with Mexico we can go wherever
you like, OK?'' He sure hoped that he could deliver on that promise.
He wasn't too worried, most of the times things like this went OK, but
still, there in the back of his mind he couldn't quite seem to quiet a
little voice telling him to get the fuck out of there now!  No matter
how it went though, Es would be fine.  Frank and Hans would take care
of her, he was sure about that.  There was nothing more heart-breaking
he could think about than his little Estrid having to go back to the
life she came from.  The life that he had spent the last four years
trying his hardest to help her forget.  Most of the time he thought he
had succeeded, but a few times he had accidentally disturbed her when
she wasn't expecting it (far less often these days) and thought he had
heard her sobbing.  He never saw anything of course.  She was too fast
for that.  To fast and too careful.  Never show weakness.  That was
the law where she had come from.  The weak get consumed by the strong.
Danes had worked hard to try and shift that attitude, though the more
he thought about it, the more he realised that that was pretty much
how the real world worked.  Children were not supposed to know that
though.  That was something that you learned later, after you had had
a happy childhood in the fantasy world constructed by good parents.
Es it would seem had the fortune of skipping that part.  Danes pushed
those thoughts out of his mind.  This was not the time.  Right now all
he had to do was to focus on the mission at hand, whatever the fuck
that turned out to be!

``Awwww, I always stay with the boat!  I want to go with you on one of
your missions.  I can handle it, I'm 13 you know!''  Danes chuckled to
himself.  She's got spunk, that's for sure.

Danes tried to put on his most placating, but hopefully not
patronising tone.  ``Your time will come sweetie, soon enough, but
this mission is not going to be fun.  Like I said though, when we're
done, anywhere you like.''

A grin slowly spread on Es' face.  ``Anywhere eh?  In the whole
world?''

``Well, within reason,'' said Danes.  God, where was she going to
suggest?!

``Alright, I want to go to Disneyland!''  Her grin cracked open into a
beaming smile.  She had a knack for using that smile to get anything
she wanted, or so it seemed to Danes sometimes.  But Disneyland?  It
wasn't too far away to be sure (he presumed she meant Disney World in
Florida not the one in California), but if he was reluctant to step
foot on Grand Cayman due to its stron US ties, he was much more
concerned about the US mainland.  Still, she had dropped hints before.
A few months ago she had read ``Down and Out in the Magic Kindom'' by
Cory Doctorow and ever since then she had seemed slightly obsessed
with Disney World.  Still, it would be a nice break.. Later he could
think about how to make it happen.

``Let's talk about it when I get back, OK?'' Danes said perhaps a
little more dismissively than he intended, for at that moment he had
noticed Hans emerge from the main hatch with Matroska following
behind.  ``But right now, we have to get the dinghy in the water.
Wanna help me?''

Es looked a little forlorn, ``Yeah, I guess, '' she said with a
dejected look on her face.  The dinghy was located at the stern of the
kill-9, hanging off a pair of sturdy davits.  It was reasonably large
as these things went, 3 metres long with a 10hp outboard motor on the
back.  Enough to get you around when you needed it.  They lowered it
down to the water and made it fast to the back of the boat next to the
ladder.